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“Bring the accused before us.”
Barely hushed whispers break out across the square as two men at Yoongi’s sides comply with the elder’s request. After all, Yoongi is no stranger to misfortune, and the whole village knows it. He stumbles along with the rough hands on his arms, keeping his head down towards his uncoordinated steps rather than facing the council of elders. When the leader of the council speaks, the roar of voices stops, leaving only the crack of accusation and blazing fires around them.
“Min Yoongi, the court has seen sufficient evidence that you are a witch.”
It doesn’t require prophetic intuition to tell what they mean. Misfortune has been Yoongi’s longest acquaintance, replacing his mother when she gave her last breathes for Yoongi’s first. He was his mother’s second son- the first was born large and healthy, a strong young man who grew to be one of the village's most prized warriors. Junki left Yoongi behind nearly a decade ago, traveling to become the leader of another settlement a journey of several days away. Yoongi will never forget the way he looked at him before leaving - a blank stare, a shake of the head, it’s hard to believe you’re even my brother.
After the relative ease of Junki’s birth, it was a shock to the village that there were any complications with Yoongi’s.
“First children tend to be more difficult,” his father had wearily explained to him once, before their relationship had grown strained and uncertain. “Everything about you was a surprise.”
The complications of his birth took more from Yoongi than his mother. His left leg was shorter than his right, and it was twisted and slightly misshapen. According to his father, it took Yoongi nearly a year longer than his elder brother needed to learn how to walk, and when he was finally able to carry himself, it was slower than the other children. Even if he could hide his leg, there was no way of covering the obvious limp, and his peers bullied him more mercilessly the older they grew. Eventually, he stopped trying to go out into the woods to play with them and stayed back with the women and small children, ignoring the mothers whispering about how he must be cursed.
For the first several years of his life, Yoongi’s father held out hope that his leg would right itself as he grew older. Yoongi himself didn’t really care if it changed or not, but he wanted his father to stop worrying and kids to be nicer to him, so he went along with the various attempts of the village healer to straighten his foot. When he finally remarried, Yoongi’s father stopped caring so much about his feet, then about him.
Now, he stands amongst the elders, face unreadable in the dim light of the fire.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” the council leader asks. Yoongi takes a deep breath and can’t help but shudder, the air in his lungs rattling his frame, as he prepares for the inevitable. There’s nothing he can do to disprove their conclusions- his leg is wrong, his mother is dead, so he must be a witch. He shakes his head.
“He is not a witch!”
Everyone’s heads turn at the yell, and Yoongi’s heart aches as he sees Taehyung fighting against his mother’s cold grip to try and duck around the warriors that hold the rest of the village back from the proceedings. He’s too young, too weak, to pose a real threat to the sham of a trial, but Yoongi appreciates the sentiment immensely.
Taehyung is his younger brother, born to his father’s new wife, and living proof that if anyone is cursed, it must be Yoongi, because his father was able to have another perfectly healthy child. For some reason unbeknownst to Yoongi, his brother has never listened to what anyone else in the village has to say about Yoongi and has always treated him like an idol. It’s sweet, but Yoongi’s sad that it means he will now be left to mourn alone.
“Silence!” the elder commands, and Taehyung stills, frowning but obedient. Yoongi wishes he could thank him, but he is helpless to do anything other than wait for the council’s punishment.
As much as he knew he had no place in the hearts of the members of his village, Yoongi was still surprised how little it took for them to turn against him.
Things really started to get bad two seasons ago, when the leaves began to wither and fall. It’s not uncommon for illness to occur in the village during the fading season, but this year’s oncoming chill brought a strange new sickness with it. As the leaves yellowed and fell, so did the village’s children. Nearly every child in the village fell sick as trees became bare and the snow fell, and many of them died.
What damned Yoongi was that many of the children who survived found themselves unable to walk after recovering. The strange paralysis seemed to pick randomly who it affected, and there began to be new whispers. Angry fathers and devastated mothers suggested that it was revenge for his misfortune, that he was bitter and angry and dangerous. As the snow sat in piles and eventually melted into new greenery while some children remained bedridden, emotions boiled over.
“We cannot have witches in our midst. Min Yoongi, you are to be exiled. Following this hearing, you will be escorted to the edge of Great Forest. Should you survive one year and successfully return, we will reconsider welcoming you back into our midst.”
The invitation to return is customary and pointless, and Yoongi knows it better than anyone. He hears Taehyung begin to cry, because being forced into the Great Forest is as good as a death sentence, especially for someone who cannot run or walk quickly.
There are beasts in the forest, after all.
…
The walk to the edge of the Great Forest is silent, and Yoongi is grateful. He recognizes the two warriors assigned to escort him- one of them used to be a friend of Taehyung’s, if he recalls correctly- , but he doesn’t really know them that well. According to the village’s customs for exiled members, he’s not permitted to take anything with him besides the clothes on his back. However, Yoongi began preparing for his exile in the middle of winter, when tensions began to rise and Taehyung tearfully asked him why he wouldn’t refute the rumors.
He’s written a letter to Taehyung and left it in his bedroom, tucked away somewhere he knows only his brother will find it. Yoongi wishes they could’ve said their farewells in person, but he knew better than to hope for that outcome.
The only other real preparations he was able to make were of a few key belongings. There’s a small knife tucked into the waistband of his pants, and the handle digs into his stomach with each step. It’s not a very good weapon for protecting himself, but he figured it would be better than nothing. He has a small container for water in his pocket - no bigger than the palm of his hand, but also better than nothing- and most importantly, he’s wearing his mother’s necklace. It’s a few pearls neatly tied onto a cord, fairly plain to look at, but it’s the only one of his mother’s belongings he could reasonably take with him without arousing suspicion. He hopes she would want him to have it.
Finally, they reach the edge of the forest, where the trees become suddenly denser. Both of his escorts stop, and Yoongi turns to look at them for a moment, studying their faces. For all his half-hearted preparations, these will likely be the last faces he sees, and the thought brings tears to his eyes. Turning away from them, he looks down to pick his way through the foliage deeper into the forest.
“Wait a moment!” One of the guards says, reaching for his shoulder. Both Yoongi and the other escort look at him in shock, albeit with very different expressions, as the man thrusts something towards Yoongi.
“Taehyung asked me to give this to you,” he says as Yoongi’s hand wraps around cool metal. He looks down to find a ring, a red stone set into the band, that was passed from his father to Taehyung.
“Thank you,” he whispers. The other man, Namjoon, Yoongi thinks his name is, will get in horrible trouble for this if his fellow warrior turns him in, but his face offers no hint to the sacrifice he’s making. Yoongi grasps the ring tightly and meets his eyes, nods once, and turns back to the forest.
…
He survives the first night, walking slowly through the dark forest and resolutely ignoring any suspicious noises. The day is spent searching for some kind of shelter or food and coming up cursedly empty-handed.
At least misfortune has not left me alone yet , Yoongi thinks with a slight smirk.
Even with the sun high in the sky, the depths of the forest are still fairly dark, which makes it hard for Yoongi to avoid tripping over roots and plant debris. Since he stopped hanging out with his peers before they began going into the woods for play or food, he’s not used to anything very different from the cobbled streets of his village. While they’re certainly not trip-proof, they’re far easier to navigate than the forest.
Yoongi finds himself thinking of the village a lot during that first day. It has been his whole world, after all, its grey-and-brown houses, coddled streets, and hardworking, suspicious people. He thinks of his father and wonders if he’s thinking about him, or if he’s already erased his middle son from memory to focus his energies on something more helpful.
