Chapter Text
I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of the world alone.
–J. R. R. Tolkien
jeongguk 25 years old, jimin 26 years old, jeongmin 4 years old, mochi 9 months old.
[march] [a village far away]
it's the most peculiar house namjoon has ever seen.
the cottage is nestled in the hillside, providing a view of the gorgeous valleys and the black river from the narrow strip of courtyard, and vines climb up the wooden structure as it half sits prettily atop a small pond with glittering turquoise water and floating lilypads.
the architecture is complicated, to say the least, he thinks as he walks down the courtyard. a board hangs from a crooked nail on the wood, partially obscured by the vines. 'sleepy children & tired parents. do not knock', it reads.
the door is wide open.
namjoon shuffles on his feet awkwardly, and cranes his neck to get a view of the seemingly unoccupied house till he spots a flash of jeongguk in the opposite room, bustling behind the kitchen counter. overgrown locks of dark hair fall over his eyes, framing soft, youthful cheeks, and sprinkling of white flour dusts his dark shirt. he seems to have aged backwards somehow. a toddler is curled up in his arms, who seems to be nodding off as he is gently rocked by his father, and as far as he can see, jimin is not in sight.
he clears his throat, alerting him of his presence.
jeongguk is at the door immediately, and after they've come face to face, he gapes at him for a whole minute but his arms continue to mechanically rock the red faced, teary child. he recovers soon though, motioning him inside and mouthing silently to take a seat, and makes a beeline towards one of the room to put the sleeping toddler in his crib.
he returns with a different baby this time. this one is small and round in every aspect, his little arms and legs like lumps of bread, age not older than a few months.
"when did you wake up, my love?", jeongguk is whispering softly as he nuzzles the baby's tiny, nearly hairless head.
namjoon stares at the baby, observing the glazed apple cheeks and pouty lips sucking on a tiny thumb, and the baby stares back, narrowing its eyes.
he gulps.
"hello", he says, as cheerfully as he can.
two pairs of wide doe eyes blink at him.
"hello", jeongguk replies, teeth worrying his lower lip. "jimin is sleeping. i'll go get him. um... would you like something to drink?"
"ah— a glass of water would be fine?", he says, and jeongguk offers it to him a minute later, before he disappears inside another room, presumably their bedroom, and shuts the door behind him.
it's of no use though, because the walls are paper thin, and he can hear every little movement, even the sound of the blinds being drawn and the furs being pulled.
"puppy, it's sunday!"
it's loud and whiny. the tip of his ears burn red with embarrassment.
"i know, but—", jeongguk begins, voice hushed to preserve modesty.
"puppy, you promised i can sleep in today", jimin protests, whinier.
"namjoon hyung is here!", jeongguk declares, more like blurts, and he can almost imagine the abject mortification on jeongguk's face as well as the incomprehension on jimin's.
namjoon distractedly thumbs at the rim of the glass while the couple most likely kiss, and it's followed by excited pattering of feet on the other side. the door opens momentarily, then it shuts.
"wear your clothes properly, at least", jeongguk is saying, and he hears rustling of fabric, joyous laughter, more kissing noises, and whispers along the line of 'jeonggukie, i'm pregnant with our third child, i'm sure joonie hyung can know we have kissed.'
jimin appears in front of him a moment later, silhouetted by the golden sunlight pouring from the lofty windows, tousled blonde hair and rosy cheeks, glowing and gorgeous. he is indeed pregnant for the third time, swollen belly and swollen lips, and the little baby is now hoisted on his hip.
namjoon pretends to not notice the bite marks and bruises littered on every visible inch of his skin.
"hyung! what a wonderful surprise", jimin exclaims, lighting up, his steps brought to a halt by jeongguk who stands behind him, resting his hand on the small of his back.
"give him to me while you catch up."
"it's okay. i can hold him", jimin says, softly dismissing him. "you're cooking anyway. you'll need both hands."
they stare at each other, at odds of some sort.
"we agreed that you won't be lifting anything heavy after what happened last time", jeongguk insists, and the baby clings to jimin tightly, aware of his father's intention to take him away.
namjoon is clueless as to what happened last time, but even he admits that the baby is definitely on the... heavier side.
"it's not too much, i promise. i will be sitting the whole time", he reasons, eyes warm and pleading, but his tone is assertive. "i want to hold my child, jeongguk."
after jeongguk accedes, sighing wearily, and makes off to the kitchen again, jimin skirts around the table to join him.
"sorry about that", he says, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and giving him a side hug. he looks wistful as they settle on the sofa, the baby perched on his thighs. "it's been so long, hyung... i've thought of you so often, but after i heard the news of your disappearance, i didn't think i will ever see you again."
the tears welling in his violet eyes cause regret to burn a hole in his heart. after the war was over, he hadn't checked once on how jimin and his baby were faring, abandoning him in a new world with an alpha he could never quite understand, but some of it eases at seeing how well jeongguk has taken care of him.
"i am sorry. i never meant to dissappear or lose contact, but i needed to sort certain things after the mess i had landed myself in."
jimin's brows knit into a single line. "did you sort them?"
the quest for his self discovery and cementing the cracks in the future that he had dreamt for himself is a long story, so he saves it for another day.
"i did."
jimin awards him with the gentlest of smiles, taking his hand into his.
"how did you even find us?", he asks, his eyes following jeongguk who is moving about the room, assorting refreshments in little porcelain plates.
for him, he presumes, oddly endeared.
"i got the name of the village from taehyung when he came for a camp in gwacheon last month, and after arriving here, i asked around for the directions to your house. i ran into some locals who told me that uh... an 'angel-moon fairy' lives on the pond near eucalyptus trees? so i figured it must be you?"
"oh! p-please ignore that, hyung", jimin sputters, sending a pointed glare jeongguk's way. "a miscreant has been going around the village spreading rumours about me being an angel-fairy-moongod combinations creature for no apparent reason. some people like lying to innocents for fun, you know?"
he catches a mischievous grin playing on jeongguk's lips, suppressed but obvious enough to reveal him as the culprit, and wonders what goes on this household for the umpeenth time.
"anyway, i am so glad you are here", jimin brushes it aside, face blooming with excitement, "how have you been?"
"i am great, and you look well, jimin-ah, and the babies are adorable."
color blooms high on jimin's cheeks, a flare of pride at the mention of his children. "thank you! our elder child, jeongmin, is sleeping inside, he is four years old, and this is mochi. he turns nine months this week."
mochi?
namjoon cocks his head at the unusual name.
"you let jeongguk's brothers name your second child as well?"
jimin snorts, covering his mouth with his hand, and the abrupt movement jostles little mochi, who peers up at jimin, disgruntled. jimin presses a loving kiss on top of his head.
