Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Year 1859

When you were travelling to the coastline this time last year the last place you thought you would end up was a cell in a run-down village on the outskirts of what is to be modern-day Seoul, accused of being a foreign spy on the run. You’d laugh if anyone told you that you would be the virgin sacrifice to be sent up the mountain to the four-armed demon that resided there with his human friend. And you probably would have laughed even harder, if you were told how long you’d be staying with that demon, all the memories you’d make together.

The first leaves had begun to fall of the trees, and harvest season was a couple of months away; ready to be stocked up for the winter months. However, the towns people were in panic. That morning, one of the farmers had awoken to half of his crops rotting, thick black mould scattered over his land. The oldest woman of the village had explained that it must be an evil spirit and that no one should panic, she would bless charms to hang on the doors of all homes to warn off any other evil spirits that would attempt to enter the village.

After that, no more crops were rotting. A week later, another one of the farmers had woken before sunrise to feed the livestock and found three of his horses dead. Something had chewed through their skin throughout the night, organs a pale pink in the candle lit stable, blood pooling around the animals’ bodies, soaking into the hay. He let out a shout, alerting the farmer next-door.

“It must be a demon” the same old woman exclaimed, hand to her heart as she peered at the corpses. “We must sacrifice a virgin girl to the demon”.

That’s where you come in.

Having been captured by the village men months ago (you’d lost count a few days in) hadn’t been the most ideal, but they fed you a meal a day and you got to watch the sunset reflect off of the building opposite every evening through the small hole in the wall. Sometimes you felt forlorn, apparently the villagers didn’t make a hobby of taking random people prisoner leaving you lonely, listening to whoever was stupid enough to talk beside your window as your only company. And sure, the backache was killer and nights chilly, and you got to wash only once a week, but beggars can’t be choosers.

There were no other virgin sacrifices in the village. They apparently all had plans to be married come spring and couldn’t be sold off to a demon. Lucky for the villagers they had a virgin, a woman and a prisoner. Ready for sacrifice.

With the virgin sacrifice issue cleared, talk of where exactly the demon lived was now the main topic of the town. You’d overheard two girls (very much unmarried with no plans to wed until next winter) talking to the old woman about the hanok on the large mountain that overlooked the village.

“I had to make a delivery to the town on the other side of the mountain” she paused, “and someone definitely lives there”

“I saw it too” the second girl agreed. Clearly having not seen the hanok, the desperation in her voice giving her away. But hey, if you were in her situation, you probably would have done anything to not be sent up a mountain to some higher being where you didn’t have control over your own fate.

You turned over to face the opposite wall of your cell, blocking out the noise of their voices. You didn’t really want to know about your demise, it was slightly morbid. What if the demon didn’t live on the mountain? You doubt the villagers would hesitate to have your head. You’ve been lucky they’ve kept you alive for this long.

The next morning you’d been woken with a cold bucket of water being thrown over you. Your body shot up, shock running through your system as you tried to comprehend what, or who had rudely awoken you. Spluttering, you looked over at the entrance of the cell.

“Hey, get up” a boy a little older than you grunted. His plump lips turned down in a scowl. He would have been so pretty if didn’t look like he wanted you to drop dead.

You didn’t move, a secret you kept throughout your time in the village was that you understood their language. Acting oblivious. It was easier to get information that way. The boy tutted, roughly grabbing your arm and pulling you to stand. You yanked your arm out of his harsh grip, lips turned down in a frown as you made eye contact with him. Challenging him to grab you like that again, because you already had plans to elbow him in the nose hoping it breaks.

“Change into these” he shoved a pile of clothes into your chest before turning around. Rude.

Assuming he wasn’t leaving the cell anytime soon to give you privacy you pull you grime riddled shirt over your head. Using the inside of the shirt you attempted to dry your hair a little, so it wasn’t dripping down your back. Slipping on the clothes easily that you were given, it wasn’t the most flattering outfit. It seemed the clothes belonged to the lanky farmer’s son that rudely woke you up. Pulling the drawstrings tight so the trousers didn’t constantly fall, you tapped the boy’s shoulder.

“Jimin, are you almost done?” a much deeper voice called. Presumably one of the useless guards that stood outside the cell. More interested in his card games than your wellbeing.

“Almost” he calls back, quickly taking a step out of the cell to grab some rope. Jimin seemed just as, maybe even more disgusted that he was in such close proximity to you. He harshly grabbed both your wrists, no consideration for your comfort as he tied intricate knots around your limbs.

Personally, you thought it was unnecessary that both your arms and legs had been bound. Sure, Jimin had a lithe frame, but he was clearly a lot stronger than you. You’d seen the heavy equipment they used to farm. The baggy clothes probably doing no justice to the muscle that may lay beneath it, so you had no plans to run.

Plus, he wasn’t the tallest boy you’d seen in the village, but he was a lot taller than you, giving him longer strides, clearly not caring that not only were your legs shorter, but he’d also bound them together with limited leeway to walk properly. Definitely on purpose just to make this harder for you. You saw the smirk he had when he pulled the rope so you would stumble forward. Asshole.

Sweat rolled down your back by the time you reached the hanbok on the mountain, the midday sun beating down with no mercy on your tired body. Your legs felt like they were on fire, muscles screaming for you to take a break. Every time you’d try to subtly slow down Jimin would pull the rope so far forward you almost landed on your face more times than you could count.

Just as your restraint was about to snap you stopped outside of a wooden gate. ‘Jeon’ engraved on a slab of wood, messily hanging by moulding rope on one of the pickets of the fence.

Jimin grabbed the thick rope of the bell, alerting whoever, whatever lived here that they had guests. A tall boy, who looked to be around the same age as Jimin rushed out of the centre building, almost tripping over his sandals as he did so. He caught himself before he could fall, coming to an abrupt stop on the other side of the gate.

The taller boy with fluffy black hair placed a hand over his heart, taking a moment to catch his breath. “Hello” his voice extremely deep, a contrast to his soft features. “How may I help you?” he asked, as you noticed a small mole on the tip of his nose. It was cute. If he was the demon you’d be sacrificed to, he didn’t seem that bad?

He opens the gate a little to slip through it and stand in-front of you and Jimin.

“Good afternoon. Are you the demon that resides here?” Jimin asked, tone a lot nicer than when he had spoken to you that morning. You wanted to scoff. Kiss ass.

“Um, no I’m not. He’s inside” he pointed behind him with his thumb, his eyes trailing to you who was stood awkwardly behind Jimin. A wide smile spread across said male’s face as he yanked the rope around your wrists bringing you forward, almost tipping over because of your bound ankles.

“Here, delivery from the village” Jimin didn’t hesitate to shove the end of the rope into the other boy’s hand before grabbing the back of your neck tightly causing you to wince as his nails dug into your skin. “Untamed dogs like you don’t deserve to live. Hopefully you die” he whispered, a sadistic chuckle leaving his lips as he shoved your head forward.

Your teeth clenched, the idea of headbutting him in the nose and calling him multiple profanities extremely tempting but alas, he stepped away before your restraint could slip. And he started his descent down the mountain, whistling a tune now that you were gone.

The boy looked down at the rope in his hands, following it until he looked over your wrists. Rubbed red raw from Jimin being an asshole and tugging at the ropes when you wouldn’t walk fast enough. “Do you speak Korean? Are you okay?” he asked you once Jimin was out of earshot. You nodded, eyes meeting his own. Pity. You could see the pity in his eyes, and you weren’t sure how to feel about that.

“I’m Taehyung” he broke the silence, a boxy smile gracing his face as he hesitantly went to untie your wrists. “May I?” he asked, hands motioning to the rope, you looked down at your hands, then back at Taehyung and nodded.

“What’s your name?” he asked to make this process a little less awkward.

“Y/N” your voice came out hoarse, and he hummed to let you know he was listening as he knelt down to untie your ankles.

“Jungkook is really nice, I’m sure he’ll let you stay for a while” Taehyung brushed off his knees, head tilting up to give you a smile. You nod, a little awkward to say the least but Taehyung found it cute.

Opening the gate, Taehyung motioned for you to step inside, your eyes wandered over the courtyard. Freshly fallen leaves the colour of a sunset scattered across the grass. Stood through a small archway of trees, out of sight from the front gate, stood a smaller square building, steps leading up to the doors, which were slightly open to let the cool autumn air waft through the room. Without knocking Taehyung pulled open the sliding doors to reveal a small table sat in the centre of the room, a man (presumably Jungkook), looked younger than Taehyung, sat with a book in his first pair of hands. He had four arms.

His eyes raised to meet your own, and then looked over at Taehyung with a brow raised. He elegantly shut his book before diverging all his attention at the two of you stood in the doorway. You stood frigidly beside Taehyung, not sure if he was going to send you back to the village or let you stay.

He was good looking, you noted. Pretty doe eyes, thick dark eyebrows, a button nose, uneven lips, four arms. Dressed in the most expensive looking silk hanbok. You could see dark ink peaking from under the sleeve of his first pair of hands, the ones below seeming clean of art.

“And who is this?” He finally spoke after taking in your appearance. It was embarrassing, how well dressed he was compared to you in the clothes of the snobby farmer’s son that barely fit, pant legs pooling around your ankles and shirt slipping off your shoulder, cheeks pink from walking in the scorching sun for hours.

