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—Sophocles, Oedipus Rex

Noona! Please! Help! - Part 2

Fandom: BTS Characters: Younger Brothers BTS and Elder Sister Narrator Genre: A Little Dramatic and A Little Comedic Word Count: 1.3K Words Warning: Mention of other idols such as Lisa and Ryujin, tearing down clothes, breakdown, crying etc. Note: It’s a siblings AU story of BTS with the narrator as their elder sister. I tried to write something different from what I usually write about. I had fun making this. Hope it makes you feel good too. Happy Reading Everyone :)

Summary: Her little brothers can’t attend to a single task without her help. Be it a dance competition or asking out a girl for a date, they always seem to be finding everything too hard to go through without her by their side. ‘Our lucky charm’; that’s what they like to call her. But what if she turns out to be a misfortune in different situations in one single day?

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - More to come

Not Really the Best Dancer:

06:45 a.m. 1st September, 2015

I still have more than an hour before Hobi’s aka Hoseok’s dance starts. So, I decided to take a shower and apply some light makeup that would suit all the occasions I am to participate in. I had taken a day off work today. Because, I’m about to meet my seven little brothers, that too, at different times in one single day.

I make a mental note of my schedule and get out of my house (Sorry, it’s actually my granma's house) 10 minutes prior to Hobi’s dance. He is going to participate in the finale of the dance competition he had been practicing for for the last three years. Though a little nervous, I’m pretty positive he is going to win. I mean, why not? He’s the best dancer I have ever seen.

“Come here!” Hobi waves his hand while talking to me on the phone. I go straight to him pushing the crowd ahead of me.

“You should have hurried, Noona!” Hobi says with a pout, “I have to go change. The show’s starting.”

“Alright!” I tell him, “Go on, then. I’ll be cheering you on from the crowd. Are you nervous?”

“Nah!” Hobi dismisses the question with a slight wave of his hand and by putting a bright smile on his face, “Why would I be? I’ve got you.”

I take his hands in mine, clearly noticing the sweaty palms, “Fighting!”

“Fighting!” with a little shake of the hands he disappears inside the dressing room.

Lisa starts her performance with a loud applause from the crowd. I had watched some of the previous dance performances of others in the videos Hoseok brought home for me to see. But I don’t remember watching any of her. Watching her perform live in front of me makes me a little nervous. She has one of the best body controls. And it is definitely something to worry about.

The next participant gets as much cheers from the crowd as her previous competitor. Her name’s Ryujin and I had seen her collaborating with Hobi before. I liked that dance so much at the time. Now, I’m not really sure I’m liking her moves. Of course, she can dance. And that is exactly my problem.

Finally, Hoseok takes the stage as ‘J-Hope’ and the crowd bursts into loud screams from the enthusiasts. All my anxieties take some rest. But as soon as he starts to move along the beat, I feel like I’m holding my breath. As if that would ensure his perfect performance.

Everything goes smoothly until at a point Hoseok rips off his shirt; earning more screams from the audience. I’m shocked at the revelation. Is it a mistake? I mean, Hoseok would never do that. Once he had told me himself that he doesn’t like showing much skin. It’s the choreography that matters more to him.

But it seems like I’m the only one who’s confused. Others around me seem to be enjoying the dance along with that little distraction that he made. However, I gather myself just before the end so that I don’t forget to cheer and clap the loudest for my little Hobi.

There’s a thirty minute break before they announce the winner of the long one month competition. I check my phone and gasp.

Three missed calls from Yoongi.

I check the time. It’s already 8:48 a.m. Yoongi’s game starts at 8:30 a.m. I was supposed to be with him now. I look out for Hobi.

“You did great!” I compliment him hurriedly.

“Thanks but…” Hobi frowns.

“What’s the matter?” I take a closer look at his sweaty face.

“It’s just that” Hobi continues, “I feel like I made a mistake.”

My phone rings before I could tell him anything. It’s Yoongi again.

“Umm…” I hesitate before speaking, “I still believe you’re going to win. Hobi… Please don’t mind but… I really have to be somewhere now.”

“What?” Hobi looks up, “No way! Wait for the announcement at least. Please, Noona! You promised!”

“I promised I will watch you perform. And I did that. Besides, you didn’t mention the results will take that long to be announced. I have to meet Yoongi. Apparently he has an important match too.”

Hobi scoffs, “As if he’s the one playing.”

I can sense the anger rising within him. First of all, he’s upset about some mistakes that he made. Now that I’ve mentioned Yoongi, he’s definitely pissed. Hoseok never liked the fact that Yoongi bets money on basketball matches. According to him, “It’s a waste of money if you lose. And a waste of character if you win.”

“You can go if you want.” Hobi says finally, “It’s not even a huge deal.”

I know he doesn’t mean that. It is in fact a huge deal for him. My common sense tells me it is better to deal with an angry Yoongi than with an angry Hoseok.

I smile and pull him into a hug. He’s surprised by my sudden action. “What’re you doing?”

“Don’t worry!” I say, “Noona will stay so that you win.”

“Oh yeah!” Hobi hugs me back, “Then, I’ll definitely win.”

“I’ll be there as soon as it ends.” I yell at Yoongi through my phone because of the loud audience around me.

“Yeah, take your time.” Yoongi says bitterly, “Looks like Hoba is in need of some luck more than I do today. ‘Cause we’re already winning.” Then, he cuts the line.

I don’t have the time to think about his last remark. The three participants walk to the stage and the crowd cheers louder, as if it is even possible. I cheer for Hobi too, mentally praying to God that my little brother gets the fruit that he’s been nurturing for so long.

With some dramatic speeches and hearts beating up to our throats, the result is finally revealed. And J-Hope is not the winner.

Looks like Ryujin outdid the others this time and she is as shocked as I am to find it out. Both Lisa and Hobi are clapping with bright smiles on their faces. They are both bowing to Ryujin, who in turn is bowing to them. The flower bouquet is presented to her and the rest of the celebration goes on in blur.

I went backstage to meet Hobi. But I only see two girls hugging and complimenting each other. Hobi is nowhere to be seen. I look through the dressing room and he’s not there.

I decide to peek at the boy’s bathroom to check and I sigh in relief. Hobi is bending towards the basin, his hands covering the face while the faucet runs beneath.

“Hobi!” I call him softly.

“Please, Noona!” His voice cracks as he tries to speak, “Just give me some time. I promise I’ll be okay. Just some time is all I need.”

Contemplating on why it is hard for me to believe that he is crying out of failure, I find that it is because I had never experienced Hoseok openly displaying sadness before. He was always the ray of sunshine, the restless butterfly or the sweet smelling flower of our family. As if it is what’s expected of him.

Even right now, in such a vulnerable state of mind, he doesn’t seem to be trusting me enough to have confided in me. Instead, he’s willing to go through a breakdown all alone until he’s ready to smile brightly again.

I am dumbfounded. I feel like I need to tell him something, comfort him and let him know that he’s not here alone. I want to make him feel that it's okay to fail. That he’s still loved and that’s what should matter the most.

My phone rings in my pocket once again and Hoseok looks up from the sink. With teary red eyes he says, “It must be Yoongi Hyung. Don’t make him wait any longer. Just go. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, confused.

“I guess,” he sniffs, “I accept my defeat. Maybe, I’m not really the best dancer that you used to think I am.”

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he just has very sensitive tear ducts cr. namuspromised, 0613data, jung-koook

My Guardian Angel - Part 2

Fandom: BTS Paring: Min Yoongi x Female Reader Genre: Fluff and slight angst Warning: Age gap, sorry but Yoongi spoils our little mc too much, nightmares, implication of abusive parents, running away from home, kissing (on the cheek), sickness, crying etc. Word Count: 2.8K Words Note: Since the reader is only 15 years old, I reduced Yoongi’s age to be 22. Please keep the age gap in mind before diving in to read. I must say there is nothing explicit in here.

Summary: You start to find happiness in the little things of your everyday routine bound life with the not-so-stranger in your shared home...

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 [Complete]

*************************************************

"Kitten, I'm home." A familiar voice greeted me from the outside while I was inside hiding beside the closed door.

My three most favorite words coming out of the mouth of my favorite person were enough to make even my worst day better. I tried hard to stop myself from giggling and giving away my position to him.

“Shelby, don’t!” I angrily whispered to our dog to stay quiet at her place. But she kept looking in my direction with her tail wagging behind her. I glared at her to stop. There was no time to bring Shelby beside me. Because I could already hear Yoongi opening the door.

And “Bwagh!!!” I yelled at his face right away.

“Ahh!” Yoongi sighed irritably. His eyes closed with a visible frown on his forehead. “How long will you keep this up?” He asked finally.

“Long enough for you to get used to it.” I replied happily. I wondered how stupid he could be for falling for the same old trick dozens of times. Nevertheless, this simple silly act made both of our days better.

As for most of my days, there was nothing exciting going on. Yoongi left everyday early in the morning even before I was awake. He always prepared both breakfast and lunch so that I really had no work to do. The only thing that kept me busy in this house in the middle of nowhere was our dog, Shelby. I would pet her, feed her, play with her and even talk to her from time to time to pass my lonely hours.

And Yoongi would be busy doing carpentry in the nearest town. He would have his lunch outside and would be home before it's too dark. His coming home was the time I wait for everyday since I started living with him. Because everyday I missed his presence beside me terribly.

As soon as he was home, I was happy again. I would start talking about how boring my day went and how much I missed him and what a new trick I had taught Shelby and what an interesting story I read from one of his old books and what a unique insect I had discovered outside and many more.

Despite being exhausted from his work earlier, Yoongi never complained. He listened attentively while doing his usual household chores with me. He rarely interrupted me while I talked but I knew for sure he was listening.

On a normal night, we would go to bed as soon as we were done with our dinner. But sometimes I would make a request to Yoongi to play the guitar for me. And he would be already on the couch ready to play my favorite tune as soon as I rested my head on his lap. Sometimes I would fall asleep and Yoongi would carry me to the bed without waking me up.

He let me have the bed for myself. It was too small for two people. So Yoongi would sleep on a sleeping bag on the floor beside it. I had asked him to let me sleep there instead since it was practically his house. But he refused and stayed firm in his decision.

Even with all the happiness that I never imagined I could experience, it would be a lie to say that I never feared losing it all. I often did. Actually more often than it could be counted as often. Every time I could hear Yoongi’s soft snoring through the quiet night, I would think about my life before him.

I knew that I was a burden on my step father who, after my mother’s death, had clearly shown me in every single way possible that I was unwanted in his house. But he was also very strict and possessive in nature. What if one day he decided that he would search for me?

I dreaded that my step father would find me somehow and all of this would be over. I would no longer be able to see Yoongi. I would no longer know what happiness truly feels like. I would no longer have a place to call home.

"Don't go anywhere far. I don't have the energy to look for you around the whole town." Yoongi yelled at me as I sprinted out of the grocery store.

"I won't." I replied louder as I went closer to one of my favorite places.

The gift shop.

It was a regular thing at this point. Every weekend, Yoongi would bring me with him to the town to do the week's grocery shopping and after that I was allowed to look through the cheap gift shop nearby. I would find something I liked and Yoongi would buy that for me in the hope of keeping my mood lifted throughout the whole week.

I walked around the small shop and carefully looked for the one thing that could bring me some comfort at times when Yoongi’s not there for me. And the little fox plushie, I assumed, recently came into the shop because I never had seen one here, caught my attention.

“Aren’t you a cutie?" I took the sleeping fox in my arms and cradled it slowly. I realized I had never had a stuffed animal my entire life. Not that I had always wanted one. But the sudden realization made me want to have a stuffed animal for myself.

I sensed Yoongi coming into the shop and I looked back, holding the fox towards him to see.

"So, you've already made up your mind, kitten?" Yoongi took the plushie from me to check it. But there was a frown on his forehead.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Umm... I think we can find something better than this." He returned the baby fox back to its family.

That was a really unexpected reply. Yoongi had never refused to buy me the thing I always chose for myself. I couldn’t even see any defect on it for him to say that. As he walked away from the plushie section, I took the little fox again and the price tag caught my eyes this time.

Hell, no!

"How come something that is too costly ended up at a cheap shop like this one?" I thought to myself. I could tell that my face went red from the embarrassment.

I should have been more understanding. Just because he said he'd buy me anything I liked didn't mean that I could ask for just about anything. That's asking a little too much from him considering how generous he was to me.

So, I picked a colorful key chain and showed it to Yoongi, pretending to be very hyped about it. He simply nodded and got that for me.

On our way home, I couldn't bring myself to talk like I usually did. Yoongi, too, remained too quiet.

The next weekend, Yoongi had to go to work. He said that it was the only time I had to miss going to the town and that he would make sure that it would never happen again. Despite the reassurance, I was kinda mad at him the whole day and decided not to talk to him when he came home.

He came home later than usual, called "Kitten, I'm home" as usual and asked me to put the groceries at the right places.

I, intentionally sulking at his presence, took the bags from him and got to work without any words. Judging by the heavy atmosphere that I had created around the house, he seemed to have understood how I felt. But he stayed quiet nonetheless.

My head was burning at that point. Maybe that was why I made unnecessary noises while doing the simple tasks Yoongi had assigned me to do.

"Oppa!" I couldn't help exclaiming as I noticed the small bag. I had been to the place too many times to know where it came from. And there it was. The little sleeping fox plush, waiting for me to embrace it in my arms.

I waited no longer. I ran towards Yoongi and immediately pulled him in a hug. Unable to say how happy he had made me, I kissed his cheek impulsively instead.

"Aish!" That usual sound of Yoongi whenever he was irritated or at least wanted me to think that he was.

But in a split second, his face beamed and he accidently flashed a gummy smile. Not to be exaggerating but it was a sight worth dying for. Yoongi's face changed, with that his whole demeanor changed as well. He looked like a completely different person when he smiled like that.

So, I had to say it, "Had I known it before, I would have kissed you all day and night, only for you to smile like that."

The only time I remembered going on a vacation was when I was a child and my father was alive at the time. We had gone to stay by the sea for a week. Even though most of the memories were faded, I could still see my father’s happy face in my mind sometimes.

This time it was the desert in contrast to the sea. Yoongi had planned to take a few days off from work and take me on a hike. I had never been so excited to look forward to something. We packed our stuff, got in his jeep and drove off.

The place looked so lively with many plants of vibrant colors. There were small and big mountains. The huge golden field stretched ahead of us. Yoongi parked his car at a side and we got off with our bags. After some hours of walking past the rocky mountains we found a suitable place to camp for the night.

I was excited at the prospect of sleeping in the open sky. Something about seeing the galaxy all night told me that it was a rare experience only a few fortunates could afford. I got another new reason to be grateful to Yoongi for the rest of my life.

“Oppa!” I called to check if he was already asleep since we had a long day.

“Hmm?” he replied.

“What does it feel like to look at the sky and you can see a part of eternity ahead of you?”

“Umm…” He thought for a moment before answering, “I don’t know! What do you feel about it?”

“I feel small. I feel insignificant. I feel…” I stopped and glanced at him, expecting a reaction.

He was still looking at the sky earnestly but hummed quietly at my response. It felt like I didn’t need to explain it further. Yoongi understood.

“Oppa!” I hesitantly called again, “Would you mind if I ask you something?”

“Ask away!” He shot me a pretending-to-be-annoying look and turned back to the sky.

I gulped before asking, “Why do you live alone?”

“For peace.” He sighed.

“I don't think I understand.”

Yoongi stayed quiet for some time and I felt like I shouldn’t have pushed the boundary. So, I turned on the other side and closed my eyes.

As I was dozing off, I could hear Yoongi’s deep soothing voice. He talked as if he was living the memory that he was speaking of. My tired eyes couldn’t cooperate. But my ears were all awoken.

“I was about your age, kitten, when I ran away from my parents seven years ago. Until now I never regretted that decision even though there were times I actually missed them. Because it was the only way i could bear to live with a sane mind. Solitary life offers you a kind of peace you wouldn’t know you needed until you can experience it. But…”

He stopped suddenly. I wanted to ask him to continue. I wanted to know what could be the ‘but’ when he himself said that he didn’t regret it. Apparently I didn’t need to. Because Yoongi spoke the rest of the words in a muffled voice as he fixed his posture to a comforting sleeping position.

