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jeongguk’s jaw clenches tightly. he’s sweating bullets, but he pushes through, stupidly enough. just a little while longer, he can do it. he lifts his bow and knocks back an arrow, shoots an enemy straight in the throat.
“jeongguk, we gotta get out of here!“
“i know, dammit!” he shouts back, firing another arrow and missing terribly. it’s fifty fifty at this point, his vision swims and doubles. he ducks into a hollowed out trunk.
“fuck.” he hisses, his vest drenched in blood at this point. he curls in on himself, pain radiating from his shoulder.
“jeongguk!” a hiss, and he yelps as another arrow cuts through his thigh. he follows the angle to a nearly invisible target, but it’s gone before he can focus on it. he huffs, and tries to pull the arrow out, only to realize it’s barbed. he lets out a strangled cry, pressing his face into his other thigh. he sobs.
“jeongguk, fuck, love, come on. come on.”
they get him back to the bunker, eventually. he’s woozy already, but someone shoves a flask into his hand and demands he drink. he does, wincing at the harsh taste and leaning back into the arms of the person behind him.
he’s still crying, and when they break off the arrow and shove it through his shoulder, he sobs, pulling away as they pour alcohol over it. he jerks, and they shush him and apologize as they shove cloth into the wound to staunch the blood.
his thigh, however, is an entirely different story. he fights it, deliriously pleading and struggling.
“jeongguk, we have to take it out or it’ll get infected.”
“no, no, please, please, it hurts, please-“
“poor kid.” someone mumbles in his ear, humming something soft and soothing as they make him take another swig of the alcohol. he whimpers, gritting his teeth.
“no, put this in his mouth. i don’t want him clenching his jaw like that.”
there’s a folded cloth pressed into his mouth, and he bites down harshly.
“okay, jeongguk, i’m gonna cut around it so the barbs don’t get caught, yeah? just try to breathe.”
he’s whimpering as they carve out his flesh. he can’t stop, his fingers clutching someone’s so tightly he thinks he dislocated a finger.
jeongguk lets out a keen into the cloth, a guttural, heart wrenching thing, whenever they pull it out, his fist pounding on the floor. he lets go of the cloth, panting.
“you’re okay, it’s okay.” they whisper, and alcohol is poured over that one too. jeongguk’s muscle tenses and relaxes, and he lets out one last broken sob, and they apply pressure, wrapping it.
when he wakes up the next day, he’s aching and exhausted. there’s blood everywhere, and seokjin is passed out next to him. he tries sitting up, but immediately, jimin sets a hand on his chest, guiding him down with a comforting hush. he presses a cup of water into his hands. he hums gratefully as he drinks.
“how are you feeling? no fever?”
jeongguk shakes his head. “i don’t think so.” he says, voice cracking. he lets jimin feel his forehead.
“no, seems okay. tired?”
“exhausted.”
“most likely the blood loss. pain?”
“six.”
“seems normal. i’m making tea now. i’ll check your wounds in a bit.“
“okay.”
“just relax.”
“jimin.” a muted voice comes from across the bunker. “are you going to tell him?”
“tell him… ah. yes.” jimin turns back to jeongguk. “we, ah, how do i put this? we..”
“we hogtied the archer who hit you.” hoseok says bluntly. jeongguk’s head snaps to crane to the other side of the room (which hurts like hell), where hoseok looks comfortable whittling a figurine with a sharp blade, eyes glinting dangerously as he nods towards the hostage opposite him.
“holy shit. what?”
the man sits there, just as hoseok said, with a piece of coarse rope between his teeth, hands behind his back. his expression appears to be a mixture of fear and annoyance, but only a dash of either. his shaggy hair is near white and he looks pale. jeongguk spots the cause- a large cut above his knee- and he grabs his flask of whisky, taking a swig before scooting towards the man and pouring some over it.
jeongguk’s watches his reaction closely. he lets out a little grunt, eyes screwed shut.
jeongguk loosens the rope behind his head, pulling it from his mouth and holding the bottle up to his lips. he accepts easily.
“thank you.” he says carefully, assessing jeongguk more critically. “terribly sorry about shooting you. twice.”
jeongguk snorts. “you’re an excellent shot. why didn’t you aim to kill?”
