forty-one
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IT FELT STRANGE TO BE BACK AT WORK, BUT JIMIN FOUND MORE COMFORT AMONGST THE GREENERY THAN HE DID AT HOME. Being surrounded by the various plants and constant coverage of dirt brought him a sense of peace that he had longed for since leaving Yoongi's side. Here, he could pretend that he was back at Eden, surrounded by her glorious garden, designed with him in mind. It's likeness was that of a homemade versailles, with its intricate pathways, clear blue ponds, and statues. It was a plant lover's paradise and it was his paradise.
He was also thankful to still have a job, but that was besides the point.
The first two weeks back home passed by in an odd fashion; some days felt longer while others seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye. His days were divided between his school, working almost full time to make up for the past month, and answering the endless amount of questions that Jin and Jungkook came up with. Just when he thought they'd run out of things to ask him, they would come up with something new that intrigued them. Much like with their conversation from this weekend, when Jin had suddenly bombarded him with whether or not Jimin was still single.
"So you two are a thing now right? I mean, I know you explained that you used to be a thing, but what about now? Are you a couple again? How does that work?"
"Yes, we're a couple," Jimin responded, taking a large sip of his tea, as he cleaned up the counter in his kitchen. "He's my boyfriend," with his back turned to his friends, however, he was free to grimace at the word boyfriend, because Yoongi was not his boyfriend, and saying it outloud sounded wrong. But to tell them that he was his husband might be enough for Jin to send him to an early grave. He gently touched the ring around his neck.
"What's he like? You haven't given us any details really about him,"
"He's hot," Jungkook stated, with a mouth full of food. Jimin shot him a look, to which the younger shrugged. "What? He is,"
"Stick to Taehyung," Jimin said with a smirk. "-and he's perfect. I swear this isn't the romantic in me talking, he really is the most perfect gentleman I've ever met. He's compassionate, intelligent, and funny. He's passionate, his words are like poetry, and sometimes I think he's more of a god than he is a man - which sounds stupid when I put it that way because he is a vampire - but he truly is unreal, Hyung,"
"I think you're whipped,"
"Yeah, Maybe,"
Maybe was an understatement.
That was how most of his days went: school (and questions), then off to work (with more questions) and then home to answer more questions. Jimin was convinced that he could answer their questions in his sleep.
And that was how his day was currently going. In between repotting plants and handling customers, Jimin was filling the time with helping Jungkook figure out how to approach Taehyung. The best advice the older could give him, was to pull him aside and to talk about it. Rip the bandaid off, and bring the subject up. Taehyung was an open-minded person, and maybe this would be the best way to bring the two together. Of course, Jungkook would need far more reassurance than just 'talk to him, everything will be fine,' and Jimin was starting to wonder if he really was an Alpha or an omega in disguise.
He could feel his phone buzzing in his back pocket as he made his way into the back to work on repotting the next batch of pothos. With a laugh, and a shake of his head, he grabbed a bag of dirt, and made a mental note to respond to Jungkook when he was finished.
As he walked into the back of the green house, though, he was suddenly engulfed in freezing temperatures; a cold wind rushed past him and sent shivers down his spine. The greenhouse should be hot — annoyingly hot — so Jimin had no idea where this cold was coming from. Not to mention the fact that it was almost the middle of June, and the sun was out this afternoon, high in the sky, with no clouds to obstruct it's rays. And yet it felt as if Winter wasn't quite done with them. The cold was there, settling into the open space, and waiting, but for what? Jimin rubbed his arms, furrowing his brows. He hoped it was just a breeze passing by due to the ocean.
Something was off...and he tried his best to ignore it as he returned to his work, but he couldn't shake the feeling that maybe someone was watching him.
But the cold didn't go away as he wandered around, repotting plants and carrying soil around. He would glance over his shoulder, but nobody was there, and if there were customers, they were paying him no mind. He was beginning to feel paranoid, but why?
Thirty minutes later, he's out of the back room, walking the floor of the greenhouse in an attempt to run away from the cold, but it seemed like everywhere he went, it followed him. He's in the cactus aisle when another cold gust of wind rushed past. He whipped his head around, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see him rounding the corner, his long, black trench coat whipping around the shelf; his black hair blowing gently in the breeze. He was here, but he hadn't seen him yet. Jimin understood why he was so cold and paranoid now.
It was not long before his sinfully melodic voice echoed in his ear — in a tone that was slightly lower than Yoongi's and equally as seductive.
"You're home,"
Jimin could help but gasp softly as he turned around. He had expected to be met with piercing, black eyes, and sharp features, but was surprised when he was brought into a hug — one too gentle to be coming from such an exquisite creature. "I've missed you. Where did you run off to?"
"Hello Dk," Jimin replied, quietly.
"Hello Love,"
Jimin's stomach twisted. It all felt so wrong.
Dk pulled out of the hug, and peered down at Jimin with glistening eyes that held a certain warmth to them, as did his smile. It was unsettling for Jimin to look at. Nothing about Dk was ever warm. There was something different about him today. Again. Unsettling.