“I never realized that it was happiness that I lacked in my life apart from peace. That was until I met you.”

His words kept me up through most of the night.

The next morning, it turned out I had a severe dust allergy. So, I woke up with a swollen face and a tight throat. The horror in Yoongi’s eyes as he realized something was wrong with me was another new thing I discovered his neutral face could do.

My feet were blistered from walking in the heat last day. So, after walking almost half of the way, Yoongi had to give me a piggyback ride until we reached his jeep.

I rested my head on his shoulders as he walked slowly carrying my weight on his back. And I spoke quietly in his ears.

“It was the same for me too, Oppa. I realized I can finally rely on someone without having to feel like a burden.”

I could hear the usual sound of the car being parked outside. I sprinted out of my room in no second to greet Yoongi. But instead I saw the man I was the most scared of before me. It was my step father.

“Long time, no see, huh?” He grinned at me with his disgusting rotten teeth.

“H… how d… did you find me?” I stammered as I took a step back.

“C’mon, now! Is that the way you greet your father?” The man began to walk towards me.

“Stop!” I yelled. “You’re not my father.” I wanted to scream it on his face but couldn’t bring myself to do so.

“Quit the game. It’s time to go home.” He quickly grabbed onto my wrist before I could turn back to run.

“Let go of me.” I screamed. “I’m not going anywhere from here.”

No matter how much I screamed or pleaded, he seemed to take no notice of that. He kept dragging me towards his van. I tried hard to fight him. But he was way too strong.

“Oppa!” I tried calling for Yoongi in vain. I knew he wouldn’t be able to hear me. He was miles away at work. He didn’t even know anything about the existence of my cruel step father.

As soon as he threw me inside his van I tried to get up and escape. But he grabbed onto my hair and pulled me back inside. I screeched my lungs out as a sharp pain ran through my head.

I woke up panting and drenched in sweat. I must have screamed in real life because Yoongi was already beside me, trying to read from my face just how bad of a nightmare I had.

I tried to speak but my breath was hitched, as always, whenever I cried. Yoongi moved a little closer and I threw myself at him, hugging him by his neck and sobbing loudly on his chest.

My grip on him tightened as he tried to move. I couldn’t let him go from my sight. I couldn’t let my nightmare come to reality.

Yoongi hugged me back and stayed that way for quite some time before whispering softly in my ears.

“Kitten!” He said, “I’m not going anywhere. Just give me a minute, okay?”

I sniffed and nodded my head as I released my hold on his neck. Yoongi went to the patio and came back quickly with his guitar. I tilted my head to the side in confusion.

Yoongi started to play a soft tune. It was a new one. I hadn’t heard him playing it before. I grabbed a pillow and leaned on the side of the bed. Then I closed my eyes to absorb the music. I noticed that it made me feel relaxed within a minute and I was able to speak again. He really knew how to calm me down.

Something that I had come to notice was that Yoongi never talked unless he knew for sure I was ready to speak again. So I had to make the first move. And I calculated just what to ask for in my head before I spoke.

“Oppa! I have a favor to ask for.” I stated quietly. I knew Yoongi wouldn’t be able to refuse.

He stopped the music and looked towards me. I said, “Can you please lie beside me until I sleep? Just tonight? I swear I won’t ask again.”

Yoongi closed his eyes and shook his head in frustration, “Aish! This girl and her whining. Yah!” He scolded me, still speaking softly though, “Don’t you think I’m spoiling you a little too much? You’re always asking for favors. How old do you think you are?...”

His rant went on about as much time as it took for him to make the bed. Then he lied in the corner, making an irritated face. I smilingly joined him without a word. Even though he would say that he didn’t like to be touched, he was undoubtedly the best cuddling partner one could ever wish for.

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‘’Small flaws, glitches, my new afterimage. Breaking down the wall between what I want to say and what I cannot say, not getting intimidated but rebelling and asking questions against what the world demands. The world’s fixed stereotypes collides with my inner self and leaves trauma for a while but this temporary glitch transforms into the driving force to create a new wavelength and becomes a part of me.’‘

"Think of you when I'm going to bed

When I wake up, think of you again."

Noona! Please! Help! - Part 1

Fandom: BTS Characters: Younger Brothers BTS and Elder Sister Narrator Genre: A Little Dramatic and A Little Comedic Word Count: 1.7K Words Warning: Mention of BTS crackhead behaviors (I mean, why not? We all love their crackheadness), sickness, economic crisis, broken family, mention of emotional abuse, characters death etc. Note: It’s a siblings AU story of BTS with the narrator as their elder sister. I tried to write something different from what I usually write about. I had fun making this. Hope it makes you feel good too. Happy Reading Everyone :)

Summary: Her little brothers can’t attend to a single task without her help. Be it a dance competition or asking out a girl for a date, they always seem to be finding everything too hard to go through without her by their side. ‘Our lucky charm’; that’s what they like to call her. But what if she turns out to be a misfortune in different situations in one single day?

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - More to come

Prologue:

I always wonder when Ma said that she wanted a big family the day Pa had asked her to marry him, if she had really meant it like a family of ten people. But one thing was clear. Pa took her words to his heart and fulfilled her dream without compromise.

The struggle of being the elder sister of seven messy and chaotic brothers can be something impossible to even imagine. Especially if you are growing up in a household where both your parents are too sweet to ever scold their children.

I wish I could be that person who can easily punish her younger siblings when they misbehave. But alas! God had other plans. He made sure that my seven precious brothers were treated kindly by my parents to the point of being spoiled.

Now don’t get the wrong idea. My brothers are not all spoiled brats. In fact, most of them grew up to be gentlemen. At least, in front of the people that matters. But when they are home together with no one to supervise them, they are the biggest crackheads to ever exist.

Even if they give me headaches that are almost similar to that of the migraine pain my best friend suffers from (I said ‘almost’ because no pain compares to her evil migraine, trust me!) the moment I look into their eyes, I can’t bring myself to be mean. I think they have somehow mastered the art of creating the most innocent puppy eyes that melts my heart within seconds.

I think I am giving you the wrong idea all along. It's actually because I can’t express my frustration with my naughty angels in real life. So, it is making me pour out all the complaints here in texts all at once. Maybe it's time for a proper chronological introduction of them. And I will not make you wait any longer.

Kim Seok Jin:

The eldest and the handsomest, as he likes to be called, is none other than our Kim Seok Jin. “Just call me Jin. It sounds cool.” as our prince had once said. So, it had been maintained by everyone without a word. After all, he’s the hyung of the pack.

Three years younger than me, acts like the maknae more than the maknae does himself, Jin never fails to crack a joke at every family event. His sense of humor is unlike any other. No one would agree that his dad jokes are ever really funny. But you would never catch them not laughing even whenever Jin made one of his lamest jokes. My personal belief is that the mystery lies within Jin’s own laughing sound.

Kim Yoon Gi:

The only one who dares not to laugh, when the others are ready to roll on the ground, is our second eldest hyung, Yoongi. He even managed to come into this world as early as possible after Jin so that only nine months is their age difference.

My grandma used to tell a touching story of how my mother had lost her beloved cat during her pregnancy when she carried Yoongi. That’s how he ended up getting her cat’s name. Yoongi lives up to his name too. He looks like a cat, acts like a cat and I feel that he even thinks like a cat.

Kim Ho Seok:

Oldest by only seven minutes among the first set of twins mother gave birth to, Hoseok is the sunshine of our family. His bright spirit and reckless laugh puts everyone at ease. It is as if he had taken the responsibility of always keeping the good vibes in the family.

However, his angry side is just as scary. Nobody wants to deal with an angry Hoseok. Nobody! Not Jin, not me, not even Ma and Pa.

Kim Nam Joon:

Hoseok’s twin Namjoon is the brain of the team. Who said that it is always the middle child who gets ignored all the time? Namjoon proves every single one of them wrong. It is always Namjoon who comes to the conversation first whenever a relative of ours asks about us.

With all that demeanor like an older child, both physically and mentally, Namjoon still has a very childish side of him. That child is the God of destruction who breaks everything it touches. These contradictory qualities had earned him his nickname, ‘Giant-baby’.

Kim Ji Min:

The second set of twins produced Jimin as the oldest. Jimin, the comforter. Jimin, the lovely. And definitely Jimin, the flirt.

If cringe could be a person, he would be Jimin. He never shies away from his emotions. “Did I mention that I love you?” is something you would often hear him say. Even though others pretend to throw up at his words of affirmations, they have to agree that they can’t help liking it secretly.

Kim Taehyung:

Jimin’s soulmate, born with a face of a Greek God, Kim Taehyung runs the fashion industry in our home. “That lipstick doesn’t suit your eye makeup” , “The shoes made your whole fit cheap”, “Try to wear that and everyone will think you’re going through a breakup.” Taehyung doesn’t care to point them out.

Taehyung lives in his own world. Not in his mind exactly. I think it is an invisible world that coexists with ours. Because most of the time, we question his behavior and sometimes his sanity too.

Kim Jungkook:

The golden maknae, also the only one having a two years age difference with his closest elder hyung, is our bunny boy Jungkook. At first sight, everyone would think he’s the high school heartthrob. But once you get to know him, you’ll know how shy he is in front of strangers.

Whatever shyness he has in him, he uses them all outside our home. Because inside it’s always, “Party! Party! Yeah!” And that party is always him alone in his room doing karaoke till it's 3 in the morning. But who’s to scold him for that?

The reason behind each of their varying personalities, I believe, is because we grew up in different households as children. Is it even surprising? Do you think it is really possible for two people to take care of eight kids without help? The answer to this question may be a little complicated.

But my parents were determined to raise their kids by themselves so that none of them ever feels left out. And they did it too, for almost 8 years. But Ma fell ill right after giving birth to Jungkook. And Pa was having some financial crisis at the same time. As it has been said 'Bad things come in threes', Jungkook was born with some complications.

So, Pa had to focus on him and him alone. It was still hard for Pa to do it without Ma by his side. That's when I decided to take charge of taking care of the youngest while Pa looked after Ma and his business. I know I was only 8 years old at the time, but our situation had forced me to be more mature than that.

After some discussions on our wellbeing and the family's economic condition, Ma and Pa decided to keep Jungkook and me only. They told me that it was only for the time being and that they would bring everyone together as soon as they could.

Poor Jimin and Taehyung had no idea when they were sent to live with Granma and Granpa. I learned later that little Tae had continually cried for days and Jimin had grown too quiet for a two year old.

Namjoon and Hoseok were sent to stay with Ma's elder sister, her husband and her little daughter who was just about the age of the twins. As far as the report went, I'm positive that among all my brothers they got to stay a little happier away from home.

The one who suffered the most was probably Yoongi. Being too innocent for this world, Pa had failed to recognise how cruel his brother's behavior could sometimes get. Maybe growing up with an emotionally unavailable adult made Yoongi the most outwardly cold. Mind you that I said 'outwardly' because I'm sure if you can see through his heart, you will find something quite the opposite.

Jin stayed with Pa's sister who had been raising kids her whole life. All of her kids were older than Jin. So I guess it's easier to understand why Jin acts like a maknae all the time.

The idea of bringing them home 'as soon as possible' remained an idea. Because by the time Pa had somehow managed to get into a reliable position with his business, Ma was gone. And Pa had no other choice but to follow her.

Since it would be impossible for a 13 year old to be taking care of her 5 year old brother on her own, Granma decided to take us to her as well. So, we were reunited with Tae and Jimin in her house.

One by one, my little brothers turned 18 and built their own life. Even though I am now a full grown 25 year old woman I still couldn't leave my granma's house. And it is because I couldn't give up on being a parent to the youngest who has still not crossed the line of 18.

"Just wait for one more year and I'll grow up and thrive in this world." Jungkook says that quite a lot lately. Even though it might sound a little selfish, I wish my Jungkookie never grew up. So that I could keep him all to myself like I had been doing for the past 17 years of my life.

But there is a bright side of them finally turning 18. One by one the hyung line among my brothers started to get in touch with me more and more frequently. Finally, after years of separation, I truly feel like I'm getting to be that older sister that I had to be. And I'm happy that they are allowing me to be just that.

You might get a little confused as to why I had complained about them in the beginning of this story as if they were little kids I have to look after when I didn't even get to live with them for that long. Let me get you out of this confusion. It's because now that I finally get to be close enough once again, I realized one very important fact that applies to them all. My brothers haven't really grown up.

Next >

My Masterlist

🌞 Rub sunscreen all over Seokjin's broad shoulders OR huddle under Yoongi's massive umbrella to hide from the sun

🌞 Take a body shot that consists of licking salt off Hoseok's clavicle, shooting back the tequila, then sucking the lime that Taehyung is holding between his lips OR hold the lime between your lips for Jimin while he takes the shot

🌞 Pour water over the wet t-shirt contest contestants, among which is Namjoon OR participate in the contest, making flirtatious eye contact as Jungkook pours the water all over you

🌞 Get a butterfly lower back tattoo with Jimin OR get your bellybutton pierced with Jungkook

🌞 Skip the day drinking and get lost on some hike with Namjoon OR take a hiking tour that is guided by Taehyung OR stay back at the resort and play video games with Seokjin

🌞 Let Yoongi drag you around to all the local restaurants he wants to try OR club hop with Hoseok

🌞 Ride on the back of a jet ski with Jungkook OR play chicken on top of Seokjin's broad shoulders while trying to push Jimin off into the water

🌞 Find volunteer work to help the locals with Namjoon OR go snorkeling with Taehyung

🌞 Have a competition to see who can get the most likes on their vacation instagram posts with Hoseok OR tag Yoongi in every photo of the local cats that you post

🏖️ This or That: BTS Spring Break Edition

being a child of the 90s, all i think about when i hear/see the words "spring break" is seeing college students day drinking on a sandy beach making questionable choices on mtv..........so let's travel there and party! (or find alternatives to participating in all the chaos!) 👙🍹🩳🌞 these questions are not explicit, but they are also not entirely sfw, so proceed with caution. minors dni!

rub sunscreen all over Seokjin's broad shoulders OR huddle under Yoongi's massive umbrella to hide from the sun 🌞 take a body shot that consists of licking salt off Hoseok's clavicle, shooting back the tequila, then sucking the lime that Taehyung is holding between his lips OR hold the lime between your lips for Jimin while he takes the shot 🌞 pour water over the wet t-shirt contest contestants, among which is Namjoon OR participate in the contest, making flirtatious eye contact as Jungkook pours the water all over you 🌞 get a butterfly lower back tattoo with Jimin OR get your bellybutton pierced with Jungkook 🌞 skip the day drinking and get lost on some hike with Namjoon OR take a hiking tour that is guided by Taehyung OR stay back at the resort and play video games with Seokjin 🌞 let Yoongi drag you around to all the local restaurants he wants to try OR club hop with Hoseok 🌞 ride on the back of a jet ski with Jungkook OR play chicken on top of Seokjin's broad shoulders while trying to push Jimin off into the water 🌞 find volunteer work to help the locals with Namjoon OR go snorkeling with Taehyung 🌞 have a competition to see who can get the most likes on their vacation instagram posts with Hoseok OR tag Yoongi in every photo of the local cats that you post

i’m leaving the top blank so that you can keep your answers with the original post and remove reblogs, if you’d like! feel free to tag your friends! i want to see what everyone says!!!

The amount of time I wanted to end it all...

But then, I said to myself, "Had Suga ended his life when he was in high school, he would not have been here."

"Have patience. Your time will come."

Happy Birthday to one of the strongest people I know...

My Guardian Angel - Part 1

Fandom: BTS Paring: Min Yoongi x Female Reader Genre: Fluff and slight angst Warning: Age gap, running away from home, starving, lots of crying (I’m sorry but the mc cries a lot), panic attack, implication of abuse etc. Word Count: 2.7K Words Note: Since the reader is only 15 years old, I reduced Yoongi’s age to be 22. Please keep the age gap in mind before diving in to read. I must say there is nothing explicit in here.

Summary: You decide to follow a kind hearted stranger to his house in the middle of nowhere after you ran away from your abusive household...

