Kmpac - BTS Are My Universe - Tumblr Blog

The way I literally audibly gasped when this man showed up looking like this on live. Top 5 best looks by anyone ever. It was a cultural reset!

jungkook’s new haircut ♡

Sweet baby! So glad he’s doing well! He looks so well and healthy!

230524 - hoseok on wevers: ARMYs!!! I’ve finished. The letters and support that everyone sent helped enormously, so I was able to receive my training well!!!

I’ll work hard for the rest of my military service and do my best! I love you!!💜

. . . Cellphones are fascinating….hahahaha (trans. cr. sebyul)

Love this documentary so freaking much! And the album he produced is a freaking masterpiece!

SUGA: ROAD TO D-DAY (cr. jung-koook)

OBSESSEDddddddDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!

AGUST D HAEGEUM (2023)

Another exceptional chapter! Such interesting plot twists and turns and the tension between her and JK is so perfect! I love it!

Bedeviled | Chapter 9: The Higher the Wall...

Pairing: demon!jungkook x female reader

Genre: E2L, romance, drama, angst, horror

WC: 4.5k

Warnings for this chapter: strong language, anxiety, brief mention of blood and injuries, cruelty, frightening depictions of Hell and things in it, terror, fear, name-calling, summoning of a demon (don't be dumb), TENSION🥴, i think that's all if there's anything i missed pls kindly let me know

Previous ML

JK's eyes shift back and forth on the ground as he walks, one rock catching his attention before another steals it away a second later. 

You're following silently behind him, have been for the past few minutes as he leads you to the foot of the mountain just ahead. 

When you look up, you see a door in the mountain that you hadn't noticed there a while ago. The closer you get the easier it becomes to see. It's a bit trippy, so you don't look at it for very long. 

Not a minute later, you're both standing silently in front of it, neither of you making a move to open it.

The door is made of splintery wood and looks extremely old; a rusted knob practically hanging on with all its strength at this point.

"Is there some kind of trick or is it just a door?" You ask, a hint of jest in your tone. 

This time, when he doesn't answer, you realize that it's not out of annoyance or spite, but the fact that he's staring so intently at nothing that he didn't even hear you. 

He suddenly snaps out of it and looks at you, "Did you say something?"

You point at the door, "Can I just open it?"

The demon looks where you're pointing, "Oh...Oh, yeah, it's just a door."

You both stand there for a second, once again no one making a move to reach for the handle. 

He looks at you again and you stare back. 

"Why aren't you opening it?" He finally snaps. 

"Why aren't you?" You counter. 

"Because I'm not your fucking butler."

"Well I don't trust you."

"Well maybe you should start learning to trust me a little-"

You laugh, "On what grounds? All you do is continue to provide evidence on why I shouldn't trust you."

The stare down lasts another few seconds, then you sigh and walk over to the door. 

"You're not a butler but you're sure as heck a princess," you mutter, grabbing the handle. 

He's about to snap back with an equally clever comeback, but the next moment makes the words die in his throat.

JK jumps out of his skin when you suddenly shriek and start convulsing like you're being electrocuted, hand frozen on the handle.

Without thinking, he reaches over to grab your hand and pull it off the doorknob. 

You start laughing, no longer playing up the dramatics. 

He steps back and looks at you, confusion furrowing his brows, his hand still wrapped around your wrist. 

"Got you," You cackle, watching the rage seep into his features as he realizes your joke. 

"Idiot," he shoves your hand away from him as you laugh.

"The look on your face was priceless!" You hunch over from laughter as he stands there and stares at you, far from amused and equally confused and disgusted at the enigma in front of him.

"Whatever, human," he scoffs in disgust and opens the door, not bothering to hold it open for you as he walks in and lets go of the handle. 

You slip in quickly before it shuts, "You know it's kind of rude to call me that."

"What?"

"You always call me 'human' or 'mortal' and it's quite offensive. Those certainly aren't my name."

He stops and looks at you. 

You glance around the tunnel you just walked into, noticing a deep reddish orange glow filling the space. The rock walls themselves seem to shine with a fiery light from the inside out. 

When you look back at him you see annoyance written all over his face. 

"Ok, what's your name then?" He says slowly, hip cocking to the side as he puts a hand there and stares at you. 

"Oh, that's even more rude. How can a demon ask for someone's name so casually? You really have no manners, do you?" You stare back at him, face completely serious even as he doesn't say a word. 

JK grits his teeth, then pulls his bottom lip into his mouth and gnaws on it while he analyzes your face. 

"What should I call you then?" His voice remains calm even as the irritation builds.

"Mmm, good question. Anything works, just don't be so rude," you swat dismissively.

"You truly are a piece of fucking work," He grits out. 

You start walking ahead without acknowledging his comment, turning around to look back at him for a second to see if he's coming. 

The demon doesn't move as he stares at you. 

Tangled hair frames your exhausted face, bruises decorating your neck and continuing down your arms and legs, clothes nearly in tatters, and your feet still wrapped in strips of cloth that are so caked with mud and old dried blood that it can't possibly be comfortable. 

That's not what catches his attention though. 

It's the smile on your face as you meet his eyes. 

"You coming?" You ask when he doesn't move for a full thirty seconds. 

You can see him physically snap out of whatever trance he was in. He blinks, then his permanent look of disgust returns and he shoulders past you and snaps, "There are a lot of things I could call you. You're lucky I haven't decided to use those."

Stumbling when he shoves you to the side to get through, you bump into the wall.

A gasp of pain leaves you when you feel a burn on the arm that hit the rock. 

"Ah," You hiss, automatically grabbing nearing the injury. 

He stops and turns to see you wincing as you look at a small welt that's appeared on your forearm. 

"What is it this time?" He growls. 

You look at him and he's suddenly hyper aware of the fact that your previous smile is now completely gone. 

He doesn't care.

"You pushed me into the wall."

"No, I didn't."

"You did."

"You're the one that can't even keep your fucking balance, stop trying to blame me for you being a klutz!" 

The look on your face at his words makes him groan internally. 

You are going to make it your mission to bitch and moan the entire time now, aren't you?

He can't have that. 

Can barely stand you when you're not complaining. 

You flinch when he walks up to you, trying to pull away when he snatches your wrist. 

"Don't-"

"Stop moving, damn it!"

You stop, shaking a little as you watch him. 

Your trembling doesn't go unnoticed by him, but he does nothing to make you feel less afraid, just brushes his hand over the welt. 

Watching in mounting confusion, you see the nasty burn disappear as his hand passes over it, there one second and gone the next. Then he lets go of your wrist and your arm falls to your side. 

"Why did you..."

He waits for you to finish your sentence.

When you don't say anything more, he raises a brow, and you see his gaze drift over you. Then he steps closer, his eyes falling to your lips.

"You know, you've got such pretty little lips for every word out of them being bitchy. Looking at them, I don't mind. Listening to you whine and moan? Not so much."

He steps even closer, raising his eyes to your own now, "At least, not unless I'm the reason behind them."

JK smirks at the blush that creeps into your cheeks, "If it means you won't complain anymore, I can heal the rest of you, you know. I can make you feel a lot better than you do now."

The way he says it and the feeling of his hand sliding onto your hip makes it clear he means much more than just healing some cuts and bruises.

Something you are not about to fall into.

Deciding to play along though, you move closer, hands coming up and resting on his chest. 

You try to ignore the incessant beating of your heart.

Two can play at this game.

"Really?" You whisper and stand up on your tiptoes to get your lips even closer to his.  

His eyes dart back and forth between yours. 

You let yourself stay there for exactly five seconds before a small laugh slips out and you shove his chest, moving him away from you.

"Mm, I've got more important things to do, demon. I'm flattered by the offer, really. Very sweet of you. But I think I'll pass, sorry."

A breathy chuckle of disbelief escapes him as he turns to look at you walking down the tunnel quickly. 

Did you really just turn him down?

And act like you'd be doing him a favor if you agreed?

The feeling that bubbles up in his chest is something he hasn't felt since that one time Sav took more than half of his souls for the month. That was a very very very long time ago. 

He vowed he wouldn't let anyone humiliate him again. 

Now this stupid little human girl comes marching into Hell and decides it's a good idea to do just that?

Not on his watch. 

He storms past you, shoulder bumping yours, "You couldn't handle it anyway, klutz."

You raise a brow as you watch him stalk ahead. 

Did you really just hurt his fragile ego that bad because you turned down his offer to sleep with him?

Biting back a smile, you shake your head and follow him.

Your move, JK.

_____________________________

The further into the mountain you go, the hotter it gets. 

A while ago you started to hear the screams. 

You shoved your hands over your ears, but as per usual, it's hardly done any good. 

With every step, it feels like you're getting closer and closer to something horrible beyond comprehension, to something so horrific that even just being in the same mountain as it is making you physically ill, and you haven't even seen it yet. 

When he stops abruptly, you do so also, watching him carefully.

He turns around, "You walk straight through, do not stop. Don't linger or you will regret it. Do you understand?"

You nod and his eyes narrow at you. 

"I'm serious. Don't fuck this up."

"I won't," You say firmly, balling your fists up to help you focus. 

His eyes drift over your determined face; cheeks chubby and dirty as your mouth is set in a straight line, brows furrowed in concentration.

You shift on your feet in what seems to be an anxious tic.  

A dark chuckle slips from his lips. 

"Alright then. Be brave, little klutz," He whispers teasingly before turning and continuing down the tunnel. 

You march after him, steeling your nerves as you beg yourself not to look at anything but his back. You do not want to know what horrors are waiting around the corner. 

-

The first moment stepping into the huge corridor is terrifying. 

Your eyes are glued to him, but you can hear the piercing shrieks coming from all around you. 

In your peripherals, you can tell that the walls are engulfed in flames. 

Do not look. 

As you walk down the never-ending hall, the screams get louder and angrier. 

Screams of blasphemy reach you whenever you pass and they see you. 

Unable to listen to it much longer, you reach your hands up and plug your ears, trying to drown out the disgusting words thrown your way.

The ones aimed at Him. 

You won't stand to listen to it. 

JK is suddenly way ahead of you.

You don't remember him picking up the pace. 

Hurrying forward, you unconsciously unplug your ears and grab onto the back of his shirt, keeping yourself close against him in fear of getting left behind in this place. 

You still won't look. 

Eyes pinched shut, you shove your face into him, body trembling from the sheer noise of the tortured souls burning. 

The second you grabbed him, he had stopped in confusion. 

After a moment though he realizes what you're doing and smirks, ready to use this against you.

You feel cold hands touch your arms and detach you from his back, pulling you more until you're in front of him. 

