"I require sustenance," was the first thing Taehyung said when the two of you stepped foot into your apartment, "feed me."
You shot him an irritated side-eye, scoffing. "Is 'asking nicely' a foreign concept to you?"
"I asked plenty politely," Taehyung huffed, making his way to the couch, clearly about to plop down on it WITH his wet clothes, "but I am a son of a god, and my demands must be met. I still need to eat."
He paused for a moment, cocking his head to the side before a wicked grin spread over his face. "Although," he cooed, making you instantly stiffen up as you KNEW what was coming, "I'd much rather eat you."
This cheeky brAT-
You decided to ignore the last comment, although it very well could have made you snap after all that had happened that day.
The walk home had been shockingly calming and peaceful, the large park that stretched for the entirety of the five blocks on this street on your side, the trees swaying in the wind and painting shadows that began to lick at your feet as the sun set.
And then Taehyung's arm had also been wrapped around your shoulders, the long limb easily holding you and pulling you closer to his side. You knew that one wrong move could send Taehyung back into that literally cursed sword of his, but he seemed to have no reservation in holding you, humming as your warmth flooded into him as his did to you.
He didn't say anything more, thankfully, didn't mention your still-tense form or the way your eyes fixed themselves away from him or the way you clenched your jaw and had to remind yourself to keep moving.
Either he didn't notice or he respected you enough to not mention it.
And you really doubted the latter.
"Well apparently, I'm 'god-blooded' as well, or whatever," you snapped, your temper already stretched taut because of the whole day, and because you were still rattles from him holding you like nothing mattered, "and you don't see me acting like a spoiled fool. And don't you DARE sit on the couch with your wet clothes, here's a chair."
Forcefully, you pulled one of the tall stools on your kitchen counter out and glared at the demigod.
"I'm going to go clean up," you said, fighting to keep your cool despite the sudden stubborn streak the son of Ares was showing at the moment, "and sit here and STAY HERE and if you so much as touch anything I will yeet your sword into the nearest pothole, you hear?"
Okay, yes, you were cranky and wet and cold but you should have tried to be nicer BUT Taehyung was being annoying so it kind of wasn't your fault.
Shrugging, Taehyung languidly made his way over to you and passed by you close enough to brush his shoulder against yours, smirking down at you as he did so. "Okay," he chuckled, eyes dark and lazily hooded when they fell on you, "Okay. Hurry back, sweetheart."
Swiftly spinning on your heel to get the HELL away from him, you all but raced to the bathroom and slammed the door shut, not even remembering to bring your clothes with you this time. You heard Taehyung's rumbling laughter sound out behind you, and you scowled fiercely at the closed door in response to the infuriating sound.
JeSUS. He was going to end you.
You would THINK that not being able to touch me would deter this dude, but nooooo-
Leaning on your hands, fingers digging into the brim of the square indent that was your sink, you let your head hang and tried to calm yourself. Goodness gracious. The entire events of the day were finally beginning to catch up with you, and wow. Were they utterly insANE.
I have a son of Ares who had been trapped in a sword for about a thousand years in my apartment. He knows literally nothing about the world and still manages to be a perverted bastard. My boss happens to be a f*cking sphinx from Greek mythology. Monsters exist. The Greek gods exist. Oh yeah, AND APPARENTLY MY GREAT-GRANDMOTHER OR SOMETHING IS ATHENA.
Great. Awesome. Brilliant. Totally normal.
Breaking your rather sarcastic internal monologue, you lifted your gaze up to your ragged reflection. Ha. God-blooded? You looked like an absolute, utter mess- your hair wet and stringy, your clothes damp (and now, looking back on it, your sweater was ridiculously see-through, which made you flush in embarrassment because of what Taehyung might have seen), your eyes tired and skin blotchy.
You looked awful.
Unlike the actual son of a god outside, who still looked as flawless as ever.
But honestly, with all the bombshells and shocks that had been dropped on you today, you weren't surprised you looked like sh*t.
Sighing, you decided to, despite the fact you'd already granted yourself one this morning, take a nice, long, hot shower and order takeout so you wouldn't have to stress yourself over cooking again.
