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ik this isn't technically a queer thing, but my parents got me a rainbow collar for Christmas, and I see it as a peace offering?

they don't know about me not being a human at all from my knowledge and it could very well just be like a "alt fashion" gift (+ rainbow to support queer child) but id like to think it's a silent recognizing of me being different

yoooo!!! that would be awesome if they somehow caught the vibe without you having to tell them! at the very least, that might actually make that conversation easier if it ever has to happen. either way, i'm glad you got something affirming, that's awesome!

merry christmas! i hope you have a great new year as well!

Plugged In Digital

Tried Something New This Time.

Plugged In

Definitely gonna turn it into digital.

It bends space.

Faster than light is only light in quadrat.

THE HELL!!!

I want to breath!

So I am thinking about starting up a Youtube Channel where I talk about and review various things in pop culture like movies, video games and cartoons. Ill do top 10 lists and reaction videos to stuff while giving my general thoughts on stuff. If you have any video ideas let me know and ill put it in a video but let me know what you think about the name I've chosen

So much about to happen

𝐄𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢 | 𝐂𝐡 𝟐

Pairing: Mercenary!Jungkook x ?? Female!Reader

Summary: When past comes knocking on your door wearing the face of unknown dangers, you can either refuse acknowledging it and be a sitting duck or find out what it was that turned your world upside down all those years ago—that has come back yet again to hunt you—with a stranger promising to keep you safe, by your side. One thing is sure: secrets will unfold. And it would not be anything you could've imagined.

Word Count: 7.3k

Genre: Fantasy au; adventure; action. Fluff; angst; future smut(??)

Rating: 18+ (violence and mature themes)

Warnings: Fighting, some blood, minor character death, dead parent mentioned

Published: 11th March 2025

Note: between my previous blog getting shadowbanned and my writers block, it took an awfully long time for it but finally the next chapter is here!! I swear I'll try to be more consistent with the updates now. Please let me know your thoughts on this chapter and the story so far!!!

Glossary and Map: here

Esati Masterlist

You clung to your father's arm, as he moved around your little home, trying and failing to put his things in his satchel. He needed to leave soon, it bothered him if something was not done in accordance with his timetable, but there was a small hindrance. A hindrance who was currently sulking. 

"Can't I come with you too, Pa? Please?"

Big brown eyes blinked up at Alastair, trying to look more innocent than they were. "It is not a place for a child, love. I'm meeting with an old friend, and most of the time we will be talking about work talk; you will get bored." He pried your fingers clutching around his arm, and started on actually getting some work done.

"I won't! I want to see the market," you huffed, round cheeks puffed out and coloured a soft pink hue, "Jioo said the people in town have decorated it for the spring feast. It's reeeally pretty!" You stretched the word.

Your father slung the satchel across his body. "If the only thing you want to do is roam around the town, then I am afraid that I won't have time for that. Oh, and before you say anything about going on your own, then that is an even firmer no."

You scrunched your brows, lips in a downturn. But he just laughed, "I know, I know, my little bird is all grown up, but you will always be a little girl to me." Pinched your cheeks, "I can't bear the thought of you alone out there just yet, understand the worries of my heart?"

Now he was the one making that innocent pouting face. You started pouting harder.

Your father sighed, "I'll take you there the day after. You can invite Jioo too if you'd like? "

You hadn't even tried to fight the smile that took over your face. "Promise?"

"Promise," he came over and pulled you in an embrace, planting a peck at the top of your head, "I'll be back soon," and with that he was out the door.

You followed him out, shutting the door behind yourself, already on your way to go gather some herbs from your small garden while your father was away.

Before you could even fully turn around, a massive weight was thrown on you.

"Oof," you stumbled but managed to stay on your feet. "Buck! Don't do that! You're not a tiny baby anymore," you laughed.

The husky only looked at you with innocent eyes as if he didn't understand why he couldn't jump at you anymore. He wasn't even two years old and yet so huge.

"You big baby. Take care of Pa, alright?" You ruffled his furs as he took off running in circles.

Your father called for Buck and began walking. "Don't stay out for long! And the foo-"

"'Food is on the kitchen table, make sure to eat it.' Yeah, yeah, I already know. Now go."

"Take care and don't stay hanging on the window waiting for me, you will catch a cold." Your father called out one last time, still looking at you. He wondered when his daughter grew up so much, as you grabbed your basket and hummed on your way towards the garden.

———————————————————— A cool breeze ruffled your hair, and you slumped even further against your folded arms, which you were currently leaning on, staring out the open window.

It was getting late. Usually when your father goes to town, he comes back by now; one look at the sun, and you knew it was past the fourth hour. There were no bell towers this high and far into the mountains, so you couldn't hear the bells signalling each hour, but you had gotten good at guessing over the years. Though your father did own one of those chain watches, he always carried it with him. 

You were getting worried, even after being well aware that if he went to see someone regarding business, it could take time; it still made your mind fill up with unease.

Maybe he's just catching up with his friend and forgot about the time. That seemed like a possible reason for his delay.

But at this point it seemed like you were only reassuring yourself.

You lived at the edge of your village; not to mention, because of how late it was, most of the people were either inside their homes resting after a day's work or busy with supper and preparing for the evening gatherings. No one was near you.

And so no one heard the pained groan followed by the frantic thuds on your front door.

You ran to the door, letting out a gasp of horror the moment you opened it. The person who stood there was almost unrecognisable, covered in several gashes and crimson painting his face. Blood.

"Pa! No, no. Oh god! What happened to you?"

You were crying. Your mind couldn't register yet, but tears blurred your vision and slipped past your chin down to the floor in rivulets. Your father stumbled inside the house and slipped to the floor just inches away from the door frame.

He opened his mouth, trying to say something but ended up coughing instead and spitting more blood on the floor. He was bleeding from the chest too, or maybe it is his stomach? You didn't know. Couldn't make sense of the scene in front of you. Red. It was too much red.

"I-I will get a rag- sit- i-" You didn't know what was coming out of your mouth. You didn't know what you were doing. But you had to do something. Even as those words left your mouth, you didn't move and just stared at him in horror and confusion, arms raised and reaching for him. You felt like the world was collapsing, and you could not find your footing on the broken floor. 

"No," he gruffed, grabbing at your calf, trying to stop you. "They are coming for you," he huffed out.

"Pa-" You tried to reach him.

He heaved a breath and cut you off. "Listen, listen carefully," he coughed again. "Get out of here, don't look back. Go...go west. Down the mount- mountain. Run,"

"What are you saying?" You whispered shakily, coming back to reality and finding your voice again. You were distraught and scared as you watched more life force spill out of his body and pool around him. "You are hurt. Have to stop the bleeding—"

"Focus on what I'm saying," his booming voice stopped your nervous rambles in their tracks. But it seemed he used all his remaining energy in that one sentence and, as a result, had to lean on the still-open door, struggling to draw in another breath.

"Please go; they would not be very far, please."

"You're telling me to leave you like this? I can't—Pa, 'they'? Who's coming? Who did this?" Your nerves were frantic, eyes shaky as you looked out the door trying to locate any threat. Any sign of the person responsible for this. 

But your father didn't respond. Heart dropping to your feet, you hurriedly sat in front of him, taking his hand in one and tilting his face with the other one.

You were about to call out to him when his hand tightened, and he opened his eyes and looked you directly in the eye, "Take this." Gripped tightly in his hand was his satchel, which he still managed to keep safe in all the commotion. 

Tears were streaming down your face, you realised how serious he looked. How tired his eyes were. You didn't want to leave him, but his face said it all; you didn't have any other choice.

"My life was for you anyway; the day I had met you, I was born again as" cough, "as your father. Go. I'll be fine."

He was lying.

"I ca- can not," you hiccuped, "pa."

His grip loosened on your hand, and he managed to pull away. "Take this. You are my brave child, you will make it out of here, alright?" 

It was his chain watch. He pried your fingers open and pressed it into your skin. A beautiful silver thing, patterns of swords and wheat swirling around the front. You realised how small it was, as it sat in the middle of your palm.

You took the satchel, set it down on your lap, and grabbed both his hands tightly; he gave you the smallest of smiles, and you let out a sob.

But his hands were urging you up, and even if you wanted to just sit there and hug him tight, you got up, slinging the leather strap around your shoulder. You can't convince him, but you were going to go find help.

You looked back at him, standing at the doorframe, you tried one last time to convince him silently to let you stay when his eyes snapped up towards the back window. They held a look of panic in them as he hissed in pain.

"Go, hurry. You don't have time—"

Just then you heard a loud howl, and the window burst open as something big and black entered your home through the shattered window.

You screamed, backing away as your eyes connected with deep red irises. Not of a human's, but a wolf's. An insanely large wolf, who was staring right at you.

Frozen in shock, you didn't even realise that you were shakily taking steps away from it, but then you remembered your father. Your gaze shot in his direction as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Look here, you mutt!" Your father, who had looked on the verge of collapsing just a second ago, now stood straight and walked in front of the horrifying creature, "It's me that you want, don't you?" He spat. Dragging every shred of power he had left in his body.

You couldn't be sure—you mind couldn't comprehend anything that was happening—but his hands started glowing orange; your eyes were glued to his hands as you tried and failed to convince yourself that this was all a nightmare.

"Y/n...my little bird, run and don't look back. I'm sorry that I have to leave you alone, but didn't you say you were all grown up now?" You could hear the faint smile in his voice even if he didn't turn around; he just kept his eyes on the wolf, who now began to circle around him with its teeth out on display. "You will be alright. I know." He finished.

The black creature got ready to pounce. Alastair raised his hands—now burning a blinding orange. "Please!"

His pained cry reached you just as you turned around, but you kept running. Nothing crossed your mind at that moment but your father and his words—begging you to go. So you did. Disappearing among the trees, away from your village, your father. Your home. 

You hadn't had a home in a long time, not since you lost your father. But you had managed to create some semblance of that word, a space for yourself. And in this exact moment you wanted nothing more than to run back to its comfort and forget all about what happened.

But you were aware it was not possible.

"Keep your head down," The guy—Jungkook—instructed you, his steps twice the size of your own. 

After ensuring that there was no one else in the tavern looking for either of you, you made your exit through the back door. Slipping into the foot traffic undetected. 

As the sun rose, more and more people began filling up the streets; you took advantage of that and mingled with the growing crowd moving as a single body. You caught a glimpse of a knight from the First Order and promptly redirected your steps. They were more trouble than help. 

"This way," Jungkook steered to the left, ducking under a man carrying potato sacks, and entered the alley leading to streets away from the tavern. You both kept moving until you reached what looked like a desolate place with only a rarely used shed in dilapidated condition.

He stopped there, knocking on the wood; in the meantime, you assessed your surroundings. You didn't come in this part of the town, and from the looks of it, other people didn't either. This place looked like it had been abandoned for a while—which made you wonder what you were doing here? Most importantly, why were you following him still. 

While you were distracted, someone stepped out of the shed. "—inside," came a reply. Jungkook must have asked a question while you were busy inspecting the forest line in the distance, small critters coming out to inspect the intruders. He walked inside, leaving you alone with the other person.

It was then that you turned to look at the other person.

"Kane?" Your eyes widened as your gaze locked onto the other person, the same man who helped you unload your stuff just yesterday, who offered to walk you out like he always does, and now stood there expressionless, lips in a thin line. "What...? " But at that exact moment Jungkook stepped out, and he was not alone. Trailing behind him was a black horse, probably the most beautiful one you've ever seen.

He motioned with his head, telling you to get moving, but the familiar face in front of you had many more questions arising in your head than you already had bouncing around in the crevices of your mind.

He noticed you gawking at Kane too and sighed, "I'll explain later." Your gaze snapped to him.

You took a step back, tried to gulp back the rising bile of unease, and shook your head. "How do you know me?" A question you hadn't asked yet. How did he find you? How did he know it was you? To him, who even were you?

There was only more confusion and questions joining the pile with the ones that were circulating in your head. 

An epiphany struck you. Without paying you any mind, Kane had pulled out a red apple from somewhere and was feeding it to the horse. It made you think of the one that currently must be still sitting somewhere in your rented room from last night—just, in a different shade. You had seen that shade before.

"You've been following me?" An incredulous tone took over your voice. Your throat shrank, confining your inhales and reducing the air getting in.

He tried to keep a calm composure, running a hand through his hair. His expression pinched with impatience—tired with your constant interrogation, he has stayed here too long for his liking and you were only stalling them.

