(Y/N) POV:

The first day of Christmas break starts with a long lie-in, buried under a mound of blankets until Gyeomie had swept in fully-dressed and dragged them off me without a single fraction of remorse in his tall frame, completely unrepentant at the sudden chill it brought me, even as I had curled desperately into myself, seeking out the warmth of my own body to compensate for the loss.

He'd dragged my half-awake figure out of the haven of my bedroom and pushed me into the bathroom, throwing a change of clothes at me- threatening me to hurry up or that he'd turn the hot water off it I took too long. And I knew he took his threats very seriously- I had already fallen victim to that particular one, remembering the cascade of icy water as a sudden shock to my system, making my eyes shoot open and an inhumane shriek to tear itself free from my throat.

Needless to say, Yugyeom had been banished from the apartment that day and been given the cold shoulder, only relenting when he'd used his puppy eyes to wheedle his way back in, bearing food as a peace offering.

But the excited, eager gleam in his eyes when I emerge, dressed, into the kitchen is familiar, he's already bundled up in a coat and scarf- even though I know he doesn't really feel the cold anyways, over one arm my own coat and scarf are slung over it and the other bears a warm mug which he passes onto me when I get close.

"Drink up so we can go!" he chirps, sitting down next to me but the eager jitter of his legs doesn't abate but they continue to bounce impatiently.

When I've finished, it's with startling speed that he swipes it from my hands, returns and is pulling me up, threading my arms quickly through the sleeves of the coat, wrapping the scarf around my neck- covering the bottom half of my face, and then pulling a beanie over my open hair.

I laugh at his restraint which is on its last threads and allow him to tug me outside, the cold doing little to dampen my spirits.

We take the bus to the mall, the journey spent pointing out things that catch our eye and the things that we want to do, shops we want to visit.

It's tradition that the first day of the holidays are spent doing any last-minute shopping and stocking up on ingredients for hot drinks and festive baking. Though Gyeomie doesn't end up doing much except throwing around ingredients carelessly, but he does take immense pride in his role as chief-taster.

And if I get to see the childish innocence as he giggles, face smeared with flour or some batter he's tried to swipe from the mixing bowl- how can I resist? In those moments it doesn't matter what the world's going through, it doesn't matter that under that wide smile lies fangs, under it all, right at the centre is just someone who wants to live life to its fullest. Who can fault him for that?

And I feel better than I have in days, the tonic Jinyoung oppa had carefully pressed into my hands with a strict conversation about dosages working its magic, my energy was brimming, full and to its max- the dark circles had faded and the sickly pallor gone.

But that didn't mean that I hadn't had to sit through a scolding from the coven, poor Gyeomie somehow roped into it too- shooting me offended looks when we'd finally emerged, unscathed but shamefaced.

And now as I stepped into the familiar departmental store, tasteful festive décor, I pulled Gyeomie through the familiar path- coming to a stop in front of the pyjamas.

Gyeomie's eyes were twinkling, shining with joy, shooting me a look I knew too well.

"Go ahead Gyeomie." I say and it's like the restraint snaps, and with an excited expression he goes darting in to rustle between the lines of clothing, hands darting out to scoop matching pyjama sets, his peal of laughter easily drifting to my ears. I allow him to continue exploring, turning around to go find some fluffy socks, somehow winding further away from where Yugyeom had been. The socks were situated on the far end of this level of the store. But for some reason, even though my eyes alight on the rows filled with the fluffy socks- I'm almost...disappointed? Though I don't know why...almost as if I had been expecting something else, something more to be waiting here.

But the low sounds of murmurs and then loud raucous laughter turns my head, drawing my attention. As if the joyous sound of the laugh and the comfort of the murmur was reeling me in, enticing and welcoming. Like the feeling of sinking into a warm bath at the end of a long, tiring day. They wash over me, loosening my body into a more relaxed posture. But the knowledge of that itself alarms me, about what it is in those two voices that threaten to reel me in and ensnare me? Why is it that I'm so affected by sound alone?

And then two heads emerge, as if they'd been hidden behind the piles, hands victoriously waving fluffy socks as the other shoots a glare at the happy figure. Eyes both fond and slightly exasperated.

The two of them are lost in their own world and before I could do anything, before I can say anything they turn almost in sync to twist to where I'm standing, eyes lit with slight curiosity in one and the other that disinterestedly slides off me and refuses to linger- unwilling to acknowledge me almost.

And then- shattering through what could've been, breaking through the chance of anything happening, anything except the frozen moment where it seems as though time comes to a sluggish stop- frozen in the moment when our eyes had snagged is Gyeomie who somehow ends up ploughing into me, stumbling over his long limbs- natural grace non-existent as he comes crashing into me and sends me hurdling to the floor, him with me, and surrounding us- are several pairs of matching pyjamas.

And as I crash into the floor, my eyes are torn with indecisiveness about whether I want to curl into a ball and hide from my mortification or still reach up and meet the two pairs that had somehow captivated and demanded my attention.

