Inside Kim's mansion

Y/n inhaled the fresh morning air and sauntered towards the backyard. Cherry blossom trees stood tall, their delicate petals cascading like confetti in the wind. She flitted from stone to stone, while humming a melody. With a small smile on her face, she entered the bathroom.

Closing the door with her still sleepy senses, she turned around to do her morning routine, but a shriek escaped her mouth when her eyes traced the back of a figure with a hoodie on, standing in front of her, "Aaagghhhhh!"

The man with a hoodie flinched and turned his head back, gazed at her over his shoulder, and screamed in response.

His deep-voiced scream out turned Y/n to scream again in synchronization.

She quickly got out of the bathroom and ran towards Jin's room.

When Y/n hurriedly entered the room, she found Jin already awoken from the possible screams he heard. A frown was plastered on his sleepy features as if questioning her sanity.

"Hyung?"

Before she could speak, the man with a low-pitched voice spoke from the outside as he stepped closer inside the room.

"Taehyung-ah?" SeokJin peered through his sleepy gaze and rolled his eyes before giving both of them a side glare.

Y/n smiled awkwardly, "Looks like... he's y-your pal."

Jin sighed and dropped his body on his cosy mattress again before he proceeded to yell at the two of them. Sounding precisely pissed from his interrupted slumber.

"GET OUT!"

Y/n and Taehyung joggled their way out of his room, not forgetting to close the door behind them, they walked down the two steps wooden stairs together and reached the front yard.

The sun cast a warm golden glow upon the verdant yard as their shadows followed them from behind. The air seemed to thicken around them, as if time had momentarily paused to amplify the awkwardness that hung between.

Taehyung stood beside Y/n, looking elsewhere, admiring the picturesque settings of the front yard. Her cheeks flushed with a soft shade of pink, on remembering their puzzling moment in the bathroom.

She tucked a loose strand of her chestnut hair behind the ear, attempting to regain her composure.

The boy with a hood glanced in her direction. His long lashes enhanced his enthralling black irises. He cleared his throat, and Y/n's lips twitched, wanting to speak, but she failed to find the right words.

A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as if he realized something. And it was that fleeting moment of connection amidst the awkwardness swirling between them.

"You must be the human right?" Taehyung asked, in his deep voice that resonated through the air.

It was a voice unlike any. Its timbre was velvety and smooth, wrapping around each word like a warm embrace.

Slightly skeptical about the man in front of her, and his knowledge about her human existence, Y/n decided to answer confidently, "Yes I am, and may I have your introduction?"

Taehyung smiled and bowed like a prince before he spoke, "I am Kim Taehyung. Nice to meet you, miss."

Startled by his sudden action, Y/n decided to speak again, to dissipate the awkwardness that seemed to grow again with each passing second, "Are you their mutual friend?"

Taehyung shook his head before he directly looked into her eyes and spoke, proudly, "They're my brothers."

Y/n gave him a confused look, "Oh, cousin?"

The Crown Prince flashed his captivating smile and chuckled before facepalming, while Y/n scratched her head in response; raising her brows and trying to figure out the missing blocks.

"Taehyung-ah?"

Shortly after, Y/n and Taehyung were accompanied, when a familiar voice with a sharp tone was heard from behind.

Y/n glanced at the owner of the new voice and felt an uneasiness on his features. Namjoon ignored her gaze and started conversing with Taehyung while walking towards them.

The world around her blurred into insignificance as she became captivated by the tapestry of emotions that played across his face. His downturned lips whispered tales of sorrow yet untold. His dragon eyes, once radiant and full of arrogance, now mirrored a profound sense of loss, like distant stars dimmed by the weight of the universe.

And as if it was a delicate dance of telepathic understanding between them, her empathy towards him intertwined with her curiosity. It took her some moments to realise that she was staring at him when Taehyung's cheerful voice echoed again, "Oh, Hyung! Missed you."

Y/n's gaze again shifted towards Taehyung. His unique set of eyes was thus appealing, and his well-defined jawline gave him a feature of masculinity along with his rich voice, but whenever he smiled it felt like she was being thrown into a maze full of comfort.

"Why are you here so early in the morning?" Namjoon asked.

"Early? It's already a quarter past nine."

Namjoon rolled his eyes, "How did you manage to sneak out of the castle this time?"

Taehyung flashed his smile and wiped off the invisible dust from his shoulder, "Right after my workout lessons."

Namjoon shook his head and heaved a sigh, "I can only imagine the look of terror on Butler Kwon's face when he gets to know that the prince went missing again."

"PRINCE?!" Y/n blurted with her dropped jaws and widened eyes.