You keep your eyes shut tight, but your arms reach out blindly trying to grab onto him again. 

"Please," you choke out in a gasp, "Please don't leave me behind."

You feel his hands take your arms firmly. At the simple gesture, something inside of you shatters, he sees your face crumple and suddenly you're crying. 

And you can't stop. 

The enraged screams build; profanities being hurled at you from every direction. Telling you to open your eyes. Telling you to witness what your King did to them. 

To watch them burn alive in their own tombs of fire and torture.

"Get me out," You plead desperately as you feel like your eyes are about to open against your own will, "Please! Please, I don't wanna look! Get me out!"

You're clinging to him, begging him to get you away from here. 

It's what he's been waiting for all this time. 

Is this what finally broke you?

He stares at you, watching as you start to curl into him, fists bunched in his shirt and shaking him, screaming at him to help you. To please help you.

He does not care about you.

He should feel a rush of pride, of relief, of satisfaction at seeing how completely at his mercy you are. He should laugh and let you look at the scene around you, watch you fall to your knees and continue to beg him to save you.

So, why doesn't he?

You feel cold hands touch your face, holding your cheeks firmly as he says, "Cover your ears and walk."

Before you can say or think anything else, you feel him turn you around.

Now you're leading the way, but almost tucked into his chest, his larger frame looming over you as he covers your eyes with his hand.

Without hesitating for a single second, you plug your ears again, now not needing to worry about shielding your eyes. 

His other hand is placed on your lower back, guiding you forward through the corridor, leading you carefully through the sixth circle of Hell.

Do not be mistaken. 

He does not care about you.

_

You're not sure how long it will take to get through the tunnel. 

The only thing you can focus on is moving forward.

The feeling of his hand on your lower back and the one covering your eyes is what keeps you grounded as you stumble along.

The ground is uncomfortably hot on your bare feet, but you try not to dwell on it, even though it is a bit of a welcome distraction from the howls of people burning around you. 

Arms aching from holding them up to cover your ears, you scream internally at yourself not to let them drop. The auditory horrors waiting for you are a million times worse, you know that. 

You've got this, ____. 

You let out a shaky sigh and bite your bottom lip, using the pain as another distraction from everything else that's happening. 

Not able to see where you're going, your foot catches on a small stone and you stumble forward, fully expecting to fall.

But when his arm wraps around your waist and he practically lifts you up with one arm to right you again, you feel your heart start to hammer in your chest for a reason other than fear. 

-

"Why didn't you tell me?"

You dropped your head into your hands at the sound of your best friend's shaky voice, finally confronting you. 

"I didn't know how," You had whispered weakly, "I'm sorry."

The feeling of his hands running down your arms sent a warm feeling into your chest as he knelt in front of you, now face to face with you as you sat on the rickety old cot.

You didn't have the courage to look at him, so you turned your head to look out the small window above the cot, noting how ratty the little drapes looked.

You made a mental note to ask Tae later if he could sew them up for you.

"Please look at me."

You shook your head, biting your lip harshly to hold in the tears. 

"You have no reason to be sorry, ____."

You finally looked at him, "Don't call me that," you whispered brokenly, a single tear finally escaping. 

His brows furrowed, "Why not?"

"Everytime you call me that, it means you're being serious. I don't want you to be serious."

A sad smile appeared on his handsome face and you felt your heart lodge itself into your throat. 

You dragged your eyes away from his, "Don't look at me like that either."

I can't handle it.

A small chuckle reached your ears, and you felt his soft touch as he tucked a piece of hair behind your ear. 

"Apple."

You bit your lip even harder before finally looking at him again. 

"I don't want things to change," You croaked out tearfully, emotions finally betraying you.

"Nothing is going to change."

You scoffed and looked away, messily wiping the tears that escaped. 

"Apple, nothing is going to change." He said more firmly. 

"Let's just forget it for now," You stood up and wiped at your face and runny nose, "I have to go. Mother wants me to help with dinner. The Jungs are coming over." You avoided his gaze.

He stood up too and when you chanced a glance at him you could see it on his face. 

You could always tell when he lied to you. 

Things were going to change. 

And there was nothing you could do to stop it.

-

All sense of time and direction gone, you startle when you feel his hand removing one of your own from your ear. 

"You're fine," he says lowly, "We're out."

You drop your arms and wait until he uncovers your eyes, then you peek them open a little, looking around to see that you are no longer in the mountain. The dark smokey mountains loom around you.

"We left the sixth circle?" You whisper, voice cracking. 

He nods, "Yeah."

"Thank you," You stare at your hands, picking the dirt from under your nails obsessively. 

He doesn't respond, but you don't take that as a bad thing. 

Normally, he would have a nasty remark to throw your way. This is progress as far as you're concerned. 

When he lifts his head, he sees you staring at him, tears building in your eyes. 

"I'm sorry," you whisper, never looking away. 

His brows furrow and he cocks his head to the side and looks at you suspiciously, "Why?"

You suddenly realize that you're staring at him and speaking nonsense, so you quickly turn your gaze to the ground and mumble, "Never mind, sorry."

He watches you for a little longer, then drags his eyes away.

"I-..."

You look at him when he speaks, watching as he stares at a rock on the ground, then he huffs out an irritated sigh. 

"I need to go for a bit. Just- don't get yourself into trouble. You're enough trouble as it is." He snaps, then walks away. 

You don't even flinch when a billow of smoke surrounds him and suddenly he's gone. You just keep staring at the last place he was, anxiety starting to take root in you.

________________

JK doesn't move when he sees the young girl leaning over the fire, her hand outstretched to grab another bundle of herbs wrapped in a thin rope, ready to toss it into the fire and watch it burn as she whispers the words he already heard in his mind moments earlier. 

He stays planted on the big barrel in the corner of the old barn she so foolishly decided to summon a demon in; lounging as he watches her emotionlessly.

Usually he'd be giddy with the idea of getting another soul under his belt. Right now he just doesn't want to deal with it. 

Everything is confusing him and pissing him off.

More reason to get this over with quickly. 

Just as he hops down from the comfortable seat, a chill goes down his spine and he feels a surge of hatred sweep over him. 

JK narrows his eyes and steps closer to the girl, almost upon her when what he suspected steps out from one of the dilapidated stalls. 

"Hello demon," The unbelievably handsome being walks over until he's standing on the other side of the fire, in the perfect place for the girl to see him if he allows it.

She doesn't seem to sense either of their presences. 

JK glares daggers at the newcomer, "My name isn't 'demon'."

"Oh I know that," A soft chuckle follows, "I know who you are, JK."

The demon clenches his fists, "What are you doing here? She summoned me, not you."

"Funny, she doesn't have to summon me," The young man smiles, the most disgustingly beautiful smile. 

JK hates him already. 

The way he seems to glow within, the pure beauty surrounding this guardian. 

He despises it. 

"You're not welcome here, demon."

"Funny," JK mocks, "Seems like I'm the one she wants to see, not you."

"She's just a child. Leave her alone."

"Mm, child or not," The devil walks around to get a good look at her face, "She'll make a nice addition to Hell. Why don't you skip along to prayer time and let the two of us talk this out? Besides, she's fifteen, pretty sure she can make her own decisions. But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, puppet?"

"You have no idea what she's been through," The angel seethes, "Even if you did, you're too weak to prey on someone who actually gives you a challenge. Children are easy right? Animals too. You just love to terrify and manipulate the helpless, you're that pathetic. Am I wrong?"

"Not at all," JK smirks, "Why work harder? Now that we've got that sorted out, run off little angel. I've got some business to do."

"Go ahead and try," The girl's angel walks closer until he's between the girl and the demon she summoned out of pure desperation. 

JK grits his teeth at the fact that the guardian angel is at least a foot taller than him, not to mention broader. The wings on his back make him even larger, the purple color shimmering as he glares at the demon in front of him. 

"You have no power here, wretch. Get out."

"Gonna let your little girl get away with playing with summoning demons?"

"Leave while I'm asking nicely."

"Aw, you going to go and tell on me to your King?" JK sneers, "Go ahead, I'll take her down with me."

The angel smirks, his handsome face leaning closer, "This child has more strength in her than you will ever have. She's just a bit lost right now. You? You are the lowest, most despicable creature to exist. You have no right to even look at her. Go back to Hell,” He growls.

The demon's jaw clenches when he feels his body starting to leave against his own will. 

"Fuck you," he spits at the guardian angel.

The angel only looks into the demon's eyes, smiling gently. He doesn't flinch when he sees the look on his opponent's face, knowing the pain that is starting to consume him. 

JK gulps, then he glances back at the girl once more, watching with mounting anger as she seems to have a moment of realization before grabbing a bucket of water and dumping it over the fire, no longer intending to make a deal. 

"Get out," The guardian angel whispers one last time. 

JK glares as hard as he can before he turns and walks off, disappearing into thin air. 

_________________

You jump in surprise when you see him stumble out of another cloud of black smoke, falling to his hands and knees and trembling violently. 

"Fuck!" He screams, slamming his fist into the gravel. He grabs a rock that's near him and throws it as hard as he can, shattering it against a small tree that barely moves when struck. 

Deciding not to say anything, you keep your eyes downcast as he throws a tantrum, screaming about cursing someone and some other stuff you can't make out. 

You think you might hear him saying something about angels, but you’re not sure.

As long as you've been here, you have not seen him like this. He seems to have lost all control.

It's terrifying. 

JK breathes deeply, seemingly starting to come down from his enraged high. 

He raises his eyes and sees you sitting there.

A flame rises up in him and he marches over to you, making you flinch when he grabs your chin and forces you to look at him. 

You can see the anger in his eyes, the sweat making his hair stick to his face as he breathes heavily. It does nothing to help your nerves; you know he’s gorgeous, he knows you know he’s gorgeous. 

"Where are they?"

"Who?" Your voice shakes, not knowing what he's getting at. 

"Your guardian angel," he seethes, "Where the fuck are they?"

"I- I don't know what you mean-"

"You're telling me to believe that you are this fucking innocent? That your soul is this disgustingly pure and yet your guardian angel just let you come down here without a fight?" He laughs darkly.

"Maybe I don't have one," You try, hoping you sound convincing enough. 

"Everyone's got one, darling," He says sickeningly sweet, seeming to have calmed down, yet that doesn't bring you any comfort, “But you already knew that.”

He's staring at you so intently that for a moment you're sure he's figured it out.

What is he going to do to you?

"Well I don't know where mine is!" You shout desperately, standing up and pushing his hand away from you, "Maybe they didn’t want me! I came to Hell to get something no one else can give me, that no angels can give me. I am going through Hell with the help of a demon and you're still doubting me?"