“maybe because i didn’t want to kill.” he says, although it holds a bit of bite, and jeongguk sloshes more alcohol onto his wound. he hisses.
“what’s your name, hm?”
“yoongi.”
“hm.” he looks at him, unimpressed. “you used barbed arrows, though. hurt like a bitch coming out. why?”
“i bet it did.” he chuckles humorously, letting his head fall back. he grunts in pain when jeongguk presses down on the wound. “if you’re asking why i shot you, it wasn’t my choice.” he confesses.
“who’s choice was it, then? because it certainly seems like it was, when you shot me twice-“
“i didn’t have a choice, okay? i fucking-“
“you’d better not raise your voice again.” hoseok interrupts from across the room. “if you wake up seokjin-hyung after he’s stayed up all night making sure jeongguk didn’t bleed out, he’s gonna be pissed.”
“i’m already awake.” seokjin says, “jeongguk-ah, get your ass back in bed. i don’t need you reopening anything.”
“shit, sorry hyung.” jeongguk apologizes, moving back towards the blanket pile. seokjin pulls his pants down to check on his thigh.
“so who made you?” jin asks yoongi, who clearly doesn’t expect to be addressed.
“my master.”
“you’re an elf?” hoseok asks, scrambling over and brushing the shaggy hair away from his ears, and sure as shit, they were pointed and loaded with jewelry. he sits back on his heels. “well, fuck.”
yoongi clearly is uncomfortable, jerks his head away and shakes it so that his ears are covered again. he clears his throat. “i didn’t want to hurt you. so, yeah, i aim for nonlethal areas so they don’t ask questions.”
“it’s much harder to hit someone in the thigh than it is the stomach,” jeongguk says.
yoongi holds his gaze, and he pulls his hair back with a piece of fabric tied around his wrist.
“well, we have one thing in common.” he says, and watches yoongi’s eyes grow wide as he sees jeongguk’s pointed ears.
jeongguk’s recovery takes a long while. seokjin keeps him in his bed for days, and when jeongguk can get away with moving for a bit, he unties yoongi and massages his back.
he keeps trying to sneak out to hunt, and jimin keeps him in line.
the rest don’t quite understand what masters are. they’re human, so they don’t understand how it works, and jeongguk does his best to explain it, but there’s still a disconnect.
“it’s like.. most elves don’t have a choice, whether they can differ from their master’s rules. it’s not just a matter of their safety, but also, it’s physically painful to stray from an order. an elf is connected to their master magically.”
jimin rubs his back carefully, and he huffs a sigh. “i just- i get it, you know? he didn’t want to. he had to. if i have to guess, this is about hoseok-hyung.”
“okay, how do we break the bond?” seokjin asks.
and it’s that easy.
jeongguk is a force to be reckoned with, on magical terms, and it’s child’s play to break the servitude bond. it leaves them both exhausted, and jeongguk is out of commission for a week, whereas yoongi is kicking it in only a few days, the tattoo (brand) on his heel dispersing like stars scattered in the sky.
yoongi is nice. he’s rough and sturdy, but he’s soft too, somehow sliding in perfectly with the group as soon as their last traces of uncertainty about him have vanished.
it’s not long before yoongi’s eyes catch on jeongguk’s tattoos in a way that’s more than just admiring, before he watches jeongguk’s hands as they work through someone’s hair, braiding.
and yoongi kisses him.
it throws jeongguk off. he doesn’t expect a kiss from him, and yoongi looks embarrassed, but it isn’t unwelcome, not at all. jeongguk kisses him again and smiles as he continues weaving a basket together.
yoongi’s bright red when jeongguk looks back up at him.
hoseok tells yoongi what happened with him, all while jimin and seokjin snicker and jeongguk chimes in to complain.
“well, jeongguk had established himself as a naval commander, and he worked for my father. i was absolutely enamored, and he kept telling me-“
“i kept telling him that he was going to get himself in trouble!! his father wasn’t very fond of me after i admitted to being an elf, but he couldn’t do much about it because i was-“
“the best commander he’d ever had, yes, jeongguk-ah.” seokjin nods, and jeongguk’s face gets flaming red.
“hey!! i was!”
“anyways, he kept trying to keep our relationship to business because i was the prince and i didn’t like that. oh, you should’ve seen his face when he found me in the cargo!”
