YOONGI POV:

I watch from my position curled up on one of the library couches, in that hazy space of hovering between sleep and consciousness- tiredly batting away the creeping vines that tickle my skin, that try to play as they brush across my face or tickle my feet from where they sneak under the blanket, trying to shift away from Joon's playful plants, at Jiminie and (Y/N) who lie splayed across one of the plush rugs, arms propped up on cushions as they pour over a book, in a heated discussion even as their legs remain lazily entangled with each other and (Y/N)'s head lies on his shoulder.

"Just stop!" I huff when the plants try prying away the warm blanket, my huffing voice cutting off the discussion of my two mates who turn with wide eyes and hurt expressions, plants smoothly sliding away and turning still as if they hadn't been bothering me as I tried to nap for over the past hour.

"What did we do?" Jiminie asks slightly affronted at the same time as (Y/N) speaks in a much softer gentler way.

"Are we bothering you?" she asks, head tilted to peer at me in concern.

And Jiminie shoots her an incredulous look because how on earth can they be disturbing me when they're working together in the library- their go to place for shared projects and I'd caught her here just as frequently if not more with Joon- having deep discussions, faces passionate and voices gaining volume, or sometimes curled together with (Y/N) on his lap as they read books; sometimes shared, sometimes immersed in different worlds and connected by physical touch, naturally gravitating close to each other.

And Jiminie's slightly pointed glare has nothing to do with how hastily I sit up, blanket falling away from where I'd tucked it upto my chin as I peer at them, head shaking vehemently.

"It's not you two, the plants just won't let me nap!" I insist, eyebrows rising when Jiminie's face scrunches with slight empathy and (Y/N) just gives a disbelieving laugh.

"The plants don't do that! They're playful sure, but whenever I'm napping, they give small pets, or draw the blankets higher." She says with a wry laugh.

I huff, giving up on the idea of sleep and of convincing her otherwise, but maybe I need to have a word with Joon about his plants- glaring at the innocently and deceptively still plants on the table and shift to sprawl so I'm facing them, head propped up by my hands as I peer at them.

"What are the two of you upto anyways?" I ask, peering curiously at the large old book lying open in front of them, the book they'd been pouring over, engrossed and arguing about something.

(Y/N) gives Jiminie a side glance, speaking before he even gets a chance to, lips quirked up with victory.

"Minnie says that the book catalogues a lot of your families' personal histories and the eras you all found each other in. But I keep telling him it's not the same as hearing it directly from one of you." she says.

"They're records extracted with memory potions; they don't miss out any details!" Jiminie argues.

But her eyes remain on me, thoughtful and contemplative.

"I just feel it doesn't have the emotions associated with meeting each other, with mates finding one another...it most certainly isn't just 'Jimin was adorned in silks and jewels when his four mates entered his life'" she reads out, shooting him an unimpressed look, as if daring him to say she'll be satisfied with the minimum details.

And though that part of Jimin's past is long gone, erased by us it doesn't keep the jolt of anger that seeps through me, that unconsciously transmits through the bond and (Y/N)'s face becomes contrite even as Jiminie wraps a protective hand around her shoulders, drawing her close to him.

And Jimin's own calmness, waves of gentle soothing love come to lap against the hurt angry memories the sentence evoked, soothing them away, a balm to a hurt he'd healed from but perhaps we never would.

"Oppa how did you and Jinnie oppa meet? I know the two of you were the first to find each other, to begin the coven." She asks, voice soft and slightly tentative- as if she wasn't sure how I'd respond.

I give her an apologetic smile, sliding off the couch to join them on the floor. I sit cross-legged and pat my legs, the two of them immediately taking the invitation to rest their heads there, looking up at me with wide soft eyes. Jiminie had heard how I met Jin hyung before, but he wasn't going to pass the opportunity either, not for what he called his favourite story to hear.

And with my hands carefully and gently brushing through their hair I begin to speak, I begin to tell the tale of when Jin hyung entered my life, when he'd entered at such a bleak moment and finally made everything okay. When he became the only good thing when everything else was pain and hurt and agony and a torpid storm of suffering and betrayal and grief.