As he walks, Yoongi also hums to himself. While making music was not respected much in the village, it was one of the only things Yoongi felt comfortable doing, and he could play the strings better than anyone else in the community. He appreciated the reprieve from his own thoughts.
The second day and night pass similarly - unpleasant but not unbearable. Yoongi sleeps at the base of a large tree, but decides to press forward in hopes of finding more suitable shelter or, even better, food. His stomach growls nearly constantly, and the hunger is beginning to affect him. It’s harder to balance, and he finds himself taking breaks more and more frequently. He’s not sure he could manage to kill a small animal if he came across one, but he thinks it must be insane that he hasn’t encountered one now, although he does make a fair amount of noise walking through the forest. He’s yet to see any evidence of beasts at least, and he begins to wonder if they, too, are village myths.
His leg is also killing him. In the village, it was uncomfortable to do a lot of walking on it, but it never truly caused him pain. Now, it aches from the near-constant pressure, and his hips and back hurt from trying to compensate for the height difference between each leg. He hasn’t tripped too frequently, but it’s still enough that his hands and forearms are scraped raw. Perhaps he should be concerned about infection, but Yoongi is sure the hunger will kill him first anyway.
It is on the third night that the storm hits.
The rain comes with an anger reserved for gods and scorned men. It rains so hard and so suddenly that Yoongi finds himself sliding across the forest floor while the ground beneath him turns to mud. His clothes, which are thin and suited for warm weather, quickly soak through, leaving him shivering. They provide so little protection that Yoongi feels like he might be better off nude. Clutching to the trunks of trees as he moved past, Yoongi struggles to blink water out of his eyes. It’s impossible to see more than a few feet in front of him, with the occasional bolt of lightning illuminating parts of the forest in a disorienting way. The roar of thunder and heavy rain hitting the leaves overhead is deafening, which is probably why Yoongi doesn’t hear the beast before he sees it.
One second he’s clinging to a tree and blinking as quickly as he can, and then the next, a sudden flash of light illuminates a large figure only a few feet in front of Yoongi. He doesn’t need to be familiar with any of the village stories to know it’s a beast- it towers above him by several feet, and it’s covered in thick, matted fur that gets longer around its face, creating a sort of mane. During the brief flash of light, Yoongi is able to get a glimpse of the beast’s snout, long and pointed, and its mouth overflowing with sharp, yellowed teeth. It walks on all fours, scaled feet with claws landing heavily on the ground, and its eyes lock with Yoongi’s through the heavy rain. He feels his heart still in his chest and jumps back.
The light is gone as Yoongi lands wrong, his bad leg twisting painfully under him. A cry of pain escapes him as he tumbles to the ground, but he can barely feel it because he’s focused on the shadowy beast coming closer.
This is how I die , he thinks. He wants to close his eyes, to summon up some semblance of peace to welcome death with, but then the beast is close enough to see properly, and he can’t tear his eyes away.
It lumbers close, having to bend its front half down to be remotely close to Yoongi’s collapsed figure, and it sniffs at his head with a guttural snuffling noise that is audible even over the storm. It pulls back slightly, as if it is examining Yoongi, and he finds himself locking eyes with the creature once again. Yoongi is shivering still, but its eyes are a surprisingly warm shade of brown.
“Please don’t hurt me,” he begs. It’s ridiculous, he knows, but some part of him truly expects the beast to understand.
The beast moves closer again, jaw opening and shutting, and Yoongi’s breath stutters.
It bites into the fabric of his shirt, right by the collar, and it manages to drag him to his feet, but Yoongi cries out again when he puts weight on his leg. The fall must have been worse than he thought, because it’s never hurt this bad before. The beast makes a low, growling sound and pokes its face into Yoongi’s stomach before pulling away to circle around to his back. With the beast out of his immediate line of sight, Yoongi’s heart picks up.
He nearly jumps again when he feels the beast’s face at his back, but he calms down when he realizes the creature is nudging him forwards. He doesn’t really have any other options, so he limps in the direction the beast is indicating. Yoongi expects the beast to follow him, but he stays. When Yoongi turns around expectantly, the beast tilts its head before huffing. It comes forwards and nudges Yoongi forwards again, more aggressively this time. The rain is still coming in droves, and the beast is warm against his back. Yoongi continues onwards, moving in the same direction even when the creature turns and walks the other direction.
It’s impossible for Yoongi to measure the passage of time as the storm rages on, but he seems to walk for a relatively short amount of time before he sees a light through the rain and trees. The pain from his leg is unbearable, but he forces himself forwards with a renewed vigor.
The light is from a lantern hung outside a small building. It’s a cabin built of smooth stone that is now covered in moss and vines. In the village, a house being reclaimed by the earth is a pretty sure sign that it’s uninhabited, but this cabin is covered in signs of life. To its side, there are neatly planted rows of herbs and crops, and there’s several buckets set out to collect water. Combined with the lantern, it's obvious that someone lives here.
Overcome with relief, Yoongi knocks. No one answers, and when he knocks again, the door swings open. He hesitates only a moment before he lets himself in.
The cabin is warm and brightly decorated, very different from Yoongi’s spartan accommodations back in the village. The stone floor he expects is covered by a criss-cross of thick, dyed rugs that he feels bad dripping onto, and he’s never seen furniture painted like this, shades of red and green and yellow and blue all spread across wood carved in complicated, swirling shapes.
Even though it looked somewhat large on the outside, the inside of the cabin is all one room. In the far corner, a large bed sits low to the ground, covered in a truly insane number of furs and quilts and blankets. Yoongi shivers again at the sight, turning away from the tempting look of comfort. There’s a small fireplace and several cushioned seats, as well as a table and several small doors. Most importantly, there is also a closet, full of clean, dry clothes. Yoongi only debates for a moment before shedding his wet, filthy rags and stealing the first pair of clothes he can. When the cabin’s owner returns, he’ll apologize, but borrowing clothes must be better than ruining their house by tracking muddy water everywhere. By the closet is a small basin of water, and Yoongi limps over to wash his hands, feet, and face of the mud that’s quickly drying on his skin. He starts a fire in the fireplace and curls up on the rug closest to the heat, grabbing a single blanket rather than invading the bed. It feels silly to draw a line of respecting privacy there of all places, but Yoongi doesn’t want to completely invade this stranger’s house. He simply wants to chase the cold out of his bones.
Sitting in front of the fire, Yoongi’s leg throbs. It’s not a good sign that it still hurts even when he’s off of it, but the warm safety of the cabin has Yoongi falling into an exhausted sleep before he can think about it much.
…
Yoongi wakes slowly to the smell of food cooking. He’s disoriented by how warm he is, and he tries to burrow into his bed, putting off waking up for as long as possible. Unfortunately, the movement jostles his leg and he startles up, sucking in a breath at the sudden pain. He’s confused to find himself on the floor of an unfamiliar building for only a moment before the memories come flooding back to him.
“Oh, you’re awake. Good morning. I have nearly finished breakfast.”
There’s a man knelt by the fireplace, tending to a small pot. The man has short, dark hair, cut away from his neck and shoulders, and a lean build. His clothes are nicer than what Yoongi was initially expecting, colorful and loose. He doesn’t seem bothered by Yoongi’s presence, but he begins apologizing anyway.
“I am so sorry for coming into your home uninvited,” he says, struggling to untangle himself from the blanket and cringing when he sees the stolen clothes he’s wearing. “And for taking your clothes. I… I was caught off guard by the storm, but I shouldn’t have taken the liberty to intrude like that.”