"no! the twins didn't name him, jeongguk did. i didn't agree at first obviously, but it is hard to deny that he does look like one, right?" he giggles, eyes disappearing into crescents. "our little ricecake."
the baby does look like a mochi, namjoon supposes, and smiles as some of the fondness rubs off on him. incidences like this is what one should expect when children raise children.
the thought is sobering.
"since i didn't know about mochi, i was expecting to meet only jeongmin today, so the gifts i brought are for you and him. i am sorry."
"don't apologise please. mochi and minnie get along really well. they can share. thank you so much, hyung."
jeongguk chooses the moment to lay out a spread of snacks on the table— a kettle of hot tea and many plates piled with colourful cut fruit and delicious, baked scones and cinnamon rolls, and hands a whole strawberry to their toothless child, larger than his little fist can wrap around. after thorough examination, mochi approves of it, sucking on the bulb-like end, and it's cue for jeongguk to take off again.
jimin stares after his retreating back, clearly reluctant to watch him leave, and namjoon knows he's the reason jeongguk won't sit with them. he also knows that there are no hard feelings, just residual, stubborn awkwardness.
"you barely survived the first birth, jimin. why did you...", namjoon trails off, not wanting to vocalize it in the presence of the very baby whose existence he is questioning.
the smile on jimin's face pales, but he doesn't regret his words. it had been bubbling inside him ever since he saw his swollen middle. jimin must have conceived the third baby right after mochi was born, and it is not his place but it troubles him nonetheless.
"we were apprehensive about having another child, too. taehyung tested the black bloom for three years on omega mothers and wolfblood infected vampires, and it always seemed to work, so we took the decision to try for another, and that's how our mochi came. aside from being born a month early, which taehyung suspects is a pattern with our babies because they are mixed, everything went well. mochi was healthy and really gentle with me and we were doing perfectly fine, but jeongguk's very... conscientious?", he says, looking away with darkened cheeks and a palm caressing his bump, "so we ended up having this one."
he flushes as well, feeling an awkward heat under his collars, and a warmth takes root inside, unfurling like a flower within him.
jimin still seems like too young to him, innocent and brimming with unworldly kindness, but years out here in the free, open world have ridden him of his naivete, and it makes him proud. in retrospect, he might have been wrong about jeongguk caring for jimin too, because he can see now that they're both sincerely taking care of each other and raising their little family together.
"congratulations on your pregnancy", he finally offers, a little too late, but with his whole heart now that he knows jimin is safe, and jimin beams at him.
plates after plates of food are emptied during their idle chit chat as namjoon opens up about his journey across the mainland in meaningless search of something that he'd left back at home, and finds out that coincidentally jimin, along with jeongguk and baby jeongmin, had taken the same route after their baby had been of age to travel, which means they could have crossed paths if destiny desired.
jimin experienced it all— trekking through conifers to reach the mountain summits, and swimming in calm, depthless oceans among coral reefs and starfishes, but he says that endlessly traveling through the continents only made him realise how desperately he longed to build a home with jeongguk, and therefore, that's what he did.
the day proceeds as the sun rises higher in the sky, and tangential rays of sunlight through the window hit where the floor gives way to the pond through a square opening in the middle of the room, bouncing off the water and casting their dazzling reflection on the walls like soft, warm lightning strikes.
the house is roomier then he had first noticed, the space worn and lived in, memories of the family imprinted on the wood, and it suddenly dawns on him how happy jimin is in this beautiful, strange house at the heart of a non-descript wolf occupied village.
mochi's curiosity about him has evidently faded, and now while he sucks on his strawberry, he has moved on to looking around the room like he is waiting for someone to come. jimin notices it too.
"the twins were here for winter breaks; they usually spend their summers and winters with us, and they left this morning while the kids were asleep, so my baby hasn't realised that they've left yet. he keeps searching for them."
"four children in the same house must be quite a handful", he comments before he can think better of it, and jimin laughs.
"oh, they absolutely are, but they're the best— i still haven't gotten used to how abysmal it feels right after they leave. they used to hold mochi all the time, and kept the whole house entertained. my jeongmin was inconsolable when he woke up today. jeongguk must have gone through hell while putting him back to sleep." he frowns, and so does mochi, mimicking him.
it's adorable. he looks very cute, very docile, and namjoon feels an undeniable pull of affection tug at his heart.
"jimin, may i hold him?", he asks, but jimin immediately tightening his arms around mochi has him rethinking his request. parents are naturally protective over their children, rightfully so. "ah, that was out of nowhere, sorry for putting you on the spot. i understand if you're uncomfortable."
"no, hyung, it's not about me being uncomfortable. of course, you can hold him!", jimin assures at once, and his brows furrow suspiciously as he regards mochi from above. "he's just a little... fussy."
namjoon has always been good with children, and therefore, after he has jimin's reluctant permission, with confidence that he'll soon regret, he slides his hands underneath mochi's chubby arms to lift him up and take him into his arms, settling him on his lap.
everything is okay for a moment, soft baby weight and milky smell, and then disaster strikes as mochi's sweet face scrunches up, mouth opening wide, and fat tear drops burst from his eyes. he starts wailing with the might of a hundred storms, like a blistering tornado has swept inside the cottage, and namjoon fumbles witlessly, at an absolute, complete loss.
even jeongguk pokes his head from the kitchen to investigate what he did to their little child.
the crying ceases the second jimin takes mochi back, wrapping him up and holding him close as his two wobbly little feet balance on his thighs to find their footing, resembling angry fists kneading dough, and peace is restored in their household. mochi has his cheek pressed against jimin's, their faces squishing together, and his skin is red and splotchy, nose and eyes wet.
"don't worry. it could've been worse", jeongguk consoles unexpectedly, and pads over to the other room to check upon jeongmin, relief evident on his face on finding him still asleep after the disturbance.
"like what?", he whispers next to jimin, guilty and confused.
jimin regards him cautiously for a moment, chewing the inside of his cheek.
"mochi bit yoongi hyung."
namjoon gapes at the cherubic baby, glittery doe eyes and strawberry pulp staining his chubby cheeks, and his mouth falls open.
"he really did. he clamped his gums on his neck and just wouldn't let go. it took all three of us— me, jeongguk, and hobi hyung to yank him away."
it reminds namjoon about how often yoongi and hoseok visit the jeon-parks together, and have somehow become the best of friends over the years. since they are head alphas of neighbouring provinces, they have multiple strips of adjoining lands and what started as negotiations for trade bloomed into the most beautiful friendship, with jimin and jeongguk acting as the connecting link, and of course, seokjin.
"how did yoongi hyung react?", he asks.
after a long shared glance, jimin and jeongguk exchange amused smiles, lips twisting at the corners.
"jeongguk told him the same thing— it could've been worse." what could be worse than being bitten he wonders, before jimin supplies solemnly, "mochi could've shat on him like he did on jeongguk's father's hand the month before that."