“ah, hyung, you were so sick, shut up!!”
“you looked so funny, you had no idea i’d snuck in, you were so worried-“
“because your father would think i had kidnapped you!! and guess what, i was right!”
“yeah, yeah, whatever!”
yoongi just watches and laughs.
jeongguk soon starts questioning yoongi. who cut his hair, why, and why he’s so embarrassed about it.
he just doesn’t want to step into that sensitive of a topic and upset yoongi, but it’s important to him to know.
“hyung, can i ask you something?”
“mh?”
“why has your hair been cut?”
yoongi freezes in his arms, and jeongguk rubs his wrist gently.
“i didn’t follow orders.” he said simply, toying with the shaggy white strands. “i was supposed to kill someone and i told them i wouldn’t do it.”
“you shouldn’t have had to cut it for that.” jeongguk says softly, stroking through it gently. “it’s okay to not want to harm. i’m sorry you had a shitty master.”
“yeah.” yoongi’s fingers trail over his ear. “it’s.. humiliating. i’m supposed to be lucky,” he mumbles, peering up at a strand between his fingers. “white hair is lucky and they cut it off.”
“black hair is unlucky and mine is long.” jeongguk smiles softly, pressing a kiss on yoongi’s lips, “so it all evens out anyway.”
“god, get a room, you two.” jimin throws a piece of bread at them, and jeongguk shoots up.
“when did you make bread?! oh my god, where is it?” jeongguk’s voice gets louder with excitement.
“i made it while you lot were word fucking in your love corner!” jimin yells back, cackling as jeongguk attacks him with a long kiss, running away with half the loaf in his hands after he has utterly distracted jimin. “you sneaky fucker!!”
“no! hyung!!” jeongguk lobs the loaf towards yoongi, who catches it and starts running as jimin nearly tackles jeongguk.
it’s that moment that seokjin walks in, “there’s plenty of bread, boys, stop fighting.”
“no, it’s mine.” jeongguk struggles to worm his way out from under jimin, but it’s no use, his thighs are wrapped around his waist and it’s a losing battle. “hyung! run!!”
“he looks a little preoccupied.” jimin remarks, and jeongguk looks up to see hoseok has captivated yoongi’s attention.
“dammit!”
“look, there’s plenty.” seokjin giggles, showing off the basket full.
“no.” he bemoans, reaching longingly for the basket as seokjin sets it a few feet from the fire. “hyung, my bread.”
“there’s plenty, brat.” seokjin smacks his calf where he can reach, and he giggles.
yoongi’s been with them three summers before they know it.
seokjin and hoseok are in town, on their once a month trip, whenever their next disaster strikes.
jimin wakes up in the night and he’s not sure why, until he notices how quiet it is.
jeongguk is sleeping, sprawled out on their blankets. and that’s weird. jeongguk is usually up, when jimin wakes up. yoongi stays asleep as jimin pulls himself out of his arms, and he grabs a dagger as he stands in the entrance of the bunker.
the forest is quiet.
he stays silent too, leaving his shoes in the entrance and stepping outside.
immediately, he’s swooped down on, and he ducks, pulling his knife up and slashing in the direction of the intruder.
there’s a hand in his hair, and he yelps, and there’s another over his mouth.
a husky voice shushes him, and he jerks away, struggling and trying to make as much noise as possible. the man curses, and jimin manages to knock his head back against his hard enough to crack, and the guy lets go to hold his face with a curse.
“jeongguk-ah!” he shouts, struggling.
he has the first attacker pinned to the floor, and jeongguk comes rushing out.
yoongi is out the door following the other before jeongguk can decide who to go after.
he races in the direction the other attacker went, and it’s difficult to find him, until he realizes he’s in the tree. he only has to hit it twice, and the branch cracks, sending him crashing to the ground, with a pained groan.
“you’re big.” is all yoongi says, gripping him by the arm and forcing him up, patting him down and pulling out a few knives and a dart gun. he throws the man’s satchel over his shoulder and grips him by the hair, dragging him back to the bunker. jimin’s hands are scraped pretty badly, and jeongguk is tying the man up.
the latter looks fucking exhausted. he’s alert regardless.
