It Might Just Come Back To Bite You

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/17857460.

Rating: Mature
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Relationship: Jeon Jungkook/Everyone, Jeon Jungkook/Kim Namjoon | RM, Jeon
Jungkook/Min Yoongi | Suga, Jeon Jungkook/Kim Seokjin | Jin, Jeon
Jungkook/Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V,
Jeon Jungkook/Park Jimin, Kim Yugyeom/GOT7 Ensemble, Lee
Dongmin | Cha Eunwoo/Moon Bin
Character: Jeon Jungkook, Kim Seokjin | Jin, Min Yoongi | Suga, Kim Namjoon |
RM, Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Park Jimin (BTS), Kim Taehyung | V, Kim
Yugyeom, Moon Bin, Lee Dongmin | Cha Eunwoo
Additional Tags: Vampires, Magic, University Student Jeon Jungkook, Sugar Daddy,
Protectiveness, Jeon Jungkook-Centric, Fluff, Blood Drinking, Dom/sub,
The Hyung line are smitten, Human Jeon Jungkook, Injury, Sickfic, Kim
Taehyung | V is a Little Shit, Jeon Jungkook is a Sweetheart, Falling In
Love, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Human/Vampire Relationship,
Werewolves, Shapeshifting, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Baby Boy
Jeon Jungkook, Cute Jeon Jungkook, Romantic Fluff, foresight, OT7,
Slow Burn, Soft hyungs
Series: Part 1 of The Kim-Coven Chronicles
Stats: Published: 2019-02-20 Completed: 2020-06-05 Chapters: 31/31 Words:
172016

It Might Just Come Back To Bite You

by Arobeebee

Summary

After Jungkook goes out of his way to help a sickly-looking stranger on a rainy night, the
universe chooses to reward him in the most bizarre and unexpected way possible – with a
nest of overprotective Vampire sugar-daddies.
 The First Meeting

The skies open just as Jungkook clocks off his nightshift.

His thin jacket provides little protection against the heavy downpour, and by the time he’s run the
half-mile back home from the convenience store, he’s wet through and chilled to the bone, damp
socks squelching unpleasantly in his water-logged shoes. He really needs to get a new pair (the
soles are sporting more than one hole now) but he’ll just have to make do until his next pay cheque
comes through. Food and rent come first, and he’s already been pulling extra shifts as it is just to
make ends meet; he can’t afford to splurge on accessories until the bills have been paid.

Reaching his towering apartment complex and slowing to a jog, he pushes open the gate and heads
up the short path towards the main entrance, blinking the fat raindrops from his eyes.

Jungkook’s foot suddenly catches on a shadow, sending him staggering forwards a few paces as he
tries to regain his balance, hands reaching out to catch himself against the wall of the building.

“Ow,” mumbles the shadow behind him.

Jungkook startles, wheeling around to stare back out into the gloom, eyes honing in on the
distinctly man-shaped silhouette who appears to be sitting in the tiny flowerbed by the path,
propped up against the fake-marble statue of some ancient forest deity. A man-shaped silhouette
whose legs Jungkook has apparently just kicked.

“Oh god,” he breathes, hurrying to crouch down at the stranger’s side, setting a careful hand on his
shoulder. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you. Are you hurt? Sir?”

The man’s chin has been lowered towards his chest, but at Jungkook’s tentative touch he slowly
raises his head, tilting it back to rest against the decorative statue as he surveys his attacker silently
for a moment. The nearby streetlamp had been too dim to light the path a moment ago, but
curiously the stranger’s face is perfectly visible despite the gloom; with his angular jaw and high
cheekbones, his skin’s so pale it almost seems to glow in the darkness.

Jungkook feels his breath catch in his throat, his heart giving a funny little flutter beneath his
breastbone because holy fuck, he’s never seen anyone so beautiful in his entire life.

"Hey there, handsome.” The man’s lips curl up in a tired but happy smile, apparently unbothered
by the fat rain droplets that are dripping from his fringe and down his cheeks. “Where’d you come
from?”

In any other situation, a line like that would make Jungkook so incredibly flustered that he’d barely
be able to string a sentence together, but given the unusual circumstances that he already finds
himself in, being hit on by a good-looking guy is really the least of his worries.

“I live here,” he answers simply, because honesty is easy enough to articulate. “Um…do you? Live
here, I mean?”

“Nooo,” the stranger replies, shaking his head somewhat drunkenly, like he only has partial control
of his musculature. “I'm kinda lost...my head got fuzzy, I must've used the wrong gate, wasn't
s'posed to end up on this side of town. Should've been home ages ago. Jin-hyung’s gonna freak out,
it'll be dawn soon..."

The man suddenly groans softly, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. "M’really tired. Gonna
take a nap, okay? Don’t worry about me, beautiful.”

Jungkook takes in the man’s appearance at a glance. Other than being soaked through, he doesn’t
seem unkempt and his clothes appear to be of a decent quality – fashionable, even. He certainly
doesn’t look like someone who’s accustomed to sleeping rough. Jungkook can’t smell any alcohol
on him, either, and he’s generally got a good nose for that kind of thing. He gets it from his
grandfather’s side; dormant hybrid genes that occasionally give him heightened olfactory senses
and super-sharp hearing. Although usually that just means in the dead of night he can hear
everyone in their apartment complex having sex, and it reminds him just how woefully single he is.

There’s a reason he wears earplugs to bed nowadays.

So if the man isn’t drunk, why is he behaving so strangely? Maybe he’s sick. Or concussed?
Yugyeom had ploughed headfirst into a tree last summer during the campus Moon Run, and all
their friends had thought he was drunk as fuck until they’d seen the egg-sized lump starting to swell
near his temple. Poor Gyeomie hadn’t been able to walk in a straight line for hours after that. Still,
it hadn’t all been bad – the Omega’s injuries had triggered the protective instincts of Im Jaebum, a
senior Alpha who’d attended the run to support his two youngest Betas. Yugyeom had gone into
the forest a lone wolf and emerged as the maknae of Jaebum’s pack, the lucky pup. And now he’s
sickeningly in love with all six of them.

Nothing like that ever happens to Jungkook. The universe hates him.

“You can’t sleep out here,” he insists, the squelching if his sodden socks reminding him why he’d
been in such a hurry to get inside a few minutes ago. “If you live nearby, maybe I could help you
get home? Or I can call a taxi if you’d like?”

The stranger shakes his head again, still with that dazed little half-smile that makes him look far
prettier than a man who’s sitting in a flowerbed at 4:55am has any right being.

“Can’t...driver won’t be able to find it.”

Has he forgotten where he lives? Maybe the man really is sick. Perhaps Jungkook should phone for
an ambulance or something?

“S’okay,” the man reassures, reaching up to pat Jungkook’s cheek with damp, icy-cold fingers. “I
already called for help. They’ll come find me…just need to wait a little longer. Gonna take a nap
until they get here.”

The man’s chin starts to dip down towards his chest again, his eyelids drooping. Alarmed,
Jungkook gives the slim shoulder a gentle shake.

“Hey, no, you need to stay awake,” he urges, wincing as the man’s head lolls at the jostling.
“What’s your name? I’m Jungkook, Jeon Jungkook.”

“Mmmhiii, Jeon Jungkook,” the stranger slurs, with a stupidly beautiful grin. “Kim Taehyung. Call
me Tae…wait, no, call me hyung. You’re kinda young, huh, pretty-boy?”

“I’m twenty-one,” Jungkook tells him, trying his best not to sound defensive. He doubts Taehyung
meant it offensively, but he knows he has a ‘baby face’ – he hears it all the time from his friends
and co-workers, with people constantly mistaking him for a high school student.
Taehyung pats his cheek again with a clumsy hand. “So small. So cute.” The man winces
suddenly, rubbing at his brow. “Fuck, my head…”

A gust of wind reminds Jungkook just how drenched he is, chilling him to the bone as he shivers,
gritting his teeth against the urge to chatter. Taehyung is still giving him all kinds of weird vibes,
but he doesn’t seem dangerous, and in his current state of uncoordination it’s unlikely he could
successfully overpower anyone. Besides, he doesn’t want the man to die of hypothermia on his
doorstep when he can easily do something to prevent it.

His mind made up, Jungkook abruptly pulls the man’s arm across his shoulders, heaving them both
upright and grunting as he’s forced to take most of Taehyung’s weight.

“Easy, tiger,” the man slurs, listing sideways dangerously. “At least let me take you to dinner
first.”

Jungkook feels his cheeks flush red and for once is grateful for the pre-dawn gloom.

“C’mon, we need to get you inside where it’s warm,” he says, helping Taehyung further along the
path one wobbly step at a time. “You can stay in my apartment until your friends come to get you,
okay?”

He leans the man against the wall of the building so that he can fish out his keys from the pocket of
his backpack, using the fob to unlock the outer door and wedging it open with his foot as he
reaches for Taehyung once more. The weird-but-beautiful stranger is giving him a puzzled sort of
look, glancing between Jungkook’s face and the unlocked door.

“You…you’re inviting me into your home?” the man slurs confusedly.

“I’m not about to leave you outside in the rain,” Jungkook reasons. “Oh! We’re in luck, they
finally fixed the elevator.”

Given that Jungkook lives on the fifth floor, he couldn’t be more relieved – he hadn’t been looking
forward to dragging his uncoordinated guest up ten flights of stairs. Granted, the elevator will
probably be broken again by tomorrow; the property managers put plenty of effort into making the
apartment complex look pretty on the outside, but they’re a little less generous when it comes to
fixing the electrics or making sure the hot water works in winter. Jungkook would’ve moved out
months ago if he could afford anything better, but money’s tight at the moment. Besides, he needs
to live within walking distance of both the university campus and his two part-time jobs, and his
current residence (despite its many, many flaws) does have the one bonus of being perfectly
situated right in the middle of those three locations. He can live with the dodgy plumbing and
unreliable electrics if it saves him from commuting long distances.

“Here we go,” he says cheerfully, a little out of puff by the time they finally make it to his
apartment door. Jungkook quickly keys in the passcode and helps his guest inside, body relaxing at
the heat that immediately surrounds them. “See? Nice and warm.”

The apartment is dark and quiet, and Jungkook belatedly remembers that Moonbin had said
something about spending the night with Eunwoo and his pack. He has a brief moment of doubt
regarding his current plan of action - if it turns out Taehyung is actually a total psychopath who's
faking weakness just to lull Jungkook into a false sense of security, he's in deep shit.

The stranger shivers against his side, and that thought vanishes in a split second, replaced by a
wave of concern.
“God, you’re freezing,” he worries, eyeing the man’s deathly pallor with concern. “Here, stay put
for sec, let me grab you a towel. Maybe you should take a shower to warm up? You’re about my
size, I can lend you some dry clothes…”

Toeing off his sodden shoes, he leaves the stranger propped up against the inside of the front door
and squelches along the short entrance hallway in his sodden socks, grimacing as he leans down to
peel them off. Binnie will inevitably slip and fall as soon as he comes home if Jungkook leaves
puddles of water all over the place (like him, his roommate is distressingly clumsy at times), and
then he’ll have an injured and pouty Were-cat to contend with, which is never a fun experience for
his guilty conscience.

Switching on the overhead lights in the small living room, he goes to the storage shelves along the
far wall, pulling the curtain back to fetch down a couple of spare towels from the basket at the top,
grimacing when his wet t-shirt unsticks itself from his skin with the motion. He feels gross, and a
shower sounds heavenly right now, but he’ll wait until after his guest is done; his parents raised
him to be a courteous host, even to the most baffling of visitors…

An echoing thud makes him jump, and Jungkook clutches the towels to his chest as he runs back
out into the hallway, sucking in a sharp breath at the sight of Taehyung sitting huddled against the
door with his knees drawn up to his chest, face buried in his arms that are wrapped around his legs
tight enough that his hands have turned bone-white. He’s trembling violently, and it would almost
look like some sort of seizure if not for the fact that Taehyung is clearly trying to suppress the
shivers wracking his body.

“Ai, you’re sick,” Jungkook frets, hurrying to crouch down at the man’s side. “Hyung, I…I think
maybe you should go to the hospital.”

“N-not sick. I’m just…”

“Just what?” the younger man presses, unfurling one of the dry towels to wrap it around his guest’s
shuddering frame. “Please, tell me how to help you.”

“Thirsty,” Taehyung croaks, in a voice that sounds so desperate it makes something in Jungkook’s
chest ache for a reason he can’t quite explain. “I’m so thirsty…”

Jungkook nods. Thirst is something he can fix easily enough, thank god. “I’ll get you a drink, just
sit tight-”

“No.” The distressed visitor shakes his head, arms tightening around his knees. “You don’t
understand, I can’t…I need…”

He lifts his gaze at last, and Jungkook’s breath catches in his throat at the bloody crimson of his
irises.

“Tell me to leave,” Taehyung begs, sounding more coherent now than he has been these past ten
minutes. “Please, just tell me I’m not welcome in your home anymore. I shouldn’t be here, I
can’t...I don’t know how to control it yet, I'm not even supposed to leave the nest on my own. I
don’t wanna hurt you, Jungkook, please. My nestmates are coming, I’ll be okay, just throw me out.
Your scent…I can’t be around you right now.”

Jungkook swallows past the lump that fear has lodged in his in his throat, before taking a deep,
calming breath.

“So you’re a vampire,” he murmurs. Then, a little frustrated, “Why didn’t you say so earlier? God,
you must be starving. Wait here, I’ve got just the thing.”

Taehyung’s trembling is getting worse, but Jungkook ignores it in favour of hurrying down the
hallway and into the little box-room of a kitchen at the far end. It isn’t much, just a metre-length
worktop with a tiny stove, a microwave, an under-cabinet refrigerator and a couple of overhead
cupboards, but it’s enough to meet their needs. Neither he nor Moonbin are particularly skilled
when it comes to the culinary arts – ramen, rice and sandwiches are generally their usual fare when
they’re not eating at the university campus - and since they can't afford a lot of fancy ingredients
anyway, a big kitchen would be wasted on them.

Grabbing one of the plastic pouches from inside the door of the fridge and chucking it in the
microwave for a brief thirty-second warming to remove the chill, he gives the bloodbag it a
vigorous shake and tests the temperature against the inside of his wrist. It’s not exactly body temp
the way he knows Eunwoo likes it, but it’s warm, and he doubts Taehyung’s feeling picky about
the precise centigrade in his current state of hunger. For the vampire to have reached such a point
of thirst that it's making him physically ill like this, he must've gone a hell of a long time without
feeding...unless he's newly-turned? Tae had mentioned that he wasn't supposed to leave the nest on
his own, which suggests there's still a level of close supervision there. And nestlings, he knows,
need to feed a lot more regularly than fully-matured vampires.

“Here,” he says, returning to the hallway and crouching down in front of the vampire, offering him
the blood-pouch with a tentative smile. “I hope it’s warm enough.”

Taehyung stares at him, wide-eyed.

“Go ahead, take it,” Jungkook encourages softly. “Moonbin won’t mind. He always keeps a few on
ice in case Eunwoo drops by. I don’t know much about blood brands, but this is one of his
favourites, so I guess it must be okay. Um…we might have a dark chocolate pouch if you prefer
the flavoured kind-?”

His words are cut off abruptly when Taehyung - making a soft, needy noise in the back of his
throat – surges forwards quickly, one hand wrapping around Jungkook’s where it holds the pouch
as the other curls tightly around the younger man's wrist, anchoring him in place.

Jungkook sees a brief flash of sharp, gleaming fangs right before they pierce the oval-shaped
rubber seal on the feeding pouch, the quiet pop making him jolt a little, heart jumping in his chest.
He watches with slightly parted lips as Taehyung takes several rapid gulps without seeming to
pause for breath, clearly seeking to sate the worst of his hunger. After a few moments, the vampire
exhales shakily through his nose and loosens his grip on Jungkook’s wrist, enough that the human
could pull away if he wanted to.

He doesn’t.

“There you go,” Jungkook murmurs, watching as the vampire closes his eyes, throat bobbing in a
steady rhythm as he feeds. “Take your time, okay? There’s another pouch in the refrigerator if you
need it.”

He’s never seen a creature of the night looking so incredibly vulnerable before; truthfully, he didn’t
even know it was possible. He isn’t exactly acquainted with a lot of vampires outside of Eunwoo
and Hyungwon, and even then he’s only befriended them through a third party, so he’s no expert.
Maybe this is something that happens regularly? He wonders if Eunwoo ever gets like this around
JinJin-hyung or the rest of his pack - Moonbin's never mentioned it before, and honestly, he really
can’t picture it; not with how calm and collected his roommate’s boyfriend always seems to be
whenever he comes over for a movie night.
Taehyung appears calmer now, the tension gone from his face and his limbs looser as he adjusts
his gentle grip on the human’s hand to squeeze the pouch a little, pushing more blood up from the
bottom.

“Feeling better?” Jungkook asks tentatively.

The vampire nods, his eyes fading from their fiery crimson back to a burnt amber, his thumb gently
stroking over the back of Jungkook’s hand in what could possibly be interpreted as silent gratitude.
It feels good. Despite being soaked to the bone, Jungkook's body is thrumming with a cosy
warmth, and he's content to sit and watch as Taehyung feeds, enjoying the comfortable silence.

It’s only a pint-pouch, and it takes Taehyung less than five minutes to drain it dry, the vampire
pulling his fangs free of the rubber seal and letting go of Jungkook’s hand to slump back against
the front door again, loose-limbed and breathing heavily. His pale cheeks are looking distinctly
more flushed now, and the amber hue of his eyes has faded further into a warm brown as he blinks
slowly, dazedly. His fangs retract in a flash, disappearing back into his gums, tongue poking out to
clean his red-stained lips, before he gives Jungkook a sleepy, sated smile.

“Thank you.”

Jungkook gives a tiny shrug, suddenly feeling shy. “No worries. Do you need more bl-...uh, would
you like another pouch?”

The vampire's smile turns a little apologetic. “Your boyfriend won’t mind?”

“Moonbin’s the one with the boyfriend,” Jungkook corrects, and he really ought to be embarrassed
by how keen he is for Taehyung to understand his absolutely-single-and-ready-to-mingle status,
but his brain will undoubtedly treasure this moment for the next insomnia-triggering 3am Mental
Regret Party. “He won’t mind though, it’s cool.”

He peels out of his wet jacket while he’s waiting for the second pouch to heat up in the microwave.
He’ll need to air it out over the clothes hanger if he wants it to be anywhere close to dry by the time
he leaves for his afternoon shift at the café. Gods, he still needs to sleep before then – it’s gone
5:30am already, he’s normally showered and safely conked out in bed at this hour, dead to the
world. Work isn’t going to be much fun later on if he doesn’t get at least six hours sleep;
nightshifts always leave him feeling horribly hungover.

There’s a strange rustling sound from the hallway just as Jungkook removes the warmed blood
pouch from the microwave, like a whispery gust of wind is blowing right past the kitchen door, and
the lights in the hallway flicker.

“Hyung?” Jungkook calls hesitantly, and jumps when he hears the low murmur of an unfamiliar
voice.

Poking his head out into the hallway, he’s startled to see a tall figure crowding over Taehyung,
draped in a long dark coat that sweeps all the way down to the floor. As he watches, the newcomer
sinks to his knees and cups Taehyung’s face between his hands, murmuring something too quiet for
Jungkook to make out. But the tone he can discern easily enough; Mr Dark-and-Mysterious sounds
worried – cross, even. Perhaps it’s one of Taehyung’s nestmates…but how the hell did he get
inside? Jungkook understands the basic principles of vampire lore, he knows they shouldn’t really
be able to enter someone’s home uninvited, not unless they’re something more.

Curiosity piqued even further, Jungkook inches closer to the pair.

“What were you thinking?" the newcomer presses, still cradling Taehyung’s face tenderly between
his hands. “Slipping out like that without telling anyone. You were gone almost nine hours, Tae,
for god’s sake. I’ve been worried sick.”

To Jungkook’s surprise, the younger vampire’s eyes are glistening wetly, his gaze flickering
downwards in shame.

“I’m sorry,” Taehyung murmurs, his voice a little unsteady as he tilts his cheek into the
newcomer’s touch. “I didn’t mean to stay out so late. I went to the Fae Forest to visit Taemin-
hyung, but I must've used the wrong gate, it dumped me in a park somewhere. And I was so
hungry, I didn't know which way was home…”

“You need to feed, baby” the cloaked stranger frets, and tugs up the sleeve on his left arm, lifting
his bared wrist to Taehyung’s mouth as he gently palms the back of the younger vampire's head,
guiding him closer.

Remembering the warm blood pouch still in his possession, Jungkook clears his throat quietly, then
regrets it almost immediately when the newcomer spins around in a flash to place himself like a
physical barrier in front of Taehyung, red eyes glowing fiercely. The vampire's body doesn’t
visibly grow any bigger than it already is, but Jungkook can feel his presence filling the hallway
like a spreading shadow, and the tiny part of him that retains his mostly dormant bunny-hybrid
instincts wants to run and hide until the danger has passed.

“No, don’t, he isn’t a threat,” Taehyung intercepts quickly, touching his companion on the
shoulder. “Jungkook’s the one who rescued me, hyung. He invited me into his home and helped
me to feed-”

“Helped you to what?”

Taehyung, wide-eyed, waves his hands in a frantic pacifying motion. “Not like that! Hyung. You
know I’d never...”

The newcomer seems to calm at that, his alarmed frown softening into a smile as he reaches out to
touch Taehyung’s cheek. “I know, treasure, I’m sorry.”

Turning back to face Jungkook (who gulps, because he’s fully aware that he’s in the presence of a
very, very powerful creature right now), the stranger regards him silently for a moment with kind
amber eyes before bestowing that same gentle smile upon him.

And all the fear in Jungkook’s chest just melts, his breath leaving him in a quiet whoosh, his knees
going a little bit week. That overpowering presence from before has shifted into something
tangibly warmer, and it’s like he’s getting hugged by the air.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Jungkook,” the man murmurs, offering him a hand to shake. “I’m Kim
Seokjin. Thank you for taking care of Taehyungie for me.”

Jungkook fumbles to switch the blood-pouch over to his opposite hand so that he can grasp
Seokjin’s palm, surprised to find the vampire's skin wonderfully warm beneath his grip. He’d
always assumed vampires ran a lot cooler than humans, but apparently not.

“You’re cold, little one,” the older man remarks, that faint frown creasing his brow again as he lifts
a hand to briefly touch Jungkook's cheek with the tips of his fingers. “And you’ll catch your death
in those damp clothes, aish. What were you thinking?”

He takes the blood-pouch from Jungkook’s lax grip and passes it back to Taehyung without a
second glance, instead taking both of the human’s hands between his own and leaning down to
gently blow on them.

Ignoring the fact that he’s being scolded by a complete stranger in his own home, Jungkook blinks
down at his hands as they begin to tingle, warmth fanning out from his fingertips and crawling up
his arms. He shudders as the heat rolls through him, a little unnerved by the sensation but grateful
to have the chill completely banished from his bones so quickly.

“You should drink something warm before you sleep,” Seokin advises gently. “Is it alright if I use
your kitchen?”

“Um…sure?” Jungkook permits, still a little bemused by the events of the past half-hour.
“Although there’s not much in there, I’m afraid.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make do.” The older man gives him a little nudge towards the other end of the
hallway. “Go and change into something dry, dear.”

Feeling his cheeks heat at the pet name but finding that he really doesn’t mind the coddling,
Jungkook does as he’s bid, heading through the living room towards his bedroom and closing the
door behind him. He leans against it for a moment, pinching himself just to make sure this isn’t just
some fatigue-induced hallucination or something. Finding his nerves fully intact (ow), he strips out
of his sodden clothing and dumps the wet garments on top of his washing basket to be dealt with
later, pulling on a clean pair of sweatpants and a soft cotton polo shirt that Yugyeom's pack had
bought him for his last birthday. It’s a size too big, but he likes the fact that there’s room in it,
enough excess fabric that he can pull the sleeves down over his fingers - which was likely Jaebum's
intention when he bought it; he's probably noticed how often Jungkook borrows Yugyeom's
sweaters whenever he comes over. The werewolf is built a lot bigger than Jungkook, and wearing
his clothes is like being wrapped up in warm blanket. Having a too-big sweater of his own to wear
around the apartment also comes in handy whenever he and Binnie need to save money on utilities
by turning down the thermostat, but Jaebum-hyung doesn't need to know that. The Alpha would
only fuss, and Jungkook doesn't like to worry people - he and Moonbin get by just fine on their
own.

He cracks open his bedroom door by just an inch to peek out, half expecting to see the two
vampires waiting for him on the other side.

Surprised to find the living room empty, he wraps his arms around himself, body still tingling a
little with that peculiar heat Seokjin had used to warm his hands. He pads over to the hallway and
into the kitchen, finding it similarly unoccupied, his gaze zeroing in on the steaming mug that’s
waiting for him on the countertop.

It smells wonderful, and he takes a tentative sip, moaning softly when the warm chocolate milk
soothes his parched throat. He has no idea where it came from; he and Binnie don’t even own any
instant hot chocolate. Or milk. Or this mug, come to think of it. But stranger things have happened
already this morning, and he’s honestly too tired to question it.

There’s a note pinned to the fridge with one of Binnie’s Nesquik magnets, written in a beautiful
cursive handwriting that Jungkook doubts can be achieved using a generic ballpoint pen.

Sleep well, little one. Until we meet again,

Kim Seokjin
And beneath his elegant script is a second note, the penmanship far more lazily scrawled but still
perfectly legible, and Jungkook’s lips curl up into a happy grin as he reads it.

Guess I owe you a couple of drinks, handsome.

See you around.
TaeTae xxx

Jungkook sure hopes that’s a promise.

 Just A Small Token Of Appreciation
Chapter Summary

Kookie discovers it wasn't all a dream and that good karma does exist.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Jungkook wakes to someone shaking him by the shoulder, and drags the duvet further over his
head with a protesting groan, trying to sink back down into the warmth and comfort of a dreamless
sleep.

“Hyung, you’ve already snoozed your alarm twice,” a familiar voice murmurs apologetically,
preventing Jungkook from drifting off again. “Your shift stars in an hour, and you need to eat
something first.”

Head emerging from the cosy cocoon of bedsheets just enough that he can squint towards his
bedside table, Jungkook groans again, this time in resignation at the glowing 13:00 glaring back at
him from his alarm clock. He hates switching between nightshifts and dayshifts like this – his
body’s convinced that it’s still the middle of the night, and he’d give anything in the world to just
roll over and go back to sleep if he could…but new shoes don’t grow on trees, and he’s got rent
make by the end of next week. Plus his part-time job at Euphoria pays relatively well compared to
some other food industry jobs, and he really can’t afford to get fired for showing up late.

“I know, nightshifts suck,” Moonbin commiserates, patting his shoulder sympathetically through
the duvet. “I made kimchi stew, do you want some? Thanks for going shopping, by the way…at
least let me pay half, though. You kinda splurged, hyung – especially on the rice cooker, it looks
expensive. Are you sure we can afford that?”

Jungkook’s brow crinkles in a sleepy frown as he rubs his eyes groggily. “Hn?”

“I thought you were saving up for new boots,” the Werecat continues, promptly tugging away his
duvet to help motivate Jungkook into wakefulness. “Organic veggies, fancy fruit, sirloin steak?
Did a customer tip you bigtime, or something?”

Sitting up in bed, Jungkook huffs a tired laugh.

“That’ll be the day,” he quips around a yawn, stretching his arms above his head and feeling his
stiffened joints pop satisfyingly. “Sorry, there wasn’t time to go shopping before my shift started
yesterday; I’ll pick up a few things on my way home tonight. Pretty sure all we’ve got in the
refrigerator is out-of-date yoghurt and ketchup.”

Moonbin looks amused as he crosses his arms over his chest. “What, and I’m supposed to believe
that a full week’s haul of groceries just magically appeared in our kitchen without you knowing
about it?”

Jungkook’s fatigue-foggy brain finally catches up with what the younger man has been saying, and
he drops his arms quickly as the events of that morning come rushing back to him all at once;
finding Taehyung outside in the rain, inviting him in, belatedly discovering he was a Vampire and
feeding him that blood-pouch, encountering the mysterious and clearly very powerful Kim
Seokjin…

“Stranger things have happened,” he tells his roommate faintly, climbing out of bed on slightly
wobbly legs and making a beeline for the kitchen.

And just as Moonbin had described, there really is a week’s worth of high quality fresh produce
filling every nook and cranny of his previously-empty refrigerator. There’s even a neat row of
blood-pouches lining the little shelf on the inside of the fridge door; far more than had been there
earlier that day, even before he’d given two to his unexpected houseguest.

Not only that, but sitting out on the worktop is a brand new rice cooker (the super-modern kind,
judging by the touchscreen interface), a stylish purple electric kettle, and an assortment of fancy
packaged teas neatly stacked one on top of another.

“Okay, so it really wasn’t you,” Moonbin realises, having been silently gaging his stunned
expression. “Your new boyfriend, then? Aigoo, he’s definitely a keeper.”

“My boyfriend?”

The Werecat gives him an amused look, tilting his head to one side. “His scent’s literally all over
you, hyung, I know a bond when I smell it.” The younger man thumps his shoulder playfully. “It’s
not like you to be so secretive. How long have you two been together?”

A bond? That can’t be right. All he’d done was half-carry the weakened Vampire indoors and help
to feed him the blood pouch, there hadn’t been anything remotely intimate or romantic about their
brief interaction. Although having had said unexpected guest draped all over him as they rode the
elevator upstairs, it’s no wonder he’s saturated in Taehyung’s scent – that’s probably what’s
confused Binnie’s nose.

Jungkook regrets not taking a shower before he’d gone to bed, but after finishing his probably-
magically-brewed hot chocolate (in retrospect, he really ought to have been a little more hesitant
about downing a mysterious beverage of unknown origin), his eyes had been so heavy-lidded that
he’d decided to forego washing up altogether. He’d anticipated that with the bizarre events of the
early morning, sleep would prove to be frustratingly elusive, but he can barely even remember his
head hitting the pillow.

“It’s…a fairly new development,” Jungkook answers vaguely, because going with Moonbin’s
assumption that he’s found himself a generous boyfriend is way easier than trying to explain that
there’s a magic-wielding Vampire out there who apparently feels seriously indebted to him.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you – there was a parcel sitting on our doormat when I got home,” Bin
suddenly remembers, nudging Jungkook towards the doorway with his hip. “It had your name on,
so I left it on the coffee table. Go sit down, hyung, I’ll reheat the stew.”

Jungkook’s feet carry him on auto-pilot towards the living room, but he slows his pace as soon as
he lays eyes on the parcel. It must have been hand-delivered judging by the lack of address or
postage markings, perfectly gift-wrapped in pale blue paper and secured neatly by a sparkly bow
with matching gift-tag. He sinks down to take a seat on the worn leather couch, reaching out to
ever-so-gently pull the box over to edge of the coffee table, half expecting it to suddenly burst open
in a shower of sparkling fairy dust or burst into song, or something.
Like he’d said to Moonbin, stranger this have happened today.

With careful fingers, he turns over the gift tag.

Just a little something to say thank you, Handsome.

See you soon.
- TaeTae xxx

Smiling a little, warmed by the gesture despite all the questions whizzing around in his head (like
how the hell had he not noticed someone sneaking in to stock up his kitchen), Jungkook tugs at the
ends of the ribbon to unwrap the present, pulling the folds of the baby-blue paper aside, eyes going
wide when he sees the familiar logo printed on the lid of the shoebox.

“Whoa,” Moonbin breathes directly over his shoulders, and the only reason Jungkook doesn’t
startle is because by now he’s used to the silent-footed Werecat noiselessly sneaking up behind
him on a daily basis. “Dude, your man got you Timberlands?”

Jungkook lifts the lid, breath catching in his throat at the jet-black Chukka boots sitting nestled in
the white tissue paper within.

How? How could Taehyung possibly have known about his affinity for Timberland Chukkas? He’s
been thirsting after this exact pair for months, checking the website every so often in case there’s a
miracle flash-sale, but quietly resigning himself to the knowledge that branded shoes were always
going to be 100K won outside of his realistic price range.

“First the rice cooker and all those groceries, now this,” Moonbin admires, his teasing smile
audible. “Hyung, about this mystery boyfriend of yours…did you find yourself a sugar-daddy?”

Jungkook feels his cheeks flush with heat, and hides how flustered he really is by twisting around
to yank Bin over the back of the couch and into a playfully retaliating headlock. The younger man
gives a startled yelp as he flails, successfully squirming out of the human’s half-hearted grip after a
moment, and darting away with a peel of bubbling laughter as the ping of the microwave echoes
from the kitchen.

Bin returns a few minutes later with a bowl of steamed rice and hot stew, extending them towards
the elder like a peace offering. Jungkook carefully moves the shoebox onto the floor to avoid
spilling anything on his new shoes, accepting the proffered food with a grateful smile and scooting
a little further up the couch so that Moonbin can curl up on the cushions beside him.

“Can I meet him?” the cat asks after a few minutes, nestling in close as is his usual habit whenever
they’re at home together. “Your sug- uh, your boyfriend?”

Jungkook’s beginning to regret the whole ‘just go with it’ plan. Moonbin’s the sweetest guy he
knows, but he’s a shifter, and Were-folk (particularly cats) can be a little possessive when it comes
to their close friends and family members. Binnie’s not going to be satisfied until he’s met
Jungkook’s new ‘boyfriend’ himself, and making multiple excuses to maintain the lie just isn’t
going to work out in the long run.

Forestalling any further questions by feeding the Werecat a spoonful of rice-and-stew, Jungkook
hums noncommittally. He can’t stomach openly lying to Bin, so it’s probably best to avoid making
promises and keep his answers as vague as possible.

“How’s Eunwoo?” he asks instead, because if there’s anything that’s guaranteed to derail Moonbin
from the current topic at hand, it’s any mention of the Werecat’s beloved boyfriend. “He’s doing
 that promo thing with Polham, right?”

As anticipated, Moonbin’s smile turns sappy the way it always does whenever he stars thinking
about his mate, and Jungkook breathes an internal sigh of relief as his roomie cheerfully launches
into an enthusiastic spiel about Eunwoo’s latest modelling project. That ought to keep Bin
distracted long enough for him to finish his lunch and jump in the shower; he’ll be able to escape to
work after that and avoid any further interrogation in regards to his non-existent boyfriend, at least
for the time being.

Jungkook knows he’ll need to ‘fess up eventually and admit to Moonbin that he might have
inadvertently given a total stranger open access to their home by extending an invitation of
hospitality (with Vampires a simple ‘come on in’ can be considered a binding agreement in some
cultures). And yes, technically Jungkook can rescind that invitation at any given moment if he truly
wants to…but he doesn’t.

Man, he must be off his head, but he really doesn’t.

Not just because his new shoes are awesome and a refrigerator full of food is something he and
Binnie both need, but because he can’t stop thinking about Kim Taehyung. His smile, his piercing
gaze, his voice. And how the vampire had trusted him enough to be so openly vulnerable in his
presence; the way he’d clung to Jungkook’s hand as he fed from the pouch, cool fingers holding
him gently and pressing against the pulse point at his wrist…

Aw fuck.

He’s fallen hard.

Chapter End Notes

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT, FAM!

I'm hoping to have another chapter posted in just a few days, the next instalment is
already 80% complete because it didn't quite fit with the tone of this chapter so I
decided to post this scene as a separate update. Kookie is already startled by the
generosity of his previous houseguests, but the new shoes and rice cooker are just the
start! :P

As always, I'd love to know your thoughts down below. Have a great weekend!
 Euphoria
Chapter Summary

The second meeting.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Jungkook wears his new Chukkas on the walk to Euphoria and it feels like he’s walking on clouds
every step of the way, they fit him so comfortably.

Unforuntately, since the café has a fairly strict dress code for wait-staff (black trousers,
‘respectable’ footwear, white button-down shirt, and a pale-pink apron sporting the eatery’s logo
tied about the waist), he’s forced to tuck them away in his locker as soon as he gets there. The only
upside to the enforced dress code is the fact that management will pay the full expenses for your
first uniform with the expectation that it’s the employee’s responsibility to keep it clean and
purchase any necessary replacements.

He’s been careful to take very good care of his Euphoria footwear because they’re super good
quality dress shoes that he really can’t afford to replace; he always removes them before leaving
the café to avoid water-damage or excessive wear and tear, so unlike the rest of his shoe collection
at home, these ones are actually in a fairly good state of repair.

Still, they’re not half as awesome as Timberlands, and he can’t resist sneaking his new Chukkas
out of his locker during break to snap a quick photo, sending it to Yugyeom as he munches on a
few macaroons from the platter of delectable ‘kitchen rejects’ on the nearby coffee table (there are
many perks to working at Euphoria, but free food is definitely up there near the top of the list).

‘OMG dude!! I thought you said they cost too much?’ Yugyeom texts back, after a spamming
multiple hearts and shocked emojis. ‘Did the store give you a bonus this month or something?’

Jungkook’s lips twitch up in a grin, thumbs hovering over the touchscreen as he debates whether to
tell his friend the truth or not. Like Binnie, the Werewolf tends to worry about him unnecessarily,
and if Yugyeom thought that a potentially very powerful stranger had silently snuck into
Jungkook’s apartment (even with good intentions) while he was asleep…yeah, that might not go
down so well.

And oh god, he really can’t risk Jaebum finding out, not ever. Being Yugyeom’s best friend,
Jungkook had been semi-adopted by the rest of the wolf’s pack within a matter of weeks, and
although he really does appreciate all the skinship whenever he hangs out at Jaebum’s den (that
dormant bunny-hybrid side of him loves a good cuddle, and Werewolves are super tactile creatures
by nature), it’s hard to hide anything from them. They’re always very quick to pick up on his
chronic lack of sleep, his insufficient dietary intake and his stress-levels (damn their sensitive
noses). As a Pack they all have a tendency to fuss, but he knows it’s only because they see him as
being the maknae right alongside Yugyeom. Jaebum won’t be happy if he hears about Jungkook’s
recent home-invasion (or his willingness to let a total stranger into his house when nobody else was
home), and it’s likely Yugyeom will be concerned enough by the news to share it with the older
wolf without hesitation. That won’t end well for Kookie; Alphas can be very protective of their
cubs, even a predominantly-human-and-not-really-a-Pack-member cub like Jungkook.

‘Long story,’ he answers vaguely, deciding to play it safe. ‘Tell you after work on Monday?’

At least that gives him another forty-eight hours to either think of a good excuse to explain why
he’s suddenly acquired shoes that weren’t remotely affordable last week, or find the balls to tell
Yugyeom the truth.

“Jungkookie?”

It’s Suyeon, the manager on duty this afternoon, smiling wincingly as she lingers in the doorway to
the break room.

“I’m sorry, I know you’re on break,” she apologises, “but a customer just came in asking for you.
I’m happy to assign him to someone else, but I figured he might be one of your regulars, and I
know how possessive you get...”

Her tone is teasing, but Jungkook still feels his cheeks heat a little at the playful jab. It’s true, he
prides himself on his customer service, and it’s always a nice pat on the back when someone
returns to the café and recognises him from last time, or even better, asks after him specifically.
Euphoria is one of Seoul’s first maid/butler-style cafés, which means his reputation as a waiter is
everything (especially when it comes to tips), and he works hard to play the part well even when
he’s bone-tired and aching after a nightshift. Working mostly weekends, his regulars are often
businessmen or hardworking students who come to the café to relax, and if Kookie can help relieve
their stress with a bright smile and a friendly conversation, he feels like his job’s actually worth
something.

“Which table?” Jungkook pockets his phone and quickly slips his Chukkas back into his backpack,
storing them in his locker for safekeeping.

“He wanted a booth in the back, so Yoojung set him up in number eight,” she answers. “He’s
already placed an order at the desk, Sanha’s prepping it for you.”

Suyeon stops him at the door with a fond smile to carefully fix the lapels of his shirt and brush
away a few lingering macaroon crumbs, ever dutiful in the upkeep of Euphoria’s spotless
reputation as a visual café.

“You know, he’s pretty cute,” she adds innocently, and Jungkook groans internally. Suyeon’s an
awesome manager, she really is, but she’s been trying to coax him into finding a date for six
months now and it just makes Jungkook’s status as a sad-ass singleton feel even more obvious to
the outside world.

Ignoring her teasing, he ducks out of the break room and makes his way back out onto the café
floor, heading towards the serving counter that backs onto the main kitchen and smiling when he
spots Sanha carefully piping chocolate love-hearts onto the customer’s dishes. The bunny hybrid’s
white ears poke up out of his fluffy pastel-blue hair, twitching as the student tilts his head to one
side and judges his decorative handiwork.

“Aw, cute,” Jungkook remarks, because that’s usually all it takes to make Sanha smile, and he likes
seeing the bunny happy. Sanha’s the reason he managed to get a job at Euphoria in the first place,
after all.
“Here, hyung,” the hybrid says cheerfully, turning the tray so that Jungkook can pick it up at a
better angle. “One dark chocolate infusion and a slice of crimson velvet cake.”

Jungkook thanks him, setting off again towards the archway that leads to the second area of the
ground floor café, where the air conditioning keeps the temperature a few degrees cooler than out
front and the overhead lighting has been dimmed a little to make it seem like early evening. He
smiles politely as he walks past several customers seated at the tables in the open area, heading
towards the back wall where a row of cosy alcoves act as secluded booths, some surrounded by
heavy curtains to help block out the overhead lighting even further.

“Good afternoon,” he greets pleasantly with a deep bow, drawing back the curtain with one hand as
he balances the tray in the other. “Welcome back to Euphoria, sir. Thank you for inviting me to
serve-”

Having straightened up from his bow and finally laid eyes on his mystery customer, Jungkook
finds the rest of the sentence catching in his throat, eyes going wide for a moment as his heart does
a peculiar little flutter in his chest.

It’s Taehyung.

Kim Taehyung, the vampire who’s been occupying his thoughts for the better part of the afternoon,
is smiling back at him from the other side of the table.

By some miracle, he manages not to drop the tray in his state of shock, and after forcing his lungs
to function as they ought to and sucking in a quick breath to compensate for how lightheaded he’s
suddenly feeling, Jungkook draws on all of his previous experience as a Euphoria butler and
manages to rally his courage to continue.

“Taehyung-ssi,” he starts again, letting the surprise seep into his voice a little even as he smiles. “I
hadn’t expected to see you again quite so soon.”

The vampire returns the smile, amber gaze briefly travelling downwards to take in Jungkook’s
uniform appreciatively.

“Please, call me hyung,” Tae corrects gently. “After what happened this morning it’s a little too
late for formalities, don’t you think?”

Jungkook remembers what else had apparently happened this morning (while he was fast asleep),
and sets the tray down on the table to bow again, feeling the heavy curtain swish closed behind
him.

“Thank you for the gifts, hyung,” he says, with as much sincerity as possible because the groceries
are amazing and they really did need a rice cooker, and those shoes are so fucking expensive.
“They really aren't necessary, though. I'm just glad I was able to help you this morning. You don't
owe me anything for it, really.”

Taehyung’s smile fades by just a fraction. “You don't like the shoes? I could buy you different
ones…”

“Nonono, the Chukkas are amazing, thank you so much,” Jungkook rushes to reassure, because
seeing that crestfallen look on the vampire’s face is doing things to his sensitive heart.

“Oh, thank god,” Taehyung breathes, looking genuinely relieved as he tips his head back against
the booth’s padded bench. “I trusted Yoongi-hyung because he’s almost always right, but there was
no way to know for sure and I wanted to buy you something you’d be able to wear all the time,
y'know?”

“If Euphoria didn’t have a uniform policy, I’d be wearing them right now,” Jungkook divulges,
carefully transferring the vampire’s plate and saucer from tray to table just to give himself
something to do.

Honestly, if he hadn’t been quite so distracted beforehand (and a little less sleep-deprived,
perhaps), he would’ve realised that the order Sanha had prepped would only really suit a vampire’s
tastebuds. The dark chocolate infusion is essentially organic blood warmed to just above body
temperature and blended with finally chopped bitter chocolate. Unpalatable to most species, but
considered a delicacy among vampire-kind. Vampires can consume regular human food the way
Weres and hybrids can, but you can’t just replace feeds with iron-dense foodstuffs; they need blood
to survive the same way humans need calories. Although from what Jungkook understands, adult
vampires can go a fairly significant length of time between feeds compared to the average human.

“Mmm, this looks amazing,” Taehyung enthuses, pulling the plate of crimson velvet cake towards
him and eagerly picking up the little fork, moaning at the first mouthful. “OMG. I’m gonna live
here from now on.”

Jungkook nearly has a heart attack when a tiny furry snout suddenly pokes out over the top of the
table right in front of the plate, its shiny black nose twitching as it sniffs at the air. There’s a soft
little boof of a bark and Taehyung laughs, setting down his cake fork and reaching into his lap to
pick up the fluffiest little dog Jungkook’s ever seen.

It’s literally 90% fluff, the dark brown fur puffed out in a rounded sort of shape with only its cute
little head and teeny-tiny feet poking out. Now Jungkook loves animals of any kind (it’s a part-
hybrid thing), but he wants to steal Taehyung’s dog from right in front of him, it’s that fucking
cute.

“You can’t eat that, it’s made of chocolate,” Taehyung tells the puffy pooch, who turns his head to
stare towards the vampire with an expression that Kookie’s honestly never seen on a dog before.
“Nope, you’re a dog – so be a dog. Ah, Jungkookie, this is Chim. Isn’t he cute?”

Hearing his name spoken like that (with such warmth and familiarity) affects him far more than it
should, and Jungkook fights back a blush, nodding dumbly in agreement just in case he opens his
mouth and says something horrifyingly embarrassing like “not as cute as you”.

“We keep some dog-friendly snacks in the kitchen,” he supplies after a moment, once he’s certain
he won’t gush like a pre-teen in love. “Would you like me to get you some?”

Taehyung’s smile curls wider around his cake fork, and he glances down at the puppy in his lap,
eyes filled with mirth. Chim’s tiny tail stops wagging.

“That’s so thoughtful,” Tae remarks after he's chewed and swallowed. “Isn’t that thoughtful,
Chim? Would you like a treat?”

The dog seems to be giving his owner that same look from before, and Taehyung just laughs,
kissing the pup on its tiny nose before plopping him gently back down in his lap again.

“Maybe another time,” the vampire declines, taking a careful sip of his hot chocolate infusion.
“How about you, handsome? You’ve eaten already, right?”

Assuming the vampire must be alluding to the newly-filled refrigerator back in his apartment,
Jungkook nods and gives another quick bow.
“Yes, thank you,” he murmurs, cheeks a little warm. “The Timberlands were really more than
enough though, hyung, you didn’t have to buy the rice cooker and all those groceries. But I’m
really grateful!”

Ugh, he’s fucking this up.

Taehyung blinks at him, perplexed. “Rice cooker?”

“That…wasn’t you?” Jungkook realises, and feels even more of an idiot now for blurting it all out.

The vampire shakes his head slowly. “I only asked Hobi-hyung to drop off the Timberlands on
your doorstep for me. He left you a rice cooker too?”

“Mm,” the younger man confirms, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, cheeks still burning.
“It was in my kitchen, actually. Someone, um…when I woke up this afternoon my fridge was
stocked and it was just sitting there inside my kitchen.”

The cake fork hits Taehyung’s plate as he sits up a little straighter, Chim letting out a quiet huff of
protest as he hops from the man’s lap and pads along the semi-circular padded bench until he’s
only a foot or so away from Kookie, head tilting to one side as he observes the human.

“Inside?” Taehyung echoes. “They came inside? But how did-”

Chim gives another tiny huff, head turned towards Taehyung with another of those very un-doglike
expressions.

“Oh,” the vampire realises, and cringes. “Right. I forgot he’d seen…never mind. Kookie, I’m so
sorry, I didn’t know anyone else would get involved like that. My nestmate, he....he likes to take
care of people. I'm sorry if he crossed the line by breaking in like that. He didn't mean any harm by
it though, I swear.”

Jungkook makes a polite gesture to forestall the other man’s apologises, shaking his head quickly.

“Don’t worry about it, really. I was…a little surprised, at first,” he admits, smiling shyly, “but it
was super thoughtful. Will you thank him for me?”

Taehyung stares at him for a moment in silence, then his lips curl up in a gentler smile, one that
makes his beautiful face look infinitely more attractive. Jungkook’s heart does that fluttery thing
again, and Chim lets out another quiet huff that sounds suspiciously like a laugh (maybe vampire
pets have heightened intelligence, like with fae spirit-guides?) and steps closer to the edge of the
bench to press his wet little nose against the back of Jungkook’s hand.

The human jumps at the cold touch, breaking eye contact with Taehyung and blinking hard,
suddenly feeling a bit disorientated.

“Fuck,” Taehyung croaks, and downs the rest of his hot chocolate infusion in several large gulps.

Chim trots back over to the vampire and climbs into his lap, standing on his hind legs to nuzzle and
lick at his neck and jawline. The momentary line of tension in Taehyung’s shoulders seems to ease
instantaneously, and he cuddles the pup close for a few seconds, closing his eyes. When he opens
them again and glances back towards Jungkook, he looks embarrassed, maybe even a touch
ashamed for a reason that he can’t quite fathom.

“I should go,” the vampire murmurs softly, apologetically. “Could I maybe see you again
sometime? Only if you want to. Say the word and I’ll stop trying, I promise.”
 Jungkook tries not to grin like a lovesick idiot.

“I’d like that,” he replies.

“Great!” Taehyung beams, his confident boisterousness now fully returned at the human’s easy
acceptance “What time do you get off work?”

“Oh.” Aigoo, Jungkook hadn’t realised Tae meant to see him again quite so soon. “Um, I finish at
six-thirty...but-”

“I owe you a drink, remember?” the vampire reminds him cheerfully, tucking Chim into his over-
the-shoulder bag as he stands. “My treat. Shall I meet you at the fountain in the park across the
road?”

A little giddy with the realisation that he’s maybe just scored himself a date with the most beautiful
individual on planet earth, Jungkook can only nod, unwilling to deter the vampire’s interest by
explaining that he’ll only have two hours to spend with Taehyung before he’s due to start his shift
at the convenience store. Two hours is still plenty of time.

“Perfect, it’s a date.” Taehyung steps up close, slipping a wad of won notes into the front pocket of
Jungkook’s apron (he can already tell it’s way more than what the bill for Tae’s food and drink
actually totals to). “I’ll see you soon, handsome.”

The vampire’s hand lingers there on his waist a moment, and Jungkook can’t tear his eyes away
from him again, feeling his cheek growing hotter at the casually intimate contact.

Chim boofs chidingly from Taehyung’s bag, and with a put-upon sigh the vampire finally pulls
away, blowing Jungkook a kiss before he slips out through the heavy fabric curtains and disappears
from sight.

Kookie leans back against the table, clutching his empty tray to his chest.

Fuck. He’s got a date. An actual date, holy shit.

Oh god, he has no idea what vampires do on dates, is there a protocol? Are there sensitive cultural
things he needs to know about? If you court a Fae incorrectly they take it as a personal insult, are
there similar stipulations for vampire courtship? Fuck, he should’ve listened more during cultural
studies class back in middle school…

Huh. Or he could just ring Moonbin and ask him how he wooed Cha Eunwoo.

Chapter End Notes

Thank you for bearing with me this week! I'd intended to have this posted on
Monday/Tuesday but then life through a ton of doo-doo my way so I couldn't dedicate
any time to writing or properly editing. Apologies for any spelling mistakes, I've not
slept much these past few days but I really want to get this chapter posted. :I'll
spellcheck again after I've dozed. :P

New game for this fic - spot the cameos! Because I'll be slipping in all of my
underappreciated faves. :P

So Kookie met a new hyung in this chapter...sort of. What does everyone think of
Chim? ;D
 A Pleasant Evening Stroll Where Nothing Strange Happens
Chapter Summary

Jungkook’s day just keeps getting weirder. In a good way.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Jungkook shifts in his seat on the edge of the park bench, gnawing on his bottom lip as his thumb
hovers over the message icon on his phone screen, Taehyung’s newly-added contact details staring
back at him.

The vampire had left more than just a generous tip in the front pocket of his Euphoria apron; a
folded slip of paper sporting Taehyung’s number had been carefully hidden amongst the won bills,
signed with a row of tiny kisses and a wonky little heart that had made Jungkook feel like he was
walking on air for the rest of his shift. Although that giddiness has soured a bit as the day’s worn
on. Bonus gift aside, normally a tip that big would put him in a good mood for the rest of the
weekend, but currently his stomach’s so twisted up with nervous anticipation for his upcoming
date that the he’s started to feel a bit nauseous.

And he may have acquired the vampire’s number, but it isn’t much use if he can’t actually summon
the courage to send that first text.

It seems like the courteous thing to do (Taehyung had given it to him specifically, after all), but can
he think of something meaningful to say this close to their promised ‘date’? Apparently not.
Because he’s an idiot.

Truthfully, his brain has felt like total mush ever since his very first encounter with Taehyung that
morning (and god, that seems like so long ago now even if it’s only been about thirteen hours), and
being sleep-deprived on top of everything hasn’t exactly helped matters. Every message he’s
thought up so far has sounded way too lame, but his sluggish mind seems to be incapable of
thinking up a casual, friendly sort of greeting, unable to phrase it in a way that won’t come across
as peculiar. Maybe he’s just being paranoid about the whole thing, but he can’t help it… he just
doesn’t want Taehyung to think he’s stupid, or worse, completely inexperienced at this whole
dating thing (even if it’s true). He needs to avoid doing anything weird or awkward that might deter
the vampire’s advances.

“Hey, handsome.”

Jungkook startles so violently that the phone slips from his fumbling fingers, falling to land
facedown on the ground with an ominous clack.

“Shit,” Taehyung curses, his dark coat fanning out around him as he crouches quickly to retrieve
the device, looking absolutely mortified as he examines the cracked screen. “Oh my god, Kookie,
I’m so sorry, I’ll buy you a new one-”
Jungkook’s shock fades quickly, replaced by a pleasantly warm sort of fluttering sensation in his
chest at the vampire’s genuine remorse over such a tiny accident. Smiling a little, he reaches out to
carefully take his phone back, noting absently that Taehyung is wearing dark gloves that cling
tightly to his elegant hands, serving to elongate his fingers. It seems an unusual choice considering
Vampires are usually pretty resilient to colder temperatures, and the weather’s actually been pretty
mild of late (spring has already begun opening pale blossom buds on the trees near his university),
but maybe Taehyung’s one of those people who feels the cold more than others. Moonbin’s a bit
like that; the cat always insists on layering up before he heads out to work or school, especially
when the full moon’s drawing near. Since they can’t always afford to have the heating running for
hours on end, Binnie’s collection of thick knitted blankets has grown exponentially since they
moved in together last year, taking up a full two shelves in their storage closet. Jungkook can’t
complain, though – there’s nothing he enjoys more than hunkering down on the couch with
Moonbin beneath layers of cosy blankets to watch a movie on his laptop, especially after a tiring
shift or a gruelling day of classes.

“The screen was already cracked, hyung,” he reassures. “It’s been like that for months.”

Relief filters across Taehyung’s handsome features, before his brow crinkles faintly in a cute sort
of puzzled frown.

“You haven’t gone to get it mended?”

Jungkook shrugs, sliding the phone back into his pocket to hide his momentary embarrassment.

“It still works just fine,” he answers simply, because admitting to Taehyung that he’s piss-poor and
can’t afford basic maintenance on his phone would be in bad taste on their first date. “And, well, I
kinda drop it a lot. Didn’t really see the point in getting a new screen if there’s a chance I might
crack it again tomorrow.”

A blur of movement out of the corner of his eye has Jungkook glancing up, a smile curling at his
lips when he sees a spherical cloud of brown fur bobbing along the ground towards them, the
puppy’s paws barely visible beneath his excess of fluff.

“Hey, Chim,” Jungkook greets, falling immediately in love with the tiny animal all over again, and
the little dog boofs a cheerful reply, his miniature blob of a tail wagging at the attention.

Taehyung twists around in his crouch, his expression of surprise giving way to exasperation as the
puppy trots up to him and plops down in front of the bench, tail still wagging and tongue lolling
happily.

“What? No,” the vampire groans. “Seriously?”

The pup sneezes cutely, and Jungkook’s heart melts a little more.

“Dude, c’mon,” Taehyung protests, a hint of a whine in his voice. “I get the whole chaperoning
thing, but I thought maybe you’d stay in the car?”

The tiny dog tilts his head to one side, and although Jungkook can’t see clearly from this angle he
has a sneaking suspicion Chim is giving Taehyung another one of those very-un-doglike looks.

“Just a little bit of space?” Taehyung wheedles, holding his gloved thumb and forefinger an inch
apart. “Just a teeny-tiny bit for a couple of hours? Please, Min, just this once?”

The puppy appears unmoved, head turning as he’s briefly distracted by a bird flying past them to
perch on one of the fountain’s many marble statues.
“I won’t tell Jin-hyung what happened to his Japanese peace lily,” the vampire bargains, and
Chim’s tiny head snaps back around to look at Taehyung.

There’s a moment of silence (in which Jungkook observes the peculiar scene in bafflement) and
then the tiny pooch huffs out what sounds suspiciously like a resigned sigh.

“Thank you!” Taehyung beams, scooping Chim up from the ground to press soft kisses to his fluffy
head. “You’re the best, man, I owe you one.”

Chim just boofs as though in agreement as he’s set back down again, and gives a full-body shake
that makes the little nametag on his pink collar jingle. Then with a brief, almost assessing glance
towards Jungkook, he pads away from the bench and over to the nearby shrubbery, slipping
through a gap between two bushes and disappearing from sight.

“Sorry about that,” Tae apologises, gaze still focused on the spot where Chim had disappeared.
“He’s a little…overprotective.”

“Will he be alright on his own?” Jungkook can’t help but worry. “There’s a road nearby, and he’s
so tiny.”

The vampire shoots him an easy grin, eyes sparkling. “Chim can hold his own, don’t worry. I
wouldn’t recommend calling him tiny to his face, though. Sore subject.”

Jungkook’s previous spirit-guide theory is looking even more plausible now. Whatever the case,
he’s ninety-nine percent positive that Chim is far more intelligent than the average domesticated
dog – and if there isn’t some sort of magical bond between Taehyung and the pup, he’ll eat his new
Chukkas. Jungkook makes a mental note to treat Chim carefully and with great respect the next
time they’re together. Some spirit guides can be as playful and easy-to-please as the animal forms
they mimic, but he knows for a fact that it isn’t wise to get on the wrong side of them. Yugyeom’s
Alpha has a spirit-guide that takes the shape of a small bird, but it’s been known to dive-bomb and
ruthlessly peck at anyone and everyone who threatens to bring harm to Im Jaebum or his pack.

“So, your phone,” Taehyung changes the subject smoothly before Jungkook can voice any of the
questions swirling around in his head. The vampire rises from his crouch to take a seat on the
bench beside Jungkook, that vaguely worried pinch returning to his handsome face. “Are you sure
I didn’t break it? Maybe you should get it checked out…”

Seeing the vampire’s renewed concern, Jungkook feels himself smiling again. Without comment,
he fetches the phone back out of his pocket and unlocks it, finally summoning the courage to tap
the green icon next to Taehyung’s contact details, quickly typing out a message.

See? It works just fine. No harm done. :)

Taehyung seems surprised by the quiet chirping of his own phone, slipping it from the inner
pocket of his dark coat to glance at the screen. His faint frown melts away in an instant, replaced
by a wide smile so full of genuine happiness that Jungkook can’t help but return it.

“So you did get my note,” the vampire remarks, obviously pleased. “I was worried it might’ve
ended up in the cash register or something.” He begins tapping at the screen (his gloves must be
the touch-sensitive type). “Is it alright if I save you as ‘Kookie’? I kinda know a lot of Jungkooks;
wouldn’t want to text the wrong number. Or I could pen you in as ‘Handsome’, if you’d prefer?”

His cheeks pulse hot again. “Kookie is fine, hyung,” he murmurs, secretly pleased by the
nickname. His close friends tend to call him that a lot, but hearing it from Taehyung’s lips makes it
sound like something new, something special. “Or Kook, whichever’s easier.”

“I like Kookie,” Taehyung tells him in that casually confident way of his, flashing him a quick
smile. “It’s cute. Suits you.”

Fuck, if only there was an ‘off’ switch to the capillaries in his cheeks. Jungkook knows he’s gotta
be bright pink by now, and he’s helpless to stop it. The sun hasn’t even started properly setting yet,
which means there’s enough pale daylight left for Taehyung to see his blush in all its rosy glory.

Stop it. Be cool.

The vampire pockets his phone again and shoots him another disarming smile.

“Are you hungry?” he asks without preamble. “Let me buy you dinner, my treat. There’s this little
food stall over on the other side of the park, and they sell the best dumplings…”

He’s is in love.

Like really, truly, totally in love.

Taehyung is just so…so beautifully amazingly brilliant, and so compatible in every possible way.
Jungkook’s never been all that good at social mingling or introducing himself to strangers (he’s
kinda shy, which hasn’t really helped with the whole finding-a-boyfriend thing up until now), but
with Taehyung it’s all just so effortless. The vampire fills what might have been awkward pauses
with cheerful chatter, and in no time at all Jungkook feels like he’s talking to Binnie or Yugyeom,
the conversation flowing between them seamlessly without Jungkook second-guessing himself
every other sentence.

And they have so much to talk about, too. It turns out they’re into the same music genre and idol
groups, they both enjoy a similar taste in Japanese anime and classic Disney movies, and Taehyung
had even launched into an enthusiastic spiel about why Spiderman should be considered the best
male superhero in the Marvel universe (to which Kookie had readily agreed, because duh).

In fact they haven’t stopped talking since they first began their leisurely stroll around the park,
shovelling down piping hot dumplings and fried seaweed as they trade Infinity War theories back
and forth, the rest of the world falling away as Jungkook memorises the shape of Taehyung’s face
and the sound of his voice, chest so full of fluttering warmth that he’s surprised his lungs can still
function properly.

If this is what being high on love feels like, he never wants to come down.
Taehyung asks dozens of questions, seemingly eager to learn more about Kookie’s personal life
and family situation, but he shares his own story just as willingly, a fond sort of look on his face as
he talks about his older nestmates.

“I’m the youngest,” the vampire explains, offering Jungkook the last dumpling and smiling when
it’s accepted. “Well, sort of. Jiminie’s roughly my age, give or take, but he was born a vampire so
they don’t worry about him as much. I guess they all still see me as a fledgling, even after we
became bonded.”

Bonded. So Taehyung’s nest isn’t familial, just as he’d suspected. There’d definitely been
something more to the way Seokin had tenderly cradled the younger vampire’s face between his
hands, but it hadn’t seemed polite to ask. Like Were-folk and hybrids (and most species other than
humans, actually), vampires tended to be polyamorous by nature; Eunwoo, he knew, had bonded
nestmates of his own, but he cherished Moonbin all the same. And now Binnie has four new
brothers to fuss over, so the cat is happier than Jungkook’s ever known him to be (which is saying
something, because Bin’s always happy).

Jungkook’s totally open to the idea himself (he’s not one of those narrow-minded bigots who
believes in human supremacy and the archaic notion that a two-person marriage is what the gods
intended), but he’s never had much luck securing one potential mate for himself, never mind an
entire pack of them; whereas Yugyeom (the lucky bastard) had run headfirst into a tree and
emerged with six doting boyfriends. He hadn't even had to try, how is that fair?

“They don’t like it if I leave the nest without telling anyone,” Taehyung continues wryly,
returning to Jungkook’s side after putting their containers in the nearby trashcan. “Hence the whole
chaperoning thing. It’s not that they don’t trust me, they just…worry a lot, y’know?”

Remembering the way that Seokjin had quietly fussed over Taehyung, cradling his face like he was
something precious…he can’t help but feel envious of the loving relationship they clearly share.
Jungkook has his close friends, but aside from Yugyeom’s pack (which he only gets to see once a
week at most because of work and other commitments), he doesn’t really have many hyungs to
look out for him. Not that Jungkook isn’t totally capable of taking care of himself, because he is,
but sometimes he envies Gyeomie and Moonbin for their easy access to doting boyfriend-hyungs.
Jungkook wants that. Jungkook has always wanted that, he’s just very good at pretending that he’s
cool with being single all the time.

“That must be nice,” he finds himself murmuring honestly.

Taehyung glances at him briefly, before peering away towards the treeline, his smile softening a
little.

“Yeah,” the vampire agrees. “Yeah, it is.”

Eventually they end up back at the bench near the fountain where they’d first started, the shy
awkwardness from before now a distant memory, shoulders brushing as they sit close to each other.
The sky overhead has darkened to a deep sort of purplish-grey, tiny pinprick stars beginning to
wink at them through the veil. With the sun gone, the wind has more of a chilly bite to it now, but
Jungkook’s feeling so full and warm and happy that he barely notices it.

“There’s a café a few streets over that does amazing patbingsu,” Taehyung mentions after a beat of
comfortable silence, pulling off one of his gloves to rotate the ring on his middle finger. “Or we
could head to a bar if you’re not a dessert kinda guy. I still owe you a drink, remember?”

Jungkook really doesn’t want this night to end (not ever), but a quick glance at his watch serves as
disappointing reminder that time flies when you’re having fun. They only have another fifteen
minutes together before he has to leave to get to work on time, and he regrets not having mentioned
something to Taehyung earlier that evening. He’s just been having such a good time, he hadn’t
wanted to spoil it by bringing up his prior engagements.

“Hey. Why the long face, handsome?” Taehyung pries, gently nudging him with his shoulder.

Jungkook tries to smile at the nickname, but he probably isn’t entirely successful, not with the
cold, hollow ache of disappointment that’s currently expanding in his gut.

“Hyung, I…I have to go to work,” he confesses softly, picking at a loose thread on the sleeve of his
jacket. “I’m sorry, I should’ve said something earlier. I’d skip my nightshift and have dessert with
you if I could, but I don’t think my boss is the forgiving type.”

Taehyung’s hand settles on his arm. “Dude, your shift only just finished,” the vampire murmurs,
confused. “How late does Euphoria stay open?”

“No, it’s my second job,” Jungkook explains, and he doesn’t make any added effort to sound
enthusiastic about the fact; seriously, he hates nightshifts so fucking much. “My shift’s due to start
just after eight-thirty, so I need to leave soon.”

“Your second job?” Taehyung echoes, that teeny-tiny frown of concern creasing his brow again.

Jungkook nods. “You know that little convenience store right by the police station? The manager
hires university students part-time. He won’t let me pick up short shifts during weekday
afternoons, so working nightshifts is the only way to get any part-time hours in.”

“But…you only came home at like 5am,” Taehyung points out, and his concerned frown deepens.
“That’s when you bumped into me, right? Just after you’d clocked off. So wait, you work
nightshifts and dayshifts? Consecutively?”

“…yes?” Jungkook confirms hesitantly.

“You pulled a full shift last night, slept for a few hours before midday, worked a six hour stint at
Euphoria, and now you’re heading back to work another nightshift?”

Well, when he puts it like that...it does sound pretty fucking crazy. And Jungkook’s body knows it
too, it’s why he’s chronically exhausted from Friday through to Monday every week without fail,
but it’s the only way to keep up with rent and utilities without sacrificing one of his evening classes
during the week. He’s even looked into bar-work after his classes finish, but all the prospective
establishments either require previous bartender experience or for employees to work shift patterns
that wouldn’t suit Jungkook’s class schedule.

And dropping either dance or art is absolutely out of the question. He’s studying hard at Seoul’s
most prestigious university because he knows it’ll make his parents happy, but he isn’t about to
sacrifice the only two things in life that genuinely make him happy.

Rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously, Jungkook shrugs. “It’s not as bad as it sounds. And
it’s not gonna be a longterm thing. My classes cut down next year, I’ll be able to work more
weekdays and lose the nightshifts.”

Hopefully.

“But you’re human,” Taehyung reminds him, as though it might have escaped Jungkook’s notice.
“You can’t just veto sleep for three days straight. You’ll make yourself sick, Kookie.”
He tries not to smile, because he doesn’t want to offend the vampire, but honestly Taehyung’s
concern over his messed up human sleep-cycle is pretty cute.

“I don’t always work back-to-back shifts,” he placates. “Mostly just on Saturdays. And I can sleep
in late tomorrow, it’ll be fine.”

Taehyung looks somewhat mollified by that.

“Well,” Jungkook amends after a pause, “until midday, I guess. I usually work an afternoon shift at
Euphoria on Sundays.”

The vampire makes a quiet noise of discontent, his fingers sliding down Jungkook’s forearm to
gently grasp his hand, and the sudden touch of shockingly warm skin against his own cool fingers
makes him suck in a startled little breath. The vampire hasn’t put his glove back on, but rather than
the comparatively-cool skin temperature Jungkook had been expecting, Taehyung seems to be
running a couple of degrees hotter than him, his touch like a cosy heatpack against the human’s
wind-chilled fingers. He knows Vampires can run hot, but he thought it was only supposed to be a
post-feeding thing, right? Moonbin always jokes that he makes Eunwoo wear socks to bed because
of his cold feet, unless he’s eaten late. But Tae can’t have consumed any blood products for a
couple of hours, and he still feels like a furnace…

“You should take better care of yourself,” Taehyung murmurs, and his voice sounds different
somehow, perhaps deeper than before. Or maybe that’s just the blood pulsing in Jungkook’s ears
all of a sudden.

He feels…strange. Not necessarily a bad sort of strange, just…different. The heat from Taehyung’s
touch is slowly creeping up his arm, helping his sore muscles (overtired from a long day of work
and minimal sleep) to relax even further, and he finds himself leaning into the vampire’s side a
little more.

“Sleep’s important, Kookie,” Taehyung continues, his thumb gently caressing the back of
Jungkook’s hand as he leans in closer. “You can’t keep pushing yourself like this.”

Taehyung’s faint worried frown makes him look so fucking pretty. Jungkook had noticed it earlier,
of course, but now he can’t seem to shift his focus from the tiny pinch at the corners of the
vampire’s pale amber eyes, or the small pout formed by his perfect rosebud lips.

The air feels strangely thicker as he sucks in slow, somewhat shaky breaths, the sound of his own
rapid heartbeat a thrumming echo in his ears, and Jungkook swallows, his mouth suddenly dry.

He really, really wants to kiss Taehyung. Or be kissed by him, either option is good.

“Tae,” a new voice warns quietly from somewhere nearby.

Taehyung suddenly glances down at their conjoined hands and in the blink of an eye he’s moved
back to the far side of the bench, putting a good twelve inches between them.

The tingling warmth fades within a matter of seconds, the fog in Jungkook’s mind clearing
significantly as he sucks in a deeper breath and straightens up from his boneless slump, gaze
shifting towards the newcomer who’s standing silently nearby.

The man appears shorter in stature than Taehyung, but as with Seokjin his presence feels bigger
somehow, Jungkook’s semi-dormant hybrid genes sensing what his human eyes can’t see. He’s
dressed simply but stylishly in a white shirt and dark blazer with black skinny jeans, blond hair
appearing almost silver in the glow from the nearby streetlamp. He’s…ethereal. And Jungkook
can’t help but stare.

“Sorry,” Taehyung breathes across from him, the vampire quickly tugging his glove back on again,
looking every bit as embarrassed as Jungkook had been feeling. “That was…I shouldn’t have done
that. I just…fuck.”

“You’re fine,” the newcomer murmurs, crossing over to them in a few languid strides, leaning
against the side of the bench to settle a hand over Tae’s nape.

As he moves, something shiny at the stranger’s throat catches the light of the overhead streetlamp,
and Jungkook’s eyes widen as he recognises the pale-pink collar and circular nametag from before.

“Chim?” he realises faintly.

The puppy-turned-man glances towards him, the faint line of concern in his brow smoothing out as
he smiles, a gentle curl of his pale pink lips.

“Park Jimin,” the definitely-more-than-a-spirit-guide corrects. “It’s nice to finally meet you
properly, Jungkookie. I’m sorry for the deception, but Taehyungie here really wanted to see you.”

“Sorry,” Taehyung echoes, visibly embarrassed. “I’m not supposed to go anywhere without a
chaperone, but I thought maybe you wouldn’t be comfortable with another vampire third-wheeling
our first date. Jiminie was supposed to be giving us space, but-”

“But you took your glove off,” Jimin interjects, low enough that Jungkook probably isn’t supposed
to hear it (dormant bunny genes be praised). “Jin-hyung warned you what could happen, Tae.”

The younger vampire flexes his gloved fingers and shoots Jungkook another apologetic glance.

“I really like you, Kookie,” he confesses softly. “Vampires, we…sometimes, in special cases when
our feelings are strong enough, we can…emote. Skin contact aids the transference, so I’ve been
wearing gloves to prevent that from happening. I didn’t want my own feelings to influence you in
any way, I had to be sure it wasn’t all one-sided and that your interest in me wasn’t just an echo of
my own desires. But I should never have taken the glove off, I’m sorry. Are you alright?”

Jungkook finds himself smiling a little despite the bizarreness of the situation. He almost got put
into a trance by Taehyung and Chim just turned from a fluffy pooch into a full-sized smoking hot
vampire, but apparently Taehyung really likes him back, so everything’s fine.

“I’m good,” he promises, and dips his head towards the blond-haired vampire who’s now perching
on the arm of the bench. “It’s nice to meet you, Jimin-ssi.”

The other man regards him with the same sort of fondness as Seokjin had done earlier that day, like
he’s something small and cute, and it makes warmth bloom pleasantly in his chest.

“Call me hyung,” the vampire corrects gently, before standing suddenly, tugging Taehyung up
with him and extending a hand towards Jungkook. “Can we walk you to work?”

Jungkook doesn’t even think it over before agreeing, letting Jimin loop an arm through his as they
set off towards the nearest exit. And it’s almost as though Taehyung’s brief lapse in control never
happened, the young vampire chatting away cheerfully about the dessert café he wants to take
Kookie to, and the various patbingsu it has to offer, with Jimin humming in interest whenever his
nestmate pauses for breath.

“What time do you clock out?” Taehyung queries, segueing the conversation without warning.
 “Around five-thirty again,” Kookie answers.

“Can I walk you home in the morning?”

Jungkook’s touched by the offer, truly he is, but he’ll feel hella guilty if Taehyung stands around
all night waiting for him to finish work. Especially since the manager sometimes requires him to
stay half an hour late to help restock the perishables.

“Thank you, but I’ll be alright,” he declines, as graciously as he can. “The store’s right by a police
station and it isn’t all that far from where I live. I’m perfectly safe.”

Not to mention he’s going to look even more red-eyed and sleep deprived in another ten hours’
time. He’d rather Taehyung not see him looking all gross and zombified.

He has a vampire to woo, after all.

Chapter End Notes

Thanks for bearing with me, folks! Work keeps heaping more shit on my shoulders so
it's been a bit of a tough week, but I'm glad this is finally ready to post!

Kookie gets to meet yet another hyung in the next chapter, any guesses as to who it
might be? :D
 The Night Watchman
Chapter Summary

Jungkook's nightshift goes from bad to worse, but there's an unexpected protector
watching his back.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Saturday nightshifts really fucking suck.

It isn’t just the lingering exhaustion from working multiple consecutive shifts in a thirty-six hour
period on minimal sleep, or the way the minutes seems to crawl by painfully slowly after about
2am, or the niggling headache that creeps in to pulse behind his eyes as the night wears on –
undoubtedly his brain’s way of telling him that he’s reached a critical point of exhaustion and
needs to go the fuck to sleep.

No, the worst thing about Saturday nightshifts are the kinds of god-awful customers he inevitably
has to deal with.

Okay, so not all of them are bad. There’s always the usual groups of university students stocking
up on beer and soju for a night of partying (the lucky bastards actually have time to socialise at the
weekend, not that Jungkook’s jealous or anything), and to be fair they don’t typically cause him too
much grief; but he kinda hates seeing them all the same, because it reminds him of the sort of
carefree student life that most of his financially-stable peers get to experience on a regular basis.
Jungkook hasn’t been to a party since Yugyeom’s birthday last November, and he’d only managed
that because Jaebum (bless the Alpha’s kind heart) had very carefully scheduled it around Kookie’s
existing shifts so that he’d definitely be able to come. Hell, Jungkook had even been forced to work
a double shift on his own birthday back in September because there had been too many student fees
to pay off at the start of term. Socialising regularly just isn’t realistically compatible with his tight
budget or his crammed work schedule.

On the other hand, he does host self-pity parties at least two or three times a nightshift, but those
are pretty lonely affairs so they probably don’t count.

Another regular type of customer he comes across most Saturdays is the surly-looking, middle-
aged businessman; someone who’s clearly had a bad week and intends to drown his sorrows in
cheap liquor.

They tend to show up sometime after ten, still dressed in their work uniform or business suit (and
Jungkook gets it, working on Saturdays really sucks), invariably heading straight for the alcohol
aisle, plus or minus a brief detour via the savoury snack section. They rarely want to interact with
him beyond the occasional grunt (which is absolutely fine, because he isn’t exactly keen to talk to
them either), but if Jungkook’s lucky he might simply get a ‘hello’ or a ‘thank you’ out of them at
the till. If he’s particularly unlucky, however, the customer might choose to offer him a few
unwanted and unnecessary words of advice at the checkout.
Tonight happens to be one of those really unlucky ones.

“Being nice will get your nowhere in life,” the sullen gentlemen informs him gruffly, as Jungkook
dutifully scans and bags the bottles of soju and packaged bar snacks. “Some rich fucker will
exploit you for it, and suddenly you’ll find yourself stuck under his feet for the rest of your
miserable career, working twice as many hours as he does for less than half the pay. Don’t make
the same mistakes I did, kid.”

“Mm,” Jungkook hums politely, because he’s learned from previous experience that demonstrating
any real opinion on the matter never ends well.

“Be vicious about building your future,” the ahjussi continues, with a sharp gesture of his hand that
successfully topples over the small on-sale rack beside Jungkook’s till, the tiny bottles of
strawberry-scented hand sanitizer spilling out over the worktop. The customer doesn’t seem to
notice.

With a smile so fake it makes the muscles in his cheeks ache, Jungkook finishes bagging the
groceries.

“Will that be cash or card, sir?”

Thankfully that puts an end to their little heart-to-heart, the man paying by contactless transaction
and taking his purchases with a mumbled thank you, leaving Jungkook to tidy up the scattered anti-
bac bottles. The only positive thing to note about the surly kind of customers is that he can usually
count on them leaving fairly quickly, since they’re always keen to go home and drink themselves
into oblivion.

The slew of happy drunks he gets most Saturday nights, on the other hand…well, they’re another
kettle of fish entirely.

They crop up in dribs and drabs at periodic intervals throughout his shift (with decreasing sobriety
as the night wears on), and their behaviour is so sporadic and unpredictable that Jungkook can’t
help but feel tense and on-edge every time one of them staggers in through the door. He’s usually
fine if they come as a group (sometimes regular customers return to restock midway through their
evening or to sober up with snacks and sodas); they tend to be loud and a bit intrusive, but other
than knocking a few things off the shelves by accident they’re generally harmless.

It’s the loner guys who come in fresh out of the nightclubs that usually cause the most trouble – be
it throwing up in the snack aisle, singing and/or yelling their drunken exuberance right in
Jungkook’s face, or trying unsuccessfully to charm their way into his pants.

“Hey there, sexy,” a well-built cat hybrid drawls flirtatiously, leaning against the till (more for
support than anything, Jungkook guesses, given the way he’d staggered around the store a few
minutes ago). “Working nights, huh? That’s a bummer. Pretty thing like you should be tucked up
in bed.”

It’s just gone 3am, and Jungkook’s tolerance for unsolicited advances has dwindled almost into
nonexistence, but unfortunately he’s still on duty; since he’s wearing the store’s branded jacket and
a nametag, he’s sort of obligated to put up with this kind of bullshit – the CEO is a big fan of that
‘the customer is always right’ crap, and employees have previously been terminated for ‘attitude
problems’ if they’ve put their foot down about a customer’s unsavoury conduct. If someone lays a
hand on him it’s a different story, but until then he has to just grin and bear it for the sake of a
steady salary.
“Oh, it’s not so bad,” Jungkook lies with a neutral tone. “And I’ll be off work in a couple of hours,
so…”

The customer’s grin curls wider. “Yeah? You needin’ a ride, hotshot?”

Jungkook’s lips thin but he keeps his professional smile in place as he continues scanning the
packets of instant ramen and microwavable fishcakes.

“I’m fine, thank you.” He hesitates a moment before adding, “Uh…you really shouldn’t be driving
anywhere until you’ve sobered up, sir.”

The man winks at him. “I didn’t mean that kind of ride,” he drawls, leaning in a little closer, hands
planted on the countertop. “How about it? Think you can handle a stud like me, pretty boy?”

The scent of stale alcohol is ten times more pronounced at close proximity, making Jungkook’s
sensitive nose sting (having heightened olfactory senses really sucks when he’s at work).

It bothers him tonight more than it usually would – generally drunken flirting is like water of a
duck’s back these days, he’s so used to it on nightshifts. Any customer with heightened senses can
tell that he’s unbonded, so there’s always one or two cocky Alpha-wannabes that try to hit on him,
the alcohol serving to boost their confidence and inflate their ego even bigger than it probably
already is.

Professional smile wavering as irritation bubbles up inside of him, Jungkook is about to ever-so-
politely tell Mr Romeo to fuck right off, when the guy’s nostrils flare and he withdraws in the blink
of an eye, retreating by a good three feet, wobbling as he takes a physical step away from the
checkout, black ears pressing back against his gel-slicked hair briefly.

“Hey, I was just teasin’ you,” the cat tells him, but his casual demeanour is clearly a front to cover
up his sudden nervousness, his laugh just a little too forced as he waves a dismissive hand. “You’re
not offended, right? I’m drunk as fuck, and your scent wasn’t…you know. Look, I’m not dumb
enough to mess around with nestlings, that’d be fucking crazy.” Another forced laugh, and the
man’s gaze darts fleetingly towards the exit. “So…we’re cool, right?”

Bemused by the customer’s sudden behavioural one-eighty and not fully understanding the
meaning behind it all, Jungkook doesn’t say anything in reply, his hands moving on auto-pilot to
finish packing the man’s bag as he rings up the total, his “cash or card, sir” a little cooler than his
usual professional cheer.

The dude shoves some money across the counter, dips in a clumsy bow of apology, grabs his bag
of groceries and books it out of the store as quick as his questionable sobriety allows him to.

Jungkook breathes a sigh of relief, tensed muscles relaxing.

“Jeon! The fuck was that all about?” his night-manager grumbles, finally emerging from the back
office with an armload of files (he’s about as useful as a wet paper bag when it comes to customer
confrontations, so Kook hadn’t thought to call for backup).

Still dumbfounded, Jungkook can only shrug, counting out the bills and coins and breathing
another relieved sigh when it’s the exact amount required on the receipt. If a customer short-
changes the store by more than a few won, he usually has to follow them outside to ask for the rest
(which he hates doing, because either it’s a genuine mistake and he dislikes seeing people get
flustered and embarrassed because of him, or occasionally they’re just assholes who tell him to go
fuck himself). And really, if Jungkook owned a chain of popular convenience stores he wouldn’t
get so cut up about a few pennies here and there, but his manager is a bit of a bastard and enjoys
making life difficult for him.

“Oh, by the way,” the senior store employee calls over his shoulder as he heads towards the break
room, “someone puked up by the freezers again. You can handle it, yeah?”

Having singlehandedly done all of the cleaning, re-stocking and customer service for the past eight
hours, Jungkook isn’t even a little bit surprised by the request. The night manager likes to do
paperwork and ‘supervise’ him from a distance most of the time, and Jungkook knows it’s really
fucking unfair (they definitely need two people on the shop floor, it can be super busy at times and
he feels physically and emotionally drained by it all) but his manager’s the cousin of someone who
works in corporate so complaining to the higher-ups isn’t really an option if he values his job.

Well, he doesn’t exactly value his job (he fucking hates it, and he’d give it up in a heartbeat if he
could), but he does need the money.

By the time five o’clock rolls around, the niggling ache behind his eyes has become a persistent
throbbing. His eyelids feel heavy, a scratchy dryness to every slow blink as he leans against the
checkout to take the weight off his sore feet for a few minutes. Other than his ‘complementary’ 15-
minute coffee break just after midnight, he’s been on his feet for the duration of the shift, and
having worked a full afternoon at Euphoria and followed that up with a stroll around the park for
the better part of two hours before starting his nightshift, he hasn’t really given himself chance to
rest for almost 18 hours. And boy does he feel it now.

At least it isn’t raining tonight.

He begins the walk home on autopilot, practically asleep on his feet as he heads down the mostly-
deserted streets back towards his apartment complex. There’s hardly any traffic at this time in the
morning, just the occasional early bus or taxi, and most of the drunken stragglers have stumbled
their way home from the bars and nightclubs by now, so at least he doesn’t have to contend with
them.

Despite feeling utterly braindead, he finds his thoughts wandering back to what that one douchebag
customer had said to him a couple of hours ago.

A “nestling”, that’s what he’d called Jungkook. The slip could easily be blamed on the man’s
acute inebriation, but why had he reacted to Jungkook’s scent like that? To flip so suddenly from
leering flirtation to nervously apologetic, like he’d just been caught chatting up a wolf pack’s
Omega pup or something.

And Jungkook can’t help but recall Moonbin’s comment about his scent from the day before. He’d
shrugged it off as being a mistake on the Were-cat’s part back then, assuming that he carried
Taehyung’s scent simply from the time he’d spent in contact with the weakened, rain-soaked
vampire, but he’s taken a shower since then and come into contact with dozens of people, that
temporary scent transference should be gone. Maybe he just smells like Tae and Jimin from their
time together last night. .

But what if there’s more to it than that? What if something in his scent, in his body chemistry, had
fundamentally changed since that first encounter with Taehyung? They’ve only had one official
‘date’ since then, surely Jungkook’s scent doesn’t scream “I’m bonded!” already, they’ve barely
done more than hold hands and flirt a bit. That isn’t how scent these things generally worked,
right? Moonbin never mentioned anything about him smelling like nestling after just one date, but-

“Ya!”
The shout snaps him sharply out of his thoughts, bringing his gaze into focus just in time for him to
see a pair of bright yellow headlights come speeding towards him around the corner. His reflexes
kick in and he jumps back, stumbling as the heel of his worn shoes catches against the asphalt
(fuck, he should’ve worn his new Chukkas instead, but he’d been worried about them getting
damaged if it rained again), ice-cold dread flooding his veins as he feels himself start to fall
backwards…

…only to be caught suddenly by a pair of strong arms and yanked back to the safety of the curb,
watching wide-eyed as the taxi goes whizzing past with an angry blare of its horn.

Jungkook’s legs are like jelly beneath his weight, exhaustion and adrenaline making him feel
shaky all over, and if it wasn’t for his saviour’s strong hold he definitely would’ve ended up on his
ass.

“You’re okay,” the stranger murmurs, a little out of breath but otherwise composed, his voice low
and soothing. “You’re fine, I’ve got you.”

He can’t even remember the moment that he’d started crossing the road. Had he even looked
before he’d stepped out? He’d been so lost in his thoughts, basic road safety hadn’t even registered.
If the man hadn’t saved him, there’s no way the taxi would’ve been able to brake in time, it
would’ve hit him for sure.

He could’ve died.

Oh fuck.

The next time Jungkook’s able to focus on the here and now he’s sitting on a low stone wall with
his head between his knees, a gentle hand resting on the nape of his neck. At some point his
rescuer must have steered (or carried) him away from the roadside, but apparently Jungkook had
been too busy hyperventilating to notice.

“Breathe,” the velvety voice soothes, another hand coming to rest on Jungkook’s knee as the man
sinks down to crouch in front of him. “Nice and slow, Kookie, that’s it.”

He’s so disorientated that it takes a moment for his namee to register, but when it does his head
comes up sharply, and he blinks at the apparently-not-a-stranger-after-all in surprise.

“How do you know my-” the questions dies on his lips the moment he lifts his head, cataloguing
the vaguely familiar features and feeling his heart flutter in his chest when the face finally clicks.
“You…you’re...”

“Min Yoongi,” the vampire supplies calmly, his smile soft. “Hi. I’m one of Tae’s nestmates.”

Jungkook nods, remembering Yoongi from the photos Taehyung had shown him last night during
their walk. Granted, that Min Yoongi had been sporting pale-blue hair and a fond grin, Taehyung
draped over him from behind with their cheeks squished together as the laughing younger vampire
took a selfie. And this Yoongi before him may have silver-grey hair, but that gentle warmth in his
gaze is the same. Jungkook feels his panic receding quickly, grounded by the vampire’s gentle
touch, and gradually the cold, sickly sense of dread fades into nothingness.

“Thank you for saving me,” he managers, his voice coming out a bit wobbly. “If you hadn’t…fuck,
I didn’t even see it coming. Thank you, sir.”

Yoongi’s hand has shifted from his nape to cup the juncture between neck and shoulder, a
comforting sort of weight.
“Hyung,” the vampire corrects gently. “And you’re more than welcome. Aigoo, you look
exhausted. Did you hurt yourself at all?”

Now that the adrenaline-fuelled numbness has faded, Jungkook can actually feel his outer
extremities enough to confirm that nothing aches (other than his tired feet), and gives a little shake
of his head.

The slight pinch in the vampire’s brow smooths over, his relief visible, and he releases his gentle
grip on Jungkook’s shoulder to instead take the youth’s cold hands between his own, rubbing them
to return warmth to the chilled skin. It’s all kind of surreal; he’d never anticipated his nightshift
ending in a near-death experience, and he definitely hadn’t expected to meet another one of Tae’s
hyungs so soon. Not that he’s complaining, because Yoongi literally just saved his life and
Jungkook kinda wants to hug him forever now, but even so, the odds of running into one of his
sort-of-boyfriend’s nestmates out of the blue like this...

“You’re probably wondering what I’m doing out here at this hour,” Yoongi acknowledges
perceptively, slowly straightening up from his crouch, using his gentle grip on Jungkook’s hands to
help the younger man to his feet.

“Yeah…kinda,” Kookie admits, grateful for the vampire’s steadying hand on his forearm as his
legs take a moment to adjust to bearing his weight again. “I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m super
grateful, but Jimin-hyung said you guys all lived near the border of the Fae forest?”

Yoongi gives a small, casual shrug. “I just had a bad feeling about your shift tonight; figured I’d
come check up on you.”

Staring at him blankly for a moment, Jungkook feels the pieces of the puzzle begin to slot together
despite the fogginess of his fatigued mind.

“You’re a Seer,” he realises, slightly awed.

The vampire’s smile turns secretive as he lifts a finger to his lips. “Not according to any traceable
legal documents. If anyone asks, I just have remarkably good gut-instincts.”

That explains so much (the vampire’s ability to rescue him from almost certain injury, how
Taehyung had known to get him that specific pair of Timberlands)¸but also fills his head with a
thousand more question. Seers were rare. Only a handful of magic-born species carried the gift of
foresight to this extent – and those that did were typically given high-up jobs alongside the nation's
leaders, like military advisers or government aids, so that their talents could be used to the
betterment of the country. To a much lesser extent, Alphas possess heightened gut-instincts along
existing bonds with friends and packmates (Jaebum always seems to know where his mates are at
any given moment), and Fae can predict natural disasters or imminent weather phenomena, but
they can't actually foresee specific events taking place like this.

“Come on,” Yoongi murmurs, pulling Jungkook from his thoughts with a light hand settling on the
small of his back to guide him forwards. “You’re exhausted, kiddo. Is it alright if I walk you back
to your apartment?”

Jungkook nods, too tired to even think of verbalising his usual ‘oh, but I don’t want to be an
inconvenience’ spiel. So sue him, he almost died like fifteen minutes ago and one of Tae’s kind-
looking, doting hyungs is offering to escort him home, how's he supposed to say no to that?

Also there’s still like a 20% chance he might actually get hit by another taxi if he’s left to cross the
main road on his own.
 He’d be an idiot to refuse.

Chapter End Notes

Sorry for the delay, folks! Guess who else got stuck working nightshifts lately. D:

Thanks again for your ongoing support, I hope this chapter lived up to expectations! I'd
love to know your thoughts on Yoongi and his additional 'talent'.
 Human Error
Chapter Summary

Jungkook's been pushing himself too hard for too long, and he's about to reach
breaking point.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

“Hyung? You don’t look so good.”

Jungkook tries to muster up a reassuring smile for his co-worker, but it probably doesn’t look all
that convincing given the way he’s squinting up at the youth wincingly. It’s hard not to wince
when the overhead lighting seems a thousand times brighter than usual, aggravating the sharp
throbbing behind his eyes.

“I’m just tired,” he reassures, and in his defence it isn’t technically a lie (his current migraine is
definitely the result of his ongoing sleep deprivation). “I had a late night, that’s all.”

Sanha’s pale bunny-ears twitch in concern, clearly unconvinced by Jungkook’s calm dismissal.

“Why don’t you stay on break a little longer?” the hybrid suggests, twisting his pale pink Euphoria
apron between his hands as he regards Kookie worriedly. “I can cover your tables, Suyeon-noona
won’t mind.”

Shaking his head (and regretting it immediately when a sharp pain lances through his left temple),
Jungkook pushes himself to his feet, ignoring the wave of dizziness that hits him once he’s upright.

“You’ve been on your feet all afternoon, you need a break more than I do,” he argues fondly,
reaching out to playfully ruffle the rabbit hybrid’s pastel-blue hair. “I appreciate the offer, though.
Hey look, I even saved you a cupcake.”

He gestures towards the tray of ‘rejects’ Minho had brought in from the kitchen a little while ago,
pointing at the much-coveted carrot cupcake that sits there amidst the misshapen cookies and
cracked macaroons. The piped cream cheese frosting has been compressed on one side (probably
got squashed up against the loading tray as it was being slid into the display counter at the front of
the café), but it’ll taste amazing just the same, and Jungkook knows that this particular flavour is
Sanha’s favourite. A fact which he intends to use to his advantage

As predicted, Sanha’s fretful expression vanishes the moment he spies the cupcake, replaced by a
beaming smile as he dives for the sweet treat.

“Ooh! Thanks, hyung!”

With the younger bunny hybrid suitably distracted from Jungkook’s questionably ill health for the
time being, he quietly slips out of the break room and heads back towards the front of the café,
carefully schooling his expression into something a little less pained.

“Any outstanding orders?” he asks with forced cheer.

Suyeon checks her iPad screen briefly and hums. “Your cute guest from yesterday is back in booth
eight – and he’s brought a couple of friends. Sanha went to take their order a while ago, but
apparently they needed a little more time. I have a feeling they were waiting for your break to end.”

The pulse of excitement at the knowledge that Taehyung has come to see him again so soon after
their date last night momentarily distracts him from the pounding in his skull, and he feels a
delighted smile tugging at his lips despite his bone-deep exhaustion. Taehyung’s brought friends
with him, too? He knows the young vampire is supposed to have an escort when he leaves the nest,
so perhaps it’s one of his mates? Jungkook wonders whether Jimin has tagged along in his true
form this time, since Tae hadn’t let him try the chocolate cake in dog-form yesterday. Or maybe
it’s Yoongi come to check up on him after the near-miss incident this morning? Or Jin, with his
thoroughly disarming smile and gentle warmth? Or maybe it’s a nestmate that Jungkook hasn’t met
before?

So many possibilities; his heart’s already racing in anticipation. How do Taehyung and his mates
do that to him so easily? Even just the thought of them being here leaves him feeling so goddamn
flustered, aigoo.

Automatically his hands move to fix his hair and smooth down his Euphoria apron, and Suyeon
looks at him in that ultra-perceptive way of hers, clearly trying not to smirk.

“You look fine, Jungkook-ah.” She pats his arm encouragingly. “Go get ‘em, tiger.”

The rhythmic pulsing of his headache threatens to rev back up again as soon as he starts walking,
but he breathes a quiet sigh of relief as he steps through the walkway and enters the ‘twilight’ area
in the back section of the café. Without the bright overhead lighting, he won’t need to squint or
blink back floaty spots every few seconds, which will make hiding his persistent migraine from
Taehyung a whole lot easier. It’s also significantly less busy in this section (most of the folk who
prefer dimmer lighting tend to visit the café later in the afternoon or in the evening), with only a
couple of tables occupied in the open floor, and Jungkook’s sensitive ears appreciate the lack of
background noise.

It also means his acute sense of hearing is able to pick up on a familiar voice as he approaches the
curtain-shrouded booth eight.

“-felt fine until a few minutes ago,” he overhears Taehyung saying, a nervous edge to his voice. “It
just came on all of a sudden. You don’t think…?”

“No, baby,” an unfamiliar speaker reassures gently. “I’m sure it’s nothing serious. But we’ll drop
by Joonie’s clinic on the way home, alright? Just in case. You’re probably just tired after the past
few days; maybe he can give you something to help you sleep.”

Concern stirs in his gut at the topic of conversation. Is Taehyung sick? He didn’t think vampires
could get sick, at least not with common illnesses? But then Tae said he’d only been a vampire for
a little while, maybe it was different with fledglings?

Schooling his features into a pleasant smile to hide his worry, Jungkook sweeps the curtain back
and dips into his customary deep bow, gritting his teeth briefly against the pain that lances through
his temples as the pressure in his head increases.
“Welcome back to Euphoria,” he greets politely, rising slowly and quickly blinking his fuzzy
vision back into focus. “Thank you for inviting me to serve you.”

His gaze zeroes in on Taehyung immediately where the vampire is seated directly opposite in the
middle of the booth’s semi-circular padded bench, tucked up between Jimin and another man with
fluffy brown hair whose face is instantly familiar.

“That’s Hobi-hyung,” Taehyung had told him last night, showing Jungkook a photo of himself and
a red-haired man sitting curled up in an armchair together, ‘Hobi’ grinning as he balanced a can of
soda on Tae’s head. “He’s, like, the happiest guy I’ve ever met. And he’s an empath, so he knows
when you’re feeling sad and he always tries to cheer you up. You’re gonna love him so much,
Kookie. Oh! And he’s a dancer like Jimin, they make YouTube videos together, look…”

“Jungkookie!” Taehyung smiles brightly, but there’s a noticeable pinch around his eyes that
Jungkook knows all too well. “I hope you don’t mind me crashing your workplace again, but I
really wanted you to meet Hobi-hyung.”

“Jung Hoseok,” the dark-haired vampire introduces himself with a friendly grin, still keeping his
arm draped around Taehyung’s shoulders. “But Hobi-hyung is fine. It’s great to meet you,
Jungkookie, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Jungkook’s about to reciprocate the introduction (probably in a really embarrassingly gushy way
because hearing that Tae’s been talking to his nestmates about him is just, wow, feelings), but a
soft noise from Taehyung distracts him, his own smile dimming a little when he witnesses the
youngest vampire flinch, one palm coming up to press against his eye socket.

“Hyung?” Jungkook pries, letting the usual Euphoria formalities slip as concern bubbles up inside
of him. “Are you alright?”

“Mm, just a headache,” Taehyung reassures him without missing a beat, sending Kookie a
convincingly cheerful grin. “I didn’t sleep much this morning. Guess I was too excited to come
here and see you.”

The words might’ve made Jungkook feel flustered all over again if he wasn’t so worried about the
truth behind Tae’s obvious deception.

“Aish,” Jimin frets, gently cupping his nestmate’s cheek and turning Tae’s head towards him, brow
creasing in concern as he leans in closer to murmur to the maknae (quietly enough that Jungkook
wouldn’t have been able to eavesdrop if not for his bunny hybrid genes – thanks, great-grandpa
Jeon). “So that’s why Jin-hyung wanted you to sleep this afternoon? You should’ve said
something earlier, dumb-dumb. You’re too young to be going days without sleep.”

Taehyung pouts, dropping the hand from his eye. “But you said you wanted to try the crimson
velvet cake. And look? I’m feeling better already. Guess I just needed to see Kookie’s cute smile
again.”

That does succeed in making Jungkook blush, and apparently Taehyung notices his reaction, if the
man’s growing smile is any indication.

“You’d like a slice of the crimson velvet cake?” he asks politely instead, turning his attention
towards Jimin.

The vampire seems a little distracted by his ailing nestmate, but he still flashes a quick, warm smile
in Jungkook’s direction.
“Please. And the blood-orange sunrise looks good, if it’s not too much trouble.”

“Ooh, I wanna try that too,” Taehyung enthuses, apparently forgetting about his headache as he
peers at the little cocktail menu.

Hoseok plucks it delicately from the younger vampire’s fingers. “You need to feed and hydrate,
hon, infused alcohol’s probably not a good idea right now.” Glancing towards Jungkook, he smiles
charmingly. “Do you have any organic pouches?”

Jungkook nods, polite smile freezing in place when his migraine angrily reminds him why any sort
of movement is a bad idea.

“Any specific brand?” he asks, because he can’t remember all the different fancy-ass pouches off
the top of his head but he knows they keep a stock of them locked in a secure fridge in the cellar.

“O-neg if you have it,” Hoseok answers, “but anything organic is great. And I’ll take a black tea,
thank you.”

Human blood isn’t commercially sold in most stores simply due to the high procurement cost (and
short shelf life) compared to animal and synthetic blood products. Most pouches contained a
mixture of the two, but establishments that were frequented by vampires (certain clubs, bars and
restaurants) usually kept a few of the pricier human-sourced blood pouches onsite in case a
customer wanted to pay for the high quality stuff. Jungkook knows for a fact that even one of the
O-neg feeder pouches in their storage fridge is at least three times the price of their most expensive
cocktail. If he hadn’t already guessed by now that Taehyung and his nestmates were rolling in it,
this would certainly confirm it.

Tae whines, a soft complaint. “But hyung, organic’s so boring, can’t I have an infusion too?”

“You can have a sip of mine,” Jimin promises, bumping his nestmate’s shoulder gently. “And what
about that blood-chocolate lava cake, you said that looked good, right?”

The maknae vampire’s pout vanishes at the promise of Euphoria’s melt-in-the-middle dessert. The
cake came in two variations, one designed to cater to the vast majority of their customers and one
specifically for those who required a more iron-rich diet. They looked the same from the outside,
but Euphoria’s pastry chefs have won national awards for their creativity and unique menu ideas,
so he knows the blood products they use in their blended recipes are the real deal. Jungkook’s
never tried the blood-chocolate lava cake himself for obvious reasons (his recessive bunny genes
make digesting blood products almost impossible), but Binnie’s boyfriend has sworn up and down
that it’s his favourite food, and Eunwoo isn’t the sort to exaggerate.

“Make that two lava cakes,” Hoseok requests, flashing him another disarming grin. “I’ve been
dying to try it for weeks, everyone on Instagram keeps raving on about them.”

“Pretty sure Ravi-hyung’s started a trend,” Jimin mentions absently, perusing the drinks menu as
his fingers idly play with Taehyung’s hair. “Kookie, could I get a crimson boba too? With extra
tapioca?”

“Of course,” Jungkook agrees cheerfully, trying not to make it too obvious just how much he loves
the vampire using his nickname so casually.

He covers up his flustered state by pretending to write it all down on the little love-shaped notepad
from the front pocket of his apron, although most of his letters end up too illegible to be of much
use to anyone (and he usually relies on memory anyway).
“If there’s anything else you’d like, please ring for me,” Jungkook recites, falling back on the
safety net of his usual Euphoria serving script as he gestures to the tiny bell in the centre of the
table. “I’ll be back with your refreshments shortly.”

He bows again as he backs out of the booth, gritting his teeth against the renewed pounding in his
skull and catching himself against the curtain as it swishes back into place. He takes a moment to
regain his balance, grateful that Taehyung and the others hadn’t witnessed his momentary
disorientation and that the other patrons seated in the open-plan area don’t appear to have noticed
that anything’s amiss. He’d hate to make a scene in front of strangers by keeling over or
something, that’s literally his worst nightmare; inconveniencing other people or looking all weak
and pathetic in front of them and attracting their attention. He doesn’t mind opening up in front of
people he knows and trusts, but to be exposed like that in front of total strangers, or worse, valued
customers who he’ll probably have to serve at some point in the future? Aigoo.

“Jungkook-ah?”

He blinks, realising belatedly that he’s walked back through into the main café area on autopilot
and has been standing by the serving counter as though in a trance for god knows how long.

Suyeon’s regarding him closely, her gaze assessing. “Are you alright?”

“Fine, sorry, I’m good,” he fumbles with his notepad, pretending to check the illegibly-scrawled
order. “Just spaced out for sec. Do we still have any O-negs in the back?”

His manager arches an eyebrow, clearly surprised by the request. To be fair, it isn’t often that
customers ask for such expensive beverages. Euphoria’s a popular café because it’s pretty
affordable while still delivering high quality service (and aish, he’s read the employee service
guide way too many times), and although they get the occasional celebrity visitor (VIXX had
filmed a midnight mukbang VLive here just a few weeks ago) people generally don’t come here to
fork out a small fortune on pricey blood pouches.

“A new order came in from HaemoGlobal last night,” she answers, pulling the fridge keys from her
apron pocket. “Pretty sure we’re fully stocked. Just the one pouch?”

Jungkook nods – shit, he really needs to stop doing that – and activates the touchscreen behind the
serving counter to contact the kitchens, requesting two blood-lava desserts, and busies himself
carefully arranging a slice of crimson velvet cake on a plate, decorating the edges with delicate
swirls of melted chocolate and sliced strawberries. It’s not his best work – Jungkook usually prides
himself on artistic plate designs, especially when his customers have ordered cute desserts – but his
hand feels shaky today and every second he spends leaning down over the plate is worsening the
throbbing behind his eyes.

He straightens up again and has to catch himself against the edge of the serving counter, flashing
dots obscuring his vision for a few moments. Fuck, his head hurts. It’s getting difficult to even
function normally. All he really wants to do is turn off all the lights and just curl up on the floor
and maybe cry a little, but none of the above is feasible right now.

Two hours until he shift ends. He can manage that, right? Then he can finally crawl back home and
pass out for a solid twelve hours before he needs to get up for school in the morning. He’s worked
longer shifts than this feeling even shittier than he does now, and he knows his body can handle it
for a short period. He just has to hold on a little while longer.
.

It’s a fucking cake fork that does it.

He’s managed to smile and charm his way through the afternoon without alerting any of the
customers to his poor condition, keeping up his bubbly persona through sheer determination in an
effort to convince his Euphoria colleagues that nothing’s out of the ordinary. Although he spies
Sanha watching him with big, worried eyes more than once and catches the bunny tapping away on
his phone beneath the serving counter, so the kid’s probably already tattled on him to Moonbin. All
that means is that he’ll go home and get extra cuddles from his worried Were-cat roommate, so
that’s not exactly a bad thing, but Binnie will want to lecture him about it tomorrow if he shows up
at the apartment looking like death warmed up.

Still, the end is finally in sight when he makes his way back into the darkened area at the rear of
the café to check up on Taehyung and his nestmates. Just a few more cleared tables and maybe a
couple of takeout orders, and it’ll be time to leave. He can practically feel his pillow already.

“Can I get you anything else?” he asks, as cheerfully as he can muster. He might feel like shit, but
he still wants to make a good impression.

“We’re fine, thank you,” Jimin replies, nursing his fourth drink. All three vampires had ordered
multiple desserts and beverages over the past couple of hours, and Jungkook gets the feeling they
intend to stay until his shift is over, but he’s too shy to ask if they want the bill or not.

“You look tired,” Taehyung comments sleepily from where he’s slouched on the padded bench, his
head pillowed on Jimin’s shoulder. “You should sleep more, Kookie.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got a date with my bed in like thirty minutes,” Jungkook quips, secretly pleased
when it makes Tae’s smile curl wider.

“An early night sounds like a good idea,” Hoseok agrees, and there’s something in his gaze that’s
all too knowing, like he can see right through Jungkook’s forced enthusiasm. “Can we offer you a
ride home, Kookie?”

“That’s really kind of you, but I’m sure it’s out of your way,” Jungkook declines, busying himself
with loading a couple of empty dessert plates onto the tray he’s balanced on the edge of the table.

“Actually we’ll be driving right past the end of your street,” Jimin tells him, sliding the empty mug
from in front of Taehyung so that Jungkook doesn’t have to lean too far across the table. “We’re
dropping by to see Namjoon-hyung before we go home, and his clinic’s not far from the station.”

Hoseok leans in a little, and Jungkook can read the concern in his gaze despite the dim lighting.

“One of our nestmates, Yoongi….he suggested you might need an escort home after your shift,”
the vampire explains haltingly, then flashes Jungkook a wry grin. “Which I know probably sounds
a little weird, but you just have to trust us on this one. Yoongi-hyung’s hunches are usually pretty
on-point, so we’d all feel a lot happier if we saw you safely home.”

Jungkook’s surprised to realise that Yoongi apparently hasn’t told the rest of his clutch about what
happened earlier that morning – Tae and the others seem to believe he hasn’t met Yoongi yet and
doesn’t know that the vampire’s a powerful Seer. Still, he’s grateful that the elder’s kept things
under wraps; he has a feeling Taehyung might never let him walk to or from work ever again if he
knew that Jungkook had almost been run over by a taxi twelve hours ago.

“Are you sure it won’t be an inconvenience?” he asks after a beat, reaching for another plate. It’s
not that he’s against the idea, he just doesn’t want to be a burden to people who barely know him,
but if Yoongi thinks something might happen to him on the way home…

“You’ll never be an inconvenience,” Taehyung answers, with such gentle sincerity that Jungkook’s
heart flutters in his chest, his hands fumbling a little in their task.

A cake fork misses the edge of the tray and goes tumbling over to clatter to the floor of the booth
just beneath the table.

“Sorry,” he murmurs, cheeks heating, and bends down to pick it up.

Bad idea.

The blood rushes to his head immediately, the pressure building up behind his eyes until he can
practically feel the veins pulsing at his temples, muscles going taut like something’s being
wrapped around his head far too tightly. His vision blacks out momentarily and his hands begin to
tingle, and he has approximately two and a half seconds of lingering consciousness to realise with
perfect clarity that he’s about to pass out.

He doesn’t actually remember hitting the floor, but he’s aware of a dull ache in his shoulder and
the sensation of the world turning upside down suddenly, but his head’s spinning so bad it’s hard to
keep track of anything else. Sounds fade in and out, like someone’s cranking the volume in his ears
from mute to full blast and back down again.

“…-call for help?”

“No, let’s give him a minute to…worn himself out…”

“…so pale, does he have a fever?”

“He’s been working too many…barely had a chance to sleep…”

“…get him some water?”

“Maybe something with a little sugar in it? Fruit juice would work.”

The words are coming in clearer now, and the heavy feeling is lifting from the rest of his body. He
can feel the floor beneath his back, but his head’s pillowed on something soft and there’s a hand
resting across his aching forehead. He feels awful, like literally everything aches so fucking much
and it’s the worst. Everything sounds ten times too loud now, and there’s a broken whimpering
noise coming from nearby which he relates to so much.

“Shh, you’re okay,” a voice above him murmurs, and Jungkook realises with a twinge of
mortification that the miserable whimpering sound must’ve come from his own throat. “Just relax,
Jungkookie, you’re fine. You just blacked out for a minute.”
His eyelids are so fucking heavy, but he has to know who else is here to witness his embarrassing
display (he can hear other people in the near vicinity), and he wrenches them open with a great deal
of effort to blink up at Hoseok’s handsome face hovering over him.

“Hi there,” the vampire greets, his smile calm and reassuring. “How’s your head feeling?”

Jungkook wets his lips, his tongue feeling strange and thick. “Fuzzy.”

“Mm, that tends to happen when you pass out,” Taehyung sympathises, and Jungkook realises his
head’s pillowed in the younger vampire’s lap, gloved fingers stroking through his hair soothingly.

He glances up as Hoseok leans back, Tae’s worried face coming into view. The vampire’s
expression smooths out into an easy smile almost immediately, although the look of concern
doesn’t leave his eyes.

“Hey, Kookie,” Taehyung murmurs. “Jiminie’s gonna talk with your manager and grab you some
juice before we take you home, okay? Just take it easy for a few minutes. You hit the ground pretty
hard.”

Shit. If Suyeon finds out she’ll definitely insist that he go home early, which means that all the rest
of his colleagues will inevitably find out why he’s clocking off before the shift’s over, and by the
time he goes back to work next weekend everyone from the overnight cleaning staff to the
company CEO will know that he passed out in front of customers like a big dramatic baby.

Oh god no, don’t cry. Don’t cry, don’t cry, nononono…

He sees Taehyung’s smile fall as Jungkook’s traitorous eyes fill with miserable, exhausted,
mortified tears. He quickly lifts an arm to cover up the evidence, but it’s too late, Tae’s already
seen them.

“Fuck, are you hurt? Kookie?” the vampire frets, and Jungkook feels the gloved fingers gently
trying to tug his arm away, but he keeps it locked firmly in place. “You gotta talk to me, baby,
c’mon.”

“Tae,” Hoseok murmurs, and that single word is enough to stop the younger vampire’s fussing in
its tracks.

A warm hand cups his cheek. “I told Jimin to be discreet, don’t worry. And nobody else noticed
when you passed out, the curtain was still closed. I figured you might not appreciate the extra
attention, so he’s only going to tell your manager enough that she can clear you for going home
ahead of schedule.”

Whether due to Hobi’s touch or his calming words (or a combination of the two), the churning ball
of bad feelings in Jungkook’s chest immediately dissipates, the tension leaving him in a quiet,
shaky sigh.

“I know you’re feeling pretty rough right now,” Hoseok commiserates, thumb stroking his cheek
gently. “You’re hurting and embarrassed you don’t want to be a bother, but it’s okay to need a little
help sometimes. You can’t always be a tough guy.”

Hobi-hyung’s an empath, Tae had told him. No shit.

“You’ll feel so much better after a good night’s sleep,” the vampire continues, gently coaxing
Jungkook’s arm from his face at last and thumbing away any evidence of tears with a tender touch.
“But I want to get you checked out real quick first, okay?”
 Jungkook immediately starts to shake his head. “N-no, I’m fine, I just bent over to quickly-”

“Please, Kookie?” Taehyung presses, smoothing his fringe back. “Just a check-up. We can text
Joon-hyung before we leave, you won’t even have to wait for an appointment. He’ll be super
quick, I promise. He’s the best Healer in Seoul.”

The curtain shifts as Jimin reappears, bottle of pineapple juice in hand. The lines of worry in his
expression smooth over the moment he locks eyes with Jungkook, and he sinks smoothly to his
knees beside Taehyung.

