(Y/N) POV:

I freeze when my eyes catch onto his vibrant red ones, something has his vampire instincts on high alert, and I know all it'll take is a wrong move and a lack of control on his behalf for everything to go wrong very, very quickly.

I step away from the photograph, maintain that distance so he doesn't perceive me as a threat; even if that thought would never even begin to cross my mind, to hurt them in any way.

His eyes scrutinise me sharply, and I know that every movement is being painstakingly noted, sharply watched- his red irises seeming like penetrating lasers which scour away the barriers I've got up, leaving me feeling awfully raw and exposed- as if his red eyes bore their way to the depths of my soul and see everything.

"Yoongi I was just waiting for Namjoon." I explain but he doesn't respond or show any sign that indicate he's heard me or he's listening.

His head cocks to one side and his eyes gleam, his wide powerful stance, the ease and familiarity as he stands in the hallway- everything indicating that he's confident and assertive on his territory; I'm the one who's wandered into it.

"You actually came?" he finally says, voice slightly raspy, cutting through the silence. His question is filled with a mix of confusion and bewilderment- as if he can't figure out why I would be here.

"Seokjin invited me to meet the coven and show me the nest." I hedge carefully, unaware as to whether or not he knows and not wanting to accidentally trigger an argument amongst themselves.

His eyes flash brighter, the corner of his lip quirking up as if he's amused.

"I know." He says simply.

But the way he continues to examine, eyes never wavering is beginning to become disconcerting, the intensity of it making my skin prickle.

"Umm...maybe I should head back down." I say, clear that this conversation isn't going anywhere and I haven't been able to get a solid read of whether or not Yoongi wants me here, there's nothing he's emotion; face unsettlingly blank and void of expression, a face carved out of marble; impassive, smooth, and hard.

"Maybe you should. Or you could stand there. Neither particularly makes me feel anything." He adds, and there it is. Those words that hurt. Openly confessing and admitting that my presence or lack thereof doesn't affect him. But I don't see why it should. He's always been open about his disdain for me.

But that doesn't mean that urge to question his unwarranted behaviour doesn't well up and burst out.

"You know Yoongi, did you ever wonder that you should've gotten the full story before you confronted me?" I ask gently.

His lips twist into a grimace.

As if the question has either irked him or pained him. Given how he's always behaved, I reckon it's the former and not the latter.

"Is there something about me that bothers you, that makes you repulsed?" I ask, wanting to get a definitive answer.

His eyebrows rise slightly.

I push on.

"Am I considered unworthy and unwanted just because I'm human? Is that the flaw that'll define me as an incompatible mate?" I ask.

"Humans have always brought me and my mates pain. Do you really think it'll be easy to accept you?" he retorts, and his words are laced with pain. There's hurt that glimmers in his eyes. As well as the genuine nature of the question- he really does want an answer. He's not just voicing his thoughts.

"I don't want to say your pains don't matter. That you haven't suffered, but do you really think it's fair? Do you not think that I—" and then I cut myself off, having come so close to divulging deep-rooted matters and memories, all because I was caught in the moment. I stop myself before my soul is laid bare and vulnerable.

And I see when he catches onto it, a slight tightness to his mouth and eyes that narrow.

And then there's something that shifts in his expression. I can't tell what it is, but something changes.

And I see his expression soften, eyes slightly far-away and my heart leaps. Maybe there's some hope, maybe I'll get an honest answer- one that doesn't shut me out immediately without him even willing to try. I think maybe this is the moment where perhaps he understands slightly, that he catches onto the unspoken words and it changes something.

But then his body turns and I see a door slightly cracked open and Jimin's face peeking out- hair tousled and face lined with sleep.

His eyes are sleepily blinking, slowly scanning from end of the hallway and yet to fall here.

"Hyung?" he voices, word laced with a thickness that tells me he's just woken up. But the rawness to his tone, the softness tug at my heartstrings. This is a side of Jimin I haven't seen- that I've never been entitled to seeing, a Jimin who hasn't noticed me yet- my mind whispers sadly.

And then his eyes catch onto Yoongi, and they crease into a soft smile but then they go past him and land on me- and those same eyes now widen and the wood of the door creaks under the firm grip of his knuckles as his hold tightens.

"(Y/N)...." He breathes and staggers back as if the sight of me hits him like a physical blow, one that makes his feet unsteady. It aches knowing that's the reaction he has to me, to someone he didn't ever want to be cordial or familiar with, or ever forgive.

But I tried, if he doesn't want to know me- I could never force it on him.

And knowing that he is one of my mates makes that pain deepen, a tender wound that perhaps will always gape and remain unfilled that even if the others and I ever do become close, there'll be a part of my soul that will ache for him and know that I'll never have him, not in any way.

My own feet backpedal- the sight of him hurts too much. It's seeing that glimmering mirage but knowing that stumbling blindly towards it will not let me gain anything- I'll be left alone in that vast desert.

Some tether around my soul tugs me forward- whispers in recognition that there he is; one of the pieces that complete me, and my brain screams vehemently, hurting, that he doesn't want me; he didn't want me before we knew that we were mates, what would make him change now?

And then salvation comes when Namjoon steps back out, face flushed as he victoriously waves a scarf around as he exists only to freeze when he takes in the fact that the hallway is occupied by two more of his mates, two more than what is needed for me to feel normal.