Namjoon rolled his eyes again and Taehyung smiled in her direction before he nodded.

"You are the prince of this world?!"

Taehyung's brows frowned in confusion before his lips twitched again, "Hyung, did you not tell her anything bout our realm?"

"It was an unnecessary wisdom to gain for an outsider," as the words slipped out of Namjoon's tongue, his orbs started glistening with traces of forced disdain, as if trying to cover up for the emotions hidden in the deepest corners of his heart.

Y/n decided to not react, understanding a sorrowful shadow that followed him.

"Come on hyung! She's cute."

Y/n's eyes instantly lit up as she glanced in Taehyung's direction and without further proofreading, words slipped out of her mouth, "I-it's good to hear that you still think of me as cute instead of a... creep, you know... after the bathroom incident. "

"WHAT?!" Their gazes pierced in Namjoon's direction, his features mirrored a look of an urgent explanation about what he heard.

"It's not like that!" Y/n clarified in a raised voice. Her hands moved rhythmically in panic, signaling disagreement.

"Then what is it? Huh? Why do you keep creating a ruckus inside my house, and disturbs everyone? You're nothing just a pushover on our heads!"

Her brows frowned, as she grimaced at his ignorant behavior as she realised that she had enough.

"What's wrong with you!? I know you don't like my presence in your house, but let me remind you that I'm more eager than you can ever be, to go back to my world and never see your face again!"

Y/n's words kicked in her own emotions as she was reminded of her helplessness once again. Her eyes started welling up with sudden tears as she glanced at her feet. With quick steps she walked towards her room, leaving Namjoon and a worried Taehyung behind.

SeokJin was folding his mattresses when Y/n opened the door. He abruptly dropped the mattress on the wooden floor and walked in her direction as a look of concern masked his features.

"Little human?... Are you okay?" He whispered as his hands caressed her shoulder, maintaining a frail distance between them.

Their eyes met a glimmer of understanding and a touch of shared hesitation made him realise her unspoken words hanging in the air like invisible threads.

Summoning courage, Y/n took a tentative step forward and clung to him tightly. He flinched and froze from her unexpected action, but soon his one hand landed across her waist softly and the other on her head.

Slow tears fell from her eyes, slightly wetting his purple sweatshirt while he gently caressed her head.

"It's Namjoon, right?"

She nodded, "He acts like I'm staying here on my own will."

He heaved a sigh, "Don't take his words to heart, he isn't that kind of a guy."

Y/n remained silent and subtly shifted away from him, wiping her stained cheeks, she shrugged in response.

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

"Mommy! Daddy sent these flowers to you. But he told me to keep it a secret. So think that I am giving the flowers to you, okay!" A toddler blabbered and smiled brightly at his mother.

His mother took the small bouquet from his hands and pecked his cheek, "See, your daddy loves me! Now don't stay mad at him, okay my dearest!" She said and caressed his head, while the young boy nodded and grinned.

.

.

"N-no! No! He c-can't do this! Mommy! What is happening? Mommy! Tell me, Mommy!"

.

.

With a choked gasp a young man jerked awake from his slumber and rested his head on his bed's headrest. The sunlight falling from the window made his pale skin gleam as the memories from the past encircled his mind.

"Hyung!"

"Hyung!"

Two voices ranged across the hallways, outside his room, and he instantly recognized them as his brothers.

Without letting the man inside the room regain his composure, both Jimin and Jeongguk opened the room's door with a thud and both of them entered simultaneously, struggling to fit in the door's frame.

"What's wrong?" He asked, in her sleepy yet annoyed tone.

"Hyung you were right from the start.... that bead indeed belongs to the prince." Jeongguk impatiently said while panting.

"We saw the prince in the house where that human is staying," Jimin added.

On hearing those words, the king's eyes darted in their direction; with sleep, now long gone.

"And it's the same house where those brothers, the one whom we saw approaching her first, and the one who caught us following her, live."

"Brothers?"

The older male hummed in response and further explained, "When we were on our search mission, strolling in the market that lies near the portal, in a hope that we'll either spot that male who approached her or the human. We fortunately caught her one day and followed her, but unexpectedly another male showed up."

"They tried surpassing us, but unknowingly fell into their trap when we quickly accompanied them from behind as soon as they came out of an alley."

Jeongguk remarked as pride swirled around his tongue and a smirk got plastered across his rugged features.

"Those are Minister Kim's sons, the ones closest to the king. They seem to have a close relation with Prince Taehyung."

The king of Jimin and Jeongguk's clan hummed and nodded.