“Kook, this is Y/N” Taehyung answers when you don’t say anything, eyes trained on your bare feet that were probably dirtying this man’s floor.

“Does she understand Korean?” he asks, and Taehyung looked over at you, nudging your shoulder to get you to speak up.

“I do” your voice comes out as nothing more than a whisper, Jungkook hums.

“And why are you here, Y/N?” he asks, no malice in his voice just slight confusion.

Taehyung grabbed a pillow from under the table and motioned for you to sit down opposite Jungkook, “I’ll go and get some tea” he explained leaving you and the four-armed creature alone. You willed yourself to not stare at his extra set of arms, he was kind enough to not throw you off his land and it would be rude to stare for too long. So, your eyes stayed on your lap, fingers fiddling with the loose threads of Jimin’s shirt.

“I asked a question” Jungkook caught your attention, your eyes quickly flicking to meet his own before you averted them to the cover of the novel he was reading, “Why are you here?” he repeated. You swallowed.

“The village people, they think that they’ve angered you and that’s why you’ve been killing their crops and livestock” you explain and a laugh escapes Jungkook. Why would he care about the business of mere humans?

“And you were the unfortunate one to come and appease me?” he asks, and you shrug your shoulders.

“I was a prisoner; I was the easy way out”

“Prisoner?”

“Yes. They thought I was spy that’s why they kept me for information” you vaguely explain.

“I see” he replies, and your eyes meet his own, “most village people haven’t seen people outside of this country, so it’s understandable you could be accused of being a foreign spy” he looks over you one more time.

Before you can ask him if he’s seen any foreigners like yourself, Taehyung walks back into the room, teapot and delicate china cups sat on a tray. “I wasn’t sure what tea you liked” he sighs as he places the wooden tray on the table.

“Thank you, Taehyung” your head bows down a little and Taehyung’s boxy smile makes a reappearance. “So, are you staying with us? I could use the extra help” He looks over at Jungkook who looks over at you.

Taehyung and Jungkook looked at each other, eyes doing all the talking. You looked between them. You wouldn’t admit it out loud but staying here seemed like the safer option. If they kicked you out not only would you have no home, no food, who knows how long it will be before you’re accused of being a spy again and you’re sure the next village will kill you without hesitation. The last village kept you for their own selfish desires. In passing you’d heard them talk about the king sending out a notice that whichever town could catch the group of foreign spies, would be transferred to the palace for work, more luxurious food, better clothing. You being alone was just the beginning for the village people, if they caught 2 or 3 more ‘spies’ then they’d have their ticket into a life of luxury.

“You guys do whatever you want” Jungkook waved you both off after seeing the worry in your eyes, “Just don’t make too much noise or make a mess”.

Without warning, Taehyung threw himself on top of you, a small ‘oof’ leaving your lips, winded by Taehyung.

“You’re probably really tired from walking, right? I’ll show you the bath house and then you can wear some of my clothes until I make you some, and then I can put something on your wrists and ankles, they still look pretty red, that guy that you came with wasn’t that nice was he- “

“Tae” Jungkook interrupted his friend “you’ll overwhelm her, slow down”

Taehyung looked down at you, a sheepish smile gracing his face before he helped you stand. You bowed to Jungkook as Taehyung led you out of the building, behind it was a stone walkway, a little further under the trees was a wooden bridge that took you over the stream, to another wooden building. “You can bathe in here, some of my clothes are already inside so you can use those, there should also be slippers, so you don’t hurt your feet” he slides the door open, and you hesitantly walk inside, the door being shut behind you by Taehyung.

“A spy?” Jungkook asks Taehyung when he comes back from showing you the bathing room. The latter shaking his head.

“I don’t think so, the farmer that brought her here didn’t seem fond of her” Taehyung sat in-front of his friend and Jungkook nodded, picking up his book.

“Keep an eye on her, if she does anything suspicious then you know what to do”

Taehyung nods, lips pursed as he picked up his teacup taking a big gulp.

Before you knew it, a week had passed, and you’d fallen into a routine with Jungkook and Taehyung. Early mornings were spent in the kitchen with Taehyung cooking breakfast, late mornings spent alone exploring all the nooks and crannies of Jungkook’s land. You three ate together at lunch, and while Taehyung tended to whatever duties he set himself for the day, you would help clean the clothes and hang them to dry while Jungkook sat on the porch, book in hand, eyes occasionally flitting up to watch what you were doing. Other afternoons were spent raking the fallen leaves that covered the courtyard with Taehyung.

On more than one occasion Jungkook had seen your eyes wander to the books he held. “You can read any of the books on the shelf” he told you one evening once Taehyung left the room to get some more rice.

Your cheeks flushed crimson, how were you meant to tell him you couldn’t read hangul? “Thank you” you replied meekly, ashamed he had caught you staring. How embarrassing.

A satisfied smile gracing Jungkook’s lips before he turned and picked up his spoon once again. Your eyes gazed at the large bookshelf behind him before focusing back on the stew you and Tae had cooked for dinner.

Taehyung came back with another bowl of rice, chatting both of your ears off about a cat he saw while cleaning that afternoon.

Jungkook found you sat on the wooden deck outside your room that night, he was on his way back from the bath house, well past midnight. He just stood there for a moment, watching you watch the stars, he thought he could see the galaxies reflecting in your eyes, a gust of wind broke his train of thought as he watched goosebumps raise on the skin of your bare arms. He would have to ask Taehyung to make you some warmer clothes now that the colder weather was around the corner. Although he could see you were clearly cold, your eyes never left the sky. No plans of going back inside anytime soon.

He quietly made his way to the end room of the building where he kept all the spare supplies and grabbed a thick, woollen blanket.

“You’ll get sick if you stay out here in the cold” his voice startled you, heartrate picking up, and as you turned to him a heavy weight was placed on your shoulders. Your fingers brushed over the soft blanket, grabbing the hem to pull it tighter around yourself.

“Thank you” your voice came out a little breathless, the crisp night wind making your throat dry.

Jungkook sat down next to you, his eyes watching your side profile as you stared up at the stars again, clearly in awe. “Do you like the stars?” he asked.

Your eyes quickly flitted to meet his own before returning to look at the sky above you both, your neck aching but you didn’t want to miss a moment of the wonders that happen up in the sky. Maybe if you looked long enough, you’d see a shooting star. “Yes” you softly replied after a moment of silence, although it still felt too loud for the silence of the night. “I always wonder what it would be like to live among the stars”

“Did you look at the stars while in the village?” he asked, and your head turned to watch him as he looked up.

Another gust of wind broke the silence, “You must be cold, we should go inside” you went to stand up but one of Jungkook’s left hands held your shoulder. A silent suggestion for you to sit back down, his hand was light. Giving you the option to leave if you really wanted to. But you suppose an explanation was due.

“Don’t avoid the question” he muttered, and your shoulders slumped a little as you got into a more comfortable position.

You knew that Jungkook or Taehyung would eventually bring up where you came from, they’d gone a week leaving you to settle in with no questions asked about where you really came from or how you even ended up as a prisoner in the first place.

“I couldn’t” you reply, “they kept me in a cell, and the only hole in the wall was in a place that the sky was covered by the building beside it” you explain and Jungkook hums.

“How did you get to the village; you must have been travelling somewhere?”

“I was travelling to the coast but got caught” you briefly explain, as you turn your head to look at Jungkook who was already looking at you. Your cheek resting on your knees.

“The coast?” he raised an eyebrow and you nodded.

“I was going to leave Korea, my friend was going to help me, but we got caught by the village people”

“Because they thought you were a spy?” he asked and you nodded, “And your friend?”

You looked forward into the courtyard, swallowing thickly, fingers fiddling with the blanket still around your shoulders; “They killed him. Thought he was a traitor” a shiver running through your body at the memory.

You never knew how savage human beings could be, ripping his limbs off before feeding his organs to the dogs and burning the rest of his body. A warning. That if you didn’t comply with the village chiefs’ commands, that could be your skinned head on a stick next the one person you could trust in this cruel world.

Jungkook nods, “were you trying to leave the country because you did something wrong?” he asked, and you shook your head.

“This is the only place I’ve known. My mother, she was pregnant with me when they brought her on the boat. Apparently, she gave birth at sea, and they didn’t have the correct equipment, so she died. Threw her overboard and left me with one of the other women on the boat” you explained, no clear emotion in your voice.

“I’m sorry” Jungkook looked over at you and you met his eyes, smiling.

“It’s fine. I’m not really upset over it I mean I’ve never met my mother and it feels stupid to be angry over the death of someone I don’t know. I’ve lived a somewhat decent life” you shrug. “My friend, the one that died, his father didn’t like me too much, I’m pretty sure I heard him more than once planning my death. I brought a bad reputation to his business. Then the king’s orders came out.”

“King’s orders? He kicked you out?” Jungkook asked and you shook your head.

“Nope. The king sent out a notice to all villages last year, whoever catches the group of foreign spies will be sent to work in the palace. It’s easier to lay low in smaller villages further away from the capital. The old man didn’t kick me out, I left before he could know. The lady that looked after me on the boat, the wife of my friend’s father, she died last year. His father was becoming more hostile each day so I told my friend I wanted to find where I really came from so, he wouldn’t convince me to stay” You look back up at the sky, “He told me he had a friend that owned a boat who could help me to the country over, but we never made it to the coastline”

“Do you still want to leave?” Jungkook voiced after a moment of processing what you’d told him, you shrugged.

