Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Most of all, I hate you because I think of you. Often. It's disgusting, and I can't stop.”
(The Cruel Prince by Holly Black)

Human roads are marvelous, Jimin decides, as he walks down the asphalted sidewalk. They’re straight and flat, almost no bumps, no muddy patches to slip on, no roots to trip over, no pixies cursing at you for accidentally stepping on their mushrooms...

Travelling by foot is so much easier and so much faster here. And yet, Jimin already misses Elfhame and its pleasant quietness, the clean air and calming scents. He’s only been running his errands in the human world for about an hour, but there is already a dull ache forming inside his head from the loud noise and his throat is starting to itch from the pungent traffic fumes.

He stops at a crossing, impatiently waiting for the pedestrian light to turn green, switching the heavy plastic bags he’s holding from one sweaty hand to the other.

It’s a lot hotter here today than he expected it to be. He didn’t take into account that Elfhame is usually a couple of degrees cooler than the human world, which is why he is now dressed in jeans and sneakers, instead of shorts and sandals like most people around him.

Yet, nobody really pays him any mind. In their eyes he’s just another stranger, nothing to turn your head around for. So different from Elfhame, where they still ogle him with curiosity, even though he has been living among them for almost two decades now.

When the light finally turns green, Jimin hurries on, weaving his way through the crowd coming from the other side of the crosswalk. It seems everyone else is in a hurry too, like they always are in the human world. In the realm nobody really hurries. The fae just go about their days as gracefully and unbothered as they do everything else in their lives.

Jimin let’s out a grunt when someone who hurries past him accidentally slams into his left shoulder.

“Sorry, man!” Is all he hears as the guy hurries on, a pleasant change to how this exchange would have gone in Elfhame, where the word ‘useless human’ or something along the lines would have been muttered, even if it hadn’t been his fault.

When he reaches the other side of the crossing, Jimin steps away from the hustle of the main street and continuous his way through side streets and alleys, relishing in the quietness and coolness of the shadows between the tall buildings.

He has managed to get all the items his customers and family had asked for rather quickly, the heat driving him from one air-conditioned store to the next.

Ihkadel asked for more bits and bops from the craft supply store, so he could make more of his jewelry. (The Hello Kitty beads were his favorite last time, so Jimin has made sure to get some of those again.) Xeba needs more batteries for the CD Player, which Jimin brought her from the human world about two years ago. In the entirety of those two years the troll has only listened to one single CD and when Jimin wanted to surprise her with another one, she declined. He will never understand trolls and their extreme repugnance towards change.

Kelpie asked him to get more Avocadoes for her, which isn’t surprising, since they’re her favorite.
‘What a curious fruit! It tastes like nothing, I love it!’
She was again very specific about the degree of ripeness, because apparently, she wants to eat some of them right away and save some for later in the week, so Jimin spent most of the past hour in the grocery store gently squeezing avocados to determine if they’re suitable or not.

Now he has only one last destination left: The bookstore, his favorite place in the human world. He always saves it for last. He loves reading and treats himself to a new book whenever he’s visiting once or twice a month, sometimes buys one for his sister too.

When he was a teenager, his trips to the human world were more a thing of self-discovery. He wanted to find out more about the place where he was taken from at the age of four. He remembers little to nothing from his childhood, spending most of it in an orphanage, where not many memories were to be made. For a while, when he was younger, he suspected Kelpie and Alvaro to have taken his memory along with taking him from the human world.

When he confronted them about it, in all his moody adolescent glory, they were hurt. Even more so, when he said he would only believe them, if they both spoke the sentence ‘Nobody took or altered your memory before, during or after you were taken to Elfhame.’ right to his face.

See, it’s one thing to take advantage of the fact that the fae are not able to lie, if it’s for shit and giggles among friends. Or if it’s for defense against some of the misanthrope fairies in the realm, who love to bully you for being human. Or literally in any other case, but not when it’s your parents. Your parents, who’ve brought you up, who trust you wholeheartedly, even though you’re human and you ARE able to lie.

A few years later, only a couple of months after his sister had been born, he apologized to them. Apologizing to fairies is hard. You have to really mean it – they can tell if you don’t. But Jimin DID mean it and Alvaro and Kelpie both told him they long had forgiven him, told him that they understood, even if it hurt – always loving him with their whole heart, even though he was not their blood related son, even though they had a biological daughter now.

‘You are my son and I’m proud of you, you know that, right?’ Alvaro once asked him, after one of their training sessions, when Jimin had made huge progress with a specific move in hand-to-hand combat. Jimin relishes moments like this, because being human in Elfhame makes you often feel like you’re not enough. Hand-to-hand combat has never been his strong suit, being too small, too weak, too HUMAN when it comes to fighting against fairies. Not even being trained by your father, the commander of the Royal Guard, and your mother, the strongest warrior in whole Elfhame, could change that.

But Jimin has always been known to be a hard worker and he wanted to proof himself, wanted to proof that he belonged and that he could contribute. And what better way to do that than fighting in the Royal Guard. From pretty early on he managed to convince Alvaro and Kelpie to teach him and pretty early on it became clear, that, even though he couldn’t stand a chance against fairies in fist fights, he was quite talented with the sword. He was quick, like a dancer on his feet, he was precise, and after some years of training positively deadly. Which granted him a place in training school for the Royal Guard, where he’s now in his senior year. Unheard of for a human.

But the earnings of a Royal Guard soldier in training aren’t THAT high and Jimin refuses to take more money from his parents, especially after they built him a whole house without his consent, which he has accepted but not without scolding them.

So, he started taking trips to the human world not only for his own pastime and pleasure – he hasn’t been to a human club in months – but to run errands for some people in Elfhame, who need things from the human world for their business (or their own pleasure). He doesn’t take much money for it but the little bit he makes, added on top of his salary, is enough to allow him to a live a comfortable life.

When Jimin arrives at the bookstore, it’s almost empty. Humans don’t seem to read much, which is a shame, since their books are amazing. So much better than the stuff you would find in the realm. Most books in Elfhame are either poetry in ancient fairy-languages Jimin doesn’t understand, disturbing war-stories (which always contain at least one graphic scene of human-slaughter) or straight up porn.

The stories in human books are much more versatile and a lot more educational too. Usually, Jimin tries to avoid the stories tagged as ‘Fantasy’, since they often remind him too much of the world he tries to escape from by reading. But as he is standing in front of one of the high shelves filled with books, a cover catches his eyes with a title, that he’s seen being mentioned in some of his other books before. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass it reads. He eyes the ‘Fantasy’ sign above the book warily. Maybe it’s worth reading, since it’s being referenced so much.

Jimin ends up buying the book, along with another, which sounds more like a murder-mystery on the cover. The bags are heavy in his hands as he makes his way back to where he has left Artemis and once again, he regrets that he didn’t take his time to buy a backpack. He really needs to get one at some point.

Jimin enters the park through the main entrance, but doesn’t stay on the main road for long, takes a turn to make his way to the adjoining forest.

It’s funny how humans aren’t able to see the gateway to Elfhame, even though it’s right THERE, because they don’t know where to look. Or rather, because they don’t look closely enough. Jimin doesn’t bother making sure nobody sees him, as he slips through the bushes. They never do.

He takes his shoes off and puts them inside one of the bags before he steps into the shallow water of the stream and makes his way to the other side, hissing when sharp little rocks dig into the soles of his feet. Thin mist curls around his calves right above the water, in places where magical air hits normal one. As he steps out of the water on the other side and both his feet touch the grass, he feels the familiar wave of magic wash over him as he steps through the invisible gateway.

Artemis is sitting right next to the big oak where he has left her earlier, her big iridescent wings folded together on her back, shimmering mostly green and blue, to camouflage into the greenery around her. Not that anyone in this area would ever attack a Hyperion Moth – a giant moth, the size of two horses – but at the end of the day she’s like any other insects: better safe than sorry. Her feathery antennae start vibrating when she senses Jimin approaching and she opens her giant black eyes.

She blinks almost bored.

“I’m back,” he says and puts the heavy bags on the ground with a grunt, stepping over them to check her saddle. He can almost see her lifting an eyebrow, even though she doesn’t have one, as if to say obviously. Then she eyes the bags curiously and starts turning her body to get a better look at them, almost knocking Jimin over.

