Chapter Text
Yoongi huffs as he places another one of Taehyung's moving boxes down. "Couldn't you have gotten professional movers or something?"
"I spent all of my money on this apartment," Taehyung says. "I don't have enough money for professional movers. And you offered to help, remember?"
"But why me?" Yoongi whines.
"Because Seokjin was working? And you weren't?" Taehyung says. "And you love me," he teases.
"You're a pain."
Taehyung shrugs and puts down the box he was holding. "That's the last one. You can go home now."
"And leave you to unpack all of this? No way," Yoongi shakes his head, tearing into a box.
"I thought you would want to leave by now."
"I do, but I like decorating."
"So you're going to help me build my IKEA furniture?" Taehyung asks hopefully.
"No way in hell am I touching one of those Swedish death boxes," Yoongi says and shudders, actually shudders, at the mention of IKEA.
"Oh, was the experience of putting together that bookshelf with Seokjin too harrowing?"
"We do not speak of the IKEA incident," Yoongi glows pink, obviously embarrassed.
"It didn't even stand by itself!"
"And I said we do not speak of the IKEA incident," Yoongi says pointedly. He hoists up a vase from the box he had almost torn apart. "Where do you want this?"
xxx
Before Taehyung had decided to move, he was living in a ratty college dorm with a lousy roommate that he could barely stand, and Taehyung can stand just about anyone, which is saying something. He would bring girls back at night, and the walls were thin. It was hell, to put it lightly.
His roommate was some jock off of the football team, a player from the looks out it. Taehyung never saw the same girl walk through the door twice. He always felt really bad when he was up before both of them, and the girl would stir and curse to herself about sleeping with the jock. They always regretted sleeping with him, and sometimes Taehyung would purposely get up early to put something out on the counter for them to eat or drink before they disappeared.
That was Taehyung's nature, silently taking care of people.
So when Yoongi and Seokjin told him they would help him buy an apartment after he came to dinner with extreme bags under his eyes the day before, he almost declined the offer. He wasn't used to being so boldly taken care of.
"No, no I can't accept this," Taehyung had said.
"You need to, Tae," Seokjin had reasoned. "Your grades are going to start suffering if you stay there, you're so sleep deprived."
Yoongi added, "And we're offering. You won't owe us anything."
"You guys, I-" Taehyung's voice broke. "I really can't accept this."
"You're going to," Seokjin insisted. "It's for your own good."
"We'll help you move in," Yoongi said. "It'll be easy."
Taehyung finally gave in and accepted, tears staining his cheeks. "You really don't have to help, it's okay."
Seokjin moved to hug him. "It will be our pleasure, won't it, Yoongi?"
A beat of hesitation. "Yeah, yeah, our pleasure," he said, slowly moving to also hug Taehyung once he detached himself from Seokjin.
"You guys, you guys are the best," Taehyung sniffled.
"Don't remind him," Yoongi joked as Seokjin said "Don't remind me," at the same time.
The three of them shared a look and burst out laughing.
Three weeks after their exchange and three weeks of Yoongi complaining about hating house hunting, Taehyung had found the perfect apartment. A great price, a great location, great neighbors, soundproof walls. He was so thankful for those walls.
To pay Seokjin and Yoongi back, he bought their meals for a week. Subtly, of course. He invited them out to eat at their favorite restaurants or to his house for something he had "accidentally cooked too much of". He showed up to their workplaces in between classes with coffee and snacks, even bought Seokjin's sugar gliders some food when Seokjin had forgotten.
That was his nature.
Silent, subtle care.
xxx
Taehyung's coffee steams in his hand as he sits quietly in the café. He scrolls through his phone, looking idly through Twitter. Seokjin perches on the edge of his chair across from him.
"So what are we doing today, Tae?" He asks, taking a sip of his tea.
"I'm not sure, weren't you the one that asked me to coffee?" Taehyung answers, bringing his coffee to his lips.
Seokjin shrugs. "You've got me there. I was just wondering if you wanted to do anything specific while we were out?"
