You woke up to the shrill sound of the alarm. You wondered bleakly if you could've afforded a day off. It was just you simply couldn't stomach working with your boss another day, you found him nauseatingly arrogant somehow. Quickly doing the maths and checking your upcoming bills you reluctantly got out of bed.
You could not afford a day off.
Sliding out into the shower, you regretted not wearing clothes to bed. The chill of the early morning made you even more resistant to part with the warm comforting covers...not that being cold was truly the problem. You knew this day was going straight to hell the churning of your gut told you so. You turned the shower knob and let the steamy hot water caress your tired skin. Hopefully, it would revitalise you for the day.
An hour and several cups of coffees later, you were ready. Once again you found yourself wearing makeup, not something you were accustomed to, but had started to enjoy doing in the morning. Grinning proudly at your reflection, you grabbed your keys and bag, sprinting for the bus you were seconds from missing. Nearly missing the bus every morning now that was something you were definitely accustomed to, in fact, it was a norm.
By the time you got work you were out of breath and flustered, despite just making the first bus you missed the second connection bus to work and had to run for the tube instead to get to work in time. You glanced at your reflection relieved you were still "somewhat" intact, although you coils of hair were slightly out of place and healthy sheen had appeared on your forehead.
"Good Morning."
The voice startled you, causing you to sharply spin on your heels. Seeing it was just your boss Jin, you allowed yourself to relax. Just a little. He shot you one of his signature smiles that the office so adoringly lapped up and you found painfully irritating, you couldn't miss the arrogance behind it! It didn't take long to notice that he held the small of your back to steady you since you had turned too quickly stumbling a little (almost to your doom down a flight of stairs). This made you uncomfortably close to his face, although you had to admit even at that proximity he was perfect, flawless. It was very difficult for you to admit though. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was silently making fun of you, well, at least his perfect smile gave you that impression.
Try and be careful." He pleaded softly "I don't think you can afford a day off."
You felt your self frown. That statement felt very deliberate...Too deliberate. There was no way he could have known that you were planning to call it a day, and then to know you were too broke to even consider it.
Or could he-?
You shook your head firmly, it was just a coincidence. He couldn't have known ...Right? The uneasy feeling cropped up again, only when you went to ask about why he had said something so pointed he had already disappeared around the corner. Huffing to yourself, annoyed, you hurried after him deciding to just drop it. You sounded crazy anyway.
Stumbling into the office you instantly noticed the blinds were all closed again. A little confused you turned to Jin, a look passed between the two of you causing you to swallow deeply. Something was wrong...he had such a pained expression on his face as if he was wondering if he should do what he was going to do next. Light seemed to move oddly as if it were rippling water, shadows danced and flickered. A headache pounded like a war drum in your head, a sharp pain at the bottom of your skull paralysed you. Blinded, you tried to look for Jin, but your mind couldn't quite focus...
In the middle of the chaos sat Jin. Despite your mind being fuzzy and your eyes being unable to focus and process anything you could see that Jin was absolutely memorising, of course, Jin was incredibly good looking on a normal day, you weren't blind, it was just the truth, but right now you saw a glimpse of heaven in him. He was breathtaking. His eyes stirred and melted into a beautiful but striking honey colour, that was so clear that you would have sworn his eyes were pools of glass. The underlying buzzing that seemed to irritate the corner of your vision and your thoughts swarmed until you could no longer bear to think and then...
Nothing. Just a crushing sense of calm that caused you to become limp
"You know right...?" He whispered. "That we are different."
There was a prolonged period of silence as you continued to watch Jin's swirling eyes. No. He was just lying, pulling your leg. Without meaning to your mind went back to last night, you had thought it too, but you didn't want to say it out loud...because it wasn't true. It couldn't be true. He was liar, anger swelled in your chest. He was making a mockery out of you, the way they all loved to sneer at your expense like you were a small child, an idiot, a fool. The urge to quit was overwhelming.
"You can't afford to. Remember? You were thinking something to that effect this morning."
You paused in your tracks. You were right, he did know! You were stunned...Or were you? From the beginning, you knew that there was something different about him. It was just sobering for the elephant in the room to be finally addressed. Now you were barely surprised he knew about the events of the morning. It vaguely occurred to you that you hadn't told him out loud that you wanted to quit.
"What are you then?" You snapped.
"We're gods," he told you easily
We're?