The man laughs, turning to face him. His whole face lights up when he laughs, upturned mouth and rounded cheeks, and the brightness of it makes Yoongi feel warm. When the laughter fades, Yoongi sees his eyes and his jaw drops.
“You’re the beast,” he gasps. He’s not sure how he knows, but he can tell the eyes are the same. The man looks surprised, but he still nods as he sits back on his heels.
“Yes, I am,” he says simply. “You can call me Hoseok, though. I led you here, so there’s no need for an apology. I truly thought you might die in that storm. What were you even doing out there?”
Yoongi hesitates, eyes trailing towards where his feet are still covered by the blanket.
“My village cast me out.”
Hoseok’s face turns contemplative, and he slowly reaches out to place a sympathetic hand on Yoongi’s arm.
“Well,” he says, “you are welcome to stay here. What should I call you?”
Yoongi looks Hoseok over carefully and the other man’s hand remains on his arm while he does so. There’s a gentle sincerity written across his face, an unquestionable kindness that Yoongi has never had extended to him by anyone other than Taehyung.
“My name is Yoongi.”
Hoseok doesn’t ask any more questions as he finishes preparing breakfast. Yoongi isn’t sure what to make of the invitation, so he remains quiet and watches. Light pours through small windows on the front end of the cabin, silhouetting Hoseok as he kneels over the fire as if he’s at an altar. His colorful clothes seem to pale somewhat in the sunlight, and he looks natural and ethereal all at once.
Soon, Hoseok takes the pot away from the fire and makes his way over to the small table surrounded by doors. He opens one of them to pull out two plates, both of which he sets down. Yoongi braces himself and rises to his feet, sucking in another sharp breath at the feeling of weight on his leg. This time, the sound does not go unnoticed.
“What’s wr- Oh!” Suddenly, there are hands at his sides, relieving him of some of his own weight. He’s quick to help Yoongi to a seat at the table and kindly ignores the fresh flush on the other man’s cheeks as he kneels down to look at his leg. He lets out a sympathetic gasp as he reaches out a gentle hand to push his pants up. Yoongi winces as they catch on his knee, swollen and purple. Hoseok looks at the knee, but his gaze trails down Yoongi’s leg to his ankle and foot. An uncomfortable feeling churns in Yoongi’s stomach.
“Is this from last night?”
“No, not all of it,” he pulls his leg away from Hoseok, turning to tuck himself under the table and away from Hoseok’s gaze. It’s just too… vulnerable, to have him knelt before him and looking at the part of him that has destroyed his life.
“Only my knee was injured last night, and it can wait until after we’ve eaten. I haven’t had anything since being sent away, and it would be a shame for my first meal to be served cold, wouldn’t it?”
He tilts his head at Hoseok, only half-joking, and the other man smiles and obediently fills their plates. He does not, however, drop the subject.
“What caused the rest of it? It looks painful.”
Yoongi shakes his head, “It isn’t usually, so long as I do not walk on it for too long. It’s been this way for as long as I can recall and then some. Nothing our village healer did changed it.”
Yoongi hopes Hoseok will start eating so that they can move on, so he frowns sourly when he continues asking questions. It’s probably unfair, given that he’s being fed in exchange for conversation, but Yoongi cannot tamper down the slight feeling of annoyance, even though .
“Is that why you were cast out? Because you couldn’t change?”
Yoongi glowers across the table.
“Yes, something like that.”
Hoseok raises his eyebrows but says nothing. They stare at each other for a long moment, the sun streaming into the room and highlighting the rising steam from the food. The smell makes Yoongi’s stomach growl, and he swallows his groan.
“They took it as evidence that I am a witch and blamed me for an illness these last two seasons. Do you think I am a danger, too, or may we eat breakfast now?”
Hoseok giggles at his attitude and shakes his head before beginning to eat, implicitly giving Yoongi permission to do the same. They eat in amiable silence, the tension from Yoongi’s reluctant confession dissolved with Hoseok’s laughter and their shared hunger. Hoseok provides no utensils, which is unfamiliar for Yoongi, but he has no qualms about eating with his hands if that’s what Hoseok prefers. The food itself is mostly unremarkable- Hoseok offers the disclaimer that he is not the best cook of his friends- but Yoongi doesn’t care what it tastes like. Any flaws in the food are redeemed by the sustenance it provides, and Yoongi is the hungriest he’s ever been in his life. The only part of the meal that stands out is a small, hand-sized ball of dough and apple, seasoned with cinnamon. It’s still delightfully warm when Yoongi gets to it, fresh and new on his tongue, and he finds himself savoring each bite despite his hunger. He’s never had anything like it before, and he tells Hoseok as much.
The other man won’t stop smiling at him, despite having finished his own breakfast several minutes ago. Yoongi realizes he must have given himself a smaller portion. Hoseok looks as ethereal as he did at the fireplace, with sunlight falling around him in spirals of light and creating a halo in his dark hair.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Hoseok says, watching Yoongi lick the remaining apple dough from his fingers.
“Now, let’s see about your knee, if that’s alright?”
For all his uncomfortable questions earlier, Hoseok makes no moves to enter Yoongi’s personal space or touch his leg without his approval. Yoongi allows his help begrudgingly, rolling up his pants again and flinching when they touch his knee. It’s fortunate that Hoseok seems to be a size or two bigger than him, otherwise it would be a struggle to get the pant leg up without causing even more harm to his knee. Hoseok approaches more slowly this time, smile replaced with a contemplative pout.
“Alright,” he says after a few seconds, “There are two options. I can wrap it, which may take several seasons to heal and might never set properly.”
Yoongi frowns deeper.
“Well, clearly not that option then.”
Hoseok sighs and rubs his palms on his legs, rocking a bit on his knees.
“The other option is magic. I know of a few spells that are more reliable and will heel more quickly.”
Yoongi blinks at the man fidgeting uncomfortably at his feet.
“You’re a witch?”
Hoseok nods, not looking up. Yoongi hums.
“Fascinating. I thought witches were just myths, although I suppose I thought the same of beasts.”
Shocked eyes shoot up at him.
“You aren’t… uncomfortable? You did get cast from your village for suspicion of being a witch.”
Yoongi genuinely thinks, before resolutely shaking his head.
“I think you’re a kind man,” he informs Hoseok, “so I trust you regardless. Besides, who am I to judge someone who’s different.”
Hoseok looks surprised by Yoongi’s nonchalance, a fact that brings pity to Yoongi’s heart. It’s one thing for him to be rejected, quiet and surly and hand-in-hand with misfortune, but for someone as selfless as Hoseok to have experienced the same? Blasphemy.
A smaller part of Yoongi is delighted that he gets to bring a surprised contentment to Hoseok’s eyes, but he chooses not to dwell on that as Hoseok begins the spellwork.
“It will still take some time to heal,” Hoseok advises him as he wraps a long strip of fabric around the injured knee. The fabric has been dipped in a thick concoction with an unfamiliar but not unpleasant fragrance. It smells clean almost, but not like any sort of soap or flower Yoongi has ever seen. Hoseok wraps the fabric loosely, more to keep the concoction on the wound than to stabilize Yoongi’s knee, and the pain almost instantly numbs when it touches his skin.
“That’s amazing,” Yoongi says, twisting his leg as soon as Hoseok moves his hands away. Instantly, the hands are back.
“Yoongi-hyung! You still need to be careful! Just because you can’t feel it doesn’t mean it’s all better.”
With a sigh that’s mostly for the dramatics of it all, Yoongi stills his leg and lets Hoseok reassess the bandage.