Taehyung shrugs back, eyes still glued to his phone. He keeps scrolling, but something catches his eye. 'Fairy doors'? They're so pretty, he thinks as he looks them up. They're little decorative doors and objects that only a fairy could fit into and use.
"Do you think we could stop by a craft store, Seokjin?" He asks suddenly. "I found this cute decor idea and since I don't have any, I kind of want to start. Is that okay?"
"I don't see why not, Tae," Seokjin says easily. "What're you planning on making?"
Taehyung turns the phone towards him, and Seokjin smiles a little and nods. "Those are cute. Where'd you find those?"
"Someone made them on Twitter," Taehyung answers. "They're called fairy doors."
"Well, let's get going then," Seokjin stands, gathering his things and allowing time for Taehyung to follow.
They arrive at the little craft store a few blocks away, and Taehyung dashes in, imagination full to the brim with ideas. He grabs a wooden bench designed for Barbie dolls, a green slab of wood only about as big as his hand, the smallest wooden dowels he could find, and cut-able pieces of sturdy plastic. He also grabs a hot glue gun and about way too many glue sticks. He grabs some fake flowers and heads down the aisle.
"Are you sure you need that much material?" Seokjin laughs.
"Yeah, I think so," Taehyung says, plucking a doll-sized watering can from a shelf as he passes. Seokjin just sighs and follows him to the check out booth.
The woman behind him smiles and quickly checks his items through and bids them farewell and a nice day. Taehyung pushes through the door and the bell jingles cheerfully.
"Are you even creative enough to figure out how to do this?" Seokjin jokes as he lengthens his stride to keep up with the fast pace Taehyung has set.
"I'm sure I'll find a way," Taehyung smiles, looking in his bag at his little treasures. "It can't be that hard."
It turns out that it was, in fact, that hard. Taehyung's hands hurt, his legs ached from sitting so long, and he was about to fall asleep, and he almost would have if his x-acto knife hadn't poked his finger. He didn't start to bleed, but it was enough to prod him awake. He grumbles but starts to work again nonetheless.
By the end of the day, he has it all set up. The door is decadent and petit. The bench is painted a light gray. A couple of miniature gardening tools are propped against the wall, a shovel and a homi and a rake. There's the little dark green watering can settled next to the bench, and in a small vase, the fake flowers Taehyung had picked out at the craft store provide "shade" over the bench.
Taehyung stands back and admires his work. A feeling of pride fills his chest. It looks like a suggestion off of Pinterest. "'Are you even creative enough to figure out how to do this?'" He repeats Seokjin's words in a silly, mocking tone. "Hell yeah, I am."
ooo
Jimin's world is very different from Taehyung's. He's a fairy, you see.
Jimin's entire world spans only to the corners of Seoul, while Seoul is just a fraction of Taehyung's world. It's not that Jimin wouldn't be able to leave his world, it's just that it's really hard to get out of it. There are magical precautions to prevent the fairies from leaving because the Ancestral Few (the five fairies that were alive while the two worlds coexisted) believe it is much too dangerous for fairies to have easy access to the Otherworld.
It also doesn't help that Jimin is little, only about the size of a stick of deodorant. Most fairies are around the size of an aerosol spray can. He has butterfly wings, the beautiful, rare, blue iridescent ones that you only really see in movies. The rest of the fairies usually have transparent, shimmering wings like a character off of Tinker Bell.
Though Jimin is small, and it's nearly impossible to get into the Otherworld, he desperately wants to go. His friends Hoseok, Jeongguk and Namjoon, animal, water, and tree fairies respectively, have good jobs, they serve the fairy world well, while Jimin is more or less a spectacle for prying eyes that cleans the inside of the Ancestral Towers for a living. He wants an escape, always has. Originally, Jimin was supposed to be a flower fairy, one that helps the flowers grow and the pollinators find them, but an injury to his wings when he was younger prevents him from flying for extended periods. Ever since then, he has plotted and conspired to find a way to leave.