“Not sure. Maybe I’m not meant to leave and that’s why I’m somehow still alive and my friend isn’t”

“It’s not your fault” Jungkook tries to console you and a sad puff of air leaves your mouth.

“I still feel guilty. But I think he lives with the stars now. Hopefully with his mother” you look over at Jungkook, a solemn smile on your face.

“Did you love him?” Jungkook asks, your mind takes a minute to process his question. A little out there but you reply, nonetheless.

“Romantically? Not really. His mother was like my own, and although his father was a mean son of a bitch to me, he didn’t seem to like his son all that much either. He felt like my brother, I guess. We did have a fake wedding when we were young though. He was 4 years older than me; he was the best thing that happened to me” you smile, after a moment of silence you ask “You have a sob story behind being a demon?” a playful lilt in your voice, hoping to steer the topic away from your past.

The pretty bunny smile stretches across his face, his eyes locking with your own. Jungkook turns his body towards your own, and you follow. Both sat criss-cross legged in-front of each-other.

“Something like that” he chuckles, he seemed to have come to terms with his past. “I was exiled out of my village because I had four arms, my parents refused to even acknowledge me as their son. I found this other demon who told me what I was and then I found myself here” he motions to the courtyard, “More people found out about me, and they donate their money so they have healthy land, that’s how Taehyung and I pay for all of our food and clothes”

“Is that why the villagers thought you were messing with their land” you giggle and Jungkook shrugs, trying his hardest to supress a grin.

“Probably. I’m not the demon of the land though. Not sure where that rumour came from” he comically places a finger on his chin in thought.

“What are you the demon of then?” you inquire, curiosity peaked.

“This mountain” he puffs out his chest, proud.

“So, this mountain belongs to you?” you ask, and he nods. “That’s pretty cool” you hum, “do you have any special powers?”

Jungkook takes a moment, ears turning a little red “Kind of” he mummers and you nod, urging him to continue.

“It’s not that special” he tells you, “I can control the spirits of this mountain, and I know basic spells”

“Spirits?” your head tilts in question, Jungkook suppresses as smile at the cute gesture you make when curious about something.

“Yeah, I wasn’t the first one to inhabit the mountain, it was home to some tigers back in the day and once they died, I made a contract with a few. Plus, some other spirits that could come in handy one day.” He explains and you nod in understanding. You wondered what a real-life tiger would look like, your friend had told you they were magical creatures. Although he had never seen one before he died, he told you of the myths that surrounded the creatures that lived high in the mountainous areas of the country.

It was quiet for a while, just the wind and rustling of leaves echoing off the walls of the Hanok. Both of you looking up at the stars.

You let out a yawn, Jungkook taking notice of how your head almost tipped forward into his lap. A small smile gracing his lips, “Seems like it’s time for bed” he tells you, and you slowly nod. Mind working a little slower, clouded with sleep.

“Thank you, Jungkook. It’s nice having someone believe your story” you smile, going to hand the blanket back to Jungkook but he just shakes his head. “It’s going to stay this cold all night, keep it” his head motions towards your room and you nod, smiling. One that reaches your eyes, a genuine smile Jungkook notes.

“Goodnight” he calls out as you step into your room.

“Good night Jungkook”

+++

After that evening, it seemed there was less hostility between the three of you. And as you became more comfortable with both boys, you couldn’t have been any happier. You weren’t sure how much time had passed, the days merging into weeks and weeks turning into months.

You three continued your routine, you helping Taehyung cook, sweeping leaves and washing clothes, time alone to explore, however your embarrassing secret was let out after Jungkook had given you a book he had ‘finished reading’ and said you might enjoy it, the cover had a picture of a full moon, stars scattered around it with a boy looking up at the sky. He had noticed you hadn’t taken of the books off his shelf, thinking maybe you weren’t exactly comfortable enough yet in his home to take a book as you please. He soon found out; you didn’t know how to read.

“Jungkookie taught me how to read so I can teach you” Taehyung had said, while your cheeks turned a bright red. Your eyes were downcast, refusing to look at either of them.

“No, really it’s okay” you whispered. Jungkook let out a loud laugh, your eyes shooting up to look at him, eyebrows furrowed asking him what was so funny.

“Stop being silly and come here” he pulled a cushion beside him, patting it. You timidly walked over and plopped yourself down next to him.

“Tae-ah can you get some paper and ink?” he asked the ebony haired boy, who quickly nodded. Scuttering to go and get the supplies for Jungkook.

Within no time, Taehyung was running back into the room, stack of paper help against his chest and a jar of ink and a thin quill to write with.

“First I’ll teach you the alphabet, then you can learn to write as well” he explained, grabbing a sheet of paper.

Your eyes followed the fluid movements of his wrist as he scribbled down 24 letters.

While eating dinner, your mind would try to remember how Jungkook had written each of the characters so you could get them perfect when he asked you to write something down. That night, even once Taehyung had gone to bed, the two of you sat in the candle lit room, knees touching as Jungkook taught you, from all basic characters, to vowels, to how to form words and basic sentences. He supposed because you knew how to speak the language you were learning quickly, already able to form basic words without his help. Your handwriting was a little sloppy, but he thought it was endearing, cute in its own way, and so very much you.

He felt bad, having remembered you’d grown up in the village where there was limited access to books, or the correct facilities to even teach you things like how to read, or write or about the world.

At some point in the night, you’d asked Jungkook if he could read part of the book he had given you that afternoon. Agreeing, he began to read. When he looked up after the first chapter to see if you liked it, he couldn’t help but smile as he watches you. Head leaning on your arms, eyes closed, deep in sleep. He often wondered what you dream about, your past? Your new home? With him (and Taehyung but he’s usually pushed out of the picture), the stars? He caught you more times than he had fingers (which was a lot) sitting looking up at the stars at night before he’d grab you a blanket and just sit there and watch with you.

One night, he’s asked if you were waiting for something to happen. You’d told him you didn’t know, you just liked looking at what was beyond you. Were there people living on the stars? Did they whisper to each other when everyone else was asleep? You didn’t know and probably never will, but it was nice sitting and watching them, wondering how many other people around the globe or other planets, even galaxies were looking at the same stars you were looking at in that same moment in time.

The night after when you’d been looking up at the large full moon, Jungkook had cleared his throat to get your attention. With rose-dusted cheeks he shoved a glass jar into your hands, a muslin cloth covering the top, a thick piece of ribbon holding it in place.

Inside the jar was more fireflies than you could count. “Since I can’t exactly get you any stars, these were the closest thing I could think of” he rubbed the back of his neck. Your eyes stung, tears threatening to spill over and cascade down your soft cheeks. Jungkook noticed this “I’m sorry” he blurted, “please don’t cry” he frantically waved his hands around, not sure if he could hold you, or if that would make you uncomfortable and hate him. His mind raced a mile a minute, until he heard your happy laugh filling the space of the courtyard.

Before he could comprehend that you weren’t upset, you ran and wrapped your arms around his mid-section, arms holding him between the small gap between his first and second pair of arms. Slowly he wrapped his top pair of arms around your shoulder, the bottom ones snaking around your waist. It was weird, having so many arms around you at one time but it was nice, safe even.

“Thank you” you squeezed him tighter, words kind of muffled because of your face buried in his chest. “I’ll keep them for the rest of my life” you looked up at him, the biggest smile he has ever seen on you gracing your face.

He decided he liked this. ‘this’ could be your wide smile. ‘this’ could be you in his arms. ‘this’ moment in time. Maybe a mix of all three, but his heart swelled, he couldn’t help but give you an equally as wide smile, his eyes crinkling as he looked down at you.

You’d placed the jar beside your bed, eyes watching the insects buzz around each other in the jar, a warm glow filling the expanse of your bedroom. And for the first night since you’d arrived here months ago, it felt a little more like home.

+++

You and Taehyung were laying under a tree to get out of the autumn afternoon sun. Taehyung was laying in a ‘T’ shape, your head resting on his upper arm, eyes closed. You’d both finished washing up the pots you’d used to cook lunch and you’d swept up all the fallen leaves.

“Are you planning to stay?” Taehyung broke the silence, and you opened your eyes. Turning your head to look at him, and he turned his head to look at you. Your noses were almost touching at the close proximity, and you giggled, he looked funny this close up. You could get a better look at the cute mole at the end of his nose.

“Stay?” you asked, and he hummed, staring into your eyes. “I haven’t thought about it yet. I don’t want to intrude; you’ve already been too kind to me” you tell him, and Taehyung turns his body to the side so you follow.

“I’d be happy if you stayed. Jungkook won’t mind, he took me in and I’m still here” he smiles at you, bright boxy smile showing, and you can’t help but mirror his actions.

“I guess I can stay for a while longer” you tease and Taehyung giggles, poking at your cheek with his index finger.

He can’t help but admire your face, the sun peeking through the gaps of the branches shining like slices of orange across your face.

“How did you and Jungkook meet?” your eyes never left his.

“I was a painter in the village I grew up in, I didn’t have any family, so it was hard for me to live there especially with my only income being from my art.” He looks up, reminiscing the past, “Jungkook was wandering through the village when he stopped outside of my small home and told me, he really liked my paintings. I think he could see I was struggling to survive and asked if I wanted to come and work for him. He’d feed me, pay for my art supplies and then we just fell into this routine” he turned his head to look back at you, your eyes were wide with wonder and he couldn’t help but scrunch his nose up at how cute you were, “I got to travel a lot as well, now that you’re here we could do so much together, have you ever seen the sea?” he asked you and you shook your head.