Immediately came to the realisation that he was talking about them, Hoseok, Yoongi and even Jungkook, in fact, you were suspecting that all the managers had supernatural dispositions...
Jin was a god.
It was strange that you weren't even that surprised about the revelation now that it had been said out loud, almost like deep deep deep down you knew that was the answer. This was the answer, it was like you knew they weren't just strange. Somewhere in your mind, you had figured it all out already. You were just asking because you had to, that was what was expected of you in this scenario, those were your lines in this script.
"You weren't supposed to even notice that we were anything out of the ordinary but you seem to transcend our barrier of reality and almost see us for who we are. Well, that is if you are human." He paused finally grasping the gravity of the situation before continuing anyway
"That uncomfortable feeling you kept getting was because you were seeing the shift of energy between this and our reality, humans shouldn't have the capacity for that."
Your body became hot and cold as pinpricks sweat started down your spine, your head was imploding as your thoughts were speeding, moving at a million miles per hour, you could hear the rapid drum of your heart in your ears and the thrumming in your veins as another round of panic rose from the depths of your stomach. You heaved, your chest rising and falling, cold tears were forming threatening to race down your cheeks. This couldn't be right! It was all bullshit! In all your 23 years you had known yourself as a human! This couldn't be-
"Astra, relax."
You continued to panic but in bold as your thoughts seemed to just cause your head to split like an atom. Something seemed to creak back from the depths of your memory, a memory that was gathering dust was slowly having the dust blown off it...
"Typical mortals always do the exact opposite." He mumbled to himself
"R e l a x." He said.
His slid into the depths of your mind, causing a wave of calm to drown out any anxiety. Your essence seemed to sink into your feet and then circulate your body again, a warm soothing fog circled you like a hug almost lulling you to sleep.
You barely noticed that you weren't in the office but a garden...
It was pulchritudinous. The grass was such a vibrant green, as each blade shone like proud emeralds, flowers waved lazily in the soft breeze wafting a soft and glorious scent straight to you, reminding you of the most expensive perfumes, each flower was unique and indescribable. They were like nothing you had ever seen before, the clouds were few in the sky but those that were were blissfully floating, each tuft of softness a pure innocent white against the backdrop of perfect blue. Amongst that was an alluring tune that twinkled lightly just out of reach. You were compelled to chase it.
"You're in the outskirts of the heavens." Jin's voice cut through the music
"I don't want an earache about bringing a human woman up here again so I thought this would be far enough out for them not notice, besides it's safer here for you."
You slowly turned away from the music, you suspected that perhaps the aching melody was just for you to hear. For some reason, you didn't dare bring it up with him, even despite the fact that your body yearned to know what the song was and where it was coming from.
"Again?" You asked.
He smirked. "Sometimes I need a bit of privacy."
You were less than impressed, scrunching up your nose in disgust, you decided to move on. Here Jin was an ethereal and bewitching creature, he still remained in his loose tie, shirt and slacks, but his eyes stirred like mystical ambers, he had beautiful skin that seemed to illuminate itself with a sun-kissed glow, his dark brows framed his face giving his eyes a unique but, almost dangerous striking appearance. Above his heavy brows were playful wisps of cornfield coloured hair.
"Sorry for jumping this on you, it's easier to talk here." He apologised sincerely "There are no distractions here and I find the Olympian garden of Gethsemane has a calming effect, it's the only place I can bring mortals without killing them."
"What the hell Jin!? Is this why you made me move into your office to keep an eye on me so I wouldn't tell anyone if I figured it out?" You suddenly felt the fight leave you as you mumbled: "It wouldn't be like anyone would believe me."
Jin laughed a little before a thoughtful look crossed his features. Scanning your face, his eyes searched you, whilst never giving him away. You could never really tell what he was thinking himself.
"You're a smart girl, Jimin thought so too according to his notes...you remember Jimin right?"
How could you forget? He was a gentle speaking man, who had the most inviting smile you had ever seen, you were surprised you hadn't given everything to that man, one smile and you were at his mercy. You looked over at Jin again his gaze was serious, as he continued to analyse you, his eyes pulsating with energy. He really did look like a god.
"I was reading the rest of your file and he didn't suspect a thing...he should have." he mused out loud. "It is very obvious now that you aren't really mortal."