The 'oof' I had let out when Gyeomie's weight had sprawled over mine has him scurrying off me in a hurry, ears ever so slightly red with shame and apology as he helps me up first, assessing I'm fine save for my bruised dignity before he gathers up the pyjamas- now settled in his arms as a jumbled mess of sleeves and legs.

I can sense their two presences- though they've silently stepped forward, and it makes me look up from where I've become so incredibly fascinated with the way the floor shines with the reflection of the fairy lights.

They hesitantly make their way up, slightly trepidant in meeting the eyes of the two boys who've stopped a safe distance away from us.

My eyes meet two pairs of brown, one pair that's creased into a warm invitation and the other that remain coolly detached but slightly intrigued.

And then there's a sharp inhale- Yugyeom sucking in a deep breath of air before he subtly shifts so he's placed himself between me and them, an angling of his body so that my smaller frame is covered by his own taller one.

I peep out from around his arm, hand settling on the crook of his elbow as I allow my curiosity to get the better of me.

And then the smiling one opens his mouth to speak.

YOONGI POV:

Uncharacteristically I find myself consenting to allow Hobi to bundle me up in a coat and scarf- even though I've huffed time and time and time again that vampires don't feel the cold. But when he shoots a sunny smile my way, so eager to wrap me up- I can't find a shred of restraint in me to refuse.

And what's even odder- is that I allow him to tug me out of the house to go to the mall. Allow him to gently push me towards the passenger seat instead and allow him to blast cheery festive tunes on the radio- even though all my long years of living have taught me that Christmas is not necessarily a time of celebration and family.

I must be getting softer with the passing of time.

"Come on hyung, let's have some fun!" Hobi says, nudging me not-too-gently in the ribs, even as his words were soft and warm.

But he darted away, a small giggle even before I could even finish contemplating whether it was worth even grabbing onto him anyways.

Hobi oohs and ahs over the lights strung up around the store, giggles excitedly, clapping his hands at the trees, the festively dressed mannequins with an untainted innocence that makes my heart swell- that Hobi despite the decades he's lived, is still able to find something beautiful, something to marvel at.

He scoops an arm around me, herding me off to where the loungewear is- eyes snagging onto fluffy socks.

"Hyung your feet tend to be really icy during winter." He says in a tone that's both slightly teasing and largely concerned. Even though vampires have a naturally lower and cooler body temperature- I don't have the heart to say that it won't make a distance, if this is one small thing, he does that makes me happy and him happy- what's the harm in indulging him?

Even if it sparks a debate about which colour will suit each of us best- the two of us coming to a quick decision that everyone needs fluffy socks, it's unnegotiable.

We bend down to rifle through the stacks at the bottom of the shelf and when we emerge there's the presence of someone else that causes our heads turn.

Though I've never seen her before, there's something oddly familiar about her. As if, even though my mind can't recollect who she is, I have innately recognised her, body turning almost automatically and without guiding to face her properly. Eyes running over her in a slow, careful examination.

Even as my eyes catalogue warm welcoming eyes, face half hidden by her scarf, body dressed warmly, my senses pick up on the bright flush on her cheeks- a rosy hue that is oddly appealing and entrancing to the eyes, drawing them back to linger on the full round shape of them.

But no-one moves, it's as if time has frozen itself within this moment. And then that is shattered when an alarmingly speeding figure and comes crashing into her with the full brunt force of his body that sends the two of them careening to the floor with a rapid pace that neither I nor Hobi could even intercept. It would've been a comical sight of the two of them sprawled across the floor, pyjamas in disarray around them had it not been for the odd, slightly painful way her small 'oof' had been shocked, and the way her smaller body had been forced to bear his weight hadn't been alarming and slightly worrying.

But the male acts quickly. Rushing to his feet and helping her up too, his rushed movements easily giving away that he's a vampire- one I distantly recall as having seen before somewhere. And despite his fumbling nature, his hands are painstakingly careful on the girl as he holds her an arm's breadth away, assessing her for hurt before scooping up the pile of pyjamas.

All of them which are similar in pattern and colour- matching sets I realise, and I pray that Hobi's keen eyes don't snag onto that detail. Hoping he doesn't insist on buying matching sets next.

But a part of me is resigned, almost mentally preparing myself for the seemingly inevitable conclusion.

And then the boy freezes, an unnatural stillness, before he angles his body slightly- shifting so he covers her frame with his own. A protective gesture. One I've seen within my own nest, done it myself countless times.

But the reason behind the gesture is always nearly the same- a reaction to a threat.

A threat he sees us as.

But neither Hobi nor I am emitting hostile auras, nor is his feelings clouded with anything but intrigue and the beginnings of excitement.

So what has set him off.

He bows his head slightly, not removing his eyes off us as he does so. The girl's face pokes out from the side, peering around his arm which she clutches at.

"Ahh...you're the Im's new nestling!" Hobi crows delighted, rushing forward without thinking, arms outstretched as if wanting to scoop said nestling into his arms for an embrace.

And the word nestling sinks in. Brings back Jimin's conversation. The hurt that had rolled off him in suffocating waves. And the knowledge that he had not one but two new nestlings. My eyes catch onto the girl's again...become cool as I eye her smaller frame.

