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rosaetae · 3 years

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spellbound to be | two

☇ “I don’t need to drink your blood to have my lips on your neck.”

[this is a part of tale of the purebloods] — prologue / one / two / three / four

➣ pairing: jungkook x reader

➣ genre: vampire!jungkook, fanatasy!au, soulmate!au, angst

➣ a/n: SURPRISE i know i’m late LMAO but lol part 2 is here and haha another surprise! there’s going to be more parts to stb! don’t kill me i know ur gonna hate waiting another 8 months for each part

➣ word count: 10.3k

➣ rating: pg-13

➣ synopsis: jeon jungkook is the cursed pureblood to have fallen in deep love with someone who was not his Complement. having to have fallen hard, he has to compensate with a life full of heartbreak and pain— one of which a burden weighs heavily on his shoulders. so much so, he hires a witch one day to reverse his inevitable Complement tie.

Three nights have passed.

The first morning of your stay was peculiar, but adjustment never was a problem for you. However, you did find discomfort in waking up at 800 by two nymphs knocking on your door in unison, no lie that those knocks belonged to Cricket and Calla. They'd pause when you ignore it, your body jolting awake for a split second only to drift back to sleep, pulled by the lure of sweet nothingness— that is, right until they knock once more, a little louder and sharper that it causes you to shoot up alert and awake. It follows with a curse towards your mortal part of yourself for having that strong urge to fall back asleep after a night of slight shuteye.

If there was one thing you've learned about these immortal beings is that they never found waking up as a problem. Their bodies have exquisite circadian rhythms, and they'd wake up, eyes open and mind alive, without a struggle. You, however, did not inherit that perk from your mother and it's probably self evident with your dark circles.

You'd open the door and greet the beautiful nymphs with a tired "good morning" and a yawn, and they'd come right in respectfully to run you a bath.

The first day was very peculiar because the king was not present in the castle, though you didn't question it. Instead, you found yourself choosing to explore the castle once you dismissed Calla and Cricket to tend to other duties rather than catering to you, assuring them that'd you'd be fine with your own self fabricated tour.

The thought of searching for the severance lingered in your head, but you conclude that the search can wait a couple of hours in exchange that you marvel at the architecture of such grand beauty that you can never really indulge in due to your non-royal blood.

Selene followed along, sharing the same curiosity as you do as you make arbitrary turns. You find yourself staring at statues of jet black elegance that were sporadically placed here and there, adoring the golden accents of the premises. It had its own touch as did renaissance art in the mundane world had— details and details were precise and evident, allowing you to stare at them longer than you'd hope to, but with all masterpieces, you are entranced.

The king's servants who walks along the halls tending to their own duties don't mind you, not batting a single eyelash your way as you roam around with Selene. It makes you question why they have not acknowledged you or bothered to ask your intentions, but as long as they don't mind you, you don't mind them.

To be felt like a queen is an understatement.

Eventually, you found your way around in full circle from the east and west wing to the grand dark doors of the library. You pat yourself on the back for having to find your way around the castle by yourself despite your own mind being directionally challenged.

Alas, as the moment of self-celebration ends, you begin the real reason why you were a guest in the king's property from the beginning.

It began with a few books, unsure of where to begin at first before growing more interested into the topic of Complements in hand. You even dismissed Calla and Cricket when they came to direct you to supper, assuring them that you weren't hungry and you were too engrossed in research. You've grown so invigorated that you didn't realize it had began to grow dark, you having to snap your fingers for the candles on the table to light, flames of an orange hue bursting in a ripple effect that firstly started off on those on the table, to the floating candles above you, as well as the large chandelier held in the center of the room.

A dauntingly beautiful moment.

When the first yawn strung along, you realized, from the large golden analog clock just above the immense windows, that it was rather late that first night and decided it was time to sleep. It made you wonder why you haven't seen the king yet, but you shake it off, replacing with the wonder of why you assumed his trip would be an excursion in the first place. It didn't surprise you as much to find Selene already sleeping at the foot of your bed, snoozing away under the moonlight streak peeking from your window.

To say the least, you only got a few hours of sleep, only to restart the unfamiliar morning of waking up in a castle in expensive silk sheets with two ethereal beings knocking on your door to run you a morning bath.

That morning, you grew more concerned about King Jungkook, wondering why he hadn't informed you beforehand that he had a trip that was taking him rather long. You ate your apple and fig marmalade toast in thought, sitting next to Calla and Cricket who were enjoying their bowl of apple cinnamon oatmeal— one that reminds you of the mundane world and their instant oatmeal packets.

"Did King Jungkook ever say where he went off to?"

The question makes Calla and Cricket look up from their bowls respectfully and at the same time, both of them blinking at you blankly. The crunch of you biting into your toast adds more awkward tension, but it doesn't steer away from question.

"Our king tends to do that," Cricket speaks up first.

"He goes off on journeys without a word—"

"And we are never told if and when he comes back—"

"It's sporadic, but we never question it."

It was your turn to stare at them blankly. "Isn't that... worrisome?"

"Yes," they say in unison, blinking at the same time as well.

"But we trust him—"

"He finds a way to come back—"

"No matter how far—"

"Or how long."

I nod, taking in their voices from both sides of my ears. "Have there been times when he's been gone for too long?"

They nod at the same time.

"But he knows he has a kingdom to serve," Cricket says.

"He doesn't forget his duties."

"He has never betrayed us—"

"And we will never betray him."

And so, that night, you somehow managed to fall asleep while reading about a witch's journal entry about her Complement tie. It must have been maybe 20 minutes you were out cold because you are jolted awake by a feeling— one of which is similar to a gust of wind blowing on your neck, despite your hair flowing over your shoulders and the book you used as a pillow.

It is no doubt that the feeling was a harbinger of a presence just beneath the shadows of the library.

Sitting up, you blink multiple times before rubbing your eyes and speaking. "Do you usually lurk in the shadows?"

As your shoulders relax, you hear the rhythm of slow footsteps stepping out of the ebony abyss and into the dim candle lights of where you see the face of someone you thought you almost missed.

"It's what I do best," the king jokes, causing a tired, but amused scoff to past your lips.