“You wanna try sitting up a little?” Hoseok prompts encouragingly, and with Jimin and Tae’s help
Jungkook is able to level himself a little more upright.

The juice is cold and sweet, and although it does nothing to alleviate the pounding in his head, it
does banish the last of the lingering grogginess from his overtired mind.

“Jungkook-ah?”

It’s Suyeon, peering down at him from between the curtains with that familiar assessing look. Her
gaze flits briefly to Taehyung, Jimin and Hoseok, and for once she doesn’t summon her usual
floor-manager smile that she uses to greet all the guests. Instead she seems almost…suspicious?

“Would you like me to phone you a taxi?” she offers carefully, returning her gaze to Jungkook.
“You could come and rest in the break room for a little while…”

And Jungkook appreciates what she’s trying to do. If he’d passed out in front of any other
customers, he definitely would jump at the first chance to excuse himself from their company and
wallow in his own misery elsewhere. But Taehyung’s anything but a stranger to him even after just
forty-eight hours, and he finds himself trusting the vampire’s nestmates instinctively. They just
have this aura about them, this calming presence that makes him feel so fucking safe even though
he knows next to nothing about them beyond what Tae had told him last night.

“That’s okay, but thank you,” he replies after a short pause, and settles his hand over the arm that
Taehyung’s got wrapped around his waist to help support him. “I’ve already got a ride home.”

Taehyung hugs him even tighter from behind, and it almost makes the whole passing-out-in-
exhaustion thing worth it just to know how it feels to be held close like this.

Ugh, he’s so fucking in love.

Chapter End Notes

I had a pretty shitty week so Kookie got some good old hurt/comfort protective hyung
action a chapter earlier than planned, because my soul needed some Kookie-loving.
And apologises for the delayed update. I hope the TaeKook cuddles at the end made
up for it.

Also WHO'S STOKED ABOUT MEETING NAMJOON?! Because our big-hearted

super-healer Joonie is going to take one look at poor, tired Kookie and basically adopt
him on the spot. Baby boy's about to meet the ultimate daddy, ya'll, and Jungkook will
be hella weak for Namjoon's tender charms. Booyah.
 Safe Hands
Chapter Summary

Kookie's feeling rougher than ever, but Tae's fifth and final nestmate is there to make
it all better again.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Strangely enough, even though his skull is trying to split itself in two with every pulsing heartbeat,
Jungkook has never felt more content in his entire life.

Granted, it probably has a whole lot to do with the fact that he’s currently tucked up cosily between
Taehyung and Jimin in the backseat of the vampires’ car, his aching head pillowed on Tae’s
shoulder and their fingers snugly intertwined beneath the light jacket that Hoseok had draped over
his upper torso to keep him warm. The car windows are heavily tinted (as is generally the
preference for most nocturnal species), and the significantly dimmed lighting is so fucking amazing
after the hours he’s spent enduring Euphoria’s cheery pastel decor. Jungkook wants to live in this
car forever.

“His heartbeat’s settled down,” Jimin whispers to the left of him, a feather-light touch brushing
aside a few strands of Jungkook’s fringe. “I think he’s finally drifted off.”

Well…to be fair, that’s almost the case. He may not be asleep just yet, but he definitely isn’t fully
awake either. He’s kinda hovering somewhere between the two, a level of semi-consciousness
where he’s still mostly aware of what’s happening whilst being weirdly disconnected from it all;
like, he can still feel how much everything aches, and he’s so physically exhausted that it’s like
having ten-kilo weights strapped to every inch of him, but he can acknowledge the existence of
those sensations without them totally overwhelming him like they had done earlier. Physical
contact is definitely helping with that – it’s probably his bunny hybrid genes coming into play
again, that deep yearning for tactile comfort he’d usually have to sate by visiting Yugyeom’s pack
or snuggling up with Moonbin on the couch back home. He doesn’t often get sick (again, thanks in
part to his mixed genetics), but on the rare occasions that he is, he gets cuddly as fuck, and no
amount of painkillers or junk-food can substitute for the sweet relief of being wrapped up tightly in
the arms of someone he cares about.

Honestly, its’s the first time he’s felt that same level of comfort and security in the company
people he barely knows. Aside from Binne and the Im-pack, he tends to be pretty guarded around
other people, reluctant to burden anyone else with his own problems. But passing out in front of
Tae and the others had officially broken the ice, so to speak, and there’s really no going back from
that. They already know he’s not ‘fine’, so keeping up his earlier deception would’ve been a waste
of precious energy.

Also he’d been in desperate need of a hug, and boy do these vampires deliver.

“He still looks so pale,” Tae remarks, his tone hushed but full of concern. The hand that isn’t
intertwined with Jungkook’s carefully tugs up Hoseok’s jacket a little higher, blanketing Kookie
further in its cosy warmth. “What if it’s something serious?”

“Namjoon-hyung can handle it,” Jimin reassures calmly. “But I don’t think he’s sick – at least he
doesn’t smell sick. I think he’s just totally worn himself out,”

“I shouldn’t have asked him out on that date last night,” the younger vampire frets quietly, gloved
fingers squeezing Jungkook’s. “He could’ve gone home and taken a nap before his nightshift if I
hadn’t-”

“Hey.” There’s a soft rustle of fabric, and Jungkook feels something light brush against the side of
his head (Jimin’s sleeve, maybe), presumably as the shifter reaches out to comfort Taehyung.
“Don’t blame yourself, hon, none of this is your fault. You couldn’t have known about his crazy
schedule – kid managed to hide his exhaustion from all of us with that cute smile of his. I imagine
he’s been pushing himself to the limit for a while now.”

“You think so?”

“Mm,” Jimin hums quietly. “You said he takes business studies at SNU, right? Assuming that his
classes run on a fixed schedule, he’s probably in school Monday through Friday. Then he works,
what, roughly thirty-six hours between Friday night and Sunday evening? And presumably he’s
juggling coursework and exam prep on top of all. Tae, the kid’s working seven days a week with
no downtime and running on minimal sleep, it’s no wonder he’s dead on his feet.”

Taehyung’s fingers tighten a little around his own. “That’s way too much,” the vampire breathes.
“He can’t function without sleep like that, he’s gonna make himself sick-”

“Guys,” Hoseok murmurs from the front seat of the car, his voice soft but full of quiet authority.
“Let’s talk about this later, okay? Let him rest.”

Jungkook wonders for a moment if the empath maybe knows he’s not truly asleep. It’s possible,
but then…empaths read emotions, not minds, right? And since the only thing he’s feeling right
now is tired-and-achy-but-thank-god-there’s-cuddles, he hopes that doesn’t translate across as
anything that might make his state of awareness too obvious. It’s not like he’s deliberately
eavesdropping or anything (to be honest, falling asleep would be fucking awesome – his head hurts
too much to permit him that painless reprieve), but he doesn’t want Hoseok to think he’s faking his
state of semi-consciousness either. He’s genuinely too exhausted to lift his head or even open his
eyes by this point, so all he can do is drift dazedly and listen to their quiet conversation, and count
the occasional thuddunk of Tae’s slow vampire heartbeat.

Most of the journey passes by in a bit of a blur after that, sounds and sensations flitting in and out
of Jungkook’s overtired consciousness like he’s tuned into radio station with bad signal. It’s hard
to keep track of where they’re going or how many minutes have passed, and after a while he stops
trying to concentrate (because even thinking hurts), and just lets himself float.

The car must take a sharp turn at some point, because the sudden movement jostles him enough
that a quiet, pained noise emerges from the back of his throat (quite without his permission) as the
pulsing ache flares white-hot for a moment. He feels Jimin and Taehyung press in closer almost
immediately.

“Shh,” Jimin hushes softly, and a hand squeezes Jungkook’s thigh in reassurance. “You’re fine,
honey; you’re safe. Go back to sleep.”

Honey? Ohh, he likes that. He likes that very much, please and thank you.
Cuddled up so closely to Tae, his nose is full of the vampire’s scent – something almost like brown
sugar, rich and sweet in a way that soothes his heightened olfactory senses. He doesn’t know
whether it’s unique to Taehyung or if it’s carried by the vampire’s nestmates as a clutch-scent, the
way it works with Were-packs. Jungkook had known Yugyeom as a lone Omega, so when he’d
joined Jaebum’s pack and his scent had naturally changed to reflect that bond, Kookie had been
there to notice it. But he isn’t sure if vampire physiology works on the same principles, and
truthfully, his head hurts too much to really think about it too deeply. All that matters is that Tae
smells nice and Jungkook wants to drown himself in that scent forever.

He must finally drift off for a short while, and when he stirs into semi-wakefulness again it’s
because the car door is being opened and there’s a cool breeze wafting in.

“-sure my colleagues can handle the clinic appointments without me,” a new, deeper voice is
saying from somewhere nearby. “Provided there aren’t any emergency cases, he can rest up in my
office until he’s feeling well enough to go home. Tae, honey, scoot over for me…”

Jimin’s arm slips behind his shoulders to hold him up as Tae’s solid warmth disappears, and
Jungkook can’t quite suppress the noise of protest at the vampire’s sudden absence, his head
throbbing as he tries to lift it up himself (fuck, why does everything require so much effort, he
can’t even open his eyes properly).

“Hey, Jungkookie.” A warm palm settled gently across his brow, and the newcomer makes a low
noise of sympathy. “Aish, that’s one helluva migraine you’ve got there. Let’s get you inside,
buddy.”

A thick pair of arms come around him as he slowly surfaces from his semi-doze, and almost before
it clicks in Jungkook’s foggy brain that they must have arrived at Kim Namjoon’s clinic, he’s
being scooped up as if he weighs nothing at all and lifted carefully from the car. The sudden
temperature change wakes him up enough that he can briefly squint his eyes open, but he
immediately regrets that decision when the late afternoon sunshine triggers a fresh set of sharp
skewers piercing through his temples.

Fucking ow.

Jungkook keeps his eyes closed thereafter as he’s taken inside somewhere warm and well-lit,
unwilling to risk aggravating his migraine further. There’s a lot of background noise in here –
multiple voices at varying pitches, the whirr of a printer, a persistently buzzing overhead light, a
baby crying some distance away, a cell phone ringing – and it’s a lot to cope with all at once.
Jungkook sometimes wishes his ears had an off-switch, because too often is heightened sense of
hearing makes him prone to a sensory overload, especially when he’s already tired or feeling sick.

He must make some sort of pained noise, because Namjoon hushes him softly and starts
murmuring under his breath; soothing, lilting words that flow into one another so seamlessly that
Jungkook can’t actually make out what he’s saying. The healer’s low, intonating voice has an
immediate calming effect on Kookie’s overwhelmed senses, enough that he’s able to breathe again
without feeling like he’s about to throw up.

They pass through a short corridor (Jungkook can tell by the slight echo to their footsteps), and
then he hears a door close behind them, shutting out the background noise from that other area
entirely.

“Hobi, could you get the lights?”

Jungkook feels himself being lowered down onto a padded surface in a semi-recline, almost
 sighing in relief when his head sinks into the squishy embrace of a pillow. The light against the
back of his eyelids dims significantly, presumably as Hoseok dials down the switches, enough that
Jungkook tentatively peeks one eyelid open.

A semi-familiar face swims into view above him, the man’s expression full of such tender warmth
that it makes something in Jungkook’s chest flutter.

“Hey there,” the healer murmurs, perching on the edge of the padded examination bed, the pads of
his fingers sweeping across Jungkook’s forehead in a slow, swirling sort of pattern. “I’m Kim
Namjoon, Tae’s nestmate – call me hyung. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, but I’m
sorry it couldn’t be under better circumstances.”

Jungkook wets his lips. “S’okay,” he slurs, finding articulating his words even more difficult than
he’d anticipated. “Nice t’meet you too, hyung.”

Namjoon smiles – and oh, dimples – exerting gentle pressure against Jungkook’s temples using the
pad of both middle fingers, and just like that the invisible band of iron that’s been wrapped tightly
around his head all afternoon vanishes. Jungkook’s breath leaves him in a rush, surprised by just
how tense he’s been holding his neck and shoulders without even realising it, feeling everything
start to unlock now that the pressure in his head has gone.

“That’s it,” Namjoon coaxes, thumbs sweeping gently down the bridge of his nose and along his
cheekbones, middle fingers still maintaining that pressure on Jungkook’s temples. “Nice, deep
breaths for me, Kookie.”

It’s getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open (even though he wants to stare into the healer’s
warm brown eyes for all eternity, holy fuck), heavy eyelids drooping progressively more with
every slow blink. He’s still aware of the pain in his head, but it’s more of a background hum now
instead of an all-consuming throb, and relatively easy to ignore in light of his growing exhaustion.

“It’s alright,” the healer soothes. “You’re safe, sweetheart, you can let go. Taehyungie and I will be
right here when you wake up. Don’t fight it.”

He doesn’t actually need any reassurance about being in a safe place – he’s genuinely never felt so
secure in his entire life. Namjoon’s touch, his gentle smile, his tender gaze, his voice…aigoo,
Jungkook almost feels drunk on it. Which is quite possibly down to whatever healer-mojo the
man’s using to obliterate the fuck out of Kookie’s migraine, but that’s beside the point. It feels
damn good.

After another few moments, he gives up the fight, and finally succumbs to that rush of sleepy-
cosy-contentment. Namjoon’s voice is the last thing his conscious mind registers before he slips
into a deep, dreamless slumber.

Chapter End Notes

Part 2 of Namjoon being the ultimate-doting-hyung is still to come, so stay tuned for
next week! And you'll finally get some answers to all the sort-of-hints I've dropped
about the TaeKook bond. Thanks for bearing with me between updates! I would love
to post more frequently but I wanted to make sure the NamKook scene played out just
the way I wanted it to, and I hope it was maybe worth the wait. As always, I love to
hear your feedback and thoughts.
Take care, fam! :)
 Stuck Like Glue
Chapter Summary

Jungkook finds out there's more going on between himself and Taehyung than just
mutual attraction. Namjoon officially takes the new maknae under his wing. Jungkook
gets all the cuddles he deserves.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

When Jungkook next opens his eyes, there’s no trace of the debilitating migraine that had plagued
him since the early hours of the morning. He still feels tired, but the bone-deep exhaustion has
lessened significantly and the fogginess in his brain has receded, leaving him free to think clearly
for the first time in what seems like decades.

His eyelids feel a little sticky, and he blinks a few times, trying to get his vision to focus properly.
There’s an unfamiliar ceiling above him (covered in…green moss and tiny white flowers, for some
reason), and it takes him a moment to recall the events of the afternoon, feeling a twinge of belated
embarrassment as he remembers the whole fainting-in-front-of-Tae’s-nestmates thing. It’s only a
little twinge, though, because the memory of how gently they’d all cared for him in the aftermath
fills his chest with fluttering warmth all over again.

Jungkook turns his head, enjoying how pain-free the movement is now that his migraine has
finally gone, eyes scanning his surroundings. Even though his headache has abated, he’s grateful
for the dim lighting – his eyes still feel tired and scratchy, despite his recent catnap. There aren’t
any ceiling lights (although to be honest, it’s a little hard to tell with all that moss), the spacious
area illuminated by a single standing lamp over in the far corner. He seems to be in some sort of
examination room, similar in style to a couple of the healer-clinics that Jungkook’s grandparents
had taken him to as a kid. There’s modern medical technology dotted around here and there (a
wall-mounted computer, an ECG machine, something that might be a blood gas analyser) but there
are also multiple bookshelves lined with leather-bound tomes, dozens of little glass jars filled with
various herbs and tinctures, and bunches of dried plants strung up in a neat row along the far wall.
The room smells faintly sweet - lemon grass, mint, lavender, and a dozen other barely-perceptible
scents that soothe his nose - and Jungkook breathes it in deeply, feeling his strength return with
every fragrant inhale.

It’s been years since he last went to a healer. Being mostly human, he tends to use the nearby
hospital on the rare occasions that he does get sick or needs a check-up. Healer clinics are usually
catered more towards Faes and Were-folk and Shifters, basically all non-human races. Not that
regular hospitals can’t handle any and all medical emergencies regardless of species, but often the
illnesses that affect humans differ greatly to that of other beings, and each species’ unique
physiology means that the method of treatment can’t simply be a blanket protocol for everyone.
Where regular doctors rely predominantly on science and technology to guide their treatment,
healers use these tools in conjunction with their own individual talents; specifically, their ability to
connect with the earth and its elements, and their innate understanding of herb lore and natural
remedies. In many ways, the art of healing is still something of a mystery to those who don’t
possess the gift, but like all forms of natural magic it’s deeply respected by both human and
supernatural communities alike.

“Kookie?”

There’s movement from a shadowy corner near the door, and Jungkook’s gaze flickers over to
where Taehyung is unfolding himself from his curled-up position in a small leather armchair. The
vampire’s eyes meet his gaze, and a relieved smile blooms quickly as he crosses the room in a few
brisk strides to perch on the edge of Jungkook’s examination bed, a hand splaying gently over the
younger man’s sternum.

“Hey there, sleepyhead,” Tae says, hushed, likely worried that Jungkook’s migraine might still be
bothering him. “How are you feeling?”

Jungkook returns the smile tiredly. “Better,” he croaks, his voice a little hoarse from disuse. “So
much better. Sorry for passing out on you like that, I didn’t mean to spoil your afternoon.”

Taehyung’s cheery smile falters a little.

“Hey,” the vampire murmurs, gloved hand moving down to squeeze Jungkook’s own. “You don’t
ever have to apologise for needing help, beautiful. Happens to the best of us.” Another gentle
squeeze, and then that cheery smile returns. “Besides, it gave me a good excuse to introduce you to
Namjoonie-hyung; I knew he'd make you feel better.” Tae leans in keenly. “Isn’t he the best?”

Jungkook’s nod of agreement comes without hesitation, because hell yes. Even discounting
Namjoon’s powerful healing-touch, the man just has this aura about him that had made Jungkook
feel so safe and content, even in the midst of quite possibly the worst migraine of his life. And
when the healer had smiled down and him and revealed those freaking dimples, aigoo, it felt as
though nothing in the world could hurt him ever again. It was like being hugged without the
physical contact, a sense of absolute comfort and security settling over him like a blanket as he
basked in Namjoon’s tender gaze. Maybe there’s some magic healing-mojo in his smile too, who
knows? Whatever the case, it’s probably the best thing he’s ever experienced.

“Hyung didn’t want to leave you, but he had to go check on the clinic real quick,” Taehyung adds,
thumb stroking idly over Kookie’s knuckles. “I’m sure he won’t be long. Would you like
something to drink? Or maybe a snack? You’ll need a little sugar to keep your strength up. Unless
you feel nauseous? My headaches used to make me so sick back before the Bite; I couldn’t touch
anything for hours afterwards. I’m sure Namjoon-hyung’s got something to help settle your
stomach if you’re feeling queasy?”

“I’m okay,” Jungkook replies shyly – he really isn’t used to being fussed over like this (not that
he’s complaining, it’s a good feeling). “A drink would be great, actually. Thanks, hyung.”

Taehyung’s smile widens. “There’s a vending machine out in the foyer,” he says cheerfully. “Sit
tight, I’ll be right back.”

Casual as anything, the vampire leans in to peck a chaste kiss against the younger man’s brow, a
gentle press of soft lips against Jungkook’s skin – then he freezes, and pulls back sharply to stare
down at the younger man wide-eyed, looking faintly mortified.

“Fuck,” the vampire blurts, visibly flustered. “Sorry. That was…I shouldn’t have…shit.”
It had clearly been a purely instinctive action, a casual gesture of affection that Taehyung likely
shares with his nestmates all the time – Werewolf packs are like that too, frequently exchanging
nuzzles and platonic little kisses the way humans would a pat on the back. And Moonbin does that
to him all the time, especially when he’s sleepy, usually draping himself over Jungkook with a tired
whine at the end of a long day, seeking out some snuggle-time. It doesn’t mean anything
significant romantically-speaking, but it does suggest that Tae’s grown comfortable enough in his
presence (subconsciously or otherwise) to treat him with the same casual affection as he would his
own nestmates. And honestly, Jungkook couldn’t be more thrilled.

Oh boy, he’s definitely blushing three different shades of tomato right now, and even with the dim
lighting he suspects Taehyung will be able to see it, heightened vampire senses and whatnot.

“No, it’s…it’s fine,” he manages, grateful that his voice doesn’t come out all high and breathy and
gushy despite his fluttering heart. “Totally fine. Thank you.”

Oh god, shut up shut up shut-

“Are you sure?” Taehyung checks, but he looks tentatively hopeful at the lack of immediate
rejection. “I mean, if I’m moving too fast you gotta let me know, okay? I don’t want to make you
feel uncomfortable, not even a little bit, and I promise I’ll back off if you ever need me to turn it
down a notch-”

“Hyung.” Jungkook is smiling again, because fuck, he definitely hasn’t done anything good enough
in life to deserve someone so goddamn sweet. “I’m sure. It’s okay.”

Taehyung stares at him for a moment longer, then his eyes crinkle in another beaming smile and he
leans in again to press a feather-light kiss to both Jungkook’s cheeks and the tip of his nose for
good measure, giving his hand another squeeze.

“Okay,” Tae echoes, hushed, their noses only centimetres apart and ohh fuck, Jungkook’s heart is
about ready to beat its way out of his chest.

“So, I never did get a chance to buy you that drink last night,” the vampire remarks, pulling back
again just as quickly and hopping up from the bed, his casual cheeriness back in full force
(apparently oblivious to Jungkook’s imminent cardiac arrest). “Might not be as fancy as a cocktail,
but the vending machine does a mean grape soda.”

Jungkook breathes a happy, bubbling laugh, wondering if it’s possible for his abdomen to explode
with how many warm, fluttering butterflies are building up inside of him. He watches as the
vampire practically skips out of the room, waiting until the door has safely closed again before
pressing both his hands against his flaming cheeks and dropping his head back against the pillow.

Fuck, he’s smitten. Absolutely, helplessly head over heels for Kim Taehyung.

He fans himself frantically for a minute or so until he feels like the heat in his face has cooled
down a little – what will Tae’s nestmates think of him if he turns into a blushing mess every time
the vampire touches him? Aigoo. They’re sort of dating now, he needs to be less reactive to things
like this.

Slowly pushing himself upright on the padded examination bed, he swings his legs over the side
and grunts as a wave of dizziness hits him, closing his eyes briefly.

The door opens again at that precise moment, and he doesn’t have time to wipe the grimace off his
face in time – he hears Taehyung swearing softly, and the sound of hurried footsteps as the vampire
rushes back over to the bedside to cup his cheek gently.

“Kookie? What is it, what’s wrong? Does something hurt?”

Jungkook shakes his head, and manages a mostly-genuine smile, opening his eyes again as the
room slowly stops spinning.

“Just a little dizzy,” he reassures. “M’okay. Sat up too quickly.”

Taehyung gives a soft little hum of concern, his worried gaze scanning Jungkook’s face for a few
moments more, clearly looking for signs of discomfort. Apparently finding none, the vampire
visibly relaxes again, gloved fingers dropping from Jungkook’s cheek to rest on his thigh.

“Here,” Taehyung presses a cold can of soda into his palm, “drink this. You’re probably a little
dehydrated after your nap.”

With a murmur of thanks and a shy, grateful smile, Jungkook pops open the tab and takes a gulp of
the sweet, ice-cold beverage, feeling himself wake up a little more right from the first sip.

“How long was I out?” he asks after a moment, glancing around in the hopes of finding a clock. No
such luck, but then given that 90% of the clinic’s patients likely possess heightened hearing
abilities, having something constantly ticking in the background during a healing session probably
wouldn’t be a good idea.

Tae pulls up a chair beside him and plops down into it. “Just over an hour, give or take. Joon-
hyung hoped you might sleep for longer, but he said the settling charm sometimes only lasts for a
little while, especially if your metabolism’s fast. It’s only just gone seven.”

Seven? Aigoo, has it really been that long since he passed out? No wonder his head’s feeling so
much better.

Jungkook’s never been good at napping outside of his own apartment (he never feels safe enough
to let his guard down unless he’s at home), with the exception of Yugyeom’s pack-house.
Sometimes his best friend drags him to the den between their final class of the day and their
evening dance practice just so the werewolf can cuddle Jungkook into a sleepy semi-doze and
force him to rest for an hour or two. He usually protests for all of ten seconds (the temptation to
work a couple of overtime hours at Euphoria is always nagging at him, especially towards the end
of the month when rent’s almost due) before his biological need for tactile comfort eventually
outweighs everything else and he lets himself be snuggled. But even then, he never truly sleeps – at
least not deeply. There’s always a part of him that’s aware of what’s going on, his waking
consciousness on a hair-trigger, eyes opening at the slightest of sounds from elsewhere in the
house.

So to hear that he’d been fully dead to the world for a solid hour in a completely unfamiliar
environment? That’s definitely something.

“I’m sorry,” he apologises, realising with a twinge of guilt just how much of a bother he’s been to
everyone after keeling over back at Euphoia. “You really didn’t have to wait for me all this time,
hyung.”

“I wanted to,” Tae murmurs, squeezing his hand again. “I didn’t like the thought of you waking up
in a strange place all on your own.”

“But you needed to rest, too,” Jungkook insists softly, setting his drink aside and wrapping his
fingers around Tae’s so that he’s holding the vampire’s gloved hand between both his own. “You
said you had a headache back at the café.”

Taehyung’s smile falters again, his gaze flitting down to their conjoined hands, and Jungkook sees
the elder’s throat move as he swallows.

“About that…” The vampire takes a slow, steeling sort of breath as he glances up again, something
hesitant in his gaze. “It wasn’t really my headache I was feeling, Kookie. It was yours.”

Jungkook blinks at him uncomprehendingly.

“I didn’t realise it could happen just like that,” Tae ploughs on, his words coming out in a hurry
now. “At least not so soon. That isn’t how it happened for me when I met Jiminie, it took weeks for
us to form a transference bond, and even then it wasn’t half as strong. Namjoon-hyung says it
might have something to do with your bunny hybrid genes, and the condition I was in when I first
met you – my emotions weren’t exactly…guarded. Hyung thinks I might’ve subconsciously
initiated the bond when you were helping me feed, and I guess you were receptive so it just kept
growing every time we saw each other.” Tae glances down at his gloved hands again. “That’s why
I’ve been finding it so hard to keep a rein on my emotions when I’m around you; my instincts kept
telling me to just share everything, even when my brain couldn’t figure out why.”

Ah. Well, that at least that answers the all the niggling questions that have been flitting around at
the back of his mind ever since Moonbin first made an offhand comment about his scent being
different. Binnie knows him best, and his nose is never wrong, Jungkook really should’ve trusted
the were-cat’s senses from the start.

“A transference bond,” Jungkook echoes, feeling his brain getting very firmly stuck on that one
very big word. “So we…we’re bonded?”

Taehyung winces and looks up at him again. “It’s a lot to take in, I know. I’m sorry, Kook, I never
meant for it to happen like this. I swear I had no idea the bond even existed until Joonie-hyung
checked me over this afternoon. He…he has a way of sensing these kinda things, I guess. And I
think Jin-hyung’s known right from the start, because he’s the one who made me these gloves, but
he never really told me why or said anything about a bond. I knew something was happening
between us because your scent seemed a little different today, but I thought it was just me being
stupidly in love with you and feeling a connection that wasn’t really there.”

Stupidly in love.

In love.

Love.

Oh.

Jungkook temporarily forgets how to breathe. Tae had said it so casually, like it was obvious, like
it’s normal for someone to fall in love with him. But that’s not how things usually work, in
Jungkook’s experience. A profession of love from someone he’s interested in is…entirely
unexpected.

For real, this kind of thing just doesn’t happen to him, like, ever. He never gets the guy, he
definitely never gets someone as beautiful and gentle and kind and perfect as Kim Taehyung. The
whole transference bond thing suddenly seems to pale in comparison to Tae’s honest confession,
and if Jungkook was a braver man he’d pluck up the courage to kiss the vampire right here and
now.
“If it’s too much, I’ll…I can go,” Taehyung tells him, looking down at his lap; subdued, resigned
even. “Give you time to think about it. And if you want to call it off before things go any further
and just stay friends, I’ll understand. I just…I need to see you happy, Kook. That’s all I want.”

Aigoo, this man. This impossibly sweet man will definitely be the death of him; Jungkook’s chest
feels so swollen he swears his heart’s about to pop.

He swallows to clear his throat, wets his lips, and takes a steadying breath.

“Well, I’m kinda stupidly in love with you, too,” he confesses, in a voice that only wavers a little
bit (thank fuck), feeling his cheeks bloom with heat when Taehyung’s gaze immediately snaps up
to look at him, wide-eyed. “Just…just FYI.”

Taehyung stares at him, relief and delight welling up in his expression for a split second before he
surges forwards to wrap his arms around Kookie in a tight embrace. A breathless laugh is pushed
from Jungkook’s throat as he’s cosily squished against the vampire’s chest, his own arms coming
up to return the hug as he closes his eyes.

Taehyung smells so good, and his cashmere sweater is the perfect sort of material to nuzzle into.
So he does just that, with a happy sigh and a dopey smile.

Fuck yeah, he could get used to this.

“Look up for me,” Namjoon coaxes, and Jungkook tries not to blink as the healer flashes a penlight
in his eyes. “Perfect. Looks like your photosensitivity’s improved. Any numbness or tingling in
your facial muscles?”

Jungkook shakes his head, then stills obligingly as the healer’s large hands come up to cradle his
face, thumbs gently sweeping over the bridge of his nose and along his cheekbones. It’s almost
impossible to keep his eyelids from fluttering shut at the soothing touch, but he fights the urge as
much as he can, seeing Namjoon’s lips curl up in a fond little smile at his efforts.

“Still feeling sleepy?” the healer guesses, middle finger tips pressing against Jungkook’s temples,
applying gentle pressure.

“Mm,” Kookie manages with a slow blink, about ready to doze off right where he’s sitting.

“You’ve had a rough afternoon, bud. You’ll need to take it easy for the next couple of days,”
Namjoon cautions kindly, lowering his hands and leaning back in the chair at the bedside – he’s
adjusted the height so that it’s level with the examination bed, which makes him seem even bigger
than before. “I eased the muscle tension and put a temporary block on your primary pain receptors
to help you sleep off the migraine, but I’m afraid there isn’t a miracle cure to fatigue. I’d
recommend plenty of rest and hydration, two of the best self-help remedies out there. And you
might want to consider taking the day off tomorrow.”

A day off sounds wonderful, but Jungkook’s university schedule is always packed on a Monday,
and the thought of having multiple different classes to catch up on is already filling him with dread.
He struggles with his business studies course enough already, he can’t risk missing out on the
professors’ explanation behind the module materials, especially with the first wave of exams only
a month away. It’s something he’s trying very hard not to think about too much, because it tends to
make him feel physically sick when he lets himself dwell on academic things. If he had it his way,
he’d quit school and take up art and dancing full-time as a dual degree, but he’s pretty sure his
parents would never speak to him again if he threw away his future business career for the sake of
his hobbies, so he’s stuck at university for another three years at least. Which, again, he tries very
hard not to think about.

Namjoon apparently sees the conflict in his expression, because the healer gives his knee a gentle
squeeze, his gaze full of understanding.

“I’m not saying you have to stay home,” the healer reassures. “It’s your choice, Jungkook-ah. But
I’ll write you the sicknote all the same. Maybe see how you’re feeling in the morning and go from
there, okay?”

Jungkook nods. He doesn’t want to make any he promises that he won’t be able to keep – he just
can’t skip a full day of classes, no matter how shitty he feels. It isn’t worth the stress of trying to
catch up with the rest of his peers later down the line.

Namjoon’s fingers curl gently around his wrist, settling over his pulse-point as the healer glances
down at his watch. “Tell me, how often do you get headaches?”

“Like, little ones?” the youth hedges. “A few times a week, I guess.”

“And how about migraines?”

Every Sunday, Jungkook muses wryly. Typically he’ll go home after his Saturday nightshift with a
niggling ache and wake up feeling like death, but he’s always been able to push through it and pull
off his afternoon shift at Euphoria without any major issues. He’ll crawl into bed as soon as the
day’s over and sleep for a solid ten hours, and by Monday he’s usually only feeling mildly shitty.

“Not as often,” he replies vaguely. “And they’ve never been as bad as this before. The whole
passing out thing, that’s definitely new. I don’t know what made today so different…”

Namjoon sighs softly, gently taking Jungkook’s other hand and turning them both over so that
they’re resting palm-up on his thighs. The healer reaches over to pull a few green leaves off the
blooming wall-crawler near the bed, cupping them in his hands and blowing on them before laying
them across Jungkook’s palms, covering them with his own.

“I see a lot of tired people walk through my door,” the healer comments quietly, keeping his gaze
focused on their joined hands. “Sickness and injury take a toll on the body; cure the sickness, the
fatigue will dissipate. But I can’t fix circumstantial exhaustion – I can only caution you that
functioning on minimal sleep for weeks or months at a time is dangerous. What happened today
was your body letting you know that it’s running on fumes.”
The leaves feel hot against his skin, the room suddenly smelling sweeter and faintly like
eucalyptus. The residual stiffness in Jungkook’s tired joints eases, heat trickling down from his
shoulders and elbows, flowing into his palms – it’s a weird sensation, but oddly calming. Namjoon
glances up again after a moment to look at him, his expression serious but still full of that same
gentle warmth, the kind that makes Jungkook want to melt into a puddle of contented goo.

“You need to start prioritising sleep, Jungkookie,” Namjoon tells him. “Sleep deprivation can have
serious consequences – on your heart, your metabolism, your immune system, your higher brain
functions…there’s only so much your body can tolerate. TaeTae’s been telling me you’ve got a lot
on your plate at the moment between two part-time jobs and your studies; I think maybe you need
to consider cutting down your working hours, bud. Especially at night. The quickest way to help
your body recover is to establish a consistent sleeping schedule, and you can’t do that if you’re
working consecutive dayshifts and nightshits every weekend.”

Jungkook bites his lip and averts his gaze. Boy, would he love to give up those awful weekend
nights at the convenience store and sleep in late, but there’s no way he’d be able to work enough
hours at Euphoria to make up for that second wage slip. The cost of his half of the monthly rent
and food and utilities is barely covered as it is, and the only alternative to working nightshifts is to
give up his Wednesday afternoon art class or quit the dance troop and pick up extra shifts after
school at Euphoria which…no. That’s definitely a no. They're the only things that keep him sane
during the semester, he'll lose all motivation for his studies without those two hobbies to fall back
on.

“I know it’s a lot to think about,” Namjoon murmurs, and Jungkook watches as the healer lets go of
his hands and removes the leaves from his palms – the mint green has turned a murky brown, and
Jungkook gets the distinct impression that it isn't a good sign. “But it’s important that you start
putting yourself first, Kookie. If it’s a financial issue, you don't need to worry about that – it’ll be
taken care of, I promise. Just focus on your health for the time being, okay? Everything will work
out.”

Jungkook stares at him, running that last part over in his mind, wondering if he’s misunderstood
something. Surely Namjoon can’t be offering to…but he barely even knows Jungkook.

“You’re important to Taehyungie,” the healer tells him, reaching out to gently tilt his chin up, that
gentle smile returning. “Which means you’re important to me. You’re under my protection now,
little one. I won’t directly interfere in your affairs without your permission, but I’d like to help you
out. Tell me honestly, if finances weren’t a concern for you, would you quit your night job?”

Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Jungkook nods slowly, willing himself not to do anything
embarrassing like burst into tears in front of Taehyung’s nestmate. He doesn’t like being a burden
to people, and Namjoon seems so worried about him, and it’s making him feel ten different kinds
of guilty. But at the same time it feels as though a fifty-kilo weight has been lifted from his
shoulders, because a part of him knows how desperately he needs help but he’s always been too
damn stubborn to ask for it, too afraid of burdening the people he cares about with his own
struggles. But sometimes it all feels so big and overwhelming that he’s drowning in it, and the
prospect of having even a small part of that removed from his long list of responsibilities is just…
liberating.

Ten minutes ago, when Namjoon had asked Tae to step out for a little while to give them some
privacy, Jungkook had never anticipated that they’d end up talking about finances. The healer had
taken a few minutes to check that he fully understood the implications of his new bond with
Taehyung (which was super sweet, and also a welcome reassurance that the nest leader was 100%
okay with Jungkook becoming part of his family), and Jungkook had assumed that after a quick
health check he’d be heading home. But now he’s talking about things that he’s never spoken to
anyone about, not even Yugyeom. Finances have always seemed like such a private thing, and
other than Binnie (who only knows because he’s in the same dire straits as Jungkook), none of his
friends are aware of his situation.

And he’d been okay with doing it alone, he’d been coping – or so he’d thought. But passing out
like that earlier today…the idea of that maybe happening again scares him, like really scares him.
And now he doesn’t know what to do. Seeking financial aid from other people doesn’t feel right,
but Namjoon’s the one who offered – insisted, really – so wouldn’t it be rude to say no? He doesn’t
want to refuse the offer and offend Tae’s nestmate, but he doesn’t want to accept something that he
has no hope of being able to pay back in the immediate future. Aigoo, what’s he supposed to do,
this is exactly the kind of internal crisis he dreads the most…

Namjoon’s hand settles on his shoulder, squeezing gently. “Don't overthink it, kiddo. Just leave it
with me, I’ll take care of everything.”

Fuck, he’s going to cry, he’s going to-

“Is it alright if I hug you?”

Another quick nod, and then he’s being wrapped up in a warm embrace, a hand splaying over the
back of his head to tuck it down against Namjoon’s shoulder. Jungkook exhales a shaky sigh,
closing his eyes against the sting of tears. So much for making a good impression. All he ever
seems to do around Tae’s nestmates is blush, cry, keel over and almost get hit by a car. No wonder
they think he needs help.

“You’re exhausted, little one,” Namjoon murmurs after a few minutes, stroking his hair a little –
and ohh, that feels nice. “Let me drive you home. We can talk about this again when you’re feeling
better.”

There’s a quiet tap on the door, and Namjoon pulls back, moving to perch on the edge of the bed
beside Jungkook, keeping an arm wrapped around the youth’s shoulders. Kookie’s tears have dried
up, but he’s feeling even more drained than before (both physically and emotionally), so he leans
into the healer’s solid form tiredly.

“It’s alright, Tae, you can come in.”

The younger vampire pokes his head into the room, gaze immediately flitting towards Jungkook,
the look of concern smoothing over into a pleased smile when he sees his bondmate tucked up
against Namjoon’s side.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he says, closing the door behind him, Jungkook’s backpack slung over one of
his shoulders. “Kookie’s phone kept buzzing every thirty seconds so I thought I’d better check to
make sure if it wasn’t an emergency or something. And, uh, you’ve got like 49 missed calls and a
helluva lot of messages from someone called ‘Bin’, who seems to be about ready to call the police
to file a missing person’s report. I figured maybe you need to let him know that you haven’t been
kidnapped.”

Jungkook’s heart drops into his stomach; he knew there was something important he’d forgotten to
do.

Oh shit. Moonbin.
Chapter End Notes

YOU get a hug, and YOU get a hug, everyone gets a hug!

I'm feeling so soft right now. Overworked, underpaid, exhausted Kookie finally has a
powerful, financially-stable hyung who's already making mental arrangements to give
Kookie all the support he needs and deserves.

But poor Binnie has been sitting at home stressing his cute little butt off because
Kookie forgot to text him that he wasn't actually dead. Whoops! :P

Thank you all for your ongoing support, I really appreciate every kudos and comment!
You guys are the best readers a writer could want, I love you all. :)

(Except the asshole who reposted my fic on asianfanfics. Screw you.)

 Confrontations and Conversations
Chapter Summary

All is well with his new hyungs, but now Kookie has to face his fretful roommate and
a very protective Alpha werewolf.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Moonbin is sulking.

Not that Jungkook can blame him – he knows how much he’d scared the werecat today by going
MIA for so long and totally failing to reply to any of Moonbin’s panicked texts.

“I called Sanha, I called Rocky, I messaged everyone on the dance team,” his roommate had
ranted to him over the phone as he sat in the back of Namjoon’s car, wincing guiltily at the residual
distress in Binnie’s voice. “Nobody knew where you were! Sanha said you hadn’t looked too good
at work, and he saw you leaving early with some customers, so I figured hey, that’s nice, maybe
someone was giving you a ride back to the apartment…but then you never came home, hyung, and
I started to freak out. Like, what if you’d been kidnapped or something?”

“Bin, I’m fine, I’m okay-” Jungkook had tried to interject reassuringly, but that had gone down like
a lead balloon.

“You literally just told me you fainted! That’s not okay! Healthy people don’t pass out at work,
hyung!”

Jungkook had spied both Taehyung and Namjoon hiding a smile or two during Moonbin’s spiel,
and he kinda got the impression that they approved of the werecat’s reaction. Which is great
(because he loves Binnie like the younger brother he never had, and Jungkook wants his new
hyungs to like him too), but it’s also super embarrassing; having his boyfriend and his new
vampire-guardian-angel-who-he-desperately-wants-to-impress hearing him being scolded by a
dongsaeng over the phone doesn’t exactly do much to improve his image.

Still, he’d deserved it. Moonbin had every right to be angry and upset and worried, so Jungkook
had borne the scolding with as much dignity as he could muster (despite his red cheeks).

He’d tried to calm his roommate down as best he could during the short ride home, but Binnie’s
fretful lecturing hadn’t ceased until Kookie had actually made it back to their apartment complex.
The cat had taken one look at his face (pale and haggard, if what Kookie had seen in the clinic’s
bathroom mirror still held true) and abruptly swept him up into a tight embrace, his previous
annoyance vanishing in a split second.

Apparently determining that he was in good hands, Taehyung and Namjoon had waved goodbye
over Moonbin’s shoulder (Tae blowing kisses to him out of the window for good measure) and
driven off, leaving him to Binnie’s tender mercies. The werecat had barely spared them a second
glance as he ushered Jungkook inside, brow still wrinkled in concern.

“Does anything hurt? Have you eaten yet? Aigoo, you’re so pale, maybe you should sit down…”

It had taken a lot of persuading to convince the younger man that he was truly alright (and feeling a
whole lot better than he had been in a while, actually), but his roommate still hadn’t been happy
when Jungkook finally revealed the specific details about the whole passing-out-at-Euphoria thing.
He’d fretted and fussed for a bit, stubbornly insisting that Jungkook keep the bathroom door open
while he showered just in case he got dizzy again, but by the time they were both ready for bed
twenty minutes later, the werecat finally seemed content that Kookie wasn’t about to keel over and
die.

And that’s when the sulking had started.

“You always push yourself too hard,” the cat gripes, dragging his single bed over from the far side
of the room to nudge it up against Kookie’s to make it a double, as they often do on nights when
one or both of them is craving tactile comfort. “And I know we’ve got bills to pay, but we could’ve
worked something out, hyung. I’ve been saying for months that one day it’d all catch up to you.”

Jungkook’s only just finished scrolling through the last of his friends’ worried text messages,
relieved that he doesn’t need to formulate any replies tonight; Binnie had handled that for him
while he was in the shower, bless his heart, so everyone at least knows that he’s safe and well. But
he definitely owes them all a proper apology tomorrow, once his brain’s able to form a coherent
sentence again. Right now he’s way too tired.

His roommate turns off the bedside lamp and slips under the blankets, scooting over to snuggle up
behind Jungkook and wrap his arms and legs around the bunny like an octopus. Kookie’s more
than happy to be the little spoon after the mildly traumatic day that he’s had; cuddles always make
everything feel better, and Binnie happens to give the best hugs, even when he’s miffed.

“Just…just don’t do that again, okay?” Moonbin murmurs after half a minute of sulky silence, the
words muffled against Jungkook’s shoulder. “You really scared me, man.”

Jungkook squeezes the arm that’s wrapped around his torso, feeling his guilt resurface a little at the
tiny wobble in the cat’s voice.

“I’m sorry,” he apologises for the hundredth time that evening, hugging Moonbin’s arm against his
chest. “Everything just happened so fast, and my head hurt so bad, dude, it was like ten times
worse than my usual Sunday migraines. I couldn’t even open my eyes by the time we got to the
clinic. I’ve never felt pain like that before, it…I really hope it doesn’t happen again.”

Moonbin hugs him tighter with a quite noise of concern, nuzzling against the back of his neck.
“You gotta stop working nightshifts, hyung,” the cat beseeches softly. “They’re making you sick.”

A week ago, Jungkook would’ve dismissed the statement as nothing more than Binnie’s usual
fussing, but after his little chat with Namjoon back at the clinic he isn’t so sure if it’s an
exaggeration any more. Chronic sleep deprivation is dangerous. If today’s migraine and fainting
episode were just the initial symptoms of prolonged fatigue, he definitely doesn’t want to
experience the later stages.

He sighs, closing his tired, itchy eyelids.

“I know, bud,” he murmurs. “I’m…I’ve already decided to hand in my notice at the store later this
week.”
“Oh my god, really?” Moonbin sounds startled but delighted. “You mean it?”

Jungkook nods, lips twitching at the cat’s enthusiasm. “I’m thinking of getting a short-term loan,”
he explains, because saying ‘my new boyfriend’s overprotective nestmate wants to give me money’
would be far more difficult to explain. “You’re right, the nightshifts aren’t working out for me.
Namjoon-hyung…the healer I spoke to recommended I try to keep to a more consistent sleeping
pattern.”

Moonbin makes a happy noise, pressing a kiss to Jungkook’s shoulder. “Finally. I swear JinJin-
hyung was almost ready to stage an intervention.”

Now that does come as a surprise. As far as pack-leaders go, Park Jinwoo’s probably the most
laidback person he’s ever met; as playful and carefree as they come (but then you’d have to be if
you were married to a hyperactive Fae like Myungjun), and although he’s always quick to offer a
word of advice or a helping hand, he just doesn’t seem like the intervention-instigating type. He’s
so…small and soft. Not that Jungkook would ever say that to JinJin’s face, of course, because he
has a hell of a lot of respect for the dog hybrid – it takes a special type of person to form close
bonds with four different species and bring them all together to coexist as one pack. It’s really no
surprise that Binnie was smitten from the moment Eunwoo first took him home to spend the night
last month; the only real wonder is why the werecat hasn’t moved in already, although Jungkook
half suspects it’s because his sweet-natured roommate is an overprotective worrywart who can’t
bear to leave Jungkook on his own.

And oh, there it is again, his friendly neighbourhood guilty conscience.

Honestly though, he hadn’t even realised that JinJin knew about his unhealthy sleep/work balance.
Is it really that obvious to everyone else? Or has Binnie been confiding in his new pack-leader
more than Jungkook had initially thought?

“You smell different,” Moonbin comments drowsily, pressing his nose against the older man’s
nape. “Not bad-different, just…different. I think your bond’s settling.”

“Mm,” Jungkook acknowledge, a sleepy hum that he hopes comes across as casual and unaffected,
despite the warm flutter of lovey-dovey butterflies in his stomach when he recalls his earlier
conversation with Taehyung.

“Those two guys who dropped you off,” Moonbin hedges, “…they’re your new sugar daddies,
right?”

Jungkook feels heat immediately pool in his cheeks. “Binnie!”

“Hah, I knew it! Which one are you bonded to?” the werecat presses, a knowing grin in his voice.
“C’mon, hyung, you’ve got his scent all over you. Was it the hunky driver or the cutie in the
passenger seat? Either way, nice one.”

“Oh my god.” Jungkook makes a half-assed attempt to reach behind him and smack Binnie’s thigh.
“You’re the worst, dude. I’m telling Eunwoo.”

“He’ll want to hear all about your new hyungs, too,” Moonbin rebuts, unaffected. “Also I’m like
ninety-nine percent sure he’ll know them personally – the Seoul vampire community isn’t exactly
huge, and I swear Dongminnie knows everyone. So if you won’t tell me, I’ll just get the inside
scoop from him. I need to make sure they’re good enough for you.”

Jungkook’s a little touched. Or at least he would be if he wasn’t already dreading the well-meaning
snooping that’s apparently going to go down if he doesn’t arrange for Binnie to meet up with Tae
and the others ASAP. Werecats are protective like that, and with the full moon only a few days
away, he really should’ve anticipated this happening.

“They’re the best,” he reassures, and okay yeah, maybe his voice just went a little bit gushy – he’ll
blame it on the exhaustion. “You’re gonna love them, I promise”

“Good.” Moonbin kisses his shoulder again and snuggles closer. “Cause if they break your heart,
I’ll give ‘em hell.”

Smiling more genuinely this time, Jungkook reaches back to pat the werecat’s hip. “Thanks,
Binnie.”

They lapse into silence after that, and Jungkook’s exhaustion quickly catches up to him again,
weighing down his limbs and making it all too easy for his mind to wander towards dreamland.
Just as he can feel himself starting to drift, Moonbin clears his throat softly behind him.

“Um,” the cat murmurs, disconcertingly nervous all of a sudden. “So I probably should’ve said
something sooner, but, uh…JB-hyung’s coming over in the morning for a ‘talk’.”

Jungkook winces, and even though Binnie can’t see him, the werecat can probably feel the way he
tenses up a little at the news.

“Look, I’m sorry for getting him involved,” his roommate apologises quickly, smushing his face
between Jungkook’s shoulders again. “I thought maybe you’d gone to see Yugyeom-hyung and the
others, I was only messaging him to check…I didn’t mean to make it sound like you’d gone
missing or anything. Even though technically you had.”

That adorably sulky tone is back again, and Jungkook sighs, patting Moonbin’s forearm as it hugs
him tighter.

“Wasn’t your fault,” he mumbles sleepily. “You were worried about me. Probably would’ve done
the same thing if you suddenly disappeared on me. Does everyone know? The whole pack, I
mean.”

“Maybe? I mean, JB-hyung was getting ready to organise a search party before I gave the all-clear,
sooo…yeah. I’d say it’s a definite possibility.” Moonbin sighs against the back of his neck. “He
asked me where you’d been, and you know I suck at making up excuses on the spot, so I kinda
just…mentioned the whole Sunday migraine thing you’ve been going through these past couple of
months. I didn’t realise you hadn’t actually told him about those yet – does that mean Gyeomie-
hyung doesn’t know, either? Anyway, he…I don’t think he’s too happy about it, hyung.”

Jungkook has a fleeting urge to climb out of the window in his pyjamas and make a run for it, but
that would require a lot more energy than he’s willing to expend right now. And also it’d be maybe
a little bit overdramatic – JB’s a little scary when he’s mad, but he does care about Jungkook, and
he’s always known that one day the Alpha would find out about his frequent headaches and
chronic exhaustion. This ‘talk’ has been looming on the horizon for a while now.

Doesn’t stop him from dreading it, though.

With running away no longer a viable option, he settles for burying his face in the pillow with an
aggrieved whine instead, inwardly cursing past-Jungkook’s stupidity. If he’d just sent Binnie a text
before he left Euphoria saying he’d be late coming home, none of this fuss would’ve happened and
there wouldn’t be any need for a ‘talk’ with JB. Jungkook usually loves it when the Alpha drops by
unexpectedly before school (the werewolf’s fond grin and warm hugs are the best kind of pick-me-
up on a Monday morning), but when he’s in trouble? That’s a different story. Jaebum only has to
look at him and say “Jungkook-ah” in that particular tone of voice, and he’s hit by the worst kind
of bad-guilty-squirmy feelings ever. Jungkook hates disappointing the Alpha or causing a fuss, and
he has a feeling he managed to achieve both quite spectacularly today, so that doesn’t bode well for
their conversation tomorrow.

Moonbin gives his chest a few sympathetic pats. “He’ll be here just before eight.”

“He’s gonna drive us to school?” Jungkook guesses. It isn’t unusual for the Alpha to give them a
ride to the university once or twice a week, when his work commitments allow, even though
they’ve tried to reassure the werewolf that they’re perfectly capable of walking.

“Uh, he’s gonna drive you to school,” Binnie corrects faux-casually. “I promised Rocky and Sanha
I’d meet them off the bus, soo…”

“Oh, I see how it is.” Jungkook pinches the cat’s forearm gently, not hard enough to actually hurt.
“Traitor.”

“Shh,” Moonbin hushes, snuggling up closer against his back and pointedly ignoring his comment.
“It’s late, hyung. We should sleep.”

Jungkook huffs a quiet laugh, but allows himself to be used as a human teddy-bear and settles back
into the hug with a sigh, letting the nervous anticipation for tomorrow’s conversation with JB slip
away. He’s too tired to fret over it tonight; that’s a problem for future Jungkook.

Future Jungkook is not ready.

His palms feel sweaty and there’s a nervous sort of churning in the pit of his stomach as he pulls
the door to the apartment building closed behind him, wondering if his altered scent will be
immediately noticeable to the Alpha. Maybe if he avoids direct physical contact? Which is going to
be hard, because JB’s always so generous when it comes to tactile affection, but Jungkook’s just
going to have to suck it up and resist the urge to snuggle for the duration of their conversation.

“Morning, hyung!” Moonbin chirps as he jogs ahead of Jungkook, hopping over the gate with his
usual effortless agility (aigoo, how is he always so energetic at this hour?) and skipping over to the
silver car that’s parked outside their apartment complex.
Jaebum grins warmly, rolling down the window so that he can lean out and pull Binnie closer once
the werecat draws near.

“Hey, kitten.” The Alpha cups a hand over the back of Moonbin’s neck gently and tugs him down
a little, bumping his nose against the cat’s cheek in a greeting nuzzle. “You sure I can’t offer you a
ride? Gyeomie and BamBam wheedled Mark into driving them to school in the Jag, so there’s
plenty of room for one more.”

“I’m okay, but thanks anyway.” Moonbin adjusts the straps of his backpack and glances down at
his watch. “I gotta go meet Rocky and Sanha in ten.”

“Mm,” Jaebum hums, a smile twitching at his lips like he knows an excuse when he hears one. The
Alpha leans across to the passenger seat of the car briefly before re-emerging with a brown paper
bag, passing it to the werecat. “Here, kid – Jinyoungie packed you a breakfast bagel and some
chocolate milk.”

Moonbin’s expression brightens (as it invariably does when someone presents him with food), and
he gives JB a quick hug of gratitude as he takes the bag.

“Cool, thanks hyung! I’ll see you at dance practice.”

Jungkook carefully closes the gate behind him, and takes his time heading over to the car. He’s not
dragging his feet, but he can’t deny that he’s maybe trying to delay his inevitable scolding for as
long as possible, even if Jaebum seems to be in a cheerful mood. Moonbin gives him a tight hug as
they pass each other (he doesn’t whisper ‘good luck’, but Jungkook hears it all the same), and with
a parting wave to JB the youth darts off down the road, paper bag clutched to his chest.

“Have fun at school!” Jaebum hollers cheerfully after the werecat, and pauses for a moment until
Binnie is a suitable distance away before leaning back in his seat, his gaze settling on Jungkook.
“Morning, cub.”

Before he has a chance to remember that he’s supposed to be avoiding skin contact, Jaebum’s palm
is cupping his jawline and the side of his neck, and Jungkook’s leaning into the warm touch
instinctively, the part-hybrid side of his physiology immediately comforted by the tactile contact.

JB’s nostrils flare briefly, but his only visible reaction is a singular arched eyebrow.

“Someone’s had a busy weekend, I see,” the Alpha drawls, and Jungkook knows the secret’s out –
JB’s definitely noticed his altered scent.

He fiddles with the shoulder-strap of his bag, toes curling inside his new Timberlands as he wishes
fervently that he were anywhere else but here. Despite sleeping relatively well last night, he still
feels physically and emotionally drained today after the events of the weekend, and if the Alpha
gets cross with him during their conversation, there’s a good chance Jungkook’s going to burst into
tears. Which won’t be much fun for anybody involved.

Jaebum indicates the passenger seat with a casual tilt of his head.

“Hop in, bunny boy,” the Alpha invites, unnervingly calm. “You’ve got, what, at least an hour until
your first class starts?” At Jungkook’s answering nod, he smiles. “Great. Let’s go for a drive.”

Welp. He’s dead.

Jungkook climbs into the car beside JB and fastens his seatbelt, leaning down to set his schoolbag
between his feet. When he sits back again, there’s a brown paper bag hovering right by his face.
“Breakfast,” Jaebum tells him, starting up the engine as soon as Kookie’s taken the bag from him.
“Eat up, pup, you’re way too skinny.”

That’s another thing the Alpha and his pack seem to do whenever they’re with Jungkook – feed
him. If Mark or Jinyoung aren’t ‘accidentally’ making too much stew and dropping off the
‘leftovers’ at the apartment (more frequently at the end of the month, when rent’s due and their
kitchen is pretty barren), then Jackson or JB or one of the others will just randomly thrust food at
him with the expectation that he’ll eat it. Which, naturally, he always does – he’s not dumb enough
to reject free food, and his fast metabolism means that he’s almost always hungry. And he’s not
exactly skin and bones, but he’s pretty slender compared to the average werewolf physique
(standing next to Yugyeom or Jackson, he looks pretty tiny), so he can understand their desire to
‘feed him up’, so to speak.

Having said that, this morning he and Binnie had actually eaten a pretty hearty breakfast, thanks to
all the groceries Tae’s nestmates had snuck into their kitchen on Saturday, but that still doesn’t
mean he’s going to turn down one of Jinyoung’s breakfast bagels.

“So,” the Alpha begins after a few minutes, once Kookie’s already two-thirds of the way through
his food, “you passed out at work yesterday.”

Still chewing his mouthful, Jungkook’s spared the pressure of giving an immediate verbal answer,
nodding slowly as he hums the affirmative.

“Binnie mentioned you’ve been having a lot of headaches recently,” JB continues neutrally,
tapping his index fingers against the steering wheel as they slow to a halt behind a lane of traffic.
“Is that what happened yesterday afternoon?”

“Mm,” Jungkook confirms, shoving the last of his bagel in his mouth and looking anywhere but at
Jaebum.

The Alpha sighs softly, and a moment of silence passes between the two of them before JB reaches
over to settle a hand on his knee, squeezing gently.

“Why didn’t you tell me, cub?” the werewolf murmurs, and there it is; that low, sombre tone of
disappoint that Kookie’s been dreading. “I know I’m not technically your Alpha and you’re not
bound to me in any physical way, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t still one of my cubs. I hadn’t
previously intervened with your work schedule because you’d told Gyeomie it was only temporary
and you’d promised me you were coping, but now I hear you’ve been getting headaches multiple
times a week since the start of the semester? And you hadn’t gone to see a healer about it until
someone else took you there yesterday?”

Jungkook takes a sip of his smoothie to help push the last bite of food past the lump that’s growing
in his throat.

“It wasn’t always so bad,” he tries to explain, but his voice sounds unconvincing even to his own
ears. “The migraines only really started bothering me this past month.”

“Then you should’ve come to me a month ago, Jungkook-ah,” Jaebum insists, his tone still
controlled but with a slightly firmer edge now.

The youth winces. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “I didn’t think it was anything serious, I thought it’d
just go away on its own. And I didn’t wanna worry you about something so small.”

“I worry when Youngjae gets a papercut,” the wolf counters. “I’m his Alpha, kiddo, worrying is
my job. I don’t need you sugar-coating the truth for my sake, okay? I’d much rather you were
honest with me about your feelings, even if that means calling me to drive you to the emergency
clinic at two in the morning next time you’re hit with a migraine. I want to be there when you need
me, Kook.”

Blinking hard, his eyes stinging traitorously, Jungkook takes another sip of his drink in an effort to
swallow back the brimming emotions. He doesn’t want to cry – he’s done enough of that recently,
it’s always so exhausting.

“You know I don’t like scolding you, cub,” Jaebum sighs, and the hand on his knee moves up to
settle over his nape instead, a comforting weight. “You’re special to me, and I hate seeing you
upset. But if you were truly mine, we’d be having a very different conversation right now, as I’m
sure you’re aware. But if being a big-bad-Alpha makes you think twice about keeping secrets from
me, then we’ll keep having these little talks as often as we need to. Understood?”

Jungkook gives a jerking little nod, dashing at his watery eyes with the sleeve of his hoodie. He
hears Jaebum sigh again, and a moment later they’re turning into the parking lot of a cinema
complex, the Alpha pulling up in the first available space they come across and killing the engine.

“Okay, talk over.” JB abruptly unfastens his seatbelt and turns towards him, opening his arms
invitingly. “C’mere, bunny.”

He falls into the embrace gratefully, smushing his face against the Alpha’s broad chest and letting
his lingering guilt and distress ebb away with every shaky exhale. Jaebum’s scent is comfortingly
familiar (it’s the same one Yugyeom carries, just without the maknae’s almond sweetness layered
over it), and he breathes it in deeply, feeling himself beginning to relax as he’s held close and
comforted.

“On the topic of secrets,” the Alpha murmurs, a slight smile in his voice, fingers still carding
slowly through Jungkook’s hair. “Are you planning on telling me about your mystery bondmate, or
do I need to start interrogating your friends?”

Jungkook pulls a face against Jaebum’s hoodie, then sighs resignedly. He had been expecting this
line of questioning, after all. A werewolf as perceptive as Jaebum would never miss something so
obvious.

“It’s an unusual story,” he forewarns the Alpha, keeping his face hidden against the man’s chest so
that Jaebum can’t see his blush. “It all started Saturday morning, on my way home after my
nightshift…”

For your own viewing pleasure (because this soft boy gives me so many FEELS), here's a 4
minute compilation video of Moonbin being a clingy/needy cutiepie.
 You're welcome. ;D

Chapter End Notes

Yugyeom and Binnie will be introduced to one of Kookie's new hyungs in the next
chapter! No spoilers as to who though, you'll just have to wait and see... ;D

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Have a great week, everyone. :) x

 Mind The Step
Chapter Summary

Jungkook is a clumsy bumble-bun, but at least he has good friends (and new hyungs)
to fuss over him in the aftermath.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Jungkook usually hates Mondays.

It’s not that his class schedule is any worse than the rest of the week, but he’s generally still
suffering from that post-nightshift hangover for the better part of the morning; feeling like death
warmed up during his first double-period lecture hall, desperately struggling keep himself awake
and pay attention. Which usually means his study notes are practically incomprehensible by the
end of it, and then he feels anxiously compelled to fill in the gaps as best he can with extra study-
time over his lunch break while the topic’s still fresh in his mind, pouring over books and study
materials in one of the library booths, shovelling down bites of cheap gimbap whenever he’s sure
the librarian isn’t looking. Thankfully both the cafeteria and snack shop on campus come with huge
student discounts which makes the food super affordable compared to most other places, so at least
he can buy something decent and filling for lunch most days. It’s a small consolation for not being
able to hang out with friends during his free time, though.

But today? Today Jungkook feels amazing.

He’s still a little tired and achy, granted, but compared to previous Mondays it’s almost like he’s
had a total brain transplant. His three-hour class on investments and e-business infrastructure
actually makes sense (although it’s still the most soul-crushingly dull thing he’s ever learned), and
he leaves the lecture hall with five full pages of notes that he can actually use for their upcoming
exam. Feeling liberated, he deviates from his usual route to the library and heads out into the sunny
campus grounds, pulling his phone from his backpack to check for messages.

Yugy: Hey! Hope JB-hyung didn’t murder you too hard this morning. Need a hug? x
Yugy: Dumb question. I wanna hug you anyway so text me when you’re done at the library, k? You
really scared me yesterday. Oh, and I wanna hear all about where you suddenly got the money for
those new Timberlands! You promised you’d spill after class, so no take-backs. x

Jungkook grins, rolling his eyes fondly. He should’ve guessed that Yugyeom wouldn’t forget
about a promise – he never has, not in the eight years they’ve known each other, although back in
middle school it had been a much cuter and scrawnier werewolf who’d made him pinky-swear on
everything and proclaimed “no take-backs” at every available opportunity thereafter. If Jungkook
didn’t love him so much, he definitely would’ve thumped the idiot by now.

‘I didn’t buy them, they were a gift,’ he texts back, pausing to lean against the support strut of one
of the many ‘shade-shelters’ that are scattered about the campus to cater to species who might need
a reprieve from daylight every now and then. ‘You free for lunch? I’m ditching the library today.’

His phone buzzes within a few seconds, then again, and again – a flurry of short messages sent one
after the other.

OMG
Who are you?
What happened to my BFF?
My Kookie lives in that fucking library.

Jungkook sends him frowny-emoji, and Yugyeom replies with a kissy face.

Yugy: Gonna grab us something from the cafeteria. Meet you by the picnic tables near the oak
grove in like 10 minutes?

And another text before Jungkook can finish typing an automatic protest that Yugyeom doesn’t
need to buy him lunch again:

Yugy: Yo, I bumped into Binnie so I’m dragging him along too. Also wtf does he mean you have a
sugar daddy??? BITCH I NEED DETAILS.

Groaning internally, Jungkook closes the conversation and resists the urge to bang his head against
the screen (it’s already cracked, so he probably shouldn’t risk causing any further damage). He
really doesn’t have an easy reply to Yugyeom’s question – it’s definitely something they need to
talk about in person. And hey, he’d totally been mentally prepared to tell Yugyeom all about
Taehyung and their new bond, about Tae’s nestmates and how they’d all been going out of their
way to help him…but Jungkook had rather been hoping to have this conversation without the
whole ‘sugar daddy’ thing coming up.

It’s not like he can easily refute the claim, given the evidence that’s stacked against him – in the
short period of time Tae and his hyungs have known him, they’ve bought him a week’s haul of
groceries, a new rice cooker, an expensive pair of Timberlands, given him two very generous tips
at the café, provided free medical care, and offered to settle his finances just because they like him.
It really does sound like a sugar daddy scenario, and he doubts Yugyeom will be willing to drop the
subject now that Moonbin’s phrased it to him that way. Damn. Jungkook’s going to have words
with his roommate when they get home. (And by that he means throwing pillows at Binnie’s face
and acting affronted all evening, at least until the werecat inevitably cuddles him into forgiveness.)

Seeing that he still has several unread messages in his inbox, he opens the app again, heart
stuttering in his chest with something a little like nervous excitement when he sees who they’re all
from. He taps the name, eyes scanning over the texts eagerly.

TaeTae: Hey Kookie, just checking in. Feeling any better? Did you go to SNU today? How’s your
head? Xxx

TaeTae: Oh duh, you’re probably in class by now. Maybe text me when you get out? Love you.
Xxx

Jungkook grins, clutching the phone in both hands, re-reading those two words over and over
before reluctantly forcing himself to scroll down to the next message.

TaeTae: So where abouts on campus would you be if I maybe wanted to come visit you? I’m not
really familiar with SNU, and the map’s hella confusing. Maybe I could meet you after class? You
get a lunch break, right? Xxx

TaeTae: Hey Kookie, nothing to worry about. Just call me as soon as you’re out of class, ok? Xxx

By the last text, Jungkook’s dopey smile has slackened a little, a teeny-tiny slither of worry
gnawing at his stomach. The tone of Taehyung’s texts…he can’t put his finger on it, but something
just seems off.

Swiping on Tae’s name and hitting ‘call’, Jungkook starts to head off down the path that leads to
the small woodland area that runs along one side of the campus. Although the weather’s still cool
enough to need a jacket, it’s dry and sunny today, so most of the students are lazing about on the
open grassy area in front of the main university building during their lunch break (or taking shelter
in the shaded alcoves, if that’s their preference), so the picnic benches near the border of the wood
will probably offer them a little more privacy than usual, which will come in handy when
Yugyeom inevitably freaks the fuck out over the whole ‘transference bond’ thing.

Taehyung picks up on the third ring.

“Kookie? Are you alright?”

“Hi, hyung,” Jungkook chirps, back to grinning dopily like a lovesick idiot just at the sound of
Tae’s voice. “I’m good. Is something wrong? Your texts sounded kinda…urgent. You and the
hyungs are okay, right?”

“We’re all fine,” Taehyung replies, sounding a little breathless, but his relief is audible. “I just…I
really needed to check in with you, that’s all. Are you free to meet up? I’m at your campus.”

“Really?” Jungkook beams, heart soaring at the prospect of seeing his boyfriend imminently; but
then he rethinks the whole situation and winces. “Aw, hyung…is this because I didn’t answer your
texts? I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. I only just got out of class. You didn’t have to
come all this way-”

“Hey, no, it’s not your fault,” Taehyung hurries to reassure. “I was already on my way over when I
sent you those.”

Jungkook glances down at his watch as he nears the end of the path, where a set a of wide stone
steps lead down into the wooded area along the east side of the campus.

“It’s only just gone midday, hyung,” he points out softly. “Shouldn’t you still be asleep?”

From what he’s gathered through being a Kdrama junkie (which is entirely Moonbin’s fault - the
werecat likes to put something on in the background while they eat dinner), younger vampires like
Taehyung (especially newly-turned nestlings) tended to sleep predominantly during the day
because they’re more photosensitive than their elders. It’s why universities run a nocturnal
schedule for most of their core academic subjects, so that students can study at a time of day that
suits their natural body clock best. Jungkook had even briefly contemplated taking the overnight
business course so that he didn’t have to switch between weekend nightshifts and weekday
studying, but the evening lecture slot would’ve clashed with dance practice or art classes most
days, so that option had been ruled out pretty quickly.

“Namjoon-hyung made me go to sleep early last night, so I woke up at like ten,” the vampire
explains, and Jungkook can hear people chatting away in the background. “Geez, Kookie, your
campus is huge. Anyway, is it okay if we maybe meet up real quick? I don’t wanna infringe on
your free-time with your friends, so I won’t stay long, I just really need to see you.”
Jungkook’s touched that Tae seems so invested in his wellbeing, and he feels a twinge of guilt
about the texts he’d inadvertently ignored during class. If only he’d replied sooner, maybe the
vampire wouldn’t be so worried about him now. Perhaps he could send Tae a copy of his class
schedule, so that next time he won’t immediately assume the worst if his text messages go unread.

“I’m heading down to the old oak grove,” he tells his new bondmate, beginning to descend the
stone staircase to the forest path. “It’s down by the law building, right on the far side of campus.
I’m meeting a couple friends for lunch, but you’re more than welcome to join us if you’d like? I’m
sure they both wanna get to know you.”

And that’s probably the understatement of the century - Moonbin’s been pestering him for a proper
introduction since he first caught a whiff of Tae’s scent on Saturday.

“You’re sure I won’t be intruding?”

“Nah, it’s cool. I’d really like you to meet them,” Jungkook insists, and it’s an honest statement. He
loves his friends, because they’re the best people on earth, and he wants Taehyung to love them
too. “I think maybe you saw Binnie yesterday when you dropped me off at home? He was a little
distracted, otherwise he probably would’ve said hi, but-”

Jungkook’s so wrapped up in the conversation that his body temporarily forgets how to use stairs
like a normal person, and his foot completely misses the second to last step. His stomach gives a
sickening lurch as he slips, yelping in surprise, ankle turning beneath him as he lands too hard,
sending him crashing to the ground in an inelegant sprawl. His phone flies out of his hand and goes
skittering across the path, disappearing under a nearby bush.

Fucking. Ow.

On the bright side, there’s nobody else presently on the stairs to witness his embarrassment.

On the downside, his ankle hurts like hell, and he’s gone and scuffed up his palms against the path
(he can feel the tell-tale burn of freshly grated skin). He grits his teeth, sitting up to take stock of
his injuries, already knowing that his ankle’s not going to hold up well enough for him to dance on
it during practice tonight, even if it’s just a mild twist.

He carefully flexes his foot, grimacing at the dull throb. Yep, definitely a sprain. It’s his own
stupid fault for letting himself get distracted by his mega crush on Taehyung, instead of
concentrating on making it down the stairs safely; but then hindsight is always 20/20. He’ll add
that to the growing list of ‘things future Jungkook needs to do better next time’.

Fuck, and he’d been having such a good Monday, too.

“Kookie!”

Startling at the shout, Jungkook’s head shoots up in time to see a very familiar figure hurtling
down the steps towards him.

Taehyung’s dressed in a long-sleeved sweater and dark pants, sunhat pulled low to shield his face
from the daylight and oval-shaped sunglasses perched on his nose, but the fear in his expression is
still very much evident as he hurries to Jungkook’s side.

“Ohmygod, okay, don’t move,” the vampire frets, a little breathless from his run as he sinks to his
knees beside Jungkook. “Is anything broken? Please tell me nothing’s broken.”

Jungkook’s still a little too stunned by Tae’s sudden arrival to reply straight away, staring up at his
boyfriend dumbly, which seems to worry him further.

“Did you hit your head, baby?” A gloved hand gently cups his chin, Taehyung pulling off his
sunglasses so that he can peer into Jungkook’s eyes concernedly.

It’s the site of those familiar amber irises that finally snaps Jungkook out of his shocked inertia,
and he quickly shakes his head, smiling as he reaches up to touch the vampire’s hand where it still
rests against his cheek.

“I’m fine, I’m okay,” he reassures, although the slight wobble in his voice (residual adrenaline
from the fall, he tells himself) doesn’t make for a convincing argument. “It just…knocked the wind
from me for a sec. And I’m kinda surprised to see you, didn’t expect you to make it here so fast.”

Taehyung seems to relax marginally at Jungkook’s apparent lucidity, tense shoulders sagging a
little as he leans in to brush his lips against Kookie’s brow in a tender kiss.

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” Tae groans, still breathing heavily as he rests their foreheads together. “I was
just trying to make sure you were okay. God, this is all my fault. Yoongi-hyung said not to contact
you about it, but I needed to…shit. I’m so sorry, Kookie, I only wanted to keep you safe, and now
look what's happened.”

It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to Jungkook, but whatever the issue, Taehyung seems
genuinely upset about it. Not just in his voice and expression…Jungkook feels it, the guilt and
anguish, like a phantom tightness in his own chest that he somehow knows doesn’t belong to him.
Taehyung’s still wearing his gloves, but with their brows touching like this…

As though realising their connection at the same moment, Taehyung pulls back with a sharp little
gasp, another breathless apology falling from his lips as his gloved fingertips come up to stroke
over the spot where their foreheads had been touching. The tightness in Jungkook’s chest vanishes
instantly.

“That was, you,” Tae stutters, wide-eyed. “Ohmygod, Kook, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“Hey,” Jungkook murmurs, fingers curling in Taehyung’s sleeve, holding the vampire’s worried
gaze calmly. “It’s okay. We’re good.”

Taehyung’s brow is still creased with worry, gloved fingertips gently stroking down the human’s
cheek.

Jungkook gives Tae’s sleeve another little tug. “Hyung, I’m fine. I just tripped. It wasn’t your fault,
I should’ve been looking where I was going. And I only fell down the last couple of steps, it’s not a
big deal.”

It’s not the first time he’s fallen down the stairs and busted his ankle, and it certainly won’t be the
last. Taehyung doesn’t need to hear that right now, though – the vampire might never let him walk
on his own again.

“When you sounded okay on the phone, I thought maybe I’d made it here in time,” Tae mutters,
glancing away. “I thought I could stop you from…ugh, I’m so stupid.”

“No you’re not,” Jungkook immediately rebuts, leaning in to try and catch Taehyung’s eye, smiling
wryly. “Pretty sure that title goes to me, hyung – I’m the guy who just fell on his face.”

The vampire’s lips kick up at the corner, huffing out what sounds like a reluctantly amused sigh.
“Did Yoongi-hyung see something?” Jungkook tacks on curiously, subtly brushing some grit from
his scraped palms and expertly hiding his wince. “Is that why you wanted to check up on me?”

It’s Taehyung’s turn to blink at him in surprise.

“Wait. You know about Yoongi-hyung?”

Shit.

He’d forgotten that his previous encounter with the Seer had become a sort-of secret between
himself and Yoongi. Well, not that the vampire had indicated that he wanted it to be kept a secret,
but since Yoongi hadn’t shared the events of Sunday morning with his nestmates immediately after
it had happened (as Kookie had initially expected him to do), Jungkook just figured it maybe
wasn’t necessary to bring it up again – especially since he knew it would probably upset Tae and
the others to know that he’d almost been run over by a taxi because he’d been too fucking tired to
remember basic road safety.

“I…we’ve met before, actually,” he confesses haltingly. “Yesterday morning, after my nightshift.
He walked me home.”

Taehyung’s brow creases again in a faint frown. “Why would…but he never said anything to the
rest of us. He just walked you home, that was it? Nothing happened? Because hyung doesn’t really
leave the nest unless he has a bad feeling about something.”

Jungkook rubs the back of his neck, then grimaces, belatedly remembering the grazes on his
palms.

“I guess something did happen? But it wasn’t a big deal. Yoongi-hyung stepped in to help, so
everything was fine.”

It’s definitely as vague an explanation as he can possibly make it, but unfortunately it’s not enough
to satisfy Taehyung, who’s clearly looking for details.

“Helped you how? Were you in trouble? Was someone bothering you? You finish work so late, and
drunk people can be assholes…baby, did someone try to hurt you?”

Oh, fuck it.

“There was a taxi,” he elaborates, trying to sound as casually dismissive as possible to downplay
the whole ‘nearly died in a traffic collision’ thing. “Guess I was pretty tired, so I wasn’t looking
where I was going when I started crossing the road. Hyung pulled me back before anything could
happen, though.”

Taehyung’s eyes have gone wide, and Jungkook winces internally, knowing that the vampire
understands the implications of what he deliberately hadn’t said.

“You almost got run over by a taxi?”

“But I didn’t,” Jungkook hurries to reassure, his smile cheerful. “And I’m totally fine, see? And I
got to meet Yoongi-hyung, so that’s good, right?”

“What? No, none of that is good, everything about you almost getting hit by a moving vehicle is
definitely not-good, oh my god.” Taehyung clutches a hand to his chest like Kookie’s propensity
for life-endangerment is giving him palpitations. “I can’t believe Yoongi-hyung didn’t tell me.”
Jungkook reaches out to squeeze Tae’s arm, feeling another twinge of guilt for making the vampire
panic over something that happened because of his own stupidity.

“He probably just didn’t want to worry you,” Kookie reasons softly. “Neither did I, hyung. Since I
wasn’t hurt, I didn’t see the point in stressing you out by talking about it.”

Taehyung pulls a face, like he wants to be upset but is struggling to commit, before heaving a sigh
and cupping Jungkook’s cheeks in both gloved hands, leaning in to kiss him softly on the lips.

“What am I gonna do with you?” the vampire murmurs, fondly exasperated. “I wanna put you in a
fucking bubble, swear to god.”

Jungkook huffs a surprised laugh, cheeks flushing at the kiss, but he leans into his boyfriend’s
touch eagerly. Maybe Mondays aren’t so bad after all…

Boof!

At the yipped interruption, Tae’s expression freezes, and Jungkook glances up to see a familiar orb
of tan fur bounding down the steps towards them, the nametag on Chim’s pink collar jingling as he
runs.

“Uh oh,” Taehyung intones, leaning away from Jungkook with a wince as Chim launches himself
from the bottommost step.

The vampire shifter ignores his nestmate and barrels straight into Jungkook’s lap, standing up on
his tiny hind legs with his front paws resting on Kookie’s chest as he stares up at the human with
un-doglike intensity, black nose twitching.

“Hi,” Jungkook reacts with soft, nervous laugh (because man, that stare is powerful).

Chim seems to scrutinise him for a long moment before letting out a softer boof, apparently
satisfied that Kookie isn’t too badly injured, short tail wagging as his tiny wet nose pokes the
younger man in the throat, snuffling. It makes him jump (it’s cold, he can’t help it) and Chim’s
answering huff sounds almost amused this time. The puppy gives the underside of his chin a single
tender lick in greeting, then turns around in his lap, shifting his attention towards Taehyung.

“Okay, so I know you told me to wait in the car,” the younger vampire acknowledges, raising a
placating hand, “but you’d been gone for like twenty minutes, so I thought maybe you’d gotten
lost-”

The tiny pooch gives a short, rumbling sort of growl.

“-and it’s not exactly like I can just text you when you’re all fluffy,” Tae ploughs on, completely
unaffected by the pup’s hard stare. He gestures to his wide-brimmed sunhat. “And look, see? I even
put this fucking insult to fashion on my head because I knew you’d fuss about prolonged daylight
exposure.”

Chim glares at the vampire for another long beat, then lets out a sneezy huff that even to Kookie’s
ears sounds fondly exasperated, and hops down from the youth’s lap to start sniffing around at
Jungkook’s limbs, pausing when his tiny twitching snout reaches Kookie’s hands where they’ve
come to rest on his thighs.

The dog paws at his sleeve demandingly until Jungkook obligingly turns his hands over to reveal
his palms, and Chim’s answering boof is one of quiet disapproval as he studies the scuffed skin.
“Oh, you’re hurt,” Tae reacts, gently taking hold of Kookie’s wrists to draw his hands closer for
inspection, face pinched in worry.

“It’s fine, I only grazed ‘em a little,” Jungkook tries to reassure, both touched by his concern and
amused by the minor overreaction to what’s realistically a very small injury.

As someone with the balance and poise of a new-born deer (outside of the dance studio, at least),
Jungkook’s no stranger to cuts and bruises. He’s sprained his ankle more times than he can count,
and thanks his lucky stars on a regular basis that one of the few non-dormant genetic factors he’s
inherited from the hybrid side of his family is accelerated healing. He’d never cope with being laid
up for days or weeks at a time with a busted ankle – usually, if he’s careful not to push himself too
hard and ices it overnight, the pain and swelling is almost fully gone by the next day, and
practically non-existent within 48 hours. The cuts on his hands will have healed over by tomorrow
evening too, he’ll just be left with a layer of new skin that looks and feels like mild sunburn for a
day or two.

“Really, it doesn’t even hurt anymore,” he tries to insist (which, to be fair, isn’t a total lie - it’s only
a slight sting now that the burning from before has settled). “Guess I tried to catch myself when I
fell. I think my phone got knocked away somewhere over there.”

He points towards the tall bushes that line the path, and Chim follows his finger, padding around
Jungkook and over to the hedgerow, disappearing from sight. There’s a loud rustle, a low grunt,
and then Jimin emerges from the bush in human form, phone in hand. The blond’s dressed in
casual clothes like Taehyung – a pair of skinny jeans, white shirt and a dark leather jacket – but he
still looks every bit as handsome as the first time Kookie met him.

“I think your screen’s cracked,” Jimin says apologetically, dropping into a crouch beside him as he
passes it over, one hand coming up to rest on the back of Kookie’s neck in a casual gesture of
tactile comfort. “Sorry, honey.”

The petname has the same effect on Jungkook as it did last time, a fluttering warmth igniting in his
chest as fights a smile, cheeks heating. He distracts himself momentarily with his phone, making
sure it still turns on after the fall (it does!), shooting Jimin a more confident smile as he shoves it
back into the front pocket of his hoodie.

“Don’t worry, it’s been cracked like that for months. I drop it a lot.”

Jimin hums in acknowledgement, gaze shifting briefly towards his nestmate again, and he reaches
out to pull Taehyung’s sunglasses from the rim of his hat.

“Shades, Tae,” the vampire-shifter chides gently, slotting them carefully back onto the bride of the
nestling’s nose. “It’s too bright, you’ll give yourself a headache.”

A startled yelp from nearby has all three of them glancing up, Jungkook wincing anew at the sight
of Moonbin’s worried expression as the werecat comes running down the steps towards them.

“Hyung!” his roommate shouts. “What happened? Did you pass out?”

Jungkook resists the urge to groan.

“I’m fine,” he reassures for the nth time, flashing the younger man a smile as Moonbin skids to a
halt beside him. “I just slipped. Help me up?”

Taehyung opens his mouth to protest (likely still worried that something’s broken or bent), but
Binnie’s known him long enough that seeing Jungkook sprawled on the floor is a fairly regular
occurrence. The werecat’s already leaning down to offer his aid, gripping Jungkook by the
forearms to help lever him upright.

The ache in his right ankle flares to life the moment he puts weight on it, and although he quickly
switches to balance on his left foot instead, he can’t quite hide his wince in time.

“Kookie?” Taehyung frets, reaching for him.

“Is it your ankle?” Moonbin asks, glancing down at the offending joint. “Aw hyung, not again.”

“Again?” Jimin echoes, arching an eyebrow at the werecat.

“Mm, this happens a lot,” Binnie elaborates (the absolute traitor), and offers the two vampires a
wry smile.

Jungkook decides to try and divert the conversation away from the topic of his chronic clumsiness
by initiating appropriate introductions.

“Hyungs, this is Moonbin, my roommate,” he interjects brightly, arm draped over his younger
friend’s shoulders. “Binnie, this is Park Jimin and Kim Taehyung.”

“Nice to meet you, Moonbin-ah,” Jimin greets, offering the werecat his hand with a friendly smile.
“I’ve heard a lot about you from Eunwoo.”

“Oh, so you’re the ‘Binnie’ that Dongmin’s always going on about,” Taehyung realises, apparently
momentarily distracted from his concern over Kookie’s ankle (success!) as his eyes light up in
recognition, a smile curling at his lips. “Hi! It’s great to finally meet you in person.”

“Likewise.” Moonbin’s gaze studies Taehyung for a beat, and his arm curls a little tighter around
Jungkook’s waist – ostensibly to help support him, but mostly because he’s an adorably possessive
kitten. “You must be Kookie-hyung’s new bondmate?”

“Guilty as charged,” Tae confirms, offering the werecat his hand with a handsome grin, the one
that always makes Jungkook feel a little weak at the knees. “Call me hyung. And sorry, just to
clarify…exactly how often does Kookie fall over like this?”

Jungkook tries to communicate an urgent halt-stop-desist message to his roommate using only his
eyebrows, but Moonbin’s deliberately keeping his attention focused elsewhere, the brat.

“Oh, at least once every couple of weeks,” the werecat supplies helpfully, and that’s it, Jungkook’s
going to drink all of Bin’s chocolate milk when he gets home.

Taehyung sighs and rubs his forehead. “Bubble,” he groans. “Kookie, I’m gonna put you in a giant,
inflatable bubble with an inbuilt tracking chip, I swear to god.”

Jimin chuckles, coming up on Jungkook’s other side, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“We need to get that ankle checked out,” the vampire reminds him. “Let me drive you over to
Namjoon-hyung’s clinic, I’m sure you won’t have to wait long to see him.”

Jungkook pulls a face, torn. He definitely wants to see the healer again, but not under these
circumstances – it’s just so embarrassing, especially since it’s been less than twenty-four hours
since their last consultation. And he knows what a sprain feels like, it’s nothing serious. It’d be
even more humiliating to take advantage of the healer’s clinic time with something so minor,
although he doubts Jimin and Taehyung will see it that way.
“I can’t, hyung, I have a class in like forty-five minutes,” he replies, because that’s definitely a
more concrete excuse.

“You can’t walk around on a busted ankle,” Taehyung reasons softly, and offers Jungkook an
encouraging smile. “Joonie-hyung can write you an absence note if you can’t make it to your next
class, it’s no big deal.”

But it is. Maybe not in the grand scheme of things (you have to miss a significant chunk of your
course before it starts impacting on your overall grade), but academic-related stuff is always a
constant source of stress for Jungkook, and just the thought of missing even one important lecture
makes him nervous – what if he isn’t able to understand the material without the professor’s
explanation? What if that impacts on his performance in their final exams? What if his grades start
to slip and he gets dropped from his scholarship programme? He can’t afford to pay full student
fees and his evening art course, which means he’d have to quit art to keep up with the bills and…
no. Absolutely not.

“Hyung doesn’t like skipping school,” Moonbin explains casually (and unfortunately Binnie knows
that better than anyone – despite his best efforts to remain outwardly composed, Jungkook’s had
several minor breakdowns in front of the werecat when big essays have been due and he’s gone
without sleep for three days straight). “Don’t worry, I can piggy-back him between classes, that’s
what I usually do. He’s seriously lighter than my backpack.”

Jungkook’s cheeks flush hot again when Tae and Jimin fix him with an assessing look.

“Have you eaten yet?” Taehyung queries.

“Yugy-hyung’s just grabbing us some food,” Moonbin answers for him, jerking his thumb casually
in the direction of the stairs. “The queue in the cafeteria was pretty long, so he sent me on ahead to
make sure Kookie-hyung didn’t wander off back to the library. Hyung’s always studying during
lunch break, so we have to sit on him sometimes to make sure he doesn’t crawl back to his books.”
He tilts his head, cat-like, and smiles warmly. “Would you like to join us? I’m sure Yugy-hyung
won’t mind.”

Taehyung visibly brightens and opens his mouth to reply, but Jimin sets a hand on his arm, his
own smile regretful.

“Tae’s already been outside a little too long,” he apologises. “And we wouldn’t want to intrude on
your time together, especially if it’s a rare thing. Maybe some other time.”

Jungkook’s both disappointed and relieved. He’d wanted Tae and Jimin to meet Yugyeom in
person, and stay long enough to get to know his friends a little better, but he’s also aware of how
many questions the werewolf is bound to have (about the weekend and everything that’s happened
since he last saw Jungkook on Friday), questions which he doesn’t really want to answer in front of
his new hyungs. Especially when the whole ‘sugar daddy’ thing inevitably gets brought up.

“I’d still like someone to take a look at that ankle before you go home, if that’s alright?” Jimin
asks him, his hand sliding up to settle over Jungkook’s nape. At the youth’s slight nod, he presses,
“What time do you finish class this afternoon?”

“Um,” Oh god, why does his touch feel so nice? “Usually I’m out by three-thirty, give or take a
few minutes.”

“Great.” The vampire shoots him another easy smile. “I’ll make sure someone’s waiting to pick
you up from the drop-off point down by the bicycle racks.”
 Jungkook nods again, and Jimin rewards him with a gentle squeeze to his nape.

“Then I’ll leave you in Bin-ah’s capable hands.” The vampire’s fingers linger there a beat longer
before he steps away, flashing Moonbin a quick grin. “Good luck with that one, kid.”

“Thanks, hyung,” the werecat chirps without missing a beat.

Jungkook would be put-out by the teasing if he wasn’t so thrilled by how easily Moonbin seems to
have accepted both Tae and Jimin into their fold. Apparently despairing over Kookie’s propensity
to injure himself has given them common ground – maybe this Monday isn’t going to shit after all.

“Hey,” Taehyung murmurs, lifting his sunglasses back up onto the rim of his hat (and ignoring
Jimin’s exasperated sigh) as he steps closer to Jungkook, cupping his cheek again. “You’ll call me
if your ankle gets any worse, right?”

Nodding, Jungkook smiles, tilting his cheek into the touch. “Yeah. I promise.”

Tae leans in to brush a quick, chaste kiss against his lips, before stepping back again and letting
Jimin slot his shades back onto the bridge of his nose and turn him towards the steps.

“I’ll see you in a few hours!” the younger vampire calls back over his shoulder as he’s ushered
away. “Try not to fall down any more staircases, beautiful!”

Moonbin laughs beside him, squeezing his waist in a cosy side-hug as he watches Jimin an Tae’s
retreating backs. Then his face splits into a wide grin as a familiar figure passes by the vampires at
the top of the stairs, arms piled high with wrapped gimbap and sandwiches and a huge bag of
shrimp-snacks, glass bottles of grape soda tucked under each arm. Yugyeom doesn’t even spare the
two vampires a glance as he descends the steps, his attention clearly focused on not dropping any
of the precious foodstuffs in his hold.

“Hey!” the werewolf greets energetically, his smile full of cheer. “Hope you guys are hungry – I
couldn’t decide if we wanted kimchi gimbap or spicy chicken sandwiches, so I got us a ton of
both…”

He must read something in Jungkook’s expression, because he pauses in his rambling, cocking his
head to one side.

“What? Did I miss something?”

Yugyeom’s gaze flickers from Moonbin’s grinning face to the way the werecat’s supporting
Jungkook, then down to the foot that Kookie’s keeping a good inch off the ground.

“Oh my god, dude, what happened to your ankle?”

Chapter End Notes

Yugyeom's definitely going to be miffed that he missed Kookie's new baes by like 5
seconds, and Jungkook's going to regret not escaping to the clinic with Tae and Jimin
while he had the chance once Yugy starts asking a thousand questions. :P

More healer-Namjoon in the next chapter because I am a weak, weak soft!NamKook

shipper. And who do you think might come to collect Kookie for his visit to the
clinic? It's a face we haven't seen in quite some time... ;D

Let me know your thoughts, fam! Thanks as always for your continuing support, you
guys are the best.
 Pick Me Up, Buttercup
Chapter Summary

Jungkook reveals all to his BFF, tries to avoid causing himself further injury, and has a
pleasant surprise when someone unexpected comes to pick him up after class.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

“Hey…you’re not still mad at me, right?” Jungkook murmurs, cheek pressed against the side of
Yugyeom’s head as his best friend piggy-backs him down the main path towards the drop-off
zone.

The whole “hey, so I met a stranger on Saturday morning and now we’re bonded” conversation at
lunch had gone over pretty well, all things considered…but just like with Jaebum, his best friend
hadn’t exactly been thrilled to find out how many health-related secrets Jungkook’s been keeping
from him these past five or six weeks. Moonbin had clearly seen the warning signs ahead of time
and ducked out before the two of them actually started arguing (ostensibly to meet up with
Minhyuk and Sanha, but Jungkook knows how much his roommate hates conflict, so he can’t
really blame the werecat for wanting to escape). And it really had been an argument, at least by
their standards – in the eight years he and Yugyeom have known each other, they’ve only come to
blows (verbally, that is) on a handful of occasions, so anything involving genuine anger always
feels like a Big Deal.

Still, Jungkook knows he’d kinda had it coming, what with keeping his chronic sleeplessness and
daily headaches (and those awful recurrent migraines) a secret for so long. Were he in Yugyeom’s
shoes, he probably would’ve been pissed too.

“But they weren’t always as bad as yesterday,” he’d tried to explain, a cold sort of nausea
churning in his gut and a lump lodged in his throat at seeing Yugyeom so visibly upset with him.
“It wasn’t even an issue until this past weekend – if they’d been like that right from the start, I
would’ve gone to see a doctor weeks ago, I promise. But I was coping just fine…at least, I thought I
was. Look, I know it sounds like a big deal, but I wasn’t really keeping it a secret on purpose, I just
didn’t wanna worry you over nothing. I didn’t think it would get worse all of a sudden. Yesterday
was just…really, really bad.”

“Of course it got fucking worse, Kookie,” Yugyeom had fumed, throwing his hands in the air in an
agitated gesture as he paced back and forth on the other side of the picnic bench. “It got worse
because you ignored all those migraines for over a month and didn’t fucking tell anyone how shitty
you were feeling!”

“But it wasn’t like that all the time,” Jungkook had insisted plaintively, regretting how much food
he’d eaten because now it felt like it could come back up again at any moment. “The headaches
always went away so fast, and I mostly felt okay when I was at school. If I’d known things were
gonna keep getting worse, I would’ve told you, honest. I’m sorry, Gyeomie…”

He could tell his best friend hadn’t been entirely happy with that flimsy excuse, but it was also
obvious that Yugyeom hated fighting as much as Jungkook did. So, with a muttered threat about
dragging Kookie’s ass to a healer himself the next time he so much as sneezed, the werewolf had
dropped down onto the bench beside him and pulled him into a firm and much-needed hug,
nuzzling the crown of his head with a soothing rumble. Just in time, too – Jungkook had probably
been about five seconds away from actual tears, and one more firm rebuke would’ve pushed him
over the edge.

He really, really hates arguing with his friends.

But before they could properly talk things over and make amends, they’d both realised the time,
and Yugyeom had been forced to make a mad-dash up the path towards the business and
economics building so that Jungkook wouldn’t be late for class, the human-hybrid clinging onto his
back for dear life. The werewolf had dropped him off right at the door to his study hall with about
thirty seconds to spare – Yugyeom had wanted to go further inside, but Jungkook had point-blank
refused to be carried over to his seat in front of everyone. Hell no. He’d been humiliated enough for
one day, thank you.

However, the abrupt, unresolved ending to their earlier conversation hadn’t sat comfortably with
Jungkook. They’d hugged it out, sure, but he knew there was more that Yugyeom had wanted to
say; a whole world of pain and frustration the wolf had elected to hold back for Kookie’s sake.
Knowing they were still at odds had been fucking unbearable.

So Jungkook had continuously glanced at the clock throughout his two-hour lecture on competitive
business models in land revenue, a knot of guilt and uncertainty gnawing away at his insides the
whole time, the throbbing pain in his ankle almost an afterthought compared to the hollow ache in
his chest. By the end of class (what felt like several decades later), Kookie had managed to
thoroughly convince himself that his worst fears had finally come true; that their friendship was
over, their bond would never truly recover from this day, and it was entirely his fault.

But then Yugyeom had been waiting for him in the corridor outside his classroom with a cheerful
smile, nuzzling Jungkook’s temple in his usual tender greeting and turning around so that the
human-hybrid could hop up onto his back. As they stepped out into the sunny campus grounds, the
wolf was already musing aloud about potential dates for their next sleepover at the Den, listing off
all the new horror movies he and Binnie wanted to marathon. It was as if their argument had never
happened at all.

Jungkook honestly hadn’t intended to bring the topic up again until Yugyeom did, but his fears and
doubts have been slowly building up over the past two hours and by now they’ve reached a boiling
point.

He just has to make sure there’s no lingering bad blood between them. He’ll never sleep tonight if
there’s even the faintest sliver of doubt left in his mind about the status of their friendship; the
thought of Yugyeom still being angry with him is making Jungkook feel physically sick.

“Kookie…” The werewolf huffs a quiet sigh and carefully bumps Jungkook a little higher onto his
back when he starts to slip. “C’mon, bun, like I could ever stay mad at you. I won’t apologise for
getting upset back there, because I kinda feel like my reaction was justified, you know? But I’m
sorry I yelled. You know it’s only ‘cause I worry about you, dude.”

Jungkook’s lips curl into a relieved smile, that hollow ache in his chest finally easing as he presses
his face into Yugyeom’s shoulder, arms curling around the werewolf’s necks in a tighter sort of
back-hug, a little too emotional to speak for a moment. He’d seriously been so worried about
losing the trust of his oldest and dearest friend because of his own stupidity, but now he feels dumb
for overthinking things (again) and assuming the worst. Of course Yugyeom would never throw
their friendship aside over a little argument – he’s way too sweet and forgiving.

“Love you,” he mumbles into the wolf’s shoulder, once the threat of actual tears has safely passed.

Yugyeom tilts his head back and to the side, a sort of backwards nuzzle against Jungkook’s hair.
“Love you too, stupid.”

“You’re stupid,” Jungkook retorts without missing a beat.

Yugyeom bumps him up a little higher again. “Only ‘cause I’m copying you, dumb-bun.”

And just like that, everything’s back to how it should be. Jungkook sniffs a grin and rests his cheek
against the side of Yugyeom’s head again, gaze focusing back on the path ahead of them as it
opens up into the circular drop-off zone. Most of the university students tend to walk, cycle or take
the bus to campus (since Seoul’s transport network is fairly cheap and has a regular timetable, and
who the fuck can afford a car on top of tuition anyways), so there’s only one vehicle waiting in the
designated zone; a long, black, expensive-looking car with fully tinted windows both front and
back (modifications that are only licenced for certain sunlight-sensitive species). Jungkook suspects
he knows who it belongs to, but then there are probably a few vampire students who attend the
university during daylight hours, so he can’t be certain.

Yugyeom comes to a sudden halt, still about thirty feet away from the vehicle, and Jungkook feels
his friend grow tense beneath him.

“Hey,” he murmurs, giving Yugyeom a squeeze where his arms are still draped over the wolf’s
shoulders. “Am I getting too heavy? Here, let me down, it’s not far – I can just hop the rest of the
way.”

The wolf doesn’t acquiesce to his request – doesn’t seem to register his words at all, actually – his
gaze still fixed on the immobile car as he slowly cocks his head to one side.

“You don’t feel that?” the werewolf asks, his voice so hushed that Jungkook wouldn’t have heard
it at all were it not for his hybrid genes.

“Feel what?”

Yugyeom sucks in a slow, shuddering breath. “That,” he articulates. “You don’t…the air doesn’t
feel different to you?”

Jungkook breathes in deeply, but all he can smell are the late spring blossoms on the nearby cherry
trees and Yugyeom’s comforting pack-scent.

“…no?”

The werewolf takes a careful step backwards, and then another, moving them several paces further
away from the drop-off zone, his grip on Jungkook shifting as he glances around.

“It’s…ugh, fuck, I feel weird,” Yugyeom mutters, and shakes his head like there’s water in his ears
or something. “Kook, I don’t think we should go this way. Maybe you could ask you boyfriend to
meet us at the bus stop?”

Jungkook’s genuinely concerned now. Yugyeom’s not easily spooked, and like all werewolves
he’s got good gut-instincts (and an enviable ability to know when it’s about to rain). But they’ve
never been in a perilous situation together that would allow Yugyeom to test out his sixth sense for
danger, so Jungkook can’t be certain it isn’t just the pollen making his friend’s nose feel itchy or
something.

Still, if Yugyeom’s uncomfortable being here, he doesn’t want to force the werewolf to ignore
those instincts either, even if their surroundings seem to be perfectly safe.

“Okay,” he agrees, giving his friend another squeeze, lowering his head to press his face against
the side of Yugyeom’s neck, seeking to comfort the wolf with the tactile contact. “I’ll give Tae-
hyung a call. You wanna get outta here?”

Yugyeom nods, visibly relaxing, and bumps up Jungkook a little higher on his back as he turns
around to head back the way they came…

Only to stop short with a sharp inhale, immediately tensing again.

Jungkook startles and lifts his head from Yugyeom’s shoulder, blinking a few times when the
sunshine blinds him for a second. His vision adjusts after a moment, and his eyes go wide in
surprise at the tall figure standing less than a foot away.

“Oh, Seokjin-ssi,” he reacts, trying to dip his head in a polite bow as best he can.

“Jin-hyung,” the vampire corrects, his lips curling up in a soft, fond smile. “Hello, little one. It’s
good to see you again.”

Jin isn’t wearing a sunhat or shades despite the clear skies overhead, and appears unbothered even
though he's standing directly in a ray sunlight, the pale, unblemished skin of his handsome face
fully exposed. Jungkook knows that a vampire’s tolerance for sunlight is supposed to improve with
age, but he’s never seen a vampire willingly bask in the sun like this before with no added
protection. The barrier creams and skincare products specifically designed for creatures of the
night will only do so much to prevent daylight damage – Eunwoo tends to slather himself with the
stuff (being a model and an actor, he generally has to work during daytime hours), but even he
rarely steps outside without a sunhat and shades.

Still, if it’s bothering him, Jin isn’t showing any obvious signs of discomfort; his easy smile and
relaxed countenance give nothing away. The vampire’s warm amber gaze moves from Jungkook’s
face to Yugyeom’s, his expression softening as he takes in the werewolf’s tense posture.

“I’m sorry if my presence frightened you,” he apologises gently, the lapels of his dark coat
fluttering in the cool spring breeze. “I understand it can sometimes feel a little disconcerting to
those with heightened senses. You must be one of Jungkookie’s friends?”

Yugyeom seems temporarily unable to speak, so Jungkook answers for him, giving the werewolf’s
temple a reassuring nuzzle. He remembers how big and powerful Jin had felt the first time they’d
met on Saturday, his presence seeming to fill the whole apartment, and even with his hybrid
instincts mostly dormant, Jungkook had still wanted to run and hide. But he doesn’t feel that now,
not even a little bit. He just feels…safe.

During lunch, he’d briefly described his interactions with all of Tae’s nestmates, but he’d left out
the details about their individual enhancements – he hadn’t wanted to betray his new hyungs’
confidence by revealing such private information, especially when it came to Yoongi’s gift of
foresight and Jin’s...whatever. But now he regrets not warning Yugyeom ahead of time about the
eldest vampire’s tangible authority, especially given that the wolf’s senses are dialled up way
higher than his own. Kookie can only imagine how unsettling it must feel.

“This is Kim Yugyeom, my best friend,” he supplies cheerfully. “Gyeomie, this is Seokjin-hyung,
one of Tae’s nestmates.”

Yugyeom’s breath leaves him in a shaky whoosh, clearly relieved by the familiarity between
Jungkook and the powerful newcomer, his tense posture relaxing a little. He recovers enough to dip
forward in a quick bow, very nearly dumping Jungkook headfirst onto the ground in the process;
the hybrid clings tighter to his best friend’s shoulders with a startled yelp.

Large, strong hands steady them both, Jin’s laughter a delighted, musical sound that seems to make
the world around them glow even brighter for a moment.

“Here, pup, let me help you with that,” the vampire murmurs, still smiling, hands shifting to form a
surer grip on Jungkook. “If I may?”

In an effortless show of strength that suggests he’s done this many times before, Jin plucks
Jungkook from the werewolf’s back and swings him up into his arms as though he weighs nothing
at all, holding him as Namjoon had done the previous day with one arm wrapped around his back
and another beneath his knees.

Jungkook feels his cheeks tinge pink as he automatically clutches at the vampire’s shoulders, heart
beating a little faster. It’s not that he particularly dislikes the position (not at all, actually), but
yesterday he’d barely been able to lift his head, let alone walk on his own, so the whole carrying-
him-around thing had been something of a necessity at the time. The only thing wrong with him
today is a mildly sprained ankle, so being cradled like this in Jin’s arms seems a little excessive. He
swears Tae and his nestmates all think he’s made of glass or something.

“Hyung, it’s alright, I can walk-” he tries to insist.

“No he can’t,” Yugyeom refutes, far too cheerfully (aish, every bit the traitor Moonbin had been
earlier that day).

“No you can’t, dearheart,” Jin echoes, with a look of sympathy. “Not on that poor ankle. We’ll
have Joonie take a look at it, I’m sure you’ll be back on your feet in no time. Yugyeom-ah, would
you care to join us? There’s plenty of room in the car. Or is your Alpha expecting you home?”

The werewolf’s hands fiddle with the strap of his satchel, gaze flitting to Jungkook’s face quickly,
their eyes locking for a brief moment. They’ve known each other long enough that Jungkook can
see the unspoken question there, the silent “do you need me to stay?” that they’ve communicated
to each other numerous times over the years. As always, Jungkook’s touched by his friend’s
loyalty and protectiveness, but despite his mild embarrassment at being carried around like a
helpless child, he’s never felt more comfortable or content than he is right now, cradled safely in
Jin’s arms. There’s something about the gentle vampire, about all of Tae’s nestmates come to think
of it, that drastically lowers his guard in a way he’s never experienced with anyone else before.
Despite his mind telling him that he’s only met Jin once before, his instincts are saying family, and
all his usual inhibitions have faded away into the background. There’s a level of trust there that he
can’t quite explain, an absolute bone-deep surety that Tae and his nestmates won’t ever hurt him.

He doesn’t fully understand how or why he feels that way, but he imagines it probably has
something to do with his newly-established bond. That’s something for future-Jungkook to puzzle
out whenever he finally gets a moment to think straight between all these unexpected meet-ups.

At the slight shake of his head, a silent reassurance that he’ll be fine on his own, Yugyeom’s gaze
shifts back to the vampire, a more confident smile curling at his lips.

“Thank you, but Jaebum-hyung’s probably waiting for me,” the werewolf answers, fixing his
satchel-strap more comfortably across his chest. “It was nice meeting you, though. And thank you
for taking care of Jungkookie.”

“Jaebum? As in, Im Jaebum?” Jin asks curiously, and Jungkook glances up at him, matching
Yugyeom’s look of surprise. Taking their reactions as confirmation, the vampire grins delightedly.
“Oh! I knew he’d recently taken in another cub, but I never had the chance to meet you in person.
Do give my love to the pack, won’t you? And tell Mark I’ve managed to source that book on
Dheigi water spirits he’s been looking for.”

Still looking vaguely stunned, Yugyeom nods jerkily.

Jin’s smile softens further. “Thank you. I’ll let you go before the rain comes, but I’m sure we’ll be
seeing each other again soon.” He takes a small step closer. “May your feet carry you safely home,
lupellus.”

The vampire blows gently, as he had on Jungkook’s hands a couple of days ago, and the breeze
picks up around them (warmer than it had been moments before), Yugyeom’s eyes closing as it
briefly ruffles at his fringe. Then the werewolf blinks, looking dazed but happy, ducking his head
in a quick bow as his cheeks flush faintly pink.

“I…thank you.” Yugyeom gaze flickers upwards, shifting to meet Jungkook’s, his smile more
genuine than it had been before, something a little bit like excitement brimming behind his eyes.
“Hope your ankle feels better soon, Kook. Message me later, okay?”

“I will,” Kookie promises, somewhat baffled by what’s just happened but glad to see his friend
looking so relaxed again. “I’ll text you as soon as I’m home. Say sorry to the team at practice
tonight, won’t you? Tell everyone I’ll be back by Wednesday.”

“Sure thing,” the wolf agrees as he waves, already turning to leave, apparently very eager to get
home all of a sudden. “Bye, love you!”

Well. That was weird.

As Jin turns to head back down the path towards the parked car, Jungkook casts him a tentative
glance, a thousand questions tumbling around in his head. Jin catches him looking and smiles
fondly.

“Something you’d like to ask me? Go ahead, little one.”

Jungkook feels his cheeks flush hot again at the term of endearment (god help him, he really likes
the way Jin says it), but as always his insatiable curiosity outweighs his shyness.

“What was that?” he asks hesitantly. “The…blowing thing?”

Jin’s smile curls a little wider, and he chuckles softly, shaking his head like Jungkook’s just said
something particularly cute.

“A blessing,” the vampire answers after a beat. “A rather traditional one, I’ll admit, but it’s the
sentiment that counts. It’ll keep your friend safe from harm on his journey home…unless he has
the misfortune of being as clumsy as you are, my dear.”

That last part is said teasingly, and Jungkook finds he’s comfortable enough in the elder’s presence
to drop his head against Jin’s shoulder with a soft whine of complaint, but he’s unable to hide his
smile at the vampire’s answering chuckle. Man, that’s a sound he could listen to forever. It makes
him feel so warm and fuzzy and happy inside.

“Where’s Tae-hyung?” Jungkook asks after a beat, belatedly remembering his boyfriend’s absence.
Not that he’s complaining about Seokjin being here to collect him, but he isn’t the vampire
Jungkook had been expecting.

“Waiting in the car,” Jin answers, and shoots a look of fond exasperation towards the vehicle. “I’m
afraid he caught the sun earlier today, so I made him stay inside while I came to fetch you.
Naturally he wasn’t too happy about that, but Jiminie’s been keeping him company. Or sitting on
him, most likely – TaeTae can be rather stubborn, as I’m sure you’ve already gathered. Quite the
fighting spirit. It’s little wonder he was drawn to you, bunny – the two of you are very much alike.”

They’ve reached the car, and Jin pauses briefly to stare at it for a moment, before the back door
pops open seemingly of its own accord. It’s probably the least surprising thing that’s happened so
far today, so Jungkook decides not to question it at this point (he’ll probably just end up even more
befuddled), allowing the vampire to lean down and ease him inside.

“Kookie!” Taehyung chirps, from the far side of the backseat, where Jimin actually does appear to
be sitting on him. “Dude, get off, I’m not gonna bolt anymore.”

As soon as Jimin has slid gracefully from the younger vampire’s lap, Tae’s scooting across the
seats to wrap his arms around Jungkook in a tight embrace.

“Hi, baby,” his bondmate murmurs, pulling back after a beat to cup Jungkook’s face between his
ungloved hands. “How’s your ankle?”

“S’okay,” he replies, eyes closing as he takes a moment to just enjoy the skin contact – aigoo, his
touch feels so much more intimate without the gloves. Smiling, he breathes in Tae’s now-familiar
scent and feels the residual stress of the day just melt away.

Gentle hands lift his foot and carefully work off his new Timberlands. It hurts a little, but no more
than usual when he's taken a tumble; he grits his teeth and bears it so as not to unduly alarm
anyone.

“Aw hon, it’s looking pretty swollen,” Jimin comments, and Jungkook glances down to see the
blond kneeling at his feet, carefully examining his injured ankle.

And then Jungkook blinks, dumbfounded, because holy shit when the fuck did the car get so big?

He could’ve sworn it looked like an average-sized car on the outside – fancy and expensive, sure,
but not as big as a fucking limousine. There definitely hadn’t been this much distance between the
back and front doors – aigoo, there’s at least a full two metres’ leg room between himself and the
driver’s seat, and the backseat’s definitely a fuckton wider than the width of the car had suggested
from the outside.

“Here, sweetheart.” A stool is suddenly positioned under his leg to support his sprained ankle, Jin
smiling up at him gently as he crouches down next to Jimin. “Is that better?”

What.

Where…where had that stool come from?

Holy fuck, holy fuck, holy fuck…

Taehyung chuckles beside him, slipping an arm around his waist and brushing a kiss against his
cheek.

“It’s Jin-hyung’s car, Kookie,” the vampire says, as though this explains everything. “It tends to be
a little more…adaptable, compared to your average commercial model.”

Seokjin reaches up to brush the backs of his fingers down Jungkook’s cheek in the gentlest of
caresses, his smile softening.

“I know this must all seem rather overwhelming, but it’s perfectly safe,” he reassures. “I just
thought a little extra leg-room might be of benefit – you really ought to have elevated that ankle
during your afternoon class, Kookie.”

Jungkook feels himself blushing again (fuck, one day his capillaries will stop being so fucking
trigger-happy, but today is not that day), a tiny wry smile tugging at his lips.

“Sorry,” he apologises, because that’s something else he seems to do a lot around his new hyungs.
“Guess it slipped my mind.”

Jimin rubs his shin above his injured (and admittedly quite impressively swollen) ankle. “I’m sure
Namjoon-hyung will have something to get rid of the swelling,” the blond says with cheery
confidence. “And something to heal up TaeTae’s sunburn while he’s at it.”

“Shut up,” the younger vampire gripes, but it lacks any real heat.

Remembering Jin’s comment about Taehyung catching the sun earlier, Jungkook turns to take a
closer look at his bondmate. The fully-tinted windows make the lighting in the back of the car dim
enough that the discolouration is less obvious than it might otherwise have been, but there’s
definitely a pinkish tinge to the vampire’s cheeks, darker along the top of his cheekbones and the
bridge of his nose.

Jungkook makes a quiet, displeased noise in the back of his throat, reaching out to ghost his
fingertips against the sun-warmed skin.

Gently catching his hand, Taehyung smiles and kisses his fingers.

“It’s fine, baby, it’ll be gone in a few hours,” Tae reassures. “Happens all the time.”

Jimin grunts in sardonic agreement, and Jin exhales a somewhat exasperated sigh.

“Far more often than it should, my love,” the older vampire agrees, his tone caught somewhere
between fondly amused and gently chiding as he reaches up to cluck Taehyung beneath the chin.
“One of these days, I’m going to charm those sunglasses permanently onto your face.”