"You don't get the danger you are in, do you—"

"Stay away from me." Your eyes turned watery but still filled with determination. Your hands shook in disbelief, seeing Kane here, you started to wonder if Mayah and Kenzie had lied to you as well. To some extent? Was the care they showed you had been fake? What were they using you for? What did you even have that someone would want? Must be something, right? If the incidents in the past few hours and the men standing before you were anything to go by? 

The little world you had built for yourself was crumbling. But your world had fallen apart once before, you filled the cracks once, you could do it again.

"If you think that that man was the only one after you, then you'd be a fool to believe that." He evenly stated, moving a couple of steps forward, he gave his wrist a flick—a signal for Kane as he began walking away without a second glance in your direction.

Your gaze wavered, jumping between the two people. One a piece of the picture you thought you knew, and another is the messy blank canvas of the unknown. You fisted your skirts, nails digging deep in the dark fabric, and your feet felt light, ready to take off.

Jungkook stood there in silence before he let out a heavy sigh. "Yes, I was keeping an eye on you," he said. Like it was not odd—terrifying for the person—to tell someone he was stalking that he was stalking them. "But I had a reason to do it that you don't need to know right at this very moment. So please,"

You didn't move, but your eyes flicked for a fraction of a second in the direction where Kane left; he caught that. "He's an informant. No, the old man and his daughter didn't know, if that makes you feel better." It did. "Now, we don't have time to spare. Please, I'm trying to keep you safe." He pleaded, pushing a loose strand of hair back, his eyes wide and eyebrows pushed down, appearing to look appealing and trustworthy.

You were hesitant; he did save your life.

Your eyes glazed over, pondering his words, and you kept your eyes trained on him while contemplating your next step. It was then that you flicked your eyes sideways, just behind him, and stared. Your eyes grew wider. 

"Who's there?"

Not wasting a moment Jungkook swirled, sword drawn out, shoulders hunched and legs set apart. He scanned the area—left to right and then back again—but caught no movement. He couldn't see anyone, and after a couple of moments, he turned around. "Where did you—oh, this cannot be real."

He sputtered in disbelief as he took in your absence from the place you were previously standing at. You were running and had covered a significant distance in just a few seconds. He could not believe he fell for the oldest trick in the book. You did not even glance back, just sprinted as far away as possible, and missed the utter look of bewilderment—mixed with just enough amusement—on his face.

"Dang it, she is fast on her feet," he muttered, stepping back, eyes locked on you. It seemed you were moving towards the deeper forests. He turned, patting the horse, "Ready for a game of chasing chickens, Orla? Just like old times?" Orla snorted her agreement, and Jungkook quickly hopped behind her, setting himself on the saddle. With a hiya! and a tug on her reins, she broke out in a sprint. 

By now you had crossed the forest line, hurrying deep and far, and disappeared from his sight entirely. 

————————————————————

Yes, he had saved your life. But a single encounter—one under this skeptical situation—cannot possibly make you just trust a stranger. Especially now, when you knew that you were being hunted, the 'who' and 'why' still remaining a mystery yet to be unveiled. Do you really want to see beyond the veil, though? A mocking voice, very much like yours, rang from the back of your head. The answer was always the same—no. You never did. You ignored the voice. 

You needed to focus on now, on your circumstance. You thought of Jungkook. 

He knew you. What else does he know? Your name, where you're from, the family you once had? What compelled him to come seek you? The possibility that he might be one of the people whom he had warned you about was there. The fact that he seemed to know where to find you and he was familiar with that other man back in the tavern wasn't helping his case—although that might be the result of him being an Information gatherer, as he himself stated. You're taking that with a grain of salt.

And so, you did the one thing you were good at. You escaped.

Looking behind your back, you saw no sign of a dark-eyed man, but it didn't mean you could stop. He had to be there, chasing after you, for whatever the price you had earned on your head—it seemed like a possible scenario—unless he decided you were not worth the trouble after all.

Twigs snapped and leaves crunched as you trudged your way deeper into the forest. You had no idea where you were or where you were going, just that you needed to go. A left. Right. Another left. Under the tangled branches. One more right.

After just a few minutes, while walking through a patch of dense shrubs, you heard it. Thud, thud. It looked whatever price you had on your head, you were definitely worth the trouble. 

The sound of hooves echoed through the still of that place, bouncing off of trunks and leaves. 

He was closing in on where you were. You were on foot, and with his horse, it won't take long before he catches up  to you. Panic announced its presence in the form of the fast beating of your heart. You looked around for a way out. But with no better options, you dipped down bending yourself. You made your figure as small and unmoving as possible as you curled up on the forest floor, trying to keep yourself hidden within the bushes. 

Unmoving, you sat there, feeling the ground vibrate with the arrival of your doom. Just then, you heard a flock of birds, wings flapping and loud with caws and screeches, as if scared away by something somewhere far in the other direction.

He was redirecting his horse the other way—you could sense the change—must've thought it was you who scared the birds, so he went that way, trying to find you.

You stayed an eternity in that position before you were sure that no one was coming anymore. Getting up and off the ground, you brushed your clothes.

Where do you go from here?

It was a question you had asked yourself countless times over the past years. You turned and decided to go west. Find a way to get to a town and then decide what to do next.

Walking through woods like this, with no clue or aim, instigated a sense of déjà vu. You recalled the lady, a shoemaker you don't know the name of—maybe you hadn't asked, or maybe you didn't remember. She had nursed you back to health and offered the warmth of her home to a complete stranger; you'll forever be grateful to her. You had stayed there for a few days, sick with grief and guilt. But you didn't try to find out what happened back home—you had made your assumption anyway. It was too much to take in, so you decided to move on for that time.

You recalled travelling with gypsies, waggons decorated in a rainbow of colours, recalled going from one place to another. For a year you kept changing towns and villages, never staying more than a few weeks to a couple of months. Then one day you found yourself on the border of Fubroch and decided that that was it. You were tired of moving. The mountains brought the memories of a home—providing comfort, so you made them your home.

And just like that, years flew by without a hitch as you built a life for yourself here. A life that felt very distant at this moment.

As you hiked your way through the woods, lost in your own musings. You failed to notice the consistent shadows following right at your heels. You were distracted, but not for long.

As you were passing by an old dried well, you sensed some movements just out of the corner of your eyes. You paused. Fingers scrambling for your thigh, shoulders tense, you resumed walking again.

Had Jungkook found you? You thought he went in the other direction?

Your stroll changed into an urgent march. Your eyes flicked from one corner to another, hoping it had been a trick of your eye.

You left behind a series of crumbling structures of stones and mud, your gait hurried—almost a jog now. You chanced a glance back, turned around again, and screamed.

Someone jumped off one of the stone walls just as you turned. A woman. You lost your voice, eyes set on hers. You blinked quickly, getting a better look at her. Dark pants and an equally dark tunic. She had short hair and the gaze of a predator, with which she was scanning you from head to toe. An amused quirk sat on her thin lips, painted a deep maroon complementing her sandy complexion.

"Well, you look lovelier than I expected." Her voice called out, a deep and rough texture paired with the unsettling blue of her eyes. It had you standing on the balls of your feet, ready to flee.

You kept your glaring gaze trained on her, aware of even a twitch in her muscles.

"Aww," she cooed, "look at you, so scared and lost." She lifted a hand, placing it on her cheek, her expression the same as a child would have upon finding a hare hiding in his vegetable patch. Except to you, she felt more like a wolf cornering the hare than said child.

"Why so tense, though?" She took a step closer, hands behind her back. You widened your eyes, sweat gathering at your back and hands getting clammy. She was making you nervous, something akin to the town's flood bells ringing in your ears. For a second your thoughts drifted to Jungkook; you definitely preferred him to whoever she was.

You started walking backward, trying to keep some distance.

"Oh no, no, no, I'm here to help you. To lead you towards the right path." She scrunched her brows in faux concern.

"No need," Somehow, you shakily managed to speak up, "I'm on the right path; I don't need any assistance."

There was no point in dragging this out. You got ready to find an opening and make a run for it, but you didn't even get the time to blink when you saw more people jump out of the rubble.

Two men walked up to the woman, coming to stand behind her. They were more rugged in appearance—the exact opposite of her. Some henchmen.

No time to think. You patted at your knife just as the woman stretched her neck back, looking up at the sky, "Get her."

You wouldn't go down without a fight.

Just as the man lunged for you—bare hands; you couldn't see any weapon on him as far as you could see—you ducked, ramming your body forward and pushing him back with as much force as you could gather. He was caught off guard, not having expected such strength from someone this small. It made him stumble back and gave you a chance to create some distance.

You turned and used that as an opportunity to run. You traced your steps back the same way you had come from, this time in a sprint. You could hear the man following. You pushed for yourself to go even faster.

You were running on just adrenaline and pure terror for your life, but you could not let up, could not let them catch on. You couldn't help but question your predicament. You were being hunted like animals for meat. Who were these people? Looking for you. Hunting you.

"AAH!" You screamed as a hand grabbed a hold of your arm and yanked you back. You were thrown forcefully into a nearby tree, rough bark scraping against your skin. Before you could gather yourself, he was in front of you, grabbing your short braid, twisting it around his palm.

"ARGH!" You cried out, one hand going up in an attempt to free yourself of his grip.

"No more running, bitch," he said in a gruff voice, spit flying in your face from the proximity.

He started dragging you back—yanked at your hair when you refused to move, feet digging in the soil. You tried scratching at his face, desperately aiming for his eyeballs. If you got near enough, you wouldn't hesitate to claw them out.

"If done for survival, the gods forgive you," is what your father had said when you once punched the nose of the person who had tried to drown Buck in the river. After which he also taught you how to land a proper punch.

And that's exactly what you did when—to avoid your nails attacking his face—he loosened his grip and tried stepping back to take hold of your arms instead. The moment you got enough space, you reeled back and aimed for his throat. Thumb tucked under the folded fingers and not inside, using only the first two knuckles, throwing your whole body's weight. Hard and fast.

He winced and coughed, trying to get air inside his throbbing windpipe. You grabbed a rock and slammed it against the side of his face. He wobbled and fell on his face.

No longer constricted by his hold, you breathed out in mild relief, but it was short-lived. While you were fighting off the first man, the other one had caught up with you. This realisation crawled upon you when he delivered a blow to your back.

You were pushed to the ground before you could even form a thought. All the air wooshed out of your lungs as sharp pain erupted on one side of your shoulder, "Oh god, no." Your left arm felt numb; nothing was broken, you were sure, but you could feel the dull pain thudding across your back and limbs.

The other man was taller, leaner, and scarier. He was looking down at you with his eyes blown out and mouth pulled in a crazy grin. He leaned down, "Ah, ah. Be a good girl, will you?" He made a tutting sound, reached out, and grabbed one of your legs.

You screamed, kicking out in the air, "No use in resisting, you should have come willingly when we asked nicely."

"Let go of me!" Your throat was raw, body aching and bleeding. Your pitiful condition didn't affect him; however, it only seemed to delight him in seeing you this way. He stood up and started walking away, his hand still gripping your foot tightly.

It was the most pain, physically, you'd ever felt for as long as you can remember. Rocks dug into your backside, your skin scraped against the ground, and hair got tangled with twigs and leaves, pulling at your scalp. All this while he had only taken a few steps.

You kicked out harder; this time your upper body reacted as well—digging your palms in the ground and holding onto anything they could.

You managed to land a hard kick, causing him to drop your limb. You didn't waste a moment and grabbed at his own legs, pulling yourself up and throwing all your weight to make him fall on the ground. Your right hand went to your thigh, and you pulled out your knife, scrambling on top of his chest and locking his arms there by his side with your thighs pushing at him.

Your left arm felt useless, but with the other, you brought the blade to his neck, holding it dangerously close. Just a hair's breadth away from ending him.

"Why are you doing this to me?" You gritted out, eyes watery. The whole day's worth of distress was threatening to unleash from the depths of your consciousness, something you had been suppressing. "What did I ever do to anyone!?" You yelled.

The smile—previously present on his face—had disappeared from his face as you sat there with the cold metal digging into his skin. You have taken life before—but only of animals that you were going to eat. Now that the creature against your blade was an animal of a different kind, you hesitated.

And hesitation kills you in this world.

You didn't see the other man coming until the very last moment. He must not have been as disoriented as you thought. He pounced at you, but this time you had your knife out. This time you didn't hesitate.

In a single motion, the blade found its home deep in between the shoulder and collarbone of the first man.

Blood immediately coated your hands, making them slippery as you let go of the knife, watching your victim slump. Cold dread froze up the blood in your veins. You had killed someone.