“What’s the sea like?” you asked him, and he took a moment to think about it, eyes looking into your own. He explains to you how far the sea stretches, how when there are no clouds in the sky it looks like the sea and the sky become one. All the little sea creatures he’d seen last time he went, the fish, an eel he even saw a bright red crab that snapped at his fingers when he tried to touch it, that story made you laugh.

“When the sun hits the water it looks like diamonds that the ladies in the capital wear, and I really like the feeling of the water between my toes”

“Let’s go together one day” you tell him softly, and he smiles, nodding, “where else can we go?” you were looking at him like he had all the answers in the world, and he makes a noise in the back of his throat in thought.

“Wherever you want to go, I’ll take you” he says, and you scrunch your nose in reply at his cheesy answer, but grin up at him nonetheless.

“I think I’ll like it as long as you and Jungkook are there”

He smiles at that, happy to know that you really will fit into the small family they were forming. And so, as you both lay there, under the tree in a comfortable silence, he daydreams about all the trips he wants to take with you. Maybe he could visit the capital with you, you both could sit and watch people walk by, judging what they did by the clothes that they wore. He could take you to the mountainous area where all the tiger’s live, he’d make sure you wouldn’t get hurt but he’s sure you’d love the majestic creatures. Maybe he could take you to the village that he grew up in and show you the lake that he would play in as a child, he thinks you’d like that too.

Daydreams of places turned to daydreams scenarios, waking up each morning and brushing your hair as you slowly became more conscious, your back leaning against his chest, riding on a horse down to the village to get food for the three of you and he could even surprise you with one of the stray dogs that hung out at the bottom of the mountain as a companion for when you explored the forest area. He’s make your clothes as you both grew old, wake you up with that tea he’s come to know you like, and then you could both live the rest of your days together with Jungkook in the hanok on the mountain where no one could ruin the perfect bubble you had formed.

+

As the seasons changed, so did the weather. It was early evening, you’d gone to bed early, the day having been busy preparing for the winter months that were just around the corner. The echo of the wind rattled the door as you calmly lay there, mind void of any thoughts. Just as you were drifting off to sleep the loud crack of thunder made you shoot up in bed. Your eyes frantically looked around the room, you flinched when you heard another bang. Body shuddering when the patter of rain began to hit the wooden roof of the hanok.

You’d never been fond of the rain; it had never brought you and good memories. When you were 5, your friend’s father had locked you in a box because you accidently broke one of his wooden ornaments for a customer. He told you “bad children stay in the wooden box for 2 days”; your friend had never suffered the same punishment but who were you to argue with the scary old man? On the first night it had started to rain, the thick mud clogging all holes from the bottom half of the box as it begun to sink further into the ground, the pelting rain starting to gather inside the box. Before you knew it you were screaming, crying for anyone to come and save you before you drowned in the wooden box, the sound of rain pattering against the wooden box was causing your heart rate to pick up. Then you were submerged in the icy rainwater. You couldn’t breathe, lungs becoming tighter the longer you held your breath, head getting heavy and dizzy. Small hands pushing at the top of the box to try and get it to open. Soon your body felt numb, fingers paling, joints locking together. Maybe the gods took pity on you, your friend had saved you. He was only 9 at the time, it must have been just as hard on him to know his friend had almost drowned because of his father.

The second bad experience with bad rain came when you were 15. The nice woman that had taken you in was arguing with her husband, so you decided you’d go on a stroll. You knew you were the reason behind their constant arguments; She wanted to keep you, he didn’t. You’d been dragging a stick across the damp soil of the forest, crickets’ chirps echoing across the plain expanse of the land. You could smell it before the rain started, how the wind had picked up, a chill running down your body, clad in thin cloth. The smell of fresh, damp earth was somewhat calming, being in an open space where you weren’t suffocated by the stares of the village people or the constant yelling about how you didn’t belong. The rain began to pour. The leaves could only intercept so much before they became too heavy and large raindrops began to thump down onto the soil. You kept walking, hair soaked and clothes trying their best to absorb the water. You stopped in a clearing, a yelp of an animal causing your ears to perk up. You followed the yowling, spotting a small fox-like creature stuck in a dip next to a stream.

You looked behind you, biting your lip in thought before letting out a sigh as the animal began to cry out once more. Dropping your stick and kneeling you took off your shoes before peering back over the ledge to look down at the animal. Your eyes scanned the area, trying to find the best way to get down without slipping, the earth too loose to climb down as you would have liked.

“It’s okay” you said lowly to not startle the animal, carefully trying to step down the ledge.

Your foot slipped, a gasp falling from your lips, and you tried to grab onto something. A sharp rock caught the skin on your arm. When you reached the bottom of the ledge, sat next to the animal you looked down at your arm. There was a large gash, it hurt a lot. But you had a job to do. The animal was hostile at first, a hissing noise coming from the back of its throat.

“It’s okay, it’s okay” you hushed, “I’m going to get us out of here”

After a minute of standing there, just looking at each other, the animals on guard stance loosened. The rain continued to belt down on the both of you, you pushed your hair out of your face, slowly and carefully taking a step towards the animal, your hands began to reach for it. It hissed at you again, your hands retreated quickly, eyes widening.

“Um, what do I do?” you asked no one, bare feet sinking into the soil.

After a minute, you bent forward, patting your back signalling for the animal to jump on your back and up onto the ledge. It felt like forever before you felt a weight on your back, a smile spreading on your face, when the weight was gone you looked up at the animal, it looked back down at you in a silent thanks before it scurried off out of sight. The rain kept pouring, the pitter patter white noise in the background, your thoughts racing. How were you meant to get back up?

You tried to jump up and grab the ledge, because the land was so soggy, you fell back with two handfuls of moist soil. Your foot slipped, falling back into the stream. You hit your head on a large rock, head dizzy, you closed your eyes so the rainwater wouldn’t hit them. The surrounding water turning red with your blood. That was when you thought this was the end for you. All because of the rain. You really hated the rain. It only ever brought you misfortune.

You opened the door to your bedroom, jar of fireflies tucked in your arms, you peaked at the rain hitting the ground of the courtyard. You couldn’t go to Taehyung’s room; his room was over the bridge meaning you’d have to walk in the rain near a large body of water, in pitch black darkness. Your head turned to look at the room at the end of the building, you could see the candlelight seeping at the bottom of the door. Swallowing thickly, your footsteps were light as you tiptoed your way to Jungkook’s room.

You stood outside Jungkook’s room for what felt like an eternity before you lightly tapped on his door. You heard shuffling before he cracked the door open. He looked down at you, then at the jar held tightly in your hands.

“You okay?” he asked, opening the door further motioning for you to come inside.

“I don’t- I was just- well, you see” you pointed at the door, taking a breath. “I get scared when it rains” you say so quietly you hope Jungkook didn’t hear it. You already had plans to scuttle back to your room and shove your head under a pillow.

“So, you want to sleep here?” he asked, and you gulped.

“I didn’t think that far ahead” you admit and Jungkook smiles.

“I’ll tell you a secret” he motions for you to come closer; you slide a little towards him. He bends down to whisper into your ear, “Demon’s don’t need to sleep, you can take my bed”

When he stood at his full height again you nodded a little, eyes looking over at the mattress on the floor before looking back at Jungkook.

“Go on” he told you.

You put the jar of fireflies down beside the pillow, carefully peeling back the blanket before laying down and pulling the blanket over your chin.

“Jungkook?” you voiced, and he hummed, letting you know he was listening. “Can you sit beside me?”

Without saying a word, Jungkook grabbed the pillow he was sitting on and placed it beside the bed. He opened his book back up, “sleep” he told you, “You had a busy day”

In all honesty, he’d been reading the same line repeatedly for the last hour, his eyes trailing up to look at your face, checking if you were sleeping okay. No bad dreams plaguing your mind. The left hand that wasn’t holding his book slowly, hesitantly reaching to push your hair back before this thumb gently ran across your cheek bone. He froze as a small sigh left your lips, before his hand trailed down to rub across your jaw.

The pattering of rain outside was calming, Jungkook felt full, happy. Maybe after over a hundred years on this earth, he had made it. He now had his small family, you and Taehyung. He would never admit it to either of you, but he loved hearing you two giggle in the courtyard as you cleaned, watching you both cook, talk about anything and everything, listening to you ramble about the small things you’d seen on your adventure that day; all in his perfect house on the mountain. He never knew what loving felt like, what being loved back felt like, and as the rain poured outside, with your soft breaths barely noticeable if he didn’t focus on them, a tear slipped down his cheek. A happy tear, because he wanted to stay in this moment forever.

+

“Now that it’s close to winter I think it’s time to stock up on food” Taehyung told you as you sat around the pot, Jungkook somewhere else getting ready for the day.

“You went down to the village the other week though” you murmured, tongue slightly pocking from between your lips as you practiced writing.

Taehyung hummed, “Yeah but when it starts to snow, we can’t get down to the village so it’s better to stock up. I need an extra pair of hands” he told you, smiling a little at your concentration.

“Jungkook has those” you look up at him and Taehyung sniggers.

“What do I have?” Jungkook walks into the kitchen.