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Inside the forest

The tree branches swayed in the wind, making a creaking sound, breaking the unsettling silence of the woods.

Each step Hoseok took, seemed to amplify his growing anxiety. The fallen leaves crackled under her feet, as he carefully stepped on the uneven ground, getting nearer to the portal.

The hybrids could not enter the gumiho's land without a portal, making it necessary for them to gently brush the Amaryllis.

Hoseok moved ahead and stepped on the wilted grass field, and delicately touched the Amaryllis.

Soon, the portal appeared and took its form. With one last long breath, Hoseok proceeded to step inside the circular light-striking structure.

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Inside the castle of the Kim clan

"Apology?!? Did you forget, how her mouth ran?" Namjoon briskly added when Taehyung advised him to apologise to Y/n.

Standing at the back way of the castle, Taehyung sighed, and they both stared at each other. Words seemed to elude between them when Taehyung's eyes tried convincing Namjoon for an inappropriate behavior.

"I'll take my leave now, Your Royal Highness," Namjoon said as a royal maid came rushing in their direction, leaving the prince behind, who was soon accompanied by a tense-looking Butler Kwon.

He moved forward, away from the castle, and stepped on the cobblestone street, admiring the colourful stalls that sat in a disoriented fashion, on the weekend. Soon, his mind started reminiscing about the shared memories with Y/n, and without even releasing, Namjoon stood in front of the same alley. His heart skipped a gentle beat and to dispel the foreign feeling, he started moving again.

The aroma of freshly baked buns pulled him towards the small wooden shop owned by Uncle Yeong. Namjoon glanced at him and exchanged a smile, trying to slow down his inner conflict; whether to take the buns or to abandon the idea.

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

LATER THAT DAY

Y/n grasped the small wooden bucket and made her way out of Jin's room. After pouring the dirt away in the bathroom, she cleaned herself before proceeding to the pantry.

Closing the bathroom door; with the pantry as her next destination, she started walking but obliviously ended up in Jin's room again.

Wait!? Why am I here again? She thought and started taking her steps forward before a known voice spoke from behind.

"So you were secretly trying to steal my buns."

Y/n rolled her eyes at Namjoon's sentence before she started moving out of the free space, but a loud howl stopped her again, now gaining her full attention.

"THOSE SWEET BUNS!... on the t-table are m-mine," the dragon-eyed male in front of her, yelled. "But I can let you have a bite, only if you plead."

Y/n scorned at him as his twisted words kept on confusing her. She remarked in annoyance, "You think I'll plead in front of a tasteless fool like you?"

Namjoon scoffed and a smirk began to creep up on his full lips, "Tasteless?... Interesting."

Rolling her eyes again, Y/n started stomping out of the room, but this time, Namjoon held her wrist and pulled her closer to himself.

"I don't take no! As answer. Eat it!" Namjoon commanded as he shifted her towards the table.

Y/n was flabbergasted by his actions except for his normal way of talking, which always demanded authority and had a hint of sneer in each word he spoke to her.

"Fine! I'll eat it! You freak! Just calm down," Y/n blurted while pushing his hand away, and shoving a bun in her mouth.

Namjoon stared at her eating form while folding his hands as if inspecting the flavours by her expressions. His undefined gaze made her stiffen internally as she stood beside his tall form.

"It's not red bean paste this time. It's raspberry!" Y/n added while still being consumed by the balanced flavors on her taste buds.

"Seriously?" Namjoon blurted, his widened eyes showing excitement as if he himself never knew that this flavor existed.

"Hmm, have it," Y/n said and shoved the left portion of the bun in his mouth. Namjoon munched the bread before he chimed, "It's good!"

Y/n took out another piece of bread, crumbled it into two halves, and handed a piece to him. Without even releasing, they both started complimenting the delightful flavors of the bun.

In her thoughts, Y/n looked closely, at the shining brown crust of the bread, trying to capture the images she'd take back, but she was pulled out of her trance when Namjoon's fingers brushed at the corner of her lips, wiping away the raspberry jam.

Their eyes met, and as if time seemed to stand still, they got lost in each other gazes.

His gaze was filled with mystery and intrigue, holding a thousand untold secrets. Y/n found herself unable to look away, completely captivated by the depth of his striking features.

The wind blew and reached the space between them, gently knocking the windows, making the both of them aware of their lost trances. Namjoon quickly cleared his throat, and took his hesitant steps backwards, towards his room.

"You can have it all... Y/n."

✧

Hello everyone, I am back! With a new chapter.
Hope you all are enjoying it so far!
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──── With love
Your jobless AutHOr