"he still gripes about his precious watch being ruined", jeongguk pipes up, tone suggestive of something akin to 'can you believe it?'
namjoon can believe it, in fact, and it leaves him utterly terrified. he tries to neutralize his expression, but it must show, enough to ruffle the young parents.
"we live very privately, hyung, secluded from the rest of the world. it's natural for mochi to be wary of unfamiliar faces, but he warms up really quick, i promise. he just needs time."
"he's a sweet child, jimin. i can tell", he replies, a tad unsure.
"he is. he is the sweetest!", jimin accepts easily, appeased, and it might only be an illusion of the coruscating light, but mochi looks smug. "everyone who meets him is immediately enamored. there was a stampede at our wedding in a bid to hold mochi!"
"your wedding?", he repeats in puzzlement, because as far as he knew, jeongguk mated him while they were still pupils at the academy.
"six months ago, we got married in the village temple", jimin says guiltily, wringing his hands in his lap. "mochi was only three months old at that time, and we couldn't travel to ilsan to invite you. we did sent you a letter... but there was no reply."
"i never received your letter, jimin-ah", he alleges, and jimin's face falls, making him realise that his tone might have sounded accusatory. "but why don't you make it up to me right now by telling me all about your wedding?"
jimin perks up, nodding excitedly. "when we first moved here, the villagers used to leave invitations on our porchsteps every other morning, and i had never been to a wedding so i pestered jeongguk into attending one, which led to us attending them all cause they're so terribly magical and warm, and jeongguk must have realised by the wistful look on my face that i also wanted that."
namjoon smiles fondly at his rambling, and he notices that even jeongguk is smiling on the other end of the room.
"on the day of the harvest festival, we had a small ceremony with all our close ones— jeongguk's family and friends from the academy, yoongi hyung and his mother, hobi hyung and taehyung, and a celebratory dinner at night. that's all."
'close ones' jimin says, mentioning the names of the people who've stuck by their side, and it reminds him where he lacked. he could've been a part of their circle, and they could've been part of his, but this is how life works. he doesn't complain. it has shown him kindness too.
a blush creeps on his face.
"jimin, actually i was here for a reason", he fumbles out, digging into his bag till he has pulled out the envelope, and fiddles with it before handing it over, "but now that i think of it, i am unsure if you'd be able to travel with two infants."
jimin takes it from him warily, but he can sense the curious spark in his violet eyes as he nimbly tears through the sealed envelope and caresses the embellished letter.
"you're getting married?", he screams, owlish eyes darting to and fro between him and the invitation, and then scanning through the whole letter. "congratulations— you're getting married to kim seokjin? jeongguk's hyung, kim seokjin? how?"
he nods, waiting for the realisation to sink in before venturing to explain, "remember that friend i told you about?"
jimin furrows his brows.
"—that night at the library?"
jimin gasps, eyes alight as he connects the dots, and though he'd decided that he would keep the conversation regarding seokjin to a minimum, jimin's presence is like a warm hug— kind and unassuming, always strong, silently supportive of his endeavours, and it's sheer joy that makes him launch into details until he's brought him up to date.
"i'm happy for you, truly i am", jimin exclaims excitedly, before muting down and throwing a wary glace in jeongguk's direction, who is pretending that he hasn't heard anything when it's obvious that he has. "does seokjin hyung really want us there?"
hyung is spoken so casually— he must have picked it up from jeongguk— that namjoon doesn't have the heart to tell him that seokjin would never allow jimin to address him so intimately. he doubts even jeongguk retains that privilege now.
he makes a mental note to correct him before they face each other.
"both of us would love to have you at our wedding", he says, and even he's unaware if his words are completely dishonest. seokjin's acceptance of his request to invite them could be called begrudging at best, but it is finally time for a reconciliation that should've happened years ago, and seokjin realises that.
"all of you must come", he adds with considerable weightage while looking meaningfully at jeongguk, and a sigh signals that he's gotten his message across.
jimin insists that he join them for lunch, and he discovers that jeongguk is great at cooking, like he has always been at everything else. namjoon navigates through the conversations that spike up, stumbling and often faking amusement, because the couple laughs at the oddest things, little inside jokes running between them that escape him.
throughout the meal, jimin intermittently hand feeds a little kimchi to mochi who still clings to jimin like a koala, until both the parents freeze mid-meal, senses attuned to the bedroom, and a minute later, jeongmin hurtles across the room.
he cuddles close to jimin, prompting jeongguk to scoop up mochi from his lap, mumbling his demand for his abeoji's twin brothers to be brought back, and when he breaks down into tears after jimin regretfully states he cannot, mochi, for some reason, cries louder.
namjoon chews on his food, gulping religiously, as the parents alternate between both wailing children.
"he isn't usually like this", offers jimin apologetically, who is holding mochi now. he kisses his crown, scenting him gently. "what has you so grumpy?"
meanwhile, jeongguk is trying his luck with jeongmin. "look we have a new guest."
jeongmin stops crying abruptly, and miraculously, so does mochi.
"this is prince namjoon", jeongguk introduces, tone formal, and he peeks at him shyly.
"where is he from, minnie?", jimin asks expectantly, smiling sweetly in encouragement as he wipes his tears.
"ilsan", jeongmin replies, slurring the s. he looks a little star-struck.
that's when it strikes namjoon— they've told their child about him. a sudden heaviness lodges in his throat, drowning him in emotions, and he drinks a glass of water to push it down, unbelievably overwhelmed.
"we have turtles", jeongmin informs, delivering it with the straightest face.
"oh?"
little nervous doe eyes turn hopeful. "you want to see?"
after checking with jimin if he can, he nods eagerly, and jeongmin takes his hand and guides him to their indoor pond. as they settle cross- legged beside the water and feed koi fishes and variegated blue shelled turtles, jeongmin tells him of the prince of ilsan's exaggerated heroic deeds that his parents have been passing off as bedtime stories.
namjoon doesn't remember ever feeling this worshipped, or warm.
jimin makes jeongmin try out the hanbok that he'd brought for him from gwacheon, and he does a twirl for them, looking like a little prince. he's the sweetest, warmest child, sunshine bundled up in a wolf body, and by the end of the hour that namjoon spends by his side in which he shows him his toys, his shoes, his rock collection and his loopy wolfian handwriting, he notices that jeongmin has started calling him ahjussi.
namjoon feels impossibly warmer.
when it's time to leave, jeongmin is a bit teary-eyed, because for some reason, he'd been under the impression that namjoon would be staying with them for a month at least.
farewells are difficult, only made better by the prospect of meeting each other again after a few months at the wedding, with a new member of their family in tow.
"your presence at our wedding is very important, jimin. it would mean a lot to both of us. i really miss you", he confesses, giving jimin a one-armed hug as his other hand is still holding mochi, and jimin promises that they will, smiling up at him.