Taehyung looks up at him sceptically, in all his years living with Jungkook, he had never seen him enter the kitchen. “I was just saying we need to go and stock up on supplies” he informs the demon who hums. Eyes trailing to see what you were doing kneeled on the floor, elbows holding you up. His eyes crinkling as he smiles watching to concentrate on whatever you were writing. Looked like your name.

“The weather isn’t that bad today, maybe you should go before lunch”

“I was thinking of taking Y/n with me. There’s and extra mouth to feed so we might need to stock up more than usual” Taehyung looks back at the pot, mixing the soup you were working on.

Jungkook was quiet for a while, mind racing for any excuse to keep you in the safe space of his home. He let out a disgruntled sigh, head tipping back, “You finished making her winter clothes, right?”

“Of course,” Taehyung smiled wide, “Hear that angel? We get to go on an adventure” you look over at him with a grin on your face.

That’s how you found yourself stood at the gate you stood outside all those months ago, Jungkook bending down a little to pull your coat tighter around your body. “Do you need a scarf?” he asked you, eyes scanning your body one last time as you shook your head.

“I think I’ll get heat stroke” you tell him as he shakes his head.

“Kook don’t worry. We’ll be back before it starts to get dark and the temperature starts to drop” Taehyung tells his friend as he opens the gate, holding it open for you as you skip out and wait for Taehyung to mauver the wagon through the gate.

“You sure you’re okay with going?” Jungkook asks you one more time, hand holding the gate ready to open it wider to let you back in.

“I can’t stay here forever” you tell him softly, “I’ll be okay”

You could stay forever, will stay forever if he had any control over it.

Jungkook waited and watched until you and Taehyung were out of sight before he shut the gate, shoulders slumping. It felt empty. He couldn’t help the pout forming on his face. Over the last few months, when Taehyung would leave at least you would be milling around, studying, or exploring but now the silence engulfed him as he sat on the porch, watching the gate hoping you would make it home soon.

“Have you ever been to the village behind the mountain?” Taehyung asked you and you hiked down the mountain.

“Nope” you shook your head, “only the one in-front of it, over that way” you pointed over the side of the mountain as Taehyung nodded.

“I usually come to this one, they have nicer vegetables” Taehyung told you, “What was the other village like?”

You shrugged, no longer resenting the memory of your time in the village. You’d never forgive the village people for what they did, but the memory of the cell, and the harsh treatment you got and the fact they brutally killed someone you loved no longer made your blood run cold.

“I didn’t get to really see much of it. I’m sure it was pretty nice, they had everything they needed” you told him, and he nodded.

The rest of the walk was Taehyung telling you stories of when he was younger, you giggling at his memories as you peeked behind bushes and trees looking for any hidden treasures that may be hidden in the shrubs.

“Now that I think about it, I’ve never seen you paint” you tell him when he tells you about his favourite painting.

“I get embarrassed about them sometimes. Since I don’t need to sell my paintings for money anymore, they’re my little secrets” he tells you, you look back at him and stop walking.

“Please show them to me one day” you clasp your hands together and Taehyung laughs.

“One day. I’ll teach you how to draw as well if you like”

Your eyes shine, no one has wanted to teach you to draw before. “That would be amazing” you tell him, skipping ahead when you spot something scurry across the path.

“Be careful, Jungkook would throw me off the mountain if you got hurt” Taehyung warns as you try to reach the rodent.

“I’ll be fine” you shout back at him, standing straight when you can’t find it anymore.

“There it is” Taehyung tells you, pointing to the entrance of the village. It seemed nice enough, people busy, scuttering around buildings, pulling carts of food and other farming equipment.

Maybe this was all in your head, but as soon as you stepped into the village it went eerily quiet. The only sound being some farming equipment hitting the ground, the dull thump not easing your nerves.

You and Taehyung kept strolling slowly, he seemed to notice the change in atmosphere as he tried to ease the villager’s hostility with his award-winning smile. Your eyes stayed trained on the ground, you could feel all the eyes on you. Your anxiety spiked the longer you walked, lungs tightening making it harder to breathe. Taehyung seemed to notice your change in mood, he softly grabbed your wrist (now fully healed from the rope burn when you first met him) and pulled you closer to his body.

“You’re okay” he told you, pulling your arm through his.

You lifted your head to look up at Taehyung, wrong move because you made eye contact with an old man sat at his door a sneer spreading across his face. You quickly looked the other way at some chickens that were roaming freely, at least they didn’t resent your existence.

You almost fell face first when Taehyung stopped outside a small stall that had some fresh meat.

“Taehyung-ah, how have you been?” an elderly lady asked the young boy, a wide smile spread across his face.

“I’ve been good, nana” he tells her, eyes scanning over what she had to offer. “I’m planning to stock up for the winter, so I’ll need a lot of meat today”

A wide smile graces her face as she starts to grab chunks of meat, neatly placing them in a woven bag.

“And who’s this?” she asked, looking up, motioning to you who still had your eyes on the ground trying to cover your face with your hair.

“Ahh” Taehyung smiled, “This is my friend” he nudged you.

“It’s nice to meet you” you looked up mustering the best smile you can.

“She’s a pretty one” she winks at Taehyung who laughs as your cheeks flush pink.

“Thank you, ma’am” you shyly reply, her smile so contagious you can’t stop the grin from stretching across your face.

“Call me nana, little one” she tells you and you nod.

“Yes nana” you reply

“If things don’t work out then send her my way. My son really needs to settle down soon” she jokes with Taehyung when your attention is taken by a stray cat, although there was an underlying truth in her words.

“She’s staying for a while, sorry” Taehyung replies as he drops the coins into her wrinkled hand.

“I added some extra meat in there, you’re all skin and bones” She nudges your arm when you face her again. Meanwhile Taehyung carefully places the multiple bags of meat into the wagon.

“You shouldn’t have done that” Taehyung tells her, and she shakes her head.

“Nonsense”

You and Taehyung wave goodbye to your new friend and slowly make your way further into the centre of the village.

When Taehyung stopped at an old man’s vegetable stall you quietly slipped away from his side. The old man kept side eyeing you, clearly suspicious of you standing so close to his stall.

You wandered around the corner of a building, a small table outside of someone’s house catching your eye. The person behind the table looked to be a boy similar in age to you selling small wooden carved ornaments. A small bunny caught your eyes as you slowly made your way to stand in-front of the table. You squatted down to look at it. It reminded you of a certain four-armed demon.

“Do you like it?” the boy asked, and you nodded, looking up at him. He had a smile in his face, no malice in his gaze whatsoever, “Would you like to buy it?” he asked you after your gaze fell on the small bunny again. It was no bigger than the size of your palm, but the details were beautiful.

“Did you make these?” you asked him, motioning to the rest of the ornaments on the table. He had carved out cats, and dogs, you could even see small people scattered here and there. He hummed in reply.

“Yeah, it’s a hobby of mine but helps my family pay for meals”

Before you could tell him that you’d be leaving, you heard Taehyung call out for your name clearly now realising you weren’t by his side anymore.

“I’ll be back in a minute” you told the boy who nodded. And maybe if you’d gone to look back you would have seen the hatred in his eyes.

“TaeTae I’m here” you called for him and he quickly turned around engulfing you in a firm hug.

“Don’t wander off like that, what if I lost you?” he asked, clear distress in his voice.

“Do you have any spare coins?” you asked him as he looked down at you in his arms.

“Yes, did you see something you want to buy?” he asked you as you nodded.

Taehyung rummaged in his pockets and pulled out two silver coins, “I’m going to be over there where the paint brushes are” he told you, pointing to an open door. You nodded in understanding.

If you weren’t back with him within 3 minutes he would go and look for you. Taehyung watched you turn around the corner, a weird feeling settling in his stomach but he wanted to buy some new paint brushes so he could teach you how to paint when you both got home. Maybe he could even splurge on the nicer paper for the both of you he’s sure Jungkook wouldn’t mind.

You stood in-front of the table again. You held your hand out, palm up with the two coins. “May I have the bunny?” you asked, and the boy smiled.

He roughly grabbed the two coins, picking up the carved bunny and when you put your hand out to take it, he dropped it to the floor. You bent down to pick it up, something hard thumping on the back of your head. You stood up straight with the bunny securely held in your right hand, a dull thumping against the back of your skull. You looked down at the ground behind you and saw a rock laying beside your feet. Your head snapped towards the woodwork boy when he let out a loud whistle and before you could comprehend what was going on you felt multiple rocks being thrown at your back. You whipped around to try and see who was throwing stones at you, which was a bad decision on your part because one of the boys threw a sharp stone at you, gashing your cheek. The cut ran from the top of your cheekbone to your jaw, blood starting to drip down your neck soaking into your shirt. It stung, the pain causing your eyes to brim with tears, arms now lifting up to cover your face.

Someone shoved you from behind causing you to fall forward, sleeves of your coat ripping on impact. You gripped the bunny even tighter, the wood indenting into your skin at how hard you were holding it. A yelp escaped your lips as someone kicked you hard in the ribs repeatedly causing you to fall onto your side. Just as you’d covered your face readying yourself for the punch you could see one of the boy’s was winding up for a loud shout caused all of your heads to look in the direction it came from.

