Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

it's not a secret that there's an old mansion in the outskirts of jeongguk's city. it sits important and borderline horrifying in the middle of well-known nowhere, where the sun doesn't even dare shine. ever since he was just a little kid jeongguk was aware of the stories about that house and the people that lived in there. although, he had never seen them, unlike many others who tell tales of vampires and witches .

behind the trees and over the rusty and tall fence of the mansion, it is rumoured that a couple of two vampires hides away from the rest of the world and the sunlight, as the said house is shielded by an enormous quantity of trees. that very same house (albeit, a little different now) has been there since the dawn of time or perhaps is just as old as the oldest person in the city can remember.

jeongguk isn't scared of it. maybe just a little bit. with all honesty, he isn't opposed to the idea of those creatures existing; heck, what the hell was he supposed to do about it? he was just a human. a human who had mail to deliver. a human who was currently riding his old and frail bike to said haunted mansion. a human with no fear and a backpack filled with mail. a human that was going to slide whatever he had to slide inside that couple's mailbox and get the hell out of there.

he adjusted his baseball cap (with the mail logo on the front of it) while he tried to avoid running into anything as he rode his bike up a small hill. he could see a few parts of the house from where he was now. he just had to squint a little bit. the sun was starting to set over the horizon, light dimming as it came from behind the trees.

as he got closer, his heart beat a little faster and his hands got suddenly slippery with sweat. he had to calm down. nothing was going to happen. he just had to deliver a letter and a package, that's all.

at some point, the road he was following stretched out forwards, but that wasn't the way he had to go through to get to the house. on the side of the main road, a smaller dirt one cut through the tall grass and extended into a small area of trees. after thinking it over, jeongguk realized that his bike wouldn't be able to survive the damage he would cause on it if he tried to use it on this terrain. it was filled with little crevices, rocks and other things that would 1) make him fall off his cheap broken bike 2) ruin it forever and make him walk home.

so he left it there. he hopped off, grabbed his bike and leaned it against a nearby tree. after he delivered the mail, he would come to pick it up. hopefully, it wouldn't take too long.

with the sun setting behind him and the atmosphere getting darker and darker by the second, suddenly he became hypersensitive of his surroundings. everything seemed to have a become a tad more sinister; just a little too creepy for his liking. he picked up his pace as he bit the inside of his cheek, finally reaching the almost 9ft tall rusty gates of the house.

the first (out of many) things that struck him as odd about the house was the fact that were was no doorbell or any sort of mailbox on the front gate; actually, there was barely anything around that gloomy area anyways, just a few crumbled leaves that crunched under his brand new chunky trainers.

"um…," he mumbled to himself, unsure of what to do next. after a little looking around and an awkward feeling of being watched, he took a few steps forward and tentatively pushed the gapes open. they opened with a loud screech; orange rust stained his clean palm.

when he stepped inside shyly, the first thing he laid his eyes on was a dark hedge garden that led to the big front door. it was extremely well kept, which contrasted a bit with the world outside the gates. the house looked perfect and untouched by time. everything seemed to fall into place.

as he went up a few porch steps, he scanned the enormous door in front of him. it was detailed in black painted wood and looked sturdy as if it were a safe. jeongguk looked for a doorbell and eventually found it on the right side, under a small lamp and paper that had written in black letters, "don't knock on the front door."

hesitantly, he hovered his finger over the doorbell before pressing on it and receiving a cliché and loud ding dong back. in a matter of seconds, the door opened after a long string of unlocking sounds and a man appeared before him.

the man was a couple of centimetres shorter than him, pretty and long blue hair placed carefully over his forehead. he was wearing a tight, tucked in black top with loose lace sleeves that covered his small hands and his legs were wrapped around flowy black pants that seemed to be at least twice his size. his fingers were adorned with chunky silver rings and jewels, and when he noticed that he had a tiny mole on his pinky, he realized that maybe he had been staring for far too long.

said man now leaned against the heavy door, staring at him in a way that jeongguk couldn’t quite describe. above everything else, he was certainly not ready to hear him speak. “and you are?”, was said with the most mesmerizing of voices; soft and sweet, and yet with an underline of borderline flirtiness (or malice).

jeongguk’s cheeks flushed in red and to his demise, that seemed to amuse the man. “uh… i-i’m the mailman? i have a package for, uh… hold on,” he said almost all in one breath as he scrambled to rummage through his bag. he pulled out the box that took up almost the entirety of it. “kim seokjin? medical and health products?”

“oh,” the other’s face shifted as well as his posture. his back straightened, and his eyes seemingly became sharper as he stared up at jeongguk. somehow, ironically, jeongguk felt the smallest in this situation. “well, you might as well come in. i’ll have to go get him, and it’s cold out there, isn’t it?” he almost cooed, raising an eyebrow in suggestion. he waved his right hand and turned his back to jeongguk, walking further into the massive and dark hall as he swayed his hips. the poor mailman couldn’t help but blush a little, again. “make yourself at home.”

“o-okay.”

walking in, jeongguk set down the package carefully onto a small cabinet that was near the door, “do you want me to stand here, sir, or-,” he turned, but the other was already gone. “o...kay.”

it didn’t take long for the two of them to come back, it was less than a minute, actually. jeongguk took in the form of the other new man, eyes growing a little wider and some more sweat trickling down his spine. seokjin was a whole head taller than the one who opened the door, standing tall and broad. he was in a full black suit but was wearing a flowery laced (and see-through!) shirt on the inside. were they a couple? they would totally make an amazing couple. not that jeongguk was thinking about it or anything.

“hello. i believe you have my package?”

“y-yes, uh, please sign here…”

“what’s your name, sweetling?” the shorter man asked as the taller signed the paper. he came closer, one hand on his hip and his head slightly tilted to the side.

jeongguk, in an act of pure panicked gayness, pointed at the little name tag he had on his shirt wordlessly. luckily, the man found it amusing and let out a small chuckle as he leaned in and squinted at it. “jeon jeongguk.”

“yes, sir,"

"do you live far from here?"

jeongguk shook his head, retrieving the little paper with seokjin's signature and glancing at the pretty lines in cursive. "uh, a little yeah… i have my bike outside, though… probably like a thirty or forty-minute ride!"

"i see, i see…" jimin glanced at seokjin for a second, as they shared a somewhat knowing smile.

"did you bring an umbrella?" seokjin asked as he too came closer. jeongguk swore there was a strange glint in his eyes just then. "it started to rain just now.'

"uh?" jeongguk's mouth fell a little open. no way! he would get soaked to the bone! he turned around and looked at the slightly uncovered large windows that covered a wall of the home. it was bucketing . he could even hear thunder from outside. when the hell had it started? a small whine escaped his lips. "damn it…," he whispered under his breath.

"perhaps you could stay until the storm outside calmed down?" the shorter suggested, pulling a soft smile. his eyes turned into small crescents.

"i-i don't want to overuse your hospitality, sir-"

"it's jimin." he corrected quickly. "seokjin and jimin, babycakes. and i offered."

"certainly, you will catch a cold if you go. plus, dinner is almost ready and we made a little bit more than we can eat. have you eaten today?" seokjin continued, leaning into the smaller and slipping a hand around his hips. jeongguk averted his gaze from it and bit the inside of his cheek.

"that's really kind of you, sir. and n-no, i haven't eaten since lunchtime."

"how careless." jimin frowned a little bit. a wave of guilt came over jeongguk, for some reason.

"then, by all means, hang your coat on that rack and properly come in." jeongguk scrambled to do just that, also slipping out of his shoes that had dirt from outside on the soles.

"do you like lasagna?"

"yes!" jeongguk replied a little too enthusiastically. "i-i mean, yeah, i'm not picky…"

seokjin laughed a little at that and him. jeongguk followed behind them and recoiled a little bit in embarrassment. he could now get a better look at the mansion, which seemed a little empty. the ceilings were high and the walls were covered in a perfectly well kept white wallpaper. all around, there was furniture. a few sofas here and there, tvs, even fluffy carpets. the rooms were illuminated by ceiling lights that were decorated with tiny colourful crystals. jeongguk was in awe.

soon enough, they arrived at the kitchen and seokjin let go of jimin's hips. the tallest went to a door and opened it swiftly, while the smaller took care of taking a lasagna dish out of the stove. seokjin emerged soon enough with a dark bottle of wine in his hand. the table was already set with fine cutlery and tall glasses, supposedly for the wine.

jeongguk didn't quite know what to do next, so he just stood there in front of the entrance, toying with his shirt. he was kind of surprised that they didn't have any servants or employees around the house, considering that it was so big and they seemed to be wealthy.

"you can sit, jeongguk. you don't have to just stand there. don't look so nervous," jimin said as he slid off his oven mitts.

"yes, sorry," he did just that, trying to calm down a little bit. they seemed… so nice and welcoming? he wasn't sure what the rumours were about, anymore. had the town's folk been dehumanizing this couple the entire time? maybe it was because they are gay or something. he isn't sure why they're so talked about and he definitely doesn't know why he was told to stay away from them. they seem so pleasant.

seokjin and jimin sat down after placing both the food and beverages on the kitchen table, which was… a bit too long for a kitchen table. he sat on the left side, in the middle. the couple took the right, sitting beside each other and in front of him. they were half a meter apart from jeongguk, not too close… but still enough to make him blush.

once he was sure it was politely acceptable to touch the food, jeongguk put his hands together for a second and murmured a little "thank you for the food". he didn't say it to a superior entity or anything… just the two greek gods in front of him.

after watching the boy cut himself a big slice of the lasagna, the couple smiled and seokjin poured red wine into both their tall glasses.

"you're welcome. hopefully, you'll enjoy it as much as we want you to." jimin said as he softly hit his glass against seokjin's. the other leaned in and stole a small peck from his lips.

jeongguk really wasn't sure where he was supposed to be looking.

he noticed that he had been the only one to even pick at his food. the other two just sipped slowly onto their wine glasses… maybe he did feel a little out of place; they had given him a glass of mango juice. "you're too cute to drink wine," seokjin had said.

through the meal, the couple made sure to keep asking him questions. they asked about his job, his family and friends, to which jeongguk happily replied. he also managed to slip some questions in; although the answers he got weren't as clear as the ones he gave. he found out that seokjin and jimin were CEOs of a widely known pharmacy line, which pretty much explained the package he delivered.

he fidgeted a little in his chair, "um, is it rude if i ask something?"

"not really, no. go right ahead."

"i noticed that you two are… rather wealthy? so it seemed a little bit odd to me that you don't have any, you know… staff? employees doing things for you? is that rude… i'm sorry if it was-"

"jimin and i enjoy each other's company the best, and we can manage on our own." seokjin smiled brightly, drinking from his glass again. he didn't seem too phased by the question, which was good.

jimin, however, sighed a little bit. "we tried hiring someone, once… no one really lasts long in this house," it was said with a tone that… meant something. jeongguk couldn't place his finger on what it was exactly, but it meant something.

"o-oh, i'm sorry…" jeongguk babbled, looking down at his empty plate.

"don't be. you look cute when you're flustered." jimin giggled, reaching over and gently wiping a little bit of sauce that was left on jeongguk's cheek. the youngest blushed impossibly further. "a bit of a messy eater, hm? me too."

"darling, if you keep flirting this openly with him he's going to explode," seokjin grabbed jimin's hand and licked the leftover sauce from his finger.

jeongguk's eyes were incredibly wide and a little bit glossed over. what… was happening? his ears burnt and his mouth was slightly agape. he was sure he was a sight to see. maybe he was just a little too gay to understand.

"i-i don't understand-," jeongguk blinked rapidly. "aren't you guys married? i don't, i mean, i-"

"is there a problem?" seokjin asked, lifting an eyebrow slowly as jimin downed the rest of his glass in a single gulp.

"no!" jeongguk said quickly, a little too loud. "not at all i just, don't really understand what's going on and uh, maybe i should get going-"

"you're not going anywhere." seokjin said in a stern tone, leaving the statement to hang in the air for a while. jimin smirked playfully.

"it's still raining outside, beloved." jimin placed his hand over his shoulder so he wouldn't stand up. he didn't use any strength, but just the gesture was enough to keep jeongguk seated. "and we were having so much fun ."

"why don't we head to the living room, yeah? get nice and comfortable as we wait." seokjin suggested and stood up, taking jimin with him.

"but, you guys didn't get to eat."

"we're not very hungry, sweetheart. now come." jimin said and extended his hand to him, jeongguk swore he couldn't get more and more embarrassed. the pet names were driving him crazy. he took the other's hand and stood up as well, letting himself be tugged along to the living room.

from then on, the atmosphere got a little more comfortable. seokjin, jimin and jeongguk were laying back on a big sofa, some movie he wasn't particularly paying attention to playing on the tv as the rain kept beating on the windows from outside. it didn’t seem to cease, neither it would anytime soon.

but that didn’t matter now; what he was focused on was the way he was squished between the two of the house owners.

jimin and seokjin sat down on either side of him and it seemed that they got closer and closer by the minute, as if he was a magnet.

seokjin's hand moved even closer at one point, landing on jeongguk's wrist and staying there for god knows how long. jimin did something similar but laying across his shoulder blade.

he could feel the shorter's warm breath on his neck, and it was driving him crazy. the hair on the back of his neck was rising with every breath the other took, goosebumps making his skin crawl. "jimin," seokjin whispered, a knowing smirk on his features. "you doing okay?"

"y-yeah, are you feeling sick?" the youngest said out and loud, maybe to break free from this position they were in.

jimin groaned a little. "jinnie, he smells so fucking good. can we hurry up? i'm gonna eat him up if this keeps going-"

"...what?" jeongguk recoiled a little again, warmth spreading to his chest as jimin flattened his palm against his shirt and tugged a little.

"jiminie, you’re so impatient… you always mess up the most fun part of this game," seokjin moved too, now standing in front of him as jimin held his back and chest. jeongguk was trapped between the two. jimin now kneeled from behind him, his chest pressed against his back and hands situated above his chest; seokjin stood in front of him, leaning his back further and further. "you really don't get it, do you, jeonggukie?"

"i don't-"

jimin giggled. "you're so cute. you really don't know who we are? you don't know why people stay away?"

"i-i never thought of- i, i thought people were just nosey-" jeongguk shot back, trying to wiggle out of jimin's grip, but to no avail. since when was he this strong?

"you don't know about the rumours, baby?"

and then it hit him. like a rock, or a truck, or a plane, he doesn’t know. but it did hit. there… was no way. it was as if time had slowed down in the real world, suddenly everything had begun falling into place. the outcasted house; the wine glasses and barely eating any food; disappearing and coming back in just under a few seconds… even jimin's current demonstration of strength was striking him as odd.

"and why are you crying, babycakes?" jimin said in his ear. he hadn't even realized that there were huge beads of tears streaming down his cheeks until jimin pointed it out. he began to shake slightly

"'m not crying-"

"yes, you are." seokjin said, but not sternly. if anything, his voice still sounded as sweet as before.

“you’re going to- you’re v-vampires, and you convinced me to stay here to-, to kill-” jungkook babbled a bit incoherently until seokjin softly shushed him, placing his index finger over his lips. his hands were a little cold; he doesn’t know how he didn’t notice it before.

jimin cooed a little, “babe, he thinks we’re going to kill him…”

“and who said we would, jeongguk? you’re mistaken,” the youngest whimpered pitifully as seokjin pulled back a little and jimin eased his grip. “heavily so. if anything, if we wanted to just drink your blood, we would've done so as soon as you walked through that door."

"what he means is, we're not hungry," jimin said in his ear, rubbing at his back to get him to stop crying. "we haven't been for a while now, baby. so you can relax… seokjinnie, be a little more sweet on him, okay?"

"i was being-"

"you were not!"

jeongguk's tears had stopped at some point while the couple bickered between each other; now he just sat with his head down, legs crossed while he was still on jimin's lap. "what…," he thought, but it came out of his lips softly. "...d-do you want with me then?"

jimin did a sound that resembled a squeal, "he's so precious, oh my lucifer. jin! tell him the details. i can't even formulate coherent sentences right now-"

seokjin sighed but chuckled inevitably at his husband's visible show of affection towards a human. it meant something. it spoke volumes. "jeongguk, what i'm about to propose to you is not something that you need to be able to answer now. it's something to think over, no rushing. i know we are a little… impulsive due to our nature, but promise to think about what i'm going to tell you."

"u-um… okay?"

"jimin and i have been together for almost five hundred years now, and while everything has been mostly good and really, really fun, recently we've found ourselves missing something," jeongguk listened closely, nodding a little slowly. five hundred years… who knows how old they could be? "jeongguk, we are the only vampires in this area and sometimes… even in our own company, we get lonely. i guess you could say that our kind is, in human terms, polyamorous by nature."

"oh."

jimin exhaled happily behind him. "such a good boy, already making connections. so smart."

"jimin and i are each other's nestmate. we aren't directly family, but we built our own together, you see. like a married couple in your terms. you're probably wondering how this even concerns you-"

"jinnie. hurry up~" jimin whined, "'m getting bored."

seokjin sighed at the needy outburst, leaning in to plant a kiss on jimin's forehead; who smiled happily, his fangs showing. jeongguk stared at the two, still, a little fixated on jimin’s sharp teeth. "anyway, as i was saying, nobody ever comes up here; even mail, like you deliver, you know? humans tend to leave it outside in front of the main gate, but you came in.”

“‘m tired of receiving soaked up letters!” he whined again.

“i’m sorry, i,” the boy shook his head, “i didn’t know i w-wasn’t supposed to…”

“it’s not that at all, my sweet. jinnie and i never forbid anyone from coming up here; humans just don’t want to. they are scared of us. i was… so surprised to hear the doorbell this evening. i even began to think it was broken!” jimin explained, setting jeongguk down on the sofa just this one time; however, he still touched him. his cold hand laid softly atop jeongguk’s. “you came in, looking all pretty with that messy hair of yours, big eyes… and you smell so good. not the cologne type of scent; just you. inside you… ”

he whimpered a bit. “you could’ve told me i smelled like sweat in a less embarrassing way, you know…”

“...” jimin opened his mouth to say something, but closed it instead. “i’m rendered speechless.”

“holy shit… jeongguk just did the impossible. i’ve never seen you shut up in my entire eight hundred and seventy-four years of living.”

jimin scrunched his nose, glaring a bit at seokjin. it faded away slowly as jeongguk began to speak; his look softened, even for a being like him. “so, you’re asking me to be your… nestmate?”

“ultimately, yes.”

“i-i don’t know…”

“we don’t know either, jeongguk.” jimin said, a bit more seriously now. “we aren’t sure of this either. we… just had a feeling. it’s something that the three of us could work out if you are willing to do it.”

seokjin nodded along. “take your sweet time. we are immortal after all, just don’t take like… five years.”

“vampire jokes…” jeongguk whispered.

“there’s a lot more where that came from!”

“believe me,” jimin whispered to him. “there are.”

they fell into a comfortable silence after that, just enjoying each other’s presence in that living room. jimin and seokjin now sat beside each other on one end of the sofa as jeongguk occupied the other one. he curled up slightly, chin touching his knees. jimin was leaning softly into his husband, hand clasped around his and fidgeting with the other's rings nervously. the tip of seokjin's ears were, ironically, red.

it was a lot to take in, really. jeongguk tried to avert his eyes from the couple to think for himself for a little while. when it finally clicked in his head that they were vampires, jeongguk expected to be knocked out cold or killed. or maybe both, in whatever order those events came to him. he didn't expect to be… courted by a vampire couple. he didn't see anything in himself worth fawning over, on top of it all — he's just the mailman. was he really worth being the centre of attention of a big, hunk-ish and yet shy vampire and a smaller, petite and yet devilishly flirty one? he wasn't sure. he didn't even know he liked them! how could he? it had only been at least an hour.

he slowly let himself stop thinking about it — it was only going to upset him if he thought too much like usual. as jeongguk concentrated on the tv more and more, the minutes passed by and his eyelids became heavier and heavier. at one point, as he was dozing off, there was a sudden warmth that enveloped him. it was fuzzy and comfortable, draped over his body. the sleepiness was getting to him, so he just shrugged it off and nuzzled closer.

he fell asleep quickly while the two vampires watched over carefully.

jimin leaned in to whisper in seokjin’s ear, “looks like he enjoyed the blanket… he fell asleep right away.”

“he’s cute, falling asleep like that,” jimin pouted at that comment, “you’re cute too.”

“duh.”

“and insufferable.”

“jinnie, don’t say such things. i know you love me,” the smallest slurred quietly, sliding right into seokjin’s lap and winking maliciously at him. “did you see his face when we flirted with him at the table? he's so cute... we need to have him."

seokjin shook his head and laughed quietly, "you speak like he's a pet sometimes."

jimin giggled back, eyes turning into soft crescent moons. "if he wants that, i wouldn't mind~"

"there you go again-"

"i know you wouldn't either, seokjinnie. don't even try. you looked like you were exactly seconds away from cooing at him at the dinner table. are you saying you wouldn't like keeping him? hm? he looks like he'd be a good boy; unlike me, just how you like them~"

"insufferable."

jimin shook that comment off, becoming even bolder, "you know what seokjinnie, i feel like sleeping today…," jimin said lowly, sending a small shiver down the eldest's spine. he bit his earlobe a bit roughly, "make me tired."

a growl came from the vampire as he gripped his husband's thighs, "you know i'll never be able to tire you," as he stood, the smallest locked his legs around the tallest's torso. "you are unbelievably horny and both of our stamina is endless."

"precisely.

the couple disappeared in a cloud of smoke; jeongguk, now wide awake, whimpered — suddenly feeling very hot and cramped under the blanket.

that was… so incredibly hot. he couldn't even form the right words for it. he was so confused… the way they talked about him like that as if he wasn't even there made his skin burn hot with shame. did this count as voyeuring? jeongguk bit his lip almost raw, desperately trying to fall asleep again. not long after beginning to focus on the rain outside, his eyes slowly slipped shut again.

maybe about two or three hours later, the boy woke up again with a huge urge to use the bathroom. he knew it couldn't have been a good idea to drink two full and tall glasses of mango juice during dinner time.

reluctantly, he stood up and untangled himself from the mess of blankets before grabbing his phone to shine some light along the halls. as he was walking with a little hurry, he went up the stairs to the second floor and only then it hit him that he didn't know where the bathroom was. he now stood in front of several paths and doors, not knowing where to even start. it somehow felt a bit inappropriate; the house wasn’t even his.

but he had to go so bad.

need overpowers fear, so he decided to just do a little guessing game and peek thru the doors; it shouldn't take too long… of course, there would be a bathroom somewhere… right? jimin and seokjin wouldn't mind, for sure.

in about two to three minutes he was able to clear out the first corridor without much luck. he managed to stumble into two study rooms, a library and a locked door. jeongguk went to the second one then, trying to not make a noise.

the first room he saw was a small tucked in storage but that odd placement and layout planning didn't strike him as odd as the enormous thump and groan that followed suit. as if on cue, he closed the door and another one opened just down the hall. that's where the noise had come from.

curiosity killed the cat.

jeongguk made his way down the hall on the tip of his toes and slowly peaked through the opening, eyes widening immediately at what he saw before him. the youngest quickly turned away and leaned against the wall next to the door, breathing a bit heavily. his hands covered his blushed face.

inside the huge bedroom, he just looked into, the couple was having some… private time. jimin was pinned against a small desktop near the curtains of a window, his chest pressed against the cold wood. he was facing the door and seokjin was standing behind him; hands on the curve of his spine. jeongguk blushed all the way down to his neck as he heard the noises of the desk creaking back and forth. m-maybe they hadn't see him! maybe, just maybe—

"d-ah-darling~," jimin whined, voice hoarse and moans slipping between his words. "we have an-ah-audience, am i right? could hear your heartbeat from m-ah-miles away, jeonggukie~"

seokjin seemingly slowed down his ministrations, giving jimin some time to breathe. "i-is that so? now that you say it jiminie, i can hear it," the taller panted all in one breath, thrusting once forwards and dragging a loud moan out of jimin. "couldn't hear him over your pretty moans, baby."

"i, for one, am flattered," jimin giggled, breathlessly trying to recompose himself. "you're still there, babycakes? why are you just standing near the door like that, hm? you can join us if you'd like~"

his heart was still hammering in his chest, getting redder and redder; maybe if you stared hard enough you would be able to see steam coming out of his ears. he didn't know what to reply to that but he just… couldn't make everything go silent. he breathed in a little, managing out a small "i-i uh, was looking for a bathroom? 'nd i got lost, s-sorry i didn't mean to, uh-"

the shortest cooed, "baby was just trying to get to the bathroom but found me getting my back blown out on a desk. that is kind of embarrassing… ah, i'm ashamed now," jeongguk knew he was pouting just from the sound of his voice. it was probably a fake one, though. there was some shuffling around and the sound of clothes being put on. "you can come in now. we're clothed, baby."

the boy outside stood slowly and dragged a hand across his own face before he walked over to the opening on the wall; his face was still red, eyes a bit wider than usual, but at least the couple was now dressed in silk robes. jimin moved to lay on the bed with his stomach down, clearly showing a certain degree of boredom as he sighed.

on the other hand, seokjin came closer to him and spoke lowly, "the bathroom is the third door down the hall, right side. sorry for what you just saw; jimin's in a bit of a… mood. i can drive you back home if you'd like?"

no!, he immediately thought, strangely. "n-no need to drive me back! i'll just g-go in the morning! i have no problem with it really i just… wasn't expecting that." he blushed further, avoiding his eyes. "can i… can i go now?"

seokjin let out a small and genuine haha, "to the bathroom? why are you asking me for permission, jeongguk? go right ahead."

"i… nevermind," quickly, the youngest took off to the bathroom on the end of the hall where he hid for a little while to try and calm down both his head and the sudden hardening in his pants. he didn't understand why or how they had so much effect on him. after all, he was still a… a… being closeted in a small city is hard. he didn't have a lot of experience or anything at all, really. jeongguk had realized he liked boys pretty soon into his life; avoiding his mom's failed attempts at presenting him future girlfriends, family reunions and snarky comments gave him tough skin; but where had it all gone now? he felt vulnerable like the couple had just pierced right through everything that he had built for himself before. it was ridiculous. he had only been here for a few hours.

with a sigh, jeongguk took care of using the toilet, washed his hands (and face, he was still a bit red) and left — maybe going back to the couple wouldn't be so bad and provocative this time around.

back to the bedroom, seokjin swiftly made his way over to his husband's back. his hands worked wonders into the other's skin as massaged him thoroughly.

jimin whined as he muffled his head into seokjin's pillow, "jinnie… he doesn't want us." was said with a tone of sadness.

"hm?," the vampire's eyebrow arched at the bold statement, leaning closer. "what makes you say that, dear?"

"did you see his face? i'm actually so embarrassed… i shouldn't have said anything."

the oldest sighed and cleared his throat, "jiminie, besides all the love i have for you in my dead heart, i must tell you-,"

"this can't be good."

"you devil! let me finish!" a playful swat was delivered to jimin's perky butt, making him giggle quietly, "you have to be aware that you are just a little… a teeny tiny bit too forward. that can scare people away, sometimes. besides, jeonggukie over there seems to be a little shy and… innocent, per se."

jimin turned around to face the oldest, still holding onto the pillow for comfort, "i… i can see what you mean. but i can't help it! he's so cute and good to mess with… do you think i should stop?"

"absolutely not!" seokjin's hands moved to jimin's hair, petting it comfortingly. they shared a small exchange of glances, seokjin giving a reassuring one as jimin shot him something that resembled genuine sadness. "these bits of yourself make you who you are, baby. you stay just like that. whether he wants us or not, it's his decision, yeah? you don't need to change. he just met us and we just met him, too. let him test the waters a little bit…"

"that's so sweet… you do love me." the other giggled knowingly, leaning in to kiss his partner.

“you really only got that out of everything i just said?” they stood there for a long while, lips melting into each other as the kiss deepened with every second. jimin's arm snaked its way up seokjin's back and held onto his hair. when they pulled away a couple of seconds afterwards, they leaned into each other and softly laid there, foreheads touching. just the aftercare jimin needed… a little bit of reassurance.

jeongguk couldn’t help but look at them through the door, smiling fondly. slowly, he made his way down to the living room and laid on the sofa again, falling asleep shortly after.

the morning came before he even realized it, sun peeking through the curtains of the room he was in as birds chirped from the outside. “mom…”, he whined, “five more minutes…” still, the youngest stretched like a black cat, yawning and ruffling his own hair in the process of trying to wake up to go to work. when he opened his eyes and stared at the way too tall ceiling, he properly remembered where he was and what had happened on the night prior. he tried to regain his composure, trying to fix his hair into place and even checking for his morning breath, which made him think of a lot of words including, gross.

“rise and shine, baby,” jimin’s voice came from the entrance of the room, staring right at him. “how did the night treat you, angel? slept good?”

jeongguk rose to his feet a bit sloppily, letting the blanket fall on the ground as he did so. he scrambled to pick it up, muttering, “yeah, uh… i did… yes.”

“that’s great. i’d love to add more to this typical morning exchange between humans but, well, i don’t sleep.”

“right.”

“do you want something for breakfast?,” jimin asked as the human walked over to the curtain. the vampire raised an eyebrow and a corner of his mouth mischievously.

“n-not really, no. i’ll just go and head home-,” as he peeled away the dark fabric from the window, light filled the room and an incredibly loud shriek was heard. jimin was on the floor. oh my lucifer, it burns! it burns! shit. he closed the curtain right up and ran over to him, panic in his eyes. how stupid. so stupid. the vampire kept grunting and letting out little whimpers. “i’m sorry! oh my god i’m so dumb… i’m so so so so sorry!” he kneeled in front of the house owner, face filled with worry. slowly, the whimpers and screeches came to a halt and were replaced with giggles and laughter. “...huh?”

jimin laughed a little loudly. “oh i’m just messing with you. i’m alright, but really? you’ve never seen a vampire movie or something? opening a curtain? that’s so mean, baby. you could’ve killed me.” the vampire was up on his feet, staring down at the human and offering a hand to pull him up.

“i thought…” jeongguk scrunched up his nose and his lip jutted out. “w-why would you do that?”

“aw, baby. don’t take me seriously. i’m fine, was just messing with you,” jimin stared up at him, cute eyes following his every move. his cold hands came up to hold the other’s cheeks, caressing the skin there softly. “sorry.”

“i didn’t think you’d get pranked this soon, jeonggukie,” seokjin’s voice interrupted. the two turned to look at the other vampire, dressed in his fancy attire. now that jeongguk wasn’t busy trying not to cry, he could also see that jimin was wearing something similar. they were both in fancy suits, black but with a small twist. jimin’s had a soft lace layer underneath and the first 3 buttons of his blazer were opened, showing off some of his chest. seokjin was wearing gloves that resembled jimin’s shirt and seemed to be made of the same fabric. it looked so soft… “usually my husband pulls a stunt like that later on.”

“you should’ve seen his face, seokjin. he was so worried for me…”

“i thought you were going to die!”

jimin giggled again, “but i didn’t!”

“it still scared me!” the pair whined back and forth.

seokjin laughed too, watching them bicker. “most vampire myths you heard of are not true in the slightest. we can eat normal food and we can go out during the day and not turn into dust. the stake myth is what’s well, quite truthful, because who even survives something like that?”

“i quite like garlic,” jimin provided input.

“m-me too…”

“so,” seokjin came closer to the two, kissing his husband’s lips once and pulling him close to his chest. jeongguk just stared, jarred, “what would you like to do? i can give you a ride home. no way we’re letting you go down the hill on that rusty thing.”

"yup. no way."

the human looked for an argument, but he didn’t have one. “alright… thank you, sir.” he found himself agreeing with the couple.

“we’ve told you, no need for formalities like that between us.” seokjin corrected, voice sweet and reassuring as jimin nodded.

“but you’re older than me…?”

“that can be easily fixed. does hyung sound good to you, love?” the oldest proposed.

“hyung… ” jeongguk thought it over for a second. “okay. i’ll call you hyungs from now on.”

“ugh,” jimin whined again, a small blush creeping up his cheeks. “he even sounds cute being polite. i’m over… he’s stronger than the sun, maybe i’ll turn to ash too.” jimin teased, successfully getting a blush and whimper out of the youngest.

the ride to jeongguk’s place took about half an hour and was mostly pretty quiet on the human’s end in the backseat. the couple was sitting on the front, talking about work details and what to do when they got to their company in the first place. jeongguk casually listened, finding comfort in staring out of the window as he did so. the place seemed… way brighter than when he had first come up here. the grass seemed a tab bit greener and the sky was open, shining light across the trees and field that extended towards the horizon. the couple’s home got farther and farther as they drove away, now seeming just like any regular home. he did exaggerate when he first came… and he did feel a little guilty for judging them without even knowing who they were. the rumours were correct, yes, but… they weren’t bad. except for jimin’s teasing and seokjin clearly cheating when it came to beauty (because holy fuck, he had never seen someone so gorgeous in his life), he did rather well in there. yes, he cried twice, but that's beside the point.

as they got closer to the city, people started popping up on the streets. the human gave them the directions to his home as he tried to ignore the way some people stared at the car. the windows were tinted, but he could see from the inside.

jimin must’ve sensed that jeongguk was getting mildly uncomfortable. he turned towards him. “don’t look, okay? not worth it. you get used to it after some time.”

when they arrived at jeongguk’s home, the youngest unbuckled himself from the seat and turned to the couple. “thank you so much for coming all this way and… for the food and a stay at your home. i’m really grateful,” was said sweetly and with the most genuine voice he could give. seokjin and jimin smiled from ear to ear.

“don’t mention it, baby.”

“it was our pleasure,” a small set of silence followed where the three just stared between each other. no shame, no judgement, just raw… something. there was something there. “we hope to see you again very soon.”

“me too.”

the human exited the car, walked to the front door of his home and waved towards where he came from. jimin’s window came down a little bit as he threw a hand kiss alongside seokjin. the human’s face heated up approximately a hundred degrees. he felt the kisses, too.

jeongguk shoved his hand into his pocket and took out the keys to his house, ready to be slightly scolded by his mother for not having called during the night.

a new and shiny bike waited for him in his garage.

it was about a week after jeongguk's first encounter with the couple, and he couldn't help but miss them a little more than he should. their last moments together had left a little mark on him… something to look forward to. currently, he was making his way home from work and it was late at night, about ten o’clock. the street he was in was dark and deserted. sometimes living in a small city was just… creepy. like now; he was scared, to say the least.

the little lights shined his way home and he was there in no time, even if his hands were a little sweatier than normal.

being introduced to jimin and seokjin had changed his view of the world completely. he had thought about it over this week; now… whenever he was alone for far too long or if the streets he walked on were far too dark to be comfortable, the boy was scared that something he didn't understand would just… pop out of nowhere. he got lucky with the couple. so extremely lucky.

maybe having a bit of an existential crisis for a while was worth it. he had plenty of those in his teenage years. he was a good boy (jimin had said so!). he could handle it.

once he was home, he greeted his mom with a soft hug and then retreated to his own room. he would eat later; his back was killing him and he was way too tired to even be able to think of eating. he settled in and swiftly changed into a soft set of freshly ironed pyjamas that were waiting for him on top of his bed. they smelled of vanilla scented fabric softener, his favourite. jeongguk tenderly made a note to himself so he’d remember thanking his mother for that. the boy worked really hard and barely had any time to even do his laundry and she knew that… he felt a little guilty for being a bother sometimes.

after putting his phone to charge he threw himself onto the bed with a muffled and pleased sigh. it was so soft… so warm and cuddly-

“kookie?” he heard his mom call from downstairs. a bit muffled and strained.

he replied a bit groggily, fighting sleep, “yeah?”

“there are two men asking for you downstairs! come quickly, please!”

jeongguk’s eyes suddenly widened and his heart began to race in his chest. two… men? could it be? he bolted up quickly, ignoring the iron man pj's he was wearing and making his way downstairs. he peeked from the staircase, getting a clear view of the two men in his main hall who were chatting with his mom.

they came back.

he descended to the first floor, eyes a little wide. "hyungs, what are you doing here-"

"kookie!" jimin spoke in a rather loud voice, throwing his arms around the human. "we've missed you!~" the usage of the nickname made by his mom made him blush fiercely.

"what-"

seokjin came closer as well, giving him a wide smile. "hello, dear. we missed you all week. how have you been?"

jeongguk was rather… anxious and embarrassed. the way the couple showed their affectionate and shameless mannerisms in front of his own mother made him get just a little redder; fidgeting in his place.

jimin let go of him and eyed him up and down. a small cooing noise tumbled from his plump lips as he spotted the nerdy pyjamas the human was wearing. "seokjinnie, look at him… so adorable!"

"you're embarrassing me in front of my mom…"

his mother chuckled, "kookie… i was two seconds away from showing them your baby videos. it could’ve gone worse,” she sighed softly, walking away from the hall to the living room. “i’ll leave you boys to whatever you need to do. if you need anything kookie can get it for you.”

“ mom!- ”, whatever he was about to add to his exclamation died on his tongue as his mother closed the living room door, leaving the couple and her son alone in the hall.

jimin smirked with playfulness, “kookie, huh?”

“s-shut up…” the human replied, embarrassed beyond belief. he made his way towards his room, seokjin and jimin following suit. they had left their coats hanging somewhere near the front door, shoes resting in a rack. jeongguk sat in the middle of his bed and crossed his legs.

once the couple were inside the human’s room, their curious eyes landed on possibly every square inch of it. jimin kept squealing as he stared at the human's marvel posters, gaming consoles and college books. his room was simple, jeongguk guessed. there was nothing really that special to be fawning over, just like its owner.

"kookie, you really like superheroes, huh? look at all these posters and dvd's…," jimin mused out loud, poking through his shelf and even stopping to examine his anime figurines, "and anime too!"

"are you going to keep calling me kookie…?" he said quietly, voicing his thoughts accidentally.

"do you not like it? you seemed happy and a little giddy when your mom did it," jimin came closer to him and leaned, staying only a couple of inches apart. "which, by the way, is a lovely person. i know where you got that side of you now."

what did that even mean? "i don't mind it…"

"great. another nickname to the list, right alongside baby and sweetheart, just how you like it."

jeongguk blushed fiercely, watching as seokjin pulled the rotating chair from his desk and sat down. jimin looked over to him and smiled, sitting on his lap almost immediately.

"jeonggukie," seokjin began after placing his hand on jimin's hip and running the other through his own hair, "can we ask you something?"

the youngest raised a brow, face going back its normal shade as he stopped fiddling with his thumbs. "sure, hyung?"

"did you not enjoy our company last time? we were eager to meet you again, but we didn't have any way to contact you besides… your address." jeongguk wanted to facepalm himself. he had never given them his number; that's why they made their way over in the first place.

jimin agreed, "we missed you the entire week . i know we're ancient, but that's still such a long time, baby. you can be honest with us… did you not?"

the human bit the inside of his cheek. "i… i did." a look of relief washed over the couple's face, "i was just nervous… i didn't know i was supposed to give you my phone number because i've… uh, never done this before?" he mumbled the last part under his breath.

"what was that sweetheart?"

"i've…," he sighed, shoulder falling forwards, "never done this before and i don't know what to do. you guys are really really nice- n-not that i've been t-thinking about it or anything, no…"

the couple shared stares between each other, unreadable looks filling their attractive features. to jeongguk, they mirrored something that he couldn't quite pinpoint. he had it under his tongue… what was this feeling?

"don't be nervous," seokjin said softly.

"it's just us."

exactly. that's exactly why. "that doesn't really help, hyung. but thank you, still…"

silence followed for a little while as jeongguk stared down at his hands and twiddling thumbs. seokjin and jimin left the chair and the soft memory foam mattress dipped with their weight. "do you want to talk about it?" seokjin asked.

"about what?"

"about the things you haven't done before, sweets," jimin said, moving so their thighs were touching. the small and on purpose movement made jeongguk's heartbeat spike- jimin and seokjin probably heard it too. "have you ever kissed anyone before?"

"...no, i haven't."

"how come? with a pretty face like yours?"

his heart swelled. "i never really liked anyone like that, hyung. don't tease me…"

"it will be an honour to be your first." seokjin said, chuckling softly.

"...huh?"

"what about me, seokjinnie! you can't take that from me, i saw him first!"

why not both? jeongguk said to himself in his head — or so he thought. in between their bickering, seokjin and jimin turned to him, shocked expressions and wide smiles defining their characteristics. "d-did i say that out loud?"

"loud and clear, baby." they both moved closer, trapping him in between their bodies (jimin on the front, seokjin leaning his chest against his back) but leaving some room for him to still be able to move away if he wanted to. "is that what you want, jeongguk?," jimin whispered to him, eyes glowing in a flaming red. somehow, he wasn't afraid. "you want to kiss us both?"

"i…" i do. i do. i do, so badly. "i don't know-"

"we won't make you do something you don't want, jeonggukie. ever," seokjin said reassuringly, jimin nodded along with a soft 'of course'. "so think about it clearly and tell us, love. you don't have to do it now."

jeongguk only nodded, finding comfort in the ironic 'warmth' that came from them and their soft touches. jimin petted his hair tenderly while seokjin rubbed at his shoulders, and at that moment he realized that he had never felt quite so safe before. he had never felt so cared for as he felt right now, in the arms of the couple he had met a week ago.

jeongguk definitely wanted something.

he definitely wanted to start feeling things for them, maybe match the ones they had for him.

he just didn't know how to ask for it or where to even start.

they stood like that for a while, simply enjoying each other's company and embrace. jeongguk leaned into seokjin's chest and jimin did the same to him, head resting over his collarbones. the human could hear him taking a couple deep inhales, relaxing in the sweetness of his smell. the silence only got broken up when jeongguk opened his eyes and quietly said an "i do" more confidently.

"hm?" jimin mused, eyes closed.

"i want to kiss you both. really really badly."

seokjin chuckled softly, burying his face in the other's hair. "i'm sure you're not going to be that bad."

"you just ruined it, seokjinnie."

"did not."

"did so."

jeongguk laughed a little loudly at that. it was the first time that the couple had heard him make such a sound, "you hyungs are losers," the human mused between chuckles. "whatever doubt i had about it is gone now. pressure's off."

"see, jiminie, i did more than be funny."

"confident kookie is so nice," jimin pushed even closer, tightening the gap between the three of them. "who do you want to kiss first, baby? i can tell you all about how seokjin kisses if you'd like."

"likewise."

"tell me, please." jeongguk said, a little rushed.

"please, what?" jimin applied a little pressure to where his right hand was resting on - the human's hip.

his breath hitched as it got caught in his throat, "please hyung… tell me how seokjin hyung kisses?"

"shit." seokjin cursed under his breath, his hold tightening.

"since you asked so nicely, love… i'll let you know all about it." he re-positioned himself, now sitting between jeongguk's spread legs. "where should i begin…" his left hand found a soft place to rest: jeongguk's thigh. "his lips are the softest and when i make out with him for a really long time they get so red and so swollen. he likes to take control and i let him, you know? but in the end, i'm the one in charge. sometimes when he wants to be rougher he'll bite my lips and pull at my hair a little… feels good doesn't it, seokjinnie?"

"y-yes."

"don't you have anything good to say about me, hyung? hm? " he pressed further, also applying more pressure to the human's thigh as he closed his hand around it. jeongguk whimpered a little bit.

"i do." the eldest coughed, back straightening as he tried to compose himself. jeongguk stared between the two, mouth a little agape and a pink dusty blush on his cheeks. "minnie is so good at it too. his lips taste so good, especially when he puts flavoured chapstick on..."

"the cherry one is his favourite." the youngest vampire gave his input, pulling said chapstick from the back pocket of his tight black jeans. "i always keep it on me because of that too."

"yes, lucifer, yes ."

"should i put it on, sweetheart? do you like cherries too, koo?" the smirk on his lips was devastatingly evident, voice practically cooing at him.

please. please put it on,  hyung.

"good boy. all you had to do was ask." the sight of jimin putting the chapstick on his lips was borderline pornographic. jeongguk followed the cherry flavoured tube with his eyes, hand moving over to lay atop the vampire's, which was still on his thigh. "there. all done."

"holy fuck." the human mused, rasped. oh, he was going to pass out. he could feel the blood coming up to his nose.

"it's quite the show, huh?" seokjin whispered to him.

jimin leaned closely again, planting a soft kiss on the human's forehead. his entire face lit up immediately and jimin was able to feel it from his cheeks as he held them both in place. "still feel like kissing, baby? we can just stop and do whatever you want."

"n-no!" he shook his head tentatively, pleased when jimin's hands didn't let go of his sides. "want to. still want to kiss, yes. so bad."

"you go a bit incoherent when you're flustered, jeonggukie. have you ever noticed that?" seokjin teased. "if that's what you want then let us know one last thing… who goes first?"

the human's mind blanked. "don't care, hyungs. both are amazing, can't pick. please decide for me."

"i would absolutely wreck you if this wasn’t your first kiss." seokjin thought out loud, earning an agreement from his husband and a small pathetic whimper from the human. "jimin… you can go first."

"you okay with that, baby?" the human nodded, getting a small tutting sound in return "words. need words."

jeongguk swallowed dry. "yes, y-yes. i'm okay with that."

"good boy, wonderful. i'm gonna need you to move a bit, alright? and breathe through your nose! beginner's mistake…" jimin's said softly as he pulled at his hands and up, moving his body forwards and straightening his back. "seokjinnie, why don't you sit beside us to get a clear view?"

"on it."

once everyone was in place, jeongguk stared between the two for a while and then at jimin solely after seokjin's small encouragement. he had a dumb smile on his face, cheeks glowing.

"hi." jimin said giggling as he moved towards him, eyes looking for the human's lips.

"h-hi." jeongguk found himself doing the same as the other got closer, eyes gradually slipping shut and mouth parting. the human's fists closed around the bedsheets, clinging.

when their lips collided, it was like the universe had shattered into tiny pieces. when jimin started moving his lips against his own, the universe became whole again. jeongguk had never felt so much emotion, so much heat and want in a single moment. jimin's lips tasted like a cherry flavoured popsicle during a summer afternoon in the scorching heat — he was dying to taste it even more; so much that he forgot to breathe for a couple of seconds. he opened his eyes slightly when jimin separated himself from him only for a moment, a single string of saliva keeping them together.

the only thing that came out of jeongguk's mouth was an attempted at breathing and a needy noise from the back of his throat, sending a clear message to jimin.

he wanted more.

he couldn't get everything he wanted, though.

jimin pulled away and ran a hand through his own hair, a mean and yet very playful smirk on his face. jeongguk was breathing heavily, hands fisting into the bedsheets and his knuckles white. seokjin's jaw was nearly on the floor, eyes hooded as he eyed them with want.

"you…" the oldest whispered.

"how haven't you kissed anyone before, jeonggukie? you're lying to me, right? a kiss virgin would never be this good."  the vampire's lips were glistening with a small layer of spit and red, way plumper than before.

"i-i swear i haven't…"

"now you have." seokjin teased, chuckling. "how did jimin's kiss feel, jeonggukie?"

the human let go of the bed covers, finally. his hands came up to rub at his eyes, blushing softly and trying to fix his hair. "felt so good, hyung. you're so right… jimin hyung is so good at kissing. 'm so happy you got to be my firsts, really am. can't even talk straight. your turn now, hyungie. please kiss me now-"

jimin giggled, body doubling forwards. "seokjinnie, i think we broke him. all he wants is kisses now… and to think he was so innocent…"

"he's a good boy, though. aren't you, jeonggukie?" seokjin asked, switching places with jimin and sitting pretty in front of the human, holding his hands with a tender touch.

"am good," he nodded. "f-feel like i'm spacing out, though. can i get a hug too? please?"

"come here." the vampire opened his arms widely and the human instantly buried himself in them. "must be a lot, yeah?"

"a-a bit."

"want to talk about it?" it was jimin's voice this time. he could feel his small fingers and rings threading through his brunette hair.

"i have decided, as much as i want to kiss your pretty face, we're taking a well-deserved break. you can let it out or just stay quiet, whatever you need." seokjin held him against his chest securely. it was weird not listening to a heartbeat.

"y-you promise not to tease me…? or be mad at me?"

"never, angel. never." jimin reassured.

after pondering over his words, jeongguk took a deep breath and started getting it all off his chest. at some point, jimin had wrapped the three of them in some blanket; he hadn't even noticed he had moved. "i like this… i really like this, hyungs. feels so safe and so… comfortable. you both… wow. you opened up a whole new world to me that i didn't even know existed!"

"that is true."

"baby…"

"a-and i feel great like this… with you. b-but i'm so inexperienced and young compared to you two and f-feel like i need some time to process it all…" their touches hadn't stopped, still reassuring him in every way possible. "...and to start feeling like you do too? n-never dated, ever. can't even properly be me in this place."

jimin's face dropped a little as he huddled closer, hugging jeongguk a bit tighter at the last statement.

"it feels different but i don't know how it's supposed to feel…"

seokjin nodded and hummed along, "take your time, jeongguk. we're serious about this. no rush, no stress, just you and us in our own time."

"don't want to hurt you by taking too long-"

"you won't," jimin said quickly. "seokjin and i are worried about you. not us, baby. also, there's no such thing as taking too long when it comes to this. you will always have us, regardless of how long you take or what decision you make."

"precisely."

"n-not worthy of something like that." jeongguk whispered a bit brokenly. "'m not special or cool. not even a vampire, just…"

the couple shushed him before his thoughts could progress any further. jimin furrowed his brows a bit, but he didn't look mad, just a bit saddened. "don't say mean stuff about the things i like."

"as much as i like you i have to stop your thought process right at this instant, jeonggukie. jimin and i both know what we got ourselves into and so far, none of what you just said holds true. i know it's how you see it, but it's not how we see it." the oldest grabbed hold of his hand again and jimin joined, the three of them holding hands a bit awkwardly. "to summarize: take your time, don't think less of yourself just because you feel differently and most importantly… let us take care of you." the last bit was said slowly and in a brief moment, when their eyes met, it all came to jeongguk naturally.

they kissed. softly, tenderly, without the rush. he wasn't nervous like before, didn't feel his heart beating as critically as before. it felt… organic. it felt transcendent. it felt right. seokjin's lips were just like jimin had described: smooth, velvety and dense. he bit them experimentally, earning a muffled chuckle from the eldest.

when they parted, jimin was still latched onto the human, rubbing soothing circles into him slowly. he looked up, smiling from ear to ear. "good?"

jeongguk nodded. that was all that was needed to be said.

the human began to feel sleepy and as a consequence, a bit whiny. "'m back hurts… so tired."

"do you want us to leave, baby?"

"no. stay, please… just… lay down?" he asked in a tiny voice.

seokjin made a humming sound before muttering a "on it." and practically manhandling the three of them up the bed and onto the pillows. he groaned all the way through before he laid down. the younger ones laughed. "i'm getting old, y'know? and you both are heavy as hell."

jeongguk laughed while jimin acted surprised, hand coming up to his mouth with an offended look. "how dare you?"

"please move next time."

"you have super strength!"

jeongguk kept laughing along, squished between the two as they tried to fit the best in the double bed. after a while, the human fell asleep just like that as the vampire couple watched, the fondest look on their faces as they shared glances that could only be read as joy, excitement, love and words alike.

"do you want to sleep?"

"maybe… feel like it'll be nice if we try to do it next to him. maybe it'll make it more real?"

"sure, jinnie. hold my hand?" they did just that, holding hands over the other's hip, the legs of the three of them intertwining in a comfortable space.

"see you on the other side."

"by lucifer, you are so weird sometimes.

jeongguk's eyes fluttered open and moved to his clock, yawning when he found out it was 9am on a saturday. maybe it took a while to realize or maybe he was used to hugging his pillows to sleep, but he only realized that seokjin and jimin were still in his bed when he felt the eldest's breath on his neck and jimin's legs tangled in between his. being embarrassed first thing in the morning should be something punishable by law; and if it was, arrest him. his cheeks burnt as he recalled memories from yesterday, touching his lips with his fingertips gently.

he had his first kiss. well, kisses.

seokjin and jimin were still cuddling him in his bed when they could've gone home or simply just leave.

before his mind could dwell any further, there was a knock on his door that filled him with a small period of panic. his mom opened the door with a small screeching noise and popped her head in, immediately spotting her son. "good morning, kookie. wake up your boyfriends and bring them downstairs, there's breakfast."

jeongguk stared at her, jaw dropped. what? what did she say? "...mom?" he spoke quietly to not wake up the other two in his bed.

"yes?"

"what did you call jimin and seokjin hyung?"

there was a brief moment of silence. "your boyfriends?"

"mom!"

"what? are they not? you're not exactly great at hiding things, kookie." his face heated up again, heart beating wildly. "i've been waiting for you to come forward and talk about what you really like for a long time now, figured you just didn't want to. that's okay, though. there's enough food for the three of you. now, hurry up before it goes cold!," after closing the door and leaving, jeongguk was left on his own again.

his mother seemed to not care about it, which was good and totally an amazing feeling, but it came to jeongguk that… he didn't need to be hiding it in himself and suffer alone all this time. of course, his mother would be okay with it, why had he thought otherwise?

jimin shifted next to him, eyes opening and silently looking up at the human who was sitting up. his hand slithered to his thigh, "good morning, kookie. why are you thinking so loud?"

"i-it's nothing! mom said breakfast is ready downstairs, i-i don't know if you want to change or…" he whispered, but still failed at not waking up seokjin who he greeted shortly after.

both seokjin and jimin rose to their feet and left a kiss on the human's cheeks before they walked to the middle of the room and held hands tightly. before jeongguk could even question what they were doing, they disappeared in a huge cloud of black smoke, only to reappear shortly after with new clothes (similar to the day they had met). jeongguk let out a small scream, obviously caught off guard.

"...w-what?"

"teleportation, babycakes." jimin said as if it was the easiest thing in the world. "how do we look?"

"as much as i like the whole… vampire look… u-uh, it's just breakfast…"

"damn, so too formal," seokjin cursed. "i knew it'd be too formal. jimin, i told you i should've bought my khakis."

"i'm going to burn those fucking things."

jeongguk began to stand, only to fall down on the bed once the couple disappeared another time. it was loud and startling, to be very sincere. when they reappeared in this turn, they came out looking much more casual and relaxed. seokjin had an expensive looking pink hoodie and grey sweatpants; jimin was wearing a long and zipped jacket with huge sleeves that practically swallowed his hands.

"how about now?" the shortest inquired again, striking a cute pose while his husband followed, doing a peace sign.

jeongguk (a bit traumatized) gulped, grabbing his black t-shirt and just as black sweatpants, "g-great."

after the human managed to get a hold of his bedhead, the three of them headed downstairs to the kitchen where his mom said she'd prepared a few things. to be quite sincere, jeongguk was not ready to face his mother after what went down that morning in his room, especially because he didn't know how to apologize to her. how could he apologize for thinking so little of her? he wouldn't be able to do it in front of them, either.

to his luck, his mother was already on her way to work and therefore, they had the house to themselves. the kitchen was empty except for a small sticky note on top of the counter that read: "you took too long! left for work. there are pancakes and banana milk in the fridge. enjoy your time with my sons in law xoxo!"

jimin wrapped his arms around his waist suddenly as jin took the small note from his hands. "hey! give it back!" the human protested, trying to get out jimin's grip.

"sons in law?" seokjin cooed, setting the note down again and joining the hug. "kookie, why didn't you say so?"

"ah- she said that this morning when she came in the room-" jeongguk spoke between the countless of kisses that were laid on his face, including eyes, lips and nose. some ended up going to his neck too.

it was safe to say jeongguk was a bit overwhelmed.

"ah, yes… this sparks joy," said seokjin.

it all went pleasantly well from then on. breakfast was amazing and the company was even better, logically. they talked, laughed and jeongguk even got the other two to try his mom's pancakes, insisting that she'd be sad if they didn't.

sadly, they both had to leave after an hour or so due to work-related business. jeongguk wouldn't lie, he felt incredibly saddened by their departure. the post office was closed on weekends, which meant that he had the house to himself for the time being.

he used to like being in his own company, but now he found himself a bit lonely.

but at least now he had their phone numbers.

the human found himself laying down in his bed, phone placed over his pillow, a packet of half-eaten spicy noodles and a pair of chopsticks in his right hand. he stared at the smartphone as if it was alien, pondering over whether what he should do. should he text first? should he wait? he had absolutely no idea… but he missed them, which was quite pathetic. they were only gone for a few hours…

suddenly, cutting his thoughts abruptly and almost making him spill his dinner, his lock screen light up and the text message sound went off. he leaned over to look at what it was, immediately unlocking his phone once he realized what it was.

tiny 🦇 added you to nest

tiny 🦇 added big 🦇 to nest

tiny 🦇 8:30pm

hello babies

this is going to be fun

big 🦇 8:30pm

aw look who's here

hi jeonggukie

tiny 🦇 8:31pm

seokjinnie and i are stuck at a late meeting, baby :( this is hell

baby 8:31pm

hi!!

i thought you were supposed to leave during the afternoon?

big 🦇 8:32pm

some stuff came up and we had to stay behind.

how was your day?

baby 8:33pm

oh :( m sorry

day was good! u guys left early so i finished up a few things for my assignments at college

and played video games

nd i'm eating spicy noodles

there's buzzfeed unsolved on my pc rn 

tiny 🦇 8:33pm

i'm glad your day was good and that you're enjoying your time, kookie. you deserve it.

also, i hope that making this group chat didn't startle you

i figured it'd be easier to text everyone at once and it would be fun !!

baby 8:35pm

no worries!! i was actually sksjsjs … thinking about sending a text to the both of you but i didn't know what to say

big 🦇 8:36pm

awwwww

you can send anything

quite literally anything you want

usually jimin only texts me to send me links to cat posts on instagram or to tell me to get more wine from the store

tiny 🦇 8:36pm

we're married it's a valid exchange

big 🦇 8:36pm

you're right

baby 8:37pm

!!

i remembered something i didn't get to talk about yesterday when you came over

thank you so much for the bike :(

it's so cool you guys shouldn't have 

tiny 🦇 8:38pm

i told you he'd like it seokjin

and yes we definitely should do it more often if it gets u smiling

big 🦇 8:38pm

we will spoil you and there's no stopping it

baby 8:40pm

sorryi dropped my noodles um

sksjsksjsjsjssn

tiny 🦇 8:41pm

"so i said sksjsksjsjsjssn y'know like a bottom"

baby 8:41pm

A

big 🦇 8:41pm

jimin didn't lie

baby 8:42pm

what did u guys do with my old bike o.o

also u should warn me :( i dont know how to pay for it

jeongguk locked his phone and quickly finished his meal, muffling his head in his pillow and wiggling around the bed in embarrassment soon after. they said they would spoil him. and that they do it because it made him happy. he did like his new bike; he had taken it to college and to work during that week. at first, he didn't exactly know how it had gotten into his garage, but deep down, his suspicion was correct.

he calmed down his gay panicking after a couple more minutes, finding relief in not receiving a message just yet. he was too embarrassed to reply.

to his demise, after a few minutes, his phone beeped and lit up again

big 🦇 9:03pm

sorry, we are out of the meeting now.

you will not be paying back anything because that was a gift, and you will be getting plenty of those in the near future

tiny 🦇 9:03pm

tell us about things you like so we can buy them for you baby

baby 9:04pm

u're going to kill me

u guys are too kind skdjdj idk what to tell u :(

tiny 🦇 9:04pm

guess we have to surprise you. you heard him seokie.

big 🦇 9:05pm

i love surprises

baby 9:06pm

:[

u cant see it but im sulking

tiny 🦇 9:08pm

awwww baby no that's not fair

big 🦇 9:08pm

pouting wont work this time

we feel good when we give u things. we have plenty to spare, as well… in fact, we should talk a little more serious about this and come up with a sort of arrangement

tiny 🦇 9:10pm

sounds good to me!

baby 9:11pm

… arrangement?

did they mean a sugaring arrangement? jeongguk’s heartbeat picked up, hands getting a little sweaty.

big 🦇 9:12pm

a sugaring one, yeah.

you could take our card and buy yourself anything you like.

tiny 🦇 9:12pm

would you want to do it, angel?

baby 9:13pm

i um

i dont know what i could give back? im rlly grateful that u trust me like that but what would i be giving u guys back

tiny 🦇 9:13pm

nothing?

big 🦇 9:13pm

we don’t want anything from you, jeonggukie. we would simply be giving you some support in whichever way you want it. clothes, rent, anything.

we expect nothing in return, just your company.

baby 9:13pm

that sounds...nice

tiny 🦇 9:14pm

doesn’t it? ugh i can’t wait to buy you all the pretty things you want

going to spoil you rotten

baby 9:15pm

hngng

big 🦇 9:15pm

did you just whine through text

tiny 🦇 9:16pm

oh my lucifer we're going to marry you

baby 9:18pm

hyung!!!!

tiny 🦇 9:20pm

anyway baby, are you free tomorrow at 6pm? why don't we go out together? our treat

big 🦇 9:21pm

it's our day off… one of our friends has a restaurant nearby and invited us over.

do you want to come? as a date?

the human placed his phone down on the bed and backed away from it. he was standing in the middle of the room, inhaling deeply before his back curved forward, a single and incredibly loud "YES" exiting his mouth as he emptied his lungs. he then proceeded to fall on the bed face first and almost text back without looking,

baby 9:25pm

yes!! how should i dress?

big 🦇 9:26pm

however you want to kookie

tiny 🦇 9:26pm

pretty like you always do 💗

jeongguk let out an incoherent noise, stuffing his face into his pillow.

Chapter Text

it was the next day at the beginning of the evening. the sudden kick in of autumn made the sun set much earlier, and it was almost dark outside already. the brunette stood in front of the mirror in his room, trying on different outfits for his very first date. his heart couldn't help but beat faster at the thought of it, already picturing the fancy restaurant and the three of them sitting in a more private area; jeongguk would be in the middle, jimin and seokjin on either side of him as they waited for food to arrive.

in his imagination too, they would do all kinds of things to him at the dinner table, but he brushed away such thought, his face getting red just from it.

after a few more minutes of looking around, he opted for a pair of high and tight waist jeans that were ripped on both the knees, a loose white sweatshirt with yellow sleeves and a trusty but old pair of combat boots with a small one inch heel. his hair was styled a bit carelessly, long and wavy brown locks falling over his big doe eyes.

his phone beeped inside his jeans' pocket as he received a text in the groupchat,

big 🦇 5:48pm

we're outside in the car <3

tiny 🦇 5:49pm

we don't have perception of atmospheric heat/cold but the weather app says it will get pretty cold for you, so bring a coat💗

he practically ran downstairs after reading, passing by his mom and giving her a hug and a kiss before leaving. 'have fun! and be safe!' she had said just as he closed the front door before opening it again to say “don’t wait for me, okay? i might get home late or crash at their place!”

the chilly air hit him almost immediately, making him rub the side of his arms as he scanned the street for the couple's car. after spotting it near a tree on the side of his yard, jeongguk walked quickly to it and lightly knocked on one of the windows, smile dotting his features as an incredibly handsome vampire opened the door.

"hi, kookie." the tallest said in a soft voice, leaning in to kiss his cheek. jimin left the car and came from behind him, tightly locking his smaller arms around the human's waist who hugged back immediately.

"look who's here!," jimin said in a singsong voice, cooing. "you look so cute, i love your outfit… and you smell really good."

"vampire sense."

jeongguk giggled a little at the attention, a softer pink staining his cheeks. "i'd forgotten about it… you look really good too…"

the couple were dressed just as casually as him. jimin had a denim jacket and black t-shirt underneath, tight black jeans making his thighs look even more voluminous than they were already were. seokjin was wearing a tucked in shirt, the first two buttons open. his pants were tight; he was also sporting black and chunky trainers.

"thank you. jimin and i spent a lot of time trying to look like we didn't spend any at all."

"you ruined it!"

he delivered a kiss to jimin's cheek just before they got in the car, sitting comfortably against the leather seats that he was now familiar with. seokjin pulled out from the parking lot and started driving to the restaurant swiftly, the engine not making a sound. stay by the aces played softly on the radio as they talked over it.

"so," jeongguk started, arms stretching slightly as he rubbed over his neck, "what is the place like?"

jimin turned in his seat to smile at him, the corners of his fangs peeking from his lips. jeongguk had noticed that the two usually let them out around him or when they felt happy. it made his heart warm up. "our friend yoongi has a small and cosy place about um… twenty minutes away i think. it’s not fancy but it’s comfortable enough, plus he reserved a nice private corner in it for us.”

"we're going to eat a lot and get hammered. "

just before jeongguk could hoot his way into alluding that he drinks (he doesn't), jimin intervened. "seokjinnie is joking… we don't get hammered easily. stupid extremely high alcohol tolerance…" the smallest whined.

"really? how much does it take for you to get drunk, hyungs?"

jimin leaned back and hummed in thought, "imagine what it would take to get a normal human blackout drunk, that's what it takes to get me tipsy. seokjinnie… not so much, but at least three bottles before he's even a bit dazzled." he sighed, "i deserve better."

jeongguk's mouth hanged a little open and he swallowed dry, "...that's a lot of alcohol."

"how about you, baby? how easily does alcohol get to you?"

jeongguk bit the inside of his cheek softly, "well, i don't drink a lot," thoughts of the one time his co-worker and friend taehyung invited him to some stupid frat party came to his mind. god he hated thinking about it. "but… i'm pretty lightweight, i guess."

seokjin 'oooh' ed and whistled in acknowledgement, smile painting his pretty features. "this is going to be fun."

jimin giggled coyly, tongue peaking out and over his bottom lip. "should we order mango juice for you again, baby? i bet you like sweeter and fruitier drinks, like cocktails."

"i haven't tried a lot, actually…"

"today really is our lucky day, jiminie." the eldest said playfully, turning on a sharp corner.

"you guys are mean."

jimin took his hand, "only a little bit."

jeongguk blushed slightly, locking his fingers with the smaller's cold ones. the song on the radio shifted to a softer one.

after a few more minutes, seokjin was parking his car in a reserved spot right in front of the restaurant. it was just like jimin had said: small, not too lit up or riddled to drag attention to it. the front windows of the shop were darkened with a black tint and there were a few pots outside on their brims; a small plaque on top of the doorframe (written in with white chalk) read "welcome to dreamin. "

"dreamin?" jeongguk inquired as they exited the car, quickly standing side by side with the couple. "it looks really modest."

"we promise it's nice, kookie." seokjin said as he linked his right arm in jeongguk's left one like a chain. jimin took his right hand in his as well.

"oh! that's not what i meant… i'm just saying it looks really modest and comfortable. nothing bad about it!"

jimin smiled simply, beginning to walk towards the entrance and wiping his feet on the mat. "we'll have fun, you'll see." a small bell rang over the door as they entered.

the inside was just as jeongguk had expected it to be; small, comfortable, warm and filled with soft noises from the kitchen that was opened to the dining area. the walls were painted in a soft beige and some of them even had a few places exposed with the raw brick from the construction. half of the tables were tall and round, accompanied by black stools and soft vases in the center. the normal tables were set in squares of twos, fours and sixes and the chairs seemed pleasantly comfortable to lay against, especially because of their white cushions. the first thing you could see near the entrance was the cash register that had an open view to the kitchen.

the restaurant was empty at that point; maybe it was because it was too early. food was still being prepared though. jeongguk's nostrils danced around the scents of spices, sauces and the soft sizzle of something deliriously delicious grilling.

seokjin unlinked his arms but jimin stayed closed as the other came forward to the cash register. "yoongi!" the eldest called out, smile dotting his face when he heard the bang of a pot. "we're here!"

"i noticed!" a yell bounced off the walls. the owner's voice seemed to be a little strained; jimin doubled forwards in laughter.

soon enough, a figure in an apron emerged from the kitchen and walked to the register. jeongguk couldn't help but compare him to a kitten. his face was round and he was probably jimin's height, only a little taller. his eyes were the most resembling to those of a cat; they were sharp but pretty and delicate at the same time.

"yoongi hyung~" jimin teased, coming forwards with jeongguk's hand still in his. "how has your day been?"

"pretty great until you stopped by."

"you invited us." jin retorted.

the owner bit his lip slightly, scrunching his nose. "doesn't matter! anyway, who's the human?"

jeongguk's eyes narrowed; the human?

"this is jeonggukie, hyung. don't be mean." jimin pouted, rubbing the human's back. he smiled, a little more relieved.

"i'm yoongi." he said simply, leaning forward and shaking jeongguk's hand. he lingered there a little longer than he should've, maybe. it earned a laugh from the couple.

"he knows about us, yoongi. you can relax now." seokjin said with an arched brow, rolling his eyes. "your desperation for physical human contact and warmth is showing. quit holding his hand while pretending like you're just shaking it."

"is he opposed to it?"

"no-"

"then it isn't a problem." was said quietly before yoongi jumped on top of the reception desk with a thud. jeongguk widened his eyes in surprise, a look of pure questioning passing his features as the owner's body began to contort and shift. his eyes turned yellow with a striking black circle in the middle and he disappeared into his clothes in just under the blink of an eye.

there was a brief moment of silence where jeongguk clutched to seokjin's arm like a lost puppy, "what just happened?" he whispered quietly.

"yoongi hyung is so extra." jimin sighed, coming forward towards the pile of clothes on top of the desk and pulling the fabric away to reveal a single black cat licking at the outside of his paw. the smallest pat and scratched over his head, earning purrs of joy from the animal. "he's a shapeshifter. this is his favourite form to be in… so needy."

jeongguk stared in complete disbelief as the cat kept leaning into the vampire's touch, head wiggling under the pressure of his fingers. "...so he can turn into anything he wants?"

jin nodded and hummed to his question, "precisely."

"that's so cool."

the kitten meowed, pleased. he jumped from the other's arms and waltzed to jeongguk's feet, pawing at his leg to he could be picked up. the human did just that, giggling when the yoongi licked at his cheek. the warmth of the human was a little more pleasant than the cold hands of the couple, yoongi found.

"you're totally stealing our date!" jimin whined.

"yoongi, since when have you been this needy? are joonie, tae and hoseok not treating you right? i'll have a convo with them this instant."

yoongi hissed. jeongguk erupted into laughter.

the couple smiled and leaned in together to kiss quickly, marvelling at the scene in front of them.

"we should get a cat." jimin proposed.

"we can't have a cat, a bunny and a puppy, jimin. you forgot tae is also almost a literal pup? "

"and how could i forget my werewolf best friend? he's literally a lap dog. no big deal."

jeongguk pouted, his distraction halting for a minute. "are you guys saying bad stuff about me?"

"no, baby. never." jimin reassured, leaning in to kiss his cheek.

"why don't we come in and sit?"

the shapeshifter moved in a way that resembled a simple nod, jumping off the human's arms and leading the three of them to the private area he had prepared for them beforehand. he had told the couple he was going to close the restaurant so they could have their own time and have fun without having to think about the people around them, but jeongguk didn't have to know that.

they arrived at a small circular table surrounded by a curved black sofa and sat down. jeongguk was in the middle yet again, the couple on either side of him like he had thought back at home. suddenly he became a little aware of what was really happening and his nervousness spiked a little.

it was ridiculous. the three of them had even kissed beforehand… why was he so nervous about just having dinner with them?

the cat hopped on the table and sat down on his back paws, seemingly waiting for something.

"i'm guessing this is when we make our order, right?" jin questioned, receiving a small nod in confirmation.

"i want some soju." jimin said almost immediately, "and some of the heavenly blood pack you have back there, please? the expensive one?"

"i'll have the same too." jin smiled and rubbed his hands in sweet bliss, finally happy to feed again.

the couple could go for about two weeks without needing to feed on blood, but it was just not fun to restrain yourself from your needs. yes, they could eat human food, but it didn't satisfy their hunger in the slightest. it was just a guilty pleasure to taste different flavours, even if it did nothing to them. jimin and seokjin fed pretty often, but not from living beings; just from blood packs that they got delivered at their workplace. being the ceo of a pharmacy company while being a vampire sure does have its perks.

jeongguk didn't quite know what to ask so he just stared blankly at the menu before he said, hesitantly, "uhm… i'll have some japchae?" his order was not even cool enough like theirs. he pouted a little bit.

jimin giggled and seokjin did the same. "we pay for everything, as usual. you can take the payment from our account."

yoongi nodded yet again and then jumped off the table, wandering off with a small bounce to his feet and a sway in his thin tail; he'd return later when the time was right.

jimin leaned against the cushions of the sofa, sighing against them. "finally some peace and quiet… and we have kookie all to ourselves again~"

jeongguk blushed, "you're already teasing me."

"that's what we came here for," seokjin said sweetly, winking at him.

"oh my god. he didn't."

jimin smirked, "he did."

the food came pretty soon, warming up jungkook's stomach and relieving the hunger of the couple. their "food" came in a single tall glass for each of them, a long and full of bent in loops straw decorating it as if it was a cocktail.

jimin's eyes immediately went wild when he saw it coming along with the soju, "alright," he had said loudly, popping it open and mixing the alcohol with the blood in his glass. "let's get this party started."

as they drank, the red liquid went up in straw and swirled into the glass curves, making it seem funny and surprisingly, a little less scary.

"i thought blood coagulated with alcohol?" jeongguk asked curiously, suddenly remembering tiny bits from science class.

jimin giggled, "not this type. it's specially made for vampires like us, so it actually gets thinner and it tastes fucking amazing."

"i guess you could say it's a bloody mary now."

jimin borderline started seething while jeongguk just laughed dumbly at the bad joke. jin did the same as well, laughter bouncing off the walls of the empty restaurant.

“stop encouraging him, kookie. he’s a fool.”

“you love me.

“sadly.”

the conversation flowed more easily when the alcohol and food began to sit in their stomachs, offering a pleasant warmth and comfort to their bodies. seokjin and jimin now leaned closer than ever, glasses of blood already empty and jeongguk’s plate almost done as well.

"angel, why don't you suit yourself and have some?" the blue-haired vampire had saved some alcohol (without the blood) and offered it to the human, tipping the bottle towards him with a smirk.

"u-um, i've never had soju… i don't know if i like it…" he involuntarily leaned into seokjin's chest. he had come to enjoy this position… leaning into one of them while they talked made him feel secured, backed up. he was almost like a heat provider for the vampires, even if they didn't need it. it was close and intimate, something in his core screamed nest.

was this nesting? he didn't know much about it, but it felt like it was. he made a small mental note to ask about it to them later.

"i'm sure you're going to like it. it's a bit strong, but you'll do fine~" the smallest poured some onto a glass and leaned closer, slotting his legs between jungkook's. the human tilted his head back and his lips parted, welcoming the drink.

when the glass tilted and the liquid went down his throat, it left a burning sensation as it went. he coughed a little involuntarily but drank it nonetheless. jimin put the glass down and smiled as seokjin cradled jeongguk in his arms; he looked adorable. his chest was slightly red, cheeks as well.

"so?" the eldest questioned, "how do you like it?"

"it burns a little, but it's good." he murmured, humming pleasingly. "my stomach's warm."

"you're so cute," jimin whined, leaning into his chest and staying there, much like they did back at home. "do you want more, or is that already enough experimenting for you?"

"i think i'll just have a beer for now."

"very well." seokjin nodded, calling yoongi right after with a small shout. "yoongi-ah, bring us some beer!"

"coming! ", came from the kitchen, out of the picture. in just a minute or so, yoongi came back to their table with three beers in hand, but he looked different. he wasn’t himself or even his cat form… he looked like jeongguk, except his eyes were still in that bright almost neon golden.

it’s needless to say that it scared the human quite a lot. he stared, mouth parted in surprise after a yelp came from it.

“like my new form?” yoongi teased, placing down the bottles and opening them up one by one. jeongguk looked at his own- yoongi's muscles flexing under their identical sweater.

“you look like me.” he deadpanned dumbly.

“yeah i do, champ.” the shapeshifter laughed again before turning back when he saw the human's hesitance. the black mist came back and enveloped him as he twisted his body in on himself. soon he was back to his own form, looking like what jeongguk had first seen when they arrived at the restaurant. “ugh, you’re too tall. i feel small now in comparison. thanks for that.”

jin and jimin laughed along at the other’s joke; jeongguk just felt a bit flustered about the whole situation.

“baby, yoongi hyung can turn any living thing he wants to. that’s his thing, isn’t that cool? even other people and all kinds of animals… even you!" jimin inquired, planting a kiss on his forearm.

“i-it is…”

“are you feeling okay, jeongguk?” yoongi asked as he poured the beer onto another set of tall glasses. “you know, i won’t shift into you anymore if you don’t want to. i get that it can be kinda uncomfortable, especially for you. seokjin told me to stop shifting into him to cuss off customers but i don’t give a shit about him. i care about you, though.”

“hey!” seokjin said, offended beyond belief. how dare yoongi do such a thing?

“jeongguk is my new friend. you’re a pain in the ass,” yoongi retorted back.

“we’re business partners!”

“more reasons to use your face to tell some customers to fuck off.”

jimin and jeongguk stared between each other, sharing quiet giggles. as much as yoongi liked to pass off the badass i-will-punch-you-in-the-face attitude, jeongguk had a feeling that deep down he was just a big softie. he just got to know yoongi for maybe an hour but it was already evident to him that he actually cared about seokjin and jimin very deeply. maybe he'd get to that place of trust one day.

"i do so much for you and this is how you pay me back…"

"whoa there, before this gets mellow i want to state that i love you, but you are a dumbass."

"i'm your hyung."

"that never stopped me from doing anything i wanted though, did it?" his tone was suggestive as he winked towards jeongguk. what did that mean? "anyways, i don't want to interrupt your nesting time any longer. yell for me if you need me, love birds… or bats? love bats and bunny. that works."

as the other wandered off, jeongguk frowned, lip jutted out as he thought long and hard.

"oh no. either someone's got a question or someone's thinking too hard," jimin laughed as he pinched jeongguk's cheek between his small fingers.

"what's up, kookie?"

"ow-!" the human winced, snuggling further into seokjin as he tried to escape the vampire's fingers. his arms tightened around him protectively, "i do, actually… uh, what was that thing yoongi hyung said about… nesting time? i don't get what he meant by that." he rubbed at his own cheek with his soft palm.

"oh, that," jimin said a bit unceremoniously.

"i figured we'd have to tell you sooner or later, to be honest. i'm kind of glad that yoongi brought it up in the first place…"

"it's not bad, is it?"

"no, angel. not at all. it's really good. do you mind if i explain the first part, seokjinnie?"