“Stop it, you know I have something for you in there, just be patient until we get back,” Jimin scolds, while still tending to her harness.

She looks annoyed but gets back to her original position, to let Jimin fill the saddlebags with the goods. It takes a while, but then they’re flying off to the kingdom.

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When they arrive in front of his house, located in one of the quieter parts of Elfhame, it’s already starting to get dark.

Jimin frees Artemis from her harness and lets her off into the woods, but not before rewarding her with buckets of red wine and beer, until she decides she’s had enough. Jimin chuckles as he watches her iridescent figure, shimmering red and purple now, disappear into the sky, swaying a little from the alcohol. She’s a cranky bitch sometimes, but Jimin knows she’s secretly very fond of him and that she will always come when he calls her.

When he steps inside the house, he’s met with quietness.  

It’s a big house, especially compared to the other ones around, Kelpie and Alvaro having sparred no costs to build him a comfortable home. Sometimes it’s too big though, for him alone. He had wanted to move out of his parents’ mansion and he was happy when they told him they would help him find a place, but back then he thought about a hut by the river or maybe an apartment close to the market place, not a full-blown house with three bedrooms and a garden.

He makes his way down the hallway to his kitchen, where he places the heavy bags on the big oak table, before turning the lights on. He has placed his purchases randomly in the bags, which means he has to go through them and sort them, before he can distribute them among his customers.

“Oh, you’re back.”

Jimin yelps and whirls around. Maraja looks at him with her big eerie green eyes, standing in the threshold to his kitchen, scratching at one of the two little horns coming out of her forehead. They’re giving her a headache sometimes, she says, but Kelpie has asked one of her friends whose three children have horns as well and she said it’s normal that it hurts a little when they grow out.

“You scared me,” Jimin says, taking in her rustled black hair and crumbled green dress. She must’ve been sleeping on his couch. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to visit. I forgot that you were going on a trip today.” She looks past him at the bags on the kitchen table. Her eyes light up.

“Did you bring me firecrackers?”

 Jimin chuckles. “Yes, I did.”

She stops scratching her horn and claps excitedly, then worms her way around him towards the kitchen table, standing up on her toes to reach for one of the bags but Jimin interrupts her.

“So, no hug for the best big brother in whole Elfhame?”

She stops in her movements, turning around, a guilty pout on her face. She grumbles something under her breath, before throwing herself into his open arms, her little horns boring into his stomach. Jimin winces but doesn’t say anything, doesn’t want to make her even more self-conscious about them. So he just hugs her back, patting her black hair. He startles a little, when his hand comes back covered in green glitter.

“Why is there glitter in your hair?”

She’s still hugging him tightly when she answers. “Mom said it looks pretty with my dress for the party.”

“Oh,” Jimin says, searching his brain for the party his parents are apparently hosting tonight but he can’t remember. Kelpie probably told him about it, maybe even asked him to come, but Jimin isn’t a party person, especially not when it comes to fairy parties. He prefers to stay away from the tempting drinks, the food, the music and especially the drunk folk. Too much could go wrong for him as a human. When he was still living at his parents’, he would usually lock himself up in his room when they were having guests over.

He looks down at his sister, who’s still boring her little horns into his stomach. At this point he’s sure she’s doing it on purpose.

“Did you come here to escape from the party?” He asks with a chuckle.

She looks up at him, still pouting. “Yes. It was loud and boring.”

Jimin laughs, taking a step back and rubbing the glitter from his hand onto his jeans. He’s sure everything in his house will be glittering for the next few days, maybe even weeks. He groans inwardly at the thought of how his couch must look like, if Maraja really slept on it.

“Does Kelpie know you’re here?”

“She saw me leaving.”

“And she didn’t say anything to hold you back?”

Maraja presses her lips together. “No.”

Jimin raises his eyebrows. “So, she didn’t SAY anything to hold you back, but did she TRY to hold you back?”

Maraja shifts from one foot to the other and Jimin can practically see the little gears inside her head turning, trying to find a way around the truth.

“Maraja…”

She huffs. “She chased after me, but I was faster.”

Jimin sighs, then chuckles and runs a hand through his hair.

“You can stay here and help me sort through the human stuff, but then I will walk you back, okay?”

“Fine,” she grumbles and turns around to climb onto one of the kitchen chairs with her knees. “Where are my firecrackers?”

Jimin points at one of the plastic bags. “But no setting them off in here!” He warns.

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By the time they’re done packing everything in individual bags and boxes, so Jimin can deliver them to his customers, it’s completely dark outside and his kitchen table is full of green glitter.

“I think you’ve successfully avoided the party, little firecracker. It’s late now, Kelpie will probably send you to bed right away when we get there.”

She giggles, playing with one of the sweet potatoes that Jimin brought back for himself, then she frowns.

“I don’t think I can sleep with all the noise they are making.”

Jimin leans back in his chair and stretches his stiff neck from side to side.

“I’m sure you’ll manage, you can sleep everywhere.”

“But they’re REALLY loud. Prince Jungkook is there too and he’s the loudest.”

Jimin pauses mid-stretch.

He’s not surprised. Whenever there’s a party (and there are many), Jungkook can be found there. Jimin also knows for a fact that the prince attended his parents’ parties back when Jimin was still living there, but since he never engaged in them, he had successfully avoided the prince at least in that regard.

“Couldn’t you stay with me in my room, until I’m asleep? And when he’s too loud, you could tell him to fuck off?”

Jimin’s head whips into an upright position and he gawks at her. “Where the hell did you learn that word??”

She giggles. “From you, of course.”

Jimin gawks a little more. It’s not unheard of for fairies to swear, but it’s frowned upon, especially for someone like Maraja, who’s from a family with a well-established fortune and a high reputation among the fae.

“Don’t ever say that again! What if Kelpie hears you?!”

“But you say it all the time!”

Jimin splutters. “Well yes, but even I get scolded and I’m older AND human!”

She pouts. “I wish I was human too. Then I could swear and lie.” Then she looks at him with big innocent green eyes. “So, you won’t stay with me until I’m asleep and tell Prince Jungkook to fuck off if he’s too loud?”

“Don’t say that!”

She giggles happily, letting herself fall back against the backrest of her chair.

“And I will do no such thing. How about you sleep in my old room tonight? It’s further away from the ball room and probably a lot quieter.”

Her eyes light up in excitement at the prospect of being allowed to sleep in his room.

“Okay!” Then she cocks her head to the side and eyes him thoughtfully. “Are you afraid of him too?”

“What do you mean, ‘too’?” He asks, knowing she’s talking about Jungkook, and dusts some green glitter off the table.

“Everyone seems to be afraid of him. Because he’s a prince and he’s a meanie.”

At that Jimin barks out a laugh, because yes, in the eyes of a child, Jungkook is probably best described as mean, maybe a bit scary. In the eyes of Jimin, he’s not just that. In his eyes, Jungkook is downright cruel. Annoying, spoiled, bratty… but also unpredictable, violent and full of hatred towards Jimin. Dangerous.

Jimin’s advantage is, that danger is nothing new to him and that he has long stopped backing down.

The Fae are cruel creatures, and their world is a dangerous place for a human, but Jimin refuses to be afraid of them, doesn’t want to let them undermine him, especially not prince Jungkook.

Growing up in this world, he knows his way around the folk: Always have something made of iron on you, to protect yourself against their magic; don’t dance to their music, as you won’t be able to stop dancing until you collapse and die; and NEVER EVER eat their food – unless you sprinkle it with salt – because it will make you pliant, following their every command…

There are a lot of things to be wary of, many things to be careful about. But he manages and he likes living here, it’s his home, they’re his people, at least the ones he calls his friends.

Whom Jimin for sure does NOT call his friend is Jungkook. Jungkook and him are far from being civil with each other.

As the king’s youngest son, with two older sisters and two older brothers, Jungkook has no chance at the throne, which apparently made him decide to not even try and join the Royal Guard instead. Or maybe the king and queen made him join, who knows.

Since both him and Jungkook joined around the same time, they have all their classes and training sessions together to this day. And they have hated each other for each day they’ve known each other.