Yoongi spends the next several days with Hoseok, doing what he can to help around the cabin mostly to feel useful. Hoseok has an unbelievably nice set-up in the woods, Yoongi realizes, spending a relatively short amount of time finding food and keeping things around the cabin in good condition, which leaves him with a lot of free time. They set up a makeshift bed for Yoongi next to the fire- Hoseok tries to offer up his own bed and take the floor for himself, but Yoongi is nothing if not stubborn, so eventually Hoseok relents. The days they spend together pass surprisingly quickly, and Yoongi is shocked when Hoseok changes his bandage one morning and he remarks that two weeks has been enough for his knee to get nearly better.
Every evening, Hoseok wishes Yoongi a good night and then slips outside the cabin door. It only takes a few minutes for Yoongi’s straining ears to pick up the sounds of the beast before the noises fade as Hoseok does his rounds of the forest. As frightening as his initial encounter with the beast was, Yoongi wasn’t lying when he said he trusted Hoseok and his kindness. He was far more intrigued than uncomfortable with Hoseok’s beastly form, so Yoongi had asked him about it rather early on during his stay.
“Is it a curse?” He had asked the question with no preamble, but Hoseok didn’t require any clarification.
“No, but it’s a spell, if that’s what you mean. Cast by parents onto their children, very traditional business. We do it to protect ourselves and keep people from coming onto our land.”
“We?” Yoongi already knew that there were more beasts, that Hoseok met up with others each night that he went out, but the other man had yet to tell him about them.
“There are many of us throughout the woods, but we’re spread rather thin. My friends, Jimin and Jin, live closest. The rest of my family is a day’s journey through the woods, and it’s a similar distance for them.”
“Why live so far apart?” For all his difficulties with his family members, Yoongi finds the distance even more uncomfortable. When Junki had first left, Yoongi wasn’t able to sleep properly for several weeks, painfully aware of the absence. He had thought it might have something to do with how final their good-bye was. Now, Yoongi misses Taehyung. His brother’s ring hangs around his neck, threaded through his mother’s necklace, and he finds his fingers reaching for it whenever they’re idle. Yoongi thinks Hoseok and Taehyung would get along, that Tae would enjoy the cabin’s colorful furniture, the nearby creek, and the way the sunlight falls across the stone floor in the morning.
“There aren’t very many of us, so living apart allows us to keep control of more of the forest.”
“That sounds lonely,” Yoongi had blurted out without thinking. He blushed as soon as he heard his own words, but Hoseok simply nodded.
“Sometimes,” he said.
They get to know each other quickly as days turn into weeks, and then into a month. After the first week or so, Hoseok insists that Yoongi go on walks with him around the surrounding area. Yoongi had whined and dragged his feet the first time, but Hoseok insisted it would help his knee heal better.
“It sounds to me as if you aren’t very confident in your abilities if you think I have to walk around in the woods for the spell to work,” Yoongi grumbles petulantly on their first walk, even though he’s enjoying being outside of the cabin. Spring has arrived in full force, and Yoongi feels like he’s never seen the season like this before. Hoseok walks slowly beside him, pointing out different flowers around them, and he doesn’t try to touch Yoongi to help him walk faster. He seems content to go at Yoongi’s pace.
Everything around them is so full of life that it’s overflowing, green spilling in every direction. Yoongi doesn’t see any wildlife himself, but Hoseok is quick to sush him and point to rabbits and deer crossing their path. Birds sing songs that Yoongi wishes he could transcribe to play later.
“Other than Taehyung,” he confesses, more to the trees than to Hoseok, “The thing I miss the most about the village is my strings.”
Even though he’s not looking at Hoseok, he knows the other man is listening intently, because that’s what they’ve been doing. It has been shockingly easy to bear his soul in bits and pieces to the other man, offering the most sacred parts of himself as trinkets. Hoseok sees through his nonchalance every time.
“You’re a musician, hyung?”
Yoongi smiles bitterly.
“I’m not sure I qualify for that title, but I like to play. It’s… Well, I had a lot of time to practice.”
There’s a thoughtful look on Hoseok’s face, but he says nothing else. Instead, they continue walking through the greenery.
They swap secrets in this way all throughout the spring. Days get longer, and Yoongi tells Hoseok all about Taehyung, then about Junki, then about his parents. For the first time in his life, he talks about his foot not as a problem but as a part of himself. Hoseok listens nonjudgmentally as Yoongi talks about spending hours alone with an instrument, and when he admits that he does want to return to the village after the year has gone by. Flowers bloom and the forest explodes in color, all while Hoseok tells Yoongi about his own family, about being raised to live alone in a far corner of the woods. He confesses that he wanted to be an artist, but he had redirected that energy into wood carving- his parents wanted him to develop “useful” skills for when he was on his own. When the time of summer’s arrival is upon them, Yoongi knows Hoseok more intimately than nearly all the people he grew up alongside.
…
Summer is when Hoseok finally introduces Yoongi to Jimin and Jin. Their usual meeting place is a clearing at the center of each of their cabins, and Yoongi can’t help the unpleasant nerves in his stomach.
“They were very insistent about wanting to meet you,” Hoseok explains when he extends the invitation, flushing prettily. “Supposedly, I spend a lot of time talking about you.”
The plan is for a small picnic together, which Yoongi admits sounds nice, but it’s been several months since he saw someone other than Hoseok. Expanding his social circle would probably be beneficial, but he can’t shake the worry that Hoseok’s friends won’t be as kind as he is. Once again, Yoongi is painfully aware of the way his foot draws attention, as well as disdain.
Still, despite his anxieties, Yoongi trusts Hoseok. He wouldn’t knowingly lead him into an uncomfortable situation, and he wouldn’t stay if Yoongi felt like he needed to leave, so it is with this faith that Yoongi follows Hoseok into an unfamiliar part of the forest.
It’s not a horribly long walk, but it is more than Yoongi’s done since his knee has fully healed. When they’ve almost reached the clearing, the ground gets more uneven, the underbrush denser and harder to drag himself through. The clearing is so close, Yoongi can see the trees beginning to thin just ahead, when all of the sudden there’s a steep drop. It’s only a few feet- Hoseok is able to just jump down, and he quickly turns back to see Yoongi assessing the ground carefully.
“Do you need a lift, or a hand?” Hoseok asks, voice soft.
Yoongi shakes his head, finding a trunk to balance against.
“No, I want to do it myself.”
Hoseok steps back, unoffended by the refusal of help. Yoongi braces himself and slowly steps down, leading with his stronger leg first. It would’ve been easier to do this at the start of their trip; now, his legs are already sore from the long walk. His arms ache a bit from holding himself at such an awkward angle, but any discomfort fades in the triumph of getting both his feet firmly under him and on the ground. He looks up at Hoseok, proud, and sees the pride reflected right back at him, albeit a bit softer.
“It’s not much farther from here,” he says. There’s a strange look on his face for a moment, an unfamiliar expression that Yoongi can’t quite read, and then he’s holding his hand out to Yoongi, palm up. For a moment, Yoongi thinks it’s an offer of help and scrunches his face in confusion.
Then, he notices the slight shake in Hoseok’s hand, the shy tilt of his face away from Yoongi, and- oh.
Blushing, Yoongi reaches out and slips his hand into Hoseok’s. The shaking stops, and Yoongi is surprised by how comfortably their fingers fit together.
He expects Hoseok to let him go when they approach Jin and Jimin, who have already started to set up food in the clearing. When the other men see them approach, they call out, but Hoseok looks to Yoongi, questioning.