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 [Complete]

*************************************************

I couldn't even keep track of the time. Who knew how long I had been sitting here all alone. The passers by kept throwing glances at me every now and then. But nobody really cared to ask me if I was okay or what I was up to even if my get up suggested that I wasn't a local in this place.

I had been observing my surroundings carefully. It seemed like I had taken my refuge in a complete foreign land. It was a rocky desert. It shouldn't be called a desert I suppose. Because there were enough plants to make it look livelier, at least to me. I was under a tree myself and secretly grateful for it because it was sheltering me from the heat of the sun. Even though it was winter, the heat had been bothering me since I had walked a long way to reach where I was now. Losing my energy completely, I collapsed beside this old friendly tree.

There was a grocery store beside me. People were going inside occasionally and coming out of it with huge bags. There might be a month's worth of groceries in them. Some of them would walk past me while biting into their snacks. It wasn't making me feel any better since I was starving for a whole day.

Even with the hunger, I was still dozing off because my body couldn't afford to keep me going any longer. That was when he came to me.

I heard someone clearing their throat. But I didn't bother to look up. Not gaining my attention, the person next to me let out a cough next. I looked up this time.

I saw before me a young man, probably in his twenties, carrying a grocery bag on one hand and a whiskey bottle on the other. He was wearing bright but dark blue clothes with a vest on. I noticed that his boots below the baggy black pants were a different shade of blue. All in all, I didn't like his outfit at all.

But there was something I couldn't say I didn't like. It was his hair. Bright fiery red hair. But as I checked out his facial features, I wasn't very glad that he had approached me. He looked really intimidating. Even the beautiful hair was making it worse.

I fixed my sitting posture as I felt a little uncomfortable around the stranger. To my relief, he looked away from me immediately but asked nonetheless, "where are you from? I haven't seen you around."

I didn't reply. So, he asked again, "do you have a home?" He then glanced at me once more.

Again, I remained quiet. He nodded his head as if he got the answers. "I'll just assume you ran away from your place. Seeing you in a state like this, it's most likely." He got it right. But I still didn't want to talk to him.

He leaned a little forward to me and asked in the most gentle voice, "Do you want to eat something? Are you hungry?"

The mention of hunger suddenly made my stomach growl. I nodded slowly. He tried to take out something that he had bought from the store earlier and a tangerine fell from the bag as he was doing so. When I moved to pick it up he went for it first and said, "uh-huh, that's for me." I immediately backed away.

Then, he handed me a sandwich. I grabbed it quickly and started to gobble it up. At that moment, the cold sandwich tasted like the best thing in this world. I couldn't help but let out a sound of satisfaction after the first bite.

He sat a little further from me and started to peel his fruit. I was done eating in a matter of a minute. He offered me a bottle of water. I took it gently this time and bowed my head to show him my gratitude.

He asked while feeding himself a piece of the tangerine, "How long have you been out and not eating?"

I noticed that though he talked with a heavy accent, his voice has a natural calmness. His ordinary questions sounded like music to my barren ears. Instead of answering, I kept staring at him in awe.

He looked back at me and tilted his head a little before saying, "So, you want this too?" He extended his hand towards me to offer two pieces of his little round ball of a fruit and I gladly accepted them, this time, with a little smile.

“I’ll get going now! I hope you figure out what you’re going to do next. Sitting here all by yourself won’t help you.” He said as he stood up and rubbed the dust away from his clothes.

I looked at him earnestly. I didn’t want him to leave. I wished he stayed a little longer so that I could get comfortable enough to talk to him. He looked down at me and said, “Don’t worry! I won’t advise you to go back home.” Then he muttered to himself, “I doubt if it was even a home.”

He looked back at me and said, “I hope you know the stranger danger rule already. That’s a good tactic that you didn’t talk to me just now. But I hope you won’t accept food from any strange man in the future. And don’t stay at a place long enough for people to notice that you need help. Get moving.”

Then he bowed his head a little before walking towards his jeep. He was going away. Suddenly, all the uncertainty regarding my future hit me hard and I started to panic. What should I do now? I had to stop him.

I jumped on to my feet and pulled my backpack on my shoulders before running towards him. He was about to open the door to his car when he realized I was behind him. He looked back with a confused face, “What happened?”

I cleared my throat to say, “I wish to go with you.”

His small eyes grew larger at my response. “Wha…what do you mean?”

“I meant what I said. I want to go with you. Where are you heading to?”

I knew I wasn’t the best judge of character. But I decided to listen to my intuition. Something told me that he was a guy (perhaps the only one) I could trust.

He shook his head and said, “Didn’t you hear a word I said? Don’t talk with strangers let alone get in their car. Are you stupid or what?”

His words sounded harsh enough to make my eyes prickle. I shifted on my legs and said quietly, “But I’m really scared. I don’t know what I was thinking when I ran away. I have no experience of the real world out here. I’m afraid something might go wrong. Please, don’t leave me alone here.”

“I know the world’s terrifying.” He said with a gentler tone than before, “I’m pretty sure you’re aware of it too. But I could be just as terrifying. How are you so sure to trust me, huh? Do you even know my name?”

I shook my head and asked, “What’s your name?”

He let out a frustrated grunt and said, “Just go away, please.”

I tried to smile, “It’s okay! I can just call you ‘oppa’!”

He looked at me as if I just swore at him. He shook his head again, opened the car door and got in. He signaled me to move away from his path so that he could drive. That was when I couldn’t control  my tears anymore. I stood there, looking at him while tears poured down my face like a waterfall.

His brows knitted together to form a frown. He closed his eyes, shook his head and sighed heavily. Then, he looked at me and said in a way that suggested he was really pissed, “Alright, c’mon! Hop in.”

I smiled and wiped away my tears as I ran to sit beside him. I pulled him into a hug and said, “Oppa! Thank you so much.”

“Aish!” He spoke while pushing me away, “Stop making a fuss.” Then he went on muttering to himself, “I don’t even know why I’m doing this. I doubt you're ever going to listen to me.”

And he was right to have doubted that.

"Don't ever call me Oppa. My name's Min Yoongi and you'll call me by that name only. Understood?"

"But I like Oppa more."

"And don't do that again. Don't hug me. I'm intolerant to touch."

"But I can't help it when I get excited."

“Don’t talk back like that either.”

“But I…”

I stopped myself quickly and nodded my head enthusiastically. I needed to show him that I could be a good girl if I wanted to. Yoongi didn’t talk further and kept his eyes fixed on the road.

I noticed that we were driving away from the small town of the desert to… well, it could be said that his house was in the middle of nowhere. It was a cube shaped small one room house with a large patio in the front. Everything around it clearly suggested that Yoongi lived here all alone. But nonetheless the place was neat and clean for a bachelor living here. The best thing about the house was that it looked like a place that could be called home.

My chest swelled up with overwhelming emotions. I was already in love with it all. I could never imagine living in a place like this. Not even in my wildest dream. But then, a sudden thought crushed my dream into pieces. Yoongi never said I could stay at his place.

When the car was parked, Yoongi got down quietly. I followed him to his house. He nodded at the big couch on the patio for me to be seated and I sat down obediently. I had to make sure he found my behavior tolerable enough to let me stay.

He went inside the room and there was the barking of a dog. I could guess that he was walking around placing his groceries at convenient places. After a long time, when the sun was almost setting down, he came out with food ingredients. The dog also followed him out.

“It won’t take long. I hope you’re not too hungry.” He said while lighting up the stove. I shook my head. He nodded and continued to cook.

The dog came towards the couch to inspect me. I smiled and patted its head carefully. The dog didn't retreat. Instead, it climbed onto the couch beside me. It made me laugh with its adorable behavior.

Yoongi finally arranged the hot food on the table. I tried to help him but it didn’t seem like he needed any. When everything was done, we sat down opposite each other. The smell was delicious. But I still couldn’t bring myself to eat. I needed to let out the uneasy feeling I was having.

Yoongi definitely noticed that I was struggling to say something. He didn’t start eating but didn’t urge me to talk either. Instead, he waited patiently for me to open up first.

“Oppa!” I stuttered as I said, “I was won… wondering if you’re going to… I mean let me…” I shook my head before stating directly, “Please, let me stay with you.”

“I think we can decide upon the matter after dinner.” he replied politely.

I shook my head again, “Just give me one chance. Just the one. I promise, you won’t regret it. I will be a great help to you. I’ll do all of your house chores. I can wash the dishes and your clothes. I will wipe the floor clean. I can learn to cook if you want me too. Please, keep me as a maid. Don’t send me away.”

Yoongi handed me a pair of chopsticks and said, “Eat before it gets cold.”

With a lingering fear in my heart I had to withdraw.

I got up immediately after Yoongi finished his food. I decided I would give him a demonstration of my will and the hard work. I started to take everything inside the house to the sink. Yoongi silently joined in to help.

“I’ll do the dishes tonight.” I announced and proceeded to get the job done as quickly as I could.

Yoongi didn’t complain either. He sat down on his bed and moved his attention to a comic book. I started with the small things like spoons, chopsticks etc and gradually took the bowls and the plates.

“I have years of experience in household work, you know.” I boast about myself. But Yoongi didn’t budge. So I said louder, “I’m sure you’ll find me a useful maid.”

Yoongi turned to the next page to read. I tried to joke, “Who knows, maybe you’ll have to start paying me for the…” I couldn’t finish my sentence.

The plate slipped through my fingers and shattered on the floor making a piercing sound. I froze in my place. Yoongi looked up from his book. The barking of the dog was deafening my ears.

“Oh no!” I thought to myself, “I had done it again.”

I saw Yoongi placing the book on the bed and slowly walking towards me. I tried to defend myself, “I’m so sorry. Please… Listen to me. I… I didn’t mean to. It won’t happen again.”

Yoongi walked past me. I saw his hand reaching the sink to grab something. I shrieked and fell on my knees. I shielded my head with my hands as I begged him to not hurt me.

“Please… I’m sorry. I… please.”

Tears streamed down my face as I paced to and fro. My head was still bowing towards the floor. I could feel my whole body shaking. I felt like I was going to throw up.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder and I jerked away from him as I yelled, “No! Don’t!”

“Hey!” I heard him say, “Calm down.”

I looked up at him slowly. He was kneeling down beside me. His expression confused me for a while. He didn’t look angry. What was it again? Yeah! Worry. I saw worry in his eyes.

I slowly raised my head to face him when the dog stopped barking. He spoke carefully, “It’s just a plate. You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll take care of it, okay?” He was moving a little closer to me with each sentence.

Finally, he reached to rest his hands on both of my shoulders. My tensed muscle relaxed at his touch. I leaned forward and he caught me before my head could touch the ground.

I sobbed on his shoulder while he gently patted my back, whispering reassurance that it was really no big deal. I tried to bring myself to say something. But my breath was hitched. It made me cry even more.

“Don’t say anything. I understand.” He whispered softly.

I wiped my tears away to look into his eyes clearly. I didn't know how I had believed that these eyes could hold rage. There was nothing but comfort in his deep black twinkling eyes. I knew immediately that I had made the right choice to have put my trust on the bearer of these eyes.

Minutes later. I sat quite motionless at one corner of the room watching him do all the work. Yoongi carefully picked out the pieces of the plate, broomed the place, did the remaining dishes and made the bed.

At last, he walked to me and kneeled down to say, “You need to sleep. You must be exhausted. Come.” He extended his hand towards me. Hesitantly, I took it and he led me to the only bed in the room.

Carefully tucking me in the soft blanket, he asked, “Do you want me to turn the lights off?” I nodded my head. He turned it off and walked to the door.

He stopped and turned to me. He looked as if he was deciding how to put his thoughts to words. Then, he carefully spoke, "Next time, anything goes wrong again, you don't have to freak out. Instead, you can help me make it right. Okay?"

My eyes started to get blurry. I barely managed to let out the words, "Next time?"

Yoongi replied with a ‘hmm’ almost inaudible to my ears.

Special 8 Photo-folio Masterlist

My Personal Masterlist

Tag List: @niverred, @aytenlii, @mmooggyy, @ttipa, @blubb7, @ezzie0861, @zshenbi, @bangtandoll20, @sparklingplumsoju, @dangerousbatfish, @harmony991721, @salobsarai, @un-requitedloove, @soifde-vivre, @bts-ruu, @ellaisreading, @jkkookie, @fannficblog, @minimoni-m, @kami20d, @2112sthings, @21ducklings, @nathchx, @scenesroland, @lottie395, @kittyscupcakeandbunny, @yourgirlcin, @ally-trash, @mia61313, @gggggg78hhh @zaenurath, @feetlicker999, @flowergirlpower17-blog,

Feel free to let me know if you want to be added or removed from the tag list...

》Be a Lady《

◇Free your mind◇

♡Be Yourself♡

Happy Birthday to My Eternal Sunshine

A Reaper’s Mistake

'The Avonlea Story Club'

Story no. #01 Genre: Adventure Time Duration: 15 Jan, 2023- 15 Feb, 2023

Warning: Death (obviously), grief, mild horror, slight swearing, small space, some messed up explanation of heaven and hell, deceiving, betrayal, angst, crying, kissing etc. Word Count: 7.7k Words (It turned out longer than I planned)

Summary: Harley comes to know that the death of her twin brother was a mistake by the grim reaper that took his life. So, she makes a deal of travelling to the underworld to correct it in order to bring her dead brother back home. On her journey, she learns little things about life... and death.

Harley returned to her room after a long and exhausting day. She felt cold, both on the inside and the outside. But she didn’t mind. After all, death was supposed to be cold. Now, Harley wasn’t the one who died really. It was her twin brother Ashton. But it didn’t make any difference to her. The thing about losing a twin is that you lose yourself along with them. At least, that was how Harley felt at the moment.

She lay on the bed, thinking. There was no way she could go to sleep without any trouble. How could she, when she knew her other half laid all alone in a mortuary? Harley wanted to cry. But her eyes were as dry as dust. She turned on some music on her phone and wished that her heart stopped clenching for a while.

By the time, the room temperature started to drop. At a point, Harley started to feel very uncomfortable to ignore it. When she checked the AC remote, she was shocked to find that the temperature went down to 19°C. Before she could fix it, another degree dropped before her eyes.

“What the hell!” she thought to herself. “It’s not even that cold outside.”

Harley could detect sudden movements behind her. She turned on her bed carefully and saw a hooded figure in a corner of her room. An involuntary gasp escaped her mouth. She sat on the bed promptly and whisper-called the intruder, “Ashton! Is that you?”

The figure came forward. Through the lamp light, Harley saw its long and oval shaped face. The jaws looked like they were sucked in. A crooked nose hung in the middle. The gray eyes were very large. Whoever this man was, he was not Ashton, Harley knew it for sure.

“Who are you?” Harley asked flatly.

“I am not a ghost nor a mere human. And I am definitely not your brother Ashton.”  The man replied fast and paused for a while before adding, “I am a grim reaper.”

Harley sighed. The man who claimed to be a grim reaper was taken aback. It was definitely not the reaction he had been expecting. The man cleared his throat to speak but was interrupted by Harley.

“So that’s it?”  she asked quietly, “This is how I die?  Because of  a heartbreak?”

“Umm…” The man considered her unusual behavior for a moment. She had believed him. But she wasn’t a bit scared. She was rather accepting her death more easily than most of the people he had encountered.

“Actually, you’re not dead.” The grim reaper said. Harley nodded her head slowly. But didn’t say anything further. He took a deep breath before saying the following.

“We’re short on time. So, listen carefully. Ashton wasn’t the one to die. It was supposed to be someone else. However, due to some misunderstanding on my part, this grave mistake occurred and it has to be fixed to avoid further complications. We need to retreat his soul from the underworld. Now, I could have done the job myself but it is mandatory for a grim reaper to accompany a human, be it living or dead, to cross the river by boat down there. Yes! Living humans had gone to the underworld before. You may ask why. But I’m not in a situation to explain anything unnecessary. I hope you don’t have any questions.”

Harley could take in huge amounts of information at once. Still, this was too much to comprehend even to her. She could never imagine in her wildest dream that her dead brother could be brought back to life.

She said as politely as she could given the situation, “But I do have a question. To be honest, a lot of them.”