It was their very first day, Jimin had just turned 15. Their teacher had assessed their skills beforehand, taking an hour with each student over the course of the past week to get to know them, their strengths, their weaknesses… Jimin had a feeling, that the assessment had gone quite well for him, after all he had been trained all his childhood by Alvaro and Kelpie, the commander and the strongest warrior of the Royal Guard.

When Jimin and Jungkook were paired up for sword training, Jungkook gawked in confusion.

“Why am I being teamed up with the human?”

The other children giggled and Jimin felt his face heat up in embarrassment at having his otherness pointed out like that in front of so many strangers.

“Because you two are the best with the sword,” the teacher simply said. He was a big fae, packed with muscles, an intimidating aura surrounding him. But Jimin could see the nervous wiggle in his fingers, while talking to the prince. Jungkook was just a child but he was from the royal family and his status ultimately above the teacher’s and everybody else’s who was present.

Jungkook looked at Jimin, giving him a once over. “You’re saying this scrawny human is as good as I am?”

Jimin bristled at being talked about as if he wasn’t there but he bit his lip and stayed quiet. He didn’t want trouble on his very first day.

“Yes, my prince,” the teacher said. “He was taught by the commander and his wife.”

Jungkook’s eyes never left Jimin and he sneered. “I will practice with him for today but if it isn’t to my liking, I will have you give me a different training partner.”

“Of course, my prince.”

The first hour was theory class, which was taking place in the shadows of the big willow tree. Jimin felt Jungkook’s eyes on him the whole time, heard him scoff whenever Jimin raised his hand and answered a question, always correctly.

Then came the first actual training session, not with real swords back then, but wooden training sticks.

Everyone was busy practicing with their respective partners, but occasionally, they looked over at them, curious to see what would happen.

Jimin won the first round against Jungkook. Not without a bit of struggle, but the win came a little sooner and a little easier than he had expected.

Jimin won the second round too.

By the third round Jungkook looked so furious when it became obvious that Jimin would win this fight yet again, that Jimin’s insides jittered with excitement and satisfaction.

He won again.

“Well, that’s embarrassing for you,” he said grinning, not even thinking about the possible consequences.

Jungkook looked at Jimin as if no one had ever spoken to him like that. Probably because no one had.

The prince didn’t ask for a change in training partners again, but it all went downhill from there. And only because Jimin was better at him at sword fighting unfortunately didn’t mean he was better than Jungkook at everything else too.

For hand-to-hand combat, Jimin was teamed up with someone else, knowing very well, that he was the weakest of them all, his human body struggling hard in fights against fairies. Jungkook was the best in that class, of course.

Now, about six years later, they are still being teamed up at sword fighting practice, still being the best of their team. But now, the others don’t watch them fighting anymore. Usually, people keep far away from them on the training grounds, giving them space, just in case their fights escalate again. It usually starts with them throwing insults at each other until one of them loses his temper, using his sword (which isn’t made of wood anymore) too harshly, genuinely hurting the other. It’s not rare for their training lessons to end bloody. Nobody really bothers trying to keep them apart from each other anymore, sometimes not even their teacher.

“I’m not afraid of him,” Jimin says. It’s a lie. He knows it’s a lie and from the way Maraja looks at him, she also knows it.

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Jimin has changed from his human clothes into more appropriate clothing to wear when being seen by a bunch of higher up fairies, even if not exactly appropriate for the party. But since he’s not going to stay long and doesn’t intend to be seen by anyone, he doesn’t really care. His tights, tunic shirt and boots have to suffice.

Before they leave, he asks Maraja who the guests are, just to be ready in case he is approached by someone. Maraja says they’re people from the merfolk, having travelled from the Undersea to Elfhame to talk alliance and trade.

All the better, Jimin thinks. Since they’re from far, they will probably think he’s a servant and not strike up a conversation with him.

What he hasn’t considered though, is that it’s widely known, even outside of their kingdom, that Elfhame’s commander and his wife have once taken in a human child, who is now living among the fae in Elfhame as if he’s one of them.

When Jimin and Maraja arrive at their parents’ mansion by foot, making their way through the front yard, passing the white marble fountain, where some unknown fairies have gathered in small groups, clad in fancy dresses and suits, nursing their drinks, Jimin is very much aware of their chattering dying down once they spot the two of them. He feels their eyes following them, knows they’re staring at him specifically. He feels his skin prickle, hates the feeling of being watched, but is kind of used to it by now.

Maraja grabs his hands and squeezes it tightly. When he looks down at her she smiles back up at him as if nothing happened but when she thinks he isn’t looking, he sees her throwing the other fairies dirty looks. Jimin grins to himself and squeezes her hand back.

One they’re inside, the entrance hall is empty, music and chatter sounding from the ball room. Jimin ushers Maraja up the staircase and down the dimly lit marble hallway, towards his old room.

Once he has failed to make her brush the glitter out of her hair before lying down and has sung her several lullabies, she rolls around for a while, trying to find a comfortable position, spreading glitter all over the pillows. Then her eyelids finally start dropping close. Jimin sings another lullaby for good measure and once he’s done, she’s fast asleep.

He smiles, stroking her hair gently, albeit getting green glitter all over his hand. He wipes it off on the bedsheets, then turns all the lights off, except for the little lamp on top of the drawer next to the bathroom door, which is bathing the room in a soothing warm glow.

He steps out of the room into the hallway, closing the door silently behind him.

When he turns to the side to make his way back, he almost runs into Kelpie, who appears out of nowhere, almost giving him a heart attack.

He flinches and curses under his breath, but she hears it anyway and throws him a disapproving look, her hands on her hips, her fiery red hair falling in long soft waves over her shoulders, a beautiful contrast to her green dress, similar to the one Maraja was wearing.

“Is she sleeping?” She asks quietly and Jimin nods, throwing a glance towards the closed door. Kelpie sighs and Jimin knows she’s not happy about Maraja sneaking out and Jimin only bringing her back now.

“Where are my avocados?”

Jimin blinks. “Hello to you too, my trip went well, nice of you to ask.”

Kelpie furrows her brows and Jimin can see her trying to decipher what he just said, after all these years of raising him, still having trouble understanding irony and sarcasm.

She rolls her eyes and swats his arm lightly.

“Stop this… thing,” she scolds and dusts some green glitter off his shirt.

Jimin chuckles. “I forgot them inside,” he points with his thumb behind him at the closed door to his old room. “You’ll have to get them tomorrow.”

She purses her red lips. “Well, okay… I won’t be able to eat them today anyways, there is so much food downstairs.”

Jimin smiles. “Are you guys having fun?”

Her face lights up. “Yes! The merfolk is so… different. It’s always interesting to talk to them. You should come down and meet them.” 

“Maybe next time,” Jimin says and shakes his head. Kelpie’s smile turns soft, maybe a little sad, and she brings her hand up to lay it against his cheek, stroking it with her thumb.

“Okay,” she says. “It’s nice to see you, you should come visit more often.”

Jimin lets out a laugh. “I was here two days ago.”

She purses her lips again, letting her hand fall to his shoulder, squeezing it.

“What can I say, I miss my son. The house isn’t the same since you’ve moved out.”

Jimin pats her hand on his shoulder. “I’ll make sure to come around more often.”

She smiles, then seems to remember something.

“Oh, before I forget, come!” She beckons him to follow her and walks down the hallway towards the room that she uses as her small private study, the length of her dress flowing behind her. Sometimes she does paperwork in there, sometimes crafts, the room is usually a mess but it’s just so… Kelpie. Even though she’s a fierce calculated warrior, this side of her is all over the place and Jimin loves it.

Inside the study he takes a deep breath. It always smells good in here. Like childhood and home. She walks to the cupboard next to the window and opens one of the doors to reach inside and roams around for a while.

Finally, she takes out a silver tin, a little smaller than her hand.

“I had you new healing salve made,” she says, handing him the tin. “It’s a little thinner, more liquidly, and should be easier to spread onto your wounds. It’s also a little stronger, you won’t need as much.”

“What a perfect timing, I’m almost out of mine,” Jimin says, weighing the tin in his hand. Usually he would say ‘thank you’, but that’s not really a custom in the fairy world, some fairies even take offense to it.

She pats his cheek again. “Be careful nonetheless.”

“Of course,” he smiles.

