It's happening today.
Your breathing is unsteady and nervous as you stand outside the pet shop, your pinky hooked with Jimin's as the two of you stare down the door like it's a fire-breathing dragon.
Somewhere behind that door, beside the shelves of puppy treats, Kim Namjoon is waiting for you with the reversal to all your happiness.
You're ready to fight for it.
The two of you had made the ultimate decision to leave your pets at home, since Jimin deems Hoseok now responsible enough to keep all of them out of trouble. You'd rather sit down with the animals separately and tell them the good news instead of bashing everything out in front of them.
Exchanging a glance with your orange-haired friend, who's working to hide the uneasy tremors of his body, you move forward and push through the door.
Inside, the faint scent of cat food wafts through the store. The quiet chirping of birds and small animals fills your ears.
You let go of Jimin's pinky with a reassuring squeeze.
You can do this.
Namjoon may be a a Giant in the physical sense, but he can't overpower the might of your and Jimin's desperation.
"Hello?" you call out as you step into the shop. If you retrace your memories, you can follow the path to the back of the store where you met a little black bunny that determines all of your fates. "Yoongi? Jin?"
"Back here," answers a rough voice, laden with sleep. You follow its echoing cadence around the shelves of squeaky toys to where the staff room is, it's door hanging wide open.
Within is Yoongi, sitting at a table and peering up at you through his pitch-black bangs.
"I was waiting on you guys," he says inside of a yawn, his mouth stretching wide and softening the sharp edge of his jaw. "Namjoon and Jin left because Jin was hungry." He shakes his head at the thought. "Anyways, I'm supposed to give you this."
His pale, long-fingered extends to the two of you, holding out a single glass vial the size of your pinky finger, filled to the brim with a vibrant orange liquid. It sloshes at the glad sides mockingly.
"There's only one?" you ask in surprise.
Yoongi hums in confirmation. "Something about it being only one spell, so only one of them has to drink it to break it, blah blah blah. I'm not totally sure. I think I drifted off with my eyes open."
"Oh," you mutter. "About that..."
It's unfortunate that you have to deal with Yoongi. If only Namjoon was here...
But maybe this is better? You don't know which would be easier: telling Namjoon that all his hard work has been for nothing, or receiving the nasty end of Yoongi's irritation.
You're hoping that the second will be less painful.
"Should we wait for the other two?" Jimin murmurs confidentially to you, watching uncertainly as Yoongi's perceptive eyes narrow in suspicion.
"What is it?" the black-haired employee demands. "This is what you wanted. To fix all of this, right? You threw a huge fit over it, so here. Take it."
When he thrusts the vial in Jimin's direction, your friend flinches back.
His hesitancy tells a whole story in Yoongi's eyes.
"Oh, no. No, no, no." Eyes blazing, Yoongi pushes up front his chair. His jaw is set in a way that reminds you of a bull dog hooked onto a toy, refusing to let go. "Don't you dare tell me that you've changed your mind."
A sheepish laugh leaves your mouth. "What if we did?"
Once again, Yoongi watches the two of you with intense eyes, looking. He sees Jimin wringing his hands, and you cupping the side of your neck.
He sees the extra foundation there, covering up the love bites that Jungkook left behind.
Abruptly, Yoongi's lips curl up into a shape that speaks clearly of his disgust as realization dawns in his eyes.
He curses you, and your rabbit, and then your ancestry in great detail.
"That is- that is horrifying," Yoongi chokes. "You're sleeping with him. I think I might vomit."
As mortifying as his words are, you don't back down, using Jimin's presence beside you as a boost. You keep your shoulders straight and face the furious man.
"It isn't like you think." It's harder than you thought it would be to keep your voice from trembling.
"Let me guess." Yoongi cocks his head at you, mouth crooked up on one side. "You fell in love. It's fate. You're meant to be together, right? And you-" he points at Jimin now, "-love them now too. They're your friends, right? They can't go now."
Floundering, you and Jimin speechlessly gape at Yoongi.
What are you supposed to say?
Your argument sounds weak as heck when he says it like that.
"What kind of idiots are you?" Yoongi scoffs. "Listen to me carefully. They. Are. Animals. You're having sex with a rabbit, and your best friends are two jacked up ferrets. Do you understand that?"