The grim reaper was satisfied with her reaction this time. He held up his hand and said, “Even if you do, you’ll be answered on the way. Now, pack your bag with necessary stuff because we’re gonna have a wild night in the underworld.”

“I haven’t even agreed to go with you, have I?” Harley said, irritation clear in her tone.

The grim reaper put on a smile and asked, “Do you want your brother back or not?”

“But…” Harley tried to argue but was immediately interrupted.

“Yes or no?”

Harley groaned in annoyance. But she considered the matter. She had nothing to lose but gain from this expedition. So, there was nothing much to think about, not even the dangers it may involve. She replied quietly, “Yes!”

“Follow me, then!”  The reaper leapt out of the window.

Harley took as little time as she could to pack her bag like she had been told. She got out through the door noiselessly, not that her parents could still be awake. The reaper was waiting in the backyard. As Harley went closer, she could feel how her surroundings were changing abruptly into a very cold one.

“Good!” he said after examining Harley. “Let’s get moving!” 

For a while, all Harley could make out was his light gray eyes before he turned and started to run. She followed him as fast as her little feet allowed her to. They kept going like that for some time without saying anything to each other. Harley’s mind was spiraling with thousands of questions. But she decided to ask the very basics.

“You didn’t say how much time we really have.” She yelled at the tall figure ahead of her.

“Let’s say before they arrange Ashton’s funeral ‘cause no soul can be retreated once their earthly goodbye is done.” The reaper replied.

“That,” Harley said, “would be tomorrow.”

The reaper slowed his pace and turned to face her, “I hope you understand now why you should hurry a little more.”

Harley felt out of breath. But she wasn’t willing to take any insults for her height. She continued to run and asked again, “Where are we going anyway?”

“To the underworld, of course!” the reaper laughed.

“I meant, where on earth?” Harley said through gritted teeth.

“Oh!” The reaper said, no sarcasm in his deep voice, “Mrs. Laferty’s backyard.”

“No way! That’s the underworld?”

“There’s a doorway to the underworld. Yes!”

Harley stopped abruptly. It took a few moments before the grim reaper realized that Harley wasn’t following him anymore. He turned and ran back towards her, giving her a look which asked why she had done that.

“At least,” Harley breathed out the words, “give me a good reason to trust you.”

“Should I summon up dead people to make you believe me?” the reaper asked impatiently.

“Nope!” Harley replied flatly, “I believe that you’re a grim reaper. But I don’t exactly trust you about bringing back my brother. Who knows, what you’re tricking me into.”

“Seriously? You think a grim reaper has anything to gain from a mere human?”

“That wasn’t very convincing.” Harley turned back to walk.

“Wait!” the reaper held her by her wrist and said, “Alright! I’m going to tell you the real reason why I’m so desperate to make it right. But you have to promise me that no matter what, you’re not gonna back away from this. No matter what!”

Harley sensed the seriousness in his voice and nodded her head in affirmation. The reaper sighed, “I’m gonna lose my job even if I mess up for once. I saw what happened to the others when they did it. I don’t want the same fate. If I can correct the mistake before the higher officials are aware of it, I may have a chance of keeping my job as a grim reaper.”

He paused and looked at Harley, “Since I need you as much as you need me to bring back your brother, will you help me do this?”

“Alright! I think,” Harley took her warm hand away from his cold one and said, “I can do this without bothering you with more questions.”

Once they reached Mrs. Laferty’s backyard, the reaper produced a scythe out of nowhere and marked a large X on the ground. After a few minutes of complete silence, the ground beneath their feet started to shake. Then the X mark glowed scarlet before that part went down, creating a stair to the underworld.

“I think you forgot to ask the most crucial question on the way.” The reaper said to Harley. She looked at him with genuine curiosity. He smiled brightly and added, “My name is Joaquinn with double N.”

Joaquinn walked ahead of Harley down the stairs. Once they reached the floor made of wood, fire on the huge torches that hung by the wall lit up. Harley looked back the way she had come only to find that the stairs had disappeared completely. Fear had slowly started to build inside her. She almost reached to grab Joaquinn by his hand but stopped herself immediately.

Ahead of them was the huge river that Joaquinn had mentioned earlier. There was a small boat and the boatman was staring at them with a piercing look. Joaquinn turned to Harley and whispered, “You stay here.”  Then, he walked toward the boatman.

Harley wondered what it was that Joaquinn had been explaining so earnestly to the weird looking boatman. She couldn’t make out the words. But she could definitely tell by the tone of it that it was something she didn’t want to find out. After a while, Joaquinn took out an envelope from his pocket and showed the piece of paper it contained to the man. The man glanced at Harley for a split second before giving a stiff nod to the reaper.

Joaquinn turned back and came towards Harley with a pleasant smile on his face. “It’s all done,” he said and took Harley’s hand to guide her to the boat. Harley wasn’t feeling very good about the idea now. She wanted to ask Joaquinn if he was sure that their plan was going to work. But she couldn’t do that since she had promised him earlier not to bother with more questions.

“C’mon, now!” Joaquinn called, “Hop in!” Swallowing the lump that had grown on her throat, Harley climbed on the boat.

The boat ride was a quiet and long one. Harley had fixed her stare on the boatman, who had been rowing away without looking at them for once. Minutes later, they reached the end. Instead of wood on this side, the floor was made of concrete. They got down and Joaquinn nodded a thanks to the boatman. Harley doubted if he had even noticed that. The boatman headed back.

Harley couldn’t help but ask, “How are we going to go back?” 

“You don’t have to worry about that part.” Joaquinn said casually. “It’s easier to get out than getting in.”

“Now what?” Harley asked once again since Joaquinn kept standing there for quite some time.

“Shh!” Joaquinn whispered, “I think they sensed our arrival.”

“Who?” Harley was alarmed by Joaquinn’s change in voice.

“The guards.” As soon as Joaquinn whispered out the words, barking of dogs from all directions started to deafen Harley’s ears. “This way!” Joaquinn yelled as he took Harley’s hand and ran towards a corridor.

Harley glanced back for a split second while running along with Joaquinn. She could swear that she had never seen such a sight in her lifetime. At least twenty or more animals were coming at them. But they looked nothing like ordinary dogs. Their heads were huge with eyes looking like they could fall out any moment. Their tongues were dark purple and saliva secreted from them looked like blood.

Harley didn’t look long enough to find more hideous structures on their bodies. She tightened her grip on Joaquinn’s hand and ran faster. The corridor was getting narrower as they ran forward. At some point, it was hard even for one person to move let alone two. The dogs, being huge in size than a human or a reaper couldn’t reach them before the animals got stuck. It meant only one thing. Both the reaper and Harley were stuck as well.

There was this extremely narrow corridor which could crush your bones if you tried to pass through it on one side and the dangerous looking dogs a little further on the other. Joaquinn swore by the realization while Harley started to feel suffocated.

The barking of those animals sounded worst inside the corridor. Harley clapped her hands on her ears tightly. Joaquinn looked down at her with concern. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Please make it stop!” she yelled.

Joaquinn noticed that Harley was in between him and the underworld dogs. So, he moved Harley a bit further to make space for him to pass by her. He then placed himself between Harley and the dogs, his back facing the latter. He pulled Harley closer and said, “You need to calm down.”

Harley buried her face on Joaquinn’s chest, her hands still covering her ears. She felt dizzy. All the chaos around her, the small space, her seasonal asthma and the fact that she hadn’t anything to eat the whole day were good reasons for her to faint. And that she did in a matter of a minute.

Harley woke up in the dark in complete silence. She sat up promptly and pondered over the possibilities of her being in the underworld. “Had I been dreaming?” she thought to herself.

“Hey! Welcome back!” Joaquinn’s cheerful voice proved her wrong and she sighed in relief. That meant, the hope of getting her brother back was still possible. The next moment, she thought about the terrible event she had encountered before she passed out.

“Where are we?” she asked, panic raising with each word.

“Ah! Don’t worry about those nasty animals. They’re gone. We are now safely locked up inside a cell.” Joaquinn said those words as if being locked up in the underworld prison was no big deal.

Harley asked, “What happened exactly when I was out?”

“Well! After you fainted, the guards came to inquire about the sudden outbursts of the hellhounds. Since they found us with no real explanation of trespassing in the underworld, they decided to put us in a cell before informing their master. That’s all.”

Harley secretly appreciated the quality of Joaquinn explaining critical situations easily. By the time, her eyes adjusted to the dark and she could make out his figure sitting in front of her. She sighed and asked, “So, how do we break out of here?”

“I’m still thinking about that.” Joaquinn said casually and pointed to Harley’s backpack, “You better eat something while I plan our escape.”

Harley thought she ought to eat something in order to have some strength for the future troubles she was about to meet. She prepared herself mentally to face more obstacles too. After the greetings from the hellhounds, she thought she could handle just about anything.

Offering Joaquinn the packet of butter cookies that she had brought, which he gladly refused, Harley started to relax as she chewed on her favorite snack. She felt a little more comfortable to ask Joaquinn some more questions which were not necessarily important at the moment but were bothering her mind a lot.

“Why do you think my brother is in the underworld?” She asked quietly, “I mean, isn’t it hell?”

“It is, indeed!” Joaquinn replied, “Why do you ask?”

“Because I can’t think of anything my brother did that was evil enough to land him in hell. Wait a minute! Or is it because of the other person who was supposed to be dead instead?”

“Nope!” Joaquinn shook his head and continued, “even if it was a mistake that your brother died in the place of umm… someone else, he still would end up where he deserved to be. Don’t give me that look before I explain the whole matter. It’s not because he's evil that he ended up in hell. It’s rather because of the lack of a heaven.”

“Lack of what?” Harley couldn’t mask the surprise in her voice.

“Yeah, that’s right!” Joaquinn chuckled, “There is no heaven to begin with. Humans made that place up for the comfort of mind. Every human ends up in hell after they die, which is this underworld.”

“Now that you’ve said that,” Harley said thoughtfully, “I don’t think that there is anyone saint enough to enjoy eternal peace or something. So, I guess, it’s quite logical.”

“Not a saint exactly but there are people who are really good compared to others. And they definitely don’t deserve to be put in the same place. It’s not the flaws in humans but rather the flaws in the whole concept of heaven itself. Do you think eternal peace is even possible? I mean, what is peace without a little chaos, huh?”

“You’re smarter than you look.” Harley thought. Of course, she didn’t say the words out loud.

Joaquinn continued, unaware of Harley’s admiration, “Now, here is how the hell works. To put it in easier language, people who did worse get the worst place whereas the best people get the best, all here in the same underworld. Easy as pie.”

“Isn’t it crazy to think that once we get out of here, me and my brother, we’re going to be the only people who know exactly about the afterlife?” Harley said dreamily.

“Hell, no!” Joaquinn replied with a laugh, “I’m not taking any risks. I’m gonna make Ashton forget about this all. A grim reaper’s kiss can make you forget certain parts of your life, you know.”

“Ew!” The thought of Joaquinn kissing her twin makes her want to puke. Then, she remembered that she was also someone who knows his secrets as well and gulped down the lump on her throat.

“So,” Harley asked, “Do you know where my brother is?” 

“Well, if it isn’t my dear friend.” Joaquinn had turned his head towards the cell door and called the person who had just arrived, much to Harley’s surprise.

“I think I know you, don’t I?” the person brought the torch he was carrying closer to the cell and recognized Joaquinn.

“How can you not?” Joaquinn whined, “I am the grim reaper who brought you here. It had been only a month and you already forgot all about me? I thought you said that you were glad I wasn’t as scary as you thought.”

“Of course, Joaquinn!” he smiled, “I am glad that it was you rather than some other mean reaper. What are you doing here?”

“I’m in trouble, my friend.” Joaquinn stood up and walked to him, “I see you’re in uniform. That means, they’ve already posted you as one of the guards, haven't they?”

“Sure, they did.” the boy said with a doubt.

Joaquinn yelped in joy, “Speaking of perfect timing, huh! C’mon, now, what are you waiting for? Get me out of here.”

“Wait a minute!” The boy took a step back, “What are you talking about? If the master knows about this, he’ll lock me up instead.”

“Oh no, silly! He wouldn’t. Because I’m going to take you out of here with me.” Joaquinn said reassuringly.

“Out of here?”

“Yep!”

“Is that even possible?” The boy asked dreamily. “But I thought you can’t go out into the world if your funeral is already done.”

“Who said that your funeral’s done?” Joaquinn continued, “Remember? You don’t have a family, Alex!”

“My name’s Alec.”  the boy corrected.

“Of course, it is. Now, listen to me carefully. I have a spare soul to put in the underworld. Instead, I can free one from here. Okay! I see, you don’t believe me. Wait a second.” Joaquinn took out the envelope from his pocket and showed the paper to the boy.

“Who is…” Alec tried to ask but Joaquinn instantly said, “We gotta hurry if you want to get out. Now, tell me if you agree on the deal we just made.”

“I don’t know.” The boy simply shrugged his shoulders.

“C’mon, Alan.” Joaquinn tried to persuade him further, “All you need to do is get me out of here and you’re granted a second chance of living your life.”

“But what’s the point if I’m gonna die someday.” The boy argued, “I don’t even have a family to go back to.”

“I know,” Joaquinn thought for a moment before saying, “But what about… her?”

“Her?” the boy’s eyes widened, “You know about her?”

“Yes!” Joaquinn nodded, “I do.”

The boy thought for a moment quietly. Then, his face beamed with hope. “Alright, Joaquinn! I believe you. I’m going to bring the key.” Saying this, the boy had already gone away with his torch and darkness fell into the cell once again.

Joaquinn let out a heavy sigh, “Ah! It’s so bothersome to deal with humans.”

Harley had been listening to their conversation quietly but attentively. She came forward and cleared her throat before asking, “Is it true that his funeral’s not done and that you’re going to help him out?”

“I don’t know, to be honest.” Joaquinn replied, “I don’t stay long enough for people’s funerals. Once I bring them to the underworld, my work is done.”

“So, you just lied to him?” Harley doubted the reaper’s words.

“Do I have any choice?” Joaquinn turned to her and said, “We don’t have an eternity to get your brother out of here. And answering to your hanging question, I don’t even know where he is right now.”

Harley remained quiet. She knew there was nothing she could say to argue with him. After all, she would choose to help her own brother over some stranger named Alec. But her heart panged with sudden guilt.

“Who is her?” She asked quietly.

“What? Who?” Joaquinn asked unknowingly.

“The one you told Alec about.”

“Oh! I don’t know that either. Just made a lucky guess.” Joaquinn shrugged his shoulders.

Harley’s hand clenched into a fist at his apathy, “He could be gay, you know.”

“Once again, lucky guess.”

The boy came back with the key and a huge grin on his face. He unlocked the door without a word and they got out immediately.

“Thank you so much, my friend.” Joaquinn pulled him into a hug and said, “You need to wait here while I finish my job. Then, I’ll be back to get you.”

“You’re really coming back for me, aren’t you?” The boy asked, still a faint smile lingering on his face.

Harley spoke before Joaquin could say anything. “Alec, you’re an amazing person. The world out there doesn’t deserve you. I hope you always remember that.”

“Who are you?” the boy asked in confusion.

“She’s another reaper. Anyway, we gotta go, now. Don’t worry! We’ll come back for you. Bye.” Joaquinn said quickly and pulled Harley by her hand to drag her out of that place through the dark corridor.

It was hard for Harley to keep up with Joaquinn when they ran together. Because, Joaquinn with his huge legs ran as if he was jumping on the moon's surface. Harley, on the other hand, had to take more steps faster to remain by his side. Since it hadn’t been the best day for her, she didn’t feel energetic enough to run anyway. So, after a while, she tripped and fell, hard, on the ground.

Joaquinn kneeled down beside her and asked anxiously, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fucking not!” Harley muttered angrily under her breath.

“Hey!” Joaquinn yelled, “Don’t take out the anger with me. We should hurry if you want to save Ashton. Now, is it my fault that you’re too weak to handle anything?”

“Technically, everything that has been happening is your fault.” Harley snapped back.

“Okay! Fine!” Joaquinn threw his hands up in defeat, “Let’s not run anymore. But at least get up so that we can walk out of the dark.”

Harley did as she was asked to and they both walked quietly for a while. She felt uneasy this way. She felt like she didn’t really have the right to remain angry at this stranger, who had been helping her, even if it was something he needed to do as well.