Kelpie and Alvaro gave him his first tin with magical healing ointment after they had switched from wooden practice swords to real ones and Jimin ended up with cuts every now and then.

The healing ointment helps his body to heal faster, almost as fast as the fae’s bodies naturally heal. But what it does not do, and that’s something they explained to him over and over again when he was younger, is take the feeling of the injury away. They wanted him to hurt, because pain is something you learn from. It teaches you not to do something again, like a little red flag in your memory.

Jimin lets the tin disappear inside the pocket of his tunic and Kelpie claps her hands together, making him jump.

“Come! You don’t have to talk to them but you need to try at least that delicious appetizer one of them brought! I have some salt in the kitchen.”

“Kelpie,” Jimin complains but lets himself be tugged along the hallway. “I’m not dressed appropriately, I just wanted to bring Maraja back.”

“It will be fine, just for a moment, it really is delicious! I will pack you some, and maybe a piece of cake too.”

Jimin sighs and follows her down the stairs. Most cakes don’t go well with salt and there is no way he will eat it without it, doesn’t even want to risk it when he’s alone in his house without any fairy around to give him orders when he has fairy food in his system. But he doesn’t want to disappoint Kelpie either, so he will take a piece. He will take it back home and probably even eat it, with salt, because he would feel bad throwing it out.

When they arrive at the ballroom, decorated pompously as always, he spots a live band playing at the far end. Fairies are dancing in the vacant area in front of the stage, while others are sitting at the long tables, eating, drinking and laughing. Some of them dancing on the benches.

Jimin tries to stay as close to the wall as possible, while he follows Kelpie towards the buffet.

Suddenly there’s a loud crash. A bench has toppled over, due to the fairies dancing too wildly on top of it. Some of them had apparently tried holding onto the table, which resulted in the tablecloth being pulled off, and all the dishes and decorations with it, scattering loudly to the floor.

“Oh dear!” Kelpie exclaims and hurries over to the scene of the accident. Nobody seems to be hurt, everyone laughing or lamenting over spilled drinks and food stains. This is nothing out of the ordinary for fairy parties. They love getting drunk, which tends to be the only time when they’re not as graceful as usual.

Luckily for Jimin, this means he can use the opportunity to sneak out. Kelpie will be occupied for a while.

Just as he wants to turn around and leave, he sees someone approach him out of the corner of his eye and his body stiffens before his brain can even catch on. He stifles a groan.

“Hello there, human,” Jungkook says, grinning.

A girl is hanging from his arm. Of course. It would be weird to see him at a party without someone, boy or a girl, to keep him company. Usually, he paraded them around for the night and then talks loudly about bedding them the day after, as if he doesn’t give a damn about the kind of reputation he already has. Sometimes Jimin thinks he actually WANTS to have that reputation, probably to anger his father.

Jimin doesn’t recognize the girl and assumes she must be from the merfolk, visiting their kingdom for the first time. She’s looking the part too, her bluish hair the colors of the ocean, her pale green eyes shining almost metallic in the light above them, her mouth glossy and the pink of coral. Small white pearls are decorating her hair and her silver dress, which matches perfectly with the silver gemstones studding Jungkook’s high-necked and tight-fitted black jacket, most likely made from the most expensive fabrics.

Jimin immediately feels underdressed in his grey tights and white long cotton tunic, which is stupid, since he isn’t even REALLY attending the party.

“Not dressed for the occasion, I see.”

Count on Jungkook to call out his insecurities.

“I’m not attending ‘the occasion’,” he answers. “I was just about to leave,” he makes a move to turn around but Jungkook’s voice stops him in his track.

“I have a question, Jimin.”

Jimin rolls his eyes. “And what would that be, Jungkook?”

The girl next to Jungkook looks a little nervous at him addressing the prince so informally. But Jimin couldn’t care less. When you’ve reached a point of hating each other so much that you almost killed each other once, fake politeness is nothing you bother with. Besides, he already knows, no matter what Jungkook has to say, it’s only to get a rise out of him.

“I heard you’re not living here anymore,” Jungkook starts.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but you heard right,” Jimin interrupts and can’t help but find joy in the glare both Jungkook and the girl throw him for cutting the prince off.

“So, as you’re not living here anymore, your old room must be vacant. I was thinking maybe me and my company could… occupy it… you know what I mean. If you could point us into the right direction.”

The girl giggles scandalized and swats Jungkook’s chest.

Jimin feels sick for some reason.

“My sister is sleeping in that room,” he hisses. “And if you take your shit anywhere near her, I’m going to cut those pointy things off of both your heads and put them on my necklace.”

The girl let’s out a horrified gasp and puts a hand up to cover her ear protectively.

“I forbid you to talk to us like that, human,” she says in a shrill tone. “You will obey my command immediately.”

Jimin feels the tingling sensation of her glamour wash over him, anger bubbling up inside his chest at her trying to glamour him in his own family’s home.

“I’d rather not,” he deadpans.

She blinks, obviously confused that her glamour isn’t working on him, even though he’s clearly human, her mouth opening and closing helplessly.

Jungkook chuckles.

“He’s wearing iron, babe,” he explains, his eyes wandering to the collar of Jimin’s tunic, where he knows Jimin’s necklace with the iron pendant rests underneath the fabric, in the shape of a black winged lion with red gems as its eyes: Alvaro’s family crest. Then he looks back up at Jimin.

“That’s the only way his weak human self has been able to survive this long here in the realm.”

Jimin holds Jungkook’s gaze and just shrugs, pretending that Jungkook’s taunting doesn’t bother him in the slightest. But in reality, it does. For several reasons. One of them being that almost all his life he’s been pondering over his place in this world, thinking about the fact that iron and salt are the only reason he’s been able to live here. The other being Jungkook’s tone as he’s talking about the iron and the way he looks at Jimin while doing so. Jimin ignores it, doesn’t want to think about it, still trying to wipe that specific day out of his memory.

The girl let’s out a giggle, pressing herself closer into Jungkook’s side, who wraps an arm around her waist.

“That’s just pitiful,” she says, looking up at him with big eyes and Jimin wants to gag.

“Yeah, pitiful is the right word.” Jungkook agrees, letting his eyes travel over Jimin’s body, from head to toe. “Pitiful indeed.”

“You know what’s really pitiful?” Jimin asks, crossing his arms.

“No,” the girl answers, not accustomed to the concept of rhetoric questions, other than Jungkook, who knows by now that some of Jimin’s questions don’t require answering.

Jimin looks at her for a moment. The look in her eyes is a mixture of distaste and unease, clearly uncomfortable with being in this situation. He can’t blame her; she’s probably never met a human she can’t control. Many of the fae react to him like that, even some of the ones he has known all his life.

He looks back at Jungkook.

“That prince Jungkook here will drink himself into oblivion tonight,” he gestures at the glass of pale blue liquid in Jungkook’s hand, not breaking eye contact with him. “Maybe not so much that he won’t be able to fuck you,” he hears her gasp at his crude words but maintains eye contact with Jungkook, who’s narrowing his eyes now “but probably enough that he will fail at practice tomorrow, which will disappoint his father even more.”

Jungkook’s lips press into a tight line, a furious look flashing through his eyes.

Jimin smiles sweetly at him, then looks back at the girl. She looks unsure, her eyes jumping back and forth between them. Before she can say anything though, Jungkook detaches himself from her side, taking a step forward, right into Jimin’s space, looking down at him. Jimin feels his body tensing immediately, clenching his fists inside his crossed-arm-hold to prevent himself from flinching back.

“You should drink with us, Jimin.” Jungkook says and holds up his glass between them. Jimin presses his lips together instinctively and holds his breath, even though he knows that breathing in the smell of the blue liquid can’t do anything to him.

Jungkook smirks at his reaction. “You could find some salt to put in your drink. Or you could just have some fun and drink it without.”

Jimin forces himself to hold Jungkook’s gaze, even as the other brings the glass closer to his lips.

“What do you say, human?” Jungkook’s eyes hold a wicked gleam.

When he feels the cold rim of Jungkook’s glass touch his lips, Jimin flinches and takes a step back, bringing his fingers to his lips, to rub the cold feeling off, making sure it’s really just the cold and not actual liquid.