There was no time to answer, as the stone of unease weighed heavy in your stomach; the guy below on the ground switched places with you. Now you were the one held horizontal to the ground as his palms made contact with your sternum, wasting no time in squeezing them tight, blocking out all the air but not crushing your throat—yet.

"You crazy bitch!" He barked.

Haze clouded a grey shade around your eyes, growing in size after every excruciating blink. Your torso was crushed under the full mass of an adult man twice your size; you wondered if he was trying to break your ribs. But you couldn't push him. Couldn't even struggle.

Your bones became a burden, pulling your exhausted body deeper into the grass and soil, acting as a makeshift grave you were about to descend into at any minute. Your mind was a numb shell, unable to see what was in front of it, unable to comprehend.

That must be your fate. Your life in exchange for the one you took just now. You would not call yourself very religious, but you believed in a God, and he must have seen the pathetic way you'd been living and is here to claim you.

Your vision turned black; the man was screaming something at you, but no words could penetrate the oxygen-depraved sheet of lethargy coating over your being.

As you lost more of your breath, the thuds of your heart started becoming louder. One second they were in your chest, and the next in your ears. Soon you could feel them vibrating the very land you lay upon. Thump. Thump. Thump.

All of a sudden, you felt light. The force of the man pushing against you lifted off of you in an instant. It was there one second and then vanished the other. Air came rushing back in through the once constricted pipes. You gasped for the breath hungrily, making its way into your lungs, and sputtered on your greedy inhale.

It took another few moments before the shadowy haze cleared from your eyes, and you were blinking back at what seemed to be two males locked in a sword fight.

One of them was the man who had been choking you, and the other—your eyes widened upon the realisation that the other person was none other than—

"Jungkook?"

His name was merely a whisper in the air, breathed into life through the brush of your lips against the words.

He delivered the last blow—a slash down his opponent's chest—before he turned to you.

Jungkook stood there with his sword dripping red while he panted; from the short fight or having hurried over to come save you, you didn't know. Maybe the latter. No, definitely the latter, if his pinched expression directed at you was anything to go by.

"You," he stepped over the fallen body groaning on the ground, "are an idiot."

You felt like laughing. He was fuming, and you let loose a single puff of airy laughter. You couldn't help it; the stress had taken a toll on you; your body ached in more places than you could count. You were beaten and bleeding. You almost accepted that you were going to die. But here you were, saved by this man not once but twice, in the same day.

You owed him.

"Glad to see you still have it in you to smile." Came a deep, feminine voice.

Both of your eyes turned towards the direction the voice came from. You leaned on your arms while he drew his sword for an attack.

There stood the blue-eyed woman from before, and upon seeing Jungkook take an immediate protective stance in front of you, something gleamed in her gaze.

"I must admit, watching you fight for your life was so entertaining." She sauntered forward, showing no sign of even grabbing for her weapons strapped to her, "and a pleasant surprise."

She rounded around where you were and stopped a good distance away, "even more surprising to see that you have got mercenaries protecting you." She said as she eyed the black ink on Jungkook's arm, which was now exposed.

You flicked your eyes between her and Jungkook. He remained motionless, but you can see how taut his muscles were, ready to pounce in a moment's notice. He didn't say anything, just observed. What is this woman playing at?

She let out a shrill whistle. Loud. Like a signal of some sort.

You prepared for the worst. Did she call for help? Backup?

Instead, a dark brown horse came running from behind the broken stone columns, galloping towards her. It didn't even stop completely before she grabbed the reins and hauled herself onto it mid-run. Walking in a circle, she faced you, looking straight in your eyes.

She tilted her head back, stretching her neck in a lazy motion as if the possibility for more bloodshed wasn't hanging in the air waiting for the moment she draws her weapon too. "So damn resilient, like your damn father." She muttered lowly; you thought you had misheard her. She stared at you.

"Alastair is protecting you even after death, huh?"

The air stopped blowing, the screeching of birds silenced, and your throbbing body went numb.

Palms digging in the forest floor, you could only gawk at her as she regarded you with disdain.

Her eyes, blue as the summer sky, looked red in that moment. Wild and predatory. You felt dizzy. But then she blinked, and the illusion broke; they were blue again. You shuddered. The voices from years ago rang in your ear.

She was one of them. The people who came chasing your father that day. The ones who killed-

A silent whimper left your parted lips.

So this was what it was about. Why you were targeted. Why your life was in danger. It was all due to what happened to your father. Now you will meet the same end. They came for him then, and now they came for you.

You thought it was over. Oh, how wrong you were.

You ran as much as you could and yet couldn't outrun your fate. Were more people coming? With swords? They will leave you bloody and torn. Will they kill Jungkook too? He would leave before that happened. Is that wolf nearby? Was he the one who led them to you?

A tear slid down the curve of your cheek. You imagined all the ways they would end you, the most scary one being torn to shreds by the sharp teeth of an atramentous beast.

The sound of her horse neighing cut through your terror-filled questions.

She met your dazed, tear-glazed eyes. "I'll see you soon."

You watched her go. Still in your place, disconnected from reality.

It wasn't until you heard your name being called out loud that you came back to reality. Someone was shaking you by the shoulder.

"-get up? Y/n, can you stand?" You flicked your gaze up, connecting with inky ones staring deep in yours.

Swallowing, only the sandy taste of dread scratched against your throat. Yet, you managed to open your mouth: "Are you one of them?"

Your voice was grating to the ear, stifling in defeat, so unlike the demanding tone you had before. It caused Jungkook's expression to display an emotion you couldn't quite put your finger on. Unsurprising, given you couldn't take in anything right now, really.

He watched you stare up at him for a moment before something snapped in him. He got on both his knees, grabbing a hold of both your shoulders. He squeezed tight; it strangely grounded you a little.

"Look here, in my eyes, and listen." His voice was firm, and he spoke slowly but with a surety, "I know it's hard to trust me right now, but I need you to get this one thing." He paused and inhaled before letting it out, "Your life is in danger, and I meant it when I stated I'm here to keep you safe. I will protect you."

The words came and swirled around in your mind, not quite settling in. His eyes were intense, and when you looked, really looked, past the darkness, you could see the hint of genuineness. In this moment, you held onto that as a lifeline, and so when he asked.

"Understood?" You nodded your head. "Good."

His palms lifted off of your shoulders, and you would be floating again in the vast uncertainty and fear had he not offered one of them right in front of your face.

"This place is not safe. We need to move on from here," he nodded, urging you to grab his hand.

What else was there to do? It was clear that you would be killed if you refused, and if he too wanted the same thing, unlike what he claimed to be doing, then at least it looked like he would be quicker in his kill. And so you lifted your arm, gently placing your palm against his, letting him haul you up.

Another, black horse came trotting over. You recognised it to be his. He gave your palm a squeeze, telling you to get up on it.

You flicked your eyes between the majestic creature and its master. A soft groan forced your eyes away and towards the other men lying on the ground; it seemed one of them was still conscious.

"He... he is alive." You murmured, looking at the man you had stabbed.

"Want me to finish him off?" He threw in casually.

You gaped at him, eyes full of disbelief and horror.

He puffed air out of his nose, "I didn't mean that." It wasn't very convincing. You looked back at the man, "Are you seriously considering helping him? After he attacked you?" You weren't.

His brow raised as he regarded you with a tilt of his head and a semi-disapproving look on his face. At last he just sighed, "You need to think about only yourself, or else you will get us both killed."

He walked you to the horse and stopped, "Wait a moment." He let go of your hand and reached out to grab a piece of clothing from a few feet away. It was your cloak; you had dropped it during the fight. He dusted the deep green fabric and gently pulled it around you. Then almost immediately grabbed your hand again.

He gave your palm another swift squeeze, and this time you mounted the horse with his help.

As he peered up at your fiddling form, down from where he stood, the lines on his face grew a little softer, his expression a little more sympathetic.

He latched his foot on the holding, "You will get your answers soon," and climbed behind you expertly.

As he reached his hands around you to grab the reins, his front touched your back, and while you were not one who gets particularly cold, his warmth was a surprisingly welcome sensation against your bruised backside.

His knuckles tightened in a grip, you kept your hands close to you, "you trust me?" He clicked his tongue, getting the horse to move, and it started walking at a leisurely pace. He felt you shaking your head against his chest, his lips quirked, and if you had turned around, you would've witnessed him grinning softly.

"Good."

The horse broke out in a sprint as you both rode off, leaving behind the forest and—you had an inkling—this town for good.

Soon you were at the southern border, riding along the river marking the end of Fubroch's territory.

And despite what you had insinuated about your opinions for the man, you soon found yourself leaning your head back and drifting off to an unconscious state. Away from the reminiscence of the events that occurred today and the pains of the past. The nipping cold of the reality slipped away as you gave in to the firm warmth of the momentary comfort.

Taglist (from my previous blog) : @runariya @jksusawife @boyfriendtaekook

Little Slave | JHS

Title: Little slave; university au!

Pairing: Hoseok x reader

Genre: Fluff

Word count: 7.6k

Warning: curse words.

Summary: When a series of bad luck, or bad decisions really, land you in the palm of the most wicked TA at campus, what choices do you have other than to do his bidding?

Note: Hello! Thank you for reading this fic. It's the second part of my bts university au series but of course can be read as a stand alone.

Note: I'm reposting this from my previous blog.

(Credit. Deviders by: @chachachannah and @enchanthings ; The pictures are from Pinterest)

You need new friends.

New friends who won't make you play drunk truth and dare. New friends who won't be sitting somewhere in their dorms snickering at your misery. New friends who won't make you do things you do.

New friends who aren't the most chaotic trio on the whole campus, a.k.a. Taehyung, Yoongi, and Jungkook.

You went to hide under the desk of your professor's office the moment you heard shuffling outside the doors. Crouching low, tucking yourself in, and trying to keep quiet. Flashbacks of the past night were coming back to you.

You were tired of being named the fun-sucker by your friends and had agreed to a round of shots. You first mistake.

And in your slightly drunken state you let them drag you in the game of truth and dare where they made you pick dare. Your second mistake.

Then, you made the third mistake that night by accepting Jungkook's dare of sneaking in Mr. Lee's office and to bring one of his infamous crystal paper weights as a proof that you did complete the dare.

"It's to prove you ain't a scaredy pants." In Jungkook's drunk words precisely.

And now all those mistakes have lead you here in your current situation. You swear if you die right here you're going to haunt their ass-

You cut off your thoughts as you heard the sound of the door opening. Holding your breath in, you kept quiet as you listened to the sound of the footsteps nearing the desk.

Who could be here at this hour? It's still too early for the cleaning staff to come and way too late for any students or teachers. Don't tell me Mr. Lee forgot something before and decided to come back. Oh shit oh shi-

You ceased your internal panicking when you saw a pair of shoes just below on the other side of the desk. In the very little light coming from the small lamp on the desk—that was always left on—you saw that they were a pair of sneakers. Okay, not Mr. Lee.

It was silent for a while and then you heard the sound of shuffling of papers as if something was being moved on the desk.

Then the footsteps started retreating and you released a sigh of relief. Alright lets just get out of here now before someone else decides to show up.

Your relief was short lived though. Just before the person could reach the door there was a sudden, loud thump as if something or someone fell painfully on the floor. You tried peeking from your hiding place and look for the source—which seemed to be the small window on the upper side of the wall. You could faintly hear a person—or more, you couldn't really tell—but before you could get up and investigate further you realised that the steps had halted at the loud sound.

The person stood there silently for a couple seconds longer, in which you prayed that he would not think much of the sound, then he took a few more steps and you heard the door shut.

Finally letting out the breath you were holding, you slowly peeked out of your hiding space—the lamp illuminating the office in a gentle glow. Seeing no one around, you enhaled a deep breath and pushed yourself a little more out of the confined space; you looked towards the closed door—no one seemed to be standing outside either.

Wait. Your eyes narrowed in on something just beside the door. Are those...shoes?

"Gotcha." A voice whispered just behind you.

You got up at once, raising from your half crouch, hurriedly turning towards the person and just as you opened your mouth to let out a startled scream you found a palm pressed against your mouth making your scream come muffled against it.

You looked up at the owner of the hand and were met with dark eyes which seemed to be twinkling. The lamp was positioned behind the man—which you could confirm was most probably a student, now that you could somewhat see him—and it drowned his face in darkness, casting a shadow on his face making it harder to recognise him.

You stared silently at the man, brain coming to a full stop as he just stood there. He opened his mouth, a smile heard in his voice as he said, "looks like it's my lucky day."