And now it doesn't matter if Yoongi answers or not. All I want is to leave, I can't stand there and pretend the way Jimin clutches at the door for support isn't a stabbing pain that it's because of me. 

I plead for Namjoon to somehow understand, to interject and prevent this situation from getting worse. This is not how I want to remember today- in a blaze of emotions and hostility being thrown around.

Namjoon hurries forward, a blur, until he appears, placing himself in the large distance between me and Yoongi. Yoongi slowly turns and I see Jimin's eyes remain trained on us, but he makes no move to step forward.

"Hyung don't say anything you'll regret." Namjoon says in a tone that's both soft and authoritative.

But I can still see the way Namjoon's body is slightly angled, ready to intervene.

"I won't." he says simply before turning to walk off, conversation clearly ended for him.

Namjoon turns to me.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry, it took me so long because I accidentally knocked off one of my shelves." He says, wincing in recollection as he holds out the scarf as a sweet peace offering.

But then he steps forward to wound it around my neck himself, fingers careful and he gently pulls out my hair from under the swathe of fabric, settling it back onto the scarf.

"Perfect." He says, but his eyes are intensely focused on me rather than his action.

And the deep smooth quality to his voice is appealing and sends my heart jolting up a few beats.

And it's not just him who's got rosy cheeks now.

JIMIN POV:

My eyes are glued onto the sight of her, even though I desperately want to tear them away. Or do I...I can't seem to decide whether the agony of seeing her stems from the hurt I'd associated with her, the knowledge of knowing I hurt her or the distance that stretches out like miles between us; so close yet incredibly far.

I know all it'll take is for me to step out from behind that door, to stop cowering behind it witless and take that first step back to her, to unwind the tangled mess I've created. But my mind is flooded in a panic, dithering uncertainly and unable to decide what to do.

Move forward. Stay. The two battle it out in my mind, but never come to a conclusion.

And my eyes drink her in like she's an oasis sitting in the midst of a scorching desert, the only thing that can abate my thirst and yet my feet can't bring themselves to walk towards that salvation.

I note the way that despite the soft strength in her voice, her hands were fiddling and made sweater paws- something I tried not to coo at even though my soul began gushing. Or the way the sweater under her dress drowned her, threatening to slip off her shoulders. But I saw the hope and softness in her eyes alongside the pain. She was hurting but also hopeful for change, for Yoongi hyung to understand.

But that never came, because I opened the door at the wrong time. And if I hadn't maybe things would've changed. But then again...maybe things wouldn't.

I knew the largest reason Yoongi hyung was holding back all stemmed from me. He placed me before her. And if it had been anyone else it would've made me love-struck. But now...knowing it was one mate favoured for the other- it flowed like poison through the blood in my body.

I clutched tighter at the door, it creaking slightly when her intoxicating scent came wafting across the landing- when opening the door could've become a fatal mistake.

I knew it had been too long since my last feed and I could feel my fangs poking through my gums, emerging as the scent of her overwhelmed my senses, as that enthralling scent became a challenge to withstand. I stepped back, feet faltering, pushing myself back to maintain that control. Holding on desperately and praying for my instincts to remain low.

My soul screamed and called her mate, whispered that tasting her blood would make the experience that much better because of the bond we shared. I knew that the bond of our souls would stop me from drinking an amount that would be detrimental, but it would mark us as mated. A bond that neither of us were prepared for.

And I couldn't do that. Not to her. Not to me.

So when Yoongi hyung turned to walk back towards me, I saw the way Namjoon hyung tenderly wrapped the scarf around her neck- that same neck where her pulse could be felt; hiding it from view. But also the way his hands tenderly lifted her hair out of the scarf- so close to that tempting place where I could pierce my fangs.

And when Yoongi hyung entered through the door and closed it behind him, gently nudging me back- I almost whirled angrily onto him, for shutting out that source of temptation.

But the sheen in his eyes made me realise that one of the reasons the red hadn't bled out of his eyes was because of her scent. And maybe the reason he didn't speak was because he was having an equally hard time holding back. Perhaps harder because he'd been closer.

And so we shut ourselves into the room, imprisoning ourselves so we wouldn't lose control.

Because even if our minds weren't prepared to accept her...our souls revolted against the thought, the possibility that we might've hurt her.

And hide it as we might've. But that would've torn at our souls with an agony that couldn't be treated.

And the strong steady thud of her heartbeat growing quieter as she left reminded me that she was fine, because we weren't near her. Because I wasn't.

(AHHH! SO JIMIN CAME OUT ALL CUTE AND FLUFFY AND SAD TO (Y/N) BUT IT TURNS OUT HE WAS TRYING TO HOLD BACK- HE HADN'T FED AND KNEW IF HE STEPPED OUT, THERE COULD BE CONSEQUENCES NO ONE COULD HANDLE. AND WE DIDN'T WANT THAT- SO HE TOLD ME TO WRITE HIM AS THAT, AND I DID AS HE COMMANDED. HOW WAS IT? LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS. WE'RE AT 31K READS AND NUMBER ONE NOT FOR JUST THE BTSXREADER TAG BUT ALSO FOR READERINSERT?!! YOU GUYS ARE INCREDIBLE! STAY SAFE MY LOVES!)

There are two sides to a coin, different perspectives to a situation. Not one view is right and the others are wrong, we should take everything into consideration before forming judgements. 

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3