Jungkook takes a step back as well and sneers, the girl is by his side instantly, chuckling along and Jimin feels the anger inside him coming to a boil.

“How does it feel, only being able to best a human by poisoning him?”

Jungkook snorts. “I’m once again reminding you of the day I almost killed you without any poison, Jimin. Unlike you, I refrain from those lowly methods.”

Jimin bites the inside of his cheek and says nothing. He had that one coming.

“Why didn’t you kill him?” The girl asks, clinging to Jungkook’s arm now and looking up at him in admiration. Jimin wants to strangle her.

Jungkook smiles sweetly for a moment, then he shrugs.

“Well, he is Alvaro’s son after all,” he says with a sigh, as if it’s the most unfortunate thing ever.

“Yeah, what a pity.” Jimin deadpans, aware that sarcasm is completely lost on fairies. Still, he rolls his eyes when they look at him with a confused expression. This is just tiring.

At the roll of his eyes, it must’ve clicked for Jungkook.

“He’s lying,” he explains to the girl, as if Jimin was a subject to be studied. “Sometimes humans say things and mean the opposite.”

She keeps blinking in a confused manner, then her expression morphs into something like disgust.

“That’s outrageous!”

She looks so scandalized that Jimin can’t help but snort out a loud laugh.

“Are you laughing at me, human?” She asks with an incredulously expression.

“No,” he says with a sarcastic tone and as her expression turns confused once more, he laughs even harder.

“Is he lying again?” He hears her whisper.

“Yes,” Jungkook grits out through his teeth, obviously annoyed with the situation now.

“Are you even capable of speaking the truth, human?” The girl asks, throwing her blue hair back.

“Yes,” Jimin chuckles. “The truth is: I am laughing at you both and your incapability of fighting with your words. It’s honestly ridiculous.” He sees Jungkook’s body tense. “I’m laughing at your weak minds, not being able to decipher the simplest of rhetoric, even after being exposed to it for years and years in your case.” He gestures towards Jungkook. Then he sighs and makes a tutting sound. “A dumb prince. It’s quite ‘pitiful’,” he repeats the term they had used.

Before he can see the girl’s reaction, Jungkook is in his face again, obviously seething in anger at being talked to like this. He must be a little drunk already. Jimin knows Jungkook’s temper very well and sober the fae wouldn’t be this easy to rile up.

“You should go now, Jimin,” Jungkook hisses and Jimin can feel his breath on his skin, can smell the sweet liquor in it. “If you anger me any more, I might force that drink down your throat and make you drown yourself in your parents’ pond.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time you try getting me drowned,” Jimin hisses back quietly, only for Jungkook to hear. He’s again very aware of the glass with blue liquid Jungkook is holding, way too close for his liking.

They stare at each other, Jungkook’s eyes narrowing again at Jimin’s words.

“I should’ve just gotten it over with and killed you that day,” he mutters eventually. It’s a statement he often makes and Jimin’s answer is always the same too.

“Yeah, maybe you should have.”

“Jimin,” a voice says.  

They both move apart to look at Alvaro, who’s making his way towards them. His long black hair is in a high ponytail, his pointy ears decorated with tons of silver earrings as per usual. He’s dressed in red and black tonight. Once he reaches them, he lays a hand on Jimin’s shoulder and squeezes it twice in what is probably supposed to be a calming manner, his rings digging a little painfully into Jimin’s skin through the fabric of his shirt. It’s grounding him, if only just a little bit. He’s glad they were interrupted before anything bad could’ve happened.

“I didn’t think you would attend tonight.”

Jimin shakes his head. “I was actually on my way out before…” He throws Jungkook a glance. “I was held up.”

Alvaro looks out the door into the entrance hall. “Did you bring Maraja with you? I think she was headed to yours when she got bored here.”

“Yes, she’s sleeping upstairs.”

Alvaro squeezes his shoulder again, which Jimin registers as a silent way of saying ‘thank you’, even though the concept of thanking isn’t really a thing among the folk. He appreciates it.

Then Alvaro turns to Jungkook.

“Prince Jungkook. Lady Sequana.” He bows a little while addressing them both. “I hope you’re enjoying the party.”

Jimin takes the opportunity to escape the situation. He’s not in the mood for Alvaro and Jungkook kissing each other’s asses again just because one is the commander and the other the prince. And he sure as hell is not in the mood to listen to any more of ‘Sequana’s’ giggling.

He worms himself out of Alvaro’s hold and squeezes past the little group to make his way out of the room, feeling Jungkook’s eyes on him the whole time.

°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°**°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°

Even though he’s definitely had enough for today, he decides to check on Maraja one last time before leaving. The crash of the bench has been rather loud after all.

When he opens the door to his old room, she’s of course sleeping safe and sound, albeit the ruckus downstairs. He knew nothing could wake her up.

He sits down on his former bed next to her, rubbing his face with both hands, suddenly feeling worn out and tired.

Encounters with Jungkook always leave him like this, no matter how short they are, his body in a permanent state of alert during and still tense after them.

He feels remnants of anger and annoyance buzz through his veins, an inner tremor that he knows he won’t be able to shake off for quite a few hours.

It’s always been like this, ever since their early teens. Jungkook would drive him up the wall and Jimin would think about it all day, think about HIM all day. Oh, how he wishes he could be indifferent about Jungkook and his taunting. How he wishes, he could just shrug it off. But Jungkook is always right there inside his mind. Always.

Jimin sighs, feeling somehow defeated. The noise makes Maraja’s small form stir underneath the blanket, but only for a moment, before she stills again, puffing out tiny breaths. Jimin lets his eyes wander over the green glitter scattered all over the bed. He chuckles silently and carefully brushes a strand of glittery hair out of her face. Then he stands up to take his leave.

A movement outside the window catches his eye, just when he’s on his way towards the door and he stills. It’s not uncommon for guests of parties like these to find their way through the garden behind the house, ending up at the giant hedge maze that can be overlooked from Jimin’s old room. It had been a gift from the King to Kelpie and Alvaro on the day of their wedding, in the center a pavilion and a pond full of fish that were symbols for everlasting prosperity. A pretty weird gift if you ask Jimin, but many things are weird in the fairy world, so he’s never openly questioned it. The maze had just always been there and had made for some entertaining hours as a child.

At this time of the night, the maze is fully dark, only the path to the center pavilion being lit, in case guests want to check it out. Nobody is there, except for two people, who are the reason Jimin has stopped in his tracks.

He keeps still, afraid that if he would move, he would draw their attention to himself.

It’s Jungkook and Sequana, standing right at the entrance of the maze, directly under one of the lights. They’re in a tight embrace, kissing passionately.

Jimin bites the inside off his cheek, his throat feeling dry. He watches as Jungkook plays with her long blue hair, then whispers something to her. She throws her head back and laughs, then leans forward to kiss him again. After a moment of surprisingly soft kissing, he takes her hand and leads her inside the maze, disappearing from Jimin’s view.

Jimin turns away from the window, making his way out of the room.

He knows very well what they’re going to do inside that maze. He cannot help but ask himself if Jungkook has done this at past parties too. If he’s brought other people inside the maze before, to fuck them. The maze Jimin spent his childhood playing in.

He probably has, probably loves the thought of defiling something that was a gift from his own father.

°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°**°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°

On his way home, the inside of Jimin’s mouth taste bitter. He thinks of Jungkook’s hand playing with Sequana’s hair and the soft and gentle kisses.

He wonders if Jungkook is gentle while fucking her right now. He doesn’t seem the type.

It’s not the first time he’s having thoughts like this. He hates it. He hates how they get him all hot and bothered and make him angry at the same time.

He doesn’t exactly know why he’s so angry but what he has long been able to decipher, is that the ugly sour feeling inside his chest is jealousy.

He’s jealous. He’s jealous of Jungkook and his many lovers and of what they have. He’s jealous of the passion they get to share. Jealous of Jungkook for getting to have different company each night, just like that. Jealous of him being wanted by them, jealous of them being wanted by him. Jealous, because it’s so easy for them, something like this, while it’s so hard for Jimin.

It’s not that Jimin is utterly lonely. He has a couple of friends here in Elfhame, he has his family here, but finding love, finding passion, has always been impossible for him here. Because he’s different, because he’s human.