This voice, it's somewhat familiar...no way...

As he turned his head slightly to the right it became washed in the orange glow of the lamp illuminating his features and it caused you to immediately thought of every curse word you could knew. Because not only did you get caught in your teacher's office late into the night—looking very suspicious, not to mention— but also the person who caught you was none other than the menace of the whole student body, the cocky bitch of a TA.

Jung Hoseok.

He took a step forward. You took one back. He took another. You didn't have space to move behind further.

He leaned closer to you, invading in your space and you tried hard to lean as far away as possible no sure what was gonna happen. He set his hand on the desk you were leaning against, your eyes widened and then there was a click.

Sharp white light flooded the office, the main lights switched on. Now you could see his face, a lazy smile on his lips, looking at you with eyes of a predator.

You heart was thundering in your chest—honestly, you were scared. Hoseok was not one to be messed with. You knew that and that information was making your palms sweat.

"Do you have an explanation as to what you were doing here at this hour?" He scanned your face from top to bottom and then back up, locking eyes with you.

You just let out a pathetic muffled whimper.

"Oh, my bad," he removed his hand where it was planted ln your mouth and shuffled backwards a bit but did not remove his hand from the desk beside you, his second hand moving onto the desk chair effectively trapping you in, in case you tried to make a run for it—which you don't think you can. Your legs feel like jelly.

"I can- i can explain, please," seeing as he was giving you a chance to speak you believed you still had hope and you didn't want to waste a second of it not defending yourself, "I'm not here to do anything suspicious, i swear! Look I was roped into doing this stupid dare by my stupid friends. I was just gonna get in here, collect- collect proof that I completed the dare and then go back I swear it was harmless please trust me-"

"Y/n" The utterance of your name from his mouth halted you in your rambling, "you're in mr Lee's class. I remember you. May I ask who gave you this dare?"

Now, you were many things but not a snitch, "just stupid kids at a party, we were all quite drunk," your voice grew smaller at the twinkling look in his eyes.

"Loyal huh? I like it usually, guess I'll have to make do with only you."

"What- what do you-"

"Okay, so, you broke into a teachers office this late at night, somehow passing through the lock by- how did you unlock the door by the way?"

You pursued your lips, you knew you shouldn't say anything,  you knew and yet when he moved just a centimeter closer and raised a single eyebrow, you squeaked out:

"i pick- I picked the- the lock..."

Your answer caused both his eyebrows to raise.

"So you're a professional at this-"

"It was just stupid easy to pick the locks! They are so cheap it didn't take much effort! A child could do it," you rushed out in a panic, contrasting his calm disposition.

"Oh I wouldn't know. Never needed to test the security of the locks, he stated as he looked down at his hand on the table where one of his fingers had a key on a ring around it.

"Let me get this all in order. You broke into a teachers office by picking the locks to the door, came here with the intention to steal-"

"No!"

"Shh." He took his hand off the chair and pressed a finger against your lips, effectively shutting you up.

"And got caught red handed in the act. Hmm, how should we deal with you? You could've taken sensitive information." You knew there was no information to steal. Mr. Lee always took all his answer sheet, future questions and mark sheets with him home. Something about not trusting the campus security.

"Look. I told you I wasn't here doing something wrong."

"How am I supposed know that? You could've been here doing god knows what. Not to mention mr. Lee will undoubtedly trust my words over yours if it came to that."

He was right. You really were stuck here.

He was smiling down at you like he also knew this fact. You were not liking the situation you were in one bit.

"What do you want?" You sighed.

Withdrawing himself completely from you, "now we're talking," he took several steps back and brought his palms together in a clap once, "you see I'm a busy man, lots of things to do at once. And having a helping hand would really be beneficial for me," you definitely didn't like where this was going.

"You could see it as a way to make up for your mistakes and no one will hear a word about tonight."

"You're asking me to become your slave."

"Not a slave. Just a helper." He smiled sweetly at you. You somehow hated it more than the sly smirks from before.

You were hesitating. Thinking of ways to get yourself out of this mess.

He saw that, "or we can go talk to mr. Lee himself what his thoughts are on your actions? If you'd prefer that?"

What other options did I have.

His eyes were saying the same thing your mind came to realise. None.

The next morning you woke up to the sound of your phone blaring.

Thinking about the fact that you didn't have a morning class and how you wanted to sleep in more, you reached under your pillows with an incoherent grumble and retrieved your phone.

Jung Hoseok

You sat up at once, rubbing your eyes to wake yourself up. Looking at the time you noted it was a little over seven thirty.

"Hello?" You said on the phone, already dreading what he'll say next. If you were being honest you half hopped for last night to be just a nightmare.

"Meet me on the first floor of the social sciences building in fifteen minutes."

No hello? Wow, rude.

"But-but I don't have a morning class?"

"I don't see why that's a problem? I have work for you so you better hurry unless you know-"

"Alright. Alright! I'll be there just give me a moment." You were flabbergasted, how can someone so beautiful be this cruel!?

"I gave you fifteen minutes. Now hurry." He ended the call.

You wanted nothing more than to dive back in your sheets and sob.

You entered the campus canteen at half past eight. Hair a mess and annoyance radiating off of you.

Roaming your eyes around you found the reason of your bad mood on a table in the back. You stormed up to him, "you're an ass."

He looked up from his toast, "you finished with your work?" He asked with a grin.

"Yeah." You all but seethed out of your mouth.

The work he was talking about was why he had called you in the morning. He asked you to come meet him at the social sciences building and then when you arrived at seven fifty, he was nowhere to be found. You called him, like any sensible person and what he said left you speechless for a second.

"hey, where are you? I'm here."

"Oh. Good. Now go into our history classroom and there you will find a bundle of study materials on the desk. Distribute them all for today's class."

"But where are you?"

"Home, where else?"

"What the-"

"Now finish your job and meet me in the cafeteria in around half an hour."

"What do mean- hello? Hello?"

He left you with all his work and didn't even show up.

"Why did you call me here now? To wipe your mouth with a napkin after every bite?" You hissed, still angry.

"Eat."

"What?"

"I said eat," he put his elbow up on the table and rested his head on it, giving you a devilish grin, "you're gonna need all the energy you can get for the rest of your day."

Now your anger vanished, replaced with dread.

You were done with your first class, which just so happened to be Mr. Lee's. As per Hoseok's request you sat in the front row with him only a couple seats over. You could feel Taehyung's confused glances directed at you at the beginning, wondering why you ditched him today but you couldn't tell him what happened last night and honestly you weren't in the mood to talk to him right now.

At the moment you were running towards your next class because even though he was quite tbe entire class when it ended Hoseok made you carry the stack of assignments to mr. Lee's office which made you loose precious time to get to the class in time.

This will be over soon. A couple days and Hoseok would surely let you go. Yeah you just need to hang of for a couple days more.

Little did you know.

From the next day he started working you like an ox in a field.

"Carry these files to the top floor. What? You don't want to?" You ended up being late for your lunch.

"Hello?" You had asked in a small voice. "Bring me an iced americano from the cafe on the other side of the campus. They make it best." He hung up before you could even reply.

"My bag felt heavy so I called you over, take them to my next class, will you? I gotta meet up with a friend." You stumbled in your place as the book bag was tossed in your face.

You were especially pissed off when he called you over to the library to,

"Flip the next page. My hands are tired." It's a damn comic book you ass. He looked up with a pout, his eyes wide and innocent. A wolf in a sheep's clothing.

You couldn't even scream out your frustration like you normally did and instead let out an almost audible sob. You were tired so very tired, when will this torture end.

This morning you were already up when your phone buzzed. Hoseok's terror made it impossible for you to sleep properly, especially since he himself was an early riser and liked to call you first thing in the morning to hand you over that day's first task.

So that meant you were very much awake when he said:

"Come over. I'm sending you my address."

You sputtered, wondering if you heard him right. "What? Your place- no wait- why?"

"Agh you're so loud, did you forget? You're my slave. You do as I tell you. Now hurry." He sounded bored. You couldn't guess what it was even if you tried to. It was a Sunday, that meant it couldn't be a something related to the classes and since he didn't tell you to stop by anywhere you weren't supposed to fetch him anything either.

You sat down heavily on you bed, brain in scrambles, what did he want from you this time? You were almost getting good at guessing, considering it's been about four weeks since that godforsaken night when he caught you.

Since then he's asked of you all sort of odd requests, working you to the bone. Although this last week he mostly called you for help with grading class test or reviewing assignments. So you had to spend quite a lot of time at the library. At some point it almost felt like you were friends, but the moment that thought crossed your head he would make you run half way across campus to fetch him a coffee. And just like that the illusion would shatter.

But now you had no idea. He never asked for you to visit him.

You didn't even have time to spend with your actual friends at all.

You sighed.

Before you could think of something weird you were up and ready to leave. You'll face whatever he threw your way and if he crossed any lines you'll break his nose. His threats be damned.

—

Wiping your sweaty palms on your pants you checked the address once again, confirming you were at the right place. Raising your hand you knocked softly then cursed at yourself wondering if someone even heard. As you stood there like a statue contemplating to knock harder, the door cracked open.

You straightened your back, prepared to throw your fist at Hoseok if need be but were surprised to see a girl your age at the door.

"Hi?" She tilted her head in confusion.

You mentally kicked yourself before answering, "Hi! I'm here for Hoseok," Her eye lit up, she opened her mouth to reply but a loud commotion was heard in the background and she was yanked from the door as it shut in your face.

It was an understatement to say you were shocked into silence. Your lips parted you stared at the closed door.

In two seconds the door opened once more and you were prepared to ask the girl if she was okay but the person standing in front of you was someone else.

"You're late," Jung Hoseok ruffled his wet hair as he stepped aside to let you in, "you gonna come in?" He raised a brow at your still figure.

You hurried inside, forgetting all about your fist and his face. Well not his face, because that's where your attention currently was. His whole body looked damp as if he just came out of a shower as a grey towel hung around his shoulders. His shirt a little wet at places as if he put it on in a hurry, the fabric clinging sinfully to his lean stomach.

Yoh gave your head a shake, what the fuck am I thinking!?

When you forced your eyes back up they locked to his dark ones. He was in his own world just like you were. You cleared your throat to get his attention.

"So," you shifted your wait on your feet, "what did you call me here for?"

He came back to his senses at the sound of your voice and blinked looking around the room. He opened his mouth to say something when you remembered something and cut him off.

"Wait! Who was that girl who opened the door? She suddenly disappeared-"

"Jung!" A second door up in the corridor burst open as the same girl stormed out, only this time her neat black hair was a mess and the glasses she was wearing were askew.

"I cannot believe you picked me up and threw me like a bag of potatoes-" She noticed your gaze, stopping in her rage laced tangent and smiled a crazy smile—or at least it looked crazy in her current state—and turned towards you, "hello! Sorry for his existence, I'm his roommate! Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too um," You looked back at Hoseok as he stood there with his eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh don't mind him. He just didn't want me to meet the object of his affections. Torturous affections, I mean." She grinned like a kid at him which seemed to piss him off more.

He grabbed your hand and dragged you towards a room opposite the one his roommate came out of. Your panic came back in full force now as he shut the door but instead of locking it he went to his desk chair and sat down.

"What are you looking at? I called you over to work, are you seeing the mess in this room?" He gestured around you, "get to clean it up."

It was only now that you realised that you were standing in his room, his personal space and it felt weirdly intrusive to be here. But as you registered what he said a frown took over your face.

"Clean your room?"

"Yeah the vacuum is outside in the hall and-"

"Hoseok, don't you think it's a little too much? Asking me to clean your room?"

"-most of the clothes are clean just fold them and throw 'em back in the cupboard." He simply closed his eyes, settling his feet on the desk with his hands behind his head.

Chewing on the inside of your cheek you clenched your fist and took a deep breath. There was no reasoning with him, so you bent down and picked up a shirt from the floor, starting to fold it. He said most were clean. You threw it in the closet behind you. He can decide what's washed and what's not on his own.

In fifteen minutes you'd folded most of the clothing from the floors but it wasn't even half of it. There were still more his bed and chairs, pieces of fabric hanging off them. Just how many outfits he owns?

"Do you play fashion show in your room everytime you go out? Literally your whole closet is out on the floor." You picked up an pair of jorts, "ew, who wears these."

"People with a good fashion sense, don't worry your pretty little brain about my fashion choices or else you'll burn those last couple brain cells away too." He looked at you with a tilt of his head.

You wanted to punch him. But decided that it would not do you any good to piss him off.