“what’s your name, pretty boy?” jeongguk asks the brute when he ties him up, tight enough to give him rope burns.
he’s bulky, yeah, but he looks more scared than his scrawny friend, who’s glaring at him with an unfairly pretty scowl.
“na-“
“hyung.” the skinny one says, “don’t. we don’t owe them shit.”
“you kind of do.” jimin’s arms are crossed. he looks tired too. yoongi nods.
jeongguk moves forward with a cloth, going to wipe the blood off of his face, only to be bitten. immediately, he punches the guy in the face, and he grunts, keeps his head down.
“i’m being nice. so you can be too.” jeongguk says, and he pulls his face up by the jaw, wiping away the blood gently. “what’s your name?”
“taehyung.” he says after a moment of internal debate.
“good. and you?”
“namjoon.”
“good, that’s good. i’m jungkook.” he says.
“i thought.. but, you’re the elf?”
“we’re both elves.” yoongi speaks up. “who are you looking for?”
“jeongguk.” he says carefully. “but i thought elves had blonde hair.”
“not always, sweetheart,” jeongguk says, patting his cheek and sitting back. “is this about hoseok-hyung again?”
“some fucker gave us a shit ton of gold for you.” taehyung mutters, “i didn’t really want to. all he said was that you were an elf.”
“who sent you?”
“i don’t know. he was wearing a cloak, he just told us who to look for and paid up front.”
“alright,” he sighs, “you’re not going to hurt any of my partners or i’ll cut your toes off and feed them to you. am i clear?”
“crystal.” taehyung replies, namjoon nodding earnestly, and jeongguk starts cutting namjoon loose.
“we’ll watch in rotations. hyungs, sleep. i’ve got it.”
taehyung stays awake, while namjoon sleeps behind him, and they make eye contact over the fire as jeongguk whittles a carving for hoseok.
hoseok admires his skills and replicates them crudely for him, so he returns the gesture when he has the inspiration.
“you know, yoongi-hyung tried to kill me, too. a little over two years. he shot me twice.” jeongguk snorts, and sees taehyung glance at yoongi before his dark gaze settles back on him. “in the thigh, and the shoulder. it hurt a lot. hyungs tied him up and kept him over there until i woke up the next day and untied him. his master made him hurt a lot of people that he didn’t want to.”
“why did he?”
“he had to. and when he didn’t, they cut his hair. it’s important, to a high elf, to have long hair. it’s a symbol of respect and loyalty, and when or if your master decides you’ve broken that trust, they cut it. he’s ashamed of it. getting better, but he’s still ashamed.”
taehyung shifts uncomfortably.
“he shouldn’t be. it doesn’t feel good, to hurt.” he says after a moment.
jeongguk briefs seokjin and hoseok on the situation when they get back a few hours later, and hoseok looks devastated. he presses a kiss to the side of his head, and jeongguk urges them to sleep.
“are these all of your partners?”
jeongguk hums and nods. it’s a long while later that he speaks up again. “hoseok’s father sent you after me.”
taehyung’s face pales. “his father?”
“mhm. he’s upset about it.” he says, and as if on cue, hoseok rolls in his sleep, eyebrows drawn together.
“i just needed the money. i’m sorry.”
“i get it,” jeongguk says, leaning forward to whittle some more. “hyung just feels bad for me. he came with me because he loved me, but his dad thinks i kidnapped him. keeps sending people after me.”
they fall into a comfortable silence, and when he looks up next, taehyung is asleep, curling against namjoon. he keeps carving until it starts to look like a fairy and the sun is just starting to turn the sky purple outside the bunker.
“i’ll take a turn watching, jeongguk-ah.” seokjin says, but jeongguk just shakes his head.
“i’m okay, hyung. get some more sleep.”
“i can’t, sweetheart,” he presses his nose into jeongguk’s hair, “you look really tired.”
jeongguk doesn’t look tired often.
“go to sleep, jeongguk-ah. i’ll make some soup when you wake up, hm?”
“hyung, i insist. please go back to sleep. i’m fine.”
seokjin sighs, and moves behind him, rubbing his shoulders.
jeongguk practically melts, letting out a little groan. “hyung. i know your tricks. stop it.”
“nope. no tricks. just back rubs.”