So, she tried to cool down and asked, “Would you mind me asking about that paper you showed Alec and the boatman? What does it contain?”

“Well, umm… it was sent to me with the name of umm… the person I was supposed to take the soul of.” Joaquinn said rather awkwardly.

“Who is this person?” Harley asked instantly, feeling a little bad for not wanting to know about them earlier.

“I don’t think you should know that.” Joaquinn sounded reluctant to tell her, “You would probably make a huge deal out of it.”

“Why?” Harley asked more curiously, “Are they someone I know?”

Joaquinn scoffed, “Judging by how you reacted earlier for only deceiving a stranger, I don’t think it matters.”

Harley rolled her eyes in annoyance, “Fine! Don’t tell me.”

They walked a few more minutes when they could finally see the light ahead of them. “Can you see it?” Joaquinn asked, pointing at its way and Harley nodded, “Let’s get out of here, then.” Joaquinn started to sprint toward it, leaving Harley no choice but to run after him.

They came out into an opening. It was a large field full of what appeared to be people at first glance. But they were rather different entities; souls of dead humans, guards, demons, monsters etc.

Harley's eyes grew larger at the sight, "Are we caught again?"

"Not yet!" Joaquinn replied shortly and grabbed her hand. A sudden shiver went through Harley’s whole body at his cold touch.

"He's a little too touchy." Harley thought to herself even though it was something she didn't think worthy to be thought of at this time.

"Let's walk out of here casually." Joaquinn dragged her forward. He kept talking while looking straight ahead, "It's the center of the underworld. Did you see the doors around?"

Harley nodded her head. The place was circle shaped and the walls had lots of doors to it. They had gotten out of one of those doors as well.

"Each of them leads to a different place. Now the question is, which one are we supposed to be using?" Joaquinn said.

Harley asked him instead, "Where do you usually bring the souls?"

"To the receptionist." Joaquinn nodded at a woman in front of them, "They are taken to the master and he decides where to put them in."

"I bet the receptionist knows where they are kept." Harley said.

Joaquinn nodded again, "She might."

"We should take a chance." Harley said boldly. Joaquinn looked confused. So, she replied, "Let's ask for help."

Asking for help turned out to be a bad idea.

Harley was reluctant to speak with the receptionist. But the receptionist made both of them answer her questions at once. Bombarding them with questions and receiving different answers almost every time from the two of them, made her suspicious. So, she decided to play it cool with them, but dialed for the master’s number secretly.

“You may wait for a few minutes. I need to make a call to ask the ones who keep the records to let you know where Mr. Ashton Campbell is kept currently.” The woman said with a professional smile on her face.

Joaquinn and Harley glanced at each other and swallowed together. Before Joaquinn could mouth the word ‘run’, someone yelled from behind.

“Holy Molly! Look who I ran into. Joaquinn, my bro.”

“Matilda!” The woman called her, while Joaquinn looked at her in disbelief. “Do you know this man well?”

“Bet I do, Kim.” Matilda walked towards them. “He’s one of the guards.” The receptionist named Kim left out a sigh. She was a good friend of Matilda and trusted her. So, she gave them the location to Ashton’s room, which was a map since the underworld was as big as the earth itself. And they all left the place quietly.

It wasn’t until they entered a door which led them to another corridor (“Jeez, the hell is full of corridors!” Harley thought) they started to talk.

“Thank you for saving my ass just now.” Joaquinn looked at Matilda and let out a huge smile. Harley thought he looked better with a smile.

“It’s nothing.” Matilda replied, “You better explain what’s going on. Who is this living human that you brought here? Don’t tell me you fell for those tricks like me as well.”

Joaquinn laughed at this and said, “She’s a friend. She’s helping me to break out the wrong person I sent here today.”

“No way!” Matilda’s eyes widened, “You kidding me?”

“Absolutely not!” Joaquinn gave a quick explanation of what the real deal was. Matilda nodded her head. “Won’t you introduce me to her?” Matilda elbowed Joaquinn.

“Yeah, sure.” Joaquinn said, “This is Harley as I told you. And Harley, she is one of the reapers, I mean, was a reaper.”

“Why isn’t she anymore, may I ask?” Harley asked, confused at her being suddenly involved with them.

“That’s because,” Matilda replied, herself, “I did the worst thing a grim reaper could do. I fell in love with a human. It is called ‘love at first sight’ I believe. And I refused to take the soul of that person. Now, there you go. That’s the dumbest shit I did. But you know what? I’m not ashamed. Not even a little bit.” Matilda started to laugh at her own speech even though Harley couldn’t see what was so funny about it.

She could only imagine how tragic it must be; given the job of killing a loved one. Even if you knew it was their time to die, you could never bring yourself to do that. Or at least, Harley could never do that.

“The master gave me the job of a guard instead, you know. Just so he could make me regret my poor choice. Because I got to see the love of my life going through the worst punishments of hell regularly. But like I said, I don’t regret nothing.”

“That’s my girl!” Joaquinn pulled her into a hug. Harley wished that she could be hugged like that sometimes too.

“Freeze!” Some guards came behind them with different weapons.

“Shit! We gotta run!” Matilda screamed the order and in the blink of an eye, they started running as if their life depended on it. Actually, it pretty much did.

“Why are we running?” Harley asked, “I thought we got the permission.”

“The permission of only a receptionist. Not the master.” Matilda said sarcastically.

Matilda ran ahead of them, reading the map in between so that they didn’t have to lose time on finding their desired person. But at a point, they ran into a dead end.

“What happened?” Joaquinn asked, “Why are we stopping here?”

“Shit! I should have turned left.” Matilda lifted her head from the map.

Suddenly an arrow was shooted towards her and she was pinned to the wall by her arm, “Fuck! It hurts.” she screamed in pain, making Harley flinch.

“This is it!” Joaquinn sat down with a thud, “Guess I have to serve the master along with you, Matilda.” he muttered.

The guards came running towards them, seizing them by their arms and tying their hands behind them. Neither Harley nor Joaquinn made any complaints at all. But Matilda struggled hard against them only to increase her pain and to give up in the end.

“I’m sorry, friends. I couldn’t come to much help, after all.” Matilda said with a sigh.

“Let’s just leave our fates to the master.” Joaquinn replied.

“Oh, I’m sure he’s going to have a blast.” Matilda scoffed.

They were dragged along with the guards and were forced to follow them. Nobody said anything to the other. Harley understood that begging the guards to let them go would be fruitless. They looked like they were loyal to their master.

The guards took them in front of a cell. Harley observed that this one looked more exclusive than the one they were kept in earlier. It was rather big and cleaner too. The guards checked them thoroughly. They took away Harley’s backpack too. Joaquinn started to get really mad when they took out the contents of his pants pockets.

Joaquinn snapped at the guards and almost started an argument. Meanwhile, Harley noticed that the envelope that made her curious earlier layed on the ground. She took it and opened it to see what’s written there.

Name of the Human: Harley Campbell

Date of birth: 19 January, 2003

Date of death: 15 February, 2023

Time of death: 02: 34 a.m.

Assigned Grim Reaper: Joaquinn

Harley didn’t know what to feel at that time. She could never imagine that it was her instead of her brother who should have died. But the more she thought of it, the more it made sense.

They both had sneaked out of their house to get to one of their friend’s parties. She didn’t want to go. But Ashton insisted upon her coming along with him. That was when the accident took place. That was how the mistake was made. They shared the same surname. They both were born on the same day. They both were present in the car during the accident.

Harley closed her eyes for a few seconds and opened them again. She took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. Then, with a poker face on, she kept the paper inside the envelope and handed it to Joaquinn.

Joaquinn’s eyes grew larger and he looked at Harley suspiciously, trying to read her face. But Harley didn’t budge. She went inside the cell willingly and sat down at a corner.

They sat there in complete silence after the guards left. Joaquinn sat down beside Harley and Matilda fell asleep at another corner across from her. Then, Harley decided to speak.

"So, it was supposed to be me." It was not a question, rather a statement to let Joaquinn know that she had found out.

"You saw it, didn't you?" Joaquinn asked and Harley nodded slowly. Joaquinn muttered something to himself and buried his head in between his knees.

"You could have just told me. You didn’t need to hide it." Harley said quietly.

Joaquinn looked up and turned to face her, "I did it because I had to. I needed your help to make things right. But as far as I know humanity, no one would want to die willingly."

Harley let out a painful laughter, "Then, you only know a fraction of it."

Joaquinn didn't reply. Harley settled down easily and made her space to lie down on the ground. She whispered softly but loud enough for Joaquinn to hear, "If we get to Ashton anyhow, please do me a favor and keep it a secret from him as well."

“You really thought you could work right under my nose without me finding out, huh?” The master scoffed at the three captives. They had been brought before him. He was now the god of their fates. And everybody knew, except Harley, that the master liked to play with them.

“Let me first get done with my old acquaintance.” The master moved towards Matilda and spoke, “Dear Matilda, we met again. I thought we wouldn’t until you finish your 300 years sentence.”

“Here we are!” Matilda shrugged her shoulders.

A frown appeared on the master’s forehead. He looked displeased when he said, “There’s nothing interesting about you. Nothing that excites me at all. I’ll go for the usual punishment. Add 300 years more to your 167 years that’s left.”

Matilda blinked her eyes quickly for a while. Harley wondered if she had been expecting some worst kind of punishment. The master ordered the guards to take Matilda away. But she said, “Please, master, let me talk to the girl. For once.”

When the master nodded she came straight to her and said with a smile, “Don’t worry about me. I’m going to be just fine. But since you’re the only living person I can say this to, I will. Remember that it’s coming from an ex grim reaper’s mouth.”

Matilda took a deep breath before saying, “Life’s too short to waste over stupid mistakes. Please, don’t leave any regrets. So that when it’s your time to die, you can die a happy human.”

Harley could say nothing in return. She glanced at Joaquinn. But he had been keeping his eyes down to the floor. Matilda pulled Harley into a warm embrace. Harley could swear that she had never been hugged like this her entire life. Then, Matilda was taken away.

The master walked around the room, thinking. Harley thought he was probably thinking of how to punish them.

“Alright!” the master announced, “I think I know what to do with you two.” He smirked at Harley, “You’re here to save your brother, right?”

Harley nodded her head rather innocently. She looked a little too desperate. Joaquinn bit his lower lip in frustration. For some reason, he was really mad at himself.

“I will grant you that wish then.” The master said and Joaquinn’s head shot up.

He asked in disbelief, “You’re gonna let us go?”

The master shook his head as he laughed, “Not that easily! But hear me out. I thought for a moment how I had never granted anything to anybody before. So, it might be a good thing to experiment on. But again, there is a condition.”

The master walked to Joaquinn and said to him only, “I will let this slip for only once. If you can make it right this time, you’re free to go. But if you mess up again, just once again, you’re going to have the same fate as your friend, Matilda.”

The master walked back to his seat and asked, “So, tell me, Joaquinn, do you accept it?”

Joaquinn glanced at Harley. But this time, her head was bent downward. Joaquinn swallowed hard and replied, “Yes!”

The master said nothing in return. But Harley noticed a satisfied face when she looked at him for the last time.

The moment Harley had been waiting for had never been closer. Two guards accompanied them to the cell where Ashton had been kept. They opened the cell door and giving a stiff nod went away. Harley stepped inside first followed by Joaquinn.

Ashton was sitting by his bed. He first thought that some guards had visited him. But when he saw his twin sister’s face, which was so much similar to his own, he couldn’t help but cry out.

“Harley!” He stood up and hugged her right away. “Oh, Harley! I’ve been so alone and I missed you so much.” Then, he looked at her face and his smile drowned, “Are you dead too?”

“No, I’m not!” Harley tried to show a smile, “I’m here to bring you back home.”

Ashton looked puzzled at her comment, “But I thought I died.” He looked at Joaquinn and said, “And you were the grim reaper who brought me here.”

Harley nodded and said, “Yes, I know. But there had been some mistakes. He shouldn’t have taken your soul. It should have been someone else. Anyway, we’ve sorted it out. Now, let’s get you out of here before the master comes up with some cruel ideas.”

Ashton nodded even though he wasn’t very sure about the whole matter. They got out of the cell and walked through the corridor. Joaquinn walked ahead of them, map in his hand. Harley thought that he had been exceptionally quiet. Probably giving them some privacy so that they could talk for the last time.

So, they talked. Harley told Ashton everything she couldn’t have. She told him how much she loved him but was never able to express it. She told him how he was the only person Harley cared about. She told him how much she hated her parents for discriminating between them and loving Ashton a little less than they did Harley.

By the time they had reached the river, both the siblings had become too emotional. Harley knew that it was their last meeting. But she couldn’t really say goodbye to her brother in fear that he might refuse to cooperate.

“Let’s get on the boat.” Ashton exclaimed, “I can’t wait to start anew.”

“Wait!” Joaquinn stepped forward, “Ashton! Don’t you want to know who this other person is? The one who’s to die instead of you?”

Harley glared at Joaquinn, shaking her head to remind him of the favor she had asked earlier. Ashton was too confused to understand it. He simply asked, “Who?”

Joaquinn swallowed before saying, “It’s Harley.”

Harley closed her eyes in disbelief. She thought she could trust this reaper only for once. But no!

It took a few minutes before Ashton realized what the reaper had informed. He gasped, “Oh my God! Harley!”

“No, Ashton!” Harley said, cupping her brother’s face in her hands, “It’s okay! Don’t feel too sad. I already know about it and I’ve accepted it too. Please, brother, it’s fine.”

But Ashton had been shaking his head in denial, “There’s no way I’m going back without you. No way! I can’t do this. I can’t take your life.”

“But it’s your life that I’ve been living right now.” Harley argued, “It was meant to be me from the start. Please, Ashton, don’t act like this.”

Ashton hugged Harley once again and Harley sunk into his embrace. Tears started to stream down her face. Ashton, on the other hand, was crying too. Seeing them in such misery, Joaquinn realized he had to step in.

He spoke, his voice shaking from the emotion that had been building inside him unknowingly, “I’m sorry to say this but I don’t think I can do this either. I can’t take your soul, Harley. I just can’t.”

Harley let go of Ashton. She looked furious. She yelled at Joaquinn, “It’s all your fault. You have to fix it now. You have to take my brother back to the world. I’m not taking any ‘sorry’ from you.”

Ashton tried to calm her down. He had never seen Harley in such a vulnerable state before. He pulled Harley back and they sat down on the concrete floor together. Ashton patted her softly on the back. When Harley finally stopped crying, he spoke.

“It’s okay! I’ve already faced death and I’ve accepted it too. Just think about mother and father. They had already gone through my death. How do you expect them to behave if they found out it was you and not me?”

“I don’t give a fuck about them.” Harley snapped.

Ashton chuckled and said each word as if he meant them, “Don’t be so stubborn, Harley. I know you love them, no matter what you say. Okay! If you don’t want to think of them, think of yourself. You have so many regrets. I know you do. But I don’t really have much. I have enjoyed my life the way I wanted to. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t the favorite child. But you had been fulfilling their dreams all this time that you never stopped to think what you wanted for yourself. I know, being a favorite child has its disadvantages. Now, what I want is that you go back and live the life you wanted. Not the one you were meant to. We’ll meet again. Then, I hope you would tell me what a happy and free life you had led.”

Harley suddenly remembered Matilda’s words, “Please, don’t leave any regrets.”

Harley looked at her brother and tears filled her eyes. She buried her head into his neck and sobbed quietly, while Ashton softly stroked her hair.

The boat ride back without Ashton was quiet at first. Harley could feel that her body was screaming for a nap. She was exhausted by everything that had happened in the past few hours. Harley felt as if she had lived through days.

The thought of leaving behind her twin made her eyes watery once again. She didn’t mind them anymore. Never in her life had she cried so hard. She felt that from now on, it would be a little easier for her to cry whenever she needed to. So, she sobbed in her hands freely.

Joaquinn sat closer and unconsciously wrapped his hands around her shoulders. Harley let herself lean onto his chest and cried silently. Then, she suddenly remembered the deal Joaquinn had made earlier with the master. She remembered how his face glowed with glory as if he had been expecting Joaquinn to fail.