Taehyung looked furious, you’d never seen him anything but smiles and sunshine. His usual chirpy eyes were now clouded with anger, eyes a dark onyx as he stalked his way towards the group of boys that stood over your cowering body. You shuddered, you weren’t sure if it was from the pain, the adrenaline, or the look in Taehyung’s eyes. Your lungs struggled to get enough air, the only sound being you trying to breathe properly.

“What do you think you’re doing” Taehyung barked once he reached the group of boys who had retreated from standing over you. He grabbed the collar of the woodwork boy, “You lay a hand on her again, I swear on your mother’s life you won’t have any hands to make your stupid fucking ornaments with anymore.” He growled, shoving the boy back, kneeling down beside you who was lying in a puddle of your own blood. You curled yourself further into a ball when a shadow of body cast over your back, not knowing it was Taehyung. He watched you for a moment, body trembling and breaths coming out so fast he was sure you weren’t getting enough oxygen.

“Hey angel, it’s me” he lightly brushed his hands up and down your back, watching your body let out another shudder. “Can I pick you up?” He asked you softly, letting out a sigh of relief when you nod.

He steps over you so he’s facing your front, and as carefully as he could he slipped his hands under your knees and behind your back trying his hardest to not hurt you anymore than you already were. A small whimper escaped you when Taehyung stood at full height.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry” He whispered against your head as he slowly laid you down in the wagon. He sent one more glare as a warning to the group of boys before he grabbed the handle of the wagon and slowly started making his way back towards the mountain.

Your mind felt fuzzy, body completely numb, chest pulsing dully every time you inhaled. With your adrenaline becoming less prominent, tears cascaded down your cheeks, breaths still coming in short bursts as you looked up at the sky. The sun was starting to set, it would probably be dark by the time you got home. Your grip slowly began to release the wooden bunny, you hoped Jungkook would like the gift. You knew that it would take more than a small wooden bunny to repay him for his kindness, but the bunny could be a start.

At some point Taehyung had ripped part of his shirt and held it against the gash on your cheek to stop it from bleeding. You could hear him talking to you, asking you to stay awake and telling jokes but you could hear the strain in his voice as he forced out a laugh to try and lighten the mood.

You didn’t say anything. You wanted to reply to Taehyung, you really did but it hurt enough to breathe. Taehyung would look back every few minutes, making sure you were still conscious.

+++

Jungkook was seething when Taehyung had walked through the gate. Why were you guys so late? His eyes tried to find your body behind Taehyung, heart dropping when he couldn’t spot you. That was until Taehyung dropped the handle of the wagon to go and close the gate where Jungkook spotted you with part of Taehyung’s ripped shirt pressed against your cheek. Eyes looking over at Taehyung who stood, shoulders hunched with your blood smeared on his shirt. Taehyung didn’t look any better, eyes sunken, skin pale even when the moon was the only source of light in the silent courtyard.

Jungkook shot up from where he was sat, taking quick steps to help Taehyung carry you out of the wagon. He held you in his first pair of arms, the blood from the scratches on your arms smudging onto the expensive silk of his hanbok. He tried to get you to remove Taehyung’s shirt from your face, but you just weakly shook your head. You feel the dull ache of the cut, felt how it ran from your cheek to your jaw, felt the dribbling blood running down your neck.

“We’ll talk later” Jungkook turned back to look at Taehyung who weakly nodded, hands holding onto the wagon for support.

Jungkook wasted no time in leaning you to sit up against his bedroom wall before sprinting out to the end room where all the supplies were kept. He grabbed the large wooden bucket that you usually washed the clothes in and went to the bath house to fill it with water. He stood there, foot tapping against the floor impatiently as he watched the water slowly start to fill the bucket. He let out a grunt, it wasn’t even halfway full before he snatched it up from the ground. It was at this moment he thanked his lucky stars he had enough arms to carry all the supplies he needed so he only needed to take one trip instead of several.

As he slipped back into the room, he took in your form sat on the floor. You hadn’t moved an inch since he sat you down.

“Y/n, hey. You’re still with me yeah?” he asked kneeling down in-front of you. He dropped the bucket beside him, and the box of medical supplies between the two of you before he took your face into his hands.

“I’m fine” you tell him after a moment of silence, eyes holding no emotion.

“You’re not fine, let me take a look” he pries the shirt away from the side of your face. His eyes flit over to the gash, a frown instantly stretched across his face, eyebrows pinched together as if he was the one in pain. “Oh, my love” he muttered, your mind too hazy to fully comprehend what he just called you, “It’s okay, I’ll fix it” he told you, holding the good side of your face with his hand, he smiled sadly as you tilted your head into his palm. A silent comfort. He leaned forward and pressed a feather light kiss on the apple of your cheek, just above where the cut started before, he leaned back, one hand still holding your face as he used his other hands to open the box of medical supplies.

You wanted to tell him there was nothing to fix, you’d had cuts equally as bad as a child and that it will heal in no time, but you didn’t understand the underlying meaning in his words. He wouldn’t lose this.

“Jungkook, really, I’m fine. I think it was the shock of the situation that made this all worse” you told him as he rummaged through the box of medical supplies. Ribs burning when you took in a large breath.

He looked up at you for a moment, deciding to ignore your comment as he went back on his search for a towel or cloth or anything so he could clean the blood away from the cut. He let out a small ‘aha’ when he found some cloth and soaked it in the bucket of water.

“Tell me if it hurts too much” he told you as he carefully began to dab the cool, wet cloth around the area of your cut.

You closed your eyes, eyebrows pinching every now and then, head pulling away slightly when he would touch a tender part of skin. “I’m sorry” he would murmur every time you’d flinch back.

He tried to soothe you with his thumb gently rubbing at the skin under your ear. “It doesn’t look like it will need stitches” he told you, a look of relief washing over his face once you opened your eyes again.

“Wait here” he told you after dropping the bloodied cloth into the now blood-stained water. Now that he knew you weren’t going to pass out, he was a little less frantic in his steps, although his pace was still quick. He went to your bedroom to get some fresh clothes, and some more towels to clean the smaller scratches on your arms.

When he entered the room again, he saw you lifting your shirt, looking down at your ribs. A big purple bruise had formed from where you had been kicked by one of the boys. Jungkook winced just as hard as you did when you poked the tender skin.

He stepped further into the room, dropping down to kneel in-front of you again as he pulled up your shirt sleeves. The scratches on your arms were nowhere near as bad as your face but that didn’t change the fact you had been beaten, Jungkook’s jaw clenched, eyebrows furrowing in anger as he really took a moment to look over you slumped against his bedroom wall. You poked between his eyebrows, and he looked at you confused.

“I can see the cogs working in your head. I told you I’m okay” you tell him, and he sighs as he lifts up your left arm, so delicately anyone would think you’re made of glass. He gently dapped the wet cloth over your skin, the pain minuscule compared to the pain you felt every time you took in a large breath.

He wrapped a bandage around both of your arms so that the cuts wouldn’t get infected before he placed some pyjamas in your lap. “I’ll leave the room, tell me when you’ve changed” he stands up and you hum in reply.

Once Jungkook left the room, you use the wall as support to help you stand. You hand shoots to cover your mouth as you bend down to take your pants off, the pain shooting through your system. It hurt a little less when you went to lift your shirt over your head. You wiped your eyes, before you looked down at the pyjamas you needed to change into. Gently bending down, you found a way to put your clothes back on with a lot less pain than when you’d taken them off.

You slowly dragged your feet towards the door, body exhausted from the events of the day. You slowly opened it, slipping out of Jungkook’s room. As you turned to walk back to your own room you saw him leaning against the wall.

“Where are you going?” he turned towards you, and you pointed behind him.

“The bedroom” you told him, he noticed how you hadn’t called the room your own, a frown setting on his face. You knew this was your home now, right?

“It’s behind you” he pointed to his own room making you shake your head.

“Jungkook, that’s your room” you tell him as he waves you off.

“Mine, yours, what’s the difference? Is it because my bed doesn’t have enough pillows? Oh! You need your jar of stars to help you sleep right?” he guided you back into his room, sitting you down on his bed. “Stay here” his tone left no room for question.

He made quick strides towards your old bedroom, hands gathering up the large pile of pillows scattered around your bed. He’d thought it was adorable when you’d shyly asked him for extra pillows all those months ago, stuttering to explain that it feels comforting to be surrounded by something while sleeping. He’d teased you about it, watching your cheeks light up an even brighter red before he’s laughed and told you where you could find the extra supplies.

He also bent down to grab the jar of fireflies that you always had beside your bed before he took long strides back to your his bedroom. As he opened the door to the bedroom, he dropped the pillows onto the ground, carefully placing the jar down beside them, looking around the whole room as if you were hiding behind the limited furniture. He couldn’t see you hiding under the table, and you weren’t under the blanket, they were a little ruffled from where you had been sitting moments ago but still tucked in. There were no other hiding places.

“Y/n?” he called out, panic setting in. What if you had left? Or someone had taken you? No, no one would dare enter his home, humans were too cowardice, but another demon? Maybe Taehyung took you, he would snap the boy’s neck if he had. “Y/n this isn’t funny, come here right now” his voice was a mix of desperation and anger.

Jungkook shoved open his bedroom door wide, eyes scanning the courtyard, heartrate picking up as he tried to find any sign that you were there in the pitch black of the night. Ears listening for any rustling or footsteps or your breathing, anything. His fist banged against the wall.

“Jungkook?” you called him, worried as you watched him with his head in his hands, the candlelight from his bedroom causing a shadow to cover half of his face. His head shot up, eyes meeting your own where you sat inside the wagon.