"i don't, you can go ahead. i'm enjoying cuddling our little human."

little human. something deep resounded in jeongguk's stomach, making him twitch slightly. maybe it was the soft reminder of his banal existence; maybe it was a reminder of the fragility of a human in the hands of two vampires (jeongguk had thought about how they could kill him if they wanted to really often), or maybe it was the way that seokjin said it with a small drop of malice.

seokjin leaned in to whisper in his ear after that, “ hm, what’d you twitch for? you like that, little human?” jeongguk let out a tiny pitiful noise, “you do… i'll remember that.”

“that’s hot…” he groaned, “stop thinking with your dick, seokjin. i’m trying to concentrate here...” the smallest vampire whined, shifting in both of their holds and finally pulling away to adjust the way he was sitting. after running a hand through his own hair, he leaned close to peck at jeongguk’s lips. the youngest returned it as he leaned into the touch.

“you’re the one who thinks with his dick all the time, jiminie.”

“am not.”

“are so!”

“guys!” jeongguk chuckled again tugging them both closer, “you’re bickering again… my question? remember? what did yoongi hyung mean by that?”

the couple sighed and jimin nodded, pecking jin's lips once as a form of apology which the other returned, “only you to keep us both quiet, huh, angel? alright, i’ll tell you about it.” it felt so weird to have a whole new world explained to you, jeongguk found. he felt a bit dumb; like he didn't know anything about it or whatever the couple were discussing.

jimin began, "we told you back at our house that we, vampires, live and love in groups for pretty much our whole lives. nestmates are something that is really important to us." jeongguk nodded to that part. he remembers how it had first felt to feel wanted. his stomach flipped upside down at the memory. "a nestmate is not something that we pick, baby. it's like… a product of fate. back when we first saw you, we didn't know you that well but something in us knew that you were part of it. you might've not felt it because you're human, but we did. it was immediate."

the human blushed; seokjin laughed a little at him. it was lovingly.

"nestmates come naturally. like the three of us. now, a part that you might find weird… when nestmates are together, there's a tendency to be close, like we are right now. it's kind of like… forming your own actual nest, like an animal would. we naturally adapted to a position that suits the three of us and makes us all feel safe and comfortable, just like a nest should." the shorter's voice was sweet as he caressed him slowly, making jeongguk's arms feel like jello in his hands. "yoongi hyung said he was interrupting our nesting time because we were in our nest position, just having a good time. it's like a soulmate bound but much more physical, it can even hurt if you're apart from your nestmates for too long."

"...oh." he said a bit dumbly, again.

jimin snickered and seokjin did just the same, "yeah, oh. how do you feel about it, angel? you can say it, no pressure."

"i… feel good? feels good be this close to you, hyungs." he said with a determined tone. "i like sitting and laying like this with you both, in the middle. feels like i'm warming you…"

"you're so cute," seokjin commented, "you can consider this a safe place, jeonggukie. we won't let anything get to you, ever. i'd say this date is being extremely successful, even if we aren't drunk off our minds."

"agreed," jimin piped in. "and you are warm. we don't really understand how it feels fully, but it's great. your heartbeat, pulse and scent…"

"music to us."

"exactly."

he didn't know what to say at this point. the human was honestly getting a little choked up, but he'd never admit it. the couple probably knew, anyways. he pulled them closer and enjoyed the moment before another question popped into his mind.

"hyungs… have you ever thought of, y'know… biting me?"

"not necessarily." seokjin answered immediately.

"we don't have to." jimin furthered, "we haven't drunk from living things in ages."

"i mean… i don't know, even if it was just a thought? back at your house, jimin said he was going to eat me up because i smelled good. "

"you did smell good." jimin pouted, "and i was kind of excited that we found you. can you really blame me for that?"

"jiminie over here relies on instinct a lot, but i second that. you smell great."

"this cologne is really doing it for me." jeongguk joked, earning a laugh from the couple. "but… how do i smell? really?"

"you're curious today." the smallest teased, "don't tell me you have a thing for vampires… how scandalous." the human blushed, "you do! i bet it's because of all the anime you watch."

"quit teasing him, jiminie. we're literally vampires."

"he's being kinky. it's my right."

"i-i'm not!" he scrambled for an excuse to cover it up, but there was really nothing else he could say. jimin wasn't exactly wrong.

"we all saw you twitching at 'little human' earlier, sweetheart. you're not fooling anybody…" seokjin whispered in his ear and jimin agreed with a small nod. "if you really want us to describe how you smell, you're going to have to let us find out."

"what do you mean?"

jimin's thigh pressed into jeongguk's crotch, "crane your neck back, little human. let us have a real smell."

jeongguk let put a pathetic sob, fidgeting in the middle of the couple as he tried to move, to no avail. "c-can't." he said quietly.

"what a baby," seokjin rolled his eyes in mock annoyance, using a free hand to forcefully pull his head back. it didn't hurt or sting, but the show of dominance made jeongguk's core burn. his head now laid against seokjin's shoulder, some of his hair stuck to his forehead. "there we go. do we have to do everything for you, human?"

"he's a baby. look at him, seokjinnie. he's practically shivering with fear. are you afraid, sweetheart?"

they were so close, trapping him in. "n-no…"

jimin leaned further into his ear and whispered, "pinch my arm if you need to stop and can't talk, jeonggukie. understood?"

"y-yes."

"very good." seokjin complimented, "i can smell you from here already, human. so sweet…"

then the two just went at it. their bodies pressed impossibly further into jeongguk's, face buried into the crook of his neck as they took long and deep inhales and exhales of air. jeongguk had goosebumps all over his skin, hair standing up and heart beating rapidly. jimin moaned quietly, "so sugary. smells like cotton and honey flavoured sweets…"

"so fresh," seokjin said soon after, "like tangerines. oh, you smell so fucking good. could stay here for ages, jeongguk."

"going to get addicted to this, seokjinnie. how did we manage to live without this for that long…"

"h-hyungs…" jeongguk whined, "kiss me. kiss me please."

the couple pulled back and then shifted their positions, now leaning jeongguk straight up against the sofa they were sitting on and sitting on either side of him. jimin leaned in and captured his lips first, kissing the human for a solid minute and more. jeongguk's tongue darted out to match jimin's, a small gasp escaping his occupied mouth once it grazed against jimin's fangs. when the vampire pulled back, the other came in at the same level of intensity, making jeongguk's head loll back and his eyes roll into the back of their sockets.

he was left panting heavily; his body burnt as if he was set ablaze.

jimin and seokjin stroked his body affectionately, almost worshipping it.

"g-good. feel so good."

"yes, angel. you did so well for us… heavenly."

seokjin went to grab at a bottle of water that was left forgotten in some ice at the table and tipped it into jeongguk's mouth, wanting him to calm his breathing. "perfect. absolutely perfect for us."

it took a minute or so for jeongguk to come down from that state he was in, and once he did, his skin flared red in embarrassment. "i…"

"got pretty intense there?" seokjin inquired.

"we should discuss that later, yeah? but angel, yes, you smell like a fucking dream. absolutely lovely."

"so lucky to have you."

they had him. jeongguk's heart bloomed with love and excitement. they had him.

"like this. like you both, so much."

"we like you too, jeonggukie." jimin said and seokjin agree, "to bits."

he stared between the two, doe eyes wide and filled with tiny little stars. they were so beautiful, so kind, so wonderful… something clicked within him and his face fell into a serious one; in his head, a small voice sounded: they are the ones you've been saving all these first experiences for, dumbass. these are the ones they tell you about in movies and love songs. his heart raced; if you don't tell them now you won't have the courage to tell them about this ever again. do it. now.

when words managed to come out of his mouth and he finally came back to his true senses, he said in a tiny voice, "date."

"hm?"

"what was that, angel?"

he swallowed dry, "d-date me. you both. please," seokjin and jimin both froze up. maybe it was emotion, maybe it was the shock, maybe it was disgust. jeongguk wasn't able to read into the situation as thoughts swam through his head. "i-i know it's the first time we go out on a date and it's quick but if i don't tell you now while i'm having a confidence rush i won't be able to tell you this ever again. please date me. i really like you both-"

"yes." there was a small sniffle coming from jimin and seokjin came in right afterwards with a quick, "we want to. so much, you have no idea." the two latched onto the human and he didn't quite know what to do so he just hugged back, sniffling a little himself as the pain in his chest and head eased.

"oh, lucifer…" jimin tried to recompose himself, "we had planned to ask you first with flowers and everything, kookie… but this is perfect."

"perfect," seokjin said as well, kissing the top of his head. "just like you."

"hyung… stop making me blush…" the three of then sighed dreamily afterwards, the crash of adrenaline fading away yet again. "does… does this mean i can call you boyfriends now?"

"whatever you want to call us,"

"i still like angel and babycakes better because they make your face look like a tomato."

jeongguk let out a small inhuman noise, "hyung!"

in the kitchen, yoongi smiled to himself from ear to ear as he facetimed his very own boyfriends. "ah, young love." he sighed out, his insides feeling warm. it reminded him of the time when he too felt a bit too nervous to make the first move on his three lovers. "they're eating each other's faces right in my restaurant… the things i do for my friends,"

from the phone, a set of giggles sounded off as hoseok spoke over them, "so they finally found a nestmate?"

"yeah,"

namjoon looked up from his cauldron, temporarily pausing whatever potion he was brewing, "really? what are they like?"

"well… he's a human."

no one replied after that. the silence and wide eyes speaking words of shock and a little confusion. the youngest gasped, sharp teeth popping from under his lips. taehyung was the first to break the ice, as well, "...a human?" was said in a small voice that resembled the one of a sad (or worried, really) puppy.

yoongi bit the inside of his cheek, "yeah, his name is jeongguk. apparently, they already told him everything there is to know about what he's getting into,"

namjoon's mouth was still in the comical shape of an 'o', speechless beyond his own comprehension. hoseok was still smiling through it, of course. the fae always looked on the brighter side of things. "they must like him very much. i wasn't expecting the nestmate to be human... i thought vampires didn't get attached to them, especially because, you know…"

"you know jimin and seokjin hyung are different, sunshine," joon finally spoke up, going back to his work, "i'm kind of excited about it, actually. i finally won't be the only one in the group with human ancestry!"

"jiminie and seokjin hyung haven't fed on living humans in almost 50 years… i wouldn't be too worried about them doing anything to their nestmate. it kind of works like a soulmate or pack bond. they will do anything to protect him," the werewolf reasoned, tilting his head and pouting, "especially since they must like him a lot… and if they do bite him eventually, that's kinda hot."

"you and your blood kink," yoongi rolled his eyes playfully. everyone in the call laughed.

the night was absolutely amazing, jeongguk insisted on thinking as the couple- his partners led him outside towards their car. it was needless to say that he was just a teensy tiny bit drunk, but at least he asked the two out before getting a little smashed. jimin's hand secured its place on his hip and seokjin held his hand as they swayed towards the car. both of them had drunk a lot more than him, leaving a slightly pissed off yoongi at how much he had to clean, but they were nowhere near drunk; just a little tipsy. seokjin would sober up to drive them home soon enough.

"so this is drunk jeonggukie," jimin said in a sing-song voice.

"'m not drunk, just a little tipsy~" the human shot back as they entered the car and sat down, killing a little bit of time. "i'm a virgo… i can't handle my alcohol-"

"you're a virgo?" jimin gasped, turning to look at him in the backseat.

"oh for lucifer's sake," seokjin sighed, hitting his head on the steering wheel softly, "not this conversation again. "

"stop being stingy! we got a sub on our net, seokjinnie!"

"i'm listening."

jeongguk laughed a bit loudly, bunny teeth showing, "why does seokjin hyung hate astrology?"

"he's mad that he's a sagittarius."

"who even cares about planets anyway?"

"don't listen to him, baby. i'm a libra."

"oh…" jeongguk nodded attentively, "that makes a lot of sense."

"i know, babycakes. libra and proud~" they all laughed, "when's your birthday, angel?"

"september 1st!"

seokjin and jimin let out a single and long 'aw', looking at each other before sharing a smile. the eldest looked genuinely endeared, "the first miracle of september."

"h-hyung…" jeongguk groaned, dismissing him and laying down along the seats. he was tired, to say the least.

“baby’s tired?”

“yeah…”

“to your house, kookie?” seokjin asked, hand reaching to rub at the side of his clothed thigh, “or ours?”

“yours?” his eyes practically pleaded, “don’t want to wake up mom and the bed is too small,”

seokjin’s and jimin’s eyes seemed to shine at all the possible meanings of that last bit. they nodded towards him and the eldest began to drive away to their house. the human turned in his place, eyes landing on the two husbands who held hands while seokjin drove.

he let his eyes slip shut as the melody of whatever song was on the radio and jimin's harmonies to it lulled him in. he let his mind wander far, thoughts never seeming to cease. jeongguk still couldn't believe he had done something like that… never, in a million years, would he imagine himself in this very own position, with not one, but two partners (who were already married, but still). and never did he even think that he'd be the one to ask them out. it was… just something completely out of his character. jeongguk always thought of himself as an introvert (taehyung forced him to take the mtbi test, and his suspicion had been right all along) and he was heavily inexperienced in the heights that were love, so he really had no idea what possessed him to even say it.

maybe it was the nestmate feeling that seokjin and jimin had talked about… maybe he was head over heels. the mixture of both seemed pleasant to him.

during the ride, jeongguk had slightly sobered up both his body and thoughts, now not able to take his stupidly huge smile off his face. when they arrived at the vampires' driveway (in about twenty minutes or so), jeongguk hopped off the backseat happily. jimin raised a brow at him while seokjin took off his jacket to wrap it around the human, he didn't need it anyway.

"looks like someone is happy," jimin giggled in a teasing tone, "and sobered up as well?"

"kind of~" the human singsonged, "i love your singing voice, jimin hyung. you should sing more often,"

it was as if jeongguk had ripped through some wall or façade in the vampire. for the first time, he seemed to be actually embarrassed. "...i thought you were asleep-"

"was not! please sing to me some time…"

"...wait," seokjin said, bewildered with the situation, "are… are you embarrassed, jiminie?"

"no!" he nearly stomped his foot in retaliation, but the way his slightly more pointy ears turned red and the way he was biting the inside of his cheek gave the true answer away, "i was caught off guard, that's all-"

"jeongguk you totally made him embarrassed, that's amazing. good job tearing through his flirty persona,"

"don't speak!" jimin whined, tiny fists coming to hit seokjin in the chest, "enough… let me go back to that headspace…" comically, the smallest took a deep breath and closed his eyes, making some sort of movement with his hands that jeongguk associated to what theatre kids do when they're about to perform a role. when his eyes opened again, the small tint of pink in his cheeks was gone and even his posture changed.

"i'll sing for you anytime, angel. but let's go inside for now, your pretty face is going to freeze if we stay here for much longer."

jeongguk didn't even realize that his lips were slightly shaking with the weather. all he could notice was how hot this had just been. he turned to seokjin as they walked to the entrance, mouthing a silent 'wow' and getting a knowing nod of someone who had been through that countless times. jimin walked ahead of them, swaying his hips with the confidence that jeongguk was growing to love.

they unlocked the doors and walked in, but jeongguk was still a little cold. “hyungs… do you have a heater? it’s kind of chilly in here.”

“i’ll go get it from the garage,” seokjin volunteered, “it’s a small portable one, but it’ll warm you right up.” the eldest left and jeongguk began to walk towards the living room, only to be stopped by jimin’s confused voice.

“where are you going?”

“...sofa?” he said as if it was obvious, looking puzzled as well.

the vampire walked towards him and rubbed at his arms to warm him up, frowning as a small puff of air left his lips. “why would you sleep on the sofa, baby? come to our room this time, alright? it’s way more comfortable and warm up there.” jimin tutted, “i’m not letting you sleep on that uncomfortable sofa and in those clothes, come.

he tugged at his arm and pulled the human along the way towards the stairs, “i can’t believe we forgot to close the windows… curse this indifference to heat and cold, it’s so annoying sometimes.” the vampire rolled his eyes as they neared his room. jeongguk knew this one very well.

he got a better look at this time around, though, ignoring the desk that faced the windows. the ceiling was tall and the walls were painted in a warm beige, making it look more even welcoming and tempting than it already seemed. the bed was enormous and covered in soft and yet hot looking sheets that jeongguk was dying to get under; the wall directly opposed to the one where the head of the bed was had a small fireplace and everything. jeongguk was amazed.

jimin went over to the bed and sat down before reaching to open his bedside drawer, "i don't have a lot of pyjamas, but i hope this big t-shirt from seokjin suffices," he delivered the big grey and generic NASA shirt to the human.

jeongguk took it and spent a long minute looking at the vampire, who just smiled and crossed his legs. he looked confused, "what is it, baby?"

"a-am i supposed to just… change here?" jeongguk said, cheeks rosy and glossy.

"is there a problem?"

"i…"

"oh, i see. you're embarrassed… poor little baby," jimin giggled and went over to him, pinching his cheeks and standing on his tippy toes to peck his lips. "i'll step out for a few moments and see how seokjin is doing. don't miss me too much, got it?"

"y-yeah…" in just under the blink of an eye the vampire was gone, leaving him alone with his shirt and a blushed face. "d-damn it."

they had kissed and gone much farther than that at the dinner table (just as he had hoped back home) but above all that he still had his own confidence to work on. he would get over the problem one day, he was sure. hopefully very soon.

he slid off seokjin's jacket and carefully folded it on top of a drawer that he hoped was his (virgo things). after sliding off his clothes and putting on the eldest's shirt, he sneakily smelled it, enjoying the fragrance of the vampire's natural smell and detergent alike. they talked about his own smell but he had never mentioned this at all. seokjin and jimin smelled incredibly good all the time. he couldn't quite place what it was, but it was insanely delicious. it was something teetering the edge of flowery with a sweet candy-like scent. jeongguk had come to love it.

the human sat on the massive bed, pleased as the memory foam slowly dipped along with his weight. his back was stiff from leaning on that sofa at the restaurant for so long.

just as he was about to stretch, the two vampires walked in, pushing a small heater inside the room. after plugging it into a socket and adjusting the temperature, they walked towards their own wardrobes and began to undress as well. jeongguk averted his gaze, biting the inside of his cheeks.

"you folded my jacket," seokjin awed, "thank you. you even got my wardrobe right."

"he's so tidy," jimin marvelled, memories of jeongguk's room flashing in his head, "virgo men are a blessing to this world." the smallest turned around to wink at jeongguk, making him blush impossibly further. added detail: he was now shirtless.

jeongguk couldn't help but stare this time, eyes never leaving jimin's slightly purple skin. it looked real, even possibly a little tanned, but it almost felt translucent , like you could see right through it, veins and everything. seokjin caught him staring and approached the bed; for jeongguk's sanity's sake, he was now dressed in a soft robe.

"he's pretty, right?" jeongguk nodded wordlessly, "have you seen his tattoo? turn around and show him jiminie~"

after smirking a little bit, jimin twirled on his ankle while bouncing slightly. just under his arm, across the right side of his chest, the word 'nevermind' was written in letters that seemed to melt into each other; their tips and angles formed weird corners, some looking like lightning bolts or even sketches. "like it?~" he taunted.

"'s very pretty… love it, jimin hyung," jeongguk said quickly, "do you have tattoos too, seokjin hyung?"

"not really, no. do you think i should get one?"

"if you want," the youngest smiled, now more used to the closeness as both of them came closer and began to lay him down. he was in the middle, of course. jimin still didn't have a shirt nor pyjama pants on; he was solely in his boxers. "i-i think it's cool. hyung is so cool for getting one."

jimin smiled, hugging his bunny closer, "thank you, baby. it means a great deal to me."

jeongguk thought that maybe he should leave it off at that; if jimin hadn't specified why he got it, maybe he wasn't ready or just didn't want to talk about it. he respected that.

"cool. i'm gonna get your name tattooed," seokjin affirmed, receiving a snort from jeongguk in return and a gasp from jimin instead.

"how dare you?! you said you wouldn't tattoo my name because name tattoos are, and i quote, dumb!"

"you're not jeongguk."

"wow," jimin feigned being hurt, sniffling fakely and hugging the poor human tighter, "that's cold. jeonggukie, i'm cool too, right? i'm awesome. "

"yes," he said right away, "you both are a mess."

"mean," seokjin retorted, he too hugging jeongguk. the human extended his arms and placed them underneath their heads. "this is quite nice, though."

"we finally got a personal heater~"

"is that all i am to you?"

"maybe," seokjin joked, planting a kiss to his brown locks, "your hair is really soft."

"have you ever thought of dyeing it?" jimin questioned, delicate fingers playing with it, "i bet you look absolutely adorable with a cherry red."

the human laughed a little nervously, "i'm not sure about that… i like my hair dark as well…"

"i need to redye mine soon," jimin pouted, "it's fading away already… what if i go blond?" his voice was teasing, teetering over a song.

"oh lucifer," seokjin shifted, "kookie, i don't think you understand… you would not survive blonde jimin. i've handled it once, he's unstoppable."

"more reasons to go blond again," he giggled.

the human yawned a bit, eyes starting to feel heavy, "at least i'll die doing what i loved…"

"you sound tired, angel."

"'m a bit tired…" he nodded, eyes properly closing now, "oh, wait, i have work in the morning."

"we'll take you there," seokjin reassured, petting him to sleep. jimin rested his head across the human's chest now, "what time do you have to go?"

"ten…"

"we've got you. rest well, baby, it was a long day," jimin and seokjin gave him a small peck on the lips before whispering their goodnights.

"'night… love you," jeongguk said a bit groggily before fully giving into the recharge that was sleep.

seokjin and jimin stared wordlessly between each other, mouths slightly agape and eyes widened by shock. they whispered words of confusion and endearment between each other; if you looked straight into their eyes, you wouldn't miss the glossy layer that covered them both. it was needless to say that it was sudden and unexpected; maybe being under the influence of tiredness and sleepiness just… made it roll out of the human's tongue more easily.

jimin leaned in to kiss at jeongguk's temple and seokjin took his hand in his own, locking his fingers with the sleeping human before they whispered, "we… love you too.

the morning came as quickly as jeongguk had fallen asleep. he could listen to the soft chirping of birds from the outside while he felt a little pressure on his left shoulder. when he finally managed to open his eyes and probably feel what was around him, he gasped softly but blushed as well. seokjin's large torso was half laying on him, capturing him into a soft and warm space while he himself spooned jimin from behind; his arms were tightly wrapped around the smallest's torso as his own pressed into the mattress. he didn't want to move; it felt like that moment when your pet falls asleep on you and just can't move. it was so warm, so comforting and the sheets were wrapped so well around them, pillows slightly scattered around.

had they done all of that while they were asleep? were they nesting again?, were the things that jeongguk thought as he tried to enjoy it to the best of his abilities.

it didn't last quite as long as he hopped to — the way his heart raced woke up the other two before he could do anything about it.

"good morning, angel." jimin was the first to greet him, body contorting to lace a kiss on his boyfriend's cheek.

"h-hi."

"good morning to you too, seokjinnie. it's the second night that we sleep in a row~"

seokjin greeted both as well, ruffling jeongguk's bed hair in the process and getting a small groan in return, "a record in the means of breaking. the jeon jeongguk effect."

"was so comfortable… this bed is god sent, i never want to leave it ever again," jeongguk affirmed, trying to snuggle into it even further.

"you have work, jeonggukie," the eldest laughed a little, "why don't you go take a shower and get ready? you can use our bathroom in this room."

jeongguk frowned his brows, "there was a bathroom here the whole time and you didn't tell me when i walked into you both doing… that? "

jimin laughed a bit loudly, body curling up in the process as the human pouted.

"you- i didn't think you would want to be in the room at the time-" seokjin said between laughter; at some point jeongguk laughed too.

"i'll go get ready, then…" the human reluctantly moved away from the nest, feet now sinking into the carpet. "don't miss me too much."

"hey! that's my line!"

"you know that's impossible, little human.

the hot water felt blissful against his slightly sore body, loosening the stinging sensation and relaxing his muscles with each wave. before hopping into the large, fancy and see-through shower (it was divided from the rest of the bathroom by a mere wall of glass). it was almost a crime to call it just a shower: the bathroom was enormous and the bathing area took up half of it. it was about a three-meter wide square decorated with black tiles; everything was open except for a ceramic tub that stood proudly on the far right corner of it). jeongguk reached blindly for the shampoo, beginning to wash his hair as he hummed along to some song he had stuck in his head.

he felt so deliciously light and happy… he hadn't felt like this in a very long time. everything seemed to be falling into place; finally, the things he had been waiting for were getting to him. he had not one but two boyfriends, even if they hadn’t spent that long together, there was a connection between them as if they had known each other for a really long time, he knew; his mom was finally fully aware of his sexuality and he had support. he felt so loved and over the clouds with joy.

he rinsed shampoo and foam from his body and looked through the fogged glass, jumping a little when he spotted two figures kissing on top of the marble sink. he concealed the loudest squeal he’s ever dreamt of making. since when had they been there? oh god-

“hey baby,” jimin said as seokjin kissed his neck feverishly, “you done washing?”

“since when have you been here?!” jeongguk said, heavily embarrassed as he scrambled to get a dry towel to cover himself.

“enough to hear you sing and know that you sound heavenly,” jimin’s body twitched slightly as seokjin laughed into his skin after maybe sucking a bit too hard, “ouchie- seokjinnie, be more careful! you forgot your clothes, so we came to give them to you… as you can see we got a little bit distracted, married couple stuff.”

“oh god,” the human blushed impossibly further, leaving the shower area while clutching onto his towel. seokjin was… shirtless. his back muscles moved as he worked back onto jimin’s neck — he was so wide and… ripped. it looked insanely hot; jeongguk felt like he should look away, but he couldn’t, “y-you should’ve said something… i was naked-”

“that’s not a problem to me, angel.”

“but it is for me!”

jimin tilted his head to the side and frowned a little bit in confusion. seokjin turned around as well and gave off the same confused look as his husband; the human was able to get a clear view of the bruise that the eldest had sucked on jimin’s neck. it bloomed in a pretty red against his skin, but he knew it’d be gone in no time. “why is it a problem?”

“it’s not y-you, i just… confidence issues,” the human turned his back to them and swiftly put on his boxers from under his towel, “that’s all…”

the couple descended from the counter and walked slowly towards him, a soft look on their features. jimin was the first one to speak up, “we’re sorry, we should’ve knocked, baby.”

“we didn’t know about that but, do you mind if we see you?” seokjin asked, hands coming close to pet his hair again. jeongguk had begun to find warm comfort in that gesture, “we know you’re beautiful in every way, your body won’t be an exception.”

“i… i don’t know-”

“you don’t have to know. you don’t have to say yes, baby. it’s okay,” jimin comforted as well, voice warm and soft. the human was still not facing them, blush spreading down to his chest. just like when they had kissed for the first time, he was nervous, “whatever you say, we won’t be mad or upset, angel. we will leave the bathroom now. there’s a robe over there on that cabinet, you can wear it if you want to or not when you leave the bathroom as well.”

jimin and seokjin got even closer, the eldest kissed the back of his head while jimin thumped his head against the human’s back softly, “we’ll see you in a bit, alright?”

“y-yeah…”

they left, closing the door with a small click. jeongguk was left again and he sighed, only then realizing that he did miss their presence in there greatly. it was too quiet; too normal.

the question that didn’t cease to trouble him was whether he could do it or not. he wasn’t worried about jimin and seokjin being mad at him, now that it was sorted out. it was a matter of whether he would have the courage to do it or not. it would be progress, for sure. he knew that overcoming this little incident would get him closer to leaving this insecurity behind, and it was not like he had to show up naked… he could show them anything, and they’d be proud; he thought.

jeongguk moved over to open the cabinet, staring at the soft robe for a while before he made his decision.

outside, jimin and seokjin were sitting and chatting while sitting on a long sofa that was in front of the room’s fireplace. the heater they had brought yesterday was long forgotten, now unplugged and next to the bed. jeongguk left the bathroom with his skinny jeans and sock on, robe over his body and yesterday’s shirt in his hands. they turned to face him, a smile on their faces.

“hello, angel,” jimin greeted first, “you done washing up?”

“yeah,” the human nodded and came even closer, placing his shirt down and sitting on the (hopefully sturdy) coffee table. “sorry i took long…”

“don’t worry about that,” seokjin smiled at the human, “did you make your decision?”

“i did, actually…” he munched up a corner of the robe in a small and anxious fist, “if i look embarrassed, please don’t comment on it…” jimin and seokjin nodded, agreeing to his conditions. they straightened their backs as well, looking at him a bit more seriously as they listened. jeongguk’s hands let go of the corner of the robe and moved towards the front as he took a deep breath, slowly letting the robe undo itself over his shoulders.

seokjin and jimin were definitely not ready for the sight of the human’s body, jaws nearly falling to the ground. jeongguk’s chest area looked dense as if he worked out regularly; his nipples were dark and small, adorning him beautifully. his waist was nearly tiny, giving him a lean and really elegant physique; his posture was perfect. down there, near his crotch area, the couple marvelled at the sight of a soft tummy replacing the faded marks of previous abs. he was perfect.

seokjin made a hurt noise, sighing dreamily after, “perfect,” he said with conviction, “so pretty and perfect.”

jimin nodded agreeing one hundred percent, “can… can we touch?”

after a bit of a long time thinking, jeongguk nodded shyly, his cheeks burning. the vampires quickly moved to the floor, basically crawling towards him while staring intently. jeongguk felt so important; so much like a god as they crawled towards him with their eyes never leaving his. the smallest was the first to reach forwards and place his cold hands on the human’s body, “your skin is so beautifully soft, pretty. so tanned and smooth… and your cute tummy…”

seokjin sat on the coffee table next to him, hand wandering to his muscly arms, “the prettiest. we really lucked out with you, oh lucifer. ”

“do you work out in your free time, angel?”

“s-sometimes… i don’t do it much anymore, that’s why i lost my abs…”

“i bet you’re strong,” jimin almost moaned, “fuck. i love that.”

seokjin leaned even more forwards, kissing the human’s collarbone and inhaling deeply, relishing in the fresh feeling of his scent, “so good…”

“love it either way. with or without abs, so soft, our angel.” they now caressed him all over, basically almost worshipping the human’s body. as the touches went on, jeongguk grew a bit less ashamed and a little hotter; his skin felt as if it was aflame, little whimpers not being able to resist escaping his lips. and, oh, and then jimin accidentally dragged his slightly longer nails over jeongguk’s left nipple and he saw stars. he flinched with his whole body, a louder whimper leaving his throat.

the couple looked at him in awe, “a little sensitive there, hm?”

“s-shut up…” suddenly his pants felt way too tight to be pleasant, the couple noticing it as well.

“you really love it when we play with you here,” jimin teased, slithering in between his legs and resting his elbows on the human’s thighs. “getting a little hot here, huh? you’re okay?”

“yes-”

“and to think you were just an innocent little virgin,” jimin reprimanded as seokjin tugged onto the human’s nipples, keeping up the abuse on them as they turned into a bright red.

“v-virginity is just an illu-lusion created to k-keep the patriarchy go-oing and j-justify its consequences...” the human whined, brows furrowed.

jimin chuckled in amusement, “that would be correct,” the three of them erupted into a small fit of laughter, “but really, do you want help with that? you look a little choked up, sweetheart. it’s your call.”

jeongguk rubbed at his chest, practically shooting daggers with his glare at seokjin who just looked at him with a look of sorry that expressed absolutely zero remorse, “what time is it, hyungs?”

“it’s almost half nine,”

the human gasped, eyes going wide suddenly, “i have work!”

“ah, what an instant turn off,” seokjin laughed softly, patting his thigh, “in all seriousness, we’re very proud of you for overcoming your insecurity issues even if it was just a little bit. we don’t know what provoked them, but we are happy that you could take off your shirt and let us do this to you. we are very grateful.”

jimin nodded, moving to peck his lips, “now get up and get dressed properly, we have to take you to work.”

“don’t you guys have to work too…?”

“sundays and mondays are off days for us,” seokjin winked

after a quick alone session in the bathroom, jeongguk was ready to leave, now fresh and kind of excited to go to work, which was odd. the three of them had gathered in front of the front door, running a little late on time.

jeongguk gasped again, “i left my work clothes at home!”

jimin and seokjin looked between each other, “i’ll go get them,” jimin said just seconds before he disappeared into one of those smoke clouds. jeongguk still screeched; he doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to that. when the smallest was back, he had the human’s cap, shirt and shorts inside a gym bag. “your mom said hi, by the way.”

“...my mom what?”

“well, she was vacuuming your room so she saw me when i appeared,” jimin shrugged and said this as if it was the most normal thing in the whole world.

jeongguk looked downright mortified, “don’t give my mom a heart attack! she’s not as young as she pretends to be-”

“what? she’s fine,” jimin handed him the gym bag carefully, smiling as he reached into his pocket for something else, “she even gave me some lunch she packed for you.” in jimin’s hand there was a small beige bag with the words ‘kookie’ and a small heart written on it.

“mom… you are a hero.”

seokjin couldn't help but laugh at the situation, “your mom’s definitely braver than you, jeonggukie. you always look so scared whenever we teleport.”

“it’s scary and you guys never give me a warning!”

the two others laughed, jeongguk just pouted and puffed his cheeks out. jimin spoke up, “regardless, it’s almost ten and there’s no time to get you there by car… do you think you can teleport with us?”

“what?!”

“it’s really not that bad,” seokjin shook his head, trying to convince him, “you might get a little sick, but that’s about it-”

jimin agreed, “when do you get off work?”

“at eight in the evening? why?”

“if you let us teleport you there we can take you out for ice cream,” jimin taunted, hitting seokjin in the ribs with his elbow to get him to agree.

“you… you can’t do that to me,” jeongguk screeched, but otherwise came closer, holding onto their hands and slipping the gym bag over his shoulder. he locked his fingers into theirs and tightly shut his eyes, “emotional manipulation!”

the couple giggled and tightly held onto him before triggering the teleportation, enveloping each other in the dark smoke.

it took less than a second, really. when jeongguk opened his eyes again he was in a dark street corner, holding onto his partners as they hid from the passing eyes. he felt dizzy and lightheaded, legs similar to jello. "oh my god, " he said quickly, breath a little ragged, "i feel like i’m about to throw up my insides.”

the two held up and helped him keep his composure, fanning some air to his face with their cold hands. jimin held his hair back as he breathed heavily. “it’s always wonky for the first time. we won’t use this a lot, don’t worry. we were just running a little late on time, baby.”

“you’ll feel better soon."

“my head is about to explode,” jeongguk whined before his eyes widened with the glee of a child in them, “oh my god. i just teleported across the town. oh my god, i can’t even feel my legs. ”

“a little excited, are we?” jimin said a little warily, turning his back away from the opening towards the wide street where people passed by, “did you like it? even if you feel like you’re about to pass out?”

jeongguk nodded, wincing as his head throbbed, “it’s definitely way cooler than it is scary.”

“told you so.”

they stood like that until jeongguk had to clock in, trying to calm the human down and see if he felt better. to be fair, considering how scared jeongguk was before, he was more than good. that new experience gave him something similar to an adrenaline rush (that entailed a few flirty and confident moments as they rested). when the clock struck 10pm, both the vampires hugged him and feverishly kissed his face, getting a couple of timid kisses back.

"have a good day at work, angel."

"and don't forget that we're coming to pick you up later. you should tell your mom, too."

the human nodded, "got you, hyungs! i… i'll text you if i have time on break!"

"thank you, sweetest. now go before you end up getting late."

jeongguk said bye to them again and finally walked onto the sunny main street, gym bag heavy on his shoulders. the post office was just down the street and so was his favourite place to have lunch in: a small café where he used to dream about working in. it was getting more and more tempting to work there if he's quite honest. it reminded him of yoongi's place, now.

he walked into the post office through the employees' door at the back of it, greeting his coworkers at the staff room and looking for his best friend all over. just before he went into the changing rooms, jeongguk looked at the timetable written on a whiteboard in the room everyone was chilling in, cheering to himself when he saw that he was on cashier duty with taehyung.

after changing, he took his spot at the second cashier, right next to taehyung who had been waiting for him for a while now.

"look who's here~" the brown-haired man cheered, basically throwing himself onto jeongguk's lap in a fit of laughter. the store was empty right now; there would be no problem, "i haven't seen you since wednesday and you never text me. that's so mean, i've been worried."

"hyung, don't be so clingy!"

"where have you been~" the eldest teased, holding him in a chokehold and ruffling his hair before letting go and sitting at the cashier again. jeongguk whined, "finally got yourself a hot looking man with a fat wallet and big heart?"

jeongguk kinda went quiet at that, earning a loud screech out of his best friend, " you did! oh my god. you're joking… my jeonggukie is finally growing up-"

"hyung, stop!" he whispered-yelled

"tell me all about him," he pressed on, "every little detail. oh, wait… has he… has he deflowered you yet, kookie? i'll kill him."

"taehyung!"

the eldest laughed, showing off that stupid box smile that nobody could be mad at, "i'm just kidding and you know it, you big baby. but really, tell me. what's he like~"

jeongguk sighed and looked away, "i-it's not just… one…"

"your virgin ass managed to basket not one but two fine men? i always knew you were a prodigy at being baby."

"you're so annoying," they interrupted their convo to talk to some client that came in for a few minutes. while his worker self said and did things automatically, jeongguk thought about how exactly he was supposed to answer taehyung's questions without outing that he was dating a married couple who also happened to be immortal bloodsuckers. when the clients went away, jeongguk still tried to grasp his thoughts; it was almost as if he was grabbing at straws here, "it was last week. remember when i was supposed to deliver something on that really really scary house?"

taehyung's face fell a little more serious, as if something clicked within him, "yeah."

"well… i met the couple there and they are really nice. we've been going out for a week or so…"

"...you went to dreamin, right?"

"yes? how do you know that?"

"fuck," the eldest cursed, practically slamming his face against the cash register.

"what are you cursing about?" jeongguk made a confused expression, furrowing his brows before something also clicked in his mind. back at dreamin, when he was being presented to yoongi hyung and getting to know him, seokjin had mentioned taehyung's name. at the time, he thought it might be someone else, but now, things were kind of clicking together. "wait a minute…"

the eldest stood and waved his hands in a show of near panic, "i can explain!" taehyung grabbed at jeongguk's hand, who surprisingly let himself be pulled along towards the staff room. there, taehyung quite literally begged a couple of their coworkers to replace them for a few minutes, claiming that he needed to speak to jeongguk with urgency. a small bubble of anxiety began forming in jeongguk's chest.

they walked outside through the employees' only door, being hit with a small yet very chilly wind. the weather had changed dramatically as if it followed jeongguk's emotions. "w-what did you take me back here for, what the hell?"

"let me explain, please?"

"explain what?"

"god, i-" taehyung sighed, sitting both of them against the wall of the building. "i need to tell you something before you find out by yourself and stop being my friend-"

"what-"

time stopped, "i'm not human." it was said quickly, interrupting jeongguk, as if taehyung would never gather the courage to say such a thing ever again. those words were shot at the youngest as if they were a bullet, hitting him straight through the heart and not letting him breathe properly. "yoongi was talking about me i'm his partner along with two others and i'm friends with jimin and jin hyung. i'm not human like you are."

jeongguk just stared, his face falling, "you… lied? we know each other since i was five years old!" his voice was a little shaky and bit too loud, threatening to break.

"that's why i couldn't tell you!" tae practically whimpered, lips beginning to wobble, "jeonggukie, i couldn't tell you. i couldn't possibly tell you something like that, at least not… not until now?"

jeongguk frowned, "oh, yeah?" he said with a bit of anger in his voice, "when were you planning to tell me, hyung?"

"i don't know! and i'm sorry!" taehyung held onto the youngest's shoulders, his eyes finally beginning to tear up, "i didn't know how to break it to you, and i'm sorry. i didn't even know i was born like that before it happened-"

"before what happened? taehyung, i don't know what you are talking about." jeongguk took his hands in his in a show to calm him down. maybe they could get this over with without needing to get so emotional or upset. now that he knew about the existence of non-human creatures, maybe he would understand better. maybe it would be easier to understand why taehyung didn't tell him a thing all these years. taehyung wiped at his eyes and tried to calm down, sitting down fully on jeongguk's thighs. "tell me everything. i'll be okay, i promise. i've had plenty of these groundbreaking news this week-"

"e-even when you're mad you sound cute," taehyung sniffled.

"i'm not mad."

"well, you should be," he looked away, "i would be."

"just tell me what happened."

his best friend sighed again, still rubbing at his puffy eyes. "remember when i left during the summer when i was 18? for that stupid summer camp that ended up like… my parents… m-my parents," he cried just a little harder at that, earning a tight hug from jeongguk, who now was staining his friend's shirt with his own tears too.

his parents had died during the mentioned summer camp in what seemed to be a weird accident. taehyung had been gone (missing, completely off the grid) for several weeks after, presumably being lost in the woods for an extensive amount of time. his parents (or whatever was left of them) were found a couple of days after the accident, which was what triggered the search for the boy. it may not look like that to people who don't know his full story, but taehyung fought against trauma every single day of his life.

"keep going," jeongguk encouraged, not letting go, "s-skip that part. skip it."

"was lost in the woods for weeks… and i got scratched by a big f-fucking wolf that almost killed me-" he was trembling at the point, jeongguk bit his lip to conceal in a cry, "then i just started… turning into something horrible, it was horrible! my bones and skin just melted and fused together and i started howling -"

"you're a werewolf," jeongguk concluded.

"not because i wanted to," the eldest shook his head, arms still tightly wrapped around him. "t-they found me. the group… jin hyung, yoongi and the others. they found me and helped me… i owe them everything."

"taehyung…"

"sometimes… sometimes i can't help but think that maybe i was the one that killed them and just can't remember."

"don't ever say that!" the youngest reprimanded, kicking his legs as both of them let out a gigantic sob, "don't ever say that again, tae! it wasn't you! don't ever think like that, ever again!"

"i've always wanted to tell you," he whimpered pathetically, "didn't want you to hate me like i did, jeongguk. my best friend of all time-"

"never, tae," he too let himself cry a little louder, clinging impossibly tighter, "i get it, i get it. i'm sorry for thinking you weren't lying for a good reason… you would never do something like that to me for no reason."

"n-no,"

"i had no idea it was you," jeongguk shook his head, rubbing his friend's back comfortingly, "but now it's okay. you don't have to worry about it anymore…" he pulled back from the hug and was back at holding his hands, "i will love you no matter what. you're my one and only best friend."

taehyung sniffled, genuinely moved, "t-that's gay as fuck, bro."

"i know. i know." they both laughed a little breathlessly. jeongguk had stopped crying, but tae hadn't. he knew it would go like that for a long while. that's usually how he gets all the… pent up emotions and memories out of his system. "you're in no condition to work, tae… i'll talk to the manager and see if he'll let us off the hook for today- no way i'm leaving you alone like this."

they moved as to let jeongguk slither away from under taehyung. "stay here, i'll talk to him."

it took at least fifteen minutes to convince jeongguk's manager that he had to leave work extremely early to drop taehyung off at his house and take care of him; he only managed to do so by promising to do a lot of extra hours for both. he didn't even know how he was supposed to cover those, but he would do anything for taehyung.

he went to pick him up at the back, happy to find that he had stopped crying and was barely sniffling anymore. jeongguk came closer and began to pull him up, "c'mon, we're going to my place."

"h-how?" tae asked, holding onto his friend's arm as he walked out, "i took the bus."

"i don't have my bike either," jeongguk cursed quietly, pulling his phone from his pocket, "i'll call seokjin and jimin hyung. they can come to pick us up…"

they got their bags and quickly changed, exiting to the street after bidding their manager goodbye and apologizing again. jeongguk pulled out his phone and quickly dialled jimin's phone.

it ringed for a while before the vampire picked up, "hey baby!" he greeted happily on the other side of the line, "let me put you on speaker for seokjinnie-" after a second or two, seokjin's voice came out of jeongguk's phone, who was also now on speaker, " hey jeonggkie~ "

"hey hyungs… how was your morning?"

the vampires laughed a little, " boring~ " jimin whined, followed by seokjin who also commented: " you called really early, jeongguk. is everything okay? "

"i actually need a favour from you two… something went down with taehyungie and we need a ride to our house-"

jimin gasped, "what happened?"

"hey j-jiminie…" taehyung called weakly.

you could hear the shuffling coming from the other side of the line as they appeared to get ready to leave as quickly as possible, " we're coming to pick you up. where are you?"

"in front of the post office- there's a bench."

"taehyung, put your jacket over your head and don't let go of jeonggukie's hand. okay? take care of him, angel. we'll be right there. " they hung up, leaving jeongguk slightly confused.

"why did they tell you to-" when the human turned to his best friend, he immediately understood why. taehyung's eyes were a glowy yellow and there was a visible and incredibly deep scratch mark over his left cheek; in between his hair locks, there was a set of two fluffy ears that were laid down as if he was a sad little dog who was denied treats. little whines came from his lips, resembling an upset puppy. "oh." the human came forward and hugged his friend, staying there and hiding under the hooded jacket. "it's okay, taehyungie," he whispered as the other finally hugged him back, "they're almost here."

Chapter Text

"don't cry, taetae…" jeongguk tried to comfort him, huddling closer and practically plastering himself onto him, "please look at me."

"n-no. i look hideous…"

"you know you don't," the human tutted, shaking his head. a breeze of wind passed by, threatening to uncover them from the jacket. when taehyung reached to grab it again, jeongguk noticed that his nails were now sharp and appeared to be painted, (those were claws), "you've always wanted to get acrylics, remember?" taehyung couldn't help but snort a little at the joke, covering his scar on his cheek. his arms appeared to be a lot hairier, but jeongguk didn't even bat an eye to it. 

the werewolf sighed, leaning into him, "i'm tired, kookie."

"it's going to be okay, taetae. we're going to my house and we'll do something fun to cheer you up," something clicked in his head, a small light bulb turning on over him, "hey, why don't you try calling yoongi hyung or your other partners? wouldn't that cheer you up until jimin hyung and seokjin hyung don't arrive?"

"y-you don't mind?"

"go ahead!" the bunny nodded and smiled at the werewolf; taehyung couldn't find a single speck of a lie in his eyes or tone. he pulled out his cellphone and quickly tapped on the screen to facetime his partner that never failed to comfort him or make him smile the brightest: hoseok, jeongguk read on the contact name. he moved his head away a little so he wouldn't be caught by the camera.

the phone beeped for a few seconds before taehyung's partner picked it up, " hello wolfie~ " taehyung blushed almost immediately. on the screen, there was something that jeongguk couldn't quite describe. the man looked incredibly beautiful and he was almost glowing. his skin was incredibly tan, hair in the colour of fire and in fluffy locks. jeongguk noticed that his lips formed the soft shape of a heart when he smiled, which seemed to be quite fitting. there seemed to be little specks of something in his hair that looked similar to glitter, shining in golden flares.

"h-hello hoseok hyung…"

" why the long face, pup? what's happened? " the other frowned a bit, looking rather worried. " wait, it's your work hours. you usually don't call… "

"something happened at work and now i'm waiting for jiminie and seokjin hyung to come pick me up… jeonggukie called them."

hoseok frowned, " who? "

taehyung turned his phone towards his best friend who got a little bit caught off guard at that. he got a little flustered, staring at the almost godly figure with wide eyes, "h-hi."

" hello, " hoseok said cordially, " thank you for calling seokjin and jimin. your name is jeongguk, right? you're the nestmate? "

"y-yeah that's me. i'm taehyung's friend, too."

" ...i didn't know that? why didn't you tell us, pup? " he said, a bit confused.

taehyung let out another pitiful whine, it visibly tugging at his partner's heart, "information got mixed up… i didn't know yoongi was talking about him … i told jeonggukie the truth and spiralled into a panic attack, so he's t-taking me to his house to rest…" he explained, ears moving impossibly lower.

"our manager let us leave early and i'll cover for tae's extra hours later, so don't worry about it hoseok… hyung," jeongguk completed, trying to calm down or at least provide some relief to tae's partner who looked like he was a couple of seconds away from having a nervous reaction as well. "we've been friends for years, he's in good hands."

" thank you, jeongguk, " hoseok said, seeming genuinely moved by his words, " i'm sure he is. thank you for looking out for him. pup, i'm going to tell namjoon and yoongi what happened, right? "

taehyung sniffled, "yes."

" then, when you feel better, text us and we'll go get you at jeongguk's house, " hoseok seemed calmer, or at least he was putting a façade that indicated such thing, " sounds good? "

"yes, seokie…"

"i have to go now, pup . my break is over, " he bid his goodbyes, also saying goodbye to jeongguk, " take care and have fun! i love you. "

"love you too!" was said before the call ended. the werewolf slid his phone into his pocket again and leaned onto jeongguk, now giving off a better aura and vibe. he seemed happier than before, which was everything the human could ask for right now.

"what is hoseok hyung?" the curious human asked. "he looked… magical."

"he's a fae…" taehyung replied quietly, "was it the glitter that caught you off guard? it's fae dust."

"wow… also, really? pup?" jeongguk teased, snickering and wincing as he earned a pinch on his inner thigh from taehyung.

"shut up, bunny. i'll eat you! i bet jimin and seokjin call you way more embarrassing stuff!"

"so that's how it's gonna be-" jeongguk's teasing got stopped by the sound of a car that both of them knew very well approaching. 

jeongguk left the space he was occupying underneath the jacket and placed it properly over taehyung's head, hiding his face before taking his hand and pulling him up from the bench. they walked towards the car and got into the backseat as quickly as they could.

"oh, lucifer, you guys are okay," seokjin said in a single breath, relaxing against his seat as if he'd been on edge during the entire drive. 

"we came as quickly as we could," jimin turned in his seat to look at both of them, holding jeongguk's hand and squeezing it before turning to taehyung to talk, "taehyungie…"

"i know…" taehyung removed the jacket from his head, his ears springing upwards a bit and a single canine tooth scraping over his bottom lip.

"what happened, angel?" jimin turned to him for answers, sensing that the werewolf didn't want to talk about it.

jeongguk bit his lip, "well, i got to work and taetae was waiting for me, as usual. then we started talking and… the two of you came up to the conversation and everything kind of just… clicked together," the human sighed, "he told me everything… did you guys know, too?"

there was no denying that he was still a bit hurt and confused about everything that was kept from him. he deserved to know the truth, or at least he thought he did.

"baby…"

"we didn't know you were friends with this taehyung,” seokjin spoke up, turning on his seat as well, “we should’ve made the connection and warned you, yes. that is on our part.”

“even if we knew, it was not our place to tell,” jimin completed, nodding along to seokjin, “it’s his past and his to tell, we couldn’t do that to taehyungie.”

jeongguk knew they were both right, therefore he couldn’t find it in himself to be mad. he could only feel a little upset over the conditions on which this was finally talked about. he trusted taehyung and his boyfriends, for sure, but today had taken a turn and a huge toll on him. he let himself relax into his seat, “i know that, i just... wish i didn’t have to find out like this.”

seokjin began to drive away, “you still handled it as maturely as you could, considering everything that went down.”

“and we’re proud of you for that. both of you,” jimin made sure to specify, his voice as sweet as ever, “now, to jeonggukie’s house, right? what do you guys plan to do there?”

slowly, taehyung had calmed down and phased back into his regular human form; his ears, canines, scar and neon coloured eyes were now gone, leaving him to look just as jeongguk remembered from all these years. "usually kookie and i end up playing video games…"

"should we leave you both to it?" jimin asked sincerely, "you guys look like you need some alone time."

"it'll be better that way," seokjin reassured, pulling up to jeongguk's house not long after. "let the pup and bunny do their thing."

both jeongguk and taehyung whined at the pet names, cheeks turning pink. they left the car with swiftness and walked to jeongguk's front door, standing there with soft smiles.

jimin was the first to speak up, "have fun, taehyungie. and don't make a mess," he came forward and left a kiss on his forehead while seokjin kissed jeongguk's lips once as well as his cheek, "take care of him, angel." the shortest turned to him and pecked his lips as well, hands slithering to his waist and staying there.

"we're still coming to get you for ice cream at eight, don't forget," seokjin warned, kissing him again. of course, jeongguk kissed back every time.

"b-bye hyungs… i won't forget," jeongguk said quietly and he blushed, turning away once they walked out towards the car. taehyung elbowed him softly, teasing him about the names the married couple gave him, "s-shut up!" he retorted, "at least i'm not a pup. "

the human grabbed at his keys as seokjin and jimin drove away, opening the front door of his house quickly. his mom was also out for work at the moment, so they had the house to themselves.

"whatever you say, angel."

"you come into my house," jeongguk took off his shoes and lightly smacked the werewolf with them; taehyung just winced and started to run up the stairs to his room, "and you disrespect me like that?!"

taehyung laughed with his belly, "jeonggukie, i didn't mean it!" he ran to the other's room, jumping on the bed and accepting his fate as the other rushed in. 

"you," jeongguk practically pounced on the bed and they wrestled their laughter and frustrations out, kicking their legs and screaming. they did that until they rolled off the bed with a choir of grunts, heads thumping against the carpeted floor.

now, laying on the floor, taehyung and jeongguk looked up at the ceiling and panted, smiling like a bunch of idiots.

"i love you, man," taehyung said between bubbles of laughter.

"love you too."

soon, taehyung was feeling better. the big and squared smile that he always had was back on his face as he seemed to get over what happened (or at least forget it for the time being). they talked about it as they ate and played away their trouble, ending up with two or three delivered pizza boxes empty. 

it was a little over six in the afternoon when taehyung's phone beeped; he read the message out loud after kicking jeongguk in his stomach playfully, "hey, pup. seokie and i are off work, so we're going to help yoongi at dreamin. can we go pick you up?"

" ooooh~ " the human called out, nudging taehyung as he typed an affirmative reply, " taetae's other boyfriend ~"

taehyung turned on top of jeongguk's bed and pinned him down, head-locking him with ease. technically, jeongguk was stronger than him, but letting his friend win once in a while was fun, "believe it or not, you're not the only one with a poly ass and a bond."

"never say poly ass again," jeongguk said, rasped out as he held onto taehyung's arms and kicked his legs, "never again."

"poly ass," taehyung whispered into the human's ear, letting go of his neck, "never took you as a person who likes threesomes-"

jeongguk hit him with a pillow, "shut up!"

it took at least three rounds of smash bros for taehyung’s boyfriends to get to the location that the werewolf shared. however, soon they were at the human’s driveway, honking. the human stood and peered through the blinds on his window, spotting the slightly old car waiting for his friend. taehyung put down the controller he was holding and lurched forwards to hug his best friend, lingering there for a long while. jeongguk’s arm slithered around his waist as well and they stood still, enjoying the moment.

“i missed hanging out like this,” his friend whispered into his ear, “we need to do it again and quickly, now that there aren’t… any more secrets.”

jeongguk’s hold tightened a little bit at the last part of the sentence, “yeah. for sure, we will do it again. mom missed you around the house anyway.”

when taehyung pulled away he had his signature shit-eating grin on his face, laughing as he teased, “i knew i was always her favourite ~”

“you’re so damn annoying.”

the werewolf put on his jacket and opened the door to leave, sending a flying kiss to the human who just rolled his eyes, still smiling. it didn’t take long for him to see his friend downstairs, entering the old car. they drove away in no time; as they did so, jeongguk was able to at least see the back of their heads. he recognized hoseok’s hair as well as taehyung’s but on the front of the car, besides yoongi’s head, he couldn’t recognize the other man on the front. he was wearing a hat or a beanie over his head, making him unrecognizable. jeongguk was sure he would get to know them soon enough but for now… he had other things to attend to.

you see, being around taehyung kept him distracted from this… new and ugly feeling that was boiling in his guts. 

jeongguk missed them. very, very much; definitely a lot more than he was able to express. it wasn’t the type of emotional one (the remains of his sane thoughts reminded him that they would be here to pick him up for another date at eight), it was more of a... physical one , per se. the human’s body was almost aching. 

he made his way over to lay in his bed while simultaneously unplugging his phone from the charger, hoping that he would see something in it that would ease the small headache that was forming. beneath the cracked screen (he’s clumsy) there was a single message from the group chat stuffed in the middle of several youtube notifications. the human cleaned them hurriedly and unlocked his phone, his eyes wide.

tiny 🦇 6:18pm

[photo attachment]

missing you in the middle 💔

he clicked on the photo that was sent to him and waited for it to load, stifling a little whine as it did so. it was a picture of jimin and seokjin holding hands on what jeongguk recognized to be the sofa he slept in. their fingers were locked together and arms bent inwards; they were close, cheeks touching and their faces were exaggeratedly sad, which made him laugh a little. jimin was furrowing his brows cutely while seokjin pouted immensely, big lips leaving nothing to the imagination.

his insides twisted again and it hurt.

baby 6:49pm

hyungs

miss u

he said it quickly, almost mindlessly and in an automatic fashion but he meant all of it. it didn’t take long for them to reply.

tiny 🦇 6:51pm

hey angel

big 🦇 6:51pm

hi jungkookie

tiny 🦇 6:52pm

how was the afternoon? did it go well?

baby 6:52pm

it did i had fun

taetae left already

big 🦇 6:53pm

we're glad it went well

what are you doing right now?

baby 6:53pm

just laying in bed :(

tiny 🦇 6:53pm

you don't seem happy about that

baby 6:53pm

i told u i miss u both

tiny 🦇 6:54pm

aw

we missed you too

we're coming to pick you up at 8 dont forget

baby 6:54pm

cant forget

hyungs

hurts

big 🦇 6:54pm

what hurts?

baby 6:54pm

don't know

just miss u

a lot

tiny 🦇 6:54pm

i know what that is

big 🦇 6:55pm

our bond is really new and really strong, jeonggukie. it normally takes a while to get used to it and it can lead you to feeling sick.

tiny 🦇 6:55pm

we should've spent a little more time together before we tried to be apart for so long

couldn't even last a day without us angel

baby 6:55pm

hnyngn

can we facetime pls

tiny 🦇 6:56pm

yes baby go ahead

big 🦇 6:56pm

call jimin and we'll talk from there

jeongguk hurriedly did so, fingers shaking a little as he tapped on the proper buttons. his boyfriends' faces (it was still a little weird to think that) quickly came up on the screen. 

they were basically in the same position but not holding hands anymore, just sitting back on the sofa with their hair swept back. jeongguk was laying down on his stomach, pillow under his chin and cheeks squeezed against it. 

“ hey, angel. ” jimin was the first one to speak up, making jeongguk’s stomach twist and turn. maybe it was a little bit pathetic, but it relieved him and his pain slightly. he still felt the need to be closer, though.

“h-hey…” he replied weakly.

seokjin furrowed his brows in worry, “ feeling sore? ”

“my stomach and head are hurting…” jeongguk whined a little pitifully. “when are you coming?”

“ at eight… but if you want, we can come to you earlier? do you want us to get to you, angel?” jimin asked; jeongguk was basically pleading for it at this point.

he sighed with relief. “please. please come… i feel so nauseous.”

“ took you long enough to ask, bunny. we’re also not feeling well but we wanted to check what you thought first… we’ll be there in no time. ” seokjin reassured.

jimin intervened, " is your mom home? "

"no… she'll be back at seven thirty, though."

" permission to teleport into your room? "

"granted-" as soon as he said so, his boyfriends waved at the camera and turned it off. jeongguk let his phone flop onto the pillow, his head doing the exact same as he whined to himself.

a small throbbing pain rang in jeongguk's head before the ever so familiar sound of jimin and seokjin appearing in his bedroom made his heart skip several beats. he turned to stare at them with a wobbly lip, eyes glossing over. their bare presence seemed to ease and heal over every single ache in his body, settling like a warm blanket over him. 

they immediately moved over to him, kicking off their shoes and excessive clothing and staying in shirts and jeans. seokjin wrapped his arms tightly around the human, inhaling his scent immediately. jimin did the same but his arms made it to his waist as he pressed his cheeks into jeongguk's belly.

jeongguk touched them both, hands across jimin's back and the other on top of the eldest's head. "m-missed you," he whispered, "so bad."

jimin shuffled upwards onto the bed, pulling the human's legs along as he did so; meanwhile, seokjin made him sit by placing his hands in his armpits and pulling him towards his chest, then locking his arms around his waist. the shortest slotted himself between jeongguk's legs and leaned into him with ease.

the human's pain faded over and a warm feeling of joy replaced it as he huddled impossibly closer.

"we missed you too, jeonggukie," seokjin told him with sincerity, "couldn't stay away from you."

"angel, we're sorry. we should've stuck together for a little longer to settle the bond…"

jeongguk shook his head, "i feel okay now, hyungs. i'm good, so don't apologize."

jimin sighed, "not being close to you is a pain… we have it easier because we share a house and go to work together but you…"

"we'll have to keep doing this for at least a week until it settles over. i'll talk to namjoon about it to see if he can help us with anything, as well."

"namjoon?" jeongguk spoke up, catching their attention, "tae's boyfriend?"

"yes," seokjin confirmed, raising a brow, "you know him?"

"i haven't met him, yet… taehyung just mentioned his name a couple of times while he was here."

jimin drew patterns on the human's chest with his slightly longer nails (he'd look really pretty with nail polish, jeongguk noted… did he still own a couple of bottles?). "you know what we should do?" jimin mused, "maybe we should plan a lunch or something with the entire group, so that they can get to know our angel and get closer."

seokjin looked a little shocked, "that's a great idea, jiminie."

"i know, ugh. i'm so creative."

seokjin and jeongguk laughed but otherwise agreed. it would be fun to spend some quality time with the others… even if jeongguk got nervous just from the thought of it. he already knew yoongi from yesterday and he had known taehyung all his life, but this was an entirely new chapter of it and he wanted to make it worth. he would meet the others and have fun; he would make friends… in whatever way that’s done, anyway.

the conversation went on in different directions after that as they laid together in what seemed to last an eternity, shifting from time to time when someone had a numb leg or needed to use the bathroom.

it was a little over seven when jeongguk suddenly remembered the nail polish bottles that he owned (again) while he stared at jimin's hands and held them. "jimin hyung…" he started.

seokjin and jimin pulled away from a kiss that they were sharing in the mess of pillows and blankets that they'd made of the bed (it looked legitimately like a nest now), "yes baby?" the shortest replied a little breathlessly.

"do you… have you ever painted your nails?"

jimin chuckled a little and pecked the human in the lips softly, "i have. why?"

"you guys' hands are pretty and i… have a couple of bottles that i don't really use anymore," he said, not realizing that he too had just confessed to wearing nail polish "a-and maybe we could…" the human blushed.

"paint each other's nails?" seokjin completed.

"yes!" jeongguk said excitedly, "haven't done it in a long time and i want to see how you look with it too."

"then what are you waiting for, baby? go get it."

jeongguk nodded sharply and untangled himself from the mess of limbs that held him down a little reluctantly. gladly, nothing hurt as he was already drenched in their warmth for a very long time. it felt easy to slip into his bathroom and look for the pouch that had his nail polish bottles; he almost had a bounce in his feet. 

after he found it, he returned to the bedroom, smiling as he found that jimin and seokjin had tidied up the place a little bit. they had pulled the covers up again, fixed the pillows and folded their discarded clothes which were now on top of jeongguk's desk. seokjin was drinking from a water bottle that wasn't there when he had left; jeongguk didn't question it. 

they sat in a circle, the pouch in the middle. jimin delicately opened it and his eyes immediately shined at the number of colours displayed, "you have so many of them, sweetheart. you really liked it, huh?" 

"i did…"

seokjin came closer to rummage through them delicately as they clinked together, "i'm not really into this sort of thing but i'm willing to paint my nails for the team."

jimin and jeongguk laughed at the word 'team'. were they a team? the thought was nice.

"which colour do you want?" jimin asked, concentrated. 

"i used black the most," he did a little pause, "like the emo kid i was."

seokjin genuinely snorted, picking between a bottle of gold and pink colours. "you were an emo kid?"

jimin grabbed a black and a blue bottle for jeongguk and himself respectively, "seokjinnie… i thought the posters on his walls were very telling."

"leave my MCR posters alone! gerard way was really cool at the time-" the three of them broke into bubbles of laughter, "you come into my house and you judge me."

"if it makes you feel any better, we never liked mainstream music. especially gregorian chants, that fucking sucked." seokjin shook the gold bottle in his hand to prep it, "medieval christians." he rolled his eyes.

jeongguk stared with his mouth open slightly; he didn't even realize jimin had taken his hands and started to paint his nails in black, "our music interest peaked with queen and elton john- but we can enjoy ourselves some paramore." the smallest said.

"that's…" jeongguk's free right hand began to paint seokjin's left with the gold, "legitimately the coolest thing i've ever heard in my entire life."

jimin blew hot air at his hand, scrunching his nose a little bit and coughing. seokjin's nose was turning slightly red too. "we're cool," the shortest declared as he finished the job on jeongguk's hands. his left hand was painted in a bright blue, matching his hair. "the coolest vampires around." he sneezed.

jeongguk raised a brow, "why are you sneezing, hyung?" he asked as he moved to lay down, almost done with his own job.

"the fumes," seokjin completed, now drying his own hand, "we're very sensitive to smells."

"i'll open the window."

and so he did. the fumes from the polish dissipated slowly and soon all their nails were painted prettily. jeongguk hummed happily, seated between his two vampiric lovers again. he smiled gleefully, being rewarded a kiss.

"look how happy he is, seokjinnie." jimin's hand was on his cheek, stroking over it with his thumb. 

"it's the bond beginning to settle… doing these activities is good," the human nodded, "and it’s really warm and comfortable here-"

jimin turned to look towards the door, having heard a noise that maybe jeongguk wasn't really able to in his current state. he turned to seokjin who smirked knowingly, waiting for it to happen as their grip tightened on the human. soon, a small and slow set of footsteps made its way towards them and opened the door slowly, peeking inside.

it was jeongguk's mom. she looked a little startled at the sudden sight of seokjin and jimin huddled close with jeongguk in their arms, but otherwise smiled and waved to the vampires before leaving, not wanting to disturb whatever was happening. jimin smiled and waved back; seokjin simply nodded gently as jeongguk seemed to… just not feel her presence at all. maybe it was the overwhelming feeling of the bond clouding his mind…

it was a little bit funny at least.

jimin giggled and leaned forward to kiss seokjin, almost overjoyed. how was everything about this bond perfect? as he leaned, his chest made contact with the human's head, who just wrapped his arms around jimin's torso and pulled jimin even further into him.

"your tiddies are in my face," jeongguk whined, a bit muffled (comically).

seokjin broke the kiss away to laugh.

"angel, i'll have you know that not everyone gets that kind of privilege," the vampire tried to wiggle away but was surprisingly pinned to the human by his sheer strength. he could technically outdo him really easily but… he just didn't want to. "a strong baby, aren't you?"

jeongguk nodded; jimin smirked mischievously at seokjin as they kissed again, a little hotter this time, noises tumbling from their slightly swollen lips. jimin bit into the eldest's lip, drawing a little blood as he drank it hurriedly.

when he pulled away, his eyes were fully painted in glossy obsidian, top and bottom fangs tinted with a soft red. seokjin looked exactly the same, except there was a small slit on his otherwise perfectly plump lips. it would heal in a few minutes. the couple's painted nails were extended, similar to claws (they would fade as well).

jeongguk still had his face buried in jimin's chest but otherwise leaned into the smallest's hands when they made their way to his hair, petting him with a care that contrasted his slightly monstrous appearance. 

when the human raised his head to look between the two of them, to the couple's surprise, his eyes were painted in a similar black gloss but slightly more teary; his face was adorned with an almost powdery pink blush, body stiff and hard, "hyungs," he whispered as he looked at jimin and seokjin back and forth, marvelling at their shocked expressions. their fangs were huge but so pretty and white like a piece of majestic ivory that extended to their bottom lips and almost slit them with every move of their mouth, "bite me. please, bite me."

they wanted to say yes and comply to jeongguk's wish with every fibre of their body but they just simply couldn't. jeongguk still didn't know all the implications of their bite; he wasn't even fully there to consent to it, head clouded under the unsettlement of their bond.

"we can't, angel," jimin whispered back, shaking his head. "as much as we want to, we can't."

"at least not yet," seokjin completed. "you're under the influence of an unsettled bond, jeonggukie. your hormonal levels are peaking."

a string of whines left the youngest's lips, "but i want to so bad. want you to taste me… don't you want the same, hyungie?" he tried to convince, voice as pitiful as he could pull it off. "i bet i taste good. you know i do, hyungie. " 

"you're not in your right mind for this to happen," jimin stroked over his cheek with his thumb again, "we still have to talk about some things with you first."

seokjin pulled at his chin to stare at him straight into his dilated pupils, "we love you," it was said hurriedly. the effects of such word on the human and their connection were immediately visible. the colour of his skin went back to normal as his eyes lost a bit of their overly glossy shine, now resembling something a bit more human, like it should be. "we love you, jeonggukie. listen to what we say and let us settle you down first… it will feel even better then, trust me."

the words from the eldest seemed to calm the human down and soon enough, after a bit more cuddling and huddling closer, the human was back to his full senses as well as seokjin and jimin's appearance. it was also almost eight in the evening.

"'m sorry," was the first thing that the human whispered to them, looking regretful, "i almost pressured you into doing something bad, hyungs."

the human was surprised when the two others hugged him tightly, sighing in relief over his shoulder. 

"that wasn't your fault," seokjin reassured, "and we wouldn't let it happen. we may rely on instincts a lot, but the last thing they want to do is hurt you."

"you'll feel better soon," jimin kissed his face, "you're basically flying through the settlement, angel. it's almost done…"

"i know i said it would likely take a week, but i was surprised to see you in the last stages of it just now…" seokjin mused, laying them down one by one on the pillows. jeongguk stared at the ceiling. “since we expected it to take longer, we didn’t really tell you everything that’s involved in… a weird way to say it, consummate the bond to its full capacity. we’re the ones who should be sorry.”

jimin was weirdly quiet, clinging to the human’s hand. he felt his heart tug, “don’t apologize, hyungs,” he said with confidence, meaning to calm them down as well, “no one knew what was going to happen and we still turned out okay. please don’t be sad.” the last bit was aimed at the shortest who held the human’s hand to his lips, kissing his knuckles. 

“you’re too good,” jimin whispered.

“i just have… one more question.”

“what is it, jeonggukie?” seokjin inquired, turning and laying sideways to look at him. 

“did you… did you mean what you said?” his cheeks burned in red, “do you… do you really love me?”

“yes,” they replied without a doubt and in unison, a beautiful chorus that made jeongguk see shooting stars behind his eyes.

“i… i do too.”

it was quick and it may seem a little rushed to say something like this so early on, but was it worth denying or delaying the obvious? if the three of them knew it already (whether by their vampiric instincts or by beating heart) what was the point of omitting it if it would bring them together faster? they were okay with that.

seokjin leaned in and kissed him gently and jimin did the same, then sharing a kiss between each other. this outcome didn't turn out as unsurprising as jeongguk had expected it to. maybe it was their vampire sense…

"are you still up for some ice cream?" seokjin asked.

"honestly?" jeongguk sighed, "i'm beat. can't we just stay in and do something together…?"

"sure we can, angel." jimin smiled as he leaned into the pillows further, letting himself be swallowed by the comfort, "what do you want to do?"

"i have questions…" he began, "about what could happen when we… consummate the bond."

seokjin cringed, "i knew that was a weird word to use."

"hyung!"

"angel, there's… a lot that comes with it. it will most likely take a lot of time to get there because we need to have a lot of talks about it."

"but what happens?" he asked with the curiosity of an infant, pressing further.

seokjin ran a hand through his hair and sat down with his back straight, looking down at the human and his husband, "a bond keeps two or more creatures together for eternity, body and soul. so, as you can guess… it's a pretty big deal and we can't afford to make mistakes."

for eternity?, jeongguk thought to himself. 

"seokjinnie and i have been bonded for over five hundred years and counting!" jimin replied excitedly.

"we can feel each other's emotions and sometimes even physical things… we can hear some thoughts too. however, the two of us are vampires."

oh.

"but there's no need to worry about that last part. we can still bond and be together, whether you are a vampire or not."  

but what about eternity?

"jeongguk, please don't worry about that for now. i could hear you. that is something that will take a really long time to decide and i really mean long this time."

the human shook the thought away and nodded shyly, moving onto something else. "what about… the bite? you said there were other implications…"

jimin took over this question, "vampires have a little trick up our sleeve for feeding," he extended his fangs in a demonstration, "these sharp boys have got a special… venom in them. not a deadly one, of course. it's barely an aphrodisiac that makes… whoever we bite go pliant and lose themselves in the pleasure of it."

jeongguk's mouth dropped a little bit, staring at the shorter's fangs in awe. "so… it feels good?"

" really good," jimin nodded, "that's why we need you to make a conscious decision of it. we couldn't bite you just now because you weren't totally yourself. we don't have to bite you either. it's entirely your choice."

jeongguk wanted to think it over with care and patience, but his mind was already made up. it was safe to assume that not all vampires asked for permission and consent like jimin and seokjin did, and he was eternally grateful for it. it showed that they really cared about his comfort and well being above anything else, even their vampire instincts. 

"i don't mind the thought of it," jeongguk said, nodding all the way through it. "i… i want to try it."

seokjin and jimin leaned closer at that and the eldest voiced a quiet 'are you sure?'.

"yes," he pulled them even closer, trapping him in. "i'm s-sure. won't it help settle this faster? i'm just nervous-" 

"we can take our time, baby." 

"it won't turn me, will it?" jeongguk looked up at them with wide doe eyes, as curious as ever (and maybe a little scared too). 

"no, it won't. for that we would have to feed you some of our own blood too." seokjin explained simply.

"so… you could technically bite me, like right now?"

"yes." seokjin nodded.

"because i'm giving you the consent for it?"

"yes, angel."

"so why aren't you doing it?" he asked, voice small and shy.

seokjin and jimin stared at him in disbelief before they moved over him, legs tangled between his own and palms pressing flat against his wide and toned chest. he whimpered a little bit. 

jimin's eyes turned sharp as if something had clicked within him, “getting brave, aren’t we, angel? where did our little stuttering human go? you make it sound like you’re itching to get bitten.”

seokjin ran his hands through the human’s hair and pulled a little, making him hiss, “can’t you tell that he’s been thinking about it nonstop? the number of times he’s begged us to do this to him just today…”

“did you, pretty? did you think about it a lot? don't make me spell it out for you.”

“y-yes.”

“thought about seokjinnie and i sinking our sharp fangs in your little doll neck? thought about us making you feel dizzy? ”

jeongguk’s let out a small sob, “yes, i d-did. the thought is so… so hot,” he craned his neck, leaning into seokjin’s hands, “b-bite me, please. want to know how it feels.”

the vampires used their super strength to move him around the bed. they ended up in their nesting position again and jeongguk appreciated it, he loved the feeling of seokjin’s chest against his back supporting him. he would need it anyways. jimin sat straight on his lap, legs on either side of seokjin’s thighs. 

“we’re going to fulfil your wishes since you wanted it so badly, angel.”

seokjin fell into a little more serious tone, “it will hurt a little bit in the beginning and we won’t take a lot. just a tiny sip, we’re not hungry. you have to stay still while jiminie does it first… i will hold you.”

“sit still and it will feel good, i promise.”

jeongguk nodded, “w-will do.”

the shortest leaned in and kissed the human sweetly, lips dancing around his own trembling ones. his hands cradled his cheeks with care and love just before he pulled away, dipping to dot small pecks against jeongguk’s neck. seokjin held onto the human’s hand and so did jimin, blindly reaching for it before he clasped it around him. 

jimin’s fangs extended. jeongguk could feel his hot breath on his tanned neck. a whimper tumbled down his lips as he screwed his eyes in anticipation. the vampire teased them around a little bit, drawing patterns on jeongguk's skin with his tongue and smirking as he got goosebumps all over.

"h-hyung, p-please-" and then those same fangs were piercing into his skin, slowly. jeongguk whimpered out of pain yet again as it stung, wanting nothing more than to move but keeping himself steady. jimin’s free hand wandered over his chest, rubbing it as a form of reward and preparation for something he wasn’t ready for at all. 

jimin began to suck around the holes in his neck and then it hit him. the small stream of blood leaving him and the venom; seokjin’s firm and reassuring hold along with the pressure of the smallest on his lap… jeongguk’s eyes barely rolled onto the back of his skull, head lolling back as he let out a proper moan. his clouded mind made him believe that he could orgasm just from this.

his body thumped as the venom spread through his bloodstream like watercolours spreading onto thin paper, making his core burn but be so beautifully painted in the colours of love (and aphrodisiacs). the human didn’t even notice when the other pulled his fangs away, now only licking around the area and sucking hickeys into his tanned neck. 

“ fuck, ” jimin’s eyes were painted in a demonic black and yet they shined so beautifully, adorning his red chin and lips as well as his fangs. he looked absolutely delirious and out of his mind, panting and trying to swallow as much as he could, even licking at his hands. “i’m going insane,” he panted, “seokjin you have to taste him, he’s-” jeongguk’s eyes opened the tiniest bit, dotted with tears as he looked at jimin who had the biggest beads of hot streams going down his cheeks in a sign of pure ecstasy. “this is… i’ve never tasted anything like that in my entire life-” 

he leaned in into jeongguk’s lips to kiss him after retracting his fangs, making the human widen his eyes at the metallic taste going down his throat and making his taste buds tingle. when the vampire pulled away, jeongguk’s chin was now stained. “love you, love you-” he repeated endlessly.

seokjin’s free hand came to hold jimin’s face and wipe at his tears, “jiminie…” 

“seokjinnie- oh, my head is spinning- ”

the oldest moved quickly, laying the human down and the vampire as well, not once getting his hands off both. he kissed jimin’s eyes closed and let him catch a breather before turning to the human. damage control.

“jeonggukie?” he asked softly, “you with me?”

it took a while to respond; jeongguk was just twitching with his hips at that point, looking for friction, “y-yes,” he replied brokenly.

“open your eyes, baby,” he said as he slotted himself between his legs and pressed their chests together. the human did just that, wanting to obey with every fibre of his entire being, “i’m going to bite you now. hold onto my shirt and pinch me if it’s too much, understand?”

“y-yes hyungie, just d-do it-” the human’s fists tugged onto the eldest’s shirt as he dove into him, nosing around the spot he wanted to bite before licking a fat stripe across it, making jeongguk shiver in return. he pressed his knees together.

seokjin bit into him and it just made jeongguk feel like he was floating on clouds, high and dizzy with nothing else to ground him except for the body against his. he felt so hot, so wanted and craved for that it made his head spin in delicious pleasure and desire for them as well. “ah- agh-” was the only coherent thing he could moan out before a tide of relief washed over him, eyes rolling back again as his skin adorned itself in red blushes. 

when the vampire pulled away he was just as high on ecstasy as jimin was. he stared at the human with those completely black eyes and sharp teeth, chin a little less sloppy than jimin’s. on jeongguk’s neck, there were two pairs of small holes covered in vampire saliva that was already beginning to heal them and close them up. inside jeongguk’s pants… there was another mess entirely.