Most fairies are either wary of him or think of him beneath them. Nobody in the fairy-world has ever looked at him the way that humans sometimes look at him. Nobody has ever looked at him the way Sequana has looked at Jungkook.

When he was younger, he had often felt horribly out of place, like he didn’t belong here. And technically he doesn’t. This world is not made for humans. Fairies and humans are not meant to intermingle. So sometimes he still feels it. The feeling of not belonging. But now that he’s older, he’s not letting himself be defeated by that feeling as easily.

He wants to prove himself, wants to show them that he belongs.

That’s one of the reasons he joined the Royal Guard training. He wants to contribute, wants people to respect him. And even though it has gotten better throughout the years, sometimes, on days like these, he realizes yet again, that he’s very much the odd one out.

°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°**°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°

At home Jimin makes himself clean up all the glitter from his table, albeit his exhaustion, but when he inspects his couch and sees that the glitter situation is even worse than expected, he decides to clean it up the next day and to head to bed for the night.

He’s so tired that he even skips taking a bath before going to bed, planning to get up early the next morning to do so. He knows he will hate himself for it tomorrow, but his limbs are heavy, and he has trouble keeping his eyes open.

When he finally falls into bed, sleep comes almost instantly.

°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°**°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°

The first time Jimin had a wet dream about Jungkook was three or four years ago, when he was eighteen or nineteen.

That day, Jungkook was losing against Jimin at sword practice once again and seemed even angrier about it than usual. The second Jimin had won the fight, Jungkook grabbed him by his throat and pressed him hard against the wall of the gymnasium, just staring him down, without a word. He was obviously trying to scare him, as per usual, but his grip around Jimin’s throat wasn’t as hard as Jimin was used to. His fingers were resting against Jimin’s skin almost softly, applying only the tiniest amount of pressure. Jimin knew Jungkook could feel his fluttering pulse beneath his fingers because Jungkook’s eyes flickered to the area, before running his thumb over the skin there.

It didn’t take long for their teacher to take notice of what was happening. He managed to pull them apart, the other trainees only staring, some obviously amused, others a little worried.

That night Jimin dreamed of Jungkook holding him down, having his way with him, his hands around his throat.

When he woke up hard, wet with precum, it only took a couple of strokes up and down his cock through his underwear for him to come with a silent sob. He was so embarrassed, couldn’t look at Jungkook for a week.

But this wasn’t the last time. After a while it became a somewhat regular occurrence.

On days he interacted with Jungkook, he would usually think about the fae all day and during the night he would dream of him. Sometimes Jungkook was just a silent presence in his dreams, sometimes he did things to Jimin. Sometimes these things made Jimin wake up from anger pumping through his veins, sometimes they made him wake up, because he was hard and rutting into his sheets.

All this occurred around the same time he started occasionally going out and visiting clubs in the human world at night. Sometimes, not always, after a night of drinking and dancing, he would let humans take him home with them. And after a while he started imagining that it was Jungkook fucking him. One time, the human he was with could tell that he was thinking about someone else. He told him to close his eyes and imagine that someone, to say his name, to pretend.
That night Jimin came harder than ever, with Jungkook’s name on his lips.

Nowadays Jimin thinks about Jungkook during his visits to the human world even when he’s not sleeping with someone. Sometimes he sees something and wonders what Jungkook would think of it.

One day he wondered if Jungkook would like the rollercoaster at the fair he visited. The other day if Jungkook would like the overly sweet bubble tea from that new place next to the electronics store.

Does Jungkook like sweet things?

What would Jungkook look like in human clothes? Jimin has this thing, where he keeps imagining him in ripped Jeans and a tight black shirt, showing off his muscles and his tattooed arm. He would definitely fit a specific human beauty standard, would probably fit better into the human world in that specific style than Jimin. It bothers Jimin to the point where it makes him feel hot.

°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°**°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°

Tonight, Jimin dreams about Jungkook again. This time it’s not a wet dream.

This dream will make him wake up drenched in sweat only a couple of hours into the night, heart racing, cheeks wet with tears.

He dreams about the day they both almost killed each other.

He hates remembering it. Not because of what Jungkook did to him, but because of what he himself did. Because that day he almost lost something of which he never knew how much it actually meant to him: His humanity.

°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°**°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°*°

Even though the rivalry between Jimin and Jungkook grew into something ugly pretty fast, it had almost been tame in the beginning.

It started with looks and insults and then turned into mean little pranks, like venom of bluebell vipers smeared on the handle of Jungkook’s sword, to make his palms itch and sweat, or pixie dust on Jimin’s shoes, to make him trip… stuff like that.

At some point, their hatred for each other made itself shown more than anything during their sword fights, where they would go way too hard on each other, trying to make the other bleed.

In the fall shortly before Jimin’s 17 birthday, Jungkook and his friends started this ridiculous thing, where they would kick dirt into his lunchbox during their breaks or steal his food to dump it onto the ground. Once one of Jungkook’s friends snatched Jimin’s sandwich out of his hand mid-bite, just to throw it into the dirt, cackling.
They knew his food was specifically cooked for him as a human, with salt, so that he wouldn’t be enchanted by it, and that he wouldn’t have anything to eat for the rest of the day if they ruined it. Which they managed to do for a couple of days in a row until Jimin started bringing extras. When they caught wind of that, they kicked dirt on those too… it was tiring.
And even though he tried playing it cool, deep inside Jimin was fuming. That whole situation kept reminding him that he didn’t belong here, that this world was so toxic to humans that he couldn’t even eat its food without tweaking it.

It went on for more than two weeks, close to three, until Jimin really had enough. So, he came up with a little plan of his own. The next day he brought a pack of salt and sprinkled some of it on top of their food, when they weren’t looking. Originally, he had only planned on ruining Jungkook’s lunch but he had brought so much salt, that, under the influence of the adrenaline, he had put some on the others’ too.

During their lunch break, he sat in a spot in the grass far away from the group but close enough to observe them. He wasn’t eating, hadn’t even bothered bringing anything today, since they would’ve ruined it anyway. Jungkook grinned in triumph at that, while walking past him. Jimin shrugged it off and used the time to treat the wounds Jungkook had given him during practice earlier with his healing ointment.

From where he was sitting, he could see Jungkook take out his pastry, bringing it to his lips, but stopping right before touching them, wrinkling his nose. He looked at it, sniffed it, then took a tiny bite.
The reaction was instant. Jungkook grimaced, leaning to the side and letting the chewed-up piece of pastry fall out of his mouth onto the ground where he was sitting. Jimin bit his lips to keep himself from laughing.
One of the girls made a disgusted sound at Jungkook spitting out his food, one of the guys laughed and asked what’s wrong. Jungkook’s eyes immediately found Jimin’s when he looked up. He was a little green in the face and his eyes narrowed when Jimin grinned at him, cocking his head to the side and raising his eyebrows, as if to ask what’s wrong.
“Check your food,” Jungkook told the others without breaking eye contact with Jimin but for two of them it was already too late, as they had already taken a bite of theirs. They toppled over, gagging, spitting it out onto the ground. The others who had been lucky enough not to have taken a bite yet, sniffed theirs, and let it fall back into their lunchboxes, grimacing in disgust.
Jimin watched it all in delight, leaning back against the tree he was sitting in front of, crossing his arms, wiggling his toes. He knew this would have consequences but to see the fairies all flustered like that was worth it.

Only it wasn’t worth it.

He knew he had to head home straight away because they would definitely try to catch him.

He wasn’t fast enough. They cut off his path when he was about half the way home. They grabbed him by his arms and tried pulling him with them. Jimin threw himself against them, stepped on their feet, tried pushing them off, lunged for them with his elbows, cursed at them… But in the end, he stood no chance against fairy-strength.

Jungkook grabbed him under his arms and two of his friends held his struggling legs, before they dragged him down to the river. Jimin had just enough time to close his eyes and hold his breath before they threw him into the cold water.

Jimin felt the strong current dragging him sideways immediately, cold panic flaring up inside his chest. Disoriented he tried to reach the surface, failing his arms around. He hit his elbow on something hard, grabbed at it but his grip slipped. It felt like an eternity before he finally breached the surface of the water again, gasping for air. Before he had time to orient himself, the current threw him backwards against a huge rock, making pain shoot up his spine. He turned to his side, grabbing the slippery surface right away, wrapping his arms around the rock, letting the current push him against it. His heart was racing and his throat hurting from the lack of air. He coughed, looking around.