"say bye, baby", jimin chimes, moving his little hand in a wave. mochi does look not hostile anymore, just dubious, and still very cute.
the last goodbye is with the one namjoon had been the most apprehensive about.
he stretches out his hand, and jeongguk eyes it for a long moment, making him doubt if he'll return the handshake, but then long fingers enclose around his digits and pull him into a hug, enveloping him in a rich, woodsy scent of rain.
"i will always be grateful to you for being there for him", jeongguk says after drawing away, face glowing with a look so sincere that it has him equally fond and at a loss for words.
he smiles it off, opening his mouth to good naturedly offer wishes for their happiness but he quits because he doubts they need anyone's wishes anymore.
"see you in the fall", he says instead, patting his shoulder, and jeongguk grins for the first time that day, wishing him a safe journey ahead.
he is still recovering from the exchange when mochi waves him goodbye unprompted, and the last memory he takes from the family is of mochi's face lit up with a toothless smile.
it's sunday, today.
sundays are jimin's favourite.
it is the only day of the week where he gets to sleep to his heart's content and jeongguk takes care of the house and the children, because while jeongguk slaves in the kitchen all day, jimin takes charge at nights. it's a little ritual they've established.
this sunday has already proven to be different because of his dear friend's visit— a welcome surprise to their routine. jeongmin is in the other room, righting the things that he'd dug out from all corners of the house to show namjoon, and jimin and jeongguk are quietly putting away the dishes while mochi sucks on a strawberry, perched on his high chair.
it has been three years since they settled in this village and built their house atop the reedy pond, but it feels like he has lived here all his life. he had always known that times of bliss pass by in a blink, and grief feels longer, so he cannot account why he feels this way.
after taehyung's success with the black bloom in his medical camps following the birth of jeongmin, widespread news of its utility had increased its demand, and after it turned out that very few wolves had luck in its production and the monastery remained unattainable as ever, jeongguk had a feeling that jimin will have luck with it, so they tried and it worked. taehyung had linked him to vendors that pay good price in exchange for the flowers, enough to make a living. his nursery in the backyard requires little tending, watered automatically by the pond, yet they've hired village hands to assist since jimin tires easily during pregnancy, and life has been smooth sailing.
jeongguk teaches at the local school, training the young students in hunting and sports, but jeongmin reports that mostly he just watches the pups roll around in the mud. the school is for wolves who've attained a minimum age of eight, but they'd made an exception by enrolling jeongmin, who had been practically bouncing to join his father and accompanied him everyday to school even when he wasn't a student. jimin wonders what he does in a class among pups twice his age, and he swears he goes there to learn, but by the state of his clothes when he returns everyday, jimin can tell he just rolls in the mud too.
jeongguk is happy, and therefore, obviously so is jimin.
it had not always been this quiet.
after they'd moved out of the monastery, they had survived on scraps for a few months, struggling to make ends meet, voyaging from one corner of the world to another. they had been happy then too, but jeongguk had a little fire left in his chest.
three years ago, they had sneaked inside serenian borders with ease, stormed the palace healer's house, and after procuring all his manuscripts about children of the moon that he'd collected from both him and his mother, jeongguk had lived his age-old dream of beating him to a pulp. high on adrenaline, jimin had been really tempted to go to the palace and vandalise his room, but they had a little baby in tow and it wouldn't have been wise to risk more trouble, so they'd handed over whatever little gold they had to bribe a palace guard to steal from his deserted room— his mother's precious books and clothes.
accidentally, red leather notebooks like the one in which he'd scribbled his wishes on the sky, and his white birthday ritual garment, along with all its golden contraptions, had found its way among his mother's belongings in the bag that the guard had handed them, but his joy was short-lived because jeongguk, very passionately, had disallowed him from ever selling the golden one-piece. he had been clueless then, because it would have fetched them enough money to last a year, but he'd found out the reason the same night. it had been pretty convincing.
he has worn it for jeongguk only half a dozen times since, as they want to save it for special occasions, and he'd been wearing it on his wedding night, the night his third baby was conceived. he could never have imagined that he would ever willingly don this piece of obscenity, let alone on a full moon night when he glows, but jeongguk makes it worth his while.
"jeongguk, i have something for you."
"what is it?"
since jeongguk's fascination with his body inexplicably shoots up in his birthday bodysuit and his pregnancy, he has decided to give him the best of both worlds by altering the garment to fit his swollen form.
"can't tell you. it's a surprise. you'll see at night", he announces, folding his hands behind his back and biting back a cheeky smile.
jeongguk's eyes darken, and his tongue pokes at his cheek.
"what is it about?"
he already looks so hot and bothered that jimin can't help but giggle as he cups his palms over mochi's tiny ears, who's ever so curious about all their conversations despite not understanding anything.
"it's about sex", he answers. it is obvious, it must have been, but jeongguk stares at him with a hunger that has his insides on fire.
a gush of air makes him realise that he is leaking milk and as a result the area over his nipples has turned translucent and is sticking to his skin. he settles down on the sofa with mochi in his lap, ignoring the shiver that runs through his body because of the greedy eyes on him. he gulps. somehow, out of all the depraved activities they've tried till now, jeongguk drinking from him has not made the cut.
mochi mouths at the milk-soaked fabric impatiently, grabbing it with his little fists and attempting to yank it off.
"wait— don't do that", he chides while unbottoning his tunic to expose his chest, and mochi latches on to his nipple, drinking eagerly. poor baby must have been hungrier than he had guessed.
he is righting his buttons after mochi is done feeding when jeongguk glances in their direction, and in his eyes, he can see that his arousal has dissipated, replaced by pure fatherly affection.
when the sun dissappears behind the mountain range, sky pinkening to a cool lavender, jeongguk slides the wooden cover over the pond like he does every night to keep their adventuring pups safe after they sleep, and jimin spreads a pelt on the floor of their drawing room, because it is time for their daily exercise.
unlike his pregnancy with jeongmin, the weight mochi had brought on his thighs, arms, belly, didn't disappear after delivery. none of his old clothes fit, and since jeongguk didn't mind the new changes, instead of attempting to shed it, he just got larger clothes, so the exercise is only to indulge his body which has been used to rigorous activity ever since he turned ten.
jimin and jeongmin have a lot of fun during exercise hour, and they try to make it fun for mochi too, balancing him on his tummy, or playing peekaboo, but mochi still hates it for the most part, clinging to him and feigning tiredness and crying everytime they push him to move about.
"why doesn't he want to move?", he had asked jeongguk a few months ago in bed, unable to hide his worry, since jeongmin and even the twins bubbled with uncontainable energy ever since they were born, and jeongguk had sat him down and explained that every child is different.