“Joaquinn!” She called and looked up to his face, “But the master is going to hold you captive. You’re going to lose the job. You need…”

Joaquinn hushed her up and pulled her into a hug. He whispered to her softly, “It’s okay, Harley. I’ve learned to take responsibility for my actions. Everything was my fault, after all.”

Harley sniffed but remained silent. Joaquinn ran his hands through her hair and said, “I think, I ought to apologize to you. I’m sorry I dragged you into this mess. I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m sorry I couldn’t save your brother. I’m sorry, Harley, for everything.”

Harley nodded and said quietly, “Can we please stay like this until we reach the other side?” Joaquinn hummed and pulled her a little closer, letting her relax into his arms.

When they finally reached the spot, Joaquinn gently pulled her away. He held her by the shoulders to support while she got off the boat. The stairs had appeared once again. They climbed the stairs side by side and came into the opening of Mrs. Laferty’s backyard. The dawn was about to break. There was not a soul in sight.

Harley turned to Joaquinn to say her final goodbye. But he shook his head as if he knew what she was about to say. He said, “It’s not a goodbye. I hope we’ll meet again.”

He cupped her face into his cold hands and said, “It’s time for you to go back to being normal again. Don’t worry! I’ll let you remember the part where your brother and… someone you knew advised you to live your life with no regrets.”

Harley nodded her head in agreement. Joaquinn leaned forward to kiss her warm lips gently. Closing her eyes, Harley felt the moment with all her might till it lasted.

Author’s Note: This is the first ever story of the first month for my story club. Since I’m not a pro at this, please consider stupid mistakes. And also, I appreciate your honest feedbacks. The door to constructive criticism is always open to the readers.

Please check out my partner’s work of the month as well and support her > @littlemissblogger​

Soulmates???

14 February, 2023 Approximately 2 in the morning

I woke up from a two hours sleep and couldn't force myself to go back to it (something of a bad habit I had grown since last month). I would walk around for quite some time, maybe chat with my mother if she's awake, walk a few more minutes, read something, write something, maybe walk again, check my phone, listen to music, etc. etc. etc.

It wasn't any different that day. I walked around the apartment and had many thoughts in my mind as usual. These thoughts turned into some real shits and at a point I was in a dreadful existential crisis. Music, being my friend at times like this, was an escape. The first song, also the only song I listened to, was 'So Far Away' by Agust D feat Suran.

Among many thoughts regarding my life, I also thought of Yoongi's. Those thoughts lead me to think that there wasn't any official performances of this mixtape of Suga (as far as I know). Knowing that it was released at least four years ago, I couldn't even dream of a concert based on it alone. I hope you can see where this is leading to...

15 February, 2023 Approximately 3:30 in the morning

I know I was late. But I got the update.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!!!

AGUST D and a so called WORLD TOUR???

The first thing I did was definitely listening to all the songs and building up some kind of feelings inside myself walking around the apartment all alone while the rest of the family sleeps.

But my second thought was something my mother says occasionally. According to her, she has some weird connection with my father spiritually that lets her feel things before hand. I'll go with a normal example; like my father calls her right at the time she was thinking of him or vice versa.

I'm not trying to sound crazy here but that was exactly what I thought and I laughed at myself too. Actually, it was a smile on my face. But I'm glad nobody was around to see it.

I wuv U 💜

Fandom: BTS

Pairing: Jungkook x Female Reader

💜💖💜💖💜💖💜💖💜💖💜💖💜💖💜💖💜💖

I woke up in the middle of the night by the sound coming from my living room. The culprit was no other than Jungkook, who had been singing karaoke with much pleasure as I could sense from his voice. I checked my phone and found that it was 3 o'clock.

I have a habit of not being able to go back to sleep once I'm awake in the middle of the night. And I'm pretty sure Jungkook was aware of it. Thinking of giving him a good scolding, I walked to the living room only to find the mess he had created.

At least four cans of beer lay all around the floor. He was drinking from his glass very excitedly, his hair completely disheveled. Hearing me enter the room, he looked up and flashed a bunny smile.

Of course, I couldn't bring myself to say anything mean.

"Come here!" he mumbled like a baby.

I dragged myself forward and sat down beside him. Immediately, he hugged me by my neck and placed a soft kiss on my cheek. I could smell beer from his breath.

"What are you doing this late?" I asked.

Jungkook blinked at me innocently, "Did I wake you up, sweetheart?" I pouted and nodded my head sorrowfully to let him know what he did. To which, Jungkook gasped dramatically and clapped his hands to his mouth.

He spoke with remorse, "I'm so sorry, baby. I swear I didn't mean to. I only wanted to have some drinks. And suddenly I felt like singing. I forgot that you were already asleep. What time is it?"

"It's 3 in the morning!" I informed.

"Okay, baby! I'll stop now." He tried to get up but I pulled him back into the couch.

"No. Stay. And sing!" I requested, "for me."

He smiled mischievously and said, "I wuv U." He then turned on the music to sing, while I rested my head on his shoulder and ran my hand through his sexy messy hair.

💜💖💜💖💜💖💜💖💜💖💜💖💜💖💜💖💜💖

Note: I had to write something down since I watched his late night live. Jungkook has no idea what he does to me...

My Masterlist

My Top 3 Books of 2022

Apparently, I've got loads of contents and ideas to write about but zero motivation to do so...

From now on, I’ll be posting some of my original stories along with the usual fanfictions I write. It’s a way of challenging myself to be a better writer. I’m very excited to do this.

Check out @littlemissblogger, who is also collaborating with me in this journey...

Christmas Special Fluffs

Fandom: BTS Pairing: OT7 x Female Reader Genre: Fluff Notes: It’s a collection of Christmas special one shots of each member in different situation with the reader (not poly). I know, I’m late. A lot of things were going on and I couldn’t manage to write. Sorry about that. Anyway, a very late Merry Christmas to you all...

Sweet Sorry - Kim Namjoon

My already messy apartment now looked messier than ever. As I looked at my tired boyfriend on the couch, I regretted to have agreed to his plan of decorating my place for the Christmas.

“Ugh” Namjoon groaned, “my back hurts so much.”

“Don’t forget that it was all your idea.” I reminded him.

Namjoon shook his head, “I didn’t think your place was such a trash.”

“Well, you can’t blame me.” I shrugged my shoulders, “At least, I warned you.”

I sat down beside him and put my head on his lap. I could feel that my body ached too. Namjoon started to play with my hair. It was one of his favorite things to do.

I looked up at him, “Or we could stop if you want.”

“No, darling!” Namjoon smiled, “Like I had promised, we’re going to make this place look like a heaven.”

And we were back at work; dusting and cleaning the floors, walls, ceilings, windows, arranging the misplaced items, collecting the dirty laundry from different corners of the house, putting the books back to the shelves etc.

A short break. Then, we started to work on the decorations. It was my first time decorating a house for Christmas and my excitement was too much. We made the bed with white and red bed sheets, put different flowers and wreaths all around the place and hung special items on the wall.

Finally, it was time for the best thing among all, decorating the Christmas tree. We put on the fairy lights around it, hung little gingerbread men and other cute items on it and lastly, we needed to put the biggest star on top of it.

“It’s too high. I can’t reach it.” I said, “And also, I don’t have a ladder.”

“But you have me.” Namjoon said with a smile.

I thought he meant to do the job himself as he was much taller than me. But instead, he lifted me up, holding me firmly by my waist. His cheesiness was making me blush. I still managed to set the star in the perfect place.

Taking a look around the place, I was really satisfied with the result. My place had turned to a whole different one. It looked like a heaven indeed. But as soon as my eyes rested on the tree, I frowned.

“Something’s missing.” I said.

Namjoon looked at it’s direction, “What?”

“Of course,” I gasped, “the glass baubles.” I facepalmed myself to have forgotten about my favorite piece of decoration. I looked at Namjoon, “Could you please bring it for me? It’s in my closet.”

Namjoon went straight to the bedroom. As he was returning with the box full of red and white glass baubles on his hands with a smile that showed his dimples, I remembered just how much I loved him.

But the next thing he did was tripping and falling to the floor along with the box full of red and white glass baubles. The smile that had grown on my face earlier disappeared within a second as I heard the glasses being shattered inside. I remembered just how much I hated his clumsiness sometimes.

“I’m so...” Namjoon began but I cut him off.

“Don’t speak.” I said boldly. “It’s done anyway.”

I raged out of the living room and sat down on my bed. I realized I was very exhausted by all the works I had done this evening and I just wanted to sleep. I tried to clear my head. I didn’t want to think of the disaster that just happened.

I could hear Namjoon cleaning up the mess outside. It sort of broke my heart. Minutes later, he peaked into my room. I still couldn’t bring myself to say anything. He came to sit beside me and said, “I’m sorry.”

“I know.” I answered.

He placed a soft kiss on my cheek and said again, “I’m sorry.” It was one of my favorite things that he did. I still didn’t budge.

He kissed me once again and said, “I’m really sorry, darling.” He was whining like a little child at this point. And I couldn’t help but laugh. Namjoon’s worried face beamed with relief.

“Alright!” I said, “I think we can go one Christmas without glass baubles.”

Grandma’s Special Recipe - Kim Seokjin

I was weeping for the past few minutes as the nostalgia of my childhood hit really hard. Earlier I had found an old diary of my grandma while cleaning the house. There weren’t much personal but more like important business stuffs written on it.

But among them, I had found my grandma’s recipe for making the famous gingerbread house we used to make every Christmas. Reading that reminded me of my late grandma and our memories together. I couldn’t help but cry at the sudden overwhelming feeling in my heart.

My fiancé, Jin, came back from work at that time. As soon as he saw me he called, “Jagi!” I quickly wiped away the tears and tried to smile at him. I didn’t mean for him to see me like that.

He held me in his arms and asked, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah!” I sniffed, “I’m fine.”

“What is it, jagi?” He looked at me again, trying to read my face. Then he suddenly gasped, “Oh my God!”

I looked up at him in confusion. He beamed with sudden joy and asked the dumbest possible question, “Are we going to have a baby? Are you pregnant?”

“What? NO!” I was shocked at his stupidity, “It’s just that I found my grandma’s diary and it reminded me of her.”

Jin just replied with an “Oh!”

I went back to my bed and held up the page of the recipe for him to see. He took the diary from me and checked it. The recipe was cut out from an old newspaper and there were hand written notes of my grandma everywhere, making changes where she had thought was necessary.

Jin let out a chuckle and said, “Jagi, this sounds like a lot of fun. We should try it this Christmas.”

I was so glad to hear that. “Really?”  I asked, “Do you think you can do that?”

“Of course!” Jin said with confidence, “Though I won’t say it will be exactly like your grandma’s one. But I will do my best.”

Even though I wasn’t very good at baking, I still tried to help Jin in every possible way. I bought the groceries myself and prepared all the necessary utensils needed for the procedure. I also promised Jin that I would do the dishes once everything was done.

Jin started to work, yelling me orders in between. But my mood was too good to be ruined by his little insults. I worked rather enthusiastically. I stirred the mixture on the stove, batted the dough, cut the little doors and windows, even helped Jin with the icing.

After hours of much works, it was done. The house had been decorated perfectly. It looked almost like my grandma’s. I clicked a picture before cutting the gingerbread house. At first bite, the smell instantly reminded me of older times, though the taste wasn’t exactly the same.

“What do you think?” Jin asked curiously.

“It’s great.” I nodded, “Thank you so much for doing this.” I wrapped my hands around his neck. “Tell me what can I offer you in return?”

“You know exactly what I want.” Jin smirked at me.

I gasped, “You mean, a baby?”

Jin gave me a warm smile and spoke, “Nope. I want you to do the dishes, instead.”

Peppermint Love - Min Yoongi

“So tell me, why am I finding it out just now and that too, from Hoba?” I could hear Yoongi from the other side of the phone call. His voice suggested that he was really annoyed.

Basically what happened was this; Yoongi was delaying his Christmas plan, which was to be with his family, because I had no one for my Christmas celebration this year. Since, it was our first Christmas after getting together, Yoongi wasn’t very happy leaving me alone. But I had forced him to go because his family had been planning for a special party and it wouldn’t look nice if their youngest son was absent there.

But the worst happened. I fell sick the day before Christmas. It was a seasonal sickness for me but still pretty bad, as always, to handle. The fever and the blocked nose wasn’t making me feel very Christmas in my lonely hours. Still, I didn’t want to spoil Yoongi’s mood. So naturally, I kept my mouth shut.

“I thought I could trust Hobi for once.” I said, equally annoyed.

Yoongi sighed. “Is it too bad?” his voice was soft now.

“No!” It was definitely a lie since I could feel that a headache was also added to my list of discomforts.

“You shouldn’t have forced me to come to this party.” Yoongi said, “I would rather be with you.” Before I could say anything he already hung up.

As the hours ticked by I realized how terribly lonely I felt. Yoongi was in a whole different city and my own family was at the opposite side of the continent. I was also hungry but wasn't in a shape to make anything for myself. So, I called the Pizza place near my house and ordered my favorite one, the pepperoni.

The bell rang. I had to get up from the bed and slowly head towards the door. My whole body ached even at the slightest effort. But behind the door, I didn’t meet the delivery guy but my boyfriend instead.

“Yoongi?” I was surprised.

He shook his head in mere annoyance and hold up the huge bags he was carrying on both of his hands. “Let me put this things down first.”

He went straight to the dining room and put the bags on the table. I still couldn’t believe it. Yoongi had driven more than a hundred kilometers road on the Christmas Eve and he left his family to be with me instead.

Yoongi turned to me and said. “Let’s eat the food before it gets cold.”

That was when I hugged him right away. Yoongi let out a sigh and a few seconds later, he embraced me into his arms.

I was overwhelmed by his presence in my lonely state. I took in the warmth and his familiar soothing scent. The smell of his perfume mixed with the after-shave was intoxicating.

I finally let go and informed, “But I’ve already ordered Pizza.”

Yoongi smiled, “A little more food during Christmas won’t hurt.”

The table was set and the hot food served. We ate and talked and laughed and cried out of too much laughter. It was such a merry time that I almost forgot I was sick.

But my fever rose at the end of the night and I was curled up in my bed, shivering. Yoongi touched my forehead to detect the amount of heat and frowned. Then, he went to the kitchen to prepare something special.

Peppermint tea, something I never quite liked. But as I had a cold and the tea was warm, I accepted it rather gratefully. A soft ‘thank you’ left my mouth as I took the cup from his hands. Yoongi sat beside me and watched quietly as I sipped my tea. I wondered what I had ever done to deserve this.

Wrapped - Jung Hoseok

Shopping for all of them who were coming to our Christmas party was exhausting. But the worse was wrapping them in gift papers by ourselves. Since it was our first Christmas together after we had moved in together, my boyfriend Hoseok wanted it to be a special one. And hand-wrapped gifts sounded special indeed.

“Do you have any idea how long we’ve been doing this, Hobi?” I asked, a little annoyance in my voice.

“C’mon, goldie!” Hoseok said in the cutest tone, “Don’t talk like that. We should be doing this with joy.”

“Joy, my foot.” I muttered.

“Uh-uh.” Hobi did another cute sound effect while moving his index finger side to side, indicating I shouldn’t have said that.

I didn’t respond. Instead, I walked out of the living room to my bedroom. I waited for a moment to see if Hobi followed me. When I was sure he had gone back to work, I did what I had been planning the whole evening to do.

I hid Hobi’s Christmas gift, a fancy watch, which I had bought secretly from the shop today, in his closet. So that, next morning he would find them himself while I’d be fast asleep.

Then, I went back to work along with my hard working boyfriend. We finished them all by midnight and arranged them neatly under the Christmas tree. Wishing each other merry Christmas and kissing goodbye, we went to bed.

“Holly Molly!” Hobi exclaimed in the morning and I woke up with a start. “What did my little bumble bee bought without me knowing, huh?”

I sat on the bed and smiled, “Check it yourself, my little sunflower.”

Hobi opened up the present, giggling like a little child. His eyes were shining when he saw what was inside.

“Did you like it?” I asked.

Hobi beamed at me and said, “What are you talking about? It’s fabulous.”