You and he started to fade back into the office the background was replaced by desks and computers. You bit your lip nervously, bubbles of blood appeared around the broken skin. Anxiety had a firm grip on you, your throat tightened and your heart weighed a million pounds all of sudden. Jin was messing with the fabric of your life. You safe repetitive life was going up in flames. You just wanted stability, but now it was all collapsing, everything you had worked for... All you have ever wanted was to stop running and live a normal life like everybody else and now...
"Incredible, how did you do that?" Jin mumbled, "How did you break us back out into the office...?"
You stared back at the beautiful man in front you, some of his features dulled once again once on the mortal plane, but he was still breathtaking. He mused out loud, that perhaps the fact that you weren't fully mortal was the reason you weren't blindly enthralled by them like other humans were...apparently that was their effect on humans. He looked a little bit disappointed as he said it. He reached out gently stroking your cheek, normally you would have backed away or swatted his hands out the way, but his touch was comforting.
"You're so alluring..." he breathed
An arm snaked around your waist as you were gently pulled into him. Staring into eyes you wondered why?
Why? Why? Why? You could push him away now, the words were going to spill out, but you didn't want to. His touch was familiar, he was home, he was safe. It didn't make sense.
A firm knock at the door echoed through the room. He cleared his throat although not at all embarrassed. He invited the person to come in, despite the fact that you were still in his arms, it was painfully clear what both of you were doing.
Six people traipsed in, all as easy on the eyes as the last. You recognised Jungkook, Hoseok, Jimin and the slightly mysterious Yoongi, the others you had seen them around, but you didn't really know them well. Neither of the six people that entered acknowledged the position you were in, so you quickly weaselled your way out his arms kicking yourself for being so irresponsible.
"Have you all met my assistant Astra?"
"Of course we've met the young lady, she's constantly downing coffees, she seems to also have a habit of sneaking out earlier.", Jimin spoke up, he eyed you up almost as if your existence was irrelevant to him.
You instantly felt indignant, what made it even worse was that the two administration managers Jungkook and Taehyung both nodded as if recalling memories of you sneaking off into the night and grabbing your millionth coffee of the day from the kitchen. You scowled at every one of them individually. Yoongi was now hiding an amused smile as even Hoseok had a twinkle in his eye.
"First of all, that was unnecessary as hell. Secondly, I have only sneaked out early once so bite me." You snapped, your voice dripping with annoyance.
They all watched you unconvinced by your latter statement.
"Okay maybe once or twice, but, you guys have been super mean about it all looking down on me both figuratively and literally, it's only twenty minutes anyway-"
You carried on bitterly, defending your honour and maybe your innocence. Gods or not you didn't appreciate the jabs at all, it wasn't like you went around pointing out their flaws. You then you wondered briefly if they could even have flaws? Your bitter rant was cut short by a low rumbling chuckle from Yoongi, who clearly couldn't take you seriously.
"She's cute," Jimin said again, dismissing your little hissy fit. You went start another rant, but Jin placed a hand on your shoulder, the gentle touch caused your heart to skip a beat but did nothing for your rising anger, it felt like he was patronising you, you weren't a child. In spite of your boiling rage, you held your tongue.
"Well, I called you here because it seems she knows...About us."
The other men turned to you wide-eyed. It was very clear that they had not expected to be found out by the young assistant. You stared back moon-eyed, you didn't like all this attention on you. Only one person didn't seem so surprised.
"It's not surprising...
Yoongi got up moving towards you bending slightly to peer into your face, as you yourself fell into oblivion that was his eyes, like Jin earlier, his eyes started to swirl into action. He simply held your cheek, to keep you from turning away.
"Tell me princess...what colour are my eyes?"
Falling deeper and deeper into his intense eyes that felt like they were stripping you down, you saw what you saw in the kitchen that day. You were lost in him. It felt like you both become part of each other, you didn't know where he ended and you began.
"Your eyes...I-I don't know-I see-the oceans-the sea your eyes are like the seas and oceans." You managed to get out at last.
After pulling away, at last, you became aware that you were holding your breath. Instantly, you went to compose yourself, if you weren't careful you would do something you would regret. Yoongi watched you with a smirk causing you to avert your gaze.
"That's ridiculous, humans can't distinguish us from everyday mortals" Argued Taehyung
Everyone broke into chatter; some arguing that it was impossible for you to have figured it out as a human and the other half seemed to be open to the idea that there was a possibility.