He watches you carefully for a full minute, then he steps closer. 

You feel your heart race when he brushes a strand of hair from your face and cups your cheek with his hand, roughly pulling you closer until you can feel his breath against your lips. 

He doesn’t care that you’re trembling. 

He doesn’t care how your face scrunches in pain, that you’re confused and scared. 

He couldn’t care less about the fear in your eyes or the way you gulp anxiously.

You are weak. 

You and your heart will always be weak.

He will never care about you.

He will never be weak.

He will crush anything that tries to make him weak.

"If I find out that you've been lying to me, little mortal," His nose brushes against yours, lips briefly touching your own as the thundering in your ribcage picks up.

He pulls back a little, his cold breath still passing your lips and sending a chill down your spine as he whispers, "I will kill you myself."

_________________________________

a/n: tysm for reading, bbies 💕 how are we feeling?

Tag list; @kookxin @butterymin @telepathytae @kooliv @highoffbaddecisions @meanum @smitssharon02 @kmpac @ggukkieland @jjanjankook @sugaslittlekookies @hobispriteu1306 @kimchibrat @slowlydeliciousjiminie @screamertannie  @i-dont-give-a-fok @hopefulrascalstatesmantoad @ohyeahjk @babycandy111 @ttipa @ggukcanim @era-genius @katlumiiine @xmochiloverx @sopikooo @berryonasummerevening @jamlessstars @bangtannie7 @idkjustlovingbts @iftheworldiswritten @nuttykittypainter @geniejunn @mal99 @ane102 @charlesswife @jeonssm @ashbxnny @veronawrites @jjkw-7 @jinsundor @h-g-bts @justvibingsblog @hyuneyeon @hellbornsworld @hiii-priestess @nuttypizzacat @vidaficrecs @royallyjjk

Agust D ‘People Pt.2′ ft. IU | Director: Woogie Kim

I need a BREAK(down)

JUNGKOOK for Calvin Klein Spring 2023

jungkook & calvin klein

click-clack to the bang, bang

I absolutely love this story! It’s so well constructed and interesting and the mysteries that are these two main characters is interesting and captivating. Plot, setting, characters-all are a slam dunk.

Bedeviled | Chapter 6: rigor samsa

Pairing: demon!jungkook x female reader

Genre: E2L, drama, romance, angst, horror

WC: 5.8k

Warnings for this chapter: strong language, physical injuries, pain, cruelty, blood, fear, depictions of Hell and people in it, I think that's all pls kindly let me know if I missed something

Previous

You hobble along, jaw clenched to the point of cramping as you try your best to look where you're walking. 

No matter which place looks clear, you can't seem to avoid whatever keeps stabbing your feet. 

JK just walks alongside you, whistling lowly as he scans the area. 

This could be so much worse. 

So so so much worse. 

As you think to yourself, you keep your eyes on the ground. Then you suddenly see something different than the dirt you've seen since coming to Hell. 

You slow to a stop as the dirt reveals even more of a path that looks to be made of rusted metal. No doubt it used to be gold. 

It looks smooth to the touch, but when you take a curious step onto it, it's rough and hot. 

Very very hot. 

You suck in a breath and pull your foot back. 

"Ouch," you hiss quietly. 

"Something wrong?"

You look over at him and shake your head, "No."

"You don't sound sure."

He clearly knows what's going on, but finds amusement in taunting you however he can. 

"Having shoes on is sounding pretty good right about now, huh?" 

You look away from him, "I don't need to walk on the path, I can just go on the dirt-"

The look he sends you gives you an idea that apparently that's not the case. 

You two stand there and stare at each other for a while. 

"Why?" You eventually ask. 

He looks you up and down, observing the way you still keep your wrist cradled gingerly. 

"If you want to take your chances, be my guest."

You look back at the path, then take in your surroundings for a moment. 

The trees look almost like the path, as if they used to be a radiant gold before they rusted and became misshapen until they resembled a grotesque forest that was stripped of all its former pride and glory. 

You look back at him. 

It's hard to tell if he's just trying to mess with your head or if he's serious about needing to stay on the path. Nothing looks like there should be a reason to follow his words. 

Which might be why you should. 

Or why he would think that you would even though you don't need to. 

He continues to watch you try and figure it out in your head. 

It's interesting to see the wheels turn in your mind, to see you go back and forth, wondering if you can trust him or not, to guess what might happen if you don't heed his words and should have. 

The way you mumble to yourself anxiously and look around as you rub a gentle thumb on your swollen wrist, wincing every once in a while. 

It's all so entertaining to him. 

It seems like a million years have passed by the time you nod to yourself and place your foot gingerly on the path before pulling it back again, trying to hide the hiss that escapes you. 

Arrrggghhh. 

You bite your lip before turning to him again, "What happens?"

"What makes you think I'll divulge that information?"

"Shall we just stand here and wait for you to tell me?"

He shakes his head, "Nah, see this is what's going to happen."

You flinch when he bends down to your level, "You're going to make a decision and stick to it. If you change your mind, you'll see what else you have to deal with,” He glances at your wrist then back at you.

Keeping eye contact with him, you don't stutter as you respond back evenly, "Fine, but if I make the wrong one, you get to deal with me complaining the whole time."

He smirks and straightens up.

"Deal."

You turn away and look out into the distance, noting that the path just keeps going, further than you are able to see. 

No more dilly dallying. 

You get onto the path and start walking briskly, biting your bottom lip harshly as you try to imagine that you're walking on snow. So much snow. The coldest snow you've ever walked on, it's so cold that you really wish you could be walking on a hot dirt road in the middle of summer. 

Oh what you wouldn't give to walk on a blazing hot trail-

Your speedwalking picks up and before you know it, you're jogging. 

The jiggling on your left wrist is excruciating at first, but then it turns into a distraction from the burning ground under your poor bare feet. 

The end of the path is non-existent, stretching on and on.

I can do this...

I can do this...

I can do this...

I can do this-

____________________________

"Orabeoni!!!" 

Yoongi turns to see the small child responsible for the high-pitched squealing running towards him at full speed down the trail, hot dirt kicking up under her shoes. 

Her skirts are bunched in her tiny fists, just like they always are. Her hair is flying around her face even as she shakes her head to try and get it off so she can see. 

That's when he notices a lot of her hair is shorter than the rest of it. 

"____, what on earth happened to your hair-"

You barrel into him, wrapping your small arms around his waist as you continue to screech, "HE CUT MY HAIR! HE CUT MY HAIR-"

"Who-"

"APPLE!"

The older boy looks up to see your best friend running down the path, waving a pair of small shears in his hand, "APPLE I'M SORRY!" He's sobbing uncontrollably. 

Yoongi bites back a laugh as the small child catches up, his bottom lip trembling. 

"Well if it isn't the half-pint."

"I'm sorry Apple, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"

You stuff your face into your cousin's abdomen, trying your best not to cry at the loss of some of your beautiful hair. 

"What happened?" Yoongi kneels and lets you hug him as he gently takes the shears from the youngin still sobbing his head off. 

"I- I- I was trying to g-give Apple a pretty haircut-" his words get drowned out in his tearful sorrow when he sees your hair again. 

Yoongi chuckles, "Mm? And who came up with that idea?"

The tiny boy hesitates for a minute, only responding after Yoongi gives him a warning look to tell the truth. He points a shaky finger at the four year old in his arms, who still has yet to come out from hiding. 

"Apple," he whispers in a small watery voice. 

You finally turn to glare at him, "I didn't told you to make it ugly!"

Huge teary eyes stare back at you, "B-b-but you're not ugly, Apple-"

Yoongi bursts into laughter at the whole situation. 

Your face turns bright red at your best friend's words, "Really?" you whisper shyly. 

He nods enthusiastically, "You're pretty still."

"...honest honest?"

"Honest honest," his voice sounds congested as he wipes his runny nose with the back of his hand before wiping at his tears.

"He's right, ____. You still look beautiful, but we can fix it up, alright?" Yoongi assures you.

You nod. 

It was a bit strange being the only one in the town with short hair, but you grew to like it quite a lot. It was different, even though your mother was at her wits end when she found out. But hiding your short hair under a scarf was better than walking around with half of it cut off and the other half past your shoulder. 

No one really cared to look at the kids running around anyway, they didn't care to notice your hair was shorter than all the little boys. But your best friend never failed to remind you that you looked as pretty as always, while it was short and while it grew out. 

You had cried an apology to him a few hours later for being so upset with him for cutting it wrong, you had never meant to yell at your favorite person. He assured you it was okay while your aunt cut the rest of it off, always very mature for his age, even at five years old.

You could never hurt him, you would always be his lovely Apple, no matter what.

____________________________

You don't even register when you end up breaking into a full-on sprint down the path, constantly trying to get as much air into your lungs as you can while also trying not to focus on the horrible pain on the soles of your feet. 

At some point, it occurs to you that you still don't know if you're doing this pointlessly or not. You haven't tried to turn and ask. Honestly he's probably not even behind you anyway. He most definitely is waiting for you at the end of this road.  

If it even has an end. 

That thought makes your legs feel weaker than they already do, which starts to put a damper on your painfully hopeful spirit.

It has an end, ____. 

Everything has an end. 

Except for this place. 

The suffering here will never end for some.

You force those wretched thoughts out of your head. 

You don't need them, they won't help you at all. 

Even if they're true. 

You concentrate on making your legs go faster, ignoring the way they scream at you for a moment of rest. If you stop, your feet will most likely be burnt beyond repair. It's already nearly unbearable even as you run. 

Not gonna take that chance to stop. 

-

The end of the path does not bring the comfort you so foolishly thought it would. 

You saw the rusted gold come to an end, you saw the dirt, the relief seeping into your bones as it got closer and closer.

You didn't think you'd be able to keep it up much longer. 

Thank you. 

When you finally reach the end, you stumble onto the dirt, but immediately cry out and fall onto the ground, the majority of your weight going to your knees. The soles of your feet were so tender that the sharp plants and stones littering the ground were a hundred times more painful than they were before. 

You drop your head onto your arm as a cry bursts from your lips. Curling your legs up as you lay on the ground and cry, you feel your body shaking from the amount of pain you're in. 

"God- please-" you sob, clutching your wrist as you pray fruitlessly for the throbbing to stop. 

You only move from the fetal position for a moment, to throw up from the pain alone consuming you. 

"I c-can't take-" you cough so violently that it triggers another gagging fit. Nothing comes up though, there's nothing left in you to. 

After a few minutes, you just lay there numbly, attempting to ignore the horrible shakes controlling your body as you stare at the dirt that moves whenever you let out a breath. 

