As soon as they got to the apartment, they carefully placed the mirrors on the couch, looking at them for any signs of damage. They were sat side by side as they each looked around the frame, touching the smooth material of the ancient artifacts, looking nothing like Rei had imagined them to look. They were shining brighter than anything she'd ever seen in her life but she couldn't get her eyes off them either. After a while, Taehyung's voice was heard next to her and it drew her attention enough to make her look away from the magical objects but a strange urge got to her that was telling her to check the back of the mirrors.
"We need to find the Sword. Come on." He urged, taking her hand to guide her to the door.
"Wait." Rei stopped, turning back to the artifacts, grabbing the edge to tilt it forward and reveal the back of the first mirror and she was surprised to find some type of ancient writings on the canvas covering the back that she couldn't recognize the language.
"What is that?" Taehyung asked, stepping closer to the couch as she turned the mirror, its back facing them properly as Rei lowered it on the plush cushion.
"I don't know. Turn the other around as well." Taehyung did as told, and it too had the same type of writings on its back and the shape in which it was written seemed like a puzzle but they didn't match in the position they were in at the moment and Rei moved to swap them around, the writings completing each other and forming the face of the whole American continent.
"Alright." He drew out the words, looking at the canvas confused. "What the Hell is this?" He asked confused.
"I think it's some kind of spell. But I can't read it since I'm not a witch." Rei assumed but a small crack in the left corner of the canvas got Rei's attention and she moved to investigate it. "What is this?" She said as her fingers went to gently pull the corner that was sticking out to reveal the inside of the frame where they found the item they were about to go looking for.
"Is that the Sword we're looking for?" Taehyung asked, hoping for a positive answer. The faster they found the items the faster they would heal up Kookie and get out of the messy situation that was eating him alive.
Eager to find out as well, Rei carefully untucked the piece of canvas on the side, revealing the whole inside of the mirror, careful not to rip off the cloth on which the spell was written on because without it everything would'be been in vain.
The appearance of the short sword looked exactly like she remembered from the details she read online and from CL as well. The handle was made of carved wood, painted with strange designs and the blade was thick near the bottom, thinning towards the pointy tip, carved with small droplets that she assumed was meant to resemble the blood of the victim.
"I think it is, Tae. We found them." Rei said surprised but a small smile spread across her face at the realization that soon everything would go back to the way it was before when she just joined the gang. "How are we gonna take them back, though? Don't we need some paperwork for them?"
"Oh, baby. You forget who your boyfriend is." He chuckled, closing the distance between them to peck her lips sweetly as Rei looked at him with pure confusion.
"What? Taehyung, now is not the time for this. Have a little patience, would you?" Rei scolded, assuming he was just horny again.
"What? No, Rei, that's all I am to you, a sex toy?" He teased, feigning offense, and Rei was more confused than ever, looking at him with big eyes and a slight pout on her lips and he dropped the teasing to get back to the problem at hand. "I have a jet, babe. We'll get Yoongi hyung to come get us without anyone knowing." Taehyung explained and Rei nodded, understanding what he meant.
The phone call Taehyung made lasted no more than a few minutes as he gave Yoongi only the important details of the mission and the only thing they had to do now was waiting for him to arrive at the airport near their house. As soon as Taehyung ended the call, they went into the kitchen to eat their dinner and shower afterward to change their sweaty clothes and get ready for the leave. The short dress Rei wore was much better than the shorts since it allowed the air to get to the most inaccessible places and the temperatures weren't so high during the night and she felt relieved. Taehyung, on the other hand, had no problem with wearing baggy shorts and a loose t-shirt, adding a cap as well, making Rei look at him astonished because the heat might not be unbearable but covering his head was a little too much for her. She felt hot by only looking at him.
~
They all arrived back in Seoul safe and sound after the few hours flight. Taehyung and Rei managed to sneak the artifacts well enough to not draw any attention to themselves after they got to the airport and as soon as they got on their private jet, they hurried back home. As soon as they entered the door, they were surprised by Jungkook running down the stairs to give Rei a bear hug as he peppered her face with little kisses to show how much he missed her.
"Oh, Hi, Kookie." She returned the hug as he immediately melted in her arms.
"I missed you so much, baby!" Jungkook pulled back to take her hand and starting to walk towards the stairway.
"Wait, aren't you gonna greet your hyung?" She asked, throwing a quick glance behind her to see Taehyung looking at his feet as he swayed from side to side, uncomfortable by the scene.
Jungkook stopped, his back still facing this older friend as he mumbled a quick, "Hi, hyung." And started walking again, urging Rei to follow him.