Hearing his voice gives you a sense of reassurance as you flip close the book you managed to have napped on— a witch's take on the Complement tie, her journal being filled with endless complaints, yet hopeless love letters to her Complement. You recall starting to drift off to sleep during one of her many daily rants about feeling tied down. "You should head to your chambers now. I'm sure you haven't been able to sleep since the beginning of your stay."

"No, no, I have," you deny with not much depth, but King Jungkook raises an eyebrow, looking past your lie. And ironically, you lift your arms over your head by instinct to stretch, a yawn stretching along your face before you could even catch yourself.

Shaking his head, he lowly chuckles. "You're dreadful at that."

"Excuse me?"

"Lying," he quips before you raise an eyebrow, slouching. "While usually I don't condone straight dishonesty, I'll let this one time pass. I'll find Calla or Cricket to bring you some chamomile tea to your chambers to help you sleep tonight."

"Your grace—"

"Jungkook," the figure corrects you as you raise an eyebrow. "No need for formalities. You should head to bed. I've been told you have been staying up here at unreasonable times."

You scoff, trying to disguise your lie. "Have not."

"Again," he sighs. "Dreadful at that. Now, if you would please go to bed—"

"I haven't seen you in the past few days and the first thing you ask of me is to go to bed?" You sarcastically challenge, arching an eyebrow at him. He does the same, wondering if you were actually that affected by his absence, your apparent sarcasm not shining through. "Not curious at all about what I have found?"

There's a curl on his lips. "You're a guest first before a witch I asked a favor from. I will not be able to get any shuteye if my own guests cannot even rest throughout the night; I will ask about your findings tomorrow."

You pause right before you press your lips together. "Aren't I your only guest in this castle?"

The riposte is quick to make anyone irritated, but by how his lips curl, he was somewhat amused at your quick-minded wit. He straightens his shoulders back for a long enough moment to admire him from your distance.

"Head to your chambers and get ready for bed. I will not repeat myself again," there is authority in his voice— one deriving from a true king, but the way he says it with a grin shows his comfort in demanding such order to you. "Go, while I have someone bring you tea."

"Your grace," you sang for his attention intentionally to tease. He peers at you for a mere moment, obviously annoyed before you give him a genuine, yet tired smile. "How was your trip?"

His face morphs from irritation to confusion to the softening of his features, taken aback by your question. Almost as if he has never been asked that before. He blinks awkwardly, conjuring up an answer that would match the level of authenticity your question emanated, but keeping it as confidential as he could. "Just fine. Why do you ask?"

You shrug. "I can't be a little bit curious about your life?" The tired smile grows on your face as you get up, rippling your fingers with a turn of your wrist to put out the candles in front of you, the only form of light shedding in the room being the candle chandelier hanging on top of the ceiling. "Welcome home."

There was nothing more frustrating than reaching a dead end.

Complement this, Complement that— but there was no trail leading you closer to a severance.

When you think you're close to finding one when the narrator of some sort of work or piece or journal you're currently skimming through talks about how they do not want a Complement, it always results into the same outcome— they fall in love with their Complement whether they like it or not.

The only thing ever close to finding out how to cut such a tie was from the book your mother cursed.

And while this may be the start of your second week in the castle and reaching yet another dead end, you never realized how much you wanted Complements to not work out all for the sole reason of this quest until now.

Ultimately, you have reached a level of frustration that abruptly, you get up and wander off into the endless aisles and shelves of books and collections galore after spending hours to no end trying to find one thing worth noting. It was rather annoying that it had led to the same thing over and over again, causing you to wonder if a Complement tie held a power so strong here in the Upper World that not even a severance was thought of.

Not like you were in a rush to find out, but it seemed from the countless works you ingested, there was seemingly no way of getting out of the Complement tie.

It's forged into a person's life through and through.

Stumped, you walk into one of the aisles that you recall roaming through for more research, but you spontaneously stumble upon a collection of Edgar Allen Poe poems in vintage binding. Mused by the featuring mundane artists, you grab the composition and open the book to examine it, the hardcover embroidered in gold and dark green was enough to make you be careful not to ruin the spine. As you flip through pages, you notice from your peripheral that something had fallen out of the book.

With knitted eyebrows, you kneel down to pick up the item that slipped away from the book, you growing curious as to what could have been put into the book for safe-keeping. Perhaps a bookmark, nothing too special.

However, that wasn't the case when you pick up the item; a sketch. In finely shaded lines and strokes of what you think could be charcoal remains a sketch of a beautiful young woman staring at you with solemn eyes. Her hair was long enough that it didn't end at the bottom of the page, and she had a smile so small, so petite. She wore a high-collar dress, it seemed— the ruffle reaching just below her chin and the sleeves puffing at the point of her shoulders.

You only stare at the sketch for nearly a moment, digesting every feature of this mystery woman who slipped out of the page of where "Romance" by Edgar Allen Poe remains inked along the following open page. Examining the portrait further, you turn it over, wondering what else you could find out about her, the mysterious beauty. And like so, you find writing in the most elegant handwriting, one that you could most likely not decipher, but you try to read in attempt.

My precious Dawn,

It is another day that I miss you terribly. If only the Nokris allowed us to see each other once more, I would be the most ebullient man alive. I only hold this sketch of you to keep me sane until our next encounter.

I think of you, I dream of you. You consumed all of my thoughts, and now I only count the hours, the minutes, the seconds, until I could see your costly form.

I miss you, dreadfully.

And terribly enough, I love you the most.

Until we meet again, Jungkook

Eyes widening at the name signed at the bottom of the paper, you could only fit the pieces together as so, recalling the name of Dawn by which the name flew out of the nymph's tongue in the litany of important people Jungkook had lost. Flipping the paper over again, you stare at the promising sketch, tagging a name to the beauty with the somber eyes and petite smile.

No doubt that he drew it, and no doubt that he drew it with the same amount of love he had for her.

Before you could gather your thoughts together, you felt your hair rise, a presence only you know who had the possibility of having such effect on you nearing. In a frenzy, you place the sketch back into the spine, shutting the book closed and returning it to where you found it as if you never pulled the book out in the first place.

"___?"