Nine circles...

Nine circles...

Fourth circle...

Nine circles...

Fourth circle...

Nine circles...

The thoughts spin endlessly in your foggy brain.

Eventually, you hear something. The sounds and sights around you start to become clear. 

You're still so out of it that you can't figure out what the sound is. It sounds like something heavy being rolled across the ground. 

Blinking slowly, you lift your head a little to see blurry figures that move around strangely.

A few seconds go by before you can see them. 

What you notice first, is the enormous stone structure a couple hundred feet in front of you. It looks like a giant temple that crumbled long ago, some of it still intact, but just barely. 

In the middle of the temple, is a golden statue. 

A chill runs down your spine. 

The huge statue looks like a muscled older man, naked with curly hair framing his face and a raggedy beard. He's crouching down in an almost goblin-like stance, limbs contorting grotesquely. 

The worst part of it is the fact that he's staring right into your soul, even from a distance you can see his piercing eyes clearly. 

You're frozen, too scared to even breathe. 

...Is it a statue?

You're expecting it to come to life and charge at you any second.

When an agonizing minute passes and it doesn't even twitch, you gulp. 

Then your eyes flit to the side to see the figures that were moving. Now you can see that there are people around the outside of the fallen temple; surrounding it. They're dressed in filthy rags that barely cover them at all. 

Now you know what the noise was. 

All of them are in pairs, standing about twenty feet apart and rolling giant boulders back and forth between each other. 

They are dead silent. 

The only sound is that of the stones rolling and rolling and rolling on the hard earth, never stopping, never giving the sinners a moment of rest. 

Not a single scream, not a cry of agony passes their lips. 

Their appearances make up for the lack of voices; muscles straining to the point of nearly tearing through the skin, sweat coating their bodies until they look like they've been dipped in oil, faces so exhausted the skin hangs in limp wrinkles, their eyes black and sagging. 

You close your eyes, heart aching deeply in your chest as you let your head hang. 

One tear falls to the ground before the silence is broken. 

"It's pointless crying for them."

He stands next to your smaller frame as you stay huddled on the ground. 

"They can't hear you pity them. You could walk right up to any of them and they'd never sense your presence, not even if you slapped them in the face," he chuckles as if he knows this from doing it himself. 

When he sees you look at him, he snickers, "If you think that's the worst I've done, you're wrong. They can feel it, but can't react."

The demon crouches close to you, points at one of them, and whispers, "The hoarder," then he points to the other of the pair that catches the boulder and proceeds to push it back, "And the wasteful."

You swallow the lump in your throat. 

"Look at how tired they are. I just know they're dying to scream, to find some way to make the pain lessen at all. Bet they're regretting being such greedy and selfish little bastards-"

"Stop."

He breathes out a laugh at your voice breaking in your pathetic attempt at ordering him around. 

"What? You don't enjoy knowing that they suffer so much more than you?"

You wipe at your eyes and clear your throat, "What do you get out of saying these things? Thinking these things? Like you said, they can't hear you." You turn to look at him, eyes darting between his, "Who are you trying to convince that they suffer more? Me or you?"

JK stares at you for a minute, glaring into your eyes, unflinching. 

You see him swallow a second before he looks away and stands up. 

"Get up."

You don't argue, knowing he'll just yank you up unkindly anyway if you hesitate. So, you struggle for a moment, but finally get to your feet, blowing out a puff of air when the sharp pain returns to your feet. 

He seems to get enjoyment from the pained whimper that slips out accidentally because of a wrong step. 

Staying true to his character, he leaves you to stumble after him as he makes his way straight towards the temple. 

You keep an eye on the statue that gets closer with each painful step. Not even the stone underfoot relieves the pain when you reach the structure. 

Just as he said, the sinners continue with their eternal punishment, unaware of the two of you passing through. 

At one point, the demon kicks a broken piece of the temple that was lying in his path. It rolls and hits one of the sinners in the ankle, immediately drawing blood that seeps into the ground, staining it red. 

The man doesn't react physically. 

You hear a low chuckle and clench your jaw, reminding yourself that you can do nothing to stop him from tormenting anyone he chooses. 

Stay strong, ____. 

Do not give up hope. 

I promised.

When the two of you reach the unsettling statue, you notice the treasure surrounding the bottom of it that you didn't see before. Piles of gold coins hold colorful gems and glittering jewelry, more than you've ever seen. The statue's eyes seem to follow your movement as you pass.

JK tries not to curse out loud when you merely glance at the pile of treasures, then continue limping away, unfazed. 

Fuck. 

So it isn't Greed.

She didn't even fucking hesitate.

There's no question about it, this circle is useless to him apart from breaking down your physical and mental determination.  

The way you move slowly, favoring your right foot particularly, gives him at least some satisfaction. 

-

Something that strikes you later is that it's starting to feel cold. 

It was hot earlier, disgustingly so.

But now there's an unsettling chill in the air, making you pull your cardigan around you more. 

The ground gets cold surprisingly fast. You can't tell if it makes your feet feel better or worse at this point. 

The stone structure is far behind now, nothing but desolate terrain ahead as far as you can make out in the dark. 

"Can we please stop?"

He keeps walking, kicking stones left and right as he goes. 

"Please," you call out, stopping where you are. 

The demon stops and turns to look at you, "What?"

"Can we please stop for a little bit?" You ask, pretty sure he's going to say no, but you really can't go on right now. 

He stares at you for a second, then you see his eyes drag down your body, all the way to your feet and then back up until he looks into your eyes again. 

"Fine."

You blink a few times.

"Huh?"

"I said fine," he snaps, "I already told you, it's you that decides how long we take. You can fuck yourself over as much as you want."

You turn away and look for something to sit on. 

There's a decent sized rock a few feet away, so you start hobbling over to it. It looks big enough that you might even be able to lay down on it if you curl up. 

What a relief.

But right before you get there, you feel him knock into your shoulder as he brushes past and sits on the rock. 

He leans back, putting his hands behind his head and lifting one of his legs to sit bent on the rock while the other one stays on the ground. He's too tall to fit on it all the way, but that doesn't seem to bother him. 

At your silence, he glances over to see you staring at him. You look tired and at a loss for what he's doing. 

"What?" He asks casually as you stand there stupidly, "Did you expect me to sit on the ground like an animal? How rude," he groans as he adjusts himself to be more comfortable. 

You're in too much pain to argue, and you're not about to risk getting another injury for crossing him. 

So, you turn and look around but can't see very well with how dark it is. 

As you limp around and try to find somewhere to sit, there's suddenly a sparking sound and you flinch; turning to see a fire has appeared. Just like in the cave, it doesn't appear to be sitting on anything, just hovering above the ground. 

You lift your gaze to see him sigh and shift on the rock again, his eyes closed, silently rubbing his satisfaction in your face. 

The light of the fire allows you to see his smug expression, but it also uncovers a small rock on the opposite side of the fire that you can at least sit on. 

Ha.

Bet he wasn't intending to do that. 

You go over to the rock and sit down gingerly, wincing at the hard surface against your bottom. 

At least it isn't the cold prickly ground. 

You sit there for a few minutes, just watching the fire crackle. 

When you're finally able to think clearly, you lift one of your feet to look at the bottom. Your stomach drops when you see the bloody mess you've been walking on for hours. 

After checking the other and seeing the same thing, you grab the end of your dress and start to tear at it. It doesn't take a lot for it to rip. 

The demon doesn't even twitch as you rip three good-size strips from the bottom of your dress. It's already ruined with mud and only Hell knows what else, no point in being disappointed. 

Gently brushing at the bottom of your right foot, you hiss quietly at the sting. You can't just wrap it up, it's muddy and has bits and pieces of sticks and leaves that'll leave it feeling far worse after an infection starts. 

If one hasn't started already. 

It takes a while, but you're able to clear most of the blood, sticks, and mud away enough to see the deep gashes that you can't do anything about right now. Wrapping it one-handed also proves to be a challenge; especially when you're perched on this stupid little rock, but you eventually get the white cloth wrapped around your foot, then slowly do the same to the left. 

By the time you're finished, your left wrist is pulsating with pain. 

You take the third piece of cloth you ripped off and start to carefully wrap your injured wrist. 

In the middle of doing so, you glance up and see him watching you. 

"What?" You ask.

He just smirks and closes his eyes again. 

You scoff and look back at the task at hand. 

"You're doing it wrong."

You drop the makeshift bandage, the rest of it hanging from your wrist as you look at him again, annoyance clear on your face. 

"Why do you care?"

"I don't."

"So stop," You mutter, then you grab the cloth again. 

"It's just annoying watching you be so incredibly stupid."

You grit your teeth. 

"Well, you're the one responsible for this," You hiss, "So, you can sit there and be annoyed for all I care."

"Ooh, grumpy."

You shake your head and go back to the bandaging. 

Don't let him get you riled up. 

You're just gonna feel worse-

"Ah! Ow!" You gasp in pain when he suddenly snatches your injured wrist and pulls it towards him as he stands over you, "What're you doing?!"

You hadn't even noticed him come over. 

"Just shut up," He mumbles, unwrapping what you already did and redoing it tighter. 

"Ah, stop, you're hurting me-"

"You're hurting yourself by writhing around, stop fucking moving."

You force yourself to stop moving, afraid he might make it worse if you don't listen. Then you look up and see the concentrated look on his face as he works, unconsciously getting lost in thought as you stare at him.

"You didn't make it tight enough. What the fuck is it gonna do if you just wrap it without any support? Idiot." He mutters angrily as he ties a tiny knot, then drops your hand.

You wince and pull your hand towards your chest, cradling it. 

He walks back over to his spot and sits down, glowering at the fire between you. 

You look down at your wrist, a small smile finding its way onto your face. 

It actually does feel better. 

A feeling of relief and maybe a little hope, settles in your body as you run your fingers along the bandage.

"Don't complain to me if you don't get enough rest by the time we need to move again."

You nod absentmindedly at his grumpy words, then you lower yourself to the ground and lay down. 

It's still cold and prickly, but the fire is nice and at least you've got your cardigan on to help with the sticks and rocks scattered about. 

You probably won't be able to sleep, but you can at least rest your eyes for a bit.

"How did you get to the entrance?"

Or not. 

You clear your throat, keeping your eyes closed as you respond, "I walked."

"No shit."

"You don't have to believe me, it doesn't affect me or what I'm doing," You remind him, yawning as you adjust your arm under your head. 

"What are you doing?"

A chuckle slips past your lips. 

"Why are you laughing?"

"You know," you mumble, "You have a lot of interest in someone you act like you couldn't care less about."