The boy's behaviour makes sense- even if they're both newly fledged nestlings, his instincts are raring at him to protect his smaller and physically more fragile looking nestmate.

But the aching feeling of hurt that had flashed and seared through the bond that day is like a fresh wound- still hurting and gaping. It bothers me that the same girl is now hiding behind her nestmate when she clearly hadn't been afraid or hesitant in making our mate feel shunned.

It stirs up resentment in me, resentment for the girl I barely know but still hold a grudge against.

"You..." I say, surprised slightly by the viciousness in my tone even as I stalk forward closer to the two.

The girl's eyes widen, in fear or confusion I don't know and when I step just a bit closer I'm suddenly shocked, body reeling back at the very human heart I can hear thudding loudly.

My eyes quickly dart around the area we're in but there's no-one else it could be, my eyes narrow as they focus on her- on the human hiding behind a vampire.

A human had hurt my mate's feelings?

And the thought curdles as it sits in me. Makes the bond sour.

"Yoongi-ssi, who are you talking to?" the boy says, voice polite but I don't miss the way a red tinge begins to bleed into his eyes.

"Her...the human." I spit but when she steps out from behind him, ignoring the boy's splutters, I'm also hit with a wave of scent- the scent of a coven that seems to drown out anything else.

The Ims have taken a human as a nestling? The thought puzzles me but I push it aside. That's not what matters at the moment.

"Umm...I'm sorry if this sounds impolite, but who are you? And how do you know me?" she asks, voice firm despite it's softness, strong where I had expected it to be wavery and weak.

But I don't let my surprise show, but Hobi shifts uneasily next to me. Sensing it through the bond.

"I'm one of Park Jimin's mates. The very same Jimin who you hurt with your blasé, careless indifference towards him. All this time he'd been hurt that a fellow vampire hadn't sided with him, but look at you...you're human, how could anyone expect otherwise?" I accuse, allowing the bitterness to seep into my tone, my eyes to remain red, holding myself back from advancing- something holding me back from getting close. Even though a slight small part of me wants to.

For what, I don't know.

Her face shifts. Humans are so easy to read, her body expressing the moment realisation hits, her eyes becoming wide and sorrowful, body curving into itself- almost as if she's been hurt by my words.

I scoff, humans always play the weak card, the defenceless fragile card. Pull it out and try to reverse the tables.

Not. This. Time.

"And not once did you feel bad did you? For hurting him? For shunning a vampire?" I hiss, each word coming out sharply and quickly.

She flinches, almost as if my words have physically inflicted pain onto her.

The boy...Yugyeom my mind places finally, shifting to curl his hands around her, back showing to us as he blocks her from view.

His head turns over his shoulder, hostility clear in his voice.

"We're done here. You have no right to judge, no right to accuse. No right to judge humans by your own experiences." He retorts, and I hear the undercurrent of pain and anger- as if he's holding back.

And even as I spin away, wanting to distance myself immediately from her, I can't tell why my heart aches- in pain on Jimin's behalf, or the way I'd seen her eyes shutter, as if she'd pushed away her true nature behind a wall. As if she'd closed in on herself.

And each step sends a sharp prickling pain to shoot through me.

Though I don't know why...but feeling as if I've emerged from that feeling more shattered and disappointed. As if I'd been wanting to see a vampire nestling, apologetic and eager to make amends. Not this...human. With her fragile heart on her sleeve.

HOBI POV:

The whole interaction leaves a sickening aftertaste- as if I've been forced to swallow something vile and bitter.

A part of me wanted to hold Yoongi hyung back...stop him from clearly tearing down this girl who looked shattered and utterly devastated. But at the same time, my bond flared with protectiveness for Jimin- for learning that it had been her behind that storm that had brewed inside him.

But it doesn't sit right in me. Neither does walking away.

It's achingly familiar to the day at the Im nest...as if I'd walked away from something important.

But what was it? And why had the urge to move close to the two of them flared up in the same way that my feet had guided me that day to the closed door? Just what was it?

(THERE YOU GO! A LONGER CHAPTER BUT THIS ONE WAS DEMANDING TO BE WRITTEN, PUSHING ME TO ADD MORE AND MORE! WELL HERE YOU GO...THERE IT IS. FINALLY! WE GOT TWO MORE MEETINGS, HOBI WAS PRESENT HERE BECAUSE I LEFT YOU ON A CLIFFHANGER THAT TIME! NOW IT'S JUST JINNIE! AND I WONDER HOW HE'LL REACT...AND WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN IT FINALLY CLOCKS- WHICH BTW...I AM DYING TO MAKE HAPPEN! LET'S SEE LOVELIES! STAY SAFE! LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS!)

THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS BOOK TO GO UP TO NUMBER SIX ON THE BTSXREADER TAG!! AND 500 FOLLOWERS! I LOVE YOU ALL! 😘🥰

Your eyes are the mirror to your soul, the gateway to your heart, the lens that capture each and every moment of your life, storing it away in the memory of your beautiful minds. Don't let your eyes slide away from something precious and rare, store it within you, allow it to become cherished as a memory.

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3