At the sound of the coldness the younger had in his voice, Rei turned her head to mouth an apology at her boyfriend before she was dragged upstairs with an eager Jungkook who wanted nothing more than to cuddle and pamper his girlfriend.
With a broken heart, Taehyung went to look for Seokjin to ask more about the younger's health and behavior over the past few days and also tell him about the great news of restoring Jungkook's mental health since they had everything they needed. Well, everything minus the person capable of casting the spell that needed to be done.
The oldest was currently in the living room, watching a cooking show Taehyung knew he was passionate of and as soon as Jin took in the redhead's miserable look, he knew something was up and he knew it had to do with Jungkook because the younger boy was the only one who could affect him as much. Taehyung cared about Jungkook more than he cared about his own life. The younger was his best friend and his partner in crime and their friendship was beyond special for the both of them even though Jungkook wasn't acknowledging that at the moment.
"You're back." Jin turned to look at the younger, scooching on the couch to make room for Taehyung to sit as he turned off the tv.
"Yeah, we're back. We got the artifacts. I'm gonna call CL in a bit but first I want to know how has he been doing?" Taehyung said in a small voice as he played with the rings on his fingers.
"He had his moments." Jin sighed, leaning back against the armrest. "His jealousy is no joke. The things he said about you going with Rei... Thank God you weren't here to hear them." He shook his head, laughing drily.
"I can imagine." Taehyung nodded, sniffling silently.
"But he is eating and resting well. And that's what matters the most." Jin informed. "I'm gonna go tell Namjoon the news." He stood up from the couch to go to the guest room he was currently occupying for the short visit.
~
Jungkook sighed happily as he watched the love of his life, Rei, enjoying the television show they were watching, cuddled up in his bed under a fluffy blanket at the younger's request. The last couple of days have been a living Hell for Jungkook since all he could think about was Rei and Taehyung hooking up behind his back and he couldn't do anything to stop it. Even with Rei's words of assurance, he still couldn't get the pictures out of his mind, so he mostly slept his frustrations away and overdosed on snacks and sweets. But now that she was there with him, under his supervision, he finally breathed relieved.
As Rei was busy directing all of her attention to the drama as she lied comfortably on his chest, a hand wrapped around her waist, Jungkook wanted to have some fun, so he slid his hand underneath her t-shirt, caressing the soft skin he found there and the action caught her off guard as a gasp left her mouth, making her freeze in his arms. But he took that as a good sign and kept trailing his fingers up her spine, drawing little patterns on her back as his other hand went to push the hair out of her face to kiss her forehead gently, her eyes fluttering shut at the sweet gesture.
"Baby, I missed you so much." He whispered, a raspiness etched to his voice.
"I'm here, Jungkook." Rei took his hand in hers, entwining their fingers together.
"If you are then why don't you show me, Rei?" He asked, voice slightly wavering from all the emotions he tried to hold in.
Even though she pretended they were a couple, kissing and making out, sometimes sleeping together but never doing anything more than that. And she knew he was going to ask for it at some point because with every rejection he was getting more suspicious and even more irritated by the fact that she was always spending time with Taehyung. He knew something was missing from their relationship but Rei couldn't do it.
"I'm sorry, Kookie but I'm so tired right now." She brushed him off again and he felt the irritation growing strong inside him.
"Of course you are." He laughed bitterly, retreating his hand from beneath her shirt and moving to stand up, disturbing Rei's comfortable position. "You just have to have an excuse anytime I try to get just a little close to doing anything intimate with you, don't you?" He stood up to walk the small distance from his bed to the window.
"Jungkook..." Rei moved to sit cross-legged on the mattress.
"No. What is it? Why won't you let me show you how much I love you?" Jungkook finally let his frustration out and he felt like a rock had been lifted off his soul because he kept that in for so long it had begun to eat him out from the inside. "Is it because of Taehyung?" The disgust coming out of his voice at the simple mention of the name made Rei shudder. She knew he was getting jealous again and she had to end the argument that has been going on for the past 4 months.
"Alright, come here. We have to talk about something." She patted the empty space next to her as he narrowed his eyes, taking small, unsteady steps as he walked back towards the bed and sat at a safe distance from her. "Remember when Chanyeol came for me and Taehyung, three months ago?" Rei asked and he nodded faintly, unsure of where she was going with the story. "Well, Aotaki made a mistake one night when we were trying to find Taehyung and Jimin. You went into your room alone and she wasn't herself at the moment since Chanyeol had a spell on her and her first job was to take you out. And she did." Rei stopped to take a deep breath and stop the tears from surfacing when she felt her eyes starting to sting at the corners. "Jungkook... she has this spell on you... Your mind... it isn't in a healthy place right now." The look of confusion on his face broke her heart. She couldn't talk about it more openly than she already was because she feared that as soon as the words would leave her mouth, the tears would fall down as well.