"Act?" He scoffs, "I don't care."

"Ok."

Silence stretches on for a few minutes. 

Then, "Why won't you just answer the question?"

You smile, "At this rate, I am gonna blame you for me not getting any rest."

You hear him scoff and mutter angrily to himself, the sound of him shifting around making you laugh quietly to yourself. 

After another minute, you open your eyes and look over to see him glaring up at the sky, his hands behind his head.

"Why are you so curious about me?" You ask, seemingly startling him for a second. 

Only a beat of silence before he answers, "Because nothing about you makes sense."

"I could say the same for you," You say quietly, watching his reaction. 

He turns his head and your eyes meet from across the flames still crackling lowly. 

"How do I not make sense? You know what I am."

"True."

He doesn't look away, which makes you feel a little nervous. 

You gulp and look down at your fingers, messing with a twig on the ground. 

"Wanna play a game?" You finally brave the question. 

When you hear him move, you look up to see that he's turned on his side to face you, propped up on his elbow as he looks at you carefully. 

"What game?"

"You can ask me whatever you want, and I have to answer-"

"Sounds good to me-"

"But," you continue, "If I do, then you need to answer one of my questions."

He narrows his eyes at you. 

"That's the game," you sit up on your elbow, mirroring his position, "If you wanna know something about me, I get something from you too."

JK pulls his bottom lip between his teeth, gnawing on it as he thinks about your proposition. 

"Fine, it's a deal."

You smile, "Deal."

"So," he leans back, keeping his eyes on you, "How did you get to the entrance?"

You bite your cheek, then you sigh, "If you really wanna know so bad. I was telling the truth before. I did a lot of research and knew where to find it, so I walked there. It's not as hard as people make it seem like."

Huh, he watches you carefully for a minute. 

"Fair enough," he mumbles, "But where did you get all of your information?"

"Ah ah ah," You wag your finger at him, "One question at a time. It's my turn."

"Fuckin' whatever," he groans and lays down, "Ask."

"How many souls have you stolen?"

He glances at you, then scoffs, "You could ask me anything and that's what you choose to ask?"

You nod. 

He rolls his eyes, "First of all, I didn't steal any of them. I took them as payment. The mortals make their own decision to give it to me in return for something or not."

"So? How many?" You press. 

"Thousands, I've lost count. My turn."

You sigh at his poor response, but you let him go anyway.

"Where did you get the information to find the entrance?"

"The Archive."

"What's that?"

"A library, full of things that a lot of people don't usually go looking for."

He glances suspiciously at you, but lets it go. 

"K, go ahead."

"What's your name?"

The demon barks out a laugh, "Why, you wanna summon me?"

You chuckle and shake your head, "Not in a million years."

He looks at you and you think you see a hint of a smile on his face before he smothers it. 

"JK."

"JK?" You repeat and he nods.

You swallow the lump in your throat and gesture at him to let him know he can ask now.

"How did you hear about the Flame of Immortality?"

"My best friend," You say immediately, then you clear your throat, "How long have you been here?"

JK looks at you in disbelief that you could ask such a stupid question. 

"Wait, you're serious?"

You nod. 

"You can't be that dumb."

"Just answer the question," you sigh. 

"Has it not fully sunk into your pea-brain yet that I'm a demon, sweetheart? I've been here since the beginning of Hell. Your mortal mind won't even be able to comprehend that amount of time, so don't even try."

You drop your gaze from his to the fire as he chuckles darkly. 

"Too bad you wasted your turn on that."

You lay down on your back and look up at the sky. 

All there is to see is thick black smoke, not a single cloud, not one little star shining in the dark. 

Nothing. 

"How did your best friend find out about it? She must have heard it from someone."

"He did, but he never told me who."

"He? Your best friend is a guy?"

"Yeah."

"Huh," he looks at the sky, "Does he know you're down here?"

"That's the third question you've asked," you say quietly, "It's my turn."

"Fucking- you're so damn slow, just ask whatever," he moans. 

“Did I make the right decision earlier to go on the path?”

“Yes. Were you really not affected by the treasure?”

“I have no interest in riches. What would have happened if I didn’t go on the path?”

He sighs and stretches one of his legs, groaning, “You would have wandered around, confused about what you were doing and where you were going. You would never have found your way out if I wasn’t there to direct you." He looks over at you, "Why do you feel for the prisoners here?”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“Because they chose to be here.”

“Yes, but none of them were born intending to make the decisions they made. Evil isn’t born, it’s made. I guess it just hurts my heart seeing people suffer, even if they chose it,” You pick at your nails, "I think I cry for the people they were supposed to be."

“Whatever mortal,” he sighs and looks back at the sky, “Your turn.”

You bite your lip before asking, "Why are you constantly trying to convince yourself that everyone here suffers more than you?" You watch him closely as he keeps his eyes upward. 

"Who says I do that?"

"That's not an answer."

"Well I don't. So I can't answer that-"

"Don't lie, it's against the rules-"

"And how the fuck you know I'm lying huh?" He snaps, "I said I don't, so stop acting like you need to expose me. I'm an open book, darling."

The way he says it is far from humorous.

"Ask a different question."

"That's not how it goes but whatever," you mumble, "Do you know any other demons here?"

"I know all the demons here. Does he know you're down here?"

"Who?"

"Your best friend."

"Yes and no."

"That's not a real answer-"

"Neither was yours-"

JK growls and sits up, "This is stupid. You keep changing the rules-"

"I do not!"

"What if I don't want to play your stupid game? What if I torture what I want to know out of you instead?"

"Then that's not something I can change. You'll do whatever you want to me anyway, right?"

He looks over at you to see you lay down and cross your arms, a grumpy look on your face.

After a minute, you turn on your side so your back is to him. 

He only hesitates for a second before calling over to you, "I wasn't done asking questions."

"Goodnight, JK."

Another few minutes pass in silence apart from the fire snapping periodically. 

"If he's your best friend, why would he make you come down here for him? Why is he sending you to do his dirty work?"

You sigh. 

"He can't do it himself."

"Why though? And why does he want the Flame-"

"Why do you think?" You turn to look at him, eyes filled with anger and grief, "Why would anyone want the Flame of Immortality? Do you think I want to be here, that I’m doing this for fun?"

"You made the decision to come here," he snaps. 

"Do you think I'd choose to come to this wretched place if it wasn't my only choice?"

"Why is it your only choice?" He stands up and walks over to the other side of the fire where you're still on the ground, "Why won't you just give up?"

"Because I can't!" You shout, "I'm not going to give up! I won't!"

"He's dying isn't he?" He whispers, a smirk pulling at his lips, "Your best friend who you're madly in love with is dying and you're doing this to save him."

Your watery eyes glare at him as you clench your jaw. 

"How utterly pathetic," he whispers in amusement, watching as a single tear rolls down your cheek. 

"You can taunt me all you want, demon. I won't stop until I get what I want."

"Even if you do get that Flame, what's your plan after that? It can only be used on one person. Is he really that much of a sorry ass that he'd take it and let you rot into old age?"

You swallow the huge lump in your throat. 

"Just shut up," you choke out. 

"What kind of pathetic bastard is this guy?"

"Please st-"

"And you," he laughs hollowly, "You're even more pathetic."

"I said shut up!" You struggle to your feet and get up in his space as much as you can, "I made a promise, and I'm going to keep it. He is waiting for me to save him and I'll be damned to HELL BEFORE I LEAVE HIM AGAIN!!!!" 

He just observes the tears streaming down your face as you shake with anger and sorrow. 

"Good," he finally spits, then he leans down into your face and snarls, "Because you voluntarily fucked yourself over, sweetheart. Give that Flame to your stupid little bastard friend, your ass is never leaving this place. Glad you finally figured that out."

He doesn't say anything more as you glare at him before turning and walking back to sit on the ground, your head falling into your hands as you burst into uncontrollable sobs. 

Eventually, you lay down again, but the tears don't stop. 

The fallen angel continues to sit on the large rock for hours, biting the nail on his thumb as he watches the mortal girl sobbing into her arms until exhaustion takes over her and she falls asleep, bare feet wrapped in bloody cloth tucked up under her torn skirt and hair matted and dirty. The anxiety and hopelessness is physically seeping from her. The despair will inevitably come.

She's starting to look like she belongs here.

________________________________

a/n: let me knnow what you thiiiink, next one will be longer than this sorry she was so short T-T tysm for reading

Tag list; @kookxin @butterymin @telepathytae @kooliv @highoffbaddecisions @meanum @smitssharon02 @kmpac @ggukkieland @jjanjankook @sugaslittlekookies @hobispriteu1306 @kimchibrat @slowlydeliciousjiminie @screamertannie  @i-dont-give-a-fok @hopefulrascalstatesmantoad @ohyeahjk @babycandy111 @ttipa @ggukcanim @era-genius @katlumiiine @xmochiloverx @sopikooo @berryonasummerevening @jamlessstars @bangtannie7 @idkjustlovingbts @iftheworldiswritten @nuttykittypainter @geniejunn @mal99 @ane102 @mrswang17 @jeonssm @ashbxnny

Basically any song by Jung Hoseok.

😳

This man is a menace.

I’m in love!!!!!

flower ? flower ! ( cr . namuspromised )

Reminds me of Tae’s face during Suga’s Ma City verse in YTC concert. They are such an adorable, loving pair.

“v is the type to bring vitality to people” - yoongi

Well now I’m even more convinced to get a snake tattoo! Now there’s just more meaning to supply to it!

jungkook's tattoos tour ♡ (trans. cr. @taee)

The delulu is alive and well!

JK live!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM DYINNNGGGGGGGG

Oof. So pretty

he is love

➸ Rated All (For part 1 at least)

➸ Summary: You have work to do, but a certain mascot keeps dropping in to brighten your day. OR how you fell for a professional football mascot.

➸ Word count: 7K

➸ Pairing: JK x reader

➸ Genre: Rom Com Meet Cute stuff, but will get spicy later

➸ Warnings: I don’t limit my language, and so my characters don’t either. Awkward OC. Takes place at a blood drive…?

➸ A/N: So this is kind of based on real life events, if they got flirty. LOL.

______________________

It was just your luck that all the parking spots on the street were already taken. 

You weren’t one to mindlessly rove the aisles to find the closest spot to park. Usually, you just pulled into the first spot you came across and walked from there, with little regard for how far away it was. However, when you were going to the stadiums, it was either park on the street or you may as well park a million miles away for how long you had to foot it. And this wasn’t an ordinary day, anyway. Forget the fact that you were at the local football stadium, which was a rare event for you anyway (not that you didn’t like attending games, but gosh those tickets were expensive), this was a unique situation for many reasons.