“liar.”
the elf is having trouble keeping his eyes open, but he stubbornly tries anyways, but then seokjin starts playing with his hair, braiding, and jeongguk is a goner.
he wakes up at nearly three am, and jimin and namjoon are talking quietly.
he sits up, rubbing his face with a little huff.
jimin smiles after seeing him, and jeongguk comes over to cuddle with jimin, still half asleep.
“hyung made bread, today. want some?”
jeongguk hums, and he ends up nodding off again curled up in jimin’s lap. when he wakes up, jimin is still on watch, and it’s an hour later.
jeongguk doesn’t sleep much, honestly. he knows it’s not healthy, but it’s just how it is.
“hyung,” he calls, and yoongi’s head snaps up. he’s the only one awake.
“are you okay?”
“yeah, fine. i just wanted to know if we had any more glimmer?”
“no, we ran out. why?”
“i can’t sleep.”
“be careful, baby.”
“yeah, i will.”
jeongguk looks for the plant carefully, examining each leaf before plucking it.
glimmer was often mistaken for a poisonous other, the only difference being a discoloration. pure glimmer was cream colored, whereas the lookalike could be differentiated by red tips.
jeongguk was very careful to not mix these up.
“hello.”
jeongguk startles, and he drops a few leaves. “uhm, hello?”
“i noticed you were looking for glimmer leaves. i hear they make a quite potent poison.”
“ah, no, that’s moonflower leaves. they have red on the ends, see?” he points to another one. “glimmer leaves can help with headaches.”
“it’s dangerous to be out on your own at night, isn’t it?”
“i could say the same to you.”
“why don’t you come with me?”
“i don’t think i want to.” jeongguk replies, taking a step back, and then there’s a flash of silver in the man’s hand, and jeongguk starts running.
he can’t scream until he’s tackled, and he fights as hard as he can, but there’s no use- he feels the knife digging into his arm, and he grunts in pain, and then the man grabs his braid and cuts it off.
the man flees immediately, and jeongguk is in shock for a minute, touching his hair. his hair is gone.
they cut his hair.
he runs home, crying inconsolably, and yoongi’s trying to calm him down anyways, while hoseok wipes the blood from his cheek and attempts to find the source.
“jeongguk, honey, i need you to try to calm down, okay? just try to calm down, i don’t know where you’re bleeding from. can you tell me what hurts?”
jeongguk just shakes his head and sobs, burying his face in yoongi’s lap.
taehyung looks shaken up whenever hoseok sighs and looks away. hoseok gestures for him to come closer, and he pulls him into a light hug. “he’s okay. he’s just upset.”
“hey, hoseok-ah,” yoongi calls, voice soft. “it’s his arm.”
seokjin takes off his shirt, pulling off the one side to show a nasty cut on his forearm. it wasn’t very big, but he treated it anyway.
yoongi is humming softly, a hopeless attempt to get jeongguk to stop crying, and jimin looks like he’s seen a ghost from across the den.
“what’s wrong, jimin-ah?”
“i’ve- i’ve never seen him cry this much. is he okay? what’s wrong?”
“his hair, someone cut his hair.” namjoon whispers, and jimin goes pale.
jeongguk eventually tires himself out and falls into a fitful sleep.
the next morning, he sleeps in, and wakes up numb.
“hey, darling. how are you feeling?” seokjin asks, concern clear on face.
he just shrugs, shaking his head.
“i made soup,” taehyung says hopefully, and jeongguk smiles weakly, shaking his head.
“it’s kind of cute,” seokjin says, running his hand through the short strands. “i could trim it to make it look better.”
jeongguk pulls away, swallowing. “it’s fine, hyung,” he clears his throat. “i’m going on a walk.”
hoseok finds him a few hours later in a hollowed tree trunk.
“hey.”
“hi.” his face is red, and his voice is brittle. “sorry.”
“no need to apologize,” he says, settling onto the moss in front of the tree. “you wanna talk about it?”
“no.” he sniffles.
“okay, that’s okay.” hoseok grabs his hand, running his thumb over the tattoos there. “everyone’s pretty worried.”
“i know.”
“jimin’s pretty worried,” he clarifies.
“i know.” jeongguk plays with a strand of grass. “i don’t cry this much often.”
“taehyung and jin-hyung have been stress cooking, yoongi’s been sleeping, and namjoon is knitting a veil. yoongi said you might appreciate it.”
jeongguk closes his eyes for a minute, bracing himself.