"he is strong. just lazy and stubborn. let him be. he'll do it when he's ready", jeongguk had said fondly, but the flame of anxious doubt had still burned within him.
this week, mochi took his first steps, wobbling to reach for a strawberry on the table, and jimin had promptly burst into tears, surprising mochi who had dropped to the floor, landing on his bum, and cluelessly stared at him from where he sat. jimin had cried for an hour straight, and both his children had ran/crawled over to fuss over him till he stopped.
they do not do tummy time anymore.
a set of knocks sound on the door, and when the visitor turns out to be taehyung, jimin embraces him in glee.
"you're back?"
"i came back last night, and was so tired that i went straight to bed— ah! did the twins leave already? i ran here as soon as i woke up", he pants, out of breath from his mentioned run.
jimin bites his lip, guilty. "they left this morning. we didn't know that you'd returned, or they would have visited you to say farewell."
taehyung sighs like he had half expected it, looking around.
"where is my mochi?"
jimin opens his mouth to respond, but he doesn't bother since taehyung strides in without waiting, heading straight to mochi's room.
"my baby, my love", he croons, picking him up, and cradling him, and mochi wraps himself around him, burying his nose in his neck. their scents bloom with affection. "you grew up so much in two weeks. my mochi is a big wolf now. i can't even recognise him."
mochi does not allow anyone who's not family to scent him, but he makes an exception for taehyung, even scenting him back with his baby milk smell. jeongguk often remarks with undisguised suspicion that mochi loves taehyung more than he loves them both, and it's difficult to deny or to guess why. taehyung is undoubtedly mochi's favourite person, and jimin doesn't mind because he loves mochi like his own.
two years ago, when jimin was setting up his nursery of black bloom, taehyung had come to help get him started. he stayed with them for a month, volunteering in his spare time at a small healing cabin near the village, then left for his camps in lychennia. a few months later, he visited again to check on him every month when he was pregnant with mochi, more frequently as the delivery drew nearer, and had been the first person to hold him, becoming his godfather.
then one day he had showed up on their door, and announced out of nowhere that he had bought the cabin beside their pond, leaving them equally stunned and happy.
he had explained that as he spends the whole year moving across lychennia because of his healing camps, he can only spend a few weeks here and there in his cabin, but he strongly felt the need to own a home to come back to, and settling down near his two friends seemed like the best plan.
ever since taehyung moved in as their neighbour, they fell into a routine of having dinner together on nights he is at home, and since taehyung loves babies, he takes care of mochi and jeongmin when he feels like it. he says the arrangement provides him all the benefits of having children without the icky consequences.
jimin, jeongguk, and taehyung had taken the village by storm, garnering attention every time they stepped out of the house, but since they kept to themselves, they were deemed unapproachable. all three of them had instantly gained favour of the single local wolves until they realised that jimin and jeongguk are already mated, and that left taehyung as the sole object of their admiration. more wolves court taehyung in a day then jimin can count on his finger, but taehyung has big dreams and says he's too young to get an alpha of his own. besides, he has already found a family in them.
despite being mated, jeongguk is very popular among the omegas in the village, increasingly so since he joined the school as a teacher. he is handsome, strong, young, caring and undoubtedly virile as he has already given jimin three children in five years, plus he's a good mate and a good father. it doesn't faze jimin one bit, because he knows they can't have him. he is jimin's.
"where are your other two children?", taehyung enquires while mochi attentively brushes his curls with a jewelled comb.
"jeongguk has taken minnie to the weekly market to get supplies", he informs, laughing despite himself, when it suddenly dawns on him that they could return any minute now and his dress is still incomplete.
blushing furiously, he leaves mochi in taehyung's care and excuses himself, before spinning to add, "taehyung-ah, please make sure he doesn't nap, okay? i want a quiet night."
taehyung looks at him with narrowed, sparkling eyes like he wants to tease, but takes mercy on him, and jimin locks himself inside his bedroom to assemble the final pieces of his surprise.
dinner is an awkward affair.
mochi is sleeping soundly in his crib with his stomach full, and the rest of them are seated around the table, gorging on bulgogi, stir-fried noodles, rice and kimchi, but he keeps thinking of the hour he spent on running his hands down his body while trying on the altered garment, imagining jeongguk.
both taehyung and jeongmin pick up on how antsy he is, but while taehyung smirks knowingly, jeongmin worries about what's wrong.
"appa is okay. just finish your food, baby", jeongguk consoles, ladling some rice on to his plate, and his other hand draws soothing circles on jimin's thigh under the table.
"a circus is coming to the neighbouring town", taehyung announces brightly, setting his chopsticks down on the plate and dabbing his lips with a handkerchief. "it sounds fun. what do you say?"
"appa, wassa circus?", jeongmin immediately follows, and jimin blanks.
he has seen the posters around the village— displaying huge red and white stripped tents with fancy font stating "Only 1 Silver Coin For Entry", and was supposed to ask jeongguk about it, but forgot. he is not ashamed to admit that most questions jeongmin asks him are beyond his knowledge, and he makes vague fibs when he's the only one around to answer, but the circus has him confounded. absolutely anything could be happening inside those striped tents, from children's playground to an interspecies brothel; too many possibilities for him to make a guess.
thankfully, jeongguk comes to his aid, explaining what a circus is and what can they expect, which makes him glad that he'd not opened his mouth, and by the end of his colourful description, jeongmin looks pleadingly at them.
"the weather is perfect, it's not that far, and i'll even hold mochi", taehyung inputs, making the same eyes.
"alright. we can catch a show tomorrow", jeongguk accepts, and jimin beams, in all likelihood more excited than jeongmin.
soon after dinner is over, taehyung lets himself out after pecking the children's cheeks, and while jeongmin licks the remnant of his sweet, jeongguk goes out to lock the gates, and jimin proceeds to clean up the kitchen, randomly thinking back to the conversation that soothed his insecurities a few years ago.
he had taken jeongmin along to buy vegetables from the local market, and his curious baby had stopped and pointed at every pretty bird in the sky, demanding to know their names. he still remembers the embarrassed looks on the faces of the villagers on his behalf when he'd failed to answer any of them. he had beaten himself up about it for days.
"it's okay if you can't answer him sometimes. nobody in this world knows everything, aegi", jeongguk had consoled, casually because it was easy for him to say.
'you do', he had thought then, petty and in love, and jeongguk had surmised it through his pout.
"look at our jeongmin, he doesn't know anything at all— minnie, what is 5+7?", he had asked clueless baby jeongmin who was trying to suck on his toe. "see? he doesn't know. does he look embarrassed? no! then why are you?"
jimin couldn't believe that jeongguk would compare his knowledge to a child's— his baby who had his whole life ahead to learn the ins and outs of the world— which is why it turned into their first argument since becoming parents; the shortest argument ever as it ended in two lines.