Parking a million miles away, you turned off your car and could already hear the wind and feel it whipping your car. Checking your watch, you were right on time, which really meant you were 15 minutes late because of the walk you had ahead of you, so you decided to pull up your big girl britches, as your mom would say, and fling the door open.

Before you were even fully out of the car the obscenities were already flying and you didn’t have the energy or the interest to check to see if anyone was around to hear you. You were here in a work capacity, but you always had that toxic trait that extreme discomfort always overrode any other considerations in your brain. 

The street parking was looking even better about now, as you flung open yet another door on your car to grab your overlarge satchel bag, the yard signs, and your backpack from the backseat. Fumbling as you normally do, you did your best to perform as though you had ten arms instead of two as you tried to hold your composure and look perfectly put together like the boss bitch you were. Unfortunately, it very quickly crumbled when you reached to grab your keys to lock your car and everything fell out of your arms.

“Great, y/n. Nothing like being bent over the dirty cement in a skirt with 90 mile per hour winds,” you grumbled to yourself. Completely on brand, you managed to drop everything 3 more times before you got fully situated to make your way to the door in your sensible heels. 

For about the 50th time since you took this job, you wondered if you would have taken it had you understood what all it entailed. I mean, sure, you worked for the leading Children’s Hospital in the Tri-State Area, for the head of Marketing and Communications, in a field and for an organization that saved people’s lives, and not just any people, but babies! It was incredibly rewarding work and meant that you went to bed each night feeling accomplished and emotionally fulfilled. That was never the problem. It was more the side effects of being a clumsy, ridiculously awkward, annoying introvert and working as the personal assistant to the most glowing and un-awkward human alive. And you swore, the harder you tried to act normal, the weirder you would act and the more embarrassing you would be. Like Elyse Meyers, but not as charming.

Today was an important day though, because your boss was hosting a blood drive in partnership with the local sports teams for an informational initiative surrounding sickle cell patients. Your hospital was the smoking gun because children always spoke more profoundly to the public. You all were expecting hundreds of donations of blood before it even struck Noon.

By the time you made it to the building your fingers were numb and your knees were knocking, but you immediately started thawing upon entry, only to be mauled by your boss.

“Where have you been?” Before you could answer she was launching into more commentary as you sat your things down on the entry desk next to your teammate who obviously arrived before you and looked smug. “The editor of the Times is already here, as are all 4 main news affiliates. You should have been here before them. You know this.”

“I’m sorry, I had to run back to the office to get all the materials. Then, I hit traffic and once I got here all the front spots were gone and I had all of this to bring in,” you said, indicating the signs and tools for the check in table.

“Those aren’t in the ground yet?” Your boss practically yelled at you when her eyes landed on the signs.

“That was the next thing on my list of to dos!”

“Please, I’m begging you. Get it done immediately and get back in here. We have interviews and I need you taking photos for our Facebook and IG pages. Go!”

You rushed off to do your boss's bidding. You knew it would be hell to pay when you got there. Your teammate, the aforementioned smug-faced bi…brat, also known as Jane, had left behind the packet of materials the last time she was in the office and called you with zero time to spare to ask if you could stop by to get it because you lived closer to the office than she did. You couldn’t argue with the logic, though you wondered how much of an “accident” it truly was. You weren’t generally a grudge holder, but you were going to watch that one.

As Jane had been assigned front desk duties for today, she sat quietly gossiping with Event staff, while you were taking 3 signs out to put in the ground to indicate to donors where to enter. 

The wind hadn’t calmed even slightly, but you only had enough time to partially thaw anyway, so what difference did it really make anyway? You found a good spot and started working the sign into the frozen ground to the best of your ability. Struggling, more like, as you also tried to hold the other two signs under your arm as you shoved the first with all your might into the ground. The cold metal burning through your skin like a brand, but you ignored the pain in favor of the goal. 

You finally decided to throw the other two to the ground as you jumped up on the cross rungs on the first sign to try to use your own body weight to push it into the ground. No dice.

With another rough gust of wind, you finally got the first sign in the ground, just as the first two took flight from the gust and began running away from you across the street.

“No!” You shouted feebly, until a hand reached down and caught the two signs and lifted them toward you.

Staring down at you from a short distance, was a ridiculously tall silent visitor with the head of an animal and giant googly eyes.

“Oh, hi Wolfie,” you said in introduction to the man in the mascot costume. This particular mascot face was as familiar to you as the team he represented. As a local for your whole life, it was a welcome and calming face to see, even frozen in a fake smile. “Thanks for your help.”

You reached for the signs and as you took them he mimed shivering to indicate that you must be cold.

“Yeah, it’s a bit chilly, but I’ve got to get these in the ground before donors show up. Are you staying for the event?” You asked. Wolfie ignored the question. Instead, he took one of the signs back from you and started walking to the other side of the street as though to continue your work for you.

“Oh, that’s nice of you but you don’t have to do that!” 

But there was no deterring him. You had to admit though, after determining the best place to put it, it took him less than a second to get it into the ground, as opposed to your own struggle to do the same.

“Wow. That was impressive.”

At that he rushed back over in his oversized shoes, with the wolf gloves on his hands to take the other sign from you and quickly march over to the other side of the sidewalk to input the third sign. He pointed to one spot and then another and then another spot again and then tipped his head in question in a way both hilarious and adorable and you showed him where to go though you objected to his help even as he was putting it in the ground. His antics had you giggling, and he seemed to enjoy it because he continued to act silly to make you laugh.

After he was done, he ushered you back toward the building with aplomb, and with a laugh you preceded him in. The staff and your teammate sitting inside seemed surprised to see you laughing and chatting away with a 7-foot-tall mascot, especially as he continued to stay silent but for the sound of his googly eyes shaking. The instant self-consciousness returned and before you even had time to mentally process it, your whole being had already transferred back to professional mode. Checking your watch and finding the nearest staircase, the anxiety of the moment returned and a To Do List repopulated in your brain. 

With anxiety in every pore of your body you remembered your priorities and went diving in your bag for your phone and clipboard of photo consent forms and talking points, so you could get back to work.

Just before you left to take the escalator behind the front desk, you glanced back and saw Wolfie there, still smiling the fake mascot smile, but somehow you read deeper thoughts going on behind those googly eyes. He had helped you, graciously, kindly. He hadn’t needed to. He simply did. You always knew you liked that adorable wolf face, but now you knew the person behind it was a sweetie too.

You smile and wave and say, “see ya ‘round, Wolfie.” And then you head off to get more work done.

_____

It is some hours later after interviews are over, donors are flooding in, photos have been taken, consent forms received from those photographed, that you are taking a quick break to get a bite to eat in the commons area. It is quiet at this time, since it isn’t anywhere near lunch time. You rarely ever eat during regular lunch hours anyway, so you feel right at home. You are watching a video on your phone about ancient aliens because you love conspiracy theory stuff even though you don’t believe any of it. You are eating a banana chip and humming lightly to yourself when you hear a crash in the kitchen/concession booth across from where you are sitting. You become aware that you aren’t alone and turn the volume down on your phone, but when you look up to see who it is, all you see is an empty room. That is until a familiar pair of googly eyes appear from above the counter to the concession booth.

You instantly laugh as he shakes his head making the googly eyes shake. The funniest part is knowing the man’s actual face is in the throat of the giant mascot head, meaning he is miming all of this without being able to see anything other than the back side of the kitchen counter. That thought alone makes you laugh harder, and his (actual) head clears the top.

In true professional mascot fashion, he plays to the laughter as he mimes one of his famous dances and rolls onto the counter. He then proceeds to fall off the counter in front of the kitchen and try to brush himself off and act cool. All of which has you in stitches, not least of which because you know it is all an act. He clearly carries himself like someone very coordinated and put together, who uses that performance gene to really play up his own physical comedy. You know this being someone who is not very coordinated OR very put together but has to actually try hard to look like you do. It is almost like a sixth sense to note the opposite trait in another person. Or maybe you are just able to pick up on his unspoken body language because you also know without doubt that he is smiling widely as you giggle at his display.

“How is your day going so far?” You ask, even knowing he won’t answer with words. He shows you the thumbs up and nods his head dramatically.

After helping you with the yard signs, you saw him often during the interviews and photo ops, because he’s the mascot, after all. He has to run around making everyone cheery and laugh and he was good at it. But every once in a while, he would look your way, and wave or do something silly to catch your attention and make you laugh. He even once distracted a group of reporters when you dropped your clipboard and scattered what felt like 100 pages of paper across the floor that you, embarrassed and ashamed, had to pick up and sort before your boss called you over for more photos. And he did that just to draw eyes away from you and let you wallow on the ground in peace.

“Gosh, you are positive,” you say in awe. “I can’t imagine it is very comfy inside that suit and you’ve been here as long as me…or longer, I guess. I don’t know exactly when you got here.”

He waves you off as if to say it’s no big deal.

“No, I’m serious! I’ve been running around like a chicken with my head cut off and here you are enjoying yourself and being positive.”

He tips his head to his hand that rests on the table and just stares at you. It is at once unnerving, but also incredibly comfortable. A weird, unsettling combination.

“Well, anyway.” You smile widely in answer. “It’s a good reminder! And I appreciate it. I appreciated your kindness and positive energy this morning. It was a whirlwind and you helped make it less stressful.”

He stuck his hand out to give you a high five and you couldn’t help but laugh again before you enthusiastically smacked your hand against his.

As if to change the subject, he leaned across the table as if to see what was on your phone, without actually taking a peek, as if he was miming the question without actually intruding.

“Oh gosh, don’t tease me, but I’m watching Ancient Aliens. I love this show, it’s so weird and these guys really do their research, even though it is all hocus pocus…” you said as you continued to babble and showed him the phone, describing the latest episode and theories on the use of gold deposits to fuel ancient aircraft. He didn’t seem to mind, if anything he seemed quite comfortable listening to you babble, so you just kept going.

“Have you had lunch?” You ask him when you feel you’ve exhausted the subject and are probably annoying him like you do to everyone. He still makes no sound aside from the jiggle of his googly eyes, but he shrugs his shoulders in answer. “Just because you are in a mask doesn’t mean you don’t need to eat.” You pass him your uneaten cookie, “Here you can have my cookie.”

Something in your tone or demeanor seems to surprise him with that statement, as he nearly breaks character, turning his head and coughing. It’s the first indication of a voice from him and at least now you know it definitely is a male under there.

“If it makes you feel better,” you say in response to his cough, “I’ll look away so you don’t blow your cover.”