“i made this for you.” hoseok hands him a wood carving, unfinished. “i’ve been working on it for your birthday for months, but i thought maybe you’d enjoy seeing the progress.”
“it’s lovely.” jeongguk smiles weakly. it’s just a little boat shaped carving, but he holds it tightly before pressing it back into hoseok’s palm. he takes a deep breath, “hyung, i feel bad.”
“why’s that?”
“because i kept telling hyung that it didn’t matter if his hair had been cut, because he did the right thing, and i- i just.. i didn’t realize how important my own hair could be. i didn’t understand why he was so upset..”
“who did it?” hoseok asks after a few moments.
“i’m not sure.”
he nods carefully. “one of my father’s men?”
“most likely.”
“i’m so sorry. maybe i should just-“
“no.” jeongguk grabs his hand tightly, “no, hyung, don’t even say that.”
“jeongguk, darling, you’ve gotten hurt so much because of me. i don’t want-“
“i don’t care, hyung. i love you.”
“i love you too-“
“then that’s all that matters. i don’t care.”
“okay,” hoseok whispers.
jeongguk comes back home with hoseok, and he eats some of the food they’ve made for him. he thanks them quietly, and he lets seokjin cut his hair, shaking and flinching often.
he’s never had his hair cut, and doesn’t enjoy the noise the shears make.
he sleeps for a long time. it doesn’t happen often, but he’s curled up in jimin’s arms and starts crying again, and falls back asleep after a moment. he sleeps until the sun sets and past the sun rise, and when it’s high noon, he rises.
namjoon is almost finished making his veil. he comes over to see if it will cover his hair neatly.
jeongguk nearly breaks down as he adjusts it. he thanks him and hands it back, and namjoon grabs his things and keeps knitting.
“hey, you okay?” yoongi asks him, and he shrugs. yoongi nods, pulling him into a tight hug. “i felt the same. they made me cut it myself, which i think is almost worse.”
“why didn’t you cover it?”
“didn’t regret what i’d done,” he replies simply.
“i don’t regret it either.” he says, looking to where namjoon works. “why did you tell him i’d want one?”
“you don’t have to regret it. i just chose not to wear one,” he says, “i don’t think you need to wear one. i just thought you may want one. your hair was long, i can’t imagine you would want to keep it uncovered.”
he takes a deep breath in. “my hair wasn’t very long, when it got cut again. shoulder length. got it cut when i was fourteen, too.”
“why?”
“i just wanted to. didn’t like that everyone fawned over it, that master always threatened me with it. it didn’t hold any meaning to me at the time,” yoongi huffs. “but after that, i was shunned. shamed into hiding it. it felt bad, and it wasn’t a good time.”
“so you started to care again?”
“yeah. i did, and my master made me cut it when i fucked up. it’s only just grew long enough to hide my ears before we met.”
“were you embarrassed?”
“yeah, of course i was. i was really embarrassed of it, but i didn’t want to wear a veil- in my head, i did something wrong, i disobeyed, and i deserved to be shunned for that.”
“you don’t think that anymore, do you?”
“no, no. i don’t.”
jeongguk does wear the veil. he doesn’t like his short hair, pulls the veil forward anytime he sees his reflection.
hoseok sends out a letter a few weeks after, reaming his father out for all the damage he’d caused to jeongguk’s health, and how upset he’d made the prince. he asks seokjin to send it out when he goes into town, and they aren’t bothered any longer.
it’s a summer evening, when the sun is still setting and the moon shines above, when hoseok pulls jeongguk into his favorite clearing, lined with moonflowers and honeygrass, and he gets down on one knee.
jeongguk is thoroughly startled. he manages to nod his consent, and marvels over the wooden ring hoseok had clearly carved so lovingly, but he’s near tears, pressing a long kiss to his lips.
“yes? you will, jeongguk?”
“yes, yes, hyung. yes,” he nods furiously, wiping his tears and getting on his knees with him. “i want to marry you.”
“thank god.” seokjin says, and jeongguk startles again. “i didn’t buy all of it for nothing. come on, there’s booze waiting.”
and they drink and laugh and cry and celebrate, because they deserve to.
they deserve to be happy.