"he is only two!", jimin had screamed.
"and you are only twenty four", jeongguk had whispered back, terribly slowly as if aiming to drill the words inside his skull.
they'd stared at each other until he had spit out his anger and thrown himself in jeongguk's arms, because he's never had much luck in being mad at him, but what jeongguk had been trying to say was imprinted in his memory forever— he is twenty four years old, it is never too late to learn, and just like jeongmin, he has his whole life ahead of him.
"you're distracted, and it's distracting me", jeongguk says from behind, surprising him, and he jumps when their skins brush, the plate dropping on the granite counter with a clink. "why are you so nervous? it hasn't even been that long since our last time."
he turns to face him, and breathes in his scent heavily, overwhelmed by the onslaught of feelings the memory from that day has brought about. his life may have evolved now to revolve around his children, but jeongguk remains the gravity that locks him on his axis.
"i love you so much", he whispers, and looping his hands around his neck, rises on tiptoes to meet his lips. he curls his fingers on his nape, tasting his lover to feed his soul that had been starving for years.
"why now? all of a sudden— first, the surprise and now this. am i forgetting something?", jeongguk asks, dazed, before pulling him to himself, and his confusion looks so silly that jimin smiles against his lips.
"no, my jeongguk. i just love you all the time."
slick soaks his underwear by the time he is lifted up on kitchen counter, and though they've done it here before, he pushes him away because tonight is special, and more importantly, jeongmin is waiting for them outside.
"won't let you wheedle your way out of riding me tonight", jeongguk pants against his shoulder as they wait for their erection to go down, and he whines.
sunday ritual started because jeongguk kept calling him lazy in bed, and it would have offended him deeply if it weren't at least a little true. he has found that he rather likes being taken care of, and since jeongguk likes taking care of his needs, it doesn't change things between them aside from the occasional teasing.
"not tonight. i am tired!"
"should we go straight to sleep then? you should rest."
it doesn't fool him for a single second because he knows there is no way he will let him sleep tonight. the heady scent of rain drowning his lungs is testament.
before he can reply, jeongmin stomps into the room, rubbing at his eyes petulantly, and they jump apart, startled. he complains that he almost dozed off on the dining table because his fathers are busy whispering secrets with each other that they don't share with him, and jeongguk picks him up to coo at him, promising him that he will narrate one new ୪ო grand adventure while he tucks him to bed, and their voices muffle as he carries him to his room.
it will take at least four heroic tales of ୪ო's adventures about freeing lychennia for his bright-eyed son to fall asleep, and with that in mind, jimin proceeds to his own room, gathering his scattered nerves for jeongguk's surprise.
jimin had been too shy to approach the local seamstress about fitting the bodysuit on his pregnant belly, so he had picked up a wooly thread and needle, and done it himself. the white silk required had been expensive and difficult to find, leading to him compromising and incorporating golden lace in its place, and the final result leaves little to the imagination.
the bodysuit fits snugly on his body, white silk wrapping around the curves of his bump, and strips of fine, golden gauze reveal smooth skin of his chest, replacing the previous ruffled collars, and his sides, tapering down his flared hips. the gold chain garters fastened around his thighs dig into his delicate, chubby flesh.
he is spread out on the dark sheets with his back leaning against the headboard and his bare legs displayed. the gold of the chains and the lace catch the gilded light of the flickering candles, reflecting sparks of light on his skin, and he looks resplendent.
jeongguk can't take his eyes off him, and even though it makes him squirm, he lets him drink in his fill. his heart beats in tandem with the breath jeongguk takes, anticipation and hunger blazing a trail through his insides, but jeongguk just stares, unwavering and focussed until he parts his thighs in silent invitation. he wants jeongguk to desecrate the fuck out of this holy dress.
the bedding sinks under jeongguk's weight as he plants his knees on the foot of the bed, and when his fingers encircle his ankles, his breath catches in his throat.
on some sunday nights, jeongguk comes to him with deliberate leisure, prowling closer inch by inch till he has reduced him to a panting mess, agonizing him by drawing his orgasm out and fucking him nice and slow, and on others, he devours him at once and swallows the bones. tonight falls in the second category.
jimin slides across the bed as jeongguk tightens his grip and yanks him towards him, and rough palms rove up his knees, his flesh giving easily to the touch. light fingers branch out on his inner thighs to trace the stretch marks on his skin that jeongguk says look like bolts of pink lightning striking the glittery ocean surface, and slide under the tight chain garters, where his skin is reddening and sensitive. jeongguk lowers his head to soothe the burn with his hot mouth and jimin moans.
he straddles him with his knees bracketing his hips, and his hands begin their ascent, traversing along the golden lace above his hip, the curve and dip of his waist, and his breath goes shallow when he reaches his chest, cupping the mounds of flesh that are tender and aching, swollen with milk. his plump nipples tighten under his gaze, tenting under the flimsy material.
his thumb swipes over the hard, aching peak, and he jumps out of his skin, a violent shiver racking his body as he cries out.
jeongguk kneads the flesh with smooth, gentle hands, and the gentle pressure has him throwing his head back in pleasure. a bead of milk pearls at the tip, peeking out through the lace, and his finger flicks out to brush it away.
he avidly watches jeongguk as he brings it to his lips, sucking on it, and a gush of slick leaks out, peaches and rose swirling in the air, and more milk dribbles out in reflex.
"feeling too full, aegi?", jeongguk asks, pausing his ministrations, and the coolness of his breath blows over the damp, sensitive tip of his nipples. he traces his tongue over the soaked fabric and jimin whimpers, eyes fluttering shut.
blood rushes to his cheeks, deepening them to a vibrant scarlet as he nods, looking up at him with hooded eyes, lips parted, and hands above his head. "please take care of me, hyung."
the honorific pushes jeongguk's irises vacillating between black and red to take up crimson, and he pulls the fabric down to reveal his skin, visibly piqued when it doesn't give and in a flash rips it, tearing it from his neck to the swell of his bump.
he doesn't give him time to react, bending down to take the swollen nipple into his mouth, and jimin instinctively arches, fisting his fingers in his hair to hold him in place as he suckles.
'sweet', jeongguk says everytime he tastes any part of jimin, but tonight he drinks from him intently, short for words, like he'd been starving. he takes turns devouring each side, the shadow of a stubble on his chin scraping the sensitive skin as he sucks, and his hips start lifting to rub against his, cock pulsing hard against his stomach.
"will suck you dry while fucking into you", jeongguk rasps, tearing straight through the rest of his dress before shucking it away, and his hole clenches at the sight jeongguk presents— predatory red gaze and his milk dribbling down his chin.
jeongguk swirls his tongue around his puffy nipple as he slots himself between his thighs, and when his fingers dip lower to prepare his hole, his eyes widening appreciatively when he finds him loose already.