"It's good to see you again, Jimin. You've been gone for so long,"
"Y-Yeah, no, sorry, I...something personal came up, that I had to deal with, and I took some time off,"
"Oh," Dk's eyes shifted, his head tilting to the side. He brought a hand up, brushing some of Jimin's hair out of his face. His fingers were cold against his skin. His heartbeat skipped a beat, but not like how Yoongi could. Dk peered down at him, with a stare that reminded him of his husband's, that held a certain playfulness and curiosity in it, but like with the warmth in his smile, something was off about him, and Jimin almost tensed at the touch.
"Is something wrong? Nothing bad happened right?"
"No, of course not. I'm okay, much better actually, that I was a month ago,"
"That's wonderful to hear, love,"
His gaze trailed down, landing on Jimin's neck. The chain around his neck shone brightly in the sunlight, his ring on full display. Jimin almost swatted his hand away when he reached up and lightly touched his ring.
"How pretty," he mused, in an almost disproving tone.
"It's a family heirloom," Jimin replied, clasping his hand around the ring, hiding it from his darkening eyes. Desperate to talk about anything else, Jimin cleared his throat. "Is there anything that I can help you with? Looking for a new house plant?" If he was being honest with himself, Jimin wanted nothing more than to get away from Dk. Unlike most times where he could handle being in his presence, he felt so unsettled about him. It also felt wrong to be around him. Sinful even? He was too perfect, too cold, too...close. Yoongi might have killed him if he were here. A battle of gods perhaps? Jimin shuddered lightly.
"No, no, not today Love," Dk said, smiling with his eyes. "I'm running late to a meeting. I just wanted to see if you had returned, and now that I know you're safe and sound, I have to be going. Next time perhaps?"
Next time sounded like a promise that Jimin didn't want to keep.
Jimin watched as he waved goodbye, and sauntered out of the greenhouse. Once he was out of sight, Jimin could feel the June heat seeping back in, and warming him up. It was as if the winter cold had gone with him. Jimin frowned.
Jimin felt unsettled now as he stood alone in the greenhouse. Dk's visit had left him with an impending feeling of doom, and he forced himself to push the thought to the back of his mind, where it could be a problem for future Jimin to deal with.
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To distract himself from his unusual encounter with Dk, Jimin threw himself down a rabbit hole of research when he arrived home. Jungkook was out for the night, visiting his parents, meaning he was free to be alone with his thoughts.
He began with a bit of light reading on the subject of Wicca. He'd purchased a few books upon his return home, and did some reading online. He wasn't quite sure what it was that he was looking for — he was sure he'd know it if he saw it. For someone with a "magical" ability, Jimin was surprised that he hadn't looked into the craft sooner, seeing as he really liked the positive energy and spiritual beliefs that it talked about. He felt as if it might suit his lifestyle and made a mental note to look into further as something he'd like to incorporate into his life at some point.
When his reading posed no new information, Jimin focused his attention on where his gift came from. As Taehyung had pointed out earlier in the year, he had probably inherited it from himself. It made him wonder if he was the only one in his family to have such a gift, and when he thought long and hard about it, the Park family had quite a few members that either work in agriculture, biology, or anything to do with plants and nature, or had some sort of plant related hobby. Even his own parents, who enjoyed gardening, and long walks in nature.
He spent a solid hour online, googling where magic came from, stumbling across mostly how to write websites or magic 101 for your novels. However, it did provide some insight, and after stumbling across one website, Jimin took notice of two different archetypes of where magic came from: Elemental Magic, and Blood Magic.
Elemental Magic comes from the natural world. Ancient civilisations such as the Vikings or the Celts held a high respect for the four elements: air, earth, water and fire, while also adhering to their own religions and beliefs.
Jimin skimmed over the other three elements, and focused his attention on the Earth elements, which he felt he had more of a connection with.
Earth: the element of Earth is traditionally associated with traits such as steadiness and growth, building, growing, or anything else that's considered to be non-violent. Having a connection to the earth could be used as a source of physical or magical strength, and is generally considered a positive element.
Jimin liked the positive aspect. He considered himself to be a gentle soul, and didn't find joy in harming others. The other archetype that caught his eye was Blood magic, which sounded menacing when he first looked at it, but the further he read, he realized it wasn't all that malicious.
Blood Magic comes from a living being without interference from deities, elements or science, and is a type of magic that is typically inherited (passed down through a bloodline). The strength of the bloodline could have effects on the strength of the magic itself.
This was most likely the outcome of how Jimin had received his "magic" so to speak, but he wondered how he'd obtained it back then. Had he inherited it from a past relative before? Or had he been cursed with it?
Jimin pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh and closed his computer. His research had only left him with more questions and almost no way to answer him. Perhaps he could talk to Aurora about sources of Magic, and whether or not he had possessed it in an unconventional way back then. He lent back against his couch, and frowned. That was another issue for future Jimin to deal with.
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hello, i'm back in front of a computer, so hopefully updates will be easier to write. this chapter is a bit iffy in the sense that suspense really isn't my forte and will be something i need to work on in the future, but what are your thoughts on Dk now that he's made his reappearance?
also, i did do some minor research into where magic comes from, and I skipped over a few archetypes and the other elements, and if any of you are interested in reading it for yourself i will include the link to the website here: https://acresofink.com/2019/10/13/its-a-kind-of-magic-where-does-magic-come-from/
as usual, if anything confuses you or if you have questions, leave a question and i will get back to you as soon as I can.