After quickly dialing your favorite Chinese takeout place (totally not Panda Express lmao), you let yourself relax as the hot water poured over your taut skin. You hurriedly washed your hair and body so you wouldn't have to worry about it and just sighed, steam beginning to waft off you.
You could deal with this. Even if you were somehow a descendant of the Greek goddess Athena, you could still live, right? It didn't matter. You never even believed or knew about them before now, so why would this effect you as soon as Taehyung was gone?
As soon as Taehyung's gone.
Yeah, you needed to find a way to break this bonding curse on you two. He'd been attached to the sword, but since you had unwittingly diverted the curse your ancestor had put on it, now you were also bonded to him.
When he was in the sword, you could talk to each other through your minds, and you could also acutely feel the emotions of the other. When he was out of his sword, you still felt that occasional flash of strong emotion, that presence of his conscious lingering in your mind, but it was more than that. There was also this pull, this needing to stay at a reasonable distance from both him and the sword. You hadn't given it much thought, you had just been under the impression it was plain worry, but now, as the gears clicked in your mind, you knew better.
But no matter WHAT Adra said, there had to be a way out of this... right? You didn't think your sanity could take dealing with this son of Ares for longer than a week.
Ugh. What a horrifying thought.
You sighed and pressed your head against the cool, titled wall, a sharp contrast to the hot water cascading down your back. Damn, these were some deep shower thoughts.
But you could do this. Logic said that there was a solution. There was always a solution.
You just had to find it.
And then you heard an earsplitting crash for the second time that day, followed by loud shouts of the odd cussing you just knew belonged to Taehyung.
"FOR F*CK'S SAKE!" you yelled, hands fumbling for the towel in front of you as you skidded out of the glass box that was your shower, "WHAT THIS TIME?"
Always when I'm in the bathroom WHY MUST IT BE WHEN I'M IN THE BATHROOM???
You burst out of the accursed room, towel wrapped around you and clutched to your chest and faced a singed Taehyung next to the now-toppled barstool-chairs with his crimson hair sticking up on end.
Holding a fork.
Plunged into an electrical socket.
You swore at that moment that hell would be with you if your a*s didn't consider him a 5 year old in need of supervision at all times.
"WHY IS ZEUS TRAPPED IN YOUR WALLS?" Taehyung screeched, whirling on you and jabbing the desiccated kitchen utensil at your towel-clad form accusingly.
You wanted to facepalm but thought the better of it.
"Zeus is not trapped in my walls," you said flatly, not wanting to even consider dealing with this situation at the moment.
"Then why," Taehyung spat, breathing heavily, "do I feel like he's sent anoTHER ONE OF HIS LIGHTNING BOLTS AFTER ME? I have already experienced that too many times for comfort- I do NOT need the king of the gods furious with me AGAIN."
Under other circumstances, you would have asked him what he did to undergo THOSE situations, but facing what you were right now, all you did was sigh.
You'd run out of anger and spite and now you were just pretty damn tired.
"That's an electrical socket," you groaned, snatching the ruined fork from Taehyung's hand and flinging it in the trash bin with the hand that wasn't keeping your towel up, "it provides energy for the things in here, so they can run."
The red-haired demigod gaped at you. "You mean to say..." he spluttered, whipping his head around, "that everything in here runs on ZEUS'S cursed power?"
Glancing back at him, you furrowed your brows. "Um... electricity? Yeah, most things do-"
"Styx," Taehyung whispered, eyes wide and anxious as he backpedaled to the middle of the room, eyeing all the walls in uneasy distaste, "I am doomed."
"Get over it," you huffed, now just plain annoyed, "and why in the world did you think to STICK A FORK into an ELECTRICAL SOCKET anyway?"
"I was curious!" Taehyung defended, shying away from your sharp glare, "Curious as to why there were those odd holes in the wall!"
"And so you used a metal instrument to prod at them," you deadpanned, your face the epitome of 'absolutely done', "of course you did. How are you not dead?"
Taehyung drew himself importantly at you words, offense flashing over his face. "One strike of Zeus's power is hardly enough to fell one such as me," he crossed his arms over his chest, lips falling into an involuntary pout.
This guy, honestly.
Silence fell between you two as Taehyung waited for you to acknowledge his statement, but all you did was try to right your tall chairs as well as you could without letting your towel slip. "How does he even manage to DO these things?" you muttered under your breath, suddenly acutely aware of Taehyung's eyes on you and your scantily-clad frame.