“best-” seokjin rasped out, hugging him close and rolling him onto his body, pulling jimin close as he did so. they laid in a pile, limbs tangled carelessly, “best thing i’ve ever tasted.”

“s-so good…” jimin said between his tears, holding onto the human’s arm as if he were an anchor, “how do you feel sweetheart, huh? how did it feel?”

jeongguk was still getting used to not being on cloud nine when he was asked that, but he felt many things at the time. he felt excited and yet tired, embarrassed and yet a little smug about being able to leave his ever so flirty hyungs looking like this with just a sip of his blood. he felt new, “f-feel so good. felt better than i thought it would, i even…” his cheeks bloomed pink again as he panted, “n-need to go change when i can move again-”

“fuck, me too.” jimin cursed, laughing breathlessly. 

seokjin and jimin moved to kiss and then kissed him as well, overjoyed. the three of them fell into a nice routine of kisses, giggles and jokes in between.

jeongguk didn’t think it could get better than this.

as surprising as it may seem, it did get even better than that. the three of them fell into a nice routine: during the rest of the week jeongguk would go to college and work when he had shifts and then go home to get his assignments done just before the vampires either stayed over at his place or took him out during the night, which led to the human pilling up quite a lot of… gifts, as jimin and seokjin called them.

so far, as long as jeongguk had bothered to count, he had received: a new gaming console and iphone, new cooking utensils for his mother, an almost entirely new wardrobe of expensive clothing and a single necklace that jeongguk had sworn to never take off. it was made of a thick black rope that held a raw piece of sapphire (his birthstone) in a small knitted pattern. jimin and seokjin told him that they commissioned namjoon to do it, only giving him plenty more reasons to want to meet him. 

over time and after a couple questions during their bonding time, jeongguk had found out that namjoon was a witch that lived near his boyfriends' house, deeper into the forest nearby. his cottage in the woods was also the place of a tiny witch shop where hoseok worked, helping his boyfriend brew, find ingredients and sell products to customers. 

jeongguk was literally dying to meet him, but that was not the only thing he was dying for. 

it was about two weeks after they had bitten him and they ended up just… not mentioning it or trying it again. jeongguk sort of ached to feel the venom in him again. he knew jimin and seokjin were never hungry because they made sure to keep themselves sated and on their best health state, but he loved the feeling last time and so did they. 

he just didn't know how to ask for it.

currently, it was a chilly thursday night and jeongguk was just about done with his homework and study session when his phone lit up with a new message.

tiny 🦇 added you to coven

tiny 🦇 8:45pm

everyone say hi to our baby

tae 🐺 8:45pm

our safety perimeter has been breached

big 🦇 8:45pm

hi baby

unknown 8:46pm

hey

baby 8:46pm

hi?

what's this

tiny 🦇 8:46pm

glad you asked!

this is our coven groupchat! aka the place where the 6 (now 7) of us talk

you don't have some of their numbers but that "hey" is namjoon hyung

baby 8:47pm

oh!! hey

namjoon hyung 8:48pm

nice to meet you

even if it is through text messages

baby 8:48pm

nice to meet you too!!!

i dont mind the texting ( ꈍᴗꈍ)

namjoon hyung 8:49pm

cute

big 🦇 8:49pm

you're adorable

we added you because we want to plan a meetup at dreamin.

everyone's pretty much on board.

are you free this saturday, jeonggukie?

baby 8:49pm

i am!

unknown 8:50pm

then its settled

ill close early

baby 8:51pm

hey?

tiny 🦇 8:51pm

that's yoongi hyung

baby 8:51pm

!!!

hi yoongi hyung

yoongi 😼 8:52pm

hey bun

unknown 8:53pm

guess who i am

baby 8:54pm

hoseok hyung??

hoseok 🧚🏼♂️ 8:54pm

ding ding ding (☆▽☆)

baby 8:55pm

(≧▽≦)

tiny 🦇 8:56pm

the emoticons

i'm going into cardiac arrest

namjoon hyung 8:56pm

your heart doesn't beat

tiny 🦇 8:57pm

rude

anyways angel

seokjin and i will be there in 10

so get ready

yoongi 😼 8:58pm 

whoa whoa whoa

"get ready" ???

hoseok 🧚🏼♂️ 8:58pm

arrested for horny on main

baby 8:59pm

um (･o･;) 

namjoon hyung 8:59pm

this was a mistake

tae 🐺 8:59pm

he better cum 4 or 5 times or else you'll hear from me

baby 9:00pm

TAEHYUNFKEJS

in the five minutes he had left, jeongguk managed to get in his pyjamas and brush his teeth before jimin and seokjin arrived, also in sleeping clothes. it was funny almost; jimin and seokjin didn't even need to sleep. 

they weren't going to, anyway.

time flew by until saturday night and jeongguk was extremely nervous. he spent at least forty minutes trying to pick out something to wear, having decided on a dark flannel, black sweatpants with loose fabric stripes and half black half grey chunky trainers (all bought by his boyfriends) with his mom's help. 

jeongguk's mind wandered far, thinking of what tonight would turn out to be. he had a bounce to his feet and his hands were a little slippery as he held his phone to call jimin to say he was ready.

" hello? " as soon as his voice came through the speaker, jeongguk's chest bloomed in small flowers and bubbles. wow, he was a goner.

"jiminie," recently jimin had let him start calling him this cute nickname after it slipped out of his mouth (accidentally, or not), "i'm ready to go!"

" we'll be there in a few baby, we're already outside, " seokjin said, sounding a little focused on driving. 

" grab a coat! "

jeongguk laughed softly, nodding, "i will! also… i meant to ask, what are we supposed to do after the meetup?"

" depends on how well the night goes, " jimin teased, making seokjin laugh, " and how drunk you are. "

the human blushed, "hyung!"

it was seven when jeongguk hopped onto the car after saying goodbye to his mother. he brought a six-pack of beer, placing it onto the trunk before he sat down in the backseat. "hey hyungs!~" he said excitedly.

"hello baby," jimin and seokjin said in a chorus, leaning to the backseat to steal a kiss (or maybe two) from the human. 

"you look so pretty," jimin complimented, eyeing him up and down, "you look so good in what we bought… i really do have an eye for fashion."

seokjin's hands came to his hair, "your hair is getting long. so adorable."

jeongguk blushed, "hyungs…" as he leaned back, they began to drive away to the sound of the radio. they were chatting about everything and nothing, distracted, before a really familiar beat kicked in. 

"is… this that-"

"yes it is," seokjin replied fiercely. the three of them stared between each other, waiting for the perfect moment to start singing when a trumpet sounded, "do you remember-" seokjin said with all his might and throat.

"twenty-first night of september!" jimin followed suit, cheesing all the way through.

"l-love was changing the minds of pretenders…" jeongguk said a little shyly before he picked up the rhythm when they all shouted 'while chasing the clouds away!' in unison. there was nothing like a little 'september' by earth wind and fire to get the mood going.

after a few more karaoke sessions and endless streams of laughter, they arrived at the familiar restaurant, parking directly next to the front door. there was a car there as well; jeongguk recognized it as he remembered the day taehyung came to his house, which meant everyone else was already there waiting for them. 

seokjin got the beer jeongguk bought and then they all made their way inside together (holding hands, not even secretly). it was warm inside the restaurant, making jeongguk smile from ear to ear. 

"yoongi hyung~” jimin called out as he hopped around in search for his friends, leaving seokjin and jeongguk behind. the human held tighter before receiving a kiss on his forehead. ‘it will be fine. just be yourself’ seokjin had said before he walked away too. there was a loud sound of greeting and several ‘hoot hoot’s afterwards.

jeongguk wanted to join them. 

he walked further into the restaurant after placing his coat next to the register, immediately spotting familiar faces. they were all near a big round table filled with snacks and appetizers: seokjin and jimin were together, talking to what jeongguk assumed was namjoon and hoseok. taehyung and yoongi passed by him and yelled loudly, nearly tackling the human to the ground in a hug. 

he was surprised that yoongi would do something like that until taehyung whispered in his ear, "he missed you. he's clingy like that~"

yoongi seethed at him and then pulled him up, dragging him by his arm towards the kitchen where a lovely smell began to spread. jeongguk peaked inside, not even batting an eye at the number of pots, pans and other utensils moving on their own as they chopped vegetables, stirred up liquids and washed other dishes.

maybe this was why the food here was so good?

"angel," jimin called, beckoning him to come closer and placing his hand around his hips as he did so. he pointed to the person that was just as tall as seokjin, smiling coyly, "this is joonie."

jeongguk stared at the man in front of him with wide eyes, memorizing all his features. he had soft perfect skin, almost glowing. his cheeks were adorned with small dimples when he smiled, just like now. his hair was blond and swept back. namjoon was dressed in a large and baggy blue shirt and beige shorts, several necklaces with beads and crystals around his neck. 

"h-hi." jeongguk said shyly.

"hello," namjoon's voice boomed in his ears, soft and yet strong, powerful, "it's nice to meet your properly, jeongguk."

"y-you too!"

namjoon gasped softly, eyes going down to jeongguk's chest, "you're wearing the necklace i made for you!"

jeongguk smiled too, becoming a bit more comfortable and loose, "yes! i haven't taken it off ever since… i loved it!"

seokjin, jimin and hoseok watched from the side and smiling between each other. "hobi hyung…" jimin called quietly, "is that how i looked like when i had a crush on seokjin?" 

"you still look like that," seokjin teased, poking jimin's ribs. hoseok laughed loudly.

"mean!" jimin whined playfully, staring at the witch and human as they sat on the table and chatted away endlessly. "they look really cute…we might have to steal your boyfriend for a hot minute, hobi hyung…"

the fae winked at the vampire, blowing some magical dust on him, "wouldn't be the first time."

at some point, they all managed to sit at the table while chatting about the most random things, tremendously loud. jeongguk sat in between seokjin and jimin who were both drinking out of a blood bag and snacking on the regular food (just for the fun of it). the human was eating a little bit of everything, unlike the fae who restricted himself to whatever was vegetarian. yoongi didn’t technically need to eat but still indulged in it, enjoying some lamb skewers with taehyung, jeongguk and namjoon. 

the conversation was loose enough for them to look like close friends before they even got to drink a single drop of alcohol, surprisingly. the seven of them just clicked together like they were meant to be; as if they were scattered puzzle pieces who managed to get together by the force of destiny. 

jeongguk liked this new concept of a found family.

he felt incredible. even if he wasn’t even a little bit like them (he was still just human, after all) he felt at home. he felt safe, listened to and welcome in ways that he had never experienced before. 

jeongguk was convinced this was happiness in its purest and most beautiful form.

when he finished spacing out and caught onto the convo again, jimin was speaking, “it’s always ‘no, jimin, you can’t call namjoon every time a customer is a dick to one of our employees and never yes jimin, you can call namjoon every time a customer is a dick to one of our employees!”

“i, legitimately and wholeheartedly, agree with you but we would go bankrupt after a week of spells- there are other options-”

jimin rolled his eyes but otherwise smiled, “i’ll just call him without you knowing.”

“great. awesome.”

the rest laughed loudly and along, jeongguk found himself giggling as he focused on eating his lamb and japchae. god, he really loved this dish. 

“so,” hoseok’s voice sounded a bit muffled as he was speaking with his mouth full, “how did you guys meet?” jeongguk assumed that was for him and his boyfriends. the question made him sink a little into the chair.

he scratched at his cheek out of habit, feeling around his tiny scar, “it’s actually a little funny…” the human mumbled, feeling jimin’s hand slither to his lap and hold one of his hands. seokjin placed his hand on his thigh, “i deliver mail and happened to get to deliver something to them because no one else wanted to go up there and then it started raining when i came in-” taehyung and jimin smirked knowingly, “i ended up staying the night.”

namjoon smiled widely, “how romantic-”

“and then he caught us fucking-” jimin completed.

“actually, nevermind. romance is absolutely dead.”

jeongguk blushed, “hyung!” 

“we actually mentioned the fact that jimin and i felt the connection as soon as he walked in after dinner,” seokjin saved the day, “but that happened, too. we have yet to apologize… although i don’t think he wants us to.”

jimin laughed, high fiving seokjin, “nice!”

“i hate you both.”

“yes, baby.”

jeongguk was going to open his mouth to say something but then his phone rang in his pocket. he pulled it out and excused himself, saying that his mom was calling him. after he got up and left to go outside in the chilly air for privacy, the group turned to each other as seokjin and jimin drank the last drops of their blood bag.

“seokjin hyung… jiminie,” namjoon spoke first, “you really like him, yes?” the vampires nodded. of course, they did, above anything else, “...then why haven’t you turned him yet?”

“he’s not ready.” seokjin replied almost instantly while jimin sulked a little.

“we don’t want to do this to him,” jimin completed, expressing their worry better, “we don’t own him. he has to want this. he won’t go through what we went through.”

taehyung’s breath hitched and everyone’s face seemed to go down a notch, losing a little bit of the happiness that was present before. hoseok spoke up this time, “we didn’t mean to make you both feel bad or obligated to do anything… we are just worried. we know how difficult it is for you and him that he’s not a vampire…”

“talk to him” taehyung provided, “i’ve known him for a really long time… he really won’t ask for anything first, he’s like that. you have to take the lead… but you probably already know that…”

“we know…” jimin sighed and rubbed at his face, “we have it all planned. you guys don’t need to worry… now… who wants a drink?” 

the group hooted and they all moved to get a few cans of cheap beer before turning on a playlist of music that they had all put together beforehand, enjoying the sound and the alcohol. jeongguk came back shortly after, looking a little confused. he went over to jimin and seokjin and explained that his mother suddenly didn’t remember how to use the tv remote before he was pulled in close as they danced. 

he couldn’t find it in himself to complain.

everything was going to be okay.

Chapter Text

jeongguk giggled loudly, sandwiched in between his lovers as they swayed to the music. the shortest was in front of him and seokjin was behind, holding his hips like an anchor. jimin basically draped himself all over his body sensually, leaving him speechless. he tugged at his shirt and clung to his arms, smiling and giggling with mock innocence in between. this wasn't a proper club but he made it seem like it... when the smallest bent forwards in half in front of him, ass to his crotch, a blush finally spread through his entire face as the other guys hooted and said things like 'yaaaaas' and 'back it up!'. 

he couldn't help but slither his hands down his back. seokjin couldn't help but lean in and nibble on his ear either, "he dances well, doesn't he?" he asked, voice a bit rough.

it was probably the alcohol in his system that made him agree so shamelessly. jimin came back to fully standing up, kissing him deeply and then moving towards seokjin to give him a treat too. jeongguk moved out of the way, a screech leaving his lips when taehyung pulled at his sleeve. 

how did he end up joining the other four? he didn't know. was he complaining? absolutely not.

yoongi was in the middle of the other mess, surprisingly. the other three crowded him and yet he still looked powerful; maybe a little blushy and shy, as well… he was a mystery.

jeongguk was now next to him, also crowded. 

"you come here often?" taehyung teased.

"shut up!" 

everyone laughed except seokjin and jimin who were too into their own world, melting their own bodies together in a hot dance that jeongguk couldn't get his eyes out of. 

"hot, huh? them legs-" hoseok's voice said out of the blue, loud and laughing. jeongguk jumped a little.

"get a room!" namjoon hollered playfully. 

everyone laughed again. jeongguk's pupils dilated and his eyes glossed over as he stared. jimin doubled over laughing this time, dragging seokjin along with him. 

the dancing slowly came to a stop as they all became either too touchy or too tired and just a little bit too buzzed, except seokjin and jimin who hadn't drunk nearly enough to get tipsy, of course. yoongi didn't exactly get drunk either, since he didn't have an actual physical form, so he was fine too.

they all sat on the smooth couches in the restaurant, catching their breaths and drinking some more.

"guys," jimin whined, head in jeongguk's chest "what's up with your stamina? weaklings."

namjoon panted, face scrunching up, "i'll have you know i used to do pilates. watch your tongue! i'm mentally older than you!"

"sorry, hyung," jimin giggled knowingly, caressing jeongguk's chest. yes, they were in their nesting position yet again.

"you looked fucking hot when you did pilates," hoseok said as he kissed yoongi's head, earning a huff from him before he was pulled closer, a soft 'do it again' coming muffled from the shapeshifter. namjoon shot back a 'used to?' as they began bickering between each other, faking being offended over whatever the other said. 

"hyung…" jeongguk called out to seokjin, "what do you guys usually do in these hangouts?"

"well…" the vampire scratched his head, "we usually eat and drink a lot, but today is about you-"

yoongi sat up from the couch, "since we already know basically every little detail about you, even your blood type, courtesy of jimin over there," jimin shrugged, voicing out an insincere 'oops'. "i think we should ask… how much do you know about us?"

the human cocked a brow, "us, as in…?" jeongguk sat up as well, dragging jimin with him, who just grunted. 

namjoon fixed his glasses and spoke too, "like, our history? what which one of us does and whatnot."

"well… i know that seokjin and jimin hyung are vampires, hobi hyung is a fae… joonie hyung is a witch and yoongi shapeshifts… taetae is a werewolf, too."

"so you know the basics," namjoon declared.

"i guess?" 

"i can help you learn more about us and what we do, exactly. you're free on weekends, right?" 

"...yes?"

the witch smiled, "then you are more than welcome to come to my house to learn."

jeonguk gasped, eyes wide and smiling just before he even did with his own mouth, "really? thank you, hyung!"

"we can take you there," seokjin volunteered. 

jimin kissed the top of the human's head, "it will be fun."

when they all got out of the restaurant it was already well over one in the morning. yoongi had hurriedly booted everyone out as he closed up, making them wait outside in the chilly night’s air. 

namjoon, jeongguk and taehyung were close to each other, trying to warm themselves up as they were the only ones who actually felt cold. hoseok was just fine (in fact, he was in a sleeveless top and shorts, curse the fae's weather adaptation skills) and jimin and seokjin were too, cooing over the others as they trembled just before giving them their jackets, of course. sadism at its core.

"it's getting really cold these days…" jeongguk whined, taking the opportunity to pull namjoon and taehyung closer and sighing.

jimin rose a brow at seokjin and giggled. 'huh?' he mouthed, receiving a chuckle in return too, "you'd better not get sick, baby. make sure to stay warm and cozy."

it was said in a way that was mischievous. although, no one else even bat an eye to it. jeongguk blushed fiercely.

yoongi came back in a flash, toying with the keys and spinning the loop that kept them together on his fingers. he stopped near the three who were close together and ruffled jeongguk's hair, voicing a quiet, "stay warm, kid."

"well…" namjoon said (or sighed), stretching his arms above his head and yawning, "i guess we can call this a day." 

the human ended up yawning as well, eyes tearing up a bit. hoseok ruffled his fluffy long hair just like yoongi and called him cute, agreeing that he too was getting tired. the human wanted to protest but he loved the attention he was being given, especially coming from his new friends. 

after bidding each other goodbyes and sharing some hugs, the group divided itself into two cars: seokjin's and yoongi's (the only two who could drive and were sober enough to do so).

jeongguk stumbled into the backseat and let himself relax into the leather, exhaling happily after he fastened his seatbelt. safety first.

"someone's tired," jimin said softly, holding onto seokjin's right hand as he drove away. a soft and almost inaudible white sound came through the car’s radio, “did you have fun?”

the human nodded and smiled happily, "i really like everyone. today was really fun…"

seokjin smiled, it being visible from the front mirrors in the car, "we're glad you like them, jeonggukie. we are each other's family."

"a found family," jimin added, turning his seat to look at jeongguk with a familiar glint in his eyes. oh no. "you seemed to like namjoonie a lot~" he sing-songed, "your heart eyes are adorable."

"hyung… it's not like that-" 

"aw, baby. it's fine to admit it, we don't mind it at all…" jimin reassured, getting backup from seokjin who added a simple 'we have also had our fair share of namjoon'.

jeongguk blushed from head to toe, "you have?" the two nodded, "wow."

"it's his smile, isn't it?" seokjin inquired, chuckling along with jimin, "totally get it. now… your house or ours?"

"yours," jeongguk replied immediately, coming forward to hold jimin's hand too, "i… i wanted to do it again," he rushed, saying it all on just one breath. 

"do what, baby?" jimin questioned, tilting his head and looking genuinely puzzled but holding a glint in his eyes at the same time; the glint of someone who had a vague idea of what the human was saying.

jeongguk took a little to reply, gulping a little as jimin ran his fingers through his own knuckles and seokjin looked at him through the car's rear mirror, "i… want you to bite me again."

the vampires hummed, smiling as well. jimin kissed his hand gently, "are you sure?", seokjin asked.

"i miss the feeling-" he nodded quickly, "i trust you… i want to go further."

seokjin pulled over as soon as jeongguk said such thing, turning in his chair to look at him seriously. jimin still held onto his hand; a nice comfort and anchor that kept the human from being too embarrassed, "we don't have to bite you to have sex with you, jeonggukie," he said factually, but his tone was soft and reassuring, "we… actually wanted everyone to fully be in their senses when it happens."

"oh," the human blinked, "that's okay too… i-i was just suggesting because it's something i wanted to do but if you don't want to do it today then-"

jimin nodded and smiled warmly at the two, cutting off the human's rambling, "we've had plenty of time to talk and have a sense of what we like and don't… seokjinnie and i know what we want well, but we don't know what you want, baby. you haven't had your first time yet… and we want to make it the best it can be," jeongguk believed that entirely, "which means you have to be aware to let us know if things are going well for you… and us too."

jeongguk totally agreed with everything they were saying. it was best to not rush things when it came to this, even if he wanted it. he was inexperienced… surely the others knew better.

"you're not upset, are you?" the oldest asked sincerely.

"n-no! really, i'm not- you said it yourself it's not a necessity…"

jimin nodded softly, reassuring, "we love you. some other time we will do that, alright?"

seokjin started the car again and began to drive towards their house while the human fell into a soft silence, clinging to jimin’s hand, still. he was embarrassed. he really wasn’t the person to ask for things first; he’d always been more of a follower than anything else. jimin and seokjin listened to him, though. even if he didn’t exactly ask for things sometimes, they knew what he wanted and sometimes did things that he didn’t know he wanted. 

as he distracted himself, the human smiled upon seeing the nail polish (still perfectly well kept) on jimin's nails, as well as seokjin's. 

they did love him. 

as they neared the vampires' house, jeongguk got more and more fidgety and a little anxious, twiddling with his own fingers and nervously checking his phone, not forgetting to tell his mom that he'd sleep over at their place this time. he really wasn't looking forward to being lectured again.

the two must've sensed something was not quite right because in the blink of an eye jimin was on the seat next to him, arms around the human and squeezing him in a hug for a soft second. it calmed him down instantly. 

as soon as they arrived home and got out of the car, jeongguk was surprised when the two plastered themselves onto him like they had done back at the restaurant jeongguk stumbled in his steps, seokjin's lips messily colliding with his as they kissed. jimin guided them inside and the eldest closed the door to the garage, finding trouble in locking the car with his keys. when they pulled away to breathe, surprisingly, the three of them were already near the front door of the mansion. 

seokjin panted, taking off his shoes carelessly as jimin took his spot and kissed their human who was already going a bit mad from all this. they stumbled across the empty mansion, giggling stupidly and touching each other shamelessly. jimin had his shirt up and quite frankly almost all the way off, showing off the tattoo he had; jeongguk had one shoe that was halfway out of his foot and seokjin was pulling at their hair, kicking off his jeans. 

when they arrived in front of the stairs they stopped momentarily, catching their breaths. jeongguk finally took off his shoe; seokjin's pants were nowhere to be seen. 

"hard limits?" seokjin said lowly as they climbed up the stairs between soft lip bites, pushes and smiles. "safeword system?"

"n-nothing i can remember," the human replied, hand pressuring the handle on their room's door, "don't like… uh… restrains- hands are fine- red for the safeword?"

"got it. none of that, then," jimin pushed them inside and locked the door with a dirty smile that grew darker as he watched jeongguk and seokjin make out while sitting on the edge of the bed. seokjin had grabbed the human and pushed him to lay down, his hands wandering all over the human's chest, tweaking and caressing him in all the right places to make him twitch.

the youngest vampire leaned against one of the wardrobes and cleared his throat to draw attention from both, earning it almost instantly. jeongguk looked absolutely fucked out already and they had only just kissed, the poor thing… they had a whole night ahead of them.

jimin walked closer then, boots clicking on the wooden floor until he reached the carpet around the bed. jeongguk looked at him as if he was looking into the face of god themselves, eyes wide, "i'm sure i already told you how things work around here, baby," it was malicious, "you're gonna be good, little human?"

"y-yes," the youngest nodded sharply.

"tonight is all about you, babycakes," jimin leaned in and kissed him again, "go to the middle of the bed and undress, hm?"

jeongguk nodded quietly and moved slowly towards the middle of said bed, sitting with his butt resting on in his heels. his confidence issues had subdued slightly with the couple's help — they made sure to tell him he was beautiful with every chance they got and in reaction to that jeongguk dressed in bolder ways, sometimes even took off his shirt when he was with them… but he never got fully naked in front of them, except for that one time in the bathroom- but that had been an accident!

his fingers danced shyly over the buttons of his flannel before he undid them all, showing off his tanned skin underneath. he blushed, looking at the other two who were still dressed for the most part — hell, jimin still had his shoes on. 

jimin tilted his head, "hm?"

"can you… can you take off your clothes too-"

seokjin sighed in what sounded like relief, "finally. have been waiting to show my body for the longest," the eldest joked as he began to strip, staying in his boxers, though. he moved to the bed as well, lingering behind the human. just like jimin, he too had a purple undertone to his skin, almost dead-like even if he was still tanned, dripping in a perfect gold. seokjin's slightly crooked fingers (something that jeongguk grew to love too) came forwards and lingered over his hip bones. it wasn't like jeongguk risked a glance but the vampire was definitely… packing, in some places.

jimin simply stared, smirking, "should i take mine off too, prince?"

"please,"

"but i dressed up so nicely today. besides… i like this sight," his voice was thick, venomous and dripping with a filthy desire. he reached into his back pocket, pulling out the soft, red tinted cherry lipstick that jeongguk and seokjin loved tasting on him. he applied it slowly, throwing it on the bed afterwards.

"but i want to see you," jeongguk insisted, whining softly.

seokjin chuckled, running a hand through his hair and leaning back onto the pillows with confidence, "you're being rather mean, jiminie."

“you like it when i’m mean,” he said factually, getting closer and standing on his knees on top of the bed. he looked down at the human and placed a hand over his hair, the other leaning into his palm affectionately. it melted the vampire’s dead heart, so he ended up giving in. jimin began to undress as well, shirt going up over his head with a calculative move that made him look incredibly hot. jeongguk and seokjin simply stared, eyes wide. the youngest vampire tossed away his shirt and kicked off his tight pants, showing off his strong legs and muscles. he wasn't ripped, but rather quite thick, “there we go,” he sighed in relief. 

"pretty," the human babbled mindlessly, arms slipping around jimin's waist as he buried his own face in the vampire's chest, oddly loving the silence from there. jimin's arms rested atop the boys' shoulders.

he giggled, poking his tongue out at seokjin and smiling with his eyes, "you hear that, seokjinnie? i'm pretty."

seokjin made a dramatic noise, leaning back against the rest of the pillows, "i'm the most handsome in this room and i get nothing. you both pay me dust for my ten out of ten looks-"

"seokjin hyung is pretty too," came from the youngest, muffled. it made the eldest smile widely in return since he wasn't expecting an answer to his small teasing game.

"you're absolutely right. prettier than yesterday, not as pretty as tomorrow," he smiled widely and confidently before moving over to them in a flash of smoke. he too placed his hands over jungkook's head, making him look up from his safe place in jimin's chest. 

jeongguk eyes were hooded as he looked up at his semi-nude lovers, heart beating deliriously inside his chest. they took their time soothing him over, delicate hands travelling all over his body (especially his face and cheeks). the attention loosened him and his muscles a bit, making the anxiety fade away slowly (even if it wasn't all of it). after confirming that he was indeed feeling a little better he looked upwards, relishing in the sight of jimin and seokjin making out above him.

he leaned backwards and escaped their hold to watch from afar, eyes following their every move as if he was trying to burn this image into his eyelids. jimin was practically being engulfed by seokjin, his smaller form really standing out just then. he had his hands tugging onto the eldest's hair, pulling to regain control over the kiss but to no avail. seokjin's back muscles contracted as he leaned forward and held jimin by his neck, his left hand wandering freely over his body. 

they stood like that for what seemed like an eternity, teasing each other as the kiss grew hotter and needier by the second. jeongguk watched intently, mouth agape and eyes watery as jimin's hand made its way inside seokjin's underwear, groping at the vampire's erection and dragging a rough moan out of him. they broke the kiss and then turned to look at their precious little human who was whimpering in a corner of the bed, sweats leaving nothing to the imagination. 

jimin made a mocking cooing noise from the back of his throat, a mean smile making his softest features look sharp and intimidating, "look at that… our little human is enjoying the view," he said, seokjin's impressive length still in his hold, "feeling good? is your hand good enough for you, baby, or do you need some help?" 

jeongguk let out a small cry, almost desperate, "please-"

"i wish i could tease you more, baby… you would look so cute all desperate and writhing on nothing… but today is not the day for that," jimin sighed as he let go of seokjin unceremoniously, crawling towards jeongguk as he swayed his hips. the human saw stars shooting behind his eyelids as soon as he felt the first touch. the vampire placed his hand on his thigh firmly, squeezing the skin beneath, "can i touch you?"

seokjin got off the bed and circled it, coming up on the other side and letting jeongguk rest against him with ease, "y-yes…" the human blushed and he pulled the eldest in for a kiss as a distraction from his embarrassment. he could feel his cock across his back, only making him more riled up.

jimin's hands played around with whatever they could touch. he pinched his nipples, caressed his chest and tickled the area around his navel to drag a laugh out of him, it ending up in jeongguk making a mess of the kiss he was in. just then, his hands reached to his defined v-line and suddenly the tension spiked yet again. jeongguk put his knees together out of reflex, letting jimin slowly open his legs again. 

"agh-" he breathed, strangled as the other's delicate hands made their way inside his boxers, gripping at his hard member. the human gasped, watching through hooded eyes as jimin pulled his cock out, tall and thick. 

the smallest gasped, giggling, "you're pretty even down here~" seokjin laughed along, "you're big… didn't expect anything less."

"j-jiminie-"

"in this setting, it's hyung to you," he lowered himself over his lap and ran his hand up and down his shaft after spitting in it, "you can call me jiminie when you get this thing inside me."

even seokjin moaned at that, licking at the human's earlobe and nibbling softly on the flesh, "told you he gets insanely hot," he grunted, sharing a glance with jimin. they both gripped onto the human and turned him with ease, demonstrating their super strength and throwing him around the bed like a rag doll as he whimpered. his face was in contact with the sheets with the sound of a quiet "oof" as the air exited his lungs quicker than he could process it, his body being groped all over, harshly. in the blink of an eye jeongguk was at the top of the bed, hair sweaty and messed up as it clung to his forehead. his legs were slightly open as jimin fit inside of them, looking unbothered and perfect, contrasting with the human himself. seokjin was on the side, a mysterious bottle of a clear substance in his hand. where did he even get that from?

"pinch my arm if you need a break, got it? 'm gonna suck you off now, baby," jimin taunted, almost making the human moan just from his words. jimin leaned further down, his left hand making contact with the youngest's belly as his right one moved up and down his shaft again before his tongue tentatively licked at the side of it.

jeongguk whined, closing his eyes and throwing his head back against the pillows. the sensation and pleasure were so immediate that jimin almost felt bad for keeping him waiting, so he just dove in. his lips locked around the head, tongue swirling around and poking at his slit just before he began moving downwards, cheeks hollowing as he sucked at the large cock in his mouth. the human didn't even dare to look down, convinced that he would instantly blow his load if he did so. his brows were knitted together, bottom lip in between his teeth as he whimpered, albeit a little pathetically.

seokjin leaned over him when he stopped lazily stroking over his own member, kissing the youngest with fervor and only stopping when the human made a rather loud noise in his mouth. he sighed, pulling away and looking at the source of said noise: jimin teasing the youngest into oblivion, as he had predicted, "jiminie… i thought we had agreed on no teeth," he joked.

the vampire pulled away from his job wordlessly, jeongguk's dick bobbing up and down comically and leaving a single track of saliva and pre-cum that connected to jimin's lips. the human began laughing as the shortest snorted, covering his face with his hands and rolling to the side of the bed, "you're the worst."

seokjin was laughing as well, head thumping against the human's chest as his laughter bounced off the walls, "think you mean best, i really am the best in this room,” after a small break where jeongguk came down from his fit of laughter and the other two just stared at him him in adoration, seokjin leaned forwards and kissed him again. jeongguk seemed more confident, more loose in his movements as he smiled into the kiss and grabbed at seokjin's shoulders, rolling along in a mess of limbs. 

jimin laid down beside them, sighing and rolling his eyes playfully, "you guys kiss all the time but where are my kisses? don't you think i deserve better than that, baby? seokjinnie?" he said as he looked at his nails, acting as if the situation didn't bother him that much.

god, he's good. jeongguk thought.

"thank you," jimin said as if he had heard him, which he probably did, "now kiss me before i go jerk off on my own."

jeongguk moved quick enough to be funny, holding jimin's face in his hands and leaving a big, wet and open-mouthed kiss on the vampire's cheek. after whining, jimin opened his eyes and looked at the youngest, marvelling at the amount of stars he could see in his eyes and the most genuine smile on his lips; something he could never be mad at.  

jimin had never expected to feel connected to a human. the couple was everything but aggressive but that didn't take away their true nature; it didn't make humans less… the prey. seokjin knew that jimin was nowhere near capable of feeding from living creatures. back when they couldn't make their way through life with blood bags, seokjin was the one who hunted and brought home their rations in dark and messy wine bottles. it was hard to adapt to such a drastic change; jimin and seokjin had felt it in their own skin. the guilt, the horror of having to watch life itself being drained from a person's eyes… a human used to last them for about 4 weeks but now, as the world and science moved forwards (and vampires multiplied), blood donations and the likes were much more common and easy to get your hands on, especially if you had your own way around the system. jimin felt comfort in the fact that whoever's blood he was drinking had been given willingly and not forcefully like they used to.

back when they bit jeongguk for the first time, jimin was crying with ecstasy and pleasure but also nervousness because of the same thing. he hadn't fed from a living being like that in a long, long time, nevermind them being his nestmate, on top of it all. gladly, seokjin was always around to protect them both. he was around to make sure jimin didn't accidentally get too into his own instincts and mess up, he was there to make sure the three of them didn't regret their choices.

his hands came up to the back of jeongguk's head, pulling him down to touch foreheads and stay there for a while. when he found the right time, he pulled away and left a big kiss on the human's nose as well, "love you," he said genuinely, "you're doing perfectly."

the human blushed as seokjin laughed softly, having heard the thoughts and feelings of his husband before he blurted the compliments out to the human, "t-thank you."

the energy shifted once more, "now move over, you big baby. you're crushing me-" jeongguk did so with a giggle, rolling them over and pulling jimin up to straddle him instead, "better."

seokjin uncapped the bottle of lube that had been forgotten around the pillows, coating his fingers with it and moving jimin around with his inhumane strength so he would lay across his lap, thick ass exposed over seokjin's knees. 

"someone's in a hurry.~"

seokjin beckoned jeongguk to come closer, hand coming in contact with his husband's ass harshly, dragging a surprised and loud yelp out of him ass it jiggled back with the strength of the blow, "behave." even jeongguk winced at that, trying to adjust himself in a nice seating position near them while looking away from the handprint that was beginning to bloom on jimin. seokjin passed his cold and lubed up hand over the mark in an attempt to sooth it, "condoms or no condoms?" he asked, "jimin and i are both clean, but if you want to we can use them."

the youngest nodded, laughing as a condom manifested itself into his hand (it didn't really manifest, the vampire had just been too quick to be seen moving), "open him up for yourself, baby. i'll help you if you need me."

“u-uh, i do it?” jeongguk looked a little nervous as he grabbed the bottle too.

seokjin nodded confidently, "i assumed you wouldn't want to bottom on your first time with us since it can get pretty uncomfortable and you're not used to it yet," he pulled the human closer and the only thing he could do was stare, "don't be scared, he can take it."

it was said so matter of factly that jeongguk ended up believing it. he coated his fingers with the lube and attempted to reenact what he saw in amateur porn: he circled the tip of his finger over jimin's rim and then slowly pushed in until the first knuckle. the vampire moaned at the intrusion, throwing his head back and sticking his tongue out between his teeth (a little sharper now due to his lack of self control) as he pushed against the human's wrist, "keep doing that, toy. c'mon-"

jeongguk almost felt like crying as he added another one, his entire body wanting to please the vampire even when he said such degrading things in bed.

"thought you were strong, human. c'mon, you can finger me better than that," jimin's words and commands got louder and meaner as time went on and at some point, with four fingers inside the elder, jeongguk began rutting against the mattress as he cried, catching seokjin's attention, who (in pity for him) said "he's ready, baby. are you? he probably won't cum now, we have really high stamina."

"ahn-" he mumbled incoherently, nodding. he was painfully hard at this point, wanting nothing but to orgasm and go to bed, "y-yes. can i? jimini- hyung, please? want- want to fuck you-"

"go for it," the shortest taunted, pushing back on him again, his thick ass bouncing up and down, "come get your reward for being so good."

ignoring the obscene sounds of squelching, jeongguk pulled away and finally kicked the entirety of his boxers off as he lined himself up, rolling the condom on and waiting for confirmation that he could in fact start moving. seokjin rubbed a hand over his back and nodded, pushing him forwards gently. it all went downhill from then on.

jeongguk felt like he was high again, a little too gone to form noises besides ragged breaths and small pleas of mercy. the foreplay had either been too long or maybe he was just a little too desperate, but within a few minutes he could already feel his stomach beginning to contract. his thrusts turned into longer, sloppier ones, making it noticeable to the couple. jimin's moans were loud and driving him mad- they were borderline pornographic.

jimin giggled devilishly but also breathlessly, turning around to look at the human's face. he was red down to his chest, brows furrowed and bottom lip wobbling, "c-close? hm," the vampire teased, pitch in his voice failing, "you c-can cum, baby. what a fucking dream, so good and big for me."

jeongguk nearly blacked out as he did finish, hands gripping jimin's hips with strength and staying there for a minute or so before pulling out and collapsing onto the bed. they had been at it for over an hour (including foreplay, of course). he was beat, his mind denying that the digital clock on the side of the couple's bed said it was four in the morning. with a whimper of sensitivity, he tied the condom off and threw it away, head finding rest against the pillows. 

jimin and seokjin were nowhere near done and would have to take care of the rest themselves, but their human deserved to sleep for now. they moved around to him quietly and once again caressed him, planting small kisses everywhere they could. 

"knocked out, sweetheart?" jimin whispered, receiving a tired nod in return, "fucked me so good. perfect, absolutely perfect."

"sleep for now," seokjin pulled the covers up but stayed there, lulling him to sleep, "we can handle the rest."

"jinnie over here loves sloppy seconds."

jeongguk did want to keep going, but he really could not find the strength in himself to do it. his bones felt like jello, body sweaty and sticky but so unbelievably warm and light… if astral projection was really a thing, he was definitely somewhat doing it right now.

the human fell asleep.

jimin and seokjin took the rest of their activities to the sofas near the room's fireplace, a little more quietly this time around.

in the morning, jeongguk woke up to the sound of a running shower and feeling of a soft hand running through his hair delicately. his eyes slowly fluttered open and he groaned a little, leaning into the touch and trying to adjust his eyes to the soft light coming from the windows. jimin was beside him, fully clothed (in a rather fancy outfit, similar to the one he had seen him in when he arrived at the mansion for the first time) and smelling like cotton and fabric softener.

"good morning," the vampire greeted, "you look so cute when you're sleeping."

"'morning…" jeongguk practically slurred, sitting up and rubbing at his eyes. the thin sheet fell onto his lap, "that's not creepy at all," the youngest groaned at the sticky feeling all over his body. god this was disgusting.

"don't judge me, it gets boring when you're sleeping," jimin probed at the human's side, making him flinch as it tickled, "seokjin is almost done showering, you can go next. we have to take you to namjoon's, remember?"

his head hurt a little and his muscles felt sore, "i… forgot actually," the human chuckled a bit shyly.

"last night did a number on you, wait until you see it!" jimin teased as jeongguk stood up to go to the bathroom to get himself ready. the vampire slapped his ass in a swift smack, the sound bouncing off the walls along with a small yelp of 'ouch!'. jimin laughed. jeongguk could not be mad at this outcome.

the door to the bathroom was open as he slipped inside, seokjin was already done with his shower and was fully dressed, just as fancy and beautiful as jimin. the vampire greeted him with a kiss as he passed by the human, ogling his naked form up and down and then laughing for reasons that jeongguk was unaware of. in the blink of an eye he was sitting next to jimin, whispering so only he could hear 'i give him a minute', to which the younger vampire replied with 'i give him eleven seconds'.

jeongguk raised an eyebrow in confusion and then shrugged the thought off, properly walking in and looking at himself in the bathroom mirror. jimin was right, it took him less than eleven seconds to really understand what was going on. his entire body was a mess, covered in small scratches, lipstick stains and hickeys. even a few fingerprints could be seen around his hip bones, "were you both trying to eat me?!" the human whined loudly in distress, groaning at the laughter that came from outside the door, "i need concealer!"

he was going to kill them a second time.

"...and then tony takes the infinity gauntlet, says 'i am iron man' and snaps his fingers! everything is back to normal but he died… and peter saw everything!" 

a disbelieving gasp from jimin breaks the silence in the car, "no!"

"i cried for like forty minutes in and out of the movie! taehyung had to comfort me in the theater's bathroom stalls." 

"that's some bullshit," seokjin sniffled little bit, trying to regain his composure as he drove their car through a tight makeshift road in the forest leading to namjoon's house, "and it hurt my feelings. if i had a heart it would be broken right now."

jimin looked absolutely horrified, "why do humans subject themselves to that kind of torment? that is absolutely heartbreaking," the vampire sighed sadly.

"it's one of the best series of movies, everyone on earth loves marvel," he said confidently, "i'm glad some characters died, though… like black widow, couldn't stand seeing her actress anymore," the boy ranted away, distracting himself. at some point the car stopped near a pair of trees; the road they were on passed through the middle of it, so they would have to make the rest of the way by foot. 

after briefly explaining that to jeongguk, the three of them left the car and locked it, going on their way to the witch's house. jeongguk followed behind them before they pulled him closer, each holding one of his hands. jimin leaned in to whisper, "you shouldn't go far from us or anyone else when you're here, okay? there are things in these trees."

the human's mouth fell in the comical shape of an 'o', eyes going wide with the glee of a child, "...things?"

"and other people who are looking for namjoon," seokjin completed, "i'm sure he'll explain it to you, JK."

"JK?" jeongguk raised a brow but otherwise smiled.

"that's a new one, seokjinnie."

"it makes us sound like mortal enemies, i love it." the eldest winked and then they went on their way, the path slowly shifting form and appearance.

it got more and more narrow as they walked, the dirt gradually turning into large slabs of grey stones, forming a more solid way and direction for them to follow. the trees and grass got prettier, greener and fresher and the sun seemed to be brighter, shining through the leaves in the trees. the atmosphere was serene and peaceful, the sound of birds chirping and frogs croaking making jeongguk's eyes shine and anxiety slip away. 

he took a long breath, "this… is nice." 

jimin smiled, now walking behind him with seokjin, "it's really peaceful here. joonie loves nature and working with it."

jeongguk couldn't be more thrilled to meet him and learn- maybe he'd even teach him how to do some magic? or a couple cool magic tricks? like guessing someone’s card or something, he could definitely do that.

a few more minutes passed until jeongguk finally got to see a small and sort of beige picket fence surrounding a small wooden cabin. it was pleasant, modest and tiny; pots and vases of a large assortment of plants, herbs and bushes took up most of the garden. jimin and seokjin squinted a little at the brightness; even if they weren’t affected by the sunlight, they were still creatures of the night, of course. jeongguk, however, looked like a kid in disneyland, looking around at the amounts of small homemade animal houses for frogs, birds and others. just then, a tall man opened the front door with a small click, chiming off a bunch of glass bottles that were hanging to the ceiling from a thick rope.

“jeongguk,” he greeted, opening his arms wide and inviting the youngest for a hug. he was wearing a loose green coat, his necklace still in the same place as before, “welcome to my humble home.”

the youngest practically jumped off where he was and ran to hug him, not even bothering to hide his excitement. seokjin and jimin smiled to themselves, their dark and fancy appearance contrasting with their surroundings. seokjin was the first to speak, “hey, joon.”

the witch let go of jeongguk and greeted them both properly, “hey hyung! jiminie,” he winked, “are you guys going to be busy today?”

“we got a call from work, actually. we need to attend to that... take care of our baby for us?” jimin teased, poking jeongguk's side as the other blushed, "he's excited."

"well... is there anything you would like to tell him before i do?" namjoon asked warily, brows furrowed in worry, "wouldn't want to take that away from you…"

seokjin and jimin looked between each other with a serious gesture, not saying a single word but rather communicating with their minds and a couple of short nods and questioning stares. the eldest was the one who spoke first, "i think we said everything on our part… you can tell him anything, as long as you're sure he can handle it, right, JK?"

"sounds like a reasonable compromise?" jeongguk agreed.

"then we're off," seokjin said, "the bond should be settled now, if you feel sick or something call us!" jimin and seokjin leaned in to kiss him and then turned to leave, bidding their goodbyes and teasing manners to jeongguk and namjoon. after crossing the picket fence they disappeared into the thin air again, leaving the witch and human all alone.

"it's time."

jeongguk practically vibrated with excitement as namjoon led him inside, closing the door behind him. the inside of the cabin looked straight out of a disney’s movie: the kitchen was the first thing you would walk into- two or three counters (painted manually in greens and blues, some drawings of flowers scattered on them), a gas stove and a fridge occupying most of the tight space. the table and chairs were old and worn, mismatched. the windows were covered by soft white curtains that danced softly with the wind. everything was an open space with exception of a small set of stairs that most likely lead to namjoon's bedroom, jeongguk guessed. a big purple curtain separated his work place from the living space; every nook and cranny of the home was filled with old books, plants, newspapers, big and tiny jars, rocks and various types of things that jeongguk didn't even know.

he was speechless. 

the soft sound of a loud whistle being blown cut the human boy away from his thoughts as he turned to look at the witch who waited eagerly at one of the windows, "what are you waiting for?" the human asked eagerly and curiously.

"for hoseok," the other said simply in return, holding out his hand outside the window. when he pulled it back, something with bird feet held onto his finger, colorful and bright red feathers adorning its body. it turned to the human, and only then did jeongguk realize that that was hoseok. he looked at them, jaw on the floor. 

"hoseok helps me take care of the forest since this is his area. he keeps the other faes and creatures in harmony in order for me to do my work peacefully," the fae unleashed the witch's finger and moved to hover over jeongguk's face, "you saw his human form but this is his real form. he can't actually speak like that, he only giggles and stuff. it's adorable." 

the human waved shyly, getting a wave in return. the fae's bird-like wings were attached to his back, decorating him in a flaming red. his feet had bird claws, feathers covering his whole crotch and leg area. he giggled just before flying out of the window again, bringing a stash of weird purple leaves in his small arms when he came back.

"thank you dear," namjoon said as he took the leaves, holding hoseok for a moment and kissing his head before he left with a laugh yet again.

jungkook just stared, wordless. 

"do i have something on my face?"

"that... was so cool," his eyes shined brighter than any of namjoon's crystals ever could, "please teach me."

"you sound beyond excited," namjoon smiled from ear to ear and held onto his shoulders, dimples becoming quite distracting, "you remind me of myself. i was just like you when i first found out about all of this…" he began to lead jeongguk into the living space, pushing the curtain aside and letting him into his work space. 

the interior was filled with fairy lights, rugs and jars. a single window tightly shut to preserve the darkness inside the space. there was a short table with pillows beside it, looking comforting and welcome, almost begging him to sit down. there was a cabinet that contained a large assortment of rusty (and new) tools, including a big cauldron that stood beneath the house's fireplace. 

"wow…" jeongguk mused.

"pretty cool, huh?" namjoon agreed, sitting on the pillows and blankets near the short table, resting his elbows on it. he looked at the human with a smile, "i know you must have a lot of questions… just ask anything and i will try my best to answer."

jeongguk nodded, also sitting down in front of him and taking off his shoes carefully. he pondered over his first question even if he knew namjoon would probably answer several, “i think i should start from the beginning…” he sighed, “why me? i mean, i’m sure there’s plenty of vampires around to choose from. i'm not saying that i don't love being with them, i do. i just... i’m not exactly special? i’m not a witch or… a werewolf, or something like that. besides, vampires feed from humans, right? they tell me it has nothing to do with that sort of thing and i believe them… i just can't wrap my head around how strange it has been. my life literally turned upside down in the span of a month..."

namjoon listened intently, nodding along to whatever the human said, "i'll be one hundred percent honest with you. when i first heard that they had found a human nestmate, i found it shocking. it's definitely not a normal thing to happen, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's impossible or that your bond is… a mistake," jeongguk stiffened, "that's what you wanted to say, right?"

"yes…"

"you sound ashamed. you shouldn't be; being doubtful and insecure about this seems normal… have you talked about it with seokjin and jimin?" the human nodded, "then it's a matter of time until you can fully accept it, i think. they love you, kid. i've been around for decades and i've seen them with several partners, but no one ever came close to being a nestmate, nevermind someone like you. the three of you will figure it out, i'm sure." 

"it's just a lot… i didn't even know that half of this was real and now you're here trying to help me and i'm rambling like some idiot-"

the human had his hands on the table, and in a comforting gesture, the witch held them in his own. raising them to his forehead, namjoon inhaled deeply and jeongguk felt a sort of refreshing tide wash over him. 

he smiled genuinely, "thank you."

"now, ask me something fun!" namjoon let go of his hands slowly, laughing in a genuine string of 'haha'.

jeongguk did the same, leaning a little more over the table. he put on a daring look and cocked his brow, "how old are you, exactly?"

"well…" namjoon looked shy, "my body is over a hundred years old," he deadpanned, dragging a gasp out of jeongguk, "but i started taking youth serum when i turned twenty four, so i technically stopped aging ever since."

"youth serum?" 

"yup. i make them for me and taehyung every three years on our respective birthdays. taehyung took his first one when we started dating after he turned 21."

jeongguk assimilated the information, "so you're basically… immortal?"

"not exactly. unlike seokjin, jimin, hoseok and yoongi, taehyung and i have human bodies so we're still prone to other threats like sickness or other injuries, nothing a little magic cant fix, isn't that right?" the witch stood, seeming to remember something suddenly, "i'm gonna bring some cold tea that i made earlier. i can't believe i forgot about it, silly…" he rambled as he left the closed off space. 

jeongguk could hear the sound of the fridge opening and glass clinking together; namjoon's footsteps and the feeble wooden floor creaking. it was healing, almost meditative.

"do you like lemon?" namjoon asked a little louder than before.

"of course!"

in the matter of minutes the witch was back with a tray holding two glasses and a big jar of lemon iced tea. they shared the tea and somehow the mood got even better, they even laughed, "what exactly is yoongi?" jeongguk had blurted out in the middle of sips, nearly making namjoon choke.

"he's… well, a demon?" he tiptoed around the subject, "not an evil one. i summoned him by accident and he sort of stuck with us… he doesn't have a physical form because he's a shapeshifter; he's more like a presence. his body is an illusion. you see what he wants you to see."

"so…?"

"yoongi has explained that his preferred state is the one you usually see and his favorite animal form is a cat. we believe him, he doesn't do any harm nor does he have a reason to lie. not anymore…"

“what do you mean ‘not anymore’?”

namjoon shifted in his place and sighed a little bit, rubbing the back of his neck, “yoongi hasn’t always been the person you know now. it’s a long story, but i’ll cut it short for you to make you understand. when i first summoned him, yoongi had been living since the dawn of time under the orders of someone greater and evil, so he wasn’t exactly… the nicest,” jeongguk nodded, eyes wide as he listened to the story, “he tricked us into doing something that he deeply regretted right afterwards. he fixed it and protected us, claiming that he had gotten to like us over the time that we spent together. ever since then he swore to never lie, even those tiny white lies you tell people just to be socially nice and acceptable,” namjoon giggled.

“so that’s where his brutal honesty comes from!”

“exactly. anyway, he’s changed. we ended up coming together around the time that taehyung joined the group at eighteen.” 

jeongguk looked at his glasses, playing with fingers on it, "he's nice… his cat form is adorable."

"right? so cuddly."

jeongguk finished his drink, recoiling a little bit yet again, "do you think that a nestmate relationship can happen between humans and… supernatural people?"

"you're still worried about that," namjoon sighed as the human nodded, "i have never seen one and i don't think there are records of it, but one thing is certain." he spoke confidently; jeongguk found himself wanting to believe all of his words, "you've gone through the settlement phases, haven't you?"

"yes… several."

"then you feel it. you feel the connection between the three of you in intense ways, maybe you don't possess all of their abilities and the instincts that they do," namjoon reached forwards and abruptly placed his hand over the left side of jeongguk's chest, feeling his heartbeat falter at the mention of his lovers, "but you have it in there. that's where the real bond is- it's not about the species or the biology of it. it's in there, waiting to bloom."

the witch pulled away, "you will struggle with your differences and one day you will have to make an important decision, jeongguk. adversity and obstacles don't make something impossible or less real."

decision. jeongguk's eyes shook slightly, the pending reminder of what that decision was making his stomach turn. somewhere in the middle of a business meeting, jimin and seokjin felt sick as well.

"what would happen?" the human asked quietly, "how is it?"

"vampire blood is poison- like a virus. it's thick and in a reddish black color, as you may have noticed. to transform someone into one, all it takes is a vampire sucking a big amount of their blood and then giving the human their own. it takes maybe an hour or two to spread through a human's entire circulation system," that's surprisingly mild, jeongguk thought to himself, "your heart stops beating gradually. it doesn't technically hurt because before your heart is consumed by the virus your entire body is already prepared… getting used to it is the most difficult part. teething takes a week at best, adapting to your super strength, senses and stamina is the most difficult part."

"you said it's painless?" jeongguk cocked an eyebrow, a little confused. how can your heart ceasing to beat be painless? 

"that person would be unconscious through the most part of it and if not, they would be high on the venom," he spoke, nodding along to his own words, "seokjin and jimin will walk you through it, jeongguk. i don't think i should be telling you this, but seokjin and jimin are just as worried about this as you are. they don't have to turn you if you dont want to be turned- they prioritize you and your comfort above it all and you know this. i mapped out the technical aspects of it but your relationship and bond with them is so different from what is in the textbooks that there's no way to tell what will happen," the witch sighed once more, "i have a question for you."

"what is it?" he spoke quietly.

"do you love them?"

"of course i do-"

"do you want to spend eternity with them? watch the world change around you as you never get old?"

it took a while to answer this time. the concept of immortality in itself is terrifying- especially for a human to consider. that's a really long time. an infinite amount of time- something he didn't even possess to begin with, "i.. do."

"then you should do as your heart tells you because that's where the bond is," namjoon's words and smile were somehow as comforting as the iced tea that he poured the human, it never wavering. 

jeongguk wanted to believe it.

he wanted to do what his heart told him to do.

the conversation went on for about two more hours after where they left off. they talked endlessly (on a much lighter note, of course), exchanging smiles and knowledge about their very distinct worlds and opinions on them. it was almost like they worked against the clock; soon it was lunchtime and jeongguk's phone beeped inside his pocket.

coven

yoongi 😼 1:27pm

come help me at the restaurant asshats

free food for your hard work

we're packed

namjoon also pulled out his cellphone- how did they even have signal or wifi here?

joonie 🧙♂️ 1:27pm

i'm with jeongguk, hyung

baby 1:28pm

hello!

yoongi 😼 1:28pm

bring him too

i need all the extra hands i can get

im tired of shapeshifting into different employees everytime i have to serve a specific table

jeongguk looked at namjoon expectantly, waiting for an answer as he bit on his lips- he still had things to ask... the eldest sighed as he stood, "i guess it can't be helped. i can't drive, though… we have to call hoseok," jeongguk followed after him as the witch tugged on his hand and covered one of his ears when the other blew on his whistle again; in a flare of fire the fae was back on the window, sporting a questioning look, "yoon messaged me just now... and we have to go help him, again. join us, please?"

jeongguk clutched to namjoon's arms, eyes widening as the fae ascended from his seat on the window, his entire body glowing in a blazing flame that almost blinded the human who wasn't used to it. after a few seconds, hoseok sat on the windowsill in his human form but… he was missing something.

"oh, wow!" jeongguk blushed from head to toe, covering his eyes and turning around quickly, "you're naked! oh god-"

hoseok laughed hysterically, "good afternoon to you too," he hopped off and went over to namjoon, using his shoulder as leverage to kiss him on his cheek. with a ruffle of jeongguk’s hair, the fae passed by him (shamelessly, jeongguk noted) and went up the stairs to get dressed.

“he’s pretty, isn’t he?”

“hyung!”

in approximately one hour or so, the three of them we're pulling up at the front of the restaurant in namjoon's car. jeongguk got out through the backseat after he quickly messaged his nestmates, saying that he was paying a visit to yoongi and the restaurant.

"so," jeongguk closed the cars door and moved to walk next to hoseok and namjoon, "you own a car but can't drive?"

namjoon clutched his chest, making a hurt noise.

"touchy subject," hoseok completed, winking at jeongguk as he held his shoulder. they would have to go in through the back door in the kitchen, "he failed at getting his license and just never tried again."

"driving is overrated," namjoon protested, "and i felt like a loser."

"only a little bit," the fae teased as he knocked on the back door they were now standing in front of. the area around them was secluded, a dumpster a couple meters away next to a metal door that was closed off, a big sign that read 'restricted area' keeping jeongguk from asking what it was.

soon enough, a sequence of unlocking sounds came from the door and it swung open from the inside, revealing a very tired and sulking yoongi. the three of them stood at the bottom of the small set of steps, nervous smiles defining their expressions.

"hi-" namjoon tried before yoongi interrupted with a tired and pouty, "you're late."

hoseok laughed nervously as they all apologized quietly and went up the steps, entering the kitchen cautiously. jeongguk looked around, unsure of what to do next. namjoon had put on an apron and hoseok had done the same, a hair net over his flame-like hair just before turning to the kitchen. 

"um, yoongi hyung…" he looked around, clutching a gym bag that he always brought with extra clothes whenever he slept at his boyfriends' place, "what do i do?"

the demon turned away from the steaming pot he was working on to look up at the human, nodding in an understanding way. jeongguk had never done this; he wasn't sure what his place here was, "think you can serve the tables?" yoongi inquired with his hands resting on his hips.

"i can try?" 

"there's an extra apron in the cabinet beneath the register. the only dress code for the employees- me and the three dumbasses- is that you have to wear black. that doesn't seem to be an issue so just roll up your sleeves and try your best," yoongi dug into his apron and pulled out a small notepad and a pen, "write whatever the customers want on here, deliver one of your blinding colgate smiles and bring the paper to the kitchen along with the menu flyers."

jeongguk bit his lip, taking the notepad and pen. he was used to customer service, just not attending to a table or bar of some sort; maybe it wasn't that different…

"i'll do it!" he nodded confidently, trying to reassure himself that he could take care of it more than he tried to reassure yoongi.

the demon turned to the food again, nodding, "i trust you with that."

the human bolted towards the cabinet in the reception, passing by namjoon who was assigning three people to one of the few tables that were left. he grabbed at the apron and put it on quickly, sporting a pin with the name of the restaurant on the front. after a quick trip to the bathroom to fix his hair and use the toilet, jeongguk was finally ready to 'go to work'.

he put a smile on his face to mask his anxiety, tugged onto the menu's he was holding beneath his left arm and made his way to the new table that namjoon had just assigned.

"hello," he collected all the confidence he could get to make yoongi proud, "welcome to dreamin'. what can i get for you?"

the day passed in the blink of an eye, just like that. he served a large number of tables with a huge smile and did a good job cleaning, consequently accumulating a large amount of tip money. he was over the clouds, even if he was just a little bit tired. he was resting in the kitchen after he had stuffed his face with yoongi's cooking as a reward for his good job when hoseok went over to him and shook his shoulder softly, "there's two more people left. go get them, ace."

jeongguk stood up and stretched with a small whine, feet making their way to the table on autopilot as he rummaged through the apron he was wearing in search for his pen and notepad, "hello," he said cheerfully, still looking down, "welcome to dreamin'. what can i get for you?"

"the waiter himself."

jeongguk's head shot up at the familiar voice, finding seokjin and jimin sharing a bag of blood in a tall glass. jimin raised his right hand and twiddled his fingers in greeting; seokjin winked teasingly as he took a gulp of his drink.

jeongguk's face flared in a blush, "i can't stand either of you!"

"you look so good in that apron .." jimin mused as if he didn't listen to the youngest's protests, "makes your tiny waist stand out."

seokjin nodded, beckoning the human to come closer (which he did, still sulking). he sat in the middle of them, putting the notepad and pen down on the table before jimin leaned in to kiss him, "did you have fun at namjoon's and here today?"

the human nodded, turning to place a small peck on both their lips, "i did… spent the rest of the day running around here," he chuckled, "how was work?"

jimin let out an explosive grunt, leaning onto the human's shoulder, "tiring… what do you humans call this ugly feeling? like… when you want to move but your body is like nuh-uh and you're like but i have to and it just won't?"

"exhaustion?"

"precisely," seokjin sighed, he too leaning into jeongguk, "recharge us."

the human relaxed against the cushions of his seat, arms slipping around his boyfriends' side in a tender manner, "i'm tired too… too much mind blowing and physical activity for one day."

"hm?" jimin mused, hand coming up to jeongguk's chest and slipping under his shirt's collar. he played with the skin underneath, cold fingers making the human shiver and blush, "care to share what you learned today?"

seokjin's hands were playing with the humans hair, long and claw like nails getting stuck in it sometimes. it came to a point where jimin and seokjin didn't feel the need to conceal their vampiric features such as their extended black claws and sharp canines. jeongguk had come to love them just as much as he loved them; it didn't make him anxious any longer. 

jeongguk played with jimin's smaller hand, "well, namjoon told me lots of stuff about you and the others in general, but i think he barely scratched the surface of it, so i'm going to ask him to let me visit again…"

"that's great, JK," seokjin straightened his back and stretched forwards like a cat, "you can also ask us things about us and what we do if you want to, of course." 

"being curious is what got you here in the first place," jimin teased with a giggle, immediately stealing a kiss from jeongguk right after.

"i actually need to talk you both when we go home… y-you're too much-"

there was a small cough that interrupted the three just ahead of them, making them all look forwards and up. yoongi was standing on the other side of the table, a cleaning rag in his left hand and the other on his lip. his face was unreadable.

"oh! i- um," jeongguk babbled, getting ready to apologize and return the tip money since he didn't actually work there before he was interrupted by yoongi, "you did well, kid. i was watching over you today and i really liked what i saw… you seem like someone fit for the job. did you like it?"

jeongguk was a bit taken aback, "yeah! of course i did, hyung."

"then come work with us."

jeongguk widened his eyes in a small stage of shock, looking between his boyfriends who were a little shocked as well. yoongi's face didn't waver, still radiating a powerful presence, "you… are you serious?"

"one hundred percent serious. taehyung only wants to keep working at the post office because of you too, did you know?" did he?

"i'm not sure, i-"

"just think about it and tell me later. this proposal is also for your good, you know? we're not exactly known for good things around here… people might start asking questions."

"oh…" he nodded and then looked down, beginning to untie his apron. it was understandable that they cared enough to offer him a job that would keep the group closer; seokjin also owned half of the restaurant, if jeongguk remembered correctly.

"take the apron," yoongi waved him off, a hint of a smile in his features, "i have plenty of those back there. you think about it and then let me know… i'll leave you three horndogs alone now."

"hey!" jimin yelled in retaliation, stomping his foot and making jeongguk giggle. yoongi gradually shifted into his cat form as he walked away, jumping onto hoseok's arms along the way. the fae waved and greeted the two vampires, claiming that they had to close the place up for the night and that they could take their touchy ministrations elsewhere.

it was a good opportunity to leave and go home- maybe he would get to talk to them about everything and ask about what they wanted to do for the future. it was scary to think about it- jeongguk was young. he had a whole live, a job and a family surrounding him and of course this would affect his decision.

but at the same time... who said he couldn't balance all of it?

the husbands were able to pick up jeongguk's thoughts as soon as they entered the car but it didn't bother them- jeongguk seemed content and fulfilled. that mattered more than anything else in the world.

"sweets, do you want to sit on the front today?" jimin asked teasingly, turning around and pulling at his arm, "i'll go on your lap… i'm tired and need you close so i can pick up my energy."

seokjin seemed to approve it as well- who was jeongguk to say no?

with a bit of moving around, the human sat on the front and soon jimin was settled on his lap, arms around his neck loosely. seokjin smiled at the two, holding jeongguk's left hand over the stick shift of the car, "our house, right?"

"you know it, jin hyung," the human replied gently, voice ringing like music in his lovers' ears.

"by lucifer…" seokjin started the car and began to drive away with jeongguk's hand beneath his; his voice dripped in honey and sounded as peaceful as staring at the night sky looks, "we love you."

in jeongguk's mind, for a moment, nothing else in the world existed besides himself, jimin and seokjin. nothing else mattered; not when the smaller vampire hugged him closer and the other intertwined their fingers in a loving gesture. not when their scent was all around him, keeping him grounded and safe.

this was his life now- jeongguk had decided. his destiny couldn't be clearer.

"i love you both… just as much."

Chapter Text

"do you guys think i should accept yoongi's job offer?" jeongguk had asked at some point during the trip back to the vampires' house, making seokjin glance at him and jimin lift his head from the shoulder he was laying on, "i was never that good at direct customer service… and it's farther from my college."

"didn't yoongi say you did a good job, sweetheart?" jimin asked quietly, small hands coming to tilt jungkook's head and play with his jawbone. his claws tickled.

"yeah- but i didn't know he was watching me at all… i was just having fun," jeongguk looked at seokjin, arms tightening around the smaller, "and if i accept it, he'll always be watching over what i do… that's scary ."

seokjin laughed a little bit, shaking his head, "jeongguk, he's not going to be doing all of that . yes, if you accept the job offer he will technically be your boss but he's still a friend," he said oh-so-matter-of-factually, like it was the easiest thing in the world, "think about it. technically he is his boyfriends' boss. that has gotta be some weird sex thing- full judgement."

"that is kind of weird," jeongguk completed.

"and sexy," jimin also did the same, albeit a little groggily. since when did the vampire ever get sleepy? jeongguk was starting to worry.

"are you okay, jiminie? i've never seen you tired, nevermind actually sleepy, " he asked in a show of concern, looking between jimin and seokjin as he waited for answers.

the smallest put on a smile, hands coming up to caress the human's chin again; his claws tickled against jeongguk's sensitive skin, "nothing to worry about, angel. your human nature must be rubbing off on me or something," jimin explained. 

the human nodded in agreement even if he wasn't entirely convinced, deciding that maybe now was not the right time to really talk about what he wanted to mention. jimin was sleepy and seokjin must be tired, as well- he was sleepy- they would have a discussion about it later. for now, the human wanted to enjoy the feeling of the weight on his hand and lap. to his demise, the car stopped after a few minutes at the entrance of the couple's home. with a pout, he watched as jimin made his way out of his lap and then pulled the human out of the car.

inside the house, the eldest laughed to himself at some point as they made their way up the stairs and jimin looked over his shoulder to stare at him questioningly, hand inside one of jeongguk's back pockets. 

jeongguk turned too, "what is it, hyung?"

seokjin's hand made its way to the human's shoulder, "i'm happy," he said simply, his tone genuine like no other, "that's all. i like it when you stay over, you've been doing it more often…" it was true; whenever they went out during the week, jeongguk used to go back to his house and they would stay with him since it was closer to everything that surrounded the human's life. it was more practical- coming up to the vampires' house now seemed like sort of a gift; a luxury that the human got to enjoy whenever he wanted. after all, jeongguk made the call of where he spent the night every single time they went out. 

they walked into the room and changed, once again borrowing sleeping clothes from each other. jeongguk finished earlier and sat on the bed, reminded of the day of their first date when he had come here and slept over because he was a little drunk and it was too late to go home. back then he had been too shy; he was too closed off and everything left him flustered, but now… almost a month had passed since his first stay and he was more open and he played along sometimes, even if he still got flustered over every little thing.

"you know we can listen to your thoughts, right baby?" jeongguk squealed a bit as jimin suddenly appeared on his lap, almost knocking the wind out of him. seokjin was behind him, a mischievous smile dotting his features, "you're so cute. our little human boy…"

"you guys love that nickname a whole lot," jeongguk said, a little breathless as he shuffled upwards on the bed, wanting to lean against the headboard.

seokjin followed suit, flimsy t-shirt curving along with his spine. jimin flopped sideways to lay down in a very ungracious manner- the human laughed. 

"we like that you're a human," seokjin said simply.

jeongguk didn't know why that simple and obvious statement struck him as odd, rumbling a soft and hopeful "you do?" out of him a little unconsciously. his eyes were as big as ever, holding tiny galaxies in them.

"and why wouldn't we, baby? when you're so wonderful," jimin teased, hands coming up to caress the human's chest, "we aren't exactly fans of humanity itself, but you are different than the others," was whispered as if someone outside would listen.

"why don't you like humanity?" 

"vampires and humans never really got along," seokjin added, "it's nothing personal, really. we don't actively do anything against them, it's just… history. you're our favorite. "

jeongguk understood. it also sounded like they weren't too comfortable talking about it either, so he let it go. as long as he was their favorite, he was fine. he just had one more thing to ask- "hyungs," he said as he began to lay down, back hurting, "do you know if anyone has had a… a bond -" the vampires smiled at the technical name jeongguk used to describe it, "like ours…? i mean- a human and a vampire, that is-"

"not that we knew," the eldest provided, "word travels fast between our kind, it would've been documented or at least talked about…"

the human's eyes widened a bit, " word travels fast? ," he repeated, "does that mean…"

jimin shuffled closer, head resting on the human's chest, "no one knows about you besides our friends, baby. we're far away from vampire territory as well, so don't even worry about that, sweetheart." his hands were drawing soothing patterns on jeongguk's skin.

the more the couple talked, the more confusing it got for jeongguk to understand. he frowned a little bit as he thought it over, being quickly interrupted by seokjin once again, "you look puzzled, jeongguk. is there something you don't understand?"

he felt a little dumb, "what's vampire territory?" the human asked quietly.

seokjin laid down as well now, looking to pull his two lovers closer, "imagine countries around the globe, kookie. territory kind of works like that, except it's reserved for certain species... and you're dozing off," the vampires laughed as the human slowly let himself close his eyes, giving into sleep. he was sore, "we will explain later. goodnight, our human."

the husbands waited as the human fell into a deep slumber, sticking around for some more time and watching his peaceful features; chest rising up and down slowly. his heartbeat had slowed down, they noted, it didn't ring as loudly in their ears now. jimin and seokjin found this act of sleeping fascinating: their human looked cute falling asleep as well as actually sleeping, and when he woke up he was still just as cute, now energized for a new day! truly fascinating.

jimin and seokjin shared a knowing look between each other and then leaned in to leave a soft kiss on jeongguk's head one at a time just before pulling the covers up and leaving the bed. 

they had some business to attend to.

you see, once every couple of months, the cellar in the vampires' home where their blood was kept usually turned up empty. it wasn't magical- the vampires had to fill it up every once in a while, so they met with a provider at a scheduled time in a place far away from their home: an abandoned factory on the other side of town. 

it was a dangerous deal. living in a neutral region kept them away from other violent groups of vampires but it also made it harder to get your hands on blood packs and donations. yes, sometimes jimin and seokjin did manipulate some of their company's deals to get a few more days worth of food, but that was all they could do before people started asking too many questions that they didn't have the guts to lie to.

the others always went with them both on these deals, claiming that it was too dangerous for them to go alone and that if anything were to happen, they would fight together. jimin and seokjin appreciated it, even if they were more worried than anything else. 

"do you really think we have to lock the doors and windows, seokjinnie?" jimin asked after he was done dressing himself, staring up at his husband with a face twisted in worry and fear.

seokjin sighed, obviously saddened, and took his hands in his, leaving a stone cold kiss on his knuckles, "you know it's the best we can do… nothing will happen. it's just a safety measure, love."

"i feel guilty locking him in here," the smallest pouted, headbutting seokjin's chest and staying there.

seokjin held him carefully, "it's for his own good. we will be back before he wakes up, i promise you."

and so they began to pull away, slowly. jimin turned to the windows of the room, locking them one by one and pulling the curtains over them while seokjin took care of doing the same to every other room at hyper speed, coming up to meet his husband where the human slept. jimin was sitting on the edge of the bed and one of the lamps on the side tables was turned on, emitting a soft light that was going to keep him company while they were out. 

the youngest vampire had never looked more upset and seokjin was not very far behind him either. they leaned in to share one last kiss on the human's face, eyes brimming with tears as jeongguk smiled in his sleep.

they had to go.

they locked the bedroom door and then teleported to their garden where the rest of the group was waiting, their car outside the gates. they were all dressed in solid black clothing, scrapped and old as to make each other as unrecognizable as possible. once the couple showed up, taehyung was the first one to notice just how glum jimin was feeling. the youngest ran up to him and hugged him tightly, letting him sob a little in his shoulder.

namjoon was the first to speak up after he pulled away from holding seokjin as well, "you guys did it, right?"

once seokjin nodded and let hoseok give him one of his comforting smiles, he spoke up, "we double- triple- checked every door and every window. he's asleep in our bedroom. we have to be back before sunrise, and i really mean it this time."

"got it," yoongi nodded assertively and cracked his knuckles. it was amazing how scary he could still be, even after all those years, "we'll make sure of it."

"we need to get going," hoseok had moved to comfort jimin as well, now being held by both his friends, "yoongi brought the suitcase, it's in the trunk."

with a couple more nods and comforting smiles, the group walked together to the gates, convinced that they had done the right thing. yoongi had shapeshifted into his cat form, accommodating himself on jimin's lap during the car ride, looking to bring some sort of joy to the vampire. seokjin drove at a high speed, getting instructions from taehyung, hoseok and namjoon who sat at the back. 

in just under forty minutes they had crossed the entire town, now coming face to face with the abandoned building where their providers were waiting.

they parked the car carelessly and were quick to leave it, getting the suitcase from the trunk and walking hurriedly. yoongi was back in his human form, gripping jimin's hand tightly as they power charged into the building; namjoon was carrying a slingshot made of solely two leather pieces and ribbon; taehyung had his canines, scar and ears out, his arms darkened by a thick layer of hair as he looked absolutely ready to go wild; hoseok looked just as he had before, his raw energy and power was enough already. seokjin was besides his husband on the front, holding the suitcase with a vice grip.

once they reached the door to the facility, jimin and seokjin looked at each other and that was all it took for the smallest's confidence to build back up. in one swift motion the vampire kicked down the door, claws extended and eyes pitch black as an almost evil aura held them together like some sort of glue.

for jeongguk.

the provider was surrounded by five other people, an expensive looking black car sitting in the middle of the storage room- they had likely gotten it there through the rusty garage doors. no one in that room knew the other party's names, keeping the anonymity of these deliveries was the core of them. 

"ah, yes," the unknown man spoke up, booming though the empty space, "what a grand entrance. must you do this every time we meet? it gets tiring."

none of the group's faces wavered for a second, remaining serious and alert to all things possible. the provider and his bodyguards (who held several bags with the blood inside, seokjin hoped) moved forwards as well until they were all almost face to face. 

"open the bags. show us. now," seokjin demanded, a red flare in his eyes.

and who would dare disobey an original?

the bodyguards slowly opened said gym bags, revealing their contents: each bag had about fifty packets, all accommodated in between bubble wrap. this would last them for the rest of the year and beginning of the next, just as seokjin had ordered. 

"the money," the other also ordered, "and be quick. your dog stinks."

taehyung snarled at that, hair at the back of his neck standing up as his eyes grew wilder. he was one hair's length away from tearing that man to shreds . yoongi's hand discreetly made its way to his boyfriend's back, attempting to soothe him. they couldn't slip up.

seokjin opened the suitcase, revealing the several stacks of money that were more than enough to pay for all of this. the provider looked impressed, reaching in to take a stack and verify that it was real.

the man signaled at the others to start giving away the bags as he counted the money, taking the suitcase right after. with one last look at seokjin, the vampire turned up his nose and said hurriedly, "you reek of human."

hoseok was barely holding onto his temper by thread, eyes flashing and red hair beginning to stand up and flow in the air like a flame. yoongi's expression had scrunched up and taehyung had never seemed so livid. seokjin's eye twitched and jimin looked just as ready to pounce this guy at the bare mention of jeongguk, "what did you say?"