Jungkook and the others came into view at the riverbank. It seemed the current hadn’t carried him as far as it had felt under water.

“How are you going to get out of this, human?” One of the girls shouted, laughing.

Jimin tried his best to glare at her but couldn’t do anything else. He didn’t want to move too much, afraid the current would sweep him away again. So he just kept holding on, pressing his cheek against the rock.

“I think you need our help,” Jungkook said, sounding amused. He was standing there, in a wide stance, arms crossed. “How about you ask nicely for it?”

Jimin bit the inside of his cheek and ignored him, trying to calm down, trying to think of a way out of this.

“There are nixies in the river, you know,” one of the guys snickered, obviously very entertained by the situation. “If they find you, they will pull you under water and eat you.”

Jimin swallowed hard and fought the urge to look down into the water, heart beating faster.

“He’s right,” Jungkook said. “Maybe they will drown you first before eating you. Or they might just eat you alive.” He tilts his head to the side and grins again. “We will help you out, if you do something for us after.”

“As if you would get your royal feet wet,” Jimin snorted.

Jungkook chuckled. “You’re right, I will probably get one of them to do it.” He pointed towards his entourage. “Think about it, human, you don’t have much time, they’ve probably already smelled your flesh.”

A shudder ran through Jimin’s body, goosebumps prickling on his skin. Suddenly a movement underwater to his right caught his eye. He turned his head, his eyes flickering over the restless surface. Then he saw them clearly, waiting close to the opposite riverbank. Thin white creatures, maybe a little longer than his arm, whom he knew had red eyes and sharp teeth.

“Oh, there they are,” someone said, and the small group started to laugh. Jimin didn’t dare to move, just kept staring at the silhouettes under the water. He counted five of them, but who knew how many there were waiting around him, underneath him. Panic made it hard to breath, he felt sick.

Probably the only reason they hadn’t attacked him yet is because of the ruckus on the other side of the river. It probably made them nervous. They thought the others were there to help him, that they were a threat.

“Come on, human, I’m just asking for one little thing,” Jungkook shouted.

“What?” Jimin asked, not turning around, not letting the nixies out of his sight.

“We will help you, if you quit the Royal Guard.”

Hot anger found its way inside Jimin’s chest, mixing with the fear already there. Of course, that’s what Jungkook wanted. Taking the only thing from Jimin, that gave him the chance of belonging here.

“Never,” Jimin whispered, knowing the others couldn’t hear it, but he made his decision then and there.

He turned his head around to look at them.

“Never,” he said louder.

He saw an almost furious look cross Jungkook’s face.

“You have no place in the guard, human. Your body is too weak, you will most likely die during the very first battle, I’m doing you a favor here, don’t you cherish your ridiculous little life?”

“The only one you’re doing a favor is yourself and you know it,” Jimin answered, his voice shaking. “You want me gone because I’m the only one able to outperform you and I refuse to take part in your twisted power games.”

Jungkook opened his mouth to speak, but that’s when Jimin felt something grace his leg. The next seconds were a blur. Apparently, the nixies had run out of patience. He felt their claws at his legs and started kicking at them in panic, trashing around with his lower body, boring his fingers into the slippery surface to pull himself up, scratching his palms and elbows while scrambling up the rock until he made it to the very top. Bony arms reached for him from under the water and he scrambled backwards, lost his halt and almost slipped off the rock back into the water but in the end managed to keep his balance.

His whole body was shaking, adrenaline running through his veins, his heart racing. He watched as the nixies retreated but they didn’t go far, were now circling around the rock he was sitting on, waiting for their chance. Every now and then one would jump out of the water, baring their teeth, grabbing at him, before slithering down the rock back into the water. If they wanted to, they probably could climb up the rock with the strength of their arms but nixies hated being outside of water, so it seems for now they preferred trying to scare him, so that he would fall.

“Well, that’s kind of boring,” someone from the riverbank said. When Jimin turned his attention to them, they looked displeased, some of them on the verge of disappointed that he hadn’t been eaten yet.

He saw Jungkook shrug and turn around.

“That salt that you most likely have in your satchel might help!” He called over his shoulder while walking away. “If it hasn’t been lost in the water, that is.”

“Why would you tell him that?” One of his friends asked annoyed. Jungkook threw him a look that made the other duck his head, didn’t say anything and just kept walking.

“Do you ACTUALLY want him to die?” Another asked the first one, giving him a little shove.

The first one shrugged. “I wouldn’t care either way.”

Then they were gone, having disappeared between the trees to walk back to the path from where they had taken Jimin.

Jimin didn’t know how long he sat on the rock, hugging his own knees. Miraculously, even though the contents of his satchel were completely soaked, the insides of the tin with salt and the tin with his healing ointment were dry. And even though it pained him to follow Jungkook’s advice, he sprinkled salt on the rock all around himself and for good measure directly on his own skin too. At least now he would taste disgusting if the nixies would get a bite of him.
The nixies were unhappy. The moment they smelled the salt, they put a little more distance between them and the rock but continued circling it tirelessly.
Jimin spread the healing ointment on his scraped palms and elbows. Then he waited. There was nothing else he could do. It would be impossible to swim back without being caught by them. And even if they were gone, he wasn’t sure if he would make it back with the current being so strong.

He wondered when Kelpie and Alvaro would start looking for him, but probably not anytime soon. It wasn’t unusual for Jimin not to come back home immediately after practice. Maybe they were both out themselves. It would take at least a couple more hours until they would wonder where he was.

His wet clothes stuck to his skin and the cold autumn air didn’t do much to dry it. Jimin shivered. He would probably catch a cold on top of being humiliated. Thinking back at what Jungkook had asked of him made anger bubble up inside him, tears of frustration burning in his eyes. He bit his lips.

In the end nobody came looking for him. He got out of the situation with the help of a gnome who coincidentally came across him in his unlucky position and used a brick from the human world (Jimin didn’t want to know how he got hold of that) and a spell to help Jimin escape. Now he owed a gnome his life, which was better than being dead, but also kind of annoying. Thankfully, gnomes are rather easy to please, so he ended up being one of Jimin customers who he started supplying with things from the human world. For free of course.

Jimin was on his way home through the dark, his wet body shivering uncontrollably, when someone stepped up behind him in the darkness.

“Oh, you made it out.”

Jimin froze for a moment, then turned around, coming face to face with Jungkook. He was wearing different clothes, his hair falling in soft waves around his face. He had probably eaten his royal dinner and had taken a royal bath during the last few hours, while Jimin had been shivering on that rock.

Jimin grit his teeth. “You sound displeased.”

“Oh, not at all,” Jungkook grinned. “I’m amused it took you so long.”

“Did you come here all the way from the palace just to check if I was still there??”

Jungkook barked out a laugh. “Don’t flatter yourself. I was actually on my evening walk and bored, so…” He waved his hand around dismissively, “…I thought I’d check the river for some entertainment.”

Jimin could smell the half-truth from a mile away but didn’t say anything about it.

“Well, sorry to disappoint. Now leave me alone.”

He turned around to walk away but Jungkook’s voice stopped him in his track.

“I meant what I said, Jimin.”

Jimin turned back around slowly.

“You don’t belong in the Royal Guard,” Jungkook continued. “You have no place there. Quit.”

“I HAVE a place there. I earned my right to be there more than once. Against YOU nonetheless.”

Even in the dark he could see Jungkook’s jaw tighten.

“Your sword fighting might be… good… But you know that you don’t stand a chance in a real battle, where soldiers don’t play by the ridiculous rules of our training. Your body is weak, you would be dead in no time.”

Something hot and sour flared up in Jimin’s stomach. A mix of anger, sadness, defeat. Jungkook wasn’t wrong. In case of an actual battle – should there ever be one – Jimin would be one of the first to die. But it wasn’t like the Royal Guard’s only job was to fight battles. There was a lot he could so, even though he was human. He could take political and strategical roles, maybe even protect something, take a post to keep watch somewhere, and IF there was a battle, then he would die and try to take as many enemies with him as possible while he was at it.