Taehyung just smiles beatifically.

Jin sighs again with an indulgent look, nudging Jimin up from the floor and rechecking the stability
of the stool beneath Jungkook’s ankle before scooting backwards out of the car.

“Seatbelts, darlings,” he reminds them, before closing the backseat door.

Tae reaches over to fasten Jungkook in before he even has chance to look for the belt himself, and
again he’s caught between giving into that mild twinge of embarrassment (because he actually can
look after himself in the most basic sense, honest to god) and a warm flutter of satisfaction at the
vampire’s attentiveness. A cool hand slips into his own, and Jungkook glances down to see
Taehyung intertwining their fingers, feeling the resultant burst of happy-love-contentment that
pulses warmly in his chest. He’s slowly starting to understand what their bond feels like after a few
brief experiences, and there’s genuinely nothing better than being able to sense the vampire’s
happiness as though it’s his own.

“Is this okay?” Taehyung asks tentatively, giving his hand a squeeze. “Jin-hyung said I didn’t need
to use the gloves anymore, since you already know about the bond – not unless I get upset about
something, anyway. But if it’s too much-”

“No,” Jungkook interrupts, unintentionally gripping Tae’s hand tighter for a second, before forcing
himself to relax again. “No, you’re fine. I like it.”

Taehyung’s smile softens, and he leans in to kiss the corner of Jungkook’s mouth tenderly.

“Okay. But if you need me to let go, just say so.”

On the other side of Taehyung, Jimin makes a quiet noise of adoration, hands pressed against his
cheeks.

“You two are so fucking cute,” the older vampire coos, regarding them both with a tender gaze.
Then his expression brightens anew, and he turns to open a concealed compartment next to his
seat. “Hey, are you thirsty? We’ve got…pretty much everything, to be honest. Geez, hyung really
keeps this thing stocked up.”

“Kookie likes melon soda,” Taehyung supplies helpfully.

Jungkook’s touched that the vampire remembers that one offhand comment he’d made during their
first proper date two days ago. They’d talked about so much that evening, he’s surprised Tae
managed to recollect such a small detail.

“One melon soda coming right up,” Jimin promises, and moment later he’s reaching over
Taehyung to pass him the ice-cold can. “Tae, hon, you want anything?”

The younger vampire shakes his head. “I’m good. Here, baby let me get that for you.”

Jungkook had been trying to open the can one-handed, unwilling to relinquish his comforting grip
on Taehyung, the can wedged between his knees as he tries to get a thumbnail beneath the tab.
Taehyung reaches over with his free hand and effortlessly pops the tab open with his little finger.

Right. Enhanced strength. That’s something he keeps forgetting about.

“Oh! Did you see that news article from this morning?” Tae suddenly asks, pulling out his phone.
“About the new tribe of merfolk they just found near the Bermuda Triangle? Apparently there’s
like hundreds of them, a whole colony, they’ve been living in this giant sea cavern below the
surface…”

Jungkook rests his head against Taehyung’s shoulder as the vampire angles the phone towards him,
smiling as he lets his bondmate blabber on enthusiastically about the once-thought-extinct species
and the lost city of Atlantis and how Tae had always dreamed of meeting a living merman, how he
knows there has to be more of them out there.

“I mean we’ve only explored, what, ninety percent of the ocean so far?” the vampire continues
passionately. “And that area near the Bermuda Triangle has been surveyed so many times because
of all the shipwrecks and stuff in the past – if they didn’t notice a whole colony of merfolk right
under their radar, who’s to say there aren’t more cities scattered across our coastline, hidden from
sight?”

“Tae’s a nature-documentary addict,” Jimin reveals in a stage-whisper, glancing over at Jungkook

with a fond grin. “Once he gets started, there’s really no stopping him. He’ll be researching
merfolk for the rest of the month.”

“But it’s so cool,” Tae enthuses, turning the phone to show Jimin. “Look at their architecture!”

“You’ve already shown me, hon,” the older vampire reminds him, amused.

“Their history is pretty interesting, though,” Jungkook acknowledges. “I did a project on merfolk
for my art class last year; spent hours researching their culture and studying old paintings. Filled
like three whole sketchbooks full of drawings – even tried my hand at sculpting, although that
didn’t go so well. I’m definitely more of a sketcher.”

“You draw?” Jimin asks curiously, putting away his own phone and giving Jungkook his full
attention.

“Oooh, can I see? Do you have photos?” Tae presses keenly.

Jungkook’s usually a lot more reserved about showing people his artwork outside of the classroom,
with the exception of Binnie and Yugyeom. He kinda sees his drawings as something private,
almost like an extension of himself, and the fear of someone rejecting his work or critiquing it too
harshly often makes him too paranoid to share the finished product with his wider friends group.

But he finds himself wanting to share that secret part of him with Jimin and Tae, his usual
inhibitions falling away so easily yet again as he pulls his phone out and opens up his gallery,
scrolling through his albums until he reaches the one specifically reserved for his art class
sketches.

“They’re nothing special,” he forewarns. “Sometimes I just wanna doodle but it always kinda turns
into a full-page sketch, you know?”

“Ohmygod,” Jimin breathes, leaning over Tae to adjust the angle of his phone, studying the image
more closely. “You drew that? Kookie, babe, holy fuck…”

Jungkook feels his cheeks heat up again, unable to keep his lips from curling into a pleased little
smile, satisfaction blooming in his chest at their positive reactions. It’s not like he needed anyone’s
validation, not really – he’s proud of his artwork, that’s why he stubbornly refuses to give up on his
evening classes even though they’re not covered by his scholarship and it invariably ends up
costing him a third of his annual wages. It’s so fucking worth it, though – the quality of his recent
work compared to the sketches he’d submitted just over a year ago, aish...it’s like he used to draw
blindfolded or something. Maybe he won’t ever be able to pursue art as a full-time career like he
wants to (his parents would be so fucking disappointed if he dropped out of university for the sake
of his ‘hobby’), but being able to dabble in sketching and painting on the side will be a huge stress-
relief if nothing else. Besides, if he keeps working hard at it, he might even be able to sell a few
pieces one day. Yugyeom’s been begging Jungkook to draw him a tattoo for his twenty-first
birthday (he’s got several pages of ideas sketched out already), and if it turns out okay then that’s
always an option for a little extra on-the-side while he’s finishing his business degree.

“Fuck, I wanna get that one on a t-shirt,” Taehyung admires, leaning over the phone as he zooms in
on the watercolour merman sketch. “This is a fucking masterpiece, dude, how are you even real?”

Aigoo. Being praised feels really fucking nice.

 Jungkook could get used to this.

Chapter End Notes

Guess who's got insomnia? IT'S ME! *jazz hands*

I'd initially planned to include the Healer!Namjoon scene in this chapter, but the
Yugyeom/Kookie friendship needed some attention and then Jin was being his usual
distracting self, and before I knew it we were already at 5K. Sooo...the clinic scene
will be in the next chapter, sorry. :P

As always, I love hearing from you! :) What are your thoughts on Jin, folks? Also I
really want his car, please and thank you.
 A Quick Fixer-Upper
Chapter Summary

Jungkook's second visit to Namjoon's clinic ends in tears, but that isn't necessarily a
bad thing.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

“Namjoon-hyung won’t be long,” Jimin announces cheerfully as he slips back inside the healer’s
clinic room, closing the door behind him and tossing a bag-like object over to Seokjin with a quick
flick of his wrist. “The receptionist said he’s helping one of the apprentices set up something in the
hydro-suite, but they’re almost done.”

Jungkook sends the vampire a grateful smile, then sucks in a sharp little startled breath when his
ankle throbs in protest as it’s suddenly lifted up onto the pillows that have materialised at the foot
of the examination bed.

“Sorry, little one,” Jin murmurs, and settles the gel-pack that Jimin had thrown to him over the
swollen joint (fuck, cold, freezing, ow). “There now, that ought to help keep the swelling down in
the meantime.”

Although Jungkook knows it’s for his own good, he can’t help but grimace internally as the harsh
chill of the icepack temporarily intensifies the ache in his ankle, the biting cold seeping in bone-
deep. He grits his teeth against the urge to pull his ankle away, muscles growing tense with the
strain of holding himself still. He hates ice. For as long as he can remember, Jungkook’s skin has
always been ridiculously sensitive to extreme temperature changes (although he can shovel down
both frozen bingsu and scalding-hot noodles no problem – his mouth seems to be the one exception
to that rule), and it’s probably got a lot to do with his dormant hybrid genes. Full-blooded bunny
hybrids have the ability to develop a very fine insulating coat during the winter months (barely
thicker than peach fuzz) that helps them to conserve body heat, but Jungkook’s never been able to
do that. He sometimes gets a tingling sensation all over his skin when the temperature drops,
something a little like goosebumps but worse, which he knows is his body’s way of trying to
trigger the emergence of that insulating layer, but it’s no good; his very-definitely-human hair
follicles apparently don’t give a shit how freezing it is. It’s nothing a few extra layers won’t fix, but
sometimes in the depth of winter he wishes he could swap his irritatingly heightened olfactory
senses for a soft coat of fur.

Still, it does mean that he and Binnie have amassed an impressive collection of thick, fluffy
blankets to cocoon themselves in during movie nights, so he can’t really complain.

“It is too cold, darling?” Jin asks, studying his face with gentle concern. “Would you like me to
wrap it in something first?”
Jungkook forces a smile to hide his grimace and shakes his head. “No thanks, I’m good. Totally
okay. Feels great.”

Oh sure, that sounded convincing.

The vampire regards him for another beat before decisively lifting the freezing compress away
again.

“I’m going to wrap it.”

Despite feeling a little embarrassed that he can’t even tolerate an icepack (aigoo, could he look any
more pathetic in front of Tae’s nestmates?), Jungkook’s grateful for the vampire’s perceptiveness,
tensed muscles relaxing now that the frozen-torture-pack has been removed, a faint blush heating
his cheeks as he leans into his bondmate’s side.

Taehyung sits perched on the edge of the bed beside him, an arm draped loosely over Jungkook’s
shoulders in a casual side-hug, bare fingers just barely grazing against the skin above the collar of
Kookie’s hoodie. The maknae vampire hasn’t stopped touching him since they first held hands in
the backseat of Jin’s car, and Jungkook feels more than a little drunk on the cosy-contentedness
that’s settled snugly beneath his breastbone, especially since he knows half of those fuzzy feelings
are coming from Taehyung himself through their growing bond. His ankle might be sore as heck,
but the tenderness Tae and Jimin had shown him on the journey over from SNU has left him
feeling warm and happy and floaty, and he hadn’t even felt inclined to voice a token protest when
Jin had insisted on carrying him inside.

Honestly, being doted on feels pretty fucking awesome.

Now that he’s not weighed down by exhaustion or suffering from that horrible all-consuming
grogginess he’d been experiencing yesterday afternoon, he actually has the brain power to pay
close attention to his surroundings this time around. And man had post-migraine Jungkook
overlooked a whole fuckton of awesome shit.

Because Namjoon’s office? It’s fucking beautiful.

The deep green moss that covers the ceiling is speckled with tiny flowers, their white-and-blue
petals so bright they almost appear to give off a light of their own. Numerous species of vine-like
plants crisscross their way over each of the room’s four walls, curling around lampstands and
climbing up bookshelves, clinging to almost every available surface. Their leaves vary in size and
colour, from bright chartreuse to a deep juniper, intermingling in places where the wall-crawlers
have grown over and around each other. Large yellow flowers bloom on the ivy-green vines that
cling to one of the tall cabinets of assorted glass jars (filled with dried herbs and tinctures and
colourful powders), and pale pink blossoms light up the archway above the door, forming a
decorative border around the ancient runes carved into the wood there. Wherever he looks there’s
just so much colour, so much life. Compared to the white, sterile examination rooms he’s visited
on occasion at Seoul General Hospital, this place almost feels like a botanic garden.

Despite his diluted genes, like most hybrids he finds himself far more comfortable and at-ease in
such a nature-dense environment. Which, he guesses, is probably one of the main reasons Namjoon
has nurtured the plants to grow wild and free across his walls like this; forest-folk (Fae and
Nymphs in particular) have such a strong connection with the woodland they’re born into that a
bare, sterile room like the ones at Seoul General Hospital would probably feel horribly stifling.

“Aish, Tae,” Jimin suddenly sighs, stepping up to the bedside and gently pinching the younger
vampire’s chin to turn his head towards him. “Your face looks even redder in this light. Hyung’s
not gonna be happy when he sees how bad it is.”

Taehyung pouts, but doesn’t pull away from his nestmate’s grip. “I was only outside for half an
hour,” he gripes. “Forty minutes, tops. And I even wore that dumb hat!”

“You shouldn’t have been outside at all, stupid,” Jimin grumbles, but there’s no real heat to his
scolding as he tilts Tae’s head this way and that, studying his reddened skin. “Especially on a day
like this. You know how easy your skin burns.”

“But Joon-hyung said my tolerance was getting better last month,” the younger vampire protests,
the plaintive whine in his voice making Jungkook smile a little, because oh fuck he’s cute.

Jimin leans in to kiss the pout from Tae’s lips, clucking him beneath the chin as he pulls away
again. “Building up daylight tolerance takes years, honey. You’re still just a fledgling – give it
time.”

“Spring’s coming to an end,” Jin adds softly, carefully settling the towel-wrapped compress on top
of Jungkook’s swollen ankle (holy- where had the towel come from? Kookie swears the vampire
never left the room) and moving over to stand behind Jimin, reaching around him to cup
Taehyung’s burnt cheek in a tender palm. “It’s your first summer as a fledgling, which means
you’ll need be careful outside – the sun will seem to burn far brighter and hotter than it ever used
to, and your body isn’t ready for that yet. A few weeks ago, an hour or two walking under cloud-
cover wouldn’t have hurt you, but in the coming months I’m afraid ten minutes in direct sunlight
will be more than enough to irritate your skin. You won’t be able to tolerate periods of daylight as
you once did, not without additional protection.”

Taehyung sighs, still pouting even as he nods. “I know,” he acknowledges, defeated. “That’s what
Namjoon-hyung keeps telling me. But I just get so frustrated sometimes, staying indoors when it
looks so nice out.”

“How about we go hunting for parasols tomorrow evening?” Jin offers, fingertips gently styling
Tae’s fringe. “And I’ve noticed that Eclipse have been advertising a new summer range on
Instagram, it all looks exquisite.”

Taehyung visibly brightens. “Ooh, shopping spree?”

Seokjin hums a quiet affirmative, gently tapping the nestling’s nose, but Tae’s answering cheer is
cut short as a quiet knock on the door echoes through the clinic room.

“Ah, there he is,” Jin says brightly, turning towards the entrance as Taehyung gives Jungkook’s
shoulders a brief sideways squeeze and hops down from the examination bed. “Come in, dear. I
doubt you need permission to enter your own office.”

The door swings open as Namjoon steps over the threshold with a quiet laugh, cheeks dimpling as
he smiles towards his mate.

“Seemed like the polite thing to do,” the healer reasons cheerfully, lifting a hand to caress Jin’s
cheek as the elder vampire steps up to greet him with a chaste kiss. “Sorry for keeping you
waiting.”

Namjoon’s white shirt is damp in places, like he’s been splashed with water, the patches of sheer
fabric clinging to torso in a way that accentuates his built physique. He’s got his shirtsleeves rolled
all the way up above his elbows, the dark outlines of intricate tattoos peeking out beneath the edges
of the bunched-up cuffs, and Jungkook finds himself very interested in seeing those in more detail
– he knows healer tattoos aren’t just about body art, they’re used to mark specific gifts that the
wearer has mastered, often interspersed with ancient runes thought to help enhance a healer’s
powers. He wonders how many Namjoon has earned during his years of practice, and whether the
ink is confined to just his biceps or if he’s hiding more beneath his shirt than just impressive
muscle definition.

The thought makes his skin prickle with heat, and for a second he feels tiny bit ashamed, because
mentally ogling Tae’s hyung seems a lot like cheating. But it’s not like he’s thirsting after
Namjoon or anything, he’s just…appreciating the aesthetics.

“Hey, hyung!”

Jimin skips across the room and launches himself at his nest-leader, displaying more youthful
energy than Jungkook’s seen in him previously. The dancer isn’t particularly stoic or anything (on
the contrary, he’s always quick to smile and laugh), but around Tae and Jungkook there’s a definite
edge of hyung-appropriate authority…something that Jimin is showing no sign of at the moment as
he lets Namjoon wrap him up in a tight embrace, laughing when the healer lifts him up off the
floor.

A part of Jungkook feels like he’s intruding on a private moment here. It’s not that vampires aren’t
affectionate with each other in public (because Kookie knows first-hand that they’re every bit as
tactile as hybrids and werefolk, sometimes even more so in Eunwoo’s case), but he’s never really
seen Namjoon interact with anyone other than Taehyung before, and yesterday he’d been so caught
up in his own post-migraine oversensitive emotions that he hadn’t really been paying a lot of
attention to everything else going on in the background.

There’s something breathtakingly intimate about the way Namjoon looks at Jimin as he sets him
back down on his feet, the possessive manner in which his fingers linger in the dancer’s throat as
he strokes along his jawline, such a wealth of tenderness in his greeting kiss that it leaves Jungkook
a little flustered, torn between feeling obliged to look away to give the two vampires some privacy,
and trying not to blink so that he doesn’t miss anything. Namjoon’s lips have curled into an
affectionate smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he clucks Jimin beneath the chin, gaze
resting on the dancer’s upturned face for a long moment.

And then those warm amber eyes are turning towards Jungkook, and oh, how had he managed to
forget how incredible it felt to be pinned beneath Namjoon’s tender gaze? The depth of affection
he sees there both surprises and thrills him, and he finds himself returning the healer’s smile,
suddenly feeling shy.

“Hi, hyung,” Jungkook greets, dipping his head in a brief, polite bow as best he can from his semi-
reclined position.

“Hey, kiddo,” the healer returns warmly, moving to perch on the edge of the bed. “I hear you got
into an argument with some stairs?”

“Yeah…” His expression turning wry, Jungkook glances towards his elevated foot. “I think the
stairs might’ve won.”

Namjoon blesses him with another dimpled smile.

“Mm,” the vampire agrees, reaching out to brush Kookie’s fringe back from his forehead, briefly
pressing the flat of his hand to the youth’s brow as he searches his eyes. “At least you managed to
avoid landing on your head. Oh! Your energy feels so much brighter today. Did you sleep well?”
“I turned in early last night,” the youth admits, savouring that cosy feeling of security as
Namjoon’s magic touch puts his whole body immediately at ease. “Figured my body needed the
downtime after everything that happened yesterday.”

The healer seems pleased by his answer, dimpled smile softening.

“Good boy.”

Jungkook’s heart gives a weak flutter, heat flooding his cheeks, and if he was standing he’s pretty
sure his legs would’ve turned to jelly.

Ohh shit, he likes that. He likes that a lot.

It isn’t the first time he’s been praised offhandedly; Jaebum and Mark and the other hyungs
casually drop those kind of phrases all the time in everyday conversations – ‘good pup’ and ‘well
done, cub’ and a dozen similar remarks. It’s natural for wolves to praise their dongsaengs, as much
an intrinsic part of pack-culture as scenting and tactile affection. Jungkook’s always appreciated
those little words of encouragement, each acting like a verbal backhug to remind him that he’s
considered part of the Im-pack right alongside Yugyeom.

But hearing it from Namjoon’s lips is totally different. It’s so much more, and fuck, Kookie really
hadn’t been prepared for the immediate effect those words would have on him.

Either not noticing Jungkook’s fierce blush or choosing not to draw attention to it, Namjoon’s
hands move to gently cradle Jungkook’s face, long cool fingers cupping his flushed cheeks.

“How’s your head been today?”

“Much better,” Jungkook manages, sounding miraculously composed all things considered (thank
fuck for small mercies), closing his eyes briefly as Namjoon’s thumb sweeps down the bridge of
his nose. The touch feels so soothing, even if he doesn’t have a migraine. “Honestly, I haven’t felt
this awake on a Monday in months.”

“It’s amazing what happens when you actually let your body recharge its batteries,” Namjoon
agrees, his tone both teasing and gently chiding. Then the healer suddenly sits back a little,
glancing around with a faintly furrowed brow. “Wait. Where’s Tae?”

Jungkook blinks, his own gaze darting around the room. “Uh. He was here a second ago…”

Jin sighs softly, fondly, attracting their attention. Arms crossed casually over his chest as he leans
against the wall nearby (the leafy-green vines almost seem to be petting him, but maybe it’s just a
trick of the light), the vampire tilts his head towards the door that’s still ajar.

“Tae’s safe,” Jin reassures. “Slipped out while Jimin had you distracted, the little brat, but he
hasn’t gone far.” The vampire closes his eyes briefly, lips twitching up. “He’s hiding out by the
vending machines, playing Candy Crush.”

Namjoon arches an eyebrow curiously. “And he’s hiding because…?”

“He probably doesn’t want you seeing his face,” Jimin supplies, having pushed himself up to sit on
the edge of Namjoon’s desk, legs swinging. “TaeTae caught the sun this afternoon.”

“Again?” Namjoon sighs, faintly exasperated. “Aish, that boy. How bad is it?”

Jimin shrugs. “Not great, but he’s had worse. And a least he wore the hat this time. I tried to make
him wait in the car, but he was worried about Kookie, and you know how stubborn he can be once
he’s got his heart set on something.”

“Mm,” the healer acknowledges, gaze shifting back towards the door, brow still faintly furrowed
like he’s thinking of heading out to fetch his errant nestling himself.

“I’ll go talk to him, hyung,” Jimin offers, hopping down from the desk. “But…maybe save the
scolding for when we get home? He’s had a pretty stressful day. Yoongi-hyung kinda freaked him
out a little bit first thing this morning; not on purpose, but you know how vague his predictions can
be sometimes. And then Tae was on the phone to Kookie when the accident happened, so he’s
been kicking himself about it all afternoon…”

Understanding dawns in Namjoon’s eyes, shoulders drooping a little. “A self-fulfilling prophecy?

Yeah, those are never fun.” The healer sighs, then smiles wryly. “Tell him he isn’t in trouble – this
time. Given that his bond’s still fairly new, I’ll chalk it up to extenuating circumstances. But I’d
like to look at those burns all the same.”

Jimin nods, leaning in to peck Namjoon on the cheek and ruffle Jungkook’s hair before he strides
out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Being left alone with two of Tae’s eldest nestmates probably ought to feel a lot more intimidating
than it does, but Jungkook finds himself perfectly at ease in their company. Maybe it’s the
tenderness and affection they’ve shown in their treatment of him so far, the gentleness in their
touch, the way they both seem to look at him like he’s something precious and fragile. And
honestly? A small part of him really likes suddenly being the sole focus of their attention.

“So,” Namjoon prompts, turning back towards him, “want to tell me happened with the stairs?”

“Uh…” Jungkook gives an embarrassed little shrug. “Guess I missed one?”

The healer laughs at that, soft and warm and fond, and Jungkook decides that it’s probably the
most beautiful sound he’s ever heard in his whole life, and vows to do everything in his power to
make Namjoon laugh like that on a daily basis for the foreseeable future.

Oh. Yikes, he’s got it bad.

“Is it alright if I examine you?” Namjoon asks. At Jungkook’s easy nod, he smiles again and adds,
“If you feel uncomfortable at any point, just let me know and I’ll stop, okay?”

After waiting for another nod of affirmation, Namjoon’s hands move up to settle either side of his
neck, before smoothing over his shoulders and slowly trailing down his arms, leaving a tingling
warmth in their wake. When the healer’s touch reaches his wrists (hidden beneath the baggy
sleeves of his hoodie), Namjoon grips them gently to turn his hands over, bringing them up to
study the scuffed skin of his palms. The cuts are already starting to knit over, thick scabs and
purpling bruises littering the area that had been red-raw and swollen only a few hours earlier. By
tomorrow evening it’ll mostly be gone thanks to his enhanced healing, but it still feels pretty tender
to touch, and Jungkook winces as Namjoon gently presses against the surrounding tissue and
manipulates his wrists and fingers to check for fractures.

“It’s just a scrape, hyung,” he reassures, but doesn’t try to pull his hands away, letting the healer
finish his examination.

The vampire guides his wrists back down again after a moment, and gently skims his hands down
Jungkook’s torso, palm flattening against his abdomen as the healer closes his eyes. A tingling sort
of heat seems to emanate from that single point of contact, rolling outwards in pulsing waves from
head to toe. Jungkook’s throbbing ankle suddenly feels hot beneath the icepack.

“That’s quite a nasty sprain you’ve got there, Kookie,” Namjoon murmurs, opening his eyes again
and patting the youth’s waist in sympathy, gaze travelling down to his elevated foot. “But it isn’t
broken. Let me check for ligament damage, and then I’ll see what I can do to help with the
swelling.”

Moving to the foot of the bed, Namjoon removes the cold compress and cups his hands around the
injured joint, closing his eyes again for a moment. He makes a quiet noise of displeasure in the
back of his throat, brow creasing faintly as he tilts his head to one side.

“You’ve sprained it before – quite recently, as a matter of fact,” he comments, and tsks softly.
“And you didn’t give it nearly enough time to heal before you started walking on it again. Let’s not
have a repeat of that mistake, hm?”

Just when Jungkook thinks he’s witnessed the extent of Namjoon’s abilities, the vampire does
something else to demonstrate just how skilled he is in the art of healing. How the hell is he able to
sense the mild sprain Jungkook had suffered three weeks ago? It had totally healed up within a
couple of days, surely there can’t be any residual damage left over after all this time that could give
him away?

Namjoon opens his eyes, his expression both fond and gently chiding. “Is taking a tumble down a
flight of stairs a habit of yours?”

Jungkook feels his cheeks grow hot again. “Well…not intentionally.”

“Poor love,” Jin chuckles, stepping up behind the raised head of the examination bed to smooth
down Jungkook’s hair with gentle fingers. “I’d wager you’re every bit as clumsy as Namjoonie
here.”

Now that revelation comes as a surprise. Namjoon seems so outwardly calm and controlled,
Jungkook honestly can’t picture him being anything close to clumsy. But the healer’s smile has
curled into a lopsided, self-deprecating grin, and he spreads his hands with an easy shrug.

“What can I say? I’m easily distracted.”

“And tragically unaware of your immediate surroundings,” Jin tacks on, but there’s a great deal of
affection in his voice as he regards the healer fondly.

“Mm, that too,” Namjoon agrees, flashing the elder vampire a dimpled smile before shifting his
gaze to Jungkook. “I was out collecting sapphire moss the first time we met,” he confesses. “It
grows best on the upper branches of silver larch trees. Unfortunately, I’m not the most…graceful
climber, but I was pretty determined in my apprentice years.”

Seokjin muffles a derisive snort at that. “Young and impetuous, you mean.”

Jungkook flinches as the healer’s thumb brushes against a particularly tender spot, and Namjoon
glances up at him, shifting his grip carefully to lay a single palm over the top of his ankle, free
hand moving up to trace a swirling pattern along the youth’s shin with his index finger.

“Anyway, I succeeded in reaching a healthy growth of moss on one of the taller trees,” the healer
continues cheerfully, his chatter offering an appreciated distraction as Jungkook’s lower leg begins
to tingle strangely. “Filled up my pouch to the brim, and boy was I pleased with myself. And then I
saw him - the most beautiful being I’d ever laid eyes on, walking through the forest a little ways
ahead of me. It was like the world stopped turning for a moment; I was mesmerised. And when he
glanced up, our eyes met, our souls connected-”

“-and you toppled backwards out of the tree,” Jin finishes blandly.

“Well, you know…” Namjoon shoots his mate another dimpled smile. “One could almost say I fell
for you.”

A surprised laugh escapes Jungkook’s lips, which he quickly tries to muffle behind his hand, and
Namjoon grins at him, clearly satisfied at the reaction. Jin groans, fondly exasperated.

“Don’t encourage him, darling,” the elder of the two vampires beseeches in a longsuffering tone.
“He’s been telling that joke for decades. There are times I regret catching him all those years ago.”

The fondness in Jin’s gaze belies his words, and Jungkook’s own smile softens as he glances
between the two vampires, warmth swelling in his chest at the tender way they regard each other.
They’re so fucking sweet. He hopes that years in the future, he and Taehyung will still be that
deeply in love with one another.

“There.” Namjoon finally breaks his gaze away from Jin to trace one last rune against Jungkook’s
shin. “How does that feel, sweetheart?”

Honestly? A little bit like his leg’s gone dead – like he’s been sitting cross-legged for too long and
cut off the circulation, only without the painful tingling he normally experiences as the blood flow
begins to return. It’s just…numb.

“Whoa,” he breathes, wiggling his toes experimentally and flexing his foot, delighted when his
ankle doesn’t give so much as a twinge. “The pain’s totally gone, that’s amazing…”

“Careful!” Namjoon chides with a laugh, hands quickly moving to immobilise the joint. “You’ll
aggravate the sprain, kiddo. I’ve put a temporary nerve-block in place while the injury’s healing,
but you’ll need to go easy on it for the next couple of days. I’ll whip up a poultice that should help
speed things along and reduce the inflammation, but it’ll still need time to heal. No weight-bearing
on that foot for the next twenty-four hours, okay?”

Jungkook nods, mentally thanking his lucky stars that he has an art class scheduled for tomorrow
evening and not another dance practice. All being well, his ankle should’ve healed up nicely by
Wednesday and he can join the rest of his team at the studio as planned.

“Have you still got a pair of crutches from the last time you sprained it?” the healer asks, moving
over to the workspace near the sink, pulling a large marble mortar and pestle towards him and
plucking a few green leaves from the nearest wall-crawler. “Or do you need new ones?”

“Um…” Jungkook fidgets, unsure whether or not it’s wise to admit that he’s never really used
crutches for any of his previous sprains. “I think I’ll be okay, thanks.”

Jin fixes him with a searching look as Namjoon drops the leaves into the mortar and moves to fetch
a few jars down from his cabinet of tinctures.

“That wasn’t quite the answer Joonie was looking for, dear,” the vampire murmurs, a long-
fingered hand settling gently over the back of his neck, and oh shit, it’s like Jin’s looking straight
into his soul – look away, look away! “Do you have a set of crutches at home?”

Fuck.
Jungkook’s cheeks prickle with heat again. “I…no, hyung.” He sees Namjoon pause in his
ingredient-gathering, and quickly adds, “But I’ll be totally fine without them, honest. I can just hop
around the apartment, and Binnie can help me go down the stairs if the elevator breaks again.”

“Jungkookie.” Namjoon’s turned around to face him again, hands on his hips, and with his sleeves
still rolled up above his elbows it gives the stance an additional edge of sternness, one that leaves
Jungkook feeling more than a little cowed. “Bunny hybrid or not, you can’t just hop around on one
foot for the next two days, you’ll end up straining your other leg, or toppling over and breaking
something. We talked about the importance of prioritising your health yesterday, and properly
taking care of your injuries is a big part of that. I’d like you to use the crutches, please.”

The youth nods, subdued. “Yes, hyung.”

Namjoon’s stance relaxes, his expression softening. “Good boy,” he murmurs, and turns back
towards his workstation.

Fuckfuckfuck.

“Joon-ah was telling me about another conversation the two of you had yesterday evening,” Jin
mentions, perching on the edge of the examination bed, gently taking one of Jungkook’s hands in
his. “Regarding your work-life balance and financial situation. Have you managed to get in touch
with your employers yet?”

Shaking his head, Jungkook lowers his gaze to where their hands are touching, a little mesmerised
by the vampire’s long fingers and perfectly manicured nails, watching as Jin’s thumb strokes back
and forth over his knuckles.

“I’m gonna quit my night job,” he promises. “It’s just…my boss isn’t the easiest guy to talk to over
the phone, and he never checks his emails, so I’ll need to go to the store in person to hand in my
notice. I was gonna do it after school today but…well, things didn’t quite go as planned. I think I’ll
probably need to work another few weekends anyway, I’m pretty sure the contract asks for a
minimum of two weeks’ notice.”

Namjoon pauses again, midway through grinding up an assortment of herbs and powders and dark-
coloured tinctures in his marble mortar.

“You don’t have to work your notice, bunny,” the healer reassures, glancing back towards him.
“Those nightshifts are putting your health at risk. I can write you a formal note of medical
exemption; that should overrule any clauses in your contract.”

“Perhaps we can go to your workplace after Joonie’s finished fixing you up?” Jin suggests,
squeezing his hand. “Get it over and done with. I’ll be right there with you in case your employer
decides to make things difficult.”

Jungkook nods again, seeing the logic in getting it over with sooner rather than later, and
appreciating the vampire’s offer to accompany him. He’d initially intended to go with Yugyeom
and Binnie (for moral support) before they headed to dance class, but he figures a badass super-
powerful vampire is a pretty decent backup option.

“Oh, and I spoke with your landlord this morning,” Jin tacks on casually. “He was more than happy
to let me pay upfront for the next six months, so be sure to cancel your monthly bank transfers
before the end of next week.”

Jungkook freezes, his gaze shooting up to stare at the vampire, wide-eyed.

 “I wasn’t certain which company handled your electricity and water bills,” the elder continues
calmly. “So I’ve given you a little extra allowance to cover any domestic utilities.”

“Allowance?” Jungkook echoes, his mind reeling. “Hyung…”

The vampire’s lips curl up slowly into a fond smile as he reaches out to gently card his fingers
through Jungkook’s hair.

“As Joonie told you yesterday, you’re a part of our nest now, little one,” Jin murmurs. “Which
means I’m well within my rights to spoil you every bit as much as I do TaeTae and Jimin. Your
allowance should cover anything you might need in the immediate future, but if there’s something
in particular that you’d like, you need only ask.”

He’s rendered speechless for a moment by the sheer generosity of the offer, emotions welling up
inside him thick and fast until his throat feels clogged with it and his eyes sting traitorously.

“Thank you,” he manages after a beat, hoarse and just a tad wobbly but as sincere as he can
possibly make it because holy fuck, Jin and Namjoon have literally just solved a two-year-long
financial crisis like it’s nothing at all. “But you don’t have to…it’s too much, hyung, you can’t-”

“I can, and I have,” the vampire reaffirms gently, leaning in to press a gentle kiss to his hairline, the
way Jaebum often does when Jungkook arrives at the Den bone-tired and in need of a cuddle. It’s a
very hyung thing to do, and Jungkook melts instantly. “Because you’re a sweetheart who deserves
nice things, Jeon Jungkook.”

Oh.

Don’t cry, Kookie. Don’t.

“Aw, baby,” Jin murmurs, concerned, and opens his arms to Jungkook, who falls into the hug
without a moment’s hesitation, grateful to hide his tears against the vampire’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,
I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Jungkook shakes his head a little, unable to speak but wanting to communicate that he isn’t upset,
he’s not, he’s just so fucking overwhelmed by everything and he’s really not good with emotions.

“Ah,” the vampire acknowledges, hand smoothing down the hair at the back of his head. “Happy
tears?”

A tiny nod, and Jin hums, hugging him tighter.

“Me too, sweetheart.”

Chapter End Notes

And then Jimin comes in with Tae slung over his shoulder because our bratty maknae-
vampire refused to come willingly despite reassurances that he wasn't in trouble (to be
fair, disobeying the rules about going outside doesn't usually end well for him, and he
was reluctant to get scolded by Namjoon in front of his new bae). :P

KOOKIE FINALLY GOT THE ALLOWANCE HE DESERVES, YA'LL! NO MORE

STRUGGLING TO MAKE ENDS MEET, OUR BABY BUN CAN STOP
STRESSING OVER FINANCES AT LAST! :D Although whether he'll actually be
able to use the money to buy things for himself is another question, because Kookie
isn't in the habit of treating himself to nice things.

Sorry for the belated update, work has been kicking my butt this month and like
Jungkook I really wish I could quit my nightshifts. But alas! Not all of us have
awesome vampire sugar-daddies to dump a ton of money in our bank accounts. *sigh*

A big thank you to everyone who continues to support this story! :) Love you!
 Money, Money, Money
Chapter Summary

Jungkook discovers the extent of NamJin's generosity, has a minor breakdown, and
eats a whole fuckton of chicken. Also cuddles.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Jungkook’s glad he had the forethought to sit down before finally logging into his mobile banking
app, because holy shit.

Holy. Freaking. Shit.

His breath leaves him in a shaky whoosh, hands suddenly clammy as the bottom drops out of his
stomach, staring wide-eyed at the figure on the screen. There are so many digits that at first glance
he misreads the number, but when his jittery gaze finally locates the point-zero-one at the very end
of that long line of numbers, he takes a closer look at the preceding row of digits, and promptly
drops his phone.

“Oh my god,” he breathes, fumbling to pick it up again, this time using a shaky finger to manually
count how many numbers precede that tiny (but oh so significant) decimal point. “Oh my god!”

Almost on reflex he flings the device away from him again, body suddenly thrumming with such
restless energy that he can barely contain himself, hands clenching and unclenching as he watches
his phone land with bounce against the pink poop-emoji cushion Sanha had bought Binnie for his
last birthday. Both of his hands come up to fist his hair as he sucks in several deep, ragged breaths.
He’s borderline hyperventilating, and he’s probably crying a little, and the strangled laugh that
escapes his tight throat is definitely verging on hysterical, but he can’t help it.

Because it’s so much money. Oh god, it’s so much money.

And Seokjin-hyung had called it an allowance? Holy fuck.

He pulls his knees up to his chest, only belatedly remembering his injured ankle when it twinges
dully, still half-numbed by whatever magic-healing-mojo Namjoon had used on him back at the
clinic a couple of hours ago. Recalling the healer’s cautionary words, he dutifully straightens that
leg out to rest across the couch, propping up his bandaged heel on the edge of the poop emoji
cushion. His phone slides sideways as the cushion dips, lighting up again at the motion (having
dimmed briefly), and even upside-down the long row of digits still displayed across the screen
makes his stomach give a fluttering swoop.

God, how’s he ever supposed to spend that much money on himself? Even after he’s paid for night
classes at the art studio and deducted all the utility bills for the next six months, that’ll barely have
put a dent in his new ‘allowance’. What else could he possibly use it for?

Well, he does need to buy a new rucksack for uni (the shoulder strap is starting to frey), and some
basic school supplies like study books and stationary…oh, and maybe he could splurge on some
new watercolours from that art shop near the station. It sells such beautiful pallets, and he’s been
wanting a good quality set for years. But no, wouldn’t that be too greedy? Namjoon and Seokjin
hadn’t really told him what he could and couldn’t use the money for, but he doesn’t want to take
advantage of their generosity and spend it all on frivolous materialistic stuff for himself. Maybe he
should open up a savings account and only take it out when he really needs it.

On the other hand, he doesn’t want to seem ungrateful for their financial assistance either,
especially since he imagines his new hyungs probably gave him the money because they wanted to
help his daily living situation. Thing is, Jin-hyung’s already taken care of his rent, and other than
groceries and toiletries, there isn’t much else he and Binnie have to buy in order to sustain
themselves comfortably.

Aigoo, who could possible need this much money as their allowance? Jungkook could buy a car,
hell, he could buy several fairly decent cars and still have enough left over to pay for his art classes
and a year’s worth of bills. It’s too much, it’s way too much, fuck, maybe Seokjin had made a
mistake and put the decimal point in the wrong place when he transferred the money earlier
today…

His phone pings suddenly, the screen lighting up again to reveal a WhatsApp message from the
Roomies groupchat, and Jungkook reaches for it eagerly, welcoming the distraction from his
current internal crisis.

BinBin: hyung! ❤️ Fire alarm went off at the studio it’s a false alarm but we can’t go back in
until they’ve checked out the building so I’m quitting practice early. Are you home yet? How’s your
ankle? Did you call your boss? Want me to back you up? I can look intimidating if you need me
to.

Jungkook smiles, instantly calming as he reads the message in Moonbin’s cheerful tone,
immediately forgetting about his previous stresses (and aigoo, he definitely never thought he’d be
in a position to be stressing out over having too much money).

Kookie: hey dude! Aw, sucks that practice got cut short. But I guess that means I won’t miss
out on learning the new choreo, so yay!
Kookie: My ankle feels great, just have to use these dumb crutches until it’s better. I got home a
little while ago, Seokjin-hyung drove me. And I already went into work to speak to my boss, it’s all
sorted out. No more nightshifts, wooo!!

The messages are ticked as viewed immediately, and within seconds he gets a reply in the form of
multiple celebratory emojis, interspersed with a few crying and praying ones. Jungkook laughs,
adding a few of his own, because hell yeah, it feels fucking awesome to finally be free of his
crappy night job.

BinBin: OMG hyung I’m legit gonna cry, so happy for you! Fucking nightshifts.❤️ I can’t believe
your asshole boss actually let you quit tho? Did he feel bad because you busted you ankle or smth?

Jungkook laughs.

Kookie: Jin-hyung came with me for moral support. I think he made Mr Yan feel nervous.

Understatement of the century right there.

It had all been pretty fucking surreal, actually. In his head he’d built it up to be this big, scary
confrontation where he’d inevitably stammer his way through a list of pre-scripted excuses and
have them thrown back in his face, but in reality he’d barely had to say anything at all. Admittedly,
that probably had a lot to do with the private conversation Seokjin had insisted on having with his
boss beforehand.

“Wait here, sweetness,” the vampire had murmured as he smoothly pulled into a parking space
that seemed far too small (for a car as big as Jin’s), killing the engine with light rap of his knuckles
against the steering wheel. “Mr Yan and I are going to have a little chat about your contract first.
I’ll come and fetch you in a couple of minutes, okay?”

And it hadn’t really been up for negotiation. Jungkook had opened his mouth to voice a token
protest all the same, but Jin had raised a finger to his lips in a gentle hushing motion, reaching out
to cluck Jungkook gently beneath the chin before sliding gracefully out of the car. Then the
vampire had smiled at him reassuringly as he stepped back, nudging the door closed with his hip
and wiggling his fingers in a dainty wave, before gliding in through the convenience store’s
automatic doors and out of sight.

Less than ten minutes later, Jungkook had found himself shaking hands with his now ex-employer,
trying to bow as best he could with both crutches wedged under his armpits, balancing on his
uninjured foot as Mr Yan thanked him for his many months of hard work and loyal service, and
praised his scrupulously clean employee record – which were words Jungkook hadn’t ever
expected Mr Yan to use about anyone, let alone a part-time student employee upon whom he had
unapologetically dumped all the double weekend nightshifts. Were it not for the very real
sensation of the man’s sweaty palms clasping his own a little too tightly, Jungkook might’ve
thought he was dreaming.

“There now, little one, I told you everything would work out,” Jin had remarked cheerfully once
they were settled back inside the car, Kookie’s leg fully extend in front of him because the laws of
physics apparently didn’t apply to the vampire’s semi-sentient vehicle (it just kept elongating to
suit his needs in the blink of an eye). “I knew your employer would see reason. And you were
wonderfully articulate, my dear.”

Despite the fact that Jungkook hadn’t actually said more than two heavily-rehearsed sentences to
his unusually-tense employer (“I’ve come to hand in my letter of resignation” and “I’m really
sorry, but I won’t be able to work my twenty days’ notice – but here’s my letter of exemption from
a registered Healer”), he’d accepted the praise all the same, because it felt really nice to be
complimented by one of his new vampire-hyungs, especially when Seokjin was smiling at him so
warmly.

Still, he hadn’t been able to keep his curiosity in check for long.

“What did you say to Mr Yan before I came in?” he’d asked after a short period of comfortable
silence, shooting the vampire a tentative sideways glance. “He isn’t usually so…agreeable.”

Seokjin mouth had quirked up at the corners, eyes still focused on the road. “I merely reminded
him that his retail licence will likely need renewing within the next few months, and it would be
terribly unfortunate if the Seoul Workers Union found out he’d been allocating his student
workforce unfair antisocial hours when his part-time contracts clearly stipulate shift flexibility.
And since you’d been such a loyal employee to work all those weekend nightshifts without the full
overtime pay, I simply suggested he accept your resignation graciously.”

And oh, how Jungkook wishes he’d been a fly on the wall during that conversation; Mr Yan had
been the sort of employer who truly revelled in his position of authority (scolding his part-time
staff for mistakes that happened when they weren’t even on shift, allocating them impossible tasks
and losing his temper when they weren’t completed on time), and it really would’ve been
something to see him taken down a peg by the polite-but-somewhat-intimidating Kim Seokjin.

“Now darling, before I take you home,” the vampire had continued brightly as the slowed to a stop
at a red light, reaching across the space between the front seats to squirt a cold dollop of grapefruit-
scented antibacterial gel into Kookie’s palm (bless Jin’s perceptiveness – he’d still been able to feel
Mr Yan’s sweat clinging to his pores, and it wasn’t a pleasant sensation). “There’s a family-owned
bakery down by the river that does the most exquisite pastries. Why don’t we choose a selection
for you to share with your friends?”

Damn, but Jungkook was a weak, weak man.

Ever since he first laid eyes on them, Jungkook’s been trying his best not to pine after Taehyung’s
older nestmates. He knows all six of the vampires are intimately bonded (Tae had been very open
and honest about the nature of their nest), but since none of the hyungs have yet to make overtly
romantic advances on Jungkook, he doesn’t want to assume that those feelings will ever be
extended to him). But Kim Seokjin…aigoo, Jungkook is fucking weak in the face of his easy
gentleness and doting nature.

And the pastries he recommended are fucking delicious, and there’s still another dozen or so in the
truly enormous take-out selection box Jin had insisted on buying for him, but Jungkook’s been
resisting temptation because Moonbin will love the custard tarts even more than he does. Although
the box has been staring at him these past few minutes, and he is starting to feel a little peckish
again, so maybe he’ll nibble on one of the apple turnovers…

His phone buzzes in his hand, distracting him from his reawakened appetite.

BinBin: Ok, your new hyung sounds pretty badass, I approve. Is he the guy Gyeomie met this
afternoon? Because our wolfboy is SHOOK.

Kookie: Yeah lol, I guess he kinda has that effect on people. But he’s super nice! He even bought
us pastries to share, and there’s custard tarts.

BinBin: !!!!

BinBin: JIN-HYUNG IS MY NEW FAVOURITE PERSON PLEASE MARRY HIM ASAP ❤️❤️❤️

BinBin: I could actually eat a house right now, I’m so hungry. Why does the studio have to be near
so many takeout places? Ugh.

Suddenly remembering that he’s recently acquired a heck of a lot of money, Jungkook realises
exactly who he wants to spend it on first.

Kookie: Hey, let’s get delivery. Hyung’s treat.

BinBin: Nonono its fine, I didn’t mean it like that. I can cook us something when I get home. ❤️
You’re the one with the busted ankle, I should be taking care of you today. And with rent coming
up we probably shouldn’t splurge too much on food y’know? Besides, you already bought me
hotteok last week. ❤️ x

Jungkook bites his lip, momentarily at war with himself. He and Moonbin rarely keep secrets from
each other (not big ones, at least), especially when it comes to finances. Up until recently, Binnie
had been the only person in the world who knew how often Jungkook’s had to figuratively scrape
the bottom of the barrel after paying rent and utilities, and his roommate’s been in a similar
position himself – neither of them have opened up about their ongoing financial situation to the rest
of their friends, and definitely not to their families (being the only sons of hardworking fathers
made them both a little too proud to go asking for help), so being able to confide in each other
without judgement has been a huge relief at times.

It won’t be easy to explain (and he already knows the ‘sugar daddy’ jokes are going to be
unbearable from this day forth), but Jungkook realises he doesn’t want to keep the truth to himself
anymore. Even if Binnie’s the only one he’ll ever have the courage to confess the whole truth to
(and maybe Yugyeom, because they’re besties), it’ll ease the burden of carrying around such a big
secret. And more importantly, it’ll mean he won’t have to keep thinking of on-the-spot excuses to
explain why they don’t need to stick to such a tight food budget anymore.

Kookie: A lot of stuff happened today, it’ll be easier to talk about it in person. So I’m gonna order
pizza and chimaek and we’re gonna have chat when you get home. Sound good?

BinBin: pizza AND chimaek?

BinBin: Is it that serious? Are you dying?

BinBin: can I have your new Timberlands?

Jungkook laughs so hard he almost gives himself a stitch, but manages to hold his phone still long
enough to send a reply.

Kookie: you’re such a brat

BinBin: love you too hyung! ❤️

They haven’t ordered delivery since Moonbin’s birthday back in January.

It’s not that they’ve totally deprived themselves of takeout food – every so often they’ll share a tub
of tteokbokki from the street stall near the studio, because the owner offers generous student
discounts and big portions. And Jaebum always makes a point of inviting them round for dinner
whenever the Im-pack are having pizza (although invariably Jungkook’s busy work schedule
requires him to turn down the offer). But to really splurge like this on several different kinds of
delivery, and from fancy places that aren’t at all cheap – eateries that have raving five-star online
reviews and have even been featured in TV food shows because they’re that popular? It’s an
indulgence neither of them have previously been able to afford.

Jungkook still feels a little shaken up, knowing how much all of this had cost. It seems wrong
somehow – wasteful even – to have spent so much on food in a single sitting, but one look at his
roommate’s awed expression banishes those tentative regrets immediately. Binnie deserves a good
meal.

“Whoa,” Moonbin breathes, frozen in his spot at the foot of the coffee table, staring wide-eyed as
Jungkook continues pulling containers of food out of several giant paper carrier bags. “You really
went all-out, hyung. Ai! You shouldn’t be putting weight on your ankle like that – here, sit down,
let me do it…”

The cat nudges him gently out of the way, gaze flickering down to Jungkook’s bandaged foot as he
kneels beside the paper bags, brow creasing for a moment as his nose wrinkles cutely.

“Why do you smell like lemongrass?”

Jungkook laughs softly as he regains his seat on the couch, reaching out to take the towel draped
around Moonbin’s neck, using it to gently scrub at the younger boy’s still-dripping hair (clearly his
roommate had heard the delivery guys arriving and decided to skip the drying stage of the whole
showering process).

“Namjoon-hyung made this paste out of plants and stuff,” he replies, carefully rubbing at the
sodden locks. “It’s supposed to help with the swelling or something.”

“Cool.” Moonbin lifts up the lid of the pizza box and sucks in an adorably delighted gasp. “Oh!
You got the fancy Bulgogi set? With potatoes?”

A fond grin curls at his mouth. “That’s your favourite, right?”

Moonbin turns a little in his kneeling position on the floor and glances back and forth between
Jungkook and the pizza box several times, looking torn between excitement and concern.

“But hyung,” he quietly frets after a long pause. “It’s so expensive. The premium set costs, like, a
whole week’s worth of groceries. And you bought so much chimaek too…”

Jungkook knows how it must look to Moonbin – it is a lot of food, after all, and all from brands
they’ve never been able to afford previously. He’d maybe gone a teeny tiny bit overboard ordering
from that second fried chicken place, but Binnie loves chimaek, and they still haven’t tried all the
flavours despite living within walking distance of one of Seoul’s most popular takeout restaurants.
It hadn’t made ordering it any easier, though – every time Jungkook added a new item to the basket
on the delivery app, his stomach had twisted a little, alarmed to see the total figure climbing up and
up way beyond what he ever would’ve considered paying before today. He’d even exited the app
briefly to double-check his bank balance again, just to make sure the money was still there (in case
the whole thing had been a figment of his imagination), before he’d finally summoned the courage
to confirm the order.

And then, spurred on by how empowering it felt to splurge a little on food for the first time in
forever, and because apparently he had no self-restraint anymore when it came to buying stuff that
he knew Binnie would love to eat, he’d ordered the Premium Bulgogi set from Pizza Hut too. He’d
felt more than a little bit greedy once the order was placed (because the chicken was definitely
enough for the two of them, and they didn’t need the pizza), but he knew it would all be worth it
when he saw Binnie enjoying the meal and eating his fill.
Jungkook tosses the damp towel aside to comb his fingers through Moonbin’s messy hair,
neatening it a little.

“Don’t worry about how much it cost, we’re alright,” he reassures the youth, and boy is that a new
and wonderful feeling – being able to say with absolute certainty that things are alright in reference
to their current financial situation. “We can afford it, Bin.”

Moonbin tilts his head a little, both a gesture of curiosity and his usual oh-that-feels-nice nuzzle in
response to the way Jungkook’s kneading at his scalp.

“I’ll explain everything after we’ve eaten,” Kookie promises, smiling confidently despite the slight
nervous fluttering in his stomach at the prospect of needing to find a way to explain everything
that’s happened today. “Why don’t you grab us some chopsticks? I ordered that sticky sesame
chicken you like. And I got us a box of half-and-half because all the reviews said the classic set is
really good. Oh, and the spicy set Sanha’s been wanting us to try, that’s been on your bucket list
for a while now.”

The youth’s expression brightens in an instant, and he leans in to plant an exaggerated ‘mwah’ of a
kiss against Jungkook’s cheek before dashing off to the kitchen for plates and cups and cutlery.

As anticipated, the food is incredible.

It’s known that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and Jungkook’s pretty sure whoever first
said that must’ve been talking about fried chicken because holy shit, chimaek’s never tasted so
fucking good. He’d somehow managed to forget just how much he loved delivery food, especially
when it’s paired with good beer, and for a time neither of them has the inclination to talk beyond
the occasional “oh my god that’s so good” and “try this one” amid frequent moans of approval.
It’s pure, unadulterated gluttony, and Jungkook enjoys every second of it.

Despite the veritable banquet of food, they’re both hungry students with big appetites and enhanced
metabolisms, so they make their way through more than half the pizza and two-thirds of the
chicken before Moonbin finally pauses in his eating, setting his chopsticks aside and slumping
back on the couch with a satisfied hum, eyes closed and hands resting on his belly.

“Hyung? I don’t even care if we go bankrupt because of this,” the werecat sighs happily, listing
sideways a little to lean his head against Jungkook’s shoulder. “S’totally worth it.”

Jungkook breathes an amused huff into his beer, nudging Moonbin in the side. “We’re not gonna
go bankrupt, kitcat. Like, ever.”

“That’s the spirit, hyung.” Eyes still closed, Moonbin lifts a clenched fist in a lazy cheer.
“Fighting!”

“No, I mean it,” Jungkook laughs, nudging him again. “Financially speaking, we’re…actually
doing pretty good.”

“Oh?” Moonbin cracks on eyelid open. “Did the bank approve that loan you were talking about?”

Shit, he’d forgotten about the spur-of-the-moment lie he’d used last night to try and explain the
lack of financial ramifications for him quitting his nightshift job so suddenly.

“I…I never actually applied for one,” he admits, rolling the cold glass between his fingers and
avoiding Moonbin’s gaze. “I’m sorry, dude, I honestly didn’t mean to lie to you, but I wasn’t sure
how to explain it all – a lot happened yesterday.”
Moonbin straightens up from his slouch and turns to face him, sitting cross-legged sideways on the
couch, a hand settling gently on Jungkook’s knee.

“Has it got something to do with your new hyungs?” the cat asks, his voice soft and completely
lacking even a trace of judgment for Kookie’s earlier deception.

Jungkook nods slowly. “Yesterday, Namjoon-hyung told me I was a part of his nest now…I guess
because I’m bonded with Tae? He thought maybe my night job had been making me sick-”

“Because it was,” Moonbin interrupts flatly.

“I know, Binnie,” Jungkook sighs, leaning forwards to set down his beer glass. When he leans
back again, Moonbin’s hands curl around his own, squeezing gently in apology. “That’s why
Namjoon-hyung wanted me to quit. I was resistant at first, because I knew we couldn’t afford it,
but he promised to help settle my finances if I cut down my hours, so I agreed.”

Moonbin squeezes his hands again. “That’s really nice of him, hyung. You and Taehyung-ssi have
only been bonded for a little while, right? It’s great that he’s already treating you like nestmate.”
The werecat’s smile in encouraging. “So when you said you were getting a loan, were you talking
about Namjoon-ssi?”

“Mm.” Jungkook smiles a little, then shrugs. “At least, that’s what I thought would happen.” He
takes a steadying breath and lifts his eyes to meet Moonbin’s attentive gaze. “After school today,
Jin-hyung told me he’d spoken with our landlord this morning. He…he’s settled our rent for the
next six months, Bin.”

The werecat’s mouth falls open, eyes widening almost comically.

“I thought at first he only meant my half of the rent,” Jungkook ploughs on before he can lose
confidence. “But I checked my emails when I got home; Mr Choi had sent us a copy of the new
joint-tenancy agreement, and it looks like the full rent’s been paid for both of us, six months
upfront.”

“Holy shit,” Moonbin breathes, letting go of Jungkook’s hands to drag his fingers through his still-
drying hair. “Kookie! That’s gotta be like…four and a half million won, at least.”

Jungkook nods (because he’d done the math too, and holy shit is right), fishing his cell phone out
from the front pocket of his hoodie.

“And he gave me an allowance to help us pay for groceries and council tax and utility bills,” he
adds, quickly logging into his mobile banking app and turning the screen to show Moonbin the
figure. “Just look, dude…it’s way too much, I don’t even know what I’m gonna do with it all…”

Moonbin makes a strangled noise of surprise and alarm, gripping the older boy’s wrist and pulling
the phone closer, likely counting the digits preceding the decimal point just like Jungkook had
done earlier that evening.

“Hyung, your sugar daddies are loaded,” Binnie reacts, giving Jungkook’s shoulder an excited
little shake. “Ohmygod, how much do they think utilities are gonna cost? Their house must be
fucking huge.”

Jungkook hadn’t given it much thought actually, but his roommate’s probably right – if Namjoon
and Seokjin can pay his rent six months in advance and transfer a huge sum of money into his bank
account like it’s nothing, they must be living pretty comfortably. Seoul has some very expensive
high-rise apartment buildings (where the monthly rent starts at six million won), but he remembers
Tae and Jimin mentioning something about living near the border of the Old Forest, so that doesn’t
seem likely. There are a lot of grand old houses along the edges of the city, huge mansions owned
by wealthy families who’d first settled here when Seoul was still mostly forest and farmland. With
Jin’s apparent control over natural elements, and Namjoon’s obvious connection with plant-life, he
can definitely picture them living somewhere surrounded by things that blossom and grow.

The more he thinks about it, the more curious he becomes, his imagination running wild as he
remembers all the fancy properties he’s spotted during his travels around the outer rim of the city.

“Hyung, you could even quit your job at Euphoria,” Moonbin points out, handing the phone back
to him. “Concentrate on your artwork like you’ve always wanted to.”

The thought had crossed his mind. But there’s a part of him that truly enjoys his role as a butler at
the visual café, and he’s made so many friends there that he’ll never get to see outside of work –
plus all his loyal customers who come in specifically to see him on weekend afternoons, their
generous tips have often been the only reason he could afford to buy lunch at uni on the last week
of the month. And not only that, but the managers at Euphoria have really gone out of their way to
accommodate his busy schedule, letting him work odd hours and random half-shifts here and there,
offering him overtime towards the end of the month without actually acknowledging that they
were aware of his tight financial situation. Jungkook feels like he owes it to his colleagues not to
quit out of the blue.

“I’ll cut down my hours,” he says decisively. “Drop my weekday afternoons and stop working
overtime shifts so that I’m only in for a half-day or two at the weekends. I don’t wanna quit
completely; Euphoria’s done a lot for me, and I like the work. Besides, if I bomb in the exams this
term and get dropped from my scholarship programme, I’m gonna need a backup option.”

Moonbin winces at the sudden glumness in his tone, reaching out to comfort him in the way he
always does when Jungkook’s constant fear of failing his business course manages to claw its way
to the surface.

“The exams are still a month away, hyung,” his roommate reassures him, providing a welcome
distraction from Jungkook’s reawakened stresses in the form of a cosy sideways snuggle. “And
your new ‘allowance’ can basically cover all your school fees for next year, if you spend it right.
So screw the scholarship.”

He’s not wrong. Jin and Namjoon have given him enough that he’ll be able to sustain himself even
without the government bursary subsidising his university fees. But maintaining his exam scores
within the top five percent isn’t just about keeping himself enrolled in the scholarship programme
– his parents’ high expectations are a far greater motivator. He loves them both, and he wants to
make them proud of him, but sometimes he just feels like there’s so much pressure bearing down
on him that he can barely breathe. His father’s lifelong mantra (“if you aren’t willing to give it your
all, you’ve already failed”) has been haunting his every step ever since he finished middle school,
when his passion for art and dance were suddenly classed as distractions and both his parents had
started encouraging him to pursue a more ‘reliable’ profession. When his lack of talent for sciences
immediately ruled out the possibility of being a doctor or an engineer, his father had started taking
him along to company conventions, hoping Jungkook would discover a new passion for business.
It hadn’t worked, but he’d adhered to his parent’s wishes all the same, because he knew they really
only wanted the best for him – even if they didn’t understand how miserable academic pressure
made him feel. His father had been the one to source the scholarship application, hiring a private
tutor to help Kookie improve his average math and science grades so that he’d make the cut. The
only real choice he’d had in the matter was which universities he eventually applied for, and one of
the many reasons he’d chosen Seoul (other than the fact that Yugyeom would be going with him)
was that it took him far, far away from home and his parents constant reminders to study, study,
study.

He loves his family, he really does, but he hates this goddamn business course more than he’s ever
hated anything else in his life (including the braces he’d worn for three years as a teenager to
correct his mild case of rabbit-hybrid buck teeth).

“Did I break you?” Moonbin asks, when he’s remained silent a few minutes too long.

Jungkook breathes a shaky laugh, but his eyes are damp, and he’s not fooling anybody. Moonbin
palms his cheek to turn his head a little, pressing their brows together and closing his eyes.

“I’m happy for you,” the werecat murmurs. “Seriously, Kookie. You always put everyone else
first, and you’ve sacrificed so much to help other people, especially me, but now you’ve finally
found someone who wants to do all that for you. I hope your new sugar daddies buy you stupidly
expensive shit and take you out to all the fancy restaurants and give you more money than you’ll
ever be able to spend. Nobody deserves that more than you do, hyung.”

The whole rollercoaster of emotions he’s been on today had left him feeling pretty dazed by the
time Moonbin got home, but now that familiar trembling warmth is blooming in his chest again,
swelling so big it feels like he could just burst with it. His financial situation had always weighed
heavily on his mind, but he hadn’t quite realised just how huge that burden had grown until this
afternoon, when he’d counted that long line of digits and realised that all his troubles were finally
over. He doesn’t have to worry about how they’re going to pay for groceries next week, or if
they’ll have enough money to cover the electricity bulls at the end of the month, or whether they’ll
need to terminate their cheap (and fairly unreliable) wifi service in order to afford the quarterly
council tax bill.

And now all of that responsibility has been completely lifted from his shoulders.

“Don’t overthink it, kiddo,” Namjoon had said to him yesterday afternoon, what feels like a
lifetime ago now. “Just leave it with me. I’ll take care of everything.”

And the vampire had. He really had. Namjoon and Jin had swooped in and settled his finances for
the foreseeable future and fuck, how is he ever supposed to thank them enough?

Moonbin rubs their noses together in a tender nuzzle, then ducks down to brush a kiss against his
cheek.

“C’mon,” the werecat encourages, turning back towards the food-laden coffee table and reaching
for his chopsticks. “Bet I can fit more pieces of chicken in my mouth than you.”

It’s such a dumb bet, but that’s the kind Jungkook enjoys the most, and he drags his sleeve across
his eyes with a more genuine laugh, elbowing Moonbin playfully in the side.

“Like hell you can, kitcat. Pass me that box of yangnyeom.”

Chapter End Notes

A little bit proud of myself to posting 3 new updates in a week, but I also feel it might
lull you into a false sense of security. ;D My brain is not usually this cooperative! So it
might be a short while longer before the next update.

Our smol precious cinnamon roll finally knows how rich he is! Now for the real
challenge - how does a selfless bun bring himself to spend that money on the things he
might want? Let's face it, after he's bought basics like toiletries and school supplies, e'll
end up just using his newfound wealth to buy endless snacks for Bin and Yugyeom,
he's far too squishy around his friends. ❤️

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :) x

 Double Date
Chapter Summary

Jungkook enjoys a rare work-free afternoon with some of his new hyungs.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

As it turns out, dropping his weekday shifts at Euphoria is even easier than quitting his night job,
despite Seokjin being absent this time around.

Truthfully, Jungkook hadn’t actually anticipated coming up against any serious resistance, not with
his Euphoria employers – the executive managerial team have always been super nice to him,
allowing Kookie to work odd shifts patterns around his weirdly disjointed schedule, and giving
him all the overtime hours he could want. So he already knew they wouldn’t make things difficult
for him when he asked to drop his hours. Still, he hadn’t expected his senior manager to react to his
request with quite so much enthusiasm.

“That’s wonderful!” Wonho had enthused, clapping him on the shoulder as he ushered Jungkook
into a chair in his office, taking the crutches from him once he was seated and propping them up
against the desk.

Kookie hadn’t been sure how to take that response at first (his boss being super happy that
Jungkook wouldn’t be around anymore during weekdays didn’t really seem like a positive sign),
and that sliver of uncertainty must have shown in his expression, because Wonho had been quick to
flash him a warm smile.

“You’re an exceptional employee, Jungkook-ah,” the werewolf had reassured, offering him a
macaroon from the plate on his desk. “Polite, well-mannered, hardworking, and a great team
player – I’ve heard nothing but praise from the junior managers, and in terms of customer
feedback, you’re a regular favourite. But after what happened on Sunday afternoon, I’ll admit I’m
relieved to hear that you’ve decided to prioritise your health and wellbeing for once. There’s such
a thing as working too hard, kid.”

A little embarrassed at the reminder that all of his senior managers probably knew about his
fainting episode from the other day (because presumably Suyeon would’ve had to fill in an
sickness/accident form to excuse his absence), Jungkook had taken one of the macaroons simply as
a distraction, nibbling on it to give him an excuse not to reply to that particular statement. By the
time he’d finished the sweet treat, Wonho had fetched a handful of documents from one of the
filing cabinets behind him, spreading them out across the desk in front of them.

“Right, new contract. Don’t worry, this isn’t necessarily a permanent change – if you want to up
your hours again once school’s out, that’s an option we’ll keep open for you; summer’s always our
busiest season. But no pressure, man. Okay, let’s go through the initial agreement…”

Over the course of the past ten minutes, they’ve gone through the form paragraph by paragraph,
his boss helpfully highlighting the relevant stipulations.

“Having a fixed weekend contract is more of safeguard for yourself,” the wolf explains, nudging
the plate of macaroons towards Kookie again. “If, for whatever reason, the whole exec team gets
fired and someone else steps in who doesn’t know your preferences, they won’t be able to allocate
you weekday shifts without getting you to sign another contract first – not unless it’s voluntary
overtime.”

Jungkook nods as he takes another biscuit, beyond grateful once again to have a boss who actually
gives a fuck about his part-time employees (compared to Mr Yan, Wonho and Kihyun and the
others are absolute saints). Having been faced with potentially being unable to afford his art classes
last winter, he’d been so desperate for a job to help make ends meet that he’d signed the contract
for Mr Yan’s convenience store without really taking the time to read through all the details (hence
why he hadn’t known about the stipulation regarding flexible working hours – thank god for Kim
Seokjin). For someone taking a business and economics major, it’s almost embarrassing how
clueless he is about employment contracts.

Fuck, he’s never going to pass his exams at this rate.

At least I’ll be able to study more once I’ve dropped my hours.

“Okay, sign here for me,” Wonho finally indicates, lightly tapping a line at the bottom of his
amended contract. “And right here…perfect. All done.”

“Are you sure it won’t be too much trouble to call someone in last-minute?” Jungkook asks again,
passing the contracts back over to his boss. “I don’t want to inconvenience the rest of the team,
hyung – if you can’t cover my hours this week, I’m more than happy to fill in. And I can definitely
work my shift this afternoon, I know it’s pretty short notice-”

Wonho smiles, raising a hand to forestall his rambling. “It’s fine, Kookie. We’ve got a couple of
trainees starting this week as supernumerary staff, and Sanha’s been asking for extra overtime
hours anyway – you know what he’s like, the kid would probably live here if we let him. We’ll
definitely have the manpower, don’t you worry. And besides, I wouldn’t be expecting you to work
at all while you’re still using those crutches – give that ankle of yours a chance to heal properly
this time, okay?”

“Okay,” the younger man agrees, his cheeks flushing again at the werewolf’s teasing note of
censure. Wonho’s had to quietly pull him aside during shifts more than once because Jungkook’s
worried colleagues had caught sight of him limping between the tables following one of his
previous stair-related accidents.

“Is it alright with you if I let the other managers know?” Wonho asks, adding his own signature to
the bottom of the documents. “I don’t want anyone phoning you in a panic thinking you’ve keeled
over at home because you haven’t shown up for one of your usual shifts.”

Jungkook nods, cracking a smile. “Sure hyung, it’s not a secret.”

“Awesome.” Stapling two of the documents together, he hands the final pink-tinted copy to
Jungkook, which the youth quickly slips into his brand new backpack for safekeeping. “Kihyun
and Suyeon are going to be thrilled when they find out – they’ve been asking me for weeks to have
a little chat with you about cutting down your overtime hours.”

What.
Oh god, that’s mortifying.

Has his exhaustion really been that obvious to everyone else? Jungkook’s always been so confident
with his ‘cheerful butler’ persona, slipping into the role pretty much as soon as he ties his pink
Euphoria apron about his waist, polite smile already in place to greet his first customer.
Although…admittedly, ever since he started working double nightshifts, he does have a tendency
to sprawl across the chairs in the staffroom during his mid-shift break at the weekend, grateful to
rest his weary bones for ten minutes or so. One of the managers (invariably Suyeon or Kihyun,
come to think of it) will pop in to let him know what’s happening with his tables before he goes
back out again, and he isn’t always able to pull that ‘cheerful butler’ mask back on again in time to
fool them.

So, in hindsight, their recent concern for his health has probably been well-founded.

“Anyway, I’m glad you came to that decision yourself,” Wonho adds, standing up from behind his
desk and coming around to offer Jungkook a hand up, clapping another on his shoulder. “Get some
rest, kid. We’ll see you on Saturday”

Jungkook smiles, shaking the werewolf’s hand and dipping forward in a quick bow, carefully
balancing on his uninjured foot.

“Thank you,” he murmurs, accepting the crutches his boss helpfully passes over to him. “I’ll see
you then, hyung.”

Having a whole afternoon entirely free of responsibilities is a truly foreign concept to Jungkook.

With his afternoon lectures at university unexpectedly cancelled, he’d been able to head to
Euphoria several hours earlier than planned (using his newly-purchased travel pass to take the bus
directly from SNU, which felt like a true luxury with these cumbersome crutches), and Wonho had
handled his request so quickly and efficiently that he’d been in and out of the café in less than half
an hour. So now it’s barely two-thirty in the afternoon, and he’s got six solid hours to kill doing
whatever the fuck he wants.

Time to consult the list.

Dropping his working hours had been the first item on the ‘Kookie Deserves Nice Things’ list that
Moonbin and Yugyeom had helped him write during their lunch break a couple of hours ago (the
title had definitely been Binnie’s idea, not his), and he’s already been able to cross a line through
that one. Another three goals – ‘new backpack’, ‘buy school supplies’, ‘get a bus pass’ – had been
successfully achieved before he’d even left SNU, thanks to the student store located on campus.
Despite the generous student discounts, he’d still spent more money on stationary and study
materials than he felt entirely comfortable with, but Moonbin had kept finding cute and quirky
stationary to add to his basket, and damn the werecat for knowing him so well, because Jungkook
had loved all of it.

Besides, he’d checked his online bank account again only a short while ago, and he genuinely
couldn’t even tell if the balance had changed or not. The number was just so big.

Jungkook’s phone buzzes in his jacket, and he tucks the list safely away (aish, did Binnie really
have to write Kookie Deserves Nice Things in sparkly pink gel pen?), fishing the device from his
pocket and taking another bite of his Nutella-filled hotteok as he shifts in his seat on the park
bench, his bum a little numb from staying in the same position for too long. A smile curls at his
lips when he sees a familiar name on the screen.

TaeTae: hey handsome! How’s your ankle feeling today? I know you’re probably still in class,
but I hope school’s been okay so far. Can I give you a ride home later? Missing you. xxx

How does the vampire make him feel so fucking giddy with just a simple text message? Aigoo.
He’s probably grinning like a lovesick idiot right now.

Kookie: hi hyung! My ankle feels 100% better now, but Namjoon-hyung said he wanted me to
use the crutches and keep the support bandages on until tomorrow morning just to make sure it
heals up properly.
Kookie: And my 2pm lecture got cancelled today, yay! So I managed to escape earlier than usual.
I’m sitting in the park near Euphoria eating chocolate hotteok Missing you too. ❤️ xxx

He’s also been happily daydreaming about Taehyung being right here with him, fondly
remembering how they’d spent hours walking around the park together on Saturday, eating good
food and talking about anything and everything that came to mind, enjoying each other’s company.

But he’ll keep that to himself – the vampire doesn’t need to know how much of a sap his new
bondmate is.

TaeTae: oooh yum!

TaeTae: hey, if you’re not at work this afternoon, are you maybe free?

Jungkook smiles, a tentative sort of hope fluttering to life in his chest. Is Taehyung asking about
his availability because he wants to hang out?

Kookie: Yep, totally free!

Kookie: at least until my art class at 8:30pm.

The messages are marked as read straight away, but there’s a longer pause this time before the
messenger app indicates that Taehyung is typing. Jungkook finds himself waiting with baited
breath, his Nutella snack entirely forgotten in its little paper cup on the bench beside him as he
grips the phone in both hands, gnawing on his bottom lip. Finally, after what feels like an age but is
probably only a couple of minutes, the vampire’s reply pops up on his screen.

TaeTae: The hyungs won’t let me go outside for more than a few minutes because it’s too sunny.
But we can maybe do something indoors? You wanna go watch a movie? Yoongi-hyung says
he’ll drive us anywhere we want to go as long as I’m not out in daylight.
TaeTae: no worries if you wanna just have some chill-time on your own though, you deserve it.
 x

Jungkook hurries to reply, inadvertently misspelling every single word the first time around, and
huffing an exasperated breath when he has to delete the sentence and try again.

Kookie: a movie sounds great! I’ll meet you at the cinema, which one did you have in mind?

TaeTae: OMG no, please don’t walk halfway across town on crutches! We’ll come pick you up
from the park in like 15 mins, just sit tight.
TaeTae: And I mean that literally, boo. Please stay seated and rest your ankle. For me?

With a grin so dopey it probably makes him look half-drunk, Jungkook replies with a thumbs-up
and a kissy face, that warm fluttery feeling from earlier now expanding to fill his whole chest and
most of his abdomen.

He’s going on another date. Booyah.

“I can walk, you know,” Jungkook laughs, clinging to Taehyung as the vampire piggybacks him up
the stairs towards the cinema complex, his bouncing steps jostling the younger man around.

“Mm,” Taehyung hums, a cheerful noise of acknowledgement. “But I can’t hold your hand when
you’re using crutches. This way we get to cuddle.”

Beside them, Hoseok huffs a fond laugh, one arm extended towards Taehyung to keep the younger
vampire shaded beneath his large parasol, Jungkook’s crutches tucked beneath the other.

“Baby, slow down,” the older vampire chides amusedly. “You might fall.”

Taehyung obligingly slows his pace, bumping Jungkook up a little higher on his back as they step
through the automatic doors and into the large foyer, Hoseok deftly folding the parasol down
without dropping the crutches (an impressive feat) as he leads the way towards one of the display
screens that lists the afternoon’s movie schedule.

“What do you wanna watch, Kookie?” Taehyung asks, briefly letting go of one of Jungkook’s legs
to push his sunglasses up onto his forehead, peering at the screen thoughtfully.

Jungkook shoots a quick glance back towards the entrance. “Shouldn’t we wait for Yoongi-hyung?
I wouldn’t wanna pick something he doesn’t like.”
The older vampire had dropped the three of them off directly outside the multi-story cinema
complex and gone to park the car further up the road, having been adamant that Taehyung be
exposed to as little direct sunlight as possible, reminding the fledgling that his newly-healed skin
would be even more sensitive than normal.

“I’ll be five minutes,” the Seer had promised, rolling down the tinted window to shoot them an
easy smile. “Eight, if the old lady drops her handbag at the crossing. Don’t get the cheese
popcorn, they’ve added too much salt today. Avoid the peanut M&Ms, people have allergies. And
save me a seat next to Tae.”

Both Hoseok and Taehyung had taken their nestmate’s seemingly random predictions without
batting an eyelid, but Jungkook had been a little awed by it all. Apparently Yoongi’s gift of
foresight doesn’t just extend to life-and-death situations and ominous feelings, like he’d originally
thought. He wonders if the vampire has a way of switching it off when he’s out in public – because
otherwise it must get super exhausting to see so many possible futures all the time. If it were
Jungkook, he’d just be incredibly paranoid about everything and probably never leave the house.

Which, come to think of it, is something Taehyung had mentioned to him before – that Yoongi
didn’t like going outside unless he felt it was strictly necessary. He wonders what had motivated
the Seer into leaving the safety of the nest this afternoon; Yoongi hadn’t seemed particularly
concerned about any impending danger, so it clearly isn’t an emergency. Huh. Maybe the guy just
likes movies.

“Yoongi’s happy to watch anything,” Hoseok supplies, reaching up to fix Jungkook’s fringe with
gentle fingers. “You go ahead and choose, sweetheart, he won’t mind.”

Jungkook’s stomach flutters pleasantly at the empath’s tenderness, and he quickly distracts himself
from the impending wave of squishy feelings by refocusing his gaze on the list of movies.

Man, he hasn’t been to the cinema in forever. Movie tickets are fairly pricey even off-peak, and it
had always seemed like such a waste of money, especially when he and Binnie could forego seeing
something on the big screen and buy half a week’s worth of groceries instead. Besides, Binnie
happened to be close friends (and pseudo-packmates) with a certain Park Minhyuk, and Rocky had
been more than willing to share reliable links to movie sites online (on the understanding that
JinJin would never, ever hear about it, because then he’d fix them all with that disappointed-hyung
look and it’d make them feel like actual criminals).

“That new movie by Na Hong-Jin is supposed to be good,” he remarks after a long moment of
contemplation, pointing towards the haunting black-and-white 3D display nearby. “Gyeomie said
it’s even better than The Wailing, if you guys are into scary movies?”

“Sure, that sounds fun,” Taehyung agrees brightly. “And look, there’s a showing in ten minutes.
Let’s go get snacks.”

“Tae, honey,” Hoseok murmurs, keeping pace as the younger vampire sets off towards the service
counter. “Na Hong-Jin is a horror director.”

“Yup,” the fledgling acknowledges, stepping into line behind another couple and surveying the
snack combos on the overhead displays. “Kookie loves horror movies.”

For some reason, Hoseok’s expression turns fond and amused, something a little like exasperation
flickering there for a moment before the older vampire sighs and shakes his head.

“Ooh, look hyung! They sell Haemogummies.”

Jungkook had tried one of those once as a dare, when Yugyeom and Eunwoo had come over to
spend the evening with them one weekend, before the double nightshifts had eaten up all his free
time. The outer gummy layer itself hadn’t tasted too bad (faintly like strawberry and liquorice), but
he hadn’t been expecting the iron-rich liquid centre, and when it burst suddenly on his tongue he’d
almost spat it out right in Yugyeom’s laughing face, but Moonbin had been ready and waiting with
a tissue and a sympathetic smile, apparently knowing from experience that the candies wouldn’t
suit Kookie’s hybrid palate.

“You want popcorn, baby?” Tae continues, bumping Jungkook up on his back again. “Just
remember we can’t get the cheese one…”

It becomes abundantly clear approximately six minutes into the movie that Jungkook has made a
huge mistake.

Taehyung’s clutching tightly onto his right hand, their fingers threaded snugly together, and he’s
sunk down so far in his seat that it’s a miracle he can even see over the top of the person sitting in
front of them. He’s wide-eyed, tight-lipped and more notably he seems to have completely
forgotten about his half-eaten bag of Haemogummies.

There’s a tingling of nervous excitement in Jungkook’s stomach, the way there always is when
he’s watching a horror movie for the first time, but today it’s a lot heavier on the nervous side and
there’s definitely a lot less excitement. And glancing at Tae’s ungloved hand entwined with his
own, he doesn’t really have to guess where those feelings are coming from.

On the screen, a warped shadow moves quickly across the hallway behind the unfortunate
protagonist, and while there’s a smattering of quiet gasps from the audience, Tae’s sharp inhale
draws Jungkook’s attention away from the movie, his gaze flitting sideways to see his bondmate
with a hand pressed over the lower half of his face, as though to silence any further noises of
surprise.

Aigoo, this was a bad idea.

There’s movement from the other side of Taehyung, Yoongi’s hand settling gently on the younger
vampire’s jean-clad thigh, index finger tapping there three times. Taehyung immediately screws
his eyes tight shut, and before Jungkook can lean over to check that he’s okay, a loud jump-scare
on the screen has him jolting in his seat.
Hoseok breathes a quiet laugh beside him, patting Jungkook’s knee and offering him some more
popcorn, which the youth accepts with an embarrassed little smile. He doesn’t usually startle at
cheap jump-scares anymore, but he’d been so focused on Taehyung that he hadn’t sensed the tense
atmosphere of the scene reaching its crescendo.

Beside him, Taehyng has relaxed marginally, his free hand now laying palm-upwards on his thigh,
Yoongi loosely clasping the younger vampire’s wrist with his index finger resting in Tae’s palm.
Although his grip on Jungkook’s hand hasn’t shifted, the fledgling seems to be leaning a lot more
towards Yoongi now, his head resting on the Seer’s shoulder. At least he seems less tense than
before, but he still doesn’t appear to be enjoying the experience – this isn’t exactly how Jungkook
wanted their first ever cinema date to go down. Fuck, why had he picked a horror movie? And why
hadn’t Tae just told him that he didn’t like them in the first place?

He hesitates for a moment, debating whether or not to ask his bondmate if he wants to leave.
Jungkook can tell the vampire’s trying his best to hide just how freaked out he really is, so he
doesn’t want to embarrass him by bringing it up, but he also doesn’t like the idea of letting
Taehyung sit in terror for two hours when they could be enjoying each other’s company elsewhere.

Just as he’s about to lean over to whisper in Tae’s ear, there’s light tap on his left wrist. He glances
at Hoseok quickly, finding the dancer watching him with that same fond smile he’d worn earlier,
holding out his phone. The backlight’s been turned down low, but Jungkook still angles it
downwards to avoid bothering the people on the row behind him, squinting at the screen. Hobi
appears to have opened up the Notes app, and he briefly scans the few short sentences left there.

Hey doll. As you might’ve guessed, Tae isn’t a fan of horror

stuff, but he doesn’t want you to know that. He knew what
he was getting himself into when he agreed to watch this,
so you don’t need to bail him out. I’m guessing Yoongi
saw this coming, which is why he wanted to sit next to Tae.

Jungkook re-reads the message again, then deletes it and quickly types back a reply, keeping the
phone low to avoid drawing attention to himself.

I don’t mind leaving tho. Are you sure he’s okay?

Hoseok breathes another one of those barely-audible laughs, his expression soft as he glances from
the screen to Jungkook’s face, hand gently squeezing his knee before the vampire taps out an
answer.

I can sense his fear from over here, but he’ll be

fine. Yoongi can give him a heads-up about the
jump-scares. I think he’d be more upset if we
left before the movie was over, he’s pretty keen
to make a good impression. Let him be the big,
brave boyfriend he’s trying to be, we can take
him out for ice cream afterwards to cheer him up.

That…actually sounds like a really sweet idea. Jungkook glances back up at Hoseok and nods, his
own lips twitching up into a smile, before startling when something jumps out onscreen with a
bang. Hoseok grins, pocketing his phone and giving Jungkook’s free hand a gentle squeeze before
offering him the popcorn again

Jungkook tries to focus on the rest of the movie (because Yugyeom’s right, it’s really good), but he
finds his gaze flickering sideways more often than not to observe Tae and Yoongi together. The
youngest vampire has all but curled up against the Seer’s side by this point, one of Yoongi’s arms
wrapped snugly around his shoulders, his other hand still resting loosely on Tae’s wrist. Every
once in a his index finger will tap the fledgling’s open palm three times, and Taehyung will
immediately shut his eyes and tense up, seconds before something scary happens onscreen to make
the rest of the audience jump and gasp in surprise.

Honestly the movie’s not half as interesting as observing their unique interaction. Jungkook could
watch them like this all day.

More than once, he thinks he sees Yoongi’s gaze stray from the screen to glance towards him, but
every time he looks up the vampire’s focused on the movie, so perhaps it’s just a figment of his
imagination.

“That was scary!” Taehyung exclaims cheerfully as he exits the cinema complex later that
afternoon, carrying Jungkook in a piggyback like before. “Did you have fun, Kook?”

“Mm, it was great,” the younger man confirms, giving Tae a squeeze where his arms are draped
over the vampire’s shoulders. “But maybe next time we should see something different. I’m not
sure Hobi-hyung enjoyed the movie as much as we did.”

Walking beside them with his arm looped through Yoongi’s, the vampire shoots him an amused
look, but hums in agreement.

“I’m more of a romcom fan myself,” the empath comments blithely, opening the parasol one-
handed and holding it out to shade Taehyung. “Sitting in a movie theatre full of scared people isn’t
good for the nerves, yknow?”

Taehyung stops walking, making an aggrieved noise in the back of his throat.

“Aw hyung, I’m sorry, I didn’t even think of that,” the younger vampire apologises, looking
genuinely regretful. “Are you okay?”

Hoseok’s expression softens, and he leans over to brush a kiss against Taehyung’s cheek.

“I’m fine now, baby, thank you. But I was thinking of treating myself to ice cream on the way
home. You boys up for that?”

Immediately brightening, Taehyung resumes walking. “I never got a chance to show Kookie that
bingsu place the other night, the one Jiminie likes. Can we go there?” He leans forward to glance
at his other nestmate. “Yoongi-hyung? Can we?”

The Seer smiles, adjusting his hold on the crutches tucked under his arm. “It’s almost time for
dinner. Why don’t we go for sushi first and bingsu second? If we leave now and avoid getting
stuck behind the recycling truck, we’ll be able to do it all in plenty of time to drop Kookie off at
the studio for his art class.”

“Is that alright with you, sweetheart?” Hoseok checks, glancing up at Jungkook.

It all sounds fucking wonderful, and Jungkook feels so thrilled to be included in their group plans
that he might just burst from happiness, but he manages to limit his reaction to a beaming smile and
an eager nod. Hoseok and Yoongi clearly sense his enthusiasm all the same, because their smiles
grow fonder. He likes it when they look at him like that – he really, really likes it – and Jungkook
finds himself smushing his face against Taehyung’s shoulder to hide his resultant blush.
 He can’t help but wonder, since Hoseok’s an empath and Yoongi has the gift of foresight, if both
vampires are already perfectly aware of his current situation. And if they are, and they’re smiling
at him like that on purpose…

Oh, god help his weak, weak heart.

Chapter End Notes

Leaving the nest and going out in public is indeed very exhausting for Yoongi, but he
wanted to spend some time with his new baby nestling. :D He is SOFT around the
little ones.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

 Oh, Happy Days
Chapter Summary

Life is good, and it keeps getting better.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Usually when Jungkook first wakes up, it’s to the sound of his bedside alarm clock blaring at him
angrily. Nine times out of ten his aching, sleep-deprived body will be so thoroughly perturbed by
the prospect of leaving the cosy warmth of his bed that he’ll end up rolling over and hitting the
snooze button. It’s only a two-minute snooze, which means his reprieve from the waking world
never lasts very long, but on really bad mornings (most school days, come to think of it) he finds
himself compelled to hit snooze more than once, determinedly burying himself further beneath the
blankets to rest his exhausted mind for just a few more stress-free minutes.

Consequently, it tends to be Moonbin who eventually pries him from the land of nod, the werecat
perching on the edge of the bed behind him and leaning down to gently shake Jungkook awake
with an apologetic smile, always smelling faintly of eggs or toast or rice porridge or whatever he’s
chosen to cook for them that morning. Jungkook will groan, putting up a half-assed protest at the
manhandling and trying to hide back under his bedcovers, which generally results in Moonbin
flopping down on top of him for an early-morning glomp to bother him awake with affection. And
he loves Binnie’s cuddles more than anything, but being woken up always sucks no matter how
sweetly it’s done; with Jungkook’s frequent self-inflicted late night study sessions, he’s rarely been
asleep for more than a few hours before it’s time to rise and shine, and he always wakes up
regretting his life choices.

Today, however, Jungkook finds himself wide awake and feeling refreshed a full half-hour before
his alarm clock is supposedly due to go off.

Blinking at the glowing numbers in surprise, he snakes a hand out from under the blankets to grab
his phone from the nightstand, double-checking the time just in case the digital clock’s not
working properly.

06:32.

Huh.

Rolling over slowly, he glances across the room towards Moonbin’s bed, a smile curling at his lips
when he sees the werecat cocooned in his self-made nest of blankets, fast asleep. Jungkook
genuinely can’t remember the last time he woke up before his roommate (pulling all-nighters
doesn’t count, although he’s done plenty of those this past year or so in order to meet essay
deadlines between his part-time work). Moonbin’s always been more of a morning person than he
is, rising at the first beep of his phone’s alarm, already showered and dressed and ready for the day
long before Kookie’s resigned himself to dragging his weary body out of bed. So to see the youth
still snoozing peacefully like this is a novelty.

Granted, Binnie had worked another double shift at the coffee shop after school yesterday,
stumbling in through the door long after Jungkook had returned from his evening art class.
Yawning, the werecat had climbed over the arm of the couch Kookie was laying across and
flopped down on top of him for a sleepy cuddle, his hair tickling Jungkook’s nose.

“I thought we talked about this, Binnie,” Jungkook had sighed, running a hand down Moonbin’s
spine and relaxing back against the couch cushions, content to be squashed by his needy, tactile
roommate. “Money isn’t tight anymore, you don’t need to keep working doubles.”

“S’your money, hyung,” had been Moonbin’s muffled reply from where his face was smushed
against Jungkook’s chest. “I can work, m’not just gonna leech off you. M’still gonna pay my half of
the bills.”

Jungkook had rolled his eyes, very lightly cuffing the back of the werecat’s head. “Yah, you’re not
leeching off anyone. I have way more money than I know what to do with, and it’s not like we use a
lot of electricity anyway. I can pay for utilities, Bin.”

Lifting his head to frown at Jungkook stubbornly (although the tired pout rendered his hard stare
ineffective), Moonbin had argued:

“Your hyungs gave you that money to spend on yourself, not on me. And besides, they’ve already
covered my rent for the next six months just because we happen to live together; you gotta let me
pull my weight somehow. And I’m definitely gonna buy the groceries from now on – I eat way
more than you anyways. It’s not fair if I make you pay for everything.”

“You’re not making me do anything, kitcat,” Jungkook had refuted, lifting a hand again, this time
to muss up Binnie’s hair affectionately. “And if you try to give me money for groceries, you know I
can just transfer it straight back into your account, right?”

“But-”

“Nuh-uh. I’m the hyung, I get to treat you,” the elder insisted. “It’s no use trying to fight me on
this one, Bin, I’m not gonna change my mind.”

Moonbin had frowned at him a moment longer, then dropped his head back down against
Jungkook’s chest with a sigh.

“Ugh. I hate it when you pull the ‘hyung’ card,” the cat had grumbled, but snuggled closer
willingly enough when Jungkook wrapped his arms around him. “Fine, you win. No more double
shifts.”

Honestly, if Jungkook had his way, Binnie wouldn’t be working at all – but he already knows he’d
never be able to convince the werecat to quit his job altogether. Moonbin’s pretty independent (and
very stubborn when he wants to be), and although Jungkook doesn’t plan on letting his roommate
pay for anything for the foreseeable future, he can at least acknowledge the benefits of Bin
working maybe a couple of shifts a week to build up some savings. Not that he thinks Moonbin
will actually need to pay rent in six months’ time – Jungkook has a sneaking suspicion that JinJin
will have invited the werecat to join his pack before the start of summer vacation; he’s seen that
soft, fond look in the dog-hybrid’s eyes whenever he’s watching Bin interact with the rest of the
pack. And although Jungkook will miss him terribly, seeing his friend happy and in love is
everything he could’ve hoped for – Binnie deserves kind hyungs to dote on him and sweet
dongsaengs to spoil.

Jungkook’s sort of been mentally preparing himself for the day Moonbin will eventually move out
of the apartment – planning things way ahead of time is how he’s learned to cope with potentially
stressful situations – and he’d previously kept a mental list of possible friends and acquaintances
who might want to become his roommate when Binnie left (since there’s no way he ever would’ve
been able to afford the rent on his own previously). But things are different now, in light of the
very significant changes to his own financial situation…not to mention the fact that he’s recently
become bonded. Like seriously, that changes everything.

It’s exciting, but also a little nerve-wracking, knowing that all manner of changes (both big and
small) are probably in store for him in the not-too-distant future. Jungkook usually doesn’t like
situations where he can’t problem-solve ahead of time, but there’s a part of him that instinctively
knows everything is going to work out in the end, no matter what. Even if he tries to solve
situations on his own, he has an inkling that there’ll be six hyungs at his back holding him up every
step of the way. And man is that a good feeling.

“You’re part of our nest now, little one. And that makes you ours to protect.”

Jungkook rolls over onto his back and grins up at the ceiling, warm butterflies filling his stomach
and fluttering higher up into his chest. Aigoo, he feels so fucking good this morning. Awake, alive,
energetic.

He’s honestly never woken up this happy before.

And those contented, fuzzy feelings only grow warmer as he thinks back on his date with
Taehyung yesterday. Although the horror movie situation had been a bit of a booboo on his part
(emotionally scarring his bondmate really wasn’t the optimal second date he’d been hoping for),
the hours they’d spent together afterwards at the sushi restaurant and bingsu parlour had more than
made up for it. And the company of Hoseok and Yoongi had been an added bonus – despite only
having met the two elder vampires briefly before, there hadn’t been even a hint of awkwardness
during their time together. The conversation had flowed easily between the four of them as they ate
and drank, the two hyungs regularly leaning across from the opposite side of the private booth to
offer Jungkook and Tae bites of food from their own plates, and the whole experience had felt so
wonderfully domestic that Jungkook’s half convinced he’d spent the entire evening smiling
stupidly at all three of them.

He’d enjoyed himself so much that it had actually been a bit of a disappointment when the time
finally came to leave for his art class – and usually that’s the highlight of his entire week.

“You’re sure we can’t offer you a ride home?” Hoseok had pressed, carrying Jungkook’s backpack
over his shoulder as Taehyung piggy-backed the youth towards the studio entrance. “We don’t
mind waiting for your class to finish.”

“It’s going to rain in an hour or two,” Yoongi had forewarned, glancing up at the darkened sky,
Jungkook’s crutches tucked under one arm as he walked hand-in-hand with Hoseok. “You don’t
even have a coat, hon.”

Jungkook had smiled, touched by their concern and oh so tempted to say yes, but also stubbornly
determined not to be any more of an inconvenience to them than he already had been that week.

“I’ll be okay – the bus stop’s right over there, see?” he’d reassured them, nodding towards the
illuminated shelter on the opposite side of the road. “And it’ll drop me off just around the corner
from my apartment building, so I won’t have to walk far. Thanks though, I really appreciate the
offer.”

They’d accepted his decision, which Jungkook had been grateful for (because if they’d asked him
again, or if Yoongi had called him “hon” just one more time, he definitely would’ve caved), and
they’d all said reluctant goodbyes at the door to the studio, Taehyung setting him down carefully
and cradling Jungkook’s face in his hands, drawing him in for a tender, lingering kiss that still
made his heart flutter now just thinking about it. Both Hoseok and Yoongi had squeezed him
between them in a hug-sandwich moments later (and oh man, had that been something), only
letting go once they’d extracted a promise from Jungkook to message them once he was safely on
the bus journey home.

He hadn’t been able to concentrate at all during art class – no surprise there, all things considered –
too distracted by the memory of his recent date to focus on what the professor was saying. Even his
dreams last night had been full of tender hugs and happy-crinkling eyes, gummy smiles and
dimples.

Aigoo, no wonder he feels so well-rested this morning.

Quietly scooting out of bed, he rolls to his feet, ignoring his crutches where they’re propped up
against the wall by his bed and putting weight on his injured ankle for the first time since the
accident two days ago, grinning when he doesn’t even feel so much as a twinge. The crutches have
been annoying, but giving his ankle time to heal properly has clearly done its job. Careful not to
wake Moonbin, he pads from the room with far more speed and energy than he usually possesses
at this hour of the morning, heading for the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, he’s showered and dressed with breakfast prepared for the both of them
before his rommate has even started stirring, and when he slips back into their shared bedroom
with three minutes to spare before the werecat’s alarm is due to go off, he has the rare pleasure of
getting to wake Moonbin up himself.

“Binnie,” he murmurs, leaning down to nuzzle the youth’s temple. “Hey.”

The younger man stirs with a sleepy hum, one hand snaking out from beneath the blankets to curl
in the front of Kookie’s hoodie, tugging him down for a snuggle. Breathing a fond laugh,
Jungkook allows himself to be pulled in close, draping himself on top of Bin and squeezing the
blanketed cat in a tight hug. Early-morning, barely-awake Moonbin is apparently even more tactile
than regular Moonbin, but Jungkook’s not complaining. Cuddles are awesome.

After a minute or so, he presses a kiss to the werecat’s temple and pulls away, carefully extricating
himself from Moonbin’s grasp.

“Binnie,” he says again, a little louder, and gives his roommate’s shoulder a very gentle shake.
“C’mon. It’s time to wake up, kitcat.”

The werecat’s eyes blink open to squint up at him groggily, gaze settling on his face for a short
beat. Then his eyes widen in almost comical alarm.

“Oh fuck,” Moonbin breathes, pushing himself up on one arm and fumbling to grab his phone out
from underneath his pillow. “How late am I?”

Borderline panic is immediately replaced by sleepy confusion as the younger man stares dumbly at
the time displayed on the screen. Jungkook laughs.

“You’re fine,” he soothes, ruffling the youth’s impressive bedhead, before smoothing it back down
again into something that resembles his usual style. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. Since your
alarm was about to go off in a couple of minutes anyway, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to wake you.”

Moonbin glances quickly between his phone screen, the alarm clock on the other side of the room
and Jungkook’s smiling face, clearly perplexed.

“You’re awake,” his roommate remarks, bemused. “Why are you awake?” Then his sleepy
befuddlement shifts into wary suspicion. “Hyung. Please tell me you didn’t pull another all-
nighter.”

The elder rolls his eyes and huffs an exasperated sigh. “No, sleepyhead, I didn’t pull another all-
nighter. Now c’mon, breakfast’s ready. The eggs are getting cold.”

Moonbin pliantly allows himself to be tugged out of bed and steered towards the door, still looking
vaguely shocked by everything.

“But you’re never up this early…”

Jungkook just laughs again.

Cornerstone Healing Centre is a lot brighter than Jungkook remembers from his last two visits.

Granted, he hadn’t really been paying a lot of attention the first time (he’d mostly tried to focus on
not throwing up or passing out in Namjoon’s arms), and on Monday afternoon Seokjin had carried
him in and out again through some hidden side-entrance to avoid the hustle and bustle of the
waiting room. For all Jungkook knows, that entrance might not even exist anymore – Jin seems like
the sort of person who can just conjures up doors out of thin air for the sake of convenience.

It’s a whole lot bigger than Jungkook had anticipated, but then Seoul’s a big place and skilled
healers are always in high demand. Just like in Namjoon’s office, the waiting room is full of life,
flowering plants climbing up the walls and hanging from the ceiling, their multi-coloured blossoms
filling the air with a pleasantly sweet aroma. And over in the far corner near the very natural-
looking water feature is an actual willow tree, a couple of toddler-aged hybrids dozing on the bed
of grass beneath its curtain-like canopy.

It’s certainly nothing like the clean, clinical waiting rooms he’s visited on occasion at Seoul
General Hospital.
“Can I help you, sir?”

Turning towards the reception desk, Jungkook smiles apologetically and hurries forwards, realising
he’s probably been standing there and staring dumbly at his surroundings for quite some time.

“Hi, sorry, I just came to return these,” he tells the red-haired mouse hybrid, nodding to indicate
his crutches. “Healer Kim said I wouldn’t need to use them anymore, so I thought-”

“Kookie?”

His heart gives a delighted little flutter as he turns towards the voice, stomach swooping the way it
always seems to do whenever he’s in the near vicinity of Kim Namjoon. The vampire strides
towards him, a faint look of concern creasing his brow, reaching out to settle a gentle hand over
Jungkook’s nape as soon as he’s close enough.

“What’s wrong, are you hurt?”

Jungkook shakes his head quickly, smiling. “No, I’m fine. I just wanted to bring back your
crutches, since my ankle’s all better now.”

Namjoon visibly relaxes, his expression smoothing over in an instant as his mouth curls upwards in
a soft smile. The healer casually slides an arm around Jungkook’s shoulders to tuck him close
against his side.

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?” he suggests warmly, and glances at the receptionist.
“Are there any urgent cases that need my attention, or do you think I can duck out for half an
hour?”

The mouse hybrid quickly taps at her keyboard. “You’re good,” she confirms cheerfully. “Hana
can take your four o’clock antenatal checkup, and Junho’s pretty much up to speed in the minor
injuries unit. I think we can spare you for a little while.”

“Thanks, Yuju,” the healer returns, and begins guiding Jungkook away towards the nearby
corridor. “Just shout if you need me.”

Being here on his own is a new and slightly nerve-wracking experience. Not that Jungkook
necessarily needs the support of Tae and the others, because he’s perfectly capable of returning a
pair of crutches on his own (he’s an adult, damn it), but he hadn’t been expecting to actually speak
to the healer in person; that had never been part of the plan, and he definitely hadn’t mentally
prepared himself for any one-to-one time. It feels like the vampire’s occupied his thoughts so
predominantly these last few days…Jungkook’s past the point of denying that he really, really likes
Kim Namjoon.

“How was school?” Namjoon asks conversationally, leading Jungkook into his office and closing
the door behind them. “No more altercations with staircases, I hope?”

Jungkook sniffs a grin at the man’s teasing, shaking his head. “Not today, hyung. Although I
almost died of boredom learning about subsidised investment models this afternoon.”

“Sounds pretty rough,” Namjoon agrees amusedly, reaching out to take the crutches from him and
prop them up against the nearby wall.

Then, before Jungkook can utter so much as an eep of surprise, the healer’s lifting him up gently
by the waist to settle him on the raised examination bed, and dropping down smoothly into a
crouch in front of him. Namjoon wraps both hands gently around the youth’s ankle, closing his
eyes for a brief moment in concentration, which thankfully means he doesn’t see Jungkook’s
flaming red cheeks (fuck, will he ever get used to being picked up or carried about by his new
hyungs…because aigoo, they seem to do that a lot).

“Ohh, much better,” the healer remarks, sounding pleased. “There’s hardly any residual
inflammation, it all seems to be healing nicely. I’m glad to see you’ve been using the crutches so
diligently. You should be fine to fully weight-bear without them, as long as you keep strenuous
exercise to a minimum for a few more days. And I’d probably avoid jumping-jacks or anything
that’ll require the joint to act as a shock-absorber.”

Immediately thinking about his dance class this evening, Jungkook squirms internally, trying not to
let it show in his expression. But clearly Namjoon has a sixth sense when it comes to secret-
keeping dongsaengs, because the healer opens his eyes again to glance up at him with a kind smile.

“Not quite the news you were hoping to hear?”

Jungkook winces guiltily, fingers twisting at a stray thread on the sleeve of his hoodie as he averts
his eyes from Namjoon’s all-too-knowing gaze.

“It’s just...” the youth starts falteringly, then gives a little shrug. “I’m supposed to be at dance
practice tonight. I missed one session this week already right after I bust my ankle, so I was kinda
hoping…”

Namjoon’s gaze turns sympathetic as he rubs Jungkook’s lower leg comfortingly. “It’s frustrating,
sweetheart, I get that. And I know it’s gotta be pretty tempting to risk it anyway, since your ankle’s
feeling so much better – but if you push yourself too hard before it’s done healing, the joint’s just
gonna flare up again, and you’ll be back on the crutches for another couple of days. Better to be
safe than sorry, right?”

Jungkook sighs resignedly, posture slumping a little. “Right.”

Namjoon stands, reaching out to smooth a hand over the youth’s hair in a tactile caress.

“Hey.” The healer clucks Jungkook gently beneath the chin, his smile warm and full of affection.
“Since you can’t go to dance practice this evening, how about dinner instead?”

Jungkook’s heart does that fluttery, twisty thing inside his chest again, gaze darting back up
quickly, eyes blown wide.

“Dinner?” he echoes, trying not to sound too hopeful.

Namjoon nods, fingertips carefully tracing over a faint red mark on Jungkook’s cheek (he’d
bumped his face against the picnic bench at lunchtime trying to catch his fallen shrimp snack
before it hit the ground, but it hadn’t been a hard knock so he’d forgotten about it completely until
now).

“Tae’s been begging me constantly these past few days to invite you over to the nest,” the healer
elaborates, leaning in closer to inspect the faint bruise. “He would’ve done it himself already, but
it’s something of a tradition in our culture that the nest leader has to be the first to extend the
invitation to a newcomer. And I didn’t want to rush you into things – I know a lot’s happened
already this week, and I wanted to give you time to adjust. But I’ll admit I’m a little envious that
Hobi and Yoongi got to enjoy the pleasure of your company yesterday evening. I would’ve joined
you in a heartbeat, but we were down a healer last night and I couldn’t leave my post.” The
vampire’s brow suddenly creases a little, and he leans in closer to the bruise. “Honey, what
happened to your cheek?”

Already a little flustered by the vampire’s easy confession, Jungkook feels his cheeks flush even
hotter at the petname and how natural it sounds coming from the healer’s lips.

“I just had a little clumsy moment,” he answers vaguely. “It’s fine though, it doesn’t even hurt.”

Namjoon studies him for a moment with something a little like fond exasperation, before stepping
away to fetch an item down from one of the tall, vine-covered cabinets of tinctures. He returns with
a small jar of pale-coloured cream, setting it on the bed beside Jungkook’s hip and gently pinching
the youth’s chin to tilt his head up.

“So,” the vampire murmurs, carefully massaging the sweet-smelling cream along Jungkook’s
cheekbone with his fingertips. “Was that a yes or no to dinner?”

Jungkook swallows, acutely aware of how close they are (and how fucking fast his heart is
beating).

“Yes please,” he manages. “If you’re sure it’s not an inconvenience?”

Namjoon smiles, gaze flickering up from the task at hand, warmth and amusement shining in his
eyes.

“You’ll never be an inconvenience, Kookie,” the vampire reassures. “Like I told you the other day,
you’re a part of our nest now, if you’d like to be. Which means we want to spend quality time with
you, get to know you better.”

Jungkook can’t help but return the smile, happiness bubbling up in his chest again so thick and fast
that it feels like it’ll start gushing from every orifice at any moment.

“I’d like that,” he reaffirms softly, and is rewarded with a flash of those beautiful dimples,
Namjoon’s hand dropping from his cheek to cup the side of his neck beneath his jawline.

“I’ll let Jin know you’ll be joining us,” the healer murmurs. “Since it’s your first time visiting the
nest, I’m afraid you won’t be able to find it on your own, even with directions – I’ll ask Jiminie to
stop by and pick you up so you don’t have to wait around until the end of my shift.”

The vampire moves to return the jar of salve to its rightful shelf, then quickly traces a swirling
pattern on the palm of each hand – a symbol Jungkook vaguely recognises (from his nerdy 3am
insomnia-driven internet search engine parties) as a cleansing rune.

“Now, onto a more serious question,” Namjoon continues, crossing over to his desk and lifting the
lid on a beautifully painted mason jar. He reaches inside and pulls out two suckers, holding them
up for Kookie to see. “Grape or strawberry, kiddo?”

Jungkook can’t quite smother the startled laugh that escapes his lips, but Namjoon’s grin looks
distinctly pleased, so he doesn’t regret it.
Chapter End Notes

So my fave squishy-but-muscular catboy Moonbin ended up trending worldwide

yesterday after Hulk-throwing all of his opponents during the ISAC wrestling
tournament, and I have never been prouder. My boy literally lifted another idol into
the air and held him there for a couple of seconds while he tried to figure out how to
slam him onto the mats without injuring him. MOONBIN IS BASICALLY THOR
OKAY. :P Legit recommend searching "Moonbin" and "Woong" on twitter, the clips
of Binnie picking up Woong are hilarious. ;D

As promised, you'll be getting a first glimpse at the vampire nest very soon!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, fam! Have a great week!

 Home Sweet Home
Chapter Summary

Jungkook visits the nest, drinks some tea, and takes a nap.
Also cuddles. Lots of cuddles.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Jungkook’s never visited the Old Forest on the outskirts of Seoul.

There hadn’t previously been any real need for him to venture this far out, what with Euphoria and
SNU both located in the heart of the city, and all his friends living relatively nearby. Yugyeom’s
tried on several occasions over the past eighteen months to drag him out hill-walking on weekends,
but there had always been other commitments holding him back (papers to write, books to read,
shifts to work), so he’s only really caught fleeting glances of the outer suburbs of the city on a
couple of occasions, when he’d fallen asleep on the bus ride home after a long shift at the
convenience store and woken up in the middle of nowhere. That’s another reason why he’d
stopped buying travel cards and started walking home instead after nightshifts – back when money
was still tight, the risk of massively overspending on unnecessary journeys due to his inability to
stay awake was a very real threat to his already-precarious financial situation.

Coincidentally, ‘visiting new places’ happens to be number eight on the ‘Kookie Deserves Nice
Things’ list, underlined twice (first by Yugyeom, and then by Binnie in that garish sparkly gel pen
for added emphasis), and he has a sneaking suspicion that both of his best friends are making secret
plans to drag him out to all of their favourite hiking spots around the various hills and forests that
surround Seoul.

He’s been trying to keep a mental log of the journey so far, but the outer suburbs are almost
completely unfamiliar to him, street names and signposts all blurring into one, and even the fancy
apartment buildings are becoming less prominent the closer they get to the border of the forest.

Finally, Jimin makes a sharp right-turn at the end of a long, winding road full of expensive-looking
detached houses, slowing the car to a standstill in the middle of a short lane that comes to a dead-
end right at the edge of the forest. Jimin turns towards him with an easy smile.

“The nest’s not far from here,” the vampire tells him, then hesitates a moment before asking, “Did
Namjoon-hyung happen to tell you anything about the gates?”

It had been hard to concentrate on words when Namjoon’s dimples were so damn distracting, but
the conversation between them hadn’t been anything more than comfortable chitchat while they
waited for Jimin to arrive; he certainly can’t remember ‘gates’ coming up, at least not in any
significant way. So Jungkook shakes his head, watching as Jimin winces ever-so-subtly, before the
vampire cranks up his reassuring smile by a few more notches.
“He probably just didn’t want you overthinking it. There’s nothing to be afraid of, but it can be a
little…aigoo, how can I put this?”

The vampire takes a deep breath and huffs it out again in a sigh, before letting go of the steering
wheel to reach across and gently squeeze Jungkook’s hand where it’s resting on his thigh.

“You’re gonna start to feel kinda weird when we head inside,” Jimin warns him softly. “But it’s
totally safe, I promise. The disorientation usually only lasts for a minute or so, you just gotta grit
your teeth and wait for it to pass, okay?”

Jungkook’s gaze flits between Jimin’s reassuring smile and the towering treeline of the Old Forest
that sits about twenty feet ahead of them at the end of the lane. He feels like he’s missing
something obvious here, but he’s reluctant to make himself look stupid by asking dumb questions
like inside where exactly?

“You can close your eyes if you want to,” Jimin continues calmly, thumb brushing over the back of
Kookie’s knuckles. “Tae used to do that when he first started coming over, otherwise the wards
made him feel kinda nauseous. I’ll drive slowly in case you need me to reverse, alright?”

The vampire gives his hand another squeeze, and keeps hold of it as he returns his attention to the
short stretch of road in front of them, slowly edging the car closer to the forest. It’s an impenetrable
wall of trees and bushes, so Jungkook isn’t entirely sure what Jimin’s planning on doing once he
runs out of tarmac, but it feels nice to hold the dancer’s hand like this so he’s not as worried about
it as he probably ought to be.

Still…they’re getting a little too close to that giant oak tree for comfort.

“Hyung?” he hedges uncertainly, when Jimin shows no signs of stopping.

“You’re safe, hon,” the vampire reassures without missing a beat, fingers interlocking with
Jungkook’s for added comfort. “Whatever you’re seeing, it’s not real.”

Well it sure as hell looks pretty fucking real, and although he trusts Jimin every bit as much as he
does Taehyung, he can’t help his body’s natural instinct to tense up and brace himself for impact,
sucking in a sharp breath and holding it as the front bonnet of the car ploughs directly into the
centre of the oak’s gnarly bough….

…and passes straight through without so much as a bump.

Jungkook’s pressed himself back against the passenger seat, still braced for a crash that hasn’t
come, watching wide-eyed as leafy greens and woody browns in a hundred different hues ripple
over the windshield like running water, a faint humming sound making air around them vibrate and
turning Jungkook’s skin to gooseflesh, his stomach twisting uncomfortably.

I should turn back. This place is dangerous. I need to leave, I shouldn’t be here, it isn’t safe, turn
around, leave, go-

“Stay with me,” Jimin murmurs, and Jungkook startles when he realises his free hand has strayed
to the passenger side door, fingers fumbling for the handle. “It’s just the gate messing with your
head, baby, you’re fine. It’ll pass. You’re safe, Kookie, I promise…”

The rippling colours suddenly vanish as quickly as they’d come, and Jungkook blinks again,
staring ahead at the remarkably normal-looking road that’s suddenly appeared directly in front of
them. The lane is bordered on either side by a row of tall trees, their boughs curved elegantly
inwards towards the road, the uppermost branches interlocking to create a sort of natural tunnel
that shades them from the afternoon sunlight.

His heart’s hammering away in his chest and his head’s a little fuzzy (whether it’s from the
adrenaline rush of his almost-crash or due to the effects of the ‘gate’, Jungkook can’t be sure), and
he startles again when warm fingers cup his jaw, turning his head gently. Jimin’s leaning over from
the driver’s seat, his expression faintly concerned.

“Do you feel sick, honey?” the vampire presses, thumb tenderly caressing his cheek.