Your name echoes throughout the room, you rushing over to the end of the aisle to peek your head out from it, your eyes laying on Jungkook's form who wears colours of purple and black today. It makes him look more noticeably pale than usual.

"Hi," you meekly called out, his eyes meeting yours as you shoot him a wave, walking towards back to your table, hoping you didn't look suspicious walking out of the aisles empty handed.

He watches you trail back to your work station of where books were stacked, papers were spread, and pages were marked. Sitting down in your seat, you let out a sigh as you look up at Jungkook, him walking over to the other side of the table to stand in front of you. "Anything?"

Letting out another sigh, you slouch into your seat. "Not really. Unless you want to hear about Cordelia Maine's Complement— a werewolf with mother issues... who would have known?"

The amusement in your voice causes Jungkook to slightly laugh, the sonorous sound creating heaven swirls in the air. "Cordelia Maine is completely ruthless with her way of words and has no fear in talking about anyone rather coldly," Jungkook smirks, almost as if he had known her personally. "Especially her Complement. Is that all you found?"

"Other than the recap of the history of Complements, then yes."

Jungkook lets out a heavy sigh, as if that was something he didn't want to hear, right before he nods. "Go rest."

"What?" You laugh, glancing out at the window in which the sun peaks through the grand glass. "It's 2 in the afternoon."

"You're not finding anything valuable here, I'm afraid. I will take you somewhere where you might," Jungkook announces. It causes you to raise an eyebrow in such curiosity. It reminds you that you have been confined within the areas of the king's hold, and that the outside world does perhaps exist. "We leave at dusk."

"Leave? To where, exactly?"

"Sagewood."

You blink, remembering hearing of Sagewood, the nocturnal kingdom, alive and at its peak at night. Hearing stories about the faes that dance all night long, the vampires with the palest of all skins that even glow under the moonlight, the witches with the darkest of magic performing under the powerful guise of the lunar moon— these were people of the same likeness of you and King Jungkook, but they remain solitary in Sagewood, unable to leave— not like they would like to, anyways.

Jungkook acknowledges your pause, staring at how you roam your sight over the large amount of research you have taken in over a span of a week. He taps his knuckle on the table, grabbing your attention.

As you flicker your eyes up to him, he gives you a comforting smile.

"Rest. I will let you know of our departure."

The brief pause to your research inside the castle's library led you to your chambers, knowing very well that Jungkook's command of "resting up" was highly unlikely. As you open the door to your chambers, you were surprised to find the colorful nymphs, Calla and Cricket in the room, harmlessly changing your sheets that were previously a dark plum in replacement to a crimson red hue.

"Calla, Cricket," you acknowledge their presence kindly as they both pause their movements to bow. You give them an encouraging nod, waving a hand towards them in hopes they'd continue as you shut the door behind you. "No, please, continue. I'm taking a break from all the research."

They continue their job effortlessly, Cricket changing the duvet, Calla changing the pillowcases. "Is it imploding your mind?" Cricket asks, her dark blue lips curling into a smirk.

"I would say yes, but I have not been very successful with finding anything worthy," you answer, earning a chuckle from the nymphs as you wander to sit on the mahogany chair just right next to the window, watching the nymphs spread the sheet in a swift manner, smoothing out any wrinkles easily. Chewing on the inside of your cheek, you mindlessly hug your robe around your body. "Cricket, Calla."

"Yes, m'lady?" They say in harmonious unison.

"You've mentioned before that Jungkook has lost important people in his life."

"That is true," Calla answers knowingly.

Pursing your lips, you clutch onto the hemming of your robe for a mere moment before asking, "who was Dawn?"

For you, there is a tinge of embarrassment on your part. It is, really, not any of your business, but your recent discovery has made you more curious than a feline.

Calla is the first to react as she lowers the pillow that was in a fresh new scarlet case in hand, glancing at Cricket who stands at the foot of the bed on the mirroring side. They share a look, one of the same expression of nothing, before Cricket sighs and speaks first. "Dawn.... Well, she was our king's very beloved—" Cricket turns over to look at you. "They fell in love rather young centuries ago when he found out that the Faes, specifically the Nokris, have picked up a human child into the Upper World."

Calla places the pillowcase at the head of the bed, smoothing her hand over it a couple of times to straighten out the wrinkles. "They loved each other so much that Dawn wanted to spend the rest of eternity with him. Of course, Jungkook could easily provide that for her."

"So one day, he did. On their anniversary," Cricket continues. "However, she failed to tell him that as a child, poor Dawn was diagnosed with a heart disease so early on in her life."

"It was her mortal parents who were desperate to find a cure that they traveled through time and space to consult with Ravena, our ambassador, in search of finding a cure."

"Ravena led them to the Faes, where they took her in and enchanted her so she could live longer— only in the expense that she is raised in the Upper World."

"By our king turning her out of love and hope, the Fae's enchantment caused a reverse reaction in Dawn."

"And her beating heart came to a full stop."

"Her blood became poison—"

"Her lungs decayed—"

"Her heart turned into ash—"

"And King Jungkook tragically watched the love of his life die in his arms."

Face contorting into an expression unreadable, you feel a heavy feeling on your chest as Calla and Cricket both share sympathetic looks as they finish each other's sentences in a sorrowful mantra only before continuing again.

"Ever since then, word rang across the kingdom."

"Like wildfire."

"People believe that's why he is called the Cursed Pureblood out of his honorable brothers. That, and the series of unfortunate events that followed after."

"He has a heart of gold— our king," Cricket defends, her eyebrows creating a look of pity. "Don't mistake his past for who he is as a person. He blames himself to this day for her death, blaming himself to no end that he murdered his lover."

The tragedy makes your heart ache, as if you could feel the immense pain that Jungkook had felt, though it is not equivalent— beyond compare. It felt torturous, having to be in love with such a promising person, wanting to give that eternity to someone who wanted to be with you more than anything, only to have them disappear in your arms. You, too, would have blamed yourself to no end for murdering your own lover.

Head full of thoughts, it takes you a minute to realize that Calla and Cricket had finished their task, looking at you with respectful smiles and bowing before exiting your room of where you were left with your thoughts and a snoozing Selene in her own mini bed in the corner of the room as your chamber door was shut to a close.