"Yes," you say. "But no. They aren't animals anymore."
"No?" Yoongi slams the vial down onto the table, so hard that you expect the glass to shatter beneath his fury. "You're telling me that they instantly turned into completely capable twenty-something year old men? That they knew everything, could do everything?"
Not exactly...
The more that he speaks, the more your doubts creep up on you. It's true. They are animals, and they're not normal humans.
"What does it matter if they're normal?" you ask weakly, clinging to your reasoning. "I didn't fall in love with a normal human. I fell in love with him, exactly the way he is."
Once again, Yoongi's face creases in dissatisfaction. "Nature is the way that it is for a reason, Y/N. It has a system and a way about it that isn't within mortal rights to change. Them changing species is wrong. And what about this? Jimin, can you afford two extra mouths? Can either of you?"
His chest is heaving with exertion, words flying like daggers from his mouth almost faster than you can keep track of.
Jimin has a hand pressed to his forehead, eyes squinted closed as if he's in pain.
Your plan has just been verbally torn to shreds by a grumpy cashier.
Staring at the neon liquid contained in the slender vial, you feel your bottom lip begin to tremble.
Why are Yoongi's words making you into this pathetic, doubtful mess? You had been so confident in Jimin's room the other night, so sure that there was some way to keep those men as humans and by your side.
You love Jungkook so much that it hurts.
As the thought slips through your thoughts, you suddenly remember the reason for your previous determination. For the determination you should have now.
"We'll figure it out," you say with a quiet firmness that causes Yoongi to grit his teeth.
"That's ridiculously unrealistic," says the man.
"So is your entire existence," is your immediate answer. "This isn't a normal situation, Yoongi. What you said is true. They aren't normal, and we can't afford them. But none of that changes anything now."
Your body, which had begun to slump under the onslaught of Yoongi's words, straightens again as the words leave your mouth. "I'm in love with Jungkook, and Taehyung and Hoseok are more important to Jimin than anyone has been before. You can gripe and stand on your soapbox all frickin' day, but as long as those men are happy with a human life, we're going to keep them that way."
"Y/N." His voice is flat, hard. "They don't even exist."
"From now on, they do." Jimin's voice is a surprise from behind you. Your orange-haired friend steps forward to stand as an equal by your side, his muscular arms crossed over his chest. "We'll make everything work. This isn't as simple as it used to be."
Growling, Yoongi snatches up the potion and holds it up to you. "I don't care if I have to force this stuff down their throats, those animals will turn back into animals if it's the last thing I do. I will restore nature's balance. I'm going to make up for my mistake."
Well.
Not if he doesn't have that potion, he won't.
So you simply steal the vial from between his slender fingers.
Before Yoongi can even process what just happened, you grab Jimin's arm and sprint out of the staff room, rounding the shelves and bursting through the door.
"Y/N!" Jimin laughs incredulously, but you don't answer him and just keep running with a crazy grin on your face.
You can reason with Namjoon over the phone. As long as you and Jimin are in possession of the potion, however, you control whether or not your pets drink it.
You're almost home free.
As you run, you slip the glass vial into the safety of your pocket, satisfied with the knowledge that you're out of danger's way for the time being.
***
That evening, your cell phone trills with an alert, informing you that you've revived a text message.
Jungkook shifts sleepily behind you as you reach for the device, his fingers clutching you back into his bare chest. "Mm. Who is it?"
You shrug and open up the message, blinking down as your eyes behold the words on the lit-up screen.
I understand why you did what you did. Identification cards and papers will be on their way soon. Jin will bring them over. If you need help with anything, please give me a call.
-N
You smile and turn off the phone, rolling into your companion and cuddling into the heat of his skin as you answer him.
"Jungkook, I think there's an angel watching over us. He's keeping the devil cashier at bay."
[A/N]
Unedited
Hi Lilpockets!!💕
I will still be posting chapters on Wattpad, so don't worry 😊😊
And thank you guys so much for your support on Inkitt. It's completely overwhelming 😭 You guys are the most amazing people on the planet, and I appreciate every one of you. Thank you so much ❤️❤️❤️
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