Jungkook’s still trying to get his head around what the hell just happened with the treeline-that-
wasn’t-a-treeline, but he finds Jimin’s touch wonderfully soothing, tensed muscles relaxing
instinctively as he tilts his cheek into the vampire’s palm, panic receding as his heartbeat begins to
slow down again.

“I’m okay,” he manages, a little shaky just from the rush of it all. “That was…whoa.”

A fond little smile curls at Jimin’s mouth, but his gaze is full of gentle understanding.

“The first time’s always a bit of a shock to the system,” he sympathises softly. “But it’ll get easier,
hon. The gates don’t recognise you as part of our coven yet – they were probably telling you to get
the hell outta here, right?”

Jungkook nods, remembering that almost irresistible urge to turn tail and run, to jump out of the car
and head back towards the main road. Something had tapped into his most basic survival instincts
to try and convince him to leave…and honestly, in a little while, he’ll be really fucking impressed
with how incredibly efficient an anti-burglary system that is; just as soon as he’s recovered enough
for his befuddled brain to fully comprehend the enormity of it all.

“What did it look like?” the vampire asks curiously. “The barrier? Everyone sees it a little
differently. Sometimes it’s a wall, a giant rock, a wire fence-”

“Trees,” Jungkook interrupts, still a little in awe at how realistic everything had seemed. “It looked
just like the rest of the forest, with this big old oak-tree right in the middle.”

“Huh.” Jimin seems almost impressed by his answer. “Must be a new upgrade.”

The passenger-side window rolls down with a soft whirr at the click of a button, and Jimin nods
towards it, letting go of Jungkook’s hand after one final squeeze.

“Why don’t you take another look?”

Hesitating only for a brief moment, Jungkook unclasps his seatbelt to lean out of the window a
little, glancing back the way they came in. He sucks in another sharp breath at the sight of a
shimmering wall of light hovering suspended in the air at the end of the tree-tunnel a little ways
behind them. It almost looks like a veil fluttering in the wind, colours rippling across the surface
with every little movement as it hangs like a curtain at the mouth of the tunnel, hiding them from
the world beyond.

“Holy fuck,” he breathes, leaning back inside the car again and glancing towards Jimin, wide-eyed.
“I mean…how?”

“Jin-hyung,” the vampire answers simply, lifting one shoulder in a shrug. “He wanted to keep the
nest protected even when he wasn’t home, so he put up a whole ton of wards along the border to
keep people out. Hyung says it’s basically like camouflage, but with a little extra something thrown
in so that anyone who accidentally stumbles across the opening will feel compelled to turn around
and walk back out again before they actually see anything. The gates aren’t really a physical barrier
so much as a mental one, I guess, but if the wards are triggered by an outsider then the whole
coven feels it; like an internal burglar-alarm, or something. I’ve heard that some older covens still
use traditional iron gates and gargoyles as an intimidation tactic to keep out trespassers, but hyung
didn’t want to draw attention to the nest; he doesn’t like people knowing where we live. Also a real
gate would look ugly as fuck, and Jin-hyung’s picky about décor.”

It’s a lot to take in, so Jungkook just nods dumbly. Jimin has definitely confirmed Jungkook’s
previous theory about just how powerful Kim Seokjin is, but as far as who or rather what he really
is, well, now Kookie’s got just about a hundred new questions in need of answering.

Suddenly Jimin’s brow furrows, his head snapping to the side to stare out of the windshield
towards winding driveway ahead of them. Jungkook follows his line of sight, spotting a lone figure
sprinting down the lane towards the car, and his heart flutters pleasantly in his chest when he
realises who it is.

Beside him, Jimin lets out an exasperated sigh and moves to open the car door.

“Aish, Taehyungie…”

Jungkook follows suit and clambers out the passenger-side door on slightly unsteady legs (his
recent adrenaline rush is still affecting him, clearly), but his smile is genuine as Taehyung makes a
beeline straight for him and sweeps Kookie up in a tight hug. The human-hybrid laughs, wrapping
his arms around Taehyung in return, a dozen happy emotions bubbling up inside of him, although
whether they’re his or Tae’s he can’t quite tell. It doesn’t matter anyway, because it feels awesome.

“You didn’t tell me you were coming to visit!” his bondmate exclaims, pulling back after a beat to
pout at Jungkook. Then he shoots a faux-affronted look towards Jimin. “I wanted to be with him
the first time he went through the gates.”

“Joon-hyung said you’d get too excited if I called ahead,” the older vampire answers, leaning his
hip against the car and crossing his arms over his chest as he arches an eyebrow at Taehyung. “He
was worried you might do something dumb like go outside without protection.”

Jimin has a point. It isn’t half as sunny now that it’s late afternoon, but it’s still daylight, and Tae’s
not even wearing a hat. Jungkook feels his own brow crease a little in concern.

Taehyung sees his expression and groans softly, slipping his hand into Jungkook’s. “The trees are
protection enough, babydoll, don’t look so worried. Minnie’s just being a fusspot. I was only out in
the open for like, half a minute.”

“Uh-huh.” Jimin sends the nestling an amused look. “Is that what you’re gonna tell Jin-hyung
when he realises you ran outside in a t-shirt? Because that’s a whole lot of exposed skin there,
Tae.”

The younger vampire winces. “Hyung’s busy in the kitchen, maybe he won’t notice.”

“Sure, honey,” Jimin agrees, in a tone that suggests he suspects the opposite. He shrugs out of his
jacket and unceremoniously throws it over Tae’s head. “There. If you’re lucky, he’ll think that’s
yours. C’mon, Kook, the nest’s just around the corner, we’ll give you the guided tour…”
 …

The house is beautiful.

Jungkook isn’t sure what he’d been expecting (his imagination hadn’t been able to decide whether
Tae’s nestmates would prefer modern-but-fancy architecture or a more traditional castle-like
abode), but the modest and homey-looking manor house with its wooden-panelled balconies and
slate-roofed turrets is a definite surprise.

And yet, somehow, it suits the Kim coven perfectly.

Although there’s a fairly sizeable clearing that separates the large house from the surrounding
woodland, the forest is still growing everywhere he looks – green vines crawling up the brickwork
and hanging like drapes along the balconies, undoubtedly providing shade from the daylight to
those within. Colour blooms here and there along the roof where wild flowers have taken root and
grown between the slates, and some sort of blossoming vine has weaved itself around and around
the pillars either side of the front door like a decorative garland. Knowing the influence both Jin
and Namjoon seem to have over all things that grow, it’s entirely possible that they coaxed the
vines to grow that way deliberately.

Jungkook stops gaping at his surroundings when Taehyung suddenly eeps and lets go of his hand
to dart behind Jimin.

“Hide me.”

The dancer sighs fondly and reaches for Kookie’s hand himself, continuing on up the pavestone
path towards the house and dragging a reluctant Taehyung behind him. The reason for the
nestling’s sudden nervousness becomes clear when the heavy-looking front door swings open to
reveal Kim Seokjin standing on the other side; the elder vampire is dressed in black slacks and a
silver-grey shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a dark maroon apron tied about his waist.

“Kookie.” Jin’s lips curl into a warm smile the moment his gaze settles on Jungkook, and he opens
his arms invitingly.

“Welcome home, little one.”

Happiness and excitement bubble up inside of him, and something a little bit like hope swells in his
chest at the word home.

He can’t quite explain it, but there’s something in the air here, a rich warmth that’s surrounded him
like a soft blanket ever since he first stepped out of the car. Maybe it’s just his bunny-hybrid genes
feeling really fucking relieved to be away from the city and surrounded by nature for the first time
in forever, but secretly he already knows it runs a lot deeper than that. There’s part of him that’s
always been quietly yearning for the comfort and security that Yugyeom had found with the Im-
pack, and that Binnie’s been discovering with Eunwoo’s mates; an instinctive, primal need to be
loved and wanted in a romantic sense and not just an honorary platonic member of his best friends’
packs. With Taehyung and the Kim coven, that part of him tentatively hopes that he’s found
somewhere he truly belongs.

If he gives it too much thought, there’s a danger he’ll open up a whole well of insecurities that he’s
kept firmly on lock-down for the duration of his young adult life, so he pushes it to the back of his
mind with practiced ease and focuses instead on enjoying every nanosecond of Seokjin’s warm
embrace.

Oh, but he’d forgotten how good it felt to be in Jin’s arms like this. Seriously, his hugs are so…so
everything. He’s strong, but he doesn’t squeeze too tight. He’s tall, which means Kookie fits
perfectly under his chin, and pressed together like this he can sense the love and affection literally
seeping into every pore and filling him with this wonderful feeling of safe-cosy-contentedness.

“It’s good to see you off your crutches,” Jin murmurs, pulling away just enough to peer down at
him with open tenderness. “When Joonie called to say you were at the clinic, I honestly feared the
worst. But he told me everything’s healing up nicely. Does it hurt at all?”

Jungkook shakes his head, face warming at the vampire’s close attention, but content to be held
close like this for the rest of his goddamn life, please and thank you.

“I felt you pass through the gates,” Jin continues, his voice hushed, stroking the backs of his
fingers down Jungkook’s cheek. “I imagine that was a rather disconcerting experience. I’m sorry if
it unsettled you, dearheart, but I have something that ought to help you next time.”

The vampire pulls a pendant from the front pocket of his apron – a smooth, amber-coloured oval
gemstone etched with tiny runes in an intricate spiralling pattern – slipping the necklace over
Jungkook’s head and then carefully tucking the stone beneath the fabric of his shirt.

“The gates will learn to recognise you as one of us soon enough,” Jin tells him, hand resting over
the gemstone through Jungkook’s shirt. “But this will grant you safe passage through my territory
in the meantime. The doorway won’t be hidden from you as long as you’re wearing it, and the
protection charm it carries should nullify the border’s defensive wards. It won’t feel quite so
unsettling the next time you visit us.”

Jungkook blinks, stunned and a little speechless.

Wait….had Seokjin basically just given him his own personal key to the nest? No questions asked,
no fealty sworn, just granted him completely unfettered access to the vampire’s heavily-warded
and carefully protected territory? That level of trust though, holy fuck, Jungkook hasn’t even done
anything to earn it yet.

“Hyung, you…” he murmurs, struggling to articulate with all these feelings welling up inside of
him. “I…thank you.”

And although it doesn’t seem anywhere near adequate enough in light of enormity of what Jin is
offering him, the vampire appears to understand the depth of the sentiment behind it all the same,
his smile softening as his hands move to gently frame Jungkook’s face, leaning in to press a tender
kiss to the youth’s brow.

“Now,” Jin says brightly after a beat, finally pulling away again. “Jiminie, darling, why don’t you
show Jungkook around? TaeTae and I need to have a lengthy conversation about unnecessary
sunlight exposure.”

Taehyung whines softly, but he sounds more petulant than upset, a little like Moonbin whenever
Jungkook refuses to let him go outside for a run in the pouring rain (“but hyung, it’s so
refreshing!”), and he feels his own lips curl up in a fond smile that matches Jimin’s as the dancer
steps forward to loop an arm around Jungkook’s waist.

“C’mon, beautiful,” Jimin coaxes, steering him inside. “Yoongi’s probably waiting for us. I hope
you like tea…”

‘Tea’, as it turns out, involves a whole lot more than just dumping a teabag into a mug and adding
hot water.

Considering he works in a butler café, Jungkook feels like he really ought to understand the art of
tea-brewing by now, but they have such an extensive menu of unique drinks and foodstuffs that
nobody really visits Euphoria just to order tea unless it’s part of a themed afternoon cream-tea set.
And to be fair, ninety percent of the food and drink prep happens in the kitchens, Kookie just
knows how to add the finishing touches and serve it with a smile.

“I used to run a tea shop in Daegu,” Yoongi confesses, kneeling carefully amid the array of plump
cushions that surround the low mahogany table and leaning over to refill Jungkook’s dainty, hand-
painted china cup. “With a little palm-reading on the side, of course.”

Hoseok chuckles, cradling his own cup between his hands. “Of course.”

“The shop’s still registered under my name,” Yoongi continues, setting the beautiful teapot back
down again and removing the wire strainer from Jungkook’s cup. “Although I haven’t been back
there in a very long time. I have a branch here in Seoul that I oversee from a distance, but mostly I
experiment with herbal blends – creating new teas is something of a hobby of mine. And I’m lucky
enough to live with willing test subjects; haven’t poisoned anyone yet, so I must be doing
something right.”

“You’ve never made a bad tea, hyung,” Jimin proclaims loyally, and tilts his cheek up to accept
Yoongi’s kiss with a smile. Using a pair of small tongs to select a sweet from the multi-tiered cake
stand in the centre of the table, the dancer offers it to Jungkook on a tiny china plate. “Here,
Kookie, try this one next.”
Jungkook’s grateful that his increased metabolism has gifted him with a bigger-than-average
appetite, because otherwise there’s no way he’d feasibly be able to eat dinner after all this. It’s like
Jimin and the others are trying to fatten him up or something, given the number of cakes and
pastries they’ve insisted he try over the course of the past twenty minutes.

He’s not full exactly, but he’s comfortably well-fed and just a little bit sleepy, probably a side-
effect of drinking several cups of the warm, soothing herbal tea. It really is delicious; Jungkook’s
never really been a huge tea-drinker, but Yoongi’s well on his way to converting him already, and
he’s only tried one of the seemingly limitless varieties the vampire has to offer.

They’re taking tea in Yoongi’s study; a spacious room lined with bookshelves and knickknacks, an
antique writing bureau tucked away in one corner, a padded alcove in the other (clearly used as a
quiet reading nook, if the blanket and bookmarked novel are any indication). On the far side of the
room there’s a wall of cabinets similar to the ones back in Namjoon’s clinic, although instead of
glass jars full of tinctures and balms, there’s just row upon row of carefully-labelled tea tins. And
while the teas are all sealed and stored away behind the glass door of the cabinet, the room still
smells wonderful, an amalgamation of a hundred different faintly sweet scents blending together
with that wonderfully unique smell of old, well-loved books. Jungkook wants to roll in it and carry
that scent around everywhere he goes, it’s so comforting.

The balcony doors have been thrown open so that the cool afternoon breeze wafts in lazily. Thick
green vines hang like curtains above the balcony railing outside, helpfully intercepting any direct
sunbeams, but still allowing enough light to permeate the room that they needn’t switch on the
overhead lamps, the study dimly but comfortably lit to create a calm, cosy atmosphere as they sit
and drink tea together.

And man, Jungkook had thought Moonbin had a hoarding problem when it comes to cushions and
pillows, but Binnie’s collection isn’t a patch on Yoongi’s. The hardwood floor is barely visible
beneath the layers of multi-coloured padding, but it’s comfy as fuck, and Jungkook can’t help but
imagine how nice it would be to stretch out here for a nap before dinner.

“Tired, sweetheart?” Hoseok murmurs, leaning around the edge of the table to smooth Jungkook’s
hair down at the back, hand coming to rest on the youth’s nape. “Joonie won’t be home until
seven-thirty, so we tend to eat late. Why don’t you close your eyes for a little while? We’ll wake
you in time for dinner.”

Jungkook wants to protest (he still hasn’t seen the rest of the house and he’s insatiably curious
about everything), but a yawn stoppers his argument before it’s even begun, and he smiles
bashfully when Hoseok’s eyes crinkle fondly at the corners.

“Here, Kookie,” Jimin coaxes, pulling two enticingly squishy-looking pillows into his lap and
patting the space between them. “You don’t have to sleep, maybe you can just lay down for a little
while.”

It’s almost embarrassing how little persuasion it takes before his resolve crumbles entirely, and
he’s setting his empty teacup back in its saucer to shift out of his cross-legged position and list
sideways against the veritable mound of cushions, head pillowed in Jimin’s lap as he stretches out
comfortably. The mahogany table is low enough that he can stills see Hoseok and Yoongi’s fond
smiles even from this angle, and he averts his gaze, heart fluttering pleasantly in his chest.

Aigoo, why do they all have to be so nice?

Jimin’s fingers card through his hair soothingly, and Jungkook’s eyelids begin to grow heavier as
the minutes pass, although a niggling concern about his bondmate keeps him from slipping under
entirely. Taehyung’s been gone a while now, and if Seokjin’s conversations are anything like
Jaebum’s whenever Yugyeom is in trouble, he can only sympathise.

Yoongi suddenly rises from the nest of cushions without a word, moving to fetch another cup and
saucer from one of the display cabinets, setting it down beside Hoseok’s place and dragging his
fingers through the empath’s hair in a casual caress, gaze lingering on the door.

“Taehyungie?” Hoseok asks quietly.

“Mm,” Yoongi confirms, gaze flitting towards the tea set for a moment before he shakes his head,
reaching down to remove the cup again abruptly. “I don’t think he’s in the mood for tea.”

“Ah,” Hoseok acknowledges, tugging up the right sleeve of his dark cashmere sweater and leaning
back more comfortably against the side of the padded armchair. “Cuddles it is.”

Jungkook blinks sleepily at the mention of his bondmate, determined to stay awake if Tae’s about
to join them. As it happens, only matter of seconds later, there’s a quiet tap on the door, and
Taehyung pokes his head inside. The nestling’s gaze immediately finds Jungkook, a faint crease of
concern pinching his brow.

“Kookie?”

“He’s fine, baby,” Yoongi soothes, closing the display cabinet (having returned the cup and saucer
to their rightful shelf) and holding out a hand towards the younger vampire. “Just a little tired. Why
don’t you come sit with us?”

Taehyung pads closer, slipping his hand into Yoongi’s and letting the Seer lead him over to the
nest of cushions. His bubbly, youthful energy seems a little dampened, and as he nears the table,
Jungkook’s able to make out his faintly red-rimmed eyes. His heart clenches a little at the sight
(Tae looking anything other than happy just doesn’t seem right), and he’s about to sit up and reach
for his bondmate instinctively when Hoseok beats him to it, the empath snagging hold of
Taehyung’s wrist and pulling the nestling down into his lap for a cuddle.

“Jin-hyung doesn’t like scolding you, sweetheart,” Hoseok murmurs, cradling Tae’s face between
his hands and rubbing their noses together in a tender nuzzle. “None of us do. But we can’t have
you running off and getting sunburnt every other day, it’s not good for your health.”

Taehyung sighs, pouting cutely, but nodding all the same. “I know. And I’m sorry, I don’t mean to
keep worrying everybody all the time.”

“You’re our nestling, treasure,” Yoongi interrupts softly, kneeling beside Hoseok to gently cup
Tae’s nape and press a kiss to the side of his head. “We want to keep you safe. Worrying’s part of
the job description.”

It sounds remarkably like the sort of phrase Jaebum will murmur to him after a firm talking-to,
when Jungkook’s still feeling small and sorry and more than a little vulnerable. He always figured
it was an Alpha-comfort thing, but maybe there’s a universal protective-hyung guidebook he
doesn’t know about.

“You want some tea, honey?” Jimin asks, fingers continuing their soothing ministrations against
Jungkook’s scalp. “It’s blackberry and elderflower.”

Taehyung shakes his head, swiping at his eyes with a quiet sniff.

Hoseok kisses him softly, then tucks him in closer for a snuggle, offering Taehyung his bared wrist
with a gentle smile.

“Hungry?”

The younger vampire hesitates, his gaze flickering briefly towards Jungkook, who’s been watching
it all sleepily from his curled-up position nearby.

“I’m sure Kookie doesn’t mind,” Hoseok reassures. “Right, sweetheart?”

Jungkook shakes his head immediately, not wanting Tae to think for a second that seeing him feed
will make him feel uncomfortable. It’s not like it’s inappropriate or anything, but he’s well aware
that it’s not really something vampire’s do outside their own homes. They’ll consume blood
products in public cafes and restaurants, but drinking from a glass isn’t quite the same as feeding.
Blood is usually drunk in a manner that doesn’t requires them to use their fangs, since the
endorphins released by the process of feeding significantly impacts on a vampire’s ability to
adequately protect themselves from potential threats. It’s a well-known fact that vampires are at
their most vulnerable when they’re feeding, with limited awareness of their surroundings and any
dangers that might arise. That’s why the vast majority of vampires will only bare their fangs in
private, within the safety of their own nest or in the company of other vampires who can protect
them if necessary.

That’s why Jungkook knows Taehyung had been beyond starving the first time they’d met. He
hadn’t really acknowledged it at the time, too focused on helping his sickly-looking friend, but
must’ve gone against every single one of Tae’s self-preservation instincts to let Jungkook help him
feed from the blood pouch like that; to bare his fangs and drink so deeply that he was boneless and
blood-drunk and smiling up at Jungkook, all sated and sleepy. Tae had really put his trust in
Jungkook that night. No wonder Jin had been so quick to shift into a defensive stance when he’d
found his nestling in a stranger’s home.

“C’mon, Tae,” Hoseok murmurs, drawing the nestling in closer and lifting his wrist again. “I know
you’re thirsty, baby.”

Taehyung’s hands come up to loosely grip Hoseok’s forearm, and Jungkook catches a brief
glimpse of sharp fangs before his mouth seals around the elder vampire’s wrist. The empath smiles
warmly, free arm curling further around Taehyung, coaxing the nestling to tuck his head down
against Hoseok’s chest as he feeds.

“There you go,” the empath breathes, resting his cheek against Tae’s chestnut-brown hair, looking
utterly content. “Good boy.”

It’s so fucking tender, Jungkook’s gonna melt into a pile of goo right here and now. Honestly, the
media portrays vampire covens so apathetically, he feels like someone should sue. He had no idea
feeding could be like this – used as a way to soothe and comfort an upset nestmate. It’s an intimate
act, for sure, but he’d always assumed its primary purpose was just to sate a vampire’s hunger, with
the intimacy as an added kinky-bonus. Hoseok, however, seems to be using it as a way to enhance
some quality cuddle time, almost like the feeding’s an afterthought to the tactile comfort. Jungkook
can tell by the small, infrequent movements of Tae’s throat that the nestling isn’t really drinking a
lot, but he already looks a whole lot happier, snuggling into Hoseok’s embrace with a contented
sigh.

And Jungkook can’t help it – his imagination automatically going to picture himself in Hoseok’s
position, cuddled up with Taehyung someplace cosy and secure, comforting and soothing his
bondmate just like that. He wonders what it feels like. Moonbin’s come home from a night at
Eunwoo’s place with feeding-marks before (tiny pinprick puncture wounds on his wrist or neck),
 but Jungkook’s always been too polite to ask about them. Maybe he needs to sit his roommate
down and have a proper chat. For scientific purposes, of course.

The metal strainer chinks softly against china as Yoongi refills his cup, the sound of tea being
poured filling the room for a moment before a comfortable hush descends again. Jungkook’s
eyelids are getting heavier, but that might have something to do with the way Jimin fingers have
moved to start gently massaging his neck.

He swears his eyes only drift shut for a few seconds, but when he opens them again Taehyung has
shifted in Hoseok’s hold, apparently done feeding, snuggled up against the empath and sleeping
soundly. The mahogany table has been pushed further out of the way, and Yoongi has moved to sit
beside Hoseok, an arm curled comfortably around his nestmate’s shoulders as they whisper
together softly.

Jungkook shifts a little, wondering how long he’s been out and what time it is, but he stills when
Jimin’s fingers sink back into his hair again (at some point the petting had stopped, but he can’t
recall when). Both Yoongi and Hoseok glance towards him at his quiet shuffling, their matching
smiles full of gentle affection.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Hoseok murmurs, both arms wrapped snugly around the snoozing nestling in
his lap. “You’re fine, it’s still the afternoon.”

“We’ve got a couple more hours until Joonie gets home,” Yoongi adds softly, tilting his head to
lean it against Hoseok’s. “Two and a half if he stays late to reset that werecat’s arm. Go ahead and
take another nap, I know you’re tired.”

He isn’t wrong. Jungkook’s so damn sleepy, even though he’d slept like a log last night. It’s weird.
If he wasn’t so fucking contented, all curled up in Jimin’s lap like this, he’d probably be worried.

“It’s the protection charm, baby,” Jimin pipes up quietly, sounding faintly apologetic. “It really
drains you the first time. Best thing to do is sleep it off, trust me. You’ll feel better after a nap.”

Jungkook already feels pretty fucking good, but he can’t deny that another nap sounds like a
fantastic idea. He has questions (so many questions), but meh, they can all wait until he’s a little
more coherent.

The Kim Coven Manor House

This is the closest thing I could find to the style of manor-house I picture them living in.
Imagine it about 3 times wider with a vegetable garden and a huge greenhouse out the back,
and you've got it just about right.

Chapter End Notes

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, folks! You didn't think I could limit myself to just
ONE chapter focused on the nest, did you? Especially when Tae was being so cute
and needy.

So nestling-Tae came out a little more in this chapter, whoops. Wasn't entirely
planned, but I have no regrets, Tae wanted cuddles. There's a reason all his hyungs are
so overprotective, their littlest vampire is just a soft little boo who needs all the love
and affection (especially after he's gotten a telling-off from Jin for running outside
without protection again).

Also, our first 'on-screen' feed! Feeding from nestmates is typically a platonic thing,
but obviously it depends on individual circumstances. There are for sure occasions
when it's very-definitely-not platonic. But Hobi, as the resident empath, is definitely
the go-to person for cuddles and comfort, and he uses feeding as just another way to
soothe and settle his beloved nestmates.

So having tentatively tried to write the basics of a 'dinner' scene with OT7, I nopity-
noped back outta that pretty quick, because OT7 DIALOGUE IS HARD FAM and
also dinner is boring. Besides, there are so many cool and quirky things I want to
show you about the nest. Like the fact that Namjoon has a giant greenhouse full of
semi-sentient plants. :D Also pet griffins, because of course Kim Seokjin has
fantastical pets to go with his his Tardis car. :P

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE KUDOS AND BOOKMARKS, I APPRECIATE

EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM!
 Where The Heart Is
Chapter Summary

Jungkook wakes up from his nap and falls a little deeper in love with the Kim coven.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Gentle fingers smooth Jungkook’s fringe back from his forehead, and he stirs with a quiet hum,
still floating on the brink of sleep, body lax with the contented cosiness of a nice long nap. He feels
so warm and safe right now, he wishes he could just stay snuggled up like this forever. And he
really, really doesn’t want to go to work tonight.

Just five more minutes, Binnie…

“Hey there, sleepyhead,” someone murmurs, far too deep and rumbly to be Moonbin, their feather-
light touch trailing down over his temple to softly stroke his cheek. “I’m sorry to wake you, but
dinner’s almost ready.”

Recognising both the voice and the gentle caress as Namjoon’s, Jungkook opens his eyes, blinking
sleepily up at the healer and immediately feeling his stomach swoop when he encounters a familiar
dimpled smile. Jungkook finds himself returning it shyly, tilting his cheek into the vampire’s
touch, body thrumming with warmth at the gentle, tactile affection.

Something indescribably fond flits across Namjoon’s expression, the corners of the healer’s eyes
crinkling as he leans down to press a soft kiss to Kookie’s brow, his warm palm gently cradling the
youth’s cheek. Jungkook closes his eyes as his breath catches in his throat, heart fluttering at the
tenderness of it all.

“Is he awake?” another voice whispers loudly from somewhere nearby, and Jungkook opens his
eyes again to glance across to where Jimin’s leaning in the doorway to Yoongi’s study. The
vampire visibly brightens when their eyes meet, stepping further into the room. “Hey, bunny.
Feeling better?”

Jungkook nods, allowing Namjoon to help him sit up amid the nest of faintly tea-scented cushions,
rolling his shoulders and flexing his fingers and toes to shake off the residual heaviness of his
prolonged nap. He feels wonderfully well-rested, and a quick glance towards the open balcony
doors reveals that the sun is already setting, the slivers of sky he can see between the drape-like
vines tinged lilac and dark orange as daylight wanes.

Holy…he’s never napped so comfortably outside of his own bedroom before; not even at the Im-
pack’s den, which has practically become a second home to him thanks to Yugyeom. Although he
trusts Jaebum and the other wolves with his life, there’s still a part of him that’s always too hyper-
aware of his surroundings whenever he leaves the apartment. He’ll maybe manage a light doze if
he’s snuggled up with Yugyeom and the other makanes in front of a movie after a good meal, but
Jungkook’s never been able to fully switch off his heightened senses enough to actually sleep, not
unless he’s cosied up in the safety of his own bed back home.

On Sunday, after he’d passed out at work, he’d chalked up the lengthy nap he’d taken in
Namjoon’s clinic to being a symptom of his poor state of health post-migraine, but he doesn’t have
that excuse today; he’d slept just fine last night, and he’s been headache-free for a record breaking
three days now thanks to Namjoon’s healing touch, so there’s really no reason for him to have
conked out like that for two solid hour in a house he’s never even visited before today.

It’s almost as if, in the space of a single afternoon, he’s subconsciously accepted the Kim-coven
nest as his new home; like his inner hybrid actually feels deeply, truly safe here, enough to
completely switch off his usual self-preservation instincts. And that’s…

Fuck, that’s big.

“This is looking better,” Namjoon murmurs, apparently unaware of Jungkook’s internal life-
changing epiphany, fingertips gently tracing over the faint bruise on his cheek. “Does it still hurt?”

It takes a moment for the question to register (he’s still trying to wrap his head around the whole
napping situation), so a beat of silence passes before Jungkook realises he’s supposed to be giving
an answer, fringe flopping over his brow as he shakes his head quickly. The healer breathes a quiet
laugh, reaching out to smooth Kookie’s fringe back from his forehead as he regards him fondly.

Jimin wanders over from the doorway to drape himself over Namjoon’s back, smiling down at
Kookie with his chin resting on his mate’s shoulder.

“You looked so cute when you were sleeping,” the vampire-shifter tells him affectionately. “I
didn’t have the heart to wake you, so I had to get reinforcements. Joonie-hyung came home just in
time.”

“Always happy to help,” Namjoon returns warmly, turning his head to press a kiss to Jimin’s cheek
as he lifts a hand to gently card his fingers through the dancer’s blond hair. “Although I’m a little
surprised to see you alone. Where’s Taehyungie?”

“He’s sleeping upstairs,” Jimin answers distractedly, tilting his head into the elder’s petting with a
happy sigh. “I was gonna wake him a little while ago, but Yoongi-hyung wanted you to do it. Tae
got scolded again this afternoon, so I guess he’s probably feeling a little...”

“Ah,” Namjoon acknowledges with apparent understanding. He glances back down at Jungkook,
clucks him gently beneath the chin with one last fond look, and pushes himself to his feet.

Jimin makes a quiet noise of protest, clinging onto the healer’s shoulders for a long moment,
socked feet dangling several inches above the floor. Namjoon sniffs a grin, hands coming up to
settle over the arms wrapped around his neck.

“Angel…”

With a reluctant sigh, Jimin relinquishes his hold on Namjoon and slips down from the healer’s
back. Chuckling, the elder vampire turns to tug Jimin closer, using a finger to gently tilt his
younger mate’s chin up as he leans in for a kiss.

“Why don’t you show Kookie down to the dining room?” Namjoon suggests quietly as they break
apart. “I’ll go wake Tae. We won’t be long.”
The younger vampire nods, leaning up on his tiptoes to nuzzle Namjoon’s cheek one last time
before stepping out of his arms and turning to offer both hands to Jungkook with a cheerful smile.

“C’mon, beautiful,” Jimin encourages, helping the youth to his feet. “You must be getting hungry.
Let’s go join the others.”

In addition to being perhaps the most powerful individual that Jungkook has ever encountered,
Seokjin is apparently a master of culinary arts.

Dinner is incredible.

The main course is rack of lamb, cooked soft and tender and drizzled with a rich sauce that
Jungkook could honestly drink by the ladleful like soup if he was home alone and nobody was
looking. He can’t even begin to guess the ingredients, it’s like nothing he’s ever tried before,
somehow both savoury and sweet at the same time. And then there’s all the accompaniments –
creamy dauphinoise potatoes, buttered carrots and honey-glazed parsnips, tureens of sweet
mangetout and green beans, baskets of fresh bread rolls still warm from the oven. Every inch of the
large mahogany dining table is occupied by a platter or dish of some kind, and it’s a truly
impressive spread. Jungkook almost wishes he were incapable of feeling full (like Yugyeom, who
could literally eat as a competitive sport if he wanted to), because every bite he takes just leaves
him wanting more.

“Jin-hyung and Joonie travelled across Europe together before they met the rest of us,” Hoseok
explains, leaning over on Jungkook’s left to slide another serving of lamb onto the youth’s plate.
“Hyung took up cooking as a hobby while they were living in Paris, which is why everything tastes
so wonderful.”

“Why thank you, beloved,” Jin tilts his wine glass towards the empath with a smile.

Jimin stands up to lean across the table and refill Jungkook’s water glass. “He’s even better at
desserts,” the dancer offers keenly. “He made most of the cakes you tried earlier in Yoongi-
hyung’s study. Good thing you’ve got a sweet tooth, Kookie.”

“Hyung makes the best crepes,” Taehyung adds from Jungkook’s other side, not seeming to notice
as Namjoon slips him a pinker cut of meat from the healer’s own plate.

Jungkook has observed Tae’s nestmates doing that on numerous occasions throughout the meal.
His own meat is cooked to perfection, ideal for a bunny-hybrid palate, but some of the meat further
down the table does appear to be significantly rarer than his own, the juices running more red than
pink. And he knows undercooked and rare meats tend to be a vampire’s preference – Binnie’s
bemoaned to him on more than one occasion about Eunwoo eating steak so undercooked that the
outside is barely seared, but the fact of the matter is, a vampire’s tastebuds are simply wired a little
differently when it comes to meat.

He doesn’t mind a medium-rare steak on occasion, but even though he’s only one-quarter bunny
hybrid, Jungkook’s never really been able to stomach anything rarer than that. The one and only
time he’d tried yukhoe as a teenager (on Yugyeom’s insistence that raw beef was the best thing in
the world), he’d thrown up in an alley on the way home not twenty minutes later. Never again.

Considering just how many sweet pastries and cakes he’d consumed up in Yoongi’s study only a
few hours ago, he’s actually managed to eat an impressive amount of dinner. It helps that Hoseok
keeps topping up his plate with more side-dishes every five minutes, and the fact that it’s all so
delicious makes it difficult for him to decline the offer, even though he already knows he’s going to
regret having eyes too big for his stomach later tonight when he struggles to climb up the stairs to
his apartment. He really, really hopes the elevators are still working by the time he gets home.

“Aigoo, you eat so well,” Jin keeps praising him, looking inordinately pleased every time
Jungkook manages to clear a portion of his plate.

That’s something he’s used to hearing from the Im-pack hyungs, too. And just like Hoseok,
Jaebum and Jinyoung (often assisted by Mark and Jackson) are constantly trying to sneak extra
food onto his plate whenever he manages to make it over to the den for dinner, watching him eat
with open satisfaction when they think he isn’t looking. And they’re always slipping Tupperware
boxes into his backpack on his way out the door – or, in Jackson’s case, thrusting them into his
arms and making him pinky-swear to come back for more as soon as they’re empty.

“Aigoo, you’re so tiny,” the werewolf always bemoans, typically with a hand clutched to his chest
for dramatic emphasis. “One of these days you’re just gonna disappear on me, Bunbun. You’ll
come over for dinner this Saturday, right?”

And Jungkook will fidget, apologetic. “Hyung…you know I can’t. I gotta go to work…”

“Jinyoung-ah!” Jackson invariably responds, tugging Jungkook by the wrist back through the
house towards the kitchen. “Get another box!”

So to some extent, Jungkook is fully accustomed to being ‘fattened up’ like this, but previously
there’s always been someone else (like Moonbin or Yugyeom) to share in that close attention and
lessen the impact a little. Being the sole focus of six doting hyungs who all seem intent on making
sure he eats his fill is a very different experience indeed.

Still…Jungkook would be lying if he said he didn’t like it.

From his seat at end of the table on the other side of Hoseok, Yoongi suddenly drops his fork with
a clatter against his plate and sits bolt-upright.

“Kookie,” the Seer cautions, a faint note of urgency in his voice. “You might wanna swallow,
sweetheart.”

“Mm?” Jungkook hums confusedly, still chewing his mouthful, but he’s distracted from Yoongi’s
warning by a sudden sharp tapping noise on the dining room window.
Jungkook takes one look at the giant winged creature looming in the shadows outside and promptly
chokes on his food.

“Odengie!” Jin scolds, but Jungkook’s too busy trying not to die to pay him much attention.

Hoseok thumps him on the back as he hacks grossly into a napkin, and over his own coughing he
hears the scraping of chair legs against the floorboards and the sound of footsteps swiftly
approaching. Then his chair is being pulled back sharply, a large hand coming around to gently cup
over the apple of his throat as a finger quickly traces a swirling pattern across his back.

A strange, buzzing sort of pressure builds Jungkook’s chest until it feels ready to pop, before a firm
hand smacks him solidly between the shoulder blades, and just like that the coughing fit subsides,
his airways completely cleared without even a trace of the irritation that would usually linger after
a near-choking episode.

“Sorry I had to thump you like that,” Namjoon murmurs from behind him, his touch on
Jungkook’s throat now a gentle caress as he rubs slow circles between his shoulders, soothing the
ache there. “Are you alright?”

Nodding, Jungkook swipes at his streaming eyes, cheeks red both from embarrassment and from
almost coughing his lungs up, turning a little in his seat to glance back at the healer.

“Thank you,” he rasps, and cracks a wincing smile. “Guess I should’ve listened to Yoongi-hyung.”

Smiling softly, Namjoon smooths his fingertips over one of Jungkook’s burning cheeks, the skin
there tingling for a moment before the heat in his face blessedly cools by several degrees.

“I’m sorry, sweetheat,” Yoongi apologises, his expression pinched as he rubs at his temples. “I’d
been looking too far ahead, I wasn’t focused enough to see…aish, if I’d warned you sooner-”

Wordlessly, Hoseok lifts a hand to cup the side of Yoongi’s neck, and the Seer cuts himself off
mid-sentence, closing his eyes briefly and taking a steadying breath, the tension easing from his
posture.

“It wasn’t your fault, hyung,” Jungkook insists in the beat of silence that follows, watching as
Jimin scoots his chair closer to Yoongi’s to curl around the elder vampire in a sideways hug. “It
probably would’ve happened even if you’d warned me about it hours ago. I choke on my food all
the time at home, it’s no biggie.”

Taehyung and Jimin both make matching sounds of alarm at the confession, and Jungkook smiles
at them self-deprecatingly. It’s not like he chokes on purpose…Binnie just has a habit of doing
hilariously adorable walrus impressions whenever they eat anything that even vaguely resembles
tusks, and Jungkook always ends up laughing with his mouth full. Moonbin’s never had to do the
Heimlich manoeuvre on him before, but he’s come pretty close on a couple of occasions.

Remembering the looming shadow that had caused him to choke in the first place, Jungkook’s eyes
dart back towards the tall dining room windows…but the creature from before has vanished, and
all he sees is grass and trees dimly lit by the fast-waning daylight.

Jin catches his gaze and smiles sympathetically.

“I’m sorry if Odengie startled you, little one,” he says quietly. “The cubs know better than to make
an unexpected appearance when we have guests over, but given your bond with Tae, I imagine
they were more than a little excited to meet you in person. I’ll introduce you properly after dinner.”
 …

“I can’t believe you have pet griffins,” Jungkook enthuses, falling back against the soft grassy
embankment beside Tae to stare up at the glass panels of the greenhouse’s tall domed ceiling.
“Like holy fuck, hyung.”

His bondmate laughs, rolling over onto his side to regard Jungkook with a soft smile, head propped
up on one hand. The lamp-like orbs that hover suspended in the air far above them cast the
spacious greenhouse in a pale blue light (the only explanation Jungkook had been given regarding
their origin was an casual “oh, Jin-hyung made them”, no surprise there), and Taehyung’s skin
almost seems to glow beneath it.

For a moment all the wonders that Jungkook has beheld this evening fade away; Hoseok’s full-
sized dance studio in the house’s basement, Tae’s fully-equipped arcade in what had apparently
once been the nestling’s bedroom, Namjoon’s vast greenhouse filled to the brim with lush plantlife
in a thousand vibrant colours, Seokjin’s pet griffins. All of those details recede to the far corners of
his mind as he stares at his bondmate for a long moment, utterly captivated by Taehyung’s beauty.

“What?” Tae’s lips curl slowly into a wider smile, amusement shining in his amber eyes. “What’s
that look for?”

Unable to adequately articulate the sentiment through words, Jungkook pushes himself up on one
arm to kiss the vampire by way of an answer, fingers curling in the front of Taehyung’s shirt as his
bondmate’s hand settles on the side of his jaw. The kiss deepens after a moment, Tae leaning
further over him so that Jungkook ends up sinking back down against the soft, sweet-smelling
grass.

Aigoo, who knew kissing could feel so heavenly?

There’s a heated sort of energy building beneath the surface of his skin, and Jungkook knows it
isn’t just his own increasing desires that he’s feeling welling up inside; with Taehyung pressed so
close to him, the vampire’s emotions are interweaving with his own, adding fuel to the fire in his
veins. He wants to lose himself in Taehyung’s touch, in the press of his lips and the sweetness of
his scent. It feels like he could drown (and probably die happy) in the overwhelming surge of need
that’s bubbling rapidly to the surface.

Suddenly Taehyung pulls back, slightly breathless, eyes notably more crimson than amber. The
vampire shakes his head a little as though to clear it.
“We should stop,” Tae tells him, with obvious reluctance. “I promised Jin-hyung I wouldn’t…it’s
not fair to overwhelm you on your first visit, I don’t want you to do anything you might regret later
on.”

Jungkook’s ninety-nine percent sure he’ll have absolutely no regrets if they were to continue their
previous intimacies, but he doesn’t want to push his luck. Doesn’t mean he has to be happy about it
though.

“I’m serious,” Taehyung insists, although he’s smiling again now as he regards Jungkook fondly.
“Yah, stop pouting like that, you’re killin’ me here.”

He hadn’t even realised his bottom lip had begun jutting out like that, but since it had elicited a
sympathetic response from Taehyung, Jungkook puts a little more effort into it this time, really
pouting the way Binnie always does when Jungkook won’t let him go for a run in the pouring rain.

Taehyung makes a strangled noise. “Dude, that’s not fair. Aish, c’mere.”

Giggling in victory, Jungkook lets Taehyung tug him into a cuddle and gladly accepts the softer,
sweeter kiss that his bondmate presses to his lips. He eventually ends up settled on his side, one
arm thrown over Taehyung’s waist, the vampire’s arms wrapped around him in turn and his head
resting comfortably on Tae’s shoulder as they enjoy the peaceful serenity of Namjoon’s garden.
Other than the soft chirping of crickets, the whispering of the willow trees leaves as they brush
against each other (Jungkook swears the drape-like branches are moving of their own accord,
because there isn’t any wind in here), the trickling sound of water running into the giant koi pond
and Taehyung’s slow but rhythmic heartbeat, it’s wonderfully silent. Jungkook’s grown
accustomed to hearing background traffic at all hours of the day and night (even his expanding-
foam earplugs can’t block it out entirely) but it isn’t until its absence that he realises how loud it
can be sometimes.

“You do like it here, right?” Taehyung asks him quietly, fingers combing through Jungkook’s hair.
“The nest, I mean.”

Jungkook hums, smiling contently. “I love it.”

His bondmate hugs him tighter, and Jungkook feels a pulse of satisfaction in his chest that he
knows belongs to Taehyung.

“I know you said you can’t stay the night,” the vampire murmurs. “But since you’ve quit your
Thursday shift at Euphoria, maybe you could drop by after school tomorrow? There’s so much
more I wanna show you.”

He finds himself nodding without hesitation. “I’d like that. I can catch the bus from SNU, I’m sure
there’s an outer-zone route that’ll drop me off near the forest.”

“You don’t have to get the bus,” Taehyung insists. “Jiminie’s picking up his baby from the
workshop tomorrow, I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to give you a ride. You like motorbikes,
right?”

Jungkook’s brain comes to a screeching halt, images of Jimin in dark, skin-tight leathers sitting
astride a Harley Davidson bursting to the forefront of his mind, cheeks warming.

Oh, hell yes.

 Namjoon's greenhouse is heavily inspired by this beautiful garden (also THIS) from Astro's "All
Night" MV, which you can watch here ...for research purposes, of course. :P

BONUS CUTE MOONBIN/SANHA PIC!

Chapter End Notes

Thank you for your patience these past two weeks, fam! Work has been unexpectedly
hectic and I'm afraid I pulled a Jeon Jungkook and did far too many overtime hours.
But things have settled down again now, so I'm hoping this time there won't be such a
long pause before the next update.

As always, I love to hear from you! Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
 Pimp My Ride
Chapter Summary

Kookie gets a last-minute makeover courtesy of his very attentive friends.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Jungkook checks his reflection in the camera app on his phone, tilting his head this way and that.

“Are you sure about the eyeliner?”

“Yes,” Yugyeom and Moonbin answer as one, the latter reaching down to fix the collar of
Jungkook’s shirt just-so, probably showing off more collarbone than is strictly necessary.

“It suits you, Kook,” Eunwoo reassures, gently pinching his chin to tilt Jungkook’s head back
towards him. “I won’t make it too heavy, just enough to draw attention to your eyes. Another
minute and I’ll be done, okay?”

With an internal sigh of resignation, Jungkook fidgets in his seat on the wooden bench of the
sheltered picnic table, allowing his friends to continue their primping. He’s secretly really fucking
grateful for all their help – he’s hardly an expert when it comes to fashion, and aside from a
general preference for soft sweaters, comfy jeans and Timberland footwear, for the past few years
he hasn’t given a lot of thought to his image beyond looking clean and presentable. In his defence,
it’s not as though he’d been able to afford a stylish wardrobe up until very recently – fashion comes
at a price, and he’s spent most of the past year needing to choose between buying chocolate milk
for Binnie and replacing his threadbare socks with new ones from the 100-yen store. Indulging in a
little retail therapy had never been on the cards until now.

His visit to the nest yesterday afternoon had been entirely unplanned, so he’d ended up going
dressed in casual school clothes (and sporting a mayo stain from lunch on the lapel of his shirt that
he hadn’t even noticed until Moonbin had pointed it out to him that evening as they were getting
ready for bed), so…yeah. Not exactly his best look. Today, however, he has the chance to actually
prepare an outfit, and the second Moonbin had heard the word ‘motorbike’, he’d called in the
cavalry to help touch up Jungkook’s image.

When it comes to makeup, Jungkook has absolutely no idea what he’s doing; his bunny hybrid
genes have afforded him a generally blemish-free complexion (seriously, not having to contend
with acne more than makes up for his lifelong inability to digest yukhoe and rare meats), so beyond
soap and water and the occasional application of cheap moisturiser during the winter months, he’s
never bothered to put anything on his face before. His best friends are just as clueless as he is,
which is probably why Binnie had decided to seek professional advice.

Or rather, send out an SOS to his boyfriend.

Cha Eunwoo is fast becoming one of the Korea’s top models, continuing to gain fame for his
Instagram selfies and YouTube skincare tutorials in addition to the various brand promotion deals
he’s bagged since the start of the year. If there’s any one person that Jungkook would trust to do
his makeup without making him look like a clown, it’s Eunwoo.

“There,” the model says confidently, stepping back beside Moonbin to admire his handiwork.
“That looks pretty natural, right?”

The werecat gives his boyfriend two thumbs-up, smiling at him adoringly, and Jungkook
suppresses an amused eye-roll. Eunwoo could’ve drawn on a fake moustache and a mono-brow,
and Moonbin would still react with positive enthusiasm – the cat’s so fucking besotted, it’s
adorable. Jungkook would normally trust Binnie’s judgement above all others (even Yugyeom’s,
because the wolf’s always been a bit of a prankster at heart), but whenever Eunwoo’s involved in
the equation, it’s best to get a second opinion.

And Eunwoo clearly thinks so too; although he returns Moonbin’s smile and reaches out to squeeze
his hand, his gaze still flickers towards Yugyeom, brow arched in a silent query. The werewolf
obligingly comes around the side of the picnic bench to pass verdict, whistling appreciatively as
his eyes widen a little.

“Okay, wow, you’re hot,” Yugyeom reacts, leaning into Jungkook’s field of vision before squatting
down a bit to assess him from a different angle. “Why have you never worn eyeliner before?
You’re gonna knock ‘em dead, boo.”

“It isn’t too much?” Jungkook’s gaze darts to the item of clothing draped over the werewolf’s arm.
“Maybe I should ditch the jacket…”

Yugyeom shakes his head immediately.

“Dude no, that’d be like kimchi without rice,” his friend protests. “Right now you’re a tasty snack,
but with the jacket you’re a whole meal. Besides, you’re gonna be riding a motorbike – leather’s
totally appropriate. And it’ll protect your arms in case you accidentally fall off or something.”

“Safety first,” Eunwoo agrees cheerfully, leaning back into Moonbin’s embrace as the werecat
glomps him from behind like the needy cuddle-bug he always is at this time of the month.

Yugyeom tugs on Jungkook’s wrist to haul him up from the bench and help him into the jacket,
pulling Kookie’s arms through the sleeves like he’s a sleepy five-year-old who doesn’t know how
to dress himself yet. Jungkook breathes a quiet sigh at the coddling but allows it all the same. His
friend can’t help it; it’ll be a full moon tonight, so the werewolf’s attentiveness is just an offset of
his heightened instincts – Moonbin has likewise been clingier and fussier than usual today.
Thankfully Eunwoo had decided to take the afternoon off from his usual busy schedule to keep the
werecat company in Jungkook’s absence, and Binnie hasn’t allowed the vampire to stray more
than three feet away from him since he arrived on campus half an hour ago.

“Thanks for your help, guys,” Jungkook murmurs, casting his gaze about to include all three of
them. “And I’m sorry for ditching the Campus Run last-minute like this. I’ll be there next month, I
promise.”

Moonbin waves away the apology, reaching around Eunwoo to lightly thump his roommate in the
shoulder. “You’re allowed to have other plans, you know. Especially if those plans involve you
getting wooed by multiple sugar-daddies.”
Jungkook send the werecat a disparaging look, but it’s entirely ineffective, because even Eunwoo’s
nodding in agreement.

“I still can’t believe you’re being courted by the Kims,” the vampire says, a handsome grin curling
at his rosebud lips. “Don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t be happier for you, and you genuinely won’t
find a better Primus, but…wow, Kookie.”

Eunwoo had been in the apartment with Moonbin when Jungkook had arrived home from the nest
last night, the two lovebirds sharing spicy ramen and chocolate milk as they cuddled up on the
couch. As he bent down to remove his shoes, the pendant around his neck had slipped free of his
shirt, and Eunwoo had almost choked on his mouthful of noodles. After some prying, Jungkook
had eventually ‘fessed up about the nature of his newfound bond with Taehyung and his
developing closeness with the fledgling’s nestmates.

As it turned out, Eunwoo wasn’t casually acquainted with Jimin and Taehyung in the way that all
Seoul-based vampires seemed to know each other, but in fact was close with the Kim coven as a
whole.

“Even if Jin-hyung wasn’t acting as my temporary Primus, I’d still know about his nest,” Eunwoo
had insisted, reaching out without looking to save Moonbin’s cartoon of chocolate milk from
toppling onto the floor. “All vampires do, he’s Kim Seokjin.”

Yes. Because apparently, unbeknownst to Jungkook (and he was noticing a commend trend here),
Kim Seokjin is someone that every vampire in Korea apparently just knew about.

“As a hybrid, you probably would’ve heard about him already if you were born here in Seoul,”
Eunwoo had continued. “Seokjin-hyung gifted the land back to the elder clans a long time ago,
decades before the city was even built. Most supernatural communities still honour him as a
benefactor – they respect his privacy enough not to bother him, but I imagine every clan-leader
still knows his name. And it’s kind of an unspoken rule in Seoul to ask for his blessing before
establishing a pack here. I’ve heard he still visits the larger families and mediates territorial
discussions between Fae-clans. Technically he still has jurisdiction over the forest folk, but I think
he leaves them be for the most part.”

“How did you first meet him?” Jungkook had asked, once he’d remembered how to talk, eyes still
blown wide as he absorbed all this new information. “You’re from Busan, right?”

With a nod and a soft smile, Eunwoo had elaborated, “By my coven’s reckoning, I was still very
young when I first left for Seoul; fresh out of high school and barely considered fully-grown. My
parents didn’t want me to leave so soon, but I knew modelling and acting was something I wanted
to pursue, and moving to Seoul was my best chance of getting a good contract. So my Primus
contacted Seokjin-hyung to ask if he and Namjoon-hyung would watch over me until I found my
feet. Jiminie-hyung isn’t that much older than me, and Tae was barely a fledgling himself when I
moved here, so the three of us used to hang out sometimes. Taehyungie was actually the one who
introduced me to JinJin-hyung – they took the same photography course at SNU for a little while
before Tae had to drop out, but he knew about hyung’s studio and hooked me up for a photoshoot.
That’s how I got my first brand deal with Shara.”

During their date the other night, Taehyung had briefly mentioned his passion for modelling and
photography, but Jungkook hadn’t realised he’d studied the subject at university level. It’s
definitely something he’ll be asking Tae about at a later point.

And regarding Seokin…well, clearly Jungkook’s previous estimation of him being a ‘vampire
wizard’ still falls short of the truth – even though Eunwoo had given him a fairly blasé account of
the situation, Jungkook had been able to surmise as much from what he wasn’t saying. Like, he’s
struggling to digest the fact that the land and the forests that make up Seoul had once belonged to
Jin. How powerful did someone have to be to own that much land? Aigoo, he can barely
comprehend it.

All he really knows now is that Jin is both a helluva lot older and infinitely more powerful than
Jungkook had initially surmised.

“Hyung,” Moonbin murmurs suddenly, drawing Jungkook out of his thoughts. The werecat’s eyes
are fixed in the middle-distance beyond the shade of the sun-shelter, head tilted a little to one side
as he listens carefully. “I think I just heard a motorbike pull into the drop-off zone.”

Jungkook’s heart picks up speed, nervous excitement fluttering in his stomach as he checks his
reflection in his phone quickly. The eyeliner really does make his eyes pop, but he really hopes it’s
not too noticeable. He’d wanted to make an effort to look good, but he also doesn’t want his efforts
to be obvious.

“Well, we’ve done all we can.” Yugyeom claps him on the shoulder and makes a grandiose gesture
towards the nearby footpath. “Go forth and woo, my son. Remember the lessons I’ve taught you.”

Jungkook pulls a face at him as he shoulders his new backpack. “Says the wolf who bagged
himself an Alpha by running headfirst into a tree.”

Yugyeom flips him off with an unapologetic grin.

“You’ll do fine, Kookie,” Eunwoo reassures, ever the supportive hyung in any given situation.
“Just be yourself, I’m sure they already love you.”

Fuck, he hopes so. He really, really hopes so.

“Good luck!” Moonbin crows, and detaches himself from Eunwoo long enough to lift Jungkook
almost off his feet in a tight hug, nuzzling into his neck for a long moment and planting the briefest
of kitten-licks there before putting him down again.

Jungkook has lived with the werecat long enough to recognise the semi-possessive scenting
behaviour. Although Binnie is enthusiastically supportive of his rommate’s new romantic
attachments, he’s also adorably protective by nature, and Jungkook’s been away from home long
enough now that his birth family’s scent has long since faded; Moonbin is leaving a signature of
his own, so to speak. He’s not staking a claim or anything old-fashioned like that, he’s simply
reminding Kookie’s new bondmates that he has a family and a pack who loves him and who will
protect him accordingly. It’s actually kinda sweet, especially since Moonbin’s probably doing it
completely instinctively.

He’s surprised Yugyeom hasn’t tried to leave a scentmark of his own, but then again, the leather
jacket he’s wearing smells wonderfully like the Im-pack.

“Does JB-hyung know you lent me this?” Jungkook checks, finally realising why the design looks
so familiar.

“Duh,” Yugyeom scoffs and nudges him towards the path. “The jacket was his idea.”

Of course it was. Full moon, protective Alpha-wolf…how else would Jaebum adequately convey to
the Kim coven that Jungkook is still his cub? Nothing screams “break his heart and I’ll break your
face” like an Alpha-scented leather jacket.
Jungkook resists the urge to facepalm.

“You’re gonna miss your man if you don’t skedaddle,” Yugyeom urges, grunting as Moonbin pulls
him into a three-way hug with Eunwoo. He makes a shooing motion with his free hand. “And if
you don’t take an awesome selfie with his motorbike, I’m disowning you, dumb-bun.”

“He means we love you!” Moonbin translates, waving at Jungkook from where he’s squished
comfortably between his favourite vampire and werewolf. “But also yes please to selfies!”

And all Jungkook can do is laugh and wave back at the three of them, finally stepping out from
under the sun-shelter and setting off down the footpath as instructed, butterflies still fluttering
away in his stomach as he walks. He doesn’t know why he’s so much more nervous today than he
had been last time – it’s probably because Namjoon’s invitation yesterday afternoon had been so
unexpected that he hadn’t really been able to think about it beforehand, but Tae had invited him
back again almost eighteen hours ago, so the anticipation is really getting to him now. And he’s not
nervous-nervous, more like…excited-nervous. Yesterday’s visit had been so indescribably
wonderful, he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about the nest all day.

Jungkook pauses as he reaches the crest of the gentle slope that leads down to the drop-off zone,
his gaze immediately zoning in on the sleek motorbike parked against the curb there, its red and
silver panelling glinting in the afternoon sun. Almost immediately, it’s the coolest bike that
Jungkook has ever seen in his life (he’s probably biased because it’s Jimin’s, but who cares), and
his footsteps quicken as he heads down the path towards it, already glancing around for its absent
rider. Maybe Jimin had taken the side-path back up towards campus in search of him?

Shrugging off his backpack, Jungkook fishes out his phone, cursing under his breath at the missed
notifications – in his eagerness to get ready for his afternoon at the nest, apparently he’d
completely forgotten to turn his phone off silent. But his panic is short-lived, and Jungkook
breathes a sigh of relief when he realises that the messages had only been sent a few minutes ago.

Chim: Hey honey, that’s me at the drop-off point.

Chim: You’re done with class for today, right? Tae told me you had an early finish this afternoon.
Do you want me to meet you outside the business and economics building? I think I still remember
which one that is.

Jungkook’s thumbs move across the screen quickly as he types a hurried reply.

BunBun: Hyung! Sorry, my phone was still on silent. I just made it to the drop-off zone, and OMG
YOU BIKE IS BEAUTIFUL.

There’s a pause of perhaps eight seconds before a heart and a laughing emoji pop up on his screen,
followed quickly by another message.

Chim: Thanks cutie! I’ll be there in 2 mins, don’t go away.

Smiling down at the screen, Jungkook automatically replies with several smiley-heart-eyes emojis,
as he would were he texting Binnie or Yugyeom. Then the butterflies in his stomach explode into a
nervous swarm, because oh, maybe that was a bit too obvious. Yes, he’s helplessly in love with all
of Taehyung’s nestmates, but does he want Jimin to know that so soon? No.

Fuck. He’s supposed to be keeping his infatuation to himself for the time being, at least until he
can be certain it won’t make the rest of the hyungs uncomfortable.

“Jungkook-ssi? Is that you?”

Turning quickly, startled by the address, Jungkook takes in the newcomer at a glance – tall,
handsome, human, and familiar somehow – dipping his head in a polite bow of acknowledgment.

“Yes? Can I help you?”

The taller man smiles and holds out his hand. “Min Junho,” he clasps Jungkook’s hand with a sure,
firm grip, dipping his own head in a bow. “We were in an accountancy seminar together last
month, but I never got a chance to properly introduce myself. You’re looking well.”

“Thank you,” Jungkook returns politely, if somewhat awkwardly as the handshake lingers on a
little longer than required. “Uh, so do you.”

Smooth

Jungkook only vaguely recognises the man’s face, but his name is more familiar. After all, the
business and economic studies cohort isn’t all that big, so if someone is worth knowing that means
everyone hears about them on the grapevine at some point. Junho is from the academic year above
Jungkook’s, but still attends the occasional non-compulsory seminar with the second and third-year
students despite the fact that he definitely doesn’t need to fluff up his professional portfolio the way
the rest of them do. As the son of a very prominent (and successful) retail CEO, Junho’s future on
the board of directors is pretty much set in stone already and his degree in business studies is
probably just for show. Some people in Jungkook’s class have speculated that he uses the monthly
seminars as a way to scope out the younger students, and if the rumour-mill is to be trusted,
Junho’s already left a trail of broken hearts in his wake during the three and half years he’s been at
SNU.

“Are you waiting on a taxi?” Junho asks, glancing around the otherwise deserted area. “I’d be
happy to give you a ride home, my driver’s almost here.”

“I’ve actually arranged to meet someone this afternoon,” Jungkook dips his head in another polite
bow. “But thank you.”

Junho’s smile doesn’t waver, his shrug casual and easy. “Another time, then? How about I give
you my number, that way you can call me if you ever need a ride-”

“Kookie! There you are,” Jimin suddenly interrupts, smoothly inserting himself between the two of
them and winding a casual arm around Jungkook’s waist, brushing a kiss against his cheek. “Hope
I didn’t keep you waiting too long?”

Jungkook shakes his head, a little lost for words.

Jimin looks…wow. He’s wearing dark jeans that are cinched securely at his waist by a thick suede
belt, and beneath his fashionable leather jacket he’s wearing a form-fitting black undershirt that
gives Jungkook a very helpful insight into the vampire’s impressive muscle definition.

Jimin smiles and squeezes him closer in a sideways hug, before his gaze flickers over to Junho
almost as an afterthought, although Jungkook can tell his dismissiveness is at least partially
deliberate.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” The vampire-shifter’s smile is innocent and charming all at once. “Is this a friend
of yours, sweetheart?” He extends his hand. “Kim Jimin, delighted to meet you.”
It surprises Jungkook to hear the vampire introduce himself using his coven’s name rather than his
family title. It’s not uncommon for vampires to take the surname of their Primus, especially in
bonded nests, but Jungkook could’ve sworn his social media still says Park Jimin.

Junho accepts the handshake, his smile now visibly forced. “Min Junho, and likewise. It was nice
seeing you again, Jungkook-ssi, but I should really get going. Have a good afternoon.”

Despite having told Jungkook that his driver was due to arrive shortly, the man turns on his heel
and quickly heads back up the path towards the university. The polite thing for Jungkook to do
would be to return the sentiment and say goodbye, but honestly, he’s too busy biting his lip and
trying not to laugh.

Jimin is looking distinctly pleased with himself.

“I think you scared him off, hyung,” he comments wryly.

“Did I?” The vampire flashes him an innocent look. “I was only saying hello.”

Jungkook laughs, and Jimin’s façade cracks, a grin curling handsomely at the corner of his mouth.

“So,” the vampire steps back towards his motorbike, tugging Jungkook along by the hand. “What
do you think of my baby?”

“It’s awesome, hyung,” he enthuses. “What kind of bike is it?”

Jimin runs his fingers lovingly over the seat. “She’s a Honda NC750X.”

“Ooh,” Jungkook reacts with what he hopes is a suitably impressed tone (fuck, he just realised he
knows absolutely nothing about motorbikes).

Jimin laughs, squeezing his hand. “It’s okay, hon. None of the others know what that means either.
Tae tries to pay attention because he’s an angel who likes to please everyone, but he still doesn’t
know the difference between a TX-27 and a Suzuki.”

The vampire reaches for one of the two helmets perched on the tail of the bike, carefully helping
Jungkook put it on and grinning as he flicks up the visor to look into his eyes.

“There, now you really look the part. Nice jacket, by the way.”

Jungkook flushes hot beneath the helmet. “Bin and Gyeomie made me wear it. And I had to
promise them a motorbike selfie or risk disownment, I hope that’s okay?”

Jimin’s smile widens, challenge clearly accepted. “Oh, we can definitely do selfies. Here, hotshot,
pass me your phone...”
 Here's a link to Jimin's motorbike.

Also JIMIN IN LEATHER looking particularly edible, Lord have mercy.

Chapter End Notes

You wanted to see biker!Jimin, but I also snuck a little protective/possessive vampire-
hyung in there too.
Also Seokjin backstory hints! Because ya'll are insatiably curious about him, not that I
blame you.

A shorter chapter than I perhaps had planned, but your girl is stuck on nightshifts
again for the next 4 days, so it was either a brief biker-Jimin interlude or leave you all
hanging for another week, and I couldn't do that to you. Also I really, really wanted to
put Jimin in leather. :P

Thanks for reading, fam!

 What Goes Up (Must Come Down)
Chapter Summary

While Jungkook struggles to hide his growing feelings for Jimin, storm clouds are
brewing on the horizon.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Jungkook’s cheeks are aching from smiling so much by the time they reach the border of the old
forest.

He’s never been on a motorbike before, and man has he been missing out. Even though Jimin
hadn’t done any of the cool (albeit potentially illegal) manoeuvring that Jungkook’s seen other
bikers do before – like weaving in and out of traffic at breakneck speeds – the whole experience
had still been such a thrill. Having a valid excuse to backhug Jimin for a solid twenty minutes had
been pretty great too.

Jimin slows the motorbike to a halt, dropping his gloved hand from the throttle to squeeze one of
Jungkook’s arms where it’s wrapped snugly around the dancer’s waist.

“How’s it going back there, bun?”

“Awesome,” Jungkook enthuses, unable to contain his enthusiasm. “So, so awesome, oh my god.
You’re the coolest, hyung.”

Jimin laughs, the sound muffled a little behind his tinted visor.

“I’m glad you approve,” the vampire returns, his smile audible. “Although I have a feeling that title
belongs to Jin-hyung – I ride motorbikes, he rides griffins.”

Jungkook flails internally, because hold the phone. “He does what?”

“I mean, we all do sometimes,” Jimin muses casually, as if they’re merely talking about taking the
bus. “But griffins are like cats in more than just appearance, so they have to be in the mood – nine
times out of ten they’ll just dump you on your ass. On a good day Odengie lets me ride him
through the forest, though. They all love Namjoon-hyung, but apparently he had a few too many
riding accidents so they won’t carry him around anymore. Still, Jin-hyung’s their favourite, for
sure – he’s the only one who gets to fly with them. I guess the griffins are probably just worried
about the rest of us dying if we fall off mid-flight.”

Jungkook has so many questions.

Griffins are considered to be practically extinct due to how rarely they’ve been sighted in recent
decades, although it’s been speculated that the creatures have simply found a way to hide their
existence from mankind by retreating deep into the mountains and ancient druid forests where their
species had first originated. But the Kim nest is only on the outskirts of the city; the forest is easily
within visual range of the suburban population, so how come nobody’s ever seen a bunch of
griffins flying around above the treetops? He knows they’re probably good at hiding themselves if
they don’t want to be seen, but he’s never heard of a griffin who could actually turn invisible.

Jungkook’s guessing some sort of magic is at work here, maybe something similar to the wards
that Jin has in place along the borders of his nest; a spell that can cloak the griffins and protect
them from being seen by anyone outside of the coven. That certainly seems like something Jin
would be capable of doing; the vampire continues to go above and beyond all of Jungkook’s
preconceived expectations, and by this point he’s almost given up trying to set the bar any higher.
Seokjin is just a walking impossibility.

Case in point, why wouldn’t the griffins be worried about Jin dying if he fell out of the sky? Sure,
vampires are physically more resilient than most species, quick to heal and basically immune to the
vast majority of commonplace ailments, but they aren’t indestructible. A fall from such a height
would definitely be fatal…

Unless, of course, defying gravity is just another ‘one of those things’ that Kim Seokjin seems to be
able to do. Magic in the modern world tends to manifest itself as elemental powers, like Namjoon’s
ability to manipulate living matter (humanoids and plants alike) to heal and nurture, or Yoongi’s
gift of foresight, or Hoseok’s empathic abilities – but Jin’s powers are so much more than that. His
is the kind of magic that you only really encounter in movies and storybooks. A few centuries ago,
people probably would’ve called him a warlock. Hell, maybe they did – Jungkook still has no idea
how old the vampire really is.

“So, the gate’s gonna feel a little different this time,” Jimin warns him, drawing Jungkook out of
his thoughts again. “Now that you’re carrying hyung’s seal, the wards shouldn’t affect your
thoughts the way they did yesterday, but without the car shielding us our bodies are gonna pass
directly through the barrier. It’ll be pretty weird for a moment, but it’s perfectly safe, trust me. Just
hold on tight, okay? I won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise.”

Smiling, warmth blooming in his chest, Jungkook nods and presses even closer to Jimin’s back,
tightening his hold around the dancer’s slender waist.

“I know,” he murmurs. “I trust you.”

Jimin squeezes his forearm one last time, then returns his hand to the throttle and revs the
motorbike back into gear, heading up the road and smoothly rounding the corner into the short
lane that leads directly up to the forest’s edge.

Even through the tinted visor of his helmet, Jungkook can already tell that something is different
today. The treeline at the end of the road appears semi-translucent, like a fading watercolour
painting, and almost seems to ripple in anticipation as they approach. The giant oak tree in the
centre is transparent enough that Jungkook is able to faintly make out the hidden path that lies
beyond the illusion. As the motorbike draws nearer, the tree’s outline suddenly splinters into a
thousand colourful fractals, the warded gate revealing its true form at the very last second.
Jungkook only has a moment to stare in slack-jawed wonder at the shimmering veil that hangs
suspended mid-air across opening between the treeline before they’re passing straight through it,
goosebumps breaking out all over is body as the breath is knocked from his lungs.

Fuck, that’s cold.

As promised, the immediate compulsion to turn around and leave never comes, and although the
physical repercussions are momentarily unsettling (like tiny ants crawling all over his skin), the
sensation fades within a matter of seconds and he’s able to breathe easy again, sagging against
Jimin as his tensed muscles begin to relax.

And then he feels it – a thrumming warmth spreading out from the centre of his chest, right where
the pendant rests against his skin beneath the fabric of his shirt. It hums through him pleasantly,
fanning out all the way to his fingers and toes, and a surprised smile curls at his lips.

“Hyung,” he breathes, unable to hide the wonder in his voice. “I…I feel…”

“Good, right?” Jimin laughs softly, slowing their speed now that they’ve passed through the gate.
“It’s because you’re home, bun.”

Home. The warm-happy bubble in Jungkook’s chest swells bigger and brighter at the word, and his
smile curls wider, helmeted head resting between Jimin’s shoulders as he closes his eyes for a
moment to savour that growing feeling of contentedness.

“I know it’s a lot,” Jimin acknowledges gently. “Especially with your bond being so new. You’re
always gonna feel something when you come home to the nest, but it’ll get less intense after a
while.”

Oh, that’s a shame. Jungkook honestly wouldn’t mind feeling this way forever.

The road beneath them suddenly seems to dip, and Jungkook’s arms tighten around Jimin’s waist
again as he’s tilted forward a bit, eyes snapping open to peer at his surroundings. He’s surprised to
see them heading down an asphalt ramp into a subterranean tunnel, the forest floor rising up on
either side of them as they descend.

Jungkook’s mouth falls open again in awe as the short tunnel opens up into a huge underground
garage.

“Yoongi-hyung told me it would start raining by four,” Jimin explains, “so I wanna get her parked
someplace dry.”

He pulls into a wide space between two vehicles that Jungkook quickly recognises as Yoongi’s
modest Corsa and Seokjin’s magical-mystery-car-of-unknown-origin (Binnie came up with the
nickname, but Jungkook’s found himself mentally referring to it as that because it really fits), and
there are at least another half-dozen flashy cars parked elsewhere in the garage that Jungkook’s
never even seen before.

Oh. He somehow keeps forgetting that the Kim coven are basically billionaires.

And now he’s a part of the nest. Holy fuck, his life is unreal.

The motorbike’s rumbling purr cuts off as Jimin kills the engine, his foot braced against the
ground as he holds the weight of the bike on a tilt with apparently minimal effort.

“You alright to hop down, bun?”

Flushing beneath his helmet at his new nickname (well, new for Jimin, that is – the Im-pack call
him ‘bun’ all the time, but coming from the vampire it feels totally different), Jungkook tries to get
down from the bike as gracefully as he possibly can, finding his legs frustratingly uncooperative as
he attempts to walk away in a straight line.
Jimin laughs softly at his undignified waddling, knocking out the kickstand with his heel to keep
the bike propped up as he pulls off his helmet and swings his leg smoothly over the chassis in a
fluid dismount

“Easy there, jelly-legs,” the dancer teases fondly, jogging over to wrap a supportive arm around
Jungkook’s waist, using his index finger to flip up the youth’s visor. “First time on a bike, huh?”

Jungkook smiles wincingly. “Is it that obvious?”

The vampire’s answering grin is fond and full of warmth. “Nah, you did great. Tae screamed for a
solid ten minutes the first time I took him for a ride, he even gave himself a nosebleed. Although I
guess that last part wasn’t entirely his fault.” Jimin helps Kookie out of the helmet, gloved fingers
smoothing down his rumpled hair. “But do me a favour and don’t tell him I said anything, ‘kay?”

Returning the elder’s grin, Jungkook obligingly mimes sealing his lips shut.

“Awesome.” Jimin moves away to hook the spare helmet off bike’s handlebar, tugging off his
gloves and tucking them inside, before beckoning the younger man towards him. “C’mon, I’ll
show you a shortcut back up to the house.”

“Shortcut?” Jungkook echoes curiously, his eyes on Jimin as he steps around the bike. But with his
attention focused elsewhere, he completely misjudges the position of the bike’s kickstand, his foot
catching on the metal bar and sending him stumbling forwards.

He is, alas, no stranger to falling flat on his face – in the split second he feels himself beginning to
overbalance, his mind has already come to the conclusion that he’ll be hitting the floor imminently,
a part of him almost resigned to the fact, even as his reflexes belatedly kick in to bring his hands up
in an attempt to cushion his landing.

But just as he starts his downwards descent, a pair of arms catch him mid-fall.

“Aigoo, be careful,” Jimin cautions, holding him steady as Jungkook regains his footing. “It’s dark
down here, bun, you gotta watch your step.”

They’re pressed close together, and Jungkook’s gaze automatically goes to Jimin’s lips as they
form the words, before flickering up to meet his gaze instead, cheeks burning in embarrassment.
But Jimin doesn’t seem to notice his momentary distraction, regarding him with fond amusement
and gentle concern, the vampire lifting a hand to carefully brush Jungkook’s fringe back from his
forehead.

“Did you hurt yourself at all?”

Jungkook shakes his head wordlessly, heart still beating a little too fast beneath his breastbone,
blood pulsing in his ears. A vampire’s hearing isn’t as enhanced as a hybrid’s, but a vampire-shifter
like Jimin can probably hear every irregular flutter of Jungkook’s traitorous organ, and fuck, it’s
embarrassing. He’s genuinely trying his best not to be completely obvious about the giant, pathetic
crush he has on all of Tae’s nestmates, but Jimin with all his casual charm is making it really
fucking difficult, damn him.

The vampire watches Jungkook a moment longer, his expression softening as his concern fades,
before he carefully slips his hand into Kookie’s and gives it a tender squeeze.

“Come on,” Jimin murmurs, gently tugging Jungkook towards a door at the rear of the garage.
“We’ll take the tunnels back up to the house. Jin-hyung won’t be happy if we get caught out in the
rain.”
Jungkook almost trips over his feet again.

Tunnels?

...

“Jin-hyung built them for me when I first joined the nest,” Tae explains, leaning out alarmingly far
over the koi pond to poke at the water with the reed he’s holding, smiling when it attracts the
attention of several large fish. “I’d only been a vampire for a few days, so I was super light-
sensitive, and since I still had a lot of follow-up appointments to go to, hyung wanted to create a
safe way for me to get to the garage without stepping outside. But now he makes Jiminie and the
hyungs use it too, even though their light tolerance is pretty good. And the tunnels do come in
handy when the weather’s bad.”

“Jin-hyung used to fuss whenever one of us got caught out in the rain,” Jimin adds, curling an arm
loosely around Taehyung’s waist as he perches on the embankment of the pond, likely in an
attempt to keep the younger vampire from falling in. “Namjoonie-hyung’s told him a thousand
times that getting wet and cold won’t actually make us sick, but I don’t think he’s convinced.
TaeTae becoming a fledgling just gave him a more valid excuse to build an underground link
between the house and the garage so that none of us could get wet anymore.”

Taehyung glances across the pond towards Jungkook with a wry grin, allowing Jimin to ease him
back from the edge of the water.

“Remember how he fussed over you back when we first met, because you hadn’t changed out of
your damp clothes? That was Jin-hyung on a mild day.”

Jimin nods sagely. “You’re our maknae now, bun – it’s only gonna get worse.”

Honestly? That doesn’t sound like too much of a hardship. Jungkook kinda likes being fussed over.
He hates stressing people out, and if that means letting the Im-pack and Tae’s nestmates coddle
him a bit, he’s happy with that compromise. Besides, Seokjin’s presence is always so calming,
even when he’s fussing over Jungkook’s wellbeing; he doubts it’ll ever truly bother him.

A tickling sensation on his neck has Jungkook turning, glancing up to see that the low-hanging
branches of the nearby weeping willow have shifted to drape themselves along his back and over
his shoulder like a leafy blanket.
“Oh,” he reacts, blinking in surprise. “Hello.”

On the other side of the pond, Tae and Jimin laugh softly, the latter rolling smoothly to his feet and
coming around to drop into a crouch beside Jungkook, casually brushing the unusually friendly
leaves away.

“It can sense that you’re a part of the nest,” Jimin explains, letting his own arm settled around the
youth’s shoulders instead. “The garden likes to take care of us. Namjoon-hyung’s poured a lot of
love and energy into this place, and he’s been nurturing the plants for years, so everything’s a little
more…alive than your average house-plant.”

Jungkook glances around at the vast greenhouse with a new kind of appreciation. He already feels
like he’s entered Narnia with how vibrant the place is, the colours brighter and more brilliant than
anything he’s ever seen before. It makes him want to pull out the sketchbook from his backpack
and draw everything. And to know that the plant life is also semi- sentient…aigoo, that’s so cool.

And then there’s the mystery of the glass panels that make up the walls and ceiling of the giant
greenhouse – the moment they’d stepped through the greenhouse doors, a portion of glass roof
high above them had immediately tinted to block out the sun. Seemingly it can sense their every
movement, because the auto-tint had followed them as they made their way through the
greenhouse, shielding Jimin and Taehyung from the sun every step of the way. The rest of the
garden is still bathed in golden sunlight, but the glass panels directly above the koi pond and the
grassy embankment beside it remain fully-tinted. Jungkook almost wants to sprint through the
greenhouse as quickly as he can just to see if the panelling can keep up. Whatever it is – either
another product of Seokjin’s seemingly limitless magic, or perhaps some sort of highly advanced
sensor technology – Jungkook finds it fascinating.

“Hey, are you hungry?” Jimin asks him, fingers stroking idly at the fine hairs on the back of
Jungkook’s neck. “The apples in here are always ripe. You want one?”

Jungkook nods keenly, his hunger pangs suddenly making themselves known.

Honestly, with his enhanced bunny-hybrid metabolism, he’s rarely not hungry. That had been one
of the main bonuses of working in Euphoria almost every day – open access to tasty snacks free of
charge. The plate of ‘kitchen rejects’ in the staffroom is always kept regularly topped up by the
duty manager, and on those financially-tight days towards the end of the month when Jungkook
didn’t have the means to buy a proper dinner on the way home, those misshapen cookies and
squished cupcakes were a godsend.

Jimin sniffs a grin at Jungkook’s audibly rumbling stomach, gently ruffling the youth’s hair as he
rises from the grass.

“Can’t have you wasting away on my watch, Jin-hyung would kill me,” he teases, tapping
Jungkook’s nose playfully before turning to head back towards the main path. “Tae, baby, you
want one?”

“Nah, I’m good,” the younger calls back, brushing a few blades of grass from his jeans as he
stands. “Maybe grab a few berries while you’re there? Kookie’s got a sweet tooth.”

Jimin replies with a casual thumbs-up as he heads across the grass, hopping over the low stone wall
to reach the main path. Jungkook watches him go with a soft smile until the vampire rounds a
corner and disappears from sight behind a row of flowering rosebushes.

Taehyung suddenly plops himself down on the grass beside him, positively grinning from ear to
ear.

“You like him, don’t you?”

Jungkook manages not to flail (externally), but there’s no stopping the traitorous heat that
immediately floods his cheeks, and fuck, that’s as good a confession as any right there.

“Ha!” Taehyung laughs, throws his arms around Jungkook in a crushing hug and presses an
exaggeratedly loud smooch to his cheek. “I knew it wouldn’t take long! Jiminie’s just the sweetest,
right? And he already loves you so much, ohmygod, you’re gonna be so cute together.”

The vampire leans back to clutch both hands to his chest with a high noise of elation, and it’s
fucking adorable, but Jungkook can’t fully appreciate the aegyo because his brain is a little bit
stuck on a certain l-word.

“He…he really likes me? Like that?”

Taehyung’s grin softens and turns fond at Jungkook’s dumbfounded expression, reaching out to
gently frame the youth’s face between his hands as he leans in for a soft, chaste kiss.

“Of course, silly.” Tae rubs their noses together. “How could he not? You’re so sweet and kind and
thoughtful and amazing…not to mention you look fucking edible in leather.” He nips playfully at
Jungkook’s bottom lip just to make the younger man laugh, then slowly leans back again to regard
him steadily, thumb stroking along Jungkook’s cheekbone. “He wanted to give you a little more
time settle in without overwhelming you with his own advances, but it’s obvious he really cares
about you, Kookie. And I’ve seen the way you look at him.”

Jungkook reaches up, fingers curling loosely around Tae’s wrist as he leans into the touch, an
embarrassed smile tugs at his lips.

“I was trying not to make it obvious,” he sighs resignedly. “How long have you known?”

Taehyung gives a casual one-shouldered shrug. “Since the first time we came to see you at SNU;
you blushed so cutely when he called you honey. Jimin noticed that too, by the way – he doesn’t
really use petnames with anyone except me, but I think he knows how much you like them.”

Oh. So the ‘baby’ and ‘honey’ and ‘bun’ from the past few days had actually been for Jungkook’s
benefit all along?

That’s…that’s really fucking sweet.

Grinning at Jungkook’s reddening cheeks, Taehyung leans in again to kiss him.

“Aigoo, you’re adorable,” Tae murmurs. Jungkook wrinkles his nose at him playfully, smiling all
the while.

Another kiss, and then the vampire’s hands are sliding down to his shoulders, just resting there for
a moment before gently pushing him to fall back against the soft grass. Jungkook’s expecting a
repeat of yesterday evening – lingering touches and some quality smooching – so when
Taehyung’s fingers suddenly tickle down his sides, it startles an undignified shriek out of him.

“Hyung!”

“Aw,” the vampire coos teasingly, fingers dancing across Jungkook’s stomach as the younger man
squirms and laughs. “So cute. So small.”
After a few moments of listening to the youth’s wheezing pleas, Taehyung decides to have mercy
on him (he’s way more lenient than Jackson or Youngjae, Kookie’s usual tickle-torturers), leaning
back to grin down at Jungkook as he catches his breath.

“Hey, no bullying the baby,” Jimin chides fondly, heading back across the grass towards them,
dutifully shielded by the tinted glass roof. “Here, bun, I brought a few things for you to try.”

Jimin has several apples tucked into the crook of his arm, and a variety of smaller fruits are piled
up high on a large palm-like leaf that he’s holding in both hands like a tray. Taehyung reaches up to
take the apples from him so that they won’t fall as Jimin sinks down to sit beside them, balancing
the leaf-tray on his thigh and selecting a particularly juicy-looking strawberry.

“You’re gonna love these,” he promises, offering it to Jungkook. “They’re my favourite. Joon-
hyung had to cultivate another flowerbed just for berries because I ate so many, the original plants
couldn’t keep up. Now there’s always fresh strawberries. And when I don’t eat them, Jin-hyung
makes the best preserves. He does a strawberry cream tea set for Yoongi-hyung sometimes, it’s so
good.”

Jungkook accepts the proffered fruit with a smile, heart fluttering nervously in his chest as he
hesitates for a few seconds before leaning in to peck a soft, chaste kiss against Jimin’s cheek.

“Thank you,” he murmurs, and bites into the strawberry to hide his embarrassment, trying to ignore
the way that Taehyung’s openly beaming at the two of them in unreserved delight.

Jimin blinks at him for a moment, clearly surprised, before a smile curls slowly at the corner of his
mouth, a hand coming up to gently ruffle Jungkook’s hair.

“You’re welcome, baby. Is it good?”

Jungkook nods, finishing the berry in two bites. It’s sweet and juicy and delicious, and he can
definitely see why they’re Jimin’s favourite.

The rest of the fruit is just as tasty, bright orange persimmons, sweet raspberries, plump purple
plums, and wonderfully tart blackberries. These are the sort of fruits Jungkook rarely gets to eat
(because quality fresh produce is expensive, and instant ramen fills you up a whole lot more than
an overpriced fruit salad), so it’s already an indulgence, but the fact that they’re home-grown and
perfectly ripe just adds to the experience.

Jimin takes one of the apples, neatly breaking it in two, casually offering one of the perfect halves
to Jungkook as though he hasn’t just torn an apple right down the middle with his bare hands.

That shouldn’t be hot. It is.

“We should take some blackberries up to Yoongi-hyung,” Tae suggests cheerfully, leaning over to
take a bite out of Jimin’s apple half.

Jimin tugs the fledgling closer, arm curling around Tae's waist as he passes him the rest of the
apple. “I thought hyung was working today?”

“He’s perfecting a new herbal blend for the tea shop,” the younger vampire acknowledges around
his mouthful. “But I’m sure he won’t mind the intrusion, especially if we come bearing gifts. And
Kookie.”

“Point,” Jimin agrees, pressing a quick kiss to Tae’s cheek before leaning over to do the same to
Jungkook. He sets down the leaf-tray of fruits before climbing to his feet. “I’ll go pick some more
blackberries.”

Jungkook’s cheek tingles pleasantly, and this time he doesn’t even try to hide his pleased smile,
even as he feels his face heat up again. As he watches Jimin saunter off towards the path, he shrugs
out of his leather jacket, fanning himself with his hands and pointedly ignoring Taehyung’s
knowing smirk.

“It’s just warm in here, that’s all,” he insists, and Tae snorts, scooting closer to feed him another
berry.

“Sure, cutiepie. Whatever you say.” The vampire pulls a cell phone from the front pocket of his
hoodie. “Hey, you wanna see Jiminie’s UBA graduation performance? He still had dark hair back
then.”

Eagerly nodding (because he’s seen a bunch of Jimin’s hiphop choreography videos on YouTube,
but ballet is a whole different world of awesome), Jungkook squishes himself as close to Taehyung
as physically possible so that he can get a good look at the screen.

He isn’t sure how much time passes, but they’re on their third ballet performance before Jungkook
hears the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching. Glancing up from the screen, he sees Jimin
emerge from behind the rosebushes, jogging up the path towards them, cell phone pressed to his
ear and no blackberries in sight.

“…bring the guys and meet you in the garage,” the vampire’s saying, his tone uncharacteristically
serious. “Do we know what hospital they’re taking him to? Right. Okay, we’ll be with you in like
two minutes.”

Beside him, Taehyung has shifted up onto his knees, brow creased in worry, clearly as alarmed as
Jungkook by the snippet of the conversation they had just overheard.

Jimin closes the distance between them swiftly, slipping his phone back into his pocket and sinking
to his knees in front of the pair of them, reaching for Jungkook’s leather jacket.

“We need to go, hon,” the elder murmurs, helping him into the garment, his level of composure
now slightly unnerving. “Tae, baby, grab your shoes.”

The younger vampire obeys wordless, slipping his loafers back on, the crease in his brow only
deepening. A cold sort of dread trickles down to pool in Jungkook’s stomach.

“Hyung?” he presses tentatively. “What is it? What’s happened?”

Jimin closes his eyes for a moment as though grounding himself, before opening them again to fix
Jungkook with a calm but grave look. He reaches up to frame Jungkook’s face between his hands.

“Yoongi-hyung just called me,” he explains softly. “It’s about Eunwoo, sweetheart. He...there’s
been an accident.”
Chapter End Notes

Soooo...you remember I mentioned a wee while ago that there would be a teeny-tiny
bit of angst midway through this story? My apologies for the cliffhanger, you know I
love you really.

Hey, at least I let you see established JiKook before I burst Kookie's happily-ever-after
bubble. And I promise it's only a temporary burst. :) Jungkook's hyungs are about to
show him how good they are at handling difficult situations.

Also you wanted the Kim coven to meet Yugyeom's pack, so ya girl is about to deliver.
Albeit with some good old whump thrown into the mix.
 Breathe In, Breathe Out
Chapter Summary

One of Jungkook's worst fears comes to pass, resulting in two sets of hyungs being
brought together under difficult circumstances.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Tucked snugly between Jimin and Taehyung in the backseat of Yoongi’s silver Corsa, Jungkook
grips his phone tightly to keep his hands from trembling. There’s a tense sort of silence in the car,
and it just makes the journey feel even longer, painfully so – if it weren’t for the drumming of the
rain on the hood, and the rhythmic swish-swish of the windscreen wipers, Jungkook would be
inclined to believe that time wasn’t passing at all.

He feels so fucking powerless, and he hates it.

“Hey,” Jimin murmurs, his arm tightening around the youth’s shoulders in a comforting sideways
hug. “It’ll be okay, hon. You heard Yoongi-hyung, he doesn’t think Eunwoo’s badly hurt.”

Jungkook appreciates the dancer’s attempts to soothe him, but neither his words nor his touch
really help to alleviate the cold dread curdling in his stomach. He trusts Yoongi’s foresight, truly
he does, but he also knows the Seer’s future-vision is primarily focused on the coven, or people
and events in his immediate vicinity whenever he leaves the nest. So yes, Yoongi’s gut feeling
about Eunwoo being okay is probably true, but…what if other people had been involved in the
accident too? People Yoongi hasn’t met in person yet, whose futures he simply can’t see?

Hitting speed-dial again, Jungkook lifts the phone to his ear, lips pressed into a thin line as he
listens to it ringing. Pick up, pick up, pick up…

“Hi, this is Binnie,” the automated message greets him. “Sorry, I’m not able to answer the phone
right now, but leave me a message and I’ll get back to you-”

The plastic casing creaks beneath his grip as Jungkook ends the call abruptly. His chest feels tight,
his breathing growing shallow and painful, and Jimin’s hand moves from his shoulder to rub gently
up and down his back.

“Kookie,” the dancer murmurs, but the youth shakes his head, throat too tight to speak, his gaze
starting to blur as he selects speed-dial option two and hits call.

Pick up. God, please just pick up.

“Hey, Yugyeom here! Sorry, looks like you just missed me. Feel free to leave me a message, or if
it’s urgent you can contact my Alpha on 0-1-1-”
Jungkook wants to cry.

“It’s the full moon tonight,” Tae reminds him softly, cool hands gently closing around one of his
clenched fists. “Your friends were gonna go running with their packs, right? Bin and Yugyeom
probably just switched their phones off before the Campus Run.”

That’s a definite possibility.

It’s always a mandatory rule that cell phones are either turned off or switched to silent mode during
the monthly SNU moon-run, as a courtesy to any students (typically werewolves and dog hybrids)
whose acute hearing enhances exponentially during the lunar ascension, to the point where
someone’s annoying ringtone could actually become physically painful. And a lot of folk choose to
leave all of their belongings behind before entering the forest – it’s something of a tradition, among
wolves in particular, that by shedding the tokens of modern society they’ll be able to form a closer
connection with their primal roots during the run; SNU even provide lockers free of charge to
packs who wish to store their personal effects more securely.

Then again…Yugyeom almost always sends him photos during the moon-run. He’d started doing
it when Jungkook began working all those extra nightshifts and hadn’t been able to join the Im-
pack on the full moon anymore. Yugyeom would send him a ton of selfies pulling dumb faces at
the camera, or an action-shot of him smearing mud on one of his hyung’s cheeks or doing bunny-
ears behind unsuspecting friends – anything to make Kookie laugh and alleviate the monotony of
his long shift at the convenience store.

Even if the rest of the Im-pack might choose to have their phones switched off, he knows Yugyeom
won’t. So damn it, why isn’t he answering?

And as for Moonbin…Binnie’s never missed a call from him before. Like, ever.

“I should call Jinwoo-hyung,” Jungkook intones, swallowing past the aching lump in his throat and
stubbornly blinking back tears. “Someone needs to tell him about Eunwoo.”

And maybe JinJin knows where Bin is. Oh god please, he’s gotta know.

“I’m sure Seokjin-hyung’s already on it, sweetheart,” Yoongi offers from the front seat, his voice
full of quiet reassurance. “He left for the hospital the moment I called – hell, knowing hyung, he
probably got there ahead of the ambulance. And Namjoonie’s driving straight over from his clinic
to help out. They’ll take care of everything, baby, I promise. Trust hyung.”

Jungkook nods wordlessly, cradling his phone against the front of his leather jacket. Even after
wearing the jacket for most of the afternoon, it still carries a faint undertone of Jaebum’s cinnamon
scent, and he takes comfort in its presence as best he can. It’s the scent all members of the Im-pack
carry, himself included if he’s spent more than a couple of hours in Jaebum’s company, and if he
closes his eyes he can almost pretend that Yugyeom’s right here in the car with him, safe and
sound, and that makes it a little easier to breathe. Maybe Taehyung’s right, maybe Moonbin and
Yugyeom both decided to switch off their phones today. In a few hours’ time, he and Binnie will
be snuggled up on the couch back in their apartment, the cat hybrid nestling closer with a sleepy
hum to offer him a sip of his chocolate milk.

Everything’s gonna be fine, everything’s gonna be fine…

Don’t cry. Stop it.

Jimin gently palms the side of Jungkook’s head and guides it down to rest against his shoulder, the
dancer’s fingers stroking through his hair comfortingly. And it works, at least a little, enough that
he can close his eyes against the stinging threat of tears and concentrate on the vampire’s tender
ministrations instead of the feeling of sickly fear that’s threatening to overwhelm him.

Because despite their reassurances, despite Tae’s calm reasoning and Yoongi’s gift of foresight,
deep down – almost on an instinctive level – Jungkook knows that something is very, very wrong.

They don’t even stop to ask for directions once they reach the hospital – Yoongi seems to know
exactly where he’s going.

The Seer leads Jungkook by the hand, guiding him quickly through the emergency department,
past private rooms and curtained cubicles, moving with a level of confidence and assertiveness that
allows them to walk by uniformed medical staff and security guards without once being
questioned. Honestly, it’s impressive. Jungkook wonders if the vampire’s been here before or if
he’s just relying on his Sight – the only times Yoongi seems to pause is in anticipation of a trolley
or a wheelchair intercepting their path, halting abruptly and pulling Jungkook safely out of the way
on more than one occasion.

There’s a slight pinch in the vampire’s brow that looks almost pained, his gaze occasionally
drifting to follow a specific patient as they’re whisked away down the corridor by medical porters,
and Jungkook wonders just how much information the Seer is being bombarded with in a busy
environment like this. Hospitals are havens of healing, but they’re also places of death and
heartbreak and life-altering diagnoses; if Yoongi has the ability to see even a tenth of all that whilst
it’s happening...aigoo, it must be unbearable.

The crease in Yoongi’s forehead eases once they leave the emergency department. The vampire
takes the back exit out of the triage centre and leads Jungkook along a short hallway at the rear of
the building, lined with tinted circular windows that overlook one of the hospital’s many sensory
gardens. They head through another set of double doors, followed by a third, and then Yoongi’s
taking a sharp left and leading him up two flights of stairs (which Jungkook swears are labelled as
‘Fire Exit Only’, but he isn’t about to question it).

Jimin and Taehyung have been following close behind them, but the Seer is moving so quickly that
the younger pair are barely at the foot of the stairs by the time Yoongi exits the stairwell onto an
upper floor and sets off at a fast walk again.

“Shouldn’t we wait for the others?” Jungkook asks, glancing back over his shoulder even as his
feet keep moving to match Yoongi’s pace.

“Jimin-ah’s got a good nose, he can trace our steps,” the vampire reassures, giving his hand a
gentle squeeze. “And Tae’s gonna need a minute before he’s ready to join us; he’s not overly fond
of hospitals.”

Jungkook’s footsteps falter at that, a sliver of concern for his bondmate momentarily pushing its
way past the knot of fear already gnawing at his insides.

“Is he okay?”

Yoongi nods with a calm sort of certainty. “He will be. The two of you have a lot to talk about,
doll. He likes the crunchy M&Ms.”

It’s such an odd and cryptic statement that Jungkook can’t quite think of a suitable reply, but
Yoongi doesn’t seem to notice his confusion, grip shifting to carefully interlock their fingers as he
leads him further along the maze of corridors.

“We’re almost there, bun,” the vampire promises. “Stay close.”

They reach an adjoining corridor that appears to be staff-only, if the red lettering along the walls
and beige vinyl flooring is any indication; Yoongi doesn’t falter, his grip tightening on Jungkook’s
hand as he hurries them down the hallway, past a sign that reads ‘Trauma Theatre 2’. Jungkook’s
stomach gives a sickening twist at the sight of it, but thankfully Yoongi’s quick pace doesn’t give
him enough time to work himself up over the multitude of terrifying what-ifs that threaten to cripple
his mind.

At the next bend in the corridor, they come across a set of double-doors with a sign that reads
‘Family Waiting Room – Please Knock Before Entering’, but Yoongi doesn’t show even a
moment’s hesitation before he’s pulling one of the doors open, dropping his grip on Jungkook’s
hand so that he can move his own to the small of the youth’s back, gently guiding him in front.

Up until now, Jungkook had still been able to hear Jimin and Taehyung’s distant footsteps
following along a short way behind them, but all external sounds are suddenly muted by the high-
pitched ringing in his ears as his gaze zeroes in on a dark-haired figure sitting on the couch to his
immediate left.

“Oh, thank god,” he reacts, relief washing over him like a tidal wave as he surges forward,
perching on the edge of the couch and reaching out to grip his friend’s shoulder. “Eunwoo…”

The model’s sitting right there, alive and wonderfully whole, tucked beneath one of Seokjin’s arms
as the elder vampire rests his cheek against the youth’s dark hair. Eunwoo appears mostly
uninjured, aside from a slight graze Jungkook can see near his hairline, but the vampire’s head is
bowed, face hidden in his hands, shoulders shaking ever so slightly. It takes a moment for
Jungkook to realise that Eunwoo is crying…

Oh god.

He’s never seen the vampire cry before, and it alarms him ten times more than anything else has so
far this afternoon, that sickly feeling of dread beginning to curdle in his stomach again.

“It’s alright, darling,” Jin murmurs, perhaps intended for Eunwoo given his hushed tone, but his
attention shifts to study Jungkook’s face with open sympathy. Keeping one arm around the crying
vampire, he reaches out to gently brush his fingers against Jungkook’s cheek. “Everything’s going
to be alright.”
His chest hurts.

It’s not alright, it’s not, they both know that. Why would Eunwoo be crying if-

“Kookie?”

Startling at the voice, Jungkook’s gaze flickers over to the far corner of the room, where a blanket-
swathed figure is rising up from his seat beside Hoseok and climbing shakily to his feet.
Recognition hits him immediately, and Jungkook’s heart shoots up into his throat.

“Gyeomie,” he breathes, relief rippling through him again for the second time in as many minutes.
Before his brain even registers the movement, he’s crossing the waiting room at a flat-out sprint,
throwing his arms around the werewolf in a tight hug. “Oh my god, are you okay? What happened?
Where’s Moonbin?”

Yugyeom makes a choked sound against Jungkook’s shoulder, clinging to his jacket with one hand,
and just like that the whole world comes to a screeching halt around him.

No.

The sickly feeling in his stomach fans out, cold and heavy as it seeps into the surrounding organs
and crawls up into his chest to wrap its icy tendrils around his lungs, pushing up bile to form an
aching lump in his throat.

“Yugyeom,” he manages, his voice quaking. “Where is he? Where’s Binnie?”

His best friend shudders, swaying a little in his hold, and suddenly a strong pair of arms are
steadying the both of them, lips pressing a gentle kiss to Jungkook’s temple.

“Let’s sit down, okay?” Hoseok encourages softly, carefully guiding them both into chairs beside
each other. “Easy, there you go.” The empath’s hand settles in his hair, fingers carding through the
locks soothingly. “Binnie’s okay. He got hurt in the accident, but he’s gonna be fine, sweetheart.
Joonie’s with him now, he’ll be back on his feet in no time.”

Accident. Hurt. Binnie.

Oh god.

One of Yugyeom’s hands snakes out from beneath the blanket again to cling onto his leather
jacket, and Jungkook crowds in closer to the beta immediately, reaching up to wipe away the
wolf’s tears.

“Gyeomie, what happened?” Jungkook presses softly as he cradles the other man’s face between
his hands, trying not to let the panic take over. The thought of Binnie being hurt is killing him
inside, but he has to know.

The werewolf leans into the contact like he’s touch-starved (recovering from a very recent trauma
and separated from his pack on a full moon, he probably feels that way), sucking in a hitching
breath.

“There…there was a car,” Yugyeom explains haltingly, his voice thick with tears. “We weren’t
even crossing the road, it just came out of nowhere and swerved right in front of us. Binnie saw it
coming first. He…he shoved us both out of the way, but the car was moving so fast, he didn’t have
time to-”
No. No.

Yugyeom ducks his head with another choked noise of anguish. “It struck him head-on, Kook…he
went right over the top and then he wasn’t moving and there was so much blood-”

Oh god. Not Binnie, not his Binnie.

Fuck, he’s going to be sick.

“Baby.” Warm hands cradle his face, turning his head gently, and through his blurred vision he
finds Hoseok kneeling down on the floor in front of his chair, regarding him with quiet intensity.
"Binnie bumped his head pretty hard when he hit the pavement. Head injuries can look pretty
horrific even if the damage is only superficial, and Joonie said his scans are looking good so far.”

The tightness in Jungkook’s chest eases, but only a little. He’s given up trying to blink back his
tears, sucking in a tremulous breath as Hoseok tenderly thumbs them away.

“Can I see him?” he asks, voice raspy and uneven.

Hoseok shakes his head sympathetically. “Not just yet, bunny. He broke his leg in the accident, so
right now he’s in theatre getting patched up.” Panic wells up inside him again, and it must show in
his expression because Hoseok leans in immediately to press their forehead’s together, and some of
that icy fear is snuffed out by a wave of warmth and love that he immediately knows is coming
from the empath. “Shhh. Binnie’s stable, sweetheart. He’s going to be okay. Joonie won’t let
anything happen to him.”

“I’ve spoken to Park Jinwoo,” Seokjin adds softly, appearing beside them in the blink of an eyes,
smoothing a settling hand over Jungkook’s hair as the youth tries to control his tears. “He and his
pack are stuck in traffic, but they’re on their way.” His gaze shifts to Yugyeom, eyes full of gentle
warmth. “I’m sure your Alpha will be here soon, little one.”

Yugyeom manages a shaky, tearful smile of gratitude, and Jin leans over to drop a kiss against the
crown of the wolf’s head, hand settling over his nape comfortingly. Jungkook feels a little of the
tension ease from his best friend’s posture at the contact, and squeezes Yugyeom’s hand in
solidarity, before his gaze flickers across the waiting room in search of Eunwoo.

Yoongi has claimed Jin’s previous seat, but he’s pulled the model into his lap for a cuddle. Jimin
and Taehyung have arrived and are seated either side of the pair, all three hyungs whispering
quietly to the distraught younger vampire in a clear effort to soothe him. From the way Eunwoo’s
shoulders continue to shake, it doesn’t seem to be working. Jungkook’s heart aches to go and
comfort his friend, but honestly, he doesn’t know what to do to make this better. He can only
imagine how horrifying it must be to see your bondmate involved in such a serious accident; to be
forced to stand by and wait helplessly as the medics work on him…and honestly, Jungkook’s so
close to bursting into tears again himself, he doubts he’ll be of any comfort to Eunwoo in his
present state.

“Hot chocolate,” Jimin announces to the room decisively. “That’s what everyone needs right now.”
He presses another soft kiss to Eunwoo’s temple and peels himself away from the model’s side.
“And snacks. Lots of snacks.”

Jin sends the dancer a warm smile. “Thank you. Here, angel, take my card.”

As Jimin slips the proffered black card into his back pocket and turns to leave, Yoongi’s arm
suddenly snaps out, reaching around Eunwoo to snag Jimin by the wrist and tug him away from the
exit. The dancer steadies himself against Yoongi’s shoulder with a startled grunt, looking
confused.

“Careful,” the Seer warns quietly, head tilted to one side. “We have incoming.”

At that very moment, Jungkook’s acute hearing picks up on the distant thunder of rapidly
approaching footsteps along the theatre corridor. Beside him, Yugyeom straightens up in his chair,
red-rimmed eyes widening a little as his hand tightens in Jungkook’s.

“Alpha,” he whispers.

And then the waiting room doors fly open with a resounding bang as the newcomer all but ploughs
straight through them, stumbling to a halt just over the threshold, breathing heavily as his faintly
crimson-tinted gaze scans the room’s occupants and quickly zeroes in on Jungkook and Yugyeom.

The moment of stillness shatters a heartbeat later as Jaebum closes the distance between them in
long, rapid strides, both Hoseok and Seokjin smoothly stepping out of his way as he crosses the
room with an air of singular determination to throw an arm around each of his cubs, leaning down
to draw them tightly against his chest.

Jungkook buries his face in the wolf’s jacket, breathing in that familiar cinnamon spice that smells
like family, clutching onto JB in return as the Alpha holds them close.

“Thank god you’re okay,” the Alpha breathes, his shaky relief audible. “I just knew something had
happened to you, I could feel it, and when I got that phone call…aigoo. I'm never letting you walk
home by yourself again."

Eventually he releases them from his crushing embrace, sinking down into a crouch in front of
their seats, looking significantly more composed than he had been just a few minutes prior. JB has
finally caught his breath, and the pale crimson has faded from his eyes, his expression concerned
but controlled as he cups Jungkook’s cheek in one hand and Yugyeom’s in the other.

“Hyung,” Yugyeom utters, his voice wrecked. “Binnie…he-”

“I know, baby.” Jaebum leans in again to press their foreheads together, closing his eyes, a telling
tightness to his jaw that belies his calm tone. “I know.”

It’s clear the Alpha’s keeping his own worry in check for their sake. Jungkook knows he and
Moonbin don’t technically belong to the Im-pack, but JB has always treated them as part of the
family, and there’s no disputing the fact that they’re Jaebum’s cubs. To have one of his maknaes
injured and undergoing surgery, it must be absolute torture for the Alpha wolf.

“Are you both alright?” Jaebum presses softly, pulling back to sweep his gaze over Jungkook now.
“You’re not hurt?”

Jungkook doesn’t know for sure just how terrible he looks, but he imagines it isn’t a whole lot
better than Yugyeom’s puffy, red-rimmed eyes and flushed cheeks. And if the deepening crease of
concern in JB’s brow is any indication, it isn’t a good look.

The squeak of shoes against the vinyl flooring of the corridor distracts Jungkook from the Alpha’s
gaze, and he glances up in time to see a familiar broad-shouldered figure tripping over his own feet
as he bursts through the doors, stumbling forwards a few steps before being caught neatly by
Hoseok.

“Oh, hey,” Jackson reacts, breathing hard from his apparent sprint. “Thanks for the save.”
Then the beta-wolf’s gaze snaps up towards the far side of the room, taking in Yugyeom and
Jungkook at a glance, and in the next breath he’s darting across the room to crowd over them as JB
had done (the Alpha smoothly ducking to one side so that he doesn’t get trampled), throwing his
arms around them in a wonderfully tight embrace.

“Aigoo, you scared the shit out of me,” he murmurs against Yugyeom’s hair. “When hyung called
to say there’d been an accident, fuck. Thank god you’re both okay.”

He presses a kiss to each of their brows, before pulling back a few inches to glance away from
them briefly, gaze flitting over to where Jin is standing quietly a respectful distance away.

“How’s Binnie?” Jackson presses. “Is he still in surgery?”

Seokjin stares into the middle-distance for a moment before nodding, his gaze refocusing. “At
present, yes, but he’ll be out shortly. Namjoon-ah says the fracture wasn’t as complex as scans first
indicated, so it didn’t require extensive reconstruction. Joonie’s just cleaning up before he joins us
– he’s much better equipped to explain the recovery process that I am. And he can take a look at
that wrist of yours, cub.”

Jungkook, Jackson and Jaebum immediately refocus their attention on a clearly startled-to-have-
been-called-out-like-that Yugyeom, the pup quickly ducking his head, shamefaced.

“Wait, you’re hurt?” Jungkook frets, turning fully towards his friend. “Dude, why didn’t you tell
me?”

Jaebum’s already tugging the folds of the blanket aside to get at the arm that Yugyeom has
apparently been cradling to his chest all this time.

“It’s only a little sprain,” the youth tries to insist, but he leans back into Jackson’s arms happily
enough when the older beta moves to claim the seat beside his own. “I can barely feel it, honest.”

“Shock can do that to you, buddy,” Hoseok sympathises, carefully taking the seat on the other side
of Jungkook now that his protective pack-hyungs have focused their attention elsewhere
temporarily. “Don’t worry, Joonie will have you fixed up in no time.”

Jaebum’s gaze briefly flickers up from Yugyeom’s swollen wrist to assess the empath’s proximity
to his bunny-cub, clearly still a little keyed up on protective Alpha instincts (honestly, a full moon
was probably the worst possible night for something like this to happen, Alpha’s are overprotective
at the best of times but add in lunar-drawn primal instincts and yeesh). Jungkook sends the wolf a
reassuring smile, leaning into Hoseok’s side as the vampire loops an arm around his waist, relaxing
into the embrace with a feeling of relief. Cuddles are exactly what he needs right now.

The Alpha holds his gaze a moment longer before returning his attention to Yugyeom’s injury.
And although he says nothing, Jaebum’s willingness to back down and allow Hoseok to be tactile
is basically as good as a framed certificate of approval for Jungkook’s new hyungs.

Hoseok seems to recognise that too, dropping a kiss against Jungkook’s hair and pulling him closer
until he’s sitting sideways in the empath’s lap, both the vampire’s arms wrapping snugly around
him. That feeling of warmth, love, reassurance pulses through his chest again, and he smiles a little
despite the worry that’s still gnawing at his gut, because it’s just so nice.

“Introductions,” Jackson chirps with clearly forced cheer, his lap still full of Yugyeom. “We should
probably do those, right? I mean, I already know who you all are, obviously, because you’re Kims,
but werewolf tradition and all that jazz. Hyung gets his panties in a twist about pack-formality
stuff.”

“Jackson,” Jaebum sighs, but he sounds more fond than annoyed, and it manages to coax a small
but genuine smile out of Yugyeom, which was likely the elder beta’s intention all along.

The Alpha presses a gentle kiss to Yugyeom’s injured wrist, lowering it again gently before
pushing himself to his feet and turning to face the other occupants of the room. He inclines his
head politely to the trio over on the couch, before stepping closer to Seokjin and bowing ninety
degrees at the waist.

“Alpha Im Jaebum,” he greets formally. “Thank you for protecting my cubs, Primus. I'm indebted
to you.”

Jin offers the wolf his hand with a warm smile as JB straightens.

“There are no debts between friends,” the vampire reassures him, shaking hands amiably. “And I
feel it would be wise to serve as a united front when it comes to protecting one of your cubs in
particular. So please, call me Jin-hyung.”

Warmth blooms in Jungkook’s chest, and this time it doesn’t come from Hoseok. He sees the line
of tension in the Alpha’s shoulders drain away at Seokjin’s easy acceptance of JB’s role in
Jungkook’s life – that the vampire had openly acknowledged Kookie as the Alpha’s cub without
prompting was definitely a point in his favour. Jaebum’s calm formality is already melting into
something easier and friendlier, his polite smile notably more genuine as he nods in agreement.

“Well, I’ll be honest with you,” the Alpha sighs, and when he looks over at Jungkook there’s a
familiar twinkle in his eye. “He’s really quite a handful. I could use all the help I can get.”

Jungkook tries to pout at the obvious teasing, but truthfully he’s just so fucking relieved to see his
two favourite pseudo-guardians getting along so well, and all he can manage is playful nose-
wrinkle and a longsuffering eye-roll.

Seokjin chuckles fondly at his response, reaching out to fluff up Jungkook’s fringe with gentle
fingers. Hoseok gives his waist another gentle squeeze, and that happy, warm feeling is flowing
two ways now. It seems to amplify itself as a result, like how his emotions always feel so much
bigger and brighter when he’s holding hands with Taehyung. He had previously assumed that
emotional transference only happened along an established bond like the one he and Tae share, but
maybe things work a little differently because of Hobi’s empathic abilities. It hadn’t felt like this
when Hoseok had hugged him the other day, though…

The swish of the waiting room doors being pushed open shatters his brief moment of
contentedness. Namjoon steps into the room, dressed in the familiar beige uniform tunic and dark
brown pants worn by all healers at SGH. The sleeves are shorter than the tunics he wears at
Cornerstone Healing Clinic, and his bilateral tattoos are more prominent as a result, intricate
spirals that curl around his biceps and down to his elbows, the black ink dark against the pale tan
of his skin.

The vampire looks tired, more tired than Jungkook’s ever seen him, and just like that all of his
previous worries and fears come bubbling back up to the surface.

Hoseok draws him in closer almost immediately and brushes a settling kiss against the side of his
head, clearly aware of Jungkook’s inner torment, seeking to comfort him.

“Hyung!”
It’s the first time Eunwoo’s spoken since Jungkook arrived, and the raw emotion in his voice hits
Jungkook right in the solar plexus. His friend sounds absolutely wrecked.

Namjoon opens his arms towards the younger vampire, Eunwoo making a choked sound as he
practically launches out of Yoongi’s lap and throws himself against the healer’s chest

“He’s alright, kiddo,” Namjoon murmurs, one arm wrapped securely around Eunwoo’s shaking
shoulders, his free hand stroking the model’s hair. The healer glances up to take in the rest of the
room and raises his voice a little to reiterate. “Binnie’s gonna be just fine. He’s got a few days of
bedrest ahead of him, but the fracture should heal cleanly within a week or so, and his concussion
turned out to be a lot milder than we’d feared. He’s sleeping now, but he did wake up briefly a few
minutes ago, which is a good sign.”

Jungkook relaxes back against Hoseok with a tremulous exhale, the enormity of his relief so
intense that it leaves him feel a little shaky.

“He’s still got a lot of meds in his system,” Namjoon continues, “and his metabolism’s working
overtime to try and burn them all off, so he’s a little confused just now. He might not make a lot of
sense for another hour or two. He kept asking for chocolate milk.”