-----

I hurry through the slightly crowded streets, every laugh and jovial gruff sound of the men sending panic to stab into my brain like pinpricks. He'd laughed like that, always happy and bright and full of life, always so welcoming and warm- the body heat of his mortal body seeping through the sheets as we lay entangled or as he hugged me. We'd been like that once I think as I eye two young men laughing, expressions of brightness and happiness vivid on their faces. Leaving the house had been a bad idea, but I'd been unable to deal with the look of pain and hurt on my parents' faces; young immortal faces struck with grief as they saw me. I should've just hidden away in

And as I leave the din of the streets behind, turning into one of the streets that'll lead me home, head down I accidentally brush past a strong muscled arm, the bag of fruits I'd been clutching goes flying out of my hands, vibrant jewelled colours rolling away onto the paved ground.

I drop to my knees, hands trembling slightly as I pick up the fruit, draw them into the bag one by one, trying not to focus on the beautiful hand that leans down to pick up fruits, the bright rich cloth of a stylish hanbok fluttering as they sink to their knees, as they carefully gather up the spilt produce.

"I'm incredibly sorry, I just felt the need to be walking down the street and didn't pay attention to my surroundings." The smooth gentle voice rambles and my eyes remain trained on the fingers with slightly crooked knuckles, it's somehow charming on the hand, bring the fruits to place back into the bag, carefully placing them in before stopping.

"Are you okay? I didn't hurt you did I?" the voice asks, sweet and melodious and intrinsically soothing.

I shake my head, nausea churning in my stomach. Because despite the sweetness of the tone, it was undeniably male and my mind shrieked at me to get away. That it was beauty in a male body that had been the root of all the problems, that it was the charming lilt to a voice that had swayed me, entranced me and trapped me.

I hasten to my feet, bag clutched tightly towards my chest, foot catching on the sweeping fabric of my dark hanbok, world tilting as I fall backwards, thankful that my cheeks can't burn red with shame, but before the world swoops up to meet me a firm arm grasps me, tugs me upright again.

And this time I can't avoid the sight of the man who's saved me, eyes trailing hesitantly from thick plump lips to find the rest of his face is structured just as devastatingly.

I didn't believe in God, had lost faith in him after what I'd endured, but this man, he was an example of being carved from God's own hand, or that I was seeing an ethereal being in front of me; one of the most divine.

But that made me shirk back, because beauty came with a price, the tug and allure to it came with consequence and I had been wrung dry, I had nothing to give.

"Please let me assist you." he says imploringly, soft brown eyes wide and I don't know whether it's a figment of my mind or whether his eyes flicker with dots of red before they vanish.

Surely he's not...not the same as me.

But it would explain his extremely fast reflex, in the surety with which his arm had darted out to stabilise me.

"Really there is no need." I insist, one hand retracting from the bag to brush my hanbok down slightly, not expecting for a cool hand to graze my own, to grab it to keep me from moving.

But the moment our hands touch, skin meeting skin in the slightest touch has a spark flying, an immediate magnetism to get close to the handsome stranger, to move closer and intertwine our fingers, to lace them together and feel the softness of his skin against mine.

There's the feeling of something inside me shifting, each emotion going haywire and becoming a thoroughly jumbled mess as my mind pulsed and throbbed with the sudden flux of sensations, of how hyper aware I was of our proximity, of the way his own eyes had widened and hand had gone slack but still holding mine, for his lips to part in shock, of the way though I never had felt the need to breathe in my entire existence, save for those times, I now needed to get air into my lungs- realising that the mortals relied on the gratifying cool sensation of air slipping into lungs, of making them contract and open up.

"You're..." I begin, turning silent as words evade me.

Promised one. Soul blessed. Mate. Everything the tales wrote and spoke of, of someone whose presence would make your blood sing, would make the world suddenly appear in colour, would make everything just so much more.

"Mate." He breathes, finishing my sentence, speaking his own. One word.