"you were desperate to be fucked tonight, weren't you?", he asks as he plunges into him, burying himself inside his core. "have i not been doing a good job? have i slacked in satisfying you?"
jimin rambles out his passionate denial incoherently, stuttering as jeongguk pounds his cock inside him.
"hole full of my cum, womb full of my pup, breast full of milk", he lists, snapping his hips after every word, and jimin cries when his fingers squeeze the swollen flesh of his chest, forcing more milk to pump out. "i keep you full everywhere."
jeongguk follows through on his promise, latching on to his nipple to milk him dry as he fucks him, and after a couple dozen hard, fast thrusts, they cum together while watching the other lose himself in ecstasy.
"knot me please, hyung", he begs when he feels jeongguk pulling out, knowing that being locked in this position would get painful as time passes, he might even get crushed under jeongguk's weight if he lays on top of him, but his eyes brim with tears inadvertently, lost to reasoning.
jeongguk watches his teary eyes and then his swollen belly, brows furrowing in indecision as he wipes the tears away with the pad of this thumb, and heaves a weary sigh.
"my pillow princess", he pants, pulling out and entering him again from behind after he has jostled him to his side, and shoves his knot inch by inch inside his stretched hole. "you're milking the life out of me, one night at a time. i'm aging faster because of you."
jimin smiles in bliss, snuggling against the knot, thoroughly sated.
it takes half an hour for the knot to go down, and while jeongguk moves about the room to wipe their fluids off of his body, prodding him to do the same, he lies flat on his back like a starfish. it's his favorite position.
"i will lick you clean from head to toe. don't think i won't."
"then why don't you?", he murmurs abashedly, which jeongguk takes as defiance, rising up to the challenge.
by the end of jeongguk's ostensible grooming, he is dirtier than he was when they began, but they splay beside each other on the bed to stare up at the ceiling, leaving further cleaning up for the next morning, and on shifting to find a more comfortable position, he feels the shredded silk beside his foot.
"you ruined my dress."
"i'll buy you a new one."
"we can't afford a new one."
jeongguk lifts his head to look at him with caution. "are you upset with me?"
"no. you just liked me the most in that dress."
he relaxes back on the pillow. "i like you the most without any dress."
they curl together with jeongguk's arm positioned underneath his head, heat of their bodies evanesing due of the cool breeze from their window, and lying limbless in the post-sex silence is so comfortable that sleep wrenches his consciousness towards itself, but he strives to stay awake.
sleeping late makes the oncoming day tedious, his head bursting by the time he can find some quiet to rest, and yet he delays it every night in favour of talking to jeongguk. jeongmin often complains that his parents keep whispering and giggling with each other instead of including him in their endless conversations even now that he is a big boy, and they giggle together about that too.
he wonders if it is strange that they talk the whole day only to return to their room and chat the whole night, and how even after all these years, they never run out of things to talk about.
"namjoon hyung asked me if i missed my old life today, so i thought really hard about what could i supposedly miss, and i couldn't think of a single thing— no home, no family, no friends, i didn't have anything before you." he is shocked at the passive surprise in his own voice. once upon a time, the mere mention of his life in the palace caused his tears to run dry, and now he speaks of it with detachment, like he is narrating someone else's story.
"you had everything", jimin comments ruefully, and kisses the arch of his shoulder, knowing that conversations like these, even so much as a word of gratitude for making sacrifices for his sake, displease jeongguk. "do you miss your friends?"
his eyes flutter shut when he presses a kiss on his forehead.
"i live with my best friend", jeongguk replies, like that's all he is going to say on the matter, and neither does he need to expound. he proves it to him through his actions everyday.
he folds his leg over jeongguk's thighs, and rests his face on top of his heart, hand curling on his chest.
"how did i survive that life? my heart clenches when i try to remember."
"then don't try to remember", jeongguk says, tone mildly authorative.
he props up on an elbow, spuming with energy. "but isn't it weird? do you believe one can be so happy that they forget what it ever felt like when they were sad?"
"i hope so. i do try very hard to make you feel that way."
it's spoken with nonchalance, completely casually, like everyone moves mountains for their lovers, and jimin has witnessed plenty of examples to realise how he has lucked out to find someone as gentle and thorough in his devotion as his boy. it makes him tear up, and he inhales deeply to tide over it, looking over to his side to find a contented smile on jeongguk's face like the cat who got the cream, and his impending flood of tears siphon away into nothingness.
"you are happy", he voices, full of wonder.
"oh, yes, very. i am thinking about how unbelievably, extremely sexy you are."
he gapes at him, then huffs an incredulous laugh. "i look like an inflated, pink balloon."
it manages to offend jeongguk. "you're always sexy to me, aegi-yah, but you're the sexiest when you're round with my pup."
"what's the sexiest thing about me that you can think outside of sex?"
jeongguk hums to himself, contemplating his answer, and jimin tries to guess if he'll list them in order of his most favourite to least or alphabetical.
"should i begin from the first time?", jeongguk asks.
that's a new approach, jimin thinks, as he adds 'chronological order' to his list of guesses for the next time he fishes for compliments, and motions him to begin.
"during the second year tournament, when we were ambushed by the other team and you pulled those three arrows at once, that's when i first felt arousal for you. there was this fierce, murderous glint in your eyes, you were out for blood that day and i was battling an erection in the middle of the forest—"
"shut up! you were barely sixteen!", he exclaims, scandalised. he was expecting an answer between their first kiss and first time, not their earliest interaction outside of the field.
"you looked so pretty that night at the tavern, almost like you were lost, and i wanted to find you and hold you and kiss you— at the fair too. you've always shined so bright, everything else seems dull around you."
"you thought i was pretty even when you disliked me?", he asks, remembering the sullen look plastered on jeongguk's face during the entire duration of the memories he named.
"have you looked at yourself? i was stupid, not blind, jimin."
his heart soars, and he shares its ridiculously affectionate contents with jeongguk. "i thought that about you too. ever since i met you, i've always thought that you're the most beautiful person i know."
"you thought i smelled like mud", jeongguk comments, and barks a laugh at his own rude interruption.
"no, i didn't", he complains, lips pursed indignantly into a pout. "i just didn't know how to describe your scent in words. i said you smell like outside—"
"mud. you said mud, jimin."
he directs him a scathing look, the one jeongguk says looks like an angry baby chick who can peck its opponent to death, and jeongguk's smile turns wider, impossibly fonder.
"my jimin is so precious", he says, pressing kisses on his cheeks and lips, not afraid of his lethal-pecking beak. "and you keep multiplying every year, and giving me more of you. little replicas of my jimin filling our house."
except jeongguk, everyone on earth says the children take after their alpha father— starry black doe eyes, dark hair, mole above the lips, little mannerisms like scrunching up their noses when they break into a bunny smile, covering their their ears when they're shy, and being so incredibly cute and equally stubborn. he might admit some part in the last one.