"you reek of human," the man said, his words sharp and stabbing at seokjin's patience, "i had expected such smell from your half-blood husband, but from you? an original ?" he laughed cynically, "what are you doing meddling in human business?"

that was the last drop. seokjin lurched forwards and grabbed onto the man's collar, triggering everyone's fight response. hoseok's fire completely engulfed him, black veins staining the perfect tan in his skin. yoongi's body emitted a thick and heavy black mass; namjoon had a serious look on his face, a special rock that he had brought in his pocket ready to fire in his slingshot (a blessed one, at that); taehyung had teared at some of his clothes but jimin looked the most furious out of everyone; he was panting, fangs out and eyes blacker than ever.

the provider signaled at his own group to not retaliate, holding them off with the raise of a hand. 

seokjin spat, "one more word from your filthy mouth and i swear to lucifer, i will hunt you down; i will tear you to shreds with my own hands."

the man laughed, albeit a little choked, "you cannot threaten me in neutral territory."

seokjin shoved him forwards with unimaginable strength, knocking the man off his feet; he then kicked the suitcase towards him, his voice venomous and heavy on his tongue, "this is our territory. you have your fucking money, now go back to whatever level of hell you came from."

and who would dare disobey an original?

the group scrambled to help their main man on his feet, grabbing the suitcase and bolting as quickly from the abandoned place as possible.

jeongguk stirred in his sleep, sweat beading down his forehead. seokjin and jimin felt sick for a long time, too.

once they were all alone, the group stared between each other, not knowing what to do next. hoseok came down from his raging mode, clothes bursting at the seams as he held onto namjoon for support. he was scalding- scorching heat radiating off his body, but namjoon endured it for the sake of holding him up. jimin looked at seokjin with an expression that mirrored desperation, "what do we do now?" he voiced quietly.

yoongi grabbed at the bags that were on the floor, tossing them to everyone who could hold them, "i don't know. but we have to leave, now ."

everyone dashed out to the front of the car, being stopped by the two vampires just before getting in. seokjin said hurriedly, "forget the car! we have to get back to jeongguk, let's- let's just teleport!"

yoongi frowned, letting out an incredulous sound, "what about my car?!" jimin and seokjin grabbed his arms as he protested and held everyone together in a circle, yelling a "we'll come pick it up later!" just before teleporting back to their house.

the couple ran to the front door immediately, unlocking everything that stood in their way of getting to the human at a monstrous speed. the gym bags were long forgotten on the main entrance, the rest of the group following behind them shortly. after climbing up the staircase, seokjin quickly unlocked the bedroom door and swung it open, revealing jeongguk who was still laying in their bed, his sleep heavily disturbed by the sound of the entire group coming up to see if he was alright. 

jimin fell to his knees at the doorway and so did seokjin, both nearly sobbing in relief.

jeongguk began to wake up, brows furrowing as he scratched at his eyes, hair messy from tossing around the bed. the first thing he noticed was that it was way too dark; darker than it usually is inside his boyfriends' home, anyways. once his eyes properly adjusted and he took a look around, his heartbeat picked up at the sight of jimin and seokjin on their knees in front of the bedroom door and everyone behind them, simply starting at him.

"...guys," the human stood up without a care for his clothes, quickly walking over to jimin and seokjin and holding onto them, concern filling him to the brim, "w-what's happening?"

"so you all went on a ridiculously dangerous deal with a group from the closest vampire territory," jeongguk said, arms crossed over his chest as he sat on one of the armchairs in the bedroom, the bunny patterned pajama t-shirt he was wearing not doing him any favor when it came to making him look serious. the six other boys still hung their heads down in shame, though, "and somehow you managed to escape, by a really tiny margin."

"yes," the group answered.

"and you locked me inside the house.

the couple shivered at the mention of that, fidgeting in their place. seokjin was the first one with guts to speak up; it was almost funny, the impact that the human's scary voice had on the group of monsters, "jeonggukie, we're sorry."

"oh, are you now?" 

"incredibly. so much that we don't know how to make it up to you," he continued, "we did it out of worry- it was the only solution we could think of at the time. we didn't expect it to go wrong-"

"and did you plan on telling me what happened if it did go right?" the human asked pointedly.

"yes," this time it was jimin who spoke, voice so wobbly that it made the human's heart shatter, immediately making him feel bad for being so tough, "of course we would, baby! we- we didn't want-"

"i think we should go… hoseokie, tae, joonie," yoongi spoke up to his own boyfriends, tugging onto them and pulling them out of the room, "let's tend to your wounds-" the last part was whispered so only the four could hear, "we should leave them alone for now."

jeongguk stared at the two others once they were alone, arms falling to his lap, "you locked me inside? am i really that unimportant?" his voice shook, threatening to break, "don't i deserve to know?" his eyes brimmed with tears, "wh-why don't i ever get to know the full truth of everything that surrounds me? i-i thought i meant more than that to you both-"

jimin and seokjin shook their heads and hands in disagreement, faces scrunched up as well, "it's not- it's not that at all!" jimin said hurriedly, sniffling, "you're the most important thing to us, jeonggukie, please! it- it won't ever happen again, we promise you-"

"no more secrets, we'll tell you everything you want to know and what we do," seokjin proposed as the vampires stood up from the sofa and kneeled in front of the human, looking up at him with regretful expressions, "we're sorry. jeonggukie, we're sorry- please come closer-"

and that was all it truly took. 

jeongguk let himself be pulled into their strong hold, sitting on the floor with them as they cried out of regret and love. the human let himself be pulled into a kissing fest, being rewarded with smooches and some proper kisses with apologies in between each of them, landing everywhere. his hands held onto the vampires' clothes, tugging them impossibly closer, "never-" he began, attempting to clean his face on his t-shirt, "never leave me like this ever again- promise me. this really, really, hurt. you can't just keep me like… like some sort of defenseless animal-"

"i promise," jimin said immediately, eyes closed as he held onto the human tightly, head in his chest.

seokjin held onto the human's back, chest against it as his hands crossed the human's. his head was buried in jeongguk's neck, "it's a promise," in under the blink of an eye they were sitting on the bed, holding their nestmate, "we're sorry for waking you up too- as much as i'd like joking about this, i can't."

"they caught onto the human smell on us," jimin said quickly, head lifting from the space in his chest. jeongguk's eyes widened immediately but jimin's hands were quick to soothe him and his skin, "we ran them off, baby. they won't return, we promise you. they- your smell is adapting because of the bond and just how much time you spend with us- they won't know. they won't dare sparkle a fight in neutral territory, nevermind with an original's nestmate," the smallest rambled, eyes wide. it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else.

seokjin held them tighter, glancing at the clock and shaking his head at the fact that it was already four in the morning and jeongguk had work to attend in just under a few more hours. his right hand soothed over the human's back, "think you could sleep?, he asked softly, "we'll stay… just like this."

jeongguk couldn't ignore the soreness in his eyes- the sting and redness that kept him awake for longer. he was exhausted- physically and mentally. jeongguk nodded slowly, "we can talk later, right? about everything. no more trips to namjoon's house to learn about you both... just- just you and me."

the couple agreed instantly, keeping the human as close as possible. he fell asleep just like that, nestled in between the two vampires who held him like he could disappear at any moment. at first, jeongguk was worried about the whole situation; then he was angry, and now he just felt… sad. his doubts and insecurities about being a human in the middle of all of this had only become more fragile- as much as jeongguk loved them, he couldn't be kept out of important decisions like this. maybe he wasn't as strong or immortal, even, but he was still important. he still mattered.

jeongguk was still set on his decision, though. now fired up with the promise of a nice, long talk when he came home from work, he felt determined to turn things around for the better. communication was important. even if he was still upset, they could work to fix it.

and so it happened: when jeongguk woke up four hours later he was greeted with a tray of breakfast in bed as another sign of apology from seokjin and jimin (even if jeongguk's forgiveness had already been given to the two and it didn't rely on materialistic values at all, he guessed the two wanted to make it up to him in every way possible- so he expected more things like this to come). the tray contained a tall glass of mango juice and a plate with a beautiful stack of thick pancakes that jeongguk immediately recognized to be his mother's recipe. 

jimin and seokjin sat on either side of the bed, both giving him his good mornings and well deserved kisses, even if jeongguk protested about having morning breath.

"hope you like these, baby. we had to call your mom, like, thrice to know how to do it and get it right."

seokjin raised an eyebrow, "who's 'we', you demon from hell? i did all of the work!"

"but i kept up the team's morale the whole time , and that's already an achievement on its own!" jeongguk laughed, trying not to choke as he wolfed down the pancakes. they tasted… interesting, to say the least. definitely not the same as his mom's. 

"oh, lucifer," seokjin sighed as he immediately read the look on the youngest's face, "you hate them, don't you?"

jeongguk took a gulp of the juice, eager to eat what the couple had made for him even if it didn't taste all that good, "no! no, i don't, what makes you say that?" 

"to be fair, it does seem like you just washed it down," jimin laughed and so did seokjin, "ah, we really don't know how to make human food…"

"but i ate lasagna here on the day we met?"

"JK, light of my darkness; apple of my eye," seokjin took his left hand, "that was take-away."

seokjin and jimin took the human to work not long after he was dressed; trying not to distract themselves with their touchy nature. jeongguk still felt bad for being mean; he could see the reflection of it in jimin's and seokjin's hesitance to talk or joke around- they weren't even teasing him. jeongguk felt guilty. it was almost like what they had built since the beginning had taken a step back, but for him, it didn't. he still felt the same.

this had just been an oopsie. a big one, at that... but everyone makes mistakes.

ten minutes just before his shift, seokjin was parked in front of the bench where jeongguk and taehyung had waited a couple weeks ago. jeongguk took his time checking if he had everything in his bag, before he unbuckled his belt and leaned forwards, kissing both the vampires sweetly. they looked at him with wide eyes but also smiles adorning their tanned features. 

"have a good day at work, babycakes," jimin said softly, giggling at the renewed mood.

"call us if you need us, alright? we'll come pick you up."

jeongguk nodded, smiling widely one last time, "i'll go now. see you later, hyungs! love you!" he said quickly- usually jeongguk wasn't so forward about saying something so meaningful; but today he felt like he had to. he had to let them know. 

after receiving a soft response just as reassuring as his was, jeongguk left the car with one last wave of his hand and walked inside, watching them drive away.

his patience was seriously running thin- barely holding on by a thread. 

it was about four in the afternoon when jeongguk got his first break of the day. the post office was running low on staff and it was packed- taehyung wasn't here to help him either, since it was his day off. he was taking care of just one cashier, cleaning occasionally when the store was empty before it refilled to the brim yet again. waves of people kept coming in and he honestly felt like he was in some sort of video game; every time he cleared a wave of ugly and rude middle aged monsters, another one came and knocked his hp down. 

right now, after arguing with about seven or maybe eight boomers, jeongguk was at his limit. usually insults like 'lazy', 'slow' or 'useless' that came from customers didn't bother him- he was used to the rudeness that came from working with mainly older people (the younger ones were nice, even if a very specific girl liked taking half of the lollipops that they kept in a bowl for children), but today he was just not having it. he was running on the pancakes he had for breakfast and barely four hours of sleep- there was only so much he could endure. 

so he just didn't. 

"with all due respect, sir," jeongguk said calmly as he circled the register, hands coming up to his nametag and ripping it off of his white shirt, "shove the slightly misplaced stamp up your ass."

the at least forty year old grimaced, "come again?" he sounded indignant. 

"shove. the. stamp. up. your. ass," he punctuated his words with stomps of his foot on top of the name tag that he had thrown to the ground, "i quit! i hate this stupid fucking job!" he yelled, "i will not be dealing with uptight assholes who don't even know how to deal with their own fucking correspondence!"

"i demand to speak with your manager!"

jeongguk laughed, bursting through the employees only room to grab at his belongings, "go right ahead!" he yelled, grip on his gym bag faltering as his hands began to shake just slightly, "i don't give a shit."

after storming his way out of the building and blindly walking down the street, jeongguk began to feel an overwhelming feeling of regret. he kept walking forwards to the point where he didn't know where he was, thinking too loud to register the last time he had taken a left or a right. he stopped in his tracks and leaned against whatever wall was closer just before pulling out his phone to text his mom and boyfriends. he sniffled a little bit to himself.

momma

kookie 4:50pm

mom are you home?

momma 4:55pm

yes...

what do you need kookie?

kookie 4:55pm

i justquit my job

momma 4:56pm

oh darling...

i'll make you something, just come home...

kookie 4:56pm

i left the bike at home mom

seokjin and jimin took me to work

momma 4:57pm 

ask if your boyfriends can give you a ride, then…

kookie 4:57pm

you know your "..."s stress me mom!!!

okay i will :(

momma 4:58pm

i will see you in a bit...

[hang in there! cat gif]

he really wouldn't trade his mom for anything.

nest

baby 5:00pm

hyungs

hyunngssss

:(

tiny 🦇 5:05pm

yes baby?

baby 5:05pm

took u long enough :(

come pick me up pls

i just. impulse quit my job sksjs

big 🦇 5:05pm

send your location and we'll pick you up right away.

do you want to talk about what happened?

baby 5:06pm

[location]

to my house pls :( ill tell you there

tiny 🦇 5:06pm

teleport or car?

baby 5:06pm

teleport is fine just be quick pls :(

not even two minutes after, jeongguk heard the sound of his boyfriends appearing around the corner of the wall he was leaning against- their accuracy never failed to impress him. he turned the corner, his grip once again shaking as he saw them both standing besides each other, worried looks written all over their faces. 

jimin took his hands before hugging him tightly, seokjin joining the group hug soon after. 

"ah," jeongguk breathed, forgetting just how sad he was for a couple of seconds, "hyungs, can't breathe- "

they pulled away slowly, "baby, your face is blotchy and red- you're still angry?" jimin said in concern, tiny fingers coming up to his cheek and rubbing softly. seokjin came forward and took the gym bag from him, hooking it on his massive shoulders. 

"your hands are shaking, JK," seokjin warned, taking one of them and bringing it up to his cold lips, "let's get you home, alright?"

the human nodded, holding jimin's hand as well before squeezing his eyes shut in expectancy of that horrible feeling of your organs flipping around that came with teleportation. surprisingly, when he opened his eyes and found himself in his backyard, he wasn't as dizzy as before- just a bit sick, still. the vampires held him up, giving him some time to breathe before he was up again, this time on his own.

"i'll never get used to this," jeongguk said breathlessly, hand holding his stomach, "i blame motion sickness entirely-"

jimin giggled, following behind him as he grumbled away and opened the back door in his kitchen. 

"mom?" he called out loudly once he didn't see her, hearing a muffled 'in the living room' from afar. 

his mom's hugs never failed at making him feel better- whether he had scraped his knee or gotten a bad grade at school, or even now, having just quit his job, she was always there and ready to hug her son who towered over her. jimin and seokjin watched from the entrance, smiling at each other as the boy explained what happened to his mother, head tucked securely in the crook of her neck. she glanced at them somewhere in between the human's speech, her expressions reading something similar to 'what can you do?'. 

once the poor boy was done ranting and he pulled away, voice a little choked up and lips in a pout, his mom looked up at him and put on a determined look, patting the side of his arm in as much determination as her 4'10 stature allowed, "they never treated you right ever since you began working there when you were eighteen. finding another job was long overdue!"

"mom…" jeongguk whined. 

"i don't want to hear it, kookie. your mother knows best, and you know it. have you eaten your lunch, even?"

jeongguk shook his head, "no… i got my first break at four."

his mom's nostrils flared. oh, he was in trouble- "young man, the second coming of jesus will come before i let you go an entire day without eating properly! go upstairs to freshen up while i make you something. no 'but's. c'mon."

"yes, momma-" jeongguk nodded and then passed by his boyfriends', sulking exaggeratedly just before making his way up the stairs. seokjin and jimin stood at the entrance, amused as they watched the tiny human woman huffing to herself. suddenly her eyes lifted and landed on them- oddly, a sense of primal fear went up their spines.

it was almost hilarious and a little ironic to watch two century-old vampires trembling in fear for his boyfriend's mother. she may be small, but she carried a lot of fierceness in herself- it came from having raised jeongguk all by herself.

"thank you for bringing my son home, boys," she said, stretching with a small groan as her back hurt, "will you be sticking around for dinner later?"

seokjin and jimin looked between each other and- as jeongguk put it once, freaked out telepathically. jimin was the first to speak, smile lacing his words with kindness and masking his fear successfully, "that's really kind of you, miss jeon… but we wouldn't want to cause any more trouble-"

"oh please, momma or ma'am is fine," she walked past them, through the doorway and into the kitchen, seeing if she had some leftovers that her boy could take care of, "and you both think that my son manages to get himself two beautiful men like you and i don't get to know them better?" she popped open a blue tupparware with some pieces of pork inside, "you're sorely mistaken. i've always told my kookie: he can't hide anything from me, whether its his mysterious boyfriends or sneaky night outs with mister kim taehyung."

the corner of jimin's lips wavered, eyes shaking as he seemed to pale, ironically. seokjin was static, unsure of what to say- they tried focusing on the sound of running water upstairs, as well as jeongguk's melodic humming.

"oh-" the eldest tried, "then we would be delighted to join you."

"that's what i thought," miss jeon said as she placed a plate of leftovers in the microwave, napkin over it for safety measures, "now… did the pancakes turn out alright, boys?"

"no they didn't, ma'am," the shortest said shamefully.

"and you both cook for yourselves in that big house? i'll make extra food then, then you can keep it and eat sometime later."

"oh, ma'am, that wouldn't be neces-" the woman held up a wooden spoon to them both, "thank you, momma . we… would love to."

"very well."

the two vampires volunteered to help jeongguk's mom set a plate and cutlery for him, talking to her on between. at some point, the two could pinpoint when the human turned off the water, softly and quietly calling for them- he knew they would listen.

they excused themselves to jeongguk's mom and went up the stairs, expecting to see him dressed and not wrapped up in a towel, dripping water from his hair onto the floor like he was right now. his face read sadness with a hint of regret, "hyungs… i screwed up, didn't i?" jeongguk asked sadly, moving to sit on on the bed as he clung to his towel, "i was so on edge because of what happened yesterday that i just… couldn't take any more insults from those assholes."

jimin's and seokjin's face softened, moving closer to the human. the youngest sat on the bed near him and seokjin pulled the desk's chair and sat in front of them both. 

"baby," jimin began, "if they didn't treat you right, then i think it was a good thing you quit."

"we need the money-"

"jeongguk, did you forget about yoongi's job offer? there's other options and also… we can help if you need anything, you know that?" seokjin spoke seriously, "we could help you pay for whatever you need- the house, college-"

jeongguk shook his head, almost immediately denying the offer out of embarrassment-  he couldn't possibly ask them for that- it was too much, "i can't ask that of you. you guys have already done so much for me and mom with your… 'gifts' plus- i like to work. .. i like making my own money, it makes me feel…" useful, jeongguk thought but didn't voice it.

"then why don't you call yoongi and accept his offer, hm? you could work there and so would taehyung. yoongi could be more flexible with your hours, and you'd still earn your money," jimin suggested, running to the bathroom and coming back in under a second with a fluffy towel and draping it over the human's hair. as he helped dry him, his claws tickled as they scratched over the human's scalp.

"but do it later," seokjin said, also helping, "i'm convinced your mom will hang you to dry on the rack outside if you don't go eat your food soon."

soon enough jeongguk was dressed in tight shorts and a sweater, ready to go downstairs, happy that he was promised a long conversation with his boyfriends that would hopefully clear up everything between them. jeongguk liked to think that it was going to be the last one they had to have- they had been together for a month, and it was about time jeongguk knew the full truth without having to rely on people outside of his relationship with the other two. 

the human ate as he talked with his mother, feet swaying from his seat on the bench of the island counter. the vampires stayed upstairs, readying themselves and giving the humans some privacy as they attempted to block out the sound of them talking.

when he went up the stairs again and opened the door to his room, the vampires had gotten rid of their shoes and jackets and were sitting on his bed, "alright," he grabbed at an empty notebook on his desk and a pen, sitting on the desk's chair with his legs crossed, "let's start?"

jimin and seokjin looked amused, brows lifted in question, "what's that pink 'my melody' notebook for, baby?"

"documentation," he said seriously, "and notes… so i can study and not forget. i thought, hey, maybe it would be cool to keep notes of whatever new information everyone tells me… like a research diary!"

"you're too cute," seokjin groaned, "i like that idea. just be sure no one finds it, alright?"

"your secrets will be safe with me," the human winked, earning a snort from jimin.

the human turned the cover of the notebook over, laughing at the attention he was getting for something so bare minimum. he could feel them staring as he wrote in big letters, 'jeon jeongguk's guide to vampires (and other beings the human mind can't comprehend)'.

"can we start?" he asked softly, looking up from it, "i want all the details, don't leave anything juicy out, alright?"

the vampires nodded and jimin placed his hand on top of seokjin's, as if he was asking for him to start. and so he did.

"vampires have existed long before humans did. we have walked this world for millennia, but not in the same way we do today. the vampires or families born before humans are called originals, the creators of the modern vampire race made of turned humans. i'm a descendant of one of the last families of originals; i was born a vampire. jimin, however, was turned."

jeongguk's eyes widened and he scribbled down on his book, stretching to get a highlighter.

"seokjin is eight hundred and seventy four years old," jimin added, face sweet and voice matching, "and i was turned when i became twenty three, back in 1518."

"you were born in 1495? and seokjin in 1145?"

"look at you, so smart. yes, we were. both of the dates are correct."

"did… did seokjin turn you?" jeongguk asked carefully, tiptoeing around his words. 

"no, sweetheart. he didn't, it was someone else," jimin shook his head and then continued, "i was caught off guard and it just… happened. i was working in the fields at night, ready to go home when… whoever it was just pounced on me and almost left me to die on the ground. my family found me the next day in a pool of blood- they thought i was dead and so did i- but i was not. when they realized what i had become, they tried to kill me and then eventually, when they realized it was useless to even try, i was kicked out of my hometown with no second thought."

the smallest's tone faltered and he looked down, voice taking a turn, "i also tried to kill me, several times. sun wouldn't work, praying wouldn't work, starvation was my get-away- but even that was fruitless. every time i tried, my instincts would kick in and i would go on a rampage to fulfill my needs... i have done terrible things."

seokjin's hand soothed over his husband's. jeongguk had stopped writing, "seokjin found me. late, but he did. a starved half-blood and an original… who would've thought-"

"i told you not to call yourself that, jiminie."

"what does it mean?" jeongguk asked quietly.

seokjin grimaced, "it's a derogatory term used against vampires who were turned."

"half-bloods and originals are not supposed to be nestmates," jimin knocked his right shoulder against seokjin's left one. he seemed a little happier- as if he was about to say something funny, "seokjinnie was going to be married off to a distant cousin to preserve the family and continue the bloodline… baby, you should've seen the shock on people's face when he brought me to his fancy mansion- all dirty and messed up… and you should've seen their faces when we announced at dinner that we were nestmates- we had to run away on the same day, they would kill us if we stayed… although, i think fleeing to neutral territory saved you from marrying an icky relative that you didn't even like. looks like i did save you too, didn't i?"

" lucifer, yes. bloodline be damned, i would never take part in incestous affairs. those people are mad ," seokjin sighed, rubbing at his face with his hands, "we managed pretty well on our own ever since. we have lived here, in this area, since we fled. we watched many people grow, buildings rising, fights… we watched the world change from the very same hill our house is on right now."

jeongguk stared at them with wide eyes before he looked down at his notepad and took more notes, making sure to remember to polish them later. it was a lot of information and the human was beyond amazed, eyes filled to the brim of a curiosity that could not be shaken off, "we met namjoon in his first years of practicing witchcraft. he revived the forest in less than five years… remarkable."

"so… no bat form?" jeongguk asked.

"bat, what?"

"you don't turn into bats?"

"sweetheart… where did you get that idea?"

jeongguk laughed a little, scribbling more on his paper: it read 'no bat form :(' circled in red with a ballpoint pen.

"seokjinnie, i think our human is going to explode," jimin said quietly, giggles and all in between, "he's looking at us like his brain is about to blow up at any second."

the human blushed, making a hurt noise as he put down his notebook and immediately threw himself onto them both, knocking the vampires over to lay on the bed, " you're so cool ," he murmured, smiling to himself at the groans and laughs he got, "and it's also a lot… don't think i'll be able to take more without some proper relaxing-"

"sweetheart, that's so weirdly sexual."

"title of your sextape."

"nevermind, actually. i really dislike you both," jeongguk was drawn in tighter as he tried to stand, a messy pile of limbs holding him down. he groaned with little to no intent, the laughter making the mood go light. jimin was giggling into his shoulder and seokjin's leg was hooking him over his back onto the bed. 

they stood like that for some time and eventually, jeongguk remembered something. now- now would be the perfect time to bring up what he wanted to ask since yesterday-

"hyungs," they slowly let him go a little looser and he turned, staring at the ceiling as he thought over how to ask them, "have you… do you- do you think you should… turn me?" he asked quietly, carefully- recoiling a little and clutching his sweater in his hands.

the vampires went silent; jimin seemed just a tad bit paler. maybe he shouldn't have asked. he should've been quiet- how could he think of something like that?

"jeongguk," seokjin started and the human swallowed dry. no pet name? no nickname? "you know what it takes, right? you know the implications of what you're asking? what about your mother?"

"namjoon told me yesterday," he rushed to answer, "i know. i also- i also know we will never be fully bonded until it happens because i'm not immortal, or- or a witch like namjoon."

jimin was quiet, avoiding eye contact with them at all costs as he blinked weirdly and rapidly, claws extending. 

"we don't have to if you don't want to," seokjin was set on this, "we can find other ways. we can ask namjoon for different solutions-"

"why are you both so set on convincing me not to do it?" jeongguk wondered, turning to jimin specifically and pulling at him to get him to turn around, breath itching as he saw tiny tears stuck in his eyes, "i don't understand..."

"you- you don't know how awful it is," jimin said, a little choked, "i can't drink a single sip from you without spiraling, jeongguk- and you- you expect me- us, to drain you ?" seokjin's grip tightened around jeongguk at that. the human turned, his own eyes brimming with tears, "i can't do that, jeonggukie- i'm not even an original-"

"what about seokjin? he can do it, right? he can… he can do it," no one answered him, "what happens if i die?"

silence.

"h-huh?" jimin asked incredulously and confused. where had that come from?

"what happens when i die? if- if i'm not immortal, i will die eventually, right? so what will happen to you? hyungs-" his eyes were all over the place, hands tugging at the vampires' clothes in an attempt to make them answer faster, "you're going to move on without me? who will be your new nestmate?"

eventually, after several pleads from the human, seokjin gave in, "we die with you," he said as if it was the simplest thing in the world; jeongguk let the tears in his eyes fall, "a nestmate bond cannot be broken- not even death itself could do us apart. if you die, we die with you."

"you- you're joking?" jeongguk's bottom lip trembled and his voice was cracking. his skin bloomed in blotches of red, " you die? i- i can't-" he babbled, panicked, "and you still don't want to turn me? hyung- hyung, i don't want to die-"

" please stop ," jimin asked quietly, burying his head in the human's shoulder.

"hyungs, i don't want to die," the human kept saying, even drawing tears from seokjin himself who just stared in disbelief and shock, "i want to be together with you- forever- i don't want to die and leave all of my new friends behind!" he was crying openly at this point, "i don't want to take forever from you, hyungs… please, i- i love you so much… y-you don't have to do it now, or this week or- or- this month, i just…"

i don't want this to end. i don't want this endless youth- the happiest days of my life to be over. we can make it forever. we could live like this forever…

"you've been together for hundreds of years… i want that too-" he tried to rationalize, "why don't i get to have that? you're going to leave me to age? you- you won't love me when i'm old. it hurts- hyung, it hurts when you say things like this! you told me we were meant to be, you said- you said i was special and different from everyone else-!"

"and you are," the shortest spoke, hand holding the human's face shakily, fingers wiping over the tracks of tears on his face, "we- we're sorry, jeonggukie. we're sorry that we- that we only thought about preserving ourselves. we didn't think about what you would want, we just… tried to convince y-you to not want it to happen."

seokjin ran his sleeve over his nose, "we only thought about how we couldn't do it because of ourselves and our own issues. we didn't think about doing it for you. we're sorry- "

"you won't die," jeongguk was tugged closed by them both, nesting position adapting to the fact that they were laying down on the human's bed. much like when he first woke up in the vampires' bed, jeongguk was being pressed against jimin's back by seokjin's own chest weighing him on his back. the human cried for longer, nodding at their words of sorrow and comfort. he was kissed, hugged and soothed over until his breathing was okay again. he did the same to them, whispering words of comfort and love- sweet nothings that meant so much. jimin and seokjin had ceased to cry as well, heads immersed in only one thought: holding their human

"oh, our human," jimin sighed, hugging him impossibly closer, "if only you knew just how much space in our dead hearts you've taken over this past month-"

"we want to be together for eternity with you too," seokjin confessed, hand tilting jeongguk's chin to make him look him in the eyes, "but we're scared. we will have to look more into it and prepare ourselves, you know that?"

"i know that," jeongguk did, truly. he knew it couldn't be immediate; he knew there were probably rules that had to be followed as strictly as possible for it to happen correctly, and the added strangeness of their bond didn't make things easier either, "jiminie- hyung, are you okay?"

jimin sighed, nosing along the human's neck veins and exhaling deeply, "trauma," he explained. jeongguk felt guilty, "it's why i've never hunted. seokjin would always bring blood to our home in empty wine bottles; i can't drink directly from living beings… i don't want to hurt anyone. you're different- every fiber of my being and instincts wants to keep you safe, and nearly killing you so you can be just like us just… keeps clashing with me."

"you will always be our human to us," seokjin whispered as they moved to sit together and jeongguk immediately scrambled to fix his runny nose, reaching for a box of tissues that he kept on his nightstand.

after some time, they had stopped sniffling but the human had quite the headache. it was the crying and the scalding feeling he got in his gut from what he said about the vampires leaving him, "hyungs," he said quietly, holding them both and being held as well, "we will work it out, right?"

"always," jimin said, he too grabbing a tissue and sneezing into it, "we will always work it out."

"that's a relief, was starting to think i'd have to call momma to solve it."

"and you don't think your momma heard us arguing, baby?" jimin asked light-heartedly, tone softer and less agitated.

"she's watching the price is right in the living room," the three of them laughed, "probably fell asleep on the couch with her mouth open."

"the mouth on you," seokjin scolded.

they didn't talk much after that, opting to rest and lay together. things would sort themselves out at some point, and for now, things were okay. they had plenty of time to worry about the future later. even if they had no idea what they were doing, they would find out about it themselves.

they would map the edges and trace the curves of this new thing. they would learn the boundaries and fix the mistakes along the way. 

in the meantime, the human made another decision. jeongguk grabbed his phone at some point, opening the message app to send something.

yoongi

human boy 6:27pm

is it too late to accept your offer hyung?

yoongi 😼 6:33pm

send me your college timetable

you start tomorrow

Chapter Text

"i- i got the job," jeongguk whispered as he let his phone fall onto the pillow beside him, right next to jimin's hair. seokjin was holding the human's waist and the other had his face buried in jeongguk's chest; they had been laying in silence for quite some time; they were healing, relishing in each other’s company and comfort while taking some time to rest and organize their thoughts from the intense talk. 

"good boy," jimin looked up from his place and leaned in to steal a kiss. the human went red from the praise and gesture; seokjin spoke against the human's hair, "we told you so, jeonggukie. when do you start, hm?"

"tomorrow," the human just couldn't be happier, smile making his cheeks look chubbier and hurt. he really looked like a bunny, the vampires noted dearly, "think yoongi will fire me if i call him cute while he's in his cat form?"

"he'll promote you instead," jimin played along, his fully black eyes becoming quite distracting, "have you told taehyung? i bet he would love to hear about it."

"i will, later," the human sighed, snuggling closer, "right now, i can only think of two things: cuddling and what the hell are we going to tell my mom at dinner?" the vampires stiffened in his hold a bit comically at that, "what?" jeongguk laughed, "you're scared of my momma?"

"baby…"

"your mother is very…" the oldest tiptoed, shifting in his spot and also his embrace, locking his fingers with one of jeongguk's hands, "she's an intense woman."

"and you're rich century-old vampires who are scared of your boyfriend's mom," jeongguk laughed.

"you were scared of us too, angel," jimin reminded, pinching jeongguk's nose in between his index and middle fingers, making him whine, "or did you forget, hm?"

"hyung… don't remind me! that’s not even fair game, you both literally broke reality for me…" the human said, obviously embarrassed, "my momma hasn't broken anything on you… yet."

"i guess that helps," seokjin said sarcastically but with a hint of genuine amusement, "your mom did see jimin teleport into your room one time, but maybe she just assumed she didn't hear him get in…"

"i think it'll be best to only tell her if she mentions something, angel. if she found out, then… we might have to do something about it."

"you can't hide anything from momma," the human repeated her own words. jeongguk hated hiding things from his mom, but they were right. she couldn't handle a lot of stuff that she pretended she could- she wasn't as young and she used to be, "i hate lying to her, but you guys are right… what would you do?

"memory manipulation," seokjin answered, "not something we like doing, but sometimes it's handy. keep in mind, you make the decision of what we end up doing… it is your mother after all."

jeongguk nodded, deciding that he'd think about it. the situation was tricky as it was- he didn't exactly want to think about it too much or he would falter in his decision… if that was ever needed in the first place.

jeongguk shifted in his spot, laying while facing the ceiling (because his arm got numb) as he sighed. he was tired; a little beat up, "i hate arguing, hyungs…" his nose scrunched up and brows furrowed yet again, something he did when he concentrated on something he was certain of, "there's nothing else, right? these talks… are over?"

jimin shifted too, sitting down on the bed and crossing one leg over the other. he looked down at the human, hair a little disheveled and fangs out on display for him to see, "i don't think we have anything else to tell you, but you will always be discovering new things about this… new world , sweetheart. nothing will always be one hundred percent over and dealt with… and that’s something that you have to handle and that we can try to help you with."

"something we can work on is how we deal with news or, y'know, events that we have little to not control over," seokjin proposed. it made sense, "jeongguk, you know we never do anything to hurt you purposefully, right?"

the human's answer was immediate, "i know that… looking back now, i think i overreacted last night," the vampires were ready to protest, but the human shushed them, "i was really upset at being locked inside the house without my consent, but i get why you did it now… and back then, i don't know, i was just so angry that i didn't think-"

"we still should've told you, sweetheart."

"yes, you should've, but there was a superior motive, wasn't there? you did it to protect me… and i didn't see it like that. i wanted to know everything and i thought you were keeping things away from me on purpose. it made me feel…" he thought over the word for a while, "inferior. like i wasn't worth the truth. before you left, you said you liked it that i was a human, and in my head, both of you saw me as inferior in the relationship when you came back because of it," he glanced away, sighing, "which… isn't the case, right? you guys are actually married, i'm just… a boyfriend to you both."

"not at all," seokjin replied, "and don't say it like that, jeongguk. even if it's true, you matter just as much."

"jeonggukie… never in a million years," jimin shook his head, holding the human's hand, "i was surprised to see you so mad…" he confessed, "i guess there were mistakes on both sides.”

"a big misunderstanding," seokjin provided, "if we work on how we feel, i think we can learn to avoid these."

the mature conversation felt refreshing. it washed a tide over the human. it was a misunderstanding, he thought, nothing else. his insecurities could be laid to rest, finally. and maybe the mood would even lighten up a little. overall, jeongguk felt good and new: he had gotten rid of his toxic job and managed to get a new one seamlessly; he got a hug from his mom and a sincere and open talk with his boyfriends without crying or letting feelings get over his reasoning.

this development pleased him. maybe now, things would be easier and move smoother… maybe they would mature together. 

"sounds like a deal," jeongguk said genuinely, breaking a little into laughter a moment later, "i sound annoying when i have a stuffy nose."

jimin curled up his fist and softly hit him in his chest as a warning. 

soon, it was time to head down for dinner. the three nestmates untangled themselves from the mess they were laying in and fixed themselves, going down to meet the human’s mother a few minutes later. jeongguk had given the vampires a simple list of rules to follow during the night, which included: not refusing food; never answering his mother’s questions with other questions, and above all, never mentioning anything about their true nature unless it was brought up explicitly. they had agreed, claiming that they would do their very best, but they were still nervous.

jeongguk laughed at them when they stood up to get dressed, helping to fix them both up and add the last finishing touches.

jimin whined, breaking a little off of his flirty and confident persona, "angel, stop laughing… we've been dating for a month, properly meeting your mother is a huge step and-"

jeongguk giggled again, looking down at the vampire and kissing the top of his head softly, "she's going to love you both just as easy as i did. just be yourself."

seokjin was sitting on the edge of the bed, laughing nervously and joking out of habit, "can't tell if i'm going to throw up because i'm nervous or if it's because this is too cheesy."

"alright," jeongguk shook his head softly, running a hand through his hair, "time to relax… and to hide your fangs and eyes. you don't want to give my momma a heart attack," he warned, raising a brow. he came closer to jimin's face and softly touched his left fang with the pad of his finger; jimin playfully darted out his tongue to lick it. the human blushed and pulled away, trying to ignore the smirk on jimin's face when his fangs retracted and eyes turned back to something more human-like.

seokjin had a similar look; jeongguk felt smaller, suddenly. his insides turned and his face grew even hotter, "you guys are going to kill me," he whispered, resonating a chuckle from the husbands, "please don't get me horny before we go meet my mother."

seokjin snorted loudly and jimin doubled forwards, lurching forwards to hold the human right after, "later, then."

a promise? who knew? certainly not jeongguk.

they descended the stairs to the first floor, the vampires following behind the human as he made a beeline towards the kitchen on autopilot, knowing the route and what he had to do all too well. 

he said hi to his mom again and began to set up plates and other necessary things on a short table near the island counters. in his mind, he made a note to tell the vampires to help him set up the table, smiling all too pleased with himself as they began to move, showing that they had heard him. 

"momma," jeongguk asked as he looked over her shoulder to the big steaming pot on the stove, "what are ya' cooking?" his boyfriends smiled discreetly, his natural accent amusing them- it wasn’t normal that he’d talk like this, so it was a nice gift to be able to hear it so casually.

“army stew,” his mother replied, adding two eggs to it as a final touch, turning off the heat coming from below and waiting for them to cook with the warmth of the pot’s contents, “‘nd a lot of it, those two look scrawny and a little too pale for my liking.”

jeongguk snorted; both of his boyfriends blushed, ironically, “you’re right momma.”

he took the pot away from her hands gently when she began to try lifting it all by herself; it was just a regular pot but it was heavy, packed with delicious food that made jeongguk’s mouth salivate just from looking at it. everyone moved to sit as jeongguk placed the food down on a big and round cork tray in the middle of the table.

jimin stood a little bit over his chair to look over and into the pot, smiling wide at bowing a little bit at the human mother, “this looks absolutely delicious, ma’am."

seokjin nodded in confirmation, pulling the small mismatched chair he was sitting on closer to the table, "thank you for the food."

jeongguk immediately began to dig in, metal chopsticks clinking together as he grabbed at vegetables, meat and noodles alike. the vampires were more cautious of the food they took, opting more for the meat and sauce instead of vegetables. jeongguk reminded them in his head, once again, to keep their teeth, claws and eyes hidden at all times. 

"no need to thank me," jeongguk's mom replied, filling up her plate with the help of jimin who volunteered to do it, "you three eating well will be enough. and don't even think about leftovers. whatever is left of this pot, you will be taking it home, understood?"

seokjin and jimin smiled warmly, cheeks full of meat and its leftover juices. what was left of the blood in the meat made it go down easier, "yes momma," they replied in unison.

they chatted for a while, food warming their stomachs and making stars go off behind the vampires' eyes - besides yoongi's food, they really didn't get to eat human food anywhere else. it didn't sparkle their tongue- it didn't pleasure their taste numbed by blood, but this, this was barely driving them up the wall. jimin, jeongguk and seokjin had already reached for a second serving and the pot was still nowhere near half empty, just looking absolutely bottomless- it’s not like they would complain if that was the case.

jeongguk's mother was beyond satisfied to see them eat, already being done with her own share of the prepared meal, "now that's what i like to see," she said after swallowing her last bite, "now, onto something a little more serious, hm? how did you two handsome men meet my boy?" 

jeongguk brought his bowl to his face at that, hiding a creeping look of embarrassment and stuffing his mouth full of food, again. seokjin swallowed whatever he had left in his mouth and dabbed at the corners of it with a napkin, clearing his throat, "well," he started, "it was about a month ago, when he was out for deliveries. he stopped by our house and it started  to rain really heavily, so he ended up staying over- i'm sure you remember, right?"

"oh, yes," his mother nodded, “while i do believe that he’s a grown man, he’s still my baby, isn’t he? gave me a scare and a half when he didn’t call,” she said pointedly at the human, aiming to get an embarrassed reaction out of him, which she did. 

jeongguk barely choked. jimin and seokjin laughed, “don’t think you have to worry about that, ma’am,” jimin said teasingly, “he’s good.”

“i like you both,” she said suddenly, nearly making a sigh of relief escape the vampires’ mouths, “i’ve never given the talk to anyone that my kook dated because well, as far i’m aware, this is a first and double , so listen to me,” she prepared, “you two seem like nice guys. odd, but nice, ‘m not one to judge. i’m fairly easy to please, and you’ve outdone yourselves during this dinner we had… the only thing i really have to say is: hurt the son and you’ll deal with the momma.”

her words contrasted her tone in a way that was almost threatening, but when the vampires once again begun to realize that there was really nothing threatening about a mother looking out for her son, their (kind of) scared expressions softened into gentler ones. jimin was the one to speak, “you can lay your worries to rest, ma’am. it’ll be a cold day in hell before we hurt jeongguk intentionally… after all, he’s our baby too.”

“i’m going to die,” jeongguk covered his reddening face with his hands and held himself up with his elbows on the table, “the three of you- so embarrassing-“

jeongguk’s mom stood up to grab the plates, but seokjin and jimin volunteered to clean the dishes as she was probably tired from work. she thanked them and hugged her son, who was still processing whatever had happened at the dinner table with his face hiding in his forearms. the sound of clicking dishes and glasses could be heard in the sink while jeongguk’s mom secretly (or so she thought) told him that they were keepers and that the human should treasure them until the end of time if he really adored them as much as he had told her. 

unknowingly to the vampires, when they weren’t around and the human was alone with his mother, he talked to her about them and opened up about what his true feelings really were. she knew things they didn’t- she knew just how much the human boy felt for them, and now that she had met them, she understood why he was this infatuated (and dare she say ‘in love’) completely.

his mother went upstairs to bed after the three of them promised to not make too much noise and leave a note or a message on her phone somewhere if they decided to head out for the night.

when the vampires heard the noise of her bedroom’s door closing, they finished the dishes at lightning speed and then moved over to the human, kissing and groping him as compensation for having to wait at the table for so long. overall, despite jeongguk’s embarrassment, the dinner had gone really well in their opinion and they were happy. who could blame them? jeongguk’s mother was such a nice and caring person.

seokjin whispered into the humans ear after leaning in, “keepers, ya’ heard?” he tried to imitate the accent jeongguk and his mom had, failing for comedic value, “your mother is a really nice lady.”

jeongguk blushed even deeper, as if he wasn’t red enough already, “you love my accent,” he pouted, immediately making way for jimin to steal a quick kiss, “momma really does like ya’,” he attempted, “she takes more time to warm up to people… it’s usually not this quick, i assure you. you really impressed her… and you barely did anything other than laugh at her embarrassing stories of me.”

“we’ll think of it as a good thing,” jimin leaned in and kissed his left cheek, soothing jeongguk’s back with his hands while seokjin took his own, just spending some time together and relaxing in the way they knew best: physical contact. 

“it is a good thing,” jeongguk smiled, blushing subsiding, “it was almost as easy as it was for taehyung…”

“it took more time to seduce you than your mother,” seokjin joked, softly being hit on his shoulder by jeongguk’s hand. 

jeongguk stood up with a giggle and dragged his boyfriends to the living room, flopping down on the couch with them both by his side. jimin clutched to his stomach, leaving small and sweet kisses wherever he could while seokjin nosed along his hair, hands resting on his chest. jeongguk looked at both of them and raised an eyebrow, “you know you can both turn back, right? my mom is in her room…”

jimin smirked at that, a small snicker tumbling from him beyond his own resolve, “you like our fangs and nails that much, baby? you miss them, yeah?”

seokjin tilted jeongguk’s head backwards so they’d look into each other’s eyes, making the human watch as they turned fully black and his fangs grew to peek below his top lip. jeongguk’s eyes seemingly glazed over- a shiver went down his spine, “do you?”

“...of course i do,” jeongguk gulped a little, attempting to relax but being quite bothered and teased by this. it was so simple, why did it work on him so perfectly? “i- you look like you’re kinkshaming me, hell! they’re pretty and i like them… don’t want you to hide them around me. it doesn’t feel natural to not see you like you really are...” he sulked.

“what a good baby,” jeongguk ignored the purr inside his chest at that, “we’re glad you like them and our true forms, prince. we’ll have fun with them later.”

the promise hung loose in the air, making the human bite at the inside of his cheek. jeongguk had no idea what that was even supposed to mean, but he had a suspicion- a suspicion that made him feel hot and bothered on the inside. however, he pushed such thoughts away, trying to relax into their hold once more. his mom being at home while he thought of such things made him feel… a little uncomfortable and weird.

at some point during the warmth and comforting silence, jeongguk drifted to sleep as well. jimin and seokjin relished in his warmth and gentle breaths- in the rise and fall of his chest just before they lifted him up and took him upstairs so he could lay down in his bed properly. the youngest grumbled halfway through the journey as he was jostled up the stairs in seokjin’s iron grip. his legs locked around the vampire’s torso unknowingly, mumbling tiny and meaningless words that barely held themselves together by a thread of sleep induced thoughts.

in the morning, jeongguk and the vampires made their separate ways after a fulfilling breakfast. jeongguk headed to college on his bike and jimin and seokjin went to work. kisses and shows of affection aside, they fell into the normal routine that they had built for themselves yet again. it was like nothing ever happened- like they had lived through it and learnt what they should or shouldn’t do and then carried on, no remorse or uncomfortable edges keeping each other on the edge. instead of taking the human everywhere they could and pampering him as if he was made of glass, the vampires distanced themselves (only slightly) and let him do his own errands by himself. jeongguk promised to be careful, excitedly exclaiming that the sapphire necklace they gave him would protect him at all times and costs and that he would call if he needed anything.

jeongguk enjoyed the space and the trust- the vampires liked the comfort of knowing he would be okay. 

although, if some insecurities and anxieties were put to rest, other always seemed to surface. midterms and exams at college were nearing- so were his projects’ deadlines. he would have to spend more time by himself; he’d likely hole up in his room for the next couple of weeks, eating away at his mind so it’d absorb all the information he needed to pass. his new job was also on the line. although, he didn’t think yoongi would mind him going home earlier sometimes.

his lectures went by quickly and soon it was lunch time. instead of making the usual routine and waiting for his boyfriends, jeongguk took off on his bike and went over to dreamin’ , now ready for a fresh start. maybe taehyung would be there too? maybe they would be coworkers again.

he was beyond excited.

when jeongguk arrived at the restaurant, he parked his bike at the back, near the employees’ only room, just as yoongi had instructed him to. the backdoor to the kitchen was open and from there came a rather sweaty hoseok holding two trash bags, one in each hand. 

“hey!” a pale hoseok (his hair looked almost brown, way darker than before) greeted just as soon as he saw jeongguk, shooting him a blinding heart smile, “look who it is. you ready for your first day, newbie?” the fae questioned, dumping the trash bags and walking over to the human who was locking his bike to a thick pipe stuck to the wall.

“hoseok hyung,” jeongguk greeted cheerfully, grabbing at his backpack and smiling widely, “‘m a little nervous… won’t lie.”

“you’ll be fine,” the fae jabbed at his sides softly, making the human laugh as it tickled. the sound effects that the fae made were strident- but jeongguk didn’t mind. it was part of the fae’s charm, “just get inside. yoongs is waiting for you near the pantry! he’ll tell you what to do next, and i’ll help you settle in, huhu, ” hoseok offered, ever so bright, “now… if my senses aren’t failing me, i’m pretty sure i’m leaving something to burn!” jeongguk inhaled in the air and it did smell like something nearby was burnt. hoseok was smiling, speaking cheerfully, but there was a tang of anxiety pulling at the corners of his mouth. immediately, his eyes flared in a vibrant red and when he snapped his fingers, the human could hear the subtle ticking sound of the gas stove going out, “see you in a bit!” 

the human took a single happy breath; sometimes he forgot they could do tiny stuff like this- it was incredibly amusing to him. maybe someday he would be able to do these things to?

who knows?

jeongguk spent an extra minute checking if he had everything that he needed for his day and then took the faithful single step forwards and up the short set of stairs that separated the outside from his new work place. 

immediately, as he walked in, jeongguk could once again see the pots and pans, sets of knives and food preparing themselves. the human wondered if namjoon was nearby- or if this was hoseok’s doing. the faint smell of something burning caught his attention once again, and when he turned to look over at the source of it, he found the fae perched up on top of the stove, inhaling large quantities of the smoke that came from the frying pan. his lungs seemed to fill up and up- never ceasing until he exhaled, his hair redder and features a lot less pale than before.

it was like life had gone back to him. his skin was in its usual golden tan, brown eyes no longer red like a burning fire- it had all gone to his roots. 

jeongguk observed, curious and taken aback by the demonstration of one the fae’s conditions, but not for long. 

“it’s his lunch break,” a voice came from below, almost making jeongguk jump out of his own skin. yoongi stared up at him as he held a silver bowl filled with greenery, “how were your classes?” he said as he passed by him, moving over to the countertops and grabbing at a floating knife to wash and chop up some of what he had brought over.

“they… they were good,” jeongguk said, a little embarrassed, “is he really feeding?”

“no, not really. it’s getting colder these days… seokie needs to keep his flame alive. he’s a fire fae, after all, ”jeongguk made a mental note to ask his hyung about that later, “but now, welcome to your first day. you’ll be serving tables like you did that one time, can you do that?”

jeongguk smiled widely, fake saluting, “yes, sir.”

“counting on you, kid,” the shapeshifter repeated, “taehyung will come by later since he also quit,” he deadpanned, “you two will keep an eye on the register and servings so that hoseok and i can stay focused in the kitchen.”

jeongguk noted everything down mentally, only having one question left, “what will namjoon hyung do?”

“since that idiot can’t cook to save his life, when he’s helping us out here- which won’t be often- he’ll do the register work. now, i went ahead and took the liberty to ask jimin for you clothing size, there’s something waiting for you in the changing rooms. oh- you’ll be paid by the end of the month.”

“thank you, yoongi hyung,” jeongguk said with the most genuine and gentle tone he could have, “for this opportunity. i won’t let you down!” the human ran up to the changing rooms, leaving behind a yoongi that smiled discreetly with his back turned. 

his new working clothes were the sickest thing ever, jeongguk thought. he had stripped and changed into a pair of tight black slacks, a grey and blue flannel tucked into them. he had a black apron just like the other day- a small (and now official) tag with his name and pronouns was clipped to it securely. due to his hair getting longer, the human often carried a hair tie with him, so, in order to get it out of his face during work the human pulled his front locks backwards into a small ponytail. 

he was ready to start his first day. 

“one more thing,” yoongi interrupted his daydream, walking up to him and tapping his shoulder to get his full attention, “first of all, you look good. second, i need to show you some safety measures from… things that we keep around.” 

the shapeshifter chuckled when the human tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy. after he motioned for jeongguk to follow him, yoongi led the way towards the reception area. the eating and mini bar area were packed, so yoongi lowered his voice when they got to the reception, “i’m pretty sure you know about safety regulations because of working at the post office, sure. there’s a button beneath this counter in case of a robbery, there’s a small pistol beneath the bar, protocol schmotocol…” 

he grabbed at jeongguk’s arm, pulling him down and closer as his voice got even lower, “the most important part of our safety measures , though, is not against some pesky robbers. we can take care of those on our own. what you need to worry about is this…” he pulled him once again, and jeongguk followed behind until they left the back door of the kitchen near the gas tank. yoongi looked so serious, jeongguk couldn’t even begin to imagine what he was about to say, “there are weapons hidden around the restaurant just in case any supernatural being comes in and starts a mess,” yoongi flatout said, not even footing around the serious subject, “they are not to be used until we are sure that it’s someone or something aggressive, you understand?”

jeongguk nodded as he looked down at him, eyes wide and attentive, “yes.”

“there’s a flask of blessed water inside one of the drawers near the cashier,” jeongguk imagined that namjoon had placed it there, “i can’t touch it. neither can taehyung or hoseok, so it’s usually namjoon who’s in charge of handling ‘blessed’,” he shivered slightly, “things. now that you’re here, you two share that responsibility. if something shows any sign of aggression and supernatural connection, you are to bathe them in the water. understood?”

“...bathe?”

“it’s an expression,” yoongi chuckled quietly, “just empty the bottle on their face. it’s like tear gas. it’ll only burn for a really long time,” jeongguk nodded assertively once more, “i know jimin and seokjin probably explained that most myths about us are untrue, but we do have weaknesses, like the blessed water and the baseball bat with nails that’s inside the storage room area under the stairs.”

jeongguk’s eyes widened even more, “baseball bat with nails? hyung, i’m sure that’s a weakness for everyone .”

“precisely. what you do with it is pretty intuitive, so i’ll skip that explanation. there are two guns beneath the bar- one is filled with rubber bullets for real robbers, the other is next to the ice drawer. that one has no bullets and it only makes an extremely loud and high pitched sound go off. it can make any supernatural being pass out almost immediately- you have to warn us before you fire that one, or we’ll all be knocked out cold. well… all of us except namjoon. humans can’t hear the sound.”

“hyung…” jeongguk had a question that was bugging him the entire time they had this talk, “if everyone who works here is vulnerable to these things… why do you have them around? isn’t it a disaster waiting to happen?”

“hm,” yoongi heaved, “kid, look. taehyung, hoseok, your boyfriends and i can manage pretty well on our own. if something were to happen here and there was more than one us present, i’m pretty sure we’d be able to handle a situation like that, but with joon… it’s different. his magic isn’t attached to himself, he gets it from outside sources like… uh, nature and stuff. we’re inside a building and he can’t just bring his stuff with him all the time, so we opted for this.”

“oh…”

“don’t get me wrong, jeongguk. he’s one of the most incredible and powerful people i know. think of this as his ‘weakness’, just like i can’t be around blessed things, his magic works better in some environments.”

jeongguk understood. if they were to talk about weaknesses, he’d be the first one on the list to be pointed fingers at. namjoon must’ve gone through something somewhat similar (even if the rest of the group knew he might be one of the strongest among them) maybe he felt insecure sometimes, too. did they relate in that aspect? 

“i won’t keep you here for too long,” yoongi hit his shoulder playfully, “you have work to do, don’t you?”

he loved it. he loved working here.

he loved the way his customers were nice; he loved actually liking his coworkers. he loved all the tip money he made and brewing fresh coffee. he loved helping out hoseok in the kitchen and surprisingly, he even loved the part where he had to clean dishes. 

he loved how yoongi looked at him like he was proud when he did a good job. 

it was nearing 10pm. jeongguk, hoseok, yoongi and taehyung (who had arrived in the middle of the afternoon, greeting jeongguk in a way that almost knocked him down like an overgrown puppy) were sitting around the kitchen and snacking. the restaurant was barely empty, except for a drunk guy that yoongi was quick to escort outside.

technically, the restaurant was supposed to close nearing midnight, but since there was no one around, they were just hanging out. 

they started cleaning up at around eleven thirty when yoongi once again decided that it was time. no one would come at that hour, anyways.

that’s what they thought.

taehyung and hoseok were cleaning the kitchen and taking the trash out while yoongi was emptying the cash register onto a separate place. jeongguk was getting into the storage room beneath the top level so he could clean tables and chairs when the small bell above the door rang through the building.

yoongi hid the cash again and closed the register, peeking over the counter and then finally standing to see who was getting in. the shapeshifter recognized that face, although he couldn’t quite pinpoint who it was.

“sorry,” yoongi said to the man who was walking in, watching with a raised eyebrow as he seemed to limp slightly to the left, “we’re closing up. can i help you?”

the middle aged man said nothing, still. he just kept wandering in until he was face to face with yoongi at the front desk.

“dude, we’re closed,” the smaller repeated, now slightly more annoyed.

“i know that,” the mysterious man said ominously, “i don’t want food.”

the shapeshifter thought this was odd- a little too odd. his hand reached to hover over the alarm button, though he showed no sign of it, “what do you want then?”

the man’s face seemed to darken, and for a second there was a red flare in his eyes, “i’m looking for a guy named jeon jeongguk . you seen him around?”

the shapeshifter clenched his jaw, tension bubbling inside his chest as he watched the man in front of him develop sharp canines and long claws that scrapped the countertop. shit, fuck, “get the fuck lost before i call the cops. i told you we’re closing.”

“so you know where he is,” yoongi started to recognize who it was. the blood guy from a couple days ago- did he track jeongguk down all this way with just the smell of jeongguk on seokjin? they made all the efforts they could to constantly mask it, “i saw him walking in from the back door today. where is the human, ” he insisted. yoongi would die before submitting, “don’t make me go look for him myself. what do you have to lose, demon?”

“what the fuck are you on about? you must be high off your mind, leave my restaurant right now .”

inside the storage room, jeongguk looked through the slightly open door with slippery hands. his palms were sweaty and he was shaking slightly, his pupils trembling. who was this person? what did they want? how did they know his name and where he was? were they the one that jimin and seokjin had mentioned before regarding the deal?

yoongi kept arguing back and forth with that person, voice getting louder and louder as they seemed to get more and more aggressive. it even got to the point where the trespasser had pushed him backwards, earning a shove from yoongi right back.

jeongguk had to do something. he couldn’t stay on the sidelines and watch this unfold without doing anything to stop it.

just then, the human remembered what yoongi had told him when he first arrived. the safety measures , of course! he looked around quickly, soon coming face to face with the baseball bat, which was leaning against the wall near a mop. carefully and without making a sound, jeongguk picked it up, immediately feeling its weight and the way it swung- someone could definitely be knocked out cold with this thing. the nails on it were prickly; some were bent in strange shapes and blunt like they had been used before (the human decided to ignore the red stain on the base of the wood).

the yelling outside got louder and louder, and soon jeongguk got angrier with it as well. protect your friends! , a voice screamed in his head. 

the human slowly opened the door, praying that it wouldn’t make any creaking sounds along the movement. yoongi was not even behind the reception counter anymore, now holding a big fork tool that was used to keep the stone oven fire going.

if the shapeshifter noticed the human moving behind him, he didn’t say a thing or change anything about his attitude or stand- he only moved his eyes for a fraction of a second, immediately landing on the human boy who had the baseball bat secured in his hands and over his shoulder, ready to strike this man down.

“you filthy half-bloods and animals are going to regret this!” the man roared and as soon as he grabbed at yoongi’s collar with his claws, jeongguk couldn’t contain his anger anymore. 

the human ran closer, arms bending as he gripped the bat even tighter. with all of his strength, he swinged right into the side of the creature’s skull, watching with horror as the nails made the bat get stuck to his face like a medieval weapon. the man didn’t even stand a chance- he was knocked out right from the first second of the hit, skull cracked as black and thick blood seeped into the floorboards and unfortunately stained a carpet nearby.

during the hit, yoongi had shapeshifted out of the man’s grip, now in cat form and clinging onto jeongguk’s shirt desperately. he nuzzled closer to his neck, attempting to soothe the human boy as his hands shook slightly.

the thud of the man’s body hitting the ground only terrified him even more- his breath shook, trembling eyes darting towards the back entrance when he heard taehyung’s and hoseok’s voices in the distance.

“...not even-“ taehyung stopped whatever he was telling hoseok when he heard a scream from the fae, finally looking ahead and taking in what was ahead of him, “what- jeongguk! ” his best friend ran to him, quickly grabbing yoongi in one arm and wrapping the other around the human while turning him away from the scene.

jeongguk was whimpering and shaking, eyes wide. what had he done? “hyung,” he breathed out, also holding hoseok’s arms as he came closer, “hyungs- hyungs, what did i do? i-“

the shapeshifter changed forms again, holding jeongguk’s face within his hands. they stood like that for a while, shushing and trying to get him to calm down ,“he attacked me,” yoongi explained to the others, “he came in here looking for jeongguk while you guys were out. jeongguk was inside the broom closet, so he didn’t get to be seen. it’s the guy from the deal, remember?”

the man on the ground let out a choked breath, successfully making taehyung and jeongguk scream. without a second thought, the werewolf came forward and kicked the stranger in the ribs, more-or-so shutting him up for a good while now. 

jeongguk looked away again, head hanging low, “he’s- he’s not dead?” jeongguk asked in a whisper, looking almost hopeful. maybe it wasn’t so bad- 

the shapeshifter shook his head, “he’s just in a lot of pain. a fucker like him will heal soon, so we have to do something about it,” yoongi declared and the group agreed, immediately looking at the situation and searching for a solution.

jeongguk was taken to the restaurant area by hoseok who still clung to him. taehyung had urged him to look away and call his boyfriends while he and yoongi stayed behind to clean up the mess, especially doing what jeongguk thought was tying the man up against a chair and prying the baseball bat off of his fractured skull.

the werewolf placed a foot atop the man’s chest, hands gripping at the baseball bat, “you really got this in here, kookie!” taehyung yelled from the other side of the building, groanings of effort muffled from the distance.

hoseok rolled his eyes at that, making jeongguk sit down in a chair while attempting to comfort him as best as he could, “ignore taehyung, he’s an idiot,” jeongguk just had to agree. the fae took his hands and crouched in front of the human, looking up at him and right into his eyes. jeongguk focused on the glitter in the fae’s hair, “jeonggukie, look, you did the right thing. you know that, right? who knows what could’ve happened to yoongi if you hadn’t used the baton time?”

jeongguk nodded, though he didn’t fully believe that what he had done was right. maybe there was another way- he could’ve showed himself to the man… maybe then he would’ve let yoongi go without jeongguk needing to have blood on his hands. something made him question, though, “why… why didn’t yoongi hyung fight back? why-“

hoseok squeezed at his hands, “don’t worry about that right now,” the fae moved, bending his arms and making the human fist his fingers into his flame-like hair. his hair was warm- his entire presence felt like a beaming sun illuminating his way. jeongguk couldn’t help but feel slightly better, “jeonggukie,” he said in that same energetic voice but now calming, smile never wavering, “call them. you need them here, too.”

namjoon and the vampires arrived almost at the same time. the witch got there first and his first concern after checking that yoongi was fine, was to go attend to the human and his needs. he brought him calming things- a pretty feather from a soft bird, two round crystals that the witch had instructed him to juggle in between his fingers. he claimed that the sound could calm him down and make his anxiety fade- jeongguk didn’t doubt it. after checking up on the human, namjoon went over to help taehyung and yoongi move the guy inside the storage room beneath the stairs.

seokjin and jimin parked outside in a hurry when they arrived, not giving a damn if their car stayed in between the lines just this one time. they had yelled over the phone when the human called them a few minutes ago, only making him recoil more into his chair and squeeze at the crystals in his hand. hoseok had rubbed his back in a calming way, telling him after they hung up that they weren’t mad at him. jeongguk knew they weren’t yelling at him , specifically, but the situation itself. it still made him feel worse regardless.

they kept their promise, though. they got there in less than ten minutes.

the door swung open and a rush of cold wind from outside came in with the vampires themselves. they looked nervous; on edge and absolutely out of their minds. their features were revealed and they were a lot paler than before- jeongguk could feel it in his own heart: they were angry.

they were beyond angry- furious, even.

jimin and seokjin came towards the group who was in the reception area first, looking to get all of what had just happened explained to them and discussing it. they sighed all the way through it, hands coming up to grab at their hair. jimin lurched to hug yoongi and taehyung as well, jin and namjoon joining them right after. 

the vampires may not have a beating heart, but it hurt over this just the same. the implications of the situation was weighing them down- it made them worried down to their core.

inside the restaurant area, jeongguk shifted uncomfortably in his chair as he fiddled with his thumbs, waiting for his boyfriends to come.

hoseok was standing behind him, hands rubbing at his shoulders as he felt the tension coming off the human. his hyung was so warm- so comforting, and yet jeongguk couldn’t stop his head from spinning. he couldn’t stop overthinking.

in a last effort, the human concentrated on the conversation going on the other side of the facility, managing to hear a part of it.

“...he did that?” it was jimin’s voice, saying such thing incredulously. to jeongguk, it sounded like disappointment.

“we’ll handle him later,” seokjin said assertively. does he mean me? , jeongguk thought as he hung his head further down, “where’s jeongguk?” the oldest vampire had asked, seeming a little more urgent this time around.

table thirteen, table thirteen, jeongguk answered in his head, i’m sitting at table thirteen.

there was a short gasp in the air and in less time than it takes to blink, jimin and seokjin were standing in front of him- or at least jeongguk guessed. he still had his head down, only seeing two pairs of fancy polished shoes. they were silent… too silent, jeongguk thought.

at some point, hoseok left his side to leave the three of them alone, figuring that he had tried his best and that now jimin and seokjin had to give the human comfort that he simply couldn’t provide just yet, “he’s been sitting like that for a while,” the fae had told the vampires quietly before they thanked him, turning to hug their friend tightly as well.

when the fae was gone, the vampires slowly moved closer to the human. the sura shifted in the room- now that jeongguk was alone with them, all of his vulnerabilities surfaced at once.

“baby?” jimin said softly in an attempt to catch the human’s attention. baby, jeongguk repeated to himself, “angel, look at us, please?”

when the human looked up slowly, he saw nothing but the usual- affection in every edge of their expressions only slightly subsided by the worry in their eyes. he saw love- not anger or disappointment like he expected to see.

he crumbled when seokjin placed his cold and familiar hand against his right cheek, stroking it with his thumb. his nose scrunched and eyebrows knitted themselves together, face reddening while small crystalline beads slid down his cheeks. 

jimin crouched in front of him like hoseok had done before, his voice quiet when he came forward to wipe at his tears, “we’re here,” the vampire reassured, hitting the nail of what jeongguk needed right on the head, “we’re here angel. you can let go.”

as usual, seokjin and jimin slowly took him apart and put him back together like nothing had happened and like they weren’t on edge themselves- they could worry about that later. jeongguk was their top priority at all times- and so was the group’s. keeping the human safe was the biggest challenge they had to face ever since the couple started hanging out with him.

in a matter of minutes, they were sitting together behind a table on one of the elongated couches. the human was leaning with his head against seokjin’s broad shoulders and jimin had his own buried in the human’s chest, nest position warming up their insides and putting one of their many anxieties to rest. the vampires held both of his hands, one for each of them. 

jeongguk was sniffling quietly as they sat in comforting silence. this happened quite often with them. they wanted their human to calm down first- they wanted to let him cry it out before they had to do anything.

the situation was tricky. the vampires and the human saw this from two distinctive perspectives. to put it simply, jimin and seokjin were used to bloodshed. it was part of their nature- but it was not jeongguk’s. they couldn’t imagine how it felt to do something like that for the very first time. the vampires had unfortunately forgotten long ago how that kind of stuff could scar- how it could destroy a pure mind and image. their first time doing something like this was long gone.

after some more time, the human started to speak, “i-“ jeongguk tried quietly, squeezing their hands, “i was in the broom closet under the stairs- i-i was getting ready to clean when he walked in…”

jimin stroked his free hand over his chest as one of seokjin’s arms kneaded his side, “mhm,” the vampires made a sound of acknowledgement so he knew they were carefully listening to him.

“yoongi hyung t-told him to leave, but he just didn’t- he started asking f-for me and where i was and i don’t know why. i’ve never seen him- h-he even said my full name, hyungs,” another tear slipped from his eyes, “he said he saw me walking in this afternoon, he- he must’ve been following me around-“ he was panicking, breath quickening, “yoongi hyung denied that he knew me to- to protect me, but he got so aggressive,” he whined, “he started yelling and- and throwing things. yoongi had a pitchfork- i saw the bat there and… and i had to do something! i couldn't just stand there and be useless-“

the vampires held him tightly at the mention of their friend being threatened that way. a quiet growl came from the back of their throats- jeongguk didn’t find the display of anger odd. he knew the group was tightly knit together; he knew they loved each other more than they could ever even imagine or count.

“you did well,” when jeongguk looked up, seokjin’s eyes were a blazing fire- his jaw was clenched, “jeongguk, you were so brave. i know it must've been terrifying- i’m sorry we weren’t here to protect you,” the oldest apologized. jimin whined, draping himself closer to the human and placing his legs atop of his, “you did amazingly. it was just what yoongi told you to do in case of an emergency, right? and everyone is fine. yoongi is fine-“

“i- i could’ve killed him, hyung-“

“don’t pity him, jeongguk. plus, you wouldn’t, angel,” jimin said determinedly, “he’s the man that caught onto your smell the other day. we don’t know why he’s here, but we will solve it- seokjin is an original and we claimed this territory a long time ago. he’s a fool for wandering in here, thinking he would ever even get to touch a single hair on your pretty head. you and the others are the most precious thing to us, we won’t let them touch you or them- we won’t let them get near you.”

“we will do whatever it takes,” seokjin added, “you will be going home now, with taehyung. is that alright?”

“why- why aren’t you going with me?” jeongguk looked in between them quickly. he needed them- he needed them close, “hyungs- what are you going to do?”

“whatever it takes,” jimin repeated almost absentmindedly, “to get this vermin and his friends out of our territory.”

jeongguk didn’t understand, but he didn’t think he wanted to, either. he just needed to know one thing, “promise you’ll come back to my room, please,” the human almost pleaded, “don’t want to be far from you, hyungs,” he whispered, “ i’m scared. ”

“of course,” jimin said immediately, “we will always come back to you, angel.”

“you have our word, jeonggukie.”

eventually the rest of the group also came into the restaurant area to make sure everyone was on board with the plan and okay with what had just happened. everyone seemed to be pretty okay except jeongguk who was still a little shocked by what he had done. after some time, they decided that taehyung would stay with jeongguk at his house while the others handled whatever needed to be done over here, as quickly as they could. of course, jeongguk had made the call to follow through with it or not.

hoseok was picked to drive the two youngest of the group to jeongguk’s house for no particular reason. he basically volunteered himself to do it- he was worried sick for them both.

when they got to jeongguk’s driveway, hoseok left the car with them, also walking them to the front door.

“stay inside, got it?” the eldest instructed as they went up the stairs, reaching forwards and slightly pulling taehyung down to kiss his forehead sweetly. he then moved to jeongguk, also kissing his cheek in a way that resembled what he did to taehyung. again, jeongguk didn’t bat an eye at it, “call us if something happens and we’ll get to you guys, alright? promise me.”

the two nodded in unison, bidding their goodbyes to the fae and getting into the human’s house quickly.

they settled to sit on his bed, a warm and fluffy blanket wrapped around them for comfort. they also changed into different sets of clothes- more loose and appropriate to lay in bed. 

“kookie,” taehyung called out quietly, his arms circling the human as he kneeled on the bed. the blanket draped over the werewolf’s head and fell onto jeongguk, “talk to me, please… i have to know you’re alright.”

the human sighed and leaned backwards, falling against his best friend’s chest, “i’m not… taetae, i don’t know what came over me,” he whined, “i should’ve just left the closet-“

“are you crazy?!” taehyung was quick to interrupt, “kookie, enough heroism. you did the right thing, he was going to hurt yoongi and you as well. who knows what he could have done! he threatened us at the deal, remember? he came back to get petty revenge and got what he deserved. you really vibe checked him.”

the human choked, “ and why did you have to say it like that?”

the werewolf locked his feet around the human’s torso, pulling him sideways and consequently knocking them both over onto the pillow, “BONK!”

their laughter echoed through the room.

across the town, a scream echoed through the walls of dreamin’.

namjoon, yoongi, jimin and seokjin had moved the man to the basement after a short while. he had a fabric napkin stuffed in his mouth, hands tied behind the chair and feet as well. the man’s skull rapidly healed, now only leaving him without energy and with a full concussion.

“seokjin-“ the demon attempted, but the vampires wanted to be alone for this. after some convincing, the witch and the shapeshifter left and went back upstairs- namjoon would make some tea his boyfriend; it hadn’t been the calmest of days for him.

jimin and seokjin paced around the small room, shoes clinking against the raw and dirtied concrete as they waited for the man to properly wake up.

when he did, a switch flipped itself within the vampires. their eyes became pitch black and sharp, elongated nails digging into their own skin as they stopped walking, staring down at the injured vampire like a couple of predators hunting down a prey.

the man coughed pitifully, vision spinning, “eurgh…” came from his gagged lips.

jimin snorted, making the other dart his head up and start pulling at his restraints, “why… what do we have here? little baby has a concussion, is that so?” the shortest mocked, walking closer to the man and pulling at the gag carelessly. the napkin was tossed to the ground, “it’s only about to get worse.”

seokjin peered downwards at the man, large right hand holding jimin’s hips. when he spoke, his words felt like poison- an acid that he spit out at the one tied down, “i thought we had made it pretty clear to you and your… peers that this was our territory,” his voice was final, “what in the name of lucifer made you think you would be able to wander in and start picking fights with civilians that have done nothing?” 

“a fool, love,” jimin told his husband, “that’s what he is.”

the man tsk’ed, “s-shut up, halfbloo-“ before he even got to finish whatever he was about to say, jimin came forward and slapped his hand across the vampire’s face with enough force to tilt the chair he was sitting on to the side, threatening to flip it over. the sound echoed through the building- yoongi and namjoon widened their eyes as they drank their tea upstairs. 

on the man’s face, three scratch marks bloomed where jimin’s claws would be.

“i wouldn’t be so loose mouthed if i were you,” the shortest warned, waving his reddening hand in the air to cool it down, “you’re tied to a chair, no energy left to fight… this is the hill you want to die on, coward ?”

“tell you what, it’s almost amusing to me,” seokjin commented, “even after being threatened back then, you came back for petty revenge…”

jimin grabbed at the man’s chin, pulling his head up abruptly, “and look where that got you,” he completed bitterly, “how many of you are out there? how many of you are looking to pick fights with a original’s mates, like pigs sticking their noses in an hornet’s nest? you’re not willing to pay the price, sweetheart.”

he was cruel and yet he felt no remorse. no one told this scum to come sniffing around their territory- no one had told him to come mess with their human.  

“who sent you here?” seokjin’s tone was final. he wasn’t asking for an answer- he demanded one.

“they’re looking for you, original,” the man rasped out, “your family. everyone knows about your new boy toy… one more scandalous than the last-“

“ quit evoking his presence! ” jimin roared with the force of a thunder, nails slashing at the man’s chest before he even blinked, “or i swear to lucifer i will not stop until there is only ashes left of your breed!”

seokjin held him back discreetly, hand once again touching his back to calm jimin down, “you are of no use to us anymore.”

there was a toasting fork in seokjin’s hand and a dagger in jimin’s- what was about to unfold is pretty intuitive. fortunately, the man went out like a light, not even getting to protest or make anything that resembled a scream before he burst into a cloud of ash and darkness- leaving nothing but a quick mess to clean up on the floor.

the vampires came up the stairs to meet up with the witch and shapeshifter- hoseok still hadn’t come back, but they guessed he would soon. 

jimin leaned over yoongi’s shoulder when he arrived, sighing deeply. namjoon and him were hanging around the receptionist desk, mugs of tea in their hands. the demon offered some to the vampire, bringing the cup over his shoulder and tipping it against his lips.

“it’s done?” namjoon questioned as he turned to seokjin, worried look written all over his face, “what did he say?”

“it’s my family,” the vampire replied bitterly, “we’ll see how brave they will get from now on, considering that their brave little soldier won’t be coming back.”

yoongi smiled, “good one.”

when hoseok came back, the group lingered for longer discussing things like what they should do to protect themselves and jeongguk for now on. they didn’t come to any conclusion yet, but soon they would figure it out. together.

sadness led to hugs and comforting touches, but also goodbyes. the vampires had another promise to fulfill: they had to come to jeongguk once again and hold him. they had to let him know, once again, he would be safe in their arms.

they parked the car in front of jungkook’s driveway, quickly teleporting inside as to not disturb whoever was inside. 

inside jeongguk’s room, there was a single lamp lit on. their human and taehyung were laying in bed together under the covers, watching a silly video on taehyung’s phone as they giggled.

the two youngest turned to look at them when they appeared in the entrance, immediately looking bright and happy to see them.

“you’re back!” the human cheered, sitting up on the bed and dragging taehyung with him who was smiling so widely that it looked like a box.

“hi, angel.”

“jeonggukie,” seokjin smiled softly as they too started to take off their clothes to be more comfortable, “what are you guys doing?”

“we’re watching stupid videos, seokjin hyung,” taehyung shifted to the side and moved to the corner of the bed when jimin came closer, letting him slide over to jeongguk. seokjin came from the other side, squeezing the human in the middle.

jimin looked over to the werewolf who was sitting up and on his phone, away from the hug and dangling his feet over the edge of the bed, “puppy?” the vampire called out, catching taehyung’s undivided attention when he turned to look at them. they were so beautiful together; they fit just right and it made sense, “what are you doing over there? come here.”

taehyung was confused- even more so when seokjin motioned for him to come closer and jeongguk nodded, only drawing him in. tentatively, the werewolf moved closer to the vampires and human, laying with his head in between jimin’s and jeongguk’s chests. the validation of this action only came to him when jimin placed his arm over the side of his body and when jeongguk’s hand came to hold his face.

the four of them laid together. this made sense, as well. this was also beautiful and just felt right, somehow.

taehyung and jeongguk fell asleep just like that. jimin and seokjin savored the moment and talked in between, holding both of them and each other close.

it just made sense.

Chapter Text

it didn’t come as a surprise for the four of them when they woke up all tangled and disheveled, limbs in a mess as the very faint light from a cloudy day came in. taehyung was laying upside down, the pillow from jeongguk’s head was being held by the werewolf in his arms as he cuddled it.. seokjin and jimin fit tightly against the human in a hug, holding him down and creating a pleasant feeling of warmth in his gut. jimin had his arms around the human’s torso- seokjin was a pillow for him. there was nothing that jeongguk loved more than physical contact, the warmth and the adoration of it all, especially from both of his boyfriends.

the human and the werewolf woke up because of jeongguk’s alarm clock going off so he’d get ready for college- though the vampires were slightly scared of letting him go now that they knew that there was something out there that might want to harm him.

it wasn’t your typical bright and sunny day- it was cloudy and raining early, the autumn spirit was finally fully settled into the world. the water beating on the windows made waking up from sleep easier than any alarm clock could. taehyung was the first to get up and groan, stretching and going to do his morning routine like jeongguk’s house was his own (to be fair, he had spent an unholy amount of time there ever since he was a kid). he was acquainted with the layout and all the corners of it- he liked to call it ‘childhood best friend privilege’.

when jeongguk opened his eyes, jimin and seokjin were already up for who knows how long. they were discussing things through their thoughts; the human’s groggy brain couldn’t quite catch what they were saying, sadly.

“look who’s up,” the shortest moved over, holding himself up with his hands on either side of jeongguk’s body, the soft strands of his hair that was slowly turning from a faded green to stained blonde coming up to his face- jimin put one of them behind his ear. they greeted the human with the usual kiss and after a small amount of sweet talk and affectionate touches that came with the beauty of love and adoration, they said something a bit more serious.