You laugh as you push the cookie across the table to him and cover your eyes. “Your secret is safe with me!” 

But the silence that meets your laughter is followed by a pair of fuzzy gloves grabbing your hands to pull them away from your eyes and when you open them, you see his head tilted to the side in question. The warmth of his hands in his gloves combined with his quiet confidence and calming presence stops the giggles and you can’t look away from where you know his eyes are looking back at you. His actual eyes, not the googly eyes. 

There is something in the silence like understanding, from both sides, that is charged with some unnamed energy that at once makes you nervous but equally makes you want to laugh, because, I mean, he’s a grown man in a wolf costume.

But is he a grown man? Maybe he’s a teenager or a college kid, or any level of immature man baby, you don’t know. You don’t even know what he looks like under there, but somehow it doesn’t even matter because the way he has treated you today has been spectacular. 

It seemed like every time you saw him so far this morning, he had gone out of his way to brighten your day, and it had worked. So did it really matter what he looked like? Not really.

“Y/n, are you in here?” You heard your boss’s voice from the entry to the commons. Your head and Wolfie’s both swiveled around together to see your boss rushing toward you in haste.

“I’m sorry, I know you are on lunch break, but the players just arrived and Channel 8 wants an exclusive interview between Paul and the players. We need more marketing coverage for the website and socials, and Jane has already left for the day.” Honestly, how does that girl still have a job, you thought, but would never say out loud. Paul, meaning the CEO of the Hospital who had arrived only a few hours ago and who literally held your entire career in his hands, waited for no one. Lunch or not, it was time to get back to work, which meant leaving Wolfie once again.

You acknowledged your boss with a “I’m done anyway.” A lie. And proceeded to throw the rest of your uneaten food back into your bag. Wolfie gave you judgmental eyes through it all, which you could feel, though you wouldn’t be able to see it, even if you looked at him. But just before you left, he waved in front of your face and when you looked at him, he drew a smile with his fingers in front of his real face, breaking character for sure this time, and you smiled at the sentiment.

Smiling widely to reward him for his efforts, you grabbed your bag to leave. Resting your hand on his arm in thanks, you took your leave in the same silence he inhabited.

____

It was another hour or so before the talent and your C-Suite level boss left and you could finally breathe. Not only were you in the presence of your skip skip skip level boss, but you were also star struck from the players in attendance. A Hall of Famer that you grew up watching on TV as well as one of the hottest new players on the current team were in attendance and donating too! It was all quite overwhelming for you and your humble sensibilities. 

You had also spent time talking to donors and hearing stories of how donations had impacted their own lives and it reminded you of why you loved what you did for a living, even as it overwhelmed you. Your boss had talked at length with you about the stats and impact of the work you all did today so far, and you could tell. It was amazing how each time a news station went live on TV you immediately felt the impact in the boost to walk-ins.

It was nearly 10 hours into the day and there had already been 4 pickups of donations when you and your boss were finally taking a load off at the front desk. You hadn’t quite kicked up your feet or anything, but you may as well have for how relaxed you both got. Your boss could be tough, but she was equally easy going when the times called for it. Slouching in your seat and closing your eyes for a while was not only encouraged at this point, she equally participated in it.

Event staff for the stadium made up the background music as your eyes were closed. Their quiet laughter soothed your mind as they discussed the autographs they got from the players who were on site. It was like a family barbecue rather than a job as they discussed different players they had met over the years and different funny anecdotes from each encounter. You couldn’t help it, but you were almost asleep after the long day, and the quiet chatter. It was like a lullaby to your exhausted mind.

“What the heck is he doing?” Your boss asked in a whisper, not necessarily to you, but close enough that your curiosity got the better of you.

As you opened your eyes, you saw her looking through the windows that looked into another entry space of the stadium where a group of people were looking around confused as if trying to find something in particular. But suddenly you saw your friend Wolfie running up to them, waving his arms and doing his signature dance moves. The group were clearly laughing and waving phones in the air in a way that meant they were asking for photos with him.

“Oh, Wolfie is so nice.” One of the staff said. “They do tours of the stadium, but Korey Ann was running late for her shift, so I think he is keeping them busy until she gets here.” 

You couldn’t hide your fondness from your smile, nor did you want to. 

“By the way, did you find his…um….gift from earlier?” The same staff asked, looking directly at you. Confused by the question, you looked around trying to find who they might be talking to but found only other faces looking directly at you and laughing.

“Gift?”

“Check your photos on your phone.” Another staff shouted from across the lobby.

Confused, you pulled out your phone and unlocked it, and immediately saw exactly what they were referencing.

Your camera app was still open because you had been taking pictures all day, but in the preview in the bottom corner you didn’t see a thumbnail of a donor or your CEO or even one of the players who came to donate.

No.

The picture was of Wolfie. Wolfie holding up two fingers like a peace sign in a typical selfie pose.

“Oh god,” you said as the room around you started laughing, even your boss. You couldn’t open your photos fast enough. What greeted you were probably hundreds of selfies of the Wolf mascot, in various locations in the stadium hall.

“You really shouldn’t leave your phone unlocked and unattended,” your boss said with a laugh.

“You knew?” You asked her. She only laughed in response. You thought back to the few times throughout the day that you placed your phone down whether to grab something, help someone, or do really anything that required more than one free hand and you immediately put all the dots together. You had long ago set your phone to have no timeout mode from inactivity, so if you sat it down without locking it, it would just remain open indefinitely. It was a setting you deliberately chose because you spent so much time reading on your phone and the timeout drove you insane. It was a setting you now instantly regretted. 

Your phone was FULL of photos of the mascot. Each one was funnier than the last. Some photos were of him alone, others included staff of the stadium or the hospital; some were posed, some candid. No wonder everyone knew about it except you. The more you looked through the photos, the more incredulous you got. And yet, conversely and somehow equally, the more you looked the more impressed you got. How did he manage to get this many photos? Your phone wasn’t unattended THAT long. Not to mention, the difficulty of using the touch screen in a pair of thick wolf gloves!

You glanced into the adjacent entryway to see Wolfie silently miming a cackling laugh as he covered his mouth with his hand and raised his shoulders repeatedly in an over-dramatization of laughter. Clearly, he was witnessing your discovery of his little present.

You over-dramatized anger back by pouting and putting your hands on your hips aggressively. This only seemed to make him laugh harder, but this time much more naturally as his shoulders and posture relaxed back and he rolled onto the heels of his feet.

The room around you laughed as well and erupted into stories of how he narrowly missed getting caught by you on multiple occasions. You couldn’t take your eyes from the man in the Wolf suit, though. He was trying to mime to you to keep looking through the photos, but you were more interested in getting him to come over to answer for his crimes. His responding miming indicated he was a bit busy with tour groups. You couldn’t help but be even more endeared by it. Damn him.

Even as he was waving his hands around to show he was busy a little girl came up tapping him on the leg to get his attention. He instantly went into entertainment mode: making his googly eyes jiggle, doing his game day dance, and patting the little girl’s adorable cheeks with his fuzzy gloved hands. 

You melted at the look on the little girl’s face, a look both nostalgic and magical, remembering your own personal feelings upon meeting mascots when you were a little kid. And Wolfie was perfect, just as he should be at that moment. He made the little girl laugh at just the right moments, and posed for endless photos with the little girl, letting her practically climb all over him as he sat on the ground to be at her level. Her parents scolded her for doing so, but he waved them off, clearly enjoying the adorable display.

You felt your (admittedly imaginary) irritation disintegrate, and you were left with only feelings of fondness and curiosity. You can’t believe you are even thinking it, but you think you have a crush on a man in a 7-foot Wolf costume.

Just as the thought enters your head, his eyes swivel to yours, but you aren’t looking at the googly eyes, you once again are drawn to where his true eyes are, hidden in the mesh at the neck of the Wolf costume. It snaps you out of your trance and you hop up. Cutting off the laughter of those around you, you act (emphasis on the word act) as though you are cool as a cucumber.

“Well, it is nearly quitting time, boss,” you say in a forced casual tone to your lounging boss, who looks back quizzically at you with tired eyes. “I’ll get the signs and forms from all the tables and the yard signs from outside. Should I grab anything else to bring back to the office? I’ll just stop there before I go home.”

“No, I think that should do it,” she answers as though she is asking a question, seeming confused at your sudden change. She goes to stand slowly, but you wave her off and tell her you’ve got it covered.

“You should head home.” You tell her. “You’ve been here since 5am.”

She nods in agreement and starts to slowly get out of the chair as she pulls together all her things and puts her coat on that was folded neatly on a shelf behind the desk.

“See you tomorrow?” She asks and you nod once quickly before she thanks all the event staff for their help and then proceeds out into the cold night air.

You decide to rush off to get the numerous remaining information materials you had scattered about in the building. Phlebotomy staff would truly clean up the drive, but all the marketing materials and additional promotions were all your responsibility. You flitted from table to table, trying not to think about the absolutely absurd butterflies in your stomach each time you thought about the man in the mascot costume. 

How sad are you, y/n? You asked yourself. Has it been so long since you’ve been in a relationship that even a man you’ve never seen, nor spoken to outside of soliloquy can make you feel like this?

Another part of your brain raised the possibility that if he could make you feel like this without words or an actual FACE, then GOD, what a freaking MAN he could be.

Your pessimistic nature wouldn’t let that sit, though. You had learned in life that things were generally too good to be true, so instead you told yourself, louder - to your inner monologue, he could be a real uggo.

At this point, though, who were you kidding, ugly or the most gorgeous man alive, it didn’t really matter. You were smitten with googly eyes!

“What a fucking weirdo.” You whispered to yourself as you turned to grab the last of your materials, only to find Wolfie standing there. Silent as ever.

“Shit.” You said surprised by his sudden appearance. “You scared me.” You said as you tried to hide your blush and avoid his eyes, busying yourself with your tasks. You felt embarrassed by your thoughts, feeling transparent, like he could read you like a book with little effort. If you had looked up, you would have instantly noticed confusion in him, though you couldn’t see his face. You somehow had become attune to him. A fact that made him not just curious but fascinated with you.

It was weird. Jungkook had been a mascot for several years. He started when his college rock band went under and he needed a way to pay his bills. He was always an athletic guy and liked the idea of it when his roommate’s brother mentioned he had the right build for it and how much it paid.

Nowadays, Jungkook only performed as Wolfie when he decided to pick up an event on the weekdays since his career as a professional dancer had really launched. Despite his parents’ predictions, he had consistent jobs thanks to his skills and his good reputation. He never wanted to give up Wolfie, though. It was fun getting to be faceless and silly with absolutely no regrets. Anonymity has an odd power to liberate, and he never felt freer. Plus, he was addicted to the stars in people’s eyes when they saw him in the suit. Not just kids either. Adults were just grown-up kids too when faced with a mascot. It was a special kind of magic that he got to wield when no one could see his face.