That surprises a startled, slightly tearful laugh from Jungkook, the sound echoed by Jaebum as the
Alpha drags a hand through his hair, looking as emotionally drained as Jungkook feels.

Eunwoo pulls away from Namjoon just enough to swipe a sleeve across his eyes.

“Can I see him?” the younger vampire asks. “Please, hyung, I need to-”

Namjoon hushes him with a gentle finger to his lips, leaning in to kiss the youth’s forehead. “They
don’t normally allow family members into PACU so soon after surgery, but I’ve pre-warned the
nurses to expect you. I’m sure Binnie will feel better if he can sense that you’re close.”

The healer kisses Eunwoo’s brow again, then guides him towards the door with a hand at the small
of his back.

“First left as you turn the corner,” Namjoon instructs. “I’ll come join you in a few minutes,
alright?”

Eunwoo nods, turns to throw his arms around Namjoon’s neck one last time in a crushing hug of
gratitude, and then slips quietly from the room, his footsteps rapidly fading as he leaves in search
of his injured bondmate.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Jungkook takes several deep breaths, the fear and panic and distress
bleeding out of him with every shaky exhale. Fuck, he’s just so relieved that Binnie’s going to be
okay. The past hour has singlehandedly been the worst of his entire life, and that includes the time
during his elementary school years when he got himself locked in a storage closet with a giant
cicada.

“Hey.” Gentle fingers touch his cheek, and he opens his eyes again to find Namjoon kneeling in
front of him, his expression gentle. “Rough day, bun?”

Jungkook’s answering smile is far too wobbly to be convincing, and he blinks hard to keep his eyes
from welling up again. Binnie’s going to be okay, so he’s not gonna cry any more. He’s fine.

“Hot chocolate time,” Jimin announces, clapping his hands together decisively as he moves
forward again. “Jaebum-ssi, Jackson-ssi, would you like some?”
 “I’ll help carry,” Taehyung offers, slipping his arm into Jimin’s. Then he hesitates, glancing back
towards Jungkook, clearly torn.

Jungkook manages a more convincing smile. “I’m okay,” he promises, wiping at his eyes. “I’m just
being dumb.”

“No you’re not,” Jaebum and Seokjin chide gently in unison, and it makes something warm flutter
in Jungkook’s stomach.

Namjoon has shifted his focus to Yugyeom, carefully cradling the pup’s injured wrist between his
large hands.

“Well, you’ve managed to avoid breaking it,” the healer reassures him. “But it’s a bad sprain, cub.
Did it take the brunt of your fall?”

Yugyeom nods, wincing. “I landed on it when Binnie pushed me out of the way. Didn’t really feel
it at the time, but it’s kinda starting to ache now.”

“Adrenaline can be both a blessing and curse,” Namjoon acknowledges, gently tracing swirling
runes against the wolf’s forearm with the pad of his index finger. “If the EMTs had known about it
sooner, someone would’ve splinted it for you. I’m gonna get you some ice and a poultice wrap,
okay? We’ll have that swelling down soon enough.”

As the healer straightens up again, Jungkook reaches out to catch his hand, meeting Namjoon’s
soft gaze as the vampire glances down at him.

“Hyung,” he presses. “Can I go and see Binnie? Please?”

Namjoon’s free hand comes up to smooth Jungkook's fringe back from his forehead in a tender
caress, his expression apologetic.

“Soon,” he promises gently. “Once Binnie's out of PACU, I’ll have him moved to a private
recovery suite upstairs. I’ll let you know as soon as he’s been transferred, okay?”

It isn’t quite the answer Jungkook had been hoping for (he wants to see Binnie now), but he knows
arguing is unlikely to get him anywhere. From what he understands, Namjoon’s already breaking
hospital policy by allowing Eunwoo to be in PACU right after surgery, so he doesn’t want to put
the healer in a difficult position by asking to join them.

So he sighs softly, but nods, resigned to wait a little longer.

“Okay.”

Chapter End Notes

Okay so before you call me a liar, IN MY DEFENCE I ONLY PROMISED YOU
THAT EUNWOO WOULD BE OKAY.
But Moonbin is in good hands, he's gonna get ALL the cuddles. And Namjoon has
two new maknaes to fuss over, so it's a win-win. Also now Jungkook can show off his
squishy BFFs to the rest of the Kim-coven. Seokjin is gonna take one look at that
sleepy pout and buy him a whole truck of chocolate milk. :P

Yoongi being weirdly cryptic, nothing new there. Definitely not a significant plot
point. *coughs*

Also yes, Jin was communicating telepathically with Namjoon in that last segment.
They've been soul-bonded for so long, it's just one of those things that happened.
Makes it almost IMPOSSIBLE for Tae and Jimin to get away with any mischief,
NamJin are a united front in just about everything. :P

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :D Thank you again SO MUCH for all the kudos and
comments, I really am continuously overwhelmed with your enthusiastic support for
this story and my writing. Bless you, and have a lovely week.
 Fallout
Chapter Summary

Binnie's out of danger, but Jungkook discovers he has more than just one loved one to
worry about.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Fuck. He can’t do this.

Jungkook’s spent the past twenty minutes trying to mentally prepare himself for the potentially
distressing sight of his injured roommate. He’s not squeamish in the slightest, probably wouldn’t
even in blink if he accidentally sliced through his own thumb, but it’s totally different when Binnie
is the one who’s hurt…it’s quite literally the stuff of nightmares.

Nevertheless, he’d been determined to keep his cool when the time came – to be the calm,
reassuring hyung that the younger boy needed him to be – and preferably not to burst into tears the
moment he saw Binnie’s broken leg.

Hoseok’s warm embrace and a cup of hot chocolate had certainly helped to settle his nerves a little,
and the Im-pack showing up en masse (loud and fraught but wonderfully tactile) had been a
welcome distraction from his inner turmoil. He and Yugyeom had found themselves hugged within
an inch of their lives by a hoard of worried hyungs, but there had been a great deal of comfort in
that oh-so-familiar fussing, and at least it had helped to pass the time while Jungkook anxiously
waited for Namjoon to return with news of Moonbin being moved out of PACU.

And as it happens, Jungkook isn’t anywhere near ready to see the fallout of Moonbin’s accident
with his own two eyes.

“I know it looks pretty bad, sweetheart,” Namjoon acknowledges quietly, wrapping a comforting
arm around Jungkook’s shoulders as the youth stands frozen in the doorway to Moonbin’s private
recovery suite, staring at his bedridden best friend numbly. “But most of the tissue damage is
superficial. He’s only got a mild concussion.”

Mild? Aigoo, it looks like Binnie’s gone ten rounds with a slab of concrete – the abrasions and
discolouration running down the right side of his face must be so painful, and his right eye is
bruised and swollen, a darkening ring already forming around the socket. There’s a neat row of
stitches running from the corner of his eyebrow and along his temple, the skin there looking raw
and puffy.

It’s just awful.

Jungkook swallows past the lump that’s lodged itself in his throat, blinking hard to force back the
tears threatening to well in his eyes, feeling Namjoon’s arm tightening around him in a sideways
hug.

He’s not gonna cry again. He’s not.

“Is he unconscious?” Yugyeom asks faintly from Jungkook’s other side, a very slight wobble in his
voice, and Kookie reaches blindly for his friend’s hand to grip it in solidarity.

Namjoon lifts his arm from Jungkook’s shoulders to squeeze the wolf’s nape, his smile kind as he
shakes his head. “He’s only sleeping, cub. He was awake and talking before I left, but the meds
we’ve got him are gonna make him a little drowsy.”

Jungkook finds comfort in the knowledge, finally tearing his gaze away from Binnie’s injured face
to take in the rest of him. Both of the werecat’s arms are grazed in several places, especially at the
elbows where they peek out from beneath the short sleeves of his pale blue hospital gown. There’s
a blanket draped over his torso and left side, but his right leg is elevated on a padded frame several
inches above the mattress, the limb heavily bandaged and secured by a splint. Jungkook wonders
why it isn’t in a standard plaster-cast if the fracture wasn’t serious, but Binnie’s toes look pink and
healthy where they poke out of the bottom of the bandages, so he isn’t going to question it.

The werecat’s alive, relatively whole and breathing on his own – that’s what Jungkook needs to
focus on. Because aigoo, it could’ve been so much worse.

Fuck, don’t cry. Don’t.

“Joon-hyung?” Eunwoo emerges from what appears to be the ensuite bathroom, drying his hands
on some paper towels. He definitely seems a lot less distressed than he had been an hour ago,
although his eyes still look a little red and puffy from crying even as he gives the elder vampire a
tired smile. “Binnie managed to finish all the water you left him, and it seems to be staying down
this time. He’s still got his heart set on Nesquik, though.”

“Kitten really likes his chocolate milk, huh?” Namjoon gives Jungkook one last sideways squeeze
before pulling away to cross over to the bedside. Leaning down, he gently smooths Moonbin’s
fringe back from his forehead. “Bin-ah? Can you open your eyes for me?”

Jungkook finds himself drawn further into the room despite the continuing urge to either upchuck
everywhere or burst into tears. He takes a few steadying breaths as he inches closer, still gripping
onto Yugyeom’s uninjured hand tightly, neither of them saying a word as they near the werecat’s
bedside. Moonbin’s expression twitches ever so slightly, his eyelids fluttering for a brief moment
before he groans, face scrunching up into a pained grimace.

In the blink of an eye, Eunwoo’s half-kneeling on the bed beside him, one of the cat’s hands
cradled between both his own, his worried gaze flickering up to look at Namjoon helplessly.

“Shhh. Easy, kiddo,” the healer murmurs – a deep, soothing rumble that seems to resonate at
Jungkook’s very core – settling a gentle palm across Moonbin’s forehead and closing his eyes for a
moment.

The healer’s lips move silently, forming words in a language Jungkook doesn’t recognise, and
within seconds the werecat’s expression is slackening again in relief as the discomfort passes.
Namjoon shifts his hand lower, his touch lightly ghosting over Moonbin’s torso and abdomen, and
the healer’s breathing stutters slightly on a deep inhale, his own brow creasing for a split second,
the briefest flicker of discomfort at whatever pain he senses there. Opening his eyes again, the
vampire quickly reaches towards the IV pumps hooked up to the drip-stand at the headboard,
tapping at a few keys on two of the syringe drivers.

“There, kitten, that should keep you comfortable,” he soothes, gently stroking down Moonbin’s
cheek before shifting to caress the back of Eunwoo’s head. “Breathe, baby.”

Eunwoo exhales in a shuddering whoosh, Moonbin’s hand still clasped between his own and held
to his cheek, eyes looking suspiciously damp again.

“Is Binnie okay?” Yugyeom hedges worriedly, gripping Jungkook’s hand so tight that he’s sort of
lost the feeling in his fingers.

“He’s gonna be just fine,” Namjoon reassures them confidently, briefly checking that the drip’s
cannula is still securely taped to the crook of Moonbin’s arm. “He bruised his ribs in the accident,
but I’m afraid that’s not something I can easily charm away. And it’s always a little tricky to find
the right dosage for werefolk during a full moon, their metabolic rate can be so variable. I’d rather
not dope him up like this, but he keeps burning through the milder analgesics so quickly. Don’t
you, Binnie?”

Moonbin’s nose wrinkles as he gives a sleepy hum, stirring beneath the blanket.

Jungkook holds his breath for a long moment, only to let it out again in shaky relief when
Moonbin’s eyelids suddenly flutter open to blink up at the healer, squinting even in the room’s dim
lighting.

“N’mjoon-hyung?” the werecat croaks.

“Hi, kitten,” Regarding him with a fond expression, Namjoon carefully smooths the cat’s fringe
back from his bruised forehead again. “How are you feeling?”

The youth is silent for a long moment as he processes the question, tongue darting out to wet his
lips as he blinks slowly, sluggishly.

“M’kinda floaty.”

Namjoon’s smile is dimpled and full of gentle warmth. “Mm. You’re on the good stuff, kiddo.
Does anything hurt at all?”

Binnie begins to shake his head, but Namjoon’s hand on his uninjured cheek quickly stills the
motion.

“Ah-ah,” the healer cautions softly. “Easy does it, or you’ll make yourself sick again. No shaking
that head around for a little while, okay?”

Moonbin proceeds to nod, and Eunwoo makes a soft noise somewhere between amusement and
concern, reaching out to hold his boyfriend’s chin to halt the movement. Moonbin’s sleepy
expression immediately dissolves into a dopey smile.

“Nunu,” the werecat coos. “You’re so pretty.”

Oh.

Oh boy.

Jungkook’s only ever seen Moonbin drunk once in the entirety of their acquaintance, mostly
because the whole ‘dire financial straights’ thing has limited their liquor consumption somewhat –
drinks are fucking expensive after all, so the only time he and Bin ever really indulged had been at
university functions and events where the booze was either dirt cheap or free. At Seungkwang’s
20th birthday party earlier in the year, the man’s father had hired an open bar for the evening with
unlimited drinks, so naturally almost the whole dance team (all those of legal drinking age,
anyway) ended up getting halfway wasted. Yugyeom had challenged Moonbin to a drinking
competition, and after a few hours neither of them could speak coherently or walk in a straight line.
Stuck being one of the few sober attendees that night due to being on an early shift at the café the
following morning, Jungkook had eventually been forced to call Jaebum for aid when it became
clear that he wouldn’t be able to carry both of his friends home, and the Alpha had arrived in his
SUV to cart all three of them back to the Den. Jungkook’s sobriety had thankfully spared him from
Jaebum’s wrath, but he knows the lecture on drinking responsibly that Bin and Yugyeom had
received the following day (once they’d both recovered from their brief but terrible hangovers) had
been truly memorable. Binnie’s certainly never gotten blind-drunk again.

Although he sure as hell sounds like it now.

And it shouldn’t be funny, because the werecat’s pumped chock full of pain meds and has a minor
brain injury from being hit by a car, but a surprised snort of laughter escapes Jungkook’s lips all
the same. He can’t help it. Binnie’s just too fucking cute.

Moonbin’s gaze immediately shifts to glace over at his new visitors, eyes widening in surprise and
delight.

“Hyuuuung,” his injured roommate greets, arm lethargically fumbling to escape the blankets so
that he can make clumsy grabby-hands in their general direction. “Look, I’m in hospital!”

Jungkook chokes on another surprised laugh despite the moist stinging in his eyes, closing the
distance between them quickly, relief making his limbs feel shaky as he gently grasps Moonbin’s
extended hand between his own, sinking down to perch on the edge of the bed.

“Yeah, Kitkat, I can see that,” he agrees, and leans in to briefly rest his forehead against Moonbin’s
shoulder, desperate to hug him properly but a little scared to jostle him around too much and risk
aggravating his bruised ribs. “Do me a big favour and don’t make a habit out of this, okay? You’re
gonna give me grey hairs.”

“You could still make it work,” Moonbin insists loyally, sounding increasingly more lucid by the
minute. Perhaps that burst of morphine is wearing off already? Bin’s definitely got a quicker
metabolism than anyone Jungkook’s ever met, so it wouldn’t surprise him. “Ooh! You should dye
your hair all silver, it’d be super cute. Right, Yug-?”

Then werecat suddenly sucks in a sharp gasp, and Jungkook pulls back quickly, worried that he’s
pressed down on something tender. But Binnie’s staring at Yugyeom instead, his eyes widened in
horror.

“Hyung, you’re hurt,” Moonbin frets, looking distraught. “What happened?”

“It’s nothing, bud,” Yugyeom soothes quickly, sliding onto the edge of the bed beside Jungkook to
show the cat his splinted wrist. “I just tripped, that’s all.”

“But you’re hurt,” the cat laments, fingers gently petting the injured limb, a familiar pout quickly
forming.

And oh, if Jungkook had been a fucking pushover when it came to Binnie’s pouts before the
accident, it’s ten times worse now that the werecat’s all roughed up and fragile-looking.

“C’mon, Kitkat, you know how quickly he heals,” Jungkook reasons, his smile reassuring. “It’ll
probably be better by the morning.”

“Right,” Yugyeom agrees cheerfully, very gently ruffling the werecat’s hair. “It doesn’t even hurt
anymore. Promise.”

“Oh. Okay.” Moonbin pats the wolf’s forearm one last time, his pout easing off. Then he falls
silent for a moment, contemplative. His brow creases a little. “Hyung? I can’t feel my leg.”

A sudden jolt of fear turns Jungkook’s stomach to ice, his mind throwing up half a dozen possible
explanations in a split second, each more terrifying than the last – internal bleeding, nerve damage,
paralysis…

“That’s my fault, kitten,” Namjoon interjects calmly, before Jungkook has time to properly freak
the fuck out. “I’ve put a temporary nerve-block directly above your fracture to keep you
comfortable for the next twenty-four hours; your bones are gonna do a lot of healing overnight, it
wouldn’t be much fun for you if you could feel it. If things are looking better, I can remove the
block tomorrow.”

“Fracture?” Moonbin blinks, faintly confused. “I broke it?”

“You had an accident,” Eunwoo reminds him gently, flashing Namjoon a brief, worried look. “We
talked about it a little while ago, remember? You got hit by a car, baby.”

“Oh,” Moonbin reacts, wincing. “Sorry. Wait, is the driver okay?”

Aigoo, Jungkook really wants to hug the stuffing out of his soft-hearted roommate. Binnie finds out
he’s the unfortunate victim of an RTA, and his first concern is still for the bastard who almost
killed him.

“He didn’t stick around long enough for us to ask,” Yugyeom answers dryly, and Jungkook can
hear the thinly veiled anger in the wolf’s voice that echoes his own sentiments.

He’s not the violent type, but after seeing Moonbin’s injuries with his own eyes, Jungkook wants to
hunt down that reckless driver and throttle him. And he imagines the urge must be even more
pronounced for a werewolf, particularly an Alpha like Jaebum. And especially given that it’s the
full moon – not only had someone seriously injured JB’s youngest cub, but they’d driven off in a
heartbeat and just left the werecat lying there by the wayside, unconscious and bleeding. The only
reason Jaebum probably hasn’t gone out himself to hunt the perpetrator down is because he’s
reluctant to stray far from his babies.

“Don’t worry about the driver,” Namjoon tells them calmly, plucking a couple of leaves from the
flowering vine-like plant that Jungkook hadn’t even noticed growing along the far wall of the
spacious recovery suite. The vampire crushes them between his palms in a circular motion as he
heads back over to the bed. “He’ll be in police custody soon enough.”

Eunwoo perks up at that, looking hopeful. “Is Jin-hyung gonna track him?”

“Mm,” Namjoon confirms, leaning down to gently dab the crushed, sweet-smelling greenery
against Moonbin’s stitches. “He contacted traffic control to pull up the CCTV footage from either
side of that junction; they managed to read the plates. The driver wasn’t at his registered address,
but Jinnie’s pretty good at finding people who don’t want to be found.” He glances over at Eunwoo
fondly. “We protect our own, kiddo, you know that.”
The younger vampire smiles in return, looking relieved.

Aigoo, Jungkook had wondered where Seokjin had disappeared off to. Once the Im-pack had
arrived, the vampire had slipped quietly from the room with Mark in tow, and neither of them had
returned by the time Namjoon came to escort him to Binnie’s recovery suite. With Mark working
as a supernatural specialist with the Seoul Police Force, Jungkook had assumed that Jin merely
wanted to pass on the details that Eunwoo had shared about the make and colour of the vehicle that
had struck them. Perhaps instead, Jin had invited Mark to join him in tracking down the driver
rather than doing it singlehandedly. After all, it made sense to have a police officer present if he
intended to make an arrest. Although it wouldn’t surprise Jungkook if the vampire secretly had the
legal authority to arrest suspects all by himself. Not a lot of things would surprise him these days
when it comes to Kim Seokjin.

“I’m gonna have to skip dance for a little while, huh?” Moonbin realises, the very picture of
disappointment as his pout threatens to return.

“It’ll only be for a few weeks, baby,” Eunwoo reassures, leaning in to kiss his boyfriend’s
uninjured cheek before glancing up towards Namjoon for validation. “Right, hyung?”

The healer nods, smiling as he discards the crushed leaves and traces a quick cleansing rune over
the back of each hand.

“I’ve already jumpstarted the healing process,” he tells the pouting cat. “You’ll only have to wear
the cast for ten days – two weeks tops. But you’ll need to stay in bed for the next forty-eight hours
to allow the binding runes work their magic, or the fracture might destabilise.”

Moonbin glances between Eunwoo and Namjoon, looking crestfallen. “I can’t go home tonight?”

Jungkook’s heart aches. The doting hyung in him wants to give Moonbin everything he wants on a
silver platter; to take him back to their apartment, get him all cosied up on the couch and feed him
nothing but expensive take-out for the next two weeks. However, the worried and still-slightly-
traumatised side of him wants to duct-tape Moonbin to this hospital bed and never let him within
ten feet of a car ever again.

Unfortunately, forced imprisonment is generally frowned upon in modern society.

“Joonie-hyung said I can stay the night,” Eunwoo placates with a gentle smile, kissing the back of
Moonbin’s hand. “The rest of the pack too, if you like. JinJin-hyung’s still stuck in traffic, but I’m
sure they’ll be here soon. There’s enough room for us all to stay.”

That certainly seems true. The recovery suite really is huge, far bigger than any standard hospital
room Jungkook’s ever seen. There are a couple of couches on the other side of the suite, a small
table and chairs near the curtained windows, and a huge HD plasma-screen TV mounted on the far
wall, the green vine growing around it to form a sort of leafy frame. Clearly this is the sort of
recovery suite that you need to pay big bucks for, and Jungkook has a sneaking suspicion who
might’ve signed the papers for the unexpected upgrade.

There’s a quiet tap on the door, and Namjoon’s cheeks dimple, fingers combing gently through
Moonbin’s hair again.

“Feeling up to a couple more visitors, kitten?” the healer asks. At the werecat’s answering smile,
Namjoon turns towards the entrance. “Come on in, angel.”

The door swings open, a cheerful Jimin holding two bulging plastic bags aloft by way of an
offering. “Did someone order room service?”

“We got sandwiches and kimbap,” Taehyung adds, following the vampire-shifter into the room and
nudging the door closed behind him with his hip, both of his hands also occupied by large plastic
bags. “And I heard on the grapevine that someone’s craving chocolate milk.”

“Me!” Binnie chimes in keenly, raising a hand in the air. Eunwoo makes a noise of concern at the
sudden movement, catching the cat’s arm and gently lowering it back down again.

“Careful, baby,” the vampire fusses. “Your ribs are still healing.”

“Hyung’s got you on the good stuff, I see,” Jimin comments, smiling down at the injured werecat
indulgently. “We weren’t sure what kinda snacks you like best, so we just bought one of
everything.”

“I love you,” Moonbin sighs happily, then pats Eunwoo’s hand as though to reassure him and
amends, “Not the same way Kookie-hyung does, obviously. He’s totally into you. He’s got you
down on his phone as-”

“Binnie!” Jungkook interrupts, feeling his cheeks flush hot in mortification as Yugyeom and
Eunwoo both make a poor attempt at muffling their amused response.

“Maybe we should shelve that conversation for a time when you aren’t high on pain meds, kitten,”
Jimin suggests with a fond laugh, having set down his bags on the little tray-table so that he can
curl an arm around Jungkook’s shoulders comfortably.

“Okay,” Moonbin agrees cheerfully, gaze trained on the food that Taehyung is unloading from his
own bags.

“Let’s take it easy on the snacks, Binnie,” Namjoon cautions, eyes crinkling at the corners when
the werecat turns a beseeching glance his way. The healer chuckles, reaching for one of the
Nesquik cartons. “We’ll see if you can keep this down first. Here, let’s sit you up a little more.”

Pressing one of the buttons on the bed’s remote control, Namjoon elevates the head of the bed by a
few more inches so that Moonbin is at a higher recline, not quite sitting upright but close enough.
The werecat fidgets a little, hands bracing against the mattress as he shifts to adjust his position
with a wince.

Suddenly the overhead cardiac monitor begins to alarm, and Jungkook startles, glancing up sharply
at the digital screen as cold fear lodges itself behind his breastbone again. The once-steady wavy
lines are a mess of erratic, uneven wiggles, and Jungkook sure as hell hopes that number isn’t
denoting Moonin’s true heartbeat, because it’s got one too many digits for his liking.

“Oh, sorry.” Moonbin glances down at his chest. “I think one of the stickers fell off.”

“Don’t worry, it happens all the time,” Namjoon reassures, silencing the wailing alarms with a
quick tap to the touchscreen and leaning down to reach for the neckline of the werecat’s hospital
gown. “May I?”

At Moonbin’s nod, the healer quickly loosens the tie at the back of the gown to tug it forward a
little, enough that he can ease the garment aside and re-attach the circular cardiac sensor to the
right side of the werecat’s chest. Jungkook sees a brief flash of mottled bruises before Namjoon
rights Moonbin’s gown again and deftly fastens it back in place.

When Jungkook glances back up at the monitor, the wavy lines have resumed their steady
movements and the numbers look far healthier than they had done a few moments ago. He breathes
a sigh of relief, feeling Jimin’s arm slip from around his shoulders as the vampire steps away.

Eunwoo stabs the plastic straw into the carton of chocolate milk and holds it out towards Moonbin,
the werecat reaching for it eagerly.

“Small sips,” Namjoon reminds him kindly. “And I mean small, kitten. Too fast and it’ll upset
your stomach.”

The cat pouts around the straw, but obligingly relinquishes the carton back to Eunwoo’s
safekeeping after only one gulp. Given that Moonbin usually downs a half-pint bottle in a few
glugs on any given time of day, it shows remarkable restraint.

“Yah, you need to drink something too,” Yugyeom pipes up, reaching for one of the fancy-looking
organic blood pouches and holding it out to Eunwoo. “You missed the hot chocolate run earlier.
Gimme the milk, I can help Binnie.”

“Binnie can help himself,” the werecat tries to insist, but Yugyeom just snorts and holds the
Nesquik further out of reach.

“Binnie has minimal self-control around dairy products at the best of times,” the wolf reminds him
amusedly. “And currently Binnie is high as fuck. Hyung’s keeping hold of the milk for now, boo-
bear.”

The werecat sticks his tongue out in retribution.

Smiling at the familiar playful bickering, Jungkook rubs his chest slowly where that icy fear from
a few moments ago seems reluctant to thaw. Binnie’s fine, the cardiac arrhythmia had been an
obvious false alarm, so why does it still feel like he’s freaking out? It’s weird, because he knows
the rest of him isn’t even a little bit on edge, but that sickly cloying panic is still there, at odds with
how the rest of him is feeling. It doesn’t make any sense…

“C’mon, baby, let’s step out for a minute,” a voice whispers a short distance behind him, and
Jungkook wouldn’t have heard it at all if he’d been fully paying attention to his best friends’ back-
and-forth teasing.

Turning a little in his perch on the bedside, he glances back towards the entrance, where Taehyung
seems to have retreated into the corner of the room by the door, face pale and posture tense.
Jimin’s got a hand on the younger vampire’s cheek, whispering to him soothingly, but Tae’s gaze is
fixed somewhere in the middle-distance, chest rising and falling in rapid, shallow breaths…

And Jungkook suddenly realises where that feeling of panic is coming from. It feels so disjointed
from his own emotions because it doesn’t belong to him. He’s sensing it from Taehyung despite
the lack of physical contact, despite the distance between the two of them. Aigoo, how much more
intense must that feeling be for Tae, if the mere echo of it is making Jungkook feel so unsettled?

As he watches, Namjoon steps forward to cup a hand over the side of Tae’s neck, thumb stroking
along his throat as he ducks down a little to try and catch the fledgling’s gaze. Taehyung blinks,
sucks in a ragged breath, and seems to immediately sag in the healer’s hold, looking shaky and
more fragile than Jungkook has ever seen him (and that includes the first night they’d met, when
the vampire had literally been blood-starved).

“Hyung?” Moonbin’s hand gently tugging on his wrist distracts him from his growing concern
from Taehyung, and he turns back towards his roommate quickly. “You should eat something
too.”

“Maybe later,” he declines softly. “I’m not all that hungry.”

Moonbin doesn’t look entirely pleased with his answer. “You gotta at least eat a snack or
something. Yugi, tell him he has to.”

“Kook, you have to,” Yugyeom echoes obligingly, offering the kitten another sip of chocolate
milk.

Jungkook rolls his eyes at their fussing. “Really, guys, I’m fine. I had a hot chocolate like half an
hour ago-”

“Please?” Moonbin wheedles, and fuck, he’s using the eyes again. “For me? Look, they even
bought M&Ms.”

Jungkook’s gaze flickers towards the mound of snacks piled high on the bedside table, a familiar
blue packet immediately catching his eye.

Tae likes the crunchy M&Ms…

Yoongi’s words suddenly seem far less cryptic than they had over an hour ago, and he glances
back over his shoulder towards the corner of the room, frowning a little to find the space empty,
the vampires apparently having slipped out quietly while his attention was focused on Moonbin.

Damn.

Jungkook hesitates, torn between wanting to follow after them to check on Taehyung, and his
instinctive need to stay near his injured kitten to protect him and care for him.

“Go,” Eunwoo urges quietly, licking his reddened lips clean as he sets the emptied blood pouch
aside, shooting a worried look towards the door. “He’s probably gone down to one of the
meditation gardens. Tae, he…hospitals aren’t really his thing.”

“Why?” Jungkook pries tentatively. “Did something happen?”

The model shakes his head apologetically. “Go after him,” he encourages. “It’s not my story to tell,
but I think he’ll open up to you, if you ask him. Give him a hug from me, okay?”

Jungkook nods, reaching for the share-bag of crunchy M&Ms and stuffing them into the pocket of
his leather jacket before leaning in to peck a soft kiss against Moonbin’s cheek. The werecat seems
to be tiring again quickly, his eyelids starting to droop as he blinks slowly.

“I’ll be back soon,” he promises. “Be good. Don’t go breaking anything else while I’m gone.”

Moonbin’s lips curl up in a sleepy grin. “M’kay. Love you.”

Nodding to Eunwoo, Jungkook brushes a hand over the back of Yugyeom’s neck in a parting caress
as he moves away from the bedside, heading out of the recovery suite and quietly shutting the door
behind him.

He has absolutely no idea where he might be able to find these ‘meditation gardens’, but he’s
hoping if he walks far enough he’ll stumble across a signpost or a hospital map that’ll give him
some indication. Presumably it’ll be on the ground floor, so the first step is probably to find an
elevator – Moonbin’s recovery suite is on the fifth floor, so he doesn’t really fancy taking the stairs
all the way down.

Rounding the corner with a determined stride, he almost ploughs straight into Namjoon’s chest, the
healer catching him carefully by the shoulders with a quiet noise of surprise and helping him regain
his footing as he stumbles.

“You’re back,” Jungkook says dumbly, surprised by the vampire’s sudden appearance. He glances
around the empty hallway, his brow creasing a little. “Where’s Tae-hyung?”

“He’s with Hobi and Jiminie,” the healer answers, fingers gently fixing the youth’s fringe just-so.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart? Is Binnie alright?”

Jungkook nods, warmed by the vampire’s concern. If he wasn’t already in love with Namjoon
before today, seeing the healer tenderly care for the injured werecat has thoroughly won him over.
Binnie’s the second most important person in Jungkook’s life, and Namjoon had treated him with
such warmth and kindness, he really can’t express how grateful he is.

“He’s fine,” Jungkook reassures. “I just…I was worried about Tae-hyung, he seemed kinda upset
back there in Binnie’s room.”

Namjoon hums softly, expression falling a little. “Tae’s not the biggest fan of hospitals, he’s gonna
need a little time away from the medical side of things. Although I’m sure he’d welcome your
company.” The healer brushes the youth’s fringe back to drop a gentle kiss against the centre of
Jungkook’s brow. “Turn left at the end of the corridor, and you’ll find the elevator straight ahead of
you. TaeTae’s favourite garden is in Zone C on the ground floor.”

“Thank you,” Jungkook chirps, throwing his arms around Namjoon in a tight hug, hoping it
conveys just how grateful he is for everything the healer’s done for him so far today. “You’re the
best.”

Chuckling warmly, Namjoon rubs his back for a moment, returning the hug and showing no
inclination to pull away until Jungkook is ready. Eventually the youth drops his arms and steps
back again, feeling a blush rising in his cheeks to find himself graced by one of Namjoon’s
dimpled smiles.

“Go on, sweetheart,” the healer encourages, squeezing his shoulder. “I’ll see you in a little while.”

With a tiny smile, Jungkook ducks away and hurries along the corridor, heart feeling ten times
lighter. There’s something about being cuddled by the Kim coven that just makes him feel so
content, even when there are other concerns weighing on his mind. It’s hard to truly feel stressed
about anything when they’re doting on him so much.

Aigoo, he hopes that sentiment still holds true when exam season comes around.

As he turns left at the end of the corridor, he spots a figure lingering outside the elevators a little
ways ahead of him, and it only takes a moment to place the familiar hair colour and jacket.

“Yoongi-hyung?”

The vampire turns, flashing him a calm smile. “Hey, doll. Oh, you remembered the M&Ms, good
job.”

The Seer leans over to hit the downwards arrow on the elevator controls, although Jungkook can
see by the digital panel above the closed doors that the car is already ascending from the ground
floor.
He glances at the large towel tucked under Yoongi’s arm and feels his brow crinkle in confusion.
The Seer catches his eye, lips curling wider in gentle amusement.

“It’s still bucketing it down out there,” Yoongi explains, unfurling the towel and shaking it out.
“Poor love’s soaked to the bone.”

Jungkook opens his mouth to voice the befuddled “who?” that’s on the tip of his tongue, but the
elevator doors open at that very moment and a familiar floppy-eared figure rushes out, wet shoes
squeaking against the floor as he skids to avoid colliding with the two of them.

“Sanha?” Jungkook reacts in surprise, immediately reaching for the bedraggled-looking bunny
hybrid. The younger boy is absolutely drenched, his pale pink hair plastered against his head,
velvety ears dripping.

The youth’s eyes widen. “Hyung! Have you seen Binnie-hyung? Is he okay? I tried calling
Eunwoo-hyung but my phone died, is he out of surgery yet?”

“He’s okay, he’s awake, he’s gonna be just fine,” Jungkook is quick to soothe, adjusting his grip
on Sanha as Yoongi steps forward to wrap the large towel around the bunny’s shivering frame. He
rubs Sanha’s arms through the soft material, worried by the kid’s chattering teeth. “Aigoo, you’re
freezing. Didn’t JinJin-hyung park close enough to the hospital?”

Sanha shakes his head, burrowing a little into Jungkook’s embrace, clearly needing the physical
contact. “D-dunno. I was still at work when hyung called me about the accident. I got a taxi from
Euphoria, but there was a truck turned over on the dual carriageway, all the roads were gridlocked.
So I ditched the cab just past the dance school and made my own way here.”

Jungkook pushes the bunny back a couple of inches. “On foot?” he asks incredulously. “The dance
academy’s almost two miles away, Sanha. Aigoo, no wonder you’re half-drowned.” He pulls the
rabbit back into a tighter hug, rubbing harder to try and warm him up. “Why didn’t you just wait in
the cab?”

“Binnie-hyung was hurt,” Sanha answers plaintively, and Jungkook can’t really argue with that,
because in the bunny’s shoes he probably would’ve done exactly the same thing.

“Could…could you maybe not tell JinJin-hyung?” the younger hybrid hedges, tentatively hopeful.
“He’s got enough to worry about, and he doesn’t like me being out on my own after dark.”

Jungkook smiles fondly. “Your secret’s safe with hyung. Now c’mon, we need to get you into
some dry clothes.”

“I’m sure Joonie can hunt down a spare set of scrubs,” Yoongi reasons, stepping closer to fix the
newcomer with a friendly smile. “Sanha, right? I’m Yoongi-hyung. Why don’t you come with me
and we’ll go find Eunwoo and Moonbinnie?”

Sanha nods keenly, slipping out of Jungkook’s hold. “Yes please.”

Wrapping an arm around the youth’s shoulders, Yoongi shifts his attention back towards Jungkook
briefly, his smile softening.

“Take a right turn on the ground floor,” he instructs. “Head through the blue double doors into
Zone C, and follow the green line along the wall until you reach the garden.”

Jungkook nods gratefully, sparing one last glance for the bunny who seems quite content to be
tucked up against Yoongi’s side. Sanha’s always been so sweetly trusting – one of the many
 reasons why he and Moonbin are so protective of the youth – and although he’s keen to find
Taehyung, he doesn’t want to abandon his dongsaeng either.

Sanha notices his gaze and offers him a small but genuine smile, and that’s enough to convince
Jungkook to finally step into the elevator. He trusts Yoongi to take care of Sanha the same way he
trusts Namjoon to take care of Moonbin. And although there are a few niggling worries at the back
of his mind (those protective instincts are still there, albeit placated somewhat by the knowledge
that his new hyungs have everything in hand), he’s able to set his fears aside for the time being and
turn his thoughts towards Taehyung.

He just hopes the crunchy M&Ms live up to all the hype.

Chapter End Notes

Thank you for waiting so patiently for this update! I got struck down with the flu so I
spent a good week feeling very sorry for myself and too tired to write. I'm all better
now, though! :)

My poor Moonbinnie isn't doing so good in real life either - he's had to take a sudden
hiatus due to health concerns, which breaks my Aroha heart. But the rest of Astro have
their comeback on the 20th, so I'm focusing on that instead of doing a Jungkook and
fretting about Binnie.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Deep conversations and M&Ms will be a big part of
the next chapter. And also everyone doting over Binnie because he deserves ALL the
love.

Have a great week, fam. xxx

 Hard Times
Chapter Summary

Taehyung opens up to Kookie about an event in his past that still troubles him, while
the Kim/Im/Park clan continues to bond.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

He finds Taehyung on a bench beneath a flowering cherry tree, tucked up against Hoseok’s side as
the empath combs gentle fingers through his hair. There’s a fluffy ball of chestnut-brown fur
curled up in the fledgling vampire’s lap, and Jungkook recognises the mass of fluff as Chim when
the tiny pooch’s head comes up to track his approach.

The meditation garden is so quiet and peaceful that Jungkook’s footsteps on the winding pavestone
path sound far too loud and intrusive. He slows his pace a little, trying his best to soften his tread as
he crosses the small bridge over the koi pond, wincing when the wooden boards still creak beneath
his weight.

Regardless, Taehyung doesn’t seem to notice his presence, the vampire’s gaze fixed somewhere in
the middle-distance as he absently pets Chim’s fur.

Jungkook hesitates when he reaches the foot of the bridge, feeling like he’s intruding on something
private despite Namjoon and Yoongi’s earlier encouragement, but that uncertainty dissipates a
moment later when he sees Chim’s tiny bauble of a tail start to wag happily. At the motion, Hoseok
glances up from Taehyung to send Jungkook a welcoming smile, beckoning the youth closer.

“Sweetheart,” the empath murmurs, nudging Tae gently. “It’s Kookie.”

The younger vampire finally stirs at that, shifting in Hoseok’s arms and lifting his head from the
dancer’s chest.

“Kookie?” Taehyung echoes, sitting up from his slumped position and blinking rapidly as his gaze
refocuses on his youngest bondmate. His eyes are glossy and red-rimmed, and Tae surreptitiously
swipes at them with the sleeve of his jacket, offering Jungkook a strained smile. “Hey. Sorry for
bailing on you like that, I kinda just needed a minute to clear my head. But I’m totally fine now,
you wanna head upstairs-”

“Tae,” Hoseok interrupts softly, arm sliding from around the fledgling so that he can stroke the
back of Taehyung’s neck. “You’re not ready. Don’t push yourself, baby.”

“It’s about to get super crowded up there anyways,” Jungkook discloses, moving to perch on the
bench beside the trio and smiling as Chim scoots to the edge of Taeyung’s lap to nuzzle the back of
his hand in greeting. “JinJin-hyung’s gonna be here soon with the rest of the guys, and I doubt the
Im-pack are gonna sit and wait much longer ‘cause they’re all itching to see Binnie. Everyone’s
emotions are gonna be running high, and it’ll just be a lot, you know? Kinda needed a little break
myself.”

Well, that’s not entirely true. While having two packs and the coven all there at the same time
definitely has the potential to become overwhelming, it isn’t really something that’ll phase him
much. As far as Jungkook’s concerned, when it comes to pack-cuddles, the more the merrier; he
has absolutely no qualms about being squashed in on all sides by people who care about him and
Binnie.

But Tae doesn’t need to know that; he just figured the vampire might be more willing to stay here
and rest a little while longer if he thought it was for Jungkook’s benefit.

And the little white lie seems to work – Tae’s expression immediately softens in concern and
understanding as he pulls himself away from Hoseok’s hold to wrap his arms around Jungkook
instead.

“The past couple of hours have been pretty rough, huh?” Tae sympathises, smushing his face
against Jungkook’s shoulder with a quiet sigh.

“Mm,” the youth agrees, closing his eyes as he returns the tight embrace, his residual worry for
Taehyung finally abating when all he senses from the vampire along their growing bond is love
and warmth.

He feels a gentle touch to his head, and opens his eyes again to see Hoseok standing over him,
smiling down at Jungkook with a look of gratitude as he smooths the youth’s fringe back from his
forehead. The empath leans down to brush a chaste peck against his brow, and Jungkook
recognises the silent gesture of thanks for what it is, returning the elder’s smile shyly. Hoseok’s
fingers trail down the side of his face to linger on his cheek for a moment, the dancer regarding
him with a tenderness that fills Jungkook’s stomach with pleasant warmth. After another beat,
Hoseok leans in again to press a chaste kiss to the tip of Jungkook’s nose, before pulling away to
scoop up Chim from Taehyung’s lap, cradling the tiny pooch against his chest and using one fluffy
paw to give Jungkook an adorable wave goodbye. Chim immediately swivels his head around to
give the elder vampire a very cute frown, but Hoseok just grins and kisses his tiny snout, heading
back across the wooden bridge and along the winding pavestone path towards the exit.

Once the pair is out of sight, Jungkook relaxes further into Taehyung’s hold, allowing the
comfortable silence to linger on a few more minutes. It’s super nice, especially after the chaos of
the past few hours; the fear, the guilt, the grief and anger – the tranquillity of the garden allows
him to finally let go of it all.

Perhaps sensing that shift in him, Taehyung breathes a happier-sounding sigh into his shoulder,
nuzzling against him a little.

“Has anyone ever told you how amazing your hugs are?” the vampire murmurs. “Because dude,
top-quality cuddle right here.” Taehyung turns his head to press a kiss to the side of Jungkook’s
neck. “Thanks for coming to find me, Kook.”

The younger man smiles, the warmth in his chest spilling into his cheeks.

“I’m just really glad you’re here,” Jungkook returns softly, hugging the vampire a little tighter.
“Seriously. I would’ve been such a fucking mess without you and the other hyungs. Binnie…he
really means the world to me, and I hate seeing him injured like this, but at least with you guys
here I know he’s safe. Namjoon-hyung won’t let anything bad happen to him, and Jin-hyung’s
already gone after the driver to make sure he doesn’t get away with it. I know you guys kinda came
here because of Eunwoo, but you’ve all done so much for Binnie too. I just…I can’t thank you
enough for that.”

Taehyung pulls away just enough to cup Jungkook’s face between his hands, smiling at him
warmly. The vampire’s eyes have lost their post-crying puffiness, and Tae looks far more like his
usual carefree self as he leans in to kiss Jungkook gently. The younger man melts into the contact
with a sigh, fingers curling loosely in the fabric of Taehyung’s jacket as he reciprocates. Much like
the hug, the kiss is gentle and comforting, lacking the fire and passion they’d shared earlier that
day in Namjoon’s glasshouse, and it’s exactly what Jungkook needs right now.

Eventually his somewhat-askew position on the bench starts giving him backache, and he’s forced
to adjust his posture to something a little more comfortable. The resultant rustle of M&Ms in his
pocket reminds him of the initial purpose of his visit, and Jungkook leans back from the kiss to
pull out the snack.

“Oh, I forgot…here,” he says, offering Taehyung the share-bag with a smile. “I thought you might
be hungry.”

The vampire stares at the proffered treats for a long moment, the light in his eyes slowly dimming
as an odd sort of expression takes over his features.

“They’re your favourite…right?” Jungkook hedges, suddenly unsure of himself.

“Yeah. Thanks.” Slowly, Taehyung reaches out to take them, a ghost of smile flickering at his lips
without reaching his eyes. He turns the bag over in his hands, staring at it for another long beat
before glancing back up towards Jungkook with a more genuine, albeit wry smile. “Let me
guess…Yoongi-hyung told you to bring them?”

Jungkook nods hesitantly. “Kinda. Should he not have? Did you want a different snack?”

Taehyung finally breathes a quiet laugh at that, shaking his head and leaning in to brush another
kiss against Jungkook’s lips

“No, they’re perfect, thank you,” the vampire promises. “I’d eat my own weight in M&Ms if Jin-
hyung let me. He’s got a secret stash somewhere for Bad Days, but I’ve never been able to find it.
Knowing hyung, he’s probably hidden it inside a bubble universe or something.”

Before Jungkook can overthink that entirely plausible theory (because if Seokjin can appear inside
his apartment in the blink of an eye, it’s not completely outrageous to suggest that he has access to
a different plain of reality the way that Fae folk do), he’s distracted by Taehyung tearing the bag
open and tipping his head bag to pour a bunch of the M&M’s directly into his mouth. Honestly, it’s
a miracle he doesn’t choke. Cheeks bulging, the vampire passes the bag over to Jungkook without
comment, and the younger man carefully tips a small handful into his palm because he isn’t a total
heathen.

They munch in silence for a moment, Taehyung eventually reaching for the bag again but only
taking out a single M&M this time, turning it over between his fingertips almost contemplatively as
he finishes swallowing his first mouthful.

“Jiminie used to bring me a bag of these every day,” the vampire comments quietly, another smile
ghosting briefly at his lips. “I never really liked chocolate all that much before I got sick, but after
my surgery, I didn’t really have an appetite for anything except snacks.”
Jungkook waits patiently when Taehyung falls silent again, unwilling to say anything that might
derail the current train of conversation, even though he’s insatiably curious. If Tae’s choosing to
confide in him about his past, about the potential trauma that’s clearly resulted in some sort of
hospital-related anxiety, the least he can do is keep quiet and try not to ask any probing questions.

The vampire pops the M&M into his mouth, chewing as he draws his knees up closer to his chest,
feet braced on the edge of the bench. Taehyung’s eyes have that faraway look again, his expression
now shifting to a weary sort of melancholy that Jungkook’s never seen on him before.

“I used to get these headaches,” Taehyung confesses after a long pause, arms wrapped around his
knees. “They started just before I turned eighteen, not long after I’d met Jiminie. My parents were
going through a rough patch before the divorce, and they both thought the headaches were stress-
related, so they’d sent me to live with my grandmother for a little while in the next village over.
The commute to school took a little longer, but it kept me away from all the family drama back
home, so I didn’t mind it so much. Plus Grammy lived next door to the Park family, and they were
all so nice – naturally, Jiminie and I hit it off right away. He attended the local Night School, but
we would always hang out together during the afternoon under the shade of Grammy’s tree grove.
We were best friends by the end of the first week, and bondmates by the end of the summer, so we
both made a pact to graduate from school with good grades so that we could move to Seoul
together and pursue our dream careers.”

The vampire’s smile softens to something fond at the memory. “We had our entire futures planned
out, right from day one. He was gonna become the greatest choreographer the world had ever seen,
and I was gonna make a name for myself as a fashion photographer – we’d be married by twenty-
five, maybe a couple of kids by thirty, the whole shebang. Back then, I was so focused on that
future that I didn’t really stop to think about my infrequent but persistent headaches, and what they
might mean. I was stupid; ignored a lot of early warning signs because I thought it was just a
temporary thing, kept all the newer developing symptoms a secret because I didn’t want anyone
telling me to slow down. I convinced myself the headaches were just a side-effect of studying too
hard and worrying about my parents – I even managed to persuade Jiminie that they weren’t a
chronic thing. I was fully human back then, and since Minnie is only half-vampire, our transference
bond wasn’t quite as strong as it is now that I’m reborn. The migraines didn’t start until much later,
so the little headaches were easy enough to hide once we started living together. I figured they’d
just go away on their own eventually.”

Jungkook already has a horrible feeling where this might be going, but he tries not to give into that
knot of fear threatening to form in his gut. Sitting this close to Taehyung, he knows there’s a
chance the vampire might be able to sense his emotions, and he doesn’t want to react in a way that
might dissuade Tae from opening up further.

The pregnant pause lasts a minute longer this time, and eventually Jungkook offers Taehyung the
bag of M&Ms again.

“But the headache’s didn’t stop?” he hedges quietly.

Taehyung shakes his head, taking another chocolate but this time leaning across to feed it to
Jungkook.

“Those first six months in Seoul were hectic,” the vampire admits. “We rented an apartment in the
city, close enough that we could both commute to school, but I’d decided to take up part-time
modelling on top of my photography degree, and Jiminie had opted for night classes at the dance
academy, so we hardly ever got to see each other. My headaches were becoming more frequent. I’d
get this weird tingling sensation in my hands sometimes, kinda like when your foot goes to sleep?
And I’d started having these awful nosebleeds that’d come on out of nowhere and took forever to
stop. I should’ve gone to see a doctor that second semester, but I guess I was too focused on my
studies, and I didn’t want Jiminie to think it was anything worth worrying about. So I told him the
nosebleeds were just allergies, and dosed myself up on over-the-counter painkillers to get rid of the
headaches. The meds worked pretty well, and I didn’t really think twice about popping pills every
morning if it meant getting through another busy day pain-free.”

It makes sense now, why Tae and the other hyungs had taken Jungkook’s chronic exhaustion and
migraines so seriously right from the get-go. He’d thought it was just the coven being worry-warts,
but if this was something they’d seen before with Tae, something that had actually turned out to be
an underlying health issue…no wonder they’d all been so fretful. Namjoon’s careful examinations
and firm insistence that he rest seems even more meaningful now.

Taehyung feeds Jungkook another M&M. “And then we met Hobi-hyung during Spring break,”
the vampire continues, taking a chocolate for himself. “Jiminie had volunteered to help out at this
charity dance workshop thing that hyung was organising, and of course the two of them clicked
right away. Jiminie knew I was open to extending our bond, and he could tell that Hoseokie-hyung
was the perfect match for us both, so we decided to go on a date together.”

The vampire’s smile is full of remembered warmth.

“It took me all of five minutes to fall head over heels in love with him…well, you know how sweet
he is, how could I not? Anyway, he started courting us properly after that. Hobi-hyung was always
super upfront about being part of a bonded nest, and he was really keen to introduce us to the rest
of his mates; he made the coven sound so amazing, I couldn’t wait to meet them.”

Taehyung tips his head back with a sigh, staring up at the cherry blossoms that hang above their
bench.

“My schedule got crazy busy after that, so Jiminie got to meet the other hyungs first,” he admits.
“It ended up being a few weeks until I finally managed to free up an evening to have dinner with
them. By this point I wasn’t sleeping well, and the pain meds weren’t really dulling the headaches
effectively anymore, but being in love made it easy to overlook all the warning signs. I was so
excited to meet the coven. The way Jiminie had gushed about all the hyungs, I just knew it was
meant to be.”

The vampire breathes a self-deprecating laugh, shaking his head.

“It took Namjoon-hyung less than a minute to realise I was sick,” Tae admits wryly. “Apparently
Jiminie had already voiced his concerns about me losing weight and looking so tired all the time,
and I guess Yoongi-hyung had warned him that something might be wrong with me that day, so
Joon-hyung was already on the lookout for any tell-tale signs before I’d even said hello. He didn’t
make a big thing of it, just quietly took me aside before dinner and asked if he could help relieve
my headache. I didn’t think twice before saying yes – he was so big and gentle and nice, I probably
would’ve agreed to just about anything. But when he reached out to touch my temple…" The
vampire gives a barely perceptible shudder. "I’ll never forget the look in his eyes. It made me feel
sick to my stomach.”

Sucking in a slow, steadying breath, Taehyung ploughs on, “Everything kinda happened in a blur
after that. The drive to hospital, getting wired up to what felt like a hundred different machines, the
whole battery of tests the doctors ran that first night. I hated the CT-scan, but the MRI was just ten
kinds of hell. I get claustrophobic in tight spaces, you know? And it’s so fucking noisy in there.
The hyungs sat with me all night while the medical team worked, but nobody would tell me
anything, not even Joonie-hyung…he kept saying it was too soon to make a diagnoses, telling me
he had to wait on the imaging results, but I knew it couldn’t be good news. Hobi-hyung and Jiminie
both looked so upset, even though I could tell they were trying their best to hide it. And that
probably scared me more than anything else.”

The vampire tosses back a handful of M&Ms, chewing and swallowing slowly before he reaches
behind Jungkook’s head without looking to gently tap the base of the youth’s skull.

“I had a two-inch tumour sitting right here,” Taehyung divulges flatly. “The bastard had probably
been growing there for well over a year by that point, maybe even before I started getting those
headaches in high school. The intermittent numbness and tingling in my hands was actually a
symptom of nerve damage caused by the pressure of the tumour against my spinal cord. The
nosebleeds were a sign that my blood pressure would sometimes spike dangerously high because of
the fluid build-up around the tumour. Basically, I was a month or two shy of irreversible brain and
spinal damage.”

Jungkook had been expecting something awful, but holy fuck, the revelation still hits him like a
freight train to the gut. Modern medicine and powerful healing practices have advanced to a point
where chronic illnesses and debilitating injuries are almost a thing of the past, but he knows the
brain is one of those tricky organs that sometimes can’t be mended by any means. Magic can’t
rewire neurons any more than medicine can regenerate damaged brain cells; Jungkook’s father had
told him that a week after his grandfather had passed away from a stroke, and it’s stuck with him
ever since. Brains are fucking delicate.

“There was no way to tell if it was cancerous or benign without a biopsy,” Tae continues, fingers
now playing with the short hairs at the base of Jungkook’s skull. “But the size and location of the
tumour was enough to put me at serious risk of a brain haemorrhage, or permanent nerve damage if
it continued to grow, so the neurology team felt it was in my best interest to have it surgically
removed as soon as possible.” He grimaces faintly. “That first week as an inpatient was just
horrible; at the start I guess I was still kinda numb with shock, but after that wore off and the
implications of undergoing brain surgery really began to sink in, I felt like a prisoner in that ward.
There were dozens of tests, and so many doctors, and I hated being stuck in bed all day. I was still a
human and didn’t have a pack dependency, so the staff wouldn’t let Jiminie stay with me overnight
after visiting time was over, which meant I didn’t sleep for days; all I could think about was the
tumour in my head that was slowly trying to kill me, and I’d lie awake for hours listening to the
cardiac monitors alarming from other patients’ rooms, wondering if they’d make it through the
night. I hated it. I hated being there, and I hated those awful monitors.”

Taehyung’s voice catches, and Jungkook shifts closer instinctively, arm curling around the
vampire’s tense shoulders. His bondmate keeps his knees tucked up to his chest even as he leans
into the younger man’s sideways-cuddle, swiping at his eyes again as he heaves a ragged breath.

“They couldn’t remove the whole tumour without cutting into my brain,” Taehyung murmurs.
“That's why they spent so long planning the procedure and consulting with specialists. It took
almost twelve hours, but they got most of it out, so in the end the surgery was a success. I had a
pretty long road to recovery ahead of me, and Namjoon-hyung knew I couldn’t stand being in
hospital, so once I was out of intensive care he signed my discharge papers three weeks ahead of
schedule and set up a recovery suite back at the nest where he and the hyungs could look after me
instead. I was so fucking relieved to be out of there, I think that was the first time I’d actually cried
since my diagnosis.”

Then his lips twitch up in a more genuine smile. “Joonie-hyung stayed home with me around the
clock those first few weeks. The meds made me feel pretty fuzzy, but his voice was soothing, so
he’d read to me for hours on end to help me sleep. When I was able to keep my eyes open for
longer periods, we started binge-watching Disney and Studio Ghibli, anything animated and easy
to follow, and he let me eat all the M&Ms I wanted. I still needed help to walk and had to take
showers sitting down, but I could feel my strength returning a little more with each passing day,
and my appetite was gradually starting to come back thanks to Jin-hyung’s cooking. I swear he
made me a three-course menu for every meal, so even on the days when I was feeling pretty
nauseous, something always tempted me. I'd lost a lot of weight, but after a month of eating
hyung's food, I was looking more like my old self again. It was hard to say no to second helpings
once my appetite came back.”

Jungkook can definitely understand the sentiment. He’d probably have to be comatose to turn down
Seokjin’s cooking, it’s that good.

“I had a follow-up MRI scan about three months after my surgery,” Taehyung continues, tucking
his hands inside the sleeves of his sweater and hugging his knees closer. “I was basically fully
recovered by that point, so it was just gonna be a routine check-up to make sure everything was
okay before I resumed normal life. I’d even started making plans to take summer classes so that I
could catch up on the semester I’d missed and rejoin my photography cohort after the break.”

The vampire huffs a humourless laugh.

“Guess I kinda jinxed myself, being so optimistic.” His gaze finally flickers over to meet
Jungkook’s, flashing him a faint, wan smile. “The scan showed that another tumour had started
growing from the stem the surgeons had left in. They said it was still tiny, smaller than a pea, so
the symptoms hadn’t started showing yet, but it had regrown that much in only three months,
which meant given time it had the potential to swell to the size of the previous one. And that…the
thought of going through the whole surgical process again, it fucking terrified me. Especially since
there was apparently no guarantee that the tumour wouldn’t just grow back a third time. My whole
world felt like it was shattering around me.”

Taehyung reaches up to touch the side of his own throat, just below his jawline. “Namjoonie-
hyung and Jin-hyung offered me the Bite that same day. Jiminie and I were already a part of the
coven by this point, and the hyungs were even more devastated by the MRI results than I was. It
had even come as a surprise to Yoongi-hyung; he said he’d been looking too far ahead, where
everything was okay, and hadn’t thought to focus on my checkup date. Anyway, none of the
hyungs wanted to see me suffering through another three months of medical recovery, and Jiminie
knew I’d hate every minute of being an inpatient again. So I could tell they were keen for me to
avoid all that by being reborn. Jin-hyung told me to think it over for a couple of days before I made
up my mind about the Bite, but to be honest, it wasn’t a difficult decision. I loved them with all my
heart even then, and I knew I wanted to stay with them forever. So of course I said yes.”

The vampire’s smile is more genuine now, the light returning to his eyes, and Jungkook finds relief
in the sight of it, leaning in to kiss Taehyung’s temple.

“And everything was okay after that?” he probes, because he desperately needs to make sure that
Tae isn’t at risk of a relapse or something. The thought that the vampire could’ve died if not for
Namjoon’s quick diagnosis is fucking chilling.

“Things were…different,” Taehyung admits hesitantly. “Being reborn isn’t a walk in the park. It
was a huge transition, both mentally and physically, and there were days when I felt as rough as I
had done after my surgery. But the Bite saved my life, no question about it. And I had the chance to
discover what a real bond feels like, something I never could've known if I'd stayed fully human.”

Tae’s hand moves around to rub the back of his own neck. “The tumour’s still there,” he admits
softly. “It’s barely the size of a pea, but…it’ll never go away. A second surgery carries its own
risks, even as a vampire, and the doctors were worried about vascular scarring if they went in to
remove it; they decided it was safer to just leave it be, since it won’t ever grow any bigger now that
I have vampire physiology. But it’s still there, you know? I guess that’s why I still kinda freak out
over little headaches, even when there’s a reasonable explanation. A part of me is always going to
assume the worst-case scenario. And I don’t think I’m ever going to be totally comfortable around
hospitals. There's just...too many bad memories connected with this place.”

Jungkook leans in again, this time to rest his head against Taehyung’s shoulder, now a hundred
times more grateful for the vampire’s miraculous existence.

“We don’t have to go back upstairs,” he murmurs sincerely. “Not if it makes you uncomfortable.
We can stay here as long as you need to.”

Taehyung breathes another quiet laugh, arm wrapping around Jungkook as he drops a kiss against
his hair.

“I’ll be alright,” the vampire promises. “I honestly hadn’t expected the cardiac alarms to set me off
like that – hearing them after all this time just brought it all rushing back to me, I needed to clear
my head. I’m sorry if I kinda dumped a ton of emotional baggage on you there.”

"What? No, not at all." Jungkook shakes his head quickly. “I’m really glad you told me, hyung. I
wanna be here for you if you need me.”

Taehyung makes a soft noise in the back of his throat and hugs the younger man tighter against
him.

“I don’t deserve someone as sweet as you,” the vampire sighs happily, rubbing his cheek against
Jungkook’s hair. “But I’m gonna keep you anyway.”

By the time they return to Moonbin’s recovery suite, the expected chaos of two packs and one
coven combined has receded a little, at least in terms of decibels. The room actually seems
relatively peaceful, even if it no longer feels spacious with so many people packed into it.

Not to mention all the flowers that seem to have sprung up out of nowhere.

“Kookie-hyung!” Moonbin croaks, looking rather sleepy but very happy from where he’s cuddled
up in bed between Jaebum and Park Jinwoo, a colourfully woven flower-crown perched carefully
on his head. “Look at all the flowers, aren’t they beautiful?”
They certainly are. There doesn’t seem to be a single inch of space that isn’t hosting some sort of
flowering leafy plant, the petals gleaming in pinks and blues and yellows and reds in a dozen
different vibrant shades. In fact, the only part of the room that isn’t obscured by plant life is the
medical equipment adjacent to the bed, the flowering vines stopping just short of the drip stand and
cardiac monitor that Binnie is still hooked up to.

“Wow, looks like MJ-hyung’s been busy while I was gone,” Jungkook remarks with a smile as he
heads over to the bedside, letting go of Taehyung’s hand as Jaebum rises to pull him into a quick
hug, thereby freeing up the space next to Moonbin for him.

“It smells so much nicer in here now,” Binnie enthuses, only wincing a little as he reaches for
Jungkook, who quickly slips into JB’s vacated spot to offer his roommate a gentle hug. “It’s like
being in the woods.”

Which, realistically, was probably Myungjun’s intention. As a woodland Fae, MJ has a particular
skill when it comes to making things grow, and while Jungkook had heard about MJ’s passion for
flowers in particular (the Fae owns his own flower shop here in the city), he’s still really fucking
impressed by how quickly the elder has managed to grow an actual garden in his absence. He and
Taehyung can’t have been gone longer than an hour or so, but the recovery suite is already looking
like a veritable Eden.

“It’s still the full moon for another twelve hours, kitten,” JinJin reminds him from the werecat’s
other side, where he’s carefully cutting up a peach into tiny bitesize pieces. “Hyung knew you’d
get restless stuck inside like this, so he brought the forest to you.”

Moonbin opens his mouth to accept a bite of peach and smiles contentedly, tilting his head to rest it
against Jungkook’s shoulder with a happy sigh.

“Where is MJ-hyung?” Jungkook asks, after a quick glance around the room reveals the absence of
the small but lively Fae.

“He went to get more flowers,” Jackson responds wryly from the cosy-looking cuddle-pile he’s
formed with Rocky and the rest of the Im-pack over by the couch. “Y’know, because we don’t
have enough of those already.”

Jinyoung thwacks the younger wolf’s shoulder gently to get him to stop moving, busy threading
delicate pink blossoms through the blue flower crown perched on Jackson’s dark hair.

“You can never have too many flowers,” Sanha pipes up loyally, lifting his head from Eunwoo
shoulder where he’s squashed snugly between the vampire and Hoseok on the couch, Chim now
snoozing quietly in the empath’s lap. “They make the world a better place.”

Eunwoo smiles at the bunny hybrid tenderly and guides his head back down again. The vampire is
looking very much like his old self now that his packmates are here, all signs of tension and stress
gone without a trace. Namjoon is perched on the arm of the couch beside him, fingers slowly
combing through the younger vampire’s hair, surveying the room with warm eyes.

“It’s getting late,” the healer says after a few minutes, sounding apologetic. “And while I’d be
more than happy for you all to stay, unfortunately the hospital has a strict policy about overnight
visitors, even for the premier suites. I’m afraid it’s pack-only.”

Yugyeom lifts his head from BamBam’s lap, sitting up quickly with a soft, aggrieved whine. “But
hyung-”
“Binnie needs his rest, pup,” Jaebum reasons gently, crossing over to crouch down in front of his
youngest cub as Youngjae and BamBam both curl around the pouting maknae from either side.
“You can come back and see him tomorrow before school. We’ll drop off some breakfast for
everyone, okay?”

“Breakfast bagel?” Moonbin asks hopefully, interest piqued as it ever is when the subject of food
is brought up.

Jinyoung laughs, resting his chin on Jackson’s shoulder as he smiles over towards the bed at the
werecat. “Sure, kitten, whatever you like. Chocolate milk and cream puff bread, too?”

“Yaaaas,” Moonbin crows, albeit sleepily. “You’re the best, hyung.”

Yugyeom reluctantly lets Jaebum help him up from the nest of pilfered pillows and hospital
bedding, splinted wrist cradled carefully against his chest. He crosses to the bedside and leans over
Jungkook to give Moonbin a gentle one-armed hug goodbye.

“I’ll download some movies for you to watch while you’re recovering,” the werewolf promises,
nuzzling the cat's uninjured cheek. “I’ll see if I can find a copy of that new Terminator movie,”
Yugyeom’s gaze flickers for a brief moment towards JinJin. “…the one that definitely came out on
DVD already.”

Jungkook bites back an exasperated sigh at his friend’s lack of subtlety. Yugyeom might as well
have just announced to all the hyungs that they frequently watch pirated movies online.

Thankfully JinJin doesn’t seem to be paying attention, the dog hybrid busy peeling Moonbin
another peach,

“Stay out of trouble, dude,” BamBam pipes up, as he and Youngjae nudge Yugyeom out of the way
to bestow their own goodbye nuzzles.

“Yeah, you gotta be more careful,” Youngjae agrees teasingly, “or you'll turn JB-hyung even more
grey than he already is.”

“Ooooh,” Yugyeom crows, grinning over at the Alpha in delight.

Jaebum arches an eyebrow, pulling away from the double-hug he’s giving Rocky and Sanha to
glance back towards his trio of maknaes.

“Would you care to repeat that?”

Yugyeom ducks down to press a quick kiss to Jungkook’s cheek. “Love you, gotta go, bye!”

Youngjae and BamBam linger a microsecond longer, just long enough to ruffle Jungkook’s hair
beyond redemption, before following after Yugyeom and beating a hasty retreat. Jungkook shakes
his head as he watches them go, although his attention quickly drifts to the figures standing near
the door, his grin softening into a relieved smile when he sees Taehyung laughing at the Im-pack’s
antics. The vampire’s leaning back against Yoongi's chest, the elder’s arms wrapped around his
waist snugly, the Seer wearing a contented smile as he rests his chin on Tae’s shoulder.

As Jungkook watches, Yoongi’s gaze flickers towards him almost knowingly, perhaps having
sensed his focus, and there’s something in the vampire’s expression that warms Jungkook right to
the bone. Maybe it’s just a figment of his imagination, but the Seer almost looks proud of him.

“Kookie,” Jaebum calls suddenly, diverting his attention. The Alpha is beckoning him closer with
a warm smile, and Jungkook gives Moonbin a gentle squeeze before retracting his arm from
around his roommate’s shoulder to slip from his perch on the bed, allowing Jinyoung and Jackson
to come and say their own goodbyes to the werecat.

Jaebum reaches out to pull him into another gentle hug when he draws near enough, and Jungkook
burrows into it with a happy sigh. After several hours of cuddling with doting hyungs, he’s feeling
very tactile right now, and JB’s hugs are always so comforting.

“Would you like to sleep at the Den tonight?” Jaebum asks, warm hand stroking over the back of
his neck. “I don’t like the thought of you staying in that apartment all on your own.”

Jungkook smiles at the Alpha’s protectiveness, but shakes his head all the same. “I’ll be okay,
hyung,” he promises. “It's only for tonight, and I need to pick up some stuff for Binnie anyway.”

Besides, he isn’t anywhere near ready to leave the werecat’s side just yet. He knows he can’t stay
the night (which is dumb, because what if Binnie needs him?) but he feels compelled to stay here
as long as he can. That ball of fretful worry has already returned to his stomach just at the thought
of leaving.

“Are you sure?” Jaebum pulls back to frame his face, thumbs caressing his cheeks as he searches
Jungkook’s face, protective Alpha-instincts clearly in full swing. “It’s been a rough evening, cub.
You might need someone to talk to.”

“Your Alpha’s right, Kookie,” Namjoon interjects calmly, appearing at Jaebum’s shoulder. He
passes a gentle hand over Jungkook’s hair. “You shouldn’t be on your own tonight. Sometimes it
can take a few hours for the shock of it all to wear off, and you don't want to be alone when that
happens."

Oh, that’s not fair. He’s not strong enough to stand up to both of them being all worried and hyung-
ish like this. Jungkook can already feel his confidence beginning to waver.

“But…but Binnie,” he protests quietly, glancing over to where his roommate is giggling as Rocky
and Sanha slide flower stems between his toes where they poke out of his bandaged and splinted
broken leg.

“We’ll come and see Moonbinnie first thing tomorrow morning,” Jaebum promises, still using that
deep, lilting tone of his that makes Jungkook really want to agree with whatever he says. “You
know you can’t stay here, bun. The hospital has visitation rules, and it’s pack-only.”

“But I’m pack,” Jungkook insists, startled by the wave of emotion that suddenly hits him, his eyes
stinging wetly. “He was mine first.”

Both Namjoon and Jaebum blink in surprise at the vehemence in his voice, and Jungkook feels
heat flood his cheeks, quickly ducking his gaze. Fuck, he hadn’t meant to say that. Even if he feels
that way about his bond with Binnie, it sounds so fucking childish to voice it out loud.

"Cub..." his Alpha murmurs, clearly concerned.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” a new voice pipes up. “Of course Kookie’s staying, Binnie needs him.”

Jungkook lifts his blurry gaze from the floor to see Myungjun quite literally skipping back into the
room, two satchels bulging with plants slung over his shoulders. He blows a kiss towards his
packmates where they’re currently crowded around Moonbin’s bed, drops the bags
unceremoniously to the floor and then neatly ducks between Jaebum and Jungkook with the lithe
grace of his ethereal species, wrapping both arms around the youth in a friendly cuddle.
 The Fae is significantly shorter than Jungkook, but the hug still feels comforting. MJ's energy and
enthusiasm by far make up for what he lacks in height.

“Yah, you missed the flower-crown party,” the botanist laments, and heaves a dramatic sigh. “You
and Binnie need to match, since you're family. Buttercup, tell Kookie he isn’t allowed to leave, we
need him.”

JinJin smiles at his mate indulgently before shifting his focus to Jungkook to offer him an
apologetic grin. “Sorry, bun, it looks like you’re stuck with us for the night."

Jungkook manages a tremulous smile, relieved by their easy acceptance of his need to stay close
by, but he's still feeling a little stupid for being so unreasonably emotional. He knows it’s dumb to
be fretful about leaving Moonbin when the werecat is clearly stable and comfortable, but he can’t
help it – the hybrid part of him is quite literally screaming in protest at the prospect of abandoning
his kitten, and even though Jungkook considers himself to be mostly human, there are some
instincts that are just too intrinsically tied into his emotional core. If he leaves Binnie now he’ll lie
awake all night worrying about the werecat, no matter how many hyungs are there to comfort him.

“Family-pack counts as pack,” Taehyung voices, stepping up behind Namjoon to hug the healer
from behind, sending Jungkook a confident smile of solidarity. “The hospital can’t argue with that,
right hyung?”

Namjoon’s fingers cluck Jungkook beneath the chin, his expression reassuring. “Of course not,
sweetheart. I'll make sure they know that Kookie can stay.”

Oh, thank fuck.

“Yah, Jungkookie!” MJ hollers, having moved to perch on the bottom rail of Moonbin’s bed,
offering stylistic input to the bouquet that Sanha and Rocky are assembling in Binnie’s bandaged
foot. “Come sit for me, bunny boy, I gotta make you look like a queen.”

Jungkook laughs, ducking forward to give Namjoon and JB a quick hug and kiss Tae in thanks,
before hurrying to join JinJin’s pack, his heart feeling a thousand times lighter than it has all
evening.

Astro's Moonbin is sadly still on hiatus while his health recovers, but he absolutely SLAYED in
the MV for Astro's latest comeback, 'Blue Flame', which you can watch here.

It's legitimately my favourite song of 2019, and as a bonus the visuals are incredible!

Chapter End Notes

Apologies for the late update, my lovelies! My laptop hates me and decided to die 5
days ago, much to my horror and immediate panic. But all is not lost! Thank god for
tech-savvy siblings!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, this one's been a long time in the making. Congrats to
those who already guessed the twist about Tae's past from earlier hints!

I realised it was a pretty heavy scene there between Tae and Kookie, so I had to throw
in a good dose of pack-bonding fluff at the end, for my sake as much as yours.
Jungkookie is as much a protective hyung as JB and Namjoon, and nobody is
separating him from his kitten until he's good and ready. :P

As always, I love to hear your thoughts! Take care, fam.

 The Separation
Chapter Summary

Binnie is finally out of hospital, but sadly home isn't an option in his present condition.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

“Ready to go?” Yugyeom asks cheerfully, a box of books tucked under one arm as he pauses in the
doorway to the bedroom. “I’ve got all your school stuff, Bin. That was everything we needed from
the living room, right?”

Jungkook hums an affirmative, quickly glancing around the room for any important knickknacks
he might have missed in his hasty packing session, before peering back down into the duffel bag
he’s left open on Moonbin’s bed, double checking that all of the werecat’s toiletries are present and
accounted for.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to pack your shampoo?” Jungkook asks, glancing towards his
roommate. “You know how sensitive your skin gets whenever you switch to a different product.”

Moonbin shakes his head, shifting to a more comfortable position in his seat on the edge of
Jungkook’s bed, hugging the elder’s pillow to his chest. His crutches are propped up against the
headboard a few feet away, right leg resting on a stool in front of him, encased in a cast from mid-
thigh to toes.

It had taken several hours and a full pack of multi-coloured permanent markers (curtesy of MJ,
because apparently the Fae could pull both flowers and craft supplies out of thin air as required) for
Jungkook to turn the white plaster cast into a work of art, but it had all been worth it to see the
delighted grin on Moonbin’s face once the project was complete. Bin has already voiced a desire to
get the cast framed after its removal…Jungkook doesn’t have the heart to tell him that the hospital
might not let him keep it for health and safety reasons. Although he imagines Namjoon could
probably pull a few strings to make that happen; the healer had been pretty laidback about a lot of
the hospital’s rules and regulations (particularly visiting hours), and he’s clearly developed a
fondness for the werecat over the past couple of days (much to Jungkook’s satisfaction). He’s
confident that the vampire will be able to find a way to ensure that Binnie gets to keep his cast.

“Sanha uses the same shampoo as me,” the werecat explains, idly rubbing his cheek against the
pillow in his arms. “He said it’d be easier if we just shared while I’m staying over.”

“Makes sense,” Eunwoo agrees as he appears in the doorway beside Yugyeom, arms laden with
several multipacks of Nesquik cartons (from the crate of chocolate milk that Jungkook had bought
for Bin earlier in the week, right after his financial situation had radically improved). “Both of the
bathrooms have plenty of shelf space, but MJ-hyung’s plants have a tendency to take up most of it.
The vines are good at holding stuff though, if you ask nicely.”
Moonbin cracks a smile, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes, and Jungkook feels a familiar pang of
worry in his chest when he sees it. The werecat has recovered remarkably well from his injuries
over the past two days, the awful bruising and swelling around his eye socket and down the side of
his face having faded almost to nothingness, and Namjoon had promised that the stitches along his
temple and above his eyebrow could be removed tomorrow during his home visit. Visibly,
Moonbin his looking a hundred times better than he had done that first night in the hospital, but his
broken leg and cracked ribs are undoubtedly still causing him discomfort, especially now that he’s
stopped taking the stronger painkillers.

To be honest, the kitten really hasn’t been himself all morning, unusually quiet and subdued from
the moment he was discharged from the hospital.

“Anything else you wanna take, Binnie?” Jungkook asks, keeping his voice light despite his
troubled thoughts. He shoots the cat a fond, teasing smile. “My pillow, maybe?”

The younger man glances down at the pillow he’s been subconsciously nuzzling against,
expression uncharacteristically pensive.

“No,” his roommate mumbles, his shoulders drooping visibly as he hugs the pillow tighter. “I
wanna take you with me…”

Jungkook’s heart clenches. He silently regards the pouting werecat for a moment, before glancing
towards the two figures still lingering in the doorway, offering them a wincing smile.

“Could you guys maybe give us a minute?”

Yugyeom nods without question and turns to leave, casually tugging a concerned-looking Eunwoo
by the hood of his jacket to urge the vampire to follow. Eunwoo has been particularly attentive to
Moonbin’s needs while the cat has been bedridden in hospital, clearly still keyed up after seeing his
bondmate involved in a hit-and-run, so it’s little wonder he’s so reactive to Moonbin’s sudden
despondency. It is very out of character for the werecat to be sullen like this.

“We’ll be in the car if you want anything,” Yugyeom assures him, ushering Eunwoo out into the
hallway. “Take as long as you need, I’m sure JB-hyung won’t mind the wait.”

The bedroom door shuts behind them quietly, but Jungkook waits until he hears the soft click of the
front door closing before moving to sit on the edge of his bed beside Moonbin, sliding an arm
around the werecat’s shoulders in a comforting side-hug.

“Binnie-” he begins gently.

“Why can’t I just stay here with you?” the werecat interrupts, voice a soft, imploring sort of whine.
“I’m really tired, hyung. I just wanna be home.”

Chest aching with both guilt and sympathy, Jungkook rests his cheek against Moonbin’s soft hair
and cuddles him closer, letting the younger man lean into him.

“You know why, kitkat,” he murmurs. “The apartment’s too small, it’ll be super difficult to
navigate on crutches. And the elevator might be working today, but we both know it’ll be broken
again before the end of the week, and then what? We live on the fourth floor, Bin. You can’t hop
up and down all those stairs every day – it isn’t safe.”

“I could do it,” Moonbin argues plaintively. “I’m really good with stairs, the physio said so.”

“Yeah, you’re pretty capable on those crutches,” Jungkook acknowledges warmly, giving the
werecat a gentle squeeze. “But it takes a lot of effort, and you’re supposed to be resting. Namjoon-
hyung said your rib fractures and all the deep-tissue bruising would take a little longer to heal. You
shouldn’t push yourself.”

“But I feel fine,” the younger man gripes, although his tone sounds more petulant than angry as he
pulls back from the hug to fix the elder with his most sincere expression. “My leg doesn’t even hurt
all that much anymore, and my ribs only twinge if I move too fast. What if I promised to be super
careful on the stairs?”

Jungkook sighs, reaching up with his free hand to carefully fix the werecat’s fringe.

“There’s a lot of stairs,” he reiterates, trying not to be swayed by the younger man’s doe-eyed look.
“It just isn’t a good idea, kitten. None of us want to run the risk of you tripping up and hurting
yourself, not when we’ve only just got you out of hospital. All the doctors wanted to keep you in
another night as it is, but Joonie-hyung talked them round…on the condition that you spend the
next couple of days recuperating.”

The werecat wilts in defeat.

“JinJin-hyung’s got that big, open-plan apartment on the ground floor,” Jungkook continues softly.
“It’s perfect, you won’t have to use the stairs at all. He’s setting up a bed for you in the living
room, so you’ll be able to hang out with the pack and watch TV without moving a muscle.”

Moonbin continues to sulk, lips downturned as he leans back into the elder’s side-hug with a
despondent sigh.

Jungkook frets internally at his roommate’s unhappiness, dropping a kiss against the cat’s hair as
he hugs him as tightly as he dares, mindful of Binnie’s still-healing injuries.

“You’re gonna be able to spend more time with the pack,” he murmurs softly. “I know you don’t
get to see them as often as you’d like. I know for a fact that Rocky’s already got a whole week of
meals planned out for you, man – you’re gonna eat like a king. And Sanha’s even taking time off
work to stay home with you, which he never does – I swear the kid lives at Euphoria most days.
You’ll have the whole pack there to keep you company and wait on you hand and foot, it’ll be
awesome.” He rubs his cheek against the werecat’s hair. “I thought you’d be excited.”

If there was one thing Jungkook has learned over the past couple of days, it’s that Moonbin is very
much in love with all of Eunwoo’s packmates. Under their care and attention at the hospital, the
werecat had preened with satisfaction, and seeing JinJin and MJ dote on Moonbin so tenderly had
completely reassured Jungkook that his kitten would be well looked after whenever he finally
chose to leave the proverbial nest. And honestly? He’s glad. Binnie deserves the best, and JinJin’s
pack certainly seems to qualify.

“I am excited,” Moonbin answers, sounding anything but. “It’s just…I don’t like leaving you here
all on your own. I wish you could come with me, hyung. I’m sure the guys wouldn’t mind,
honest.”

Jungkook winces at that. In truth, Jinwoo had extended an invitation for him to stay over at the
Park-den while Binnie was still recuperating, but Jungkook had politely declined. It’s not that he
doesn’t want to watch over his kitten for the duration of his recovery, and it’s not that he doesn’t
get along with JinJin’s pack (they’re all lovely), but despite their cheery warmth and welcoming
nature, during these past two days he’s sometimes felt as though he’s been getting in the way of
them forming a closer relationship with Moonbin. The werecat legitimately needs quality time
away from Jungkook, time to spend in private with his future packmates so that those bonds can
properly develop. Binnie might not enjoy the thought of being away from home without him, but
Jungkook knows his roommate – as soon as Bin arrives at JinJin’s den and finds himself
surrounded by the dog hybrid’s sweet-natured, cuddly packmates, he’ll forget all about being
homesick.

Not to mention, Jungkook isn’t sure how much longer he can last on minimal sleep. He’s managed
to get an hour or two of shut-eye in sporadic bursts over the past couple of days, but as often tends
to be the case in unfamiliar environments, his brain just hadn’t been able to switch off enough for
him to sleep properly. He’d seriously envied JinJin’s pack and their effortless ability to just curl up
around each other and doze off in the blink of an eye.

Seokjin had definitely noticed Jungkook’s fatigue earlier that morning, tugging him aside after
breakfast to frame his face between gentle hands, thumbs carefully tracing the bags under his eyes.
If Namjoon hadn’t appeared at that very moment with Moonbin’s discharge papers, Jungkook has a
feeling he would’ve been in for an interrogation.

So to some extent, choosing to stay home rather than go to JinJin’s den with Binnie (however
much the separation pains him) is partly for his own good, too.

And it’s not like they won’t be seeing each other every day. Jungkook plans to visit the pack
tomorrow for dinner (at Rocky’s insistence), and Binnie should be well enough to resume his
university classes on Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest, so they can still eat lunch together with
Yugyeom as per tradition. And Namjoon has signed Binnie off on sick-leave from his job at the
coffee shop, so with Jungkook having drastically cut down his own part-time hours already, they’ll
be able to spend the afternoons together too – at least for a little while, if he isn’t knee-deep in
study material.

He’s certainly not abandoning his kitten, he’s just…reluctantly relinquishing custody of him to
JinJin for a little while, until there’s a slightly smaller risk of Binnie injuring himself going up and
down the stairs.

“It’s only for a week or so,” he cajoles, mussing up the werecat’s hair, mindful of the stitches near
his temple. “Joonie-hyung said the cast wouldn’t need to stay on any longer than that. You’ll be
back home before you know it.”

Moonbin’s pout morphs into a faintly worried frown. “But who’s gonna look after you while I’m
gone? I know you, hyung. You never go to bed on time, you work way too much, you’ll sleep
through your alarm, you’ll forget to eat-”

“Yah,” Jungkook protests with a laugh. “I’m not that hopeless.”

His roommate gives him a look.

“I promise I’ll eat three square meals a day,” Jungkook reassures him. “And aside from my shift
this afternoon, I won’t be back at Euphoria until next weekend. Wonho-hyung even offered to
cancel today’s shift, but I didn’t wanna leave the team short. Six hours at work and that’s it, okay?
I’m not gonna pick up any extras. You don’t need to worry about me.”

Moonbin still doesn’t look convinced. “That big paper’s due soon, right? Assignments always
stress you out so much, and you won’t have me at home to drag you to bed when you lose track of
time.”

Jungkook feels that familiar sickly lurch in his stomach at the reminder of the unwritten essay he’s
supposed to be submitting in eight days. That’s another reason he’d been unable to sleep in the
hospital – knowing that every hour he spent there brought him closer and closer to that deadline.
With everything that’s happened lately (meeting the coven, falling in love, going out on dates,
spending time at the nest, and most recently Binnie’s accident), his study schedule had fallen by
the wayside, and now he’s all too aware of just how screwed he is. Other than setting out a rough
plan for his essay and listing down a few sources, he’s done absolutely nothing; he hasn’t even
written the goddamn introduction. And that reality is fucking terrifying.

He normally likes to have assignments completed well in advance (previously a necessity, because
his sporadic dayshift/nightshift schedule just wasn’t conducive to last-minute cramming), so to be
this close to the deadline with nothing to show for it is already making him anxious. Yet another
reason why he’d politely declined JinJin’s offer; he genuinely can’t spare the time – he’s got a
paper to write.

“Do I look stressed to you?” he returns with an easy grin, determined to convince his roommate
that all is well. Moonbin’s still recovering from his injuries, the last thing Jungkook wants is for
the werecat to be worrying about him when he’s supposed to be resting. “Now that I’ve cut my
hours at Euphoria, I feel a hundred percent calmer about getting schoolwork finished on time. I
don’t have to pull all-nighters like I used to.”

It isn’t a total lie. He does feel less stressed than he used to do when he was still juggling two jobs
on minimal sleep and trying to stay on top of his studies.

But only marginally less stressed.

He just hates everything about his business and economics degree with a passion, and knowing that
every assignment and exam and presentation poses a threat to his overall grade (and university
scholarship) just terrifies him. It always has, and probably always will. Seriously, fuck his life.

“I guess…if you’re sure,” Moonbin murmurs hesitantly, still looking a little doubtful despite
Jungkook’s forced cheer. “But you’ll tell me, right? If it gets too much again? You’ll call me, or
call one of the hyungs?”

Jungkook nods, already knowing in his heart of hearts that he probably won’t.

“Pinky romise?” Moonbin holds up his pinky finger.

Huffing a fond laugh, Jungkook curls his own around the digit. “Pinky promise.”

And just like that, the werecat brightens visibly, leaning in to plant a noisy mwah of a smooch
against Jungkook’s cheek.

“I’m hungry,” Moonbin announces, back to his usual self again, leaning over with only a very
slight wince to grab his crutches from their resting place by the headboard. “Gyeomie said
Jinyoung-hyung hid some snacks in the car, let’s go before he eats them all.”

Jungkook helps him up with a laugh. “Whatever you want, kitten.”

Chapter End Notes

Kookie wants what's best for Moonbin, but we all know he's setting himself up for a
crisis here. Thankfully Binnie and Yugyeom aren't his only lifelines any more - the
hyungs won't let things get too bad for our poor stressed bun.

Wishing you all the very best of the festive season! Enjoy your holidays, I'll be back
again in the New Year. :)
 Downward Spiral
Chapter Summary

Between homesickness for his absent roommate and an inability to concentrate on his
studies, Jungkook really isn't coping well on his own, and it's starting to show. Hiding
his mental struggles from the people he loves turns out to be a lot harder than he'd
anticipated.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Jungkook’s always been so good at turning down invitations.

Back when he was still juggling two part-time jobs, uni work, his art classes and dance practice,
there genuinely hadn’t been enough time for anything else in his weekly calendar, so excusing
himself from social events had been a necessity simply because he couldn’t be in two places at
once. Sure, he’d often felt guilty for saying no (because if there was one thing in the world
Jungkook truly hated, it was disappointing his friends), but with no other feasible option, it had
always been a relatively easy answer to give.

Now that Jungkook has drastically cut down his working hours and does have ample free time after
school, saying no has suddenly become a whole lot harder…even with a big essay deadline
looming on the horizon.

“You wanna come over for dinner after practice tomorrow?” Rocky asks him on Sunday evening,
shoulder braced against the wall in a casual slouch as he watches Jungkook lace up his new
Magnanni boots (a surprise gift from Hoseok earlier that day – the vampire has impeccable taste in
footwear). “I’m gonna make tteokbokki.”

“With cheese?” Moonbin asks hopefully from his semi-reclined position in the centre of makeshift
sickbed that’s been set up in the living room (essentially a giant nest of roll-out mattresses, pillows
and blankets).

Bin’s gaze is still fixed on the giant flatscreen TV as his Mario Kart character races towards the
finish line, the werecat playfully bumping elbows with Eunwoo and giggling when the sneaky act
of sabotage makes the vampire’s character swerve off-road sharply.

“Lots of cheese,” Sanha seconds. A second later, the bunny throws both arms up in the air with a
cheer as his own character zooms over the finish line in first place. MJ gives an exaggerated cry of
dismay and lobs a pillow at the hybrid in retaliation, Sanha laughing as he ducks away to hide
behind Moonbin.

Rocky rolls his eyes at his packmates with an indulgent grin.

“I guess we’re having it with cheese,” the dancer confirms wryly, turning back to Jungkook as the
elder straightens up from tying his laces. “You in, hyung?”
Say no. Say no.

“Thanks, but I wouldn’t want to intrude,” Jungkook tries to decline, although it lacks conviction.

“You won’t be,” Rocky reassures him. “We all love having you over. Yugyeom-hyung’s coming
too, if that makes you feel any better – he’s been badgering me to cook for him all semester, and
now’s as good a time as any with Bin-hyung staying over.”

“Binnie won’t be in school tomorrow,” JinJin adds quietly, appearing at Jungkook’s elbow to help
him into his jacket. The dog hybrid has been particularly attentive towards him these past few
days, probably an offset of having an injured packmate to nurture around the clock. “We figured
the two of you might wanna hang out for a while, even if it’s only for dinner. No pressure,
though.”

He really should decline. Jungkook’s already made arrangements with Taehyung and Jimin to
check out the new 3D art exhibition in town tomorrow afternoon, which will inevitably eat up all
of his free time between school and dance practice. Monday evening was supposed to be his first
real chance to start working on his essay (because so far this weekend he’s done fuck all, too busy
worrying about his absent roommate to concentrate on anything for more than a few minutes), but
how is he supposed to turn down an invitation to spend more time with Binnie? Especially since he
otherwise won’t get to see his roommate at all tomorrow.

“It’s okay if you’re busy, hyung,” Moonbin pipes up, interrupting Jungkook’s internal crisis of
conscience. “We can still see each other on Tuesday, right?”

And although Bin’s smile is easy and nonplussed and probably convinces the rest of the pack,
Jungkook can tell that the werecat is trying to hide his disappointment. They haven’t been
separated for more than twelve hours since the day they first moved in together, and two days is
going to feel like forever – Binnie clearly isn’t a fan of the idea. Which, to be honest, is all the
motivation Jungkook needs to shove his worries about schoolwork aside and simply focus on what
will make his kitten happy.

“I should be free tomorrow night,” he says in as casual a tone as he can muster, trying to ignore the
immediate stab of regret that punches him in the gut (he’s essentially just doomed himself to a late-
night panic session tomorrow evening when he returns home and realises how much work he still
has left to do, but hey, that’s a problem for future Jungkook). “Sure, I’d love to come.”

Moonbin gives a whoop in celebration, punching the air enthusiastically, only to grimace in
discomfort a microsecond later when the sudden movement pulls on his injuries.

Before Jungkook can even take a step towards him, the rest of the pack have clustered around Bin,
Eunwoo’s hands fluttering over the werecat’s torso fretfully as MJ and JinJin fuss over him with
gentle reproofs. Rocky slips behind the werecat to plump up his pillows and rub Moonbin’s
shoulders as Sanha hugs the offending arm to his chest, clearly determined to prevent him from
moving it again so suddenly.

“Guys, I’m fine, it’s nothing,” Moonbin protests with a laugh, but he nestles into the impromptu
pack-cuddle all the same, a teeny-tiny pleased grin curling at his lips.

And Jungkook smiles warmly at the sight, that slither of regret quickly vanishing.

Seeing Binnie happy tomorrow will definitely be worth the added essay-stress. Besides, it’s only
dinner – it’s not like he’s staying the night. Dance practice is usually over by seven-thirty, so he
can stop by at the Parks for a quick bite to eat and a cuddle with Bin, and still be home in plenty of
time to work on his paper for a few hours. No sweat.

“You look tired, hon,” Jimin murmurs, catching him off-guard. “You having trouble sleeping?”

Jungkook glances away from the intricate glass sculpture he’s been staring at for god knows how
long (fuck, he needs to stop spacing out like this), gaze seeking out Taehyung to make sure he isn’t
close enough to overhear their conversation. Ever since the fledgling vampire’s panic attack at the
hospital last week, Jungkook has felt increasingly more protective of his bondmate. Tae already
worries about him more than he needs to, and the last thing Jungkook wants to do is add to that.

“It’s just a little weird being home without Binnie,” he admits, matching Jimin’s quiet tone when
he spots Taehyung admiring a light refraction piece on the other side of the showroom, out of
earshot. “I’m not used to it being so quiet, y’know?”

It isn’t a complete lie.

Sure, he’d stayed up well into the early hours of the morning desperately trying to find relevant
source material to support his essay (after finally deciding on a suitable framework for his
analysis), but he’d gone to bed eventually. It’s hard to sleep, though, in the stillness of his bedroom
with only his thoughts for company. It had taken him forever to fall asleep, but whether that was
because he misses Binnie’s familiar presence or because his brain won’t shut up about all the
research he still needs to do, he can’t say for sure.

Waking up when his alarm went off for school this morning had been tough, though. Especially
since it no longer comes with a side-order of sleepy werecat snuggles. God, he really misses
morning cuddles.

Jimin’s soft hand slips into his own, squeezing gently. “You’re more than welcome to crash at the
nest if you’re feeling lonely, bun. Hell, Jin-hyung would love that, he already has a room set up for
you and everything.”

Jungkook feels his face warm a little, a pleased flush rising to his cheeks at the thought of Seokjin
setting up a space in the nest just for him on the off-chance that he might decide to stay over.

And god, the offer’s tempting. It’s so fucking tempting.

Living without Binnie these past few days has really made him realise just how dependent he is on
the tactile affection and casual intimacy they share with each other. Not just the cuddling, but the
tiny caresses, the playful pokes, the sleepy nuzzles, the tickle-attacks…bumping elbows and
touching hands as they wash and dry dishes together, curling up practically in each other’s laps on
their tiny couch while they eat dinner. God, he misses those little moments so much it hurts. And
he knows he can’t help feeling that way – human needs aside, his hybrid physiology makes him
crave companionship and the closeness of others. But he still feels a little pathetic knowing just
how quickly that homesickness has taken root. Like seriously, it hasn’t even been three days yet,
why can’t he just pull himself together? Ugh.

Staying overnight at the nest sounds like an absolute dream, but right now it really isn’t an option,
not with an unwritten essay and several long hours of research waiting for him at home. He’d never
be able to concentrate on his studies with the coven nearby, and he very much doubts any of the
hyungs would allow him to stay up as late as he needs to; especially Jin and Namjoon. He’d never
be able to do the work sneakily either, not with Yoongi around.

And the last thing he wants to do is let slip just how fucking stressed he gets over his studies – it
really isn’t something they need to be made aware of, they worry about him enough as it is. He
knows Eunwoo’s told the coven that he’s a straight-A student (which he is, just with massive
anxiety issues and a deep-set loathing for the business degree he’s studying), and he’d much rather
maintain that sparkling image of a Good Student than have Tae and the others worrying about his
mental health as he inevitably falls apart over another stupid essay.

“It’s not so bad,” he reassures the vampire, trying his best to feel the easy confidence he’s
projecting in his voice so that it transmits across the bond. “And it’s only for another week or so.
Besides, I don’t really sleep all that well in new places, I’m probably better off staying home.”

Jimin squeezes his hand again. “Whatever works best for you, hon. But if you want, one of us
could always come and stay the night with you. TaeTae needs his sleep, but the rest of us are
available. Hobi-hyung and Yoongi-hyung sleep on alternate days, Joon-hyung only sleeps at the
weekend, Jin-hyung closes his eyes maybe twice a month, and I only need a couple of hours a
night, so we’d all be happy to keep you company if it gets too quiet. Fair warning though, Jin-
hyung will probably end up alphabetising all your cupboards and building you a balcony or
something.”

Laughing, mostly because he can easily picture that happening, Jungkook shakes his head. “I’ll be
fine, hyung,” he promises. “Gyeomie and I are gonna head to the Parks tonight after dance
practice, so I won’t be short on company. And if the apartment gets too quiet, I can just put on
some music or something. Yoongi-hyung sent me this ten-hour nature ambience track, he’s got me
covered.”

The Seer hasn’t made it obvious that he’s aware of Jungkook’s current insomnia troubles, but the
link to the audio file had been messaged to him with a nondescript “just in case you need it, bun”,
so he probably knows everything.

“Okay,” Jimin relents easily, leaning in to brush tender a kiss against his cheek, and Jungkook
smiles shyly at the gentle peck.

The one and only positive thing to have risen from the ashes of the whole car
accident/hospitalisation nightmare is his developing relationship with Taehyung’s nestmates. The
coven had spent a lot of time with him during Binnie’s stay in the recovery suite, seeming to take it
in turns to coax him out of the room whenever Bin was napping, inviting him for a stroll in the
meditation gardens or coaxing him into eating something. And when Bin was awake, one or more
of them was always nearby, giving the Park and Im packs space but still present, always ready with
a warm smile and a gentle look whenever Jungkook glanced their way.

Sharing physical affection with the coven certainly comes a lot easier to him now, and thankfully
with a lot less blushing on his part. It’s still a fairly new and tentative development with Hoseok
(they haven’t kissed properly yet, although Jungkook’s been thinking about it a lot these past few
days), and with Yoongi he feels like things remain more platonic than romantic. He’s hopeful that
might change in the future, though.

Yoongi had softly booped him on the nose when they said goodbye yesterday afternoon, and
reassured Jungkook that he didn’t need to rush into anything until he felt comfortable (thus
confirming that the Seer was perhaps the most patient and unhurried person that Jungkook has ever
met in his entire life). It’s nice, though – knowing that Yoongi is aware of his feelings, reciprocates
them, and is still willing to wait until Jungkook is ready before initiating anything.

Not that he’s complaining about being courted by Taehyung, Jimin and Hoseok all at once…even
if the thought of their combined affection sometimes makes him feel a little weak-kneed. Seriously,
two weeks ago he was single and longing to mingle, and now he has a ton of doting boyfriends, like
what the fuck?

“Kookie!” Taehyung comes skipping back over to them with a bright smile, wrapping an arm
around Jungkook’s waist as he holds up his phone to show them. “Hobi-hyung wants to know if
you’d like to go on a date to the aquarium with us tomorrow afternoon.”

“Should’ve guessed that’d be his first choice,” Jimin laughs, squeezing Jungkook’s hand again as
he elaborates, “Hyung loves the aquarium, he’s there at least once a week…usually overnight
when it’s closed to the public. He’s one of the primary sponsors of their marine conservation
programme, so he gets to be a little more flexible when it comes to visiting hours. He says fish
are…what was it again?”

“Emotionally uncomplicated,” Taehyung supplies with a smile. “Hobi-hyung mostly goes there to
meditate, but he’s also super nerdy about marine biology, he’s like a walking textbook. And he’s
given a name to just about every damn fish in the aquarium, it’s so cute.”

Oh, that does sound cute. That sounds super cute. And Jungkook wants nothing more than to watch
Hoseok coo over tropical fish, but fuck, if he doesn’t say no then he’ll lose out on another
afternoon of study-time.

“We can go for dinner afterwards and drop you off at your art class,” Jimin suggests temptingly.
“You like Italian, right? There’s this great place near your art school.”

“Ooh, that little restaurant Jin-hyung likes, down by the cat café?” Taehyung chips in. “Kookie,
you’re gonna love it there, the décor is so cute and they play live music during dinner service. Oh,
and the gelato, holy shit, you’ll definitely wanna leave room for dessert.” He leans in to kiss
Jungkook’s cheek, smiling keenly. “Can we take you out, babe? Please?”

Fuck.

Fuckity fuck, damn his weak-ass heart.

“Sure,” he agrees, resigned to forever being a total pushover when it comes to the Kim coven and
cute dates. “Sounds awesome.”
 …

Honestly, his study plans for Monday evening would’ve worked out just fine if he had stayed at
the Parks only for dinner.

Unfortunately, someone had made the mistake of suggesting that they watch something on TV
while they ate, and one horror movie had then become two, and Jungkook was having such a good
time stuffing himself with tteokbokki (or ‘Rocky-bokki’ as MJ had dubbed it, much to the chef’s
chagrin) and laughing at the adorable way Sanha would burrow into his side with a startled squeak
at every jump-scare, he hadn’t even noticed the hours slipping by until his phone started lighting
up with worried texts from Jaebum.

Alpha: Cub, Yugyeom isn’t answering his phone.

Alpha: Please tell me he’s with you.

Alpha: You two were having dinner at the Parks, right? Is he still there? Or did he come home
with you?

“Gyeomie, is your phone turned off?” he asks, shooting JB a quick text to reassure him that
Yugyeom is safe and sound. It’s only then that he notices the time, swearing hoarsely and almost
dropping his phone in surprise.

“Language,” JinJin chides automatically, fingers carding through Rocky’s hair where the younger
man reclines against his chest, half-asleep. The pack-leader rolls his head to the side to glance over
at Jungkook. “What’s wrong, bun?”

“It’s already gone midnight,” Jungkook half-laughs (because it’s a much better option than giving
into that feeling of oh-fuck-I-should-be-studying-right-now that’s threatening to close his throat
up). His phone buzzes again, and he glances down at it briefly before wincing. “Uh, Yugy? It’s JB-
hyung. I think you might be in trouble, dude.”

The look of sheer panic on Yugyeom’s face would be hilarious in any other situation, but
Jungkook’s already feeling his own stress-levels creeping up (a whole evening of essay-writing
lost, fuck). He watches somewhat numbly as the werewolf almost trips over his own feet
clambering out of Bin’s makeshift nest to stumble across the room to his backpack. He pulls out
his cell phone, pausing a few seconds as he switches it on, before blanching a moment later at
however many messages and missed calls he apparently discovers there.

“Oh god,” Yugyeom bemoans. “I forgot to switch it on after we left the studio. Fuck, hyung’s
gonna kill me. Kookie, c’mon, we gotta run.”

“Are you planning on leaving the country?” Eunwoo teases, an amused smile curling at his lips.
“Not sure if that’s gonna work out for you, hon; Mark-hyung has connections oversees.”

Yugyeom pulls a face at the vampire, but his expression transitions right back to dread again when
his phone suddenly dings. Jungkook’s own device buzzes a few moments later and he glances
down at it to read the message.

Alpha: We’re on our way. Hang tight and we’ll give you a ride home, I don’t want you taking the
bus at this hour.

Alpha: And if Yuygeom tries to leave, sit on him.

The werewolf in question has sulked back over to the nest, dropping down onto the pillows beside
Jinwoo with an aggrieved whine. The elder valiantly trying to suppress a smile as he wraps a
comforting arm around the pup’s shoulders.

“Your Alpha’s on his way, huh?” JinJin sympathises. “Sorry we kept you so late, pup. If I’d
known you had a curfew, I would’ve set an alarm to get you home on time.”

Yugyeom sighs in defeat. “Hyung’s pretty flexible about my curfew, but I’m supposed to warn him
if I’m running late. I should’ve messaged him after dinner, I totally lost track of time.”

“Me too,” Jungkook shifts his position carefully, not wanting to disturb Sanha who seems to have
fallen asleep against him, fluffy bunny ears tucked into the hood of his cute bumblebee onesie.
“I’m sure JB-hyung will understand. He’s probably more worried than mad.”

“But you did forget to turn your phone back on,” Moonbin adds wincingly. “Can’t imagine he’s too
happy about that, dude. Isn’t that, like, pack safety rule number one?”

“Shit,” Yugyeom groans and buries his head in JinJin’s shoulder. “My ass is history.”

“You know I don’t mind you coming home late, cub,” Jaebum lectures from the front passenger
seat, watching Yugyeom in the rear-view mirror. The Alpha’s spirit-guide is perched on his
shoulder, the tiny white bird silently supervising the two maknaes in the backseat. “Your curfew’s
always been negotiable within reason. But you need to tell me in advance, both for your safety and
my sanity. You can’t just drop off the radar without a word.”

Yugyeom is slouching in his seat, arms crossed over his chest and bottom lip jutting out ever so
slightly.

Even though Jungkook sympathises with him (because he’s been in Yugyeom’s shoes more times
than he can count, and getting scolded by JB isn’t fun at all), it’s hard to fight back a smile at the
sight of his tall, broad-shouldered hunk of muscle of a best friend quietly sulking beside him. The
wolf’s so fucking cute sometimes.

“We’ve gone over cell phone rules at least hundred times, kiddo,” Mark adds from the driver’s
seat, his gaze still fixed on the road. “If you have to turn it off for class, you turn it back on again
as soon as you’re out. We need to be able to contact you if something happens.”

“Geez, you make it sound like I did it on purpose,” Yugyeom gripes, and Jungkook winces at the
petulant defensiveness in his voice. Ahgase’s pale white feathers puff up, and he can tell without
looking that JB’s probably doing the jaw thing.

Ohh, bad move.

And there it is – The Pause. Jungkook hates The Pause, and even though he’s not the one in
trouble, it’s still powerful enough to give him second-hand butterflies, the uncomfortable squirmy
feeling making him want to apologise on his idiot best friend’s behalf, because seriously, back-
talking Mark and JB when they’re already displeased is just ten kinds of dumb.

“You wanna try that again, pup?” Jaebum asks calmly. Far too calmly.

Yugyeom wisely hunkers down in his seat, keeping his mouth shut.

“We know you didn’t mean to leave your phone switched off,” the Alpha continues sternly after
another squirm-inducing pause. “We’re not suggesting you did it deliberately, cub. But you got out
of dance practice over four hours ago – if you’d already decided to stay with the Parks for a little
while after dinner, you should’ve touched base with one of us first. You know that, we’ve been
over this before. You don’t need my permission to spend time with your friends, but I need to know
that you’re safe.”

Mark nods in agreement, his fingers clenching tighter around the steering wheel. “Especially after
what happened the other day, kid. The last time our calls went through to voicemail, it was because
you and Binnie had been in a hit-and-run. We can’t…you…“ The waver in his voice is faint, but
noticeable. “Damnit, pup, you really scared us tonight.”

Jaebum reaches over to settle his hand over Mark’s nape comfortingly, Ahgase using his arm as a
bridge to hop across and settle herself on the the Beta's shoulder instead, bumping up against his
cheek.

“Hyung, I…I’m really sorry,” Yugyeom murmurs, now emanating guilt as he leans forward as far
as the seatbelt will allow. “I should’ve messaged you guys sooner, I was being dumb, I just…I
didn’t think-”

“You didn’t think,” JB agrees, his tone softening again, clearly sensing his cub’s remorsefulness.
“That’s something we’re gonna have to work on, puppy. But thank you for apologising.”

Ahgase swoops down from Mark’s shoulder with a flutter of her small wings, the spirit guide
landing on Yugyeom’s knee and giving a demanding peep. The maknae opens his palm for her to
hop into, lifting the teeny-tiny bird to eye-level.

“Sorry,” he repeats quietly. “Don’t be mad at me. Please?”

“We’re not mad at you, baby,” Mark reassures, his voice stable again. “We just want you safe.
Well, maybe Ahgase’s a little mad, but you know she hates it when you miss curfew.”

The Im-pack’s spirit guide is every bit as protective as their Alpha – Jungkook’s been pecked
sharply on the head more than once for some minor mischief or other. But like JB, she has a soft
spot for the pack’s youngest members, and she never seems to hold grudges for long.

After staring at Yugyeom for another long moment, Ahgase jabs her beak against the pad of
Yugyeom’s thumb (far more lightly than he probably deserves, in all honesty, but then Gyeomie’s
always been her favourite) before turning to flutter back over to her previous perch on JB’s
shoulder, nestling into the hood of his jacket.

“Am I still in trouble?” Yugyeom asks tentatively.

“Mm-hm,” Jaebum hums, but he sends his maknae a gentle smile in the rear-view mirror. “But
we’ll talk about it more when we get home, okay?”

Yugyeom nods, subdued.

The car slows to a stop, and Jungkook blinks when he recognises the apartment block outside the
window as his own. Unfastening his safety belt, he scoots across the backseat to wrap himself
around Yugyeom in a tight, comforting hug. The wolf melts into it immediately, returning the
hybrid’s affectionate nuzzle.

“See you tomorrow,” Jungkook murmurs, rubbing noses with the wolf and gripping his hand in
solidarity. “Hang in there, dude.”

Then he squeezes himself between the two front seats to receive his obligatory goodbye nuzzles
from JB and Mark (and a parting chirp from Ahgase), giving the Alpha his sweetest smile as he
pulls away from the elder’s hug.

“You’re not gonna kill him, right?”

Jaebum’s lips curl into a fondly amused smile, his gaze flickering up to check on his errant maknae
in the rear-view mirror.

“Only a little bit,” the Alpha replies, holding his thumb and index finger scarcely a centimetre
apart. “Can’t make any promises for the others, though. You know how Jinyoungie gets when he’s
worried.”

Indeed he does. Poor Yugyeom.

“Do you need a ride to campus tomorrow?” Mark asks, as Jungkook shoots his best friend a final
sympathetic wince and turns to exit the car. “I’m not due at the station until mid-morning, want me
to swing by and pick you up?”

A lift to school isn’t usually something he’d turn down, but Jungkook’s very much aware of the
long, long night of essay research he has ahead of him, and knows that come morning (before his
first cup of coffee) he’s probably going to look like shit. If Mark or any of the Im-pack see him like
that, it’ll raise far too many red flags, and he doesn’t know if he’ll have the heart to lie to their
faces about his imminent essay crisis. Hiding it from the Kim coven is going to be hard enough
already, he’d rather just avoid any situation where his wellbeing might be called into question.

“I actually have a couple of errands to run before my first class,” he lies, and fuck, he hates how
easily it comes. He doesn’t like being dishonest with the pack, but it’s a necessary evil. “Thanks
anyway, hyung.”

Mark waves away the gratitude. “No worries. Text me if you change your mind, okay?”

“Sleep well, bun,” JB calls after him, and Jungkook winces as he shuts the car door, a strained
smile in place as he waves after the departing vehicle.

Right. Sleep.

Not gonna happen.

Jungkook’s never been to Seoul Aquarium before.

“It’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be,” he admits, as they step through a walkway into
another spacious room full of beautiful aquatic exhibits.

“We’ve been working on expanding our marine conservation program,” Hoseok tells him
cheerfully, lightly swinging their joined hands. “Public education is a big part of that, so the
aquarium’s basically quadrupled in size over the past decade or so. We do a lot of youth outreach
programs too – trying to get kids more actively involved in the conservation effort. The education
suite on the top floor hosts a marine biology club for students, and we offer work experience to
high schoolers who are interested in studying the field at degree-level.”

Jimin steps up beside them suddenly to nudge his hip against Jungkook’s, smiling cheekily.

“You need rescuing yet, honey?” he teases. “If the fish-trivia is getting to you, just holler for me,
okay?”

Hoseok laughs and shoos him away. “Brat. Go keep an eye on TaeTae, you know he’s liable to
wonder off.”

The younger dancer's head whips around to glance at their immediate surroundings, and he swears
softly under his breath, darting off back down the tunnel towards the previous exhibit in search of
the wayward fledgling.

“Don’t worry, Tae’s still with Vinnie,” Hoseok confides, referring to the giant octopus in the
previous room. “He’s totally fine. I just needed a minute alone with you.”

They’ve wandered over to a large, colourful tank full of long, hair-like seaweed, where shimmering
silver fish are weaving in and out of the thin, green strands. Hoseok has moved to stand behind
him, arms encircling Jungkook from behind, the youth’s back pressed against his chest. It’s the
cosiest backhug ever, and Jungkook melts into it with a happy little smile, glad that vampire can’t
see his blush.

They stand that way for a long moment, and Jungkook can feel his tired mind zoning out again,
body relaxing further against the empath as he blinks groggily, struggling to focus on the tiny fish
in front of him.

“Sweetheart, I need you to be honest with me,” Hoseok murmurs softly against Jungkook’s ear. “Is
everything alright? You seem a little…preoccupied today. Something’s bothering you.”

Shit. And he’s being trying so hard to only think about positive, healthy things too – even when
he’s making a concerted effort to compartmentalise the stress of his unfinished essay, Hoseok can
still sense that something's wrong.

“I’m just tired, hyung,” he tries to reassure. “I didn’t really sleep last night.”

It had been four o’clock this morning before he’d finally shut his laptop and crawled into bed, but
the late night had been worth it; he's amassed enough valid research to support his essay narrative,
which means tonight after art class he can actually start to write the damn thing. Finally.

Hoseok says nothing, just keeps hugging him close. Jungkook fidgets, unsure if the empath can tell
that he’s withholding information. It isn’t exactly a lie, he really hadn’t slept last night. But
admittedly, that doesn’t adequately explain why he might be feeling stressed, so he’ll probably
have to give Hoseok something else.

“And I guess I’ve been worrying about Bin a lot,” he admits, and again, it’s not technically a lie.
Binnie’s wellbeing is always on his mind. “He’s probably gonna push himself too fast, he’s kinda
stubborn.”

“Sounds like someone else I know,” Hoseok murmurs, a teasing note in his voice as he hugs
Jungkook tighter, kissing the side of his head. “I hear Joonie gave him the all-clear for school. At
least you’ll be able to keep an eye on him between classes, right?”

“Mm,” Jungkook agrees, smiling a little, touched to know that the empath has apparently been
keeping tabs on his roommate’s recovery all this time.

“Why don’t I pick you and Binnie up after school tomorrow?” the vampire suggests warmly. “We
can go see a movie or something. Yugyeom too, if he wants to join us. Bin can’t overexert himself
at the cinema, right? That way the two of you can spend more time together, it might help you
sleep better.”

Oh god, he can’t. He really can’t. He’s so behind with his essay, there’s already a chance he’ll have
to back out of dance practice tomorrow evening if he doesn’t make adequate progress tonight.