“angel,” jimin was the one to start the conversation, “do you really have to go to college today? i’m sure that skipping just one day won’t be that bad…”

jeongguk found it strange that they would ask that… he thought they knew he had important things coming up? the human shook his head, sighing, “i wish i could stay… i have exams coming up hyung. even if i don’t go, i’ll have to stay and study all day.”

the vampires blinked as if the human had just answered to all of their worries miraculously. he began piecing things together in his head- maybe because of what happened yesterday they wanted to keep him close, “that would be so much preferable than you going,” seokjin sighed as well, burying his nose in the human’s hair and making him turn his head towards him, “we respect your studies and are very proud of you, but… we need to keep you safe. just for now, is that alright?”

jimin kissed his cheek, making him look in his direction once more, “for your well being and ours too? we’ll keep you safe.”

jeongguk pondered over it, sighing in frustration at the thought of his exams and deadlines pending on his back. his attendance wouldn’t be too affected if he skipped until the end of the week just to study and prepare, right? another thing worried him a little more, though, “you think there’s someone else out there looking for me?” jeongguk asked,

jimin shook his head this time, “we don’t know for sure.”

“but it’s better to be safe than sorry, isn’t that what humans say?” seokjin tried to lighten the mood, but the topic was so heavy that it made him shiver.

jeongguk moved his arm to thread his fingers through jimin’s hair as he stared down at him, his other hand smoothed circles over the cold skin of seokjin’s arm, “alright, i’ll stay and study…” the human said and the vampires immediately sighed in relief, shoulders and muscles becoming more relaxed on queue. “what will you guys be doing today?”

“it’ll be just the two of us today, angel,” jimin giggled almost mischievously, “seokjinnie has some things to do, and i’ll keep you company while he’s away doing what he has to do.”

“you’re going to get bored of seeing me study,” jeongguk snorted, “broke college student life isn’t easy.”

“first of all, we have been showering you in gifts for weeks on end- you are far from broke. second of all, sweetheart, sometimes i watch you sleep for hours,” jimin pointed out, yelping when jeongguk tried to wrestle him out of the bed, rolling around and flailing while he did it, “hey-!”

seokjin stood up and laughed as he stretched, “you two are a disaster waiting to happen. a ticking time bomb.”

“like you can talk!” jeongguk retorted, holding a squirming jimin who he knew could slip away and turn the tide of this play-war easily. he probably liked it, jeongguk thought, and it was entertaining to feel a little bit of power over the supernatural creatures, even if it was just a heat of the moment.

seokjin pretended to be shocked, gasping exaggeratedly and raising a hand to his chest, “i’ll have you know that i am one of the, if not most, contained person here!”

jimin panted breathlessly as he struggled against jeongguk, “one time seokjin and i wrestled just like this over a business tie because it was ugly- except i was on top, ripping it off of him” the younger vampire spilled, ignoring the yell of ‘traitor!’ coming from seokjin, “he said it was a fashion statement- i said it needed to be burnt along with his khakis.”

“and what about that one time you dressed as a sexy nurse to a halloween party at work?!”

“silence!” the vampire screeched, such memory making blood rush to his cheeks, “you loved the sexy nurse outfit! you enjoyed taking it off of me even more-”

“are we sharing embarrassing stories?” taehyung peaked through the bathroom door, an extra toothbrush that jeongguk kept for him in his mouth, “jeonggukie’s first time at a college party ended up with him puking all over someone’s carpet.”

jeongguk screamed, letting jimin go so he could just dive down on his chest, hiding his face away from all things that were out to get him embarrassed. the shortest laughed and held him, hand coming up to his hair, “that doesn’t beat my sexy nurse outfit, angel. rest assured.”

jeongguk groaned, “i want to see you in the sexy nurse outfit-“

“it totally does beat the sexy nurse outfit,” taehyung pushed further but soon let it go as jeongguk threw a pillow across the room. yup, the message was pretty clear, one more word about the issue and he would be a dead man, “anyway, i heard you were skipping today?”

jeongguk groaned once more, lifting his face from jimin’s chest and standing up to start getting dressed and ready for the day, “i am. i’m staying behind to study with jimin hyung.”

the werewolf laughed in a sudden burst, earning a wink from jimin and a confused look from jeongguk, “good luck focusing on studying with him around. i’ve had my share of that.”

the vampire who still laid on the bed giggled devilishly, the covers falling along his spine and tracing his curves. jeongguk looked away and seokjin laughed some more as he shook his head, he too beginning to get dressed in yesterday’s clothes.

at some point they all began to move and be a little more productive. taehyung claimed to have already asked jeongguk’s mom for a ride to his shared house and campus so he wouldn’t miss his classes, which made the human‘s shoulders go down a little bit in defeat, “you never ditch with me, tae,” jeongguk whined, throwing a large black hoodie over his head and letting jimin roam through his closet to pick something ‘nice, comfortable and that smells like you’ like the vampire had described.

seokjin was looking through something on his phone, a little distracted from everything and seeming a bit distressed. jeongguk could feel it even from the other side of the room.

the youngest wandered over to him when taehyung and jimin got distracted with each other, pondering over what to dress and critiquing each other’s outfits. their life was a constant fashion show... jeongguk leaned over seokjin’s large shoulders, arms slipping around him with ease, “hyungie…” he whispered.

“yes?”

jeongguk turned to kiss his cold cheek sweetly, “you feel... stressed… what’s going on?”

seokjin waved dismissively, shaking his head as if to tell him it was okay, but deep down, jeongguk knew it wasn’t. he must still be shaken from yesterday- jeonggguk needs to talk to them about what happened after he left dreamin’ at some point, “i’m fine, jk. just… a little stressed because of what i have to do today.”

“and what do you have to do?”

seokjin turned and bit his lip before sighing, moving his shoulders assertively, “i’m going to meet and talk to my family,” jeongguk reaction was faster than light itself- his pupils shook slightly at the mention of those wicked people, “i have to stop these incidents once and for all.”

jimin turned to him, also biting his lip but remaining quiet. taehyung also fell silent, sitting on the bed next to the vampire.

“...what?” the human questioned incredulously, “and you’re going alone? hyung-“

“it’s the only way to do it, angel,” jimin spoke up, “i can’t go with him- they won’t hesitate to kill me if i dare even go. he’s one of the last members of his family, they won’t touch a single hair on him.”

jeongguk felt anxious beyond comprehension- seokjin noticed, so he circled his hips with his arms and held him sweetly, “do not fear, little human. i’ll come back for you and everyone else. i’m doing this to protect you, remember? i will be back.”

said human sighed, “alright… but i’ll be worried the whole day, you know that,” jeongguk leaned back against seokjin’s hold.

“you’re a sap. i do know,” the oldest rolled his eyes a little and nuzzled into his neck, “jimin will keep you entertained, jk.”

jimin laughed from across the room, throwing poor taehyung on the bed and smacking his head with a pillow, “and don’t even doubt it!”

not long after, taehyung left jeongguk’s house to go to college and so did the vampires and human, though they had a different destination- jeongguk gathered his laptop, notebooks and everything he needed to study at his boyfriends’ house and the oldest took them there, satisfied and happy to know they would be safe in the comfort of their home. seokjin parked at the front of the rusty orange gate, getting out of it along with jimin and jeongguk.

they hugged.

“good luck and be safe, alright?” jimin whispered to him, kissing him sweetly only after he received a nod from the vampire. even if he knew what his husband was capable of, jimin knew that deep down he would also be worried sick for him when he was around those vipers. it wasn’t the first or second time that seokjin had gone to family reunions ever since they got together- and the feeling of anxiety in jimin’s gut really never got old. he held onto his neck softly, fingers playing with the hair on his nape, “there’s a blood bag in the car, don’t forget to eat before you go.”

“i won’t, jiminie.”

jeongguk stood on the side, appreciating the soft and tender moment between the two. it wasn’t often that the human got an opportunity to just watch the two of them be affectionate with each other, which was a shame. he loved watching them share tender touches and kisses- he liked to imagine being involved as well, but ever since he joined the nest, the vampires did their best to embrace him in everything they did at all times, which often led to them not doing much to each other privately so that jeongguk could feel included. if anything, it only demonstrated that their relationship and trust were strong enough to let him in on all things lovey-dovey so easily- they liked doing stuff like kissing and cuddling and… other things together and most importantly with him, as well.

when seokjin turned his attention to jeongguk, his look softened and he held the arm that wasn’t holding jimin’s waist open, creating the perfect spot for jeongguk to slide in and lean into him. the human did just that, moving almost quickly enough to trip and for it to be funny, “come back quickly, please?” he asked sincerely.

seokjin kissed the top of his head, “it’s a promise. it really isn’t as bad as it sounds… this time it might be worse, but i guarantee, this was the last drop. they’ll hear from me for the last time.”

“i hope so,” jeongguk nodded, sighing a little, “i’m causing you trouble again…” the human whined in embarrassment.

jimin smoothed a hand over his shoulder in an attempt for comfort, “shush, you,” the atmosphere got a little more playful as jimin smirked- flirty persona suddenly surfacing, “the only trouble you’ll cause is with me today… i’m gonna be your teacher.”

“a shame that i’ll miss whatever goes down while i’m away,” seokjin tutted just as playfully as he let go of both of them, smile widening as he spotted a beet-red jeongguk- some things really never change, “don’t destroy the house?”

“can’t promise you that,” jimin teased, grabbing at jeongguk’s arm and pulling him inside along with his things. they waved at the eldest one last time before they entered the house, door closing behind them.

slowly but surely, the vampires had started doing a better job at keeping the house warm to jeongguk’s needs and taste. they constantly remembered to close the windows whenever they left and sometimes even let a heater stay on just for precaution- it wasn’t perfect, of course, the house was huge and the vampires don’t feel atmospheric temperature, but they tried and that already made jeongguk’s heart the warmest.

jimin led him up the stairs as he held his hand, strutting in front of him. the house was still kind of chilly, but it wasn’t as bad as before. jeongguk came with a few extra layers just in case.

“are you warm?” jimin asked as if he’d read his mind- which he probably did.

jeongguk nodded, “i’m fine,” he adjusted his backpack over his shoulders as they came up all the way to the top of the stairs, “where are we going?”

“the library,” the vampire said normally, as if having a personal library was a thing that everyone could achieve, “you’re here to be my student, remember?” his tone was coy, resembling the tone that he had heard on his first day at the house. he loved when jimin spoke like that.

jungkook tried to play along, feeling his cheeks reddening all the way through, “and what will you teach me?”

jimin giggled, pushing the double glass doors of the library open and revealing their inside. it was a really spacious place with a long couch, some armchairs, a desk and a fireplace to make it cozy. the tall walls were filled to the brim with shelves and books- there was even a ladder that slid across them so that the books on the top could be reached easier. the vampire chuckled once again at the look of surprise on the human’s face, “you’ll see, later on.”

“this place is awesome,” the human had his signature look of awe on his face- big starry eyes and his mouth slightly parted to show his front bunny teeth. jimin thought it was the cutest thing anyone could ever witness.

jeongguk spent the first hour in the huge library actually being productive. he had gotten through a good amount of pages that he needed to study and had memorized a couple of notes- he was satisfied and proud of his progress. jimin was sitting across him on the long sofa, legs sprawled out over it as he read a book in between his claws- after the first hour, he looked almost bored, reading growing slower and slower as time went on.

so jimin left his book on the sofa, quickly and yet almost stealthily making his way over to the human who was on an armchair in front of the coffee table in between them, head buried in the books atop of it. the way the human reacted to jimin appearing on his lap was almost funny- he looked shocked, a small gasp leaving his lips as the tip of jimin’s nose touched his own.

jimin took in his googly eyes, laughing, “don’t mind me,” he spoke with malice, now curling up around the human and slipping his arms around his neck. his head rested against the human’s wide shoulders- he had become a little more muscular recently, jimin suspected that it was because he said he liked it like that, “i’ll just be here.”

jimin knew jeongguk wouldn’t be able to concentrate with him so close and the way he kept snuggling up and making little whines of boredom was almost evil. the teasing would never cease until the human stopped what he was doing and paid attention the vampire on his lap. sooner or later, jimin knew that it would work.

for the first ten minutes of this, jimin just stood there with his hands tracing patterns on jeongguk’s nape, able fingers petting his head as he casually pointed his finger at his notebook that was full of little diagrams and words that he didn’t quite understand. jeongguk explained it to him, eventually sliding a hand around jimin’s hips to hold him in place. a small victory.

later on, however, the vampire grew quite impatient and a little… hungry. it was almost time for him to feed once more, and his human simply smelled so sweet… he felt guilty for wanting to pin jeongguk against this very armchair and tear into his precious tanned neck- his protective nestmate instinct was driving him crazy. unconsciously, the vampire raised his middle and indicator fingers on his free hand and brought it to jeongguk’s neck right above his big artery, feeling it pulse under his light touch.

jeongguk shivered at the feeling of his cold fingers pressing into his neck, but was otherwise unbothered by the gesture- seokjin and jimin did it quite often. he knew it was a sign that he was hungry, though.

he teared his eyes away from his book momentarily, “hyung,” he said softly, tightening his grip around his hips and turning slightly in the chair, “are you hungry?”

jimin nodded wordlessly, attempting to make his way out of the human’s lap, although a little reluctantly, “i’m going to get some from the cellar-“

“wait,” jeongguk said quickly, holding the oldest in place as he tried to leave. jimin tilted his head to the side and gave him a questioning look, “you don’t have to go.”

“huh?” jimin laughed a little, endeared, “i’m a little hungry, so i have to.”

the human bit the inside of his cheek out of embarrassment. if only he could be straight up about what he wanted like jimin, this would be easier, “hyung… you can take from me?” it was a quiet suggestion- a little nudge and nothing more. he wanted it badly, but knew how hard it was for the other one to do something like that.

jimin looked surprised at such request, mouth hanging open slightly with his pointy fangs out. the vampire leaned closer, his free hand coming up to wrap around the other’s swiftly, “angel, you know seokjin isn’t here,” it wasn’t a rejection- it was simply a small warning and reminder that they were only two right now and not three like they usually are. seokjin kept everyone with their heads above the waterline, he was the one with most control over his instincts due to being an original.

“i know that,” his human looked a little defeated, “but you’re hungry, and i really wanted to feel that way again… so i thought we could get rid of each other’s problem?” jeongguk’s eyebrows raised up and his eyes were wide- jimin’s dead heart was weak for this.

jimin softened his look, “you pose a compelling argument,” he laughed a little bit, “do you think it’s a good idea?”

jeongguk nodded a little, “i know i get a little out of it but i can tell you to stop if you need! and- and your nestmate instincts will keep you from doing anything too extreme- i know that.”

one of the vampire’s brows shot upwards, amusement writing all over his features at the human’s knowledge. just then, he shifted his position in the human’s lap- his legs fit snug in between jeongguk’s and the armchair as he sat on top of him. jeongguk’s arms let go of the vampire and he became a little lax, letting jimin take over the situation, “looks like you did your homework, huh?” jimin giggled a little, also making the human laugh. the vampire rubbed his hands over his chest, soothing him and making him relax under his fingers.

“i’m a good student,” jeongguk played along, laughing at how everything was a little ridiculous.

“didn’t expect anything less from my angel,” jimin pressed a kiss to his cheek, “listen carefully, hold onto my clothes,” he pulled the human’s hands toward the hoodie he had borrowed from him- jeongguk clutched onto it like the vampire told him to, “if you let go, that means stop. whether it is willingly or not, if you let go of it, i will stop. understand?” even if jimin wasn’t so sure and collected of his own instincts and head, he figured that if he looked confident and gave jeongguk what he wanted maybe he could get over these problems as well.

jeongguk nodded and jimin was about to scold him for it before he quietly said, “yes. i understand!”

“good,” jimin’s slightly shaky hand came up to pull at the clothing pieces that needed to be pushed away so he could access jeongguk’s neck, now staring down at the long and beautiful place that it was. his eyes trembled a little bit and jeongguk must’ve noticed something because the hand that wasn’t holding jimin’s clothes came from behind his back in a comforting gesture, a silent ‘it’s okay, keep going’ or hidden motivation made the vampire’s worries slightly dissipade.

so he did continue. jimin’s hands tore the fabric away quicker this time, leaning in with ease and pressing his lips to that delicious and pulsing artery. he trailed downwards, following its path until he reached jeongguk’s collarbone. there, he felt around the area- poking his long canines across it teasingly and drawing patterns on the skin.

his head thumped with the need to drink- jeongguk whined a little pathetically beneath him.

“h-hyung,” the human’s voice was shaky and it wavered into higher pitches than usual. the hand that clutched to the vampire’s borrowed clothes closed around them tighter in an attempt to get him to dive in, but jimin was already ahead of him.

“you’re so pretty,” jimin said breathlessly, hands holding the human’s head as he laced his fingers through his hair, “seokjin would love to watch this. i know he’s dying for this too,” even if the original wasn’t present, he never left their thoughts.

jeongguk gulped, “i-i miss seokjin hyung,” he said in a whisper, knees touching out of reflex.

“i miss him too, angel,” the vampire said before he slowly sunk his canines into jeongguk’s skin near the collarbone, his venom immediately spreading and making the human feel impossibly good and over the clouds in just under a few seconds.

he moaned, feeling his blood and skin around the opening being sucked on was driving him up the wall. if anything, the grip on the vampire’s garments never faltered- it became stronger as he seeked the end of it. the human tried to not thrash around, but it was so difficult, jeongguk whined in his head.

“oh,” he said out loud, unable to control his noises. gladly, they were alone, “j-jiminie- oh-“

the vampire kept on drinking- jeongguk felt his conscious slowly slip away and all too suddenly he was sinking. he was sinking pliantly, body going limp completely against one of his boyfriends. his hands didn’t let go, though- that was the only part of his body that he kept control of.

with a small sound of a pop, jimin pulled away and licked around the wound immediately, sealing it with his saliva once more as he heard the youngest moan and shiver beneath him. he looked a little less livid and tearful than last time, which jeongguk was glad for- that time, it almost shook him to the core. he looked a little breathless, canines and teeth stained red and his eyes pitch black like obsidian; his claws were extended but he was still as gentle as he could manage as to not pull jeongguk’s hair too hard. his skin had more color to it, he looked alive, “so gorgeous. so sweet and tasty for me and seokjin,” jimin took the human’s hands in his, unclenching them from the hoodie he was wearing and lacing their fingers together, “incredible, every time- you taste so sugary, so delicious...” the vampire knew he was babbling but he didn’t even care. he needed to tell him just how good it was.

jimin pulled out his phone from his back pocket quickly, gracious fingers tracing jeongguk’s jaw and cleaning away small beads of sweat from his forehead, “should we send this pretty picture to seokjin? do you think he’d love to see it?” he asked softly, bringing jeongguk down from his high all the way as he also tried to come out of his own, his hunger now fulfilled.

jeongguk tried to open his eyes slightly, a single tear slipping from it as a small and sharp moment of pain shot through his neck. he swallowed dry and nodded, “y-yes… hyungie, i miss him so much. it’s o-okay? it’s okay for him to see?“

“more than okay,” the soft click of the phone's camera taking a picture made the human go quiet. jimin sent the photo, throwing his phone on the sofa after typing something and turning his full attention to the human who was looking at the wall as if he was trying to hide from something. he sunk deep into the armchair, blush all the way down to his chest.

“angel…” jimin’s voice sounded exasperated, a little whiny as well when his hands came up to hold the human’s face, turning it towards himself, “talk to me, baby. you’re good, yeah? how are you feeling?” he whispered, words gentle. jimin’s thumbs made smoothing circles over jeongguk’s cheeks.

“feel…” he was breathless, pupils blown wide, “feel light. and my shoulder stings,” jeongguk pouted at the last point, being rewarded a small giggle from jimin. the vampire had calmed down as well, claws decreasing in size and eyes phasing back to something more human-like. it would help bring jeongguk down from his stance, he hoped.

jimin left his lap slowly, rolling his eyes playfully as the human whined once more at the lack of a weight and presence, “you big baby, let me get your shoulder fixed, yeah? i’ll put a band-aid and some cream on it. you’ll be good as new.”

the vampire walked the human to the nearest bathroom, holding his hand and whispering words of praise all the way through until they got there. when they did, jimin sat him down and then searched for a small curative, finding it quickly.

jeongguk sat on top of the toilet seat, a sweet little smile on his face as he waited for his boyfriend to be done with whatever he needed. when jimin turned with a small band-aid in between his fingers, his eyes immediately landed on the human’s neck once more and he spotted something new around the small holes he had created. there were tiny scars around the area- two pairs of small circles dotted the human’s otherwise perfectly kept skin. the vampire frowned and traced his fingers over them, feeling the human relax under his touch.

“baby,” he spoke softly, “you have scars here.”

jeongguk didn’t seem to mind, “i do.”

“you know, we could try somewhere else… don’t want your pretty skin marked,” that was a small white lie- jimin loved to look at it, but he didn’t know if jeongguk liked having it, so he let him speak.

“i like them,” jeongguk reassured, “they’re discreet and they are marks of… intimate moments,” the last part was mumbled, as if jimin wasn’t supposed to hear it.

jimin did, though. he leaned in and kissed his cheek as he placed the band-aid over the human’s fresh wound. it was a tender moment- jeongguk was vulnerable after such intimacy and jimin was too. there was something missing, though, or rather someone. they couldn’t shake the feeling off of them. they couldn’t make up for seokjin’s absence no matter how many touches they shared between each other.

they stood like that for a couple seconds, jimin’s thumb caressing jeongguk’s cheek as the human hugged him, head in his chest.

“hyung,” jeongguk started, muffled, “you don’t think it's weird that i… mentioned seokjin, right?”

jimin shook his head and made a negative noise from the back of his throat, “no, angel. why would i think it’s weird”

“i don’t know… we were together and alone doing intimate things for the first time ever and i mentioned him even though he’s not here… i don’t want you to feel like you’re less because of that.”

jimin pulled away gently to look at him, “i missed him too. he’s like a rock, yeah? keeps us both stable. we can do things together, the three of us, and then separated, if you want to. if you don’t, that is also okay… we don’t have to.”

jeongguk couldn’t agree more, “you’re gonna tell him? right? and… and i like it when we do separate things. it’s just… weird right now.”

“i’m glad you like it, baby… also, i have already told him, prince, as soon as i sent the picture. we just have to wait and see what he says, but i doubt it will be anything other than a variation of ‘oh wow, that’s hot’ or ‘me next’.”

they both laughed, before jeongguk got a little more serious once more, “jiminie…”

“angel?”

“you, seokjin and… the others,” he murmured, glancing away from the vampire so it would come out easier, “you guys are really, really close right?”

jimin pulled him to stand and bring him back to the library, “yeah, of course we are. did you want to say something?”

jeongguk bit the inside of his cheek and followed the vampire out of the bathroom and into the library once more, “well… i don’t know if i understood wrong that one time you talked to me about it, but… you guys have been intimate too, right?”

jimin raised a single brow as he sat down on the long couch, crossing his legs over one another, “yes, we have, angel. is that a problem?”

“no, no!” jeongguk shook his head, sitting down next to him, “i don’t mean it like that, i just… i just noticed that everyone from this group is,” he took a small pause, sighing softly and knitting his eyebrows in a focused look, as if he was thinking over his words carefully, “everyone is really affectionate and touchy towards me most of the time.”

jimin looked a little confused with what the human was saying, “do you want them to stop?”

“i don’t think i do?”

jimin tilted his head to the side, “sorry angel, but i’m not sure i follow. is there something wrong-“

“taehyung and i kissed,” the human said abruptly, blurting it out like he wouldn’t have the courage to say it ever again. he looked almost stressed as he screeched it out, “yesterday, while we were laying down. you both weren’t home and i was sad- tae said you wouldn’t be angry if we kissed a little bit, so we did it,” jeongguk didn’t look into his eyes as he confessed it. he was afraid- he was scared that he had messed up everything that they had built so far, “and… and i liked it.”

jimin’s face morphed into one of surprise, but there was otherwise no bad emotion displayed on him. he looked almost happy about it, but of course, jeongguk didn’t see it like that. jimin was looking at him with a soft expression that mirrored nothing but fascination and maybe a little bit of want, but jeongguk only saw confusion. a bad feeling brewed inside of his stomach. the vampire chuckled a little in amusement and disbelief.

“angel-“

jeongguk bit his lip, his legs bouncing off the floor as he waited for what the vampire would say. the human didn’t care if jimin and seokjin had messed around with the others in the past, but this was different. he had done it willingly- he had kissed his best friend while in a relationship with other people and he didn’t know how to feel about it. well, in all actuality, he did. jeongguk liked the kiss- at the time, it made him feel better. it made him feel comforted… and then they all slept together in his bed, and it felt even better.

but was it really okay? jeongguk didn’t even think twice about the vampires possibly getting mad at him for this at the time- after all, they did tease him about his “supposed crush” on namjoon, so it really couldn’t be that bad, right?

jeongguk didn’t cheat, right?

“angel, listen to me,” jimin said a bit more sternly, soft hand contrasting his words as it placing itself on jeongguk’s left thigh so he’d stop fidgeting with his legs, “taehyung asked you for your consent, didn’t he?”

jeongguk’s bottom lip jutted out as he looked at him, “yes, he did…”

“then what’s wrong?” now the vampire sounded genuinely worried, “did you not like it?”

“i did! you don’t think it’s wrong?” jeongguk turned, eyes glossy, “i kissed someone else while dating you and seokjin, hyung… and i liked it.”

jimin sighed softly, letting his shoulders fall along with it. his hands took jeongguk’s, lacing their fingers together in a gentle gesture, “i don’t think we’re on the same page here, angel. do you want to talk now, or wait for seokjinnie to come back? i’m not mad.”

“are you sad?” jeongguk asked pointedly, “disappointed?” jimin thought he looked like a kicked puppy, figurative ears down and covering his face in shame.

“prince...” jimin chuckled, sighing once more, “none of that. i’m not sad, angry or disappointed. i promise you.”

“then…” jeongguk bit his lip again, leaning closer to the vampire, “then i want to talk about it now. i’m too anxious to wait for hyung to be back…”

“alright,” jimin agreed, suddenly pulling the human over his body with his super strength. they laid on the couch, jeongguk’s face resting in between jimin’s pecs. normally it was the other way around, but right now it was the best for them both. jeongguk still looked distressed, even as jimin threaded his fingers through his hair, “you need to relax, baby. really, think about it for a second. didn’t seokjin and i encourage you when you looked like you had a crush on namjoon?”

“you did,” he replied groggily, “but it’s different, isn’t it?”

“not really, no,” jimin answered, looking up at the ceiling, “you noticed that everyone else is fond of you, which is great… it was their goal,” he didn’t understand, “they adore you. you have been the group’s first priority ever since you met them, you know? your safety and comfort is always on the back of everyone’s minds, love just comes naturally along the way with it. the same thing happened with taehyung, yoongi and the others… all in their own time. it’s never just been me, seokjin and them. it’s always just been… us.”

jeongguk furrowed his eyebrows once more, “i don’t get what that means…” it felt sort of dumb to not be able to connect the dots, but jimin was patient.

“our relationships are special, angel. seokjin and i are bonded really strongly because we are both vampires and bound nestmates by destiny, but the others… it was different. we bonded with them naturally over time, and eventually it turned into something else,” jimin looked down, finding a wide eyed jeongguk staring up at him through his lashes. he didn’t seem disgusted by the thought, which was jimin’s first worry- neither did he seem opposed to it, “we grew together. we fixed mistakes, fought for what we believed in and settled in this beautiful place all on our own… and we just, naturally, got involved with each other in a lot of different ways.”

jeongguk’s mouth opened a little bit, eyes widening even more as if a light bulb had lit up above his head.

jimin laughed softly, “see, you got it, right? what do you think about that?”

“i think… i think that’s nice,” he took a while, but jimin understood, “i thought you guys used to mess around, and that it wasn’t a current thing… i guess i should’ve seen it coming.”

“it’s a little more serious than messing around, but yes. it’s complicated,” jimin exhaled heavily before laughing at his last comment, “i’m glad that you think it’s nice. that’s good,” he was relieved that the human didn’t find it weird or hated it, “what do you mean by that?”

“i mean… the others have been really affectionate towards me lately,” he mumbled, burying his head further into jimin’s chest affectionately, “yoongi praised me a lot at work yesterday… he kept saying he was proud of me for doing well and even gave me food for free. hoseok hyung is always gentle with me and makes me feel really happy and secure- he kissed me on the cheek yesterday when he was dropping taehyung and i at my house,” jimin didn’t doubt a single thing. he let him narrate it- figured that it would be easier for him to accept it if he could name all these things, “namjoon hyung is so smart and wise… he told me things about you guys that,” he made a small pause, “made me feel less anxious about our relationship. he’s so cool too, he made me tea and everything… tae… tae is my best friend of all time. i’ve known him since forever.”

jimin was maybe a little bit too happy hearing this. he hugged him tighter, pressing a kiss to the top of the human’s head, “looks like you also have special connections with them, yeah? my prince, adored by everybody. what a charmer.”

jeongguk blushed, “am i dumb for not figuring it out sooner?”

“no, this takes time,” jimin reassured just the same. all of his words were carefully thought of and so gentle that it made jeongguk feel like putty in his hands, “no one is forcing you to like anyone, prince. it’s your choice.”

“it can… it can just be me and you both for a while? even if you both are with the others, i don’t mind- i just…”

“need some time to think. i understand, prince.”

“thank you… so, you don’t mind that i kissed taehyung?”

jimin giggled at the question, “no, i don’t mind that you kissed taehyung. in fact… i want to see it, if you’ll let me.”

“r-right.”

“you’re stuttering again, cutie,” at least he seemed more relaxed, which was exactly what jimin wanted, “it’s okay to love more than one person at the same time, love. like you have me and seokjinnie, always.”

“i know it’s okay to love more than one person, hyung. you both taught me that over these months…” jeongguk confirmed, “it’s just… hard to think that it’s also okay to like anyone else besides you two.”

“well, i wouldn’t say anyone else…” jeongguk showed a questioning look, “it’s a little more difficult than that.”

“what do you mean?”

“we all have a rule,” jimin said still sweetly, “we are only comfortable doing things and letting each other do things within the group. no outsiders,” it was simple- jeongguk thought he understood, “we are all very… territorial. another rule was also ‘no humans’, but i guess we can say that one was broken to hell and back, right prince?”

the human snorted.

“ever since you came into our lives, you changed everything,” jimin confessed, “you changed our hearts, our minds and our habits. you are our top priority, and we hope we are on your list of them too,” jeongguk nodded- of course it was. they were his first loves, “i know that we are a little repetitive but we want you to know that our relationship is always meant to be based on mutual respect. the fact that we are of different species… i know it can look like there’s a power imbalance between us sometimes.”

jeongguk nodded. it did, sometimes. he knew it wasn’t their fault and that they never meant it to be so, but sometimes it was inevitable.

“i love you, little human.”

“i love you too, hyung…”

things settled. jimin and jeongguk were silent for a while as they laid together like they usually did. jeongguk wasn’t confused like he used to be- knowing that the others in the group wanted him to be part of something this meaningful made him feel like he truly belonged and that everyone believed that he did. if he was ready to be part of it, like jimin had said, time would tell. he wasn’t opposed to the thought of it… maybe it would be amazing to be part of something of this magnitude. did he want to? was he ready? he didn’t know.

in the meantime, letting the others adore him sounded nice.

after their talk, jeongguk and jimin fell back into the soft moments where jeongguk was studying and jimin tried to help. the vampire was growing a little restless- there were still no news or reply for his husband.

seokjin came back at around 9pm when jeongguk was eating his dinner while jimin kept him company with a tall glass of blood wine. as soon as the vampire heard the other’s car coming up near the path outside their home, he immediately looked up from the table and put his glass down, a look of relief washing over his relaxed and happy features.

jeongguk put down his steak and cutlery at the disturbance, “hm? whaf ith it?” he said with his mouth full, chewing it hurriedly with his cheeks puffed out. he had his hair up in a small ponytail, also- courtesy of the vampire.

“seokjinnie is back,” jimin said hurriedly as he stood up from the table and grabbed at jeongguk’s hand- the human rushed to swallow and clean up his mouth with a napkin nearby. he ran after the vampire and almost tripped as he was pulled through the halls towards the front door.

when jimin opened the big black door to the outside, seokjin was pulling up to the entrance, car parked in front if the big gate. both of his lovers ran down the steps to meet him halfway through it, but what they saw made their eyes widen and jaws drop.

seokjin was clutching at the side of his stomach as he closed the car’s door. his face was bruised as a thick and black liquid seeped from in between his fingers from a fresh wound- more of that liquid was staining his face and especially around his mouth and fangs, but nothing else striked them as bad as seeing him limp towards them.

with a scream, jimin ran to him in a single flash and held him strongly. immediately, the elder let his weight fall into his husband. he held on like an anchor, trying to stabilize him. jeongguk crossed the front of the house and ran to them as quickly as he could, arriving a bit later and watching with panic as jimin tried to talk to the oldest.

“baby-“ he sounded also panicked, voice wavering as he made him rest against the side of the car, “baby, what happened?! what did they do to you?!” his eyes were wide and he was slowly turning back into his vampiric form, claws extending and eyes darkening from either panic or remorse for what he was seeing.

seokjin coughed quietly, clutching tighter at his side as jeongguk came towards him. he didn't want him to see- he didn’t want him to see him like this, “i-,” he coughed, trying to stabilize his voice and looking at jimin almost triumphantly. he smiled discreetly, “i-i won…”

“you idiot!” jimin tightly shut his eyes and grabbed at the elder once more, slightly shaking him. jeongguk stopped jimin from taking his frustration out on the injured vampire by grabbing his arms and pulling him backwards a little bit. with a soft smack on the eldest’s back and a scream of “how could you do this without telling me?!”, seokjin coughed once more but this time there was more of that thick blood paste coming from his lips, some laying on jeongguk’s clothes.

both of the vampires looked at the human slowly. he was standing in front of them as straight as ever, looking horrified beyond comprehension with his eyes wide and skin as pale as the finest china. his shaky fingers held his phone up to his ear and it rung for some time- a couple seconds later, a small recognizable voice came from it.

“n-namjoon-hyung?” the human stuttered as he held his phone, “please, please come qui-quickly. seokjin-hyung is injured and… we need help. y-yes. really urgent, yes. see you soon… bye.”

“prince-“

jeongguk put his phone in his pocket and shook his head, moving closer to seokjin and helping him up on his feet, “later- p-please hyungs, argue and explain later… l-let’s get you inside, you’re injured...”

jimin followed the human as he sulked up, effectively staying quiet and focusing on getting the injured vampire up the stairs and into their room. it took some effort- jimin even had to use his super strength to get him inside in bridal style as the human took care of opening the doors. seokjin leaned against his husband, hand pressing down onto his wound to stop the bleeding.

when they arrived to their bedroom, jeongguk helped jimin lay the other down and strip him of his soiled clothes- the human ignored the way the liquid stuck to his own hands- it was so thick, so gooey and sticky that jeongguk could only wonder how it even made sense that it ran through his boyfriends’ systems. after that, he ran to the nearest bathroom, grabbing at a towel and dipping it in warm water and fetching some bandages.

when he came back, jimin had his hands pressing down on the wound, telling seokjin to stay still as he writhed. jimin’s face was contorted in worry and pain, though he didn’t look as panicked as before when he had first seen him, jeongguk could feel it.

“i brought,” the human said as he neared the bed, quickly jumping on it and sitting down next to seokjin with his feet under his butt, “i brought a towel. let’s- let’s get you cleaned up?”

jimin took it gently and expressed his gratitude, cleaning away the black mass that seeped into it. seokjin shivered and winced as they took care of him, brows furrowing and eyes screwing shut. once it was all gone, they could clearly see that the vampire had scratch marks all over his stomach- three of them incredibly deep and that was were most of the thick liquid was coming from. after they cleaned his face they realized there was nothing major on there, just a couple scratches on his cheek and forehead. on his left leg there was a scratch as well- jeongguk and jimin put together that it was what made him limp.

jeongguk slowly lifted the vampire with jimin’s help, effectively and tightly bandaging his chest and leg. seokjin coughed at the pressure, head tilting back against the pillows.

now that the vampire was bandaged up and clean and as they waited for namjoon to come, jeongguk and jimin grew more and more restless. they wanted answers- but seokjin wasn’t okay at the moment. was it appropriate to ease their anxiety right now, or should they wait?

with a quick glance at each other, the answer came to them clear as day.

jimin leaned closer to his husband, holding seokjin’s head in between his soft and yet clawed hands. he wiped away the sweat on him, “love..” he said quietly, attempting to get his attention and effectively getting it when seokjin slowly opened his eyes once more, “what happened to you, please? what did they do? we- we need to know.”

“i-“ he struggled to talk a little bit, trying to ignore the pain that shot up his muscles. as strong as the vampires were, they weren’t immune to physical damage. sure, they could take a hit or two and endure more pain than the humans could ever imagine enduring, but it still hurt- and if the vampire was reacting like this, jimin knew that it must be excruciating, “i won, j-jimin- jeongguk,” he coughed once more, stretching his arms out to grab at his nestmates’ hands, “it’s gone- it’s all gone.”

“what… what do you mean?” jeongguk came closer, his free and soft hand laying on top of the vampires chest and making small circular patterns on it. it soothed the vampire a little bit.

“seokjinnie, please don’t tell me that you…”

“i did it,” seokjin confirmed whatever jimin was about to say, “i fought- i fought him. and i won… for you.”

“i don’t understand,” jeongguk looked in between their eyes, them landing everywhere looking for a reply or a gesture that would enlighten him.

“seokjin fought his father,” jimin said in a screech, tears springing at the corner of his eyes, “you said you were going to talk with him, seokjin- how couldn’t you tell me this? you could’ve- you could’ve-“

seokjin tightened his grip on their hands, “i’m sorry,” he cleared his throat, “i didn’t tell you because… because you would want to come with me. they would’ve done worst to you- you know, you know how they are,” with a shaky hand, seokjin tipped jimin’s face towards his and pulled him down- a teardrop from one of the vampire’s eyes landed on the eldest’s cheek and he sobbed, “i won. they don’t have a leader anymore- love, it’s over.”

“jeongguk,” jimin called quietly as he sobbed openly- the human had never seen him cry this hard. it was tearing his heart into tiny shreds, “t-the only way to defeat another territory is… is to challenge its leader and defeat him,” he explained, turning his face to him and holding his right cheek in his left hand that was free, “original inflicted wounds… they are difficult to heal.”

seokjin nodded weakly, slowly beginning to close his eyes before the other vampire shook him by the shoulders, “don’t dare close your eyes until namjoon gets here! you- you owe jeongguk and me an explanation and an apology! he was worried sick for you,” his voice cracked, “all day long- couldn’t stop thinking and talking about you while you were out risking your life without telling us.”

the words left a bitter taste in jeongguk’s mouth. his throat felt like it was closing up, “h-hyung?”

seokjin coughed again at being shaken, “j-jeongguk, i’m sorry,” watching the youngest cry was hell for him, “my loves- my nestmates, please don’t resent me for this. we… we are finally free of their terror. it was worth it,” jeongguk could never resent seokjin, but this didn’t feel good either. it felt terrible, in fact, but should jeongguk be mad? that one time that he did, things turned out plain horrible and everything felt out of place. seokjin had gone out to sacrifice himself for the group… could he really be mad?

the other vampire squeezed seokjin’s hand in acknowledgment of his words and jeongguk’s thoughts- sometimes he forgot they could hear him, “namjoon is downstairs,” jimin piped up suddenly, wiping a tear that was falling from his eyes and standing up from the bed, “i’m going to get him,” he untangled his fingers from his husband’s and reluctantly left the room, sniffling a little bit as he ran a hand down his face and through his hair.

when they were alone, seokjin turned his full attention to the human. the vampire looked so hurt that it almost made jeongguk want to recoil against him and lay down on his chest until he felt better. was it the nestmate instinct making him want to do something like that? jeongguk wasn’t sure. all he knew was that he was about a hair’s length away from doing it. seokjin’s free hand came up to jeongguk’s face as the other still held onto his, “jeongguk…”

“i don’t hate you, hyung. i could never...” jeongguk replied as if he had heard his thoughts this time, “i’m not mad. namjoon hyung is here… he’s going to heal you and you’ll be fine in the blink of an eye.”

“my dear human, you always know the right things to say.”

jeongguk placed his hand atop seokjin’s on his face, staying there and attempting to pass some of his own warmth to the vampire. i love you. thank you for caring this much about me and the others. you are so brave, hyung. thank you for loving me to this extent. jimin hyung loges you too- he’s just hurt. he will come around, jeongguk thought to himself, chuckling when he saw seokjin smile underneath him.

namjoon and jimin were walking into the bedroom when jeongguk was comforting the vampire. when the human heard their steps and voice, he broke away from the position he was in.

“namjoon hyung- thank you,” suddenly, flashes of jimin’s conversation with him earlier flashed in his mind, and just then, the human blushed a little as he remembered just how the rest of the group felt about him.

namjoon noticed the change in behavior, coming close to him and ruffling his hair quickly, “hey jeonggukie. you did well in calling me- i brought just what hyung needed.”

jeongguk stared up at the man, nodding wordlessly as he rounded the bed and then sat next the vampire who stirred up awake, “you really outdid yourself this time, huh hyung?” the witch held onto the vampire’s hand tightly.

jimin sat besides jeongguk, looking away and hiding in his shoulder as he squeezed his arm. the human’s other hand lightly pet jimin’s hair, trying to comfort him.

seokjin laughed brokenly, squeezing the other’s hand, “joonie, you know how i am- always running into d-danger,” he coughed.

the witch began unwrapping the bandages around the witch’s chest, smile breaking as the other twitched and winced under his hold, “these are worse than i thought…” namjoon immediately dug into a big leather bag that he had brought, taking a big glass jar from it and unscrewing it. the jar was filled with some sort of grainy and yet sticky substance that heavily smelled like a mixture of mint and herbs- the vampires immediately rushed to cover their noses, small tears even grouping on the edge of their eyes. even jeongguk was slightly bothered by the smell.

“hyung,” jeongguk questioned, watching as namjoon applied the grainy cream across seokjin’s wounds. the vampire groaned- it must burn, jeongguk thought, “what is that thing?”

“homemade medicine,” namjoon answered, jaw locked in concentration, “it is made up of a lot of herbs, spice and a little secret. it will help heal seokjin in a couple of days. you both did a really good job at stopping the bleeding and bandaging him up, especially in a moment of panic.”

“i think we did well because we were panicking,” jeongguk joked lightly, trying to lift the mood up a little bit. the jar was back in namjoon’s bag at that point.

“valid,” namjoon played along, “he’ll be well in two or three days, guys,” at that point’ the witch had made the vampire fall asleep- it was better if he didn’t move as he bandaged him back up, “these cuts… can’t believe i’m saying this to a vampire, but he needs to sleep… and his nestmates,” jimin twitched a little bit at that, “i understand that you are angry, jiminie. i would be angry too… but i think you both should put that aside and let him heal. you are also weakened when he is, remember?”

“what do you think we can do?” jeongguk asked hurriedly, moving jimin so he’d look at namjoon in the eyes. the vampire sat in between the human’s legs, head shoved in his neck to conceal his wavering features.

namjoon sat closer to them, hand coming up to tilt jimin’s head towards him. he cleaned a small tear that went down his cheek, “nest with him. just for a couple of days until the wounds heal. he will be better in no time, and i’m sure you too will feel better by then.”

“but jeongguk’s classes…” jimin retorted.

jeongguk shook his head, “this is more important, hyung. i’ll manage, i promise.”

“don’t worry about anything else other than seokjin’s recovery, hyung. me and the others can come by to bring you food and water, so don’t stress about it. stay together,” namjoon turned to the human suddenly, “as for you… i will leave this jar here on the bedside table- he needs a new dose every 12 hours, and you have to be the one to do it. the scent is too strong for them to be close to it. do you think you can do that, jeonggukie?”

the human nodded assertively, “i’ll do it. i can do it.”

“i’ll be in my way then,” namjoon stood up from his spot and leaned in, hugging both of them tightly for a while, whispering to them that it would be fine, and jeongguk would be lying if he said that being this close to namjoon, feeling his scent all around him and the knowing weight of his words didn’t make him crumble a little.

when the witch let go, he left a small kiss on the human’s forehead- a tiny smooch, as well as on jimin’s. after saying goodbye and wishing the two good luck, namjoon grabbed his things and walked to the door, snapping his fingers before closing it behind himself.

the vampire stirred awake at the sound, eyes landing everywhere on the ceiling before he turned to the side only to find both of his lovers- his beloved nestmates curled up together; jeongguk was shushing and whispering something to the smallest but seokjin couldn’t concentrate on hearing it when his chest was… this cold? why did his chest feel cold? seokjin wasn’t supposed to feel-

“hyung?” sounded the soft voice of his human angel, always so pure and bright and welcoming, “are you with us?”

he couldn’t speak or find the willingness to do so, so he just nodded softly.

after a minute or so, things around him began to move. the pillows under his head were pushed back against the headboard as his mates pushed him to sit against them; the bedspread was open and curled up around the bed, looking almost messy. jimin was looking for more pillows and comfortable surfaces inside of their wardrobes.

the human was barely without any clothes on: he was wearing a simple borrowed shirt and jimin was wearing the same as well.

when they came closer, jeongguk laid on his left side, hands and legs curling up carefully against the injured vampire as he laid against the pillows, the sheets coming up to cover him. jimin took up the right, cold hands situating themselves atop seokjin’s bandaged up wounds.

“a nest,” jimin whispered to them both when they finished setting up- even the heater on jeongguk’s side of the bed was meticulously placed, “we all need this, my love. just for a couple of days…”

the seriousness of the situation had dawned on the eldest vampire several times today- he knew that it was all or nothing. if he died, his mates would too come to the same fate unwillingly. to make sure they were safe for the future, he had to put them in danger in the first place. this pattern seemed to keep repeating itself these past few months: it was a constant dilemma that hovered over their heads.

this one was over and dealt with without much damage left to heal physically- emotionally was another story, and so was the next dilemma that the three of them had to solve:

should they turn jeongguk? would it make things better in the long run to just do it as quickly as possible, or should they look for other solutions to this problem?

for the first time in centuries, seokjin didn’t know what to do, but one thing was for certain: they would figure it out together (as three, seven or any number in between).

Chapter Text

the youngest vampire swallowed dryly, “why did you hide this from me?” jimin asked a little after they laid together, sounding hurt as his voice broke. jeongguk knew that he was in pain just like seokjin as well- even if the human didn’t feel it due to not being a vampire and fully bonded to them, he understood just how bad the situation was in terms of not just physical pain but also emotional.

“f-forgive me,” seokjin replied and weakly grabbed at jimin’s hand, face scrunching up as a burn shot up his arm, “they would’ve killed you… and what would i do, then, my love?” jeongguk laid on the side and let them speak, deciding that maybe it was best if he didn’t interrupt married couple stuff. he didn’t know enough to intervene; he told himself that even if he was hurt he had no right to speak up for it, “i know i crossed the line and broke s-several of our promises, but i hope you can f-forgive me for this some day…”

jimin shut his eyes with a deep breath, the arm that was around seokjin tightening, “i was… i was so worried, all day long,” he sniffled, “c-couldn’t stop thinking about you-“

“me too,” seokjin reassured, “you two were always- always on my mind. i did it for you.”

jimin cried some more before lifting a hand to clean his face and laughing quietly. it was gross, but nobody seemed to care the slightest bit, “you’re an idiot.”

“a huge one. i’m sorry. will you,” he coughed once after turning away, “will you forgive this idiot?”

“you’re an even bigger idiot for thinking i wouldn't forgive you,” jimin scolded, but then proceeded to explain, “i was so relieved when i heard the car coming up the road… and then i saw you s-so injured. it was a really weird combination of worry and relief and anger-“ his voice softened, “i didn’t mean to shake you back then, either... i’m sorry, love.”

seokjin dismissed it, “i deserved it.”

“a little bit, yes. you did deserve it.”

seokjin nodded weakly, though he was quick to catch onto the strange glint in jimin’s eyes, “y-you’re still upset.”

the human fetched a tissue from the bedside table, carefully patting away a small tear that slipped from the corner of one of the vampire’s eyes. jimin smiled appreciatively, “greatly. b-before you get sad, you’re forgiven. i can never stay mad at you for long… i’m just- just upset over our current situation.”

“w-we’ll get better,” seokjin spoke as if he knew, “and then, when- when we’re okay again, we won’t have to worry about my family anymore…” his voice was growing quieter; he sounded tired and just plain energyless.

and then they turned to jeongguk.

the human looked at them right back, eyes wide as if he was surprised that they paid attention.

“you’ve been quiet,” jimin said with caution as if he was handling a thin shard of glass, “what are you thinking, prince? you know this involves you too, right?”

jeongguk was also upset, but he knew that jimin was more upset than him and that he needed to talk to seokjin without him interfering(or at least that was he thought was right in his head), “i’m… i’m upset, too,” he said right away, not wanting to lie to his lovers, “but you guys are talking about some more serious stuff and i feel like i shouldn’t interrupt married couple things.”

“married couple things?” jimin sighed, stretching a hand to caress the human’s cheek, “that’s what you think this is? baby, this is an us thing. all of us- you’re so good... but so silly. we told you before that you need to tell us when to stop or we will get caught up in these things and not stop. we could stay here for hours trying to figure out everything that went wrong… and you are also part of this solution.”

“i know,” jeongguk nodded, softly leaning into the touch. he did know- it was just easier said than done, “i think we’re all upset for the same reason so i didn’t think i needed to say anything about it...”

“that’s alright,” seokjin said quietly, “we over-communicate sometimes.”

“a little bit,” the youngest vampire agreed to an extent, “we need it, though. it’s not a bad thing to talk a lot… we all need to be on the same page at the same time. we’re all upset right now, yeah, but i think that if we talk through it things will be okay.”

“like always,” seokjin smiled weakly- jeongguk leaned closer and tightened his grip.

for the first few minutes after the conversation, they started the nesting process and were mostly laying still, soft touches, caresses and the quietest whispers that barely said anything never seizing. jimin and seokjin were mostly on the receiving end of them this time, which was sort of odd- jeongguk had his moments. the vampires thought he was adorable, telling them about how they would heal in no time and how he would stay forever like this if he could. as he went on, the human talked about what he had done that day with jimin since seokjin wasn’t present, growing a little less… confident towards the end of it.

“...did you see the picture jiminie sent, hyung?” he said quietly. seokjin nodded softly, pulling a small smile even if his face hurt, “what did you think about them?”

jimin fluttered his lashes in a flirty way, “pretty, wasn’t he? the prettiest and tastiest… he was so kind to let me have a taste,” the vampire teased as if he wasn’t nervous about it back then. jeongguk whined, burying his face in seokjin’s shoulder, “best part? he said your name while i was drinking from him,” seokjin’s mouth fell a little open at that, “said he missed you, and i missed you too…”

“how…” the eldest said hoarsely, “how did it go?”

“he did perfectly. jeonggukie, sit up a little and turn your head- there’s a small bandaid on the curve of his neck,” jimin giggled- jeongguk moved a little up the bed to show the curative that covered the new holes and marks, “we also talked about something else, but i think he should be the one to tell you that.”

jimin threw that piece of wood in that fire, immediately starting a conversation about what had happened while he was away. jeongguk understood what he had to do immediately so he nodded, it was just hard for him to do the talking part, “i… u-uhm.”

jimin encouraged softly, “what did i tell you? no shame when we talk, babycakes. you can say it.”

the human sighed a little, relaxing his shoulders and turning to them while he sat down, “when i asked hyung what he thought when i… called your name, he said that it was okay because you are always here for us, and it felt… weird when you weren't…”

“s-sorry about that-“

jimin shushed him, placing a cold finger over his husband’s lips, “that’s not what this is about, hubby. shush, will you? let the baby finish.”

the human bit his lip, “and, of course i like doing things with just one of you at a time but after thinking about it… i think i prefer always being together,” the human confessed, blush flooding his chest, “it just feels right to always be together that way… o-of course we can like, do those things from time to time… i don’t even have to be involved in them. if i’m ever away, you both can do whatever you want, of course, but i would feel better if… if we were three. o-or… or more.”

this was new- seokjin raised a brow, “more?”

jimin smiled from ear to ear, noticing the way jeongguk buried his face in his hands. that was the first time that the human had expressed considering their other partners as potential boyfriends as well… jimin pondered over the fact that maybe the human had been thinking about it all day and it only riled him up even more.

“i asked-“ jeongguk cleared his throat once, “i asked hyung about everyone else’s relationship with you both… when we talked about it for the first time, i thought i understood it completely, b-but i didn’t.”

“it took a little while for him to understand that we were all dating in just one group and not separately- it didn’t click that it’s just the two of us who have a different relationship.” the youngest vampire explained.

“i felt really dumb.”

jimin leaned over the vampire to land a kiss on the human’s lips, “we should’ve been kinder and told you that we were dating other people, prince.”

“i-i don’t mind that you are.”

“i’m glad you’re okay with that, but we should’ve told you straight up, still… anyway, how did it feel to see namjoon so soon after having that conversation, baby?” jimin questioned, stretching out his arm to touch the human’s cheek.

“it felt,” jeongguk placed his hand over jimin’s, holding his smaller hand in his own, “it felt weird but not in a bad way, i guess.”

seokjin chuckled a little bit, “y-you were embarrassed,” he stated, “your heart rate sped up. i could hear it, even if i was knocked out.”

“that’s not even a fair thing to say,” the human whined.

“but it’s true,” jimin completed- and it was very true, “you told me that you wanted to just be us for a while though, what changed your mind so quickly?”

“i don’t know,” the human mumbled, “i feel like it’s worth a try? at least… to see how things could move on from here.”

jimin understood- but he still wanted to tease him further, “what you said was so forward… one would think you’ve already kissed one of them.”

jeongguk choked softly, “you!” his cheeks flared up in red as he hid behind seokjin, “t-that’s so so mean!”

seokjin raised an eyebrow in question and jimin was quick to reply, “our little human kissed taehyung yesterday night while we were gone. don’t you think that’s adorable?”

the eldest vampire turned his head to jeongguk who was still looking away in embarrassment. when seokjin lightly touched his arm, the human turned to him and was met with a small kiss on the lips. a tiny peck- nothing more. jeongguk assumed that was a good thing.

“i don’t mind,” seokjin said and after searching his face for any trace of dishonesty and not finding any, jeongguk began to relax a little more.

“jimin is mean,” the human complained with a whine.

“you’re adorable when you say i’m mean,” jimin kept teasing, now seeming a little more happy about what they were doing, “my honest opinion, though? go ahead and do whatever you desire to within the group, yeah? always with everyone’s consent though, and make sure to tell us all the juicy bits? you’re free to do whatever you please- you always were, remember? even if you wanted to step out at any moment, you could’ve and can still do it… one thing, i would add ‘don’t play with anyone’s feelings’ but i’m sure you’re incapable of such a thing, my good prince,” of course- jeongguk always wore his heart on his sleeve.

the human pouted, hugging the blankets over himself as the room got a little colder, “you’re right, i wouldn’t,” he blushed a little, cheeks squishing against one of seokjin’s laid out arms, “i wouldn’t hurt them intentionally… they’re my friends…”

“and soon to be partners!” jimin giggled all too suddenly and jeongguk screeched. the injured vampire laughed weakly, hugging two of his six lovers closer.

they would be okay for sure.

at some point around midnight, the human fell asleep in their hold, making a mental note in his head to change seokjin’s bandages and replace the cream that namjoon left on his bedside table the next day after he woke up. seokjin let his eyes slip shut and rest take over his body, wanting to heal faster so they could get out of this room for good- he loved the cuddling for hours part, but he would rather do so in perfect health. jimin followed suit, also falling into the darkness that was a vampire attempting to sleep.

the next morning, jeongguk was the first one to wake up. he stirred awake, eyes adjusting to the lack of light inside their home. this time around, there was no weight holding him down, only a steady warmth circling him. jimin and jeongguk were laying on each side of the eldest vampire, their hands and arms touching across his chest.

the human began to move a little, reluctantly untangling his hand from jimin’s and sitting upwards to reach for his phone. while he had it, jeongguk sent a text to their groupchat asking if anyone could come over and bring food for him since he couldn’t exactly leave this spot, to which yoongi replied with a straight forward thumbs up emoji and a “i will be there in half an hour” message that followed. the vampires woke up because of his movement, their extremely light sleep naturally disturbed. the nestmates greeted each other tenderly, exchanging touches and nice words. seokjin seemed to already feel a little better- but jeongguk could tell by the paling of his skin that he was growing a little hungry.

jimin seemed to read his thoughts even if he didn’t really do that, “did you eat yesterday?” he asked the eldest with worry, checking their mini fridge under the side table only to find it empty, “i left something in the car, remember?”

“sorry love, i didn’t have time,” seokjin explained, “i was fine yesterday, it’s just… taking all the strength out me to heal this.”

“speaking of healing…” jeongguk said as he stretched a little bit, reaching for the jar that sat on top of the other bedside table. jimin immediately turned up his nose in disgust as soon as he saw it- seokjin simply sighed in defeat and scrunched his entire face, “we need to change these up. hyung, lay down a little, please? and both of you cover your noses if you don’t want to get dizzy.”

“that thing is horrendous,” jimin whined as he helped seokjin lay down, handing him a handkerchief after covering his own nose.

“i never want to see one of namjoon’s jars again,” seokjin agreed, hissing a little bit as the human slowly unwrapped him from the bandages, some of them taking a little more effort to leave as they were sticky with the substance and glued to his body.

the wounds were still pretty fresh and open but they were now covered in a soft and discreet glaze, which led jeongguk to believe that the witch’s cream was working and healing his boyfriend little by little. the skin around it was not as red anymore and there was no more blood, which jeongguk was glad for. he didn’t know how much more vampire blood he’d have the stomach to face in a while.

“stay still,” he requested of seokjin as softly as ever, coughing a little bit as he unscrewed the jar. jimin covered his entire face and did a gagging motion- the eldest could only shiver in the slightest.

the human tried to apply the cream quickly, scooping it with the help of a wooden spoon that the witch also had left near the bed and then smoothing it out with the same tool- jeongguk really didn’t want to get his hands in this, considering he still wanted his boyfriends to touch him and vice-versa. after everything was covered in a generous amount of the grainy substance, the human did a fast job of bandaging the vampire back up and screwing the lid on the jar before putting it away.

seokjin sighed in relief once it was over and so did jimin, immediately bringing the human down to the bed once more- this time, he laid in between them with a small thump and ruffle of the pillows around the,.

the human laughed as he was pulled down and kissed into next week.

“my healer,” seokjin expressed his gratitude, shyly nosing around his neck and planting a kiss there. jimin stood on the side, running a hand up and down the human’s side, “i feel better already.”

after a couple of minutes, the movement stopped at some point when seokjin started getting slightly uncomfortable- he was laying down once more, head tucked against the human’s shoulder as his nose tickled around his neck, two digits pressed into a thick vein of his. jeongguk let him savor it, though he hadn’t bitten into him just yet, he looked almost desperate to do so, a small bead of sweat trickling down his forehead as he seemed to use all of his will power. the human laid pliant and avoided making any sudden movements, but he was not quiet.

“hyung,” he said quietly as he stroked a hand up and down his back in comfort, “hold on just a little more. yoongi hyung will be here in a few minutes with food.”

seokjin laughed weakly- jeongguk could feel the tight tension in his body pulling them together. jimin was on the side of them, also attempting to comfort the oldest with small caresses, “love, you’re not feeling good, are you?” the smallest wiped the sweat off his face with a small tissue- jeongguk interlocked his legs with the vampire and the strongest ended up rolling them over, heavy body falling onto the human’s jeongguk yelped quietly but otherwise didn’t move.

“hey!,” jimin started getting wary of the situation, getting closer and placing a firm hand on top of one of seokjin’s arms and pulling him. if his husband turned against him, he could handle an hungry vampire- jeongguk could not, “seokjin, stop that. you’re not gonna drink from him today.”

somehow, jeongguk wasn’t afraid. it was just seokjin, after all- he could handle his boyfriend being hungry, for sure. the human’s arms circled seokjin’s body and he held on tightly, squeezing his eyes shut and laying all of his trust on him. jeongguk kept telling himself that he wouldn't do anything bad to him- he was going to be fine and yoongi was coming at any minute. it was all fine.

the vampire got more and more pale by the minute, shaking a little bit as he seemed to fight back the need to drink from jeongguk with every fiber of his being. jimin panicked as he was unable to leave the nest and the oldest seemed to start losing control over his instincts, but after a glance at jeongguk, his nerves subsided a little bit. he still held onto the vampire, hands holding his arms as a precaution.

“want… you,” seokjin groaned quietly. jeongguk swallowed dry and jimin’s mouth fell a little lower.

“hyung,” jeongguk called once more, quieter this time. seokjin made an acknowledgment noise from the back of his throat and it was quiet. it almost sounded like he was a kicked puppy, “hyung will be here soon, i promise. i know you’re hungry,” his hands came up to pet his hair, “if you hold on until hyung gets here, i’ll let you bite me after you feed and calm down,” jimin suddenly turned to him, the promise making his eyes widen and a tiny ‘huh?’ leave his lips. he was incredulous- staring at the human as if he had just spoken an alien language.

seokjin slowly lifted his head from the human’s neck, his slightly heavier breathing seizing for the tiniest second. when he looked straight down and into the human’s eyes, his own were pitch black and glossy as his longer nails extended. jeongguk didn’t feel a single drop of fear inside himself- he was hoping seokjin would notice that and remain calm for a little longer. he looked like he was a hair’s length away from snapping when he whispered a small “will you?” as if he had been struck by a sudden moment of lucidity.

“everyone gets a turn,” jeongguk reassured almost in a joking tone, his palms coming to hold seokjin’s face right on top of his pale and cold cheeks. the human looked back at the vampire- jimin was waiting to see what would happen, ready to intervene if it came down to it. he wouldn’t let seokjin touch a single hair on the human’s head if he couldn’t control himself. he loved him immensely, but when he was like this, he had to be the anchor in his stead.

jimin’s right ear twitched slightly as he heard a noise outside- yoongi was pulling up to the driveway.

“yoongi is here,” jimin informed, roughly threading his hands through seokjin’s hair a couple times to pull it back and away from his forehead so he could ground him. the eldest vampire let out a sigh of relief and his eyes rolled back at the petting almost comically.

jeongguk also sighed at the same time, pulling the vampire down against his body again so he wouldn’t force his wounds or strain his back more than he could- he would regret it later. the eldest immediately went back to nosing around his neck area and pressing cold and shaking digits into his veins to feel the blood pump directly under himself.

“hungry,” seokjin whined and then turned to the door once he heard the knob begin to twist.

it swung open, showing a small yoongi that was swallowed up in a black padded coat and grocery bags in his left hand while his right held two blood packs from the husbands’ freezer. upon seeing what was happening and the suggestive position that the lovers were in, he pulled an awkward looking expression and took a step back, “am i… interrupting something?”

jeongguk’s cheeks reddened- jimin couldn’t help but laugh, “no!” he said loudly, “you came right on time,” he made signs with his hands frantically, beckoning the demon to come closer.

yoongi complied, coming closer to the bed and taking care as to not enter the nest- it wouldn’t be a good idea, considering how livid the eldest vampire looked. seokjin didn’t take his eyes off of him, or rather his right hand, lifting himself off of the human and stretching out his arm to snatch the food away from him as soon as he was within his reach. jeongguk let out a gasp as well as yoongi, who besides the small startle, managed to shoot a death glare at seokjin who was tearing up the blood packs all over the bedspread.

jeongguk scooted away to a corner of the bed as quickly as he could, watching with slight horror as some of the blood splattered onto his legs and the sheets beneath him. jimin tried to contain the situation, all too used to the desperate feeling of quenching a vampire’s thirst and the wildness that came with it. the smallest held onto seokjin’s body to control his limbs, feeding the blood bag into his mouth and attempting to make less of a mess- it proving to be a little inefficient. jeongguk heard him whisper calming words, as well as seokjin’s rapid breathing ceasing for a moment. he heard the gulps and the gasps for air- hugging his knees when jimin switched the now empty bag for a full one, throwing the other one away from their precious carpet.

the squelching and slurping sounds only calmed down when the vampire was finally done with his meal, having downed at least a litter of the thick red liquid in a frenzy. as his skin came back to its original color and his vampiric features disappeared, he seemed to finally come down from his high and his body completely gave in under all the accumulated pressure, falling back against the bed with the help of the other vampire who held him down.

yoongi locked his jaw, looking at the human with the most concern. jimin turned to him after laying the other down, face crumbling as he saw his wide eyes and shocked expression.

“is he…” the human began after some time, looking between both of them.

“yeah,” yoongi replied.

“he passed out.”

jeongguk swallowed dry, fidgeting in his place and looking down to himself. his shirt was stained, legs sprinkled with small drops of blood. he felt disgusting, obviously, laying in these soiled sheets and covered in frosted blood, “i need to shower,” he declared, cringing at the feeling all over his body.

jimin nodded and came closer to him with a certain where of caution, “and we need to change these sheets. though… we can’t leave the nest for a little bit.”

“what does that mean, hyung?”

“we have to go together, and well…” jimin looked down at his husband with a sheepish expression, “give it a few minutes?”

yoongi began walking to the bathroom wordlessly after setting the food he brought for jeongguk on the nearby bedside table. he looked somewhat calm, considering what had just happened. jeongguk guessed that he must’ve witnessed it often. after a few minutes, the shapeshifter came out of there with a wet towel in one of his hands and a dry one in the other.

he came up to the edge of the bed where jeongguk was laying, still being mindful as to not enter the nest itself, “you should clean up a little bit, still,” the demon passed the wet towel over his legs unceremoniously and let it soak the blood away a bit ungracefully.

jeongguk’s cheeks still turned flaming hot though, once again thoughts of his conversation with jimin flooded his mind and made him a little too aware of yoongi’s gentleness and yet his crudeness- his tender way of taking care of him and brutal honesty with no façade.

“thank you…” jeongguk said shyly, taking the dry towel and wiping the water away from his body.

“no worries,” yoongi seemed unphased, “keep that up and you both try to slip the sheets off, i’ll go heat up your lunch.”

“...lunch?”

“it’s past midday,” the shapeshifter laughed quietly, “you love birds lose track of time all the time.”

and then he left the two alone, closing the door and going down the stairs with jeongguk’s food inside a plastic box. jeongguk wanted to hide between the pillows forever, embarrassment unforgiving.

jimin laughed softly, grabbing at seokjin’s limp body and gently cradling him in his own arms so jeongguk could pull away the sheets; gladly- or almost miraculously- the mattress wasn’t stained.

the vampire laid the other down on a pillow, placing his head above it just right so he wouldn’t be uncomfortable. he would wake up soon- he was sure. in the meantime, jimin caught himself staring at the human who fumbled with the sheets and towels, clumsily trying to set them aside. jeongguk tended to get quite clumsy when he was embarrassed or concentrated on something else.

after taking the towels from him gently and sitting in front of his human, jimin cleaned his hands and small spots of blood that had splattered over him. jeongguk’s eyes were glossy- but not the type that indicated that he was sad or about to cry. he was just thinking- jimin didn’t try to hear his thoughts this time around so he wouldn’t pry into his privacy.

with a soft and yet clawed hand, jimin cupped jeongguk’s cheek and let him lean into it. he whispered softly, “are you alright?” just before leaning in and pressing a tender kiss to the cheek that was free. the human melted into it.

“yoongi’s an idiot.”

“and you love him for that,” the vampire laughed in a breathy way, “i do too.”

the human blushed harder but otherwise seemed fine, for as flustered as his face was, “is he going to be okay?”

“he’ll be fine,” jimin kept comforting him, “should wake up in a few minutes and be back to his own self. i’m sorry for what you had to see, prince,” the vampire shook his head and sighed, “it’s not pretty.”

“it’s alright,” jeongguk lied a little. it had been actually terrifying, but that wouldn’t be fair to say. he knew seokjin didn’t have control over that, so could he ever blame him for his hunger and desperation? “it’s just… a lot. don’t know how much blood i’ll be able to handle.”

jimin smiled genuinely, “you know, you don’t have to let him drink from you, prince. you said that to calm him down in the heat of the moment, i think he gets it if you don’t follow through.”

“i meant it,” the human insisted, giving off the most comforting look he could muster, “if he wants to, now or later, it’s okay for him to bite me.”

jimin’s eyes widened but then softened once more, a cute gloss or more-so glaze passed over them. the vampire’s dead heart could not handle these things- he was too soft for his little human whose intentions were so pure and every move or word gentle. the vampire made a motion for him to come closer and the human did just that, leaning against jimin’s sturdy chest. the way they looked was almost funny- the bigger human curling up against his smaller lover. jimin had described him once as a ‘big puppy who thinks he’s a lapdog’ and to be fair, the human didn’t even mind or question it.

“we love you,” somehow, this moment felt more intimate than other times he proclaimed such a thing. jeongguk smiled from ear to ear, “our human. so kind and golden on the inside.”

beside them, seokjin twitched a little.

after yoongi came back up with jeongguk’s food, he wolfed it down quickly as he profusely thanked yoongi for his huge favor and effort (also almost crying because the food that the demon made was always just so delicious). the demon also brought them a fresh pair of sheets that they would eventually change.

“i better get going,” yoongi declared, fighting back jeongguk’s puppy eyes, “you’re lucky i’m letting you off of work to cuddle. not everyone gets that privilege.”

“you let hoseok hyung cuddle you in the storage room whenever you two go get something coincidentally at the same time… pretty suspicious, if you ask me,” jeongguk bit back with really no harm to it, mouth still slightly full.

jimin laughed as he slowly started to pet seokjin awake on the other side of the bed, sitting down on the naked mattress as he ran his fingers through his husband’s hair roughly, “jeonggukie got you.”

yoongi rolled his eyes but his illusion of a body betrayed him, making him blush a little (or maybe he let them see, who could know?), “confidential information is being disclosed… won’t testify without my lawyer present.”

“everyone knows it at this point,” jimin retorted, smiling as seokjin began to stir into consciousness in his hold. sneakily, jimin reached his hand for yoongi to hold as well, but the demon showed hesitation to grab it back. upon noticing, the vampire let out a breathy sound at it and frowned, “he knows,” jeongguk paled, almost dropping his food on his lap, “you can hold my hand.”

“hyung!”

“was i not supposed to tell him?” jimin asked genuinely, holding the demon’s large hand into his smaller one. yoongi was silent, enjoying the gesture like a cat purrs at pettings on their head, “sorry baby, i’ll rephrase. hyung, jeonggukie knows that you all like him and that we are all together. there’s no problem with being intimate around him anymore, right prince?”

“y-yeah, it’s okay, but you didn’t have to say it like that!” he was more embarrassed than actually mad and jimin saw right through it immediately.

“sorry prince,” jimin apologized once more but this time a little more half-heartedly as he had caught onto his tone, “hyung, give him some time to think about it?”

“no worries,” the demon nodded softly and looked at the human with a small smile, “do the others know? i think they would like to hear this.”

“presumably they don’t. i think joonie got the hint, though… prince’s cheeks and voice are always betraying him.”

“y-you can tell them,” jeongguk mumbled, munching on his food again and pouting at his lover, “if… if you want, we can get closer too.”

yoongi perked up at that, lifting his gaze from jimin’s small and chubby hand against his own, “closer?”

did he really have to specify? “like… holding hands and stuff. i like that- we can do the same, if that’s okay with you and the o-others?”

jimin was proud to hear that the human could voice his desires even if he was embarrassed and faced with a hard situation just as this. it was progress, even if only a little.

“i’d like that,” yoongi answered and stood up, going to jeongguk’s side to ruffle his hair gently just like namjoon had done. he thought about the witch, a smile tugging at his lips again, “i’ll get going now. let me know when you get back to work or if you need me again.”

the human nodded as he leaned into the petting discreetly.

“don’t get up to things that are not-safe-for-work while i’m not around,” that sounded strangely familiar.

“can’t promise you that!” jimin laughed from across the room. yoongi closed the door after flashing a smile and then left them alone once more.

jeongguk finished his meal and soon after, seokjin started to wake up from his unconscious state. his two lovers peered at him from above on both sides, attentive eyes looking for any sign of discomfort or possibly even more hunger.

they didn’t find any.

the oldest grumbled, eyes fluttering open and immediately landing on them both. he recognized them immediately, almost wanting to kiss jeongguk’s big nose because it was just that close to his own face.

“hey,” jimin greeted, soft hands still combing through his hair, “welcome back, hubby. how are you feeling?”

hubby, seokjin laughed to himself. jimin only called him that when he was feeling particularly needy or worried. it pleased seokjin to hear such a cute nickname from his husband.

“i’m alright,” he groaned when he tried to move upwards, “feeling a little sore…” the vampire looked around their room for a bit and raised a single eyebrow once he realized that there were no sheets at all underneath him- why was everyone sitting on the mattress itself? “why are we on the mattress?” he voiced his concern.

jimin rolled his eyes a little and laughed, “you kind of destroyed the sheets while you were feeding, remember that?”

and then seokjin’s eyes widened comically, almost bugging out of his skull as he turned to jungkook in the blink of an eye, “jeongguk-“

jeongguk immediately read through his expressions, alright knowing him and his worries. besides jeongguk himself, seokjin was perhaps the one who didn’t want to falter in front of others, “whatever you’re about to say, it’s okay,” the human cut him off, his look softening, “it was scary, but it’s fine now.”

the tip of seokjin’s ears went red, “you weren’t supposed to see that.”

“but hyung, i want to know this side of you too,” jeongguk hugged a pillow to his chest as he said it. suddenly, he remembered something, “are you hungry?” he asked hesitantly- was it rude to ask something like that?

“i’m not anymore,” the eldest vampire tried to move up again, grumbling in discomfort as his back hurt. the other two moved out of his way but still tried to help him up with their hands, “won’t be for a long time, i hope.”

“oh,” jeongguk’s eyes lost a little bit of their shine at the small rejection.

upon hearing that, jimin took the reigns of the conversation from the human gently, “seokjinnie, do you remember what our prince promised?”

jeongguk sat a little straighter at that, looking away shyly. jimin noticed and shuffled closer, slipping his arms around his waist. the human leaned into it and it made him feel better- sometimes he hated being so sensitive. jimin thought he was the goodest boy to ever exist.

“i do remember.”

“do you want to follow through with it?”

“maybe we should wait some time,” he sounded hesitant as well to comply. he didn’t want to scare the human off even further by drinking from him after being in such state- he was almost ashamed of himself for losing control like that- did he endanger the human? everything was so foggy except for his promise…

jeongguk nodded only a little bit, “i didn’t want to rile you up back then when i said it,” he squeezed the pillow in his hold, “if it made you hungrier, i didn’t mean to do that. i wanted to calm you down.”

“no, love, it’s alright,” jimin tried to comfort, the human leaned more and more into his touch.

seokjin caught onto his sadness a little bit as well, quickly trying to repair anything that he could, “jeongguk, if anything, you brought me back to my senses while i was feeling like that,” he motioned the human to come closer and so he did, taking care as to not lean against his bandaged wounds. jimin sat beside them and simply watched, “thank you for taking such good care of me, my human.”

“i just want you to be okay.”

“likewise, jeongguk.”

the conversation ended on a sweetnote, even if jeongguk was a little sad over the rejection of their promise, still. at the core of it, it wasn’t really a rejection, but rather a proposition to delay such an intimate action. it felt sort of weird to give his blood to one of them and not the other- he wanted to make them both happy. was that so bad, after all? did feeding from jeongguk not make the other two happy?

“my loves,” jimin let them enjoy the cuddle- figuring that after what jeongguk had witnessed, he would want to stay close to the seokjin that he so well knew and loved. watching the two made him feel happier about their current situation, even if it was sort of shitty, “shall we bathe together? you made such a mess, darling. we should clean ourselves up as soon as possible.”

“the three of us?” jeongguk piped up, stretching his hand towards the youngest vampire. the smallest took it in his own and gently began to lead the two to the bathroom, slowly making them stand up and step away from the nest. they didn’t stand more than a few inches apart and always kept a contact point against their cold (and warm, too) skin. seokjin pressed his chest against the human’s back, wide shoulders almost covering his entire figure- jimin held onto their hands with clawed fingers and a pair of them with bitten cuticles a bit awkwardly, as his own were much smaller.

“the three of us,” jimin confirmed, “if that’s okay with you.”

they stopped moving as the vampire was about to turn the knob, hand resting above it and waiting for the green light from the human so he’d open it.

“i’d like that.”

jimin smiled and finally pushed open the door to the large bathroom, “it will be fun.”

that was how they found themselves in their current situation: jimin was standing in the middle of the bathroom without pajamas and only in his underwear. he was helping seokjin get undressed while the human stood on the side still with the big tee on.

when seokjin’s shirt came up and off over his head, he was left in his underwear and bandages.

jeongguk watched them move on the side, eyes going up and down their smooth and tanned skin. the human thought they were simply unreal- sculpted beyond perfection and all the expectations that anyone could ever have for beauty. would he ever be able to feel like that about himself?

“prince?” jeongguk snapped out of his thoughts when the vampire called him. he turned to them only to find his two beautiful lovers looking right at him. somehow, he didn’t feel as intimidated this time, “let’s take your shirt off?”

the human smiled and did as he was asked, shirt coming off and pooling down on the floor. the vampires smiled widely and came closer to him to kiss him as gently as they could after pushing him to sit on top of the toilet seat. jimin sat on his lap whilst still dressed in his briefs; seokjin held his face in his hands.

“feeling good?” jeongguk nodded happily with a hum, opening his eyes and leaning into their constant touch. when he looked at them once more, their vampiric features were showing- their eyes were pitch black, claws extended and the tips of their body just as obscure. his eyes drifted involuntarily to their long white fangs, “then let’s go, hm?”

they moved to the bathing area together and before they stood under the stream, jeongguk slowly undid seokjin's bandages.

“whoa…” he awed in surprise when he saw that the three long and deep scratch marks on his chest had begun to heal significantly, “what happened here?” now, in place of the cuts, seokjin’s golden skin had began to close up and fuse the two sides together just like a regular wound would.

jimin started up the warm water- seokjin and the human stood immediately under the stream as jeongguk touched over his healing wounds with the gentleness of something more gracious than a feather. the smallest slithered beneath the pouring hot water and snuggled up next to them, moving his hair out of his way. seokjin kissed him sweetly. added detail: they were now completely naked. jeongguk felt a little overdressed so he slowly slipped his now soaking wet underwear off, “when i’m not hungry, every ability i have gets a little boost. i’m still super tired and focusing all of my energy on healing this, but…” he gestured towards the wound vaguely, “give it one more day.”

the human tried to not look down or blush, “one more day of cuddling… i’m down for that.”

jimin laughed, grabbing at a bottle of shampoo and squeezing it into his hands before he passed them through the human’s messy locks, “be good and close your eyes!”

after rinses and washes, touches and giggles, soft words and laughs, the brilliant idea of moving whatever mess they were making to the large tub popped up in jimin’s mischievous head. he voiced his thoughts aloud to his lover and husband who were gladly on board for some relaxation time with bubbles.

seokjin was the one who took care of filling said bathtub with warm water and a thin layer of soap bubbles because the shortest was simply too busy kissing the human who was pinned against the shower wall, cheeks set ablaze.

the oldest slowly made his way into the large tub, letting the warm water wrap itself around him and pull him under as he laid down, “by all means continue,” he said, drawing the attention of them both back to himself. jeongguk panted- jimin smiled almost evilly, “i’m loving the show.”