"All these clothes and I didn't see one underwear. Do you not own one?" You said instead. "Or did Jung Hoseok is actually a gentleman who folded them himself to save himself the embarrassment." voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Why? Did you want to see them? Didn't take you for a perv-"

"Oh my god is that a speedo-" Hoseok's eyes snapped open as his frantic gaze zeroed in on your hands. But they were empty. You burst out laughing, "oh shit judging from your reaction do you actually own one?"

He scowled as you kept giggling, "just get done with it already. Next is the bed."

You walked to the bed, "so this is your trick to get girls in your bed? Is that an invitation for me?" You wiggled your eyebrows playfully. You were stuck slaving away your Sunday in his room, might as well entertain yourself.

Hoseok shot a look at his bed and then his gaze lingered on yours. You expected a retort from him but not this. His eyes intense, an unknown expression on his face. Contemplation.

That look gave you a weird feeling in your stomach, suddenly not very keen on entertainment. And so you tried to break the tension, or whatever it was.

"Are you sure you want me near your bed? What if I get my hands on your porn magazines?" You turned towards the bed starting to pick up the clothes strewn there.

Hoseok scoffed, "what do you take me for? A teenag- NO WAIT!"

He scream just as you lifted the mattress to pull the sheets intending to throw them in the laundry basket. You froze, watching as he stood up, one hand stretched in a pausing gesture. An evil grin spread across your face as you threw the clothes in your arm unceremoniously in favor of lifting the mattress as fast as you could.

But Hoseok was faster. He jumped on top of the bed, trapping your hand under it. He started crawling up on the bed but you moved back and in your hands was a booklet.

"Aha! What do we have- AAH!" You screamed as Hoseok jumped off the bed and started to descend on you. You twisted and turned, trying to keep the magazine out of his reach but he followed your motions. You ducked under his arm and started running around the room, Hoseok hot on your tails. You pushed his desk chair at him, turned and tried to climb up on the bed. One foot up you felt an arm snag your waist. In an attempt to throw him off you turned, and lost your footing.

You fell in a mess of limbs on the bed. Your hair spread around you and on your face, one hand stretched far, still trying to keep your possession protected from him while Hoseok lay on top of you. Before you could form any coherent thought--to your surprise--he burst out laughing, you've never heard him laugh so pleasantly. Hm, not so bad. Before you realised it you were laughing with him.

When the laughter started dying down you felt how ticklish your locks felt on your face. You tried shaking your head and blowing upwards to get them to move. To no avail.

Hoseok moved up suddenly and leaned his weight on one arm, gently he brought his other palm close and brushed your hair away with his fingers. Your vision cleared and locked with his. And there it was. That same intense contemplative look.

Not even a second had passed when you heard knocking outside the door, "are you guys okay?" It was his roommate.

Hoseok hurriedly rolled away, "yeah! We're fine."

"Oh. Alright then, just thought I heard a lot of noise and a loud thump," Hoseok winced a little, "just...be safe I guess." And then she was gone.

You have no idea what happened. Or what else might have happened just now. But you didn't want to think about it and so, you got up hurriedly, "I'll go get the vacuum and continue with cleaning." And with that you left the room.

Hoseok stayed on his back staring at the ceiling his gaze unfocused and pulse in a frenzy. He got up and decided to leave the room as well.

Just as you were about to enter the room again, vacuum in hand, Hoseok opened the door. You both stood under the door frame silently before he moved away, letting you pass. He left, closing the door behind him.

—

The door shut softly behind you as you bid Hoseok goodbye, finally done with cleaning.

Hoseok stood there in his living room, looking at the closed door, deep in thought.

"What was that?" He jumped in his skin turning to see his roommate standing beside him mirroring his actions and staring at the door.

"What? I told you I've got myself a little bird wrapped around my fing-"

"Oh shut up," She narrowed her eyes at him, "from what I saw you were the one shaking in your boots since this morning."

"What? No I wasn't."

"Hoseok honey for the love of all things wrong with you, you fussed over your clothes for fifteen minutes, hid all our freshman year pictures and took a shower before noon."

"I shower everyday." He huffed, insulted.

"Not on Sundays, not before playing dead on the couch till eleven o'clock at the very least." She pushed past him to sprawl on said couch. "Not to mention you called her to 'clean your room?' Hoseok, you're anal about cleanliness. Your room sparkles like our Dean's bald head."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "tell me," leaning forward with glimmering eyes, "what is going on?"

"It's literally what I said! She was here to help me clean-"

"Blackmailed, there's a difference. Look Hobi, I don't know what game you're playing but this is not gonna work."

"Worry about yourself. Or has Park finally asked you out for a date? Oh yeah, my bad, you refer to them as hangouts" Her face crumpled at his taunt, her eyes narrowed.

He huffed in annoyance, "you know what just forget it. I've got work to do and you should go do whatever lovesick fools do." With that he started walking back to his room ignoring her shouts.

"At least I'm not being as pathetic as you! Even those clothes you threw out on the floor were washed! All of them! I would know since you used my expensive detergent! Seriously dude if you want to see her that often this is not how you-"

The door slammed behind him leaving him in silence.

You didn't hear from Hoseok the rest of the day. And thus when Monday rolled up you foolishly let yourself believe that maybe he's finally bored with you and you'd get to live your life. You told yourself it was a good thing.

You were with Yoongi at the university convenience store getting snacks for your movie night with your friends. The first one in weeks. You were scrolling through your phone as Yoongi burned a hole through the store worker scanning your items, when the loud ring tone of your phone rang out.

You quickly silenced it looking up at Yoongi's questioning eyes.

"I'll just quickly take this and then we can get going."

"Who is it? Everything good?" He asked.

If only you knew. You wanted to say but instead smiled and said, "no one! Just a classmate. Everything is oka-"

"Just how long this thing with Jung Hoseok will go on for?"

All the words died on your lips. Staring at him in horror you croaked, "you knew?"

"Of course I did, just what do you take me for." He sighed, the bags of junkfood slung around his arm as he made to exit the store.

"How did- how long? Do the other two know?" You stumbled after him.

"I notice things, unlike those dumbheads. Well Taehyung is more focused on his new relationship so I wouldn't blame him and you know Jungkook. As for how long? About a month," You were shocked to know he'd known about this whole arrangement since almost the beginning.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"It didn't seem extreme at first. Entertaining even," That made your eyes narrow. "But recently it has been a little too much. I wanted to talk to you about it but didn't know if you'd appreciate me bringing it up."

You were chewing on your lips. He was right, you were embarrassed about the whole thing and didn't want to talk about it and though it was not all it still was part of the reason, at the start at least.

"Hey. Look at me. You don't need to feel embarrassed okay? It was fun in the beginning but I can see that it's affecting you in more ways now. But the only thing I'd ask is: how long will this go on? And you know it's not just the whole you acting as his valet thing, but we'll focus on that for now."

He took out a piece of candy from the bags hanging from his arms and offered it to you, "you're not being yourself, you've been missing our game nights and hangouts for some time you know? We miss you. Please try and sort out whatever it is you two have going on. I'll see you later."

With one hand holding the candy while the other clutched you phone as it began vibrating once again, you looked at Yoongi's retreating back and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

—

You entered the private study room with two coffees and a piece of strawberry shortcake and started scanning for a brown headed man. Which wasn't difficult since the room was pretty empty. You quickly spotted him in the far corner and hurried over to his desk.

"Here." He looked up at you voice. Surrounded by stacks of papers with sleep evident in his face it took him a moment to register you were there.

"Oh," He sat up straight. "Yeah, um thanks." You set down the items and watched as he opened the lid of one of the iced americanos and took two mouthfuls like it was water. You were honestly a bit disgusted.

"I'll leave you to your coffee now. Bye." You checked your wristwatch and decided that if you leave right this moment you'll make it to your friends by the end of the first movie, maybe they will let you choose the second one-

"Where are you going?" He interrupted your thoughts. "Can't you see how many assignments I have got here to grade? I will need help with that, sit down."

If he could feel your distress in the air then he said nothing, simply took another sip of his coffee and went back to work.

"I'll do them later this night, just give them to me and I'll take them back home and finish them by tomorrow morning." You attempted to get him to let you leave. You really didn't want to miss out on yet another hangout and firmly believed that there was still time to salvage it. But you should have known, the moment you picked his phone up it was already too late.

"None can do. I need them done by the night, so sit down and get started." He didn't even look up at you. When you didn't move he looked up at you wrangling you fingers, "or did you forget that you do as I say?" He warned.

Immediately you froze. Not because you were scared, you realised you hadn't been scared for a long time now. Even started feeling something pleasant somewhere back then. Instead what you felt now was anger. Frustration and just pure anger. You remembered Yoongi's words. Yoongi was right just how long you would keep playing this game. How can he still reduce all you did for him and the time spent together to nothing but that stupid threat?

"Are you just going to stand there-"

"Enough." He felt the change in the atmosphere and snapped his head up, eyes wide.

"Enough of this Hoseok," you voice came out even stronger that you felt. "I'm tired of this and I can't do this anymore."

He opened his mouth to say something but you were not in the mood to listen. "I was supposed to be with my friends right now. I was supposed to be with them all those times when you had me sit with you doing something stupid. But I'm done now and I can't do this anymore."

You took a deep breath, voice getting calmer, the dam was open and and there's no stopping you.

"And you know it's not just that. It was almost going good after some time, for moments it felt like we were friends and I was helping you as such but then you'd go on about your threat and how I was your slave and it was honestly frustrating." You didn't wanna sound weak but your next words were vulnerable, "I thought you cared if only a little. Getting an extra drink for me, being mercyful for once when grading my assignments, cracking jokes, acting playful, you even gave me your hoodie when it was late and it had started to rain once. I thought we were friends because honestly we both knew it was stupid to blackmail me for this long but I still went with it because I thought we were getting closer. But you don't care"

Pulling your shoulders back your voice hardened again, "go tattle to whoever you want to about whatever suits you. Whatever happens then would be better than what is happening right now, I don't care anymore."

Hoseok sat stunned on his seat as you turned and disappeared from his sight.

When he came to his senses he stood up in a haste to try and catch up to you. What he'll even say to you? No idea.

But in his hurry he banged the table with his hip causing his half finished coffee to fall and spill all over the wooden surface. He was quick to gather the tissues from the pastry container that came with the coffees. As he dabbed at the liquid, praying it won't leave a stain, he noticed the strawberry cake and another cup of frappe—both of them for you. Now forgotten. The table and a few of the assignment copies ruined like the night he'd planned, working beside you.

It was Friday. Hoseok was, for once unshowered on a week day and his room a little less than pristine.

That was how his roommate, who had barged into his room found him. Slumped against his desk with wrappers of chips and cups for water strewn on the floor.

"Alright," coming into the room and taking a seat on his bed she continued, "what are we doing?"

Hoseok lifted his head and scrunched his brows, "about what?"

"You being a miserable moron."

He scoffed, "what are you talking about? I'm fine."

"Yeah and I had a threesome last night. Now that we're done playing 'who tells the biggest lie' can we talk about how you've still not acknowledged you little crush and how you absolutely smashed your chances with that crush?"

"God, it wasn't a crush" He groaned, "you know I was stretching my time anyway, I wasn't even expecting the arrangement to last this long. You know how it is, I get my work done and let them go in a week or two. She just happened to stay longer and I kinda got used to it."

"Hoseok." Her voice was stern but also exasperated, she seemed genuinely tired of his shit.

He sighed. She was wrong. It wasn't that he hadn't acknowledged his crush it was that he didn't know how to act on it. He'd been stupid and now you probably hate him. Rightfully.

"I know. Okay? I know I ruined it. I just wanted to keep seeing her and now she won't even look at me." He had seen you at class the next day you told him off and you were back in your seat at the back with you friend. "Can't do anything now though. She hates me for taking advantage of her."

"That's what she said? You know you were being an ass the first couple weeks but was it always the same even later on? From her perspective too?" Her words were making him confused because of course it was always like that, he was overbearing towards you.

"Think about what she actually said Hobi," she started to head out but before leaving completely, "and take a shower."

He sat there and thought over what she had said. i thought you cared because you had cared. And he had been selfish and careless with you.

When you had seen the text on Saturday you thought you were mistaken.

Hoseok: meet me at the icecream parlor at five

You contemplated not going. Wondering what he was calling you for. But at the end decided to go anyway. To get done with this whole fiasco at last but also because you hadn't talked to him in days and after weeks of spending hours together it felt odd.

