Chapter Text
Jeongguk was aware of the whole situation in between his "boss", an old and grumpy black magic witch called Yoongi, and the king of Bangtan. The king was trying to cheat on a 18-year-old deal between himself and the witch.
The dragon pitied the poor guy and his ignorance. He knew the witch wouldn't take it easy on him.
Jeongguk knew it wasn't solely for the prize that Yoongi was fighting; it was his reputation. He couldn't let a pretentious king go all around saying he managed to outsmart him.
Everybody in the Enchanted Forest knew what the king was refusing to pay his part of the deal, but no one knew what, exactly, was the price. It was a secret between both men, and a part of the deal was - that it would remain a secret.
Not even Jeongguk knew what Yoongi's part of the deal was. The witch always refused to tell him, and the dragon knew it was mostly because Yoongi had signed a contract stating that he would never tell anyone, but still, Jeongguk had a sense it was also because the witch was somehow ashamed of the price.
He always thought it had something to do with sex. That was the only reason Yoongi would be so ashamed, right? As the king, even though already in his forties, was so much of a hot guy.
What he wasn't expecting, however, was for the witch to appear right in front of him while he was lounging in front of his cabin, in the middle of the woods, after a long and high flight around the region.
"You!" Yoongi yelled, pointing a finger at his face. Jeongguk had been on a chair, shirtless, dozing off in the summer breeze, and jumped in surprise by seeing the witch.
"Ah?!" the dragon exclaimed very intelligently.
Yoongi was completely restless, pacing back and forth in front of Jeongguk, looking confused and anxious.
"Uh, what can I help you with, master?" Jeongguk started hesitantly.
"Oh shut the crap Jeongguk!" he yelled, still pacing back and forth. The dragon feared he would dig a hole in the ground.
"Yoongi hyung, please calm down? What happened?" he stood up and grabbed the shorter man's shoulders to stop him.
"You know what happened."
"Ok. But… so what? If he refused to give it to you, why can't you just crash in and take it?" Jeongguk asked exasperated. He had to admit that it kind of settled him off to see his ever so calm hyung in this state.
"I can't. It's something he has to give to me." Yoongi murmured.
A dreadfull expression crossed the youngster's face as he took a step back.
"…It's sex, isn't it-"
"It's not sex goddammit!!" Yoongi yelled flustered, his cheeks getting red in embarrassment and anger.
"So what is it?!" Jeongguk threw his arms up, he was so tired of asking the same question every damn time.
"I can't tell you!"
"But the king already broke the deal, it doesn't make a difference if you tell me!"
"…I don't want to tell you." Yoongi answered more silently and Jeongguk huffed once more in annoyance and turned to retreat back to his cabin.
"In this case I can't help you at all, but have a good day." He said dryly.
"No." Yoongi said coldly and in a blink of an eye Jeongguk was frozen in his spot, surrounded by the light blue magic of the witch. "You don't get to turn your back at me, not now. Not after everything I did to you, kid." Yoongi walked towards the frozen boy, only his eyeballs moving.
"I need to do something to get back at him. Like blackmail. Something he treasures…" the witch stopped his wonder and looked at the dragon in front of him. With a sigh, he waved his hand and the freezing spell was broken.
Jeongguk almost fell backwards when he saw himself free, but quickly composed himself in front of his master. He knew he had to try and help, after all, the witch was the sole reason he was alive to begin with.
"Yoongi hyung, what the king has, is it an action, or an object?"
Yoongi looked troubled for a moment before mumbled, quite hesitantly "…More like and object. Why?"
"If it's an object, and you can't take it away from him… Take another object. Like, one that has the same value for him. I'm gonna bet it's an emotional value, as Yoongi hyung is filthy rich-"
"It's not exactly an object." Yoongi still looked troubled while he mumbled that, and for a second Jeongguk could swear he saw guilt flash in his eyes.
"But does the king has more of it? Like, copies of it or at least almost?" Jeongguk tried to rationalize even though he had so little information.
"…I guess. …He has… other two?... …Yeah, one older and one younger. They're not the same, though. They're not what we agreed on." his face darkened when he remembered the betrayal of the king.
"But they do have the same value for him, right?" Jeongguk continued.
"Yes, totally. But what are you trying to say, exactly?"
"I'm saying that you should take one of these, maybe both, or maybe just one to start with," Jeongguk was getting more and more excited with his brilliant, yet vague, idea "and let him know you were the one to steal it. Teach him a lesson, hyung! And don't let him take it back from you until you give him what's yours!! Like, like a trade, or an abduction! If they have the same value as what he's keeping from you, he'll at least consider trading it if you put it in danger!!All you need to do is scare him and- Hyung! Hyung?!"
Jeongguk had got so worked up in his speech that he didn't even notice Yoongi having an epiphany and disappearing right in front of him.
Jeongguk just shrugged. He knew that whatever his master was up to, he would know the next morning when he got to the nearest village for fresh bread.
------
The king was restless since the first visit of the witch of the darkness. That had been the last day. In his middle child's birthday.