“Love? What are you doing in there?” his bare feet touched the dewy grass.

“I forgot I bought you a gift, but it was too dark to see” you tell him innocently, the compressed feeling in his chest deflated as he smiled you sweetly. He held you under your elbows, and you let out a yelp at the strength he was showing.

“Please put me down” you turn your head to look at him and he just lets out a chuckle.

“Your feet will get dirty” he tells you lightly, happy now that you were in his arms.

He sat you down on his bed, turning around to grab the pillows he had dropped earlier. “Lay down” he told you, “I want to keep an eye on your condition just in case something happens”

You nod, in no mood to argue as you lay down with the bunny still held tight in your palm. “Kook?” you call him, he hums not turning around from grabbing the pillows.

“Can you come here?” you ask, and he instantly stands straight, turning towards you. He lets out a breathless ‘yes’ and he drops the pillows at the end of the mattress before kneeling beside you. “Hand, please”

He does so without hesitation. You place the small bunny into his hand, he looks down at it and then at you. “I wanted to wash it because it got dirty but it’s too dark right now” you tell him.

“You got this for me?” his eyes meet your own before they flit back to the bunny, his finger’s run over the intricate details and you nod.

One of his hands pushed the hair from your forehead as he smiled down at you. It was silent for a moment; the room was lit in the warm orange glow of the candlelight. You thought Jungkook looked more like an angel than a demon even if he did have an extra pair of arms. He looked into your eyes, and he thought maybe you could look into his soul, maybe you were trying to find the secrets that lay beneath is dark irises, he had to look away. He knew that his plan for keeping you here with him for eternity would upset you, but you were meant to be with him, weren’t you? Why would the earth hand him you on a silver platter just for you to leave him so soon?

“Sleep now. I’ll stay beside you tonight” he leans over to the end of the bed to grab the pillows, fluffing them around you, barricading you from all evil in the world. Shame they couldn’t save you from his own selfish desires.

You’d fallen asleep relatively quickly although Jungkook wasn’t surprised. He quietly slipped out of the room, careful not to wake you as he took light steps to a room on the opposite side of the courtyard. He pulled a key out of his pocket, fingers light as he unlocked the door. He let out a curse as the loud click echoed off the walls, praying that you didn’t wake up.

He held up the candle higher as he walked into the room. It was eerily silent, the only sound the creaking of the wood panels below Jungkook’s feet. His fingers skimmed over the spines of each book, the room full, floor to ceiling with large bookshelves. He bit his lip when he got to the fourth shelf, and he still hadn’t found what he was looking for.

“I know it’s here” he told himself, eyes raking over the hundreds of books before he smiled to himself. He found it.

From the outside the book looked ominous, old, like it had been used over and over again until the cover was frail, and pages started slipping out.

Jungkook locked the door to the room before slowly walking back to the bedroom. He opened the first page, eyes catching on the title.

‘Conversion of the mortal’

He flipped the page, biting his lip to suppress a smile as he skimmed through the steps.

Ingredients for spell: sage, rose petals, grain, demon blood, animal bone of choice, Blah blah blah.

Draw magic circle on floor with desired demon’s blood…

Said demonic blood must enter the body of the mortal, enchanted object can and is recommended to be used to do this for optimum effect…

Enchantment must be spoken with mortal within the circle…

Upon removing enchanted object, mortal should have lived if not then procedure failed…

Results include: stopping of ageing, quicker healing time, immunity to illness and other symptoms depending on the mortal used.

It seemed easy enough.

+++

“I know you just went to the village, but I need you to get these for me” Jungkook pushed a piece of paper across the table.

Taehyung looked down at the list, “I don’t think they’ll welcome me back for a while” he tells Jungkook who hums.

“Go to the village in-front of the mountain”

Taehyung’s face went void of emotion. He knew that you weren’t going with him this time (you were still asleep in Jungkook’s room), but he didn’t like the people from that village. They’d kept you captive! How could he not hold a grudge against them?

Taehyung could never say no to Jungkook though. He felt like he owed Jungkook his life for taking him in when he needed him the most and so without question, he grabbed the list. “I’ll leave after breakfast”

He now stood on the outskirts of the town; it was a lot quieter than he had expected it to be. As he slowly walked past what looked like recently deserted houses, he could tell from all the produce and home furniture that were still scattered around and inside each of the houses. He heard footsteps coming from further in the village, so he followed the sound.

The closer to the village centre he got, the more the land looked like it was decaying. Animal carcases were scattered over the path and the lack of people were putting Taehyung on edge. As he turned the corner he saw a familiar face. It was the farmer that had brought you up the mountain to Taehyung and Jungkook.

The farmer boy flinched when Taehyung tapped him on the shoulder, and Taehyung’s eyes widened when the boy dropped to his knees, hands clasped together.

“Please, was the sacrifice not enough?” he cried, and Taehyung stepped back when Jimin tried to grab onto his leg, “What more do you need?”

“What happened here?” Taehyung whispered in a mix of shock and confusion as he took in the surrounding area. The smell of rotting bodied putrid, making his nose burn.

“The devil” Jimin looked up at Taehyung, his eyes sunken and skin turning an ashy grey. It looked like something was gnawing away at his skin as well, “You are his companion, aren’t you? Have you come to take more from us so he will fulfil our wish?”

Taehyung gulps, he didn’t want to lie. But he nods, nonetheless. Jungkook had asked him to get these items on the list so that is what he needs to, no, wants to do.

“I need these” he places the piece of paper in-front of Jimin who snatches it from the ground in a hurry.

“Yes, yes. I can get you these, please wait here” He lifts himself from the ground before hurrying around the side of one of the buildings. His movements uncoordinated, clear pain shown by the pinch in his brows and grunts every time he took a step.

Taehyung takes the time to slowly wander around, hand over his nose at the awful stench that wouldn’t go away. The side of houses were moulding, and the air surrounding the farmland was musty. It couldn’t have been more than 5 minutes before Jimin was scurrying back to where Taehyung was, shoving a wicker basket into his hands.

“Tell the demon to rid of the disease, I beg of you. More than half the village has been eaten by the devil”

Taehyung could see the hysteria in Jimin’s eyes, and now he was worried. What if he had contracted the disease?

“Disease?” Jungkook questioned when Taehyung had told him about what Jimin had said at the village.

“Yes, he told me to tell the demon to rid of the disease that were killing the village people. It was empty Jungkook, barely anyone around. It smelt like rotting flesh” he told his friend who hummed.

“You feel fine right?” Jungkook placed his hands on his friend’s shoulder’s and Taehyung nodded.

“I don’t feel sick” he replied and Jungkook nodded before running a hand over his face. “Maybe stay on your side of the river for a few days and we will see if anything happens. I can’t catch any disease, but Y/n can so for her safety let’s keep distance for a while” he tells Taehyung who nods in understanding.

“I’ll go to my room then, come and get me if you need help cooking. My cookbook is on the side in the kitchen if you need it” he tells the demon who huffs but smiles anyways.

+++

Jungkook was on edge, you were animatedly chatting to him about something that he couldn’t pay attention to. He’d gotten used to your sleep schedule, knowing you would most likely start to get tired within the next few hours and then he could finally execute his plan.

It was easy. Gather his blood and mix it with the crushed-up ingredients, draw the circle, get some blood on the knife he had enchanted the night before while you and Taehyung were asleep, pierce the knife into your heart, say a few words and done. It was easy.

He’s practiced, he could do this.

When you’d eventually settled down to sleep, he waited in silence. The wind was howling outside, the warm glow of the candlelight cast over your soft features as you slept. He tried to push down his guilt, a small part of him knew this was wrong, knew you wouldn’t want this, but his own selfish desires overruled any sane part of his mind as all he could think about was spending the rest of his life with you by his side.

He liked the feeling of love too much to let it go, why feel heartbreak when it can be prevented? You could be happy with him; would be happy with him he knows you would be. It’s not like you had anyone to turn to, no one to save you, no one to love you like he did. And it was in that moment he decided it was time.

He wanted this process to go as smoothly as possible, so once Taehyung had come back yesterday afternoon, he began to crush all the ingredients he needed to mix with his own blood for the magic circle. He grabbed the small knife out of his front pocket, and with no hesitation he slashed at one of his hands, blood starting to pool in his palm. He allowed a few drops to fall into the bowl before mixing it all with the tip of his bloodied knife.

His face was stoic as he watched the rose petal soak up the blood before he dipped one of his fingers into the liquid and began to trace the intricate circle on the floor. He made sure it was big enough to fit your body inside of before he stood up to look at his work.

He stalked over to the table, abruptly stopping when he heard you shift in bed. He bit his lip as he turned around and let out a sigh of relief when he saw you still sleeping.

He opened the book to the page where the magic circle was drawn, he held it up above his head before turning to look at the circle he had drawn. Perfect.

Next step is to get you onto the circle. His feet were light as he made his way over to you. He carefully peeled the blanket back, hands slipping under your knees and behind your back before slowly lifting you up. He ever so slowly made his way over to the circle, holding his breath each time you would wiggle a little in his arms.

“Stay still for me” He whispered as he placed you in the centre of the circle. He grabbed the knife that was still in the bowl before straddling your wait, bottom pair of arms holding your arms above your head. He couldn’t have you thrashing around too much, you’d hurt yourself.