Maybe that's why Jungkook wanted to cut the tie so badly— he hates being attached to someone he has lost, hates being attached to someone who paints his hands red, hates being attached to someone who reminds him everyday of his wrongdoing.

You wonder why you never asked in the first place why he was so devoted into finding a severance in his Complement tie, but you no longer need to.

It made sense to you now that he no longer wanted to be attached to a constant reminder of a heartbreak.

It took two trips to reach to your destination in Sagewood.

When the sun had disappeared entirely, Jungkook had knocked on your door a couple of times to find you in your jade gown covered with your ebony hood. He led you outside of the castle to the stables of where he opens the gate to let out a forest green steed with bright lilac eyes out, his friendly accomplice being named Yeba. Jungkook noticed that you couldn't help but reach out to touch its mane, the living beauty neighing softly. He watches you gape at his steed in awe, forgetting that you had grown up in the mundane world of where horses certainly did not look like his.

He warns you before he helps you onto the back of Yeba that the trip to reach the border of Sagewood is usually an hour, but given that she was not just any horse, Yeba would take you both there in 10 minutes. Interestingly enough, you don't protest about riding on the same horse as him, but he does notice how your eyes widen in the dark when you are told of this announcement.

However, with ambition, you then go ahead and take his hand, climbing on the marvelous creature and wrapping your arms around his waist.

He doesn't think much of the proximity between you two as he notices that when Yeba starts galloping, you immediately had tightened your arms around him so tight that it would've constricted his breathing— this is, if he actually could breathe.

Jungkook discerns during that 10 minutes of wind passing through your hair and the sound of Yeba's hooves that you were in fact, holding onto dear life out of fright. Oddly enough, it amuses him, for he knows he will not ever allow an incident like that to occur. Even when Yeba comes to a halt, you do not loosen or let go, and he takes a mental note of your arms trembling around his torso.

Surely, you weren't aware that you both had made it to the border, seeing that you were still clinging and trembling against him. He chuckles lightly to himself, resting a hand over your quivering one that gripped your other forearm, hoping that would bring some sort of serenity to you, and a sense of awareness.

"We've arrived at the border," Jungkook informs lowly. However, when he sees that you have not reacted, both to his hand over your hand and to his announcement that you both had made it to Sagewood in one piece, he only lets out a sigh. Thoughtfully, he soothingly rubs his hand on top of yours. "___. We're here. You can let go now."

Immediately, as if his touch became electric shock, you retract every fiber of yourself from the king, gulping as you regain your composure. Jungkook ignores the warmth that had gone from underneath his hands as he makes one assertive nod, swinging his foot over to gracefully land onto the ground. And before you could do the same, Jungkook was already reaching up to grab your waist the minute you swing your leg over, helping you get off Yeba as easily as he did.

He shakes off your gratitude with a n easy nod before he looks over his shoulder, eyes searching for the one person who knew of his arrival and completely ignoring your frazzled mind and heart at the entire trip and interaction with him.

That was as close to the king you'd ever get.

The man at the border was a blind ghost named Tolazar. He remains as the middleman between Sagewood and Frawen, always having a deadman transport ready for the other party. Tolazar is someone Jungkook trusts, always leaving him to watch over Yeba for every trip he makes to Sagewood as well as providing the same deadman transport right on the other side, and when he spots him, they exchange a few words before sharing acknowledging nods.

Jungkook then leads you past Tolazar to a horse and buggy, a man with eyes as white as an eggshell with not a single pupil in sight sitting at the front of the buggy, ready to begin the excursion as Jungkook helps you into the elongated back, almost identical to the back trunk of a truck. You sit comfortably next to a stack of boxes, already coming to the conclusion that Sagewood was no place for you nor Jungkook by the utter power that emanates within the grounds.

He takes a seat next to you, his arm resting on a box right before you both took off in a much more slower and calmer pace compared to Yeba's speed that had you clinging for dear life.

"Not too long now," Jungkook says beside you quietly, glad that your heart rate was slowing down compared to minutes ago where it was in a rapid frenzy.

"Can I ask you something?"

The burst of such question makes Jungkook oddly amused at the fact that that was your first word the whole night. He stares at you, finding it peculiar at how you were staring down at your knees pressed against your chest. He notices that your eyelashes are long as you peer down.

"So long it does not make me want to chop my head off answering, proceed."

Hesitance was evident, but the question comes out one way or the other. "Who was Dawn?"

Despite your better judgement, you wanted to keep your knowledge about her hidden, but your curiosity got the best of you— you wanted to know who was Dawn to him.

And Jungkook thought it to be a rather blunt question, one that admittedly threw him off, but there was no way of hiding her, nor kicking around the bush of who she was. Surely, he assumed that Calla and Cricket must have let the name slip— after all, her name was the reason why he is known as the infamous Cursed Pureblood roaming the Upper World.

His silence, he thought, must have made you nervous, or made you want to retract quickly, like a hermit crab taking one breath of air and cowering back into its shell. "I'm sorry if I said something wrong—"

"No," he begins, propping his elbow in a position where he could rest his head on his hand. "I don't mind the question."

It's odd.

He doesn't feel the need to hide her name or her presence or who she is to him when her name, to him, has and will always be sacred. Yet, here is King Jungkook, Cursed Pureblood, making no protest on explaining the significance of Dawn to you, someone he barely knows, but feels like he's known forever. It takes him a moment to recollect his thoughts, the sound of horse hooves and the carriage moving along a bumpy route filling his ears.

That is, until he looks up at you.

There's a serene and worrisome look of a sort spread across your face. Your eyebrows knitted together in concern that you might have triggered something, but eyes as innocent and thoughtful as if it were a bunny in a bush— harmless.

He relaxes.

"Surely," he begins, slowly. It causes your ears to perk up, "you've heard about the Cursed Pureblood."

"Heard," you murmur. "But paid no mind to it."

"Despite its prevalence?"

"Maybe in the Upper World. I was raised in the mundane world," you remind him before you glance up for a moment. Usually, you're very witty, always having something to say, and here you are, being careful as a hawk, walking on egg shells, desperate to know more.