"remember the omega couple who sent us baby clothes when mochi was born?"
jeongguk's brows furrow in concentration.
"both male, around our age, brown hair, brown eyes, you said one of them looks like your grand aunt from gwacheon, and the other smells like two days old kimchi", he describes, and waits for jeongguk to catch on before continuing, "taehyung told me they had a baby today."
"oh. we should also get them gifts."
"we should! ...but it got me wondering if two omegas can have a pup, then can two alphas have one as well? if they try really hard?"
jeongguk shakes his head, explaining how it's impossible since they're not carriers, and he sighs desolately, burying himself in his chest.
"aegi?"
"while we were still in the academy, joonie hyung kept buying baby shoes saying that they were cute, and i spotted all those shoes in his gift basket for jeongmin today. i couldn't even make myself ask him about them. you should have seen the warmth in his when he was looking at mochi. he really loves children, jeongguk. he would've been a great father."
it is a little self centred for jimin to think that owing to his and jeongguk's different anatomies, it could just as easily have been them in namjoon's place, but for a moment he does entertain the thought. like namjoon hyung, he would have chosen love too, picked jeongguk over anything else, but he didn't have to. he has never been more grateful to the half of him that's child of the moon, for it has given him his children.
"let's give him one of ours", jeongguk suggests. "we have too many, anyway."
after the minute it takes for him to process that he is joking, jimin smacks him at his shoulder.
"how dare you say that about my children?", he screams, though he already knows why— jeongguk has super senses which pick up on his upset and they make him say the oddest of things, often vile, to cheer him up. "you're the worst."
"but you love me."
his brows wrinkle because it is difficult to counter that. he rolls away, and jeongguk curls up behind him, spooning him.
"i will tell minnie that you said this about him."
"i was considering gifting away mochi though."
"i will tell mochi then", he huffs, belatedly adding, "as soon as he starts understanding wolfian."
"write it down in your notebook so you don't forget."
while they try to fall asleep, jeongguk draws lazy patterns on his belly, but as is his nature, it is not too long before his touch drifts lower, and jimin grips the offending hand and interlaces their fingers to immobilize it. though it is only a few more moments before he realises he is not sleepy either.
"jeongguk?"
he hums.
"you should continue with your list. we left it off at the harvest fair", he reminds impishly, ignoring his burning cheeks, his eyes still shut.
jeongguk acts unusually benevolent, without question proceeding to walk him through all his filthy thoughts throughout the years in explicit detail, and only when they reach this particular moment of him lying on top of the tattered remains of his birthday dress in the present day, does jimin fall asleep.
he dreams of the night of his wedding.
everyone who loves him surrounds him on all sides in the temple, showering him with attention, but his thoughts are strangely occupied by the marble sculpture in the centre of the temple. the diety is perched on her throne, motionless except for the darting eyes that track him as he moves, watching him from afar. crimson tears run down her hauntingly beautiful face.
"why is she crying?", he asks, compelled by an external force.
"the world wasn't kind to her. she lived a life where she was trapped, destined to never experience happiness while she was alive, and when the gods took mercy, liberating her mortal form, she had to leave behind her beloved child to suffer the same fate in her stead. she couldn't find salvation even in death."
her eyes are similar to those of his mother.
he automatically moves in her direction, but staggers to a stop when she lifts her hand and points a bony finger towards jeongguk.
"he is yours?", she croaks, voice hollow and hoarse like she hasn't spoken in forever.
"my mate", he answers, love seeping into his words.
energy hums within her, the temple vibrating as her lips upturn eerily, and the long finger is now directed at jeongmin who's holding mochi in his lap.
"they are yours too?"
he nods, smiling. "my children."
blood swallows the whites of her eyes as she bursts into tears, simultaneously bubbling with raucous laughter. it resembles what he remembers as the sweetest sound in the world.
"my precious boy", she coos, brittle and wavering, "you have everything the world has to offer."
moonlight from the swollen, full moon spills through the glass panels, illuminating their intrinsically glowing skin, and he watches transfixed as she reaches into the air to harvest some wispy strands of light and caresses his belly to store it inside him.
violet skin, violet eyes, red blood, red tears.
"aegi, you're okay... shh, you're with me", jeongguk whispers in his hair, cradling his face close to his chest, and his voice goes frantic when tears soak his skin. "you haven't had a nightmare in years. i told you not to ruminate over your past all day. why don't you listen, aegi?"
"wasn't a nightmare, jeongguk. i dreamt of my mother", he babbles wetly, and recounts what he saw between sobs while jeongguk gently rocks back and forth like does when he is shushing their pups. "she was content when she saw the life i've made for myself, as if it was my grief that was trapping her here and my happiness that set her free", he says, blinking to unleash another wave of tears.
the inky sky outside is nearing a new dawn, but it will be hours before the shroud of darkness is lifted, affording them with some more time to sleep.
"i think our baby is a child of the moon", he says after his tears have subsided, and jeongguk jerks towards him in surprise, tilting his face to meet his.
"and how do you feel about that?", he asks softly, schooling his features to hide his apprehension.
"excited", he confesses, and cuddles against him, exhaustion weighing down on his damp lashes. "i think it's time someone treated moonchildren right."
the pride on jeongguk's face is similar to the one on his mother's in his dream, and his heart feels lighter at getting the approval of both the persons whose love has shaped him into who he is.
"i am here with you. i'll always be here with you." jeongguk mumbles softly, again and again, running his fingers through his hair till he falls asleep, and for jimin, his beautiful words make 'i love you' look pale.
jeongguk and he might have started on rival sides, be it in the fields during sunday training or in the grander scheme of things like the war between lychennia and serenia, or the age old vampire and wolf, but they are on the same team for the rest of their lives— their own exclusive ever-increasing team.
tomorrow, like every other day, jimin is going to wake up to mochi screaming his little lungs out, and jeongmin bouncing on their bed. he will pick up the red leather notebooks strewn across the floor where his children invent new languages and doodle abstract art using their fingers and feet, and clean his mother's books gathering dust at the table because there's little time to read when you're experiencing life in front of your eyes, and then, have a long, tiring, eventful day with his children, mate, and best friend.
tomorrow, and everyday until he dies, jimin is going to wake up to love and life and freedom.
𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒋𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒈𝒖𝒌'𝒔
jimin's ^ to-do list:
celebrate moonchildren lunar festival on xx/xx
learn to cook delicious food for jeongguk
teach jeongmin to read and write vampyre
knit a sweater for mochi ♡
save coins for a new birthday dress
𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒋𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏
𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒋𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏
𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒋𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏
𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒋𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚
𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒋𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏 5 𝒌𝒊𝒅𝒔 (nooo!!! no more kids!!! •᷄ʚ •᷅ )