Yoongi holds Hoseok’s hand more firmly and goes to greet them.
It only takes a few minutes for Yoongi to definitively decide that he likes Jimin and Jin. Jimin, the shorter of the pair, is one of the most emotive people he’s ever seen, so it’s just as fun to see him react to stories as it is to listen to him recount them. Jimin hugs Yoongi immediately, pulling him away from Hoseok’s grasp to tell him just how much they’ve heard. Normally, it would make him uncomfortable, this level of familiarity with a stranger, but Yoongi finds himself laughing along instead.
Jin is more reserved, at least for the first several minutes. He introduces himself politely, minding Yoongi’s personal space and sending Jimin a disapproving side-eye. However, once Yoongi says something that makes him laugh, he seems more relaxed and willing to joke around.
“Hoseok told us that you had hurt your knee when he first met you,” Jimin says once they’ve finished eating. The four of them are laying in a loose circle in the grass and Yoongi’s fingers are curled into the dirt, just to feel it below him. There’s a slight breeze, more in the clearing than in the woods where Yoongi has spent the last several months, and Yoongi can still feel the ghost of Hoseok’s palm against his own.
“Do you have plans to go elsewhere now that you’re better?”
Hoseok hasn’t told them everything about Yoongi’s situation, just that he needed somewhere to stay for the time being. Yoongi thinks about Jimin’s question for a long moment. There’s no urgency in it when he asks.
“I want to return to my village next spring,” he admits finally. “For all its flaws, it… it is my home.”
Jimin makes an understanding noise, and Yoongi knows it’s sincere even though he can’t see his face.
“Well then,” Jimin says, “You’ll be seeing a lot of us over the next year.”
Jin snorts, “If you’re lucky, that is.”
“Ah, Jin-hyung! What do you mean?” Hoseok laughs.
“I’m very busy, I’ll have you know, so you better be nice to me if you want to see me around.”
Yoongi laughs along with the others, even though there’s a small pit growing in his stomach now that he’s put a deadline on his time with them.
…
Hoseok is very talented with woodwork. He’s built all of the furniture in the cabin, crafted and painted it himself, and in the evenings, Yoongi sits beside him and watches him carve, working on a wide variety of projects over the months that they’re together. They sit close, in front of the fire, and more often than not, Yoongi finds himself drifting off. He only wakes up later, when Hoseok tries to move him to bed before leaving for the night.
However, Yoongi must have been drifting off far more frequently than he thought, because one day, late in the summer, Hoseok presents Yoongi with one of his wood carving projects that he’s never seen before.
“What is this?” Yoongi asks, tracing his fingers up and down the smooth wood.
“It’s for you, if you would like it,” Hoseok explains. "It's a cane, to help make walking on your own easier."
The cane is covered in small, intricate flower carvings- he recognizes them as apple blossoms from his walks with Hoseok early in the spring-, and Yoongi feels tears come to his eyes unbidden. In the village, they tried to undo his foot problems, but no one had ever tried to make it easier for him to live with. He surges forward to wrap his arms around Hoseok's shoulders, hiding his face in the other man's chest so he won't see the grateful tears and get confused.
"Thank you," he whispers. Hoseok laughs a little wetly, hugging him back with just as much intensity.
"You are very welcome, but you should probably try it before you thank me."
Under Hoseok’s attentive gaze, Yoongi does try it, and he loves it. It’s not just that he loves the gesture either, the cane genuinely makes it easier for him to walk without hurting himself. His walks through the forest with Hoseok get longer, and he’s less exhausted afterwards.
…
When he sees the leaves start to change, Yoongi realizes he has made it through two seasons and is halfway to being able to return to the village. When he realizes, he spends the day sullen and withdrawn.
“What’s bothering you, hmm?” Hoseok asks that evening as he works on his newest project, some small trinket for Jimin’s upcoming birthday. They’re sitting on his bed now, a change to their routine that came about when Hoseok half-heartedly complained about moving Yoongi to bed each night. They had tried sitting together on Yoongi’s bed, but the floor was uncomfortable and awkward, so Hoseok insisted they both just use his.
“It’s plenty big for the two of us, hyung,” he had said, and Yoongi didn’t really want to argue with him. It was also nice to have the floor cleared of his sleeping things, given how small the cabin actually was. He had expected it to be uncomfortable, sleeping alongside Hoseok, but he should’ve known better. Even when they woke far closer than they had been the night before, limbs occasionally tangled and pressed together, it felt… natural.
“I’ve been thinking about going home,” he says, leaning his head against Hoseok’s shoulder. Despite doing little more than helping with the plants today, he feels exhausted.
“I’m worried that they won’t welcome me back because of my foot.”
Yoongi doesn’t need to see Hoseok’s face to know that he’s frowning, the deep cut of his lips easily conjurable in his mind’s eye.
“Perhaps.”
Yoongi has not seen Hoseok do much magic in the time they’ve been together, but most of it is practical - healing, helping things grow, strengthening tools or furniture. He tells himself that this is why he can’t help but ask-
“Do you think there’s anything you could do to change my foot? Would you be able to make me walk normal?”
Hoseok turns to look at him, cupping his face to make Yoongi meet his eyes as well. He’s still frowning, but it's gentle, like a sadness he can’t escape.
“I could try, but since it isn’t broken, I cannot mend it like I did with your knee. Does that make sense?”
It mostly does, so Yoongi nods.
“It might hurt worse, if I made you walk the same as everyone else,” Hoseok explains further. “I don’t know if it would be worth it.”
“It would!” Yoongi insists, taking the hand cupping his face into his own. Hoseok still looks unsure, but he nods before turning back to his work.
“Alright, I’ll start looking into it.”
…
The first time they kiss is during autumn, following Jimin’s birthday. They get together at Jin’s cabin to celebrate and get very drunk at Jimin’s assistance. Yoongi, who tends to be able to handle alcohol, and Hoseok, who apparently does not, have to spend the night, because there’s no way they’re getting home with Hoseok as drunk as he is. Jimin giggles when he leaves, and Jin fully laughs at them while he makes up a bed. His cabin is bigger than Hoseok’s, so he eventually retires to a separate room, leaving Hoseok and Yoongi on the floor.
Hoseok is pretty out of it, tired and intoxicated, and Yoongi is both endeared and worried. Most of the drunk people he’s been around get talkative, but Hoseok is quieter than he’s ever seen, almost sullen. However, Hoseok is far more affectionate than usual. He wraps himself around Yoongi, arms and legs, and buries his face in Yoongi’s neck. He’s very warm, and Yoongi uses his one free hand to brush his hair back off his forehead with a laugh.
“What are you doing, Hoseok-ah?” he giggles, not expecting an answer.
“Want you,” he says, trying to push his face closer. Yoongi freezes, heart suddenly racing.
“What?”
He must be exaggerating things in his head, surely.
“I like you lots,” Hoseok mumbles, “Want to be with you always.”
Yoongi doesn’t know what to say, so he silently continues running his fingers through Hoseok’s hair. The other man stills soon after, grip relaxing as sleep overtakes him, but Yoongi makes no effort to pull away. Instead, he lets himself be lulled to sleep by the puffs of warm breath on his neck.
“Hoseok!” Yoongi wakes up to Jin shouting the next morning, exasperated.
“Why are you shifted in my house?”
Yoongi sits up immediately, looking around to find that Hoseok is in his beast form, seemingly just waking up himself. His eyes widen involuntarily- he hasn’t truly seen him in this form since the night of the storm, and this is the first time he’s seen him in the light of day. Hoseok lets out a snort, displeased at being woken up, and the noise bares his teeth briefly.