Rounding the corner you almost believed he won't show up, that he'd forgotten what happened on Monday and had found a new way to torment you.

But you saw him sitting there on the outdoors table, his back facing you and before you could change your mind you walked the rest of way, quickly reaching him.

You sat down without a word, eyes on your hands and avoiding him.

"Hi." he called out softly.

Now you had to look up, "hey." You said as you noticed two cups of ice cream in front of him.

"Oh. I just went ahead and ordered for you as well. If you want you can get something else-"

"No. It's fine." You pursued your lips. You saw it in his face, he was feeling bad, for whatever reason. Harassing you with work? Being annoying? Hurting you? Justified. But you couldn't be mad at him because you believed in some sort of budding friendship that wasn't there.

He scooped some of the chocolate dessert but then promptly put down his spoon. "I'm sorry."

You looked up at him, fingers playing with the plastic spoon. You didn't know what to say so he continued on.

"I'm sorry. I was being a piece of shit. I've always been that way, hell even enjoyed it before," He winced, "but I know I fucked up and I want to sincerely apologise for that."

You didn't realise how much you wanted him to acknowledge his wrongs until you heard it out loud. "I also want to say sorry for treating you like the way I did and for keeping you from the people close to you." He took a breath, "also for hurting you for..." You knew he meant the last part of your conversation.

"I appreciate the apology. Truly." And he knew you meant it, "for being insufferable and about my friends, I accept those apologies. But you don't need to be sorry for my accusations of you not caring. There were no feelings, I understand that. I tried to make something out of nothing and ended up hurting myself-"

"But there was." His firm voice startled you. When you met his eyes you saw how they were filled with desperation. "I was always finding ways to keep you near for longer and excuses to call you over often." He looked at your confused eyes and gulped but carried on, "I was being selfish and inconsiderate because I didn't know how else to keep your attention on me and get to know you more. I didn't know what else to do because I was an idiot who couldn't work out a normal way to tell you that... That I liked you."

"What?" Now, you expected a hundred different things when you came here but hearing this? It had you reeling.

"I know, shocking right? I mean who in their right mind blackmails the girl they have a crush on. But that night I found you at our professor's office and just knew I couldn't let go of the opportunity. I was an idiot then. And an even bigger one because I thought I could be normal about it. But what even was normal about the last month and a half." He sighed rubbing his face, "I know, I know you hate me and I don't blame you-"

"Do you really think I did all that because you threatened me?" He blinked owlishly, letting out a confused huh?

"I said do you really think I would've stayed this long because of some flimsy threat like that?" You scooped some icecream into your mouth then swallowed before continuing, "at the beginning? Maybe. I thought I would have to deal with you for a few days and at the time it definitely sounded better than dealing with my professor. I would be honest, I didn't took particular notice of you before that night but somewhere when I got to know you more I realised it was almost tolerable to spend time with you. Half of the time at least."

"So...what you're saying is..." He trailed off.

"Yes. What I am saying is that half the reason I spent time with you was because I wanted to. I was hoping for something more I guess."

"But then I went and ruined everything because I couldn't get my actions to match my feelings. I'm such an idiot." He said, dragging his hands down his face.

"Not going to argue with that."

"No. Wait. We've got this all wrong." He slid his icecream far away leaving you confused and then looked expectantly at you to do the same. When you did, he took a deep breath and, "let's start this right. Tomorrow night? Are you free?"

"Uh yeah?"

"Then let me take you out to dinner. I want to get to know you and spend time with you."

You were speechless and that made him nervous. Had he interpreted your words wrong?

In his hurry he added: "The normal people way."

You chuckled at that, "you mean by not asking me to sign a slavery contract?"

"If you wish then I'll be the one signing the contract this time around," He leaned back on the chair, "ready to bend backwards at your beck and call."

You smiled with a shake of your head. "Alright. Tomorrow night. But you're picking the place."

He grinned and gave a slow nod. His clear brown eyes shining as he looked at you. And you were excited for this new beginning.

That night when you had agreed to take part in this stupidity you hadn't known you would go from being his little slave to the one who ruled his heart.

Maybe you had your idiot friends to thank, for the stupid dare which landed you here in the first place. But you'd rather die than admit that.

Looking at his heart shaped smile as he tried slurping the now melted icecream, which made him scrunch his face in a disgusted expression, made you heart feel warm. Even though he might act like an ass some times, you liked him.

And it was honestly a little cute to imagine him having a crush on you—you couldn't wait to hear all about that in the near future. All in due time.

𝗔/𝗻: Thank you so much for reading! Send your feedback by comment/reblog/or send an ask! I would really love to hear from you about anything literally!!

so happy to hear that it was to you liking!!! I'm working on the next part, it's gonna clear some of the things for poor oc (and the readers) . Thank you so much for reading and leaving such kind words!!!

𝐄𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢 | 𝐂𝐡 𝟐

Pairing: Mercenary!Jungkook x ?? Female!Reader

Summary: When past comes knocking on your door wearing the face of unknown dangers, you can either refuse acknowledging it and be a sitting duck or find out what it was that turned your world upside down all those years ago—that has come back yet again to hunt you—with a stranger promising to keep you safe, by your side. One thing is sure: secrets will unfold. And it would not be anything you could've imagined.

Word Count: 7.3k

Genre: Fantasy au; adventure; action. Fluff; angst; future smut(??)

Rating: 18+ (violence and mature themes)

Warnings: Fighting, some blood, minor character death, dead parent mentioned

Published: 11th March 2025

Note: between my previous blog getting shadowbanned and my writers block, it took an awfully long time for it but finally the next chapter is here!! I swear I'll try to be more consistent with the updates now. Please let me know your thoughts on this chapter and the story so far!!!

Glossary and Map: here

Esati Masterlist

You clung to your father's arm, as he moved around your little home, trying and failing to put his things in his satchel. He needed to leave soon, it bothered him if something was not done in accordance with his timetable, but there was a small hindrance. A hindrance who was currently sulking. 

"Can't I come with you too, Pa? Please?"

Big brown eyes blinked up at Alastair, trying to look more innocent than they were. "It is not a place for a child, love. I'm meeting with an old friend, and most of the time we will be talking about work talk; you will get bored." He pried your fingers clutching around his arm, and started on actually getting some work done.

"I won't! I want to see the market," you huffed, round cheeks puffed out and coloured a soft pink hue, "Jioo said the people in town have decorated it for the spring feast. It's reeeally pretty!" You stretched the word.

Your father slung the satchel across his body. "If the only thing you want to do is roam around the town, then I am afraid that I won't have time for that. Oh, and before you say anything about going on your own, then that is an even firmer no."

You scrunched your brows, lips in a downturn. But he just laughed, "I know, I know, my little bird is all grown up, but you will always be a little girl to me." Pinched your cheeks, "I can't bear the thought of you alone out there just yet, understand the worries of my heart?"

Now he was the one making that innocent pouting face. You started pouting harder.

Your father sighed, "I'll take you there the day after. You can invite Jioo too if you'd like? "

You hadn't even tried to fight the smile that took over your face. "Promise?"

"Promise," he came over and pulled you in an embrace, planting a peck at the top of your head, "I'll be back soon," and with that he was out the door.

You followed him out, shutting the door behind yourself, already on your way to go gather some herbs from your small garden while your father was away.

Before you could even fully turn around, a massive weight was thrown on you.

"Oof," you stumbled but managed to stay on your feet. "Buck! Don't do that! You're not a tiny baby anymore," you laughed.

The husky only looked at you with innocent eyes as if he didn't understand why he couldn't jump at you anymore. He wasn't even two years old and yet so huge.

"You big baby. Take care of Pa, alright?" You ruffled his furs as he took off running in circles.

Your father called for Buck and began walking. "Don't stay out for long! And the foo-"

"'Food is on the kitchen table, make sure to eat it.' Yeah, yeah, I already know. Now go."

"Take care and don't stay hanging on the window waiting for me, you will catch a cold." Your father called out one last time, still looking at you. He wondered when his daughter grew up so much, as you grabbed your basket and hummed on your way towards the garden.

———————————————————— A cool breeze ruffled your hair, and you slumped even further against your folded arms, which you were currently leaning on, staring out the open window.

It was getting late. Usually when your father goes to town, he comes back by now; one look at the sun, and you knew it was past the fourth hour. There were no bell towers this high and far into the mountains, so you couldn't hear the bells signalling each hour, but you had gotten good at guessing over the years. Though your father did own one of those chain watches, he always carried it with him. 

You were getting worried, even after being well aware that if he went to see someone regarding business, it could take time; it still made your mind fill up with unease.

Maybe he's just catching up with his friend and forgot about the time. That seemed like a possible reason for his delay.

But at this point it seemed like you were only reassuring yourself.

You lived at the edge of your village; not to mention, because of how late it was, most of the people were either inside their homes resting after a day's work or busy with supper and preparing for the evening gatherings. No one was near you.

And so no one heard the pained groan followed by the frantic thuds on your front door.

You ran to the door, letting out a gasp of horror the moment you opened it. The person who stood there was almost unrecognisable, covered in several gashes and crimson painting his face. Blood.

"Pa! No, no. Oh god! What happened to you?"

You were crying. Your mind couldn't register yet, but tears blurred your vision and slipped past your chin down to the floor in rivulets. Your father stumbled inside the house and slipped to the floor just inches away from the door frame.

He opened his mouth, trying to say something but ended up coughing instead and spitting more blood on the floor. He was bleeding from the chest too, or maybe it is his stomach? You didn't know. Couldn't make sense of the scene in front of you. Red. It was too much red.

"I-I will get a rag- sit- i-" You didn't know what was coming out of your mouth. You didn't know what you were doing. But you had to do something. Even as those words left your mouth, you didn't move and just stared at him in horror and confusion, arms raised and reaching for him. You felt like the world was collapsing, and you could not find your footing on the broken floor. 

"No," he gruffed, grabbing at your calf, trying to stop you. "They are coming for you," he huffed out.

"Pa-" You tried to reach him.

He heaved a breath and cut you off. "Listen, listen carefully," he coughed again. "Get out of here, don't look back. Go...go west. Down the mount- mountain. Run,"

"What are you saying?" You whispered shakily, coming back to reality and finding your voice again. You were distraught and scared as you watched more life force spill out of his body and pool around him. "You are hurt. Have to stop the bleeding—"

"Focus on what I'm saying," his booming voice stopped your nervous rambles in their tracks. But it seemed he used all his remaining energy in that one sentence and, as a result, had to lean on the still-open door, struggling to draw in another breath.

"Please go; they would not be very far, please."

"You're telling me to leave you like this? I can't—Pa, 'they'? Who's coming? Who did this?" Your nerves were frantic, eyes shaky as you looked out the door trying to locate any threat. Any sign of the person responsible for this. 

But your father didn't respond. Heart dropping to your feet, you hurriedly sat in front of him, taking his hand in one and tilting his face with the other one.

You were about to call out to him when his hand tightened, and he opened his eyes and looked you directly in the eye, "Take this." Gripped tightly in his hand was his satchel, which he still managed to keep safe in all the commotion. 

Tears were streaming down your face, you realised how serious he looked. How tired his eyes were. You didn't want to leave him, but his face said it all; you didn't have any other choice.

"My life was for you anyway; the day I had met you, I was born again as" cough, "as your father. Go. I'll be fine."

He was lying.

"I ca- can not," you hiccuped, "pa."

His grip loosened on your hand, and he managed to pull away. "Take this. You are my brave child, you will make it out of here, alright?" 

It was his chain watch. He pried your fingers open and pressed it into your skin. A beautiful silver thing, patterns of swords and wheat swirling around the front. You realised how small it was, as it sat in the middle of your palm.

You took the satchel, set it down on your lap, and grabbed both his hands tightly; he gave you the smallest of smiles, and you let out a sob.

But his hands were urging you up, and even if you wanted to just sit there and hug him tight, you got up, slinging the leather strap around your shoulder. You can't convince him, but you were going to go find help.

You looked back at him, standing at the doorframe, you tried one last time to convince him silently to let you stay when his eyes snapped up towards the back window. They held a look of panic in them as he hissed in pain.

"Go, hurry. You don't have time—"

Just then you heard a loud howl, and the window burst open as something big and black entered your home through the shattered window.

You screamed, backing away as your eyes connected with deep red irises. Not of a human's, but a wolf's. An insanely large wolf, who was staring right at you.

Frozen in shock, you didn't even realise that you were shakily taking steps away from it, but then you remembered your father. Your gaze shot in his direction as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Look here, you mutt!" Your father, who had looked on the verge of collapsing just a second ago, now stood straight and walked in front of the horrifying creature, "It's me that you want, don't you?" He spat. Dragging every shred of power he had left in his body.