“we can tell,” jimin said greedly as he went into his lips for one last peck before holding the human’s hand and guiding him to the tub. he gently made him descend onto it- jeongguk immediately laid against seokjin with ease and the vampire smiled, being the happiest he’s been these past two days. jimin also got in a couple moments later- it was cramped, but that didn’t seem to bother them one bit. they liked being this close.

jimin sighed in relaxation, letting a careless hand hover over jeongguk’s toned chest, “i should’ve thought about bringing some champagne or wine glasses and some candles. that would’ve made this so romantic and eerie…”

“eerie?”

“bathing with two vampires under candlelight with wine… connect the dots, prince.”

jeongguk chuckled at the teasing tone and his smile made his cheeks hurt, “okay, i get it. pretty eerie.”

“you have a thing for vampires though,” the smallest teased from across them, lifting his foot and leg from beneath the water and sort of poking jeongguk’s chest with it. while he did it, he showed off his thick thigh.

seokjin sat snug against the human, locking his legs with his husband beneath the water, “he seriously won’t let that go until you admit that you do.”

“how come he’s been in a loving relationship with two vampires for more than a month and won’t admit it, still?” jeongguk knew that jimin was doing nothing but be playful- “and he’s considering fiddling with other species… could it be you have a thing for monsters instead?”

his sultry voice made jeongguk’s cheeks run hot. did he have a thing for monsters? now that he thought about it, he was introduced to an entire new world over the past month and a few days- things he never thought could be real were suddenly surrounding his entire life and that fact… had made him confused and scared at first, but once he overcame that problem and his insecurities with being a human amidst it all, he began to love those supernatural bits and pieces about his lovers. their instincts, their fangs and clawed hands- even when they read his innocent thoughts had become comfortable. his friends too, were just like this. they were different and beautiful and jeongguk loved everything about it.

in all actuality, jeongguk didn’t even think he could go back to hanging out with any humans besides his mother.

not that he did that before, anyway.

“maybe i do,” the human replied quietly, “but i never thought i would…”

“neither did we think we could ever love a human like this,” seokjin comforted. jimin came closer and it sent a soft wave over jeongguk’s body just before he was kissed sweetly.

it felt good.

everything about it made sparks shoot off of jeongguk’s body.

“the things i would do for a glass of wine right now,” jimin whined once more- the others laughed and then sat comfortably in the warm water in a pile.

seokjin’s wounds healed with ease.

the three of them exited the water (when the human complained and shivered in their hold because it had started to get cold) and then wrapped each other in some robes that jeongguk didn’t recognize.

they were quite flamboyant: jimin’s was red and see-through along the edges of his body. it was made of a fabric so soft that it slid around his curves like a waterfall, pooling at his feet. the sleeves had puffs of red pompons that adorned his wrists beautifully- they also loosened, hanging low from his arms. seokjin’s robe was different in color (it bring a starry black), with the added detail that the fabric looked hand stitched with patterns of small flowers and waves in a soft pink thread.

they left the human for last as per usual. jeongguk clung to his towel.

“we bought these a couple days ago,” jimin announced, twirling on the ball of his left foot with ease with the purpose of putting on a show. seokjin stood on the side, hair dripping wet and looking perfect as per usual while the human could only stare, “what do you think?”

just when jeongguk thought he was used to their ways, the vampires kept immediately sweeping him off balance. they were so mesmerizing, so perfect-

“prince?”

“you’re so pretty,” jeongguk said all in one breath, not holding back, “both of you.”

seokjin smiled in acknowledgment before he turned to one of the drawers in the bathroom while the youngest vampire held onto the human’s hands. jeongguk’s towel slipped from his shoulders and then his entire body.

“what a sincere and wonderful compliment,” jimin praised, turning to his husband once he came forwards with a black box that had a thin strip of a pink ribbon tied around it to keep it closed.

jeongguk immediately darted his eyes to it, “what’s that, hyung?”

“we also got you something, jk,” seokjin confirmed, handing the surprisingly weightless and fancy box to the human. as soon as he saw a look of worry and incredulity on his face, the vampire was quick to shut it down, “before you say we shouldn’t have, we definitely should’ve and we wanted to get these matching designer pieces for the longest.”

“open it up,” jimin urged as he slipped his arms around his bare torso and kissed the back of his neck.

the human nodded wordlessly, letting his body speak for himself when he couldn’t. with rosy cheeks, jeongguk undid the pretty ribbon with the most care in the world. once he lifted the top off the box, his eyes suddenly widened and his jaw dropped almost to the ground.

inside the mysterious black box and carefully laid on top of a white frilly fabric, a robe just like theirs looked right back at him. it looked expensive and absolutely gorgeous: it was pink and the pompons on the sleeves and bottom of it were a soft white with tiny gold details.

jeongguk loved it.

the human put the box on top of the counter and after taking the robe from it, he spotted a nice and comfortable looking lingerie set beneath the frilly white fabric. it was a pair of white briefs adorned with lace on the front and back, along with a small chest piece that matched- it had thin ribbon straps and one tiny bow on the front.

“baby…” jimin said in adoration as he saw jeongguk hug the robe to his chest, “tell us, do you like it? it was seokjinnie’s idea to get you the pretty pink one.”

the oldest vampire slipped his arm around jimin’s hips as they looked at their nestmate’s face through the mirror. he looked absolutely beautiful- they were convinced he would look breathtaking in their present.

“i love it!” jeongguk chirped up excitedly and his voice broke a little from how happy he was, “i really, really love it! help me put it on, please?”

it’s needless to say that the little dress up session turned into something else rather quickly- the husbands and their lover left the bathroom in the midst of stumbles and giggles, holding each other close. when jeongguk started heading towards the undone bed, he was pulled back by both of them. their claws were back, but they were gentle as to not rip and tear the pretty pink robe that looked so wonderful on jeongguk’s spectacular body.

“what is it?” he asked with curiosity as he was led towards the door to the main hall. he grabbed at the medicine jar and their phones along the way.

seokjin hummed, “we can go somewhere more comfortable.”

“there’s a room you haven’t been to, isn’t that right, sweetheart?” jimin asked with honey dripping off of his voice.

“we have a special room that we have saved for quite some time in expectation… since we have looked for a nestmate for the longest,” seokjin explained when they came face to face with one of the many doors in their halls. he remembered this door: when he came to their home on the day they met, he had tried to open it, only to find it locked.

“special room?”

jimin leaned down to pick up a small key that was behind a cute potted plant that rested above an equally adorable hallway drawer. jeongguk isn’t sure how he hadn’t spotted it before, considering the amount of times he’s been to his lovers’ house.

the smallest twisted the key into the lock and then, when the door swung open, jeongguk was once again surprised.

the room he was presented with seemed to have come out of namjoon’s cottage- it was cozy and warm, absolutely covered with the fluffiest of mattresses and pillows all over the place.

“it’s a nesting room,” seokjin introduced as they came inside, “we were supposed to come here the first few times, but we didn’t want to overwhelm you, so we kept it locked up until now.”

the walls of the room were painted in a soft beige just like the other divisions of the house and the floor was carpeted completely. in the far left corner, the floor was sunken to fit a really large mattress and all around that place, there was a countless amount of pillows thrown around it, blankets of various shapes and sizes scattered about. there was a working fridge, stove and counters all within reach; the adjacent bathroom was only a few steps ahead. a big curved screen tv was hung up on the wall that was opposite to the mattress. the big windows were covered in white and flowy curtains that also touched the ground: the sun outside made them look golden- it was already almost noon.

“we clean it up quite often,” jimin informed, closing the door behind them and walking towards the fridge. now that they were in this place, suddenly, it felt a bit more comfortable to have just a little more space between them. when jimin opened the fridge, he showed that it was packed with a few bags of blood, “we don’t have food for you prince, sorry about that. we didn’t want it to go bad.”

“do you fancy it?”

the light was so soft and gave the room such a comfortable aura that the human felt like he could immediately melt into all of it- he smiled, skipping over to the sunken mattress on the corner. once he got there, jeongguk ran his hands through the surface to feel its softness before he slowly laid down in between all the blankets and pillows presented to him, “i love it,” he hummed quietly, pleasantly laying amidst the warmth and comfort that his lovers never ceased to provide.

the vampires sighed dreamily as they watched. their human was so beautiful and ethereal- he looked as gorgeous as ever, hair that was now completely dry fanning over his forehead. the human smiled as the sun kissed his face, sprawled out and just looking absolutely delicious. his legs were bent prettily, arms stretched and tucked under his neck. his phone fell on this side, screen facing upwards.

“fuck, baby,” jimin breathed out. the robe and lingerie set accentuated everything that was gorgeous about him and made for an extremely comfortable time, the human found. jeongguk’s confidence got a little boost as he heard their sighs of admiration.

he looked otherworldly. for the first time ever, jeongguk was sure of it.

“such a pretty human,” seokjin came closer and also laid down carefully, making sure to prop himself up on a couple of the big and soft pillows that were around. he laid beside jeongguk and just as he did so, the human scooted closer, head resting against the vampire’s right arm. jimin also came closer, serving as a big spoon as he curled up next to jeongguk.

after only a couple seconds of laying down, jeongguk’s phone began do buzz. he groaned as he reached for it, stopping immediately when he saw that taehyung wanted to facetime him.

“oh~” jimin giggled in excitement and seokjin once again hummed pleasantly, feeling the weight of the healing in his bones, “answer it, prince.”

the youngest bit his lip and his cheeks reddened the smallest bit before he picked up the call. taehyung’s handsome face popped up on his screen suddenly- he was holding his phone slightly below eye level and consequently his small nose mole showed up. jeongguk found himself focusing on his square shaped lips, remembering what he had done a few nights prior-

“kook!” taehyung smiled when he saw jeongguk’s face appearing on his own screen as well (seokjin and jimin looked at the screen outside of the camera’s reach). jeongguk recognized the noise and background behind him to be his university’s halls- shit, he skipped another day of classes, “yoongi and namjoon told me about what happened to seokjin hyung, can i come over? also… are you shirtless?” he said the last part with a cheeky laugh.

jimin suddenly came into the camera as he peeked over his human’s shoulder, “that he is,” the vampire gently took his phone from him, stretching his arm to make him look at more of the scene. he showed off jeongguk’s robe as well as their very own. the werewolf’s face seemed to visibly fall, but not in a bad way. his eyes widened and jaw dropped slightly- jimin took pride in the way he heard his steps getting quicker, “isn’t he pretty?”

“yes.”

“come over, puppy. we need to talk.”

“give me one hour?” the werewolf requested a little breathlessly, “hoseokie hyung was going to pick me up- can he come, too?”

“of course. if you want, you can bring everyone else too… we haven’t had dinner and hung out together here in a while. joonie should also check up on seokjin,” jimin gave jeongguk his phone again, but still held it close to the human’s face as he tried to hide in embarrassment, “bring him something sweet? you know what he likes…”

taehyung made a sound in agreement, “w-will do,” he adjusted his one shoulder bag, squeezing the strap, “see you soon.”

jimin smiled sweetly, “hurry~”

the call ended. jimin tried to kiss jeongguk’s pout off of his face, “all you do is tease me. also… why the sudden meeting?”

“we miss them,” seokjin replied simply, running a hand through jeongguk’s side soothingly, “we need them to heal just as much as we need you.”

“are you nervous?” jimin questioned gently, “dont’ be, darling. it’s just your friends who love you very much. how does a movie night sound, prince?”

it could be fun… any time with his friends was a good time. it could be especially fun now that he knew what their true feelings were. it was a chance to try new things- to be a part of something greater.

“i’m down for it,” jeongguk put aside his embarrassment and anxiety, smiling, “should we go prepare?”

Chapter Text

it took a while to gather the strength to move away from such a comfortable spot: jeongguk had to coax his boyfriends out of it by either kissing them or, as a last resource, threatening to unscrew the lid of namjoon’s medicine jar- to which the vampires abruptly stood up with the human in their arms. he squeaked in surprise as he was momentarily carried out of the room like he was weightless- sometimes he forgot they could do such a thing. regardless, they moved from the warm spot with the promise of coming back later, depending on how the night went.

their human always won, after all.

seokjin couldn’t hold him up for long- he was still injured.

as they walked to seokjin and jimin’s shared suite once more, the youngest vampire’s hands wandered towards jeongguk’s chest to touch the sapphire necklace that was dangling. the human let him, gently pushing through the bedroom’s door and entering into the comforting space with them both following next to him. jeongguk loved this room so much- he had so many memories with them in this place, even if he still loved the comfort of his own room at his mom’s house just a little more.

“you still wear the necklace,” jimin said sweetly, leaning in and stealing a kiss on his cheek softly, “wonderful boy.”

jeongguk led seokjin to lay on the bed so he could check wounds once more, “i never took it off since you gave it to me, hyung,” he leaned into the kiss, immediately proceeding to straddle him across his lap, still in the soft robes. seokjin would make a funny or sexual remark if he wasn’t so tired. the human frowned as he traced his fingertips over the wound as gently as he could.

seokjin didn’t flinch in the slightest, but his hands came up to hold jeongguk’s hips reassuringly. the vampire could tell that his human was growing a little sad.

“will this leave scars?” he asked, eyes pleading and wide like they always were. jimin sat beside them on the bed, leaning down to also drop another big kiss above seokjin’s injury.

“most likely,” seokjin answered honestly. jeongguk frowned some more, “don’t worry, little human. i don’t mind the scars, it reminds me that we are safe now.”

“and they look pretty sexy on you, i won’t lie,” jimin tried to cheer them up with that joke- seokjin agreed, claiming that it did look pretty badass. jeongguk didn't really understand why the scars stayed- seokjin was an original, surely he would be able to heal much faster.

“i thought they would be gone?”

jimin nodded, “it will heal and seal over some time but the scar will stay, my love. it was done by an original, a higherup in his family, no less…” the shortest vampire sighed, “but don’t be sad, prince. it will all be alright, and that scar will make a good story- we are content as long as you don’t have any scars on you.”

jeongguk sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, teeth dragging over it, “i don’t want you to be hurt because of me,” he said with a determined tone. jimin was now standing up and near their closet, picking some nice clothes for them to wear for the hangout, “i don’t want anyone to be hurt just to protect me. i know i mean a lot to you, i get that, but… i wish there was no need to fight.”

seokjin smiled at the human’s words and jimin turned to look at him with a fond smile on his face, clothes hanging from his folded arm, “there will be no more fights,” the eldest tried to ease his mind, “from now on, no one will be hurt. not you, us or the others.”

“he’s right, prince,” jimin agreed and walked to them once again, setting the clothes that he picked out on the side of his two lovers who were still laying one on top of the other, “now… we should get ready for our little party, shouldn’t we?” jimin’s hands came to hover over the human’s soft robes from behind as he also straddled the oldest, “should we take this off?”

the vampire said it in a way that it would make jeongguk’s skin crawl and have him recoil in embarrassment if he wasn’t so used to these types of mannerisms- he still blushed a little, though, “can i keep the lace underneath?” he asked quietly, as if only the two of them and no one else could hear his request.

seokjin’s grip on his hips tightened- jimin’s lips were tugged into a smirk, “of course. you look so pretty in this… wouldn’t want you to take it off, ever.”

“we have a good eye for fashion,” the eldest vocalized, finally. jeongguk had half the mind to go give him a ‘snack’ just to see him energized again.

jimin smoothly slipped the human’s robe down his back and off of his arms, kissing him a couple times along the way. they could tell that seeing the scars made him slightly upset, so they tried to make up for that in pampering him just the way he liked it.

“you should bring a few more clothes next time you come here, prince,” jimin suggested as he put away the robe and jeongguk began to get dressed in the clothes that the vampire picked- it was just like the human’s casual style. he put on a loose t-shirt, a large denim jacket and a pair of comfortable sweats but with the vampires’ added twist on the outfit: besides the sapphire necklace around his neck, the human wore one of jimin’s rings and a black heart shaped earring, “i would let you borrow some of our clothes but you are too big and muscular for mine, and i’m afraid seokjin’s are a little too flamboyant for your style.”

“i’ll bring a few over,” the human promised as he got off of seokjin to also let him get dressed in proper clothing. jimin’s suggestion had jeongguk thinking a little bit about the possibility of moving into his boyfriends’ wonderful home- he was sure they would not mind the idea, but maybe it was too early for such decisions... or maybe he was being foolish for thinking it was too soon when the possibility of him turning was on the table.

“or we can go buy you some,” jimin proposed, also now in his own clothes- he was in a thick shirt with a casual jacket over it, legs wrapped in skinny jeans, “if you’d like that…”

the human would never get used to saying yes to that, but the thought was pleasant, “sure…”

“jiminie,” seokjin called as he finished getting dressed as well: the vampire was rocking a sweater beneath a fluffy brown jacket and loose black pants. he came up to his husband and sluggishly draped himself over his back, “i’m going to get some… food,” he said quietly before disappearing in smoke.

jeongguk’s bit into his bottom lip and looked down to his lap as he sat on the bed. jimin appeared beside him as quickly as seokjin left, fingers interlocking with his. the vampire understood it immediately, “don’t think of it too much, prince,” his voice was smooth as his velvet clothing.

“he doesn’t want to drink from me, hyung.”

“it’s not that,” jimin continued reassuring, “remember what he said and what i told you, let him adjust for some time. he doesn’t want to scare you or overdo it, my love. you can understand him, right?”

“i want to,” the human confessed, “but i can’t help but i think it’s a me problem… do you think he will want to do it again?”

jimin chuckled a little quietly and leaned in to kiss his neck, “of course he will, prince. did you see him while he was laying on you? he will always want you. all of us will always want you,” all. something pretty flared inside of jeongguk’s chest and he couldn’t help but smile, “now, let’s get ready to have some fun, shall we?”

jeongguk quickly brushed off those thoughts and put on a more happy look on his face, “before we do that… hyung, are you going to be affectionate with the others?”

jimin hummed, a little amused, “do you want me to?”

“yes, i don’t feel comfortable or right limiting you and seokjin hyung...” the human breathed out quickly, “as long as you pay attention to me too.”

“rest assured,” jimin laughed prettily, pulling the human up on his feet and stealing another kiss from him, “i’ll always pay the most attention to my prince.”

after the three of them met up in the kitchen, seokjin was full of energy once more. as soon as the human entered the room he was in, the vampire stood by his side and took his hand as he discussed what to make for everyone else’s dinner with his husband- jeongguk was sitting on a bench at their huge island counter, a bag of chips in front of him as he ate with one hand since the other one was busy holding seokjin’s over his lap.

jeongguk almost forgot that he was upset about what had happened a few minutes prior.

“we have human food stored,” jimin provided as he paced around the kitchen, “we could prepare some…”

jeongguk was not too convinced of that, considering that the two vampires had managed to mess up pancakes a few days before this conversation.

jimin read his mind, “or we could order pizza and some more junk food instead, considering that this is a hangout with people who we consider lovers and it doesn’t really matter what we eat- some of us don’t even have to. incredibly smart observation, prince. as sharp as ever.”

jeongguk laughed at this silliness, bunny teeth showing adorably, “hyung, that’s not what i thought at all and you know it!”

seokjin raised an eyebrow beside him, squeezing his hand tightly, “that is what you thought, jeongguk. you did not mention our terrible skills at human cuisine at all.”

jeongguk kept laughing, accidentally switching topics not long after, “can we get extra cheese on the pizza?”

“as much as you’d like, angel.”

they ended up ordering an obscene amount of food, though it was sort of understandable considering the fact that they were a group of seven boys in their prime age- some just ate absurd amounts of food for the gluttony of it, even.

the food came first, which was a little awkward to go pick up: the delivery guy seemed hesitant and had to call jimin’s number thrice to make sure that he wasn’t being pranked and that the address he was given wasn’t just some random abandoned mansion.

jeongguk heard the doorbell first, happily trotting towards the main door with his two boyfriends following behind him patiently. he frowned when he saw that the delivery man was parked outside the rusty gates, instead of walking in like he had done. jimin and seokjin really weren’t joking when they said that nobody dared to even come within the first gates of the house. when the human walked outside with his lovers, a very tired looking delivery man was leaning against his motorcycle- a flashback couldn’t help but pass behind his eyes; jimin and seokjin smiled in acknowledgment of the human’s thought.

the man’s bags were filled to the brim with about ten boxes of family sized pizzas and their beverages- he seemed to struggle holding them as they were sort of heavy for his small motorcycle.

“good evening,” the man greeted, panting slightly, “order of… uh, ten familiar pizzas with extra cheese, cola and garlic bread?”

“this is the right house,” jeongguk reassured softly.

“ah, great,” the man adjusted his jacket and after showing the contents of his bags, he swiftly handed them one by one to check once more. jimin was the one who held most of the things, leaving the man in what could be described as surprise- what he had brought was heavy, and yet jimin was able to hold them up with no signs of a struggle.

the vampire noticed the stranger’s thoughts and, maybe to show off a little bit, moved all the boxes to solely one hand and stood there at the entrance as he watched his husband pay with his black card. once everything was settled and paid for, seokjin dug into his wallet to pull out a big bill for a generous tip.

the man left after several thank you’s, wishing the three of them a good evening just before he hopped on his little motorcycle and drove away.

“the human looked tired,” seokjin commented as he took the drinks inside and let his own human close the front door, “and he smelled of pizza grease.”

“very underwhelming.”

“that’s delivery service for you,” jeongguk added with a lighthearted chuckle, “totally don’t miss that at all…”

“speaking of missing things,” jimin set up the pizza boxes on the living room’s coffee table without much care, “are you sure you’re not missing college classes that are too important, prince? will you be okay with that?”

“we can hire a tutor for you if you’d like,” seokjin said as he brought drinks and a portable cooler over. jeongguk took care of grabbing various snacks and candy and also bringing them to the living room.

“i don’t think i need one,” jeongguk was smart and he managed pretty well on his own, plus, taehyung could help him, too. his hyung was even smarter, “but, um… i wanted to talk about something serious.”

“tell us, prince,” jimin said as he felt a surge of pride to see that jeongguk was more comfortable with talking openly. seokjin felt the same, pulling his two lovers down on the couch to sit as they waited in a single swing. the human sat in between them both, sort of happy that they were understanding enough to comprehend when jeongguk was being serious.

“if we go through with the idea of turning me, what impact will it have for my college life? what am i going to do after that happens?”

seokjin and jimin were silent for a while as they thought about what they should say. jimin took jeongguk’s hands in his, “angel, you are free to do whatever you wish with your life,” he flat out said, “we don’t want to hold you back from anything you want to experience.”

“considering how long it takes for you to completely turn,” seokjin spoke factually, figuring that the human needed more than emotional reassurance, “it would be best if we did it at the beginning of a year. the moon is most powerful after the earth completes a circle around the sun,” he paused as if to make some calculations in his head, “we’re nearing the 12th human month, are we not?”

“we’re on the last week of october, hyung.”

“the first week of january would be ideal for the transformation to happen,” he spoke certainly, “if you want to go through with it by the time we get there, that is,” jeongguk felt his insides turning at that last sentence. he wasn’t completely certain, but his guts were telling him to do it. he wanted to-, “if your school and studies concern you, rest assured, if you go through with this decision, you will have quite literally all the time in the world to do anything you want to do.”

“there is never a dull moment, like this,” jimin provided, “i know humans debate over the topic of living forever more than they should, because they will never have the ability to do so, and your perception of time is different,” the vampire leaned over to the table and picked up the bag of chips that the human had opened, feeding one to him. the human bit it, loving the salty flavor in his mouth, “living forever with those who you most love, seeing the world change… is quite possibly the best feeling in the world. i think you would love it- if you love us that much, sweet boy.”

“i do-,” jeongguk said but was quickly interrupted as someone burst through the main door. a stream of conversations and laughter filled the mansion’s walls- his boyfriends smiled widely and rubbed at his legs in the form of a silent agreement that this could be brought up another time.

when yoongi spotted them in the living room, he turned to them and borderline yelled, “what’s up sluts?” jimin snorted loudly as seokjin cackled, “we pregamed!”

taehyung was holding a six pack of beer and snacks, hoseok was sitting on namjoon’s shoulders in his fae form as the witch carried a bag with drinking games.

“why does it look like the power rangers just rolled up to your house?”

the group laughed some more. the human paid most attention to hoseok’s signature giggle.

jeongguk truly felt at home.

when everyone got set up in their place, the group sat like this: jeongguk was in between jimin’s spread out legs on the large sofa, slowly tipping over a bottle of beer into his mouth. taehyung, namjoon and yoongi were on the carpeted floor as they stared at the screen. seokjin was sitting on a beanbag that the human insisted on being fetched for ‘human tradition’ purposes while hoseok, still covered in fire feathers, sat on his bent knee with a small slice of mushroom from the pizza in his mouth. two of the pizza boxes were already gone. jimin was on his third beer and didn’t even look a little bit fazed.

the situation felt incredibly comfortable… so awfully domestic that the human found himself thinking that he could seriously get used to this intimacy- even if there was no physical contact between all of them entirely, jeongguk felt a similar feeling from when he was in the nesting room with his boyfriends when everyone was around like this.

jimin shifted positions near him, motioning for jeongguk to move to the side slightly, which he did, now letting his head lull against jimin’s shoulder, but not in between his legs anymore. the human didn’t think too much of it until the vampire lightly tapped taehyung’s shoulder with a single finger, drawing his attention in. the werewolf turned, staring up at jimin with wide eyes that looked as if they were asking what he wanted.

“pup,” he called softly, patting the spot on the couch right next to him as invitation, “come here.”

after looking in between the two on the sofa and spotting anything but uncomfortableness on jeongguk’s face (he even seemed a little shy about it, but he rolled with it), taehyung pushed himself up on the sofa and laid down, stretched and with his head in the vampire’s lap. it only took a couple headpats for the werewolf to let his features hang out freely.

when jeongguk looked over to his best friend, he looked more animalistic than jeongguk had ever seen him: his ears were bigger than before and there was more hair on him; his canines were sharper and so were his claws. on his back, where his spine met the beginning on his hips, the human was amazed to spot what could be a soft grey tail.

jimin could feel his human staring, quickly spotting his curiosity and wanting to fulfill it. the vampire leaned into his ear and whispered, “scratch him behind his right ear,” he proposed, and to jeongguk who was used to his never-ending teasing, it almost sounded sort of mean, “he likes it.”

taehyung was aware of the conversation going on, now moving up further in jimin’s lap so that his best friend could reach him if he so pleased to. jeongguk stared at jimin for some time and after finding an encouraging smile on his face, he moved his hand over and hesitantly scratched him. taehyung keened, leaning into it with ease. his tail hit the sofa in joy.

jeongguk felt an absurd amount of happiness out of doing that small gesture- taehyung looked so pleased and satisfied that he even closed his eyes to enjoy it. after a while, jeongguk averted his eyes once more and stretched to grab another slice of pizza, “taehyung hyung,” he said softly, “do you want a slice, too?”

everything was pretty normal from then on considering the people involved. they were a little bit drunker now and had moved from the pizza to snacks, movie or tv long forgotten. hoseok was laying on seokjin’s chest who had slowly but surely let himself stretch completely on the beanbag. namjoon was hugging yoongi from behind, sharing a beer and snacks with him.

“i’m just saying,” jimin laughed softly, “i would drop this extreme alcohol tolerance thing in a heartbeat. i’ve had 10 beers already and i’m unfazed.”

yoongi replied, “you could go get your vampire alcohol. you’re so whiny.”

the vampire laughed, taking another swing, “not all of us can pretend to be drunk flawlessly, hyung. but you do have a point,” jimin pat taehyung’s side softly and he moved, sitting up somewhat confused, “i’m going to the bathroom and getting some on the way back. babe, do you want some too?” he said this while looking at seokjin, raising a brow in suggestion. seokjin smiled back and nodded.

jimin walked out with a sway in his steps and hips, “i’ll make it extra strong.”

“you’re a slut!” taehyung said loudly, laughing when jimin replied with an excited “yes, sir”. the werewolf reverted back to his normal state but still shifted closer to jeongguk nonetheless. the human let him lean into him, head hitting his shoulder and staying there comfortingly.

their clinginess didn’t go unnoticed, but the other four were quick to move the attention to something else, “let’s start the drinking games when jimin gets here,” namjoon proposed, his own cheeks sort of pink, “this movie sucks big time.”

they bickered for some time, freeing the coffee table of leftover pizza boxes in front of them so that they could set up a large bottle that yoongi had brought. the first game would be simple- a little spin the bottle and truth or dare never hurt anyone.

jeongguk couldn’t help but feel nervous, even if he was thrilled too.

while this was all happening, seokjin gave his jacket to hoseok who was still in his fae form, telling him that if he wanted to he could go upstairs and get changed so he could play the game better. the fire fae thanked him with a giggle and then flew quickly to the back of the sofa where the two youngest of the group were sitting on- jeongguk ducked away from the flying jacket that almost came in contact with his face with a soft chuckle.

“we’re a hazard,” seokjin said with a sigh, squinting when that familiar and blinding glow came from behind the couch and a few moments later hoseok emerged from it, wearing seokjin’s fluffy pink jacket and virtually nothing else.

taehyung pulled a funny face, “anyone wanna bet that he’s naked from the waist down?”

“who’s naked from the waist down?!” jimin called from the kitchen loudly, consequently making everyone completely lose their shit, “you guys started without me?!”

“not to worry!” namjoon said in between laughs as he dug into the bags that they had brought, pulling out a pair of loose grey shorts and throwing them over to the fae, “we came prepared!”

everyone gathered in the living room shortly, piling up around the table with the empty large bottle in the middle. jeongguk was sitting in between his boyfriends; taehyung, hoseok, yoongi and namjoon were sitting next to each other in that order.

“we should lay down some base rules,” namjoon piped up, “safe word to hop out of a dare if it gets too much?”

“butterfly?” jeongguk suggested and the others shrugged, deeming it decent enough.

“deal,” namjoon continue, “sex jokes allowed?”

“always,” taehyung smirked wickedly and winked, earning a slap on his thigh and a couple of laughs.

“also, let’s avoid getting too personal... to keep it fun,” no one discussed it. they all understood, “jeongguk, how about you start?”

the fae spoke, “fresh meat goes first.”

“are we sacrificing jeongguk?” yoongi felt this urge to growl at his fae-like manners. hoseok was like that: oftentimes he lost grip of what was acceptable to say to humans and he had a hard time adapting to it all- human culture was nothing like his own.

jeongguk didn’t seem to mind, rolling up his sleeves and sticking his tongue out. at the sight of the human showing his arms, both jimin and taehyung whistled, excited for his seriousness.

jeongguk spun the bottle with ease and after a while of going ‘round and round, it landed on taehyung.

“oh my,” seokjin pushed his hair back, sipping on his special alcohol, “this is bound to be fun.”

“um,” the human squinted, “truth or dare?”

taehyung put on a defiant tone, “dare.”

“i dare you to… take two shots,” the werewolf moved to do it, surprised at the mildness of it and near saying something cheeky, “and do a plank. on yoongi hyung.”

namjoon laughed into his hands; hoseok whistled and for a moment taehyung looked wild, “yoongi hyung!” he said loudly with a smile as he gulped the last shot of whatever they were drinking, ever so dramatic, he couldn’t even tell, “get your cute ass on the ground.”

“title of your sex tape,” jimin grinned.

“that joke is old,” yoongi retorted, shrugging his jacket off (his illusion of a body suddenly felt hot). he stood up and then laid on the ground in a place where they all could see, head cushioned by a carpet. taehyung crawled over to him and placed his forearms on either side of the demon’s head, trapping him in. his body was so much bigger than yoongi’s, jeongguk found himself thinking that if he could look at the scene from above, he wouldn’t be able to see yoongi at all.

“two minutes!” seokjin called out, “and no kissing. that wasn’t part of the dare.”

taehyung protested with whines and a call of “hyung is so cute and trapped under me… this is torture, good dare kookie,” yoongi jabbed at his side as punishment.

jeongguk stared at the two intently, eyes never wavering before something caught his attention. jimin placed his hand around his thigh and squeezed softly- seokjin tipped back alcohol into his mouth and the human took it all willingly. jimin leaned into his ear, “was that really a dare, or did you just want to watch this?”

jeongguk gulped, “two birds, one stone.”

“spicy,” seokjin teased and went back to his place as did jimin with a smile.

when the time ran out, hoseok called out to both of them. taehyung fell on top of the demon unceremoniously and with a loud laugh- yoongi groaned upon impact, but otherwise let it happen. he would never admit, but he loved the affection of his overgrown puppy.

it was taehyung’s turn to spin the bottle once they came back to the table, only now a bit drunker than before. the werewolf spun it and it landed on namjoon who screeched in a joking matter and threw his head back.

taehyung grinned and chuckled evilly, “truth or dare, moni hyung?”

moni hyung, jeongguk was a little bit starstruck, he had never heard of that nickname before.

“dare,” namjoon said with a mouth full of corn chips.

“two shots,” the werewolf teased, putting up two fingers along from below the table to indicate the number, “and say goodbye to your shirt!”

“woo!” jimin cheered in an almost feral way, looking more affected now that he was drinking appropriate alcohol for his species. seokjin widened his eyes and laughed almost hysterically along to it.

jeongguk wasn’t sure how to react.

“this early?” namjoon questioned with no bite to it, moving all of his pendants, feathers and necklaces and tugging them below his navy blue shirt- his hands danced above the hem dangerously.

yoongi gave him a look that read “as if you don’t want to do it”. on the human’s end, he grabbed at a new bottle of beer and started drinking- he wasn’t drunk enough to witness this without embarrassing himself in front of everyone.

his boyfriends noticed, but did nothing to stop it. they shared a knowing glance but left it at that.

“whores, all of you.”

“yeah yeah, now take it off,” hoseok egged him on.

the witch sighed and then his muscles flexed as he grabbed his shirt, pulling it up and over his head in a single motion.

if jeongguk had beer in his mouth as he did it, he was sure he would end up spitting it all out over the table and choking. the whole group was whistling and hooting at the man who looked a little embarrassed, running his hands through his toned chest and looking away with a smile.

the human had no expectations regarding what he was about to see, but what was presented to him was above anything he could’ve thought of. jeongguk could only think of namjoon’s body as beyond this world- he was muscular and wide, pecs defined as well as his collarbones. in a way, he sort of looked like his body was dense- like if he were to lay against it it would feel like he was resting on a soft memory foam pillow.

what topped all of this off were his tattoos.

when jeongguk took another glance, he saw that the witch was inked all over. across his shoulders there were simple lines that wrapped down to his forearms as if they were snakes- jeongguk had no idea how he never noticed them before. the prettiest ones were below his collarbones: he had a lot of flowers in various shapes and colors littered across that part of his body. in between his pecs sat an inverted pentagram.

“any new recent addition to your hoard of ink, joonie?” seokjin asked.

before the witch could reply, the human interjected, “what’s… what’s that thing on your chest?”

namjoon’s raised an eyebrow, sitting straighter and tilting his head, “what thing, jeongguk? there are several.”

the human raised a finger and pointed it to the left and over the place where the witch’s beating heart was. there, a scar of what looked like a cast iron burn molded his skin and made it look like paper- wrinkly, translucent and sensitive to the touch. the mold appeared to be in the shape of a viper intertwined within a pentagram and it looked no bigger than jeongguk’s palm.

“this,” namjoon looked down at his chest and passed his hand through it, maybe to show that it was completely painless, “this is a coven mark.”

“oh,” the human snapped back, shaking his head and lightly tapping his palm on the top of his head to reprimand himself for breaking the rules of their game, “i didn’t mean to get personal. sorry…”

the group reassured that it was fine and namjoon dismissed it, also telling him that if he wanted to, he could explain it to him later. jimin rubbed over his thigh once more, attempting to soothe him.

namjoon grabbed at the bottle and gave it a powerful spin- it landed on seokjin.

“finally,” the vampire grinned and put his alcohol down on the table, “lay it on me, joonie.”

“truth or dare?”

“truth.”

“a big sip from your drink for good measure first,” he pushed the glass towards him and then laughed, “what’s your favorite body part of each person in this room?”

the vampire rolled his eyes and smiled nonetheless, his fangs showing- jeongguk caught on that the topic startled him.

“if i had to choose,” his attentive and penetrating eyes scanned over everyone in the room, “hoseok’s pointy ears… yoongi’s cheeks when he’s wearing a mask, especially,” he pondered some more, “taehyung’s uneven eyelids. your chest and tattoos, joonie… regarding my baby,” he turned to look at jeongguk solely, staring right into his eyes and making the human feel just so adored, “his big starry eyes. my husband’s would be his ass.”

“of fucking course it would be my ass,” jimin said to sound petty but laughed along with everyone else.

“it is a great ass,” jeongguk pointed out.

“that it is,” taehyung pointed out- the human decided to not ponder a lot over the double meaning of that.

the bottle was spun again and they were even louder now, their touches and jokes trespassing limits settled by what a normal friendship should be. the bottle landed on jimin.

“dare. don’t even ask me.”

seokjin finished his glass and put it down on the table once more, satisfied, “body shots on namjoon, go on.”

the room erupted with more cheer and this time jeongguk also participated, albeit a little more quietly.

jimin stood up energetically, body ‘pumping’ with some sort of sick adrenaline, “fuck yeah, something interesting.”

“i’m a fucking victim,” namjoon had leaned away and the werewolf, fae and demon cleaned the table momentarily so that the witch could lay his back on it. hopefully it would be sturdy enough to handle this small play. the witch laid out in the coffee table, his hips on the edge and feet still firm on the ground- jimin took his alcohol and made a show of pouring it over his chest, finding crevices to make little pools of it.

“you look sexy in red, hyung,” he said playfully, “looks like blood.”

namjoon shivered at the cold drink, almost ignoring the way jimin spoke to him. the shortest dove in, effectively licking and slurping around the skin to chase the sweet taste of the liquid. jeongguk widened his eyes as he spotted that his boyfriend’s tongue was forked slightly, parted down the middle at the tip and seemed longer: how come he had never noticed that either?

“since when is your tongue forked?” he asked softly amid the cheer.

jimin paused and replied, “have you ever seen my tongue when i bite you?” jeongguk would confess that he hasn’t paid much attention to that- he’s usually more focused on the feeling and his fangs rather than his tongue. he shook his head; jimin laughed and went back to his dare.

he made his way up and at some point, namjoon was sitting as jimin took the final shots off of his defined collarbones. with one last slurp on his right side, jimin was done and drunker, which was one of the many reasons why he then placed a kiss onto his hyung’s dimpled cheek, dangerously close to his mouth.

while hoseok sprinted to the bathroom for a towel, jimin held onto namjoon’s arm as he stared at his human boyfriend who was perhaps a little bit out of it: he was tipsy, jimin could feel it in his smell.

the human stuck his tongue out to him playfully and let his boyfriend know through his own thoughts that he loved what he had just seen (the vampires found it adorable how in his own head, the human was a little more relaxed in expressing himself. it was almost as if the fact that he could communicate without really having to say anything made things easier for him).

jimin stuck out his longer tongue in return and intertwined the two tips together, making the younger snort but shiver a little at the hotness of it. when hoseok came back with a towel, jimin helped namjoon dry himself off before hopping towards his place near his husband and lover again.

the vampire sat on top of one of jeongguk’s thick legs, leaning to the right. the human immediately slipped his arms around his waist.

maybe it was fate, maybe jimin knew how much strength he had to apply to make the bottle spin in his favor or maybe he was just unlucky- the bottle landed on jeongguk right after.

jimin giggled and the rest of the group was surely intrigued but hyped up just as much. the vampire turned around in his lap and slid his hands inside the human’s clothes to touch his hard tummy, “truth or dare, prince?”

jeongguk swore he could pass out then and there. he wasn’t blind to the way that dares seemed to escalate in intensity as the group got drunker: he wasn’t scared of them, of course, his hyungs always meant well and paired up with the information that they were all seeking to be involved with him, it felt good to be this close and happy. it felt good to be part of the game and watch them do these types of mundane things that people his age usually do, even if he could cut the sexual tension in the room with a knife.

“dare,” the human replied breathlessly, chasing a kiss. he wasn’t going to chicken out.

jimin put on a knowing smirk and after kissing him, he leaned impossibly closer to his lips and said, “seven minutes in heaven with hobi hyung,” jeongguk paled, “in a closet nearby.”

the room fell silent at that, expectant of jeongguk’s reply. hoseok looked the most surprised, eyes wide and looking in between everyone at the table.

jeongguk swallowed dry and his eyes shook a little bit, “i-i’m down.”

“are you sure?” seokjin pressed.

“say the safeword and you can hop out,” yoongi intervened.

“prince?”

“i’ll do it,” jeongguk reached for a glass on top of the table and took a long gulp. he gently pushed jimin off of his lap and stood up, even if not a single person at the table missed the way his legs buckled a little bit, “hyung?”

hoseok was standing as well and grabbing at his arm, “not going to eat you,” he said easily, attempting to shake off the human’s stiffness, “we’re going to have a fun time, don’t you worry,” the fae spoke loudly, looking back over his shoulder and glaring at the group; they laughed in return and paused the game in lieu of waiting for the two boys to be back.

seokjin raised a glass to jimin, who simply clinked it back in triumph.

“why do you two look evil as fuck right now?”

jimin winked at yoongi, “the plan is in motion.”

“i’m surprised he was able to survive you two.”

“hyung,” jimin appeared hugging the demon from his back and seokjin held the werewolf’s hand as his back straightened. jimin turned yoongi's head and placed a tender kiss on his waiting lips- the shapeshifter leaned into it, kissing back. namjoon made a motion as if he was pondering over putting his shirt back on, but eventually decided on keeping it off. when jimin pulled away, he smiled sweetly, “the question isn’t how he survived me and seokjin hyung… the question is, will he survive the six of us?”

“you seem tense,” hoseok whispered to the human who was leaning against the cramped place, sitting his butt on a stack of towels and shoving a few robes away from his face.

they were sitting together in the closest closet, which was the one that was adjacent to the bathroom on the floor everyone was in. jeongguk had put a timer on his phone before sliding it into his back pocket, choosing not to keep looking at it- maybe it would go by faster. their chests were less than a foot apart.

it’s not like jeongguk didn’t want to spend time with his hoseok hyung. quite the contrary, he wanted to spend more time with him and get to know him better, of course, but he didn’t expect it to go like this. he didn’t expect to be stuck in seven minutes in heaven with the fae so suddenly.

“sorry hyung,” he said as he let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, “i’m probably making this harder than it needs to be-“

“you’re fine,” the fae held onto his free hand softly. his hyung was so warm… it almost felt like he was holding a cup of hot cocoa, “jimin and his little games.”

“you know about it?” jeongguk stared at his hyung’s hair that was effectively lighting up the closet, a soft red looking so bright and welcoming.

“of course i know. you don’t have to feel nervous, jeonggukie. i’m happy to spend more time with my new dongsaeng.”

“i have to admit that it’s pretty funny,” jeongguk giggled a little bit, “you hyungs are ruthless… the dares so far have been a little intense, this sort of feels mild in comparison.”

“because you’re fresh meat-“ hoseok said and then tsked at himself, shaking his head to correct himself, “you’re new to the group, it’s not like they're looking to pledge you. we've been friends for many years, so we know what each other’s limits are.”

jeongguk tightened his grip on the fae’s hand, “just friends?”

hoseok’s face broke into a knowing smile, “so, you know?”

it was almost funny, the way things were unspoken and yet known by all of them, “i do… yoongi hyung didn’t tell you?”

“no, he didn’t. sort of offended that he got to know first… i thought i was your favorite hyung,” the fae scoffed playfully, playing with the younger’s fingers.

“don’t say that!” jeongguk whined at the teasing, biting his lip, “i assumed everyone would know after the incident… but yeah, i… jimin and seokjin hyung- we talked about it and it’s fine by me, that you guys are all in a relationship. i mean, we are nestmates and boyfriends, but it’s not like we’re exclusive, the first thing they told me was that they were polyamorous by nature, anyway… they’re being good to me and taking it slow, like i asked them to. there’s a lot i don’t know about a lot of things but… i like it. it’s new and fun and i like it. i don’t want to take that part away from them-“

“mhm,” his hyung made an acknowledgement noise to show him that he was listening.

“plus, they’re married… i’m a boyfriend.”

“and no less than them because of that,” hoseok left no room for the youngest to go on with his ridiculous train of thought, “you matter just as much and you know this, jeonggukie. anyway, wanna know something that i do know, though?”

jeongguk let him switch the subject of the conversation, not even wanting to dwell in it for too long himself, “what is it, hyung?”

“in the context of sharing boyfriends, i know that a certain someone kissed puppy, a few nights ago.”

jeongguk swallowed dry once again, reading himself for a stern speech that never came, “s-sorry, i-“

“none of that. you know, taehyung hasn’t shut up about it since,” the eldest smiled, continuing to mess with the human’s fingers carelessly, “it’s like a bragging right, to him. you like my puppy?”

“i do.”

“and since when?” when the human took a while to respond, hoseok looked into his eyes attentively, “am i pushing too far?”

“n-no, i… it’s just hard. it’s been so long, it’s almost like it’s been since… since forever,” jeongguk spoke in a rushed manner, heat rising all over his body- he knew it wasn’t his hyung’s doing though, “we’ve been friends since we were kids…”

“that’s adorable,” his hyung said genuinely, “you didn’t act on it sooner? how come?”

“it never felt appropriate,” the human shook his head, enjoying the contact and deep yet healing conversation. he felt like he needed to say this. like he had to spew it all out just then, “i’ve always had trouble with figuring myself out regarding that… and when i had the courage to face it head on, well… he told me he was dating other people.”

hoseok felt for him. truly, he did, “i’m not here to give you a tough stay-away-from-my-boyfriend speech, jeonggukie. i’m here to tell you that liking taehyung is perfectly normal- he’s gorgeous and kind and wonderful... he thinks you kiss well,” the human’s cheeks flared in pink, “in fact, if anything, i’m here to give you an encouragement speech- you feel happy and comfortable around him and so does taehyung. don’t feel pressured, but he’s dying to kiss you again.”

jeongguk’s eyes widened a little bit and his mouth fell slightly apart. how could hoseok say something like that in such a relaxed manner?

“i may also be dying to try, but that’s a conversation for another time.”

“hyung-“ the human was going to reply to that statement specifically, but he was rudely cut off by the alarm below him. he jumped when the phone in his pocket vibrated loudly, consequently hitting his head on the bar where the clothes were hanging on. there was a loud clunking noise and the human raised his hands to cover his head immediately, “fuck, ow-“

hoseok crowded him to help him after seeing the accident happen. the fae was impossibly closer now, holding his warm hand over the place where jeongguk hit his head and petting the zone around it soothingly, “be more careful, jeonggukie. you could seriously hurt yourself...”

but the human was long gone in his head. jeongguk wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying- jeongguk was looking at his hyung’s lips and his caring eyes; the way he frowned in concern as he inspected the area. he was so close and smelled so good- hoseok still smelled like every nature scent that the human could think of. in the human’s vision, it was almost silly enough to be in a drama, he could almost see the pink clouds and flowers orbiting around him.

the eldest didn’t really notice when the human leaned in with his eyes closed as he blindly aimed for his face- it only dawned on him when he felt jeongguk’s lips touch the tip of his nose shyly before he pulled away.

it was safe to say that hoseok was absolutely frozen in place by his impulsiveness, eyes wide- jeongguk stared at the wooden wall of the closet to hide his embarrassment, hand still on top of the fae’s on his own head. he didn’t expect the human to want to kiss him this easily, after all, they weren’t close like jimin, seokjin or taehyung. thinking about it that way made something snap in hoseok’s brain.

screw human etiquette.

the fire in his hair got brighter as he turned jeongguk’s face towards his own and leaned closer quickly, capturing the younger’s lips in his in a single moment. it wasn’t abrupt or violent, but neither was it soft and slow. it was just what someone would expect from the outcome of this specific dare.

jeongguk didn't hold back either. the human kissed him back with as much fervor, whining in distress when his phone beeped again in his pocket, now that another solid minute had passed by. his hyung felt hot all over instead of the steady comfortable warmth- the human suspected that it wasn’t just the kiss making him hot but also the fact that it looked like his control was slipping a little bit. through the entire kiss, jeongguk had his eyes open, almost crossing them to stare at the fire fae.

they only pulled away when jeongguk’s phone vibrated a third time and there was a loud knock on the door: yoongi’s voice came from the other side outside of the bathroom, “yah, what are you two still doing in there? it’s been ten minutes! hoba, i swear, if you’re sucking dick in that closet-“

“leave them alone, hyung!” jimin called out from far away, “if they were, we would know anyway!”

the human was panting and sweating when they were done- the air inside the closet felt thick, heavy and hot. jeongguk was still sitting on the rolled up towels, shiny eyes looking all over hoseok’s sharp face.

“taehyung was right,” hoseok was a little breathless himself, “you’re good to kiss. so cute-“

“hyung,” jeongguk interrupted quietly, his hand still being held by the fae, “y-you too. fuck, it’s so hot in here, it feels like a sauna,” then, there was the quiet sound of something sizzling and the human abruptly pulled his hand back, “fuck! ow! that burnt-”

hoseok pulled away completely and snapped back into himself when he realized that he had burnt the younger, “oh shit, sorry jeonggukie-“ he hurried to open the closet, almost momentarily blinded by the brightness of the bathroom after being in it for so long. he attempted to calm his body temperature down, going as far as opening the tap and letting his hands cool down in the water- steam came from them, fogging up the mirror instantly.

jeongguk followed, waving his hand in the air and also putting it below the running cold water as well, sighing in relief. his hand wasn’t burnt that badly, but the skin was red and it left a lingering feeling that wasn’t that pleasant.

hoseok grabbed for a towel to touch the human and envelop him hands in the fluffy material, “jeonggukie, i’m so sorry. i didn’t mean to burn you- here,” he reached into a cabinet and pulled out a half used burn cream tube, “this happens way too often,” the fae carefully placed a blob of the cream on the red patch in his hand.

“it’s fine,” the human shook his head and rubbed the cream into his hand, “y-you didn’t mean it. it’s okay… we should go back,” jeongguk said as he pat the towel that his hyung had given him to softly clean up some of the sweat on his face and neck, “they already called for us.”

“i say this with all the sincerity in me, but right now, you look like we did more than just kiss inside that closet, jeonggukie.”

the human blushed but laughed, pushing against hoseok’s shoulder with a fist playfully and then tugging onto the sleeve of seokjin’s jacket this time to lead him outside and into the living room again. when they came back, namjoon was checking up on seokjin’s wounds, which had healed- yoongi was folding the vampire’s clothes on the side, since he had to be shirtless for it. jimin was sitting on the sofa once more, taehyung in his lap as he threaded his fingers through his hair. something that jeongguk didn’t fail to notice was that there were two small and freshly bitten holes into yoongi’s neck and that seokjin’s bottom lip was slightly stained.

so much for a friend gathering.

“look who’s back!~” jimin singsonged excitedly. jeongguk was really starting to think that he liked having taehyung around him like he really was some sort of dog; he was always either at jimin’s feet or resting with his head on his lap while being pet carefully. taehyung seemed to enjoy it and jeongguk couldn’t deny that sharing a spot like that with his best friend sounded so appealing...

the entire group turned to them both, all too suddenly, jeongguk felt a little too seen as his temples were sweaty and he held the towel in one of his hands, seokjin’s jacket that hoseok was wearing in the other.

“i assume the game is over?” namjoon questioned, and everyone seemed to agree with him as well. jeongguk went over to seokjin and then kneeled on the floor next to him to stare at the marks in his chest. the wounds were gone now, the only thing that they left behind were three slash marks on his boyfriend’s chest.

yoongi twitched his neck quickly and just like that, the two fresh holes on his neck were gone.

“seokjin is all healed now, jeongguk” the witch eased his mind, “you can go back to your classes and the daily routine from before.”

“we missed you around the restaurant,” yoongi said in a sweet manner as he sat in the same sofa as jimin and taehyung, albeit a little apart.

“i kinda… don’t want to go back to how it was,” jeongguk confessed.

jimin leaned forward, intrigued, “what do you mean, prince?”

“i like being close like this,” the entire room was looking at him this time- him and only him. the human placed his hand over seokjin’s scars, “if we go back to the old routine, will we still have times like this?”

it was silent for a while- jeongguk assumed the worst until he heard a few of his friends groaning in unison.

“jimin, puppy, i’m sorry but he’s my favorite dongsaeng now,” hoseok declared.

“you’re cute, kid. of course we will have moments like this all time, especially when we have a new member in the gang. what type of hyungs do you take us for?”

“we’re only getting closer,” namjoon added.

their friends stayed the night in the house this time around, happily trotting over to a big guest room that they would all share together while the house owners and the human made their way to the nesting room, grabbing pajamas, their robes and getting freshened up to go and lay jeongguk to sleep.

when they were finally alone and dressed in the proper attire, jimin playfully pushed jeongguk down onto the mattress and straddled him. seokjin followed behind shortly, a lazy smile on his face.

the human was kissed for minutes on end and only then did they start asking questions.

“what did you think, baby?”

“i think you get hornier when you’re drunk,” the group snorted while jimin nodded in defeat, “but really, i loved tonight… thank you, hyungs, for everything you do for me.”

jimin came forward and hugged him tighter as seokjin kissed up his neck. jeongguk hugged back too, burying his nose in jimin’s soft hair, “we love to see you happy, prince.”

“how were the things with hoseok in the closet?” seokjin changed subjects really quickly.

jeongguk giggled and then put on a playful smirk as they stared at him curiously. he looked almost as if he was going to brag about something, “we kissed and it was really hot,” he pursed his lips in a defiant pout and laughed, “literally. he even burnt my hand a little bit.”

jimin and seokjin laughed louder then, laying down next to him. jimin looked at the human’s hand that was still a little red, “can’t believe you made hobi lose control of his temperature. he doesn’t even do that with us.”

“i am pretty phenomenal.”

“you sure are, prince.”

jeongguk his lip, pulling a blanket over them and then turning to seokjin. jimin held onto his back, taking the sliver of opportunity given to him to be the big spoon.

“hyung…”

seokjin placed his hand over the human’s check, “yes, human?”

“i saw you were drinking from yoongi hyung, when i came back from the bathroom with hoseok hyung,” his voice trailed off a little bit, looking away, “are you sure i didn’t do something wrong? you said you didn’t want to drink from me earlier… and i’m not jealous or anything, i just- i want to know.”

the vampire shook his head immediately, making his nest mate look at him straight in the eyes- those beautiful, sparkly eyes that were so full of human brightness, “you didn’t do anything wrong, the problem is me, jeongguk,” the human concentrated on his words and the feeling of jimin’s lips kissing him gently across his back, “this healing thing, it took a lot out of me and you being closer made it so much better and quicker. i was worried that if i were to drink from you, i wouldn’t know when to stop.”

“oh-“

“yoongi is a demon, whatever i took wouldn’t make a difference for him,” he kept explaining, “we will do it again. i want you.”

jeongguk smiled shyly before closing his eyes and letting himself lean into the vampire’s body. seokjin wrapped one of his arms around him, the other resting against jimin’s hair, “i want you too,” the human said quietly.

things went back to normal after that- but not completely.

jeongguk went back to college the next day, as well as working at dreamin’. jimin and seokjin also went back to work, now with a clearer mind making it easier since the major threat of seokjin’s family was out of the picture. the vampires and the group all knew that dominance fights weren’t settled this easily and that it was more likely than not that new problems would surface in the matter of weeks.

you see, now that seokjin’s father was gone, he was the highest up in an original family for miles, which meant that essentially, other vampires and creatures around had to answer to him for orders. it was only a matter of time until the news spread and new responsibilities came knocking on their door. along with the responsibilities came other things as well: power, money, favors and also protection, which was what they mainly had their eye on. being in the dominant vampire’s circle gave one immunity- and riches, luxury.

however, as heavy as the responsibility was, jimin was thrilled (almost buzzing in excitement) to be in charge- as seokjin’s husband and nestmate, he could be considered a king and as a “half-blood” vampire, he would be lying if he said he didn’t feel his ego bloat at the thought of ruling over originals.

and jeongguk… as the human nestmate, he would also fill a position like that, albeit slightly lower since he wasn’t a vampire just yet- or maybe wouldn’t be any time soon, depending on his choice at the time. the vampires both pondered on his title for a while and drew many possibilities, but none of them seemed as endearing and fitting as “prince”. their human prince. the territory’s prince.

outside of supernatural business, three weeks after their hangout at the mansion, jeongguk was on his first day of holidays just as his results for finals came in. he passed all of them, maybe not as cleanly as he wanted to, since his grades turned up a little lower than he would have liked.

regardless, he was still happy that he passed.

over the course of these weeks, the human had spent more and more time at the vampires’ home, which was why his mother didn’t bat an eye when he told her that he may have considered moving out of her house.

today was that day. jeongguk came home from college to pack the things he needed the most, knowing that his boyfriends wouldn’t hesitate to spoil him even more now that he would be around even more frequently. he didn’t keep a lot- only some of his favorite clothes, comics and the collectables that he kept around.

jeongguk was currently in the hallway of his house, wheeled luggage in one hand and his mom’s in the other, “if something happens, mom, you have to call me! and don’t open the door to shady people who say they have deals for you, okay? i’m only one call away, i can come fix the tv-”

“i should be the one sending you off with concern, kookie,” his mother said a little emotionally, “my little kookie… flying from the nest. oh, they grow up too quickly…”

“you don’t have to say it like that,” the human pouted, bending down to hug his mom as he heard the telltale of seokjin’s car pulling up at his driveway.

his mother leaned in and kissed his cheek sweetly before saying, “whatever happens- whatever you do, be happy. always. it’s the only thing i ever wanted from you, my dear.”

the words felt deeper than maybe they should be and after a second of processing them, the human teared up despite himself, hugging his mom one more time before he left through the front door with watery eyes.

it was a chilly day in the midst of december. his boyfriends were waiting outside with open arms and a gift wrapped in shimmering paper. the car was freshly washed and they were dressed in casual clothing- the winter sun hit their golden skin beautifully as it usually did. jimin’s hair was no longer faded blue; he had dyed it back to a dangerous dirty blond a week prior.

jeongguk couldn’t help but smile with all of his soul as he walked to them, the small wheels of his luggage that didn’t work as well as it should have scrapping the concrete pavement.

whatever would happen- whatever he decided, jeongguk had never been more sure that he was going to be happy.

Chapter Text

“prince, we’re home!”

jeongguk put down the book he was reading on the table in front of himself as soon as he heard that his boyfriends were back from work.

“in the library!”

jeongguk had gotten way more comfortable and loose in the way that he acted and talked to everyone over the last three weeks- he was no longer the overly shy and embarrassed human that everyone knew. he was loud and talked a lot; he showed his affection way more, especially physically, which everyone was proud of. occasionally he still had his little blush going on and was nervous, but it happened way less than it used to.

it had been five days since jeongguk moved into the vampires’ house.

so far it had been lovely- the vampires had given him his own room and space in the house (even if jeongguk hadn’t brought up any issue regarding that), telling him that it was okay and that he could keep his privacy as well if he wanted to. the human greatly appreciated the gesture but he didn’t really sleep in his own room unless he was feeling up for a nap when he came back from the gym- he used it to store his clothes and the small amount of personal items that he took from his childhood home, opting to sleep with his boyfriends even if it was just to feel their presence.

unlike before when he was getting used to being in a relationship with them, jimin and seokjin didn’t really sleep when they were with him in bed anymore. it wasn’t in their nature. they usually stayed awake and held him in their arms as they went over paperwork and glasses of blood. jeongguk liked the feeling of falling asleep on top of seokjin’s chest, his arm limp and over jimin’s tummy.

nesting when they came home from work had become part of their unspoken routine- the vampires would ask him all about his day and jeongguk would do the same as well as they cuddled or had fun in the nesting room. afterwards, they either stayed at home or went out, which ended up in jeongguk receiving a couple of expensive gifts and even asking them to buy a shirt- only once. jeongguk can’t remember ever seeing jimin as happy as he was over swiping his card to buy the human something that he actually had asked for.

in some way, it was almost like the routine they had before when jeongguk was in college and things were sort of calm, except the human saw his other hyungs a lot more often. he visited namjoon at his cottage to unwind and be more in touch with nature itself (he also learned that his hyung knew how to pierce, so he got a sick industrial on his ear two weeks prior). hoseok and yoongi worked with him almost all day long at dreamin’- the fae and demon taught him how to cook while the restaurant was either closing up or they had free time in between breaks.

taehyung… taehyung went with him to college and now that they were on break, the two had decided to start using the basement gym in the vampires’ house regularly. the werewolf would come over, have breakfast with him and then they would exercise or goof around together, whatever they were up to.

sometimes taehyung came over just before the vampires had to leave for work, which resulted in jeongguk watching the vampires laying their affection and love on thick for his best friend.

it wasn’t weird to him at all. it also wasn’t weird that over these past few days the human thought about kissing him again- but he didn’t act on it just yet. jeongguk thinks that if he actually went forward with the idea he will turn into an actual tomato, and listening to taehyung make fun of him for that for the rest of his life doesn’t sound that appealing. his nestmates reassured him though, that one day he would be able to do it without even thinking twice about it.

jeongguk went down the stairs to meet up with jimin and seokjin who were waiting in the main hall for him. the human was wearing comfortable clothing: an oversized dark grey shirt with a hole in the collar of it, shorts completely engulfed by the size of his top that almost reached his knees.

“gorgeous,” seokjin commented as he stepped out of his shoes and hung their coats at the entrance. he held a paper bag in his hand.

“what’s this warm cotton smell?” jimin inquired, coming forward and kissing him silly, “you did laundry today, prince?”

jeongguk smiled into said kiss, “yeah, i did.”

“we have a housewife now,” seokjin joked, also coming forward to steal a kiss from the human before he waltzed over to the kitchen, preparing dinner on his mind.

“the cutest hous- oh!”

jeongguk swiftly picked up the shortest with a laugh, “yes, i do the cooking,” he singsonged, hopping easily to the kitchen, “yes, i do the cleaning~”

jimin squirmed over his shoulder in retaliation, his loud laughter betraying him, “we took care of the cooking today,” seokjin took the black takeaway boxes from the bag that he brought, setting them on the island counter gently, “courtesy of your favorite demon chef.”

jeongguk put the vampire he was holding down on the bench next to himself, smile scrunching his nose, “he made food for me?”

“your favorite,” jimin opened up the lid and picked up chopsticks that were handed to him by the eldest to feed him- the smell of yoongi’s cooking immediately made him relaxed, “open up~”

the human snorted, “we’re playing airplane now?” regardless, he leaned forward and took the bite with an exaggerated sound, humming in pleasure at the burst of flavors in his mouth. yoongi never missed- not even once.

the vampires clinked the blood glasses that they had prepared together and sipped from them slowly, now more of a tradition than a celebration really. the atmosphere was warm and comfortable when jeongguk asked how their day had gone- the vampires answered honestly before their own curiosity got the best of them.

“and what about you, prince?” jimin grabbed the now empty takeaway box, throwing the trash away and smiling to himself when he noticed that jeongguk had made his own lunch (there were leftovers in a tupperware on top of the counter) and loaded the washing machine as well.

he was just too good.

“taetae didn’t come over today,” he pouted, picking up a small container with fresh strawberries from the fridge and biting down on one- he talked with his mouth full, lisp passing through, “so i played video games, did the laundry and made lunch, because it’s my day off. then i got bored, so i went up to the library to look for something interesting to read, because i haven’t actually picked up a physical book on my own in like… what, years?” he took another strawberry and ate it, handing one to each of his boyfriends who also took it willingly- the human had gotten them used to actually eating fruit, which they told him they never really liked because there was ‘no blood in it’.

sometimes the human called them fruit bats. it was funny.

“by the way, we have to go grocery shopping soon- anyway, i found this cool book that had everything related vampire territory and, uh, rankings?” jimin was now sat on seokjin’s lap, playing with his rings as he heard what their human was talking about, “and i think i sort of get the gist of it now, i hope? i think i’ll be reading more from your library more often…”

the vampires looked between each other and shared a knowing look before turning back to the human again. they stood up and smiled, offering their hands to him. jeongguk took them without hesitation after putting the food back in the fridge, “what is it?” he asked with wide eyes, a small bottle of banana milk that he managed to sneak out from the fridge on one of his hands.

“we should talk about something,” seokjin provided while they walked to the nesting room, “can you go fetch the book you were reading, jeongguk?”

jeongguk nodded as he let go, looking a little worried, “is it bad that i read it?”

“no prince,” jimin reassured, sending him off with a kiss on the cheek, “you’re fine. we just need to clarify some things with you. don’t worry, you can go get it.”

“come to the nesting room when you have it,” the oldest smiled widely, so jeongguk went on his way to get the book back from the library.

jimin turned to seokjin just then, “should we have told him earlier?” he spoke as they walked to the room with their hands held together.

there was no room for secrets in their relationship anymore- neither seokjin or jimin kept anything from him and the same thing applied to jeongguk, the difference was that the human had specifically requested that they would slowly ease information about their species, others and the world in general onto him- he said that when they first got together he oftentimes felt uneasy and frightened because he had pretty much dived into it head first, and he wouldn’t want to feel like that again, especially now that he was more comfortable with everyone and this new reality.

“we did what he asked, jiminie,” seokjin opened the door to the room and then they both walked inside, leaving it open. the bed was as neatly made as they had left it, the windows were closed and the portable heater unplugged- they’d gotten better at remembering that they had to keep the house warm, “we took it slow with him. i think it’s the appropriate time right now to do it, or else it might be too late...”

“i feel like he won’t be ready for it,” jimin expressed his worry, sitting down on the mattress and beginning to undress, “what if he feels like he didn’t sign up for all of this?”

“i don’t think any of us did,” seokjin sat down next to his husband and held his hand just before he pulled his shirt up and over his head. jimin stopped midway through and held him, leaning into his shoulder, “when we ran away, we didn’t expect this either. we didn’t expect to meet the others and him, but here we are. and we’re happy- he will be too.”

“you must be right,” the youngest vampire sighed and kissed his husband, smiling only a little bit, “i just can’t help but compare it to how it all happened to me. but it’s different- way different, you’re right.”

“and he’s way more comfortable now,” seokjin helped jimin get out of his shirt and the shortest did the same to him, feeling him up a bit, “remain calm and everything will be alright. you have my word.”

“you speak so formally to me nowadays, my king.”

seokjin choked a little bit at the name he was called, earning a laugh from the other vampire, “that feels… weirdly awkward but also hot at the same time-“

“what are you two doing?” jeongguk laughed from the doorway as he watched, book hugged close to his chest, “you guys are weird.”

as the human got closer, jimin stretched out a hand and pulled him in and into their laps, snatching the book from him as well. jeongguk let out a startled noise that was kissed off of him instantly, “wh- wow, i’m being manhandled this early in? didn’t know it was that type of talk.”

the human keened as jimin’s claws scratched at his scalp lovingly, “that’s talk for another day, prince. my strong baby likes being manhandled, yeah?”

jeongguk pouted instantly, looking away with rosy cheeks and mumbling, “maybe so…”

they all got undressed and under the covers, resting in the position that they knew so well except jeongguk was laying down with his belly up, looking at jimin who was holding the book in between his elongated fingers. seokjin had his chin on top of the human’s head, caressing his arm tenderly.

“so, prince,” jimin began with a request, “why don’t you tell us what you learned from this first, so that we know how to start?”

jeongguk thought to himself for a while before he decided to speak, picking his words carefully like he always did, “it’s sort of big so i didn’t get to finish it, but what i remember from it is that ‘territories’ are sometimes divided by species?” the two nodded, “but that doesn’t apply to every single one, because there are a lot of neutral places where, um… you guys usually get along? or at least tolerate each other.”

“that’s a sweet way of putting it,” seokjin laughed and so did jimin, making jeongguk roll his eyes playfully.

“it’s true! we’re in one right now, i think. it also said that normally there will be some sort of leader species in a neutral territory, but that has to do with rankings… and i didn’t get to read that part because you guys arrived before i could get to it,” jimin pat his head as if to tell him that he still did a good job, “um… i read that if a neutral territory is peaceful, there isn’t really a reason for there to be a leader? everyone can just do their thing if they don’t bother others in that part of land or other territories nearby.”

“that’s correct.”

“i have a question,” the human looked at them both, “why are some species considered superior to others? that feels… not right. that doesn’t feel right or fair at all.”

jimin sighed and looked at seokjin in hopes that he could explain it instead, “old tradition and need of order, jeongguk. we don’t like it either. you can guess that our reality is… chaotic. there is so much to it, that without some sort of order or hierarchy, our ancestors were afraid that something really bad would break out and threaten the world itself.”

“we honor the ranks and traditions as a sign of respect to them, but we don’t believe in the superiority of some species, we never did,” jimin put down the book on top of his lap, “us, at least. seokjin’s family still did- fools, all of them.”

the human nodded in understanding, “humans aren’t even… i don’t know how to say this, but it’s all written like we are bottom of the barrel. i understand that some people are… but it’s like every time we’re described it’s as a ‘means to an end’, you know?”

seokjin and jimin nodded in understanding.

“you don’t feel like that, do you?”

“no, jeongguk. we don’t feel that way,” seokjin answered, “we have to feed from blood and the best for us is human blood, but we haven’t fed from a human that wasn’t willing to give it to us or… blood bags in what feels like centuries.”

“who was the first human to ever let you drink from them willingly?” he asked with a curious glint in his eyes, looking at seokjin directly.

“you.”

“you were,” jimin said sweetly, “the only human to ever ask for it.”

jeongguk wasn’t sure why a surge of pride flared inside of his heart, but he liked the feeling of it anyway. he leaned to kiss their cheeks, pulling the shortest closer and snuggling further. jimin laughed quietly, once again scratching at his scalp as a treat- it reminded the human of when he had done the same to taehyung.

“why are we talking about this, though?” he asked softly.

seokjin began, “rankings and territory are a formal complication, jeongguk. for years, we’ve been the only vampires for miles until my family’s territory, and until… that happened, things had been peaceful. we have lived in union with other species even though we are known to be the dominant species.”

jeongguk started to think he was connecting the pieces in his head, but he remained silent and let him explain it. jimin still pet him soothingly.

“ever since the trade… everything changed.”

jimin spoke up, “we may have gotten a little into our heads when that deranged man mentioned you,” the vampire tilted jeongguk’s head to make him look directly into his big eyes, speaking with as much honesty as there was in the world, “seokjin said we had claimed the territory a long time ago, which wasn’t exactly true, but the word got out before we could do anything to stop it.”

jeongguk widened his eyes, “you accidentally claimed territory?”

“to protect you,” seokjin provided.

“we never had problems with blood trades from outsiders,” jimin explained further, “they always stayed quiet because they were intimidated by us when we came in groups- they caught onto your smell and immediately saw a sliver of opportunity to widen their territory.”

“but they didn’t even come close to.”

“not even close,” jeongguk was still wide eyed, looking back and forth between them, “you should’ve seen everyone’s faces when that filthy bastard mentioned you… we were all absolutely livid. i was a hair's length away from tearing him to shreds.”

“everything was in our hands after that, but at least this place was small, until…”

“until you fought your father,” jeongguk completed.

“yes, angel,” the youngest vampire thread his fingers through the human’s hair, “do you know what that implies, baby?” he asked in the gentlest tone. jeongguk shook his head in a silent ‘no’, “it means that… it means that everyone who was under his father’s reign in that territory, now has no leader- or rather, a new one, prince.”

jeongguk’s eyes widened once more, mouth falling a little agape- seokjin tightened his grip onto him and buried his face in his shoulder, mumbling quietly that he never wanted any of this to happen.

“so… you are-“

“a king,” jimin answered for him, “as am i, as his husband and nestmate for the rest of time… do you know what you are? what position you fill in all of this?”

“your pet?” the human said half-jokingly.

both jimin and seokjin shook their heads. jimin held his cheeks in his hands, “you’re a prince, my love. our nestmate- our human prince,” the human didn’t know what to say about all of this. he was definitely speechless, just looking at them back and forth as he processed what they were saying. jimin kept the contact going, gently pressing his claws on his under-eyes and rubbing that warm patch of skin soothingly, “you’re untouchable- immune to everything and anyone that dares even come close.”

“i-“

“what is it, baby? what are you thinking?”

“i-i don’t know… a prince? but-“

“you’re human,” seokjin completed this time, “but still a bound nestmate. you’re part of the circle around me so, technically, you’re above everyone else…”

“the group?” the human asked with a feeling of urgency.

“part of the circle by association, but they don’t have a power over anyone- they only have the power that we grant them,” jimin was the only one keeping a nice façade right now, totally masking the fact that he was nervous just a few minutes prior to this conversation, “it’s a lot, my love. we have been meaning to talk about it, but we respected your request to take things slow… and now that time has come. things have been happening that indicate that we might need to start acting our part into this, in what we think is a matter of a couple weeks… we need to speak about your possible transformation again, prince.”

jeongguk didn’t reply.

if seokjin had a beating heart, it would be hurting from his human’s deafening silence. his face scrunched up as a weird sense of sadness overpowered him and suddenly his shoulders felt way too heavy and loaded- he hid further into jeongguk’s neck as he didn’t want his other nestmates to see him like this; he was going to be a king, a ruler, and he couldn’t even keep his wits about him because he never wanted any of this to happen. he wanted to live quietly with his nestmates and other lovers, but instead he was bombarded with this overwhelming responsibility over a hoard of rogue and ignorant blood-suckers that were brainwashed by his father’s ideologies knocking on his door.

and it was all the product of his mistakes.

“hyung?” he only realized jeongguk was facing him then- his voice was sweet and warm like the futon wrapping itself around the three of them. jimin was sitting up and peaking over the human’s shoulder with concern written all over his face, “are you crying?”

and then the real tears started going down his face at a too rapid pace. his body was racked with shivers like it never had before. the vampire and human gasped loudly and then immediately held onto him- jeongguk pulled him up and towards him so he could lay against his chest as the human hugged him from behind. jimin sat on his lap and and looked deep into his eyes, attempting to soothe him.

“my love,” jimin called out as the eldest kept crying, jeongguk buried his face in seokjin’s neck, nuzzling impossibly closer. his husband did the same as he had done to jeongguk a couple seconds ago, except he wiped away the vampire’s tears as he massaged the skin under his eyes, “why are you crying? tell us what’s on your mind. let us in…”

“i’m sorry,” his voice wobbled, “i’m supposed to be the strong and responsible h-hyung, but i never wanted any of this,” he shook his head, “we will carry such a… such a burden j-just because of a dumb mistake that i made,” jeongguk held on tighter and jimin’s face turned from a hopeful look to a frown, “i’ve never wanted to rule or be king- j-jeongguk, i didn’t want you to be the land’s prince. i wanted you to be our prince- the six of us. i wanted to live quietly- to enjoy my time with all of you and now… now i have my hands full of perhaps thousands of uninvited and barbarian guests- i’m tied down until someone takes my place, and i bet neither of you wanted to bear this responsibility either. i-i’m never going to be able to deal with everything on my own.”

jeongguk understood. the human understood the amount of astronomical pressure that the original must be under and can’t even begin to piece together amount of thoughts that must be swimming around his head at that exact moment when he couldn’t hold them in anymore.

“you’re not on your own,” jeongguk said in a whisper, one of his own tears slipping down his cheek.

“jinnie,” jimin came closer and hugged him as well, letting him cry and attempting to keep his own tears in, “you’ll never be alone. not in this, not ever. whether you rule or you don’t, we will be by your side. jeongguk?”

“w-we will,” the human confirmed, “i don’t know what it truly means to be a prince or even a king but… i will be there for you, hyung. a-and jimin hyung too- we will be there for each other. the others! the others too-“

“you don’t have to,”

“but i want to,” jeongguk repeated, “i want to help you and be there, hyung… like you were for me.”

seokjin’s tears stopped flowing with such intensity. jimin took the opportunity to pull away and talk some more, “hubby, remember i was nervous about talking about this with our prince, yeah? what did you tell me, then?”

seokjin sniffled one last time, “that… no one asked for this to happen and that we would be happy regardless.”

“say that again for me?”

“we will be happy,” he now said more confidently, leaning further into the human’s touch and jimin’s sweet way of talking for comfort. the latter pulled at both of them and soon they were laying down again, seokjin in the middle this time, “we will be happy…”

they stayed at home that night, wrapped in each other tenderly. jeongguk was the one who fell asleep as predicted, snoring quietly and with an arm over seokjin’s side, tickling jimin’s hand. the two vampires talked more in their own heads, and eventually seokjin was feeling all better and relaxed again- he felt embarrassed, but jimin was quick to shut it down and reassure that he didn’t always have to be this beacon of strength- he didn’t have to bear everything silently. he could count on them, as they had counted on him before.

the next day, jeongguk was woken up by them as usual- it was a lovely morning, full of unspoken yet understood words and feelings.

the vampires left for work after watching the human have his breakfast, having some for themselves too, feasting on the fruit that the human shared and a healthy blood portion from chilled bags.

it was a monday, so maybe an hour after cleaning up and ironing his work clothes, jeongguk texted the nest groupchat to let the vampires know that he was on his way to work. the human left the house with a big and black backpack that was decorated with thick straps (a replacement for his flimsy gym bag that his nestmates had gotten for him some time ago), he was wearing fitted pants with the black work flannel tucked in, one button open near his collarbones. his hair was tied in a ponytail, the bangs on the front flowing with the wind as he rode down that same familiar hill.

he made it to work on autopilot, humming a song that he made up on the spot. after parking his sick bike outside of the employer’s only door and tying it to the electrical post with a lock and key, he hopped up the stairs and opened the door with a smile radiating off of his face.