They didn't throw a party by request of the king himself. His son, Jimin, was a huge party goer, so it low-key broke the king's heart to deny him a 18th birthday party, but he knew it was for the best. He couldn't risk it.
He couldn't risk losing his child to an evil witch. Even if it was partly his own fault his son was in danger, and no one besides him and the witch knew about it:
His realm had been falling apart on a horrid and endless war against ogres, and he had been desperate when he summoned the witch and begged for a miracle. That was the only way. There was no other way.
Yoongi, at the time, was the ultimate cheeky bastard. He could have done it for free, as the king had nothing to offer him that Yoongi couldn't already have it. But as the king kept repeating "anything, anything for this war to end. I will give you anything!" Yoongi's face lighted with a sadistic idea.
"Anything, you say?" he slurred like a cat "Anything?"
"Anything!" the king repeated once more, and suddenly, the both of them vanished from the meeting room, where a small crowd of the court gathered, most of them in tears of despair. The two of them reappeared at a deserted beach, endless sand and the silent sea, with no hiding spaces for unwanted ears to hear the rest of their conversation. Yoongi got closer to the man and looked right in his eyes, before continuing:
"Anyone?" and grinned mischievously.
------
When the king appeared back in the castle, in the same room, he was bombarded with questions. All of them left unanswered. When his pregnant wife tried to reach him, he couldn't look her in the eye, and stormed out of the room, leaving a dead silence after him.
Yoongi, after hearing his pup's (that happened to be taller than him but shhh) brilliant idea, teleported straight to the king's castle. He needed to put his perfect plan into action immediately.
Yoongi appeared at the gardens, where he knew, instinctively, that the king would be. When the man looked up and saw the witch right in front of him, he got up from the bench, breathing heavily. He was utterly scared, but he knew the need to put up a strong front.
"You are not welcomed here." his voice didn't waver, but he couldn't stop his hands from shaking. He closed them into fists.
"Haha, and you" Yoongi paused to point to the king's chest "got something that's mine." he singsongs. At the witch's words, the man had to hold himself not to yell at the trickster's face. Instead, he growled in spiteful words.
"He is not yours."
"Oh? But, as I recall," Yoongi waved his right hand and a copy of the contract appeared magically, with the king's signature big and clear for the world to see. "You did give him to me. It is written right here, clear and to the point, that he would belong to me, as property, right after he completed 18 years old. And be mine to do as I please. YOU were the one to SELL him to me. But i? I did nothing wrong. Actually, I saved hundreds of lives. You are the asshole here, not me." Yoongi paused, still grinning sadistically, knowing he was scratching a sore point.
"The only reason I haven't barged in and kidnapped him is because I don't need to. He belongs to me, because you handed him. So, now, I want you to literally hand him to me. I want him to know exactly what is going on. I want everybody to know the exact truth." Yoongi got closer to the king, their noses almost touching, and said "I'm not the villain of this story, king. We both are." he whispered, and that seemed to finally set the older man off.
He pushed the witch out if him and took three steps back, breathing heavily, eyes bulging.
"No. …No." he looked about to cry, clearly not accepting the witch's words.
"Yes, yes! But wait, I haven't got to the best part!" Yoongi exclaimed in mocking excitement. "Follow me!"
And in a cloud of smoke, they disappeared from the gardens.
-----
They reappeared in a room where a small crowd of teens in expensive clothing lounged in sofas and cushions on the ground. Most of them got scared, but the princes remained relatively calm.
The first face Yoongi's eyes landed on was Jimin's, the second prince. His beautiful, beautiful Jimin, with soft, clean skin and deep red hair. Beautiful, flawless, mine.
Yoongi tore his gaze away from the boy and eyed the next prince. The younger one, with light brown hair and a pretty face. He knew he could also take the older prince, Seokjin, but Yoongi figured taking the younger and most fragile prince would cause more impact. He smirked devilishly, eyeing the boy up and down. He knew exactly what he needed to do.
The king ran to stay in front of Jimin, trying to protect him.
"You won't take my son you demon!!" He yelled, and all of the other teens started scrambling to run away from there. Soon enough there was only Jimin and Taehyung left in the room.
"I told you, old man, what my terms were." Yoongi still avoided letting the red haired know he was the principal target. "However… The younger one…" At his words the king, that had been standing defensively in front of Jimin, leaving Taehyung unprotected, turned his head frantically in the direction of his younger child, only to find him missing.
Yoongi couldn't help but cackle at how pathetic the king looked, while holding Taehyung by his waist. The boy seemed to be in too much of a shock to try and get himself free from the witch's hold in his waist, and the king was frozen in place, seeing his teenage son being held possessively by the witch.
"No. Please, not Taehyung. Not Taehyung." the king was about to cry, but Yoongi simply rolled his eyes at the drama.
"You see, king, you can't simply break a deal with a witch like me. So, until you hand me what you owe me…" he put his finger under Taehyung's chin to examine his pretty features "I'm gonna be keeping this cutie with me."
He grinned one last time, looking at the despair in both the king's and Jimin's faces at seeing him manhandle the younger prince. Yoongi winked in an exaggerated manner and singsang: "You know where to find me."
And disappeared with the prince in his arms.