"The Pureblood made the mistake of falling in love with a human," he began— a beginning already being so foolish as the words roll off his tongue. "So much so, he promised her eternal life so they can be together forever. So like every vampire in love, he recklessly turned her, ignoring all the stakes and consequences that love already has blinded him to.

"One too many laws of the Upper World were broken by the Pureblood, driven by madness and love. He thought that love could conquer all and that if he had that one human by his side forever, eternal happiness can be achieved."

Jungkook could laugh dryly, could cry remorsefully, could scream carelessly. Never has he been able to summarize a tragedy of his own life so easily, especially to a stranger like you. Heavens, he didn't know how he even began explaining and spilling such a story to you, and yet, here you both are.

Sitting on the back of a horse and buggy truck surrounded by boxes, nothing but the peculiar moonlight shining light on both of you, and this is when he feels vulnerable enough to tell you a tragedy he kept closed from for years?

The peculiarity is invigorating, he keeps digging himself a deeper hole.

"What he didn't expect was that by turning her, he killed her," he lets out, flinching as he says the last bit. "Ever since then, everyone believed that the entirety of his life is cursed."

"How so?"

It was rather simple, he thought. "Inability to be loved."

He notices you furrow your eyebrows.

"Killed his own lover, was never his father's favorite, mother passed away, best friend gone in the expense of him," he explains, shrugging. "I'm only cursed to be incapable of love."

Jungkook notices that, after a moment of where he realizes he had exposed a vulnerable side of him to you, you had let out a snort. Immediately, he raises an eyebrow at you, as you try to stifle back a laugh, using your hand to cover your peeking smile.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh. It's oddly similar to the story of the Lonely King."

"Lonely King?" He scoffs, seeing that the mood has been enlightened a bit. "Is that what it's been molded into?"

"It's oddly similar," you smirk, before you sit up to prepare the start of a summary. "It was a tale that mortals would tell their children. The king fell in love with someone, only for her to die in his arms. After that, his parents passed, his only best friend passed— he had a whole kingdom behind him but he was lonely in his castle. Unlike your story, this one had a happy ending."

"How so?" Jungkook asks, arching an eyebrow

"Well," you shrug. "The king found love again. Long story short, he got married, gained his followers' trust back, had kids, and he was no longer the Lonely King anymore. The end."

"That's it?"

You nod, thinking that it would be more, but the happy ending was enough to suffice an audience.

"The mundane world is so naïve," he comments as you laugh in response.

"No, you're just cynical."

"You believe that nonsense? Happy endings? Fairytales?"

"It's not nonsense, your grace," you tell him, a small smile growing on your face as you were discreetly optimistic. "Happy endings can happen to anyone. Even in the Upper World."

"Not in this story."

"This story is yours," you smile, hopeful. "Besides. My mother wasn't the type to think big of happy endings, either. She eventually got hers."

"Death?"

You roll your eyes, ignoring how Jungkook is amused by your reaction to his dark response. "No. Surely, you're aware— she was fully immortal, she could have spent her whole life not worrying about dying. And then she met my father one day on a trip into the mundane world. And weirdly enough, they were Complements. Interesting, isn't it? The mundane world has no knowledge about Complement ties and they simply fall in love with whoever. Luckily, my father fell in love with my mom. They were so in love, my mother wanted to be with him for eternity, too.

"Unfortunately, there's no real spell to be immortal," you smile sadly. "So in order to be with my father, she sacrificed her infinite youth. One day, my mom curated a spell to reverse her immortality in order to age with my father. To grow old with him. They lived long enough to spend a life together, had me, raised me in the mundane world. My father passed away first and then my mother five years later. Though short-lived, that was my mother's happy ending."

"She didn't even die with him."

"No, but she lived with him," you nudge him, trying to have him see the world with the glass half full. "Happiness comes in different shapes and forms, your grace. She was able to experience it with him, and maybe one day, you will, too."

There was a period of time on the trip to the destination when it was just silence.

It was agonizing, yet indulgent. The silence was murderous to you, but the sound of your heartbeat and breathing next to him made Jungkook indifferent to the current situation. He was more focused on how you were mesmerized by your very own surroundings, given by your doe and curious eyes twinkling under the moonlight as you make head turns in every direction.

He forgets that you had grown up in the mundane world where Sagewood would only ever be told in fairytales or myths.

Specks of violet undertone lights were illuminating the forest of where the trail leads, an indication that you both were nearing the destination. Wordlessly, Jungkook takes note of how the light bounces off your delicate skin easily. Oddly enough, it makes his stomach churn.

After all, Sagewood emanates a very powerful energy— especially at night that you can even feel it in your bones. It holds a different power, one too dangerous when in the wrong hands.

When the carriage stops, your sight of tall elongated trees with flaming orbs floating within the sky is directed to the final destination of a large mushroom hut, dimly illuminated within the inside. Jungkook notices you're still silent, propping himself up with the help of the boxes to stand, reaching a hand out towards you. "We're here."

He leads you off the buggy with a helping hand, you taking it gratefully until you're both on solid ground, walking into the mushroom structure— a place that Jungkook is no stranger to. It's usually vacant at this time, a lot of Sagewood citizens unaware of such place that holds tremendous knowledge. You both walk the path of speckles of cobblestones and moss, stepping up on the few steps to the asymmetrical wooden door, Jungkook gripping the black handle and turning it open and pushing it.

There's a bell and a creak, and Jungkook takes the first step inside, you following after. You had to blink a couple times to grow familiar to the place that seemed so small and cramped from the outside that ended up being gigantic in the inside.

Floating shelves of books and glass displays of artifacts had decorated the inside in an organized chaos, everything and anything set everywhere and anywhere.

"If it isn't the Frawen king," a voice announces and you whip around to see where the origin of the voice is in such a fast motion only to find a man peeking from a table just a few feet away, arising and adjusting his tiny circle glasses.

"Hello," you greet him, giving a single head bow, and he raises an eyebrow at your appearance. As you open your mouth to speak, a gust of wind flies over your shoulder, a bird, realizing it's an owl once it lands on the man's shoulder.

"And Circe's daughter," the owl coos. "I am Glassius."