It was as if you'd both been oblivious to the fact that here was an incredibly hot-blooded guy in the middle of your apartment and you'd started shouting at each other while you were clad in only a towel.
Well, oblivious until NOW.
If your story was made into a book and you read it, you thought you'd die of second-hand embarrassment.
You heard Taehyung inhale sharply as you stood, shaking your wet hair out of your eyes, droplets coursing down your front and into the crease of the towel as you did so. He was such a pervert, honestly.
His eyes darkened and never left you as the two of you faced each other. You carefully hitched the towel up higher, thanking every deity up there that you'd chosen a long one. Taehyung smirked at the movement.
"Don't cover yourself, baby," he chuckled, stepping close to you, "not when there's so much to see."
"Back the f*ck up," you snapped, quickly turning heel to your room, your face bright red and flushed, "back up unless you want to get forcibly slapped back into that sword of yours."
At least that made him stop, falter for a moment and let his face fall almost comically. You choked back a laugh at his expression before you fixed yourself and ran to your room, slamming the door behind you before he could come to his senses.
Oh god. What were you thinking?
If there were awards for bad choices and embarrassing moments, you were SURE that you'd have won the highest of them all multiple times over by now.
You wanted to hide in your room indefinitely and yet you also knew that if you did so Taehyung would 10000% manage to burn the entire apartment building down.
He reminded you of your brother.
Slipping into a t-shirt and sweatpants, you finally summoned up the courage to exit your room and try to fix up Taehyung. To your surprise, though, he'd already happened to straighten out his smudged skin and shocked hair and change into a looser pair of clothes, seemingly fresh out of the Target bags lying near the door, tags still on and color bright.
The graphics on the black shirt he'd donned was The Rolling Stones lips insignia, and you very honestly thought that he was a bastard, but at least he knew it.
"Like it?" he cooed teasingly at you as you passed him, eyes trailing him up and down. This wasn't fair- why was he still so attractive no matter WHAT he happened to wear?
"It's okay," you shrugged, which made a barely susceptible frown flash across Taehyung's face before you turned away. "Oh wait," you abruptly swiveled on your heel, facing him once more. "Let me get that."
Stepping closer to him, you ignored the way he straightened when you reached out to the waistband on his pants and yanked harshly at the tag, making him stumble towards you as you wrapped your fingers around the stubborn string of plastic and pulled.
It snapped, finally, but not before you'd drawn Taehyung far too close to you for your comfort.
IT WASN'T SO HARD BEFORE WHAT THE F IS HAPPENING NOW?
Sh*t. Your eyes flicked up to meet his, so close was he that you could feel his harsh breaths hitting your scalp, his chest brushing yours. Ignoring the frantic pounding of your pulse, you snaked an arm up to the collar of his shirt to get the other one off.
This time, you audibly heard his breath hitch as your eyes narrowed, focusing on the annoyingly strong tag dangling on his collarbone.
You didn't realize that it basically seemed like you were pulling him in until the bunch of paper and plastic finally broke and you snapped back to reality, suddenly acutely aware of Taehyung stare on you, on your lips.
There was a moment of silence.
Taehyung's breathing mingled with yours, both of you just standing there as if entranced frozen, watching each other through hazy lenses.
"You are such a gods-damned tease," Taehyung finally hissed, his dark eyes snapping up and locking with yours, "and here I was thinking you actually were not interested."
Your eyes narrowed, your jaw dropped. HOW was this your fault? You were trying to HELP the dude! "Well exCUSE YOU-" you spat, flicking your fingers and letting the stupid tags clatter on the ground, although neither of you paid attention, neither of you stopped glaring.
Interestingly enough, neither of you stepped away either.
"Hm?" Taehyung hummed darkly, his hands coming up to brush your hips, "Excuse me, what? What is it you want me to say?"
Why.
WHY WAS HE SO DAMN HOT IT WASN'T FAIR.
So either you could punch him in the nose or either you could kiss him until he saw stars- or until he dissolved into dust, or whatever. The only two options out of the situation.
But before you could lean towards one, the doorbell rang and all you could think was 'praise the Lord'.