“bunny boy clocking in!” he said loudly as he punched in his time card, setting it aside where he got it from on the metal counter. the nickname ‘bunny boy’ had been coined by the rest of the group- they felt that ‘prince’ and the other affectionate names that the vampires used on him were perhaps a little too personal and a result of being a nestmate, so they picked something different that would be theirs as well. jeongguk was happy about it- it made him feel giddy.

yoongi and hoseok were standing against the half wall that connected to the cashier- the demon was holding a mug of coffee and sipping from it occasionally as the fire fae ingested some of the steam coming off of it. he bit on a bright red apple while he did it, one arm around the oldest’s waist.

hoseok greeted him first just as loudly and cheerful while yoongi looked sort of dead and grumpy. jeongguk guessed that he must’ve been up late working (it wasn’t like the demon needed to sleep, but as his favorite form was a cat he had come to enjoy the simple art of napping and closing his eyes to rest. he didn’t get to do any of that last night- his under-eye bags were telling enough.

“whoa, it’s jeonggukie~” hoseok greeted back excitedly, “cute hair! taehyung’s cleaning the tables at the back for opening, if you want to say hi to him too,” the fae put yoongi’s cup down on the counters and grabbed at his shoulders, gently squeezing him in and making him face jeongguk directly. the eldest groaned as jeongguk tied his apron around his waist, “say ‘good morning’, hyung,” the demon groaned, “sorry, he’s sort of dead- we didn’t get to sleep last night.”

jeongguk hopped over to yoongi who had his eyes semi-closed and then he leaned down to hug him, pulling him up and above the ground against his chest. yoongi didn’t make an unpleasant noise this time- he let himself be picked up by the youngest.

“good morning, yoongi hyung.”

“g’morning,” he said, hushed.

“he never lets me pick him up like that in public,” hoseok teased, inhaling some more steam from the cup, “how come he lets you get away with everything, bunny boy?”

yoongi was reluctantly put down- the demon made a mental note to later go back to his favorite animal form and chill inside the human’s large apron pocket, “he’s jeongguk.”

“that’s fair.”

“hyungs love me. i’m the universal favorite,” jeongguk giggled, grabbing a washcloth and his notepad as he made his way over to go see taehyung and help him open up. as he left, yoongi went back to hoseok’s arms, now closer.

taehyung was leaning against the bar counter and cleaning glasses before displaying them down onto the same surface. when he spotted the human, the werewolf put a mischievous smile on his face, “i knew it smelled like gay bitch in here,” he threw his towel over his shoulder.

jeongguk narrowed his eyes and rolled up his towel before using it as a whip against his best friend, “i hate you,” he joked, helping him clean up and set the tables for their breakfast service, “you’re gay bitch supreme. anyway, why didn’t you come over yesterday for our gym thing?”

“ah, that… sorry i couldn’t make it. i was busy being a gay bitch,” taehyung winked suggestively, making jeongguk tilt his head in confusion, “why do you think yoongi hyung is looking exhausted right now?”

oh.

jeongguk’s face turned beet red suddenly as he dropped the washcloth. he stopped all of his movements, mind racing.

“hey!” hoseok yelled from across the restaurant in a warning tone, making the werewolf laugh and jeongguk look even more confused, “i’m just kidding! don’t kill me. it was a full moon yesterday, so, you know, werewolf deal…”

“oh,” jeongguk gradually stopped looking so red and even laughed it off a bit more nervously than he’d like, but it also occurred to him that he had never seen taehyung in his full werewolf form- he had only seen the ‘cute’ stuff, not the entire ordeal. he couldn’t help but be curious… he had seen everyone’s forms, as well… the human wondered how his wolf would be and what he looked like- would he like him too? or would things be different?

after that conversation was done and he had embarrassed himself enough for thinking of taehyung and the others doing… such things, the human left to go grab fresh fruit from the storage area so that they could make juice out of them, as his daily routine specifically told him to do. his hyungs often put him in heavy hand type of jobs since he was the strongest physically, but he didn’t mind. it felt good to acknowledge that he could be useful (he even tried to impress them sometimes by carrying several boxes at once- one time jimin recorded it too).

they opened the restaurant soon after, and people started pouring in as per usual. jeongguk served tables, smiled, cleaned dishes and ran errands everywhere but his mind wasn’t in the right place. he couldn’t stop thinking about it- he couldn’t stop thinking abt taehyung and how he would be like as a full wolf.

on their first break in between breakfast and lunch, he finally asked about it as they were cleaning dishes and helping yoongi with peeling vegetables. jeongguk was doing the later, since the werewolf wasn’t exactly good at handling food.

“tae,” he called for him, making his friend look back as he dried a plate, “what’s your wolf like?”

the werewolf looked startled, and his eyes were wider- he gripped the plate a little tighter, “my what?”

“your wolf?” jeongguk questioned, unsure if he was being correct in the way he was phrasing it, maybe he wasn’t using the correct term? “it came to me that you’re the one who i havent like… fully seen? you know, do their thing?”

“oh…”

“can i see it?” he asked again, “is that something that can happen? be honest…” the human kept on peeling, finding it easier to do something with his hands as he waited for the answer.

“i mean, sure?” his friend sounded hesitant, “but also… i don’t see why you would want to do something like that.”

the human frowned, putting down his things and zeroing his gaze in on taehyung’s, “what are you talking about?”

taehyung also put down his plate and dried his hands, looking back, “it’s just that i don’t see why you would want to see me like that? my wolf and i… we don’t have the best relationship. it’s still me when he takes over but we argue a lot. i don’t want you to see something ugly.”

jeongguk stood up and walked closer to him, still keeping contact but softening his features, “why do you argue? is that okay to ask?”

“hyungs say that it will be better for me if i try to accept the fact that he’s a part of me now, and they do everything that they can to make that happen but…” he paused, sighing and looking away, “it’s hard for me, and it’s been five years of turning my head inside out at the slightest thing,” he looked upset, which was not what jeongguk had hoped to get from this conversation.

the human took his hand gently, which made the werewolf make eye contact with him yet again. taehyung looked up and was stunned to see jeongguk looking at him with huge eyes and a hopeful, empathetic look- the older was still pinned between the metal sink and his friend, so a pink shade couldn’t stop itself from creeping up on him. taehyung didn’t usually get flustered and was often the person who provoked such feelings on people, but he had a soft spot for the younger and they weren’t even… a thing, yet.

well, they certainly had a thing, but they never talked about it.

“hyung,” jeongguk called, grabbing him back from his thoughts, “let’s try it. maybe… maybe it will be good for you if your wolf is in contact with a full human while he’s doing his thing?” he sighed a little, “i mean, i don’t know how it works but that seems like the right thing to do?”

he looked so genuine- so thoughtful and caring that taehyung couldn’t have it in himself to deny him of this. something resonated within him and a voice in his head that he knew all too well seemed to growl at him to say yes. his wolf was uneasy and he wanted this almost as much as taehyung did.

“i… alright,” the werewolf squeezed the human’s hand in his own and his eyes glowed yellow for a fraction of a second, “we can do it but we need someone else to be there,” jeongguk nodded immediately, “i don’t want things to get sour…”

“they won’t get sour,” the human promised, nodding reassuringly, “if you’re up for it… i can call jimin and seokjin hyung, and we can arrange something with them in the backyard? just the four of us or really just everyone if you’d like?” he proposed, “i, um, may have noticed that you seem to be the most comfortable while showing your wolf… parts, when jimin hyung is around… am i right?”

“you are,” he confirmed- taehyung nodded, “he was very important and present during my healing process, even if our species aren’t supposed to get along-“

“that does sound like him,” jeongguk giggled a little bit, still so up close and personal that taehyung’s heart was still hammering inside of his chest.

the werewolf looked to the side for a fraction of a second and immediately saw that hoseok and yoongi were silently looking at them while leaning against the sliding kitchen doors- his body must have been suddenly filled with some sort of divine confidence (probably due to the fact that his boyfriends were there now) because he straightened his back and pressed back against the human, lacing their fingers tighter, “we can make that arrangement, sure. but… are you really going to stand there, hold onto my hand and press me against this sink without kissing me?”

jeongguk blushed instantly and his bottom lip jutted out as he was called out for his actions- but it’s not like he wasn’t looking for that outcome either. just then, he remembered what his nestmates had told him, so he went in without thinking twice.

the human let go of taehyung’s hand and leaned in quickly, holding his face in a bit shakily and suddenly their lips were touching, but the kiss itself was everything but rushed. it was slow- tender and caring. jeongguk and taehyung held each other, the werewolf was sitting against the sink and slithering his arms around his best friend, melting into the kiss and against jeongguk’s body, which was not what he had expected to happen.

after maybe half a minute, they pulled away and stood there for some more time, looking into each other’s eyes- taehyung’s were a glowing yellow for a while, “tonight,” the werewolf promised and jeongguk nodded, “after our shift. don’t have high expectations for me… yeah?”

“i have no expectations,” the human took one more peck from him, smiling widely and even laughing when a large strand from his ponytail fell off the hairstyle because taehyung still had a hand in it.

their break was over, so unfortunately the human had to go do his chores, as did the werewolf, who decided to stick around the sink for some more time to gather his thoughts. when jeongguk disappeared into the pantry to bring out the needed food to start preparing lunch, taehyung hid his face in his hands, face red and burning.

a sound of a high five came from the kitchen entrance.

“pay up, hyung,” hoseok was doing a small victory dance, hand stretched as he waited for yoongi to drop a fiver in it, “called it!”

“can’t believe i lost this bet by two weeks.”

“sucks to be you, baby.”

a couple minutes before his shift ended and the restaurant was ready to be closed, jeongguk was taking the trash out and after finishing that, he stopped near his bike, pulling his phone from his apron pocket to dial jimin’s number.

the human was smiling like an absolute idiot when the vampire picked up on facetime. jimin was sitting on top of the kitchen counter and wearing one of jeongguk’s new hoodies while seokjin was leaning against his chest and in between his legs.

“hey baby,” jimin greeted, arm stretched out to show the position they were in- he pet the top of seokjin’s hair, “your shift is over?”

“hey hyungs!” the human said excitedly, “i’m almost going home, yeah, which is why i wanted to ask you something…”

“what is it?” seokjin interrogated, turning to look at the camera.

“so,” jeongguk giggled, lowering his voice and leaning against the wall, “not to kiss and tell, but…”

“you don’t say,” jimin dropped his jaw a little bit and seokjin thumped his head against him again.

“i did what you told me to do,” the human ignored their bickering and kept explaining, “he asked for it so i just… did it. we kissed again,” his cheeks were hurting and he looked so filled with energy he could just start jumping around, “and something else happened, too!”

jimin and seokjin both smiled proudly at him, eyes find and soft over his excitement- their prince looked so cute when he was this happy, they wanted him to be like that forever. in amidst the good news, the vampires also kissed, giving the human something pretty to look at.

“what else happened, prince?” jimin asked when they pulled away from each other.

jeongguk’s lip had slipped in between his teeth when he saw his boyfriend’s kiss, so he let his mouth fall open a bit dumbly before he picked up where he left off, “taehyung wants to show me his wolf.”

their eyes widened. jimin looked between the camera and seokjin.

“jeongguk… are you serious?” seokjin also looked wide eyed, completely not expecting to hear such a thing.

“i am!” the human was also really proud of himself for managing to convince him, “but there’s a catch… he said he doesn’t want us to be alone when it happens because he’s scared something might happen… we talked about it happening tonight? can you guys be there?”

“of course we can, baby,” jimin sounded a little breathless, “that’s such an important thing for you both- of course we will be there and guide you through it,” he looked incredulous, “i just can’t believe this is happening. do you know how important this is, prince? we are so proud of you and him for arranging this all on your own.”

“it will be a beautiful moment,” seokjin reassured, “do yoongi and hoseok know about this?”

“i think they do…”

the oldest turned to jimin, “should we call for a group meeting?”

“well,” jimin thought for a moment, “namjoon was coming over anyway to discuss his transformation and forest matters with you, so i don’t see why not? plus, our babies like an audience, right?”

“that’s mean,” jeongguk blushed, not entirely denying the statement, “but… everyone else has seen it right?”

“yes, we all have.”

jeongguk nodded, “then i think that’s alright… if tae’s okay with it, i won’t have a problem either.”

“we’re so proud of you for making big decisions like this, prince,” jeongguk couldn’t help but think of the double meaning that that nickname carried now, “you will love tae’s wolf- he’s so beautiful, you’ll be blown away.”

“i’m sure i will,” the human looked inside for a second, feeling a rush of warmth through his body when he saw his three hyungs talking as they waited for him to close, “this feels… hyungs, is it stupid to think that something really important will happen tonight? besides- besides the whole seeing his wolf thing, i have a weird feeling…”

“that’s alright, prince,” jimin reassured, “he already loves you. now… you should go back to them, sweetheart.”

“i should… thank you for talking to me, hyungs. i really needed to know…”

“we will always be here,” seokjin completed, “now get going before they get mad for waiting.”

“we love you!” they made kissy faces at the camera in unison.

“i love you too!”

they ended the call and jeongguk immediately put his phone back in his apron and went inside to talk to the others about his proposition for the night.

as it turns out, hoseok and yoongi already knew about what was going to go down and were more than willing to accompany them to the mansion and stay with them during the process. after all, his hyungs knew better- and if they thought that it was for the best, then the more the merrier.

jeongguk stripped himself of his apron and went to pick up his bike outside, politely asking if yoongi would allow him to take it in his trunk. the demon said yes without even thinking twice about it and within ten minutes, they were on the road.

when they arrived, namjoon, seokjin and jimin were already outside waiting for them. they were dressed in comfortable clothing while still looking pristine- seokjin was holding a fluffy white bathrobe beneath his armpit.

they got out of the car and jeongguk ran to the vampires and namjoon, hugging the witch first in greeting before kissing his boyfriends right then and there, as happy as he has ever been.

“someone’s bouncy,” jimin commented, slipping his arms around jeongguk’s torso from the back.

“he was like that during the entire car ride,” hoseok commented, as he brought yoongi and taehyung over to them. they all said hi to everyone with a small and quick kiss.

then, they turned to taehyung in a more serious and less lighthearted note. namjoon held one of his hands, “are you ready, tae?” he asked sincerely even though he knew that besides his courage, taehyung was also nervous- both him and jeongguk wore their hearts on their sleeves, “there are no wrong answers.”

“i want to be,” the werewolf squeezed his hand, “but it’s not easy to.”

“we are proud of you for even considering to be here,” yoongi stepped in and taehyung’s hand tightened around namjoon’s at his words.

he got a little shaky suddenly, “i want this. i want this so badly- ever since it happened i’ve wanted to show you and tell you about how… how i really am,” jeongguk also looked more serious as he looked a little bit emotional as well, “i don’t know what will happen, but you have to promise to still be my friend after all of this is over.”

jeongguk frowned and left jimin’s arms as the older got the hint and let go. the human walked to him and pulled him in a tight hug a little too quickly- still frowning, “hyung… i think we are well past that part?”

hoseok looked away as his eyes got teary and so did jimin’s- seokjin rubbed his back comfortingly, also bothered by what was happening but not really showing it.

“well, i-“

“i’m not leaving,” the human kept saying, pulling away from the hug to look into taehyung’s eyes, “whatever happens, i’m not leaving you. it will be fine-“

“i should be the one reassuring you-“

“shut it,” his own eyes were getting teary, “i care as much about you as you do about me… and this will be good for us. do you feel that too, hyung? do you?” the werewolf nodded slightly, “then let’s go,” he took his hands in his own, “let’s go back there and see where this will take us.

the group had come closer by the second, standing proud and emotional- it was just such a huge step and everything meant so much to every single one of them.

they let the younger two lead the way around the house and into the backyard- it would be better if they had a more passive role in this, after all, they were asked to watch and make sure that everyone was going to be safe. they took a shortcut through the inside of the house as they exited through a pair of sliding doors besides the stairs in the main hall.

the backyard of the house was just as welcoming and beautiful as the inside: there was a small decked area with gardening pots that were owned by namjoon (even some of his witch ingredients and materials were there) and a couple lounge chairs that were safely kept in the shade.

there was a large path of fresh and natural grass down the steps of the deck that was surrounded by a horde of trees; the green bedding was neatly cut but missing in some areas since the group often used this space for bigger rituals such as helping namjoon celebrate yule, ostara and beltane as well as hold meetings- jeongguk had never been part of such things because they hadn’t really done anything that grand since he joined, but he was thrilled to be part of it one day.

when they arrived at that place, taehyung and jeongguk walked further and into the grass zone while the rest of the group stayed behind on the deck, sitting down on the floor or against the lounge chairs. seokjin interrupted briefly to speak up, “you two,” he said as he descended to meet them, robe in hand, “we will be watching you carefully and will always be nearby if anything is ever needed or if this needs to be interfered with, understood?”

jeongguk and taehyung agreed in unison- the human lowered himself down to sit on the grass, feet tucked in beneath his butt. jimin came closer as well, draping a warm jacket over his back and claiming that he should keep it on- after all, it was a chilly night and december, as well. the human thanked him with a kiss before the vampire went back to his spot: sitting on namjoon’s lap.

likewise, seokjin extended the robe he had been holding to cover taehyung’s body as he shed himself of his clothes and passed them to him- it was nothing that jeongguk (they’ve been friends for years, of course) or the others hadn’t seen, but the poor werewolf was already vulnerable enough.

seokjin left to go to the deck again after he ruffled jeongguk’s hair, leaving the two alone for real now.

jeongguk was sitting down on the ground- taehyung was standing a few feet away, still, enveloped in a robe. they were silent for some time before the werewolf let out a short sigh, letting said robe fall off his shoulders and onto the ground.

the human flinched in surprise, following the robe falling with his eyes before he looked up again, a subtle blush on his cheeks was masked by the darkness of the night. taehyung sighed yet again, and then brought himself to his knees, hands stretched out and fingers scraping against the dirt underneath him- his back muscles flexed as he took in more breaths.

his body began contorting and bending in weird angles, and it looked almost painful from the way that his growls and grunts grew louder in volume. as this happened, taehyung had crawled closer to jeongguk- he was so close that the human swore he could listen to his bones creak and snap into different positions.

it was almost horrifying, but jeongguk couldn’t look away even if he tried to. when the werewolf bent his legs backwards, his silhouette grew bigger and bigger, making jeongguk look up and up at him, still attempting to follow his glowing yellow eyes. his mouth was hanging open, and his eyes mimicked surprise covered in a thin layer of fear.

the group watched intently- readying themselves to jump in the scene if things got ugly. they were also on edge.

taehyung’s face extended and before jeongguk could blink, a puff of hot air collided with his face. his jacket fell off his shoulders as if on queue- his breathing stopped for a solid second.

in front of him stood a large beast- one of the largest animals that jeongguk’s imagination could only make up. the wolf was so much bigger than him, even when he was sitting he stood two heads above him, at least. his fur was long and rich brown with white streaks, a deep color that reminded jeongguk of taehyung’s hair from a while back. over his snout there were three long and deep scratch marks that resembled the ones that taehyung showed on his cheek whenever his control slipped.

the wolf puffed out air in his face again and the group at the back stood up straighter when they saw that jeongguk still hadn’t moved an inch since this entire ritual had started.

“seokjin-“ jimin whispered in panic to him, but the oldest quickly made work of squeezing his hand in his own. they had to trust the process- they just had to.

whatever the human had imagined to see tonight, this certainly was not it.

but it wasn’t bad- it was only… slightly terrifying.

there was a deep growl from the animal that made his entire body shake from the sheer intensity of it and it bared its teeth at him- such long and sharp canines. the human fell backwards as he lost balance, holding himself up on his elbows but still staring into the deep eyes of the beast that now crawled above him and kept sniffing him down.

“seokjin-!” jimin almost pleaded now.

“not yet!” the vampire whispered back.

the other three were focused on the scene and still hadn't opened their mouths about it- hell, it almost seemed like they hadn’t even blinked.

jeongguk’s breath got quicker and started matching the animal’s at some point when he was laying down, but amidst his panic he still managed to remember what his friend had said before all of this. the human swallowed the lump of fear in his throat and as quietly as ever he whispered, “t-tae?” the werewolf heaved another hot breath, mouth open now. he tried louder, “tae?”

namjoon gasped loudly and looked towards yoongi and hoseok who stared back just as shocked, “he’s…”

“fuck...” yoongi voiced out, holding onto hoseok.

jeongguk whimpered in distress as it seemed like nothing was working in his favor, “tae-“ he had his face full of saliva that dropped from the wolf’s huge teeth, “tae, it’s me! f-fuck, don’t you recognize me?” he laid down on the ground completely as his elbows hurt from digging into the dirt. the human shakily raised his left hand and watched as the werewolf momentarily paid attention to it, sneering.

“what the fuck are you talking about?!” jimin whisper-yelled to everyone on the porch, “we need to do something! he’s never reacted like that befo-“

there was another loud growl, but this time it was different. it was short as if something had deafened it and when the group finally looked back at them, they were shocked like they had never been.

jeongguk had pressed his hand against the wolf’s large snout (it didn’t reach anything besides his nose)- he was still shaking, but at least now the wolf had stopped breathing down on his neck and was instead deeply registering his smell.

this went on for too long.

after maybe two minutes of this, jeongguk had stopped shaking so intensely and the wolf finally pulled away from sniffing his hand. the human’s breath hitched- the wolf relaxed his limbs and moved to lay on top of him fully, weighing down on him. jeongguk still made no sudden movements, but he couldn’t keep himself from gasping and flinching when suddenly all he could see were the wolf’s mouth opening and his huge teeth shimmering in wet saliva.

something flat and sticky dragged itself along his entire face and hair, “uh-“ jeongguk grumbled, but otherwise smiled when he heard the beast make something that reminded him of the noises that dogs do when they're happy- the wolf repeated the same action until jeongguk was reduced to short giggles and attempts to move away from everything, to no avail.

the wolf yapped loudly as it began to stand up on all fours again, freeing the human from the sheet weight of its body on him- the beast’s tail was swooshing happily from side to side while jeongguk attempted to clean the saliva from his face.

jimin felt such an enormous weight lifting off his shoulders that he couldn’t stop his body from going limp against the witch, skin paling as he sighed out. namjoon held onto him tighter and then stood, laying the vampire down on the lounge chair.

seokjin rushed to jimin’s side to hold onto him, softly whispering that everything was going to be okay. the oldest pet his hair, doing his best to reassure that jimin would be okay after this catastrophic stress drop. the witch was now near hoseok and yoongi who were still focused on the situation itself. the witch leaned against the fence that protected the deck, running his hands through his face in confusion and maybe distress.

“love,” the vampire called softly, prompting jimin to stand up, “it’s all fine, my love. stand- stand up and see, they look so beautiful. look at our boys,” the original pulled the other up from behind and held him against his chest. jimin grumbled but otherwise smiled.

jeongguk was now sitting up on the grass, laughing with tears in his eyes as he roughly pet the wolf over his big face, “tae, tae!” he kept calling for his friend, voice loud and excited- he lurched forward, trying to fully wrap his arms around the beast’s neck, but that seemed a little fruitless- he stood there, arms not fully wrapping around its neck but still in a tight hug. he could feel the werewolf breathing and heaving against him- his whole body vibrated with happiness and an entirely new feeling that strangely resembled something that he knew before… he just couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“...he’s a pack member, isn’t he?” the witch asked to the air and the entire group seemed to stagger.

“so you felt it too?” yoongi smiled sheepishly, swallowing dry, “i thought i was overreacting-“

“what the fuck?” jimin said, indignant, “how is that even possible? he’s already a nestmate of ours- how is he a member of your pack?”

“this doesn’t make any sense,” namjoon responded, agreeing, “but- but it’s real.”

“i’ve never heard of anything like this,” seokjin was shocked as well, “how is this… nestmates and pack members are not interchangeable? our species aren’t originally meant to get along- not even you three are part of our nest and his pack at the same time?”

“how is this only showing up now?” the demon sat down on the chair roughly.

namjoon looked over to the grass, looking at the two youngest playing around in the field, blissfully ignorant- jeongguk had managed to get on top of the werewolf before he slipped right onto the side, falling back down with a laugh and some more licks.

“it was his wolf,” namjoon said slowly and with a sigh of what could be read as defeat, “remember, we only knew we were pack members when he laid a claim on us. he did the same to him, just now. we just didn’t see it- or maybe it was there all along, we don’t know…”

the vampires’ eyes glowed in red. jimin stood up abruptly from seokjin’s grip, ignoring his dizziness, “he did… what?!”

“you know taehyung doesn’t control him completely,” yoongi also raised his voice, taking the younger vampires back a little bit- the demon didn’t do that… only once, “that was his wolf. taehyung doesn’t pick this.”

“that doesn’t matter! how could his wolf do such a thing? he was already claimed by us!”

“how are we supposed to know?”

“i have to research this-“

“guys!” the fae who had been quiet piped up suddenly and even his hair flared red at the need of being heard, “we have bigger things to worry about! we- w-what implications does this have on jeonggguk’s transformation?” the group stopped arguing, falling speechless at the question, “if pack members and nestmates can’t be part of the same bonded group- what… what will we do?”

the vampires’ eyes and features went back to normal.

“this… this isn’t happening,” jimin said, bottom lip trembling, “how could this happen? seokjin-“ he turned to his husband, “seokjin, what do we do? our plans-“

“i… i don’t know,” the original hugged him close, letting jimin rest his eyes in between his chest, “but- this isn’t the end of the world, right?” he turned to namjoon for answers, “there… there must be something we can do to fix this. neither of these marks are breakable- there must be something we can do.”

the witch rubbed at his face again, pacing around and trying to think of something to say- this was unheard of. absolutely ridiculous- but then again, the vampires’ bond with the human also made no sense whatsoever. this was unique- an exception- and rules can bend for exceptions, can’t they?

“i will do my best,” he promised, bringing his index finger to his chest where the pentagram iron cast mark was and drawing a large x above it, “bound and sworn. you have my word.”

“stay today and the next,” seokjin suggested to the group, nudging at jimin to look up at the rest of them, “we need to figure out what to do about this- we need everyone present for as long as it takes, right? jimin?”

“please,” the vampire pleaded to the others, “we had- we had plans and reassurance, now… now this threw a wrench into everything-“ his words were cut off by the demon pulling him into arms and then hoseok doing the same. even namjoon who wasn’t the most physically affectionate person in the world joined in, rubbing the vampire’s cold back, “close the restaurant and stay. there’s already so much on our plate-“

“we’re staying,” hoseok declared, “we can bring namjoon’s things tomorrow and start looking for a solution right away- it… it will all be fine.”

“i’m sorry for my attitude,” the vampire kept going, “i didn’t want to raise my voice. i never-“

“forget about it,” the demon brushed it off, “there’s a way, i’m sure. we can fix it.”

there was a loud yelp in the air and the entire group turned to jeongguk and taehyung quickly, but they ended up laughing at what they saw.

taehyung had turned back to his human form and the two were on the ground: the human was on top of him, face red and eyes wide. he stared at taehyung’s face illuminated by the moon- he was smiling so beautifully and he looked so ethereal.

“impressed?”

“so impressed,” jeongguk said breathlessly, “you’re beautiful- and, and huge,” he giggled quietly, “and very naked.”

jimin sighed out loud, “lucifer… i love them so much,” he wasn’t crying, but he couldn’t help but let out a small sob. the whole group felt the same, tightening their grip onto him and agreeing quietly.

“do you think…” hoseok started, “do you think we all could be a pack? and we just really don’t realize it?”

“is it childish to wish for that?” seokjin questioned.

“i don’t think so,” the witch answered simply.

“then i hope we are.”

taehyung and jeongguk eventually made it to the porch to meet up with the group. the werewolf was enveloped in the fluffy robe and the jacket that jimin had given to the human.

“did you see that?” the human asked excitedly, “that was so fun- scary, but fun! we have to do this again sometime!”

seokjin came forward and brought the human and werewolf into the group hug, “i have a feeling we will be doing this again, jeongguk. but… we need you both to listen to something.”

taehyung was fidgety and it looked like he already knew what everyone else was about to say.

“you’re a pack member, jeongguk,” it was yoongi who broke the news bluntly, “in addition to being part of their nest, you are a part of our pack. tae’s wolf has had a claim on you and we don’t know for how long it has been that way, but we will find out and solve it.”

the words felt like they fell on jeongguk’s ears and passed right through to the other one. he tilted his head to the side and furrowed his brows, “uh?”

“prince,” jimin took the lead of the conversation, “remember when you said that you felt this was going to be more important than what it seemed,” the human nodded a little bit, “this is it, prince. this is what that gut feeling meant.”

“is that… bad?” jeongguk raised one of his eyebrows, “isn’t it good that i-“ his voice got quieter, “also belong with them?”

jimin’s face softened. his prince was just too good, “it is, jeongguk. it’s wonderful but also…” his dead heart tugged at itself with the guilt of raising his voice earlier.

“it’s also confusing because it shouldn’t be happening,” namjoon completed in his turn, “so we should study it and see how it will affect things- especially your possible turning, shouldn’t we?”

jeongguk’s eyes suddenly widened and he turned to the vampires, “hyungs- this doesn’t change anything between us, right? i’m still-“

“you are,” jimin put his mind to rest, “you are, and nothing can change this. nothing can change what we have… this is eternal,” jimin pulled him into a kiss and a hug. jeongguk felt the immediate spark, just like he always did. seokjin joined the hug and squeezed them in.

taehyung, on the other hand, was agitated. his mind ran miles and miles ahead of his reasoning and he was quick to spiral into panic.

“taehyung?” hoseok said worriedly, warm hands grabbing at his arm before the werewolf shrugged them off of himself, “hey! what’s wrong? pup-“

jeongguk and the vampires stopped their hugging in lieu of turning to him.

“i-i messed up- i messed up everything, i-“

“this wasn’t your fault,” jimin said sternly, “you know more than anyone else that you don’t control everything that your wolf does,” he looked at yoongi quickly after he said it, finding the face of approval staring right back at him.

“but i could’ve said no to showing it to him.”

“and how exactly would that have helped, puppy?”

“it- it would’ve…” he scrambled for things to say, face scrunching up as tears welled in his hazel eyes. he was clearly frustrated and just as confused as everyone else.

“can everyone please just...” jeongguk spoke up, “shouldn’t i be the one feeling irrational about this? i think that this can be good?”

the group’s ego took a blow at being called that.

“nothing that has happened to me has been ‘normal’ these past few months, hyungs? don’t you see?” he made a dramatic pause, “rules in your reality or mine don’t apply to me, for some reason. it’s almost like… like i’m some sort of-“

“exception,” namjoon mused, immersed in his own thoughts.

“exactly!” he grabbed at taehyung’s hands and looked deep into his eyes. his friend still seemed anxious, but at least he had managed to quieten his yelling, “so what makes all of you so sure that this is some sort of disaster that needs to be studied? who even writes the rules about this, anyway?”

no one knew how to reply.

no one had an answer for that.

“we should talk about this tomorrow,” yoongi proposed, “it’s been a long enough day for everyone. too many emotions and digging at old tradition. we should go to rest.”

they all silently agreed, walking into the house once again. taehyung pulled at hoseok’s sleeve when they were walking, giving him an apologetic look and leaning into his warm touch once he was pulled closer by the fae.

there was so much left unsaid and unraveled. the atmosphere was dense with mystery and confusion- but deep down everyone knew that it would be best addressed the next day.

they reached the stairs and climbed up all of them in silence, but when it was time to part ways with the four others and head to the nesting room, a thought popped in the human’s head- seokjin and jimin heard it, giving him back the encouragement that he needed.

jeongguk reached his arm fowards and tugged onto namjoon’s shirt, making them all halt and turn to him. the human spoke calmly and quietly, “stay with us,” it was a tiny proposal- a small wish and nothing else, “can you all stay with us tonight? you don’t have to use the guest room…”

everyone agreed.

“show us the way.”

the seven boys made it to the nesting room, souls and consciousnesses lighter- they felt happier due to the proposal that came from the human, because it meant and spoke volumes.

even when faced with a situation that wasn’t normal, even in their own terms, jeongguk was willing to face them head-on and become closer to them in more ways than one.

they shed themselves of their clothes- most of them, some preferred to say with their shorts or shirts on.

jeongguk sat down on the mattress first, setting the examples and smiling to himself when everyone else followed. jimin and seokjin laid down on either side of him; yoongi turned into his cat form, finding a warm spot to sleep under the crook of the human’s neck. namjoon had wrapped his arms around seokjin from behind, hugging his cold body closer while taehyung slithered in between jimin’s and jeongguk’s arms- he needed it. everyone understood. hoseok gathered the comforter in his arms for some time, warming it up before he covered everyone with it and making his way in between seokjin and jeongguk.

falling asleep wasn’t an easy task- everyone was still sort of tense but the warmth of the blankets and the presence of everyone make everything a hundred times easier.

jimin and seokjin were the only ones that were still awake an hour later.

“who thought it would come to this,” seokjin told him through his mind.

“i acted irrationally today, my love,” jimin confessed, “but… i like it like this.”

“it’s frightening.”

“but it feels right, doesn’t it?”

“it does.”

“seokjin…” jimin said as he pet the werewolf’s hair and placed a kiss on his forehead, “what if what we always thought was true just isn’t?”

the original chuckled, “then we make the rules.”

“i like that idea.”

“sleep well, minnie.”

the youngest vampire smiled warmly, “goodnight, my king. i love you.”

Chapter Text

the next day, jeongguk woke up with the sun gently caressing his face- with closed eyes, it seemed that everyone was still asleep, but upon opening them, he saw that hoseok was no longer within their cuddle pile.

yoongi was still in his cat form but was now laying across namjoon, paws in his face and feet digging into the back of seokjin’s head as the two hugged each other, the witch spooning his boyfriend from behind. on the other side, taehyung was laying on top of jimin, head in his chest- the human was laying under jimin’s armpit, comforter up to his chin.

as gently as he could, jeongguk stepped out of the mattress, untangling his hands with taehyung’s, who had laced them together and some point in their sleep. once he stood up, the human stretched and smiled as he rubbed at his sleepy eyes, t-shirt riding up his stomach and showing his toned belly.

the human emerged from the bathroom five minutes later with a washed faced and teeth- the banana milk they kept in this room’s mini fridge was calling him so he hopped over cutely to get one.

he looked over to the mattress, smiling to himself as he saw the five others still sleeping in the same position, except taehyung and jimin were now closer to everyone else since the werewolf craved the presence on his left side.

he wondered where his hoseok hyung was as he bit into the straw, but before he could completely process the thought, he heard the small telltale noise of a set of wings flapping and the curtain right next to the mattress moved with it. the human gasped before he gently walked towards the thin white curtains, already spotting a silhouette that he knew well sitting on the porch of the window, a couple centimeters above the ground.

“hyung?” jeongguk approached the window slowly, whispering so he wouldn’t wake up everyone else, especially his boyfriends who had a really light sleep. he crouched in front of it and slowly peeled away the offensive fabric, smile widening in his features when he saw that hoseok was in fae form, sitting on the small windowsill and bathing in the morning sun- his feathers were remarkably shiny, almost reflecting the sun itself. the fae opened his eyes when he felt the disturbance, waving excitedly at jeongguk.

“hey, hyung,” the human greeted politely, “you’ve been here for a while?”

the fire fae nodded at him and then stood up, hovering towards his face and pressing a kiss to his cheek before he sat on his shoulder delicately, his bird legs tucked into the rest of his body and he closed his eyes again, basking in the sun.

the human completely sat on the floor, pushing the curtains behind him and looking outside attently. he wasn’t sure what to say- he knew his hyung was non-verbal when he was like this, but he also wanted to talk for a while. there was so much on his mind from yesterday. he wanted to talk about his feelings and objectively he could, but maybe it would be better to wait for him to be back to normal? he didn’t know- so he stood silent as he watched the winter’s surprisingly bright sun peek from the trees around the house and then disappear into heavy clouds.

hoseok noticed his strange silence, of course, as sweet as ever. the fae softened his look even further- the human really did wear his heart on his sleeve the whole time. the fae extended his right wing towards his face, softly tickling him and drawing his attention to his hyung again.

“what is it?” he whispered again, having to cross his eyes to look at hoseok completely. he gave him a look of questioning, before pointing a guilty finger to him, shaking his head and making a sad face. jeongguk interpreted it as him asking if something was wrong, but he still asked for confirmation- “um… are you asking if i’m okay?”

the fae nodded and left his shoulder, hovering in front of his face but at some sort of distance now.

jeongguk bit his lip and then it was as if he had opened a faucet, “hyung… i’m just so confused about everything that happened yesterday. it was so… everything was so intense and then calm, and intense again. i’m happy- i’m happy that besides being destined to be with jimin hyung and seokjin hyung, that i’m also supposed to be with you four… but it’s so much? so much is involved… our plans and everything. i want to be turned and live with you guys forever but i’m also a little scared of it. i know you will never hurt me- yesterday just jugged my thoughts a little bit. is this okay?” he asked a little helplessly, bringing his knees to his chest and curling up a little bit. hoseok in front of him softened, smiling as warmly as himself and nodding, “i must sound so repetitive. i really want it… i hope it can still happen.”

the fae went down and grabbed at the human’s hand, suggesting that he pulled it up- jeongguk did, pouting when the fae held onto his thumb and rubbed his face on it affectionately. jeongguk widened his eyes a little and looked the most starry eyed he’d ever been- he leaned into the tiny man’s comfort, now gathering his body in his other hand as well, watching as he rested against it, still clinging to the digit.

his hyung was so soft, weightless and warm that jeongguk could really just start crying- the gesture was so endearing that it pushed away all of his bad thoughts, leaving him only capable of smiling down at his hyung and whispering a hushed ‘thank you’. this gave him the opportunity to feel hoseok in his entirety- his wings felt like cotton which contrasted heavily with his lower half that in its turn was coarse and sharp along his bird claws.

the intimacy lasted for a couple of minutes where hoseok just held his hand sweetly and jeongguk held him with as much tenderness- somehow, this felt more monumental than their kiss. it felt like he was holding an entire world in his hands, a world that he knew so much about and a world that he wanted to share forever.

“i wish you could talk like this, hyung,” the human blurted out quietly without thinking much about it, “i like hearing you, you’re so loud.”

the fae giggled and then moved, placing a kiss on his forehead. it lingered and so did its warmth when hoseok pulled away to point at the window’s lock which was closed tightly.

jeongguk rose an eyebrow, “you want to go outside?” when the fae nodded sincerely, the human moved to do it, knowing all too well that he would be back when he could- surely, the fae had important duties to attend to, he ruled the forest after all. still, for safety, jeongguk asked as he undid the lock, “um… will you be back soon?”

the fae nodded once more, reassuringly.

the human pushed the window open with a smile, listening to them creak, “i’ll leave the kitchen window open and make breakfast for everyone- come when you want to?” hoseok giggled in affirmation and at his offer. the human was just too cute, too much of a good boy to be real- he thought so dearly.

he turned to leave, but the human spoke up again, making him look back. jeongguk reached forward gently and held him, kissing his face like namjoon did every morning when he brought him fresh ingredients for his craft.

he then let go, and with one last gesture of farewell, the fae exited through the opening in the window and was now nowhere to be seen, even if jeongguk tried to follow with his own eyes.

he stood still for a while, staring out of the window and locking it again before a soft voice called for him, “prince?” was whispered quietly- it was jimin.

jeongguk peeled away the curtains again and smiled when he saw that at least one of them was awake. he crawled over quietly, laying down on jimin’s right side this time. the vampire kissed him sweetly, “what are you doing awake, baby?”

“i woke up early and was talking to hoseok hyung…” he slithered his hand down to pet taehyung’s hair, which didn’t go unnoticed by jimin at all, “he just left. he asked me to open the window.”

“good boy,” jimin praised. jeongguk’s cheeks were set ablaze, “i’m surprised you didn’t wake me up… should we call the others and have breakfast?”

they did. jimin and jeongguk took on the mission of slowly waking up and greeting the rest of the remaining boys. namjoon and seokjin were the easiest, as expected, the vampire didn’t last long under the attention, kisses and noise that everyone else was doing- namjoon protested quietly, rubbing at his eyes with his fist before he stood up after moving yoongi’s cat body away.

the demon took the most nursing. jeongguk grabbed the chubby cat with sweet and caring hands, petting him on the head a little roughly and cuddling with him- he purred quietly in the human’s lap and everyone aw’ed until he opened his eyes with a long blink.

taehyung was still asleep- the human thought of waking him up differently this time around. he waited until the rest of the boys were all done greeting each other with tender touches soft words and as they concentrated on the last boy, jeongguk leaned down and softly placed his lips on the werewolf’s, much to everyone’s surprise and delight- taehyung stirred awake slowly, but still grumbled and turned away from the touch like an embarrassed puppy. he leaned against jimin for comfort.

“morning,” jeongguk said sweetly.

“‘morn...g,” tae gritted tiredly, rubbing at his eyes.

“breakfast is on me?”

in ten or so minutes, they all made it downstairs and were waiting for jeongguk to finish preparing a nice breakfast- he told them to stay seated and enjoy themselves while he worked.

so far he had prepared a bowl of fruit and some cereal for taehyung who had specifically asked for it. coffee was in the making and there was already blood infused yogurt and regular one on the counter.

right next to the kitchen’s large window, jeongguk placed a small plate with some peeled grapes and orange slices next to a tiny container with a teaspoon worth of honey (namjoon suggested) for the fae that would come back soon.

taehyung was sitting on the floor and playing on his phone as the rest of the group talked about the day before. granted, everyone was much calmer and collected- jimin actually apologized for his attitude again and they all dismissed him, saying that they knew he never meant any of it and that it was all instinct, of course, everyone was just on edge. they comforted him some more and to everyone’s surprise, namjoon came forward and held him in his buff arms sweetly.

they kissed deeply.

jeongguk stared with a bowl of cereal in his hand.

“now, not in the kitchen, guys,” yoongi reprimanded, softly smacking them on the shoulder before he took the bowl from jeongguk, “you’re traumatizing bunny over here.”

jimin pulled away and laughed softly, “he’s alright, yeah? he likes seeing it.”

“spicy,” seokjin commented as they sat down to eat casually on the counter. jeongguk played along and rolled his eyes, eating his yogurt.

“i thought of something,” namjoon spoke up at some point in between gulps of coffee and a bite of a breakfast bagel. hoseok still hadn’t arrived, but no one was particularly worried.

“shoot,” yoongi responded after sipping his coffee.

jimin, seokjin and jeongguk were sitting together on the inside part of the counter, touching subtly like they always did.

“consider what jeongguk said yesterday, about being an exception…” he ate some more, “it came to me that, the ones in the pack, we all had a ritual to enter it, correct? however, we know that bonds are formed emotionally first and then physically.”

the group nodded except jeongguk, since he didn’t know all of that.

“granted, jeongguk’s ritual- if we can even call it that- obviously was accidental since none of it was planned by us formally,” again, everyone agreed and the tell-tale noise of hoseok landing on the windowsill stole their attention for a few seconds. they all greeted him and smiled at his giggles. namjoon continued, “when we were getting ready to go to sleep yesterday, i realized… when it came to joining the pack, we never tried to do it with jimin and seokjin.”

jeongguk furrowed his brows and everyone looked like they were having a moment of clarity, “what do you mean?”

“we all assumed it wouldn’t be possible,” seokjin answered, looking perplexed.

“but why?”

“because we’re vampires,” jimin looked even more shocked, squeezing in taehyung’s hand which he was holding over the counter, “and vampires and werewolves don’t mix.”

“that’s obviously not true…”

“how could we overlook this completely?” namjoon wondered out loud, “we are so proud of not following tradition and yet… we fell right into it without thinking.”

hoseok had eaten his share of honey so he flew over to the table and sat on taehyung’s arm, knowing that the boy needed the comfort. he could feel that he was still in a moderate state of shock from yesterday. besides not being in a good relationship with his inner wolf, it had claimed his best friend unknowingly to him, and there was no telling why he had done that.

so much was changing.

“i mean… hyungs, don’t take this the wrong way, but i think it’s justified that you guys kind of overlooked it…”

everyone turned to jeongguk suddenly, which made the human recoil a little bit in his seat.

jimin squeezed his hand as well, “talk, darling.”

he took a deep breath, “i think, uh… maybe you didn’t mean to fall into the old tradition, but it’s sort of ingrained into you even if you don’t want it to be? since you guys were taught that you should respect it…” the group was quiet, pondering, “but that’s just my opinion. i obviously don’t know everything…”

“he’s right,” the witch was quick to cut him off as he looked deep in thought- his boyfriends kept touching him reassuringly.

“i am?”

yoongi shook his head and laughed quietly, “you are. old habits die hard, yeah?”

“i mean- you guys are still very progressive! i read a couple of things from the library here and most things are horrendous… i’m happy everyone at this counter isn’t like that.”

“right you are,” seokjin leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek, he could tell that the human was rambling to justify his opinion, which wasn’t needed, but if to him it was, then so be it. he then turned to the rest of the people present, “should we begin researching ways to make that happen?”

“there are no records of that ever happening,” yoongi shook his head again.

“sometimes i wish we weren’t the first ones to do everything,” taehyung sighed out a little absentmindedly.

“puppy…” jimin gave him a look of compassion and endearment, standing up from the stool he was sitting on and hugging him sweetly, “it’s okay. why are you still wasting your energy on keeping your cute little ears and tail hidden?”

the werewolf bit his lip, “i don’t want to talk to him…”

“why, puppy?”

“i’m angry at him. what he did wasn’t right,” jeongguk looked shocked, mouth slightly agape and eyebrows raised at what taehyung was saying, “we didn’t talk about it- we didn’t talk with jeonggukie about it beforehand and i feel terrible about it. i don’t understand why he would do something like this. especially… especially when it’s about jeongguk,” he turned to the human with teary eyes, “what we have is more than friendship by now and everyone knows it, so i don’t really care to hold back about this: i’ve liked you since we were kids. when i got turned… it was hell to hold him back from you, but i managed to do it because you didn’t know about any of this,” seokjin wrapped his arms around the human who was just staring and listening to his best friend- if that was what they were at this point, “i want to be with you- i want you to be part of our pack… i wanted to talk to you about it, but he took that opportunity from me. again.”

everyone understood that whatever little trust that the boy had in his inner wolf had been thrown out the window a few hours ago just from this small conversation.

hoseok flew over to the opposite side that jimin was hugging and claimed his spot there too.

taehyung looked so defeated.

“tae...” the witch began once more but he had to swallow his words.

the werewolf looked so inconsolable.

jeongguk wasn’t sure what to say, but he had to do something to make him feel better. he had to let him know that there was an after to this incident- jeongguk didn’t consider it one and he was quite happy about it but if taehyung felt like it was an accident, then it was and he should be comforted and cared for after going through something like that. jeongguk didn’t know why taehyung’s wolf seemingly claimed him without his consent or taehyung’s- he didn’t know so much about this, still.

he swallowed dry, “can i hug you?” jeongguk asked quietly.

the vampire and fae moved away when the werewolf nodded slightly because jeongguk jumped into his arms immediately, hugging him tightly like he was going to slip away like sand between his fingers. taehyung couldn’t help himself and started crying openly again, but jeongguk only held on tighter and shook his head, “its okay,” he repeated countless times, teary despite himself, “don’t cry, it’s alright, taetae.”

“get in here guys,” seokjin called and the group huddled closer to help comfort him and share the warmth- they all said similar words, listening intently until taehyung was reduced to sniffles rather than loud sobs.

jimin left the hug for a fraction of a second and showed up suddenly with a tissue. he gingerly pat away his tears, taking care since his claws were out and also helping him blow his nose.

the youngest vampire sighed softly as he smiled, “my gorgeous boys. so good,” he had his hands in taehyung’s and jeongguk’s hair, petting them softly.

“we will get through this,” the demon rubbed the werewolf’s back.

“do you both want some alone time?” namjoon proposed, giving some space to them both- he knew how much personal space was a value, especially to himself and others, “we can all move to the library while you guys stay and talk or do something. we need to go look for some more information, and you can keep taehyung company, can’t you jeongguk?”

the human nodded, determined, “i can. i can take care of tae.”

“then why don’t we take you two to prince’s room?” jimin suggested, “we will be busy in the library making up a plan and bringing namjoon’s tools over- everyone might have to stay here for a while.”

taehyung didn’t speak, but he nodded to the words once again, using his long sleeves to wipe at his cheeks.

they were both taken upstairs to jeongguk’s own room and taehyung was now slightly calmer, clinging to jeongguk’s hand as they entered.

the fae had turned back and gotten dressed as well as everyone else who was going out to retrieve namjoon’s work tools and ingredients- the werewolf and human were still in their pajamas. they decided that the group would divide into three: taehyung and jeongguk would stay behind in the room to work out the issue, jimin and yoongi would go up to the library and look through a few books to see if they could find anything useful while seokjin, namjoon and hoseok were out there in the cabin, bringing tools and ingredients to the mansion for the witch.

before they were left alone and the group split up to do their tasks, jimin made sure to tell them that they could call for yoongi and himself at any moment and that in an hour or so he would begin ordering lunch for everyone as a ‘reward’ for working hard. they all parted ways with sweet words and so the two were left to their own devices in the comfortable room.

“i don’t usually hang out here,” jeongguk confessed to break the silence, “i stay with hyungs in their room all the time, but it’s comfortable here… i like to nap here on that bean bag,” he pointed at a large black bean bag near a heater and wall mounted tv as he smiled cutely, “if you want to talk about what happened yesterday and… other things,” he blushed and avoided looking into the werewolf’s eyes as he said it.

the two sat down on the bed a little apart- it was hard to address the subject, but taehyung wasn’t talking, so jeongguk had to take the lead of the conversation.

“hyung,” he called, getting his attention again. taehyung turned to him and hummed in affirmation softly, “do you regret last night?” the human asked honestly and sort of small.

he sighed, “no. i should, but i don’t,” he explained further, “it’s complicated, kookie. i regret not speaking to you about it before he did it…” he said the last part through gritted teeth, “but i wanted it to happen. i’m torn.”

“but why are you torn?”

“because i’m angry and upset,” taehyung confessed, “but i’m also happy that you’re supposed to be with me… if you wished to be. i guess now you are, regardless of that last part.”

“tae…” jeongguk took his hand in his own softly, “i want to be,” it felt good to finally be courageous enough to admit it, “if that matters to you now, i’ve always wanted to.”

“always?”

“what you said during breakfast… i’ve always liked you too,” his cheeks and the werewolf’s were hot and red, maybe if someone was to look close enough they would be able to see a bunch of steam coming out of their ears.

“that’s a little embarrassing for the two of us.”

“yeah, we’re some idiots.”

“why didn’t you say anything though?”

“because you were already dating other people,” jeongguk flopped down on the bed with a huff, “and you know i wasn’t always this… outspoken about things. and then i started dating too.”

“sure, right, when you got your ass cuffed by seokjin and jimin within a week,” the werewolf played along, lighter.

“and then i was told my best friend was in cahoots with my two boyfriends.”

“your best friend?” taehyung questioned.

“yeah?”

“just a best friend?”

jeongguk flushed in a beet shade, “i…”

“not up for the challenge yet?”

the human sat up abruptly and stared at him dead in the eyes, serious expression on, “don’t ever say that to me- ever,” taehyung broke into laughter. jeongguk was so glad to hear it for the first time today, “but um… i am, kind of.”

taehyung didn’t quite hear him- or maybe he wanted the confirmation again, “what was that?”

“i want to,” the human repeated in the same breath, “i want to be your boyfriend too, but… how would that work with the others?”

“with joonie, yoongi and hobi?” the werewolf was closer now, their knees and hands were touching, “seokjin and jimin are a package deal and we are too, sort of, but i’m sure they will be happy about it. they… they want to be with you too and i think you already know that.”

the human nodded shyly, “i want- i want to get to know them better.”

“take your time with them if you want to,” it just felt right, “i think we will all be together someday and… that’s beautiful. all i’ve ever wanted.”

“i want it too,” the human looked so small talking about this, taehyung thought. it was like the thought excited him but at the same time was a little overwhelming, “i can’t wait for that to happen. i can’t.”

“so…”

“do you… want to be my boyfriend?”

“thought we already had a thing going on,” the werewolf teased a little bit, “was you pressing me against the sink yesterday not enough?”

the human’s cheeks flared and his eyes were wide, lips open in a rectangular shape, “i-i thought you would like that...”

“i’m just kidding.”

jeongguk smiled widely and pounced on the werewolf with a laugh, wrapping his arms around his neck and bringing him down on the soft mattress, “we are boyfriends, then!”

taehyung could only smile back at him, holding his best- boyfriend in his arms and interlocking his legs. they stood still for a few minutes and just laid there together in each other’s presence. it was soft, sweet and comforting- tae looked a lot happier and felt better about everything, but the human still had to ask him, “are you feeling okay, hyung?” because he was just too good to be true.

“a lot better,” he whispered back, “but… i’m still sorry for not talking to you about it before it happened.”

“no one could’ve predicted it hyung,” he leaned closer and pressed his lips against the side of his face tenderly, “i understand that you’re still mad, but… we might have to talk to your wolf during this crazy research process,” he was honest. they had to lay out all the cards for everyone on the table and stay like that, if they wanted to do this.

taehyung scrunched up his nose and sighed defeated, “i hate it.”

“i know, taetae… i’m sorry about that,” the human looked legitimately apologetic, “we will all be there with you, you know? you’re not alone with him in your head anymore, because we are in your heart.”

the werewolf turned to him completely speechless before he squealed loudly and began an onslaught of kisses all over his face- the human was just too good. he was absolutely too good to be true. jeongguk laughed and thrashed around a little bit but the other had a firm grip on him as he continued to stamp his lips over the other’s skin with a newly found vigor.

they played videogames on the human’s switch and cuddled for the rest of the hour that they had until jimin and yoongi came knocking on their door, just in time, as promised.

“puppy, prince?” jimin called from the other side of the door as he knocked. the two youngest let the two others inside the room- yoongi’s lips were a shade redder than usual and jimin was smiling from ear to ear to see his humans and the werewolf all cozy and cuddled up beneath jeongguk’s comforters.

“how are you two doing?” the demon questioned as him and the vampire stood on the side of the bed, looking down at the two who had now put down the gaming console and were just hugging each other tenderly.

“we’re okay,” jeongguk said in the sweetest voice ever, “more than okay, actually.”

jimin had a sneaking suspicion, “and why’s that?”

taehyung sat up suddenly, smiling boxy and bright, “jeonggukie asked me to date him. i said yes,” the human was still clinging to him, now hiding his red face away.

jimin gasped loudly and yoongi looked shocked, but their surprise quickly turned into euphoria and genuine happiness for them both. the vampire lurched forward and knocked the two over onto the bed once again with a laugh that bounced off of the walls- yoongi sat next to them, softly petting the werewolf’s head.

“that’s so amazing!” the vampire squawked happily, placing open mouthed kisses all over jeongguk’s face. his human was beaming impossibly wide, “oh, my babies. look at you doing so much progress.”

“i’m proud of you both,” yoongi said with the most genuine voice, making jeongguk smile from ear to ear and also move to hug him. the demon retributed the hug as tightly as the human did.

“hyung,” he whispered to him, “soon, is that okay?”

“as long as you need, jeongguk.”

jimin smiled impossibly wider before he stood up with a renowned energy. he clapped three times and loudly, “get up, boys! it’s time to order lunch and i’m thinking we should get something special to celebrate.”

“why order when i can cook?” yoongi deadpanned, standing up with everyone else and following jimin out of the door, already rolling up his sleeves.

jeongguk and taehyung had their fingers interlocked when the human spoke, “do something warm, hyung! your comfort food is so good…”

“you got it, bunny boy.”

“bunny boy?” jimin questioned with a giggle as they went down the stairs towards the kitchen.

“you’re not the only one with a thing for nicknames,” the demon said back, grinning all too pleased with himself, “we have our own charms too.”

“clearly, if you’ve managed to sweep my prince off his feet like that,” the smallest said with an emphasis on the nickname. they were at the kitchen now and the vampire made a turn to the cellar, leaving a flustered group of boys behind himself. ah, yes, his favorite hobby.

yoongi made a big batch of food and at some point during the process the rest of the group had returned from the trip to the cottage home in the woods. they entered the mansion through the garage door, carrying some luggage and bags into the main hall.

“you’re back,” the werewolf said loudly and then him, jimin and jeongguk left the kitchen to meet them.

“we brought everything here,” namjoon announced, taking the bags from hoseok and setting them down on the ground, “this is gonna take some time to set up.”

“something great happened!” taehyung announced.

hoseok tilted his head curiously, “and what is it?”

taehyung grabbed the human’s hand and put on a huge smile- the group was happy to see him laugh like that since last night, “guess who has a new boyfriend!”

seokjin looked stunned. namjoon was shocked for a second and then started laughing with a huge smile on his face- the fae looked the happiest, immediately exuding a flame from his hair and making a happy loud noise.

“that’s wonderful,” the vampire commented genuinely.

“we are so happy for you both,” the witch laughed as he said it, accompanied by hoseok’s claps and enthusiasm, “you’re going to love taehyung, jeongguk.”

“i can tell,” the human said sweetly, “hyungs… give me some time, please?”

“don’t even mention it.”

the group went to the kitchen again and had a nice lunch together- seokjin informed everyone that besides bringing the witch’s materials they brought most of their clothes and personal items, since they were bound to all stay over for a while.

after cleaning up, the witch turned to the human who was helping the demon put dishes away and pulled him aside.

“what is it hyung?”

“do you want to come help me set up my altar?” he proposed, “and i need to set out some offerings. do you want to come help me?”

the human was immediately thrilled, eyes wide and a soft gasp leaving his lips before he smiled widely, “your altar?”

“yeah. for my deities,” he explained.

“of course! i want to see and help you!”

seokjin couldn’t help but overhear them, coming closer to talk to namjoon, “you can use whatever room you want, joonie. or several, if you want to sprinkle it through the house. we’re gonna hang out in the living room and go over some books on werewolves and packs,” the others were already wandering off: jimin had slapped hoseok’s ass playfully on the way, “call if you need us?”

“don’t worry about it,” the witch comforted and after a kiss the vampire moved away to the living room in a dark cloud.

jeongguk was once again stunned- watching his hyungs kiss was always a sight that he’d be a little too obsessed with seeing. it felt like he was experiencing the eighth wonder of the world.

he went back to his senses when the witch tugged at his hand and pulled him to go up the stairs. he did so a little bit clumsily before he caught on when they picked up the luggage and bags that were in the main hall on the way up.

they entered a room near the nesting room that was pretty empty except for a desk, bed and wardrobe- over the time at this house the human had noticed there were a lot of empty rooms, eight in total, jeongguk made the connection in his head that they used to belong to the others before they all got together in a single relationship and were now used as guest rooms for whenever they were needed.

they set the bags and luggage down in the middle of the room, and then jeongguk stared at the witch to ask for direction, “so… what am i supposed to do?”

his hyung looked so cool.

“first i’ll have to cleanse the room, so you can sit back and put on some cool music that you like, is that okay?”

“yeah!” the human nodded and sat on the bed while pulling out his phone with swiftness, beginning to play some relaxing beats and turning up the volume on the higher setting.

the witch, on the other hand, had opened one of the bags and taken out a big and sturdy looking wooden box that was dark and had symbols carved into it cleanly, clearly done by an expert hand. when the human peeked inside, there was a large array of bags of herbs and incense sticks as well as something that looked like white paper wrapped in thread to keep it in a cylindrical shape.

namjoon could feel his curiosity, so he answered in advance, “it’s sage,” he took a lighter from his pocket and went to open the large window in the room, “it doesn’t smell that pleasant, but it will clean this space just fine.”

“does that not hurt the others?”

the witch laughed a bit as he lit the tip on fire, blowing it out shortly and smiling contently as smoke emaned from it, “no, they’re fine. sage just sort of resets the area that you’re in as long as the windows are open,” jeongguk looked at the smoke, entranced in the large puffs of clouds that came from it, “yoongi isn’t really fazed by it because i have no intention of banishing him, but he doesn’t like being near it, that’s all.”

“mhm,” jeongguk made a confirmation noise from the back of his throat, nodding along. namjoon grabbed at flat shell inside the wooden box, leaving the sage to smoke on top of it and on the drawer.

“do me a favor, bunny, open the big wheeled luggage and take out my candles… they’re wrapped in stuffing paper, but be careful.”

“i got it hyung!” the human would lie if he said the nickname didn’t scramble up his insides and made him try to conceal his blush furiously. he jumped from the bed and into the ground, opening the luggage with care and searching for the so called special candles.

he grabbed at the cylinders, unwrapping them and then holding them in his arms, “what are these for?”

“those are my deity candles,” he explained- the witch was setting up a large black cloth over the drawer as well as one over the windowsill, “they represent my goddesses.”

“your goddesses?”

could his hyung be cooler than this?

“yes,” the witch stepped closer and took a large dark blue candle from the boy, setting it strategically on top of the clothed drawer, “this one is for athena,” he turned and did the same with a pink one, “aphrodite,” the last candle was white and embedded with herbs and golden spots in it, “and this last one is for nike.”

“wow…”

“pretty neat,” the witch was slightly embarrassed at the admiration, but he pushed through it with an awkward giggle, “now i just have to set out my crystals, tools and offerings.”

“you carry a lot of things,” the human babbled as he looked through the bags, taking big crystals in various shapes and colors out of them and carefully unwrapping them from their protective journal paper.

“it’s part of the pleasure of it,” namjoon was taking care of jars, tools and herbal bags, neatly tucking them inside the drawers and leaving some out on his work space, like his scrying bowl, tarot decks, array of crystal pendulums as well as set of unused jars and sealing candles, all inside a small box.

the crystals were placed loosely with the human’s help as he picked most of them to make it look pretty- at some point the witch had lit the candles and jeongguk couldn’t help but stare at the twirling flames that danced tall and proud even if there was no longer a window opened.

namjoon took care of most of the offerings- he set out a glass of milk, another of rosé and red wine for the three goddesses, leaving rose petals for aphrodite as well as sea shells, pearls and a golden hairpin. on athena’s side there were also rose petals and daisies, a small cat pendant made out of obsidian resting right under her candle and incense holder. for nike, the witch left small olive branches, a gold medal and his own grimoire.

it was all set. jeongguk smiled happily and couldn’t help but hug the older who looked like he didn’t know what to do- he awkwardly circled his arms around him and they stood there for a while.

“it looks great, hyung,” he sounded so genuine and he definitely didn’t miss how aphrodite’s candle danced high as he stared, “thank you for letting me help you!”

“thank you for helping me,” namjoon said back, and then the air in the room switched sort of suddenly- immediately, the witch recognized this feeling and sighed softly.

jeongguk pulled away and questioned what was wrong, to which the witch smiled softly and leaned back, “aphrodite wants something.”

the human gasped, looking excited, “she’s here? right now?”

“yeah, she is…”

he squealed- namjoon could see his younger self in his excitement, “what does she want?”

“she… she likes you,” namjoon turned his head to candle and it flickered wildly.

“she likes me?” the smile somehow got bigger and wider- his eyes sparkled, “what can i do for her?”

“usually she’s pretty sated,” he awkwardly laughed again, rubbing at the back of his neck, “goddess of love and all of that… you can guess she’s pleased with my relationship status.”

against all of what namjoon thought would happen, jeongguk laughed sweetly, “yeah, i bet! she seems cool… what should i do?”

namjoon shivered in warning and embarrassment as the goddess’ flame flickered even more, almost shaking the glass to the point where it clinked and threatened to break. namjoon loved aphrodite and complied obediently to her every will- they were on extremely good terms, and yet she always managed to catch him off guard, “she wants an act of love,” he finally said, bending his back to her demands.

“oh.”

“you don’t have to. it doesn’t even have to be towards me or anyth-“

jeongguk smacked his lips against namjoon’s in the heat of the moment- maybe to shut him up a little bit but mostly because he’d been wanting to do it ever since he laid his eyes on the older man at the restaurant. his eyes were screwed shut and the witch’s were wide as ever, shock making him not move or kiss back at all, for as long as it lasted anyway.

jeongguk pulled away with a quick smack and the widest of smiles- he almost didn’t look embarrassed, like he was too excited to have any inhibitions and shame to hold him back at this point. the atmosphere in the room suddenly let up and he could almost see a faint color of pink floating around them; there was an overwhelming smell in the air- namjoon remembered it to be aphrodite’s scent: hibiscus and roses.

“was that good?” the witch heard him ask it faintly, but it wasn’t directed at him in the slightest- the human spoke to the candle, giggling sweetly when it flickered wildly and then went back to normal, now staying still and satisfied as if nothing had even happened, “this is so cool.”

he was still holding onto namjoon’s clothes, only realizing that when he looked back at the witch with wide eyes. he was still stunned, looking back at the human like he had been smacked.

“hyung?”

namjoon snapped back into himself, “oh, i-“

“was that bad, hyung?” the youngest looked worried now, letting of namjoon’s clothes hurriedly and smoothing them out since he had crumbled them slightly. as he looked down, his loose shirt fell forward nd as a result the witch could see him still using the necklace that he had made back in september, “i should’ve asked, i’m sorry-“

“no, it’s fine,” namjoon cut him off quickly, taking his wrists in his hands softly. jeongguk really just wanted to be good, “it’s more than fine, i was just caught off guard a little bit.”

“okay,” he said breathlessly, avoiding eye contact. it almost didn’t look like he was the same person that had so suddenly kissed namjoon, “are you… are you going to stay here?”

“for some time,” he softly let go of jeongguk’s wrists.

the human nodded, “i’ll go downstairs then, is that okay?”

“of course,” namjoon raised his hands again and ruffled jeongguk’s hair, making him laugh again as his blush faded softly.

he said bye and went on his merry way downstairs, closing the door behind himself and immediately burying his face in his hands to scream silently. did he really just do that? that was so painfully cliché but it felt like one of the best things he’d ever done in his entire life.

he tried to gather himself quickly before he descended the stairs and joined the rest of the group in the living room. when he peered inside and walked in, they were all discussing something that he didn’t immediately catch up on- yoongi had a book in his hands, round glasses perched on his nose as he laid across the large sofa. his legs were hanging over jimin’s- he was sitting down, loose papers in his hands while taehyung sat his feet, talking to the eldest in an engaged conversation. hoseok was also on the floor and the book that he was reading was coded in a language that consisted of symbols, maybe runes that the human wasn’t able to decipher but that he was sure the fae was fluent in. seokjin was sitting on the large armchair, reading some papers of his own- he was wearing one of jeongguk’s favorite hoodies and one of the only colorful pieces of clothing, his yolk yellow one.

when they sensed his presence, they all turned to the door and stopped what they were doing to greet him dearly.

“hey baby,” jimin put down the papers, holding out his hand in invitation to come closer. the human did, sitting down next to taehyung. the vampire dragged his nails through his locks lovingly, “is everything set up?”

“yeah… hyung is upstairs finishing some things. did you guys do a lot of progress?”

“sort of,” seokjin put down his papers as well, stretching his back and sighing, “we can wait for joonie to come back to see if we should do something or not.”

“something?”

jimin stayed petting him- jeongguk loved the younger vampire’s touch so much… “before we do anything too major, we need to check if it’s safe for you to be in both of the bonds at the same time… we thought maybe, the thing that would be most threatening to a werewolf regarding a vampire would be if we were to drink from one of their pack members,” he explained slowly, “we already drink from the others sometimes, but it’s different, because you’re human. do you understand, prince?”

jeongguk could sort of see where this was going. he nodded, looking up, “yes… i understand, hyung.”

“this only has to happen if you want to,” seokjin clarified.

“yes, angel. what we would do is we would have seokjinnie drink from you while the others keep an eye on your reaction and tae’s. i know this is very different from what you’re used to do and that you’re very vulnerable in that headspace and after that type of intimacy, so it’s okay if you don’t want to do it.”

“seokjin hyung will drink from me?” his eyes were wide- hoseok hid his fond smile behind his book.

jimin nodded, “yes, since he’s the highest on the rank of vampires- two birds one stone, see? what do you think about that?”

jeongguk looked down and bit the inside of his cheek, thinking to himself for a while as he was touched by his youngest boyfriends- taehyung had his hand on his thigh, jimin’s claws were in his hair and seokjin was now leaning forward, smiling gently at him after the proposal. yoongi sit up at some point, putting the book that he was reading down on the coffee table.

“jeongguk,” the demon called and the human looked up at him expectantly, “you call the shots. keep that in mind.”

he sucked in his bottom lip and bit it before he nodded, “i know that, hyung… it’s a lot, and seokjin hyung hasn’t drunk from me in a long time… it only happened one time, but i trust him. and i also trust you guys, but…” his cheeks reddened, “i get embarrassed really easily, especially when i'm like that. it just… it feels too good. and it’s embarrassing-“

yoongi shook his head, “it’s not embarrassing. we’ve all been through that as well, you’re just not used to it. we’re best friends, yeah? some of us are still in that basis, and you've gotten more comfortable with us overtime.”

“i don’t want you to see me differently after this happens,” he finally blurted it out.

jimin awed quietly in a way that sounded that he was feeling sad for him- if he had said it outloud he would probably call him baby right after.

“we won’t see you differently,” hoseok replied instead, “we can promise you that. we will be supervising and helping the process, but we don’t have to talk to you or touch you if you don’t want to, you make the rules kook.”

“you’re going to be cute.”

“my prince is cute always,” jimin agreed with yoongi immediately, “so what do you think? tell us.”

“everyone else is okay with it, right?”

“everyone except namjoon is in on it, we haven’t talked to him about it yet,” it was seokjin who answered.

“then… we can do it. i’m okay with it, but i’m probably going to be very shy about it… i don’t know if i want to be touched, though…”

“you make the rules,” yoongi reinforced.

“wonderful,” jimin complimented, leaning down and dropping a kiss on his lips in a comforting manner, “you’re a sweetheart. you won’t be as embarrassed as you think you will, you’ll see. we’ll make it so it’s as comfortable as possible for everyone.”

he nodded, “where will it happen?”

“you can decide that too,” taehyung told him this time.

he thought for a bit, “can it be in the nesting room? i feel the most comfortable there…”

“consider it done,” seokjin left his spot and went over to jeongguk, sitting in front of him and kissing his cheek, “i’ll take care of you.”

after namjoon came down to the living room, they explained the plan to him and he agreed to it, they quickly made a move to tidy up the living space and prepare the nesting room. they gathered the pillows and blankets to a strategic position where the human’s back would be supported against the comfortable surfaces. there were sweets in the mini fridge, small vitamin and iron tablets on the counter. there were bottles with water and juice waiting to get crisp in the freezer- the heater was plugged into the wall next to the mattresses, warming up the room in the middle of december’s winter. jeongguk found it odd when he noticed that they were bringing in soft yet resistant rope as well.

he asked what it was for and hoseok answered him as honestly as he could, “precaution,” the fae led him to the mattress that was already prepared with pillows and soft textures. the human sat down, crossing his legs as he waited, “we don’t know how tae’s wolf will react, so we have to tie him up for everyone’s safety,” he reached into his back pocket expertly, pulling a large pair of sharp silver scissors, “i have these on me, we can cut him out of it any time.”

the human nodded and within a few seconds everyone had gathered in the nesting room for it to finally happen.

“everyone,” jimin called and they all sat down near the human on the ground, “everyone knows the rules, yeah? this is mostly for jeongguk, but everyone needs to know- remind me of your safeword, prince.”

“red,” he said aloud to everyone in the room, “red is my safeword.”

“and to slow down?”

“y-yellow,” after the first time that the two vampires and human had sex, the three of them got up to some more things in the privacy of their own time. over the course of a few times having sex together, they found that jeongguk fit perfectly into a submissive role: he was always so soft, so eager to please and service- he was perfect in every way. seokjin met him in the middle, while jimin, ironically took on a more dominant role. it came naturally to them, partially because the two vampires were so acquainted in that department that the dynamic persisted even outside of the bedroom. jeongguk fit right in and fell apart so easily, like putty in their hands- the two never took it for granted.

it took some time for the human to get used to asking for what he wanted without feeling like a burden or like he was asking for too much, but eventually he was comfortable enough in himself and in the relationship to speak freely, even in moments where he was deep in his headspace. nothing bad had happened when they were having sex because the vampires were tuned into the human’s emotions and reactions but they talked about it a lot- they wanted to prevent it rather than having to deal with the outcome of something like that happening.

but alas, this wasn’t about sex.

sort of. the act of being bitten by jimin and seokjin had turned into something sexual at this point in the relationship. they didn’t need his blood or the group’s to live or quench their thirst, so now the gesture was something erotic, possessive and unique to their dynamic.

jeongguk was vulnerable and all they wanted was for everyone to be safe.

“good,” the vampire complimented, “it will go down like this, prince: you’re going to lean on those pillows and get comfortable- naked or not, you can decide that. yoongi and hoseokie are gonna tie up tae a little away from you, but he’ll still be close,” when jimin read jeongguk’s look of worry, he was quick to clear things up, “it won’t hurt him, baby. here,” he took the rope from the fae gently and held it close to the human, “feel them angel. they’re soft, it won’t hurt him at all. he likes these ropes, too,” he wiggled his brows.

taehyung made a sound of embarrassment but he laughed along with everyone else, protesting because jimin just aired out his business to his new boyfriend. jeongguk took the ropes and felt around them- they were smooth to the touch but dense, it felt like it would even feel good tightening around his skin, but the human pushed away that thought for later.

“see? soft, aren’t they?”

jeongguk nodded, “yeah… they look pretty,” that didn’t answer the question, but jimin smiled knowingly and moved on.

“we also have pillows for his knees and aloe vera cream, if that makes you feel better baby. i’ll be next to you, grounding you and giving an helping hand… joonie, yoongi and hoseok will be taking care of taehyungie while seokjinnie bites you, but we will all have eyes on each other.”

“you said no touching, right jeongguk?” the witch asked, ironically because they both had just kissed for the first time less than an hour ago.

“yeah… i don’t know about that, but… we’ll see. is it okay if i change my mind halfway through?”

“of course,” seokjin replied, “you can change your mind anytime. we trust you to tell us whenever something is wrong or if you want to change anything.”

“i… i can do that.”

jimin leaned close and pressed a kiss to his cheek, “promise, prince?”

the human nodded, “promise.”

the scene started.

“lay down sweetest,” jeongguk leaned into the mountain of pillows with jimin’s help, smiling and sated as he was kissed all over his neck and collarbones above his thin tshirt.

seokjin was sitting next to him and in the process of showing his vampiric features that the human was so in love with. he still had his own large yellow hoodie, running his claws through it to feel the contrast between his sharp nails and the soft material.

there was shuffling in front of him so the human turned his head slightly to look at what was happening. he gasped when he saw that taehyung was on his knees and shirtless, werewolf features hanging out freely as yoongi and hoseok prepared themselves to tie him up prettily and securely to keep everyone safe, but also to give taehyung the comfort that he deserved.

jimin grabbed the youngest by the chin with a soft touch, taking care with his claws whilst he make the youngest stare as the two began dragging rope across taehyung’s body. jeongguk’s breath hitched when they locked eyes.

“pretty, right?” jimin asked, not really a fan of the human being quiet in these situations.

jeongguk nodded the best he could with his chin locked in place, “y-yes. taehyung is really pretty… i like- i like the ropes.”

“what a lovely idea for another time.”

“j-jimin…” jeongguk shivered as he felt seokjin’s cold hand slip under his shirt and press into his toned tummy.

namjoon was sitting behind taehyung and the rest as he waited for them to be done with the securing and the design. hoseok was working on a chest piece that was intricate but could be done quickly while yoongi secured his legs and arms, binding them all behind his back.

once they were prepared, they passed him an end of the rope and he held it firmly, acting as though it was a leash that connected to the chest piece and his hands at the back.

the human shivered again.

“color, angel?”

“green,” jeongguk said immediately, “i’m green.”

the vampire let go of his face, smooching its side before he turned to taehyung, “puppy?”

there was a deep rumble in his voice when he spoke, “green,” it made everyone’s own chests tremble.

his wolf was also here.

namjoon tugged on the rope a little harder, knowing his boyfriend could take more than a little rough housing, especially in this state.

seokjin started doing his part, then. he moved to stand in front of the werewolf, chest filled with confidence. taehyung stared back him but there was no hostility or a sense of predatoriness in his eyes- he was the same he had always been, only now tied up and sharing a body with the wolf that the vampire was trying to entice.

his ears flattened onto his head and seokjin couldn’t help but feel bad for attempting to look intimidating. he softly cradled his face in his hands, sighing out a genuine, “in lucifer’s name, you’re getting so many cuddles after this one.”

the group laughed and the soft moment acted as a good mood breaker- even jeongguk stopped squirming to smile as well.

jimin’s hands danced over the hem of his shirt, “let’s take this off? how’s that sound, baby?”

the human placed his hands over the vampire’s and helped him pull his clothes up and over his head- he hoped that would suffice as an answer for his question. they were happy to see the development, jeongguk wasn’t sure about getting undressed a few minutes ago. no one missed the way the room suddenly got hotter, and no one certainly missed namjoon’s and taehyung’s breath hitching.

seokjin was suddenly in jeongguk’s space, a few inches away from touching his chest with his own. he made sure that the human was comfortable as he sat on his lap, dragging his claws and the pads of his fingers across his pecs and making him see stars behind his eyes. he kept the yellow hoodie on, now fully leaning into him to nose around his neck and collarbones.

jimin held onto the human’s hand, “think you can look into taetae’s eyes while seokjinnie feeds from your sweet blood, baby?”

jeongguk whimpered, attempting to press against the elder harder and looking into the werewolf’s eyes at the same time. they were a bright gold now, reflecting everything in front of them like a polished mirror. it was impossible to ignore everyone’s presence around them as well- namjoon stood important and with a leash in his hand while taehyung was kneeling and slightly curled up, being held up by the demon and fae on his sides.

they all had been quiet, respecting jeongguk’s wishes.

“good boy,” jimin praised when jeongguk kept the eye contact for the first ten seconds of whatever game this was. he fisted his hand into the human’s hair with gentleness in his every move, making jeongguk’s head tilt to the side, “cry if it hurts, baby- don’t hold it in. my hand is here and you can tighten it or safeword out. i love you so much, prince,” he told you the human, “you’re making me so proud.”

“love making hyungs p-proud,” jeongguk blushed furiously, mumbling an almost inaudible and breathy, “y-yes, i’m good…”

“the best,” seokjin certified, kissing above the spot he was about to sink his teeth into. jeongguk relaxed against him, slipping his left arm over the vampire’s neck and holding him, “brace yourself, jeongguk… sit still, baby.”

seokjin calling him ‘baby’ was always a treat that made a pleasant warmth spread through his entire body- he went lax, running his hand across the fabric of his hoodie.

jeongguk and taehyung whimpered when the quiet sound of flesh being pierced reached their ears- the werewolf’s flashed yellow for a second as they met the human’s which were rolling back, face scrunching up as a sudden wave of pleasure ran through every single fiber of his body.

oh, how he had missed this feeling.

namjoon held taehyung’s head gently, hands messing up his curly locks and loosening his grip on the end of the rope. hoseok and yoongi reached to cradle him and put him in a more comfortable position. he was sitting on his side now, head lolling into yoongi’s shoulder.