"And I," the rather tall man with tiny circle glasses sitting comfortably on his nose raises his finger. "—am Bibitz."

You smile kindly at them. "My name is ___."

"We've expected your arrival," Bibitz speaks. "What brings you to the crown of Sagewood?"

"Everything you obtain about the Complement ties," Jungkook answers with authority. "And to sever it."

"Interesting," Glassius bellows before cocking its gray feathered head to the side. "Come, come. Bibitz and I will show you our collections."

As they turn to lead you the way, you take a curious note of Jungkook rolling his neck, his body seemingly tense. Hesitating to take a step forward towards the two strangers, you look up at him, giving him a slight nudge with your elbow. "Are you alright? Is something bothering you?"

"Nothing," he responds, coolly. "You can go ahead. I'll just wait outside."

And before you could agree in acknowledgement, he's already disappearing out the exit, you furrowing your eyebrows for a moment in concern for him before you follow the owl and the librarian into the ever so curves of the abode's library floating shelves.

"You're a strong entity, aren't you?" Bibitz blurts, but it sounded more like an obvious observation on their end— you more oblivious from his statement, if anything.

"I'm sorry?" You ask behind them, peering at the back of their heads.

"She is the direct bloodline of Circe," Glassius coos in an obvious riposte. "A hybrid, specifically."

Eyes widening, you stop in your tracks when you hear the one thing your mother engraved in your mind to keep as a secret, for your own life hangs on a thread.

"No worries, your secret is safe with us," Glassius immediately states, causing you to hesitantly step forward to keep up with their pace once more. "Besides, no one would believe us if we were to tell the world there was a hybrid living among us."

"You emanate tremendous power, young hybrid," Bibitz calls, seemingly intrigued by your presence. "Not only are you the daughter of the goddess witch, you are apart of the mortal ground. I feel that something is hindering you from reaching your full potential."

"My full potential?"

"The minute you stepped foot on the lands of Sagewood, the energy shifted. It only ever shifts when Circe enters our parts, but with her passing, we were wondering what source of power could it be," Bibitz explains. "And the minute you stepped foot onto our property, we knew one thing: you were the reason the energy shifted— you obtain such strong energy, young one, no wonder Circe kept your identity a secret."

Glassius turns to you. "There is a reason why hybrids are illegal in the Upper World. They are peculiarly given overbearing strength as they interconnect with the Upper World and the mortal world. You, however, are an exquisite reason— probably the worst there is."

"A vessel of power," Bibitz states. His words have somehow created goosebumps along your skin. "The Counsel has yet to meet you, but once they find out your capability, you will have their almighties at your feet."

You are unsure of what to say, mostly because it sounded like responsibilities that you weren't capable of, and a whole lot of mumbo-jumbo, but there is a part of it where you are intrigued. Mesmerized, even. Surely, however, you aren't naïve enough to believe them, no matter if they are the crown of Sagewood, holding such knowledge of the Upper World that no one knows of.

It is then as you are processing their words of you being some sort of vessel that they had stopped in a small cubicle area surrounded by shelves of books and displays of what seemed to be strings.

In an instant, Glassius flies off of Bibitz shoulder, its gray feathers flopping in the air momentarily before it lands on top of a glass display, one that you didn't take notice of.

"This is probably the closest you'll get to severing a Complement tie," Glassius coos.

As Bibitz takes a step forward, he lets out a string of tsks before tapping on the glass display. "However, there is a slight problem."

Following their steps, you look attentively at the glass display and what it beholds, only to take notice of a closed book, one with a binding that is familiar in your eyes before it had burst into flames when you opened it.

"My mother has that book," you marvel, pointing at the same replica of a book that your mother managed to curse when you were searching for a severance. However, this book was different, because if you look carefully, majority of its old pages were ripped right out.

Glassius cocks its head to the side. "Your mother has a copy?"

"Yes," you nod. "However, the most vital information that I need, she cursed."

"She cursed it?"

"Bursted into flames when I opened it."

Glassius and Bibitz exchanged glances right before Glassius flies away from the glass display, your eyes arching at his sudden flee.

"He'll come back," Bibitz assures. "There is something that will help you."

And reassured, Glassius comes back with a small book in between its beak, tilting its head upwards in order for you to reach it.

"And this is?"

"An inverse spell book," Glassius states as you take it from its beak. "To reverse spells, including curses. There should be something fruitful in there to help reverse the curse your mother set on her book."

"You know my mother is Circe right?" You ask the most obvious rhetorical question known to the Upper World. "What if these spells don't reverse her curse?"

Bibitz coyly smiles. "You underestimate your own power. Even if those spells don't work, you have a mind of your own to reverse her curse somehow, don't you? Have you not conjured up your own makeshift spells before?"

"I guess, but—"

"Take what you can from it. We are positive that you will be able to concoct something in opposition to your mother's power, as you are the only one who holds such knowledge of her own strength. From us, however, we will give you all that we have in regards to your research."

Nodding, taking their word for as it is, you peer over to the book of where the pages are evidently ripped out of its binding.

"What happened to that book, may I ask?"

"That is the original copy by the author," Bibitz states. "There were only ever two copies in the entire Upper World, believing that your mother was lucky to get a hand on the other one, but unfortunate enough to curse it. The author, himself, went insane and ripped out the pages of his own original book and burned them."

"Why?"

"He regretted cutting his Complement tie," Glassius puts it bluntly. "I'm sure regret turned into rage and now we only have the cover of what is left."

"So you just have the copy, with majority of the pages ripped out?"

"It's the closest thing we have regarding knowledge of a severance. However, perhaps the closest thing isn't in Sagewood, but right under your nose," Bibitz smirks.

"Let that spell book help you," Glassius nods in some sort of vague agreement. "It will be your guide."

You let out a hesitant sigh, wondering why they believe you hold so much power, even more-so than your own mother. How are they so faithful that you will be able to reverse a curse your mother put on on purpose?

You roam in silent thought behind Glassius and Bibitz who lead you back to the main lobby of where the front door was. They don't speak a word either, and you're almost convinced they can read your mind.

That is, until they come to a stop.

"The Frawen king is seemingly ambitious to have come here to Sagewood."

You blink. "Why 'ambitious'?"