I never knew that such pride and happiness and giddiness could come from one word. Didn't know that the man in front of me felt so intensely that I felt his emotions brim and spill over, brush against me- almost gentle and soothing and tentative for all that it crashed out of him.

His hand is gentle as it raises mine to his line of vision, for him to peer at, wonder and amazement lining each feature.

I snatch my hand back.

He can't be. He can't be damned to have a broken toy as his mate.

There's a flicker of red and gold warring in his eyes, that pushes away the slight shock and he looks at me with tenderness, with understanding.

Emotions I can't imagine why he'd relate to me.

"It's fine, our paths will cross again. And time will help us." he says softly.

He doesn't ask me for anything more, giving a deep bow of his head, fingers squeezing gently before letting go.

"Until we meet again brave heart." he says softly, looking as if he wished to stay but forces himself to walk past me, the sweeping sleeves of his hanbok brushing against mine, the slightest scent of something that was sweet and heady before he walked away.

And it was with him I realised that sometimes when you found your mate, something the best thing that was to be done was to walk away.

And even if a part of my soul twisted with innate longing I moved forward, towards home.

Somehow trusting his words.

That time would bring us back to each other.

----

"So he just left?" (Y/N) asks peering up at me with wide disbelieving eyes, face scrunched into a confused pout that I can't help but lean forward and kiss it away, smiling when her lips relax and respond to mine, head tilting up to lean into me.

I lean back, thumb swiping over her rosy lips before my hand goes to cup her cheek.

Smiling when Jimin huffs.

"It's getting to the good bit (Y/N), you're gonna love it." He insists, turning his head to peer at her, cheek smooshed against my leg, peering at our youngest mate.

"Hyung tell her..." he says almost petulantly.

I nod.

"It's because that day Jin hyung made me realise the extent he was willing to go for me. He was willing to walk away from his mate, the first one he'd found because I wasn't ready for such a commitment, because I was still hurting. It's because hyung came and helped me heal, made me realise that the beauty that a soul bond had was far deeper and precious- that it came with the price of spending infinity being loved and loving." I say, unable to stop the fond smile on my face, at the pleasant ache it brings with the tidal wave of memories, of being encompassed in feelings of first love, of the tentative shyness of testing out the waters together.

I still had the letters he wrote me during courtship tucked away, preserved with a spell so that the penned words of shy sweet new love would stay with me, because until I had been ready to spend time with him, he'd spent days pouring his feelings into fine parchment- because it was a testament of his love and patience for his mate. For me.

And now...I had all seven of them. I had the immortalised proof of our love through the bond we shared, through the complete coven and the nest that remained settled and whole.

Because I had them.

Because I was whole.

And it all started centuries ago when Jin hyung knocked the fruits from my hands.

(THERE YOU GO!! A FLASHBACK TO THE PAST! OF HOW JINNIE AND YOONGI MET!! I HOPE IT WAS AS SWEET TO READ AS IT WAS TO WRITE! I HAD SO MUCH SOFT FUN WRITING THE CHAPTER AND IMAGINING SHY BABIES LOOKING AT EACH OTHER, HANDS TOUCHING AND HAVING TO WALK AWAY! BUT JINNIE STILL COURTED HIM, WOOED HIM AND HELPLED HIM HEAL! SO PROGRESS! WE'LL BE HAVING MORE SNIPPETS OF THE PAST TO COME SO WE CAN ALL SEE HOW THE COVEN FORMED AND HOW THEY GOT TO BE THE PROTECTIVE NEST OF ADORABLE BABIES THEY ARE TODAY! LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND HOW YOU FOUND IT!! AND I CAN SEE WHY MINNIE LOVES IT! SHY BABIES HELPING EACH OTHER! THOUGH THERE IS A REASON FOR THAT! STAY SAFE AND TAKE CARE LOVES!!)

Love knows no bounds, knows no limits, knows not how to hold back or rein itself in. So when we feel it, it comes in crashing waves that sweep us away, it comes all of a sudden and at times without warning, it comes and fills our heart and makes us warm. Love is the beauty of the sudden and all consuming.

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3