“I…” he hesitates, feeling torn. He wants to, more than anything he wants to. Fuck, he hates
turning people down though, especially his new hyungs.

One of Hoseok’s hands slides up to settle over his sternum. “You’re worried about something,” the
empath murmurs softly. “What is it, sweetheart? You can tell me.”

Fuck it.

“It’s so dumb,” he confesses, frustrated with himself. “I wanna go out with you all the time, but I
was an idiot and forgot about my stupid essay, and it’s due in by midnight on Sunday and I haven’t
even started writing it yet. And I keep agreeing to hang out with everyone because I really wanna,
but tomorrow…I just can’t. I gotta work on my paper. I'm really sorry.”

Hoseok turns him around slowly, his gaze sympathetic but his smile fond as he cradles the youth’s
face between his hands.
“No wonder you’re so distracted,” the empath murmurs. “Baby, why didn’t you say something
sooner? We’d never dream of using up all your free time like this if we knew you had a paper due.
C’mon, let’s get you home. You’ve still got a few hours to work on it before your art class, right?”

Before Jungkook can even think to protest, the empath is reaching for his hand again, tugging him
along towards the tunnel leading back to the previous room. Jimin and Tae are waiting there, the
fledgling vampire smiling at him indulgently, his arm looped through Jimin’s.

“You guys are so cute together,” Taehyung coos, and Jungkook feels himself blush at the
realisation that his bondmate had deliberately hung back to allow him time alone with Hoseok.

Jimin’s matching smile fades a little as he glances between them. “Hyung? Is everything alright?”

Oh no. Jungkook never should’ve opened his dumb mouth. Now Hoseok’s going to cut the date
short, and they aren’t even halfway through the aquarium yet. Tae and Jimin are gonna be so
disappointed that they never got to show Jungkook that Italian restaurant they’ve been hyping up
all afternoon. And it’s all his fault. Fuck.

“Everything’s fine,” he interjects brightly. “We were just coming to look for you.”

Hoseok squeezes his hand. “Kookie-”

“I didn’t mean to make it sound like an emergency,” he insists, turning to look up at the vampire
guiltily. “I still wanna hang out with you guys today, I just don’t know if I can do it every day,
that’s all.”

The empath doesn’t look convinced.

“What’s wrong?” Taehyung asks, coming up beside Jungkook to wrap an arm around him. “You’re
upset.”

Jungkook shakes his head with a smile he hopes looks convincing. “I was just telling hyung about
this essay I need to write for school,” he elaborates. “But it’s not super urgent, I still have the rest
of the week to finish it. We don’t have to cut the date short, honest.”

“Are you sure, honey?” Jimin asks, leaning against Taehyung as he studies Jungkook’s face.
“You’re still looking pretty tired. I promise we won’t mind if you wanna leave early, we can take
you out for dinner another day.”

Tugging on Hoseok’s hand, Jungkook decides to make use of the doe-eyes he’s been gifted with.

“I don’t wanna leave,” he insists plaintively. “I wanna see the rest of the aquarium.” He glances
over at Jimin and Tae, affecting his most hopeful expression. “You promised we’d get gelato for
dessert, right?”

Taehyung makes a strangled sound of adoration and wraps himself around Jungkook like an overly
affectionate barnacle.

“You’re too fucking adorable,” the vampire complains. “Ugh, my heart. You can have all the
gelato you want, baby.”

“I second that,” Jimin agrees, smiling at Jungkook indulgently. “C’mon, cutie, let’s go find those
sharks.”

Hoseok seems to have relented the topic easily enough, allowing himself to be pulled along by his
 younger mates without protest. However, he does seem to keep a closer watch on Jungkook for the
remainder of the date, never straying more than an arm’s length away from him, and more than
once the younger man catches Hoseok watching him with a faintly furrowed brow.

Fuck. He knows.

Did ya'll see Jimin HUGGING EUNWOO THIS WEEK because that was the cutest shit ever,
FINALLY some wholesome BTS/Astro skinship. I recommend watching the fancams on twitter,
our smol Min literally RUNS to go hug Eunwoo, I'm so soft.

Chapter End Notes

Happy New Year, my lovelies!

(Apologies for potential typos/grammatical errors, it's currently 5am and I want to get
this posted now before I sleep. I'll fix any glaring errors tonight though.)

Our stubborn, selfless, bad-at-asking-for-help bunny is heading down a dark and

destructive mental path, but don't worry ya'll, Hobi and Yoongi are onto him.

The HobiKook ship is sailing, and Taehyung is delighted. Our baby vamp is an
aspiring cupid, bless. Also he just wants to see Kookie happy and well-loved and
being wooed by his nestmates 24/7, because Hobi has the cutest ideas for dates.

In other news, MOONBIN IS BACK BITCHES! My soft bean went skiing with Astro
as an early birthday vacation, and my heart can now be at peace, his hiatus is finally
over! :)
 Breaking Point
Chapter Summary

Kookie hits rock bottom and makes a few bad judgement calls that put his health at
risk. Luckily, several knights in shining armour are waiting in the wings, more than
ready to save Jungkook from himself.

(Warning - This chapter contains a fairly intense depiction of academic-induced stress,

anxiety and panic-attacks. Read with care, fam.)

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

“-how about you, Kook?”

Startling a little, having been drifting in his own thoughts for god knows how long, Jungkook
glances across the picnic table to find Yugyeom watching him expectantly.

“Sorry.” Smiling in apology, he gives himself a mental shake, trying to draw his focus back to the
conversation at hand. “I kinda spaced out for a minute there. What was the question?”

Moonbin gently nudges him in the side. “Never mind a minute, hyung – your head’s been
someplace else the whole time we’ve been out here.”

“Yeah, man, you feeling okay?” Yugyeom probes, tilting his head a little to one side as he studies
Kook more closely. “You’ve barely touched your food.”

Jungkook glances down at his uneaten lunch, quickly stuffing a piece of kimbap into his mouth to
assuage his friends’ concerns.

“M’just tired,” he reassures thickly, still chewing. “Class was so fucking dull this morning. I swear
Professor Lee speaks in a monotone on purpose just to test our endurance.”

Yugyeom hums in sympathy, sliding the open share-bag of shrimp snacks across the table towards
him. “I’ll go grab us a coffee, that’ll perk you up. Binnie, you want anything?”

“Choco frap?” the werecat requests hopefully.

“You and your chocolate milk,” Yugyeom teases with a smile, flicking a bottle cap at him. “Sure,
kitten. Back in five.”

Jungkook shovels down another bite of kimbap and a handful of shrimp puffs as he watches the
wolf weave his way between the picnic tables dotted around the grassy plateau, pace quickening
into a jog when he reaches the path and turns to head back towards the campus food court nearby.
He probably should’ve decline Yugyeom’s offer, but to be honest, he could really use the pick-me-
up. Jungkook’s already had three coffees today, but due to his bunny hybrid genes he metabolises
caffeine frustratingly fast, so the wakeful post-coffee buzz only tends to last an hour or so; after Mr
Lee’s mind-numbing lecture on European trade laws, he feels like he’s beginning to lose the basic
ability to function. Normally he tries not to exceed two cups of coffee a day, but sometimes
exceptions have to be made for survival’s sake, and today is definitely one of those days.

Back when he was still working crazy part-time hours, caffeine boosts had been a frequent
necessity, but Jungkook’s also ninety percent sure his previous coffee habit was partly to blame for
the frequent migraines and intermittent insomnia that had plagued him for months on end.
Namjoon had asked him a lot of gently probing questions about his daily caffeine intake after his
fainting spell the other week, so Jungkook assumes the healer had also come to that same
conclusion. He knows he should try to curb the habit, especially now that he isn’t working
weekdays at Euphoria anymore – it was the café’s generous policy of providing free hot and cold
drinks to staff during their designated breaks that had really kick-started his coffee dependency in
the first place, since that was generally where Kook used to get his caffeine fix for the whole day.
He otherwise relied on crappy instant coffee granules from the one-hundred yen store, since most
local coffee shops try to charge a small fortune for even a basic Americano – seriously, prior to his
recent boost in finances, he could still count on one hand the number of times he’d bought himself
a Starbucks. It’s not like he missed out on it entirely – he never says no if Yugyeom or one of the
Im-pack hyungs offer to buy something for him (it’s coffee, and realistically he’ll never be able say
no to coffee), and on a few occasions where customer tips had been super generous, he’s treated
himself to an iced mocha on the way home from work.

He’s a little stunned to realise that his previous Starbucks tally has literally quadrupled over the
course of the past few days – the nearest chain is only a five minute brisk walk from his apartment
complex, and it stays open well into the early hours of the morning, which has been an absolute
blessing this past week in some respects while he’s been burning the midnight oil, but probably
super detrimental to his health overall. Not to mention expensive.

The more he thinks about it…god, it’s shameful. Two weeks ago he never would’ve dreamed of
throwing away his salary like that, and it almost scares him just how easy it is to spend money
nowadays. The hyungs keep encouraging him to treat himself, but there’s still a part of him that
feels like the money isn’t entirely his, not really. He still hasn’t quite plucked up the courage to
purchase anything more indulgent than a set of fancy watercolours for his art class, but since Tae
and Jimin keep insisting they all go clothes shopping together for their next date, he has a feeling
that might change very soon. He’s seen the designer labels they wear, so he knows what kind of
stores they’ll end up dragging him along to, and he’s already internally wincing at the dent it’ll put
in his bank account.

“You haven’t been sleeping, have you?” Moonbin surmises quietly, startling him out of his
thoughts again.

Jungkook stuffs another couple of bites of kimbap into his mouth to avoid needing to answer that
one verbally.

“Mm?” he points to his chest as though to say who, me? His cheeks are still bulging with food, so
he makes a concerted effort to widen his eyes just a little and look perfectly awake.

Moonbin shuffles closer to his side (having opted to straddle the bench to avoid needing to lift his
bulky cast up and over the seat), clearly taking great care not to brace himself against his injured
leg. When Namjoon had given the werecat a fitted boot to cover the open toes of his cast, it had
been with strict instructions that he still wasn’t allowed to put any weight on it, and so far Binnie’s
been a model patient. It probably helps that none of them have actually given the werecat the
opportunity to mobilise on his own yet; if Yugyeom and Jungkook aren’t available to piggy-back
him around campus, Sanha and Rocky are doing it for them, and JinJin has temporarily adjusted
his schedule at the photography studio so that he can drive Bin to and from school every day,
despite the cat’s insistence that he’s perfectly capable of using his crutches. Moonbin tries to act
like their fussing is unnecessary, but Jungkook can tell that he’s secretly enjoying being the centre
of the pack’s attention – at least for the time being. Give it another week and he’ll probably be
trying sneak away from them to play basketball or something, stubborn kitten.

“You haven’t been yourself these past few days,” Moonbin continues softly, brow creased a little in
concern as he studies Jungkook’s face. “Is it your essay? I know you hate midterm deadlines.”

Even the mere mention of his half-finished disaster of a paper makes Jungkook’s stomach churn,
chest tightening for a brief moment as the panic wells back up again. He’s been trying so hard not
to think about it all day (and other than a two-minute freakout in the bathroom earlier, he’s coped
just fine, thank you), but those anxious feelings have still been present, simmering just below the
surface, threatening to clog up his throat at any moment. He takes a careful, steadying breath,
pretending to need another few seconds to swallow his non-existent mouthful of food, and uses the
brief pause to firmly push the wave anxiety back down again.

“I’m like halfway done already, it’s cool,” he reassures, trying to sound blasé about it despite
feeling anything but. “And I’ve still got another three days before it’s due, I’ll be finished in plenty
of time. I guess it’s a lot easier now that I’m not working so many hours at Euphoria.”

Except previously, he would’ve written a big essay like this well in advance, making sure that a
rough draft was finished several days before the deadline so that he had ample time for redrafts and
touch-ups. Jungkook’s never been in the habit of procrastinating, and he’s definitely never had to
scramble to find data and resources last-minute, because he knows how stressed he gets over stuff
like this…but meeting Tae and the others had really knocked his carefully-maintained schedule out
of whack. He’d gone a whole week without studying, without even thinking about his paper, and
now reality’s giving him a good, hard slap in the face.

“But you’re not getting enough sleep,” Moonbin reiterates, arms wrapping around him in a side-on
cuddle, a soft pout audible in his voice. “You promised me you’d call if the stress started getting
bad again.”

“It’s not that bad,” Jungkook tries to deny, but after finding himself fixed with one of Binnie’s most
unimpressed looks, he quietly amends, “It’s definitely been worse.”

He’s not technically lying. He hasn’t thrown up yet or had a full-blown panic attack like he did
before last month’s module exam, so that’s a plus. Although admittedly, it’s early days yet – he has
a feeling things won’t be quite so peachy on Sunday evening when the deadline’s only hours away.

Don’t think about it, don’t think about it…

“That’s not the point, hyung,” Bin sighs against Kookie’s throat, nuzzling the skin there the way he
often does when he’s worried. “You’re still eating enough, right?”

Jungkook nods, lips quirking up in a more genuine smile. “Like a king. Seriously, if the hyungs
keep bringing me dinner and snacks after school, I’m gonna put on so much weight this semester.”

He has a feeling all the extra feeding-up is Hoseok’s doing. Ever since his confession at the
aquarium the other day, the vampire has definitely been keeping closer tabs on him – yesterday
morning, he’d stepped outside his apartment to find the empath leaning against a lamppost under a
stylish parasol, waiting for Jungkook with breakfast and a sunny smile. Despite Jungkook’s fatigue
(having slept for barely a couple of hours after a woefully unproductive night of essay writing),
seeing Hoseok had been a wonderful pick-me-up. And the food had been really good – Seokjin’s
home-baking is seriously second to none, especially paired with the perfect hot beverage.

“Can’t have fruit scones without tea,” Hobi had insisted, passing Jungkook a beautifully-patterned
thermos flask once they were settled in the car. “It’s a new herbal blend Yoongi’s been working
on, he said it’d help with your day. Oh, and Joon wanted you to take these vitamin supplements,
here...”

The tea really had helped with his day, actually. Jungkook still isn’t sure what the herbal blend
consisted of, but it had been sweet and light, refreshing and warming all at once, and for a little
while his aching muscles had felt a reprieve from their previous tension.

Clearly the coven are all in cahoots, because Jimin had been waiting for him after class yesterday
afternoon, the dancer ditching his motorbike in favour of a sensible car because, in his words,
“Jin-hyung packed way too many snacks”. And the vampire hadn’t been exaggerating – the bags
of colourful Tupperware boxes had taken up most of the backseat. There had been assorted baked
goods, several different pre-prepped dinners with detailed heating instructions, savoury rice balls
wrapped in seaweed, various sliced fruits and fresh berries (likely from Namjoon’s greenhouse),
little pots of lightly spiced nuts, and even a few small tubs of M&Ms that Jungkook has a suspicion
were Taehyung’s doing.

So yeah, he definitely isn’t short on food.

Granted, actually remembering to eat is still something of a challenge whenever he gets super
absorbed in essay-writing (he doesn’t do it on purpose, but that simmering anxiety completely
eradicates his usually irrepressible appetite, and if he isn’t feeling hungry at the time then he just
doesn’t think about food). Although he’s been periodically getting text messages from Yoongi, a
casual “How was dinner, bun?” or “Have you tried the strawberry tarts? Tae helped make them”,
and Jungkook always feels obligated to go grab something from the kitchen so that he can answer
the Seer truthfully – which, in hindsight, was probably Yoongi’s intention all along.

Also? Turns out the strawberry tarts are amazing.

“And you went to bed at a reasonable time?” Moonbin persists doubtfully. Fuck, the cat really does
know him far too well. “You didn’t stay up all night working on your essay?”

Jungkook opens his mouth, ready with an easy dismissal of his roommate’s concerns, but the
words get stuck in his throat. Damnit. He’s never been good at straight-up lying to Bin’s face.

“I slept,” he answers, somewhat vaguely.

“Uh-huh.” Bin pulls back a little, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Before or after three?”

Jungkook winces, definitely caught. “…after?”

The werecat thumps him in the shoulder, not hard enough to actually hurt, but Jungkook makes a
noise of protest all the same.

“It wasn’t intentional! I just hit a really good flow and didn’t wanna stop,” he pacifies, with his
most convincing smile. By good flow, he means that it had only taken him nine hours, two cups of
coffee, a lot of pacing and a couple of brief crying spells to write the first few pages of his essay,
instead of just staring at the open document in despair like he had done all Tuesday night – but
Binnie doesn’t need to know that. “And tomorrow’s Friday – my first class isn’t until ten-thirty so I
can sleep in late. C’mon, Bin, don’t look at me like that…”

Moonbin stares at him intently a few moments longer, then sighs and leans in for another cuddle.

“I just don’t want you to get sick again, hyung,” the werecat murmurs softly, rubbing his cheek
against Jungkook’s shoulder. “Everything’s been going great since you met your new hyungs and
quit your nightshift job – you’ve been sleeping better and eating more and smiling all the time. But
today you look awful again, and I know it’s because of your essay. Maybe…maybe I should come
home with you tonight? Just to keep you company.”

“Binnie, we’ve been over this,” Jungkook sighs, fingers carding through the werecat’s hair. “The
elevator’s out again, and you can’t climb all those the stairs with a broken leg. I’m fine, okay? You
don’t need to worry about me so much.”

His roommate just hugs him tighter.

Jungkook feels a pang of guilt for having made the werecat so concerned, wishing he was a better
actor or as good at doing makeup as Eunwoo so that he could hide the evidence of his recent
insomnia. Thing is, he knows Bin’s right – his physical health and sleeping pattern had been at a
constant peak last week after he dropped all his part-time hours and began hanging out with Tae
and the others, but ever since he started making his body work academic double-shifts hunched
over his laptop at home, things have gone rapidly downhill. He knows he looks like shit, and no
amount of concealer under his eyes or caffeine in his system can really compensate for multiple
consecutive sleepless nights and his current state of near-constant anxiety.

He hates that uni work always has to come with so much emotional baggage. Moonbin and
Yugyeom both have projects to complete for their own degrees, but neither of them get stupidly
upset and anxious over deadlines, not in the same way that he does. It’s honestly ridiculous. He
wishes there was an easy way to just switch off the part of him that actually gives a fuck about his
academic performance; to silence the little voice in his head that’s constantly second-guessing
every sentence he writes and picking holes in his essay narrative, reminding him how much of a
failure he is.

Thing is, deep down, Jungkook knows he’s got the brains to succeed. He’s a straight-A student (has
been since high school, because that’s what his parents expected of him) and even if he always had
to work really fucking hard to make the grade, he’s never fallen short of the mark. Surely after all
those years of being a swot, writing an essay should come easy to him. It frustrates him to no end
that every paper and quiz and mock-exam has to become such a huge challenge in his mind. Why
can’t he just roll with it like the rest of his cohort? He knows at least three students in his class who
haven’t even started their essays yet, and none of them seem even a little bit bothered by the
impending deadline. He wishes he had their easy indifference. Why does coursework always seem
so impossible?

Deep down, he knows the answer to that one, too.

It’s because he hates this fucking degree. It’s because failure isn’t a viable option with his
scholarship on the line, and with literally everyone (his professors, his classmates, his parents)
expecting him to come out on top like the good student he is. It’s because every single test, essay
and presentation that he has to work so fucking hard to complete is a stark reminder that he’s
trapped in this academic nightmare for at least another two years with no chance of escape. And on
top of all that, there’s the overarching knowledge that all this effort – all the sacrifices he’s making
now, all the student-life experiences he’s losing out on – and all the stress he’s going through,
everything will eventually just channel him straight into a soul-sucking business career that he’ll
hate even more.

It’s hell, and he’s stuck here.

“Kookie,” Moonbin says firmly, giving him a little shake.

Jungkook startles back to reality, hands aching where he’s clenched them into fists beneath the
table, and sucks in a shaky breath. His face feels flushed, but there’s a chill tingling down his spine,
and he resists the urge to wrap his arms around himself.

Shit. Has his heart always been beating this fast?

“Hey,” Bin’s hand slides up to cup his cheek, worry in his eyes. “You don’t look so good-”

“I come bearing gifts!” Yugyeom calls jovially as he jogs back up the path towards them, a
cardboard takeout tray of drinks held aloft, and Jungkook gently nudges Bin’s hand back down into
his lap to force a wan smile as the werewolf sets his tray down with a flourish, dropping into his
seat on the opposite side of the picnic table and distributing the cold beverages among them. “Here
we go – chocolate milk for the dairy-addict, and caffeine for the sleepyhead.”

“Thanks, man,” Jungkook manages in a voice that by some miracle doesn’t wobble, grateful for
the distraction as he takes several large gulps of his iced Americano, grounding himself in the
familiar taste, posture relaxing a little as the pain in his chest is soothed by the chilled liquid
caressing his throat. He smiles at Yugyeom around his straw. “S’good.”

“Anything for you, bae,” the wolf returns, blowing him a kiss as he reaches for his own drink.
Then Yugyeom pauses, straw to his lips, observing the third person at their table. “What’s with the
frown, kitten?” He glances between Jungkook and Moonbin, his nose crinkling a little. “Did
something happen?”

Don’t bring it up. Please don’t bring it up.

“We’re good,” Jungkook tries to deny, and drops a hand to squeeze Moonbin’s fingers where they
rest on his waist, hoping to reassure his roommate that he really is okay because the cat’s still
looking at him with a faintly furrowed brow and it’s going to make Yugyeom suspicious if he
keeps it up. “Bin’s just fussing ‘cause I look tired.”

“No, it’s something more than that,” the werewolf insists perceptively, putting his drink back down
again to lean forwards a little, elbows on the table as he scrutinises Jungkook for a moment. “I can
tell you’re upset, your scent’s off.”

The air is starting to feel thick and hot, and the background chatter from the tables nearby is
clamouring in Jungkook’s ears, the world around him feeling very small all of a sudden despite
being out in the open.

“Is it your paper?” Yugyeom asks quietly, sympathetically. “It’s due this weekend, right?”

Fuck. Don’t think about it, don’t think about it-

“Sunday,” Moonbin confirms distractedly, fingers lightly tugging on Jungkook’s shirt to try and
get his attention. “Hyung, your heart’s going crazy. Is it too loud out here?”

“Maybe we should head indoors,” Yugyeom agrees. “You wanna go to the library? Bin and I
won’t mind if you need to work on your paper, Kook.”
Moonbin pats his waist again. “You should try to finish your lunch first,” he murmurs. “You’ve
only had like three mouthfuls. Aren’t you hungry?”

It’s too much, too loud, too close, and his friends’ voices seem to overlap in his ears above the
rapid beating of his own heart. That sickly churning from before twists in his stomach as a surge of
panic bubbles up, skewering Jungkook straight through the sternum with a suddenness that knocks
the breath out of him. The frightening pressure builds in his chest within a matter of seconds until
he feels ready to explode, and before Jungkook even registers the movement, his hand is slamming
down on the surface of the picnic table with a resounding bang.

“Would you both just stop?!”

The silence that follows seems to last an eternity, lingering torturously in Jungkook’s ringing ears.
Just as quickly as that all-consuming panic had risen up, it ebbs away again, leaving him feeling
shaky and sick to his stomach as he’s bombarded with an onslaught of guilt, shame, regret, regret,
regret…

“I…” Kookie croaks, his chest still far too tight, his breathing shallow and rapid, overwhelmed
with remorse at the sight of his friends’ stunned faces.

Yugyeom’s shock shifts to concern, the wolf half-rising from his seat as he reaches across the table
towards him. “Kookie-”

Jungkook’s vision blurs, his eyes burning wetly.

Oh god. He can’t break down. Not now, not here, not in public.

He feels Yugyeom’s gentle fingers brush against his cheek, and his body moves of its own accord,
sending him stumbling back from the bench on shaky legs. There’s a painful lump in his throat
now, and Jungkook’s so close to crying, he knows the slightest show of tactile affection from either
one of them is going to be his undoing.

“I’m sorry,” he manages. “I…I’ll see you later.”

He snatches up his backpack from the grass, slinging it over his shoulder as he quickly turns to
leave.

“Hyung,” Moonbin voices, alarmed and upset, already pushing himself up from the bench.

Jungkook freezes because oh god, why isn’t he using his crutches, instinctively moving to intercept
Binnie and prevent him from putting any more weight on his injured leg, but thankfully Yugyeom
has already noticed the cat’s oversight, jumping up from his own seat with a quiet curse to dart
around the table and wrap a strong arm around Moonbin’s waist, propping him up a little as he
threatens to overbalance. Seeing that his roommate is no longer at risk of injuring himself further,
Jungkook turns around again and resumes his hasty retreat, determinedly blocking out the
concerned calls of his best friends and ignoring the curious looks being sent his way from other
tables nearby.

With Binnie to look after, Yugyeom won’t be able to follow him, at least not quickly enough to see
which building he slips into. And the wolf is good at tracking, but the campus is a veritable mixing
pot of hybrid scents, there’s no way he’ll be able to find him before class resumes, not if Jungkook
hides in a bathroom that he never usually goes to.

Thankfully nobody stops him or even looks at him twice as he sprints through the campus and into
the science building, ducking past a hoard of chemistry students who are hanging up banners and
posters for their department’s annual charity event, making a beeline for the familiar sign at the
end of the hallway.

His vision is so blurry it’s a miracle he doesn’t run into anyone, but he manages not to let the tears
fall until the stall door is securely locked behind him and he’s dropped down onto the closed lid of
the toilet, chest heaving and body shaking. Jungkook’s ears are still ringing, his breathing ragged,
heart pounding in his chest.

Yugyeom and Moonbin’s shocked, hurt expressions flicker to the forefront of his mind, and that’s
all it takes for the last vestiges of his self-control to crumble away.

Scrunching up the sleeves of his baggy hoodie in clenched fists, Jungkook presses both hands to
his mouth to muffle the sound as he finally breaks down, hot tears leaving burning trails down his
cheeks and dripping silently to the tiled floor beneath his feet.

“Are you sure you’re okay to go home?” Yugyeom asks him gently, arms tightening around
Jungkook. “Maybe you shouldn’t be on your own tonight. JB-hyung won’t mind if I crash at your
place, you want me to ask him?”

The three of them are cuddled up on a bench beneath one of the old lyra trees near the drop-off
zone, Moonbin and Yugyeom pressing in close on either side of him in the best three-way cuddle
ever.

“I’ll be fine,” Jungkook reassures, and finds he actually means it this time. “I just wanna get this
stupid essay over and done with so I can go back to having a social life, y’know? As soon as it’s
finished, I’ll come hang out with the pack for a movie night or something, I promise.”

Crying his heart out in the chemistry department’s bathroom had done wonders for Jungkook’s
stress levels, even if it’s managed to further deplete his energy reserves. Clearly he’d been needing
that outlet for some time. He’s fucking exhausted, sure, but in terms of mental stability he
genuinely feels like a new man, the tightness in his chest all but gone now, the tension in his
muscles significantly eased. That ever-present feeling of anxiety is still bubbling away beneath the
surface, but it’s a very low simmer now, and he no longer feels like the slightest mention of essays
or deadlines will push him into a full-blown panic attack.

Jungkook still feels pretty shit about the way he’d reacted to Yugyeom and Binnie’s concerns,
though. He’d been too ashamed to seek them out or return all the missed calls at the end of lunch
(he hadn’t wanted to worry them further, what with his eyes still red-rimmed and his face all
blotchy from crying), but he’d written a heartfelt message of apology in their groupchat, and that
had eased his conscience enough that he was able to sit through his afternoon lecture without too
much discomfort.
And because his friends are literally the best people in the whole wide world, he’d found them
waiting for him outside the business and economics department at the end of class, Yugyeom
opening his arms invitingly with a sympathetic smile the moment their eyes met.

“I’m sorry,” Jungkook had gushed, throwing himself against the werewolf’s chest for a tight hug
before reaching out to carefully draw Moonbin in too, mindful not to overbalance the werecat on
his crutches. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. I was just super tense and kinda freaking
out, I didn’t mean to…”

They’d both forgiven him in a heartbeat, clinging to him as tightly as he had to them, before pulling
back to study his face carefully. Apparently satisfied that he wasn’t on the verge of breaking down
again (the redness had thankfully dissipated during class), they’d coaxed him into relocating to the
drop-off zone to await their respective hyungs, and Yugyeom and Bin have since made it their
objective to cuddle Jungkook within an inch of his life and give him the tactile affection he’s been
craving these past few days all in one sitting.

“Will you at least take a nap before you start working?” Moonbin requests, his cheek smushed
against Jungkook’s shoulder. “You look exhausted, hyung.”

Jungkook winces. Unfortunately, there’s no hiding the bags under his eyes now that his tears have
washed away the thick layer of concealer he’d applied that morning. He’d seen himself in the
bathroom mirror after his crying fit, he knows he looks awful.

“I’ll try,” he answers, and it’s the best he can offer. He wants to try, for Bin’s sake if not for his
own, but there’s really no telling if his brain will actually allow him to rest when there’s still so
much work to be done.

Clearly appeased, Moonbin presses a kiss to the side of throat and snuggles in closer. “Thank you.”

“Hyung,” Jungkook tries to protest, although it definitely comes out more like a whine. “This
really isn’t necessary.”

Hosoeok ignores him and continues on up the stairs at a steady pace, apparently unhindered by
Jungkook’s weight.

“You’re tired, sweetheart,” the empath had insisted when he first suggested the piggy-back. “And
the elevator’s still broken, isn’t it? Come on, let hyung carry you.”

Even though it makes him feel a little bit pathetic, Jungkook’s still grateful that he doesn’t have to
trudge up eight flights on his weary, shaky legs. And the piggy-back is nice. Hoseok moves slowly
so as not to jostle him, and Jungkook can’t resist letting his head sink down and closing his eyes
briefly as another wave of fatigue rolls through him.

Maybe he’ll be able to keep his promise to Binnie about taking a nap after all.

“I’ve got a dance workshop tomorrow morning,” Hoseok murmurs to him, soft footfalls echoing
around the stairwell as he continues his ascent. “I know your classes start later on a Friday, and you
really ought to sleep in as much as you can, so Jiminie’s going to pick you up at nine-thirty, okay?
I’ll be there in the afternoon to take you home again.”

Jungkook smiles and nods against the vampire’s shoulder. He really ought to insist that he’s
capable of getting to school on his own, but having the hyungs checking up on him like this feels
good. Although he’s glad that his prolonged (and very much overdue) crying session earlier has
effectively drained the stress out of him, otherwise god knows what Hoseok would’ve thought
when he picked him up at the drop-off zone.

“You falling asleep back there?” the empath queries, a fond smile in his voice.

“Mm,” Jungkook hums, eyes still closed.

Hoseok laughs quietly as he slows to a halt. “Stay awake just one more minute, baby, I need you to
open your door for me. Here, I’ve got your keys, there we go…now if I bend down, can you punch
in your code – atta boy.”

The quietness of the apartment is still a little jarring (even now, he expects to hear Moonbin
shuffling around in the bedroom or fixing himself a snack in the kitchen), but with Hoseok
humming a cheerful tune under his breath, that hollow feeling quickly abates.

Instead of setting him down near the door, the vampire nudges it closed behind them and carries
him through the apartment to the bedroom. With the utmost care, he crouches down to gently
deposit Jungkook on the edge his bed, then turns to help relieve him of his backpack, shoes and
jacket.

Honestly, the mere sight of his pillow is enough to trigger a resurgence of Jungkook’s exhaustion,
and he blinks a few times to keep his gaze focused even as he sways a little.

“Okay…bedtime, sleepyhead,” Hoseok murmurs fondly, taking him by the shoulders to gently
coax him into lying down, tugging the covers out from underneath him and tucking him in. “Your
phone’s right here on your nightstand, bun. I’ve set an alarm for six-thirty because you’ll need
wake up and eat something, even if you go right back to bed afterwards. You still have one of
Jinnie-hyung’s dinners left, right?”

Jungkook nods sleepily. He’s pretty sure there’s at least three meals’ worth of pre-prepped food all
neatly boxed up in his fridge, more than enough for dinner and a couple of late-night snacks to
keep his energy levels up while he’s working. Thank god for Seokjin.

The empath takes a seat on the edge of the mattress, fingers gently smoothing Jungkook’s fringe
back from his forehead.

“You want me to stay?” Hoseok offers quietly.

Yes, his hearts insists.

“No, I’ll be okay,” his traitorous mouth replies. “But thank you.”

Hoseok regards him silently for a moment, still stroking his forehead, clearly debating whether or
not to believe him.

Jungkook sends the empath a reassuring, if somewhat sleepy smile, blinking up at him hazily.
While he’d love the vampire to stay and snuggle with him, he does need to crack on with his essay
eventually, and he doesn’t know if he’ll have the emotional strength to ask Hoseok to leave when
the time comes. And letting the empath see him get all worked up over his studies definitely isn’t
an option. He already knows Hoseok suspects that this essay is a huge source of stress for him
(why else would he be keeping such close tabs on Kookie this week?) but it’s unlikely that he
understands the true extent of Jungkook’s anxieties. And it needs to stay that way.

After another beat, Hoseok seems to relent, his face full of warmth and affection as he leans in to
press his lips to Jungkook’s brow in a lingering kiss. Then he feathers another soft peck against
each cheek and the tip of Jungkook’s nose, before finally dipping down to softly capture his lips.

It feels so natural, so right, that Jungkook doesn’t experience that same whoosh of excitement in his
stomach that he had done with Tae and Jimin during their first kiss. Instead, it’s all blooming
warmth and rippling contentment, a cosy sensation that fans out from his chest all the way down to
his toes, making his whole body hum.

Despite his fatigue, Jungkook still presses up a little to return the kiss, feeling Hoseok smile against
his lips even as the empath gently eases him back down again.

“Sleep,” the vampire whispers, pressing their foreheads together for a moment, a hand gently
cradling his cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow, beautiful.”

Maybe it’s because he’s so tired, or maybe it’s the empath’s ability to calm him down so
completely with little more than a tender touch, but Jungkook feels himself drifting off before
Hoseok has even turned away from the bedside, a teeny-tiny smile of contentment on his lips as he
slips into a cosy slumber.

(He wakes up scarcely two hours later with his heart in his throat and his unfinished essay at the
forefront of his mind, but that’s okay, because nobody’s there to witness his ensuing meltdown.)

00:03
Fuck, it’s Sunday.

He has less than twenty-four hours until his essay needs to be submitted electronically, and he still
has so much editing to do. He’s four hundred words over the upper limit, he hasn’t even written his
final concluding statement yet, and he can’t find anything substantial to cut from the main body of
his narrative without unbalancing the neutrality of his argument.

God, he’s just about ready to pull his own hair out in frustration.

Knuckling at his tired, burning eyes, Jungkook huffs out a tense sigh, rolling his shoulders to ease
the ache that’s built up in his spine after hours sitting hunched over his laptop. He reaches over
without looking for his bowl of beef stew on the edge of the coffee table (the last of Jin’s pre-
prepped dinners), savouring the mouthful of tender meat and potato and rich gravy. He’s already
had to reheat it twice, and it’s gone a little cold again while he’s been lost in thought, but it still
tastes really fucking good. He isn’t particularly hungry any more (hasn’t been all day, to be
honest), but he knows his body needs the fuel right now, and he isn’t sure it’s a good idea to drink
any more caffeine. Fast metabolism or not, there’s probably a limit to how much his body can take,
and he’s fairly sure he might have exceeded it already.

He glances briefly towards the row of empty Starbucks coffee cups and miniature cans of
LunarBoost energy drink lined up along the far side of the coffee table, a testament to how brutal
his battle with sleep has been for the past six hours since he returned from his shift at Euphoria.
Wonho had nearly sent him home early, despite Jungkook’s liberal use of concealer to cover up the
worst of the eye-bags, because there’s really no hiding the pallor to his skin or the bloodshot
whites of his eyes. Thank god Sanha had decided to take the full week off to spend more time with
Binnie during his recovery, or the Park pack would definitely be onto him by now – the younger
bunny is a loyal friend, but he’d rat Kook out to JinJin or JB in a heartbeat if he thought the elder
was coming down with something.

As it is, neither Alpha seems aware of Jungkook’s current state of crisis, so for the time being he’s
been left relatively undisturbed by both packs. The Kim coven, on the other hand…

Well, Yoongi and Hoseok have already sent him a dozen messages apiece over the course of the
evening, most of them variations of “don’t forget to eat”, “remember to take a break when you
can” and “don’t push yourself too hard, baby”. Jungkook appreciates the sentiment, and feels
touched by their concern, even if there’s a part of him that feels guilty and ashamed for basically
outright ignoring most of their advice. There just isn’t time to take a break, and if he doesn’t push
himself…

Deep breath. Move on. Don’t think about the deadline.

Clearly seeking to cheer him up, Jimin and Tae had sent him a bunch of adorable selfies earlier in
the evening – one with the two of them blowing kisses towards the camera, another with them both
holding a clenched fist aloft and grinning at him cheerfully with a little animated “Fighting!”
banner flashing underneath, and a photo of Tae with his arms wrapped around Odengie’s broad
neck and laughing as another griffin tugged on the back of his shirt with its beak.

Then there had been a couple of photos of Jimin dangling upside-down from a tree in what looked
like Namjoon’s greenhouse, with Yoongi clearly visible in the background as he hurried towards
the dancer with his arms outstretched, getting steadily closer in each photo. And the selfie that had
followed soon after had been of Jimin looking a little shamefaced as he sat cuddled up on a plush
couch with Namjoon, a compress in the healer’s hand and a faint bruise clearly blossoming near
the dancer’s temple – Jungkook had been worried enough by that obvious series of events to break
away from his essay-writing and send a concerned text to Taehyung, but the vampire had reassured
him that Jimin’s pride was far more bruised than his head, and he was only sulking because of the
scolding Jin had just given him.

That, at last, had made Jungkook smile. Jimin was handsome and confident and super hot, but he
was also ridiculously cute sometimes, and Kook loved getting a brief glimpse of that side of him.

The final selfie, sent by Namjoon a little over an hour ago, was of the healer propped up against the
dark satin pillows of someone’s four-poster bed and smiling up at the camera warmly as Taehyung
dozed against his shoulder and Chim lay curled up on his chest, fast asleep.

“Goodnight, Jungkookie,” the accompanying caption had read. “Sweet dreams.”

The sight had been downright adorable, and Jungkook’s essay-crisis had abated for a brief moment
as he cooed over the image and sent the healer smiling heart emojis in response.

The only recent text message that he hasn’t replied to yet is from Seokjin. He doesn’t want to
deliberately ignore the vampire, but Jin is asking what time he can stop by in the morning to drop
off breakfast and snacks…and Jungkook’s all too aware of the fact that he looks like death warmed
over right now, and knows there’s absolutely no way in hell that Jin will just drop off the food and
leave when he finally sees him.

The hyungs already worry about him over minor things, and if they find out how anxious and
stressed he gets over basic uni work, they’re going to start asking questions, and Jungkook
carefully-maintained image as a perfect student who doesn’t need help will very quickly crumble
into dust.

Seokjin can’t see him like this. He just can’t.

The vampire only texted him about twenty minutes ago, so he’s hoping Jin will just assume that
Jungkook has finally gone to bed, and won’t take his silence as the guilty avoidance tactic that it is.
There’s probably nothing he can do to stop Jin from coming over to visit him eventually, but he
just has to hope that another cold shower and half a bottle of concealer is enough to make him look
slightly less awful.

But that’s a problem for future Jungkook.

Finishing the bowl of stew in three large bites, he sets the empty bowl aside and hunches back over
his laptop, scrubbing a hand down his face again. At least the end is in sight; it’s the final stretch
now. He needs to write the conclusion, syphon out four-hundred words from somewhere,
alphabetise his reference list, and then it’ll be all be over.

He can do this.

…
Fuck, he can’t even think straight any more.

His head hurts, his back hurts, his chest hurts, and his eyes feels like they’re fully of sand, gritty
and dry as he knuckles at them in frustration.

Pushing himself up from the couch, Jungkook paces the length of the small living room on
unsteady legs, hands clenching and unclenching as his quickening pulse thrums in his ears. He’s
been working on his paper’s conclusion for hours now, but he just can’t get it right, and the panic
is really starting to get serious. Every sentence comes out wrong, disjointed, and he can’t seem to
come up with the words he needs to even make it read coherently. His word count hasn’t changed
at all in the past three hours, and his fuzzy head is getting worse, not better.

The freezing shower he’d taken a few minutes ago had definitely been enough of a shock to the
system to wake him up, but now he can’t get warm again, Binnie’s fluffiest blanket wrapped
around him like a cape as he paces to a fro, checking and re-checking the time on his phone every
so often just in case he’s wasting precious minutes.

03:17

The night’s slipping away far too quickly. There’s no way he can go to bed, not yet, not until he’s
completed the first draft and done a couple of read-throughs. And given his current rate of
progress, god knows when that’s going to be.

He feels shaky. Sick to his stomach. Cold.

Dropping back down onto the couch, he wraps the blanket around himself a little tighter, alarmed
at how badly his hands are trembling. He’s felt a little jittery all night, but after that last
LunarBoost energy drink ten minutes ago, it’s like something inside of him is trying to shake its
way out. And it hurts. His muscles ache like he’s been at the gym all day instead of hunkered
down on the couch over his laptop, and no amount of pacing has eased the cramping in his calves.

Absently, his fingers slip beneath the collar of his t-shirt to wrap around the pendant Jin had given
him last week. It’s become something of a self-soothing habit to run the pad of his thumb over the
runes there and feel the gemstone warm up in his palm – it makes him feel like the coven is close,
like they’re here with him, and even though it makes something inside of him ache with longing,
it’s comforting, too.

God, he really wants a hug.

His eyes burn wetly again and he swears, scrubbing at them harshly with the corner of the blanket.
That’s another thing that keeps happening periodically – he can’t seem to stop crying. And it’s so
fucking frustrating, because he doesn’t have time for this shit, he needs to pull himself together-

But it’s too late. That tight band is wrapping cruelly around his chest again, and he leans forward
with a choked noise of misery, trying to breathe through the mounting surge of anxiety, trying to
push the panic back down again. He hates this, he hates it, he’s losing his fucking mind…

Jungkook lets go of the pendant to pinch the soft skin of his inner arm sharply, directly over the
bruise that’s formed from previous pinches through the night, squeezing until it makes the whole
area throb. Just like before, the pain is enough to yank him out of the dark haze again, and he sucks
in several deep, ragged breaths, head spinning.

Bzzzzt.
Jungkook’s blurry gaze darts towards his phone where it rests on the edge of the coffee table,
something in his stomach fluttering nervously when he sees the caller ID.

Why would Yoongi be phoning him at this hour?

None of the hyungs have messaged him since midnight, and he’d hoped they’d all assumed by his
lack of reply to Seokjin that he’d gone to bed. But did Yoongi know otherwise? He knows the
Seer’s gift of foresight can’t always accurately pinpoint the actions or whereabouts of an individual
at any given moment, but he might be having one of his ‘hunches’, and if Yoongi suspects that
Jungkook’s still awake and working on his essay at this hour…

The call ends, the screen of his phone dimming again, and Jungkook breathes a shaky sigh of
relief, massaging his chest where his thundering heart feels like it’s ready to burst through his
ribcage.

That last LunarBoost had definitely been a bad idea.

He tries to concentrate on his laptop again, squinting at the word document as the twinge in his
temples transitions to a steady, all-too-familiar throb. Fuck, now really isn’t a good time to get
migraine, he still has so much work to do. If his vision goes wonky, he won’t be able to proof-read
with any kind of accuracy, and no amount of pain relief or cold compresses will alleviate that
stabbing pain until he’s slept it off. But he doesn’t have time to sleep. It’s an absolute nightmare.

With a hoarse, frustrated groan, he presses his face into the fisted-up corners of his blanket to try
and force his tears back, but the presence of Bin’s faint scent only serves to make him feel even
shittier. If the werecat was here, he’d be making stupid jokes to distract Jungkook from his anxiety,
curling around him for a comforting snuggle while he worked, dragging him off to bed for a nap
and hiding the instant coffee when the elder reached his limit. Jungkook misses him more than
ever. The apartment seems horribly empty tonight without Bin, and he feels so fucking lonely.

Stop crying, stop crying, stop crying-

Above the roar of his own heartbeat pulsing frantically in his ears, he hears a rustling sort of
sound, like a whispery gust of wind, familiar somehow although he can’t quite place it.

Then he startles to hear footsteps rapidly approaching, and his head shoots up in the direction of
the hallway, heart in his throat. His vision is blurry with tears, but he still recognises the tall figure
hurrying towards him around the corner, his mouth falling open in shock as he sits up a little
straighter.

“Hyung?”

Seokjin’s long, dark coat swishes behind him with the speed of his approach, his handsome
features tense with concern as his crimson eyes flicker briefly around the living room before
settling again on Jungkook as he sinks down to kneel directly in front of the couch, the legs of the
coffee table squeaking against the floor as it seemingly moves away of its own accord to make
room for the vampire.

“I’m here, you’re safe,” Jin soothes, reaching up to cradle his face between gentle hands, worried
eyes scanning his features. “Are you hurt, little one?”

Jungkook’s still too stunned at the vampire’s sudden arrival to form a verbal response, but he gives
a tiny shake of his head, one hand coming up instinctively to cling to Jin’s wrist.

Jin looks marginally relieved by his answer, leaning in to press his forehead against Jungkook’s.
“Yoongi said you were in danger,” the vampire breathes, and Jungkook is startled by how shaken
he appears. “We tried calling you, but when you didn’t answer…”

The elder pauses. Silence lingers between them for a beat before he slowly pulls away to regard
Jungkook more closely, brow furrowing anew as his thumbs tenderly wipe away the younger
man’s tears.

“You look flushed, baby,” Jin murmurs, concerned, lifting a hand to feel Jungkook’s forehead.
“Are you sick?” His fingers drop to settle over the hybrid’s throat, that look of concern deepening.
“Your pulse is racing.”

Honestly, by this point, Jungkook can’t tell if it’s the shock, the caffeine or the mounting panic
that’s making his heartbeat thunder away like that. His gaze briefly flickers towards the assortment
of empty takeout coffee cups and LunarBoost cans, many of which had toppled over when Jin had
used his magic-warlock powers to move the furniture aside.

Jin notices his eyes drifting, and turns his head a little to follow Jungkook’s line of sight before the
younger can think to distract him, taking in the open laptop and the shameful evidence of Kookie’s
caffeine binge at a quick glance.

“Kookie,” the vampire murmurs as he stares at the mess, his voice low and serious, a sudden
tension in his posture that hadn’t been there before. “How many of those did you drink?”

The youth’s stomach is churning, the tightness in his chest that had abated at Jin’s tender touch
suddenly returns with full force to knock the breath from Junglook, his eyes burning wetly with
shame as the vampire turns back towards him. He can’t bring himself to answer – the lump in his
throat hurts too much, and Jin’s going to be so disappointed,

Jin leans in again, hands now settling on Jungkook’s shoulders. “Are they all from tonight?” he
presses, something faintly urgent underlying his tone. “Yes or no, baby.”

Knowing he’s been caught, knowing it’ll be impossible to lie and smile his way out of this one,
Jungkook feels his resolve crumble, fresh tears spilling over as he nods. He’s so ashamed. Nobody
was supposed to see him like this, broken and weak and pathetic, reduced to tears over a goddamn
essay.

Hands cradle his face again, Jin pressing chaste, tender kisses over his cheeks and nose, even
though Jungkook’s face probably looks all gross and tear-streaked.

“Okay,” the vampire breathes, resting their brows together again. “Okay.”

Jungkook isn’t sure if anything can be okay again ever, but it sounds reassuring coming from
Seokjin’s lips, and he closes his eyes and tries to stop crying for the vampire’s sake.

“You’re going to be fine, treasure,” Jin soothes, fingers combing through Jungkook’s hair even
though it’s probably still cold and damp from his most recent icy shower. “Hyung’s here, hyung’s
got you. Let’s go home, Namjoonie’s waiting for us.”

Home?

Jungkook’s already shaking his head as the vampire pulls away to smile at him, nausea welling up
again. His gaze flickers towards his laptop, the blurry paragraphs of his unfinished essay taunting
him from the open word document.

“I can’t,” he says plaintively, voice rough and strained from crying. “G-gotta finish-”
“Kookie.” Jin’s expression is calm but serious, his sombre gaze arresting. And although his eyes
have faded from a bright crimson to a burning amber, Jungkook still feels the words die in his
throat at the intensity of them. “We’re going home to the nest, little one. You’re not well. You need
Namjoon.”

The pressure in his chest is blooming hot again, and Jungkook can feel himself trembling even
harder.

“I can’t,” he reiterates desperately, clutching onto Seokjin’s coat-sleeve, willing him to understand.
“I’m not done yet, I…I need to finish it, hyung, it’s due tonight and I…there’s so much left to do-”

His words are coming out stuttered and disjointed between gasping breaths, and he can’t seem to
suck in enough air to sustain himself, the room growing hot as his fingers start to tingle.

He can’t breathe. He can’t breathe.

Jungkook hears the vampire swear under his breath, and then he’s being swept up by a strong pair
of arms, blanket and all. Jungkook’s own arms come up to wrap around Jin’s neck instinctively,
even as he shakes his head again and tries to catch his breath enough to protest.

“Hyung, please,” he manages, his voice thick with tears. “I can’t, I need to…I have to finish it, I
have to, don’t-”

The vampire turns his head to press gentle lips to Jungkook’s temple.

“I’ll come back for your computer, darling,” Jin murmurs against the youth’s hairline. “I promise.”

His blind panic recedes by a fraction, although it appears to be too little too late, because Jungkook
just can’t seem to catch his breath. And he’s entirely given up on trying to stop crying, the brake
pedal to his tear-ducts failed a long time ago.

“Close your eyes, dearheart,” Jin cautions, tucking Jungkook’s head down against his neck, and the
youth obeys without question, still clinging onto the vampire as though his life depends on it. It’s
entirely plausible that it does; he sure feels like he’s dying right now

That rustling, whispering wind picks up again, and this time Jungkook feels it, cold and fluttering
as it bats against him, pulling at his hair and clothes. There’s a moment of complete disorientation,
where his ears pop and his stomach lurches as the world around him grows completely silent,
before bursting into sound again as the wind whips through his hair a second time.

Then Seokjin’s moving forward quickly, footsteps sounding muffled in Jungkook’s ringing ears,
and the youth lifts his head from the vampire’s shoulder to peak at his surroundings, eyes widening
at the sight of the manor house looming up in front of them as Jin swiftly carries him up the
shadowy pavestone path towards the front door.

How the fuck-?

The wooden door swings open a split second later, casting the path in golden light, and Jungkook
barely has time to blink before Namjoon is hurrying down the steps towards them. The healer’s
still wearing the same plain back tee that Jungkook had seen in his selfie earlier that evening, and
either the sleep deprivation is getting to him or the tattoos on Namjoon’s biceps are glowing faintly
in the moonlight.

The healer reaches for him immediately, and although his smile is as calm and reassuring as ever,
his gaze is intense as his fingers flutter to feel Jungkook’s brow, his pulse, his stuttering chest.
 “Is he alright?” Yoongi comes careening out of the open front door behind Namjoon, looking
faintly panicked.

“I need to get the caffeine out of his system,” the healer replies gravely, free hand tracing an
irregular pattern over Jungkook’s chest, before tapping twice against his sternum. “There we go,
sweetheart. Breathe for me.”

The tightness in Jungkook’s chest loosens immediately, but he’s so lightheaded by this point that
all he can do is sag against Jin and suck in deep, shaky, ragged breaths.

“Go find Hobi, we need to calm him down,” Namjoon instructs, although Jungkook isn’t sure
which nestmate he’s talking to now, because keeping his eyes open is making him feel really
fucking dizzy. “I’ll grab what I need from the garden and meet you upstairs.” Lips press against
Jungkook’s cheek, lingering there for a brief moment. “Don’t be scared, sweetheart. You're gonna
be just fine.”

The churning in Jungkook’s stomach suddenly reaches a crescendo, and he tenses with a choked
noise of alarm, trying to push himself away from Jin. He opens his eyes to find a clear spot to aim,
but that just makes the nausea even worse, and oh god, it’s coming-

“He’s going to be sick,” Yoongi warns, his voice sounding very far away even though Jungkook’s
certain he’s standing behind Namjoon. “Watch your shoes, Joon.”

Like many of the Seer’s predictions, that one comes to fruition with startling accuracy...

All over Namjoon’s fancy-ass loafers.

Chapter End Notes

Everyone doing okay? Need hugs? Chocolate milk? Fluffy blankets? Binnie's got you
covered. :)

Our baby bun really hit a serious low in this chapter, but his hyungs are with him now,
so he's in good hands. The next chapter is will be full of take-care-of-Kookie
tenderness from both the coven and Kookie's favourite Alpha, although there'll be
some tough conversations with certain hyungs once bunny boy's feeling better because
seeing their usually happy Jungkook so stressed and upset all because of an essay is a
big no-no.

*ATTENTION! THERE ARE GOING TO BE A MORE STORIES IN THIS

UNIVERSE!*

After much deliberation I've decided to expand this AU to include a sequel (about
Kookie settling into his new life as part of the coven), a few short prequels (exploring
how the other coven members all came to join the nest, including NamJin's origin
story) and potentially a couple of short spin-offs about other relationships in this
'verse. A lot of you want to see Yugyeom's origin story (about him getting a
concussion and bagging himself six packmates in one night), and I'd like to write that
one for you! :)

So if ya'll have any specific prequel/sequel/spinoff requests for this 'verse, feel free to
comment down below! The worst I can do is apologetically decline if it won't fit into
my timeline.

Let me know your thoughts!

 Interventions
Chapter Summary

Jungkook begins his long road to recovery, and uncovers some hard truths along the
way.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Jungkook feels…floaty.

It’s difficult to open his eyes, mostly due to the weight of exhaustion that seems to permeate every
cell in his body, but also because someone has draped a cold compress over the upper half of his
face. It feels cool and damp, and the unfamiliar minty smell is tickling his sensitive nose, but at
least the piercing throb in his temples is quickly fading to something far more tolerable.

His heart is still thundering away against his ribcage at a hundred miles an hour, and his chest
seems to shudder with every other indrawn breath. A part of him knows all of this should bother
him – a healthy heart isn’t supposed to beat this fast, and his breathing is definitely way too rapid to
be normal…

Huh. Why isn’t he more worried about that?

“I’m here, sweetheart,” a low voice murmurs against his ear, and the arm that’s looped around his
waist squeezes ever so gently. “Everything’s fine, hyung’s got you. Let’s go back to sleep, hm?”

Cosy. Warm. Protected.

Loved.

Jungkook relaxes back into Hoseok’s secure hold with a tired, stuttering sigh of contentment. Of
course there’s nothing to worry about, not when he’s in such a safe place. His body might be
trembling strangely and his muscles are twitching and tensing at odd intervals against his will, and
his head’s spinning like he’s stuck on a carousel, but Hoseok loves him and he’s safe, so
everything’s okay.

He hears a whisper of noise, but it’s easy to ignore with Hoseok’s lips pressing tender, comforting
kisses against the side of his neck. Jungkook feels himself about to drift off again, almost at the
brink of sleep, until warm hands settle either side of his face and draw him out of that cosy semi-
doze abruptly.

“Shh, you’re okay,” Hoseok soothes without missing a beat, squeezing him again when Jungkook
startles in his hold. “It’s only Joon-hyung.”
The herbal-scented compress is lifted away from his brow, a gentle finger tracing indecipherable
patterns across his forehead, and a moment later the heaviness clinging to Jungkook’s eyelids
vanishes. It still takes a considerable amount of effort for him to open his eyes even to a sleepy
squint, and his blurry vision needs several seconds to properly focus on the figure stooping over
him.

Namjoon smiles kindly when their eyes finally meet.

“Hi, Jungkookie,” the healer murmurs, caressing his cheek.

The lighting in the unfamiliar room has been dimmed (thank fuck), and the shaded lamp on the
bedside table casts the healer in a warm amber glow that tans his skin faintly golden. Oh. He’s so
pretty.

After several beats, Jungkook realises he should probably say hi back – but in is present fuzzy,
foggy headspace, his brain just can’t seem to recall how to make his mouth work.

“Here, baby, let me…” Namjoon moves to perch on the edge of the bed, reaching for the youth’s
hands and drawing them up to his lips to blow on them softly.

Jungkook blinks up at the healer tiredly, watching with strangely detached interest as his hands
tremble in Namjoon’s bigger ones. The vampire’s breath seems to fan warmth into his fingers, the
sensation tickling his skin as it spreads further up his arms, and after a few moments the shaking in
his limbs eases by a fraction.

“There, all better.” Namjoon’s cheeks dimple as he smiles again, and he presses a gentle kiss to
each of Jungkook’s palms before lowering the youth’s hands back down again carefully. “Feel up
to drinking a little something for me?”

Jungkook’s happy-floaty-headspace fades a bit at the vague recollection of the last time Namjoon
had coaxed him into drinking something. The memories are fuzzy, snippets of words and hazy
images that don’t make a lot of sense, and he isn’t even sure when they’re from – only that it had
been hard to breathe, hard to think, hard to speak, and his body had hurt so much, the world feeling
far too small and way too loud until…until Hoseok. The noise around him had dampened
significantly after that, and for a while all he can remember is warmth and love and cuddles and
safesafesafe.

But that drink…he mentally shudders at the memory of it. The cold liquid had been thick and black
and chalky and tasted awful, and the only reason Jungkook hadn’t thrown up straight away is
because Namjoon had cupped a hand over his throat and muttered something in a complex-
sounding language that seemed to physically prevent his oesophagus from allowing the liquid to
come back up again, although it hadn’t stopped him from feeling like he was going to be sick
afterwards, at least until Hoseok’s warm embrace and softly murmured words had helped the
fuzziness return.

He can’t recall much else, but he can remember the unpleasantness of that mystery black liquid,
and it isn’t an experience he’s overly keen to repeat.

The dread must be evident in his expression, because Namjoon’s eyes crinkle at the corners in a
wider smile, and he leans in to press a kiss to the tip of Jungkook’s nose.

“It’s not activated charcoal, I promise,” the healer soothes. “It’s just water, bun. Your body’s
dehydrated – you need to keep drinking, okay? Just try taking a few little sips for me.”
Namjoon holds up a tall glass, and Jungkook blinks curiously at the mint leaves, halved
strawberries and sliced cucumber he sees dotted between the star-shaped ice cubes.

Hoseok breathes a quiet laugh against Jungkook’s hair. “Is Jin-hyung already in the kitchen?”

“Mm,” Namjoon confirms with another flicker of a smile, angling the metal straw towards
Jungkook’s lips to help him drink. “I told him Kookie wouldn’t be able to stomach anything except
clear fluids for a while, so this was his compromise. I think he’s started making lemonade.”

Jungkook’s just discovered that he’s absolutely parched, so he isn’t really paying a whole lot of
attention to their conversation as he sucks down gulp after gulp of the cold, sweet, refreshing water
– like, it’s literally the best thing he’s ever tasted in his whole life, holy fuck.

Water is wonderful. Lovely, lovely water.

The fuzziness in his head is clearing a little, albeit very slowly, and in the back of his mind
something stirs, like a memory just out of focus, lingering beyond his reach. Jungkook has this
niggling feeling that there’s something super important he’s forgetting about.

Everything just seems a little surreal right now, almost like a dream; he doesn’t really know what’s
going on, or why his body feels so strange, or why his head seems like it’s been stuffed with cotton
– but it’s really nice being cuddled like this, and the water tastes good, and nothing really hurts
anymore, so it’s easy to overlook those little doubts. He knows he’s safe with Hoseok and
Namjoon, even if it’s a bit odd that he’s here with them in this unfamiliar room…

The water settles heavily in his stomach, the fog in his head clearing a little more as he glances
again at his immediate surroundings, blinking in sleepy befuddlement.

How did he even get here? And when?

“At least he’s not stress-baking,” Hoseok’s saying, a smile in his voice as he absently rubs gentle
circles against Jungkook’s stomach (which actually does help to settle the cramping). “Are the
chicks still sleeping?”

“Mm,” the healer hums again, taking away the mostly-empty glass of water and settling
Jungkook’s automatic noise of protest with another gentle kiss to the tip of his nose. “Take a break
first, kiddo; you don’t want to make yourself sick again.”

Namjoon sets the glass aside and leans out of sight for a moment, returning into Jungkook’s field
of vision with a handful of pale green leaves, which he blows on gently and crushes between his
fingers before reaching for Jungkook’s hands. The healer wordlessly sandwiches the leaves
between the youth’s palms, gently cradling them in his own bigger ones, thumbs stroking back and
forth against Jungkook’s knuckles.

The younger man watches him sleepily. It’s strange…the action seems familiar somehow, but he
can’t quite place where he’s seen it before. He can’t remember much about anything, really – it’s
all just so blurry.

“They’re not alone, are they?” Hoseok presses, a faint note of concern in his voice, and the fog in
Jungkook’s mind clears a little more.

“No, Yoongi’s with them,” Namjoon reassures. “He’ll give us a heads-up before they stir. I
imagine Jiminie won’t be out for much longer, but Jin’s on standby to intervene – he’ll induce a
nap if he has to.”
“Angel’s not gonna like that,” Hoseok mutters. The empath sighs tiredly, rubbing his cheek against
Jungkook’s hair. “But it’s probably for the best. He’s pretty spaced out right now, but it’s only a
temporary trance, and I can’t…if the others wake up…” He sighs again. “I just really need to
concentrate, y’know? It’ll be a lot harder to focus if they’re upset too.”

Still holding the youth’s hands in one of his, Namjoon reaches past Jungkook, presumably to touch
Hoseok’s cheek, his gaze full of sympathy and gentle concern.

“I know,” the healer murmurs. “I’m sorry, I wish we didn’t have to ask you to hold it for so long.
You’re doing great, hon. And I promise it’ll only be for another half-hour or so, just until his blood
pressure’s dropped below one-eighty. But if it gets too much-”

“Joon, I’ll be fine-”

“No,” the healer interrupts softly. “If it gets too much you tell me, okay? Don’t push yourself,
baby. I know this takes a lot out of you.”

Jungkook blinks harder in an effort to keep his eyelids from drooping, sleepily wondering what the
two vampires are talking about. It sounds like something important. Is Hoseok okay? Namjoon
seems worried, but he doesn’t know why. He’s been trying to follow their conversation, but it’s
hard; concentrating on individual sentences seems to take so much effort, and his sluggish mind
just can’t keep up, the words already forgotten by the time he’s managed to focus on them.
Nothing makes any sense.

Oh, there’s that unsettling feeling again – he just can’t seem to shake it, like a shadow lingering at
the back of his mind, a whispering voice telling him that something is wrong, something important
that he’s forgetting about, something really bad.

For real, though…why is he here? Why isn’t he at home? And why does he feel so strange?

“You’re okay.” Hoseok’s hand has slipped beneath the collar of his shirt again, fingers now
splayed against the base of Jungkook’s throat just above the familiar weight of his pendant, the
empath’s thumb gently stroking the skin there. “Everything’s fine, I’m right here with you. Aren’t
you tired, sweetheart? Close your eyes for me, that’s it, good boy. Doesn’t that feel better?”

Oh, that does feel better, Hoseok’s right.

There’s nothing to worry about; he’s safe, he’s warm, and he feels so comfortable.

What was that thing he’d been thinking about a moment ago? Was it something important? It’s
hard to remember anything at all when he’s feeling so safe and cosy and sleepy and loved. His eyes
are already firmly glued shut again, his hearing beginning to fade as the voices around him become
muffled and disjointed.

“-wearing off,” Hoseok’s saying in a hushed whisper from somewhere that seems far away, the
words fading in and out and only vaguely coherent. “…can’t keep zoning him…don’t want…but
his panic attack was so bad, I had to…if he keeps waking up like this, the trance is gonna slip…
maybe Jin-hyung could...?”

“…last resort…until his vitals have stabilised,” Namjoon’s low voice answers in fluctuating
snippets. “…need to be able to wake him…but only if you can hold it…have the worst of it drained
from his system by then. Kookie’s safer when he’s settled, at least for the time being…only need
Jin to intervene if he comes out of it and his vitals spike again.”

The healer’s voice is coming through clearer now, and Jungkook can feel himself twitching in
Hoseok’s hold. The leaves between his palms feel so hot, and his arms are all tingly, the sensation
pulling him back towards consciousness.

“You’re safe, baby,” Hoseok soothes before he can fully emerge from the fog in his mind.
“Hyung’s here. Go back to sleep, everything’s okay.”

Someone’s fingers trace a swirling pattern over his forehead again, the touch feather-light, and
another wave of exhaustion hits him, that heaviness sinking back into his bones so suddenly that he
feels like it’s going to drag him straight down through the mattress. He tries to concentrate on what
Namjoon and Hoseok are saying, but he’s so tired, and the voices quickly become
indistinguishable from the ringing in his ears, the sounds blending into one. It’s easier to just let go
of everything and drift away, surrounded by Hoseok’s comforting warmth and familiar scent…

Distantly, very distantly, he’s aware of the passage of time – voices coming and going, snippets of
conversations that lap against his consciousness like timid waves before the tide pulls them back
out again. On occasion, he’s drawn a little closer to the surface, stirring at the sensation of hands
manipulating his limbs, or something cold being applied to his skin here, something warm there,
but always there’s a soothing murmur and the press of gentle lips, and he’s set afloat again before
he can fully regain awareness.

At one point he thinks he loses his shirt, because there’s this cold, herbal-scented stuff being
applied to his bare chest (and it’s an unpleasant enough sensation to almost pull him out of his
semi-doze entirely), but again there are soothing, settling words whispered into his ear and gentle
hands caressing him and also Jin, and as a finger taps the centre of his forehead with a quiet
command, he loses his grip on consciousness abruptly.

When Jungkook finally wakes up – like, fully – that cosy feeling from before has vanished, and he
misses it immediately.

Gods above, he feels fucking awful.

“I know, treasure,” a familiar voice murmurs in response to his pained whimper, and Jungkook
feels himself being carefully lifted, pulled closer to rest against Seokjin’s warm chest. “Oh, my
poor love – I’m sorry, I know it hurts. Joonie’s coming, darling, he’ll be here any moment. Just
breathe for me, that’s it.”

Even shivering is painful, and Jungkook instinctively curls closer into Jin’s embrace, feeling hot
tears automatically well in his eyes. He’s never felt so wretched in his life, and he wishes he could
sink back down into the pain-free nothingness of sleep – anything to get away from the horrible
cramping that seems to be causing every muscle in his body to seize up and spasm cruelly.

The vampire’s holding him cradled sideways in his lap, allowing Jungkook the comfort of burying
his face in Jin’s soft sweater as he sucks in shaky, ragged breaths, trying not to give into the urge to
just burst into miserable tears. His heartbeat’s still pounding away in his ears, although perhaps not
as frantically as it had been previously, and every rhythmic pulse makes his temples throb fiercely.

Fuck, he feels like he’s dying.

A door opens somewhere behind him. Jungkook doesn’t have the strength to turn his head and look
– fears that the motion might actually make him throw up, given the way his stomach’s churning
something awful – but he can hear the footsteps rapidly approaching, feel the mattress dip slightly
in the way that it shifts Jin’s position as the newcomer moves up onto the bed.

A warm hand on the back of his neck makes Jungkook jolt in surprise, whimpering when the
sudden tension makes everything ache with renewed vigour.

“Easy, baby,” Namjoon soothes, sounding a little short of breath, his lips brushing against the
youth’s hairline. “I’m here, I’ve got you.”

The healer’s voice drops to a lower pitch, almost a hum, and the words he begins to murmur
against Jungkook’s temple are spoken in a tongue the younger man can’t even begin decipher, with
an almost lyrical cadence. It sounds so soothing, so calming, and Jungkook feels the tension slowly
begin to drain from his trembling body as he listens.

Namjoon’s fingers stay cupped over the back of his neck, and the skin there has grown hot, almost
buzzing beneath the healer’s touch. He can feel the vampire’s other hand moving down his body
methodically, tracing patterns across his torso and down each of his arms, resting for a moment on
his midriff until the churning in his stomach has ceased, before trailing over his aching thighs and
down past his knees. Then the sequence begins again.

He finds himself able to turn his head and open his eyes without any unpleasant consequences by
the time Namjoon’s at the end of his fourth circuit. Jungkook’s eyelids feel dry and scratchy, his
throat parched, but the shaking in his limbs has all but stopped and the horrible cramping pain in
his muscles has eased significantly.

Now he’s just fucking exhausted.

His mind is finally clear though, his thoughts unhindered by the fog that had clung to him
previously, and within seconds of opening his eyes to stare around him at the dimly-lit bedroom,
Jungkook remembers.

He remembers everything.

The late-night Starbucks runs, the row of empty coffee cups, the six-pack of extra strong energy
drinks, the cold showers, the hair-pulling, the pacing, the fear, the frustration, the stress, the panic
– his heart beating so fast it felt as though it could burst from his chest at any moment, his lungs
squeezing so tight he could scarcely draw breath, the world closing in around him at the realisation
that he would never get it finished before the deadline…

Something in his chest lurches.

His essay. Oh god, his essay.

“How long?” he croaks urgently, trying to sit up straighter in Seokjin’s lap, a little alarmed by how
badly his words slur and how dizzy he is. His body feels so strange.

“Slowly,” Jin cautions, helping to steady him, an arm curling around his upper back to keep him
from slumping over.

Jungkook shakes his head, willing the world to stop spinning. “How-” he tries again, concentrating
hard to form the words properly. “How long was I asleep?”

Namjoon’s smile is calm and reassuring, but he looks strangely tired, and there’s a careful sort of
look in his eyes that Jungkook can’t place as the healer’s hand moves to cup his cheek.

“Only a few hours, Kookie,” Namjoon murmurs. “The sun’s not even up yet. Here, bun, can you
drink some water for me?”

Jungkook feels himself sag back against Jin’s chest in relief. Thank fuck. He’s only lost a few
hours, there’s still the rest of the day ahead – there’s still time.

He needs to wake himself up properly and pull his shit together – maybe if he really knuckles
down, he might still be able to get his essay finished before the deadline. Jin promised to go back
for his laptop, so it must be here somewhere, right?

Namjoon angles a metal straw to his lips, and Jungkook parts them obligingly, finding that even
drinking takes an alarming amount of effort.

Fuck, he’s so tired. How is he supposed to do anything productive with his energy reserves
depleted? Caffeine probably isn’t a safe option right now, but is there really a viable alternative?
There’s no way he can work on his essay in his current condition. He feels like every last ounce of
strength has been sapped from him, like he can’t even muster the energy to lift his hands and type.
He’s already losing precious time just sitting here, and there’s so much he still needs to do. The
essay doesn’t even have a coherent conclusion, and he needs to edit the fuck out of it to cut down
his word count, and that’s going to take him forever. On top of all that, his ring-binder of study
notes is still on the couch back at the apartment, so he’s missing over half his research…

God, it’s fucking hopeless.

Hot tears blur his vision so suddenly and unexpectedly that he’s unable to blink them back in time,
a lump rising in his throat as he feels them tumble over his lashes.

“Hey, hey,” Namjoon hushes tenderly, setting the glass aside before leaning in to cradle
Jungkook’s face between his hands, the healer’s brow coming to rest against his own. “I know,
sweetheart.”

That only makes him cry even harder.

And once he’s started he just can’t seem to stop. He’s so tired, so frustrated, so upset with himself
and the gigantic mess he’s made of everything, and he’s never felt so awful in his whole fucking
life, so screw it, he’s going to cry as much as he damn well wants to.

He doesn’t know how long it takes for the tears to finally stop – only that he’s a trembling,
hiccupping mess by the end of it and his headache’s come back with a vengeance. Namjoon
soothes it away again with whispered, indecipherable words and a gentle touch, pressing soft kisses
to Jungkook’s temple.

“There now, dearheart,” Jin murmurs, tenderly drying Jungkook’s face and encouraging him to
blow his nose, having produced a silk handkerchief from fuck knows where. “I think you needed
that. Shh, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about – everyone needs a shoulder to cry on every now
and then.” The vampire reaches up (the handkerchief having mysteriously vanished all of a
sudden) to gently caress a flushed cheek, his eyes soft and full of sympathy. “You’ve had a rough
week, haven’t you, little one?”

Jungkook hesitates for only a brief moment before nodding slowly, sucking in another shuddering
breath.

He’s done trying to hide anything from them – clearly it doesn’t work, and he’s so tired of
pretending that everything’s okay all the time when he’s been feeling so stressed and tired and
upset. Besides, he’s just sobbed his heart out all over them for god knows how long, so he doubts
either vampire will believe him if he tries to deny it.

“That’s something the three of us need to talk about,” Jin continues softly, as Namjoon offers
Jungkook another drink of water. “But later, treasure, when you’re feeling a little better.”

Jungkook is relieved to know they aren’t going to grill him for answers immediately, even though
they have every right to – he probably looks like shit, and he just had a huge emotional meltdown
in front of them, of course they’re going to have questions. He doesn’t know if he has the mental
strength to participate in a lengthy conversation right now, though. All he wants to do is close his
eyes and feel safe again.

“You need rest, kiddo,” Namjoon says, as perceptive as always, gently brushing a droplet of water
from Jungkook’s chin when the youth finally releases the straw, glass empty. “You’re out of the
woods now, but your body’s been through a hell of a lot these past few hours – it’s gonna take a
while to recharge your batteries. You’ve got a lot of sleep to catch up on; I imagine you’ll be out
for most of the day, but we’ll keep waking you periodically to make sure you stay hydrated.”

Jungkook feels himself freeze up at that.

He’s gonna be what? Out for most of the day?

Namjoon’s regarding Jungkook with that same careful look again, the one that feels like it sees
right through him. After a beat, the healer carefully sets the glass to one side so that he can reach
for Jungkook’s hands, holding them gently between his own.

“I know you’re worried about your paper,” Namjoon murmurs – fuck, maybe he is a mind-reader.
“But you don’t need to fret, sweetheart. I’ve contacted SNU to apply for an extension on your
behalf. For a standard medical exemption, they’ll usually give you a week or so beyond the
original deadline, but I can always submit a second appeal if you need a little longer. So there’s no
need to rush back into anything until you’re good and ready; your paper can wait. Just concentrate
on getting better, okay?”

Jungkook can feel himself gaping dumbly, eyes blown wide in shock, heartbeat still thudding a
little too fast in his ears as the silence stretches on between them.

An extension on his essay deadline?

Just like that?

He’s never known anyone in his class to ask for an extension before. Is it even allowed? Won’t it
affect his grade if he hands it in a full week after everyone else? Won’t it affect his scholarship?
Surely it can’t be so easy to obtain one, not without academic repercussions somewhere down the
line. And it doesn’t really seem fair that he’ll be getting all this extra time to finish his essay when
the rest of his cohort had to work super hard to submit it by the original deadline. He doesn’t want
special treatment just because he’s a fucking emotional wreck and can’t get his ass in gear to write
a simple paper. And what will everyone else think of him when they find out – his classmates, his
professors, his friends?

Still…the thought of not needing to worry about his essay, even just for another day or two, god,
he could cry. It almost seems too good to be true. If the deadline’s postponed, he can finally sleep
(like, actually sleep, without needing to set half a dozen alarms and drag himself out of bed at the
screech of dawn); he can wait until he’s fully rested before going back to review his progress. It’ll
be so much easier to edit the paper if he can actually think straight.

But is it morally right to use the academic equivalent of a get-out-of-jail-free card when his current
predicament is of his own making? There are probably other students in his class who need the
extension a lot more than he does, but don’t have the benefit of a doting hyung who happens to be a
qualified healer to write them a sick note. Jungkook doesn’t want to take advantage of his
connections when those same opportunities aren’t available to everyone else, that just seems
wrong.

“Hyung,” he croaks after a long pause, struggling with conflicting feelings of guilt and relief. “Isn’t
that kinda like cheating? Y’know, if I’m not actually sick an’ stuff.”

Namjoon’s calm expression doesn’t change, but there’s something in the vampire’s eyes that
almost seems saddened by the question.

“You aren’t well enough to go back to school,” the healer insists softly, “which more than qualifies
you for an extension on your paper.”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Jin reassures, rubbing his back in slow, soothing circles. “Plenty of
students apply for deadline extensions after a medical emergency. Right, Joon?”

The healer nods and squeezes Jungkook’s hands again. “Right.”

“S’not the same for me, though,” the youth counters, losing his fight against the steady droop of
his heavy eyelids and closing them briefly, brow furrowing a little as he tries to mentally shake off
the fatigue. Fuck, even talking is tiring, and his most recent breakdown has left him feeling beyond
exhausted. “I just ran out of time an’ drank too much coffee. It’s not exactly an emergency.”

A long pause follows, long enough that Jungkook worries he’s offended them somehow. Shit, he
hasn’t even said thank you to Namjoon for contacting the university and going to all that trouble,
has he? The healer probably thinks he’s super ungrateful...

Opening his eyes again, he’s about to rectify that oversight before he sees the uncharacteristically
grave expression on Namjoon’s face, the words dying in his throat as a heavy sort of feeling settles
in his gut. The healer is sharing a significant look with Seokjin, and although two vampires say
nothing aloud, Jungkook still gets the impression they’re conversing with each other somehow,
because Namjoon’s expression flickers minutely as he tilts his head, and then Jin heaves a quiet
sigh, dropping a kiss against Jungkook’s hair and hugging him tighter.

Apparently they’ve come to some sort of unspoken decision, because Namjoon’s refocuses his
attention on Jungkook a moment later.

“Kookie.” The healer gaze is unwavering, and although his outward demeanour is utterly calm,
there’s suddenly something very serious about the look in his eyes. “Do you remember how much
caffeine you drank last night?”

“I…” Jungkook feels himself shrink a bit under the vampire’s gaze, shame stirring in his chest at
the question. “A lot?”

“A little over three-point-eight grams, going by the evidence we found at your apartment,”
Namjoon reveals grimly. “The recommended daily limit for someone your age and size is about
five-hundred milligrams, max. You took a serious overdose, baby.”

Oh.

Deep down, Jungkook had known he was taking a risk every time he opened another can of
LunarBoost. He’d stopped counting, but the row of empty coffee cups and energy drinks had
grown larger as the night progressed, and he should’ve known better, he should’ve stopped after
his hands started to tremble and his muscles began cramping. But he’d been so desperate to stay
awake, so frightened by the prospect of failing to complete his essay on time, that the symptoms
(while unpleasant) had honestly seemed worthwhile in the long-run.

It had been stupid, and he sees that now, but it’s not like he’s fully human – as a bunny hybrid, he
can metabolise caffeine a lot quicker than most people, so eventually the side-effects would’ve
warn off. He’d just be left with a shitty headache and a case of the jitters, as usual, but that’s
probably the worst of it. Granted, he’s never had quite this much caffeine before, but he’s no
stranger to the consequences of a pre-deadline all-nighter. Namjoon and Jin have every right to be
worried, of course they do – Jin had discovered him mid-panic-attack, and he realises how
alarming that must have seemed (it certainly felt pretty terrifying), but drinking a few too many
coffees isn’t that serious, right? Definitely not, like, ‘medical emergency’ serious. Calling it an
overdose makes it sound like he took drugs or something.

“I didn’t drink it all at once,” he tries to reassure them, his voice coming out far more timid than
he’d intended. “And I burn through caffeine pretty quickly, hyung-”

“The five-hundred milligrams limit already takes into account your hybrid genes,” Namjoon
interrupts, calmly but firmly. “For a human, the recommended intake is significantly less than that.
You were seven times over the upper limit, Kookie.”

Well, when he puts it like that it does sound kinda bad, but it’s not like he’d downed six bottle of
soju or something. It was only caffeine.

“Look at me.” Namjoon’s hand suddenly moves to cup his cheek, his intense gaze arresting. “What
you did was dangerous. The level of stress you put your organs through…God, if Yoongi hadn’t
sensed that something was wrong, if we’d left it another hour or two before coming to get you-”

The healer cuts himself off, turning his head away for a brief moment, his eyes closed and his lips
pressed together in a thin line, jaw tensing as he clearly makes an effort to calm down.

A lump has lodged itself in Jungkook’s throat again, eyes misting up against his will at the healer’s
firm words, and he feels Jin’s arms tighten around him comfortingly, drawing attention to the fact
that he’s started trembling again at some point without realising it.

“Statistically speaking,” Namjoon continues, and although his voice more controlled now, there’s
something raw there too, “fatalities caused by caffeine overdoses are rare. But they happen, bun.”

Jungkook’s heart picks up speed, but for a very different reason this time.

It…it hadn’t really been that serious, had it? He’d only wanted to keep himself awake, he hadn’t
meant to…fuck.

Hands cradle his face again, and Namjoon leans in to press their foreheads together, sighing
shakily.

“I’m sorry,” the healer murmurs. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have phrased it like that. I just needed you
to understand how serious it...” He sighs again, thumbs caressing Jungkook’s cheeks soothingly.
“But you’re gonna be fine, baby, I promise. We managed to purge most of the caffeine from your
system, you’re not in danger any more. With enough rest, you’ll be back on your feet in a couple of
days.”

It’s a lot to take in, but Namjoon’s reassurance helps to settle his reawakened fears, and he leans
into the healer’s touch with a shaky sigh of his own.

The knowledge that he had unknowingly put his life at risk because of that fucking essay…god, he
could just slap himself. What will Binnie and Yugyeom think of him when they find out? He can’t
even bear to imagine the look of disappointment on their faces.

Shit, he’s going to start crying again.

“You’re exhausted, little one,” Jin sympathises, rubbing the youth’s back slowly as Jungkook
valiantly tries not to crumble into a millions miserable pieces. “Things will seem better after you’ve
slept a while. Come on, treasure – let’s get you comfortable.”

Jungkook’s far too exhausted, both physically and emotionally, to argue with the vampire as Jin
lays down with Jungkook still in his arms, carefully rolling them onto their sides so that they’re
facing one another and tugging a pillow beneath Jungkook’s head, wrapping an arm around him
snugly.

Jungkook unabashedly snuggles deeper into the vampire’s hold, burying his face in Jin’s chest
again. He can feel his body trembling still, but whether it’s from distress or simply the latent effect
of his caffeine overdose, he can’t say. He just feels so weak. Namjoon’s words keep echoing
around in his head on a loop, and even though he’s so exhausted he could cry, he can’t stop
thinking about what could have happened if nobody had come to check on him.

“Would you like hyung to help you fall asleep?” Jin offers in a hushed murmur.

With a quick nod, Jungkook presses in closer, fingers clinging tightly to the soft fabric of Jin’s
sweater. The tears are still threatening to fall, but he doesn’t want to cry anymore, his eyes already
hurt so much and everything is fucking awful…he just wants it all to go away.

“Just rest now,” Namjoon soothes, fingers carding through Jungkook’s hair. “We’ll take care of
you.”

Jin holds him tighter, a comforting squeeze. “Close your eyes, little one.”

The vampire’s hand glides slowly up the youth’s spine to curl over the nape of his neck, resting
there for a moment. Then a finger taps twice against the base of his skull, and Jungkook barely
hears the low, commanding “somnus” before the world goes black and all is silenced.
 …

“Here, bun – drink this for me.”

Jungkook manages a shaky smile, still feeling faintly nauseous after his most recent trip to the
bathroom, carefully cradling the intricately painted teacup between his faintly trembling hands and
closing his eyes as he inhales the sweet aroma that rises up from the beverage in steamy wisps.

“Ginger and elderberry,” Yoongi offers with a warm smile. “It’ll help settle your stomach.”

Jungkook nods mutely, accepting the Seer’s words as fact, but not quite trusting his voice enough
to answer verbally because bile is still stinging at the back of his throat and it’s gross.

Daylight is peaking into the room through the tiny gap between the heavy-looking burgundy
curtains, and Jungkook wonders what time it is. He’s been so preoccupied by his churning stomach
that he’d forgotten to ask Namjoon before the healer left. It doesn’t feel like he’s been asleep for
very long. He’s still exhausted, and his body’s aching uncomfortably, although it’s more of a too-
many-hours-at-the-gym sort of ache, rather than the horribly painful spasms he’d experienced
earlier that day.

Part of him wishes he could open the curtains and try to judge the time by the brightness of the
sunlight outside, but to be honest he’s glad they haven’t been drawn back – his eyes are still so
sensitive even to the dim glow of his bedside lamp, and he can feel the beginnings of another
headache already threatening to pulse in his temples.

“It’s ten o’clock,” Yoongi says distractedly, as though sensing his unspoken question, eyeing the
chair by the desk for a long moment before moving it several inches to the left and pulling it out by
a foot or so without any obvious motivation for the action. “You’ve only been asleep about four
hours, give or take. A hot cup of tea and I’m sure you’ll be able to put your head down again for a
little while.”

Four hours? That’s practically a full night’s sleep for him, at least going by his recent habits. Why
the fuck does he still feel so tired, then?

Seokjin had been right to some extent – Jungkook does feel better after sleeping for a little while, at
least emotionally. Physically...well, it’s hard to say what’s changed, really. He’d woken up with a
full bladder and a sense of impending doom at the immediate knowledge that he was about to
throw up, which meant that his first tour of the bedroom’s tastefully decorated en suite bathroom
was unfortunately marred by the experience of heaving his guts up for the second time that day
(thankfully not all over Namjoon’s shoes – at least the renewed nausea had reminded him to
apologise for that mortifying happenstance, even though the healer had waved off the apology with
a gentle smile and reassured him that Jin had a knack for cleaning otherwise un-cleanable things…
because of course he did).

Once there was nothing left in Jungkook’s stomach, Namjoon had practically been holding upright
in front of the toilet so that he could empty his bladder (he’ll probably feel embarrassed about that
later, but he’s genuinely too emotionally drained to feel anything right now), and by the time the
healer had settled him back into bed and tucked him beneath the covers, his body had been
trembling from all the exertion.

Whatever strength he’d gained from sleeping four hours straight seems to have worn off already.

Yoongi had appeared in the doorway only moments later, interrupting Namjoon’s fussing with a
tray of tea things, a book, and a calm smile, turning to the healer to casually remark “fallen angel”
before moving to set his burdens down on the desk over by the far wall. Jungkook still isn’t sure
what the Seer had meant by that comment, but clearly Namjoon had understood, because without
another word the healer had dropped a kiss against Jungkook’s brow and hurried from the
bedroom.

“I’d offer you honey, but I know you don’t want it,” Yoongi comments, drawing him out of his
thoughts as the Seer toes off his slippers and climbs up onto the giant four-poster bed (seriously,
it’s huge) to settle himself comfortably against the cushions beside Jungkook, small leather-bound
book in hand.

The Seer’s right again – the balance of the tea is just right, flavourful without being overly sweet,
leaving a rich aftertaste of ginger. Jungkook manages a more genuine (albeit sleepy) smile,
savouring the subtle sweetness on his tongue as Yoongi wraps an arm around his shoulders.

“It’s perfect,” he agrees, leaning into the vampire’s sideways cuddle tiredly. “Thanks, hyung.”

Yoongi turns his head to brush a soft kiss against Jungkook’s cheek, then opens the book and
draws his knees up a little to brace the novel against them, opening it to the first page. “In a hole in
the ground, there lived a hobbit…”

A happy sort of warmth blooms in his chest as Jungkook quietly sips at his drink and listens to the
soothing cadence of Yoongi’s voice, feeling the residual achiness bleed from his weary limbs as he
rests against the vampire. He can’t remember the last time somebody read to him like this. It’s…
it’s nice.

His stomach settles quickly thanks to the tea, and by the time Jungkook’s finished his cup, his
eyelids are drooping again, his cheek smushed against Yoongi’s shoulder as he fights to stay
awake.

The vampire gently plucks the empty teacup from his lax grip, setting it aside before tucking
Jungkook closer against him.

“The next day he had almost forgotten about Gandalf,” Yoongi continues. His voice seems even
quieter now, barely more than a murmur, and although Jungkook tries to follow along, the pull of
sleep is too strong and that feeling of exhaustion soon overtakes him.

He wakes only briefly, vaguely aware of the world tilting on its axis and his head sinking into the
embrace of a soft pillow as the covers are tucked up higher about his shoulders. Then there are
fingers combing through his hair, lips pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek, and when the now-
familiar lilting voice continues its soothing cadence, Jungkook slips back into a restful slumber
with a sleepy smile and a contented sigh.

…
“Shhh, don’t wake him!”

“I am shushing, you shush!”

Jungkook stirs, roused by the urgent whispering and the quiet click of the bedroom door being
shut. His eyelids are far too heavy for him to pry open, sleep still clinging to him stubbornly, ready
to drag him back under at any moment.

“Tae, the others are gonna hear us-”

“Not if you stop being such a fusspup- ow!”

“Shhh!”

He recognises the voices immediately, and now he’s definitely awake, albeit feeling groggy as hell.
Thankfully there’s only the faintest pinch of a headache beneath his temples, so he’s able to roll
over towards the newcomers with minimal discomfort, forcing his sticky eyelids open to a sleepy
squint in time to see Jimin and Taehyung freeze mid-tiptoe, staring at him wide-eyed from halfway
across the room.

They look absolutely ridiculous.

And fuck, Jungkook loves them for it. He feels a tiny smile tugging at the corners of his mouth,
genuine amusement bubbling up inside of him for the first time in god knows how long.

“Hey,” he greets, his voice hoarse from sleep.

Jimin’s the first one to recover, quickly padding over to the bed to perch next to him on the
mattress, a hand slowly stroking up Jungkook’s side over the covers

“Hi, sweetheart,” the elder returns, his voice hushed. “Feeling any better?”

Jungkook nods slowly, still careful about moving his head too fast. The dizziness hasn’t returned
yet, but the memory of feeling like he was on a carousel is still fresh in his mind, and he doesn’t
want to tempt fate.

“Looks like Hobi-hyung left you some apple juice,” Jimin reaches for something on the bedside
table, and shows Jungkook the tiny colourful carton. “You wanna try a few sips?”

He nods again slowly – Jungkook isn’t the least bit hungry, but he is a little thirsty, and his
stomach isn’t churning at all anymore so maybe juice would be okay.

Jimin pokes the little straw through the carton’s seal and brings it to Jungkook’s lips, the worry in
his eyes fading a little as the younger man takes several steady gulps.

Apple juice has never tasted so good, holy fuck. Maybe he needed the sugar or something, because
wow, it’s seriously the most satisfying drink he’s ever had.

The mattress dips behind him as he finishes the last of the juice, Taehyung apparently having
moved around to the other side of the bed to crawl beneath the covers, scooting close enough that
he can curl around Jungkook from behind, clinging to him tightly.

“Tae, be careful, don’t jostle him so much,” Jimin cautions in concern, quickly setting the empty
juice carton aside, hands hovering over the two of them fretfully.

Jungkook’s sleepy smile twitches wider as Taehyung promptly ignores the other vampire’s advice
and nuzzles the back of the younger man’s neck with a happy hum. Being the little spoon happens
to be one of Jungkook’s favourite things ever, so he isn’t about to complain, even if his limbs are
still a little achy and oversensitive.

“Tae-” Jimin tries again, exasperated.

“Shut up and snuggle, fusspup,” Taehyung grouses. “Our Kookie needs kisses.”

Jimin opens his mouth to protest, but glances at Jungkook’s hopeful little smile and immediately
relents, swinging his legs up onto the mattress to lay down alongside him.

And oh, this is nice.

If there’s one thing Jungkook loves even more than being the little spoon, it’s being in the middle
of a cuddle-sandwich. It’s his and Binnie’s go-to sleeping position whenever Yugyeom comes to
stay the night after dance practice, and if they have a movie night over at the Den then it’s usually
Yugyeom on one side and Youngjae or Bam on the other with Jungkook in the middle, Moonbin
laying horizontally across them all for maximum tactile satisfaction. Occasionally several
additional hyungs will join them to make it an proper cuddle-pile, which is Jungkook’s ultimate
favourite thing ever. But being between Jimin and Taehyung feels especially good, because now
he can get kisses.

Not that he and Yugyeom and Bin don’t share kisses all the time (of course they do, they’re BFFs),
but not like kiss kisses.

Jimin regards him silently for a moment, still with that faintly worried look in his eyes, one hand
gently resting against the side of Jungkook’s face and their noses only an inch or so apart. Clearly
whatever he sees in the younger’s expression puts his fears to rest, because after a long beat Jimin
sighs, and a tender smile transforms his face in a way that makes Jungkook’s heart flutter.

“Our Kookie needs kisses, huh?” the dancer echoes fondly.

Jungkook hums, a sleepy sound, but tilts his head an increment closer, and is rewarded with the
gentle press of soft lips against his own. It’s slow, sweet, careful, and Jungkook practically melts
on the spot. He’s missed this so much. Being holed up in his apartment without the coven has
made him crave tactile affection like a man starved, especially since this sort of intimacy is still
fairly new between them. He would happily spend hours sharing little kisses and nuzzles with all
the hyungs if they let him, and fuck, his heart might just burst with happiness.

Jimin breaks away after a long moment, and Jungkook unintentionally makes a noise of protest at
the loss of contact. The vampire breathes a quiet laugh, but obligingly leans in again to brush tiny,
chaste little pecks against his mouth, pausing for a second or two between each one, his fingers
now combing through Jungkook’s hair in a way that makes him forget all about his aching
muscles.

Oh yes, Kookie definitely wants kisses, please and thank you.

When Jimin finally deems him adequately kissed, he rests his head back down against the pillow,
regarding the younger man with a warm smile as the comfortable silence lingers between them.
Taehyung gives a quiet sigh against the back of his neck, cuddling him tighter, and Jungkook
musters up the energy to move his heavy arm beneath the covers, gently Taehyung’s wrist where
the vampire’s arm is curled around his midriff.

He’s so cosy, and Jungkook’s still so exhausted that he feels ready to drift back off again, but
there’s still a niggling curiosity at the back of his mind that demands to be sated.

“What time is it?” he asks, finding that his words slur just a little.

Taehyung kisses his nape again. “Almost two. Why?”

He manages a tiny, one-shouldered shrug (although even that hurts his aching muscles a little). It’s
become a habit of his to routinely check the time, even when he has nothing specific planned. So
much of his life these past couple of years has depended on him sticking to a stringent schedule of
eat-sleep-work-study-repeat, and not having a clock or watch or phone nearby is a little unsettling,
although he knows it’s probably for his own good. Being so fixated on timekeeping is a habit he’d
like to break eventually (especially now that he’s cut his part-time hours and doesn’t have to
structure his timetable so strictly any more), but he knows that isn’t going to happen overnight.

It’s weird to think that he’s been at the nest for over ten hours now, especially since he’s only been
conscious for a mere fraction of that time. In some ways, it feels like he’s been here for much
longer that that (flitting in and out of sleep so often has seriously confused his body clock, it could
be the middle of the week for all he knows), but conversely, the snippets of conversations he’s had
with the hyungs during his few wakeful moments have felt so brief that he could’ve imagined
himself being here less than an hour if they hadn’t told him otherwise.

And it certainly doesn’t feel like he’s slept the day away. Even now, exhaustion still clings to him
as heavily as it had done earlier that morning, and no matter how much he sleeps, it doesn’t ever
seem to lessen. He isn’t sure if it’s a direct result of the caffeine overdose, or just his body finally
deciding to give him shit for all the strain he’s put himself through this past week (or these past
two years, even). Realistically, it’s probably both.

“Hobi-hyung told us what happened last night,” Taehyung suddenly murmurs, his voice subdued,
and Jungkook tenses, immediately pulled from his sleepy thoughts.

Jimin lifts his head from the pillow to glance across at the younger campire, his brow furrowing a
little in concern.

“Tae-”

“I’m not gonna talk about it,” Taehyung hurries to add, nuzzling the back of Jungkook’s neck
again. “Just…I need you to promise that you won’t ever do that to yourself again, okay?”

The slight wobble in the vampire’s voice makes Jungkook’s heart ache a little. Mustering up every
last ounce of strength in his weary body, he carefully rolls over in Taehyung’s arms, shuffling
around until he’s facing his bondmate. The faint sheen of tears in the fledgling’s eyes lodges a
lump in Jungkook’s throat again.

“Hyung-”

“Promise me.” Taehyung snakes a hand between them and extends his pinky finger. “Or no more
M&Ms. I mean it.”

Jungkook breathes a shaky laugh, his own eyes stinging wetly, and curls his little finger around the
vampire’s obligingly, tilting his head enough to rub their noses together.
“I promise,” he whispers. “Never again.”

And he means it.

Taehyung smiles, but there’s still something achingly vulnerable about the look in his eyes, and
Jungkook hates that he’s the one to have caused it. The pang of guilt only lasts a second, though,
because a moment later Taehyung’s leaning in to kiss him. And apparently the vampire’s
determined to beat Jimin’s previous tally, because he doesn’t leave the younger man’s lips alone
for several minutes after that – not that Jungkook’s complaining.

He’s still sleepy, though, and even though the kisses are super nice, he feels about ready to drift off
again…

Until Jimin shifts behind him with a sharp inhale.

Jungkook opens his eyes again to see that Taehyung has propped himself up a little too, sharing a
wide-eyed look of trepidation with his fellow nestmate. Jungkook manages to roll over onto his
back, sleepily frowning up at the two of them in confusion. There’s a brief moment of stillness, and
then Jimin abruptly rolls off the bed and disappears from sight, hitting the floor with a surprising
quiet flump considering he’s a full-grown man, and Jungkook blinks in puzzlement at the sound of
something scratching against the floorboards beneath his bed.

And then he hears the quiet footsteps approaching along the corridor outside his bedroom door.
Suddenly their behaviour is less baffling – although only somewhat.

Taehyung is far less quiet in his apparent endeavour to hide from the newcomer. The vampire
practically flings himself out of bed, darting across the room and making a beeline for the giant
burgundy curtains. His trajectory takes him right past the desk, and in his haste he seems to
misjudge the unusual position of the chair, stumbling over it and flailing for a moment before
tumbling to the floor. Jungkook can tell by the sound of the impact that it isn’t a hard fall, more of
a controlled (albeit graceless) descent, but he still winces in sympathy.

The bedroom door opens at that precise moment, and Jungkook’s so bemused by the recent series
of events that he forgets about the ache in his arms and shoulders and finds the strength to prop
himself up a bit.

Seokjin regards Taehyung’s inelegant sprawl with an arched brow, clearly fighting a smile.

“My darling,” the vampire says calmly, “You weren’t intending to hide from me behind those
curtains. In front of the window. In direct sunlight?”

Jungkook swears he can hear Taehyung’s wince from across the room, even though the vampire
hasn’t moved an inch from his facedown position on the floor.

“…no?” comes the fledgling’s unconvincing reply after several long seconds of silence.

Seokjin’s lips twitch, and with a fond sigh he crosses the room to help the smaller vampire back to
his feet, hands fussing to straighten the younger man’s clothing and brush off invisible dirt from
the fall. His ministrations notably more vigorous as he briskly dusts down the seat of Taehyung’s
pants, and Jungkook swears Jin even leans the maknae forwards a little over his left arm as he
completes his thorough ministrations, Tae making an adorably sulky noise of protest until he’s
finally righted again and turned around.

Jin curls a finger beneath Taehyung’s chin to lift it, leaning in to brush a soft kiss against his lips,
clearly comfort and forgiveness in one. Then he nudges Tae back towards the bed, and the
fledgling wastes no time scooting across the mattress to snuggle up behind Jungkook, pulling the
younger man to lean against his chest. Meanwhile, Seokjin has sunk gracefully into a crouch about
a metre away from the bed, head tilted to one side as he regards the vampire still hiding out of
sight.

“I thought I told you to wait for me,” Jin chides, although the gentle note of censure in his voice is
undercut by a whole wealth of fondness.

From under the bed, there’s a snuffling little huff that sounds almost like a sneeze.

The vampire sighs again, but he’s smiling as he extends his arms beckoningly, and after a beat
Jungkook can hear that scratching sound again, this time moving away from him and towards the
other side of the bed.

Jin straightens up again, a familiar ball off sandy-brown fluff cradled against his chest.

“I’m not upset with you,” he murmurs, dropping a kiss against the tiny pooch’s upturned head. “I
know it’s been difficult to stay away, and you’ve both been so good for me. Balcony-climbing
aside.”

Chim suddenly looks sheepish (or as sheepish as an adorable pup is able to look), and Taehyung
snickers against Jungkook’s shoulder, but nobody chooses to elaborate on that particular titbit and
Jungkook doesn’t think to ask, almost immediately distracted by the tender smile that Jin sends his
way.

“And how’s my littlest love?” the vampire asks kindly, moving to join them on the bed, gracefully
scooting closer to the middle without breaking his gentle hold on Chim.

“M’okay,” Jungkook manages, wriggling to sit up a little straighter against the pillows as Taehyung
slips out from behind him. He misses the backhug only for a moment, because his bondmate
simply settles against the headboard right beside him instead. Yes, good. Now he’s sandwiched
snugly between Tae and Jin.

“He’s still pretty sleepy,” Taehyung provides, his arm curling around Jungkook’s shoulders.
“Aren’t you, baby?”

The youth nods, because it’s true, and also because he isn’t very good at hiding his fatigue at the
moment.

Something warm lands in his lap, and he blinks down at the ball of fur, lips kicking up in a tired
smile as his hands automatically move to pet Chim’s fluffy body. He can’t help it, the shifter is so
fucking cute, and he’s always been weak for tiny pooches. Besides, Chim doesn’t seem displeased
by the petting – his tiny puffy bauble of a tail is wagging back and forth happily as he butts his
head against Jungkook’s chest.

“Are you hungry, dearheart?” Seokjin smooths a hand over Jungkook’s hair. “Thirsty?”

Jungkook shakes his head. The apple juice had satisfied whatever lingering thirst there might have
been, and he doesn’t feel confident enough yet to try eating anything solid, the memory of
throwing up (twice) still far too fresh in his mind.

“Okay.” Jin drops a kiss against the crown of his head, wrapping his own arm around the youth.
“Perhaps we’ll try a little soup later, hm?”

Nodding, Jungkook leans into the vampire’s warmth drowsily, feeling Taehyung snuggling up on
his other side. He doesn’t want to sleep, he wants to stay conscious and enjoy all these nice fuzzy
feelings in his chest; to savour the experience of being cuddled like this between the two of them
with his lap full of cute, fluffy shifter-pup.

A cold, wet nose presses against the skin of his arm, and he glances down to find Chim staring at it
intently, the pup’s tail no longer wagging.

“Oh! You’re all bruised,” Taehyung points out, reaching for the afflicted limb and lifting it
carefully to inspect the mark closer. “What happened, baby?”

Jungkook recognises the sensitive area of his inner arm, just beneath the crease of his elbow, where
he’d repeatedly pinched himself last night in an effort to stay awake. The mark there is only a
couple of inches in diameter, the redness and swelling from before having transitioned into a
mottled purple-green bruise.

“I kept losing focus,” he hears himself saying sleepily, eyelids drooping as another wave of fatigue
hits him. “Helped me concentrate. S’fine though.”

The bruise is fading already (thanks to his hybrid genes accelerating the healing), and it’ll probably
be gone altogether by this time tomorrow.

“Helped you…” Taehyung’s voice tapers off, a strange sort of expression on his face. He brushes
his thumb over the bruise, then all at once his expression changes and his gaze cuts across to
Seokjin sharply. “Hyung-”

“Kookie’s tired, darling,” Jin interrupts him gently, although there’s something a little strange
about his tone that Jungkook’s fatigued mind can’t quite place. “We’ll talk about it later, okay?”

Taehyung’s lips press together, and he’s clearly upset, but he doesn’t argue with the elder vampire,
merely cuddling closer against Jungkook’s side.

Chim’s pink tongue darts out to lap at the mark softly, tenderly, like it’s a grazed knee that needs
kissing better. Jungkook isn’t sure the tiny bruise is worth all this fussing (it doesn’t even hurt any
more), but he smiles at the pup’s ministrations, even as he feels himself beginning to wilt with
fatigue, eyelids fluttering closed.

Hands move him carefully (probably Jin’s, but he can’t be sure), and he’s laid back down again on
his side, the blankets being tucked up around his torso again. Taehyung’s heat is gone from beside
him as the vampire pads away from the bed, and Jungkook mourns the loss even on the brink of
sleep, until something fluffy wriggles beneath his arm to curl up against his chest.

Chim, as it turns out, makes an excellent teddy-bear.

He feels the shifter’s warm tongue tickle the underside of his chin in a tiny kiss before the pup
nuzzles in closer and goes still. Despite all of this, there’s a strange sort of sadness stirring in his
chest, and it confuses Jungkook because the rest of him feels so cosy.

He swears he hears a quiet, hitching breath right before the bedroom door clicks shut, but
exhaustion drags him under before he can wonder who it belongs to.
 …

Something’s wrong.

That niggling worry pulls him from a deep, dreamless sleep, and he can feel his sluggish mind
fighting its way towards consciousness, even as the rest of him remains afloat somewhere safe and
dark.

“…be okay,” someone nearby is murmuring soothingly. “It’s not your fault, sweetheart. Hey, hey,
c’mere. Shhh, he’s gonna be fine.”

Jungkook slowly becomes aware of himself; the heaviness sinking deep into his aching limbs, the
warmth of the duvet covering him, and the fact that his arm is outstretched across the mattress, a
hand clinging to his own.

He hears a quiet, hiccupping sound, a tearful sniffle, followed by the gentle, soothing “shhh” of
whoever else is in the room with them.

And then a familiar scent fills his senses, and Jungkook’s mind is thrown immediately into
wakefulness as he wrenches his heavy eyelids open.

Binnie.

The werecat’s sitting propped up against the headboard, his fingers laced with Jungkook’s, his
body half-turned towards Hoseok as the empath murmurs to him comfortingly, arms wrapped
around the youth’s trembling frame.

Oh god…Moonbin’s crying. He’s crying.

Jungkook tries pushing himself up onto his elbow, cursing his body’s weakness and the sheer
amount of effort it takes simply to move.

“Binnie,” he croaks, alarmed, and his roommate pulls away from Hoseok sharply, tear-filled eyes
wide as they dart towards him.

In less than a second, Jungkook’s arms are full of distraught werecat, worry cloying in his chest as
Moonbin buries his head against him with a hitching sob.

“Hey,” he murmurs, hugging his roommate as tightly as his fatigued body will allow, fingers
burying themselves in Bin’s thick hair. “I’m here. What’s wrong, baby?”

Moonbin simply makes a choked noise and clings to him tighter, rubbing his face against
Jungkook’s shoulder. Alarmed by his friend’s distress (Binnie hardly ever cries, not like this, and
it’s freaking him out), Jungkook sends a helpless glance towards Hoseok.

The empath shifts closer across the mattress to sit beside them, one hand reaching out to caress
Jungkook’s cheek as the other gently rubs Moonbin between his shoulders.

“Binnie wanted to check up on you,” Hoseok elaborates softly, his eyes full of sympathy as he
watches the werecat shudder in Jungkook’s arms. “He went to your apartment without calling
ahead, and when you weren’t home…”

“I saw,” Moonbin croaks tearfully, his face still buried against Jungkook, “I saw the coffee cups
an’ the LunarBoosts. You…you weren’t answering any of my messages, but I thought maybe you
were just sleeping, but then you weren’t even there, an’ you’d drunk so much coffee, so I freaked
out and called JB-hyung, but he hadn’t seen you in days, an’ I was so worried-”

“Shhh,” Hoseok soothes, scooting down to hug Moonbin from behind, reaching across to rub
Jungkook’s side at the same time. “I know, you’ve had a tough afternoon, kitten. It’s alright to be
upset.”

His gaze flickers towards Jungkook as he speaks, and the younger man knows those last words are
directed at him too, probably because his own eyes are already welling up in response to
Moonbin’s distress.

Fuck, he’d never wanted Binnie to find out what had happened, but especially not like this. He can
only imagine how terrifying it must have been for him, to come home to an empty apartment and
be faced with the cold, hard evidence of Jungkook’s caffeine overdose.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, pressing kisses against the side of Bin’s face, unable to coax the werecat
out from his shoulder. “I’m sorry, please don’t cry, I’m okay-”

“You’re not,” Bin counters, but he sounds marginally less distraught now, so that’s progress.
“You’re always saying that, but you’re not. Why the fuck would you drink all those LunarBoosts,
hyung? You could’ve had a heart attack!”

Jungkook flinches, cut to the core by the truth in his words. Hoseok’s hand moves up to cup the
side of his face, and he blinks really hard to keep the tears from spilling over.

“I know,” he agrees, his voice trembling a little. “I know it was stupid. I wasn’t thinking. I’m so
sorry. Please don’t be mad.”

Moonbin pulls away a couple of inches to look at him. His face is flushed, cheeks tearstained and
eyes red and swollen from crying, and the sight of it fucking rips Jungkook’s heart right in two.

The werecat stares at him for a moment, then breathes a shaky sigh and leans up to press a tiny kiss
to the corner of Jungkook’s mouth.

“M’not mad,” Bin mumbles. “Stupid.”

The retort startles a tearful sort of laugh out of Jungkook, and he feels a little of the tightness in his
chest ease at the flicker of a smile that tugs at Moonbin’s lips in response. Tilting his head down,
he rubs their noses together, squeezing Bin in a tighter hug for a moment despite the way his
aching arms protest the strain.

They lay there for several minutes in relative silence, Moonbin’s hitching breaths finally evening
out as his tears dissipate, Hoseok’s hand rubbing slowly up and down Jungkook’s side as he hugs
them both.

A sound from across the room makes the empath pause in his ministrations, lifting his head to
glance towards the door. Jungkook’s facing in the opposite direction (and he’s far too exhausted to
roll over and see who it is), but the newcomer clearly exchanges some sort of silent communication
with Hoseok, because the vampire nods and makes a vague gesture in return, before leaning over to
press a kiss to Jungkook’s cheek.
“I’ll be back in a little while,” Hoseok promises, running his fingers through Binnie’s hair in a
parting caress before slipping from the bed and out of sight.

The bedroom door closes with a quiet click moments later, but Jungkook knows they’re not alone
in the room. The newcomer eventually moves closer, footfalls near-silent against the floorboards,
but it isn’t until the mattress dips and a familiar scent washes over him that Jungkook realises who
it is.

“Hey, cub,” Jaebum murmurs, combing gentle fingers through his hair. “You two look cosy. Mind
if I join you?”

Jungkook suddenly needs a hug from the Alpha so bad it hurts, and clearly Moonbin feels the same
way, because the kitten makes a soft noise in the back of his throat and finally releases his death-
grip on Jungkook, rolling away a little to make room. Jaebum smoothly inserts himself into the gap
between them, drawing his cubs in closer on either side until both Bin and Jungkook are resting
half on top of him, an arm wrapped snugly around each of them as a soothing, and a purring sort of
rumble reverberates through his chest.

There’s something about being cuddled by the Alpha that always makes Jungkook feel
inexplicably small, and it isn’t just because of Jaebum’s bigger frame and superior physical
strength. Even if the Alpha was half his size, Jungkook suspects he’d still feel this way; JB’s hugs
are like safety, comfort, family, home, all wrapped up into one.

Jaebum heaves a deep, contented sigh, as though he’d needed this embrace every bit as much as
they did, squeezing Jungkook closer for a moment as he turns his head to nuzzle the youth’s
temple.

“I’ve been talking to Jin-hyung,” the Alpha says eventually, his voice a low murmur against
Jungkook’s hair. And Jin-hyung? Since when did JB drop the –ssi? The Alpha’s always been a
stickler about formal titles when it comes to talking about other clan-leaders, even the ones who
insist he call them 'hyung'. “About what happened last night, and where we go from here.”

Oh. They’ve been talking about him? For some reason that both warms his heart and makes his
stomach flutter with nervous butterflies.

“Your safety is our number one priority,” JB continues. “Which is why we both agree that you’re
not going back to that apartment on your own under any circumstances.”

Jungkook opens his mouth to protest – his study materials are there, not to mention his clothes and
his phone, and he needs all of those things.

“Good,” Moonbin mumbles, his face still buried against the Alpha’s chest. “Are we kidnapping
him? I’m down for kidnapping him.”

Jaebum sniffs a grin, turning his head to drop a kiss against Bin’s hair.

“I don’t think it’ll come to that,” the Alpha replies, shifting his gaze to lock eyes with Jungkook as
the youth peers up at him. “Namjoon-hyung said you’d need another day of observation before it’d
be safe to move you, but I’m not gonna force you to come home to the Den with me, even if that’s
what my instincts are telling me to do.” He lifts his arm from around the cub to stroke a gentle
hand over the back of Jungkook’s head. “I want you protected, bun, but I also want you happy. And
if you feel safe here, in Jin-hyung’s nest, then that’s alright with me. It’s your choice to make.”

Jungkook’s almost ashamed by how little he has to deliberate between those two options. He feels
guilty that he doesn’t immediately want to join the Im-pack at the Den (he was JB’s cub first, after
all, and it feels wrong not to crave their companionship the way he used to), but the thought of
spending more time here in the nest with Tae and Jimin and the other hyungs…god, it’s what his
heart yearns for.

In truth, the mere notion of going back to his empty, lonely apartment is literally the least
appealing thing ever, even if he does kinda need his belongings.

“I do,” he answers softly. “I feel safe here. I…I wanna stay, hyung.”

Jaebum searches his face for a moment, before nodding, apparently satisfied that Jungkook is
telling him the truth.

The Alpha presses a gentle kiss to his brow. “I’ll bring the pack by for a visit once you’re feeling a
little better; Jin-hyung’s offered to host us for dinner, god help him.”

JB’s probably thinking of his Betas’ healthy appetites and the fact that the maknae line alone can
eat enough to feed a small battalion, but Jungkook has seen first-hand just how much food Seokjin
prepares to feed his own coven, and he doubts the vampire will have any difficulty catering for
seven additional guests.

"I'd prefer it if neither of you told Yugyeom about what's happened until I've had a chance to speak
to him tonight," the Alpha continues. "He's away with Youngjae's folks this weekend, and this isn't
something I want to discuss over the phone. He'll probably want to see you ASAP, so we might
swing by after school tomorrow if you're feeling up to it."

Jungkook nods immediately. He's always up for seeing Yugyeom.

“Is there anything you need me to pick up for you?” Jaebum presses. “Binnie already brought your
phone and a change of clothes. You want anything else from the apartment?”

Oh, bless Moonbin and his thoughtfulness. He sends the werecat a grateful, albeit sleepy smile.