Distantly, Yoongi is sure he should be scared- after all, Hoseok had explained that the goal of this form was to scare people away- but he knows Hoseok won’t hurt him. The beast is huge, lying with his body protectively wrapped around Yoongi. He’s clearly not fully awake, and he growls when Jin steps closer, pulling his front half between Yoongi and Jin.
“Yah!” Jin throws his hands up in the air. “Disrespectful brat, I was just about to invite you for breakfast.”
Hoseok blinks, fully awake all of the sudden, and he looks at Jin in shock before looking down at his front paws, and then at Yoongi. Yoongi smiles and rises to his feet, patting the fur of Hoseok’s side and yawning before heading towards the smell of food. Hoseok shifts back and joins them, keeping his head down. His cheeks are flushed, like he’s embarrassed, and Yoongi can’t help but think of last night.
Cute.
They don’t talk about it until they’re halfway home. Hoseok is still a little bit hungover, despite Jin’s best culinary efforts, and so they’re walking even slower than they usually would. Yoongi doesn’t mind, and he tells Hoseok as much when he apologizes for leaning into him during a bout of dizziness.
“I like helping you, too, you know.”
Hoseok smiles at him, and Yoongi sees the sentiment from last night in his eyes shining there, and he can’t stop himself from leaning forward and pressing his lips to Hoseok’s. A small, high pitched noise of surprise escapes Hoseok before he grabs Yoongi by the arms and kisses him back.
It’s not a very long kiss, little more than a press of lips, but their faces are still burning when they pull away from each other, both equal parts embarrassed and pleased with themselves.
“I like everything about you,” Hoseok confesses, breathless more from excitement than the kiss itself. Yoongi grips his cane in one hand and Hoseok in the other, and he can’t help but feel the same.
…
The first chill comes as Hoseok finally has a salve for Yoongi to try.
“I’m not sure how painless it will be,” he warns, but Yoongi is eager to give it a try.
Frowning, Hoseok obliges, covering Yoongi’s foot and ankle in a pale salve and then wrapping it. It takes several minutes for it to take effect, but when it does, Yoongi can’t help but cry out at the pain. Hoseok reaches for him, holds him close to keep him from falling. He’s talking but Yoongi can’t hear what he’s saying, deafened by the pain in his lower leg. It’s like a thousand needles, it burns and he looks down, fully expecting it to be bleeding.
Instead, he sees his foot, as if it had never curled. He gasps at it, so shocked by the change and the pain that he doesn’t notice Hoseok setting him down in a chair and getting a cloth to wipe the salve away.
He comes back to himself with Hoseok knelt at his feet, a position reminiscent of their first day together, except Hoseok looks devastated, tears tracing their way down his face. Yoongi reaches out to brush his tears away, thumbs tracing over his face.
“No, don’t cry, it’s okay.”
“Yoon,” he cries harder, “That was horrible.”
Now that the salve is gone, there’s no more pain in Yoongi’s leg at all, so he sinks off the chair to wrap his arms around Hoseok. He holds him until he stops crying.
“I’m so sorry,” Hoseok finally says, pulling away with a sniff. His eyes are puffy from crying, and his mouth is set in a miserable pout, “I should be comforting you right now. Are you okay?”
Yoongi nods, still holding Hoseok’s face.
“It’s really okay. You said it might hurt, and it did, but it worked!”
Hoseok starts away in surprise.
“What?”
“It worked!” Yoongi exclaims, “You saw my foot, right?”
He twists around to show Hoseok but freezes when he sees his foot back to its original position.
“Any effects of the salve are temporary,” Hoseok shakes his head. Yoongi frowns and tilts his head.
“Then, the only option is getting used to the pain.”
Hoseok pulls away even farther, already shaking his head.
“No, absolutely not.”
Yoongi pouts, “Hoseok, please, I need to do this.”
“I really do not feel comfortable doing that again,” Hoseok is almost shaking, “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“It just caught me by surprise, Hoseok-ah, but it won’t be so bad if we do it again. I’ll be prepared, and I’ll be able to walk like everyone else.”
“Yoongi-”
“Please,” Yoongi holds both of Hoseok’s hands in his own. They must make a pitiful sight, kneeling on the floor and wrapped up in each other, but he can’t do anything but beg, “This is my only chance.”
Hoseok takes a long, shaky breath, squeezing Yoongi’s hands as tightly as he can.
“Okay.”
…
The snow arrives silently, and the silence carries into the cabin. Yoongi has heard people talk about holding onto things they’re afraid of losing, but Hoseok holds onto him with a desperation he has never heard anyone speak about, driven by the certainty that Yoongi is going to leave. Curled together, wrapped in furs to keep out the cold and the knowledge that the snow will inevitably melt, Yoongi whispers promises against Hoseok’s lips.
“I’ll come visit you,” he insists. Hoseok has been in a dreary mood all day, spirits tampered down like the grass beneath the ice outside, and Yoongi is desperate to assuage his doubts.
“We’ll visit all the time,” Yoongi says, “And you can come visit me, too.”
Hoseok sighs, leaning forward so that his forehead is pressed against Yoongi’s.
“You could just stay here,” he says. Yoongi’s eyes widen, but Hoseok isn’t looking at his face, just at where their bodies are pressed together under the blankets.
Yoongi has certainly fantasized about staying with Hoseok forever. It’s nice here, and he adores spending time with the other man. Still, the village is his home. It’s where he was born and raised, his father and brother are still there, and he wants to go back. At the very least, he wants to see Tae again.
There is also a part of him that wants to return to prove that he can. He wants to be welcomed back by his village before he will feel truly free to leave it.
He doesn’t voice any of this to Hoseok, not right now. Instead, he kisses him deeply.
“I’ll come back,” he promises.
…
They spend the entirety of winter practicing. Unfortunately, Yoongi was wrong- expecting the pain does nothing to lessen it. It still sends stabbing sensations through the entirety of his lower leg every time Hoseok applies the salve. Yoongi learns to bite down his cries of pain, first to convince Hoseok to continue making the salve at all, and then in anticipation of wearing it around the village.
Once he gets past the pain, he has to relearn how to walk. With his foot twisted differently, he has to move his leg in an entirely different way. He feels a bit like a baby, holding onto Hoseok’s shoulders as he stares at his feet, learning how to put one in front of the other. Still, this part of the process is more enjoyable.
“Are you sure?” Hoseok asks. Yoongi nods resolutely, eyeing the hill in front of them.
“I can definitely beat you up there,” he says. Hoseok rolls his eyes.
“Prepare to lose, Yoon.”
“Whatever you say,” Yoongi winks before he takes off running.
Hoseok yells after him, “Hey, that’s not fair! Cheater!”
“It’s not cheating,” Yoongi pants out, “It’s using your advantages.”
He goes faster and focuses more fully on keeping his feet coordinated and beneath him, which is probably why he doesn’t notice anything amiss until Hoseok is barreling in front of him, fully shifted.
“Hey!” he cries out, reaching the top of the hill and letting himself tumble into Hoseok’s fur. Since Jimin’s birthday, Hoseok has been far more willing to shift in front of Yoongi. He told Yoongi he felt like the other man wouldn’t like him if he was reminded of what Hoseok could be, but Yoongi had thrown his own words back at him.
“I like everything about you,” he’d said, giggling at the red on Hoseok’s face.
Now, he’s endeared, wrapping himself around Hoseok’s fur, even as he plays at indignation.