You couldn't be sure—you mind couldn't comprehend anything that was happening—but his hands started glowing orange; your eyes were glued to his hands as you tried and failed to convince yourself that this was all a nightmare.

"Y/n...my little bird, run and don't look back. I'm sorry that I have to leave you alone, but didn't you say you were all grown up now?" You could hear the faint smile in his voice even if he didn't turn around; he just kept his eyes on the wolf, who now began to circle around him with its teeth out on display. "You will be alright. I know." He finished.

The black creature got ready to pounce. Alastair raised his hands—now burning a blinding orange. "Please!"

His pained cry reached you just as you turned around, but you kept running. Nothing crossed your mind at that moment but your father and his words—begging you to go. So you did. Disappearing among the trees, away from your village, your father. Your home. 

You hadn't had a home in a long time, not since you lost your father. But you had managed to create some semblance of that word, a space for yourself. And in this exact moment you wanted nothing more than to run back to its comfort and forget all about what happened.

But you were aware it was not possible.

"Keep your head down," The guy—Jungkook—instructed you, his steps twice the size of your own. 

After ensuring that there was no one else in the tavern looking for either of you, you made your exit through the back door. Slipping into the foot traffic undetected. 

As the sun rose, more and more people began filling up the streets; you took advantage of that and mingled with the growing crowd moving as a single body. You caught a glimpse of a knight from the First Order and promptly redirected your steps. They were more trouble than help. 

"This way," Jungkook steered to the left, ducking under a man carrying potato sacks, and entered the alley leading to streets away from the tavern. You both kept moving until you reached what looked like a desolate place with only a rarely used shed in dilapidated condition.

He stopped there, knocking on the wood; in the meantime, you assessed your surroundings. You didn't come in this part of the town, and from the looks of it, other people didn't either. This place looked like it had been abandoned for a while—which made you wonder what you were doing here? Most importantly, why were you following him still. 

While you were distracted, someone stepped out of the shed. "—inside," came a reply. Jungkook must have asked a question while you were busy inspecting the forest line in the distance, small critters coming out to inspect the intruders. He walked inside, leaving you alone with the other person.

It was then that you turned to look at the other person.

"Kane?" Your eyes widened as your gaze locked onto the other person, the same man who helped you unload your stuff just yesterday, who offered to walk you out like he always does, and now stood there expressionless, lips in a thin line. "What...? " But at that exact moment Jungkook stepped out, and he was not alone. Trailing behind him was a black horse, probably the most beautiful one you've ever seen.

He motioned with his head, telling you to get moving, but the familiar face in front of you had many more questions arising in your head than you already had bouncing around in the crevices of your mind.

He noticed you gawking at Kane too and sighed, "I'll explain later." Your gaze snapped to him.

You took a step back, tried to gulp back the rising bile of unease, and shook your head. "How do you know me?" A question you hadn't asked yet. How did he find you? How did he know it was you? To him, who even were you?

There was only more confusion and questions joining the pile with the ones that were circulating in your head. 

An epiphany struck you. Without paying you any mind, Kane had pulled out a red apple from somewhere and was feeding it to the horse. It made you think of the one that currently must be still sitting somewhere in your rented room from last night—just, in a different shade. You had seen that shade before.

"You've been following me?" An incredulous tone took over your voice. Your throat shrank, confining your inhales and reducing the air getting in.

He tried to keep a calm composure, running a hand through his hair. His expression pinched with impatience—tired with your constant interrogation, he has stayed here too long for his liking and you were only stalling them.

"You don't get the danger you are in, do you—"

"Stay away from me." Your eyes turned watery but still filled with determination. Your hands shook in disbelief, seeing Kane here, you started to wonder if Mayah and Kenzie had lied to you as well. To some extent? Was the care they showed you had been fake? What were they using you for? What did you even have that someone would want? Must be something, right? If the incidents in the past few hours and the men standing before you were anything to go by? 

The little world you had built for yourself was crumbling. But your world had fallen apart once before, you filled the cracks once, you could do it again.

"If you think that that man was the only one after you, then you'd be a fool to believe that." He evenly stated, moving a couple of steps forward, he gave his wrist a flick—a signal for Kane as he began walking away without a second glance in your direction.

Your gaze wavered, jumping between the two people. One a piece of the picture you thought you knew, and another is the messy blank canvas of the unknown. You fisted your skirts, nails digging deep in the dark fabric, and your feet felt light, ready to take off.

Jungkook stood there in silence before he let out a heavy sigh. "Yes, I was keeping an eye on you," he said. Like it was not odd—terrifying for the person—to tell someone he was stalking that he was stalking them. "But I had a reason to do it that you don't need to know right at this very moment. So please,"

You didn't move, but your eyes flicked for a fraction of a second in the direction where Kane left; he caught that. "He's an informant. No, the old man and his daughter didn't know, if that makes you feel better." It did. "Now, we don't have time to spare. Please, I'm trying to keep you safe." He pleaded, pushing a loose strand of hair back, his eyes wide and eyebrows pushed down, appearing to look appealing and trustworthy.

You were hesitant; he did save your life.

Your eyes glazed over, pondering his words, and you kept your eyes trained on him while contemplating your next step. It was then that you flicked your eyes sideways, just behind him, and stared. Your eyes grew wider. 

"Who's there?"

Not wasting a moment Jungkook swirled, sword drawn out, shoulders hunched and legs set apart. He scanned the area—left to right and then back again—but caught no movement. He couldn't see anyone, and after a couple of moments, he turned around. "Where did you—oh, this cannot be real."

He sputtered in disbelief as he took in your absence from the place you were previously standing at. You were running and had covered a significant distance in just a few seconds. He could not believe he fell for the oldest trick in the book. You did not even glance back, just sprinted as far away as possible, and missed the utter look of bewilderment—mixed with just enough amusement—on his face.

"Dang it, she is fast on her feet," he muttered, stepping back, eyes locked on you. It seemed you were moving towards the deeper forests. He turned, patting the horse, "Ready for a game of chasing chickens, Orla? Just like old times?" Orla snorted her agreement, and Jungkook quickly hopped behind her, setting himself on the saddle. With a hiya! and a tug on her reins, she broke out in a sprint. 

By now you had crossed the forest line, hurrying deep and far, and disappeared from his sight entirely. 

————————————————————

Yes, he had saved your life. But a single encounter—one under this skeptical situation—cannot possibly make you just trust a stranger. Especially now, when you knew that you were being hunted, the 'who' and 'why' still remaining a mystery yet to be unveiled. Do you really want to see beyond the veil, though? A mocking voice, very much like yours, rang from the back of your head. The answer was always the same—no. You never did. You ignored the voice. 

You needed to focus on now, on your circumstance. You thought of Jungkook. 

He knew you. What else does he know? Your name, where you're from, the family you once had? What compelled him to come seek you? The possibility that he might be one of the people whom he had warned you about was there. The fact that he seemed to know where to find you and he was familiar with that other man back in the tavern wasn't helping his case—although that might be the result of him being an Information gatherer, as he himself stated. You're taking that with a grain of salt.

And so, you did the one thing you were good at. You escaped.

Looking behind your back, you saw no sign of a dark-eyed man, but it didn't mean you could stop. He had to be there, chasing after you, for whatever the price you had earned on your head—it seemed like a possible scenario—unless he decided you were not worth the trouble after all.

Twigs snapped and leaves crunched as you trudged your way deeper into the forest. You had no idea where you were or where you were going, just that you needed to go. A left. Right. Another left. Under the tangled branches. One more right.

After just a few minutes, while walking through a patch of dense shrubs, you heard it. Thud, thud. It looked whatever price you had on your head, you were definitely worth the trouble. 

The sound of hooves echoed through the still of that place, bouncing off of trunks and leaves. 

He was closing in on where you were. You were on foot, and with his horse, it won't take long before he catches up  to you. Panic announced its presence in the form of the fast beating of your heart. You looked around for a way out. But with no better options, you dipped down bending yourself. You made your figure as small and unmoving as possible as you curled up on the forest floor, trying to keep yourself hidden within the bushes. 

Unmoving, you sat there, feeling the ground vibrate with the arrival of your doom. Just then, you heard a flock of birds, wings flapping and loud with caws and screeches, as if scared away by something somewhere far in the other direction.

He was redirecting his horse the other way—you could sense the change—must've thought it was you who scared the birds, so he went that way, trying to find you.

You stayed an eternity in that position before you were sure that no one was coming anymore. Getting up and off the ground, you brushed your clothes.

Where do you go from here?

It was a question you had asked yourself countless times over the past years. You turned and decided to go west. Find a way to get to a town and then decide what to do next.

Walking through woods like this, with no clue or aim, instigated a sense of déjà vu. You recalled the lady, a shoemaker you don't know the name of—maybe you hadn't asked, or maybe you didn't remember. She had nursed you back to health and offered the warmth of her home to a complete stranger; you'll forever be grateful to her. You had stayed there for a few days, sick with grief and guilt. But you didn't try to find out what happened back home—you had made your assumption anyway. It was too much to take in, so you decided to move on for that time.

You recalled travelling with gypsies, waggons decorated in a rainbow of colours, recalled going from one place to another. For a year you kept changing towns and villages, never staying more than a few weeks to a couple of months. Then one day you found yourself on the border of Fubroch and decided that that was it. You were tired of moving. The mountains brought the memories of a home—providing comfort, so you made them your home.

And just like that, years flew by without a hitch as you built a life for yourself here. A life that felt very distant at this moment.

As you hiked your way through the woods, lost in your own musings. You failed to notice the consistent shadows following right at your heels. You were distracted, but not for long.

As you were passing by an old dried well, you sensed some movements just out of the corner of your eyes. You paused. Fingers scrambling for your thigh, shoulders tense, you resumed walking again.

Had Jungkook found you? You thought he went in the other direction?

Your stroll changed into an urgent march. Your eyes flicked from one corner to another, hoping it had been a trick of your eye.

You left behind a series of crumbling structures of stones and mud, your gait hurried—almost a jog now. You chanced a glance back, turned around again, and screamed.

Someone jumped off one of the stone walls just as you turned. A woman. You lost your voice, eyes set on hers. You blinked quickly, getting a better look at her. Dark pants and an equally dark tunic. She had short hair and the gaze of a predator, with which she was scanning you from head to toe. An amused quirk sat on her thin lips, painted a deep maroon complementing her sandy complexion.

"Well, you look lovelier than I expected." Her voice called out, a deep and rough texture paired with the unsettling blue of her eyes. It had you standing on the balls of your feet, ready to flee.

You kept your glaring gaze trained on her, aware of even a twitch in her muscles.

"Aww," she cooed, "look at you, so scared and lost." She lifted a hand, placing it on her cheek, her expression the same as a child would have upon finding a hare hiding in his vegetable patch. Except to you, she felt more like a wolf cornering the hare than said child.

"Why so tense, though?" She took a step closer, hands behind her back. You widened your eyes, sweat gathering at your back and hands getting clammy. She was making you nervous, something akin to the town's flood bells ringing in your ears. For a second your thoughts drifted to Jungkook; you definitely preferred him to whoever she was.

You started walking backward, trying to keep some distance.

"Oh no, no, no, I'm here to help you. To lead you towards the right path." She scrunched her brows in faux concern.

"No need," Somehow, you shakily managed to speak up, "I'm on the right path; I don't need any assistance."

There was no point in dragging this out. You got ready to find an opening and make a run for it, but you didn't even get the time to blink when you saw more people jump out of the rubble.

Two men walked up to the woman, coming to stand behind her. They were more rugged in appearance—the exact opposite of her. Some henchmen.

No time to think. You patted at your knife just as the woman stretched her neck back, looking up at the sky, "Get her."

You wouldn't go down without a fight.

Just as the man lunged for you—bare hands; you couldn't see any weapon on him as far as you could see—you ducked, ramming your body forward and pushing him back with as much force as you could gather. He was caught off guard, not having expected such strength from someone this small. It made him stumble back and gave you a chance to create some distance.

You turned and used that as an opportunity to run. You traced your steps back the same way you had come from, this time in a sprint. You could hear the man following. You pushed for yourself to go even faster.

You were running on just adrenaline and pure terror for your life, but you could not let up, could not let them catch on. You couldn't help but question your predicament. You were being hunted like animals for meat. Who were these people? Looking for you. Hunting you.