He lifted the knife above his head, taking in a deep breath before forcing through your skin right into your heart. The shock jolted you awake, not fully comprehending what was happening it all seemed like a blur, looking down you saw the handle of the knife protruding out of your chest, Jungkook chanting something you couldn’t understand, and an insatiable pain shooting through your body.

You began to squirm, trying to kick Jungkook off of you, crying at him to get off. “Jungkook what is going on” you grunted as he pinned your arms harder against the floor, “Stop it” you thrashed about, but he wouldn’t budge. As his chanting got louder so did the pain that was piercing through your body, you let out a loud cry, begging him to stop. The candles in the room seemed to grow brighter, and the floor beneath your back felt like it was ablaze.

And then it all stopped.

Your breathing came out in large huffs as the room went dark, tears slipping down your face from the pain, mouth wide open. It was silent for a moment before Jungkook grabbed the handle of the knife, pulling it from your chest. He laid a kiss on your forehead, “Sleep now, you won’t know any of this happened”

You don’t hear what he says, chest throbbing as you feel your own blood pour from your chest. Blankly staring up at the ceiling you close your eyes in hopes to escape whatever messed up reality you had woken up in.

Tears ran down Jungkook’s face as his eyes adjusted to the dark room, the moonlight shining onto the two of you. He thought you looked pretty like this, blissed out in sleep, serene with no worries in the world. He could only hope that you would wake up again and that he was successful in his first attempt to keep you by his side.

He laid down next to you, arms over your body as he held you close, closing his eyes.

+++

D-3 Jungkook knocked on Taehyung’s door the moment the sun had started to rise. He still had blood on his sleeves, hands in worse shape from the cut that was still healing. His foot tapped against the floor impatiently as he banged a hand against the door again.

Taehyung sluggishly opened the door, eyes widening at the state Jungkook was in. Tear-stained cheeks, eyes red and puffy and his clothes covered in blood.

“What happened?” Taehyung croaked out, letting out a dry cough. Heaving for breath. Jungkook noticed he didn’t look too well, body shaking a little as he used the door frame to help him stand.

“Tae” Jungkook reached forward, engulfing his friend in a hug, “You-“ he choked out a sob.

“I’m fine Kook. What happened to you?” he wrapped his arm around the demon’s torso, eyes brimming with tears, because he didn’t know if he would be okay. They didn’t have the correct medicine to fight off whatever disease he may have contracted, he could only hope his body wouldn’t give up on him.

“Y/n she- what if she hates me?” Jungkook grabs his hair in frustration.

“What have you done?” Taehyung grabs Jungkook’s cheeks, eyes wide in worry but his friend wouldn’t look into his eyes.

Taehyung shouldered Jungkook out of the way when Jungkook didn’t reply, he quickly made his way over to your room. He knocked on the door, but didn’t get a reply, he started to cough again, limbs burning “She’s not in there” he heard Jungkook’s voice say from behind him and before he could think where you could be, the demon rushed to block the entrance of his own bedroom.

“Jungkook?” His steps were close behind Jungkook who just shook his head.

“You can’t go in” he told Taehyung, finally taking a moment to look at the condition of his friend.

His eyes looked sunken, skin turning an ashy grey as his breaths came out in harsh puffs. “Taehyung you’re ill you should sit down”

“Not before you let me see what happened” his tone was firm, Jungkook gulped shaking his head.

“Open the door Jungkook, what have you done to her?” he grabbed his friend’s forearms, the adrenaline pumping through his system helping him pull Jungkook away from the door before harshly shoving the door open.

His heart sank at the sight, eyes trailing over the room. He first spotted the blood drawn circle on the floor in-front of his feet. His eyes watered at the sight, before his head turned to look at the bed where you were messily placed. Bile rose in his throat at the sight of you, pyjamas soaked in what he assumed to be a mix of yours and Jungkook’s blood. He tripped over his own feet, hands shaking as he knelt down beside you.

“Jungkook what have you done?” he whispers as his tears began to fall. He bent down, head resting on your chest searching for a heartbeat. His hand grabbed your wrist as he kept his head on your chest, trying to find a pulse. His breathing came out shaky, as he listened.

“I can feel a pulse” he lifts his head, eyes staring down at the serene look on you face. His hand brushed some of your hair out of your face, a sad smile on his face. He heard a thump behind him, he turned around to see Jungkook kneeling on the floor, head in his hands.

“Thank you” Jungkook muttered to himself as he rocked back and forth a little, eyes trailing to look over at Taehyung who had your face in his hands.

Taehyung leaned his head against the wall, coughing loudly. He looked down at the hand he used to cover his mouth only to see blood.

D-2 the rest of yesterday was spent with Jungkook, and Taehyung sat on opposite sides of the room, Taehyung with his head in his knees and Jungkook with his legs crossed staring into space.

That morning Taehyung had woken up with his skin moulding like he had seen Jimin’s two day’s prior when he visited the village. His flesh dark and itchy as it clawed its way up his body. His cough only got worse, each time coughing up more blood than the last. The virus had been eating away at his organs, slowly making its way to his heart. It hurt whenever he tried to breathe. His insides starting to feel like liquid fire. He couldn’t stomach any food, and no matter how much he drank the feeling of dehydration wouldn’t go away.

“Taehyung please go and lay down” Jungkook looked up at Taehyung who shook his head.

“Not when she’s like this, don’t make me leave” Taehyung whispered, his body couldn’t really do much more than that, his chest heaving.

Jungkook’s gaze moved between the two of you, worried Taehyung would tip and faint any moment, and you to check if you were still breathing, the shallow rise and fall of your chest reassuring him that you were still alive.

The atmosphere of the room was gloomy, air musty, the only sound being to harsh winter wind rattling to door every now and then. Occasionally Taehyung would cough and wheeze, Jungkook watching him from the other side of the room.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have made you go to the village. I fucked up” Jungkook spoke up that afternoon breaking the solemn silence of the room.

“Don’t be sorry. I should have left when I noticed something was wrong” he sadly smiles.

“You’ll be okay, I know you will. Right?” Jungkook asked eyes brimming with tears, he wasn’t sure who he was trying to reassure more, himself or Taehyung.

“I’ll be okay” Taehyung whispered, head tipping back to lean against the wall.

D-1

it was this day when Taehyung knew he was dying.

He wasn’t sure how long he had left. It didn’t feel like long, and a lone tear escaped his eye.

“Kook?” he called out, Jungkook’s shallow eyes met his friends, humming to let him know he was listening.

“Can you go and get my paintbrushes and paper? I don’t think I can get up anymore” he looked down at his bare legs, biting his lip at how bad it looked and how painful it felt.

Jungkook looked over at you before he nodded, standing up, dragging his feet out of his room.

Taehyung looked over at you, a hand coming to run over his face at the situation he was in. As selfish as it seemed, he was happy he wouldn’t be dying alone. Even if you were unconscious, you’d still be beside him during his last breath. He wanted to paint once more before he died, get to feel the passion he has for art once more before he was gone. He wanted to leave something special that he can be remembered by even when he wasn’t there.

When Jungkook arrived back to his room, he carefully placed all of Taehyung’s art supplies in-front of him. He willed his body to cooperate as he scooted forward to sit beside you. Taking a moment to think about what he wated to paint. He smiled down at the paper when an idea formed in his head, dipping the brush into the ink.

“What’s that?” he had asked one morning, you were practicing writing again, but it seemed your mind hand wandered. He looked at the small drawing at the corner of the page.

“An angel” you had told him, looking up and smiling.

“An angel?”

“Yeah, do you ever wish you were someone else, Taehyung?” you asked him, and it took a moment before he replied.

“No, I don’t think I have” he sat beside you, watching as you started practicing again, “do you?” he asked after a beat of silence.

“Wish I was someone else?” you tilted your head and he nodded. You pointed at the drawing at the corner of your page, and his eyes met your own briefly before looking back at the drawing. “I want to be free, no more suffering, no sadness, and I could watch over the people I love the most”

And from then, you were his angel.

Taehyung hopes he’s reborn as an angel, that way he can look over you and Jungkook for the rest of your lives. Maybe he could meet you up in the sky when you decide to join him one day.

Jungkook watched Taehyung paint, watched as he occasionally looked over at you, smiling before looking back at the page. He could see the raw emotion in his eyes as his hands worked elegantly.

Taehyung thinks this is his favourite painting he’s ever created. An angel overlooking what looked like the hanok you three lived in. If you looked closely enough, you’d see the silhouette of a girl, looking up at the starry night sky with a certain four-armed demon sat on the porch of the hanok in-front of her. He’d like to think the angel would gift her the stars as she longingly looked at the sky each night.

He fell backwards and looked at the ceiling, a smile on his face as his body began to stop working. Disease finally taking over his organs. His heart began to slow as his eyes began to slowly close. He thinks he heard Jungkook kneels down beside him and shake his body, but everything felt numb, felt like he was submerged in water, so he wasn’t sure. Whatever Jungkook was saying was muffled, he made out a choked ‘I love you’. And he thought that maybe this was okay, as he replayed the memories he had formed with his new small family. It was a shame he couldn’t travel with you anymore, all the dreams he had of growing old together no longer a possibility.

He loved Jungkook, and he loved you more than either of you would ever get to know.

And so, his final message was at the bottom of the page: For my angel, from an angel. My Y/n.