“It’s not fair to shift halfway through the race,” he complains, putting all of his weight onto Hoseok as the other man shifts back. They tumble into the snow in a pile of limbs and laughter.
“It’s perfectly fair,” Hoseok insists, “It’s using your advantages.”
“Hey!” Yoongi tries to get up, but Hoseok holds him on his lap, even though it must be an uncomfortable angle for him. He refuses to let Yoongi go until he gets his victory prize, puckering his lips obnoxiously. Yoongi rolls his eyes but happily gives him what he wants.
…
When he sees the snow starting to melt, the feeling of dread Yoongi has been ignoring since Jimin first asked about his plans makes itself known once again. He’s been teasing Hoseok for being dramatic for months, but now he finds himself clinging to the other man constantly. Odd moments of the day make Yoongi strangely sentimental.
Walking with the salve has also gotten easier, even though the pain hasn’t disappeared. Both Hoseok and Yoongi know it’s almost time for him to leave.
“Yoongi,” Hoseok whispers one morning. They’re laying in late because it’s raining outside. The warm rain can only mean one thing, and it weighs, unspoken, on both of them. They’re lying curled into each other, Yoongi’s back against Hoseok’s chest, and it feels a bit like they’re trying to become one person. Yoongi hums in response, tracing his fingers over where Hoseok is holding him.
“I… I want to be with you before you go, if you want to.”
Yoongi turns, confused.
“We are together?”
Then he sees Hoseok’s face. The other man is bright red, more flushed than when he drinks, and he’s looking down at his hand on Yoongi’s hip.
“Oh!”
Yoongi turns fully. The flush on Hoseok’s cheeks is delightful to behold, one of his favorite sights, and this is a conversation he wants to see Hoseok for.
“We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Hoseok explains, still unable to quite meet Yoongi’s eyes, “I don’t want you to feel like you have to. Being with you is enough.”
Yoongi contemplates the suggestion, reaching forwards and tilting Hoseok’s face upwards.
“But you want to?” Yoongi searches his eyes, “You want me like that?”
Hoseok is nodding before the question fully leaves Yoongi’s lips, his hold getting tighter.
“I do.”
He doesn’t say anything else, and Yoongi knows it’s because he doesn’t want to put any pressure on him to say yes. Yoongi didn’t need to think for long. A shy smile spreads across his lips, and he takes a deep breath.
“I want you like that too,” he admits. Hoseok doesn’t surge forward just yet, keeping Yoongi in a protective embrace.
“Are you sure?” he asks. Everything about him makes Yoongi’s chest feel like melted chocolates, gooey and sweet.
“Hoseok,” he’s not quite whispering, but his voice is quiet because he’s about to give Hoseok the most precious part of himself, “I love you.”
That’s all it takes for Hoseok to start crying, kissing him hard despite his tears. Yoongi feels tears rise in his own eyes, and the feeling never fully goes away, so he makes sure to hold Hoseok as tightly as he can.
…
When the flowers begin to bloom, they say their good-byes.
Hoseok doesn’t cry, but Yoongi is positive he’s just putting on a brave face. They already packed a bag together for Yoongi to take back, with Yoongi’s few meager possessions, several jars of salve, and the clothes Yoongi has claimed for himself from Hoseok’s closet. Yoongi debated whether or not to take the cane, but Hoseok spent so much time making it for him. He’ll hide it in his room once he’s back, but he refuses to leave it behind.
Leaving Hoseok behind is even harder, but the village would never welcome him and a newcomer at the same time. He can’t hold back all of his tears, and Hoseok cradles him against his body for as long as he can. Finally, he steps back and kisses Yoongi’s nose.
“If you don’t leave now, you won’t be able to get there by nightfall, and it looks like it’s going to rain soon,” he says, tucking Yoongi’s hair behind his ears. It’s gotten long in the last year, and Yoongi is surprised he hasn’t really noticed before now.
“I’ll be back,” Yoongi says. Hoseok smiles, but his eyes betray his true feelings. Still, he kisses Yoongi again.
“I know,” he says.
Finally, painstakingly, Yoongi extracts himself from Hoseok’s embrace and makes his way into the forest, every other step shooting pain up his leg.
…
“Unbelievable,” one of the men in front of him gasps. The other merely blinks for a moment before turning to his partner.
“We need to go to the elders immediately.”
Strangely enough, the first people Yoongi encounters on his return are the guards who escorted him to the edge of the forest. Both of them are stunned to see him, and both of them make no effort to hide the way they look at his foot. Yoongi has beaten the rain, but the warm wind is starting to pick up, and the pain in his foot is even more unbearable than usual. It takes a great deal of self-control to keep his face neutral.
“I’ll go let them know you’re here,” Namjoon says, “Jungkook can take you to Taehyung’s, if that’s okay?”
Yoongi nods, giddy, and Namjoon breaks away. Jungkook dutifully guides him through the village, casting anxious glances his way.
“I am not going to do anything to you,” Yoongi informs him, frowning. Jungkook’s eyes go round and he stutters.
“No, no, I know! I just-” he lowers his voice, aware of nosy neighbors already peeking outside their windows at the returning outcast, “I’m just sorry, that’s all. I thought you were dead and it was my fault.”
“Oh,” Yoongi blinks, “I was not expecting that.”
Jungkook shrugs, “It was Namjoon and I that carried out the orders. If anything happened to you, it was on us.”
He looks genuinely sick with guilt, and Yoongi feels bad for him. He sees his logic, but Jungkook is not responsible for labeling him a witch.
“Fortunately,” Yoongi says, choosing his words carefully, “Nothing bad happened, so you don’t need to worry about it.”
Jungkook doesn’t look fully appeased, but his shoulders relax slightly, and he stops sending guilty glances Yoongi’s way. They arrive at Taehyung’s shortly, and it’s clear word has already gotten around when the other man immediately comes flying out the door.
“Hyung!” he cries out, leaping to embrace Yoongi. He holds him tightly around the middle, enough that Yoongi’s laughter is strained.
“Tae, you’re crushing me,” he laughs. The other man releases him, but his wide smile remains. It’s only been a year, but he looks so much older than he last did, and Yoongi mourns the time he lost with him. Taehyung bids Jungkook farewell and drags Yoongi inside as the wind picks up again.
“How are you here, hyung?”
Yoongi smiles at his brother, ignoring the howling wind outside.
“I couldn’t just leave you forever, could I?”
Taehyung laughs, but his face turns somber.
“I thought you were dead,” he admits. Yoongi shakes his head.
“I thought I would be, too, but I met someone who helped me survive.”
Taehyung’s face twists in surprise. “You met someone in the forest? Is that how your foot changed?”
Yoongi nods, telling Taehyung most of the truth, “Yes, his name is Hoseok and he helped me.. heal it. You should come with me when I visit him, I think you’ll get along very well.”
“When you visit him?” Taehyung’s surprise turns to confusion. “I don’t think the elders want us to go into the forest.”
Now, Yoongi frowns.
“Well, I survived it once. It’s not that dangerous, Tae-ah.”
Taehyung looks uncomfortable, but they both drop the subject.He shows Yoongi to a room where he can unpack his stuff- it’s a relief that Taehyung has his own accommodations now, so that Yoongi can put off confronting his own father.
When he opens his bag to unpack, he finds an unexpected bundle at the top of his bag. It fits in the palm of his hand, and he eagerly unfolds it to find a note and a wooden whistle.
My love, the note opens, and Yoongi already begins to tear up.