"Should we eat her?" Jungkook asked suddenly, his facial expression a picture of disinterest.
"That's an easy way of solving the problem", Taehyung considered. To you he seemed intimidating, his gaze shifted to you, immediately you lowered your eyes, he seemed so cold... In both ears, he wore ruby studs that glinted dangerously under the light, on his long fingers he wore heavy silver rings that had heavy black gems perched on the bands. He also wore a beautifully designed shirt, that was delicately decorated with beautifully ornate roses, that seemed to bloom right in front of you as if the very fabric was alive, he paired it with a satin navy tie, it seemed ordinary, but on closer inspection, you noticed a red, white and black snake. He was wearing Gucci.
"I have never eaten a human, but there's a first time for everything." Jimin turned to give you an ice-cold smile as he uttered the words. Jimin just appeared very different to when you first met him, all the warmth was gone, he acted like you were a huge inconvenience, his hair was barely parted over his eyes, but behind his dark hair, you could see his judging sharp eyes. He wore a simple black suit which made him somehow seem pristine. Long silver cross earrings dangled from his ears, unlike Taehyung his hand were decorated with simple but numerous sliver rings.
Chills ran up your spine, you turned to Jin in horror but Namjoon had already intervened
"We are not eating humans we're not demons," Namjoon interjected rubbing his temples, annoyed that the three young gods couldn't take anything seriously.
"Is this about your mum being a mortal once?" Jimin asked quirking an eyebrow in question.
"It's about us not being demons Jimin." Replied Namjoon robotically ignoring Jimin's obvious bait. Namjoon had a softer appearance, you were tempted to take refuge behind him as your eyes widened like saucers when you processed that Namjoon's mother was once a human being. Did that make Namjoon the only Demi good? You turned to Jin expectantly.
"He isn't a Demigod." Jin muttered, "Yes his mother was human but his grandfather's blood is running through his veins making him fully god."
Namjoon had a saviour like quality to him, you couldn't mistake the fact that he was an upright person who remained consistently fair. Even though he wasn't intimidating, he had an air about around him that literally screamed: "don't push it." He didn't bother looking at you anyway. He was just being fair to the poor defenceless mortal who hadn't done anything to warrant being eaten. That was it, he didn't quite feel pity for you quite yet. He was far less pristine, he wore a tweed blazer, he didn't bother with a tie, his shirt was partially undone so your eyes could shamelessly linger at his bare skin, his hands were shoved deep into his pockets, he just seemed manly but in a way that was unintentional and casual.
"Everyone Shut the fuck up." Yoongi did not need to raise his voice, his deep voice was commanding enough, as silence immediately fell. "You're scaring her."
Yoongi, on the other hand, did feel pity for you. He would never admit it, but seeing your blown out eyes and the fact that you are cowering behind Jin made him feel bad. Despite this, a look at his expressionless face did not convey that nor did it fill you with any hope, but you were grateful anyway.
He was right. You were terrified. You were locked in a room full of gods and for all you knew, they were going to smite you on the spot and there would've been nothing you could've done about it. You felt yourself back into a wall trying to find an escape. They were monsters with no regards for your life. Two of them had spoken about eating you. They Merely referred to you as a mortal as if scorning at your very existence.
"We aren't going to kill or harm you," Jin spoke again.
"I am sorry if it seemed like we were looking down at you, I apologise, my brothers sometimes lack manners..."
Brothers?! None of them even began to look like each other, as you glanced at all their faces.
"We are sons of the god known as Dionysus by you humans. We don't all have the same mother, however. Father was very promiscuous. I am the son of Dionysus and Aphrodite or otherwise known as Venus so is my younger brother Taehyung."
"So...you're the sons of the wine and party god?" You asked.
"Someone read a few books in her time," Jungkook muttered.
You decided to ignore him and intently watched Jin. You could see how he was the product of the goddess Aphrodite. He himself was as awe-inspiring as they rumoured his mother to be. It still didn't make any sense. What the fuck were gods doing working at an office, you wondered. They literally had no reason to work there.
"We get bored." Taehyung informed you like it was the most obvious thing in the world "living in perpetual perfectness is boring we like the chaos."
You nodded, although you were becoming more and more aware that they seemed to be able to hear your constant stream of thoughts. It was unsettling and it made you feel violated. It was a strange feeling knowing that your thoughts weren't your own.