Everyone was busy searching for their gift and opening them. There was a lot of chaos among our family and friends. Watching them liking what we had got them, made me feel like it was all worth it.

“Hey!” Taehyung called me, “Here’s one addressed to you too.”

“For me?” I asked. At first, I was a little confused. But then, I realized that Hobi had planned to hid my gift among all the others. I took the small box from Taehyung.

Hobi hugged me before I could open it and whispered in my ears, “Merry Christmas, honey!” Inside the box was a ring. My head stopped working for a while. Looking back at Hobi, I almost teared up.

He was on his knees.

Sexy, Cutie, Lovely - Park Jimin

Christmas this year was full of snow. And there was no way we could step out of our house in this weather. So, Jimin and I had planed for a movie marathon night. Being the movie freak as I was, the job of selecting the best movies came to me.

You could imagine how pissed I was when Jimin started to act uninterested through the second movie. At first, he tried talking in between scenes. When I refused to join his unfitting conversation, he started to complain about how all the movies I chose were so boring, even though it was ‘Home Alone’ which we were watching at that time.

“You can go and sleep.” I said, “I’m gonna finish my boring marathon alone tonight. And I’m perfectly happy to do away with you.”

“What?” Jimin pretended to look cute while being shocked, “you’re abandoning me for these movies?” I gave a stiff nod and he started to whine and threw a tantrum like a child.

“Acting cute will take you nowhere, Park Jimin.” I stated flatly.

He put his head on my lap and said with a smirk, “But it took me to your heart.”

“Stop being a cringe and move out of the way.” I pushed his head.

After minutes of doing puppy eyes and pouty faces, when I still didn’t budge, Jimin walked away from me. But he was back within a minute wearing his night gown which I had commented he looked sexy in ages ago.

“What does it suppose to mean?” I raised one of my eyebrows.

“It means,” Jimin threw himself on the couch next to me dramatically and said, “I’m getting ready for bed.” The last word, he said in a whisper, clearly indicating the obvious.

I scoffed in reply and kept my eyes fixed on the TV. Jimin moved on the couch in a certain way to get closer and carefully snaked his hands around my waist. I knew what he was capable of doing to me. But I refused to give in.

I slapped his hand and said, “Stop bothering me.”

Jimin took away his hands, a frown growing on his forehead. Then, he walked away stomping his feet, muttering “Stop this! Stop that!” I almost laughed out loud.

After half an hour of watching the movie alone, I realized it was indeed boring. No offense to my all time favorite ‘Home Alone’ but I was missing Jimin beside me. I sighed and turned off the TV.

Jimin was already fast asleep. He looked like an angel in this innocent state of unconsciousness. I could look at him for the whole night and still wouldn’t get bored. I smiled to myself.

“My lovely Jiminie!”

You’re My Boy - Kim Taehyung

Apparently, five layers of clothes weren’t enough to keep you comfortable on a snowy night out on the street. I wasn’t foolish enough to have come out into the open at this time either. But unfortunately I had a boyfriend who was extremely stubborn. I knew, I wouldn’t be able to lift his mood up the whole Christmas if I didn’t come out to play with him in the snow just now.

So, here I was, struggling to throw a single snow ball at my childish boyfriend, who had been continuously throwing enough of them at me by which I could have built a huge snowman.

“Please!” I begged him as another ball hit my shoulder, “Stop it already. I’m so tired.”

Taehyung came running at me with a smile on his face. “You’re not fun to play with.” he tried to mock me.

“I know!” I huffed out, “Can we do something else? Something fun?”

Taehyung thought for a moment. Just before I could offer him to play a nice game of monopoly inside our warm room, he yelled in excitement, “Let’s make a snowman!”

“What?” I asked in disbelieve, “No way!”

But Taehyung always had his way. So, we were rather doing what he had suggested instead of what I had thought of even if mine was a rational decision anyone would have agreed upon.

Building a snowman was harder than it looked. I remembered to have done it when I was just a kid. Those times, I always had my sisters and parents to help me. The shapes were never right. Taehyung wasn’t satisfied with them at all and we had to rebuild it from the base every time.

Finally, we managed to make the perfectly symmetrical balls, the upper one half the size of it’s base. Taehyung nodded his approval and I sighed in relief. I was grateful that Taehyung let me do the most interesting works; putting the buttons, eyes, mouth and the carrot for a nose. I finished the final task perfectly and looked back at my boyfriend.

And there it was. The boxy smile. When my eyes stopped at his perfectly wide grinning face, I felt like the time had slowed down. The snow was falling rather dramatically. My surrounding suddenly looked more romantic than it did even a few minutes ago.

Taehyung looked at me and tilted his head in confusion. “Baby?” he called, “Why are you staring at me like that?”

I suddenly realized what I was doing. I chuckled and shook my head to let out those romantic thoughts away. I decided that the romance could wait. Instead, I let his inner child enjoy this rare moment for now.

First Mistletoe Kiss - Jeon Jungkook

Finally, the party was over and all the boring people left the house. When I had done my share of cleaning up, my mother allowed me to go to bed. I picked up my phone as soon as I reached my room and locked the door.

“Oh shit!” I swore. Five missed calls and a text! And all of them were from the same person; Jeon Jungkook.

Jungkook was my neighbor and I had known him for a year. I had liked him since day one. Little did I know that he had liked me as well until last week when he had asked me to be his girlfriend. Naturally, I said yes. But over the week, I got to know the Jungkook behind those doe eyes and bunny smile. He was quite stubborn and possessive in nature.

Five missed calls on Christmas Eve from him could mean disaster. I hastily checked the text.

“I don’t want to be that clingy boyfriend asking for attention when you’re having fun. So, I’m texting you instead. Merry Christmas.”

I got the tone of the message. Jungkook had a habit of always ending a text with calling me love. But he hadn’t done that here. Especially when it was supposed to be a merry Christmas text. That was not a good sign.

Since I had a pretty strict family, the fact that I had a boyfriend before I graduated high school was a secret. So, I checked whether my parents had already gone to bed or not before calling Jungkook right away.

“Wow!” I heard Jungkook speak, “You remembered me!”

“I’m so sorry. kookie!” I pleaded in a half whisper. “There were so many people. And you know my mother. She doesn’t allow phones in front of the guests.”

Jungkook remained silent for a while. Then he spoke again, “I wanna meet.”

“What?” I raised my voice unexpectedly, “You mean, now?”

“Yes!” Jungkook said, “Don’t you dare say no! I’m not going to bed without seeing you.”

I thought for a moment. Everyone was tired as hell. There was no way my mother would come to check on me at this time. I decided I would take this risk. “C’mon!” I told myself, “It’s Christmas!”

“Love?” Jungkook called.

“Meet me at the store.” I said, “And don’t forget to buy me Cheetos.”

Jungkook was waiting with a packet of Cheetos by the store door. A big smile spread across his face when he saw me. I gave him a quick hug and started complaining about how bored I was during the whole party and how much I had thought of him.

Jungkook kept on smiling and feeding me the Cheetos in between as I was too busy ranting about my misery. I stopped when I realized that Jungkook hadn’t spoken at all.

“Don’t keep staring at me like that.” I said.

Jungkook chuckled and said, “I can spend a whole lifetime hearing you talk.”

“That was cringey!” I said as I felt heat rushing to my cheeks.

“Look!” Jungkook pointed up to a mistletoe hanging above the store door. “It’s not every Christmas you get to stand under the mistletoe with your boyfriend by your side.”

I knew exactly what he meant. I was rather doubting if it was a coincidence at this point. The thought of Jungkook wanting a kiss from me sent a shiver down my spine. I looked down in embarrassment.

“Wait a minute!” Jungkook said, “Haven’t you ever kissed under a mistletoe before?”

“Actually,” I mumbled, “I’ve never kissed anyone before.”

A visible shocking expression spread on Jungkook’s face. When recovered, he cleared his throat, “Let me be your first, then.”

Carefully, he closed the distance between us. Then, he cupped my face on his hands and asked, “May I?”

When I nodded my ‘yes’, he gently kissed my lips. He let go and whispered softly, “Merry Christmas, love.”

My Masterlist

Happy Birthday to the cutie...

Star-Crossed

Fandom: BTS Pairing: Human!Seokjin x Mermaid!Reader Genre: Fantasy/Fluff/Angst Warning: Disturbing dream, mc questioning his sanity, mention of killing, death, mention of clash between humans and mer-people, light teasing and bullying, some angsty moments, some dumb moments (sorry people), slight smut, kissing, mc dying, heartbreak. Word Count: 5.5k Words Note: A reincarnation love story between a mermaid and a ship captain. It is a dual POV story; one for Seokjin and the other for the reader. The story contains two different timelines; the 18th century and the present. The parts in italics indicates the past timeline.

Summary: The dream is repeating for many times for it to be called just a dream. Seokjin wants to find the answer while you wait patiently for him to come back to you as he had once promised...

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Jin’s POV:

I assumed her to be an ordinary girl the first time she appeared in my dream. I was only a teenager at the time. It had been seven years since then. I was experiencing the same dream on repeat. Now, I knew that she was no ordinary girl but a mermaid.

It might sound ridiculous that an adult was dreaming an unhealthy amount of time about a mythological creature. I used to get mad at myself too. There were even times I thought I had gone crazy. I even had a theory that my obsession with the sea and fishing could have something to do with it.

But after years, I had come to a specific conclusion. It was not just a dream. I believed it to be a vision. A vision that was supposed to lead me somewhere. But where to, I didn’t know.

The content of the dream was always the same. She would ask me the same two questions every time. “How long should I wait for you? When will you come back to me?” And the dream would always end up with her calling my name, “Jin!”

I would wake up frustrated even if it was the same dream I’ve been having for the past seven years. I wanted to change something, anything, from it desperately. I would readily sell my soul to the devil to get an idea of her true identity or the whole purpose of this dream.

Surprisingly, I had never talked about it to anyone. I had planned to visit a psychiatrist once. But the idea of me telling them that I believed in her existence sounded too absurd to be told. They would immediately diagnose me as insane. Maybe, they were right to do so.

Today, I woke up in the middle of the night. It took me some minutes before I could make out my surrounding properly. I was on my ship, which was on her way back home. It had been a long week of us fishing on the west and the results were quite satisfactory.

I wasn’t really happy about getting back to the land. I was a man born to be on the sea. I could call it my one true home. I could relax and be surrounded by my own thoughts whenever I was on the sea. Whereas the only thought that occurred to me on the land was when we were going back to sail again.

But the comfort of the sea came along with a price. I couldn’t deny it even if I wanted to. The sea had brought this dream to me, whatever the reason behind it was.

Reader’s POV:

I knew, he would find his way to me one day. He told me that himself. He would have never lied to me. I knew, he was a man of his words. He would most definitely come back. Until then, I could wait.

Waiting was not very hard for me. It was probably the simplest task I had ever been given. It literally meant to not do anything. I was glad that I was not asked to do something much more complicated that humans do in their everyday life. Like; cooking or knitting.

So, I had been waiting for a long time. 300 years could be called a long time for humans, I suppose. Because, being an immortal didn’t allow me to have a good sense of time.

Yes! Mer-people were immortals. It didn’t necessarily meant that we could never die. It only meant we could not die by natural causes. Of course, murder could be a way of killing mer-people. And it had been done too.

But being an immortal had also given me an opportunity to be reunited with my lover who had been death for more than 300 years. Even though I missed him more and more with all the passing moments, I was a patient being by nature.

The mer-people community had decided to migrate from the sea of the ‘Mariachi Island’ to the deep water of the Pacific so that the humans could no longer interfere in their lives. I was the only one who had stayed behind.

I had to. Or else, how would my Jin find me when he would be reborn?

Jin’s POV:

“This is interesting!” Yoongi said eyeing the newspaper on the table while sipping on his coffee. “Hyung, you should see this.”

Yoongi was an old friend. We used to go fishing together when we were younger. Yoongi never had any passion for the sea. The only reason he would accompany me was because it made me happy. He never said it out loud obviously.

Somehow he ended up being on the crew of the ship I was the captain to and our journey of the sea had continued. But it was not an unknown fact that Yoongi liked it better on the land whenever we were on a break.

“What is it?” I asked him suspiciously.

“A mermaid had been spotted.”

My eyes grew larger at the mention of it. Yoongi noticed that at once and laughed, “Chill! It’s just a rumor. They print stuffs like this every now and then.”

“What do you mean every now and then?” I snatched the newspaper from the table to read the article myself.

“Mariachi Island, it is. Nothing interesting goes in there. So, they had made up this tale of a mermaid living near it.” Yoongi informed.

I checked the location carefully and put the newspaper down, “Shouldn’t we go there to check it ourselves before judging?”

It was Yoongi’s time to grow his eyes larger. “Hyung, it’s just a stupid conspiracy theory.”

“Be it, then. We’re on a break anyway. Spending the time at a resort in the famous ‘Mariachi Island’ doesn’t sound too bad, does it?”

Yoongi shook his head fervently. I knew, it would take a lot of time before I could convince him to go with me. But I was still confident of doing so.

I couldn’t let this news slip away so easily. It seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity. It could be a stupid story. But it could also be not. Who knows? I might get closer to my answer to the unknown question.

Reader’s POV: (The Past)

There was a secret cave at the end of the ‘Mariachi Island’ near an abandoned forest. The forest was said to be haunted by spirits. So, people usually avoided going there. Jin had fixed that cave to be our meeting place. So that nobody could find out about us. Every day during the sunset, Jin would come to meet me away from both the humans and the mer-people.

Since the beginning of time, humans never got along with the mer-people at all. Humans were considered to be our enemies. And the pirates were worst of them all. But Jin and I had managed to found a kind of love in each other despite being a pirate and a mermaid. And that was enough for us to disobey all the made up rules to be together.

But there were times when Jin would have to go away to the unknown sea with his beloved ship and her crew. I wasn’t allowed to travel with them. Jin told me that he had many enemies who would not think twice before hurting me for their benefit.

I still came to the cave and wait patiently for Jin every sunset. Today, I had been sitting on the sand for a long time. It made me dizzy and I didn’t notice when I had fallen asleep.

I woke up suddenly by someone’s touch. It was Jin. He was running his hand through my hair. He smiled as soon as I opened my eyes and I sat up, smiling myself.

“Oh, Jin! You’ve come back. I missed you.”

Jin sighed, “The same old words. Can’t you say anything different?”

“But I really miss you when you’re away.” I tried to prove my sincerity.

“Don’t get too used to me. I can’t be with you forever.”

I frowned at his words, “Are you going to leave me for good?”

“No, jagi!” Jin shook his head, “But I’m not an immortal.” I couldn’t digest the bitter truth that I have known since the first day I met him. Then, Jin added, “Anyway, I’m back now. Stop being over dramatic, you pathetic fish.”

Jin took out something from the pouch attached to his waist. It was a line of pearls attached by a string together and it looked beautiful.

“What is it?” I asked eagerly.

“I made it for you.” Jin said, “It’s a gift.”

I was surprised by the word. I had never been gifted before. Among mer-people, only the king was allowed to gift the most precious thing to his queen at the day of their wedding. It was a tradition we all followed.

“What happened?” Jin frowned, “Didn’t you like it?”

“I like it very much. But I don’t know what to do with it?”

Jin chuckled, “You wear it, silly.” He proceeded to go sit behind me. The pearls were sat around my neck.

He came back to face me again, “It’s called a necklace, jagi. People wear them to look beautiful. Since you’re uglier than a pig, this will make you look a little more bearable!”

Then, he started to laugh. The sound that it produced was very interesting to hear. It never failed to bring a smile to my face.

Jin’s POV:

We reached the island two days ago. Yoongi was sleeping in his room while I sneaked out of the hotel to enjoy the dawn. I was too excited to get a proper sleep these past nights. I hadn’t found anything unusual so far other than the fact that my dream had returned. It was the first time of me experiencing it on land. Perhaps it was because the island was a part of the sea.

The cold air of the dawn was not comfortable. But I was too tired to go back to the hotel and grab my hoodie. Instead I kept standing still on my boat which was rocking to and fro by the waves.

“Jin!” someone called me from behind.