Today was the first time in all these years that he regretted any of it. Of all the things he agreed to when he put on the costume, he never realized that the clause about protecting the character’s mystery by not revealing his face or voice at any time during his shift would be the hardest to fulfill on this particular day. 

He had heard about the event and knew he would do anything to be there. The cause was one he was passionate about. He had been volunteering in the cancer ward of the Children’s hospital since he was a kid and his father used to bring him along to teach him “civic responsibility”. He liked going these days for story time to read or sing to the kids. So when he heard the event was for the hospital, he signed up immediately without even paying attention to how long of a day it would be.

A few hours was a long day in the costume, so originally he had been meant to leave in the early afternoon, but you had changed all his plans.

When he first saw you out in the cold and the wind, he had mostly been entertained and curious about you. He could not for the life of him figure out what you were doing as you struggled to wrestle the yard signs under one arm while forcing with sheer will to get the other in the frozen ground. Your outfit was so incredibly out of place in these conditions too, with your blazer and flowing skirt. Even your sensible bun knew that it wasn’t in the right place as it fought to escape the coif you had put it in. He had outright laughed at the vision of you. He was charmed immediately. Especially when you cursed loudly into the wind.

By the time he saw into your fathomless eyes, he was a goner. 

So by 2, when he was supposed to go home, he decided to stay instead. It was a weird thing being in the hot heavy wolf costume for 10 hours, but at least he had the locker room to himself when he needed a break or to take a leak. He just knew, with complete certainty, that he absolutely could not leave without getting up the courage to talk to you. To REALLY talk to you. Not mime at you to make you smile that gorgeous winning smile you had. Or distract people so that you could get a moment's peace and he could make your day. Because he knew that if anyone deserved to have their day made, it was you.

He had watched you all day, and it had convinced him that he had figured you out. He watched you help donors with such care and kindness as you rarely sat down for the whole 10 hours of the drive. He watched you place yourself wherever you were needed, working hard and effectively, juggling multiple tasks with an air of professionalism he admired. He had even watched you make a fool of yourself on occasion with your clumsy adorable antics as your face went beet red. So he knew you were a good sort of person, and one who was damn good at your job. He had always been attracted to people who were good at what they did, so it was no surprise that his eyes were glued to you, and not just because you were pretty.

Because you were definitely pretty.

But the most important things he learned about you were when he was up close and personal with you. As a mascot, he was used to people treating him a certain way. Not in a rude sense, but when you had a cartoon face and googly eyes, people tended to talk around you rather than to you, like you were an object rather than a person within the costume. It was one thing when kids did it, but adults would do it too. It was a weird automatic knee jerk reaction type of thing. You weren’t like that though.

From the moment you met him, with your shining eyes and beautiful smile, you addressed him like a person. You asked him questions, even when you knew he couldn’t answer in so many words. You made considerations for him like worrying if he had eaten, offering him your cookie. Though, admittedly, that particular offer had him blushing at the dirty thoughts it conjured in his head thinking of other sweet things you might have to offer him.

Probably most profoundly though was how you looked him directly in the face when you spoke with him. You probably weren’t even aware that you were doing it or how unsettling and oddly sexy it was. All his years as a mascot, people always looked at the face of Wolfie: that giant foot-tall cloth head that sat upon Jungkook’s actual head like a hat.

But not you. No, you looked directly into that obscured disguised mesh neck of Wolfie that offered Jungkook’s view out into the world. You looked directly where his eyes were, to the point you made him feel almost naked to your gaze, like you could see him in his totality. Like Wolfie wasn’t there at all.

And all day long he had been drawn to you like a moth to the flame at the absolute magnetism of that steady, kind, understanding gaze. 

Little did he know you were having the same problem as him. Feeling self-conscious, and inadequate. I mean, you were feeling silly for liking a guy you had never seen or heard speak but imagine being the guy in the suit right. Never in a million years would he imagine you would be crushing on him as much as he was on you.

But here you both were. Two fools in “like”.

You were almost done collecting your things and there was a certain energy to your movements that spoke of hesitation. Jungkook could feel his window of opportunity closing and he was nothing if not an action taker. So despite his nerves, and despite his feelings of inadequacy, he was ready to shoot his shot.

You both were in a more secluded area of the event hall that led to a narrow hallway to the suites and donors were mostly gone anyway. The only people left at the venue were event staff for the stadium and hospital staff cleaning up in the main area of the blood drive, so you were both effectively alone. The day was over, so he wouldn’t be breaching contract by speaking to you or removing his mask, though it was still fairly frowned upon to be in a public space revealing his identity while still in the wolf suit. It was a risk he was willing to take though because he knew he didn’t have time to go back to the locker room to change. If he did, you would be gone by the time he got back.

So he took a deep breath, and cleared his throat so he wouldn’t squeak or do something equally stupid after not using his voice for a full day. Your head immediately came to attention at the sound of his voice, and he knew it was now or never.

You watched in awe as Wolfie removed his giant Wolf head with a flourish to reveal a head of dark, wet hair. You had a moment only to process the thought that his hair must be wet from sweat from being in that suit all day. And then, the man attached to the head of hair looked up.

To say you were surprised would be an understatement. Looking back at you were the biggest brown eyes sparkling with what looked like galaxies within them. Beneath that was a straight nose with gentle curves on the end. Beside that were two soft high cheekbones that were currently standing out as the pretty mouth beneath those was smiling. It was a mouth full of the cutest teeth that seemed to want to escape his pretty curved lips that wrapped around them. It reminded you of a bunny somehow. You were struck by tanned skin and two beauty marks, one on the bridge of his nose and one just below his bottom lip. And you were frozen in time as you looked upon the prettiest male face you had ever laid eyes on.

Inappropriately and somehow perfectly in character, you followed the beat of silence with an awkward laugh at the completely irrational turn of events. Slapping your hand to your mouth in embarrassment instantly. You could already feel your cheeks blushing, but you rushed to explain so you wouldn’t offend him.

“I don’t know why I laughed just now, you just surprised me, I guess…?” You babbled as he opened his mouth as if to speak. But in true y/n fashion, you couldn’t leave well enough (or embarrassed enough) alone. “Like, wow. You have an actual face!”

“Yes, I do.” He rushed to get a word in edgewise, but you were really gone by now and couldn’t seem to stop the word diarrhea that had to escape.

“And what a face!” 

Great, y/n, going for full embarrassment today. Lovely.

“Sorry. That was…I don’t know what that was,” you said as you felt like your entire body was going to erupt. What was wrong with you? Why couldn’t you shut up?

But he was moving closer, tucking the mask under his arm all the while and smiling bigger with each passing word of stupidity you uttered.

“I just mean that I’m surprised! Normally, you would think a guy who wears a full body costume for a living would have something to hide, but that is definitely not true of you!” Ever your own worst enemy you couldn’t help but notice his strong shoulders and forearms too as he took off the gloves and unzipped the front of the costume to get more comfortable. GOD he was hot. Maybe that was why you were so effectively making a fool of yourself.

But he didn’t seem to mind as he giggled and extended his hand toward you, revealing a hand full of tattoos.

“Are you shitting me? Hand tattoos?! Hot AND cool, how is that fair?-“

“I’m Jungkook,” he said with a laugh as he effectively shut you up. “I’m going to save you from yourself here and just offer that we save the rest of the ego boosts for our first date. What do you say?”

His hand was still extended to take your hand in introduction and somehow your brain couldn’t process words but moved your hand to slot into his by route memory alone as you sounded out the word: date.

“Yes, date,” he said to what you thought had only been a question in your head, but obviously was spoke out loud.

“What do you think? Will you give a guy in a Wolf costume a chance at a date with you?”

“I guess that depends.”

“On?”

“Will you be wearing the suit on the date?”

“Which answer will get you to say yes?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then, sadly, the suit will be taking that night off.”

You paused for a full beat, in complete disbelief at the turn of events of the last few minutes. An hour ago, you were embarrassed to say you had a crush on a man in a Wolf costume. Now you are being asked out on a date by 2023’s “Sexiest Man Alive” winner, as far as you were concerned. It was a little too much to handle, but then again…

“So are you free this weekend?” You asked in a moment of boldness. He just smiled and told you to open up your photos again and look at the first photo he took on your phone.

Turns out he had originally stolen your phone for a purpose besides just making a joke by filling your phone with selfies. The first photo he took was of him holding up a piece of paper with a phone number on it and in a rushed script below it, he had written:

“Would love to meet you face to face. Friday?”

You huffed out a laugh but didn’t answer in words, as you navigated out of your photo app. After a few soundless taps on your phone screen, a buzz sounded from somewhere within Jungkook’s outfit. When he pulled out his phone, he saw a text from an unidentified number on the screen.

“Friday sounds great. Drinks and Dinner?”

First, I can’t believe you researched the trip in order to get as close to accurate on travel and time as possible. That’s some real dedication. Wow. Definitely not dumb!

Second, wow. You could cut this tension with a knife. Super sexy. Literally I was 👀 and 🤤 the whole time. Super hot! And I like how layered and interesting these characters are. They are fascinating and colorful. I love it!

Really excited about this story and ready to watch her realize he’s a good guy as they tear each other apart to build themselves back together again. 😊

to turn a bad thing good | jjk. I

➵ summary: jungkook’s drunken one night stand goes awry when he comes to learn not only is he being forced into an arranged marriage, but it’s to the very girl he abandoned that night—and things get a lot more complicated when you’re the best hookup he’s ever had.

➵ pairing: ceo!jungkook x law student!f. reader

➵ genre: series, arranged marriage!au, fwb!au (?), haters to lovers!au, smut, fluff, angst

➵ rating: 18+

➵ word count: 13k

➵ warnings: swearing, loads of angsty arguing, sEXUAL tension, mentions of sexual content

➵ a/n: YAYYY it’s here!! thank you endlessly to everyone who has loved, supported, and anticipated this series ever since I announced it. i’m grateful for  your patience and hope you enjoy this first chapter. I have so much in store 🥺 pls forgive me for mistakes i did not have a beta bLEH. your feedback means the world to me <3 

chapter one: “i’ve been to someone’s tomorrow”

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“Hello! Don’t you two dare get couply with me, I’m having a mid-life crisis!” 

“Dude, you’re only 23, this isn’t a mid-life crisis, just a fucking crisis, goddammit.” 

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