"Sorry..." Yoongi trailed off "We aren't like vampires who can hear constant train of your thoughts. We tap in and out as we please. Lucky for us because you mortals aren't as exciting as you think you are"
Yoongi had tried to be comforting, but his intentions had been lost on you. All he did was confirm the existence of vampires that made you think twice about mosquito bites and unnaturally good looking men.
"I would love it if you would choose to tap out my mind for a second that would be grand."
Yoongi, Hoseok, Taehyung and Jin immediately apologised. You scowl deepened even more irritated to find out that more than one god was sifting through your thoughts, horrified at the idea that they might have seen all the unflattering and X rated thoughts you had about them in the several minutes you had been trapped in a room with them.
"So do you guys like drink blood or hate the sunlight or whatever?" You asked. Admittedly, you knew you were being annoying.
"We aren't vampires." They all chimed.
"I don't get this so you're saying that this mortal woman is not mortal?" Interjected Jimin impatiently rolling his eyes. You winced wanting to shrink and disappear at his dismissive tone. It was clear some of these men weren't your biggest fans.
Jin nodded: " Yeah.... something like that, that's why I and Hoseok decided to keep an eye on her by keeping her desk in my office ."
Jimin grinned, eying you suggestively "Any other reason...?" He glanced at Jin "I mean she is your type."
Jin's eyes sparkled a bit, as the image of what happened early scorched itself into your brain.
"That may have been 60% of the reason." He said eventually. No one seemed to argue with him on that.
"Well she's pretty into you isn't she...she would like to very much carry on your rendezvous." Jimin continued teasing cruelly.
You turned to him, telling him to stop, at this point extremely embarrassed and angry at him for invading your privacy deliberately. At least vampires couldn't help hearing your every thought, he had the ability to just leave and instead, he chose to taunt you.
"Exactly what are you going to do princess?" He teased enjoying your reaction. If anything he was going to enjoy toying with you.
You turned to him a burst of hot rage seemed to fuel you. You felt the back of your eyes sear like molten hot magma, the he blinds clattered against the windowpane, paper swept into the air and rocked from side to side as they hit the ground silently, pens and pencils rattled in their holders as a powerful gust circled the room like a growing tornado. The wind gained momentum before finally settling.
"I can see her thoughts anymore, we've put on time out." Hoseok commented chuckling
"Everyone apologise"
Everyone muttered something weakly resembling an apology as they realised that you really had blocked everyone from entering your mind. Jimin was only intrigued, still smirking triumphantly.
"Wow, so our cute little mortal can manipulate static energy..."
Jin explained that he suspected that it was something that you had been able to do for some time, he had monitored you the same on numerous occasions and was one of the many reasons he had decided to keep you close, he didn't want to risk the other employees getting harmed, particularly since it seemed you didn't know you had such an ability and how to control it.
The silence was deafening, as the plot thickened. Jimin was particularly frustrated with everything. One of many Jimin's gifts was the ability to shapeshift. This gift meant being able to see the people or beings for what they truly were, but with you he drew a blank. There was nothing to see. This was dangerous for him and the rest of the brothers that he had sworn to protect.
This why he was chosen to conduct interviews he was essentially a sort of guardian ensuring supernatural threats were averted and kept as far away from them as possible as it was always a possibility dark forces would want to do harm to the young gods at their most vulnerable. So for Jimin to hire you despite your supernatural disposition was quite the evasion on your part. It was even a miracle if you thought about it, well, for you anyway. For them, you could've been their curse.
Jin explained to you that they had to keep an eye out for you for now because the power within you could be harnessed and used for evil by people or things that had a vengeance against gods. Some suggested you may have been another new god but that didn't really make any sense. You would've just known and simply ascended into the heavens, but that was not the case here. After another round of weak theories ensued. It was clear that the meeting was pointless and you weren't going to have the answers to any of the questions at that stage. Disappointed, Jin simply sent everyone back to work.
"I am sorry we aren't always helpful." He told you once everyone had left.
"They're not actually going to eat me right?" You confirmed weakly.
"Believe it or not they were actually just joking."
You explained to him how you didn't find it funny, the goosebumps wouldn't go away, you found yourself glancing behind your shoulders ever so often. Worried that they would ambush you.
"Don't worry I'll make sure you aren't lunch," Jin told you jokingly.
You resisted the urge to slap him, annoyed that he couldn't take you seriously at all. It was driving you insane.