The librarian and owl exchange looks with each other shamelessly once again, before both simultaneously looking at you in silence. Raising an eyebrow, you egg them to continue and answer your question with a motion of your hand.

"Any vampires, including Purebloods like the Frawen king, who enter Sagewood will have their inhibitions are lowered."

"Inhibitions?" You laugh, eyes skimming through the pages. "Are they just drunken vampires in Sagewood?"

"Not... necessarily," the owl says.

"Their inhibition to quench their thirst, we mean," Bibitz clarifies.

"Oh," you speak, blinking obliviously. It takes you a moment, but with the realization that a lower-inhibited vampire next to a half mortal doesn't sound too safe. "Am I in danger if I linger for too long?"

"From us? No. However, the Frawen King may have some trouble trying to control his thirst. You both shouldn't be here for too long."

"These are everything that we have in our archives relating to the Complement," Bibitz states, handing you a bag of books that they had taken off from the shelves while you were too busy walking in your thoughts. "However, we advise to use the spell book to be your guidance. We will send out a messenger if we ever do find something worth your research."

"Wait, are you sure—"

"Name it as returning the favor to your king. He has helped us several times, it is only a matter of time we help him," the owl speaks and then the librarian goes, "here catch this." And with sudden reflex, you catch a juice box in your hands.

"What is this?"

"You'll need it," the owl speaks. "Now leave. The moon reaches its peak soon."

With no hesitation, you nod and give them a hurried farewell and appreciation before rushing over to a loitering Jungkook just outside the premises, his head angling up as he stares up at the moon.

"Glassius and Bibitz gave me some of their findings," you inform him as you walk over to him. He doesn't flinch at your sudden arrival, but he does raise an eyebrow seeing the bag of knowledge you carry with you. "We should head out."

Without any disagreement, he silently leads you to where the buggy stayed stationary. He offers his hand to help you onto the back, but you decide against accepting it in hopes to not provoke him under the Sagewood moon. Graciously, you shake your head and insist you can get up by yourself, doing so without hearing his protest.

As you take a seat, you decide to sit in a position of where your body faces his side profile, giving him enough space from you as possible. It was not because you were afraid, but you felt bad having him suppress his hunger the more you lingered near him.

A predator who cannot eat his prey.

Jungkook notices your change of seating, but nevertheless sits where he sat the first time, arm propping onto the box as he seems to lean more away from you.

The transportation goes on its way, your bodies lurching forward until the buggy goes a certain comfortable pace. For a few minutes, it's agonizing silence. Jungkook doesn't face towards you and instead keeps his eyes open to the luminescent woods surrounding you both.

You don't think of saying a word until you notice him flinch, his fist clenching on top of the box as his body turns away from you.

"Your grace," you bring his attention towards you momentarily, however he doesn't turn to face you, but you knew he was listening. Your fingers tap at your knee as you carefully tread the waters. "How are you feeling?"

"Just fine," he lies. Rolling your eyes, you set the bag that laid on your lap next to you, deciding to move closer towards him. He senses this, causing him to tense.

You pause, wanting so much to help him, but unsure how to approach it. You let out a sigh. "Have you ever had witch blood?"

"No," he states, his breath sounding strained. He peers over his shoulder for a moment, eyes widening slightly to see that you were indeed closer than he anticipated. You weren't close to him enough to where he could your breathing, but close enough to make our the sparkles in your eyes. "That would mean risking to get hexed."

Smiling at that, you edge on closer.

"You're free to drink mine," you softly offer and he looks at you, eyebrow raised as if you offered the most ridiculous thing to man. "I won't hex you."

The king lets out a scoff, not letting temptation engulf him that easily. "I am not drinking your blood, ___."

It was your turn to scoff. "Why not?" You inquire as you ever so innocently crane your neck to the side, letting hair strands fall from your shoulder, exposing skin to the open. You don't miss his eyes that glance at your neck before quickly averting them back to your eyes.

"While you were outside waiting, I was informed that Sagewood lowers your inhibitions. And because I am just so generous, I am offering my own neck because you, sir, need to drink," you say, sleepily tapping your neck. "Besides, I've always wanted to get bitten."

Jungkook is utterly appalled at your ambitious offer. An ambitious, tempting offer. "You shouldn't be saying that, ___."

"Go on," you egg him on, drumming your fingers along your neck. "I'm sure it'll taste great. Hybrid blood?"

"No."

"Not even a little bit?'

"No."

"Come on."

"No, ___," he stubbornly affirms as he looks ahead at the road trailing behind you both. There's a pause in the situation at hand, but you notice him clench his fist, his veins on his hand evident. Seeing that, you roll your eyes.

"Jungkook, you keep twitching. You want to. It's your instincts."

"___, I need you to stop tempting me."

Rolling your eyes at his stubbornness once more, you fully move your hair to one side of your neck, exposing bare flesh under the moonlight as you place a hand on Jungkook's forearm carefully. This causes him to tense up, inhaling sharply, but refusing to look at you.

"Listen to your body, Jungkook," you continue, daring to release your hand from his forearm to gently graze his cheek, moving his gaze over from the dirt road to meet yours. He stares at you with restrained eyes filled with hunger, but you can point out his inner turmoil easily.

Cautiously, you give him a reassuring nod before shifting your body in a way where your back faces him, closing your eyes in preparation if the moment ever decides to come— if he will ever decide to listen to his own needs for once.

"It's okay." There's a change in your voice. It's gentle and the most sincere. "I trust you."

And in an anticipatory moment, you feel an arm wrap around your waist, holding you steady. It allows your body to instinctively grow a billion goosebumps. Another hand holds the side of your head that tilts to the right, a fistful of your hair entangled between his fingers. Surely, your heart was beating out of your chest, but even Jungkook could sense that it did not derive from fear.

Unexpectedly, you feel the tip of his tongue leave a tiny damp trail, retracting it for a moment as his breathing cools the area, almost sending you taunting chills down your spine in aching suspense.

"You shouldn't," he whispers against your neck, very lowly in your ear.

"Give in, Jungkook," you coax with all the breath you could muster, but it comes out ragged and messy, if it weren't for the close proximity and elongating desire in the given moment making you yearn for him to get it over with.