My love,
I wasn’t sure how to give this to you, so I decided to take the coward's way and slip it into your bag this morning. By the time you’re reading this, I’m sure I’m already missing you terribly. I don’t want to ever stand in your way, especially of your home, but your village sounds as though it can be cruel. Please take this and keep it with you, both to ease my mind and for protection.
The whistle in this package is enchanted. (Jimin did it, not I, so you can have confidence in the strength of the enchantment.) Should you use it, I will hear, and I will be there to protect you.
I love you, Yoongi. I hope everything goes well, and that this whistle can be no more than an accessory. If things go downhill, don’t hesitate to use it- there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
Yours in everything,
Hoseok
Yoongi is fighting back tears as he sets the note aside to eye the whistle. It’s simple and quite small, barely thicker than his finger, and it’s painted red with an apple blossom carved along the side.
“What’s that?” Taehyung says from the doorway. Yoongi jumps, turning to face him, but there’s no time to answer as there’s suddenly a knock at the door. They both go to answer it, and Yoongi slips the whistle into his pocket. It’s a different warrior, neither Jungkook or Namjoon, and his face is unreadable.
“The elders want you to join us for a meal, before they review your case, Min Yoongi.” Yoongi and Taehyung stand, thanking the warrior, and obediently follow him to the dining hall at the center of the village. The pain in his foot makes it difficult to hold onto one specific thought, and it's disorienting when combined with all the memories suddenly rushing back. It’s been so long since Yoongi saw this many people, and the sound of whispering as they enter the hall is almost as deafening as the rising wind from outside.
“Min Yoongi,” the leader of the elders calls out, voice echoing in the large room. “You’ve returned. What a surprise!”
His smile is flat as he insists that Yoongi sit near the elder council members, tearing him away from Taehyung. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Jungkook pulling Tae aside and whispering something urgently in his ear, but they’re both whisked in different directions too quickly for him to truly think anything of it.
The dining hall is darker than Yoongi remembers. Candles are lit along the center of the table, but their glow feels sinister. The small windows that would normally let in some natural light do nothing but reveal the encroaching dark clouds.
“It’s a blessing you made it before the storm,” one of the elders remarks. Yoongi nods in agreement but says nothing. The social rules he’s slowly abandoned over the last year come back to him in full force, a paralyzing amount of information.
Food is brought out, meat and vegetables that taste dull on Yoongi’s tongue. It all takes too long to chew, sitting blandly in Yoongi’s mouth for far too long with each bite. It’s all cold when he swallows it, uncomfortable in his throat. The feeling of a utensil in his hand, a previously unquestionable need, is cold and foreign.
The elders speak amongst themselves but make no effort to include Yoongi in their conversations. Yoongi counts this as a blessing, focusing instead on his food, his foot, and his brother. He squints, searching for his face in the candlelight, and finds him talking to Namjoon, mouth set in a frustrated frown. Namjoon nods at something Taehyung says, and then they both look towards him. Yoongi is surprised and starts to turn away, but Taehyung shakes his head and mouths something indecipherable.
“Are you done eating?” One of the council members asks. Yoongi turns away from the pair, despite Taehyung’s frantic eyes, to face the council instead.
“Yes, sir,” he says, keeping his head bowed slightly. The elders cast glances amongst each other, and then the leader stands.
“Brothers and sisters, Min Yoongi has returned to us, after a year of being cast out into the Great Forest!” He pauses as if he’s waiting for people to cheer, but the dining hall is uncharacteristically silent. The rain has begun, and the sound of it on the windows is the only one as the elder clears his throat and begins again.
“This is a feat that has never been accomplished by a member of our village before. Combined with the miraculous recovery of his foot injury, it seems almost too good to be true.”
The rain picks up, and a crack of thunder interrupts the elder. He looks annoyed but continues on nevertheless.
“The court can now conclude, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Min Yoongi is a witch.”
Yoongi rises to his feet immediately, but warriors have moved to block the only entrance.
“What? But I did what you said!”
“So did we,” one of the other elders points out smuggly, “We said we would reconsider.”
Yoongi is suddenly consumed by awareness of the pain in his foot, where it is curved unnaturally to please these people.
“So what now?” he grits his teeth, “You exile me again?”
The leader shakes his head, “No, the punishment is death when we are certain.”
Yoongi is shaking with an unfamiliar rage. He moves as if a man possessed, pulling the whistle out of his pocket and blowing it as hard as he can before making a break for exit. The warriors may be stronger than Yoongi, but they clearly were not expecting him to be able to move so fast. In all honesty, they probably didn’t expect him to run at all. Yoongi sprints- only one of them has been practicing alongside a beast, after all- and he finally stops in the village square. The rain is falling harder than before, and he can feel the bandage around his leg beginning to get wet. Warriors stand at the ready, panting for breath, and the other elders and villagers have spilled out into the crowd, too. He sees Taehyung and Namjoon, he sees Jungkook, he sees his father.
“Brothers and sisters,” he cries mockingly, practically screaming to be heard over the storm. His voice shifts to something more sincere but no less loud, “You are all more my brothers and sisters than theirs.”
The gathered villagers look at him, expressions of shock and confusion and fear. Amongst them, Yoongi sees a few expressions of awe.
“I can do nothing to please them,” he yells, “And once I am gone, they will find something else to come after.”
The crowd gasps suddenly, and Yoongi knows it isn’t him. He can sense Hoseok behind him, fully shifted, and he reaches his hand out so that the beast comes up beside him. Hoseok growls and bares his teeth at the men weilding weapons in their direction.
“Stay here, or don’t,” Yoongi tells the crowd, “But know that you will never be happy trying to please the village. You’re welcome to join us if you want to please yourselves instead.”
Yoongi looks up to the sky, wondering if tears will come but feeling nothing other than a sense of relief. The pain in Yoongi’s foot is all but gone as he turns to walk away, the salve rinsed away by the rain. With one hand on Hoseok’s side, Yoongi limps back into the forest.
…
Hoseok and Yoongi walk home in the rain, and Yoongi finds himself giggling at the deja vu when he enters the cabin dripping wet. Hoseok shifts back and kisses him more deeply than ever before as they stand in the middle of his house, soaking the carpet with rain water.
“I was so worried when I heard the whistle,” he says when they finally separate, “I’ve never run so fast in my life.”
They settle back into their lives relatively quickly. Jimin and Jin come to visit, wanting to welcome Yoongi back, and it’s while they’re visiting that sudden loud rustling draws the group outside. Rather than a threat, Yoongi finds his brother and the two guards. Jimin takes one look at the group and groans.
“This means we have to build more cabins, doesn’t it?”
It definitely does, but for the time being, they simply celebrate being together. Taehyung even brought Yoongi’s strings with him, so he can finally show Hoseok his talents. After a while, he turns the music duties over to Jungkook, smiling at the way Taehyung and Jimin are already whispering conspiratorially to each other and the exasperation in Jin’s eyes as Namjoon explains his preferences for fish. Jungkook is good at the strings, too, and soon, everyone has given up conspiring or arguing for dancing.
Yoongi sits to the side, listening to the music. It only takes a few minutes for Hoseok to appear.
"Dance with me, hyung," he begs, pulling at Yoongi's arms. Yoongi grins widely up at him, gums on display.
"I'm not very coordinated," he says. Hoseok laughs, harmonious and beautiful, and Yoongi allows himself to be pulled to his feet despite his protesting.
"I don't want you to be coordinated," Hoseok says as he wraps his arms around Yoongi's shoulders and kisses him again, because he can, "I just want you to be with me."