Jerking away from Taehyung, you spat out a curse directed at him under your breath that he no doubt heard and you went to open the door to collect your heavenly Chinese takeout.
One day. It had been one day, and this guy was already making your self-control start to crumble.
DESPITE the fact you couldn't even touch each other.
DESPITE that.
Where was the logic?
After you paid, you whirled back around to see Taehyung's eyes still on you, weight on one leg and arms crossed, the veins in them jumping. You just raised both your eyebrows and held up the bag in yours hands. "Didn't you say you wanted food?"
Please get rid of the tension please get rid of the tension PLEASE GET RID OF THE TENSION-
It was as if you'd flipped a switch- Taehyung's eyes suddenly brightened and fell from you to the plastic bag dangling from your fingers. "Thank Olympus!" he yelped, as if nothing had ever happened, "I was sure that you were going to let me starve!"
Honestly, I'm rather inclined to.
But even you couldn't help but melt at his childishly excited eyes as you unpacked the best food in the world and doled some out for Taehyung.
"Sweet Eros," he mumbled after he'd stuffed his mouth with four pieces of orange chicken, the sticky sauce clinging to the edges of his mouth and the tips of his fingers, "this should be the food of the gods!"
You glanced up at him, amused, your own mouth busy in savoring noodles at the moment. "Panda Express is that good, huh?"
Nodding empathetically, Taehyung casually plucked a piece of shrimp off your plate, popping it in his mouth and smiling sweetly at you when you glared.
This all just radiated a sense of domesticity, a sense of comfort. You quickly looked down, irritated with yourself for feeling this way.
It didn't make SENSE. You barely knew him!
And he was kind of a perverted jerk.
Nice at times, playful, comforting when he wanted to be, but altogether a jerk.
Sighing, in an attempt to distract yourself from the unwanted thought plaguing your mind, you popped your phone out to see a good couple of messages from your little brother.
Annoying Rain Man:
Hey
Y/N
Hey
Heyyyyyyy
Why you always shaft me tf is this disrespect
You:
You lecturing me about disrespect wtf is up with the world
When did all the annoying lil bros bcm hypocrites
Annoying Rain Man:
I rlly hate u sometimes
You:
What a disaster
Annoying Rain Man:
Big sis please cut the sarcasm I wanted to tell u I'm visiting
You:
No
And don't call me big sis
Annoying Rain Man:
Tf
You:
Wdym tf I hate it when you call me big sis
Annoying Rain Man:
WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO
You:
Stop copying me brat
Annoying Rain Man:
You sohrtened it
I didn't
therefore I didn't copy u 🙃
You:
Your death arrives on swift wings you little mf
And you spelled shortened wrong
Annoying Rain Man:
Stfu
I'm still smarter than u
You:
Lmao tell me another
Annoying Rain Man:
This is why ur alone and lonely all the time
Get laid
Oh wait
You:
AT LEAST I AINT A WALKINF STD BLTCH
MORE THAN I CAN SAY ABT U
Annoying Rain Man:
I expected this from mom but not from u I feel betrayed
You:
Ur not coming over end of story
Unless you want me to kick ur butt into next week
Annoying Rain Man:
Way to change the topic
And here i was composing a poem about the height of betrayal
You:
Stfu
Annoying Rain Man:
Why tho
You:
Tf u mean 'why tho' no one wants to hear ur crap poetry go regale a pig
Annoying Rain Man:
No idiot I meant why can't I come over
I haven't seen u in ages
And those sweatpants that shrunk in the wash r still there and I want to give them to my shortas friend as a gag gift
He'll kill me
It'll be hilarious
U can wafch
You:
As tempting as that is the answe is still nO
And I put those sweatpants to better use
Annoying Rain Man:
Le gasp
You did noT
You:
Hehe
Annoying Rain Man:
WHAT DDI YOU EVEN USE THEM FOR
Wait
WAIT
Hold tf up
Is this ur indirect way of telling me...