"What do you mean? Rei, what is this nonsense? I'm perfectly fine, baby." He furrowed his brows in confusion as he reached for her hands to give her a reassuring squeeze.
"No, Kookie. You're not. Aotaki has you under a spell and you're only living your fantasies right now. I'm sorry." She looked down at their hands, feeling the tears sliding down her cheeks.
"No. That's not true. This is real. My love for you is real, baby. I promise you this." He shook his head in denial, his chest heaving as he was close to hyperventilating from the fear of losing all he had ever believed in.
"You do but you never confessed to me. We never dated, Jungkook. I'm Taehyung's mate and you are my best friend. This relationship isn't real." Rei tried to convince him as he kept denying the truth.
"But I did confess. That night at the prom!" His voice wavered, visibly shaking as all the emotions hit him at once.
"That didn't happen, Kookie. You were hooking up with the bartender the whole time. I'm so sorry." She wiped away the tears falling down the younger's cheeks before she pulled him into a hug, rubbing his back soothingly and he broke down, sobbing loudly as he shook with every part of his body.
"I...I think I need Taehyung-hyung." He cried, gripping her shirt so tightly that she thought the material might rip off.
Rei wanted to keep hugging the boy until he would miraculously heal up from just the action itself but she respected Jungkook's wish and with a heavy heart, Rei pulled away to go downstairs and search for the man in question.
~
While Rei was busy explaining the situation to Jungkook, Taehyung managed to call CL and inform her about their success in collecting the needed artifacts in order to be able to cast the spell. But they still needed someone who was powerful enough to execute it without any mistakes. He was surprised to know that his sister already found the person they were looking for while he was already on the mission to find the spell.
"We have that as well, Noona. It's written on the back of the mirrors." Taehyung informed, hearing a hum of approval from his sister.
"Alright, talk to him and inform him about the ritual and have him ready tomorrow morning. I'll send a driver to pick you up." CL said and was ready to end the call when Taehyung spoke again.
"Wait, who's gonna do it?" He asked, curious about on whose hands he was going to leave his precious maknae on.
"The one who did it in the first place." CL said before she ended the call, leaving Taehyung frowning at the phone as a few questions popped into his head.
Why didn't she tell him about Aotaki's part in the whole deal? They could've joined forces and end Jungkook's misery a lot faster. And Taehyung wouldn't have hated her guts for ditching them after ruining a family member's life.
As he was busy thinking about all the possibilities they could've had at working together, Rei came running down the stairs, calling his name. "Come quick. It's Jungkook." And Taehyung didn't need to hear more as he ran past her on the stairs, going straight to the younger's room. He found the maknae on the floor, hugging his knees with his cheeks red from wiping continuously at the incoming tears and Taehyung felt his heart heavy again.
"Taehyungie!" Came a broken cry as Jungkook jumped up from the floor to hug his hyung so tightly, Taehyung felt like he was suffocating but he couldn't complain because he missed him too much to say anything that could jeopardize their bonding time, especially when the action was initiated by the younger.
"Yes, baby. I'm here." He shushed the man, rubbing his back soothingly to get him to stop crying.
They stood like that for a couple of moments, Jungkook sobbing quietly in Taehyung's arms as the older whispered sweet nothings into his ear, kissing the top of his head every now and then to help steady him. When all there was heard in the room were the soft puffs of the younger's steady breathing, Taehyung opened his mouth to speak.
He started explaining the whole situation to Jungkook, choosing his words carefully while the younger just nodded, listening quietly. From the part where Aotaki got compelled by Chanyeol to put a spell on him to how Rei faked to be in a relationship with him for his sake. They had to play along otherwise they could've risked losing their best friend for life which was even more dangerous since he was compelled to get in between whoever tried to get near Rei. In his mind, he was the only one who could touch her and any little touch or even look that someone could throw her way would trigger the younger to attack just like he did to Taehyung so many times.
"But we found a cure, baby. Tomorrow, we'll go visit Queen CL and we'll make you healthy again." Taehyung said a low, calming voice as they sat cuddled on the younger's bed; Jungkook's head hid in the crook of his neck.
"Mhm." Jungkook hummed sleepily and soon soft snores were heard from the younger as Taehyung snuggled him closer in his arms, pulling up a blanket on both of their bodies after he texted Rei he was going to spend the night with Jungkook.