“ah,” jeongguk breathed out dreamily, resembling a quiet moan as he squeezed jimin’s hand in his own. the vampire next him was all smiley and comforting, holding him close and getting him through everything, “h-hyung, feels so good, please-“

seokjin wasn’t taking a lot- truth be told he was sucking around the bite and taking it slowly more than anything so that the human would feel the pleasure of the venom and not be dizzy or weak afterwards.

jeongguk’s arched into seokjin’s body, not being able to stay still anymore.

it was delight. jeongguk was doing wonderfully, feeling on cloud nine and taehyung wasn’t lashing out- he was pliant as well, giving in under the sheer dominance of the original paired with the adoration that he felt for everyone involved. he wasn’t angry or territorial over the human… he was excited. his wolf was so excited and content with the thought of seeing a mate of his own take care of another.

his eyes widened and he went still.

mate. his wolf called seokjin “mate” in his head.

hoseok and yoongi felt the werewolf’s sudden halt and were immediately alarmed. still not speaking, the fae moved in front of him and held his face, staring into his eyes with worry. namjoon let go of the rope to hold onto the werewolf’s back.

“h-hyung,” he called for anyone really “y-yellow…”

the entire room stopped.

jimin turned to the werewolf quickly and the other vampire slowly stopped taking from the human, now simply holding him in his arms with his teeth still deep into him. jeongguk let out a soft whimper at the sudden pause, but he was more concerned than displeased- if he could even catch onto what was being said.

jimin kept the contact with jeongguk as he spoke, “what’s wrong, puppy? tell us what happened,” he momentarily looked at the human who was sinking into the pillows quickly, eyes and expression looking lazy and almost sleepy, “do you want the ropes off? is it too much?”

“mate… feel good,” it wasn’t taehyung’s voice, rather, it was spoken in a growl that made the vulnerable human that wasn’t used to this recoil a little in fear. he shook his head as if to snap out of it, “t-take them off, hyung-“ he spoke directly to seokjin, “he called you mate- he called you mate in my head.”

yoongi pulled the sharp pair of scissors out of hoseok’s backpocket and was quick to snip the restraints away from the werewolf’s body. once those were out of the way and in shreds on the carpeted floor, taehyung slumped back against the witch, tired and sweaty beyond what was normal for him. his bangs stuck to his forehead. he completely reversed back into himself as soon as his head hit namjoon’s chest.

“there, there,” namjoon attempted to wipe his sweat away with his own shirt, “calm down taehyungie, we’re all here,” the witch spoke for the first time since this entire experiment started, “i think we already have the answers we need. he didn’t have a bad reaction… we should get them comfortable and clean up so that they won’t drop,” the group agreed, immediately beginning to move around and fixing things up.

seokjin took care of fixing himself up and cleaning his chin after licking jeongguk’s wound to seal it- jimin was holding the human in his arms and speaking sweetly to him, taking care not to move his shoulder too much as they shuffled slightly to their side. namjoon did the same to taehyung, placing him near the human and onto the stacks of pillows with ease. immediately, the werewolf and jeongguk looked at each other while they breathed a little heavy.

during this, jimin sat there in the middle, keeping contact with both of the youngest members of the group as he pet them gently, “my babies,” he said as he caressed their cheeks, catching onto their neediness quickly and fisting his hands into their hair to bring their lips together. they kissed- they needed the closeness and the physical reassurance that they were okay, “there we go… what a pretty thing to see. you’re both so good and gorgeous.”

hoseok, seokjin, yoongi and namjoon were busy cleaning up the room, taking away the shreds of rope and fetching the aloe vera cream, water, a pack of sweets and things to clean up jeongguk’s freshly bitten mark. the demon returned first with the cream and as soon as they stopped kissing, he went to work on the werewolf’s body after asking permission.

“does it hurt or burn anywhere?” yoongi asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the state they were in.

“it doesn’t,” taehyung replied just as gently, shaking his head, “everyone took care of me well… like always.”

“and what about you, jeongguk?” when the human turned his head, hoseok was sitting down beside him, a small cotton ball soaked in disinfectant in one hand and a bandage in the other, “can i fix you up?”

the human nodded weakly, “y-yeah… that’s okay, thank you hyung.”

the fae began to clean him up, making his moves more delicate every time the human would hiss a little because it burnt. soon enough jeongguk was all done, a white bandaid covering the holes on his shoulder.

namjoon was patiently waiting to give jimin the bag of little marshmallow bites that they had brought, finally doing so when hoseok plopped down next to yoongi, who was also done with his job of lathering up the werewolf with the soothing cream. they both cleaned his sweat away as best as they could before pulling the witch down to sit with them- the demon expertly slithered into his lap, making himself comfortable.

when seokjin was presentable he leaned over jeongguk as he sat down, knowing that the human needed his presence and his touch after such an intimate moment, especially since there were others around him and he was more vulnerable than ever. the human instantly smiled, making way for jimin to plop a tiny marshmallow on his tongue, as well as taehyung’s.

once the snacks were over and done with, jimin out away the wrapped and they finally started talking.

“taehyungie,” the youngest vampire started, rubbing his thigh, “can you tell us what happened? calmly, this time?”

the room smelled of the soothing cream, sugary sweetness and their breathing. it was heady- intoxicating but conforming and warm in its own unique way. jeongguk wouldn’t trade this for anything.

the werewolf began, “while we were doing the scene, he kept trying to take over… which was why i’m sweating so much,” he moved again, attempting to clean it better, “he wasn’t angry or possessive… he was- he was almost too eager. he was excited and at some point he just… started to say ‘mate’ over and over again.”

seokjin’s lips turned into a thin line.

“it was about you two- not just jeonggukie… i don’t understand.”

“none of us do,” yoongi comforted, “maybe it was here all along and we were just too dense to notice or do anything about it.”

jimin was oddly silent, looking almost a little sad.

“puppy…” he called and the room’s bickering went silent- namjoon was suggesting they do a proper ritual while hoseok and jeongguk were talking about how this was going to be easy from now on, “what about me?”

hearing that little hopeful question made everyone’s hearts shatter audibly.

“m-minnie,” the werewolf’s voice wobbled. his inner wolf still hadn’t talked about the vampire with those specific terms, besides everything that he had done for taehyung in the past but that didn’t stop him from knowing that even without his wolf’s confirmation, something deep inside of him told him that jimin was part of it.

of course he was. he had to be.

taehyung made grabby hands towards the vampire and pulled him into a hug, “of course you are.”

“you weren’t directly involved today,” namjoon tried to rationalize once he noticed that the smallest felt left out, “don’t forget that. you’ve done so much for taehyung and his wolf-“

“h-he literally lays down on your lap and sits by your feet,” jeongguk added quietly, still feeling sensitive, “please don’t feel left out- jimin hyung,” he almost sounded a little desperate so seokjin soothed him, shushing him quietly.

jimin held onto taehyung, sighing quietly, “you must be right. you have to be…”

“we are,” yoongi reaffirmed.

hoseok got a bottle of water and came closer with it, giving some to taehyung, jeongguk and jimin as well, even though he didn’t need it, the gesture was appreciated, “in the next full moon, we already know what we will be doing.”

seokjin frowned a little bit in thought, “the next full moon would be jeongguk’s transformation.”

“we have to prioritize,” the demon cut it at the root, “i think it’s more important to get together first and then work out what we do regarding jeongguk.”

the human was confused.

“it would be the ideal time for the transformation to happen,” the original kept explaining, but slowly he began to agree with yoongi in the sense that maybe- just maybe, being together as a whole come first.

jeongguk’s transformation would take everything out of him, and having six people to fall back into instead of two would be better for everyone involved, especially the human himself.

“prince,” jimin spoke quietly, catching the human’s attention, “tell us what’s going on in your pretty head… you keep spacing out.”

jeongguk took a deep breath, “i can wait,” the group listened intently, “this is so confusing… but i-i can wait to turn into a vampire for this,” his eyes scanned the group, feeling an immense comfort in the way that everyone was looking at him with love in their eyes- every single one of them, “i want this.”

they all smiled down at the human.

“this is all i ever wanted.”

Chapter Text

after the success of the experiment, the group made it a rule to always share these types of scenes together as seven, or any number in between.

turns out, after the cloudiness in jeongguk’s mind cleared and he was free of embarrassment or shyness, he admitted to them that everyone being there, their gaze and their care brought him to a better and higher place during and after it was all done. he felt comfort like never before- it was almost like the one that he experienced when he was alone with jimin and seokjin but it was amplified. it reached places that he hadn’t unraveled about himself yet.

it made him feel whole.

they stayed together after the scene for the rest of the day- the group came out of their headspaces, showered and ate again. all the while they were in the waiting line for the shower (except jimin, seokjin and jeongguk who went together), namjoon was still reading through his books, searching for information about the official pack rituals that three of them had already been through. he was scribbling runes and the sketch of a circle on a piece of paper from his grimoire when he noticed a presence above him.

“come,” hoseok said in invitation, holding out a hand to the witch and beckoning him to stand up from his spot on the mattress. when he finally looked up and came out of his concentration bubble, namjoon saw that yoongi and taehyung were fresh out of a shower together, cracking unopened water bottles from the fridge- steam was flowing into the nesting room from the adjacent bathroom and they were in fresh underwear, hair dripping onto towels. jimin, seokjin and the human were sitting on another mattress. they were cuddled together, jeongguk in the middle as it usually was and the vampires were passing food to him while sinking their teeth into two small packs of blood. the human popped a vitamin pill and an iron one into his mouth expertly, as if he had done that before.

namjoon took the fae’s hand and placed his papers and books down at the same time, “sorry,” he said sheepishly, “was a little in my head.”

“as you always are,” hoseok retorted, rolling his eyes adoringly at the witch’s mannerisms that he knew so well. hoseok stopped on his way to the bathroom and turned to the eldest vampire, “is the bathtub an option?”

“of course seokie,” the vampire replied with flare, smacking his lips as he pulled away from the blood pack, “enjoy the steam,” he said as taehyung and yoongi neared the other three. the demon found a spot leaning against jeongguk and the werewolf was snuggled up to jimin.

“joon,” it was the demon’s voice who called for him. namjoon turned to him and asked what he wanted with a smile, “can i look over your book and papers while you’re in the shower?”

“sure, that’s okay,” namjoon didn’t have anything to hide, “i added some notes to the ones that you guys took earlier and i have a list of what we need for the next full moon,” he twisted the knob and pulled hoseok in with him quickly, leaving it slightly open.

the demon picked the papers and book up from where namjoon left them and then returned to his designated spot against jeongguk’s chest and between his spread legs- the human was almost done with his leftover meal from lunch. the sun was already setting outside.

seokjin and jimin were busy pampering taehyung up and feeding him properly, overly fond over the fact that now they knew they could be together in an infinite number of ways with jeongguk in the mixture. after a few minutes, the human looked over yoongi’s shoulder to peek at namjoon’s notes, putting down his food that was now done. he shyly slipped his arms around the demon’s waist, holding him in place over his lap, which absolutely didn’t go unnoticed by yoongi.

“hyung,” he whispered quietly. yoongi made a noise of acknowledgement- if the human was paying attention to the sound of a running shower, quiet splashing and giggles that came from the bathroom more than yoongi’s answer he might’ve missed it entirely, “can i see?”

the demon turned his head to the side a little, “you want the book?”

“if that’s okay…”

yoongi closed the book in his hands, passing it to the human with care but holding onto the single sheet of instructions and ingredients listed for the ritual, “knock yourself out, bunny.”

the human grabbed it gently, “thank you,” he smiled sweetly.

the book felt heavy in his hands. it was roughly the size of his college textbooks but it was slightly thicker, a couple of pages and diy markers made of torn up sticky notes sticking from the side. it certainly looked handmade: the cover was a dark and used leather that was hand stitched and engraved into with namjoon’s initials on the front in a corner, and alongside it there was a deep carving of the same stamp that the witch had scars of on his chest.

the human ran his hand through the cover to feel it before he slowly opened it, treating the book as if it were a piece of fine china.

a small noise of surprise escaped jeongguk’s lips before he could stop it. the first page was a small introduction to what the book was- a big inverted and extremely detailed pentacle occupied it. there were symbols that jeongguk didn’t know the meaning of and some sort of sealing wax holding a tiny dried flower on the same page.
the paper was yellowed and a little crinkled as if it was older than it should be- the human flipped through them as yoongi watched, turning his entire attention to what he was doing.

there were drawings, lists, chants, runes, weird symbols, descriptions of rituals and a few organic things (like dried flowers and a few insect wings- he screeched a little when he saw a pointy tooth) that were maybe overwhelming him a little- at some point there was even another language involved, but what stuck out to him was that on a specific spread, the demon’s name was in it, written in big letters.

“oh,” the human voiced, touching the name on the page with his fingertips, “hyung, what’s this?”

yoongi hummed, moving to adjust himself to be comfortable again against jeongguk, “that’s a spread about how he summoned me.”

jeongguk gasped, immediately interested, “really? how did that happen?”

“you will know,” the demon laughed a little, slowly sliding down jeongguk’s chest and resting his head on his thigh, “with time. i’ll tell you soon enough, if you can wait.”

the human immediately pouted, putting down the book gently, “hyung! i want to know… why can’t you tell me now?”

“i’m too comfortable here,” the demon said lazily, “you’re warm and comfortable. don’t feel like moving much…”

he made a displeased noise, but there was really no bite to it- the others near them caught onto what was going on when taehyung was done eating, turning to the two of them to tease the living shit out of them as usual.

“you have a kitten on your lap, prince?” jimin giggled, lips red due to the fact that they had just now detached themselves from taehyung’s own.

“and you have a puppy?” yoongi retorted with a little spice in his voice. taehyung laughed knowingly, “why don’t you come closer and cuddle instead? we are literally in the cuddle room of this house.”

with a playful roll of his eyes, seokjin scooted closer and laid next to the human who was now also leaning back with yoongi’s head on his pecs. the other vampire and werewolf joined them on the opposite side as they held each other comfortably- everyone silently understood why those two craved being close, so no one confronted either of them about it. jimin propped himself up on his elbows and turned to face jeongguk. taehyung hugged him from the back, molding himself around the smaller man.

“prince,” he called and jeongguk turned to face him with starry eyes as he flipped through the endless pages of the book, “is it the first time you see one of those books?”

the human nodded shyly, “yeah… you guys don’t have any of them in the library. i really don’t understand anything that’s in here but it looks so interesting and personal.”

there was a knowing glint in the vampire’s eyes as he ran his fingers through jeongguk’s hair, “what joonie does is truly beautiful. there’s nothing like experiencing his rituals… you will love it.”

just then, the last two emerged from the bathroom. hoseok was in baggy shorts and a loose t-shirt, while the witch was shirtless and in a fresh pair of black boxers that jeongguk remembered folding himself- his toned chest was on full display. his tattoos and scar were so insanely attractive that it made jeongguk blush immediately, clutching the leather book that was still in his hands and attempting to discreetly hide behind it.

“namjoon,” seokjin called as hoseok descended to lay down against him, “remind us, who was the whore you talked about during our game night, really?”

the group erupted in laughter and namjoon also laid down, stamping a kiss onto the vampire and placing one of big hands on top of jeongguk’s right thigh, “you’re all weirdly obsessed with my chest.”

“with tits like those…” jimin sighed dreamily.

“and the tattoos,” yoongi piped up, taking the book away from jeongguk’s hands so he wouldn’t hide behind it, “jeongguk agrees,” the human whined.

the witch took the book and set it aside, “don’t tease him,” he said out of kindness in his heart but also shyness, “he’s way more ripped than me-“

“you’re thicker,” hoseok babbled sleepily.

“why are we discussing this?”

“jeonggukie has an insane hourglass figure,” the werewolf added.

“i’m going to bed!” jeongguk positively screamed as he reached behind himself and grabbed at a pillow, quickly placing it on top of his head and effectively making everyone laugh dearly, honey hanging from every corner of the conversation.

the room went quiet slowly, now that everyone was settled and relaxed. jeongguk slowly lifted the pillow and smiled again, endeared and happy beyond himself- the comforting and easy going mood that they were all able to be in so seamlessly made everything just so warm, even if some of his lovers and potential future ones were cold to the touch.

the next day came around and unfortunately they couldn’t all spend the entire time together like the day before: jimin and seokjin had errands and responsibilities to handle at their company, namjoon and hoseok had things to handle in the forest (including an appointment that someone made to meet up with the witch at his cabin.

after a sweet breakfast together, taehyung decided to tag along with the witch and fae so he could enjoy a little of the wilderness and relax from the last tense couple of days.

yoongi and jeongguk, as the only two of the group who didn’t have anything to do since the human was on vacation and the demon had closed the restaurant to stay in the mansion, stayed at home.

jeongguk was a little too thrilled over this- he didn’t get to spend much time with his yoongi hyung and this was the perfect moment for it.

when everyone else left with the promise of returning during the evening, yoongi and jeongguk were left on their own in the kitchen, finishing up their breakfast.

“so, hyung,” jeongguk said between spoonfuls of banana yogurt, “do you have plans for today?”

yoongi looked up from his coffee mug- over time and a few attempts at making his “boss” happy, jeongguk found out that the demon’s favorite thing to get in the morning, even if he didn’t eat, was a large cup of black coffee with two guilty spoons of honey in it, “i don’t have anything planned, no. you?”

“i thought we could go do some grocery shopping,” he suggested, standing up and smiling before he opened the fridge, now forcing a pout, “there’s nothing in here, hyungie…”

the nickname made the demon roll his eyes adoringly, said fact hidden by his coffee mug, “we could do that… probably grab you something to eat.”

“cool!” jeongguk said cheerfully, making a quick job of placing his used carton in the trash and spoon in the dishwasher, “i’m gonna get dressed… do you drive us there?”

“do you plan on riding your bike on this cold december morning?”

the human laughed again and skipped over to the exit of the kitchen, “nope!”

“then i’ll drive us.”

jeongguk got dressed quickly, bringing some extras of his own clothes to give to the demon who was downstairs, tidying up the counters and such- the human had one of the warmest and comfiest hoodies that the couple had bought him, some loose sweatpants and a black beanie. for yoongi, he brought a large bomber jacket, some of jimin’s tight ripped black pants and matching black masks for them both.

yoongi got dressed right then and there in the kitchen as jeongguk peeked discreetly over his shoulder, avoiding his eyes for a small second later since he felt a bit embarrassed about wanting to see him some sort of naked.

a few minutes later they were locking up the doors and out on the road, playing soft music on yoongi’s radio as they made their way to the nearest supermarket. the rain beat the windows to accompany the music and lull them into a great mood and the sky was cloudy, perfect for a trip with someone as cool as his hyung was.

“do you have a list?” yoongi asked with his eyes on the road.

the human shook his head, “not really! when i go shopping with jimin and seokjin hyung we don’t really do that, they just let me get what we need and whatever i want,” he giggled quietly.

“they spoil you.”

“rotten!” they both laughed, but then jeongguk leaned back into his seat comfortably and spoke a bit more seriously, “they do spoil me, yeah… i used to feel guilty about that too but then i realized that they do it because they want to see me happy,” for a moment it was almost as if there was no music in the background and the human was the only thing in the world, “and not because they want something from me in return… well- i mean, that’s also okay of course, but it’s just- it’s just not for me. i like… i like to feel equal.”

the demon hummed in acknowledgement, “and you are. always have been.”

“now it’s just cool to swipe their black credit card,” yoongi muttered a small little soft ‘brat’ under his breath, but it fell onto jeongguk’s mischievous ears, “they got me one too.”

after yoongi parked the car in front of the local supermarket, jeongguk quickly hopped to stay by his side, tucking him closer and walking towards the entrance. as they did so, yoongi seemed to attempt to hide his eyes and most of his face under the mask that the human had given him. jeongguk made a mental note to ask him why he was doing that when they got to be in a little more privacy inside the labyrinth of groceries.

they grabbed a cart and of course the human was stronger so he was left on pushing duty.

as the shopping spree- well, more like the two waltzing around the hallways and tall shelves and picking up whatever they wanted- went along, the two got closer and closer. at some point, yoongi had his hand in the human’s again, fingers locked together tightly.

jeongguk shouldn’t have felt his heart beat a little quicker over the demon reading the labelling on a random jar of marinara with a concentrated expression: his brows were frowned as he looked over different brands, cheeks squished inside the mask he was wearing. there was no one around at the time so jeongguk spoke up.

“hyung,” he called, getting his attention, “why do you look so small in your clothes-“ he backtracked as soon as the meaning of what he said caught up to him and yoongi lifted a brow and a corner of his mouth into a smirk, “i mean! i mean, when we got inside the supermarket it looked like you were trying to hide in your clothes… does it have to do with the fact that you are… you know-“

“oh,” yoongi said all too amused with himself, “i see what you mean. it’s funny, actually,” he placed the marinara sauce inside the cart that jeongguk was pushing, “it’s sort of a defense mechanism that i do without thinking. i just do it to make people forget me easier… humans can see me, but they don’t remember me at all.”

“like…?” the human was confused.

they began walking down the aisle, “the security guard at the door? as soon as we turned the corner, he forgot i even exist.”

“oh…” jeongguk stared a bit blankly at yoongi but then the gears in his head began to turn, “but… how do i remember you, then?”

“because you’re in love with me.”

jeongguk felt like he was slapped hard.

his eyes widened comically, and he made a small dumb noise, “huh?”

yoongi was still walking down the hallway with a small grin all over his face, “you have feelings for me, so you don’t forget me. it’s no big deal,” he grabbed at a few packs of spicy ramen from the shelves again, “it’s happened with a few other humans before, but not quite like you.”

“what do you mean?”

yoongi turned to him and looked at him straight in the eyes, “you’re the only human who deserves to remember me.”

the statement hung in the air until they were done shopping and already exiting the store- jeongguk had swiped his lovers’ black card easily all the while avoiding looking at yoongi directly. he felt watched by him intensely until they got to the car and put the groceries in the trunk securely, sitting at the front of the car shortly after.

expectant of the tension to snap, jeongguk didn’t put the seatbelt on. he shyly looked back to yoongi when he didn’t put the key in the car’s ignition either.

yoongi chuckled a little, gripping the steering wheel, “what are we doing?”

jeongguk rolled his eyes a little bit, playing coy, “i don’t know…”

“let’s get this over with,” before the youngest could do so much as protest, yoongi expertly pulled the lever of jeongguk’s seat and made it lean back against the other seat. caught off guard, jeongguk went down with it, now laying down and staring up at the ceiling of the car but not for long- yoongi was suddenly on top of his lap, straddling his thighs and fitting snugly against the human.

jeongguk was dizzy, looking at the demon with wide eyes.

“is this o-“

“yes!” he cut off immediately, strong arms holding onto yoongi’s waist and making him stay there as he looked into his eyes with his overly shiny ones, “this is so much more than fine, just- just kiss me.”

yoongi’s kiss was different.

it wasn’t slow and sort of like a lesson like jimin’s and seokjin’s first ones were. it wasn’t filled with a feeling of longing like taehyung’s, unexpected like namjoon’s or hot and desperate like hoseok’s.

the kiss was world shattering. it made jeongguk dizzier and it felt like nothing he had experienced before- the demon’s kiss was eager, a product of their neediness from holding out for so long. yoongi pulled away while biting jeongguk’s lips a little shortly after the human began sucking on his tongue shyly.

they were both panting and there was a little blob of spit beginning to roll down the corner of jeongguk’s mouth, “who taught you that?” the demon asked mischievously.

“only the best,” jeongguk said in a single breath, smiling with his eyes before his mouth. he still had a good grip onto yoongi’s hips, though one of his hands was riding up to his stomach.

“who knew confessing your feelings for me would give you this much confidence.”

jeongguk made an offended noise, “you confessed my feelings for you! i didn’t even say anything!”

yoongi laughed and placed a hand on top of jeongguk’s, “whether what i told you was true or not, it’s not like any of the seven of us are great at hiding things as you came to find out.”

“very funny.”

“now kiss me again before i have to drive you back,” he purred, slightly rough hands coming to gently caress jeongguk’s face- everyone was so different from each other, “we have a long day ahead of us. have to get together as seven and whatnot, yeah?”

jeongguk pecked him before he interrupted it to raise a brow at what he said, “what do you mean?”

“i was the last one standing, was i not?”

“...you know about joonie hyung?” jeongguk knew he had just exposed himself as soon as he saw a familiar smirk tug itself onto yoongi’s lips.

the demon straight up laughed at that, “now i do.”

after getting home in a rush and putting everything that they had bought in its place, yoongi and jeongguk messed around some more. it was the first time the human took such advances and liberties- now that he had expressed his desire and feelings for everyone involved, being close to yoongi like this was just easier. it gave him a new sense of freedom now that he had nothing left inside him to draw out or nervousness.

they didn’t go far at all, still: just a couple of kisses and gropes and steamy make out sessions that made them end up in the living room, sprawled out on the sofa as yoongi leaned against jeongguk’s chest lovingly.

an hour or so later, the front door opened and with it came seokjin and jimin’s voices as they discussed something that the human assumed was work related. jimin was just about to call for the human when he turned to the living room and quickly saw that two of his lovers were sprawled out on the sofa- yoongi was asleep on jeongguk’s naked chest.

“now… what do we have here,” jimin giggled and came close to jeongguk, leaning down to catch his lips in a soft kiss. jeongguk smiled and leaned against the vampire’s touch as much as he could, “i assume that we missed something while we were away?”

“yeah… a little,” jeongguk smiled even wider when he saw seokjin and greeted him with another kiss. he asked how their day went as they softly pet yoongi’s hair and after a couple more minutes, jeongguk finally gathered up the courage to say it, “hyungs… i’m ready.”

jimin and seokjin immediately smiled from ear to ear, “ready for what?” the youngest of them both asked, having an idea of what the human wanted but still wanting to hear it from him above everything.

“i want to be together with everyone,” he said with a confidence that took months of working through insecurities and fears to harbor, “i’m finally ready.”

the husbands could honestly cry. jimin began tearing up a little bit before he pulled everyone into a hug on the sofa, waking up a disoriented yoongi in the process. he squirmed a little bit and groggily muttered a quiet, “whoa, whoa-“ as he was squeezed in, lost in a fit of giggles that the other three were in. he quickly stopped protesting and joined, even if he didn’t know what it was all about.

the touch of his lovers was always the best.

namjoon, hoseok and taehyung came back a short amount of time later and after noticing that the witch had brought an extra bag with what appeared to be more supplies, the human couldn’t help but ask what it all was, to which namjoon quickly clarified that it was all for the full moon that was going to happen later. he didn’t ask anything else- surely they had it under control.

they had a nice dinner together and afterwards, jeongguk was the one who suggested that they would host a second movie night similar to the one that they had a couple weeks prior- though this time, there would be no drinking, since he wanted to talk about something serious. jimin whined about wanting to make cocktails, but seokjin quickly shushed him with the promise of a nice brunch and mimosas the next morning.

in private, as the rest of them prepared the seats in the living room and snacks, jeongguk pulled jimin and seokjin aside and asked for their help when he’d speak up on the matter with everyone present, since he was nervous about it.

jeongguk knew that technically they were all already together since they were bound by the pack bond and their more than mutual interest for each other, but in his own human terms they certainly had a thing but it wasn’t official yet in the slightest- so the vampires could sort of imagine the type of pressure he was under- this type of conversation and reassurance was important to humans and the vampires understood, even if their humanity was long gone and they didn’t really need this step.

it was important to their human prince, so they’d go to the ends of the world to make it happen.

“what movie do we pick?” namjoon’s voice came through the walls, bouncing off of them as he called for the unity of a decision- it was so deep sometimes that it made jeongguk’s knees want to buckle, “no horror! we know how seokie reacts to that kind of stuff.”

“i’m a fae,” the older one bickered back harmlessly.

“and you still scream at cheap jumpscares, so none of that,” the witch continued to tease.

jimin, seokjin and jeongguk were now walking towards the living room. when they got there, netflix was open on the tv and the sofa was pushed back onto the wall (so was the coffee table), leaving space for pillows and blankets on the floor. taehyung was already sitting down with yoongi on his lap and hoseok was sprawled out next to them.

namjoon was standing up, remote in his hand as he spoke very clearly, “are we picking something to actually watch or are we picking something to use as background noise to something else.”

the group made a collective and performative scandalized noise, which jeongguk was glad for because his own was very real and not performative at all, “what i mean is… will we be doing something else? anything planned? or is it just tv show or movie time?”

“you and your organization,” yoongi whined loudly, “enjoy yourself!”

“i enjoy myself the most when everyone is on the same page!” he was now embarrassed, moving to sit at the pillowy blankets with a pout that was quickly fixed with a kiss from yoongi.

jeongguk sat down with jimin and seokjin and after some time of everyone flipping through content options on the big screen, he finally swallowed down his fear and began to speak, “i have something to say, hyungs.”

“my intuition never fails me,” the witch said smugly, leaning with his back against the sofa, “what do you want to say, jeongguk?”

the entire group’s attention was on him again, but this time things felt easier as jimin held his hand comfortingly and seokjin placed one of his on jeongguk’s thigh. taehyung was smiling widely and yoongi looked like he knew what was going to go down, but he acted his part respectfully and kept to himself.

“go on baby,” the youngest vampire encouraged.

“okay,” he took a single breath, “i know that… i know that this might be sudden, but i’ve been thinking about it for some time…” he thought over his words as carefully as he could, “what happened yesterday with all of us involved made me just so so happy. it’s been a little over three months since i started dating jimin and seokjin hyung and over time and a lot of work i learnt that… i learnt that i have a lot of love inside of myself to give- more than i thought i would ever be able to.”

the group listened intently, expressions softening at his sentimental speech. hoseok made a sound of acknowledgement to let him know subtly that they were listening to everything he was saying with utmost care.

“i didn’t realize it would be so difficult to understand that i was worthy of something like this, especially when i’m not like you,” he looked a little distressed, but he kept going, “you guys make me feel special even if we aren’t the same… and i’m always so safe with all of you- not because there’s some impending danger over my head and i’m some damsel in distress, but because everyone is so thoughtful and caring of me ever since i joined… whatever this is. whenever we do anything i always get a say. i can tell any of you anything- i can stop a conversation or action at any moment and no one is ever mad or disappointed in me.”

“we would never do something like that,” seokjin tightened his hold momentarily and jimin was tearing up besides promising himself that he wouldn’t.

“i think about that all the time… and i don’t think i could ever take that for granted,” taehyung was the first to come closer to him and then the rest followed, wanting to be there for him as the human seemed to begin to turn red in the face, eyes brimming with water, “sometimes- sometimes i think about what could’ve happened if i was introduced to this world by someone who wouldn’t be as kind and… decent as you.”

jimin hugged him from the side tightly, “we would’ve found you, prince. there’s no one else for us- we would’ve found you at some point, even if we weren't the first ones.”

“and i believe that. that’s why… that’s why i want to do this and take this step. you guys make me believe in that sort of thing- magic, fairytales and that i’m worthy of good things. i’m worthy of how much love you give me every day.”

hoseok cleaned a tear that took a free fall from one of his eyes quickly- seeing this made jeongguk’s own tears start to slip away from his control. he bundled up the sleeves of his sweater and gently dabbed them away, biting his lip and whining unconsciously.

this made for a good mood breaker, as everyone thought that he was simply the cutest thing to ever exist.

he sniffled before he continued with a watery voice, “i-i’m so repetitive but everyone is gearing up for the full moon and pack thing… i want that so badly. i want it so, so much that it’s hard to think about anything else sometimes!” the others cooed with a little struggle in their voices, all too emotional as well, “you know what i’m trying to say, r-right? when jimin hyung told me what you guys really had… i thought i would need longer to feel comfortable and be part of it or that i wouldn’t ever be able to join you… but i don’t want to wait anymore. i want to feel like yesterday every single day… i want to be close and learn more about what it means to be with you all- is that selfish?”

“not at all,” it was yoongi who replied without a second of hesitance.

“if anything we’re the selfish ones,” namjoon countered and before jeongguk could say or do anything about it, he continued the thought, “for wanting you all to ourselves, as well.”

jeongguk’s eyes watered again, “hyung… you mean that?”

“of course we do,” it was hoseok who spoke. his cheeks were stained with thin tear streaks, and since he was crying his hair was no longer red- it was a dark shade of brown and floppy on the sides.

“hyungs…” he was whining, eyes and cheeks puffy as jimin attempted to console him with sweet words and a tissue that he got from lucifer knows where.

“we had a feeling that after the game night you would start to be more involved and when you asked taehyungie out yesterday, we figured it’d really only be a matter of time until you came to us as well,” namjoon reasoned his way through the conversation as he always did, voice deep and thick like honey in jeongguk’s ears, “we didn’t want to pressure you, so we went with your pace,” even as he tried to uphold his wise and stable persona, namjoon couldn’t help but run an embarrassed hand through his face, also slightly redder.

jimin turned jeongguk’s head softly so he’d look at him with utmost attention, “angel…” he pulled himself together, staring into the human’s eyes that were just so full of joy, mystery and life, “this… it’s such a big step and we’re so proud of you for speaking up and taking your time,” he was smiling so widely that it made jeongguk giggle quietly, “but please know that we never want to force you into anything or make you feel like you're missing out. you’ll always have us all-”

“this is exactly why i want it,” he laughed freely, catching the group off guard. jeongguk leaned in and hugged jimin tightly and the rest followed, clinging closer, “you check in with me so much. you make me feel so loved all the time- please let me in! i want this like i’ve never wanted anything before… i won’t let you down.”

“come here,” hoseok called and jeongguk immediately jumped into his arms. yoongi and namjoon also joined the hug, as the three of them were the only ones that jeongguk hadn’t joined yet. yoongi hugged him from the side and placed a soft kiss on his temple and namjoon held him in his buff arms (even though he was shy about physical contact and usually liked to keep his distance).

“we’re here, if you’ll have us,” the demon comforted. taehyung was holding seokjin’s waist and rubbing the human’s back comfortingly, “do you want to date us, jeongguk? everyone in this room wants you- regardless of what you are or who you choose to be in the future.”

“yes!” he said as excitedly as he could, bouncing a little, “yes, i want to be together with you all,” he was no longer crying, only now a ball of happiness, “be my boyfriends from now- this is too good for me to pass up.”

“i say we celebrate,” taehyung pipped up suddenly, forever the life of the party, “by having a cool and cozy movie night and a sleepover.”

“oh puppy,” jimin said in his teasing voice, “this’ll be a permanent sleepover for a long while. none of you are going anywhere.”

jeongguk laughed at a memory that popped up in his head before he sighed, still melting in the fae’s warm hug, “i heard the good place is cool?”

“read my mind,” the witch grabbed the remote and put it on quickly as they all moved against the sofa to sit as close as they could to everyone else. jeongguk, of course, was in the middle. at some point, seokjin leaned into his ear and kissed it softly before whispering about just how proud him and jimin were of what he had accomplished over the months and it would surely only be smooth sailing from here on out. he whispered that he would fall in love with everyone as easily as he fell for them both, without even needing to try.

the night went incredibly well. of course, things escalated a little bit and there were a few touchy and hot distractions from the actual tv show- somehow taehyung ended up with jimin’s head in between his thighs and two bite marks on the inside of them. jeongguk was happy to simply watch as he leaned into namjoon and seokjin. he was so content- a smile huge on his face as the witch ran his hands through his body soothingly. yoongi was leaning on hoseok’s shoulder and looking sort of grumpy while attempting to convince everyone else not to move away from this spot.

“hyung,” he called, voice a little breathy and funnily, everyone turned to look at him. the human laughed before clarifying, “jimin hyung… you’ve never bitten me there before. is it good? does it feel good?”

“why don’t you ask puppy?” jimin lifted his head and then pulled the werewolf up to look at jeongguk. one of his hands was rubbing the spot on his thigh that he had bitten in soothing circles.

taehyung looked like he was floating on cloud nine, a pleasured grin huge on his face.

“taetae… does it feel good?”

the werewolf hummed quietly, “so good… it’s so sensitive- better than the neck. so much better. you need to try…”

“i want to,” he confessed, “i want to try everything with you all. now… now that i know i love it and that it’s okay to ask, i want to do it more.”

jeongguk was glad that unlike when they started their relationship, jimin and seokjin were comfortable with drinking from him. now that they knew that the human was also comfortable and always enjoyed the feeling of it, it felt fresh to be able to explore such a dynamic- besides the human, everyone else inside the group had also been bitten safely and consensually more than enough times, so really it was more of a thing to deal with jeongguk and time, as they did with most things.

“jeongguk...” it was seokjin who spoke up this time around, making him turn to look at him, “all you have to do is tell us when to.”

days passed by in the blink of an eye. everything had gone as perfectly as jeongguk wanted it to- he was growing impossibly closer to his new boyfriends and the addition of them only strengthened his relationship with seokjin and jimin even more. they were in a sort of honey moon state where every touch and word was amplified and felt like it was happening for the first time ever.

they fooled around but never did anything too serious as they hadn’t really reached that level of intimacy with jeongguk or really talked about boundaries and their likes with him formally. they stuck to kisses, hand stuff and occasionally some bites and things involving their mouths or fingers.

namjoon shared the yule festivities and rituals with the entire household when the time came, but even so, it was the first year that jeongguk sort of skipped celebrating a regular christmas.

his mother, as predicted, had invited him to the annual family gathering that extended from christmas eve to the first week of january, which jeongguk politely declined for the first time ever. he promised to still hang out with her during the morning of her departure and take her to the airport, so she wasn’t too bothered by his stay- she figured he would probably have plans to celebrate with his two boyfriends (the ones she knew of, anyway). besides that, no one in his family other than his mom knew about his identity.

some things were better left unsaid.

on the 30th, they celebrated taehyung’s birthday and on the next day for new year’s eve, it was an entirely different experience.

they all ended up in the same bed, alcohol in their systems and lifted spirits as they took turns making each other feel good. there were jumps, twitches and shivers, laughs, moans and even a scream or two in the mix with the absolute nonsensical music that they had in the background.

there were clothes, hands, limbs and kisses scattered everywhere and across the city, fireworks were being shot off in the distance- it was just perfect and it all felt like the best kind of dream. jeongguk was passing through the new year with his new six boyfriends and having the most mindblowing sex of his life. he was feeling high, warm and all types of loved in the middle of this beautiful mess and he couldn’t get enough of it. he couldn’t stop chasing the feeling for hours.

he woke up the next day curled up in someone’s arms and surrounded by a type of warmth that he was so familiar with now. he was naked, covered with a thin sheet over his figure- he didn’t feel gross or anything and the room was nicely scented with peachy aromas, so at some point during the aftermath of last night, they must’ve showered and done a last effort to change the bedding.

when jeongguk opened his eyes, he realized that namjoon and jimin weren’t in bed with the rest of them. they were sitting on the pillowed windowsill of the vampires’ bedroom, staring off into the forest outside. their beauty was accentuated by the gentle kisses of the morning sun even if the witch looked like he hadn’t even slept at all.

the human untangled his limbs from hoseok’s warm embrace and replaced himself with a sleeping yoongi using his strength, only then realizing that he desperately needed to put some clothes on. jimin noticed the commotion happening on the mattress and turned to look at his prince, not feeling an ounce of shame in the way he ate him up and down with his eyes- his tongue wet his lips unconsciously.

“good morning prince,” he greeted sweetly with a giggle, beconing him to come closer and sit by the window with them. the human quickly moved to bid them a good morning with a kiss and he sat on the ground by jimin’s legs (a little special habit that he had taken from taehyung- no one bat an eye to it).

“hi,” he said cheerfully, huge smile on his face, “what are you both doing awake, hyungs?”

“i didn’t really sleep,” the witch confessed sheepishly, “had to stay awake to witness the first sun of the year… jimin kept me company.”

“yule things,” the vampire smiled down to the human, threading his fingers through his bed hair and making him lean into it, “today’s the big day,” he reminded, “are you excited, angel?”

“i can’t wait,” he was practically bouncing, holding onto jimin’s legs, “no one has told me what will happen, though… so i’m nervous,” he grabbed one of the witch’s hands and held it gently, “i didn’t get to read that part of your papers… yoongi hyung was the one who had them. can you please tell me what will happen? you know best. i know that you do.”

namjoon smiled warmly, “over breakfast, yeah? i’ll tell everyone… and to be honest- if i go one more hour without coffee in my system i think i’ll pass out.”

“it will be a day long process. you’ll see,” jimin stood up from his spot and placed the blanket that was over his thighs on namjoon’s instead, “we just follow what joonie tells us and it will all go well. so, let’s wake up everyone and start preparing?”

everyone woke up and freshened themselves for the day after jimin and the human woke them up again- surprisingly, as he seemed aware of what would happen today, hoseok didn’t leave through the windows and into the woods as he usually did. he stuck around and helped prepare for the ritual.

the witch had set out seven flowy pieces of cloth that were more like softly colored tunics. the house was very warm now that more than jeongguk needed that type of comfort, so things were easier- though, january was one of the coldest months of the year, and not having layers upon layers and comfy clothes just felt wrong.

jimin was on the opposite side of the room doing seokjin’s makeup and yoongi was still in the bathroom with taehyung and hoseok who were fixing their hair and brushing their teeth- namjoon was standing in the middle of the room as he tied his tunic when jeongguk spoke.

“monie hyung,” he called for the witch as he was sitting on the bed, arms wrapped around himself. his tunic pooled at his feet- it was tied to his left and over his right shoulder, so one of his pecs was hanging out uncovered along with one of his legs, “can i have one of my hoodies over this? it’s cold…”

“sorry kookie,” the witch sounded genuinely apologetic, “hoseok will fix that up in a bit. i can’t give you the hoodie… we all have to be dressed like this.”

“what for?” he pouted, though he knew fully well it was probably part of the ritual anyway. namjoon came to sit beside him and jeongguk immediately moved to lean against him comfortably, head fitting just right against his shoulder and near his neck. at least it was warmer like this.

“you’ll see, trust me.”

seokjin’s makeup was done now and jimin was busy doing his own so the oldest vampire came to sit with the other two. as he leaned into the bed’s pillows, jeongguk ran his eyes all over his face and smiled excitedly when he saw what he had on: his boyfriend had a soft red tint over his lips and on his eyes, there was a similar red shade smoked out from the corner of them.

“hyungie,” the human said in awe, “you look so pretty… i love your makeup,” he giggled softly, eyes crinkling, “do i get makeup too? i’ve never done this before… i’ve only learned to paint my own nails.”

“come here to get it done baby,” jimin called from across the room, holding out his arms for his prince to come closer. immediately, the human stood from the bed and ran over to him, his tunic flowing behind him, “tell me what you want.”

after some time of playing around and mostly lots of praise and sweet touches, jeongguk’s makeup was done and everyone else was already waiting for them to be finished. the human had a soft sheen of red over his lid and a thick bold red liner.

“hoba, fix them up. it’s december and you know they get cold,” yoongi hurried him along, looking forward to his cup of coffee more than anything right now.

the fae trotted over and gathered taehyung, namjoon and jeongguk in a line in front of him. hoseok looked small like that, leading the three taller and bulkier men around. after a deep breath, the fae leaned into taehyung’s space and kissed his forehead gently before tapping the spot that he pecked with his index finger. a shiver ran through the werewolf’s body before he smiled sweetly.

jeongguk made a noise of amusement and couldn’t help but ask what he was doing, to which the fae replied after doing the same to namjoon, “it’s a little trick that i have up my sleeve. it will keep you warm today, so don’t worry about wanting your hoodie or anything,” he leaned in and repeated the same process with extra flare and an excited noise that made jeongguk laugh from his belly, “there we go.”

he felt the same shiver go up and down his spine and his body was immediately overwhelmed with a sense of warmth under his skin, like his veins were set ablaze but in a calm and comfortable way.

the group moved downstairs and had a nice brunch in the living room- the vampires shared some blood drinks and everyone else who actually ate made omelettes, rice and cut up some fruit. taehyung was laying down and sprawled on the couch, popping cherries into his mouth and yoongi’s while namjoon, hoseok, jeongguk and the vampires were on the other couch and armchairs.

jeongguk was halfway through a fork of rice when namjoon cleared his throat and began to explain everything.

“yule is officially ending today,” he smiled proudly, “i know a lot of you don’t do what i do specifically but… it still meant a lot to me that you would celebrate with me, my loves.”

“joonie and his nicknames,” seokjin bit back playfully, sipping on his bloody mimosa. the group laughed but it was all as loving as it could be- the witch’s words were always as warm as a bright summer day.

“let me romance you!” namjoon huffed, they always did this to him somehow, “like i was about to say… as we’ve been planning for the past couple of days, today’s the big day. i sincerely would love to say that we can back out at any time… but this time we can’t,” he glanced at jeongguk who nodded assertively. “this will be for eternity.”

“there’s nowhere or anyone else we’d want to spend eternity on,” yoongi spoke for everyone confidently.

“i thinks so too,” the witch kissed his cheek briefly, “the plan today is to spend as much time together as possible and prepare the materials for later. all of us have to do it.”

“if anyone knows what to do, it’s you, joonie,” jimin was reaching for another mimosa as he said it.

“i trust you, hyung,” jeongguk spoke softly and a little vulnerably- namjoon would never take the amount of trust that this wonderful human put into all of them for granted.

“this banquet was already one of the steps. jiminie, seokjin hyung and kookie, be sure to be close to taehyung today. as much as you can. don’t hold back from physical contact… not like any of you do that, anyway.”

namjoon finished and the group went back to eating, loudly talking about various things, but mostly about just how excited they were for the night to come. they finished their food quickly as well and after a quick clean up, the real activities began.

they brought everything that they needed outside to the deck and backyard in a few bags: there were several sorted bouquets of flowers (mainly daisies and other types of flowers in different colors) tied with stringy rope and a single wooden box where there was a beautifully carved dagger enveloped in a piece of cloth like their tunics.

jeongguk was the last one to step out of the house while holding the wooden box. it felt weird to stand at the edge of the door and not feel the rush of wind bother him or the brisk air of december on his skin, so he took some time to process it. with a deep breath, he walked out and joined the rest of the group who were already making themselves comfortable on a large towel that they had spread out in the middle of the rune circle outside.

they opened the bags and laid out the materials, keeping the box in the middle and unwrapping the dagger. namjoon asked for them to sit in a circle and so they did, waiting for further instruction.

the witch grabbed the sharp dagger and said something under his breath before he lifted his other palm and did a small cut, wincing a bit at the sting. the group gasped a little bit, but once namjoon passed the sharp blade around the circle, they all knew what they had to do.

they repeated the process one by one, some with more struggle than others but it was done regardless.

“hold them over the flowers,” namjoon spoke softly as some of them seemed to not like the idea of it, “we’ll hold each other's hands over the flowers. breathe slowly.”

they complied. slowly they all reached forward and held their hands to a point just above all the flowers that were sprawled onto the towel. their blood mixed, though it was specially sticky due to the vampires’ having a different color and texture. it ran down their arms and dripped onto the innocent and non-expecting daisies below them, staining their petals and seeping into the fabric they were sitting on top of.

jeongguk looked up at namjoon through his lashes and watched in amazement as he began pronouncing strings of words in a language that he didn’t know. his eyes were glowing a different color- the human didn’t even know he could do such a thing. it prolonged for about a minute before namjoon signaled for them to let go- as he did so, he reached with his other hand to a stack of gazes that he had prepared and after wrapping his palm up, they passed it around and did the same.

jeongguk whined as he was bandaged up, but it was quickly fixed with a kiss from taehyung.

“and now, we do flower crowns,” the witch smiled softly like it was the most mundane thing, as if they weren’t just asked to do crowns out of daisies soaked in their own blood. namjoon began braiding them in demonstration, able and experienced fingers playing expertly around the petals and stems.

“i’ll admit,” seokjin said a little incredulously, snickering to himself as he picked up a few of the flowers and started to work them into a braiding sequence, “somehow this is very fitting for your personality. making bloody flower crowns- unbelievable, joonie.”

“i’m surprised neither of you made a joke about the blood.”

“i was trying not to rock a semi,” jimin laughed and hoseok joined, doubling forward, “you all know you taste good.”

jeongguk bit his lip in concentration, leaning his head on taehyung’s shoulder as he did it. he didn’t know how the “bloody” part of what seokjin said matched namjoon’s personality- and this new information made him be a little too eager to find out.

now that he thought about it, the human had no idea when he started getting so comfortable around blood, but if he had to guess, he’d probably say it came with the charm of being his boyfriends’ personal and beloved blood bank.

he called himself that with the most confidence and love in the world- which was also a development that he was proud of.

“we have four hours before the moon rises,” hoseok expertly said, all too normalized with this, “are you ready to transform today, taehyungie?”

the werewolf nodded as he worked, “i can. but joonie… you’ve been awake for a really long time. will you be able to stay awake?”

“i’ll sleep next to you just like this,” he winked from across the towel, leaning the weight of his body onto jimin just to annoy him a little bit, “your fur is warm and comfortable enough.”

“if i don’t just pass out again like last time we did this,” taehyung rolled his eyes playfully, but there was a layer of truth to his words.

the mood was light after that. hours of touches and kisses and giggles under the cloudy sky went by in what seemed like a blink. all of their flowers had been braided and placed delicately on top of their heads- some were more professional looking than others but that didn’t hold any importance to them. what mattered was that the sun was about to set and the seven of them would be bound forever like they should. like jeongguk had wanted for so long.

so, why was he so nervous?

they kissed the anxiety out of him. the human was laid down in the middle of the towel as he was kissed, pampered, groped and sweet talked- it was overwhelming to experience so much at the same time, but in the best way- there was so much kindness and gentleness in their every move and word. all words and unspoken feelings felt like a beam of light pressing against his skin- or maybe that was hoseok, he wasn’t sure. everyone’s tunic was stained and so was their hair as the towel still held some unsoaked blood in it- it was kind of gross, but they didn’t seem to have a care for it at this moment.

when the first rays of moonlight began dawning in the backyard, they pulled away and sat properly once more.

the real deal was about to begin.

taehyung shed himself of his tunic and jeongguk was reminded of when he saw him for the first time ever. he seemed to bathe in the moonlight- absorbing it in its fullness as he delicately grabbed at a larger crown and slipping it over to hang on his neck- it reached his stomach, but the human guessed that when he turned into the huge beast that was his wolf, that it’d sit snugly like a collar around his neck.

this time, it seemed less painful to turn. he had been told that the first day of the full moon always made it easier and better because afterwards, his body was just tense and his bones hurt if he was under such pressure again.

taehyung’s wolf was as beautiful and majestic as jeongguk remembered him to be. he inched over to them, large paws digging into the dirt. luckily, both taehyung and his wolf were aware of what was going on so he acted accordingly, gently sitting on his back paws as he waited.

the witch came forward and roughly pat the wolf’s head, making him lean into it and make a soft noise from the back of his throat. he fixed his crown over his neck and then stepped back a little, holding him steady by the collar. hoseok pulled yoongi up under his thighs and carried him over to namjoon’s side with a flourish and laughter from both- his feet seemed to hover over the grass in a swift motion as he jumped from one side to the other.

“hyung,” he started, hand on his hip, “jiminie and kook- stand in a line in the middle of the circle, just like we did back in the room. he’ll take it from here,” he pat the side of the wolf’s back.

the three nestmates held hands and looked at each other for a moment- jimin was tearing up again. lately the vampire had been crying a lot as he thought about this moment through the weeks leading up to it. gladly, the other six were always there to catch him. seokjin was tearing up a bit as well, holding jimin only for a moment in a strong embrace, “this is what we wanted for so long,” he whispered in his husband’s ear, “it’s finally happening. i love you so much, my dear.”

“i love you,” jimin replied back, one hand grabbing jeongguk’s arm, “and you. and all of you. let’s… let’s do it.”

they stood in a line in the middle of the circle, still holding each other’s hands. they kneeled together and then sat like jeongguk had when he saw the wolf for the first time.

“deep breaths,” namjoon instructed as he brought the wolf closer and let go of the collar.

the beast was breathing down on them now, golden eyes piercing into seokjin’s, who he approached first. the original stared back at him with as much intensity- jimin slowly let go of his hand and followed the two with his eyes a little nervously. the human took notice and held onto jimin tighter, lacing their fingers together reassuringly.

after what seemed like an eternity of looking at each other the vampire suddenly jerked from his stillness and started crying openly, hot streaks of tears staining his cheeks just before both of them leaned forward and seokjin’s face leaned against his fur.

a voice in his head sounded in echo, “ours,” it was a mix of something deeper and the silver lining of taehyung’s own voice, “ours to hold. protect. share. we will rule together- ours.”

the outburst sent a jolt of panic through jimin and jeongguk who thought that something might’ve gone wrong, but hoseok was quick to clarify the situation.

“you heard him, didn’t you?” he asked the vampire who just nodded weakly- the werewolf made a whining noise from the back of his throat, attempting to nuzzle further into his touch.

the daisies in his crowd were now free of blood and unstained as if they were freshly picked by the most careful hands. his tunic was also clean of any of that.

after a few seconds more, the werewolf began walking to the other side of the line, circling the three of them and stopping on jeongguk’s side. as he stood behind him and peered down at the human, he had to crane his neck back to look at the wolf in the eyes as well. his own eyes shook as he stared at him for eternity without blinking- sooner rather than later, a voice in his head spoke to him.

“it’s been too long,” it was a deep one that jeongguk remembered hearing when his boyfriend was tied up. he could hear taehyung’s under it as they meshed together, “you’re finally mine- ours,” it was taehyung’s voice who shined through the last word, “ours. ours.”

surprisingly, jeongguk didn’t cry as much as seokjin. thin lines of tears escaped his eyes slowly because he was simply too happy or too perplexed. as the blood from his own crown and tunic slowly disappeared, the werewolf brought his head closer and they nuzzled upside down- the human’s hands racked through his fur in pure bliss and happiness.

lastly, it was jimin’s turn. he was even more nervous than when this whole thing started because now he was the only one left out of the group- his palms were sweaty and his eyes shook as he watched the werewolf circle around them once more. the beast laid his head on top of jimin’s knees and stared up at him. jeongguk and seokjin clung to his sides in an attempt to calm him down, though it didn’t seem to work.

tears fell on the werewolf’s snout.

“look at him,” the demon reinforced, “you have to look at him, jimin.”

“you’ve got this,” hoseok encouraged and suddenly they were all on him, touching him dearly. namjoon held the vampire’s head gently and made him look into the wolf’s eyes. hoseok and yoongi joined both jeongguk and seokjin on either side of him.

jimin’s small hands cradled the werewolf’s face, “work,” he whispered to himself, “please. please work.”

“and why would it not?” the vampire jerked at the echo in his head, “you’ve been here all along, how could you doubt it?” the voice was strong and shook the vampire to his core- if his heart still beat it would be doing somersaults in his chest right in this moment, “ours,” he said with the force of thunder, contrasting to the look of the puppy that jimin so well knew laying on his lap, “ours.”

the vampire curled up suddenly and hugged the werewolf as best as he could considering his position.

his crown and tunic cleared of blood, as did the rest of the group’s that hadn’t directly participated today.

they stood there until no one else was crying- it was well over midnight when the seven of them managed to peel themselves away from each other now that a new bond was running through their veins and everything seemed calm.

once he was let go of, the beast stood and walked a little further away as he stared directly at the moon. the howl that the wolf made was one of the loudest and yet most exhilarating things that jeongguk had ever heard in his life- it made his blood run hot and vision get blurry- it was so loud that a couple of birds that were resting on trees nearby couldn’t help but begin to fly away.

it wasn’t a surprise to them that the beast began shifting back earlier than expected. in the blink of an eye taehyung was back to his normal self and passed out on the ground, naked except for the clean crown hanging from his neck. his gauzes on his palm were gone, revealing a healed cut that had scarred over to leave a distinct line on his palm.

their mark.

he was panting breathlessly and limp when the six of them reached him and hauled him into their arms

Chapter Text

they woke up the next day in the nesting room. taehyung couldn’t move even if he tried, but he remembered everything that happened in vivid detail, which was unusual during most full moons. as soon as he opened his eyes, the six of them were already up and taking care of him- namjoon and seokjin brought him painkillers for his muscles, heat pads, food and water while everyone else (except jeongguk who was still sleeping), after spending some time hanging together and hogging him for kisses, left to do chores and go to work.

jimin and seokjin went away first as they normally would and after the room and backyard were clean, namjoon, hoseok and yoongi also left to go to the restaurant.

the human was left with the responsibility of taking care of taehyung since he had no classes.

“oh, jeonggukie,” the werewolf said dramatically, laughing loudly as the youngest took charge of fluffing up his pillows and readjusting his blankets, “my knight in shining armor… who would fluff my pillows or massage my sore muscles if not you? what would i do without you?”

“probably starve,” the human was immediately punched in the shoulder afterwards, “don’t say it’s a lie!”

“it’s the truth but i don’t like it.”

“well you better, or i’ll just eat all of this myself,” he gestured vaguely to the food near them on the bedside table before he crawled inside the blankets as well with a plate in hand. he broke a piece off the stack of syrupy pancakes and fed it to the werewolf before rewarding himself with a large bite as well. after swallowing it down,  jeongguk broke the soft silence they were in, “do your muscles still hurt, puppy?” his voice got softer as his concern raised.

taehyung finished his bite and smiled at the nickname- he was so endeared at the fact that jeongguk called him that too now. 

“yeah, they do,” he groaned exaggeratedly, “i think pancakes and some more cuddling can cure me, though,” he crossed his arms slowly and jeongguk rolled his eyes dearly. they continued the gesture lovingly, cuddling closer as they finished the pancakes and drank some juice that they had brought. the werewolf took the painkillers and then finally relaxed against the bed fully with jeongguk curled against him.

their hands ended up falling together on their laps. jeongguk softly took taehyung’s left hand and examined the scarred mark that was left on it. his own hand was still bandaged since he didn’t think he was ready to see the mark on him yet, but everyone else had already done it this morning. everyone looked so happy and sated… his fingers gently traced over it, admiring the shape and how meaningful it was.

“you haven’t taken yours off yet,” taehyung pointed out, squeezing jeongguk’s bandaged hand in his own, “is something up?”

“no, i… i just want to be ready to see it,” he said tenderly, “i still can’t believe that last night actually happened- and now we’re all together… officially.”

taehyung nodded in understanding, showing that he was listening intently. he groaned as he turned to the side to look directly at the human.

“your wolf’s voice is kinda scary,” he pouted, “for a second, i thought i was gonna be eaten. i swear-“

taehyung laughed, pressing a wet kiss to the side of jeongguk’s face as he toyed with his bandages, “i could just eat you up,” he imitated the voice in his ear, relishing in the way that a shiver made its way down the human’s spine.

“puppy,” he whined and squirmed a little, shaking his head, “you’re sore… you can’t do that to me… everyone’s at work-”

taehyung paused for a bit and looked deep into jeongguk’s eyes, hands roaming across his chest, “wait, do you want me to stop? what’s your color?”

jeongguk smiled adoringly at just how caring and careful everyone was. he flipped them both over suddenly and sat on top of taehyung’s thighs, careful not to hurt his sore muscles. he took in the werewolf’s shocked face before he answered, “green,” he said it quietly, eating up taehyung’s smirk with his own lips pressed against it, “but what will everyone say? i’m supposed to take care of you, not tire you out…”

“nope,” the other played around, smug and beautiful, “pretty sure this is what they meant by ‘take care of me’, baby.”

“jimin hyung is gonna kill us for doing this without him,” jeongguk mumbled, grinding down on taehyung’s hips.

“we always get in trouble anyway,” he winked. the werewolf pulled him down for a rough kiss yet again- it quickly overpowered jeongguk, even if both of them took a more submissive role when they played together, “that’s a problem for future us, yeah?”

they ended up messing around under the covers for the following hour, though jeongguk did most of the work physically while taehyung got him through it until his peak with his sweet words and soft touches- things that were barely there but spoke volumes and meant so much to them both like mentioning the group and how much trouble they were gonna be in (they weren’t going to be in trouble, but the thought was exciting and risky), praise and nicknames that they liked like the werewolf’s signature ‘puppy’ and the human’s newly found ‘bunny’.

once they were done and thoroughly spent, they laid together with little to no care for personal space. their legs were intertwined as they panted- jeongguk’s cheeks were smooched against his boyfriend’s collarbones, lips ghosting over them.

taehyung held jeongguk’s face in the crook of his neck as he sunk in, letting the youngest go pliant completely under his care. in a moment of pure enlightenment, the werewolf stretched his arm and blindly grabbed his phone which was on the ground nearby and snapped a picture of them both resting. not long after, he sent it to their groupchat. 

coven

puppy 🐺 11:35am

*photo attachment*

come home soon 💗

as expected, it didn’t take long at all for them to reply.

tiny 🦇 11:39am

oh you boys are in big trouble

bird 🧚🏻 11:40am

nice hickey on kookie’s neck

tiny 🦇 11:40am

that definitely wasn’t there! i drank from him this morning!

puppy 🐺 11:42am

he’s sleeping right now

joon 🧝🏼 11:45am

don’t forget to have lunch

that’s the cutest picture i’ve ever seen

jeongguk squirmed as the light from the screen bothered him a little so taehyung immediately put the phone down again and held him in his arms with a kiss, sinking and resting fully.

the vampires came back to the mansion with heavy shoulders and bad news. 

everyone was already inside and having a rather anxious dinner- jimin and seokjin had called them to let them know that something was up since they had agreed on always being one hundred percent honest with each other, though they said it was something that couldn’t argue over the phone.

the gauges were still tight over jeongguk’s hand, even as he fidgeted with his fingers. 

the sound of jimin putting his purse down and seokjin hanging his coat at the entrance made everyone perk up in attention. 

they both came into the kitchen with the same sweet smiles besides whatever trouble they were going through and greeted everyone with a kiss, ruffling jeongguk’s hair specially because even if they were all together, they knew that he missed them just a little bit more due to their bond. the oldest went into the cellar to get their dinner and jimin took a seat at the table.

“you guys don’t look too good,” yoongi pointed out, always the same brutally honest person.

jimin gave him a tired smile, “work was hell today- thank you puppy,” taehyung had gone behind him and placed a cold bottle of pure vodka in front of him, kissing the top of his head sweetly. seokjin got back from the cellar and continued the blonde’s words, “and we have news. not sure if any of you paid attention to the radio or news today…”

namjoon, who had turned the tv on not long after he came home, shrugged, “i didn’t see much on the news besides political debates and small accidents.”

jimin sighed in relief, “well, thank lucifer you didn’t see that,” he took a swing of his drink, which he had now mixed with vodka, “it means we did a decent job of covering it up.”

jeongguk was getting a little worried, “what do you mean? what’s wrong?” he held onto jimin’s free arm, silently begging for some kind of comfort. 

the youngest vampire placed a kiss over the human’s head and snuggled him closer. seokjin was pouring himself a large glass of wine before he took large gulps of it down like he was drinking water. 

seokjin was pretty cut and dry to the point, “a fledgling killed a human today and we spent the whole evening trying to cover it up,” namjoon’s mouth formed into the shape of a comical ‘o’ as if he wasn’t expecting such a thing, “it’s been decades since any of the humans in this city have died from a hungry vampire- so it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park.”

“a fledgling?” jeongguk questioned.

“a newly turned vampire,” yoongi answered quickly, “i didn’t think your father’s subjects would come this quickly.”

“neither did we,” jimin sighed.

“if it was a fledgling, it means some have already begun to hunt and spread,” the oldest vampire took another swing of his drink, “i told the people we hired to spread the message- there will be an assembly soon. it’s time for me to step up to the responsibility.”

hoseok, who was awfully quiet this whole time, finally spoke up, “if i’m honest… i did sense a shift in the atmosphere,” everyone paid close attention- the fae knew best about these things after all, “it’s a large group- probably fifty to a hundred. certainly not the entirety of your father’s ruling… some split to different territories. though, it’s still a lot. they definitely outweigh the other creatures now so we have to control them, somehow… or they might go rogue.”

“as if they could!” jimin sighed as he said it, “they’re wired to obey. we just have to have to give them a couple of orders- maybe hurt a few of them who step out of the line to set the example, and we’ll be good.”

jeongguk was a little bit taken aback by what that meant to its fullest, but he ignored it for the time being.

“where’s the meeting going to be?” taehyung, who was sipping mango juice from the cartoon box while rubbing at jeongguk’s shoulder to make him relax, inquired, “and when?”

jimin and seokjin were already done with their first bottle when the shortest answered, “this weekend at the warehouse. far from here… i’ll be damned if i have a single one of those pests infiltrate our place.”

that was rather comforting to everyone. they all relaxed visibly, shoulders hanging loose.

“we’re going with you,” yoongi stated matter-of-factly with no room for discussion, “jeongguk too.”

the human nodded fiercely as seokjin replied with something similar to ‘of course he will,’ and ‘everyone must know that he’s not to be touched’. somehow, it felt even more comforting- jeongguk recalled that one time when he was left behind and locked in, starting an argument that changed the course of his relationship with everyone forever. looking back, he was almost glad for it.

“we’re going to have to pull even more strings at work to redirect blood… we can’t have them drinking the civilians dry- there’s only so much we can cover up,” jimin suddenly felt a little stressed to the point where he wanted to smoke and he had never done such a thing- out of stress, anyway. “how will we maintain this?”

“we’ll think of something until then,” seokjin said, a bit unsure, “hopefuly…”

jeongguk had expected this- after that talk they had a couple of weeks ago, the human was well aware that shortly after their bond was solidified people would start rolling into the city. he was only a little bit scared. he didn’t know how creatures besides their boyfriends were like or if they even shared the same mindset but he knew that his six lovers would be there along the way to help him navigate this new thing, just like they always did.

they got quiet for a while and jeongguk felt like he needed to change the subject, so he did, “i see that everyone took their bandages off already…” he began, “i haven’t yet because i wanted to do it with everyone here.”

“you’re so sweet, bunny,” hoseok heaved the compliment like he was handing out a kiss, taking a bite out of an apple that he had taken from a fruit basket on the kitchen counter. 

“i know that when it comes to me, it’s different… and that i’m difficult, so if anything went wrong and you guys weren’t here,” he vented a little, “i don’t know what i’d do.”

“you’re not difficult,” seokjin reassured, fluffing his hair as he stood up to wash his wine glass and put it away- everything was so domestic that it made jeongguk believe in his words a little bit, “don’t say that about yourself, baby.”

“he’s right,” jimin agreed, “and even if you were- which you aren’t- we’d still love you just the same.”

namjoon tilted his glasses up a bit, soothing his hands through yoongi who had silently sat on his lap, begging for attention like a little cat, “taking good care of you isn’t a chore.”

jeongguk blushed and shook his head, clearing his head of the fuzzy feeling that their words made him feel, “i know. i-i believe you,” he liked the pampering, what else could he say? “i think i want to take this off now.”

the group quickly gathered around him excitedly, looking at their human lover with utmost attention and sweetness. 

“let’s see it, then,” seokjin urged, drinking some more from jimin’s glass above them.

jeongguk slowly began undoing the bandages on his hand, stopping every now and then to blush at the praise that the six of them threw at him randomly- they loved to see him stutter and try to hide from their loving ways. the human was just so straightforward about how he felt now that everyone was involved.

they would never take that for granted.

when only the last bit of bandage that concealed the possible mark of their bond was left to unwrap, jeongguk closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

he didn’t look at his hand as he pulled it away, “how does it look?” he asked vulnerably.

“oh, prince…” jimin breathed out. everyone else was making similar noises of endearment and there were several other hands holding him and kissing his face, “you’re so special, aren’t you?”

“where did that come from?” yoongi asked and jeongguk felt the demon’s fingers touching his palm.

he still had his eyes closed, now a little too scared to open them and look down. 

“open your eyes, jeongguk,” it was namjoon who said it, “your mark… it’s something else.”

with a whine and reluctant shake of his head, the human hesitantly opened his eyes and looked down at his palm, widening said eyes at what he saw engraved into his skin.

instead of the regular slash that the other ones had on their own tanned skin, jeongguk’s palm had two of them, fully healed. they crossed over each other, meeting in the exact middle. 

“what?” the human questioned a little breathlessly, staring at his hand hard enough to carve a hole through it. he didn’t understand, “i only did one of the cuts?”

jeongguk’s surprises and rule bending didn’t even truly shock them anymore. it only made them feel happy to witness something so unique.

“it's beautiful,” taehyung mused and hoseok joined him, “it’s so different…”

seokjin and yoongi were silently hugging him from behind before they pulled away.

“always a box of surprises,” the demon commented.

namjoon, of course, wanted to look deeper into the matter and find out why his mark had healed with a second slash that the human hadn’t done. in his head there were mostly two hypothesis: the second mark was either a sign of the human’s nestmate bond with the vampires as well as the pack or the awakening of something bigger- he needed his answers regardless, so he kept to himself and promised that he’d find out why this had happened.

the subject was put aside and a good mood filled the walls of the mansion like a wave crashing into the sea.

“how are you feeling, puppy?” jimin asked pointedly, turning to one of his boyfriends with worry, “better?”

“yeah, i am,” the werewolf replied happily, doing a silly little move of his hips to showcase that he was feeling a little less sore and more energized. that small thing made everyone's hearts get warmer, “i just needed to rest my bones for some time… and bunny helped.”

“i sure did!” the human giggled suggestively.

“now,” jimin said as he stood up from his chair, a fiery look in his eyes as the same chair dragged on the ground with a loud noise that made everyone look up, “which one of you boys was up to some trouble?” 

taehyung and jeongguk looked into each other’s eyes in silent comradeship for a split second and then bolted out of the kitchen as they stood up abruptly, laughter echoing through the halls of the mansion and bouncing off of the walls, just as it always should.

jimin ran after them while joining in on the laughter, a little too in love to care for how loud they were. who would complain? the birds outside? “you can’t outrun a vampire!”

and they didn't.

jimin caught up to them even before they managed to reach the top of the stairs. he appeared out of thin air, holding both of their cheeks in his clawed hands before they were obediently pulled into the nesting room. 

no one could outrun the vampires, but they all woke up together and entangled in the nesting room so nothing was said about it anyway.

it took namjoon three full days to figure out what the hell was going on with jeongguk’s pack mark and when he did, he wasn’t sure what to do with the information. 

he wasn’t sure who to tell first, wasn’t sure if he should even tell anyone at all- but then the guilt of even considering hiding the truth made him spew it all out over friday’s dinner.

the pack had reserved fridays for themselves, much like when the vampires and human did in the beginning of their relationship: the restaurant now closed an hour before it should and the vampires came home from the company earlier, having assigned someone to manage things while they were out. it was a day when everyone could relax and unwind from their busy routine since both taehyung and jeongguk were also juggling college with all of this- they played video games, ate snacks, got drunk or drank from each other but most importantly talked about their feelings and how they stood in the relationship while they cuddled or just talked about absolute nonsense in the comfiness of their safe space.

it was a “share your feelings” friday and when it reached namjoon’s turn, he just couldn’t keep it to himself for longer.

“i feel guilty about something,” he confessed, face breaking a bit from his natural glow. everyone was immediately alarmed, but they didn’t say anything about it or let it show through.

“tell us what’s wrong, joonie,” hoseok asked, running his warm fingers through the witch’s hair just the way he knew he liked it. they were sitting on the couch, cuddled close in a corner of it while the others took the floor and armchairs- jeongguk had two freshly bitten marks into his neck and left wrist.

namjoon sighed, sitting up straighter and dragging the fae along with him, “you guys know that i’ve been… researching why kook’s mark looks the way it does, right?”

“correct,” seokjin said from the armchair, currently lulling a very satisfied jeongguk in his arms to bring him back to earth a little bit, “what’s going on?”

“well, i found out why. only recently… yesterday, actually. i didn’t know how to bring it up so i-” he sighed, rubbing his face with his right hand, “i know one day isn’t long at all, but i still feel bad about not talking to everyone as soon as it clicked in my brain.”

“oh,” jimin shook his head a bit in surprise, “well, i think i can speak for everyone when i say that we’re not going to be upset with you for holding onto this bit for one day, isn’t that right?”

everyone agreed very quickly, so they kept on talking.

“if you say so,” namjoon stood up from where he was cuddling up to the fire fae, pacing around the living room as he did when he was thinking or trying to express himself better- no one judged him for such a thing, “i did some digging with my deities, because everything that happened since this whole thing started was just too weird,” jeongguk who was a little bit more awake and conscious now followed his boyfriend walking around with his eyes as he was cleaned up by the werewolf, “i don’t fully know what it all means yet- everything is just so vague. it’s… it’s not bad. it’s just… new.”

“...right?” yoongi cocked a brow up, “so what is it, joon?”

“is he, like, listening?” the witch nervously asked jimin who was taking care of bringing jeongguk back up to his full senses.

jimin pulled the human’s skin under his eyes softly with a small smile when he groaned in return, “he’s just sleepy. continue, joonie.”

“okay,” joon paced some more, “we should really look into his transformation soon… and i mean this in a like, ‘it’s eminent and we should do something about it’ way. there’s something… because of both the nestmate bond and pack bond, it will be different for him. i already expected that from the beginning, of course, but not like this.”

“joonie,” hoseok spoke up and grabbed one of his hands from the couch, trying to ground the witch and make him focus, “what exactly is the ‘this’ that you are talking about?”

the warmth that the fae irradiated did a lot to calm down the nervous witch. breaking news wasn’t exactly his forte- that had always been more of jimin’s field. it made him nervous and fidgety and like his head was running a mile ahead of him.

“i think that this cocktail of bonds we have will create a new creature that has never existed before,” namjoon spilled it out before he could regret any word that came out of his mouth or hesitate, “i don’t know what will happen. i wish i did- i have no idea how this will go.”

silence filled the room. it was a tense silence that had dawned on them by the sudden and shocking news. they had never considered that to be a thing that could happen.

jeongguk was awfully quiet. 

“the nestmate bond wants eternity out of him and the pack bond is pulling him towards his humanity. both of these things are unbreakable and they don’t have priority over one another… do you understand?” he looked at jeongguk now who seemed alert and maybe a little shocked, “i don’t know. i wish i could tell you more-”

“what you did already was great,” yoongi cut off immediately before the witch could doubt his abilities, “don’t underestimate yourself. you worked hard to get this information and we’re proud of you, joon. you have to calm down.”

the witch sat down on the couch next to hoseok again like the demon told him to. he tried to breathe and calm himself down, but he knew he wasn’t the topic of discussion, “worry about jeonggukie. he hasn’t said a word yet… please.”

jimin turned to the human worriedly, shaking his shoulder a bit, “prince?” he called, waiting for jeongguk to turn to him and look him in the eyes, “how are you feeling about all of this? talk to us, please. we need to know how you feel.”

“i…” jeongguk’s mind was running a mile. it wasn’t foreign in their relationship that they were the textbook definition of pioneers… but to create an entire new being? “w-well, thank you for reaching this conclusion, hyung. i really appreciate you telling all of us before it could happen…”

“of course!” namjoon responded immediately, “don’t thank me for this, jeonggukie. i’m your boyfriend… being honest with you about things is the bare minimum.”

“so… what do we do?” taehyung who had been eating as he listened asked, looking between everyone. 

“we can’t wait another year, that’s for sure,” yoongi shook his head, “jeongguk is in his prime years and is perfectly healthy right now.”

seokjin nodded to the information, “that’s true. he’s more than physically ready, but…” he turned to stare at the human and looked him in his shaky eyes, “i don’t know this as well as jimin does. i was born like this… but i’ve taken care of him for centuries and i know that the physical part isn’t the worst- it’s the emotional one.”

“you’ll always have us to fall back into, jeonggukie,” hoseok completed, “no matter what you choose. we will be here through every step of the way.”

jeongguk bit his lip and he thought it over. his six boyfriends looked at him expectantly as he did so.

as much as the human didn’t like to admit, it took him a while to decide. after a few minutes, before any of then could tell him that he didn’t have to decide what to do today because of the new information screwing up their plans once again, he answered. 

“i’m in, like i said before,” he nodded firmly, “i-i know you guys have my back no matter what. i want to go through with it.” 

jimin leaned over and stamped his lips over jeongguk’s cheeks as he wasn’t able to help himself from touching and holding the human in this difficult moment. taehyung and hoseok also stood up and joined in the hug.

“joonie,” seokjin called as he stood up from the armchair to give the rest of the group some more space for what they had to do. he walked over to the sofa and sat down near the witch to hold his hand, “thank you,” he said quietly enough for it to stay between them, “i know you don’t want to take credit, but you did a great job. doing what you do… it’s stressful work. you always impress me…” it was tender- seokjin leaned his head on the witch’s shoulder and they huddled up closer, “when’s the next full moon?”

“in two weeks,” the witch replied, “tomorrow’s the assembly. i know that you’re overworked… let me take care of the logistics for his transformation,” he pleaded, “it’s only fair.”

“i really can’t thank you enough, joonie.”

“you might… with a kiss.”

earlier in the morning, jeongguk had broken the news to the group that he wanted to drop out of college. considering everything that was currently going on around him and the fact that he wasn’t able to keep up like he had before all of this happened, he felt like it was best. 

he’d have an eternity ahead of him to study and get educated on whatever he wanted if he was going to become immortal, anyway. the time that he’d need to adjust to his new body and reality would be too much on his grades and mental health.

seokjin, jimin and jeongguk spent that entire morning taking care of the necessary paperwork. they personally went to jeongguk’s college and signed off some papers with him- seokjin happily pulled out his checkbook and paid off the rest of his tuition debt, even if the human felt bad and guilty about making them spend so much money on something that he should’ve avoided in the first place by working harder..

to make him feel better, they took the human shopping and out to eat, treating him to anything he wanted to get and some more things that jeongguk looked at when he thought they didn’t notice. amongst those things there was a new lingerie set, some oil paints and a sketchbook. 

jeongguk had confessed to his boyfriends during one of their honest fridays that he always liked to draw and was quite good at it, but with college and his last job taking away his time, he’d sort of stopped doing it as often. taehyung confirmed this information, claiming that he used to do dumb poses with him when they were kids.

jimin and seokjin encouraged him to try again and revive that passion since things from next week and on would be different- they were almost more excited than him.

“i’ll be your muse,” jimin said, silly and teasing as he posed sexily in the car seat while they made their way back home.

saturday night came by too quickly.