“I’m not going to quit,” his voice cracked. “I will keep doing my best to protect this kingdom and contribute. I won’t quit just because you can’t stand your royal ego being bruised.” He felt his heart beating faster in anger. “This is my home. Do you even give a shit about Elfhame? Maybe YOU don’t belong here. Isn’t your only contribution in life to anger you father and-”

Jungkook was in his face right away, looming over him.

“This is not your home. Your home is the human world.”

“I grew up he-“

“You and your weak little body belong with other weak little humans.” Jungkook stepped even closer. “You belong in that dull easy world across the border. Look at you Jimin,” he hissed. “And then look at me. Any step here could be your last. Every day this world could poison you, kill you. Can’t you see that it’s trying to get rid of you?”

Jimin felt a pang in his heart.

“Almost everything is a danger to you,” Jungkook continued. “Nothing is danger to me. This world is mine, not yours. This is my home, not yours. I belong here, you don’t.”

Jimin’s eyes stung, his throat tight. He bit his lips and couldn’t do anything but stare at Jungkook, couldn’t say anything in fear of ending up crying. He didn’t want to give the other that satisfaction.

But fairy eyes work a lot better in the dark, so Jungkook saw his tears anyway.

“Now,” he tuts and pats Jimin’s cheek, making him flinch back. “Don’t cry. I’m just telling you the truth. You know I can’t lie.”  

What Jimin did next was something he had never done before. He turned around and left. Walking away from a fight for the first time in his life.

He cried in his bed that night. He cried because he felt sad, then he cried because he felt defeated and lastly, he cried because he was angry. He thought back to Jungkook’s words.

‘Every day this world could poison you, kill you. Can’t you see that it’s trying to get rid of you?’

This hurt, because it was true.

‘Almost everything is a danger to you, nothing is danger to me.’

This made him angry because it wasn’t true. There existed one thing in this world that was in fact a danger to Jungkook. What if Jimin showed him that this world could be trying to get rid of Jungkook too?

What he did next, led to the worst day of his life, a day he would forever remember and forever regret. There was no way to justify what he did. Yes, Jungkook had made him angry, hurt him and threatened him. Had repeatedly threatened him before as well. But that was not enough reason to justify what Jimin did. He couldn’t even claim that he didn’t know how severe the outcome of his actions would end up being, because he did know. He did know the kind of danger he would put Jungkook in.

He knew what he was doing when he filed his iron ring, the one he was wearing before Alvaro got him the necklace, into fine dust. He knew what he was doing when he put the powder into a little sachet. And he knew what he was doing when he poured the contents of the sachet into Jungkook’s water flask the next day.

What he did not know was that Jungkook shared his flask with his friends and that someone else would drink from it before Jungkook did.

Jungkook’s friend took only two gulps, before the flask fell from his hand and he toppled over, dropping on his knees, clutching his chest. He started screaming, then coughing, the gurgling up blood, before he fell face down into the dirt, his whole body shaking.

Everyone stared at him in shock, then chaos broke out. Some were just screaming, others shouting to each other, trying to help him. The teacher shouted for someone to get a medic and several fairies took off running. Jimin heard the word “Jungkook’s flask” and “water” and “iron-poisoning” and that’s when his gaze found Jungkook’s. The prince was staring back at him with wide eyes, his face and lips pale with shock, probably mirroring Jimin’s own expression. “Someone tried assassinating the prince,” someone said. That’s when the first medics came running in, telling people to get out of the way and step back, immediately tending to the fairy still lying on the floor, on his side now, eyes wide, still coughing up blood. So much blood.

‘This could be Jungkook.’ Jimin stared down at the boy, at the blood running from his mouth, his nose. He felt sick. ‘This could be Jungkook.’ When the boy began to spasm, gurgling out choking noises, Jimin turned around and ran.

He hid in the woods. Crying and panicking, every rustle in the bushes making him freeze in fear that they were coming to get him, to get him executed. He had tried to kill Jungkook. The prince. He probably had killed someone else, someone innocent.

After hours of hiding and crying, he realized that his only chance of getting out of this alive was to leave. To hide in the human world. He took the long way through the forest, didn’t dare to take a main road, didn’t even go back to his house to get some of his belongings. He couldn’t face Kelpie and Alvaro right now, couldn’t bear the thought of them being disappointed in him, maybe even hating him.

It didn’t take him as long as expected. Soon he could see the borderland between their worlds, a wide grass empty field.

That’s when he was tackled to the ground. He wasn’t even surprised, his body expecting an attack at any given moment. He didn’t fight back at all.

He fell on his back and the person on top of him landed a hard punch straight to his jaw right away. Jimin felt his lower lip bust open.

“You tried to kill me,” Jungkook spat, landing another punch.

Jimin wanted to ask him what had happened to the boy. Did he live? He wanted to apologize. For so many things. But Jungkook didn’t give him the chance to speak up.
Jimin felt the pain of the inhuman strength behind his punches in his face, his stomach, his throat. At some point he thought he heard his nose break, felt Jungkook’s knee in his rips, couldn’t breathe properly anymore. That’s when he realized Jungkook was going to kill him. He faded in and out of consciousness, always brought back by Jungkook’s next blow. His whole body was screaming in pain but all Jimin could think of was ‘I deserve this’.

Everything was black and everything hurt. Jimin couldn’t remember where he was and why. Was he breathing? He wasn’t breathing. Please breathe. He took in a shuddering breath, his lungs feeling too small, too raw, his tongue too big for his mouth.
“Get up,” someone said. He shook his head. He needed to sleep.

Jimin hadn’t realized he had walked all the way home until he heard Kelpie scream. He collapsed into her arms.

Jungkook’s friend survived. It was a close call, but the medics were able to pump the iron from his stomach and give him the right mix of healing potions just in time. It took him almost a month to fully recover, other than Jimin who, with the help of Kelpie’s healing ointment and a generic healing potion, was fully healed in less than a week. It felt wrong.

Apparently Jungkook didn’t tell anyone about what Jimin had done. When questioned about who could’ve been behind the assassination attempt, he apparently just said that he hadn’t seen who put the iron into his water flask. Which ultimately was true, he hadn’t seen Jimin do it.

The case was dropped pretty quickly. After a few weeks nobody talked about it anymore. The whole time Jimin wondered why Jungkook didn’t rat him out.

Jimin wanted to tell Alvaro and Kelpie. He really wanted to, felt horrible for keeping it from them, feeling as if he was betraying their trust. But he was scared that it would get them into trouble. Trying to keep secrets was hard for fairies and if anyone would find out they tried to hide something like that, as two members of the Royal Guard nonetheless… He was scared it would get them executed.

Kelpie had been angry with him for weeks, for not telling her who had beaten him up so badly. She had cried, begged him to tell her but until the very end he had lied to her, even sworn to her, that he couldn’t remember. Lied that he couldn’t remember anything after watching his classmate collapse. Kelpie only dropped it when his healer said something about shock.

“The assassin was lucky it was just Jungkook,” Alvaro said one night at dinner.

“What do you mean?” Jimin asked, trying to act nonchalant. “What do you mean, ‘just Jungkook’?”

“If it would’ve been one of his other children, the High King would’ve been furious.”

Jimin put a fork full of salted sprouts inside his mouth and chewed on them slowly to avoid having to say anything else. He had heard that Jungkook wasn’t the King’s favorite child. He was the son of the King and another woman who was not the Queen. Apparently, it had been quite the scandal at the time.

He wondered how it felt to be ‘just’ that child. To be ‘just Jungkook’. It seemed that the King didn’t really care that Jungkook had almost been poisoned, didn’t even send any troops out to find the culprit. Lucky for Jimin.

But Jimin couldn’t help but feel a little bad for Jungkook.

From that day on, he started watching the prince a lot more. Started noticing things.

Sometimes Jungkook looked sad. Sometimes Jungkook looked tired and defeated.

But Jimin wasn’t the only one watching. He felt Jungkook’s eyes on him more frequently too. In the beginning it unsettled him. He was convinced Jungkook was just waiting for his next chance to get revenge.

But after a while Jimin realized that they had somehow come to a silent agreement: They both didn’t want to lose their lives just yet.