“Maybe my backpack?” he asks hopefully. “And my study notes, they’re in a ring-binder on the-”

“No,” Jaebum interrupts, in a tone that brooks no argument. “Those stay put. You’re not going
anywhere near your coursework until the Kim-hyungs think you’re ready. You need to concentrate
on getting better, cub – and we’re gonna need to have a serious conversation about your studies
before you go back to school.”

Over on Jaebum’s left side, he sees Moonbin tense up, a guilty sort of wince creasing his face. The
werecat realises he’s being watched, gaze flitting across to Jungkook timidly.

“I didn’t mean to tell them,” his best friend confesses plaintively. “I was upset, and the hyungs
were being so nice, I just wasn’t thinking straight. When Namjoon-hyung started asking me about
your studies and why you might’ve had a panic attack earlier…I’m so sorry, Kook. I...I told them
everything.”

Oh god.

They know? They know everything?

Shit.

He’s so fucking screwed.

Chapter End Notes

Officially my LONGEST CHAPTER EVER. But the fluff demanded to be written,

and then Binnie was sad and JB needed cudddles, and it kept growing and growing.
But our Kookie is safe! And the hyungs have put their collective foot down. He's not
going back to school until he's had a TALK about his studies, which means bye-bye
horrible business degree.

Yoongi is a soft boy who loves tea and pillows and cute dongsaengs, and he will read
Kookie bedtime stories if he wants to, dammit! :P

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Thank you again for your ongoing support, I really
appreciate it. :) x
 All's Well That Ends Well
Chapter Summary

Jungkook regains his strength, takes care of Binnie, gets cuddled a lot, eats good food,
and finally has that TALK with his hyungs. The storm's moving on.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Hot showers are the best.

Admittedly, this is the first time Jungkook’s ever taken one sitting down, but that doesn’t detract
from the overall feeling of satisfaction as the warm water cascades down his body, washing away
sweat and tears and the sticky residue of multiple herbal-scented healing balms.

He’d tried to argue with Namjoon that the shower-chair really wasn’t necessary, but the way his
legs had wobbled traitorously during the short walk from his bed to the ensuite bathroom had
crippled his case somewhat. Thankfully the healer, ever-benevolent, hadn’t voiced the ‘I told you
so’ that Jungkook probably deserved, instead wordlessly winding a supportive arm about his waist
to steady him the rest of the way there.

“I’d like you to leave the door unlocked,” Namjoon had murmured once they were alone, hand
lingering on Jungkook’s nape as he regarded the younger man seriously for a moment. “Just in
case you start to feel lightheaded. I’ll be standing right outside if you need me, okay?”

Jungkook had felt himself blush at that, even though he’s never been particularly body-conscious.
Frequently sharing a small locker-room with a dozen other guys at the dance studio has resulted in
him losing any inhibitions he may have once had about people seeing him sans-clothing, and living
in an apartment first with Yugyeom and later Moonbin has definitely normalised the experience of
showering with someone nearby – hell, their bathroom door doesn’t even have a working lock
anymore, since the landlord never bothered to get it fixed after it broke last year. He and Binnie
just have an unwritten rule to knock first before coming in to take a leak.

The prospect of one of the hyungs walking in while he’s showering, however…that’s different.
Very different.

(Although it isn’t necessarily an unpleasant thought.)

Regardless, Jungkook doesn’t actually intend to keel over dramatically or do anything that’ll
require Namjoon and the others to come rushing to his aid. He’s trying to show them all how much
better he’s feeling so that they’ll stop looking worried all the time, and fainting in the shower
wouldn’t support his case at all. It’s a little disconcerting that the heat of the water alone is enough
to make him feel fuzzy-headed and drowsy, but Jungkook knows he’s got nobody but himself to
blame for the lingering side-effects of his caffeine overdose. Honestly, he could strangle his past
self for all the stupid decisions he’s made recently, especially knowing how much trouble he’s
caused for everyone else. He keeps being such an inconvenience.

Seriously, how many times have the hyungs had to intervene in his affairs these past couple of
weeks because of Jungkook’s inability to handle normal grownup shit? First with the migraines and
the passing-out-at-work thing, and the coven taking care of him after he’d sprained his ankle the
very next day, then paying his rent six months upfront and abruptly solving his longterm financial
crisis (he doubts he’ll ever stop feeling indebted to Namjoon and Jin for pulling him out of poverty
like that). Not to mention everything Namjoon had done to save Binnie after the car accident
(Jungkook knows the healer had downplayed the severity of the werecat’s condition – he’d read
his roommate’s discharge paperwork, the list of injuries had been fucking huge), and the way the
coven had come together to support Jungkook and Eunwoo during those stressful few days in
hospital. Then there’s all the little things they’ve done besides, like buying him new shoes and
clothes and kitchen gadgets for the apartment, driving him to school and art class, taking him out
on fun dates and treating him to fancy meals and delicious snacks, even meal-prepping for him
when his essay-crisis reached a point where he didn’t have time to hang out with them anymore.

And after today, he quite literally owes them his life.

Fuck, how is he ever supposed to repay a debt like that?

While Jungkook can’t deny that he secretly enjoys being doted on by the coven, the knowledge
that he’s potentially being a burden to other people has never sat well with him. He’s supposed to
be an independent adult, he shouldn’t need the hyungs to intervene like this, especially not half a
dozen times in less than three weeks.

He’s gonna do better from now on. Future-Jungkook isn’t going to make half as many stupid-ass
decisions as he once did; he can’t, not when his actions always seem to have such a negative
impact on the people around him. He can’t keep worrying the hyungs like this, and god, he never
wants to make Binnie cry again. And if that means getting his shit together and making some
lifestyle changes, Jungkook’s willing to do that – he just needs to figure out where to start first,
because it all seems like one huge mess right now.

Even the thought of it is making his head spin.

Deciding to cut his shower short before he passes out or something equally as mortifying,
Jungkook angles the showerhead to sluice away the last of the rose-scented soap suds and reaches
up to turn off the flow of water. Heaving himself to his feet with a great deal of effort (his achy legs
really don’t appreciate the sudden movement, knees threatening to buckle beneath his weight for a
moment), he pushes the glass door open and steps out of the shower cubicle onto the cushiony
bathmat, shivering a little in the comparatively cool air of the spacious bathroom as he unfurls a
nearby folded towel to wrap around himself.

It’s super soft and thick, fluffier than any towel he’s ever owned, and Jungkook closes his eyes for
a moment as he marvels at the feel of it against his damp skin.

Holy fuck. Has he been drying himself with potato sacks all his life? Seriously, what is this thing
even made of? How is it so soft?

“Kookie?” Namjoon calls from the other side of the closed bathroom door, knocking quietly.
“Everything okay in there?”
Jungkook realises he’s been hugging the fluffy towel to himself and rubbing his cheek against it for
several silent minutes. The healer probably thinks he’s fainted or something.

“Fine, hyung!” he croaks back, cheeks aflame. “Be out in a minute!”

Quickly drying himself off, he reaches for the stack of clothes that someone’s left for him on the
marble countertop beside the sink. The underwear is his, but the black cotton joggers are
unfamiliar, as is the dark grey t-shirt (several sizes bigger than anything he owns). Both garments
carry a faintly familiar scent, one that Jungkook has come to associate with the Kim coven
whenever he’s being hugged, but he honestly can’t tell if that scent belongs to the nest itself or if
they all just use the same pleasantly-mild washing detergent.

Jungkook slips on the borrowed outfit with a pleased little smile, hugging his arms around himself
for a moment. He’s pretty sure Moonbin had brought a full change of his own clothes from the
apartment, but it feels nice to know that the hyungs still want to dress him in their own stuff. It’s
something the Im-pack do with Yugyeom all the time – the maknae werewolf often showing up to
campus wearing someone else’s jacket or shirt or beanie – and it’s even more noticeable around the
full moon, when the older wolves rarely let Yugyeom wear any of his own clothes. Not that the
pup seems to mind; it’s pack-instinct after all, a way for Yugyeom’s bondmates to satisfy their
need to protect their pup when he’s away from the den by sending their scent with him. Jungkook
himself has frequently come home after spending dinner with JB’s pack to discover that he and
Binnie have somehow acquired several additional items of clothing over the course of the evening.

Jungkook hadn’t realised it was a trait that vampires shared – but then again, he’s never actually
met another bonded nest before. Also, he kinda gets the impression that the Kim-coven are a law
unto themselves, so maybe it’s just a them thing and not necessarily a vampire trait. He’ll need to
ask Eunwoo that later on.

His teeth still feel kinda gross even though he’d brushed them right before dinner, so he grabs his
toothbrush from the cute ceramic Ryan cup by the sink and gives them another quick clean. The
toothpaste is a brand he’s never heard of before (he’s been using the same cheap-as-shit drugstore
stuff these past two years; it works just fine and he can get two tubes for a hundred yen if he waits
for the right deal), but the packaging looks super fancy, and the mint flavour isn’t overpowering
enough to burn his tongue like most brands, so that’s a plus.

By the time Jungkook has rinsed out his mouth and wiped his face clean, his legs are aching like
he’s been doing squats for a solid hour instead of just supporting himself upright for five minutes.
God, he hates how weakened this whole experience has left him – a few weeks back he was
regularly on his feet for upwards of sixteen hours at a time over the weekends, between his two
part-time jobs. And even when he’d been contending with those awful recurrent migraines, he’d
never felt quite this pathetic. It’s unsettling.

He tries not to let it show as he opens the bathroom door a crack and smiles up at Namjoon shyly,
but the elder’s brow still creases a little as his gaze sweeps down Jungkook’s body.

“I’ll get you something to ease the cramps, sweetheart,” the healer promises, carefully helping him
across the room and back into bed. He gently ruffles Jungkook’s still-damp hair before reaching
out to cluck Moonbin beneath the chin with a smile. “Think you can keep an eye on this one for
me, kitten?”

“Sure, hyung.” The werecat cuddles into Jungkook’s side cheerfully. “I got him.”

Once Namjoon has left the bedroom, Jungkook huffs a quiet laugh, lightly smacking at Binnie’s
arm where it’s looped around his waist as the younger man keeps tugging him closer, clearly
intending to pull him all the way into his lap. Usually Jungkook would welcome the invitation
(Moonbin gives really good cuddles), but Bin’s injuries are still healing, and he doesn’t want to
cause any further damage.

“Watch your leg, kitcat,” he cautions, hand resting on his roommate’s thigh just above the lip of
his plaster-cast. “I’m too heavy.”

“You are not,” Moonbin scoffs, but there’s no heat to it. “You weigh even less than MJ-hyung, and
he’s a Fae.”

“Hybrid genes,” Jungkook reminds him. Despite his mixed DNA, his bone structure isn’t quite as a
dense as a human’s, and he doesn’t tend to build up muscle easily either. Bunny hybrids are
generally slim by nature, and despite being half-human, Jungkook’s always been skinnier than his
friends – something he’s put down to having such an active lifestyle…and occasionally skipping a
meal or two on busy days. Although if Jin and the other hyungs keep plying him with baked goods
all the time, he won’t stay petite much longer.

“I’m still not sitting on your leg, dude,” he reiterates. “I don’t wanna hurt you.”

Moonbin sighs but settles for snuggling up to him instead, rubbing his cheek against Jungkook’s
shoulder.

“Joon-hyung says the fracture’s almost done healing – I’ll only need to keep the cast on until
Friday,” the werecat informs him. “Kinda sucks that I’m not allowed to do sports or use the gym or
go to dance practice for another couple of weeks, but at least I get to ditch the crutches when the
cast comes off.”

Jungkook smiles, relieved by the news and happy that his friend’s mobility struggles are almost at
an end, remembering all too well how cumbersome crutches can be.

“That’s great!” he enthuses, hugging Bin’s arms where they’re wrapped around him. “Have you
told Eunwoo and the pack?”

Binnie shakes his head against Jungkook’s shoulder. “Nunu’s away filming stuff for Lotte
Waterpark until Tuesday, I don’t wanna distract him. And, uh…I kinda already told the pack on
Friday that my leg was almost better?”

Jungkook turns a little to send his friend an incredulous look, and the werecat pulls a face right
back at him.

“What? It’s not like I lied,” Binnie protests. “My leg is getting better. I just needed something big
to convince Eunwoo that he didn’t have to stay – he was ready to back out of his modelling
contract last-minute to take care of me this weekend. I couldn’t let him do that, not when he’s been
talking about this CF for weeks.” The werecat hooks his chin over Jungkook’s shoulder and hugs
him tighter. “He’ll only start worrying about me again if I tell him the cast needs to stay on for
another five days…can we maybe just keep this between the two of us until he gets home?
Please?”

Jungkook’s never been able to say no to Moonbin. And he can’t really blame the werecat for
wanting to downplay the severity of his fracture – to be fair, it sounds exactly like the sort of thing
Jungkook would’ve done if he’d found himself in Bin’s shoes. Like damn, hasn’t he spent the past
god-knows-how-many-months trying to convince the Im-pack and all his friends that he’s been
coping just fine with his part time work and university studies? He’s not exactly in a position to
lecture Moonbin about the dangers of warping the truth to mollify the people he loves.
“He won’t hear about it from me,” Jungkook promises softly, turning a little to bump his nose
against the werecat’s cheek. “But Binnie? Try not to take after me too much, okay? I’m kinda
hoping you’ll learn from a few of my mistakes.”

Moonbin huffs a sardonic laugh. “Good thing I don’t like coffee, huh?”

“Mm,” he agrees, lips twitching up in a smile as he leans further against Bin with a tired sigh.
“You’re definitely safer sticking with Nesquik.”

His mind abruptly decides to conjure up an image of their roles reversed – with Jungkook being the
one to discover Binnie sick and shaking after taking a caffeine overdose. The notion of Moonbin
ever doing something so damaging to himself…fuck. It sends a cold shiver down his spine.

“Hey, cubs.”

Jungkook forcefully derails that grim train of thought, managing to muster up a tired smile for
Jaebum as the Alpha wanders over from the bedroom doorway. JB regards the two of them with a
fond smile, moving to perch on the edge of the bed.

“Feeling a little better after your shower, bun?” the werewolf queries, settling a gentle hand in
Jungkook’s damp hair.

“So much better,” he confirms, tilting his head into the contact. Then his smile wavers a little when
he notices that Jaebum’s put on his jacket (he hadn’t been wearing that earlier), and Jungkook feels
a twinge of disappointment when he realises that probably means the Alpha’s probably going to be
leaving very soon. Leaving with Binnie.

Jungkook’s only been awake for like an hour, goddammit. He doesn’t want to say goodbye, not
just yet.

As anticipated, the werewolf’s gaze shifts to settle on Moonbin after a moment, his smile tender
but apologetic.

“It’s time we started making tracks, kitten,” the Alpha murmurs, reaching out to brush the
werecat’s fringe back from his forehead. “I need to get you home to JinJin, you’ve had a long day.
And I promised the boys I’d pick them up from the airport at eight.”

Moonbin’s arms immediately tighten around Jungkook’s waist, the werecat pressing his face into
the hybrid’s shoulder with a soft noise of protest.

“It’s only for a little while,” Jaebum reasons gently, fingers now carding through Bin’s hair. “We’ll
come back tomorrow, I promise.”

Jungkook feels a familiar tightness stirring in his chest that has nothing to do with the werecat’s
death-grip on his midriff. He remembers all too well what it had felt like to be in Moonbin’s
position just over a week ago, faced with the crushing prospect of being separated from his
roommate at a time when his instincts were telling him that he absolutely needed to stay. Sure, he
isn’t in as serious a condition as Binnie had been after the car accident, but regardless of the
circumstances, they’re still family – and Jungkook isn’t about to force him to leave when the
werecat clearly doesn’t want to.

“Binnie can stay the night,” Jungkook insists confidently, his own hands squeezing Moonbin’s
forearms in silent reassurance. “You can just bunk in here with me, kitkat, the bed’s plenty big
enough.”
Bin’s arms around his waist loosen their grip by a fraction, and Jungkook can almost feel the relief
radiating off him.

“The hyungs won’t mind?” Moonbin asks, timid but hopeful. “I…I wouldn’t wanna intrude.”

“You won’t be intruding, poppet,” Seokjin reassures him, breezing in through the open bedroom
doorway with a laden tray and a charming smile, a bundle of pale blue fabric tucked under one
arm. “Yoongi had a feeling you wouldn’t want to leave Jungkookie tonight – you’re welcome to
stay with us as long as you need to. Here, kitten, these should be about your size.”

The vampire sets down his tray of chocolate milk and cookies on the bedside table to pass
Moonbin the folded pair of silk pyjamas he’d been carrying under his arm.

“I’d offer you one of the guest rooms, but I imagine you’d rather sleep in here with Kookie,” Jin
continues, eyes full of warmth as they flicker towards Jungkook, and the vampire reaches out to
smooth down the younger man’s damp hair briefly before turning his smile on Moonbin again..
“You’ll find spare towels and an extra toothbrush in the bathroom cabinet, petal. And don’t worry
about getting to school in the morning – Hobi’s leaving early for a dance class, he’ll be happy to
drop you off at the university on his way into town.”

Jungkook can’t keep the smile from blossoming on his face. He should’ve known that the hyungs
would anticipate Binnie’s reluctance to leave and would already have an easy solution available.
God bless Yoongi and his gift of foresight.

And of course Jin would appear just when they needed him most, with pyjamas and homemade
cookies and fucking chocolate milk, literally the three things in life guaranteed to make Binnie feel
happy in any given situation. The fact that the vampire had remembered these tiny details from the
brief time he’d spent with Moonbin in the hospital and has used them to effortlessly settle the
werecat’s nerves and make him feel at home in an unfamiliar nest…

Fuck, Jungkook loves him so much.

“I’d gladly extend the invitation,” Seokjin adds, turning his gentle smile towards Jaebum, “but I
know better than to keep you from the rest of your pups. You needn’t worry yourself about these
two – they’ll be safe with me.”

Jaebum returns the smile gratefully, before leaning over to cup first Jungkook’s face and then
Moonbin’s between his hands, pressing a lingering kiss to each of their brows.

“I love you,” the Alpha murmurs as he draws both of them against him in a warm embrace, holding
them close for a long moment. “I’m only a phone-call away if you need anything. Be good for me,
okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jungkook catches hold of the Alpha’s sleeve when Jaebum finally begins to pull away.

“Will you give Gyomie a hug from me?” he asks hesitantly. “And tell him…tell him I’m sorry.”

Jaebum’s features soften in understanding, and he leans in again to brush another kiss against
Jungkook’s forehead, nuzzling his hairline with a low, soothing rumble of a purr.

“Everything’s gonna be fine, cub,” the Alpha reassures, fingers carding through Jungkook’s damp
hair. “He’ll probably call you a dumb-bun and a few choice phrases that I’d rather he didn’t have in
his vocabulary, but we both know Gyeomie can’t stay mad at you for more than about ten seconds.
The two of you can talk things over tomorrow when he comes to visit.”
Nodding, Jungkook tries not to let his thoughts dwell on the matter, even though his traitorous
mind can’t help but picture the inevitable look of devastation on Yugyeom’s face when Jaebum
tells him about the caffeine overdose later this evening. They’ve been best friends for years, and
Jungkook’s made his fair share of idiotic mistakes during that time, but this is by far the most
dangerous stunt he’s ever pulled, and Yugyeom’s going to be crushed when he finds out.

Jin provides a welcome distraction from his guilty conscience in the form of a chocolate-chip
cookie, which he holds up to Jungkook’s lips with an encouraging ‘aah’ so that the younger man
has no choice but to open his mouth and bite into it. Jin smiles, pleased, leaving the cookie in his
mouth and leaning over him to repeat the same action with Moonbin, before patting them both on
the head gently and straightening up to extend a hand towards Jaebum.

“Let me walk you down to the gate, pup,” Jin offers, helping the pack-leader to his feet with
another warm smile. “I might need to jumpstart your car – the wards have a bad habit of draining
the battery if you park too close to the forest’s edge. Oh, just a moment…”

The vampire leans down again to swipe another cookie from the tray and wordlessly holds it up to
JB’s lips. The Alpha parts them obligingly, reaching up to take the remainder of the cookie so that
it isn’t dangling from his mouth, allowing the vampire to keep hold of his other hand without
protest.

“I’ll be back soon, little ones,” Jin says cheerfully, glancing over his shoulder towards Moonbin
and Jungkook as he leads Jaebum towards the door. “Drink your milk for me.”

He and Binnie nod in tandem, staring after the pair as they disappear out of sight. Jungkook’s a
little lost for words, surprised not only by Jin’s casual use of the word ‘pup’ in reference to a fully-
grown and considerably powerful Alpha werewolf, but also Jaebum’s comfortable acceptance of
the vampire’s show of authority. He’s never seen someone tug JB anywhere quite like that, unless
you count Yugyeom and Youngjae playfully pulling on his hands at Lotte World in an attempt to
coax him into joining them on the swinging pirate ship.

“They seem…close,” Moonbin comments after a long pause, having finally removed the cookie
from his mouth.

Jungkook hums, chewing his own mouthful slowly and reaching for one of the glasses of chocolate
milk on the bedside table. He passes it back to Binnie, giving his friend a significant look.

“You realise this means we’re never gonna be able to get away with anything ever again,” he
murmurs. “Right?”

Moonbin pauses, glass raised to his lips, locking eyes with him for a long beat as he processes the
significance behind those words. Then he knocks back several hefty glugs of milk, before gusting
out a sigh as he winces into the middle-distance.

“Shit.”

Unable to sum it up more eloquently than his roommate already has, Jungkook just reaches for his
own glass and raises it in a silent toast of well-it-was-good-while-it-lasted solidarity.
 …

The rest of the evening goes by in a bit of a blur.

Worn out from the events of the past hour and a half – it’s the longest he’s stayed awake all day –
Jungkook only manages one cookie and half of his milk before a renewed surge of exhaustion
forces him to lay back down against the pillows. By the time Namjoon returns with more healing
balms and gentle hands and soothing words, Jungkook’s far too tired to fight against the pull of
fatigue, allowing it to drag him under again.

Even in his sleep he’s still mindful of Binnie’s presence nearby, surfacing from his slumber for
brief moments every so often, compelled by an instinctive need to check up on him. But the
werecat is never far from Jungkook’s side whenever he pries his weary eyelids open. Often one of
the hyungs is there with him, settled between Jungkook and Moonbin, another familiar presence
that brushes against his awareness even before he’s opened his eyes.

Yoongi had come first, sitting propped up against the headboard with what looked like a large
leather-bound photo album open in his lap, murmuring quiet tales about the places he’d travelled to
in his quest to study the art of tea-brewing. Moonbin had been listening attentively on the Seer’s
other side, sipping from a pretty china teacup and hugging a patterned cushion to his chest, looking
utterly content. One of Yoongi’s hands had been stroking Jungkook’s hair as he spoke, fingers
soothingly combing through the strands and massaging the hybrid’s scalp. His skilled ministrations
had added extra weight to Jungkook’s already-heavy eyelids, and he’d drifted off again before he
could even make his awareness known to the other two.

The next time he’d surfaced, it had been Hoseok sitting beside him, iPad braced on his raised knees
as he shared a set of headphones with Moonbin, the werecat tucked up under one arm with his head
resting on Hobi’s shoulder. The empath’s free hand had been holding Jungkook’s on top of the
duvet, thumb stroking gently back and forth across his knuckles even as he appeared absorbed in
whatever show or movie they were watching. From their matching grins, it was probably a comedy
of some sorts, and seeing Moonbin’s wide, carefree smile had soothed away all of Jungkook’s
lingering concerns for his kitten, allowing him to drift back off again with a tiny smile of his own
curling sleepily at his lips.

Muffled laughter and whispering voices had woken him what felt like only moments later, and
Jungkook had blinked groggily towards where Jimin and Taehyung seemed to be teaching
Moonbin some sort of card game that involved forfeits (or so he assumed, given the number of
colourful heart-shaped stickers stuck to Binnie’s face). It had only taken a few seconds for
Taehyung to notice him, the vampire’s smile faltering for a brief moment in surprise before
softening to something gentle and faintly concerned as he scooted closer across the mattress, laying
down beside him so that his handsome face filled Jungkook’s vision.

“Hey, Kookie,” the fledgling had murmured, kissing him tenderly. “Sorry, we didn’t mean to wake
you. Would you like something to drink? Here, just take a little sip for me…there we go. You
wanna go back to sleep, baby? It’s pretty late. No? That’s okay, let’s just cuddle for a little
while…”

Jungkook had still felt so sleepy, and with Tae’s arms wrapped snugly around him in a cosy
embrace and his nose filled with the vampire’s familiar, soothing scent, he’d quickly begun to slip
away again.

That had been eons ago.

Jungkook had woken an undeterminable length of time later to find the bedroom lights switched
off and Moonbin sleeping peacefully beside him. He doesn’t know how long he’d been asleep, but
he’s definitely been fully conscious now for at least six millennia, bored out of his fucking skull.
Normally he’d find it soothing, listening to Moonbin’s steady breathing as the werecat cuddles him
from behind (the sound normally calms his mind enough that he doze off easily), but even in his
worst moment of insomnia, sleep has never been this elusive.

For the first time since his ill-advised caffeine overdose, Jungkook actually feels awake. Like, fully
cognisant; all systems pumping.

Mentally, that is. Physically he still feels a little…meh.

Still, while body may be weak and a bit achy, but his mind hasn’t been this crystal clear in what
feels like days, and he’s certainly not tired enough to go back to sleep anytime soon. He’s probably
slept more in the last twenty-four hours than he has this past week.

Which is kinda horrifying, when he thinks about it retrospectively. No wonder he’d worked
himself into such an awful state yesterday. Future-Jungkook is definitely not doing that again.

Once he’s back on his feet and everything’s settled down, he’s going to get better at Adulting –
he’ll eat properly, he’ll go to sleep at a reasonable hour, he’ll keep on top of his studies so that the
pressure doesn’t build up to something huge and terrifying like it had done this week…and he’ll
cut down on the caffeine. Significantly. Jungkook doubts he has the strength of will to veto coffee
from his life altogether (sometimes it’s the only thing that keeps him sane during a long school day
– he needs it), but he’s gonna set himself firmer limits for sure. He won’t put his health at risk like
that again.

He imagines that particular topic is going to be one of the many things the hyungs address when
they finally sit him down for that talk.

To be honest, Jungkook had anticipated being subjected to a serious conversation before now,
especially given everything Moonbin had accidentally confessed in his distress. He’s reassured the
werecat half a dozen times that it’s fine, that he doesn’t mind the hyungs knowing, and it isn’t
Bin’s fault that the truth came tumbling out because Jungkook had been the one to upset him in the
first place. And while it’s true that he doesn’t blame Binnie for anything, the fact that Jin and
Namjoon (potentially the entire coven) know exactly how he feels about his business degree, his
parents, his whole future…it scares the shit out of him. He’s never been caught in a lie quite this
big before – it feels like his whole life is one huge pretence, and now that those smoke screens have
blown away, he has nothing left to hide behind. He feels so exposed, so fucking vulnerable, and he
hates it.

But none of the hyungs have addressed the issue yet. They haven’t said anything at all beyond
“we’ll need to have a little talk when you’re feeling better, Kookie”.
And now that he is feeling better, now that the fog has cleared from his mind and there’s nothing
but the sound of Binnie’s breathing to distract him, he can’t stop thinking about that imminent
conversation with a sense of impending doom. It’s driving him insane.

Finally fed up to the gills with lying there immobile and waiting for the dawn, Jungkook manages
to scoot out of Bin’s arms just far enough to roll over and reach for his phone on the bedside table,
pulling it beneath the bedcovers so that the backlight doesn’t disturb the werecat’s slumber as he
turns it on.

03:18

He heaves a frustrated sigh, rolling onto his back to stare up at the canopy of the four-poster bed,
although his lips twitch upwards little as he traces his gaze over the tiny glow-in-the-dark stars that
have been affixed to the burgundy fabric above him. They look like the sort of decorations you
might find in the kid’s isle at a craft store or something, and Jungkook wanders which hyung put
them there – Tae, maybe? It seems like the sort of thing his youngest bondmate would do.

It’s really fucking cute.

Moonbin makes a soft, snuffling sound in his sleep, and Jungkook glances over at him in time to
see a tiny frown creasing the werecat’s brow, barely visible in the gloom. He quickly rolls over to
face his roommate, lifting a hand to comb his fingers gently through Bin’s hair, watching as the
pinch in his forehead smooths out again gradually. Moonbin sighs in his sleep and snuggles closer,
fingers grasping loosely onto the fabric of Jungkook’s borrowed t-shirt.

Bin has always been an easy sleeper – as long as there’s a familiar presence nearby, the cat can
usually doze off just about anywhere – a talent that Jungkook’s always envied. Although it hadn’t
really been a problem for him today, or on any of the previous visits to the nest come to think of it
(he always ends up accidentally taking a nap). There’s just something about this place that seems to
cure his insomnia. He wonders if Moonbin feels as comfortable here as he does – Jungkook’s
honestly never felt so safe. Maybe it’s his growing bond with the coven, or the pendant he wears
around his neck that marks him as one of them, but the nest feels more like home than anywhere
else ever has. More than his parents’ house, more than the Im-pack’s den, even more than his own
apartment – it’s like he belongs here. It’s a hard feeling to describe, just something that sits snugly
within him, a bone-deep assurity that he’s right where he’s supposed to be.

His phone suddenly buzzes against the mattress, glowing through the bedcovers as the screen
lights up. Jungkook winces at how loud it sounds in the otherwise silent bedroom, but thankfully
Binnie doesn’t stir, and after a moment Jungkook breathes a sigh of relief and carefully pulls his
phone out from underneath the duvet to glance at the text message.

YoongiHyung: Can’t sleep?

Jungkook’s past the point of being surprised by Yoongi’s perceptiveness. He smiles, rolling over
onto his back again to hold the phone in both hands so that he can thumb a quick reply.

Not really, he types back. Think I’ve had enough sleep to last me about a week.

There’s a few seconds’ pause before his phone buzzes again.

YoongiHyung: Thought as much. Be there in a minute, bun.

The prospect of having company after being alone with his own thoughts for what feels like
forever (but okay, admittedly, in reality, has probably been less than an hour) makes his smile curl
wider, and he sets the phone back down on the bedside table before carefully extracting himself
from Moonbin’s loose grasp and pushing himself upright in bed. The werecat makes another cute
snuffly noise and stirs in his sleep, but settles again quickly when Jungkook moves his pillow
closer, Binnie wrapping his arms around it and pressing his face into the fabric.

There’s a quiet shnick as the bedroom door opens suddenly, light spilling in from the hallway
beyond, a figure is silhouetted in the opening there for a moment. Jungkook carefully swings his
legs out of bed, smiling towards the vampire in the dim lighting as Yoongi slowly crosses over to
the bed. There’s a folded blanket in the Seer’s arms, which he unfurls without comment to wrap
around Jungkook’s shoulders.

“You’ll feel cold in just a t-shirt,” Yoongi tells him, voice hushed. He smoothly sinks to his knees
and pulls a fluffy pair of socks out of his pocket, gently tapping the younger man’s right ankle to
get him to lift his foot.

Jungkook blinks down at him in confusion. “Am I going outside?”

The Seer breathes a quiet laugh. “Not tonight. It’s raining, bunny.” He taps the left ankle to put on
the other sock, then tilts his head, considering. “Or at least it will be soon. There, that’s better.”

He regards Jungkook’s socked feet with satisfaction before rising smoothly and taking hold of the
youth’s hands to help him stand. Yoongi’s gaze lingers on him for a moment, and there’s
something in his eyes that Jungkook can’t quite place, but it’s gone a second later as the vampire’s
lips curl up in a warm smile.

“Everything’s going to be alright,” Yoongi tells him, a hand coming up to cradle Jungkook’s
cheek. “You’ll know it too, come daybreak.”

The Seer leans in to press the softest of chase kisses to his mouth, sparking pleasant butterflies in
Jungkook’s stomach as his fingers curl in the fabric of the vampire’s sweater. Yoongi breathes
another quiet laugh and kisses him again, just as chastely as the first time, before wrapping his
arms around Jungkook and drawing him close in a tight embrace.

“Walk to the end of the hallway,” the vampire murmurs against his ear, fingers combing gently
through his hair. “There’s a window. Take a seat and look outside for me.”

It’s kind of a strange request, but then Yoongi’s always been a little cryptic like that, and the Seer’s
never given Jungkook any reason to doubt him before. Even when his instructions haven’t made a
lot of sense in the past (like crunchy M&Ms), things have always worked out in the end. If there’s
something outside that Yoongi thinks he needs to see, Jungkook’s not going to argue with him.
Also any excuse to leave the bedroom for a change of scenery, even if it’s only for a few minutes,
is a welcome one.

He glances briefly over his shoulder towards where Moonbin is still sound asleep, head buried in
Jungkook’s pillow as he hugs it close to his chest.

“Binnie’s safe,” Yoongi promises. “Kitten’s a good sleeper, he’ll be out until the sun comes up. I’ll
watch over him.”

Jungkook sends the elder a grateful smile, hugging the blanket closer about himself as Yoongi
gently nudges him towards the door. He glances back as he reaches the threshold to see the
vampire settling back comfortably against the headboard beside Bin, head tipped back as he smiles
up at the canopy of the four-poster bed, clearly seeing something that Jungkook isn’t privy to.
The lamps in the hallway aren’t overly bright, but after the dim lighting of the bedroom it still
makes Jungkook wince as his eyes take a few moments to adjust. The soft, patterned carpet beneath
his socks cushions his footsteps as he moves along the corridor towards the window at the far end.
It’s curved, with a padded sill wide enough for someone to sit on comfortably – and given the silk
cushion and knitted blanket he finds there, he wonders if this is one of Yoongi’s cosy little reading-
nooks. There’s a beautiful view of the waxing moon as he kneels up on the padded window-seat to
peer outside, but its pale glow isn’t enough to properly illuminate the grassy clearing that surrounds
the manor house, or the forest beyond. He can see the shadows of treetops silhouetted against the
starlit sky, and while it’s beautiful (a thousand times better than the view of high-rise buildings he
sees from his own apartment window), he can’t quite understand what it is that Yoongi had wanted
him to find here.

“Kookie? What are you doing out of bed?”

He turns in his perch on the window-seat to see Namjoon paused on the topmost step of the nearby
staircase, gazing towards him in concern. The healer quickly recovers from his surprised inertia
and closes the distance between them, reaching the window in a few brisk strides and sinking
gracefully into a crouch in front of Jungkook. The youth’s heart gives a pleasant little flutter as
Namjoon’s hands move to cup his face.

“What’s wrong?” the healer murmurs, thumbs stroking his cheeks. “Can’t you sleep?”

Jungkook shakes his head timidly.

“Are you in pain, sweetheart?” One of Namjoon’s hands traces down the column of his throat
before settling over his chest, the healer’s gaze losing focus for a moment.

“I’m okay,” Jungkook tries to reassure. “Just…not sleepy.”

The healer blinks after a few moments, his gaze refocusing, and apparently he finds his assessment
satisfactory because a gentle smile curls at his lips a moment later, the concern fading from his
eyes.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to spend an hour or two out of bed,” Namjoon relents, rising slowly and
leaning down to press a lingering kiss to Jungkook’s brow. “Why don’t we sit in the garden for a
little while? Although you’ll need to put something on your-” He glances down at Jungkook’s
borrowed socks and blinks, surprised, before his cheeks dimple. “Ah. I see Yoongi paid you a
visit.”

“Mm,” Jungkook hums, gesturing towards the darkened window with a tilt of his head. “He asked
me to come here and take a look outside. I’m still not sure what he wanted to show me, it’s too
dark to see anything.”

Namjoon stares at him for a moment, then tips his head back with a fond roll of his eyes, clearly
fighting a grin as he sighs

“Kim Yoongi, you brat,” the healer mutters, and Jungkook swears he hears a muffled snort
coming from further down the corridor.

He suddenly gets the distinct impression he’s been set up.

Before Jungkook can decide whether to feel amused, impressed or affronted at the sneaky betrayal,
Namjoon abruptly sweeps him up from the window-seat and into his arms, the healer chuckling
fondly at Jungkook’s startled little meep as the youth clings to his shoulders for balance.
“I’ve got you, bun,” Namjoon promises, turning his head to brush another gentle kiss to
Jungkook’s brow. “Come on. I’ve been hoping to show you the Japanese lunarwisps I planted last
month, they only bloom under a waxing moon…”

The garden is beautiful at night.

Jungkook’s seen it before, of course, having spent an evening with Tae and Jimin under the
willow’s whispering boughs, but tonight the place truly feels alive. The giant, floating orbs of pale
blue light that hover in the air high above them cast the glasshouse in a silvery glow that makes the
whole garden seem magical. Even the koi in the nearby pond appear to glisten as though their
scales are crystalline.

It’s almost like he’s stepped into another dimension. The air is pleasantly warm and so rich with
the scent of vibrant plant-life that he can taste it with every indrawn breath. The blossoming
lunarwisps are indeed in full bloom, their white, oval-shaped petals shining beneath the orb-lamps’
pale light, visible even from the opposite end of the greenhouse. Jungkook can’t stop staring at
them. He’s never seen flowers glow like that before, it’s mesmerising.

The tranquillity of the garden is like nothing Jungkook’s ever experienced; he wants to stay here
forever.

Jungkook sighs happily, leaning back in his comfortable recline against Namjoon’s chest, settled
snugly between the healer’s legs as Namjoon sits propped up against the trunk of the willow tree.
The healer wordlessly lifts a hand to card gentle fingers through his hair, pressing a kiss to the
crown of his head, and a happy-fluttery warmth immediately blooms in Jungkook’s chest again.
This is everything he’s ever wanted. It’s perfect.

“Here, treasure.”

Jungkook opens his mouth to allow Seokjin to feed him the last slice of sweet, crisp pear, heart
stuttering a little as the vampire’s fingers linger on his lips for a moment, Jin watching him eat with
a warm, tender smile.

He’s glad the elder vampire had decided to join them. He and Namjoon had only been alone in the
garden for about ten minutes before Jin had arrived with extra blankets, a pitcher of fresh lemonade
and a large wicker picnic basket full of sweet and savoury baked goods. Jungkook’s a little
suspicious of how quickly the vampire had managed to assemble such a delectable spread (he
swears all the hyungs are in cahoots, so it wouldn’t surprise him if Yoongi had told his nestmate
upfront about Jungkook’s inevitable sleeplessness and the probability he’d end up in the garden
with Namjoon at three o’clock in the morning), but he’s still touched by the gesture.

And as always, the food is so good.

After having gone almost a full twenty-four hours without managing to eat much (only half a bowl
of soup and a chocolate chip cookie last night), Jungkook had rediscovered his appetite very
quickly. And it turns out he’s absolutely famished. Thankfully, Seokjin hasn’t stinted on the picnic
spread; there are tiny puff-pastry quiches, miniature cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches,
fluffy cheese-topped sausage bread still warm from the oven, soft rice balls full of flaked salmon,
sticky sesame chicken speared on wooden skewers to minimise mess, and a mouth-watering array
of bite-size cakes and cookies.

Fuck, Jin must’ve been in the kitchen all night.

“It’s good to see you eating so well,” the vampire comments fondly, reaching towards the plate of
desserts to select another strawberry macaroon and offering it to Jungkook, who obligingly takes a
bite. “Joonie told me your stomach would settle quickly, but I was worried you might not have
much of an appetite.”

The notion of being confronted with Jin’s cooking and not wanting to immediately eat everything
is inconceivable now that he’s feeling better, but Jungkook knows his sentiments likely would’ve
been very different yesterday morning, back when he’d still been feeling like death warmed over.

He does have eyes too big for his stomach, though. He wants to keep eating, but the pressure in his
midriff is currently hovering just above comfortably-full, and he knows it’ll only take a few more
bites to drive him straight into regrets-ville.

Perceptive as ever, the vampire offers the remainder of the macaroon to Namjoon instead, leaning
over Jungkook to follow up the treat with a soft peck to the healer’s lips. Then Jin turns to tidy
away a few of the mostly-empty containers, putting lids back on all the Tupperware with spillable
contents, moving the picnic basket out of the way so that he can situate himself comfortably beside
them, legs stretched out along the picnic blanket, fingers settling over Jungkook’s hand where it
rests on Namjoon’s thigh.

“Are you tired, treasure?” the vampire asks gently. “We can go back inside if you need to lie down
again.”

Jungkook shakes his head, sending Seokjin an easy smile. Physically he’s a little weary after eating
so much food, but his mind is still alert, and the thought of going back to bed just to lay awake for
another few hours until the sun comes up…yeah, that’s not massively appealing. Not when staying
here in the cosy tranquillity of the garden with his hyungs is still a valid option.

He sees Jin share a quick glance with Namjoon, so brief that he probably would’ve missed it if
he’d blinked, but Jungkook gets the impression that they’re communicating something significant
even in that split second of eye contact. As Jin leans away to top up their lemonade glasses,
Namjoon heaves a short sigh, giving Jungkook a very careful squeeze where the healer’s arm is
still looped about his waist (clearly being mindful of his full stomach).

“Kookie,” Namjoon murmurs, then sighs again, and drops a kiss against the crown of his head.
“We both love you, sweetheart. You know that, don’t you?”

Oh.

Jungkook’s heart wasn’t ready for that.

He’s always known, deep down, that they both care about him (they’ve been conveying their
affection through tender words and actions since the day they first met him) but hearing the
sentiment spoken so frankly makes his heart flutter all over again, the feeling of delight welling up
inside him enough to make his face grow hot.

Nodding shyly, he leans further into Namjoon’s hold. “I…I love you, too.”

Jin makes a soft noise in the back of his throat and abandons the lemonade in favour of kneeling
beside them and cupping Jungkook’s face between his slender hands, turning the youth’s head so
that he can lean in to rub their noses together. It’s so unexpected and cute that Jungkook can’t
suppress the startled little giggle that bubbles out of him, the sound echoed by Seokjin a second
later as the vampire presses a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth.

“You’re too precious for this world, Jeon Jungkook,” Jin coos, and tilts their foreheads together,
resting it there for a long moment. Then he, too, breathes a quiet sigh. “And that’s why Joonie and
I need to have a little talk with you, dearheart. About what happened yesterday, and the decisions
that led you there.”

Jungkook expects his heart to stop, his stomach to lurch, his blood to run cold at the mere mention
of the promised talk. But that wave of dread never fully manifests itself. There’s an unsettling sort
of weight that sinks into his gut, almost in resignation of what he knows is coming, but beyond
that? He feels unexpectedly calm about the whole thing.

Maybe it’s because he’s just been hand-fed a ton of amazing food; maybe it’s because the garden’s
so peaceful that his fears have been temporarily put to rest. Or perhaps it’s simply the calming
influence of having Jin and Namjoon here beside him, holding him, and feeling secure in the
knowledge that they both love him. Unpleasant topic of conversation aside, he’s never felt so safe.

“We already spoke a little about your caffeine overdose yesterday morning,” Namjoon reminds
him gently. “Do you remember that at all? I know you weren’t feeling well at the time…”

Slowly, hesitantly, Jungkook nods, fingers fiddling with the edge of his blanket. That’s a
conversation he won’t ever be able to scrub from his memory.

“Then we won’t revisit it,” the healer promises. “After what your body’s been through these past
twenty-four hours, I imagine you understand how serious it your condition could have become if
left untreated. And although we found you in time to prevent any longterm physical damage, I’m
afraid you’ll need to be very careful around coffee for a little while – overdoses like yours often
trigger an oversensitivity to stimulants. It likely isn’t permanent, but you won’t be able to tolerate
anywhere near the dose of caffeine that you once could. Honestly, I’d rather you stopped drinking
it altogether, but I know breaking that cycle is much easier said than done. Don’t worry, I’ll work
with you to find a safe balance. In a few days, once you’ve fully recovered your strength, we’ll try
reintroducing something mildly caffeinated and see how your metabolism handles it. Sound fair?”

Jungkook nods again, grateful that coffee isn’t going to be completely off-limits. If Namjoon
suddenly told him he had to go cold-turkey and switch to decaff for the rest of his life, he honestly
might cry.

Seokjin has shifted to sit facing them, his hip pressed against Namjoon’s thigh, long legs now
stretched out in the opposite direction alongside the trunk of the willow tree. The vampire’s gaze is
full of tender warmth as he reaches for Jungkook’s hands, squeezing them gently between his own.

“While I understand that academic pressure can occasionally cloud one’s judgement and lead to
poor choices in the heat of the moment,” Jin murmurs softly, “the level of distress I found you in
yesterday morning concerns me. It might be less worrisome if this was an isolated incident
triggered by an overdose of stimulants, but what Moonbin confessed to us last night would suggest
otherwise.”

Shit.

Jin gives his hands another squeeze. “He told us you’ve struggled with study-related anxiety for as
long as he’s known you. That he’s worried because it’s been getting progressively worse these past
six months. That you’ll sometimes have panic attacks before coursework deadlines, but you refuse
to speak to the student counsellor about it.”

To hear his shameful fragility laid bare like that so succinctly…god, it hurts. It hurts because it’s
all fucking true, and because he’s just been slapped in the face with the realisation that Moonbin’s
been worrying about him all this time, when Jungkook had promised himself to do everything in
his power not to burden Binnie with his own academic stress. Hiding it from the werecat had been
impossible (they live together, Moonbin often catches him right in the middle of a 2am freak-out),
but he’s always tried his best to force a smile and downplay his anxiety as much as he can. Clearly
he’s been doing really shitty job of it.

That previous sense of inner calmness is quickly beginning to splinter. Unable to hold the
vampire’s gaze after being so abruptly confronted with the truth behind the lie that he’s been
telling the coven these past few weeks, Jungkook ducks his head guiltily.

He feels Namjoon press another kiss to his hair.

“Binnie seems to think that you dislike your degree,” the healer says, his voice carefully measured.
“Actually, I believe the word he used was ‘hate’. He said the only reason you’re studying business
and economics is because your parents want you to.”

“Is that true, little one?” Jin presses quietly. “Would you rather be studying something else?”

Jungkook’s face feels hot, a lump building in his throat as his eyes begin to burn. Unable to offer a
verbal answer, he just nods again, a tiny jerk of his head, staring down at his hands where they’re
cradled between Jin’s.

“Is that why you pay for those night classes at the art school?” Namjoon asks, his free hand
coming up to comb through Jungkook’s hair again. “Because that’s the degree you would’ve
chosen if it weren’t for your parents’ preferences?”

Fuck, why do they have to be so perceptive?

“Kookie, dearheart.” Jin lifts one of his hands to press a gentle kiss to his knuckles. “I know you
feel obliged to adhere to your parents’ wishes – you want them to be proud of you, that’s perfectly
understandable, and I have nothing but admiration for how steadfastly you attend to your studies.
But this is your life, Jungkookie. Your future. You should be spending these university years
chasing your own dreams, not someone else’s. I’m sure your parents love you dearly, and a career
in business might be the financially stable future that they want for you, but it clearly isn’t what
you want, and that’s what matters overall. Besides, you needn’t choose between money and
happiness, little one. Joonie and I will be here to support you in whatever career you endeavour to
pursue. I’m certain your parents will understand once they realise that you already have financial
security.”

No. That won’t be enough, Jin doesn’t understand. It won’t ever be enough.
It isn’t even about the money, not really. It’s the principle of it all. He simply isn’t allowed to be an
artist.

Jungkook’s father has always been so proud of his own career decisions, and the secure position
that his hard work has afforded him – he’s respected, well-liked, dependable, with a scrupulously
clean career record. All his life, Jungkook’s been led to view his father’s chosen career as the
pinnacle of success. His own non-academic interests and achievements had never been
discouraged, per se, but the focus had definitely been on his performance in mathematics and
literature rather than the prizes he’d won in dance competitions or the finished pieces he brought
home from art class. Whenever his grades would start to slip, even a little, his parents would resort
to the usual threat of having Jungkook’s dance classes stopped or his art supplies taken away,
because those things were always expendable.

“It’s fine to have hobbies, Kook-ah,” his father had told him a number of years ago, patting
Jungkook’s shoulder without actually looking up from his laptop, brow creased as he read through
another email. “Your mother and I want you to enjoy your free time. But make sure your paintings
don’t distract you from what really matters, hm? You’ll be taking the entrance two years from now
– you need to start focusing on your future career, and sometimes that means making sacrifices. I
won’t have a son of mine dropping out of school to paint pictures, not when you’re smart enough to
make a better life for yourself. Do you want to end up tattooed and pierced and working in
Starbucks like all the other art students? No. You’re a good kid, just a little easily side-tracked.
Now, we’ll return your sketchbook at the weekend as long as you behave yourself…but if I see
another C-grade on a science paper, Jeon Jungkook, you won’t be going to any more dance metes.
Am I understood?”

It had been an effective warning, every damn time. Art and dance were the two things Jungkook
had treasured throughout his school years, and with the threat of losing them both hanging over
him, he’d always managed to get his grades back up again. Sometimes he resents them for doing
that (those weeks without his sketchbook had been particularly awful, drawing was his sole means
escape during exam season), but he knows his father had only done it to encourage him to work
harder at school, and it’s not like the man had ever been intentionally cruel about it. Neither of his
parents had raised a hand to him once he grew too old for that kind of correction, and his father
never even yelled at him during his teenage years – not that he ever really had to. Losing his art
supplies for a week had always been enough to convince Jungkook to behave himself. He would
miss his paternal grandfather the most during those periods; the elder bunny hybrid had practically
raised him from kindergarten right up until middle-school, back when both his parents were still
pursuing full-time careers. His grandfather had cherished every scribbled drawing, every finger-
painting, every wonky clay sculpture – they’d decorated the walls and shelves of his home well
into Jungkook’s early teens. The man had come to all of Jungkook’s dance competitions,
encouraged him when he practiced at home, and helped him understand that winning didn’t really
matter as long as Jungkook enjoyed taking part (a philosophy that had directly contradicted his
father’s achievement-focused mindset).

Even now, whenever Jungkook feels homesick, it’s isn’t usually for his parents – and boy does that
make him feel guilty – but for the kind old rabbit hybrid with smiling eyes who had taught him
how to ride a bike and tie his shoelaces. If the elder bunny could see him now…would he still be
proud? Even knowing that Jungkook has effectively thrown away his own happiness just to please
his parents? That doesn’t seem likely. This isn’t the future his grandfather would’ve wanted for
him.

God, what is he even doing with his life?

The tears well up too thick and fast to blink them back in time, and before Jungkook can turn his
head to dash them against his sleeve, Jin’s hands have come up to frame his face, thumbing them
away tenderly.

“Oh, treasure…” Jin leans in to kiss his brow, his cheeks, the tip of his nose, before pressing their
forehead together. “Shhh, it’s alright. I’m sorry, darling, I know this is difficult for you to talk
about.”

Sympathy and understanding are literally the worst thing to hear when you’re trying to stop crying,
and the vampire’s gentle words have the opposite effect, making a sob catch in his throat as he
clings to Jin’s sleeve.

And that’s it. Floodgates open. Past the point of no return.

“Take as long as you need to, baby,” Namjoon murmurs after several long minutes, when the tears
still show no sign of stopping, his hand rubbing soothing circles over Jungkook’s stomach. “If
anyone deserves to have a good cry, it’s you.”

“I brought extra handkerchiefs just in case,” Jin tacks on, a playful note in his voice as he kisses
the younger man gently (even though Jungkook’s probably all flushed and sticky and gross from
crying). “See?”

He blinks through his tears to glance up at the vampire. Seokjin is indeed holding aloft a truly
impressive stack of handkerchiefs, although where the fuck he pulled them from is still unclear.
Even so, the sight of it is ridiculous enough to startle a wobbly, tearful sort of laugh from
Jungkook, and he reaches out to take the topmost handkerchief with a tremulous smile, using it to
scrub at his damp cheeks and blow his nose. When he looks up again, Jin’s hands are empty, the
dozen-or-so spare handkerchiefs having vanished again as quickly as they’d appeared. Jin smiles
at his befuddlement and leans in to brush another kiss against the corner of his mouth.

“Feeling better, dearheart?”

Jungkook nods, sucking in a shuddering breath. Surprisingly, that weighted ball of guilt and shame
and anxiety in his gut has dwindled into nothingness; clearly his crying spell has drained him dry
emotionally, at least for the time being. Jungkook’s grateful for it; talking to the hyungs about his
parents is going to be a lot easier without his guilty conscience battling against him at every turn.

“They only want what’s best for me,” Jungkook tries to explain, his voice a little hoarse from
crying. “My father, he…well, art isn’t exactly a real career, I get that. He just didn’t want me
wasting my scholarship on a hobby. There’s plenty of job opportunities that’ll open up once I finish
my degree, and it beats working in Starbucks.”

It’s shamefully easy to parrot back the phrases he’d heard so often throughout his teenage years,
and during every phone call home since he moved to Seoul two years ago. It’s one of the many
reasons he doesn’t phone as often any more (his father tends to send him long, informative emails
these days anyway, almost like a monthly debrief, so there isn’t much else they’d actually need to
talk about).

“There’s a lot you could do with an art degree, too,” Namjoon reasons, patting his arm. “You
could become a teacher, a tutor, an illustrator, a graphic designer, you could work in an art
gallery…and Tae mentioned you sometimes do commissions for tattoo artwork. That’s a very
lucrative career, you could probably do that full-time if you build up your portfolio and speak to
the right people.”

Hearing it from Namjoon’s lips, it all sounds so…feasible.

Man, Jungkook would so love to be a tattoo artist, but his father would definitely not approve of
that career choice. A teacher, though? Or an illustrator? Could he ever become skilled enough to be
accepted for either of those roles as a longterm, stable career? And god, how would he even begin
to explain the sudden course change to his parents. His father would call it a waste of time and
money, especially since Jungkook’s already two years into his business degree. It would make
more sense to finish his current course and maybe think about keeping up his night classes
afterwards to do a little commission-work on the side…

Jungkook knuckles at his eyes tiredly. They feel heavy-lidded again after crying so much.

“I don’t think my parents would be too happy about that,” he finally sighs.

“Maybe not.” Jin cups his cheek gently, regarding him with quiet intensity. “But this is about what
makes you happy, treasure.”

“And about what’s best for your health,” Namjoon tacks on. “Stress and anxiety aren’t something
to ignore, Kookie. Like your caffeine overdose, they can cause serious physical damage to your
body if left untreated. Gastric ulcers, migraines, muscle degeneration, a weakened immune
system…there’s a long list, bun. You’re already experiencing migraines and intermittent insomnia,
and you have been for months. This business degree is making you sick, baby.”

Jungkook ducks his head and fiddles with the edge of his blanket again, feeling like he’s trapped
between a rock and a hard place. It’s obvious that Namjoon and Seokjin want him to quit his
business degree, but he can’t, his parents would never forgive him for it. His father would be so
disappointed, and even the thought of needing to have that conversation with him makes Jungkook
feel faintly nauseous. But fuck…he really, really wants to quit. More than anything. God, the
prospect of dropping all his coursework and just walking away, having the freedom to fill his week
with the things that he likes to do, having the time to finally finish that tattoo commission his
online client has been asking for…

Jungkook wishes he had the courage to choose. But he doesn’t. He’s such a fucking coward.

“Darling.” Jin’s fingers curl beneath his chin, carefully tilting his head back up again. “Joonie and I
have already discussed this with Jaebum-ah, and your Alpha agrees that certain measures need to be
taken to keep you safe. While none of us are going to force you to abandon your business and
economics degree, we’d like you to submit a request for deferral.”

Jungkook blinks, surprised. “Deferral?”

“We want you to take a break, sweetheart,” Namjoon elaborates. “And not just for a couple of
weeks. Your finals are coming up at the end of term, and we’d like you to sit them out.”

Skip his finals? He might as well just give up on his degree altogether. That’ll cost him his class
ranking, his perfect run of straight-A’s, his whole fucking scholarship.

“It won’t affect your overall grade,” Jin reassures, likely seeing the panic in his expression. “A
deferral would essentially preserve all the progress you’ve made so far and allow you to pick back
up where you left off once you were ready to continue. TaeTae went through a similar process after
his surgery – we’ll need to speak with your professors about it and get clearance from the dean, but
there’s usually a set protocol within each department for emergency deferrals. If you decide to
return to your studies, you’ll probably be able to attend classes over the summer and take the
exams before your peers return for the next term.”

Namjoon squeezes him in a careful hug. “And if you decided to extend your deferral for a full
academic year, you could simply sit the exams with the cohort in the year below you. Plenty of
students take a year out for health reasons, or for military service – there’s nothing unusual about
it. So you needn’t feel embarrassed, bun.”

Take a year out? A whole year? Would his parents accept that? It feels a hundred times more
dramatic than postponing his exams until the end of summer, but it certainly sounds a lot better
than quitting. If he explained it was for health reasons, and that he intended to return to his studies
at the end of his break…that might just be acceptable. Especially if he dropped hints about getting
some sort of apprenticeship to gain experience in the business sector and add something to his
resume. Hell, his father might even support his deferral if it means he’ll get a ‘foot in the door’
ahead of his classmates, so to speak. That’s the kind of winning mentality that his parents would
both stand behind.

It’s such a huge decision to make, though.

And he’s been studying so hard these past couple of months to keep himself on top of the exam-
revision; if he defers until next year all that effort will have been for nothing. But the thought of
not having to worry about degree for a whole year, holy fuck. He won’t have to dread Mondays
anymore, he won’t have to spend his nights bent over books and class notes, giving himself a
headache. No more class debates on the vulnerability of the stock market. No more essays with
ridiculous word limits. No more Professor Lee and his torturously monotone voice. No more
stress.

It’s a lot to process. It’s kinda making his head spin.

“Can I maybe think about it for a little while?” Jungkook asks hesitantly. “My head’s a mess right
now.”

Jin smiles and leans in to kiss him again. “Of course, darling. We aren’t expecting an immediate
answer. Your department head already approved your deadline extension, so the school won’t be
expecting you back for another two weeks. Joonie and I, we’d like you to stay here with us in the
meantime. JB’s offered his den to you if you’d feel more comfortable there, but we both agreed
that a certain level of supervision and support would be necessary until you’ve fully recovered.”

“But I’m almost better,” Jungkook argues softly, although he doesn’t know why he’s protesting –
the prospect of spending two weeks in the nest with the coven is a welcome one. He cranes his
head around to glance back at Namjoon. “You said the side-effects of the overdose would be gone
in a day or two.”

“And they will be,” the healer confirms. “But the damage in here,” he brushes a kiss against
Jungkook’s forehead, “that’s going to take a little longer to heal, bun. Stress and anxiety don’t
disappear overnight. You need time, and rest…and therapy, if you’re amenable to talking to
Hoseokie about it.”

At Jungkook’s surprised look, Namjoon smiles. “Hobi used to be a therapist. He doesn’t practice
much these days, but he’s a great listener, and he won’t need to ask you how you’re feeling all the
time, so that’s a bonus.”

Jungkook’s lips quirk upwards a bit at the attempted joke. Honestly, he doesn’t feel like he needs
therapy (not right now anyway, when the panic from yesterday morning is nothing but a distant
memory), but talking to Hobi about things might be nice. The empath exudes this aura of
comforting warmth, and it always makes Jungkook feel so safe.

“There’s one more thing we need to discuss,” Jin murmurs, drawing the younger man from his
thoughts. The vampire takes Jungkook’s left wrist and gently turns it over, fingers sliding up his
forearm to the wide, mottled bruise that sits like a sooty smudge just beneath the crook of his arm.
“Yesterday afternoon, when Tae asked you about this mark, you implied that it had been necessary
to keep yourself awake. Can you tell me what happened?”

Embarrassment stirs within him at the question. It’s shameful that in his panic he’d been willing to
go to such ridiculous lengths to keep himself awake, but even more shameful is the knowledge that
he’s done it countless times before during pre-deadline all-nighters.

“I kept losing focus,” he explains timidly. “The caffeine wasn’t working anymore, and I still had so
much work to do, I was scared I’d fall asleep if I didn’t keep pinching myself. The pain kinda gave
me a shock, y’know? And it’s always easier to concentrate after that.”

Jin strokes the bruised area with a feather-light touch. “Did you pinch yourself anywhere else?”

The younger man shakes his head.

“Have you done it before?”

Jungkook hesitates, at war with himself. It would be so easy to shake his head, but a part of him is
sick of lying all the time. He’s hidden so much for the coven, and it’s always come back to bite
him in the end. Jungkook’s supposed to be trying to become a better person, a more honest person.
He can’t keep taking the easy way out.

Nodding shallowly, Jungkook quickly adds, “Only when I have to stay up super late working on
something. I don’t just pinch myself randomly, I promise.”

The vampire’s expression looks sad for a moment, before he lifts Jungkook’s arm to press a gentle
kiss to the mark.

“I understand that you were under a great deal of stress,” Jin acknowledges gently. “But there’s no
situation where harming yourself is an acceptable option, little one. I know your intent wasn’t to
cause damage, but inflicting physical pain to keep yourself awake isn’t a safe or healthy solution,
no matter how much you’ve rationalised it in your head. That’s a slippery slope, poppet.”

He lowers Jungkook’s arm back down and cups his chin instead, holding the younger man’s gaze
for a moment.

“If you ever feel inclined to pinch yourself like that again, I need you to come find me or
Namjoonie,” the vampire tells him seriously. “Or Hobi, or Yoongi – any of us, dearheart, it doesn’t
matter. Just don’t keep those thoughts to yourself. Promise me you’ll seek one of us out next time.”

Jungkook swallows, his throat feeling a bit tight again.

“I promise,” he murmurs. “I won’t do it again. I was being stupid-”

“You weren’t being stupid, sweetheart,” Namjoon rebuffs gently, hugging him tighter for a
moment. “You were stressed and upset, and you made a poor judgement call in the heat of the
moment. That’s something we’re going to help you work on, okay? All of us together, as a family.”

Chewing on his bottom lip a moment, Jungkook drops his gaze to the blankets he’s been twisting
between his hands, before glancing back up at Seokjin. The vampire’s watching him with a
guarded expression, long-fingered hand still cupping Jungkook’s chin gently.

“Are you mad at me?” he can’t keep himself from asking.

Jin seems momentarily surprised by the question, before he smiles, his expression softening into
something full of warmth and tenderness.

“I could never be mad at you, treasure,” the vampire promises, his free hand coming up to stroke
the backs of his fingers down Jungkook’s cheek. “There’ll likely come a time when I’m not best
pleased with something you’ve done, but you’ll never see me angry.”

“Unless someone or something threatens you,” Namjoon adds, a smile in his voice as he kisses the
crown of Jungkook’s head. “Then you might catch a glimpse of his temper. The clearing this house
is built on used to be covered with trees, you know, until a cocky young Fae-prince decided that
kidnapping me would be the easiest way to secure my affections. Jinnie was rather peeved about
that, weren’t you, love?”

“You always make it sound so dramatic, my dear,” the elder complains, but his tone is one of fond
amusement. “It was only a very small explosion. And besides, he oughtn’t to have built a backdoor
gateway to his kingdom in the heart of my territory – guardian of the peace or not, I won’t put up
with bad manners.” He sends Jungkook an amused smile. “The old king was terrified when he
found out, I think he assumed I’d decide to declare war on the whole clan. Which, admittedly, I
might’ve done if they’d kept Namjoonie from me. Thankfully saner heads prevailed, and the
prince’s accomplices returned him quickly. That’s when I first put up wards along the border of my
territory, they don’t allow anyone other than myself to create hidden doorways.”

“What happened to the prince?” Jungkook asks, hanging on Jin’s every word.

“Banished,” the vampire answers. “And stripped of his magic. The latter seemed a little cruel, it’s
like taking away a Fae’s sight, but it wasn’t my judgement to pass – his own father wanted to
execute him, but I managed to talk him down eventually. They entire kingdom was overly
apologetic for the next several decades. Actually, the royal family still sends us peace offerings
every solstice. I’ve tried to reassure them that all is forgiven, but I suppose it’s something of a
tradition now after all these years, and the current king was too young to remember how brief my
altercation with his banished older brother actually was. Joonie was only gone for about fifteen
minutes in total.”

“I had a wonderful time,” the healer pipes up cheerfully, and Seokjin shoots him a playfully
affronted look. “Back then, the Fae-kingdom was off limits to all outsiders, except for Jin-hyung of
course. It was a unique opportunity for me to learn more about their culture, and the prince’s
guards were very obliging. I imagine they were only doing it to suck up to me, given that I was
intended be the husband of their future king.”

Jin scoffs quietly. “Future king. That delusional child wasn’t fit to govern his own bladder.”

Jungkook splutters out a startled laugh, quickly clapping a hand over his mouth to smother the
sound, because a tale about Namjoon being kidnapped by a Fae-prince in some sort of attempt at
enforced marriage really shouldn’t be funny. But he catches Jin’s eye, and the vampire looks
amused rather than offended by his reaction, so perhaps they’d been trying to make him laugh all
along.

“He had his charms, though,” Namjoon adds innocently, waggling his eyebrows at Jungkook
suggestively. “Certainly not hard on the eyes. Fae are beautiful by nature as you know, but
highborn royalty are truly-”

“Beloved,” Jin interrupts, levelling the other with a meaningful look, eyes gleaming in playful
challenge “Wine to my chalice, light of my life – if you finish that sentence, I’ll be forced to tell
Jungkookie about the incident in Paris with the bell tower. And we both know-”
The vampire breaks off suddenly, his smile faltering as his gaze flickers towards the other end of
the quiet garden. He stares for a long moment in silence before sighing and glancing heavenwards
as though seeking strength from the gods, a smile twitching at his mouth again.

“I know you’re there, my darlings,” he calls, just loud enough to carry across the vast glasshouse.
“I heard you enter.” A long beat of silence follows, the bushes and trees unmoving in response to
the vampire’s call. Jin sighs, shoots Jungkook a sly grin, and tries again. “Kim Taehyung, if I
discover you barefoot on those cold stones again, we’ll be having words.”

“I’m wearing socks!” comes the indignant reply, followed shortly after by a muttered, “Fuck.”

Jungkook can faintly make out hushed whispering and a scuffling sound, before there’s a leafy
rustle as one of the bushes moves, and a tiny ball of fluff emerges. Chim’s fur appears darker in
colour beneath the silvery-blue light cast by the floating orbs above them. The shifter-pup avoids
the path and decides to cut through the thick wall of trees and shrubbery instead, disappearing from
sight, although the small movements of the leaves and branches indicates his progress as he
approached them. There’s a slightly louder rustle, before a tall figure steps out of the veritable
jungle of plants, dusting a few stray leaves off his clothing as he strides towards them across the
grassy embankment.

Jimin shoots the three of them his brightest smile, sinking down next to Namjoon (notably on the
side opposite to Jin).

“Hi,” the shifter greets sweetly, leaning in first to kiss Jungkook, then tilting up to press a cute peck
to Namjoon’s cheek. The healer switches arms so that he can wrap one around Jimin whilst still
keeping the other looped around Jungkook’s midriff.

Jin’s gaze hasn’t strayed from its initial point of focus, clearly tracking Taehyung progress (or lack
thereof).

“Two questions, Angel,” the vampire begins without so much as a glance in Jimin’s directions.
“First and foremost, why aren’t the two of you in bed? I distinctly remember tucking you in an
hour ago. And secondly – socks. Why aren’t you wearing any?”

Jungkook glances at his bondmate’s bare feet in time to see the dancer quickly tuck them up
beneath himself as shifts to sit cross-legged, as though hiding them from sight will somehow
appease his Primus.

“I was Chimming,” Jimin protests plaintively.

Jin finally turns to send the younger vampire an amused look. “And we both know you’re perfectly
capable of concealing a pair of socks during a shift, sweetness. Answer the first question, please.”

Jimin pulls what can only be described as a look how cute I am face, eyes big and lips slightly
downturned as he tilts his head to one side. Jungkook has to hand it to him, the dude’s a pro. He’s
fucking adorable.

“We couldn’t sleep. Tae wanted to check on Kookie one last time, but we almost got caught by
Hobi-hyung, so we took the long route, but then we found your sticky note saying you’d all gone to
the garden, so we-”

“Sticky note?” Jin echoes, distracted as movement from the other side of the greenhouse draws his
gaze, Taehyung now making his way towards them. “I didn’t leave a sticky note. Where did you
find it?”
“Uh…” Jimin looks confused, even as he threads his fingers through Jungkook’s to hold his hand.
“Right outside Kookie’s door, why?”

Jin tips his head back to sigh heavenwards. “Ai, Yoongi.”

Jungkook pats Jimin’s arm in commiseration. Clearly Yoongi makes a habit out of setting his
nestmates up to be caught out of bed by the elder hyungs.

“See? Wearing socks,” Taehyung announces cheerfully as he reaches them, balancing on one foot
to show off the other. He gives Jin a wide birth as he scoots around to Jimin’s side, plonking
himself down in the shifter’s lap (Jimin gives no visible reaction to the sudden weight) and
reaching out to cup Jungkook’s face between his hands, leaning in to kiss him. “Hey, Kookie.
Feeling better?”

Jungkook nods, and finds that he really means it. The ‘talk’ with Namjoon and Jin had been
gruelling and emotionally draining, but there’s something almost freeing about getting all those lies
and stupid mistakes out in the open. He still isn’t sure what to think about the deferral issue, and
honestly he’s trying not to think about it, it’s too complex to figure out at this ungodly hour in the
morning.

Besides, sitting cuddled up here between four of his hyungs and watching them playfully interact
like this…his chest is absolutely bursting with warm, fuzzy feelings. They’re all ridiculous and
impossible and he loves them so much.

“Taehyungie, baby,” Jin murmurs, a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth as he watches the
fledgling freeze in place. “Those are Jiminie’s socks.”

The younger vampire winces.

Jimin sighs, resigned. “I told you it wouldn’t work, hon.”

Abruptly feigning a yawn and stretching his arms above his head, Taehyung moves to rise, leaning
back in again at the last moment to peck another kiss against Jungkook’s lips.

“You know what, I’m actually exhausted, I should probably head to bed.” The maknae-vampire
clambers somewhat gracelessly to his feet in his haste to depart and blows them all a kiss, already
backing away towards the nearby path. “I’ll see you in the afternoon, goodnight everyone.”

Jin rises with poised dignity, brushing down his clothing in an unhurried manner. “I’ll come tuck
you in, little one.”

“Nonono, that’s okay, you’re busy with Kookie,” Taehyung is quick to reassure, backing away at a
notably faster pace. “I can tuck myself in, honest. You don’t have to.”

At Jungkook’s side, Jimin muffles a snort, grinning after the fledgling with an apparent lack of
sympathy.

“I told him to put some slippers on before we left the house,” the shifter whispers, catching
Jungkook’s eye. “This is what happens when he doesn’t listen to me. Silly goose.”

Namjoon turns his head to brush a kiss against Jimin’s temple. “Might I remind you that you’re not
wearing socks either, angel.”

“Chim has paws,” the younger vampire reasons, unfazed. “I’ll just shift before I go back. I’m
technically not breaking the rules if my bare feet don’t touch the pavestones.”
“True,” the healer acknowledges with a smile. “But sneaky.”

Jimin beams up at him, unrepentant.

From the other side of the garden, there comes a laughing shriek, and Jungkook leans forward in
Namjoon’s hold to get a better view. Jin has apparently caught up to his wayward fledgling and has
hauled the maknae-vampire over his shoulder, one arm keeping a secure grip on his legs to prevent
him from slipping while his free hand playfully swats at Taehyung’s clothed rump, the younger
man giggling in protest and making a half-hearted attempt to wriggle free as Jin carries him
towards the exit.

It’s cute. So fucking cute.

And Jungkook’s surprised to realise just how much he wants that – the casual, playful domesticity
that the rest of the Kim coven seem to share. They all treat him so tenderly, and while that’s
amazing, he wonders what it’s like to barter teasing insults with Tae like the fledgling does with
Jimin, or jump onto Namjoon’s back and demand to be carried like he’s seen the younger vampires
do, or toe the line between playful and bratty to coax an amused response out of Jin. Clearly this is
business as usual for the rest of the coven, but it’s a freedom Jungkook’s never really had before.

Sure, he’s often playful with the Im-pack Betas, but if anything they treat him even more delicately
than the Kims do, always careful not to get too rough, they’re teasing always so gentle where
they’d usually roast Yugyeom without hesitation, always herding him away from the roughhousing
that the maknae werewolf takes part in with his hyungs. And with the Park pack, although he likes
them a lot, he doesn’t really know JinJin and MJ well enough to playfully tease them the way that
Binnie does. He’s accepted by both packs, but he isn’t a bondmate, and therein lies the separation
between them.

With the Kim coven, though…that barrier doesn’t exist.

His future suddenly seems a whole lot brighter.

“Wanna go back to bed, honey?” Jimin asks, leaning over to nuzzle his cheek gently. “You look
tired.”

Jungkook smiles at the contact, squeezing their joined hands. “Maybe we can stay a little while
longer?” He tilts his head back to look at Namjoon. “It’s so peaceful, I love it here.”

The healer peers down at him fondly, pressing a kiss to his hair. “Me too, sweetheart.”

“Me three,” Jimin agrees, snuggling closer.

As Jungkook basks in the warm, fuzzy, floaty feeling of loving and being loved, he remembers the
words Yoongi’s had murmured against his ear earlier that morning.

“Everything’s going to be alright,” the vampire had promised him. “You’ll know it too, come
daybreak.”

As always, the Seer’s prediction had been accurate.

Jungkook knows he’s going to be okay.

 Ya girl finally got twitter this month! Come find me @Arobeebee, my DMs are open to shoot me
a message if you'd like to be mutuals! I also readily accept cute kpop gifs, please and thank you.

Chapter End Notes

As you might've noticed, this one was even LONGER than the last chapter, so
apologies for the delay in updating! Like our Jungkookie, I've had to contend with
sickness, insomnia and nightshifts. It's also 9am and I haven't been to bed since
yesterday morning, yay!

I must've rewritten the dialogue in this at least a dozen times, I'm finally satisfied with
it but not necessarily 100% happy (this scene's been brewing for a long while, and the
BIG ones always feel like such a huge deal, I think it makes me overly critical). But I
hope you enjoyed it! Let me know your thoughts. :)

Also, thank you SO much for the 200+ comments on my previous chapter, I was
completely blown away. You guys are seriously the best, and I love you all. Come be
friends with me on twitter. :)

Happy comeback, ARMY! Happy 4th anniversary, Arohas!

 Kookie Deserves Nice Things
Chapter Summary

The hyungs unveil a big surprise to lift Jungkook's spirits. Taehyung is a sleepy,
hungry fledgling. Yugyeom is PISSED.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

As Hoseok’s sleek, black Corvette purrs its way up the ramp leading out of the spacious
underground garage, Jungkook sighs quietly, leaning back against Jin’s chest as the vampire keeps
his arms looped around him in a cosy backhug.

Jungkook can’t help feeling a faint pang of disappointment at Moonbin’s departure, even though he
knows the werecat’s only going to be gone for six hours, seven tops. And when he returns this
afternoon it’ll likely be with Yugyeom in tow, so that’s something to look forward to, right? Still…
a tiny, selfish part of Jungkook wishes that Binnie could just skip his first lecture and spend a few
more hours at the nest – it had been so nice to have breakfast together this morning, especially after
a full week of waking up alone in their too-quiet, too-empty apartment and eating in miserable
solitude. He’s just missed his roommate so much. And watching the coven dote on the werecat had
been wonderfully satisfying; Namjoon and Hoseok had spent the better part of the meal sneaking
extra food onto Binnie’s plate (Jungkook’s too, when they thought he wasn’t looking), and Jin had
secretly tugged him aside after breakfast to help make up a packed lunch for the werecat.
Jungkook had been more than happy to share his inside knowledge about Binnie’s favourite foods;
imagining his roommate’s delighted reaction when he eventually opens the neatly-packed
lunchbox had made his departure a little more bearable.

It’s heartening to know that he’s found firm allies in his ongoing effort to keep Moonbin happy,
healthy and well-fed. Honestly, that’s been Jungkook’s number-one priority for a long time now,
not that he’ll ever confess as much to Bin – the werecat would probably just thwack him over the
head with a cushion and demand that Jungkook take better of himself instead.

“Hey.” Seokjin presses a kiss to the side of his head, drawing him out of his thoughts. “Still with
me?”

Jungkook nods, hands coming up to hug the arms that are wrapped around him, leaning back
against Jin’s chest a little more.

“You’ve been awake for a while now, dearheart,” the elder says, squeezing him in a gentle
backhug. “Perhaps you ought to take a nap?”

A soft, whiny noise of protest emerges from Jungkook’s throat (entirely unbidden), and he feels his
cheeks flush when Yoongi laughs in response. The Seer shoots him a wide, gummy smile from
where he’s perched casually on the bonnet of a nearby SUV, head tilted to one side as he regards
Jungkook with such open fondness that it makes the rest of him feel hot, too.
“It’s only been a couple of hours, hyung,” Yoongi reminds the elder. “I don’t think Kookie’s ready
to go back to bed just yet – are you, bun?”

Jungkook shakes his head quickly. He’d taken a brief snooze before breakfast, at Namjoon’s
insistence (with his stomach full from the impromptu 4am picnic, and a sleepy Moonbin snuggled
up in his arms, drifting back off again had been relatively easy), and he’s keen to stay awake longer
than a few hours this time. He feels absolutely fine, no lingering side-effects to speak of…well,
almost. His muscles still ache a bit, and there’s this weighted weariness that seems to have taken
root in his bones, refusing to budge no matter how much sleep he gets, but other than that he’s
awesome. And definitely not keen on going back to bed again; he’s not used to being idle for hours
on end, it’s so fucking boring.

“If you’re certain, poppet,” Jin relents, and squeezes him again, smiling down at Jungkook when
the youth cranes his neck around to glance back at him. “Since you’re feeling so sprightly, perhaps
you’d like to see your new room?”

His what?

Jungkook had assumed that the place he’d spent the past twenty-four hours sleeping in was his
room, since the colour scheme and furnishings all matched his tastes so perfectly. There had even
been a number of prints from some of his favourite artists hung up on the walls, but perhaps that
was just a coincidence, and it was simply a very tastefully-decorated guestroom.

“I…I have another bedroom?” he asks uncertainly.

Seokjin smiles, eyes crinkling in fond amusement. “No, not quite.”

Which explains absolutely nothing. But the vampire looks so breathtakingly beautiful when he’s
smiling like that, and Jungkook quickly forgets about the mystery at hand, basking in the renewed
surge of fluttery warmth that bubbles up in his chest. Jin has this way of looking at him like he’s
something precious, and it makes Jungkook feel so fucking good.

“Here.” Yoongi’s feet touch down quietly against the concrete as he slides off the bonnet of the
SUV, pulling something from his back pocket and holding it out to Jin. “Figured you might want
this.”

The elder vampire lets go of Jungkook briefly to accept the dark slip of fabric (some sort of silk
scarf, perhaps?), staring at it for a moment before tipping his head back with a delighted laugh.

“Oh, you’re wonderful,” Jin enthuses, sending Yoongi a bright grin. “I adore you.”

The Seer’s gummy smile reappears in full force, and oh fuck, he’s cute. Holy shit, how did
Jungkook not realise it sooner? Yoongi’s smile is so fucking precious and…god, Jungkook has the
craziest urge to poke one of those soft-looking cheekies.

Apparently Seokjin likewise feels compelled, because the elder vampire breathes another quiet
laugh behind Jungkook and reaches out to briefly cup one of Yoongi’s cheeks, the Seer turning his
head into the touch after a moment to press a kiss to Jin’s palm.

It’s so fucking tender, Jungkook is actually going to die.

“Do you trust us, Kookie?” Jin asks as he retracts his hand, arm finally slipping from around
Jungkook’s waist.

Jungkook nods without hesitation, and is rewarded with another brilliant smile from Yoongi and a
kiss to the back of his head from Seokjin.

“Good boy,” the vampire purrs. “Hold still for me, little one.”

Soft fabric suddenly slips over his eyes and Jungkook makes a quiet noise of surprise. He brings a
hand up to touch the silky scarf, but makes no move to pull it off as Jin carefully fastens the
blindfold in place. The sudden darkness had startled him, but that feeling of absolute security
hasn’t wavered even for a moment - with Jin and Yoongi here, how could he feel anything but
safe?

“There,” Seokjin murmurs as he draws Jungkook back against his chest again, the vampire’s mouth
so close to the youth’s ear that he can feel the warm puff of air tickling his skin, and it makes a
pleasant shiver tingle all the way down his spine. “Not too tight, treasure?”

He shakes his head, fingers loosely clenched in Jin’s shirtsleeve. He can’t stop smiling. That seems
to be one of the lingering side-effects of spending an extended length of time in the coven’s
company, not that he’s complaining.

“The others won’t be happy that they missed seeing you like this,” Jin remarks with audible
amusement. “Perhaps we ought to take a couple of photos – otherwise I suspect we’ll have a sulky
fledgling to contend with later on. Is that alright with you, Jungkookie?”

At the youth’s cheerful nod of assent, he’s rewarded with a tighter hug, and a gentle caress of
fingers against his cheek.

“You look good like this, bun,” Yoongi tells him lowly, his voice close enough that Jungkook
guesses he’s probably the owner of the hand. His words spark a pleasant heat in Jungkook’s
stomach, and he tilts into the touch, his temporary loss of sight making all his other senses feel
heightened. “Is it alright if I kiss you?”

And really, the Seer doesn’t need to ask (because fuck yes) but Jungkook genuinely appreciates the
heads-up because his knees already feel hella wobbly, and a surprise smooch from Yoongi might
just be enough to deck him. At his eager nod, the vampire sniffs a grin, fingers moving to cup his
jaw a split second before soft lips press against his own.

Oh, gods above, being kissed is so much more intense without his sight.

Jungkook’s far from a delicate virgin, but he doesn’t have a lot of experience when it comes to
intimate kisses with romantic partners. Gentle, platonic smooches are a daily thing with tactile
friends like Bin and Yugyeom, but kisses people out of a mutual attraction is different, and not
something he’d personally come across prior to meeting the Kim coven – even during his few one-
night-stands in his first year of uni (before his part time work ate up every scrap of his free time
and left no room for nocturnal entanglements) there hadn’t been a whole lot of lip contact. Hip
contact, sure, but never lingering kisses the likes of this.

“Breathe,” Jin reminds him, a smile in his voice, and Jungkook sucks in a huge lungful of air
through his nose, head spinning a little. It’s not his fault, Yoongi is a very good kisser.

The Seer gives another soft, breathy laugh against Jungkook’s lips, kissing him again chastely,
before dropping his hand and taking an audible step back. Jungkook misses his warmth
immediately, hands coming up without conscious thought as though to latch into him, and Jin
laughs warmly against the shell of his ear, his grip on Jungkook shifting. Steadying hands settle on
the youth’s hips to turn him sideways.
“Here, treasure, put your arms around my neck,” Jin directs softly. “That’s it…up we go.”

A startled little giggle bursts from Jungkook’s lips as he’s abruptly swooped up bridal-style into
the vampire’s hold, clutching at the elder’s shoulders as his sense of equilibrium is thrown off. It’s
super disorientating with his eyes still covered, but certainly not an unpleasant experience. On the
contrary, he feels fucking giddy, the happy-fluttery warmth blooming bigger and brighter within
him.

“Ai, you’re cute,” Yoongi murmurs, and Jungkook feels fingers comb through his hair briefly
before he hears the quiet shutter sound of a photo being taken.

“Let me see?” Jin requests. There’s a split-second pause, then, “Oh. That’s beautiful. Jungkook,
you perfect boy.”

His face flushes hot again, and he tucks it down against Jin’s neck to hide his pleased little smile.
The praise, the petnames, the touches, the blindfold, being carried like this…god, this is ticking so
many boxes right now. Being coddled and spoiled and doted on to his heart’s content, ugh, it’s
literally the best thing ever, but if he blushes any redder than this his cheeks are going to catch fire.
And there’s no way the two vampires haven’t noticed how much Jungkook enjoys being the centre
of their undivided attention like this…

…which means they’re probably doing it on purpose, those bastards.

Fuck, he’s so in love.

Jungkook has died and gone to heaven.

He can’t catch his breath. Can’t seem close his mouth. Can’t stop staring like a gormless idiot at
his surroundings, heart pulsing high in his throat and legs feeling shaky as he turns in a slow circle,
trying to take it all in.

“You’ll find acrylic and oil paints in here,” Seokjin directs, drawing the youth’s gaze towards him
as he slides back a large section of the white-panelled wall to reveal yet another hidden closet full
of shelves, where hundreds of tiny tubes are arranged neatly by spectrum shade on little wire racks.
“I took the liberty of seeking advice from an acquaintance of mine in Paris, but if you have a
preferred brand, do let me know. Oh, and Taehyungie mentioned you’ve been dabbling in
watercolours lately; you’ll find a few pallets in the bottom draw there, should you need them.”
Jungkook’s gotta be dreaming. This is…this isn’t real, it can’t possibly be real, there’s no way Kim
Seokjin has custom built a whole-ass art studio just for him.

Jin nudges the section of wall panelling back into place again and breezes across the brightly-lit
room to slide open another section, revealing a deeper storage space that’s easily as tall as
Jungkook and twice as wide.

“I wasn’t certain what size of canvas you might need,” the vampire admits, stepping back a pace to
allow Jungkook to see inside, “so I thought I’d err on the side of caution and get a few of each. The
easel is tucked away just here, see? I thought you might like a retractable one for ease of storage,
but of course you’re welcome to order another if it doesn’t suit your needs. Now, let’s see, what
else…”

There’s more?

How can there possibly be more? Jungkook could pay a year’s worth of rent with the contents of
the paint cupboard alone, never mind all the brushes, pencils, canvases, and…holy fuck, is that the
new Wacom drawing tablet?

“Hoseokie said it was voted the tablet of choice for digital artists in Korea,” Jin tells him, casually
waving towards the device sitting innocuously on the drawing desk over on the far side of the
studio, like it’s a simple sketchpad and not a million-won piece of art tech that Jungkook had never
even dared to dream of owning as a student. “But if it isn’t to your liking, we can always exchange
it for a different model.”

Holy fuck.

“I debated building your room right beside Jiminie’s den,” the vampire continues cheerfully, “but
the view from the east wing isn’t quite as good. Here, let me show you.”

Seokjin moves over to the huge window that makes up one full wall of the studio, clearly
unbothered by the bright sunlight as he leans in closer to the glass. Jungkook realises they must be
on the third floor of the mansion, because he can just about see above the treetops.

“The griffins tend to gather over there at sundown.” Jin points towards the edge of the grassy
clearing a little ways off. “I thought you might enjoy watching them play.”

Oh, fuck yes.

Jungkook can already picture himself curled up on the cosy-looking padded bench that runs along
the bottom of the giant window; sketchbook in hand, tongue pinched between his teeth, trying to
draw the boisterous griffin cubs as they prance around below him under the hazy orange glow of a
burning sunset.

“If there’s anything else you’d like to add to the room-” Jin continues as he turns to smile towards
Jungkook, only for his expression to falter, shifting to something akin to concern. “Kookie…?”

Oh.

How long has he been crying?

A hand settles at the small of his back, sliding up until it can curl gently over his nape, and
Jungkook finds himself being drawn against Yoongi in a comforting embrace.

“Happy tears, hyung,” the Seer reassures, fingers softly petting the hairs at the base of Jungkook’s
skull. “Right, baby?”

He nods against Yoongi’s shoulder, determinedly trying to regain control of his ridiculously fragile
emotional state. Jungkook had thought himself fully recovered from his talk with Namjoon and Jin
earlier this morning, but apparently that vulnerability is still there, a raw wound sitting just below
the surface. The enormity of Jin’s material generosity had already been a lot to process, but the
knowledge that the vampire had put so much thought into it, even going so far as to gift him with
the perfect view for griffin-watching (because Jungkook hasn’t been quiet about how much he
adores them)…yeah, it’s more than enough to tip him over the edge.

Jungkook’s so fucking grateful, and not just for the custom-built studio and the expensive paints
and tools and art tech, but for everything that Jin and the rest of the coven have done for him these
past few weeks. He’s honestly never felt so loved.

“Oh, poppet,” Seokjin murmurs, and another hand stroke over the back of his head, lips pressing a
gentle kiss to his crown. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to overwhelm you. Perhaps I ought to have
waited a while longer before unveiling the surprise, given recent events…but I thought you might
like to make use of your studio during your stay here.”

His studio. His own art studio, fully-stocked, squeaky-clean, bright and white and just begging to
be decorated with colourful paintings and sketches and sculptures. God, it really is a dream come
true.

Jungkook’s fingers are already itching for a pencil.

Blinking back the tears through sheer force of will, Jungkook turns in Yoongi’s hold to throw his
arms around Jin, pressing his face into the vampire’s shirtfront as he clings to him.

“Thank you,” he manages, his voice choked. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, it’s perfect, I love
you-”

Seokjin laughs, a warm sound, carding his fingers through Jungkook’s hair as he wraps his own
arms around the younger man, squeezing tightly.

“You’re more than welcome, little love.” The vampire drops another gentle kiss against the youth’s
head. “Now remember, dearheart, this is your room to do with as you please. You needn’t even use
the studio for artwork if you don’t feel like it. I merely wanted to provide you with a quiet space to
express yourself and the means to do so. If you’d prefer to sit by the window there and watch
Netflix for hours on end, that’s perfectly acceptable. And if you’d rather not be in here at all, I
promise I won’t feel offended.”

To own beautiful studio like this and not even use it? Hell no, that’s sacrilege. Jungkook intends to
spend a significant portion of the coming week living in this place.

“I only have one rule,” Jin adds, his fingers curling gently beneath the youth’s chin to tilt his head
upwards. Jungkook’s heart flutters at the wealth of tenderness in the elder’s expression.

“Unlike the other windows in the manor, the glass in your studio isn’t designed to tint
automatically as the sun rises,” the vampire explains, his thumb carefully swiping a tear-trail from
Jungkook’s cheek. “I thought you’d benefit from as much natural light as possible, especially if
you’re working at your desk. However, that does make it potentially hazardous for Tae and Jiminie
if they want to spend any length of time with you in the studio. Now, they both know better than to
enter someone else’s room without knocking first, so they shouldn’t sneak up on you unawares.
But before you let either of them enter, you’ll need to manually adjust the tint of the glass using the
control panel over there.”

Jungkook follows Jin’s line of sight and spies the small rectangular touchscreen built into the wall
nearby. It’s probably the most up-to-date piece of tech he’s seen around the mansion so far, barring
his new tablet (and Tae’s playroom, which is essentially just a miniature arcade), but it doesn’t
seem out of place in here with the studio’s décor being so modern compared to the rest of the
house.

“Thanks to his shifter genes, Jiminie’s is less likely to burn,” Jin continues, and Jungkook refocuses
his attention on the vampire quickly. “But being in direct sunlight is never particularly comfortable
for him – although he’ll never admit to that willingly. He’s still far too young to have anywhere
near the same level of tolerance as the rest of us, so I try to minimise his sunlight exposure as
much as possible. Jimin should be fine with anything above a twenty percent tint. With Tae,
however, you’ll need to increase that to at least seventy-five; as a fledgling, his skin is still
incredibly sensitive. And I’m sure you’ve noticed how often he forgets that fact.”

Jungkook nods quickly, having already committed the figures to memory. He’s already well aware
of Taehyung’s proclivity for exposing himself to direct sunlight, and he’s more than happy to take
extra measures to protect the fledgling from his own carelessness. From what Jimin has told him
(in secret, when Tae wasn’t within earshot), the maknae-vampire tends to ignore the physical
discomfort of sunlight exposure until the damage has already been done – apparently Namjoon
ends up treating Tae for sunburns at least once a week, which is a horrifying thought, because
Kookie knows himself just how much burnt skin can hurt.

“You might want to activate it now, bun,” Yoongi advises, and Jungkook turns to glance towards
him curiously. The Seer is staring off into the middle-distance, but he blinks his gaze back into
focus after a moment and smiles calmly. “Angel’s on his way up.”

Jungkook’s out of Jin’s arms in a flash, both vampires laughing fondly at his eagerness.

The control panel blinks to life the second Jungkook taps its touchscreen, the main display split
into four separate squares. Large numbers show the time, the temperature, the intensity of the
sunlight against the window, and there in the bottom right-hand square is the current tint setting, a
glowing 0%. When Jungkook taps the digit, the display changes immediately, all the other readings
vanishing as a horizontal bar appears in the centre of the screen, 0% sitting on the left side and
100% on the far right. Using his finger, he drags the sun-shaped indicator up the bar slowly,
glancing over at the window to watch as the glass gradually begins to dim.

Cool.

He knows it’s probably a fairly standard feature in most modern-built homes, but Jungkook’s never
seen one in person before. Most public buildings will have auto-tinting glass, if anything, but only
the really fancy places have windows with an adjustable tint function. His apartment window has
neither – the building is old as fuck, and he doubts his landlord would be willing to fork out the
extra cost to have the windows replaced, regardless of what species happened to be living there.
Tinted glass isn’t technically a legal requirement in residential areas as long as blinds or curtains
are provided to prevent sun-related injuries, so unfortunately cheapskate landlords can still get
away with it.

Suddenly there’s a brisk knock on the door to the studio, and Jungkook checks to make sure the
sun-shaped indicator is sitting at a safe 30% before giving the all-clear.

“Come in!”
The door opens a few inches, enough that a tired-eyed Jimin can pop his head inside, a smile
curling at his lips the moment he sees Jungkook.

“Hey,” he greets around a yawn, dragging the sleeve of his hoodie across his eyes as he opens the
door fully to enter the room.

“Good morning, my angel,” Seokjin coos, opening his arms invitingly as the shifter shuffles
towards him, drawing the younger vampire close to kiss his brow before tucking Jimin’s head
down against Jin’s neck. “Pleasant dreams?”

Jimin hums, a satisfied sound, as he nuzzles the elder’s throat. It’s a scenting tactic, one that
Jungkook’s very familiar with (Binnie does it all the time, especially when he’s tired), and clearly
Seokjin is too because he keeps his head ever so slightly tilted to allow the shifter better access,
fingers combing through Jimin’s hair soothingly.

The dancer pulls away after a long moment to fix the elder vampire with an exaggerated pout.

“Hyung,” Jimin whines, and it’s adorable. “You couldn’t have waited until I was awake? I wanted
to see his face.”

Jin leans in to kiss the tip of Jimin’s nose. “I’m sorry, sweetness. Yoongi and I thought that our
Jungkookie deserved a nice surprise after the unpleasantness of the past few days. But we took
pictures.”

The younger vampire hums again in reluctant acknowledgement, still pouting cutely, but the
expression slips when Jin’s fingers dance up his sides, lightly tickling. With a breathy little giggle,
Jimin ducks away and escapes to Yoongi, rubbing against the Seer’s throat in a greeting nuzzle and
letting himself be cuddled for a moment, before finally skipping over to Jungkook. His previous
tiredness seems to have dissipated remarkably quickly, his smile wide and cheerful as reels
Jungkook in, one hand settling on the younger man’s hip as the other cups his cheek.

“Hey, beautiful.” Jimin leans in slowly to kiss him, the softest press of lips against Jungkook’s.
“It’s good to see you on your feet again. Feeling better?”

Jungkook nods with a shy smile, his own hands coming up automatically to rest against Jimin’s
chest, heart fluttering pleasantly as his lips tingle with a phantom heat. Fuck, he’s never gonna get
used to being casually kissed like this, no matter how often it happens.

He hesitates for only a brief moment (he doesn’t want to overstep any boundaries, and they’ve
never really broached the subject of scenting) before raising his chin a little and tilting his head to
one side, offering the shifter his neck. Jimin blinks at him, initially surprised, before a warmer
smile curls handsomely at his mouth and he leans in to nuzzle the youth’s throat. It’s careful, a
gentle drag of his nose and cheek against the Jungkook’s skin, but after a beat it becomes more
deliberate, Jimin gently tilting the younger man’s head the other way so that he can scent his neck
on both sides thoroughly.

The vampire finishes with lingering kiss to Jungkook’s pulse-point before pulling away again with
a satisfied hum. It’s dumb, but Jungkook has the strangest urge to pull his head back down again.
So sue him, he likes being scented.

“So, how d’you like your new art studio?” Jimin asks, quickly distracting him from that fleeting
impulse.

“It’s amazing,” Jungkook enthuses, his gaze flickering around the room again as a wide grin curls
at his mouth. “God, I love it so much. Jin-hyung really shouldn’t have, but-”

“But ‘Kookie Deserves Nice Things’,” the shifter interrupts, and Jungkook’s gaze cuts back
towards him in surprise at the familiar phrase. Smiling, Jimin clucks him beneath the chin.
“Binnie’s a sweetheart. Tae and I were asking him about your interests last night, hoping to get
some inspiration for our next date together, and he let me take a quick peek at your bucket list.
Love the title, by the way.”

Jungkook feels his face heat up again. “It was Binnie’s idea.”

“Oh, that I know, babydoll,” Jimin acknowledges with a fond laugh, reaching up to ruffle
Jungkook’s hair. “Unfortunately, my Kookie doesn’t fully believe that he deserves nice things, not
yet at least.”

“That’s something we’ll need to work on,” Jin agrees kindly, stepping close enough to wrap his
arms around the both of them, kissing first Jungkook’s temple, then Jimin’s. “But now’s not the
time, sweetness – it’s been a difficult few days. And you need to eat, my darling.” He kisses Jimin
again. “Let’s leave Jungkookie alone for a little while to explore his new room, hm? Come on,
Yoongi can show us the pictures he took…”

The knock on the studio door draws him sharply out of his semi-doze, and Jungkook straightens up
from his slouched position against the window, uncurling his crossed legs with a wince, having
completely lost feeling in his left foot.

Jungkook can’t even remember having closed his eyes - he’d been working on a rough sketch of
Chim, testing out the various design features of his new Wacom tablet, and the padded window-
bench had been so cosy and sun-warmed that the fatigue must have crept up on him unawares.

“Kookie?” comes a familiar voice from the other side of the door. “Is it alright if I come in, bun?”

Surprised but pleased by Namjoon’s apparent return, Jungkook calls out an affirmative, pushing
himself further upright and setting his tablet carefully to one side, stiff legs stretching out across
the padded window-seat.

The door opens, Namjoon regarding him with a warm smile for a moment as he lingers there,
clearly taking in Jungkook’s sleepy countenance.

“Sorry, sweetheart, did I wake you?” the healer asks, crossing the studio to perch on the edge of
the cushioned bench beside Jungkook.

The youth shakes his head reassuringly. He hadn’t actually been sleeping, definitely not, he’s fine.
He was just resting his eyes for a minute. There’s a difference.

“No?” Namjoon’s smile is dimpled, his gaze tender as he strokes the backs of his fingers down
Jungkook’s cheek. “Are you sure? Because you’re looking a little tired there, sleepyhead. It’s okay
if you need to take a nap, y’know.”

“Wasn’t sleeping,” Jungkook insists, even as he tilts into the contact, hand coming up to loosely
grasp the healer’s forearm, eyeing the dark tattoos that peak out beneath the sleeves of Namjoon’s
t-shirt. “Just resting my eyes for a minute.”

“Ah.” The vampire’s look of fond amusement makes Jungkook feel all squirmy and warm right
down to his toes, a sensation that only intensifies when Namjoon leans in a moment later to brush a
soft, chaste kiss against his lips. “Then I’m sorry for disturbing your rest, baby. Should I go?”

Jungkook shakes his head immediately, and Namjoon laughs, their faces still so close that he can
feel the warm puff of air against his mouth.

“Thought you were at the clinic today?” Jungkook asks, glancing out of the tinted window to try
and gage the time by the angle of the sun. Alas, he’s not very successful, because he doesn’t
actually know how to interpret shit like that.

“I only dropped by for a few hours,” the healer admits. “Just to make sure they had sufficient cover
for the next week while I’m here with you.”

Jungkook winces guiltily. “You don’t have to stay, hyung,” he insists. “I’m fine, honest. I don’t
wanna drag you away from your work.”

“You’re not dragging me anywhere, honey-bun,” Namjoon reassures, clucking him beneath the
chin. “Jinnie’s been pestering me to take some vacation time for months now, it’s long overdue.
And besides, I don’t like the thought of leaving you so soon after…recent events. Especially since
everyone keeps unveiling all the big surprises while I’m out at work. Jinnie promised to wait until I
got back, but he’s a little impatient when it comes to spoiling his chicks.” The healer kisses
Jungkook again, his smile belying the frustration in his voice. “You like your new studio, baby? I
managed to convince Jin-hyung to make it a modern-build, even if it doesn’t fit with his rustic
décor. I figured you’d appreciate the practicality of subtle in-built storage spaces, it keeps the
studio from getting too cluttered and messing with your muse.”

Oh. That had been Namjoon’s idea? Because all the cupboards and compartments hidden behind
the smooth, unobtrusive wall panelling is literally the best things ever.

“I love it,” he gushes, throwing his arms around the healer’s neck. “I know I can’t ever thank you
and Jin-hyung enough, but-”

“You don’t need to thank us at all,” Namjoon interrupts softly, returning the tight embrace. “We
told you before, bun, you’re part of the coven now. And we take care of what’s ours.”

What’s ours. Oh, Jungkook likes that. He likes that a lot, fuck.

The vampire draws away again to observe him in silence for a beat, one hand cupping Jungkook’s
cheek as the other settles over his breastbone, clearly doing some sort of magic-healer-sensory-shit.

“Muscles still a bit sore, hon?” Namjoon surmises sympathetically, and at the youth’s hesitant nod,
he leans in again to kiss the tip of Jungkook’s nose. “Let me see what I can do to help.”

Ten minutes later and Jungkook’s feeling floaty and blissfully pain-free, stretched out on his
stomach with his legs draped across the healer’s lap, smiling contentedly to himself Namjoon
massages the ache away with skilful hands,

“-he’d cautioned me before about trying to negotiate with water-wraiths, but I was a little too
overconfident back then,” the vampire tells him amicably, talented fingers carefully kneading
Jungkook’s calf-muscles. “I thought if I could persuade the clan to let me test their river for
pollutants, I could figure out the source and put a stop to it before the wraiths made good on their
promise to flood the whole valley. It didn’t work, of course – even with Druid blood, I still
appeared more human than warlock before the Bite, and that was enough to anger them the
moment I stepped foot in their waters. The little shits tried to drown me.”

Jungkook pushes himself up on his forearms to glance back at the healer in shock. Namjoon gives
him a dimpled smile in return, a hand patting the back of his thigh comfortingly.

“They weren’t successful,” he reassures. “Unbeknownst to me, Jin-hyung had been watching from
the shadows the whole time. Rather than stopping me from leaving the nest in the first place, I
think he’d decided to teach me a more memorable lesson by allowing me to fully realise the
dangerous situation I’d put myself in. I don’t think he’d quite anticipated the murderous intent of
the wraith-clan, though. And naturally he didn’t tolerate their hostilities. I couldn’t have been under
the water longer than half a minute, but by the time I broke to the surface again, Seokjinnie had
already banished the swarm downstream.”

“Was he angry about you sneaking off like that?” Jungkook asks, thoroughly invested in the story,
his previous fatigue already forgotten.

“Oh, furious,” Namjoon acknowledges with a carefree grin. “But only for an hour or two – he
never could stay cross with me, even back then.”

Jungkook smiles at that. He can’t imagine ever been upset with Namjoon, the healer’s far too kind
and softly spoken. Although he can definitely sympathise with poor Seokjin after all the stress the
healer had clearly put him through in his youth.

“And what happened to the river?” he presses keenly. “Was it industrial pollution, like you
thought?”

“Mm,” Namjoon confirms, tugging the bunched-up fabric of Jungkook’s borrowed joggers back
down again to cover his legs. “With the wraiths gone, I was able to take as many samples as I
needed, and it was only a matter of time before Jin and I found the source of the alkaline poisoning.
The iron factory was forced to close down within a matter of days, and we were able to work with
the Fae to leech the poison from the river before it could do any further harm to the valley. A
cluster of Nyads moved in not long afterwards, and they were a great deal easier to negotiate with.
Hyung still didn’t let me wander near a body of water on my own for years after that, though – he’s
a little overprotective, our Seokjinnie. Honestly, sometimes I think he built Cornerstone Health
Centre just to keep me tethered to a safe location.”

Jungkook isn’t the least bit surprised; every story Namjoon recounts to him seems to involve some
sort of perilous near-death experience, and it’s a miracle Jin hadn’t hidden the healer away from
the world in a secret underground bunker or something. If Moonbin were even half that reckless,
fuck, Jungkook would be out of his mind with worry.

Suddenly he’s very, very grateful that Binnie possesses a modicum of common sense.
A quiet tap on the door draws him from his thoughts, and since the window’s already at a safe
half-tint, Jungkook calls out a cheerful “come in”. He briefly deliberates whether or not he ought to
roll out of Namjoon’s lap and sit up properly, before deciding that he’s far too comfortable right
where he is.

“Hey, Joon,” Yoongi greets warmly as he enters the studio. The Seer shoots Jungkook a soft look.
“Hi, sleepyhead.”

“Oh, he wasn’t sleeping,” Namjoon corrects with an audible smile, patting the back of Jungkook’s
legs. “He was just resting his eyes.”

Yoongi hums a wordless ‘I see’, his eyes crinkling at the corners as the vampire does his best to
suppress a smile.

Jungkook knows he’s being teased, but can’t find it in himself to feel the least bit put-out. It’s nice,
actually. After what happened yesterday, he’d been worried that the hyungs might treat him with
kiddie-gloves for a little while in an effort to avoid upsetting him, but it’s reassuring to know that
they think he’s emotionally stable enough to cope with a bit of playful ribbing.

“Tae’s almost done resting his eyes, too,” Yoongi continues blithely, and tosses the object in his
hand towards Namjoon. “Lunch will be ready in half an hour.”

The healer catches the projectile, Jungkook rolling over a bit so that he can get a better look at it,
recognising the insignia from HaemoGlobal printed on the back of the blood pouch. It looks like
one of the fancy organic ones they keep in a locked fridge at Euphoria – the same kind Hoseok had
ordered for Tae a couple of weeks ago, on that embarrassing afternoon where Jungkook had keeled
over in front of them and made a fool of himself.

“Where is everyone?” Namjoon asks, turning the pouch right-way-up to casually pop the seal with
a single fang, the flash of gleaming white so brief that Jungkook almost misses it before the healer
starts to drink.

“Hyung’s busy wrangling Chim out of the pond,” Yoongi informs him, pulling a second pouch out
of the sleeve of his sweater (presumably he’d been keeping it warm). “Hobi’s on his way home
from the studio. Should’ve been here already, but he’s stuck in traffic, he…” The Seer’s sentence
tapers off as his gaze loses focus, a slight crease forming between his eyebrows. “There’s a lorry
turned on its side. Nobody’s hurt, but…it’s blocking the road, he can’t get past. People are getting
impatient. Aish, I hate that song…”

Namjoon sets the empty blood pouch aside and carefully slips out from underneath Jungkook’s
legs, stepping closer to Yoongi and reaching up to cradle the Seer’s face between his hands.

“You’re drifting, hon,” he murmurs, thumbs stroking against the vampire’s cheeks gently. “Come
back to me.”

Yoongi blinks, sucking in a shuddery breath, and refocuses his gaze on Namjoon’s face a split
second later. A small, wry smile tugs at the corner of his mouth, a hand coming up to curl around
the healer’s wrist.

“I’m fine,” Yoongi promises. “It’s just…a little loud today.”

Leaning in to kiss him softly, Namjoon rests their foreheads together for a moment, his hands still
cradling the Seer’s face.

“Need any help?”

Yoongi shakes his head ever so slightly. “I’m fine,” he reiterates. “I don’t…I have to go and make
tea for Jiminie. Apricot and ginger. He’ll need something soothing, hyung’s going to give Chim a
bath.”

“Ah,” Namjoon reacts, wincing. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“I usually am,” the Seer agrees smoothly, leaning in to steal another kiss before pressing the second
blood pouch into Namjoon’s hand. “Drink that too. Little one didn’t have much of an appetite
yesterday, so he’ll be thirsty this morning.”

With that, Yoongi steps back, shooting Jungkook one last affectionate glance before wandering
back out of the studio languidly, already looking lost in thought.

Now sitting upright on the bench, having been observing the interaction concernedly, Jungkook
turns his attention to Namjoon.

“Is…is Yoongi-hyung feeling okay?” he asks hesitantly.

Namjoon has already pierced the pouch’s seal and is gulping down the blood with impressive
speed, considering he’s only just finished the previous pint.

“It’s a loud day,” the healer informs him once the second pouch has been drained dry, tongue
darting out to lick a hint of crimson from the corner of his mouth. “For Yoongi, that means his
visions are a little harder to ignore, and he’s liable to see things beyond the nest that he wouldn’t
normally sense. Having a task to ground him helps block things out a little, it’s why he often
spends so many hours brewing tea.”

Jungkook glances towards the doorway, feeling a niggling impulse to go after the Seer and make
sure he’s alright.

“He knows his own limits, sweetheart,” Namjoon soothes, combing gentle fingers through
Jungkook’s hair. “He’ll find Jin-hyung if it gets too much, and he’ll have Jiminie to help distract
him in the meantime until Hoseok gets home. There’s nothing to worry about, okay?”

Jungkook nods, feeling more at ease, and returns the healer’s smile shyly. Namjoon drops a kiss
against the crown of his head, before moving away to slide out a low panel built into the nearby
wall, revealing a hidden trashcan into which he tosses the empty blood pouches.

“Want to help me wake up Taehyungie?” the vampire asks cheerfully, offering his hand.

With a wider smile curling at his mouth, and his concern for Yoongi quickly dissipating, Jungkook
hops up from the bench to slide his hand into Namjoon’s bigger one, letting the healer lace their
fingers together and tug him towards the door.

…
Taehyung’s bedroom is dark, the minimal daylight peeking through between the heavy purple
curtains already significantly dimmed by the window’s tinted glass, but it’s enough to make the
furnishings visible. Namjoon lifts Jungkook’s hand to kiss the back of his knuckles, smiling at him
warmly before tapping a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture. Jungkook nods and mimics the
motion, fighting a smile.

Fuck, even Namjoon is adorable. His poor, weak heart.

Letting go of his hand, the healer moves silently across the room and over to the giant four-poster
bed, flicking on the bedside lamp as he perches on the edge of the mattress. He leans over
Taehyung’s facedown-sleeping form to press a lingering kiss to the fledgling’s nape, a hand
stroking down his spine.

The younger vampire stirs with a soft, muffled noise, and Jungkook’s heart clenches. Oh. Sleepy-
Tae is cute. Sleepy-Tae is very cute.

“Hi, baby,” Namjoon murmurs, his hand slipping beneath Taehyung’s shirt to rub the fledgling’s
back as he presses another kiss to his nape. “Time to wake up.”

The fledgling shifts with a low moan, rolling over onto his side with what appears to be a great
deal of effort, and Jungkook’s heart lurches in alarm as he pauses at the bedside, finally getting a
good look.

Taehyung’s skin looks pale as fuck against the dark bedsheets. Even the glow of the bedside lamp
does nothing to cast warmth into his complexion. Tae looks positively unwell.

“Don’t worry, hon, he’s always a little peaky first thing,” Namjoon reassures him calmly, fingers
gently smoothing the hair back from the sleepy vampire’s forehead. “I imagine it’s not far off how
he looked when you first met him; Seokjinnie said the poor love must have been starving before
you took him in.”

The healer isn’t wrong; Jungkook remembers all too well the shocking pallor of Tae’s skin, milky-
white face glistening with rainwater as his head lolled drunkenly, as though he lacked the strength
to keep it raised.

No wonder Seokjin had been in such a panic when he’d found the fledgling – knowing that this
was the state of vulnerability Taehyung is reduced to when he’s hungry, Jungkook himself is
suddenly reluctant to go anywhere with his youngest bondmate without a backup blood pouch
tucked away somewhere.

“Sleepy boy,” Namjoon teases, brushing a trail of soft, chaste kisses up the side of Taehyung’s
cheek to his temple, before nuzzling the skin there. “Look, there’s someone here to see you.”

Tae’s face scrunches up as the elder vampire pulls back, his eyes opening to a tired squint. He
blinks sluggishly up at Namjoon for a moment, before his gaze shifts over to Jungkook – his
expression immediately breaks out into wide, adorably dopey grin, and oh, the fledgling might just
be the cutest fucking person Jungkook’s ever seen in his life.

“Jungkookiiiie,” Tae crows, rolling over fully onto his back and raising his arms to make clumsy
grabby-hand gestures in his direction. “Oooh, morning cuddles, c’mere.”

The younger man goes willingly, climbing over Namjoon’s legs as the healer settles against the
headboard and laughing softly as Taehyung catches hold of his shirtfront to yank him down into an
enthusiastic but slightly uncoordinated hug.

“Mmm, that’s better,” the vampire purrs, satisfied, rubbing his cheek against Jungkook’s hair as he
wraps his arms around the youth tightly. “You smell so good, Kookie. Gonna make you into a
perfume, sell it for millions. No, wait… gonna keep it just for us, don’t wanna share. Just for us,
okay?”

“Okay,” Jungkook agrees through another breathy laugh, finding Taehyung utterly charming even
in the midst of the vampire’s apparent hunger-drunkenness.

Namjoon leans over them to press a kiss to Taehyung’s brow, his hand settling on Jungkook’s
lower back, a comforting weight.

“You need to feed, baby,” the healer murmurs. “Think you can let go of Jungkookie for a minute?”

Taehyung makes an adorably sulky noise of protest and squishes Jungkook tighter against him, and
the youth laughs again, not minding the manhandling one bit. Maybe it’s the influence of
Taehyung’s emotions along their bond, or maybe he’s just thoroughly enjoying being aggressively
cuddled by the sleepy fledgling, but either way, he feels great.

“Kookie’s not going anywhere,” Namjoon reassures, fondly amused. “Right, sweetheart?”

“Right,” Jungkook agrees, squirming around just enough that he can tilt up to kiss the underside of
Taehyung’s jaw. “We can cuddle afterwards, hyung.”

The vampire’s grip on him loosens marginally, and Jungkook takes the initiative to slip out of his
hold while the going’s good, shifting to kneel on Tae’s other side. The fledgling pouts up at him in
sleepy betrayal, crimson eyes narrowed to a puffy squint.

“Here, little one.” Namjoon nips at his own wrist, the briefest flash of a gleaming fang before it
retracts into his gums again, and holds it out to show Taehyung, a tiny pinprick of blood beading
just below his radial pulse. “I know you’re hungry. Come sit with me.”