At the peak of the build up, you feel him pull away and you suspect he would let you go entirely, the closeness and leaving a lick on your neck as a way to tease you, to make you scared, but Jungkook could sense that fright was entirely out the picture when you mindlessly bring your hand to cover his that holds your waist, your thumb rubbing circles in a way to encourage him— to finish what he began.

Admittedly, and he hates that he truthfully feels this way— captivated by your nurturing persona, one that cares and looks for others, a witch with no intention to harm, but to care. How could he, himself, take advantage of your generosity and your concern and stick his fangs into you? How could the whole point of this excursion is to distance from you, his Complement, yet it was so easy to throw it all away when he is this close to tasting you?

A pernicious moment such as this one leaves Jungkook at a cross roads and your heart to fasten, the sound of it pounding through Jungkook's head in torment because while he is so desperate and so exasperatingly close to burning all bridges, you have somehow— in some ineffable way— paved a passage towards yourself, his one and only Complement.

Frustration doesn't even come close to where he feels— he is more than irritated than anything that he may just be going down the path you've created. Vexation grows at an all time high as the smell of your blood and the sound of your heart enhances his every sense that in a blink of an eye, he tightens his grip around you, pulling you closer to his chest that you feel his heaves, the rise and falls. The sudden propinquity surprises you first that you weren't fully prepared to feel the instantaneous bite down your neck, a strangled groan rumbling from his throat.

At first, you're paralyzed everywhere, your eyes widening at the foreign feeling over your body before you completely succumb to it, closing your eyes and growing limp in his hold. In the mundane world, you remember your father watching movies that revolved around the inauspicious concepts of drug abuse, and this moment was exactly as described as one of the movie scenes you can recall— euphoric.

A complete out-of-body experience.

Jungkook holds you tightly, as if he was almost frightened of you leaving his grasp. A prey escaping a predator's hold. You take notice of this, squeezing your hand around the one that held you tightly at your waist that was sure to leave a bruise by how rigid he held you. It doesn't do any good, so you result into intertwining your fingers around his, letting him know that you're still alive. Doing this in turn led to an unexplainable, pleasurable trick set by Jungkook, one that catches your breath in a trap, and your body feeling as if it had been set on fire. And as if he knew your next move, he slaps a hand over your mouth the minute you release the anticipated moan.

He knew that if he had heard your sounds elicit into the midnight sky as clear as crystal, he would not be able to stop his doings— or rather, he would be afraid of taking more than what you offered.

The enthralling moment comes to a close before you realize it, the aftermath coming to a halt as Jungkook cleans up the excess blood dripping from your neck with his tongue as you tried so very hard to stifle a sound. His hand still covers your mouth, and in hindsight, the sound you released earlier as a reaction felt embarrassing, being why you are biting your tongue as hard you can. The minute he pulls back, your shoulders slump as you relax, the hand at your mouth retracting and dropping to your lap meekly, your fingers still holding his other.

Furrowed eyebrows, you look down at your lap when you see that his hand still holding yours was quivering. Immediately growing concerned, you adjust your hands to remain attached as you take the second to shift and face him, eyes desperately trying to search for his under the Sagewood moon.

"Jungkook," you speak in a careful tone, using your free hand to find his taciturn cheek. He is glancing away as if he had just murdered someone, as if he is scared he had killed you. "Jungkook? You're shaking."

You gently bring his cheek with both hands to have him look at you, his eyes wide and scared, as if a child experiencing the unexplainable. Eyebrows knitting together, you hush him, attempting your best to calm his nerves. "It's alright. You're fine, I'm fine. See?" You bring his shaking hand to your chest, over your heart that was still beating. "I'm okay."

"I'm okay," you repeat as he begins to dial down, noticing how his glassy eyes made him more vulnerable under the moon. "You were able to control yourself. You're okay."

It takes him a few minutes, but patiently, you wait until he lets out one more heavy sigh that allows him to regain his composure. He hasn't attained it fully, but it was enough to have him squeeze your hand in silent gratitude, one that makes you meekly smile.

Jungkook notices how you begin to turn your body again, him absentmindedly reaching to grab at your wrist before you pause and look at him with a small smile.

"I'm not going anywhere," you reassure him, only shifting your body slight so that you sat next to him in a comfortable position where your head rests on his shoulder. It soothes his nerves feeling you close to him, especially when you loop around his arm, assuring him more-so that you really aren't going anywhere.

His ears perk to the sound of you reaching over and rustling something in your bag a minute later before he furrows his eyebrows to see you pull out a juice box, confused at what you had in your hands.

"Glassius and Bibitz gave it to me," you explain. He couldn't help but laugh.

And in silence, he hears you sip it down after piercing a hole through the top, taking you a few minutes to down it, feeling his own heart calming to a regular pace as well as his breathing slowing. He's grown so used to the solace silence that he doesn't realize that you had fallen asleep on his shoulder, juice box still in hand.

He recalls when he had last made a visit to Glassius and Bibitz, a favor that they needed from him. And having those two be the the crown of Sagewood and the seers of the Upper World, it began to click to him of the last thing they had said to him: "The next time you will see us, we will repay you for your greatest deed in small gratitudes. Beginning with an apple."

He smirks at the thought, never realizing that this is what they meant. Admittedly, he is grateful that the apple juice was given to replenish the minerals he had taken from your body. He takes that moment to realize that your being, snoozing away on his shoulder, was present— a simple form of gratitude itself and he wonders what else Glassius and Bibitz will offer in the future.

As he glances down at you for a mere moment of time, he slowly and surely registers the mistake he has gotten himself into. Because while you had underwent an out-of-body experience, the taste of you was enough for him to get addicted and he remembers a similar feeling traveling his body when he had a taste of Dawn.

Jungkook, now, is not so sure if he wants to move forth with the search any longer.

#kwritersworldnet #btsbookclub #btswriterscollective #jungkook x reader #jungkook ff #jungkook #jungkook fanfic #jungkook au #jungkook angst #vampire!jungkook #soulmate!au #jungkook scenarios #honestly i'm tired of tagging #jeon jungkook #john junglebook #ok #thx for being patient mwuah

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