"AAH!" You screamed as a hand grabbed a hold of your arm and yanked you back. You were thrown forcefully into a nearby tree, rough bark scraping against your skin. Before you could gather yourself, he was in front of you, grabbing your short braid, twisting it around his palm.

"ARGH!" You cried out, one hand going up in an attempt to free yourself of his grip.

"No more running, bitch," he said in a gruff voice, spit flying in your face from the proximity.

He started dragging you back—yanked at your hair when you refused to move, feet digging in the soil. You tried scratching at his face, desperately aiming for his eyeballs. If you got near enough, you wouldn't hesitate to claw them out.

"If done for survival, the gods forgive you," is what your father had said when you once punched the nose of the person who had tried to drown Buck in the river. After which he also taught you how to land a proper punch.

And that's exactly what you did when—to avoid your nails attacking his face—he loosened his grip and tried stepping back to take hold of your arms instead. The moment you got enough space, you reeled back and aimed for his throat. Thumb tucked under the folded fingers and not inside, using only the first two knuckles, throwing your whole body's weight. Hard and fast.

He winced and coughed, trying to get air inside his throbbing windpipe. You grabbed a rock and slammed it against the side of his face. He wobbled and fell on his face.

No longer constricted by his hold, you breathed out in mild relief, but it was short-lived. While you were fighting off the first man, the other one had caught up with you. This realisation crawled upon you when he delivered a blow to your back.

You were pushed to the ground before you could even form a thought. All the air wooshed out of your lungs as sharp pain erupted on one side of your shoulder, "Oh god, no." Your left arm felt numb; nothing was broken, you were sure, but you could feel the dull pain thudding across your back and limbs.

The other man was taller, leaner, and scarier. He was looking down at you with his eyes blown out and mouth pulled in a crazy grin. He leaned down, "Ah, ah. Be a good girl, will you?" He made a tutting sound, reached out, and grabbed one of your legs.

You screamed, kicking out in the air, "No use in resisting, you should have come willingly when we asked nicely."

"Let go of me!" Your throat was raw, body aching and bleeding. Your pitiful condition didn't affect him; however, it only seemed to delight him in seeing you this way. He stood up and started walking away, his hand still gripping your foot tightly.

It was the most pain, physically, you'd ever felt for as long as you can remember. Rocks dug into your backside, your skin scraped against the ground, and hair got tangled with twigs and leaves, pulling at your scalp. All this while he had only taken a few steps.

You kicked out harder; this time your upper body reacted as well—digging your palms in the ground and holding onto anything they could.

You managed to land a hard kick, causing him to drop your limb. You didn't waste a moment and grabbed at his own legs, pulling yourself up and throwing all your weight to make him fall on the ground. Your right hand went to your thigh, and you pulled out your knife, scrambling on top of his chest and locking his arms there by his side with your thighs pushing at him.

Your left arm felt useless, but with the other, you brought the blade to his neck, holding it dangerously close. Just a hair's breadth away from ending him.

"Why are you doing this to me?" You gritted out, eyes watery. The whole day's worth of distress was threatening to unleash from the depths of your consciousness, something you had been suppressing. "What did I ever do to anyone!?" You yelled.

The smile—previously present on his face—had disappeared from his face as you sat there with the cold metal digging into his skin. You have taken life before—but only of animals that you were going to eat. Now that the creature against your blade was an animal of a different kind, you hesitated.

And hesitation kills you in this world.

You didn't see the other man coming until the very last moment. He must not have been as disoriented as you thought. He pounced at you, but this time you had your knife out. This time you didn't hesitate.

In a single motion, the blade found its home deep in between the shoulder and collarbone of the first man.

Blood immediately coated your hands, making them slippery as you let go of the knife, watching your victim slump. Cold dread froze up the blood in your veins. You had killed someone.

There was no time to answer, as the stone of unease weighed heavy in your stomach; the guy below on the ground switched places with you. Now you were the one held horizontal to the ground as his palms made contact with your sternum, wasting no time in squeezing them tight, blocking out all the air but not crushing your throat—yet.

"You crazy bitch!" He barked.

Haze clouded a grey shade around your eyes, growing in size after every excruciating blink. Your torso was crushed under the full mass of an adult man twice your size; you wondered if he was trying to break your ribs. But you couldn't push him. Couldn't even struggle.

Your bones became a burden, pulling your exhausted body deeper into the grass and soil, acting as a makeshift grave you were about to descend into at any minute. Your mind was a numb shell, unable to see what was in front of it, unable to comprehend.

That must be your fate. Your life in exchange for the one you took just now. You would not call yourself very religious, but you believed in a God, and he must have seen the pathetic way you'd been living and is here to claim you.

Your vision turned black; the man was screaming something at you, but no words could penetrate the oxygen-depraved sheet of lethargy coating over your being.

As you lost more of your breath, the thuds of your heart started becoming louder. One second they were in your chest, and the next in your ears. Soon you could feel them vibrating the very land you lay upon. Thump. Thump. Thump.

All of a sudden, you felt light. The force of the man pushing against you lifted off of you in an instant. It was there one second and then vanished the other. Air came rushing back in through the once constricted pipes. You gasped for the breath hungrily, making its way into your lungs, and sputtered on your greedy inhale.

It took another few moments before the shadowy haze cleared from your eyes, and you were blinking back at what seemed to be two males locked in a sword fight.

One of them was the man who had been choking you, and the other—your eyes widened upon the realisation that the other person was none other than—

"Jungkook?"

His name was merely a whisper in the air, breathed into life through the brush of your lips against the words.

He delivered the last blow—a slash down his opponent's chest—before he turned to you.

Jungkook stood there with his sword dripping red while he panted; from the short fight or having hurried over to come save you, you didn't know. Maybe the latter. No, definitely the latter, if his pinched expression directed at you was anything to go by.

"You," he stepped over the fallen body groaning on the ground, "are an idiot."

You felt like laughing. He was fuming, and you let loose a single puff of airy laughter. You couldn't help it; the stress had taken a toll on you; your body ached in more places than you could count. You were beaten and bleeding. You almost accepted that you were going to die. But here you were, saved by this man not once but twice, in the same day.

You owed him.

"Glad to see you still have it in you to smile." Came a deep, feminine voice.

Both of your eyes turned towards the direction the voice came from. You leaned on your arms while he drew his sword for an attack.

There stood the blue-eyed woman from before, and upon seeing Jungkook take an immediate protective stance in front of you, something gleamed in her gaze.

"I must admit, watching you fight for your life was so entertaining." She sauntered forward, showing no sign of even grabbing for her weapons strapped to her, "and a pleasant surprise."

She rounded around where you were and stopped a good distance away, "even more surprising to see that you have got mercenaries protecting you." She said as she eyed the black ink on Jungkook's arm, which was now exposed.

You flicked your eyes between her and Jungkook. He remained motionless, but you can see how taut his muscles were, ready to pounce in a moment's notice. He didn't say anything, just observed. What is this woman playing at?

She let out a shrill whistle. Loud. Like a signal of some sort.

You prepared for the worst. Did she call for help? Backup?

Instead, a dark brown horse came running from behind the broken stone columns, galloping towards her. It didn't even stop completely before she grabbed the reins and hauled herself onto it mid-run. Walking in a circle, she faced you, looking straight in your eyes.

She tilted her head back, stretching her neck in a lazy motion as if the possibility for more bloodshed wasn't hanging in the air waiting for the moment she draws her weapon too. "So damn resilient, like your damn father." She muttered lowly; you thought you had misheard her. She stared at you.

"Alastair is protecting you even after death, huh?"

The air stopped blowing, the screeching of birds silenced, and your throbbing body went numb.

Palms digging in the forest floor, you could only gawk at her as she regarded you with disdain.

Her eyes, blue as the summer sky, looked red in that moment. Wild and predatory. You felt dizzy. But then she blinked, and the illusion broke; they were blue again. You shuddered. The voices from years ago rang in your ear.

She was one of them. The people who came chasing your father that day. The ones who killed-

A silent whimper left your parted lips.

So this was what it was about. Why you were targeted. Why your life was in danger. It was all due to what happened to your father. Now you will meet the same end. They came for him then, and now they came for you.

You thought it was over. Oh, how wrong you were.

You ran as much as you could and yet couldn't outrun your fate. Were more people coming? With swords? They will leave you bloody and torn. Will they kill Jungkook too? He would leave before that happened. Is that wolf nearby? Was he the one who led them to you?

A tear slid down the curve of your cheek. You imagined all the ways they would end you, the most scary one being torn to shreds by the sharp teeth of an atramentous beast.

The sound of her horse neighing cut through your terror-filled questions.

She met your dazed, tear-glazed eyes. "I'll see you soon."

You watched her go. Still in your place, disconnected from reality.

It wasn't until you heard your name being called out loud that you came back to reality. Someone was shaking you by the shoulder.

"-get up? Y/n, can you stand?" You flicked your gaze up, connecting with inky ones staring deep in yours.

Swallowing, only the sandy taste of dread scratched against your throat. Yet, you managed to open your mouth: "Are you one of them?"

Your voice was grating to the ear, stifling in defeat, so unlike the demanding tone you had before. It caused Jungkook's expression to display an emotion you couldn't quite put your finger on. Unsurprising, given you couldn't take in anything right now, really.

He watched you stare up at him for a moment before something snapped in him. He got on both his knees, grabbing a hold of both your shoulders. He squeezed tight; it strangely grounded you a little.

"Look here, in my eyes, and listen." His voice was firm, and he spoke slowly but with a surety, "I know it's hard to trust me right now, but I need you to get this one thing." He paused and inhaled before letting it out, "Your life is in danger, and I meant it when I stated I'm here to keep you safe. I will protect you."

The words came and swirled around in your mind, not quite settling in. His eyes were intense, and when you looked, really looked, past the darkness, you could see the hint of genuineness. In this moment, you held onto that as a lifeline, and so when he asked.

"Understood?" You nodded your head. "Good."

His palms lifted off of your shoulders, and you would be floating again in the vast uncertainty and fear had he not offered one of them right in front of your face.

"This place is not safe. We need to move on from here," he nodded, urging you to grab his hand.

What else was there to do? It was clear that you would be killed if you refused, and if he too wanted the same thing, unlike what he claimed to be doing, then at least it looked like he would be quicker in his kill. And so you lifted your arm, gently placing your palm against his, letting him haul you up.

Another, black horse came trotting over. You recognised it to be his. He gave your palm a squeeze, telling you to get up on it.

You flicked your eyes between the majestic creature and its master. A soft groan forced your eyes away and towards the other men lying on the ground; it seemed one of them was still conscious.

"He... he is alive." You murmured, looking at the man you had stabbed.

"Want me to finish him off?" He threw in casually.

You gaped at him, eyes full of disbelief and horror.

He puffed air out of his nose, "I didn't mean that." It wasn't very convincing. You looked back at the man, "Are you seriously considering helping him? After he attacked you?" You weren't.

His brow raised as he regarded you with a tilt of his head and a semi-disapproving look on his face. At last he just sighed, "You need to think about only yourself, or else you will get us both killed."

He walked you to the horse and stopped, "Wait a moment." He let go of your hand and reached out to grab a piece of clothing from a few feet away. It was your cloak; you had dropped it during the fight. He dusted the deep green fabric and gently pulled it around you. Then almost immediately grabbed your hand again.

He gave your palm another swift squeeze, and this time you mounted the horse with his help.

As he peered up at your fiddling form, down from where he stood, the lines on his face grew a little softer, his expression a little more sympathetic.

He latched his foot on the holding, "You will get your answers soon," and climbed behind you expertly.

As he reached his hands around you to grab the reins, his front touched your back, and while you were not one who gets particularly cold, his warmth was a surprisingly welcome sensation against your bruised backside.

His knuckles tightened in a grip, you kept your hands close to you, "you trust me?" He clicked his tongue, getting the horse to move, and it started walking at a leisurely pace. He felt you shaking your head against his chest, his lips quirked, and if you had turned around, you would've witnessed him grinning softly.

"Good."

The horse broke out in a sprint as you both rode off, leaving behind the forest and—you had an inkling—this town for good.

Soon you were at the southern border, riding along the river marking the end of Fubroch's territory.

And despite what you had insinuated about your opinions for the man, you soon found yourself leaning your head back and drifting off to an unconscious state. Away from the reminiscence of the events that occurred today and the pains of the past. The nipping cold of the reality slipped away as you gave in to the firm warmth of the momentary comfort.

Taglist (from my previous blog) : @runariya @jksusawife @boyfriendtaekook