Apparently the fledgling’s thirst must win out, because half a beat later Tae has scooted himself
into Namjoon’s lap, mouth sealed over the healer’s wrist as he holds the limb in both hands, heavy
eyelids drooping wearily even as his throat bobs, clearly famished.

Namjoon smiles down at him, gaze full of tender warmth, tucking the fledgling closer against his
chest before glancing towards Jungkook and extending his free hand beckoningly. The hybrid
scoots closer without hesitation to curl up under the healer’s arm, leaning contentedly against
Namjoon’s side as he watches Taehyung feed. The maknae-vampire still looks terribly pale, but he
seems a little more lucid now, the crimson beginning to fade from his eyes as he blinks them open.

After a few minutes, Namjoon tugs his wrist away again, kissing Taehyung’s brow when the
younger vampire whimpers softly in protest. The healer lifts the wrist to his own lips and blows on
the bitten skin, presumably to seal the cut.

“Here, sweetheart,” the elder vampire coaxes, tilting his chin up and moving his head a little to one
side, exposing his throat. “Go ahead, I know you’re thirsty.”

Namjoon’s fingers have slipped into Taehyung’s hair, and he uses the gentle grip to guide the
fledgling’s mouth down towards his neck. Despite the open invitation, the maknae still seems to
hesitate for a moment, just kissing and nuzzling the skin there.

“It’s okay,” Namjoon soothes, hand moving down to gently grip Taehyung by the nape. “Hyung’s
got plenty, baby, I drank two pouches right before I came here. Take as much as you want.”

That, at last, seems to settle the fledgling’s lingering reservations, and with a fleeting glance
towards Jungkook (as though to check that the younger is still safely nearby), Taehyung latches
onto Namjoon’s throat, arms winding around his neck with a satisfied hum as he drinks deeply.

Jungkook is genuinely surprised by how sweetly domestic the scene is. He’s witnessed Tae feed
from Hoseok and Jimin before, but only from their wrists, and he’d always assumed that anything
above than that would be significantly more intimate. But watching Namjoon holding Taehyung so
reverently, petting his hair and murmuring gentle words of encouragement as he coaxes the
fledgling to feed, it couldn’t be further from erotic. It’s just…cute. And Jungkook finds himself
almost envious of Namjoon’s position, unable to keep from wondering how amazing it would feel
to be able to provide something like that for Taehyung. He can’t fill up on blood-pouches the way
Namjoon and the other hyungs can, but he knows from Binnie that there are enhanced supplements
you can take to quickly boost your iron count, and restorative draughts specially designed to
replenish blood loss (although the apothecaries that sell them often charge a small fortune, simply
because they can).

Still, that means it’s not entirely impossible for Jungkook to fulfil that role for the maknae-vampire
one day. Or for any of his bondmates, really. He imagines the older hyungs probably don’t have to
feed very often at all, and likely get most of their nutritional needs from an iron-rich diet and the
occasional blood pouch, but still…it’s nice to think that Jungkook could maybe give them the
option of feeding from him, if they wanted to.

Jungkook wants them to.

Eventually Taehyung’s arms loosen from around Namjoon’s shoulders, and his mouth pulls away
from the elder’s throat. Jungkook gets a quick glimpse of the two perfect little puncture wounds
already beading crimson with fresh blood, before the fledgling ducks back in and begins to lick the
bite mark closed. Careful swipes of his tongue transition to soft, chaste little kisses, and by the time
Taehyung pulls away again a minute or so later, the puncture wounds are nothing more than two
faintly red bumps, like new mosquito bites. Jungkook’s teased Binnie about marks like that often
enough to know that they’ll be completely gone by tomorrow, presuming that a vampire’s skin
heals at the same rate as a werecat’s.

“There’s my little one,” Namjoon murmurs, fingers stroking Taehyung’s cheek as the fledgling
pulls back to smile up at him. “Better?”

The younger vampire nods, leaning up to press a soft kiss to Namjoon’s lips by means of a thank-
you.

“What time is it?” Tae asks, raising both arms above his head in a languid stretch, looking pink-
cheeked and satisfied, skin still glowing from his recent feed.

“A little after midday, hon,” Namjoon answers, and pokes the youth in the stomach when Tae’s
stretching leaves the area vulnerable to attack, the younger vampire immediately hunching over
with a giggle and wrapping his arms protectively around himself.

“Meanie,” the fledgling huffs, but he’s smiling. He glances towards Jungkook and his smile
blooms wider. “Yah. I know I was pretty out of it a little while ago, but I definitely remember
someone promising me post-feeding cuddle time.”

Jungkook returns the grin easily. “Guilty as charged,” he acknowledges, and opens his arms. “I’m
all yours.”
Taehyung gives a delighted whoop and promptly dives on top of him, knocking Jungkook
sideways onto the pillows. Laughing, he scrunches up his face as Tae begins to pepper
exaggeratedly loud smooches all over his neck, not really making a lot of effort to squirm away
from the onslaught. Why would he? This is exactly what Jungkook wants. A giggly, happy, playful
Taehyung cuddling the stuffing out of him?

He could get used to this.

Jungkook is abruptly woken from his peaceful nap when a pillow hits him square in the face.

There’s a moment of drowsy confusion as he tries to figure out why there’s a pillow on his head,
body shifting beneath the bedcovers to sluggishly free his arms from the fabric so that he can bat at
the object. His fingertips have barely made contact with the silky pillowcase before its being lifted
away from his face, and Jungkook opens his eyes to a sleepy squint in time to see his attacker
raising the pillow high over his head again.

Oh god. Yugyeom looks pissed.

“What the fuck, Kook?”

The squishy weapon falls again with a cushioned flump, hitting Jungkook in the chest this time.
Despite how loud it sounds, he can immediately tell Yugyeom isn’t actually putting a lot of force
behind his swings.

“Six fucking cans of LunarBoost?” Yugyeom fumes, whacking him a third time, still without a
great deal of force. “On top of all those Americanos? What the fuck?!”

The werewolf raises the pillow again and Jungkook finally recovers enough from his shocked
inertia to raise his hands in a (probably fruitless) attempt at pacification.

“I know, I’m sorry,” he tries to placate. “I was being stupid-”

The pillow thwacks him in the stomach.

“Stupid?” Yugyeom echoes. “It was fucking insane, you absolute dumb-bun…”

Movement from the bedroom doorway catches Jungkook’s eye, and he glances across to see
Moonbin quickly hobbling towards the bed on his crutches, cheeks flushed and slightly out of
breath, clearly having chased his irate friend through the mansion.

“Hyung,” Binnie groans, chest heaving as he drops his crutches at the bedside and tries to kneel up
one-legged on the mattress, reaching out to snag the back of Yugyeom’s jacket. “You said you
wouldn’t yell at him.”

“Much,” Yugyeom clarifies, and whacks Jungkook with the pillow again. “I said I wouldn’t yell at
him much. He’s fine, baby, I just gotta knock some fucking sense into that thick head of his,
gimme a minute.”

As the werewolf lifts the pillow over his head again, Moonbin grabs hold of it, sparking an
impromptu tug-of-war between the two of them.

Jungkook knows he shouldn’t laugh, because clearly Yugyeom’s upset with him (and rightly so,
he’d nearly killed himself yesterday morning), but watching his two best friends, the people he
loves most in the whole wide world, wrestling over a pink silk pillow is literally the most
ridiculous thing he’s ever seen.

A giggle erupts from him before he can contain it, and although he claps a hand over his mouth to
muffle the sound, it still draws their attention, two heads turning to look at him as the were-folk
freeze mid-battle. Jungkook tries to muffle another laugh, but it comes out as a loud, squeaky snort
instead.

A beat of silence passes as they all stare at one another.

Yugyeom throws his head back and laughs.

And just like that, all three of them are in stiches, Moonbin almost toppling backwards off the bed
with the force of his giggling until Yugyeom dives forward to grab hold of him and yank him to
safety. The momentum sends both of them falling half on top of Jungkook, which triggers renewed
wave of laughter, his friends trying their best not to squash the hybrid as they shift to settle either
side of him.

“Dumb-bun,” Yugyeom reiterates once they’ve caught their breath, but there’s nothing but warmth
in his voice now and he’s nuzzling at Jungkook’s cheek, an arm thrown about his friend’s waist.
“Should probably yell at you some more, but my arm’s tired, and Binnie wouldn’t like it.”

Jungkook smiles, knowing it’s a hollow excuse, and turns his head a little to regard the wolf for a
moment.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, leaning in to gently rub their noses together. It’s a familiar intimacy
between the two of them, an act of tactile affection they’ve been sharing since childhood, and it
eases the slither of guilt in Jungkook’s chest when Yugyeom responds in kind. “I know I screwed
up big-time. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

The werewolf props himself up on one elbow to lean over Jungkook.

“Better fucking not,” he mutters, faux-stern. “Next time you pull a stunt like that, I’m taking a
pillow and fucking smothering you.”

Jungkook breathes a laugh at the empty threat, lifting an arm and smacking the wolf’s shoulder,
before sinking his fingers into Yugyeom’s hair to pull his friend down for a hug. Yugyeom goes
willingly, pressing his face into the hybrid’s neck with a sigh, arm tightening around him as he
scents Jungkook’s throat.
Moonbin heaves a relieved sigh of his own on Jungkook’s other side, scooting closer to throw an
arm over the both of them with a happy hum. Jungkook feels wonderfully squished. He presses a
kiss to Yugyeom’s hair, before turning his head to do the same to Moonbin, only then spotting the
two figures leaning against the wall over on the far side of the room.

Oh.

Seokjin and Jaebum are watching them silently, both sporting fond sort of half-smiles, a matching
softness in their gaze that warms Jungkook through and through.

The vampire has one hand tucked into the pocket of his dark slacks, the other arm casually draped
around JB’s shoulders. The Alpha looks perfectly comfortable tucked up against Jin’s side, arms
crossed over his chest as he watches his cuddling cubs. When he catches Jungkook looking, he
flashes the hybrid a quiet, amused grin.

Jungkook has a sinking feeling that someone’s in big trouble.

“How many f-bombs did you count, hyung?” Jaebum suddenly asks, his tone mildly curious as he
glances sideways at his companion.

Jungkook feels Yugyeom startle against him, the wolf’s head coming up sharply to glance back
towards his Alpha in surprise.

“Oh, at least seven,” Seokjin supplies, his smile serene. “Eight if you include the one he yelled at
the banister after stubbing his toe.”

Yugyeom closes his eyes in pained resignation and drops his head back down against Jungkook’s
chest with a quiet moan.

“Mm, that sounds about right,” Jaebum agrees, returning his attention to his wayward cub. “I seem
to remember giving you one free pass, pup. The other seven were a little excessive. You know I
don’t like you cubs swearing at each other.”

Yugyeom pouts as he slowly sits up, looking convincingly remorseful (although Jungkook very
much doubts that’s the case).

“Hyung…” he protests, with the faintest hint of a whine. “I didn’t mean to.”

“I don’t know, you seemed pretty sincere a few minutes ago,” Jaebum counters casually, pushing
himself away from the wall to step up to the foot of the bed, leaning his shoulder against one of the
posts there, arms still crossed over his chest as he stares the pup down. “And what did I say about
disturbing Kookie if he was asleep?”

The Beta’s pout is at maximum capacity now. “Not to.”

Moonbin pushes himself into a sitting position on Jungkook’s other side, settling his hand over
Yugyeom’s where it rests on the hybrid’s chest.

“He was upset, hyung,” the werecat beseeches on his friend’s behalf. “And Kookie wasn’t really in
a deep sleep, were you, hyung?”

Jungkook shakes his head quickly. “I was about to wake up anyway,” he agrees, pushing himself
up between the two so that he can loop an arm around each of his friends. “It’s totally fine, honest.”

Jaebum’s lips twitch a little at that, but he says nothing. Behind him, however, Seokjin has shifted
his focus onto Moonbin.

“Bin-ah,” the vampire murmurs. “Didn’t Joonie ask you not to use the stairs on your own until
your leg has fully healed?”

JB’s gaze flickers towards the werecat, a faint crease appearing in the Alpha’s brow. “That true,
kitten?”

Moonbin’s cheeks flush a brilliant pink (he’s always so quick to blush whenever he’s singled out
like that), the werecat ducking his head with a shy nod and a mumbled apology.

“Binnie just wanted to make sure I didn’t yell at Kookie too much,” Yugyeom insists loyally. “Like
he said, I was pretty upset. But he won’t do it again, right?”

“No, he won’t,” Jungkook agrees, a bit firmer, because he and Moonbin have definitely already
talked about this. The werecat glances sideways at him and winces apologetically.

There’s a short beat of silence, and then Seokjin breathes a quiet laugh, coming up behind Jaebum
to wrap his arms around the Alpha, resting his chin on JB’s shoulder.

“A united front,” he sighs. “We’re quite outnumbered, pup.”

Jaebum’s lips twitch. “Looks that way,” he agrees, and finally uncrosses his arms, his expression
softening. “Alright, you win, you can all stop pouting now.”

Yugyeom scoots out from Jungkook’s sideways cuddle, inching across the mattress and closer to
his Alpha.

“So…we’re not in trouble?” he hedges hopefully.

“Not this time,” Jaebum clarifies, reaching out to card his fingers through the pup’s hair. “Binnie’s
right, you were pretty upset. I’ll overlook your language just this once, but if I hear you dropping
another f-bomb in front of our hosts…”

“I won’t,” Yugyeom chirps, kneeling up to nuzzle the underside of his Alpha’s jaw, a submissive
gesture. “I’ll be good.”

Seokjin smiles at the pair, briefly cupping the back of Jaebum’s neck before moving around to the
side of the bed to perch on the edge of the mattress, drawing Moonbin closer to him.

“And you,” he murmurs, his tone gently reproachful, tipping Moonbin’s chin up to hold the
blushing werecat’s gaze. “No more running around on that leg of yours. It’s sweet that you want to
keep Jungkookie safe, but you need to put your own safety first, and trust that your hyungs can
adequately take care of the rest.”

Moonbin nods, duly chided, and Jin presses a soft kiss to the werecat’s brow.

“Good boy.”

The vampire rises, turning his gentle smile on Jungkook. “Since you’re already awake, my love,
why don’t you show your friends around the garden? It’ll be another couple of hours before the
others join us for dinner, so I’ll fix you a quick snack to keep you going. Yugyeom-ah, do you like
fried food?”

Jungkook laughs when the werewolf’s head shoots up so fast that it almost collides with Jaebum’s
 chin, only the Alpha’s quick reflexes saving him from a bruised jaw at the last second as his cub
nods enthusiastically.

“Then it’s settled.” Jin claps his hands together, looking delighted at the prospect of another
hungry student to feed. “Jungkookie, darling, I’ll leave a picnic basket for you under the willow
tree. Be careful on the stairs, won’t you, Binnie?”

Moonbin nods, cheeks still pink. “Yes, hyung.”

“Wonderful.” Jin ruffles the werecat’s hair, then leans over Bin to press a kiss to Jungkook’s brow,
before moving back to the foot of the bed to card his fingers affectionately through Yugyeom’s
hair in turn. Finally, he loops an arm back around Jaebum’s waist and tugs him away from the trio.
“We’ll see you at dinner, little ones.”

“Be good,” JB adds over his shoulder, allowing himself to be steered away without protest.

As the door clicks shut behind them there’s another beat of silence, broken only by Yugyeom as he
drops down heavily to sit at the foot of the bed, looking vaguely stunned.

“Two of them,” the werewolf intones, and shoots his friends a despairing glance. “How can there
be two of them?”

Jungkook just laughs, happy and carefree, because having two of them actually feels pretty fucking
awesome.

Come join me on twitter @Arobeebee!

Chapter End Notes

Sorry for the delay, fam! As you might have noticed, there's a teeny-tiny global
pandemic going on right now, and ya girl works in a hospital so things have been a
little crazy. It's been SO awesome to have this fic to turn to as a means of escape,
though, and I hope the shameless fluff and cuddles brings some of you the same
comfort it does me. :)

Thank you to everyone who came to say hello to me on twitter! My DMs are open, so
feel free to come scream at me about the chapter if you feel betrayed that the
blindfold-teaser wasn't smut. :P Ahaha, I'm a fluff-whore, there will ALWAYS be
cuddles when there ought to be sexy-sexy times. ;D

Ya'll wanted to see Tae feeding again, and I thought I'd show a slightly more
intimate/nurturing dynamic. Tae is Namjoon's baby, has been since the day the healer
brought him home from hospital after the tumour surgery to nurse him back to health,
and whenever Taehyung's acting particularly vulnerable (especially when he's hunger-
drunk), squishy Namjoon gets even squishier. Also Jungkook is for sure gonna start
eating more iron-rich foods in an effort to make his blood as nutritionally appealing as
possible, baby bun just wants to give his hyungs everything.

Yes, Jaebum is Jin's new Alpha-pup. Yes, this means Jin has 100% adopted the entire
Im-pack by proxy. Yes, Jin is already eagerly planning multiple pack/coven picnics
and sleepovers. Yes, this is very bad news for Yugyeom, because the pup has a
penchant for mischief, and now there's TWO protective Alpha-hyungs watching his
every move. :P

Moonbin is Jungkook's baby, and has therefore been adopted by the Kim-coven. Ergo,
Binnie is now also Jin's baby, and Jungkook is DELIGHTED. Nothing makes Kookie
happier than seeing his favourite hyungs dote on his favourite kitten.

Take care of yourselves, fam! And always remember to be kind.

 The More, The Merrier
Chapter Summary

The Im-pack arrive for dinner. Chim causes mischief. Jungkook realises that his road
to recovery isn't all smooth-sailing.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

When Seokjin had mentioned offhandedly that they would be eating dinner outside this evening,
Jungkook had been expecting picnic blankets, maybe a few pillows, nestled in a shady spot
somewhere along the forest’s edge so that Jimin and Taehyung wouldn’t have to sit in direct
sunlight.

The giant party tent certainly comes as a bit of a surprise.

Although perhaps it shouldn’t – Jin had custom-built him an entire art studio, after all.

The tent is at least twice the size of the coven’s dining room, and easily four metres high at its
tallest point, made of a dark green material that almost matches the hue of the vines crawling up
the brickwork of the manor-house directly behind it. Only the front section has been left open, the
other three sides curtained by the thick fabric to keep out the light – which it does with such
efficiency that lamps have actually been hung along the inner lining of the tent to illuminate the
sheltered area. A huge patterned rug serves as the flooring to the tent, and large squishy-looking
cushions are dotted about here and there, arranged in cosy nests that look perfect for snuggling in
with a hyung or two.

And then there’s the food, gods above. Jin has really gone all-out for tonight’s impromptu garden
party.

A long table has been pushed against the back wall of the tent, draped in a pristine white cloth and
piled high with mouth-watering dishes. There’s a tall pyramid of freshly baked bread rolls filled
with bulgogi, triple-layered sandwiches cut into perfect triangles all lined up along a large platter
of tossed salad, deep tureens of dark stew and fiery-red tteokbokki still bubbling away despite the
lack of an obvious heat source, huge glass dishes of cubed melon and mixed berries (likely from
Namjoon’s greenhouse), colourful kimbap stacked neatly in perfect rows, platters piled high with
fried chicken and fish cakes, crispy potatoes speckled with seasoning, and a dozen or more little
side-dishes, some of which Jungkook doesn’t even recognise.

Fuck, it all looks amazing.

Jungkook pauses at the threshold to the tent just to stare the interior in awe, aware of Moonbin and
Yugyeom doing the same on either side of him. They had literally only just finished eating a
couple of hours ago, having snacked on the mini-picnic that Jin had left for them under the willow
tree in the greenhouse, but damn, at the sight of all that food, Jungkook’s already starting to feel
peckish again.

“Bunny!”
He turns at the delighted shout, and has just enough time to register the movement of a familiar
blur rushing towards him before he’s swept up off his feet in a crushing embrace.

“Hi, hyung,” Jungkook manages around a breathless laugh, unable to return the hug due to the
vice-like grip that’s pinning his arms to his sides.

“Can’t leave you cubs alone for a minute, can we?” Jackson sighs dramatically, turning his body
from side to side in order to jostle the hybrid in a very gentle sort of shake. “You run into trees, you
pick fights with moving vehicles, you drink your own weight in coffee-”

Moonbin’s whining complaint of “hyung, I didn’t get run over on purpose” comes at the exact
same moment as Yugyeom’s exasperated “oh my god, when are you gonna stop using that against
me?” and Jungkook laughs again, kicking his feet a bit in protest as Jackson squeezes him tighter.

“Try not to break him, hon,” an amused voice drawls from nearby, and a beat later Jaebum’s
smiling face appears in Jungkook’s line of sight as the Alpha steps up behind Jackson.

“Bunny-boy’s been doing a pretty good job of that all by himself,” someone else chimes in
sardonically, and Jinyoung promptly nudges JB out of the way to tug on the hood of Jackson’s
jacket. “My turn, hand him over.”

Jungkook finds himself unceremoniously passed from one hyung to the other like a sack of
potatoes, feet still dangling above the grass as Jinyoung holds him close in a secure embrace. At
least his arms are free this time, so he’s able to wrap them around the elder’s shoulders and return
the hug, pressing his face into the wolf’s jacket as he breathes in the familiar scent of pack.

“You’ve lost weight, bun,” the Beta murmurs against his ear, saddened but not surprised. The arms
around him squeeze tighter for a moment, Jinyoung pressing a gentle kiss to the side of his head.
“Aish. We should’ve just kidnapped you right after Binnie got discharged from hospital. Six
goddamn LunarBoosts, you crazy kid.”

“Sorry,” Jungkook mumbles into the fabric of Jinyoung’s jacket. “I didn’t mean to worry anyone.”

The wolf responds with a gentle shushing sound, pressing another kiss to his hair as he holds
Jungkook closer for a moment.

A hand rubs gently between the youth’s shoulders. “We might wanna move this somewhere a little
closer to the ground,” Jaebum suggests, a faint smile in his voice. “We’ve got incoming.”

It’s a good call.

Only moments after Jungkook has been set down comfortably in the middle of one of the many
nests of pillows (Jackson and Jinyoung settling either side of him), two more figures come
barrelling into the tent to tackle him in a running leap, knocking him back against the soft
furnishings.

“Well, would you look at that,” Youngjae greets cheerfully, laying directly on top of Jungkook
pressing an exaggeratedly loud mwah of a kiss against his neck. “If it isn’t my favourite dumb-
bun.”

BamBam opts for straddling Yougnjae’s lower back to sit on top of both of them, picking up the
nearest pillow and playfully attempting to smother Jungkook with it in a manner not entirely
dissimilar to Yugyeom’s earlier threats.

“Hyung!” Jungkook squawks around a laugh, his protests muffled by the plush padding as he tries
to wrestle it off his face.

“I’m never taking you to Starbucks again, bunny,” the Thai Beta tells him loftily, lifting the
cushion away briefly to fix Jungkook with an obviously faux-stern look. “Now hold still so I can
finish squashing the stupid out of you.”

Jungkook giggles and tries to push the elder away. Tickling fingers immediately dance up his right
side to poke at his underarm, and he squeaks a startled laugh, twisting away from Jackson’s sneak-
attack, only for Jinyoung to bestow the exact same tickle-torture along his left side.

“Yugi! A little help?” Jungkook yelps, shooting a pleading glance towards his friend, who’s being
a traitorous coward and lingering at the entrance to the tent with Moonbin.

“Nah, I’m good,” Yugyeom declines, leaning casually into Jaebum’s side-hug as he watches the
proceedings with a satisfied smirk.

Even Moonbin is laughing at him. Oh, the betrayal.

“I’d offer to come rescue you, Kookie,” Mark says mildly from his vantage point at the foot of the
makeshift nest, arms crossed over his chest as he gazes down at the maknaes with a look of fond
amusement. “But I actually feel more inclined to join them. Room for one more, cubs?”

“Fuck yes!” Youngjae’s head shoots up from Jungkook’s shoulder, beaming delightedly despite
the chiding swat that Jinyoung immediately lands to the meat of his thigh. “Cuddle pile!”

Someone (probably Yugyeom, the traitor) gives a delighted whoop, and seconds later Jungkook
finds himself squashed beneath multiple bodies, getting poked and tickled and nuzzled and
smooched from all sides as he giggles and squirms and makes a pretence at trying to escape. He
doesn’t put much effort into it, though.

Because honestly? This is exactly where he wants to be.

Gentle fingers card soothingly through his hair, and Jungkook breathes a contented sigh, rubbing
his cheek against the soft silk pillow in Hoseok’s lap, blinking hard to keep his eyelids from
drooping as he tries to refocus his gaze on the figures running back and forth across the clearing
directly outside the tent.

He’s been awake for several consecutive hours now, and although the aches and pains in his body
have dissipated almost into nothingness after Namjoon’s earlier massage, the general feeling of
weighted lethargy still clings to him. With his stomach comfortably full following what had quite
possibly been the best dinner he’s ever had in his entire life, and his heart happy after being
cuddled and scented by multiple hyungs for the past hour or so, Jungkook’s energy levels have
been steadily going down with the gradual setting of the sun. It feels like he could drift back off to
sleep at any moment.

He won’t, though.

Watching Yugyeom and the hyungs enthusiastically tackle each other in a very competitive game
of ‘defend the den’ is far too entertaining to miss.

The rules of the game are pretty simple; the players are divided into two teams, each group
allocated a marked ‘den’ on one side of the playing field where they’re required to guard their
‘cubs’. As a child, Jungkook remembers using miscellaneous backpacks and bundled-up coats
(he’s heard of people using balls or plushies, too, but he and his friends were never that organised),
but Seokjin’s suggestion that they use a selection of the smaller pillows from inside the tent had
been met with unanimous agreement on all sides, so currently there’s a colourful pile of plump
cushions sitting in each of the teams’ dens – an area denoted by a ring of white daisies poking up
out of the grass (curtesy of Namjoon’s impressive green thumb). Each game is set to last
approximately ten minutes, with the basic idea being that the team who holds the largest number
of ‘cubs’ when the timer runs out wins that round, before the cushions are redistributed equally and
the game resets. A ‘peacekeeper’ (in this case, Moonbin, because Namjoon has forbidden him
from participating in contact sports while his leg is still healing) is in charge of signifying the end
of each round when the timer runs out, pausing the game if there’s a foul, and keeping a tally of the
scores.

Not that the usual foul-rules seem to apply today. It’s a game Jungkook hasn’t played since
middle-school, but he certainly doesn’t remember it ever being quite this physical. Although given
the Im-pack’s propensity to turn even a simple game of tag into a full-body contact sport, he
probably should’ve been expecting this.

Jungkook winces in pained sympathy as he watches Taehyung tackle Yugyeom to the ground with
an echoing thud.

“Taehyungie,” Seokjin cautions, glancing across the clearing towards the pair with a worried pinch
to his brow. “Be gentle, please.”

The vampire currently has Youngjae caught under one arm, holding a cushion above his head with
his other hand to keep it out of the Beta’s reach.

Jungkook had been pleasantly surprised by how eagerly Jin and Namjoon joined in with the playful
roughhousing, although they’ve both been notably more careful than their teammates, tending to
sweep the younger ones up in their arms instead of tackling them to the grass.

“I’m okay, hyung,” Yugyeom reassures, laughing as he squirms out from underneath Tae. He
flings his own cushion-cub towards Namjoon, who catches it neatly and turns to toss it back into
their designated den.

His throw is neatly intercepted by a tiny blur of pale tan fur, Chim leaping gracefully to catch the
projectile mid-air before bounding off across the clearing towards his own team’s den.

“Yah!” Namjoon laughs, sprinting after him.

Unfortunately the pilfered ‘cub’ is almost as big as Chim himself, and while the shifter can run a
great deal faster than the others in his current form, the tiny pooch is also struggling not to trip over
the cushion as it drags along the grass a little, which slows him down enough that both Namjoon
and Jackson are gaining on him quickly.

Chim is so distracted peering back at his pursuers that he fails to see Mark stepping into his path
until it’s too late, running smack into the Beta’s shins with a worryingly loud thunk and bouncing
off again, letting out a pained yip as he’s sent tumbling head over tail across the grass.

Jungkook sucks in a sharp breath, sitting up so abruptly that Hoseok’s hand falls from his hair, the
lingering fatigue vanishing in an instant as his heart shoots up into his throat.

Fuck, Jimin’s so small in his shifter form, and that had been one hell of a collision…

“Chimmie’s fine, bun,” Yoongi soothes from his cross-legged position beside Hoseok, reaching
out a hand to squeeze Jungkook’s shoulder. “He’s a lot tougher than he looks…”

And indeed, the shifter has already rolled over to sit up, shaking his head as though dazed just as
Namjoon reaches him. The healer swiftly crouches down to scoop Chim into his arms, cuddling
the tiny pooch close to his chest with one hand as he smooths the other over the shifter’s furry
head, checking for injuries, or perhaps healing the bump he finds there. Namjoon’s lips move as he
murmurs something, but from such a distance Jungkook can’t quite make it out, even with his
enhanced hearing. The healer is smiling, however, and that’s enough of a reassurance in itself.
Chim’s tiny bauble of a tail starts wagging again after a beat, and Jungkook releases the breath he
hadn’t realised he’d been holding.

“There now, you see?” Yoongi’s hand slides across to briefly squeeze his nape as Namjoon drops a
kiss against Chim’s head and sets the dog down again carefully. “Nothing to worry about.”

Jungkook’s tense posture sags again, and he leans back against Hoseok as the empath’s arms loop
around his waist. Soft lips press a gentle kiss to the side of his neck, and he smiles, watching as
Mark kneels in the grass to offer Chim a friendly, apologetic hug. The shifter’s tail wags even
harder as he happily buts up into Mark’s petting…just long enough for the pup to steal the cushion
from beneath the werewolf’s arm and go darting off towards his own team’s den.

Seokjin’s high, delighted laugh rings out across the clearing, and as Hoseok echoes it, something
wonderfully bright and happy blooms in Jungkook’s chest. A wide smile curls at his own mouth,
and he hugs the empath’s arms where they’re wrapped around his midriff.

Hoseok presses another kiss to the side of his neck.

“Why don’t you lay back down, sweetheart,” the empath coaxes gently. “I know you’re tired.”

Jungkook allows himself to be eased down to lay on his side again, head pillowed on the silk
cushion in Hoseok’s lap. The empath shrugs off his jacket and drapes it gently over Jungkook’s
upper body, and the youth smiles contentedly as he snuggles beneath it.

“The griffins are headed this way,” Yoongi suddenly remarks, his tone bland.

“Really?” Jungkook asks, lifting his head to glance towards the Seer excitedly. He loves the
griffins, and he’d been hoping to introduce Yugyeom to them properly, having spammed his friend
with dozens of pictures last week. However, the faint pinch around Yoongi’s eyes makes his smile
freeze in place.

“It’ll be chaos if they crash the party,” the vampire warns, his gaze lost somewhere in the middle-
distance. “Odengie’s far too excited.”

Hoseok reaches out to cup the back of Yoongi’s neck. “Can we intercept them?”
The Seer nods and blinks rapidly, smiling as his gaze refocuses. “The flock hasn’t realised we have
guests yet, so there’s still time. I’ll go head them off before they move downwind.”

Leaning over, Yoongi drops a kiss against Jungkook’s upturned cheek before rolling smoothly to
his feet. Hoseok’s hand quickly darts out to catch hold of the elder vampire’s sleeve as he moves to
leave.

“Take someone with you,” the empath urges quietly. “It’s been a long day, hon.”

Yoongi’s expression turns fondly exasperated. “Hobi, I’m fine, I won’t space out. Things have
quietened down.”

“You’re sure?” Hoseok draws the elder’s hand back towards him, pressing his lips to the back of it.

“Mm,” Yoongi confirms, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he smiles. The Seer leans down again
briefly to brush a kiss again Hoseok’s brow. “I’ll be back before the pack leaves.”

“We’ll be back before the pack leaves,” Seokjin amends calmly from directly behind the Seer,
slipping an arm about Yoongi’s waist. “Off we go, petal.”

His sudden appearance startles Hoseok and Jungkook, but Yoongi just rolls his eyes heavenwards
with an amused sigh, allowing the elder vampire to steer him away. Jin blows a parting kiss
towards Jungkook and Hoseok before the two of them exit the tent and seemingly vanish on the
spot, the air shimmering briefly where the two of them had previously been standing.

“Huh,” Jungkook reacts, blinking rapidly.

Hoseok breathes a quiet laugh above him. “Yeah. You’ll get used to that eventually. Takes a little
while, though.”

Outside the tent, the current round of defend-the-den seems to have ended, the cushions being
equally redistributed between the two dens. With Seokjin no longer participating, Jaebum appears
to have opted to sit out on the next game to balance the teams, now watching from the sidelines
with his arm wrapped around Moonbin, the two of them stretched out comfortably on a picnic
blanket. Despite not being able to actively join in, the werecat seems cheerful enough, but
Jungkook thinks that might have something to do with the half-litre flask of chocolate milk that Jin
had presented Binnie with at the start of the game. His roommate is fairly easy to please.

There’s a shout of protest from one side of the clearing, followed by laughter, and Chim goes
darting across the grass with a shoe in his mouth, Namjoon hopping after him determinedly.
Taehyung intercepts the healer in an enthusiastic side-tackle, but Namjoon seems to sense the
attack in advance, turning his body to catch the younger vampire in a hug and twisting so that he
takes the full weight of the fall, Taehyung landing safely on top of his chest as they go down.
Judging by the maknae-vampire’s immediate giggling protests, Namjoon’s decided to enact his
revenge in the form of tickling fingers, Taehyung’s feet kicking as he tries in vain to wriggle free
of the elder’s grip.

Jackson has scooped up Chim, rescuing Namjoon’s shoe and holding it out at a safe distance,
Jinyoung stepping up to take it off him before the shifter can steal it back. But Chim seems
perfectly content just to be held by his new werewolf hyung, puffy tail wagging as he licks
Jackson’s face, the elder laughing as his features scrunch, although he makes no move to put the
pup down.

Youngjae and BamBam have run over to rescue their flailing teammate from Namjoon’s merciless
clutches, but the healer just extracts an arm from around Taehyung to tug on the front of their t-
shirts, effortlessly yanking the duo down on top of him, giggles erupting from the three youngsters
now in his hold.

“Cuddle pile!” Yugyeom cheers as he sprints over to join in.

Jungkook’s smiling so wide his cheeks hurt, but he can’t stop. Seeing the pack and the coven
getting along so well, and playing together like they’ve known each other for years…his heart’s so
full of happiness it feels like it could burst at any minute.

Hearing a soft laugh above him, Jungkook rolls over onto his back to peer up at Hoseok. The
vampire’s expression is full of warmth and satisfaction as he watches the playful roughhousing,
and something stirs in Jungkook’s chest again, a fierce affection that he isn’t sure belongs to him in
its entirety, possibly an echo of the empath’s own emotions.

As though sensing his focus, Hoseok lowers his gaze to peer down at him with that same tender
warmth, his smile growing infinitely softer as he strokes gentle fingers down the side of
Jungkook’s face in a lingering caress.

“Hey, beautiful,” Hoseok murmurs, hushed, cupping his cheek as he holds the younger man’s gaze.
“Feeling happy?”

Jungkook’s smile curls a little wider in response, and the vampire mirrors it, his thumb stroking
briefly over the youth’s bottom lip.

“Yeah” the empath agrees. “Me too, baby.”

That thrumming warmth in his chest swells even bigger, and Jungkook braces a hand against the
patterned rug to push himself up, feeling Hoseok’s arm slip around his back to help support him as
the empath’s fingers move to gently cup his jaw, the elder tilting down a little to meet his lips. The
kiss is soft, lingering, and so full of tenderness that it makes Jungkook’s toes curl.

Fuck yes, he’s happy.

After three days spent predominantly sleeping and eating, Jungkook had begun to feel his strength
returning quickly, and blithely assumed that he was well on the way to making a full recovery.

Until he woke up one morning with the mother of all migraines.

It’s a horribly familiar kind of pain; a piercing throb behind his right eye socket that lances so deep
into his skull it feels like a knife being twisted from side to side. In a matter of seconds he’s gone
from a groggy semi-doze to agonising wakefulness, a hand coming up to clamp down over his eye,
pressing against the socket in an effort to alleviate that horrible ache as he moans, turning his head
further into the pillow.

Fuck, it’s a bad one.

His stomach churns forebodingly, and Jungkook abruptly flings himself out of bed, lips pressed
tight together and a hand still clamped over his eye as he stumbles towards the en suite. The
bedroom is still dark, with early dawn giving him only the faintest slither of light through the tiny
gap between the curtains, but Jungkook can barely see anything anyway with the silver dots
floating in his vision.

He hears the bedroom door slam open just as he’s crashing to his knees in front of the toilet to
spew his guts up.

The bathroom light flickers on, so painfully bright that the resultant agony in his head triggers
another retch, but then there’s an arm curling around him from behind and oh, he’s so relieved not
to be alone anymore.

“Joon’s on his way, bun,” Yoongi reassures him, sounding calm but a little out of breath. “It’ll be
okay.”

Jungkook hates throwing up, he hates it. His eyes are streaming, his nose and throat are burning,
his chest is so tight he can’t breathe, and his head feels like it’s about to split open. It’s rare that his
migraines trigger such intense waves of nausea, but apparently his body isn’t done reminding him
how badly he’s taken care of himself in recent weeks, and is determined to make him feel like shit.

What feels like a lifetime of throwing up later, but is probably less than a minute in total, there’s a
quiet noise from the bathroom doorway and a gentle hand settles over his nape a moment later.

“Oh, Kookie,” Namjoon murmurs, soft and sympathetic as he kneels down beside them. Jungkook
whimpers miserably, and the healer’s thumb rubs against the base of his skull. “I know, sweetheart,
I know it hurts. Shhh, I’ve got you.”

Namjoon’s other hand comes around to rest against his clammy brow, easing his head up a little,
and the healer mutters a rapid string of unintelligible words, fingers pinching the back of
Jungkook’s neck firmly. The intense pressure that’s built up inside his skull seems to pop, and
Jungkook sags with it, relieved and shaken and exhausted, Yoongi’s steadying hold around his
midriff the only thing keeping him upright.

“Migraine?” Seokjin asks quietly from the doorway, and at Namjoon’s answering hum the
bathroom lights dim down to something far more tolerable. Fingers slip into his hair a moment
later, stroking through the locks briefly. “My poor love. Here, poppet, let me wipe your face.”

Jungkook’s head lolls back tiredly against Yoongi’s shoulder, blinking the tears from his eyes to
see Jin leaning over him with a damp washcloth. The vampire’s worried gaze softens, his touch
gentle as he cleans Jungkook’s mouth and chin. Namjoon has begun tracing swirling patterns
across his forehead, and the residual pain is abating quickly, the fog in his mind clearing with it.
Now he just feels drained, mildly nauseous, and really fucking upset.

Because he’d been getting better. He’d been eating and sleeping and letting the hyungs dote on him
and doing everything Namjoon asked him to do, so why now, three whole days after his overdose,
is his body deciding to give him hell?
“Ginger tea,” Yoongi announces. “That’ll help settle your stomach. I’ve already got a pot brewing
upstairs. Hyung, can you take him?”

As the Seer slips out from behind Jungkook, Jin’s arms come around him instead, soft lips pressing
a kiss to the side of his head.

“Do you need to be sick again, dearheart?” the vampire asks gently, and when Jungkook sniffs
miserably and shakes his head, Jin adjusts his grip on the youth to lift him up, Namjoon rising with
them without breaking contact with Jungkook’s brow. “Alright then, poppet. Back to bed.”

Jin carries him through into the darkened bedroom, the bedside lamp switching itself on as they
approach (Jin’s doing, he assumes). Namjoon briefly drops his hand from Jungkook’s forehead to
move ahead of them and slide into bed, settling against the headboard and holding his arms out to
take Jungkook as Jin carefully passes him over.

“What do you need?” Jin asks, perching on the edge of the bed as Namjoon settles Jungkook
sideways in his lap, coaxing the younger man’s head down against his shoulder. “Herbs? Tonics?”

“Dark chocolate,” Namjoon answers, hand cupping over Jungkook’s nape again, thumb stroking
against the skin there soothingly. “Eighty percent cocoa solids if we have it.”

Jin looks a little perplexed, but nods all the same, leaning in to press another kiss to Jungkook’s
cheek before rising from the bed and striding towards the door, a faint gust of wind teases at
Jungkook’s fringe as the air shimmers briefly around the vampire before he vanishes from sight.

Fuck. That’s never going to get old.

Namjoon lets him rest there in silence for a few moments, rubbing the youth’s back soothingly as
Jungkook’s thundering heartbeat settles down again. Eventually the healer tilts his chin up so that
their eyes meet, Namjoon’s gaze full of gentle concern as he leans down to kiss the tip of
Jungkook’s nose.

“Feeling better, sweetheart?”

Jungkook nods hesitantly. The horrible pain is gone, but he still feels shaky and weak and awful.
Stupid migraines.

“I thought I was getting better,” he laments, voice croaking a little after his recent upchuck session.
“I felt fine last night. Haven’t had any headaches since Sunday, I don’t get it.”

Namjoon sighs, grim but calm. “It’s the withdrawal, bun. I knew it was a possibility, but after two
days symptom-free, I thought maybe you’d dodged a bullet. I guess the honeymoon period lasted a
little longer than we anticipated.”

“Withdrawal?” Jungkook echoes, feeling his brow crease into a faint frown. “Because of my
caffeine overdose?”

“Because of your long-term coffee habit, hon,” Namjoon corrects gently. “It wasn’t safe to add any
more caffeine to your system immediately after the overdose, but it’s a drug your body’s come to
depend on. It isn’t serious, and you won’t get sick beyond migraines and jitteriness, but it’ll be
easier and safer just to start you on a very low dose of daily caffeine.”

Jungkook finally connects the dots. “That’s why you asked Jin-hyung for the dark chocolate.”

“Mm.” The healer presses another kiss to his brow. “Much less caffeine than a cup of coffee, but
enough that it should curb the worst of your withdrawal symptoms, at least for the next week or so.
Eventually your body will adapt to the absence of caffeine in your system, but that could take a
little while – this is the safest way to monitor your caffeine intake in the meantime.”

Movement from the bedroom doorway attracts Jungkook’s attention, and he sees Jimin hovering at
the threshold. The shifter is wearing a pair of shorts and noting else, a dark velvet collar wrapped
around his throat, and Jungkook can’t help but stare at the dancer’s attractive muscle definition.

“Taehyungie?” Namjoon asks, concerned.

Jimin smiles wanly as he approaches them, looking tired. “He’s okay. The pain woke him up, but
Hobi-hyung managed to calm him down. Tae made me promise to come stay with Kookie before
hyung put him under.”

The shifter perches on the edge of the bed, taking Jungkook’s hand and squeezing it gently.

“You wanna cuddle Chim, babydoll?”

Oh, that sounds perfect. Jungkook’s tired and achy and feeling sorry for himself, so yes, he wants to
snuggle with a fluffy little pupper.

Jimin smiles at his immediate nod of assent, scooting further onto the bed and taking a deep breath.
Between one blink and the next the shifter has become a miniature ball of fluff, Chim quickly
padding over to climb into Jungkook’s lap, front paws bracing against the youth’s chest as his tiny
warm tongue bestows little kisses to the underside of the hybrid’s chin.

Jungkook wraps his arms around the shifter to cuddle him briefly, allowing Namjoon to guide his
head back down to rest against the healer’s shoulder. Chim turns on the spot in his lap once, twice,
three times, before laying down with a yawn, head tucked into the youth’s sleepshirt.

“Tea,” Yoongi announces, breezing back into the bedroom with a laden tray.

There’s a soft poof sound, and Jin steps out of Jungkook’s bedroom wall with a plate piled high
with chocolate. Namjoon breathes an amused laugh when he sees it.

“He won’t need that much, hon,” the healer reassures.

“Your instructions were unclear regarding portion size,” Jin reminds him loftily, taking a seat on
the edge of the bed. “Besides, we could all use some. Here, sweetness, try a little piece for hyung.”

Jin lifts a broken-off shard of dark chocolate to Jungkook’s mouth, smiling when the youth
obligingly parts his lips to accept it. It’s a little bitter, but tastes far better than the acrid burn at the
back of his throat, and he sends the vampire a grateful smile as he sucks on it, letting the substance
melt slowly on his tongue rather than chewing and swallowing quickly, not wanting to risk
upsetting his newly-settled stomach.

Chim’s head pops up eagerly, nose twitching, and Jin breathes a fond laugh but offers the tiny dog
a nibble of chocolate too.

“Hobi’s with Taehyungie?” Jin asks, feeding Namjoon a piece of chocolate next.

“Mm,” the healer confirms, cheek resting against Jungkook’s hair as he keeps one arm wrapped
around the youth, his free hand moving to pet Chim’s soft fur. “Baby sensed it, but Jiminie said he
settled quickly.”
 Yoongi joins them in bed, china teacup cradled carefully between his hands. He obediently parts
his lips when Jin leans over to feed him a piece of chocolate, even as he scoots closer to help
Jungkook take a sip of tea.

“Tae’s fine,” the Seer reassures. “Hobi’s got him.”

“I’ll pop my head in and see if either of them needs anything,” Jin murmurs, offering Jungkook
another piece before leaning in to kiss the tip of his nose. “I’ll be back soon, little one. Will you be
alright?”

He can feel Namjoon hugging him closer, feel the happy swish-swish of Chim’s wagging tail as the
shifter nuzzles up against his petting hand, see Yoongi already leaning, ready to offer him another
sip of ginger tea whenever he’s ready. Jungkook smiles.

Yes. He’s going to be just fine.

Chapter End Notes

Apologies for the delay! Life's been a little more hectic recently. Thank you for all
your support and kindness and well-wishes, I'm happy to report that I'm 100%
recovered from my case of the 'rona. :)

As you may have noticed, this fic is now part of a series! That's because there's
actually only 2 chapters left before the sequel is due to begin, and I intend to start
posting the prequel fics soon too. So ya'll might wanna subscribe to the series to get
notifications about new stories in this 'verse.

I've also written a handful of short fics since this story last updated. Feel free to give
those a read if you fancy!

Come follow me on twitter @Arobeebee!

 Griffins and Grown-Up Decisions
Chapter Summary

Chimmy plays fetch. Odengie is *very* excited to see the coven's newest nestling.
And Jungkook finally makes some serious choices for the sake of his health and
happiness.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Jungkook loves the forest.

The sounds, the smells, the colours, the crunch of layered foliage beneath his feet, everything. And
there’s something about the air itself that feels different – a tangible, breathing energy that
invigorates the body. He wants to break into a run, or climb that huge oak tree over there, or go
splashing through the shallow brook.

He won’t, though, because Namjoon has given him firm instructions not to overexert himself, and
this is the first time he’s been allowed outside for a proper walk. He isn’t going to break the rules,
even if he kinda wants to. Jungkook isn’t used to being idle for days at a time, and even with
Yugyeom and Binnie’s regular visits, and the whole coven working to keep him distracted with
books (Yoongi) and music (Hoseok) and computer games (Taehyung), the prolonged period of
complete physical inertia had ultimately left him feeling restless, itching for a chance to properly
stretch his legs.

And finally this evening, five days into his recovery, Namjoon had deemed Jungkook fit enough to
take an evening stroll through the woods – provided that someone went with him in case he fell
victim to another withdrawal headache and needed help getting back to the mansion.

Both Taehyung and Jimin had been quick to offer their services, eager to show Jungkook their
favourite rocky outcropping on the hillside where they could sit together and watch the sunset.

“You don’t wanna do that,” Tae warns, drawing Jungkook out of his thoughts as he swings their
joined hands together, watching in amusement as Chim veers towards a muddy patch. “If you get
dirty, Jin-hyung’s gonna make you take another bath.”

Chim cranes his head around to send the vampire an affronted look, and the dog pointedly skirts
around the edge of the puddle to pick up a tiny branch on the other side. Tail wagging, he trots
back over to them with his head held high, and promptly drops the stick at Jungkook’s feet. When
the youth doesn’t react, Chim huffs a soft little boof of encouragement and nudges the branch
closer with his nose, head lowered and furry butt wiggling in anticipation.

“He wants you to throw it,” Taehyung translates, fondness in his voice.

Jungkook blinks, a delighted smile curling at his lips. “Oh.”

He immediately reaches for the stick, Chim ducking closer to lick the back of his knuckles before
dancing several feet ahead, poised and ready. The moment Jungkook rears his arm back, the pup’s
already speeding away, skidding in the dry foliage in his eagerness to play fetch. The stick flies
halfway up the gentle incline and lands in a bush, but Chim is undeterred, leaping eagerly into the
greenery and disappearing from sight. A moment of stillness passes, before the energetic ball of
pale fur explodes from beneath the thicket of vegetation and comes running back towards them,
dry leaves now clinging to his coat.

Laughing at the shifter’s eager retrieval, Jungkook lets go of Taehyung’s hand to crouch down just
as Chim skids to a halt in front of him, reaching out to gently brush the foliage from the pup’s thick
fur as the stick is deposited at his feet again. The shifter stands on his hind legs and braces his
paws against Jungkook’s chest to give the hybrid’s face several enthusiastic puppy-kisses by way
of thanks. Jungkook giggles, nose scrunching up at the slobbery ministrations, although he makes
no effort to stop it.

“You gotta let us know when your arm starts getting tired,” Taehyung murmurs a few minutes
later, rubbing Jungkook’s shoulder worriedly after he’s lobbed the stick for the tenth time a row.
“Chim’ll play fetch for hours if you let him, he’s easily entertained.”

The shifter-pup in question spits out his stick prematurely to instead dive for the laces of
Taehyung’s right shoe with a playful growl, tugging them loose as the vampire splutters a laughing
protest and shakes him off.

“What? It’s true!” Tae counters, crouching down to tie his shoe again, gently batting Chim away
when the tiny dog tries to attack him with kisses.

This super excitable, carefree pup is a very different Chim from the one Jungkook had first been
introduced to all those weeks ago. Shifter culture isn’t something he’s particularly knowledgeable
about, but Jimin had been more than happy to fill in the gaps and explain how the hereditary
blood-magic actually worked; how it felt to shift, and the importance of using separate names to
differentiate between his forms.

“Chim is a part of me, ” Jimin had explained to him earlier that day, as they sat cuddled up in the
vampire’s room – or ‘the den’, as the coven referred to it; a spacious area even bigger than
Jungkook’s art studio, filled with cosy nests of pillows and blankets, and a dozen or more Chim-
sized interconnecting tunnels made out of a colourful tent-like fabric, large baskets of plushies and
squeaky toys tucked away into corners. “And I’m a part of him. But we’re not always the same
person.”

At Jungkook’s obvious befuddlement, the vampire had breathed a fond laugh, hugging him closer
and leaning in to kiss the younger man softly.

“If Chim feels safe, and there’s nobody who needs protecting, he’ll sometimes…put me in a
bubble, so to speak,” had been Jimin’s attempted elaboration. “Sinking into that headspace is often
how members of my species prefer to unwind – it’s wonderfully freeing to let someone else take the
reins for an hour or two, and just enjoy the experience without any of the mental effort. We share
the same memories and thoughts and feelings, but Chim can distance himself from all of that in a
way that I can’t. If I’ve had a stressful week, sometimes I’ll spend a full day in shift and just let
Chim vent out my frustrations chasing butterflies and hiding Jin-hyung’s shoes. It’s like…vacation
time for my soul, if that makes sense.”

It had, in a somewhat confusing sort of way.

“I can exist as Chim and still be me, though,” Jimin had added after a beat, fingers idly playing
with the engraved pendant hanging around Jungkook’s neck. “When we met for the first few times,
that was all me. I don’t ever let myself sink into a deeper headspace outside of the nest, especially
if I’m with Tae. He needs my protection, and I’d never feel safe enough to fully let my guard down
like that. It’s much easier to relax at home, and if I’m in shift around one of the hyungs…well, they
have a certain knack for coaxing Chim into a more playful headspace, especially if they think I
need the mental downtime.”

Jungkook has witnessed that himself this past week – how Hoseok will sometimes start randomly
play-fighting with Chim if the pup is being unusually quiet or serious; how Yoongi will
occasionally tease him by holding sweet treats just out of reach until Chim is making cute whining
noises and pawing plaintively at the Seer’s shirtsleeve; how Namjoon will scoop up the tiny dog
into his arms for a cuddle and blow noisy raspberries into his fur until Chim is batting at him and
wiggling with the force of his tail-wagging, trying to squirm his way to freedom; how Seokjin will
often produce colourful squeaky toys seemingly out of thin air and successfully rile up a calm,
motionless Chim into an excitable frenzy in less than five squeaks.

He’s always found it adorable, and it makes so much more sense now that Jungkook understands
the reason behind it - that coaxing Chim into a more carefree headspace is for Jimin’s own benefit
to help the vampire-shifter relax.

“Chimmy?” Tae calls, pausing mid-step, his hand squeezing Jungkook’s tightly.

Up ahead, the pup has come to a halt near the crest of the gentle slope, frozen in place with his
head cocked and his ears perked up, the stick laying forgotten at his feet. His wagging tail has gone
still, and Jungkook can tell just by looking at the sudden change in his demeanour that Jimin’s
consciousness has definitely been un-bubbled.

As suddenly as he’d halted, Chim spins back around again, heading towards them at top-speed.
The air around him seems to ripple and warp strangely, and in the blink of an eye the pup has
shifted, scampering paws replaced by long, rapid strides as Jimin runs downhill swiftly.

“Odengie,” the shifter announces, a little out of breath, herding them towards the wide trunk of a
nearby oak tree. “He must’ve caught our scent.”

Taehyung immediately pushes Jungkook behind him, gently backing the younger man up against
the tree.

“What about the rest of the flock?” the nestling asks, and when Jimin shakes his head, Tae seems
to relax significantly.

“Everything’s fine,” Jimin promises, shooting Jungkook an easy smile over his shoulder, contrary
to the way he’s positioned himself in front of Taehyung like a physical barrier. “Odengie just gets a
little overexcited, and he doesn’t really know his own strength. Once he’s calmed down a little it’ll
be safe to come out, but I need you to stay behind Tae until I say so. Okay?”

Jungkook nods, arms instinctively coming around Taehyung’s waist to hold onto him. He wants to
protest their apparent willingness to put themselves bodily in harm’s way for his sake, but he
already knows there’s nothing he can say or do that will dissuade them from doing so. This past
week, Tae and Jimin have proven themselves to be both stubborn and incredibly overprotective.

Still, he isn’t scared of the griffins. Okay, maybe he’d be a teeny bit nervous at the prospect of
meeting them on his own – he knows the creatures would never intentionally hurt him, but they
are giant untamed beasts with strong beaks and sharp claws who apparently have a tendency to
forget their own colossal size. On the previous occasions when he’d met them, it had been under
Jin’s watchful eye with the griffins already on their best behaviour, but he’s seen the cubs playing
together at the edge of the clearing from the window in his art studio, and there’s no doubt in his
mind that he’d be squashed if he ever got caught in the middle of that.

A rhythmic thudding sound can be heard in the distance, gradually getting louder and louder as the
griffin approaches. Taehyung leans back a little more, gently pressing Jungkook further into the
sheltering protection of the wide oak trunk, hands reaching back to rest against the bark to keep
Jungkook safely caged behind him.

There’s a brief moment of calm, and then Odengie comes trotting into view at the crest of the
hillside above them, pausing a moment as his gaze zeroes in on the trio. Jungkook finds himself the
sole focus of the griffin’s keen attention, and in a split second the beast has gone from watchful
stillness to elated exuberance.

Odengie’s wings flex in a delighted sort of flapping motion as he greets the group enthusiastically,
immediately thundering down the slope towards them. Griffin vocalisations seem to vary
depending on their mood – Jungkook’s heard a lot of chuffing and rumbling purrs during his
previous encounters, but also a number of more bird-like sounds – and right now Odengie’s excited
cry sounds rather like the honk of a goose, albeit several octaves lower.

“Hey,” Jimin cautions sharply, raising his hands outwards in a clear halting gesture as the beast
comes lumbering towards them. “Odengie, no.”

The griffin skids to a stop in the dry foliage, the momentum carrying him several feet closer even
after he’s ceased running, until his beak is almost touching Jimin’s palm. The beast’s excitement
diminishes a little at the unexpectedly firm tone, and Odengie utters a low, uncertain sort of trill,
glancing between Jimin and Taehyung.

Jungkook’s never seen something so big and powerful look so damn cute.

“You need to be gentle,” Jimin reminds the overgrown chick, his tone softening a little. “Kookie’s
mortal. And he’s small. You might hurt him.”

“M’not that small,” Jungkook mutters in protest, and Taehyung laughs, shifting his hand to pat the
younger man’s hip comfortingly.

Odengie paws at the ground, dutifully chastised, still peering up at Jimin with his head ducked low.
The beast chuffs softly, inching closer to bump up against the vampire’s extended palm, and Jimin
lovingly strokes a gentle hand over the griffin’s downy feathers.

“That’s better,” he coos. “You wanna say hi to Jungkookie now?”

The griffin’s posture immediately straightens to its full height, beady gaze zeroing in on Jungkook
again as he eagerly shifts from foot to foot with an excited sort of chirp. Jimin laughs, stepping
closer and looping an arm around the beast’s neck to keep him tethered.

“Okay, okay. But be gentle, remember?”

Odengie hunkers down again, clearly trying to look small and unthreatening – an impossible feat
for a creature of such size and strength, but a good attempt nonetheless – and Jimin smiles fondly,
keeping one arm around the griffin as he beckons Jungkook towards him with the other.

“It’s alright, you can come out now. Odengie’s going to behave, aren’t you, bud?”

The griffin has clearly stopped listening already, immediately leaning closer as Taehyung finally
shifts to allow Jungkook to move. Jimin is yanked forwards with the motion, yelping as he almost
topples over, and Tae neatly slips in front of Jungkook again, fixing the griffin with a hard look.
“Be gentle,” the maknae-vampire emphasises. “Or I’m taking Kookie home.”

Odengie instantly ceases all movement, looking pitifully forlorn as he lowers his head again,
clearly distressed by the threat. Jungkook knows that griffins have a great deal of intelligence,
something that only increases as they age – there are even legends of them living long enough to
develop speech and share their wisdom through riddles, although the only proof of that is in
ancient carvings and folklore that dates back millennia. Seokjin’s griffins are still very young,
barely more than chicks, so that sort of higher intellect is probably a long way off – the flock
certainly continue to act like overgrown puppies the vast majority of the time.

And it’s adorable.

“Aw, hey,” Jungkook can’t help but coo, heart clenching at the griffin’s unhappy countenance,
inching out from behind Taehyung with his hand outstretched. “It’s okay, he didn’t mean it.”

“The fuck I didn’t-”

“You were just excited to say hello, weren’t you?” he continues, ignoring his bondmate in favour
of stroking the griffin’s feathered head, smiling as Ondengie eagerly leans in closer with another
greeting chuff. “Aw, I’m happy to see you too.”

The beast tilts into Jungkook’s touch with a low, warbling trill, eyes closing for a moment as he
clearly enjoys the petting, before moving closer still to bump up against Jungkook’s chest, rubbing
his head against the youth’s shirtfront like a nuzzling housecat. Mindful of the sharp beak now very
close to his vulnerable abdominal area, Jungkook side-steps to instead pet along the griffin’s neck
and shoulder, feeling the shift in texture as downy feathers become fur just behind the wing-joint.

Odengie’s colouring is so pretty up close, even in the fading daylight. His dark feathers are
streaked with a faint golden hue along his wings, and Jungkook knows in the sunlight they’ll gleam
beautifully.

“His wingspan must be huge,” he marvels, glancing over the beast’s shoulders at Jimin.

The griffin puffs up proudly and immediately extends his wings to demonstrate their impressive
size. Not expecting the sudden movement, Jungkook doesn’t have enough time to step clear – one
moment he’s admiring Odengie’s colouring, and the next he’s staring up at the green canopy of the
forest high above him, thoroughly winded after being thwacked solidly in the chest by a wall of
feathers.

“Odengie!” Jimin scolds from his own sprawled position on the griffin’s other side, having
likewise been knocked over by a wing to the face.

Taehyung drops to his knees beside Jungkook to ease him into a sitting position, rubbing between
his shoulders as the younger man fights to get his breath back. Odengie is peering down at the
three of them curiously, clearly confused as to why his playmates are suddenly on the ground. The
griffin glances sideways at his wings, then down at Jungkook again, head tilting to one side. He
utters a faintly worried sort of warble, abruptly refolding his wings as he leans down to gently prod
at the hybrid with the tip of his beak.

“I’m okay,” Jungkook says around a wheezy laugh, reaching up to pat the griffin’s head. “Just…
need a minute.”

“Maybe we should head back,” Tae suggests quietly, glancing across at Jimin as the shifter rolls to
his feet and dusts himself off.
Jungkook shakes his head quickly. “I’m fine, hyung, honest. Didn’t even hurt.” Well…not much.
“C’mon, you promised to show me ‘the best sunset in Seoul’.”

Taehyung squeezes him in a gentle hug. “We’re probably not gonna make it to the ledge in time,”
the vampire apologises, glancing up between treetops at the dimming sky overhead. At some point
during the walk he’s removed his sunglasses, and Jungkook isn’t entirely sure where they’ve gone.
“It’s almost sundown, and the ledge is still a little ways off. You’re not in a fit stare to jog half a
mile uphill.”

He’s about to automatically deny that accusation, but catches himself before the words even hit his
tongue because yeah, no, he definitely isn’t ready to run anywhere, especially not after taking a
wing to the solar plexus.

Odengie suddenly turns on the spot and lowers himself down beside them in a sort of semi-crouch
wings unfurling a little to expose the full length of his body. He chuffs, tail swishing through the
air.

“No, buddy, not today,” Jimin declines gently, coming over to caress the griffin’s flank.
“Jungkookie isn’t ready for that.”

The griffin’s wings flex again and he coos curiously, head turning to glance at Jungkook.

“We could take it slow,” Taehyung reasons. “Ondengie’s always been careful with me, haven’t
you, boy? He won’t let Kookie fall.”

“Fall?” Jungkook echoes, glancing between the two of them.

Jimin sighs. “Ondengie’s offering to carry us to the viewpoint. But it’s your first time riding a
griffin, and I don’t think Jin-hyung would be-”

“Yes,” Jungkook blurts, rocking up onto his knees, his bodily aches immediately forgotten. “Oh
my god, yes.”

“See?” Tae gestures towards him. “How are we supposed to say no to a face like that?”

“With conviction,” the shifter replies, arms crossing over his chest. “He’s only been out of bed a
couple of days. Namjoon-hyung said he shouldn’t overexert himself.”

“It’s only gonna be a short ride,” Taehyung coaxes keenly. “And Odengie’s doing all the work, it’s
not like Kookie’s exercising. Technically it’ll be a lot less strenuous than making him trek uphill
on his own steam. The hyungs can’t disapprove of us letting Kookie take a break from walking.”

Jimin doesn’t look convinced.

“C’mon, babe, you know he’s gonna love it,” Tae wheedles, draping himself along Jungkook’s
back and squishing his cheek against the youth’s hair.

Jungkook can’t see his face, but judging by Jimin’s twitching lips, he imagines the vampire’s
expression has gone full-aegyo.

“Please, hyung?” Jungkook decides to chip in; he knows Jimin is weak for him and right not he’s
going to use that to his advantage. Because ride a griffin through a forest to watch a pretty sunset?
Hell yes, sign him the fuck up. “I promise I’ll tell you if it gets too much.”

The shifter sighs, immediately caving, his lips curling up in a reluctantly fond smile as he glances
heavenwards for strength.

“Jin-hyung’s gonna kill me.”

“That’s the spirit!” Taehyung cheers, hopping up immediately to peck a kiss against his mate’s
cheek.

With an effortless sort of grace that suggests he’s done this a hundred times before, Taehyung
carefully boosts himself up onto Odengie’s back, sitting just behind the juncture of his wings. He
reaches a hand towards Jungkook, smiling eagerly.

“Come sit behind me, bun.”

Wary about accidentally hurting the griffin, Jungkook hesitates to climb up behind Taehyung, only
to splutter a surprised laugh when Jimin’s hands suddenly catch him about the waist to hoist him
up easily.

“He can’t carry all three of us,” the shifter remarks, when Taehyung sends him an expectant look.
“I’ll just Chim along beside you, it’ll be fine.”

“Your little legs are gonna get tired, and Chimmy won’t like that,” Tae counters with a pout, before
extending his arms towards his mate, making grabby hands. “C’mere, let me carry you.”

Jimin levels the younger vampire with a look. “You can’t keep your balance and hold onto me. I’ll
take my chances down here, thank you.”

“You’ll get your paws all muddy, and then you’ll have to take a bath,” Tae warns him. “Look, how
about you squeeze inside my jacket? That way I can keep my hands free.”

The shifter sighs again, but Taehyung is already unzipping his jacket and holding his arms out
again beckoningly. Jimin sends Jungkook a faintly exasperated but resigned look, before the air
around him warps and ripples and he poofs into Chim. The puppy is still wearing that slightly
sardonic expression as Taehyung giggles and leans down to pick him up, so clearly Jimin is still at
the helm.

“C’mere, Mr. Grumpy-face,” Taehyung teases, and Chim’s eyes narrow briefly, but he doesn’t
protest as the vampire tucks him carefully inside his jacket and zips it back up halfway. “See?
Totally safe.”

Chim’s fluffy head is the only part of him still visible where it pokes out of the jacket directly
beneath Taehyung’s chin. Jungkook leans around the vampire to get a better look, unable to keep
from grinning because fuck, it’s an adorable sight. Now that the pup us snugly cuddled up close to
Tae’s chest, Chim looks marginally less affronted by the whole ordeal.

“Hold on to me,” Taehyung cautions, turning his head to glance back at Jungkook. “Odengie won’t
let you fall, but remember to grip with your knees. And lean forwards when we start going uphill,
okay?”

The younger man nods, arms looping around Taehyung’s waist as Odengie tucks his wings back in
against his sides, warm feathers blanketing Jungkook’s legs from mid-thigh downwards,
practically pinning them in place. He probably couldn’t fall off now even if he wanted to.

Taehyung pats Odengie’s neck. “Not too fast, okay, bud? And no flying.”

The griffin gives an eager chirp of acknowledgement and slowly rises from his crouched position.
Jungkook sucks in a sharp breath and clings tighter onto Tae’s waist because oh, they’re a lot
higher off the ground than he’d anticipated now that the griffin is standing tall.

“Ready, baby?” Tae asks, a smile in his voice as he settles a comforting hand over Jungkook’s
arms.

At Jungkook’s answering nod, he gives a short whistle, and Odengie immediately sets off at an
exuberant run.

By the time they return to the clearing a good hour later, Jungkook is windswept and rosy-cheeked
and grinning so hard his face hurts. Odengie pauses but beyond the treeline and gives a full-body
shudder, wings flexing, before abruptly dropping down into a semi-crouch again.

“That’s our cue,” Taehyung announces, unzipping his jacket so that Chim can wriggle free.

The pup leaps from Tae’s lap, shifting the moment his paws touch the ground, and Jimin turns
immediately to reach for Jungkook, smiling at the downright giddy expression on the youth’s face.

“Guess I don’t need to ask if you enjoyed yourself,” the shifter teases, lifting Jungkook down from
the griffin’s back, steadying him with a laugh as the younger man stumbles on suddenly-wobbly
legs.

Jungkook giggles, wrapping his arms around Jimin in turn, feeling lighter and happier than he has
in…well, a long time. He hears Taehyung dismount, and a moment later there’s another body
pressing up behind him.

“Happy bun,” Tae murmurs, pleased, and nuzzles his nape tenderly. “I’ll take you out riding every
day if you like it that much.”

Odengie gives a rumbling sort of purr and butts up against the three of them, clearly keen to join in
the group hug. Laughing, Jungkook extracts an arm to stroke the soft feathers just above Odengie’s
beak. Seriously, how can something so big be so fucking cute?

“As cosy as this looks,” an amused voice suddenly interrupts them, “you might wanna take it
inside. It’s about to rain.”

Odengie gives a delighted honk and lumbers away to butt his head against the newcomer’s chest.

“Oh,” Taehyung croaks after a beat. “Hey, Yoongi-hyung. Fancy seeing you here.”

The Seer sends his maknae a fond smile, absently petting along Odengie’s side as the griffin trots
around him in excited circles.

“You’re not in trouble,” Yoongi reassures them. “Not with me, at least. Jin-hyung had to leave the
nest on Peacekeeping business, so you might just be luckiest miscreants in Seoul right now. If you
come inside right now and promise me that you won’t take Kookie on another griffin joy-ride
without Namjoon’s say-so, we can all pretend this never happened.”

Taehyung lets go of Jungkook to skip over to Yoongi, tackling the Seer in an enthusiastic hug.

“You’re my favourite hyung, you know that, right?”

“Mm-hm,” Yoongi hums, amused, wrapping one arm around the nestling in return as he pulls
something from the pocket of his jacket, holding it out to Odengie. “Thanks for taking care of the
bunny, champ.”

The griffin delicately takes the fat, ripe peach from the Seer’s upturned palm, holding it carefully
in his beak as he gives a final, chirping vocalisation and then turns to trot back into the forest,
disappearing from sight.

“I’ve got a pot of tea waiting for us upstairs,” Yoongi tells them cheerfully, brushing a kiss against
Tae’s temple before he steps back, keeping hold of the nestling’s hand. “And Hobi’s found
something cute on the internet that he’s insisting we all need to watch. Come on, loves.”

The first teeny-tiny raindrop hits Jungkook’s cheek just as they make it to the front door, and it’s
only as he reaches up to wipe it away that he realises he hasn’t stopped smiling yet.

That’s got to be a new record.

“Hyung!”

Jungkook glances up from his book and almost chokes on his mouthful of apple, eyes widening at
the sight of Moonbin veritably skipping towards him through the greenhouse. Sans crutches.

“Look, I’m free!” the werecat cheers, hobbling only a little as he hurries up the grassy slope where
Jungkook is sprawled out comfortably on a blanket beneath the weeping willow.

Moonbin flops down on top him, face pink and eyes bright from exertion, nuzzling at his cheek in
greeting.

“Bin, your cast,” Jungkook manages once he’s swallowed his mouthful and the threat of choking
has passed. “What-?”

“I had my checkup with Namjoon-hyung this afternoon,” his roommate explains, rolling off
Jungkook so that the elder can sit up. “He said everything had healed up enough that I could finally
get the cast off.”

“I also said you needed to take it easy,” the healer in question reminds him from the nearby path,
his arm wrapped around Eunwoo’s shoulders as they watch the pair with matching fond looks.
“Don’t make me put you back on crutches for another forty-eight hours, kitten.”
Moonbin has enough sense to look bashfully apologetic. “Sorry, hyung. I just got excited. Oh!” He
suddenly yanks up one leg of his slacks. “Kook, check out my scar!”

Jungkook winces at the six-inch gash that spans the length of Moonbin’s shin, the neat line
denoting where (presumably) the surgeons had been forced to cut into the tissue in order to realign
his mangled bones after the car accident. It’s a reminder of how serious the injury had really been,
because with the werecat’s enhanced healing factor, any and all other cuts and abrasions have long
since repaired themselves.

“It’ll fade,” Namjoon reassures him, perhaps noticing Jungkook’s less than enthusiastic response.
“The incision was slow to heal because of the cast, but now that’s off it’ll be gone in a matter of
weeks. As long as Binnie doesn’t overwork himself.”

The last two words are said with careful emphasis, and Moonbin grins innocently, sending the
healer a cute finger-heart.

“I’ll be good,” the werecat promises.

“We’ll keep an eye on him,” Eunwoo reassures, appearing quite content to be cuddled up against
his Primus. He sends Jungkook a warm, albeit tired smile. “Hey, Kookie. You mind sitting on Bin
for a little while? I need to take care of something real quick.”

“You need a nap,” Namjoon corrects, dropping a kiss against Eunwoo’s head. “And to talk with
Jin-hyung about your insane schedule. God knows what you and your agency were thinking,
agreeing to eight separate modelling gigs in the space of two weeks on top of your existing drama
schedule.”

“Thank you!” Moonbin throws his arms in the air. “That’s what me and the hyungs have been
saying for weeks. And I thought Kookie was bad at self-care.” He pats his roommate’s thigh. “No
offence, hyung.”

Jungkook’s fairly certain he should be offended, but it’s Binnie, so he’s just fondly exasperated and
a little endeared by it.

“I’ll look after him,” he promises Eunwoo, looping an arm around the werecat to drag him closer
into a backwards cuddle. “Go get some rest, dude, you look awful.”

“Love you too, bun,” Eunwoo laughs over his shoulder, as he lets Namjoon steer him away.

Moonbin heaves a contented sigh once they’re alone, turning in Jungkook’s arms to push him back
against the blanket so that they can snuggle properly. The werecat pushes his nose into the hollow
of the hybrid’s throat and hums, nuzzling there like the tactile kitten he is.

“You smell happy,” Binnie murmurs. “S’nice.”

Smiling, Jungkook cards his fingers through the younger man’s hair, hugging him closer. “Right
back atcha. Pack-life treating you well?”

The werecat hums, almost a purr. “The guys are the best. But I swear I’ve put on like ten pounds,
Rocky keeps feeding me.”

Jungkook laughs because oh, that sounds familiar. “You gonna move back into the apartment now
that you’re off the crutches?”

“Not until you’re better,” Moonbin declines, nuzzling closer still. “No point living there on my
own, and I’m not dragging you away from the nest until you’re ready to leave.”

Jungkook huffs a fond laugh. “You wouldn’t be ‘dragging’ me anywhere, kitten,” he reassures. “I
love living with you.”

“You like it here, too,” Moonbin counters softly. “And I know you, hyung, you’d move back in
just to keep me company even if you weren’t better. Besides, Eunwoo’s being dumb about sleep at
the moment, he needs me there to nag him.”

A moment of silence passes between them, Jungkook idly rubbing a hand up and down Moonbin’s
spine.

And then quite suddenly the werecat sits up, takes a steeling breath, and announces, “JinJin-
hyung’s asked me to move in with pack on a permanent basis.”

Jungkook blinks in surprise, then grins, delighted for his friend. “Dude, that’s great!”

“I turned him down,” Bin immediately tacks on, fidgeting and refusing to meet the hybrid’s
incredulous gaze.

“But…why?” the bunny asks, genuinely confused. He pushes himself to sit up, reaching out to fix
Moonbin’s fringe. “You’re so in love you’ve practically been glowing these past few weeks. Why
wouldn’t you want stay with the pack?”

The werecat shrugs, fiddling with a woven band of leather that circles his wrist. It’s new, and not
something Binnie would’ve picked out for himself, and the five silver charms adorning it gives
Jungkook a good idea as to its significance. So, Binnie’s willingly and openly wearing the Park
pack’s claim, but had refused JinJin’s offer to properly move in with them? Something is definitely
amiss, and Jungkook has a sneaking suspicion he knows what the issue is.

Like two peas in a pod, they’re both apparently dumb as fuck.

“The coven made me the same offer, you know,” he murmurs, squeezing Moonbin’s hand, and the
youth’s gaze comes up sharply, something like hope in his eyes.

Gotcha.

“What did you tell them?” the werecat hedges tentatively.

“That I’d have to think about it.” Jungkook’s smile softens, and he reaches up to ruffle the younger
man’s hair. “That I didn’t want to leave my kitten on his own without a roommate.”

Realisation dawns in Moonbin’s eyes. “Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh’,” the hybrid agrees around a laugh, tugging Bin close to gently thunk their foreheads
together. “Let me guess – you were worried I’d do something stupid if you moved out and left me
there unsupervised?”

“Mm.” Moonbin’s lips twitch, and he shrugs again. “Something like that.”

“Yugyeom would smack us both if he were here right now,” Jungkook mutters sardonically. “A
pair of idiots.”

The werecat breathes a laugh in return, before pulling back to fix Jungkook with a wide, happy
smile, taking the hybrid’s hands between his own.
“So you’ll live here with the hyungs full-time?” Bin seeks to clarify. “You’re not suddenly gonna
decide to go back to the apartment and live by yourself?”

Honestly, Jungkook can’t think of anything he’d like to do less than live in that small, dingy
apartment without Binnie there to keep him company. Living with the coven this past week has
reminded him how desperately he needs the closeness of others just to keep himself sane and
centred, and the thought of losing all of that and returning to gloomy isolation? Hell no. The only
reason he’d even been considering leaving the nest was to keep Moonbin company so that the
werecat didn’t have to live alone, but clearly his (ex)roommate had been sharing those exact same
sentiments. They’d both found love and happiness in a new home, but had been willing to give that
up for each other’s sake.

Yugyeom would definitely thump them if he ever found out.

“I’ll live here with the hyungs full-time,” he confirms, finding warmth already blooming in his
chest at the prospect.

Moonbin beams, throwing himself at Jungkook in an enthusiastic hug and laughing as the
momentum knocks the hybrid backwards again. It only lasts for a moment before the werecat is
rolling up onto his knees to pull his phone out.

“I gotta tell JinJin-hyung,” he gushes. “Let me just…I’ll be back in five, okay?”

As Bin hobbles away around the koi pond towards the far side of the glasshouse where he’ll get
better signal, Jungkook smiles to himself, reaching for his discarded book and hugging it to his
chest as the enormity of the decision he’s just made sinks in.

The hyungs are going to be thrilled.

Jungkook closes the laptop with a decisive thud and slumps back in his chair, heaving a shaky sigh.

It’s over.

His business essay is finally finished. He’s submitted the completed document (it’s definitely not
one of his best academic papers, but he refuses to spend one more minute stressing about the word
count), and at long fucking last he can forget all about it and go back to enjoying life without his
essay deadline looming over him like a shadow.
He runs a hand through his hair, unlocking his phone quickly to check his school emails, just to
make sure that a verification has come through confirming the successful electronic submission of
his paper. He feels the tension in his shoulders immediately dissipate at the sight of it, and he
opens the email just long enough to skim through the first couple of paragraphs and ascertain that
it’s a confirmation rather than a rejection, before signing out of his university account and
promptly deleting the app from his phone.

Then he has to take another deep, steadying breath because yikes, this is actually happening, he’s
really about to make the biggest decision of his whole damn life, at five o’clock on a Sunday
morning.

Before he can lose his resolve, Jungkook pushes his chair back and stands, reaching out to flick off
the desk-lamp. His art studio is only dimly lit now, the sky outside just beginning to tint a lighter
shade as it beckons in the coming dawn.

He’s honestly a little surprised that he’s been able to work uninterrupted for the past few hours
without one of the hyungs coming to track him down. His disjointed sleeping pattern isn’t anything
new (the caffeine withdrawal is still affecting him with intermittent bouts of insomnia), but usually
he’ll only be awake half an hour before someone’s coming to tap gently on his bedroom door,
offering to keep him company until he falls asleep again. The fact that he’d been able to sneak
down to his art studio and finish his business essay undisturbed is something of a miracle, really.

Either that, or the hyungs know exactly what he’s been doing but have given him the time and
space he needed to make his own decisions.

Given that he lives with a Seer, Jungkook has a feeling it’s the latter scenario.

The mansion is utterly silent as he tip-toes out of his art studio and heads back upstairs, so it’s only
natural that his name being called from close-by startles a squeak out of him.

“Sorry, dearheart, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” Seokjin chuckles from the padded window-seat
at the far end of the hallway. The vampire closes his book and sets it aside, opening his arms
beckoningly. “Come sit with me?”

Jungkook goes willingly, even though part of him embarrassedly feels like a kid being caught out
of bed, and lets himself be guided to sit in Jin’s lap. The elder unfurls a soft knitted blanket and
drapes it over them both, arms wrapping around Jungkook comfortingly as he presses a kiss to the
youth’s temple.

“This is a great spot to watch the dawn,” the vampire tells him. “But we’ve still got a little time
before sun-up.” Jin kisses his temple again. “I won’t press you to talk if you don’t want to, bun. I
know you’ve been awake since midnight, and heaven knows I wanted to make sure you were
alright, but Yoongi said it was important we left you to it.” The vampire squeezes him in a tighter
hug. “Just know that I’m here, if you need a listening ear.”

A familiar warmth blooms in Jungkook’s chest. He’s fully aware that the coven loves him, that
they’re all invested in his wellbeing, but to know that they respect him enough to give him space
when he really he needs it rather than interfering…god, he’s so lucky to have been found by them.
So damn lucky.

He turns a little in Jin’s lap, enough that he can face the vampire, stomach immediately fluttering at
the look of tender affection in the elder’s gaze.

“I was finishing my business paper,” he admits, because one of his new resolutions is to be as open
and honest as possible about his unhealthy relationship with academia. “I know Joon-hyung got me
another extension until the end of the month, but it’s been on my mind a lot these past few days,
and I just wanted to get it submitted.”

Seokjin’s expression doesn’t change, and the vampire gently smooths Jungkook’s fringe from his
forehead, leaning in to press a tender kiss there.

“And did you?”

Jungkook nods, the relief from before welling back up in a wide smile. The vampire mirrors it,
cupping his cheek and gently kissing the tip of his nose.

“I never doubted you,” Jin murmurs. “My clever little one.”

Oh, the way those words make his heart flutter.

He basks in that feeling for a moment, letting Jin cuddle him close and idly stroke his hair, before
taking another steadying breath.

“I’ve been thinking about what you and Namjoon-hyung said last week,” he ploughs on. “About
requesting a deferral.”

Seokjin’s fingers still briefly, before continuing their gentle ministrations as though the pause had
never happened, the vampire humming softly in faint curiosity.

Jungkook goes silent again, gnawing on his bottom lip. This is it. He’s been thinking about it all
week, psyching himself up for this conversation, and he’s not going to chicken out now.

This is what he wants. This is what he’s always wanted.

“I’ve decided not to take my finals next month,” he says, with as much conviction as he can
muster. “Just thinking about it makes me feel queasy, and I know that’s not healthy. I don’t wanna
undo all the progress I’ve made this past week by throwing myself back into a study-crisis, not
when I can defer my exams without it affecting my overall grade.”

Seokjin gently pushes him away, just enough that the vampire can cradle the youth’s face between
his hands. He’s smiling so widely that his eyes have crinkled into beautiful crescent moons, and the
pride in his gaze makes Jungkook’s breath stutter in his lungs.

“And I don’t just want to defer until the summer,” Jungkook manages to continue, despite the
fluttering feeling in his chest. “I’m going to take the full year off. There’s a summer programme at
my art school that I’m thinking of applying for – they give priority placement to existing students,
so I’ve got a decent chance of getting in. I figured maybe…maybe it was time I focused on an
academic subject that I’d actually enjoy, y’know? Namjoon-hyung said he’d help me with the
deferral paperwork, so if that’s still okay- mmph.”

His rambling lips have been stoppered by a tender, passionate kiss.

Jin’s hands are still gently cupping his face to keep it tilted at the perfect angle, his thumbs
stroking back and forth against the youth’s skin. All thoughts of deferrals and art degrees and
essays immediately ebb away as Jungkook utters a soft, needy sound in the back of his throat,
fingers curling in the fabric of Jin’s shirt.

Holy fuck, the man knows how to kiss.

 The amber pendant seems to grow hotter where it rests against his skin just below his collarbone, a
pleasant sort of warmth that sinks deep into his chest. He’s quite forgotten how to breathe, but
that’s fine, Seokjin’s probably doing that for him anyway.

An indiscernible length of time later, Seokjin finally breaks the kiss, and Jungkook sucks in a
shaky breath, feeling a little dazed. But the vampire merely moves his lips an inch to one side to
pepper chaste butterfly kisses over Jungkook’s nose and cheeks, until the hybrid is giggling
breathlessly, nose scrunched up as he makes a very half-assed effort to duck away from the ticklish
onslaught.

“You,” Seokjin tells him, pressing another kiss to his lips, “are magnificent, Jeon Jungkook. And I
am so, so proud of you.” The vampire draws the youth in to cuddle him close, dropping kisses
against his hair instead. “Leave the deferral paperwork to us, little one. Joonie and I will take care
of it. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

Jungkook heaves a contented sigh and snuggles closer to the elder’s chest, a dopey smile curling at
his lips.

“Thanks, hyung,” he murmurs, closing his eyes against the threat of happy-relieved tears that he
refuses to let fall. “Love you.”

Jin’s arms tighten around him, kisses pressed to his hair once again. “And I love you, dearheart.”

Okay, fine.

Maybe he’ll shed just a few happy tears.

Come say hi to me on twitter @Arobeebee

Here are some gifs of Odengie, my favourite overenthusiastic griffin cub.

Chapter End Notes

We're on the home stretch, fam!

Just the epilogue to go, and then it's prequel/sequel time! If you're interested in reading
more stories in this universe, be sure to subscribe to this collection and/or me, or
follow my twitter. I'll be posting a few snippets/ficlets via twitter that I probably won't
be posting on here or wattpad, but I'll try to leave links to those posts in the
prequel/sequel fics for those of you who don't have a twitter account. :)

One of the side-fics I'll be writing is a short story from Chim's perspective, exploring
the whole "bubbled Jimin" headspace thing. Mostly it'll be an excuse for me to write
Chim being cute with the hyungs and stealing Jin's slippers. :P
Thank you as always for your continued support and encouragement! I hope everyone
is doing well, sending love and hugs to you all.
 Epilogue
Chapter Summary

Jungkook gets the love and happily-ever-after he truly deserves.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

“Please, hyung?” Jungkook wheedles, tilting his head a little and throwing in the doe eyes for
added effect as he tugs on the elder’s sleeve. “It’ll only be for a few hours, and Rocky’s already
subbed in for my solo part so we’ll just be going over the group choreo, nothing crazy.”

Namjoon gives a soft, noncommittal hum, continuing to gently massage the sweet-smelling herbal
ointment into the purpling bruise that spans the length of Jungkook’s outer thigh.

The youth is cuddled up sideways in Namjoon’s lap wearing just a t-shirt and boxers, a melting
towel-wrapped ice pack discarded on the nearby coffee table as he obediently keeps his injured leg
extended across the couch cushions, patiently letting the healer work. It’s not a serious injury by
any means, it just aches a bit and looks pretty ugly, and by this time tomorrow it’ll have faded
almost to nothing - but he knows better than to say that to Namjoon. He’s seen the healer fuss over
a teeny-tiny splinter in Moonbin’s finger, so no amount of laidback reassurances from Jungkook is
going to stop Namjoon from tending to him with all due care.

Honestly, of all the occasions for Jungkook to topple off Odengie and whack himself on a tree
stump, it had to be the one day that he’d hoped to convince Namjoon that he was whole and hale
enough to resume dance practice sessions this coming weekend. It’s been a little over two weeks
since his unintentional overdose, and he hasn’t felt this well-rested and stress-free in forever, so
he’s keen to rejoin his team and learn the new choreo in time for Seoul DanceFest. With Moonbin
benched until next month to prevent his newly-healed fracture from bucking, they’re already down
one key dancer, and Jungkook doesn’t want to cause Rocky and the other choreographers any
additional stress by backing out last-minute.

And he really is fine, swollen thigh aside. This is just a temporary blip on his otherwise vastly
improving health record.

“There,” Namjoon murmurs, setting the jar of ointment aside and removing the residue from his
hands by tracing a quick cleansing rune against each palm. “How’s the pain now?”

Jungkook gingerly bends his knee and lifts his leg to flex the muscles of his thigh, smiling when
the movement produces only a very faint background ache compared to the pulsing throb that had
been there beforehand.

“Much better,” he answers cheerfully, and turns to peck a soft, grateful kiss against Namjoon’s
cheek. “Thanks, hyung. I’m sure it’ll be all healed up in a couple of days.”

“Mm,” the vampire concurs, hand gently squeezing the youth’s hip where his arm is wrapped
about Jungkook’s waist. “And what lesson did we learn today, bun?”

“Not to dismount on a slope?”

Namjoon sighs and gives him a chiding look, but there’s a fond half-smile tugging at his lips even
as he slides his hand up from Jungkook’s hip to squeeze the back of his neck, giving the youth a
very gentle little shake.

“Not to go riding griffins on your own,” the vampire corrects, and clucks him lightly beneath the
chin with his other hand. “You’re lucky you landed on your thigh and not your head, little one.”

Jungkook winces at the reminder. He knows it could’ve been far more serious, and he’s already
apologised for his unauthorised griffin joy-ride a good half a dozen times - mostly to Jimin, who’d
arrived in Chim-form only minutes after the unsuccessful backwards dismount (apparently having
heard Odengie’s loud honks of distress all the way from the clearing). Once the shifter had
ascertained that Jungkook was only bruised from the fall, he’d proceeded to lecture the youth the
entire way home, carrying Jungkook on his back as Odengie meekly followed behind.

It hadn’t been Jungkook’s intention to go out riding this morning. He’d eaten breakfast with
Hoseok and Namjoon, waved goodbye when they set off for work, and settled himself comfortably
on a blanket near the edge of the clearing to enjoy the warm weather, hoping to finish a sketch of
the mansion before the others woke up. But not long afterwards, Odengie had come trotting out of
the treeline with a delighted honk of greeting to gently bump his head against Jungkook’s shoulder
(the griffin thankfully having learned to greet him with less enthusiasm after several more Jin-
sanctioned encounters over the course of the past week), and when the cub had crouched down
with one wing extended to offer Jungkook a ride, how was he supposed to say no?

It had only been a short trip, just up to the viewpoint and back again, and if Jungkook hadn’t asked
Odengie to stop halfway down the hill so that he could hop off and snap a photo of some pretty
wildflowers that he thought would look great as a border to a tattoo sketch he was working on, it
would have been fine.

And if he’s being honest, Jungkook doesn’t entirely regret accepting Odengie’s offer - only his
own ill-advised attempt to dismount on a slope.

“I’m sorry I pulled you away from the clinic,” Jungkook murmurs, because he does feel guilty
about that. Namjoon’s only been back at work a few days, having finally deemed Jungkook as a
low-risk for withdrawal migraines. The healer is probably swamped with clinic appointments, and
Jungkook’s accident has undoubtedly fudged up his schedule.

“Hey.” Namjoon gently tilts his chin up so that their eyes meet, before tenderly stroking his cheek.
“That isn’t for you to worry about, sweetheart. I came home because I wanted to. The clinic’s fully
staffed, they can cope without me for an hour or two. Besides, I wasn’t about to leave you to
Jiminie’s tender mercies, he sounded pretty agitated.”

He cracks a smile at that. Namjoon had been the one to peel a still-lecturing Jimin away from
Jungkook’s side and send him upstairs to Taehyung so that he could ‘cool off’. Jimin had sulkily
stomped away, still muttering about reckless maknaes and Tae being a bad influence.

Jungkook has never seen the shifter looking quite so cross before. Jimin’s reaction had been very
reminiscent of the worried lectures Jinyoung would often launch into whenever Jungkook turned
up at the Im-pack’s den looking particularly sleep-deprived and underfed. It was the sort of stern
fussing that stemmed from a place of love, and although Jungkook never particularly enjoyed
being told off at the time, thinking about it in retrospect always left him feeling warmed on the
inside.

“You got here so fast,” he remarks, tilting his cheek into Namjoon’s touch, relaxing further against
the healer’s chest. “Can you do it too? Y’know, the teleporting thing?”

Namjoon laughs softly and kisses his nose. “No, bun, that’s all Seokjin. I’m afraid my gifts are
limited to herblore and the healing arts. But Jinnie concealed a dormant gateway in my private
study at the clinic, just in case of emergencies - a shortcut back to the nest, so to speak. I wanted to
check on you myself after Jiminie called for advice about your leg, so I decided to activate it. The
door can only be used once, for security reasons, so it probably collapsed in on itself the moment I
stepped through, but Jinnie can always make me another one.”

That certainly explains why Namjoon had arrived within about ten minutes of them getting back to
the mansion. Jungkook had initially assumed it might have something to do with Yoongi (he’s
learned that most of the ‘lucky coincidences’ that happen around the nest are as a result of the Seer
intervening quietly behind the scenes), but today is a Wednesday and the vampire usually sleeps
mid-week, so chances are he’s still blissfully unaware of Jungkook’s morning adventures.

“Do you think Jin-hyung knows?” Jungkook hedges tentatively. “About the accident?”

“Mm-hm,” Namjoon answers, and smiles when Jungkook winces in response, cuddling him closer.
“I had to get in touch to reassure him that nobody was in danger, otherwise he might’ve assumed
the worst when he sensed me activating the emergency gateway. I told him you’d taken a little
tumble off Odengie and bumped yourself.”

Jungkook groans and presses his face into the healer’s shoulder. Fuck, Jin’s never going to trust
him on his own near the griffins again.

“Don’t worry, baby, he’ll see this as a lesson learned the hard way,” Namjoon reassures him,
fingers carding soothingly through his hair. “He won’t be upset with you.”

“Jin-hyung isn’t the one you need to worry about,” Yoongi warns, shuffling into the living room
lethargically in his silk pyjamas, eyes still half-closed. “Jiminie’s not gonna let you out of his sight
for days.”

Namjoon smiles towards the Seer warmly. “Hey, hon. Sleep well?”

“Mm,” Yoongi grunts, moving to plop down on the arm of the couch so that he can lean against
Namjoon, letting the healer steady him with his free arm. Eyes still barely open to sleepy squints,
Yoongi’s hand comes up to gently ruffle Jungkook’s hair. “How’s the leg, trouble?”

Huh. So the Seer had known about his morning escapades. Perhaps his dreams were visions, too?

“It’s fine,” he promises. “Just a little bruised.”

Yoongi hums again, wrapping his own arm loosely around Jungkook’s waist tugging him into a
sort of backwards cuddle without actually moving from his slumped position against Namjoon.
The Seer presses his lips to Jungkook’s nape, then sighs tiredly.

“You should go, Joon,” he advises. “Triplets. It’s gonna be a long one. Remember to eat
something.”

“Ah,” the healer acknowledges, and turns to brush a kiss against Yoongi’s cheek. “Noted. Thanks,
honey.”
In a matter of seconds Jungkook finds himself swooped up in the healer’s arms as Namjoon stands,
and he clutches onto the elder’s shoulders with a startled giggle, seeing the vampire’s endeared
expression. Then Namjoon turns around and lowers him down carefully into Yoongi’s lap, the
Seer having shifted to claim his nestmate’s abandoned seat.

“I’ll call to check on you this afternoon,” Namjoon tells him, leaning down to cup Jungkook’s chin
and press a soft farewell kiss to his lips. “Try to keep off that leg if you can. The ointment needs
another ten minutes to seep in properly, and then you’ll want to ice it again. Okay?”

“Okay,” Jungkook parrots obediently.

Namjoon smiles and kisses him again. “Good boy.”

He’s gradually beginning to flush less often in response to the hyungs’ casually showering him
with casual compliments, but only because his exposure to praise has increased exponentially since
moving in with the coven and it was either adapt or live with tomato-cheeks 24/7.

“I’ve got him,” Yoongi reassures, reaching out to lightly grip the front of Namjoon’s uniform
tunic, tugging him into a deeper kiss. “Go.”

“Mm, love you,” Namjoon murmurs, briefly leaning his forehead against Yoongi’s before turning
to repeat the gesture and sentiment to Jungkook.

“Love you too,” the youth replies quickly, because that’s something he never gets tired of saying
to the hyungs.

He could say it a hundred times a day for the rest of his life, and he’s pretty sure it’s always going
to make him feel this warm and fluttery inside. To be loved is just...the best thing ever.

“Oh, and Kookie?” Namjoon pauses at the threshold of the parlour to glance back at him with a
soft look. “You have my blessing to rejoin the dance team.”

Fuck yes.

...

“Got enough blankets there, bun?” Park Jinwoo teases from the doorway to the living room.

Jungkook laughs as he adds another stack to the already-full duffel bag, using his body weight to
press down on the fabric, trying to make it fit.

“Oh, these are all Binnie’s,” he quips with a grin. “Hope you’ve freed up some storage space,
hyung.”

JinJin moves closer to survey the veritable sea of bulging bags with a look of amused incredulity.
“And the kitten said he didn’t have a lot of stuff to move.”

“To be fair,” Jungkook defends, wrestling with the bag’s zip to close it before the contents can
burst free, “his comfort collection makes up about ninety-five percent of his belongings. I sent over
most of his clothes after the accident, so it’s really only a few toiletries and a mug or two. The
apartment came fully furnished, there wasn’t much else we needed.”

Or could afford, he adds mentally.

It’s crazy to think that just a couple of months ago, he and Binnie were still living week-to-week,
buying cheap-ass store brand products and mentally planning out their meals so that they could
budget their grocery shopping appropriately. So much has happened since then that it all feels like
a lifetime ago. And now he and Bin are both financially stable and living very comfortably in their
new homes, surrounded by people who love them. He knows JinJin’s photography business has
been doing very well these past few months thanks to Eunwoo’s sudden rise to modelling fame,
and even without that the pack still have MJ’s flower shop – and the Fae had made a name for
himself in the botany business by creating rare hybrid species of orchid, something the rich and
famous from all over Korea paid a bomb to get their hands on.

Needless to say, Jungkook can rest assured that Binnie will be well looked-after in his new home.

“Comfort collection?” Jinwoo echoes, and his smile turns soft. “So him building nests and blanket
forts isn’t just a post-injury thing, then?”

Laughing again, Jungkook shakes his head. “No, that’s an everyday thing. If you sit still too long
he’ll probably try to wrap you up in a blanket. Mostly it’s an excuse to snuggle, not that he ever
needed one.”

“I know you’re talking about me,” Moonbin accuses without any heat, entering into the room with
Yugyeom in tow, cheeks faintly flushed and breathing a little heavily, presumably having raced the
werewolf up ten flights of stairs. Since being given the all-clear from Namjoon to gently exercise
his leg again, Binnie’s been running practically everywhere. “What secrets have you been telling
JinJin-hyung?”

“Only the flattering ones,” Jungkook promises, passing several bags to Yugyeom when the
werewolf gestures for them.

“I’ll tell you the unflattering ones later,” Yugyeom stage-whispers in Jinwoo’s direction, and neatly
side-steps the elbow aimed at his ribs, wisely ducking out of the room again before a pouting
Moonbin can get hold of a suitable projectile.

The werecat’s expression immediately brightens when he sees the half-empty storage cupboard,
and he veritably skips across the room to drape himself over JinJin from behind, chin resting on
the shorter man’s shoulder.

“You like my collection? That fluffy purple one with all the stars is the softest, and it’s a double so
it’ll be big enough to cover the whole pack on movie nights if we cuddle in real close. Oh! Did
Kook tell you about my cushions? Here, let me show you.”

Moonbin darts forward and pulls back the sliding curtain further to unveil a second storage area,
JinJin watching on with open affection and something that looks a little like fond resignation at the
confirmation that Binnie does, in fact, have rather a lot of stuff to move.

Leaving them to it, Jungkook slips back inside the bedroom to finish sorting out his study materials
into what he wants to keep for next year (hidden in a box in some distant corner of the Kim
mansion where he can happily forget about it for the next twelve months) and what he can throw
away without any regrets. There’s just so much of it, he barely knows where to start.

“Hey,” he laughs, finding Taehyung sitting cross-legged on his newly-stripped mattress,

Jungkook’s high school yearbook open in his lap. “I thought you said you wanted to help me
pack?”

The vampire grins up at him unapologetically. “And miss out on the opportunity to sneak a peek at
your old school photos? Not a chance.” He glances back down at the open book with a soft coo.
“Just look at those squishy cheeks. That’s Yugyeomie next to you, right? You guys are so cute. ”

Jungkook climbs up onto the bed to kneel behind Taehyung, wrapping his arms around the elder’s
neck and shoulders from behind as he peers down at the group photo. It’s one of his high school
dance team back when he was seventeen, all of them looking happy and flushed and full of energy
after winning the regional street dance competition. He and Yugyeom have their cheeks squished
together, grinning at the camera and giving each other bunny-ears. The picture would be perfect, if
it weren’t for their team’s... bold stylistic choices.

“Oh my god, the eyeliner,” Jungkook groans, mortified, and buries his face in Taehyung’s neck. “I
forgot how awful it looked.”

The vampire snickers, patting his arm in sympathy. “If you didn’t make questionable fashion
decisions in high school, were you even a student? You should’ve seen my hair, think I cycled
through every colour in senior year, it’s a miracle I didn’t go bald.”

“Here, there’s a better one of me later on.” Jungkook reaches down to thumb through the hardback
album. “My art class was allowed to design a mural at the back of the school that year; we spent
weeks painting it, but it looked pretty awesome once it was done…”

He ends up forgetting all about the stack of study notes and topic folders piled up on his desk
waiting to be sorted, instead going through the yearbook page by page, pointing out every photo
that features himself or Yugyeom, which happened to be a lot. They’d both been pretty heavily
involved in school events and extracurricular activities, after all - mostly in an effort to have as
many achievements as possible to list in their university applications, both determined to get into
Seoul university,

Before he realises how much time has passed, there’s a soft knock on the door, Yugyeom poking
his head into the bedroom with a smile.

“Hey,” he greets. “That’s Binnie all packed up and ready to go. You guys almost done?”

Jungkook glances over at his untouched study materials and winces. “Uhh…”

“It’s cool,” Yugyeom reassures him. “We can take Binnie’s stuff to the Park den first, and then me
an’ JB-hyung can come back to help pack up the rest.” His gaze shifts towards Taehyung, and he
smiles. “Hyung, is it alright if I borrow you for a sec? JinJin-hyung might need an extra pair of
hands getting the last few boxes in the car.”

Taehyung nods in cheerful assent and closes the yearbook, setting it aside and carefully peeling
himself out of Jungkook’s hold, pecking a chaste kiss against the younger man’s upturned face
before skipping from the room.

Yugyeom glances back over his shoulder, pausing for a short beat until the sound of the front door
closing echoes around the apartment, before sending Jungkook a knowing little smile.

“Thought you and Binnie might want a few minutes alone to say goodbye to this old place,” he
explains. “I’ll be outside if you need me, okay?”

Jungkook feels a surge of overwhelming love and gratitude for his thoughtful best friend, because
yes, he definitely needs a moment.

It’s not that he likes this apartment, not at all, but it has been ‘home’ for the past two years, the
dingy little space that he and Yugyeom had moved into as eager, bright-eyed freshman. And even
after the werewolf had moved out, he and Binnie had taken steps to transform the space into their
own little den, with dorky polaroids pinned up all over the place and colorful blankets strewn
across the couch and beds to make the space more homely.

It’s those little details that he’s going to miss. And Binnie, of course. Gods, he’s going to miss
living with Binnie.

He steps out of his bedroom to find the werecat standing by the couch - the plain black furniture
seems so barren without all the cushions and blankets there - looking lost in thought. At
Jungkook’s approach, he glances up and smiles, a small uptick at one corner of his mouth that
doesn’t light up his eyes the way it normally would.

Jungkook opens his arms invitingly, letting out a soft grunt with Moonbin immediately barrels into
him.

“Gonna miss you,” the werecat murmurs into his shoulder, and Jungkook returns the hug just as
tightly, breathing in Bin’s familiar scent.

“Seokjin-hyung’s already made JinJin-hyung promise to bring the pack over for dinner every
weekend,” Jungkook reminds him with forced cheer. “And I’m still gonna meet you guys on
campus for lunch, like, every other day. Honestly, you’ll get sick of seeing me so often.”

Moonbin huffs a quiet laugh against his neck, rubbing his nose there in a casual scenting gesture.
“I’m gonna hold you to that. I know where you live. If you cancel on us I’m gonna hunt you down
and sit on you.”

Grinning, because despite the very real threat, it’s said in such a sulky tone that he can’t help but
find it cute.

“Oh!” The werecat suddenly pulls away from Jungkook’s hold, hurrying over to the storage
shelves and pulling the curtain back, reaching inside. Jungkook had assumed the shelves were
empty, but his hand emerges holding a familiar plum-purple blanket, and Bin turns to hold it out
towards him. “I want you to have this.”

It’s one of Moonbin’s favourites - large and soft, and covered in alternating white cartoon rabbits
and grey kitten faces. Yugyeom had given it to Bin as as a jokey moving-in gift shortly before he
met the Im-pack, back when the werecat had still been crashing on their couch, not knowing at the
time about the youth’s fondness for all things soft and squishy. It’s the blanket Binnie pulls out
most often whenever he and Jungkook have the chance to spend a quiet evening together watching
a movie, and despite being put through the wash several times, it still carries the familiar and
soothing combination of their scents more than the rest of his collection. It smells like pack.

Jungkook’s so touched he might actually cry.

He pulls Moonbin into another crushing embrace, squishing his face against the werecat’s neck.
“You wanna have a sleepover at the nest tonight?”

The hyungs won’t mind, he knows that much already. Jin had made it very clear that Kookie’s
friends were always welcome to stay, and he’s already had several sleepovers with his besties over
the course of the past few weeks. The griffins had been delighted at the new additions to their
group of regular playmates.

“Yes please,” Moonbin affirms, nodding quickly. “Yugyeom-hyung too?”

“Let me check.” Jungkook leans back from the hug and turns his head towards the short corridor
that leads to the front entrance. “Yah, Gyeomie! Sleepover tonight?”

“Fuck yes!” comes the enthusiastic reply, muffled by the wood of the door, and Jungkook grins as
he pulls out his phone to send a quick message to the coven’s groupchat.

“Maybe they’ll let us order chimaek,” he muses aloud, thumbs tapping against the screen -
although how the delivery driver will be able to find the magically-concealed entrance to the nest
is perhaps a minor issue.

In the end, they aren’t allowed to order chimaek, but only because Seokjin insists on cooking fried
chicken and all the accompaniments from scratch. And neither Jungkook nor his friends can
complain about the compromise, because it’s the best damn thing they’ve ever tasted.

The skies open just as he’s stepping off the bus.

Jungkook tips his head back and closes his eyes, grinning as he feels the fat raindrops splattering
against his face. He hadn’t thought to bring a coat or an umbrella with him, but he doesn’t mind the
deluge - it could be snowing for all he cares, and he’d still be smiling like an idiot. There’s nothing
that could dampen his spirits this evening, not after the news he’s just received.

The clouds are heavy and dark overhead, but it’s not late enough for the sun to have fully set, so
visibility is still good. He grips tighter to the handle of his art portfolio case, grateful that Seokjin
had brought him one with a fully waterproof seal on the zip-line. He could probably go swimming
with this thing and his artwork would still be okay.

Combing his fingers through his damp fringe to slick it back and keeping the rainwater from
dripping into his eyes, Jungkook turns in the direction of the nest, setting off at a brisk jog. This
particular bus-stop is only a five-minute walk from the border of the Old Forest, so it won’t take
him long to get home. He briefly contemplates calling ahead to let the hyungs know that he’ll be
back soon, before deciding that it isn’t really necessary - Jin will be able to sense him when he
steps through the gateway, and if he were to call now the hyungs would probably insist on coming
to meet him with an umbrella or something, and he doesn’t want them getting wet too.

Technically he was supposed to wait at the art college to get picked up after his evening class, but
their professor had been absent tonight due to sickness, so they’d all been encouraged to use the
time to touch up their portfolio, which is something Jungkook could do just as easily in the comfort
and privacy of his own art studio at home. Technically the class isn’t due to finish for at least
another hour, so there’s no risk that Hoseok would have set off from the nest to collect him yet.

His Timberlands splash through the rapidly swelling puddles as he approaches the forest’s edge,
his eyes now able to pinpoint the row of faintly rippling trees that don’t quite look real. The veil
gets easier to see through every time he encounters it, and he knows from what the hyungs have
told him that eventually he won’t see trees at all. It’s a far less disorientating experience nowadays,
but he still closes his eyes briefly during that split-second as he hits the barrier, because the burst of
fractal colours always leaves him seeing stars.

Jungkook feels the amber pendant pulse with warmth where it rests against his chest beneath his
shirt, and he grins again at the familiar euphoric rush that follows, jumping in a particularly large
puddle with a laugh before continuing on up the sheltered road, his own footfalls drowned out by
the echoing pitter-patter of a hundred-thousand raindrops bouncing off leaves in the forest around
him.

He finally reaches the clearing, setting off up the pavestone path towards the front steps of the
mansion. He’s only halfway along when the front door swings open, a familiar figure silhouetted
there against the warm glow of the well-lit hallway behind him.

“Kim Jungkook!” Jin calls above the noise of the downpour. “Why aren’t you wearing a coat?
Where’s your umbrella?”

The youth laughs again, too full of cheerful energy to feel guilty at the gentle scolding. He watches
as Jin steps out onto the porch and lifts a hand towards the sky, and immediately the raindrops stop
falling onto Jungkook, although they still pitter-patter elsewhere. Jungkook glances up, intrigued,
at the faint shimmer that hangs in the air above him, spanning the length of the remaining path up
to the front entrance. Cool.

He’s out of breath by the time he comes to a stop beneath the shelter of the porch’s overhang,
grinning up at Jin and blinking raindrops out of his eyes.

“Why didn’t you call ahead?” the vampire continues to scold, although the affection in his voice
diminishes its effectiveness as he takes Jungkook by the hand and pulls him inside, the door closing
behind them by itself. “Ai, poppet, you’re wet through. Do you want to catch cold? And why are
you home so early, I thought your class didn’t finish until nine o’clock?”

“Professor couldn’t make it,” Jungkook answers as he catches his breath, letting Jin peel him out of
his sodden cotton jacket.

“Welcome back, Kookie,” another voice greets him, and he glances over to see Yoongi coming
down the central staircase, a stack of fluffy towels in his arms.

Seokjin looks scandalised. “You knew?”

“Sure,” Yoongi confirms, unrepentant, as he comes to join them by the door, leaning in to peck a
chaste kiss against Jungkook’s grinning mouth. “Congratulations, beautiful.”

“Congratulations?” Jin echoes, glancing between the two of them curiously as he unfurls one of the
towels, wrapping it around Jungkook’s slight frame and rubbing at his upper arms.

Yoongi meets Jungkook’s gaze with a warm smile. “He might just forget about the rain incident if
you tell him now, bun.”

Jungkook grins, and reaches into his back pocket to pull out his phone, quickly finding the
confirmation email that had pinged into his inbox at the start of class. It was the reason he’d been
so keen to come home early, and why nothing (not the grey skies, not the rain, not his sodden
clothing and muddy Timerblands) could put a dampener on his high spirits.

“I got into the summer programme, hyung,” he announces, unable to hide his exuberance as he
bounces on his toes a little, turning the phone towards Jin. “When I didn’t hear back, I thought I’d
left the application too late, but I got the confirmation tonight. They’ve given me a full-time
placement!”

Seokjin’s expression transforms into one of surprise and delight, and he immediately swoops
Jungkook up in a tight hug, towel and all. The youth splutters a startled laugh and drops his phone,
but Yoongi reaches out to catch it without so much as blinking, still wearing that soft, satisfied
smile as Jungkook dangles from Jin’s arms, the tips of his boots hanging a good inch above the
ground.

“Oh, darling, that’s wonderful, ” the elder vampire enthuses, and sets Jungkook back down again to
cup his face and pepper kisses over his nose and cheeks. “I’m so happy for you. You’re going to do
brilliantly.”

Jungkook giggles, nose scrunching up at the tickling kisses as he loosely clutches at the soft fabric
of Jin’s shirt for balance.

A warm hand settles over the back of his neck, and he glances up to see Namjoon standing beside
him. He beams as the healer leans in to press his lips to Jungkook’s temple.

“Congratulations, sweetheart,” Namjoon murmurs. “We’re so proud of you.”

And oh, he loves hearing those words. They make him feel so good.

“What’s all the excitement about?”

Hoseok is peering down at the three of them from the upstairs landing, leaning over the intricately
carved banister, his smile curving wider as his gaze settles on Jungkook. And with good reason - if
the empath is sensing even a fraction of the happiness and excitement that Jungkook’s
experiencing right now, he probably feels pretty damn good.

“Hyung, I got into the summer programme!” Jungkook calls up to him, and watches as the elder’s
expression lights up.

The empath lets out a delighted whoop and promptly vaults over the banisters, dropping several
metres to land nimbly on his feet in a crouch, ignoring Seokjin’s sputtering protest at the
potentially hazardous maneuver as he comes skipping over to bestow his own congratulatory
kisses.

There’s a loud thump somewhere in the distance, followed by the familiar pattering of tiny paws
along the upstairs hallway, before Chim comes into view at the top of the staircase. The tiny pooch
gives a soft boof , bauble-tail wagging as he bounds down the stairs towards them. He shifts just as
he leaps from the bottom step, and Jimin beams as he runs to tackle Jungkook in a sideways hug,
knocking him back against Yoongi and Namjoon.
 “You did it!” Jimin smacks a loud mwah of a kiss against his cheek. “Never doubted you for a
second, babydoll. Jin-hyung, we gotta do something to celebrate!”

Seokjin smiles indulgently, stroking the younger vampire’s hair. “I’ll make hotteok, just as soon as
Kookie’s had a warm bath.”

“Wait, what are we celebrating?” Taehyung has reached the top of the stairs now, having
apparently followed after Chim. The nestling’s expression brightens when he sees Jungkook. “Oh
hey, you’re home early.” He glances between his assembled nestmates as he begins descending the
staircase. “Yah, why are you all hugging him without me, that’s rude, lemme in.”

Jungook laughs and snakes an arm out between Jimin and Hoseok to reach for Taehyung’s hand,
reeling him into the group cuddle. Yoongi holds out Jungkook’s still-unlocked phone, and the
maknae-vampire squints as he concentrates on the screen for a moment, before sucking in a sharp
gasp. Jungkook again finds himself subjected to another barrage of enthusiastic congratulatory
kisses (not that he’s complaining).

Someone dumps another towel over his head to scrub at his damp hair, and Jin says something
about going to run him a hot bath, Jimin and Taehyung eagerly chiming in to offer their assistance.
Jungkook’s perfectly capable of bathing himself, but he isn't about to turn down an offer like that.

As their hands slip into his to tug him towards the staircase, Taehyung peers back at him with a
soft smile, eyes full of love and affection.

“Happy bun?” he asks, and Jungkook beams.

Yes. Definitely a happy bun.

- Fin -

Chapter End Notes

Thank you for sticking with me during this story! It's been such a pleasure to share this
AU with you all.

I know the world is a shitty place right now, but if Jungkook's happily-ever-after can
bring you some degree of relief from that, I'm delighted to provide that for you.

The prequels/sequels to this 'verse will begin shortly! i have a Royalty AU that I'm
 currently working on which will also be posted very soon, so stay tuned for that. :)

Take care, fam! Love you all. x

Please drop by the archive and comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!