You:
STFU NO
Annoying Rain Man:
ARE YOU WITH A BOY SHDHDJD OH GREAT GODS ABOVE SERIOUSLY 😆
You:
If you dare show ur face here after this the knives r sharpened brat
This is false
Annoying Rain Man:
LIARRRR NOONA I WANT TO MEET HIM
YK SO I CAN BEAT HIS ASS FOR GETTING NEAR YOU
And so if I can see if he's worth it
You:
YOURE NOT BEATING ANYONES ASS
BECAUSE THERES NO ONE TO MEET U FOOL
IF YOU DARE SHOW UP ILL BE THE ONE KICKING UR BUTT
Annoying Rain Man:
I'll take my chances
Ok bye noona LYYY
You:
HANG ON
BRAT NO DINT U DARE
^dont
EXPLAIN
WHY R U SO CRYPIC
BLTCH
ur so dead if u show up
Keep that in mind fcker
Annoying Rain Man:
😘
And on that infuriating note, you aggressively slammed your phone on the counter and huffed. Your adopted little brother was annoying. Smart, and adorable, and then also a walking talking f*ckboy (much to your displeasure), but annoying.
All little siblings were the same, weren't they?
You just hoped he wouldn't actually turn up at your apartment for a couple days like he usually did when he visited, because then you'd have to explain Taehyung and THAT could spell nothing but disaster.
Sighing, you ruffled your still-wet hair and let the sweet yet tangy sauce of orange chicken coat your lips as you popped a few pieces in your mouth.
Yep, this was heaven.
Taehyung was looking at you, his face impassive and yet curious as he looked from you to your phone. "What is that?" he cocked his head curiously.
Oh dear.
No, no, you did NOT want this conversation right now.
"That's... ugh. Taehyung, do you mind if I tell you later?" you implored, rubbing the bridge of your nose. Surprisingly, Taehyung's gaze softened a touch as he watched your tired form slump.
"I do not mind," he said quickly. Despite yourself, your shot him a grateful look that he received with a glowing smile. "I know you are tired and we have much to do tomorrow."
You cocked an eyebrow at him as you finished up your food. "Meaning?"
Taehyung beamed at you again, shaking his bright hair out of his eyes and leaning back confidently. "I believe I have a plan! To rid ourselves of this curse!"
You'd never sat up so fast. Even if it wasn't YOU who came up with it, as long as it was a step in the right direction...
"I have a friend..." Taehyung said carefully, his tone implying that this person might have meant more than just a friend, "and he's a child of Athena as well. He's incredibly smart and knowledgeable about the magical world, the realm of the gods. If anyone is bound to know the solution to our problem, he is."
"Then?" you demanded. "What are we waiting for?"
You though you saw a flicker of raw pain behind Taehyung's bright exterior, but it vanished as soon as it came. "You forget..." he muttered quietly, his voice suddenly low and emotionless, "I haven't seen a soul for about a thousand years. I wouldn't know where to find him."
A twist of sympathy shot through your heart, and you suddenly had the overwhelming urge to give Taehyung a hug.
But no, that would be weird.
You pursed your lips, thinking. "Is there no way you can contact this... relative of mine?" you asked slowly.
"Well..." Taehyung trailed off, looking at you with an oddly guilty expression, "I used to own a magical object that allowed me to contact any of my six brothe- I mean, friends. I lost it when I lost everything, obviously, but..."
"But?" you pressed, impatient for details that could help you get out of this mess.
Taehyung looked at you for a moment and then let out a long sigh.
"I sensed it at the museum."
"Oh," you smiled, a little relived at the fact that this wasn't some huge issue. "Okay then! So we can ask Adra for it-"
Taehyung, oddly, shook his head violently at the suggestion, setting his chopsticks down (apparently he knew how to use those, weird). "No. Absolutely not. Pretty one, do you know NOTHING about sphinxes and their hoards?"
An uneasy feeling was starting to waft through you. "Well evidently I'm missing something-"
"Sphinxes are treasure guarders. They are incredibly protective over their belongings, even more so if they've held them for a long time. And furthermore, I'm not even sure that particular item even belongs to your sphinx- other monsters leave their treasures for safekeeping in their hoards too," Taehyung explained, supported by his elbows as he leaned over the glass table, locking eyes with you.
"Well then, what do you propose we do?" you huffed exasperatedly, "We have to at least ask, right? It's not like we can steal it!"
The careful silence that followed made you blanch.
"Absolutely NOT-!"
A/N: lmao I hope you enjoy the back to back updateeees 😉 Vote or I'll find you hehe