I froze. I knew this voice well. I heard it calling my name thousands of times before. But I still found it hard to believe. “Was I hallucinating due to lack of sleep?” I thought to myself.

“Jin!” It had to be her. There was no way I could be mistaken twice. I slowly turned around with an unknown fear in my heart.

It was indeed her. I was relieved to have found her finally. But the greatest was the relief of knowing that she was real. And I was not crazy to have believed in her existence.

The mermaid was floating. Her waist met the water from where the tail had started to be visible. She had long and thick hair that covered her upper body. It covered not just her bare chest and the back but also most of her face. I still knew that it was her.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” I said walking toward the railing of my ship to get a closer view, “I’m not dreaming.”

She nodded frantically as if she was excited to meet me as well. A part of me was telling me to be afraid of the new discovery I had just made. But another part of me was always aware of the fact that we were destined to meet someday. Surprisingly, I let the latter get the hold of me.

“Do you know me?” I asked.

As much as I could make out from her hair covered face, I could tell she was frowning at my question. So I asked further, “How do you know my name?”

She didn’t say anything. Rather she was backing away as if she was suddenly scared by me. I tried to convince her that I was harmless.

“No!” I said, “Don’t go away. I won’t hurt you. I have been looking for you for a long time. I believe there is a connection between us. And I’m willing to figure it out. Please help me. I promise, you can trust me.”

She kept looking at me with the same frustrated look on her face but didn’t utter a word. I wondered what else I could say to make her comfortable around me. I decided that the dream can wait. I should rather start by making a small talk.

“Um… My name’s Jin, you know!” I said to which she nodded with enthusiasm once again. I was encouraged to make another move. So, I asked her, “What’s your name?”

“We don’t have names.” She replied. I noticed that her voice was low but it was also beautiful.

“Oh, is it so?” I continued, “then, what should I call you?”

“Jagi!” She said without even thinking, “You always call me jagi.”

“Um… Can I call you something else?” I said, not sure if I could call a stranger by such an intimate term.

To my surprise, she shook her head with even more emphasis.

Reader’s POV:

My long waiting had come an end. Jin had finally found me. For some reason, I wasn’t as happy as I thought I would be. In fact I was miserable. Meeting Jin for the first time made me realize that the waiting was more beautiful than the meeting itself.

I tried to reason with my own mind. Why was I feeling this way? Wasn’t meeting Jin the only thing that I longed for all these years? Hadn’t I been dreaming about finally being reunited with my lover?

Maybe, the reason behind my disappointment was that I had never gave a thought about how the Jin I was going to meet would not be the exact Jin I used to know. He was the reincarnation of my past lover. That didn’t mean he would be reborn with all of his past memories or feelings.

The new Jin didn’t know me. He didn’t remember the moments we shared. He didn’t know just how much I loved him and how much more he had loved me back.

And that realization was painful to accept. What could I do now? I couldn’t just give up on him completely. Jin was my life. He was the reason I kept going forward. If I had never met him in the first place, things might have been different. I would have been satisfied by living like an ordinary mermaid.

But that wasn’t the case. I had met Jin and he had made me realize a lot of things I was unaware about before. He had showed me what love really was. Even if he didn’t mean it to happen, I grew used to him. Too much that I couldn’t accept his death and had been waiting for him ever since.

Now, my waiting was over. Jin had finally found me. Even if my own feelings were hurting me, I still decided to take a chance with the new Jin and see where it would lead me to. After all, I had no one else other than him.

Jin’s POV:

The mermaid was too impatient to stay. I practically begged her to meet me again so that I could finally talk to her about my dream. Hesitantly, she told me about an abandoned forest at the end of which was a cave. And I was to meet her there during sunset.

I didn’t have any trouble finding the place she had mentioned. I was glad that she had kept her promise. She was already on the surface busking in the sun when I reached there. For the first time, I got a complete view of the mermaid I had been dreaming obscurely about these past years.

And just like that, I kept meeting her every day. It became a routine. We would talk for some minutes, the sun would set and she would dive back to the water.

I couldn’t describe exactly what we talked about. It was mostly nonsense. Because I knew, it wasn’t time to raise the most obvious questions. At first, she was hesitating to be around me. I could tell that by her body language. By the time, she was comfortable enough to ask me random questions you would mostly hear a toddler ask.

I noticed that slowly she was growing very fond of me. She started to act quite happy and wouldn’t want to leave even when the sun was down. Honestly, I started to like her too. She was probably the only person I could talk to for hours and still couldn’t have enough.

But I didn’t forget about my dream. It was true that the dream had stopped ever since I met her in real. I was still curious to know how exactly we were connected. And I knew for sure, she had clues about it.

I approached her about the topic very carefully. Once I asked her how she had known my name without my telling her. She didn’t respond and went silent for a while. It wasn’t the only question she was avoiding. There were other things I asked her about to which she either stayed silent to or changed the topic immediately.

For instance, I asked her about the other mermaids and she told me that they had all gone to the pacific to hide from the humans. When I asked what she was doing here all alone, she was frustrated and mumbled something inaudible.

When I asked about the pearl jewelry she always wore around her neck, she avoided that topic as well. She even refused to tell me why she was trusting me so much whereas she was really afraid of the other humans.

I believed all these things had something to do with me. And she was keeping some real secrets. And she was doing it on purpose.

Reader’s POV:

It was the little things that he did. It reminded me of my Jin. The Jin I was familiar with. The Jin I had loved.

The new Jin had the same kind of way of talking. I didn’t really understand how people talked in different ways. But I could certainly understand the way my Jin used to talk. Jin would say things which should usually hurt but they never did actually hurt. Jin used to say that was his sense of humor and I was too dumb to understand that. But he didn’t know that I did understand.

The new Jin laughed just like my Jin too. His laugh would make that very interesting kind of sound which made me laugh along with him.

The new Jin would talk a lot about the sea. Even if he wasn’t a pirate like my Jin, I learned that he also owned a ship of his own. His love for the sea, my own home, always fascinated me.

The new Jin would actually care about me even if he never said it out loud. He thought that I didn’t notice him struggling to ask me about things he was dying to know. But actually, I did.

I knew, the new Jin was confused about some things. He wanted to know the answers. The answers only I could offer him. But I was scared.

“Is it too early to trust him?” I had been asking myself every day. But I had been wrong about him too. He was in a different body in a different time period. But there was no denying that he was indeed my Jin. And he deserved to know the truth.

Jin’s POV:

“I’ll tell you everything you want to know.” The mermaid suddenly said one day.

“Umm… Okay!” I said, now very nervous to know it all.

“The truth is I knew you from a long time ago.” She said flatly. “You are reincarnated.”

“What?” I said. Among all the wild theories I had, this one was, perhaps, the wildest. “Reincarnation?” I thought, “Is that even a real thing?”

She remained silent again, giving me the time to process the information she had just thrown at my face. Looking at her serious face, I knew that she wasn’t lying.

“It’s not a big deal, right?” I tried to convince myself, “If mermaids could be real, so could be reincarnation.” But the idea of me living a complete different life before and in which this mermaid was a part of, sounded too much to take in.

“Did I die?” as soon as I asked that, I knew it was the dumbest thing I could have possibly asked in this situation. Well, my head wasn’t really working properly.

But she wasn’t the kind to judge. She simply nodded her head and said, “You promised you’d come back for me. That’s why, I have been waiting for you.”

She was speaking as if it was actually me. I wanted to correct her by saying that it wasn’t really me but my past self. But then I remembered how her eyes were twinkling with happiness and hope the first time she saw me. The next moment, it transformed into despair as soon as I showed no sign of recognition.

I didn’t want to ruin her new found hope once again. So, I smiled at her instead and said, “And I did, jagi. I came back just for you.” She smiled back.

We sat across the surface and were facing each other, with genuine smiles on both of our faces. After a while, I shivered as a sudden cold air blew past us.

“What happened?” she asked.

“It’s cold.” I said while rubbing my hands together to produce some heat.

She gently took my hands in hers and hold it. It had the kind of warmth that could melt my whole freezing body right at the spot. I realized that I wasn’t regretting coming here at the island at all.

Reader’s POV: (The Past)

He came to sit closer to me. His hand reached for the hair on my face, softly touching it first, then he tucked it behind my ear. I could feel the heat rising on my face at his sudden touch.

He leaned on slowly and carefully. I was a little confused by his actions. Before I could say anything, his soft lips were already upon mine. His hands grabbed my head from behind to pull me closer so that our lips smashed onto each other’s with more friction. He opened his mouth, letting my lower lip slide inside while his tongue did crazy things inside mine.

The hands those were tangled up on my hair all this time were let loose. He made it run through my back before it made it’s way to the front, pushing my thick and long hair to the back. For the first time in my life, I felt the cold air of the surface touch my bare chest.

His mouth travelled further onto the side of my face, rubbing his lips on my cheek and mumbling sweet nothings on my ear. Then, it went slowly down through my neck to my chest.

The more his lips were touching my skin the more I wanted him to do so. I felt something very foreign inside me going on. But I didn’t complain. Whatever it was that he was doing to me, I was loving it. Maybe this was how humans treated others they loved.

Jin’s POV:

The sun was already going down. As I looked at my companion, I suddenly felt an urge to see her face clearly without her hair’s interruption. “Could you please move your hair out of the way so that I can see you properly?”

She was startled by my sudden request but immediately nodded. Then, she proceeded to move all of her hair covering her body instead.

“No, no, no!” I yelled, making her jump out of fright. “I’m so sorry!” I apologized. I tucked the hair out of her face behind her ear myself and said, “I only meant to see your face, that’s all.”

She looked down for a while and remained silent as if she had been thinking about something. Looking at me, she made an unusual request, “Can you do those things people do to show they love each other?”

I was taken aback. What could she possibly mean by that?

“Umm… Sure!” I said, “What do you want me to do?”

She simply shrugged as if to say that I was the one who should have known that. I thought for a while. Perhaps, she was asking me to caress her hair to show affection.

As I was about to touch her head, she moved away slightly and said, “Let’s do it in my place this time. You can swim, can’t you?”

She jumped into the water as soon as I nodded in affirmation. I was dumbfounded. Not sure what I should be doing, I took a deep breath before following her to the water as well. Thankfully the water was warm. But it was darker inside. It took some times for my eyes to get adjusted to the surrounding. And then, I saw her.

She looked ten times more beautiful than she ever did on the surface. Even though it were comparatively darker inside the water, I could still make out her smiling face in front of me.

The next thing that caught my attention was her hair. They were floating above her head. It almost looked like a fancy crown.

“Wait a minute! Does that mean…” my thoughts trailed away as my eyes travelled down to her bare chest. I would have said that the sight took my breath away. But I was somehow still able to hold it.

She swam towards me, closing the distance between us. Her smiling lips parted a little before it came crushing down onto mine. She was kissing me. But what surprised me more was that I was kissing her back. We hold onto each other while we did what she had meant by people doing to show their love.

When I came back to the hotel it was already dark everywhere. Yoongi came running to me. He had noticed that I was soaking. He asked, “Did you fell into the water or something?” He looked genuinely concerned about me.

I smiled at him instead and said the most unexpected thing I had ever imagined I would say. “Yoongi-ah!” I said, “I think, I’m in love.”

Yoongi raised one of his eyebrows suspiciously, “Hyung! Are you sure you’re okay? Do you want me to take you to the doctors?” To which I only replied with my infamous laughter that sounded like a windshield wiper.

Reader’s POV: (The Past)

There was a fight, not so far away from where I lived. It wouldn’t have bothered me as much because I was used to the pirates fighting all the time. But this time, one of the ships was Jin’s. So, I couldn’t stay still and not interfere, even if it was exactly what Jin would have wanted me to do.

Unfortunately I was too late to arrive. I could tell that the fight was already over and the winning party was definitely not my Jin. Some were already dead on deck by the time I had reached them while the others were held prisoners. Perhaps the most frightening thing I saw was how they blew the knife through Jin’s chest and kicked him into the water as if they didn’t care at all.

But I cared. I got hold of him and took him to our most familiar place. There was still a little life left in him by then.

Jin spoke to me as if he wasn’t in agonizing pain, “I’ve never told you this but, jagi, you’re beautiful.”

I felt like I wanted to cry. But I still managed to reply, “No! You always told me that I was ugly.”

Jin laughed through the pain, “I only joked about it, silly. I would never have loved you if you were ugly.”

“But you do love me.”

“That’s because you’re beautiful.” A moment of silence. Then a sigh left his mouth, “I can’t believe this is what we’re talking about when I’m literally dying.”

I panicked at his words. “No, Jin! Please don’t die.”

“It’s okay, jagi.” He smiled warmly. He raised his hand to touch my face and said, “I promise, I’ll come back to you in my next life. Wait for me till then, will you?”

“Yes! I’ll wait for you.” I nodded.

“And don’t get caught.”

“Okay! I won’t get caught.” Another moment of silence, “But how long should I wait for you? When will you come back to me?”

Silence.

”Jin?”

Jin’s POV:

Yoongi was lying on the couch and peeling a tangerine as I entered the room. “Hyung, there’s good news for you.” Yoongi smirked. There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “The scientists, too, have started to believe in the existence of mermaids.”

I didn’t mind the teasing at all. So, I shrugged, “See! I told you it was possible.”

“I mean, yeah, well, theoretically.” Yoongi looked annoyed, “But I’ve never thought they would go so far as to search for a real one to experiment on.”

“What do you mean? Search for?” This time, I took it seriously.

“Aren’t you seeing the news?” Yoongi asked, “It’s all over the place. They are going to send the first search team here by tomorrow.”

“Here?” I was beyond shock, “You mean the ‘Mariachi Island’?” When Yoongi nodded in affirmation, I shook my head in denial, “It’s absurd.”

“I know right! I mean, why bother spending the money and time on a mythical creature? Specially, in this economy…” Yoongi trailed off as I ran out of the room without paying a heed to him.

I needed to alert her. She was in real danger.

“No! I’m not going away from you.” The first thing she said as I explained her the whole situation and asked her to leave the place for good to join her community at the pacific.

“You are not understanding. It’s really dangerous. There are people out there who are determined to cage you. And God knows what they’ll do to you.”

She still refused to see the risks. “But you had promised you’ll come back to me. So, I’ve waited for you. Why are you asking me to leave you now?”

“Because it’s… Oh God! Jagi, I wish I could explain it better.” I was mad at myself for not being able to say the right words.

“Then, explain it to me.” She almost screamed at me. It was the first time I saw rage in her eyes which left me silent for a while.

“I’m so sorry, jagi.” I began to speak slowly, “The past me was a selfish and an asshole. I shouldn’t have asked you wait for me in the first place. It’s so messed up.”

“But it’s okay now.” Her voice softened, “The dreams have brought you to me again so that we can finally be together. It’s our fate.” The desperation in her voice made me tear up.

“No, Jagi!” I shook my head, “The day we were born as two different species was the day it had been destined; we were never meant to be.”

Reader’s POV:

I couldn’t understand why Jin was so eager to send me away. I knew the humans were dangerous. So, I had been hiding from them well. I didn’t see any problem in staying in the island for some more time. I was sure I could manage this much for my Jin.

But one thing had stricken me like a lightning blow. Something that Jin had said. And I knew I would never be able to forget it for the rest of my life.

Jin told me that we were never meant to be. This line was enough to make me realize there was no point in staying in this island. Not even for my Jin. So, I decided I would grant his wish and leave for good.

“Why are you crying, Jin?” I asked as it was the first time I ever saw tears in his eyes. But there was no reply.

I took the pearl necklace off my neck. It didn’t shine as much as the way it used to and looked very old. But it still was the most precious thing to me.

I handed it to Jin, “Will you promise me something?”

“What is it, jagi?” He asked in a whisper.

“Promise me that you’ll never forget about me.” I requested.

Jin shook his head, “It’s impossible to forget you.”

I turned towards the water. “So, this is how we part.” I thought to myself.

The sun was setting already. The sunset, I realized, was my most favorite time of the day. I knew, it would no longer be. I couldn’t bear to look at it anymore. Because, every time I did so, it had reminded me of my Jin. But once, there was hope. And that hope was gone now.

I took a good look at the setting sun for the last time before diving into the water. Away from the danger. Away from the people. Away from my Jin.

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