Hoseok shakes his head as Jimin relives his spiel. Namjoon looks to him with a saddened look.
"Jimi, you know I love and support you, but we both know that it's impossible to leave," he says sweetly, slinging an arm around his shoulders.
"But the Ancestral Few can! Why couldn't I?" Jimin almost screeches. "I'm so sick of cleaning beetle shit off of the floors of the Towers!"
"I could help you look for a new job," Hoseok suggests. "I'm sure we could find a job at the corrals, the ladybugs always need a caretaker."
"I hate ladybugs," Jimin huffs.
"Oh, right," Hoseok sighs. "I don't know if they'll let you work with the bees though, Jimin."
"I'm sure that the tree fairies would love extra help as well," Namjoon chimes in. "I know I always need some."
"I just-" Jimin, who was sitting at the table, collapses upon it. Something muffled comes out of his mouth from beneath his arms.
"What was that?" Hoseok asks.
Jimin lifts his head from his arms. "I just want to leave! Find a nice human, maybe stay with them and then die a happy fairy. Free," he tacks on.
"Jimin, you're afraid of humans," Namjoon says. "You had nightmares about them in elementary school-"
"Oh hush," Jimin scowls. "I'm just so sick of it here." He lays back down on the table, head up, looking at the wall of his little house, the one filled with shelves of little antiques from his grandmother.
Hoseok looks to the shelves and back at Jimin. He sits down next to him at the table and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Missing her again, Minnie?"
"She would've wanted me to go," he sulks.
"I know, Min. I know," Hoseok says softly.
"I'm going to. I'm going to do it," he says strongly. "I'm going to make it out of here."
"Jimin, I love your drive, but you have to focus your life here," Hoseok says. "There's nothing out there for you."
"There's got to be something," Jimin protests. "There has to be."
"It's not safe."
"To hell with being safe!" Jimin bursts, jumping from his seat. "I've been safe my whole life. Ever since Hyolyn broke my wing I've been even safer. I'm tired of playing it safe and not taking any risks."
"Jimin, this is more than just a broken wing," Namjoon says forcefully. "This is your life we're talking about. If you're willing to lose it just to go somewhere you almost definitely will, you're a fool."
Jeongguk bursts into the door then, carrying a hummingbird chick in his arms.
"Hoseok! I found this little guy by the creek, he's hurt. Can you help him?" He breathes raggedly. He must've flown here fast.
Hoseok rushes over to Jeongguk and the chick, who is squirming and screeching. "Of course I can. Let me take him."
"Let me help," Jimin says. "He's a pollinator, I can help. I know all about them."
"I'm an animal fairy, Jimin," Hoseok says. "I can handle this."
Jimin feels a sting in his chest at that. Hoseok doesn't seem to notice. "Fine," he hisses. "I won't then."
Hoseok, Jeongguk, and Namjoon are too preoccupied to hear him, so he opens the door to the outdoors and flies out. He flies for as long as he can but has to land much faster than he would like. He walks on a street of the little village, a beaten dust path with beetle and bug footprints still pressed into the ground.
A flash from the alley he's walking past startles him, and he looks into the narrow space, expecting a lost firefly but instead finds a decorated green door, one fancier than any he had ever seen besides the ones in the Towers.
He creeps towards it slowly, as if it could jump out and bite him. He puts a hand on the doorknob slowly and eases it open. He pokes his head through the crack between the doorframe and the door and can't believe his eyes.
It's everything he's ever dreamt of.
ooo
Hoseok finally finishes treating the hummingbird chick and looks at his work proudly.
"Nice work, Hobi!" Jeongguk smiles. "He looks happier already."
"He does, doesn't he?" Hoseok grins. "Namjoon, do you think you could get some food for him? He's probably famished."
"No problem," Namjoon says, saluting him cheesily before flying off.
"And Gguk, could you get some water?"
"Sure thing," Jeongguk copies Namjoon and heads to the stream to get some fresh water.
Hoseok stays there, stroking the chick on the head, watching him titter and shake happily. The bird nuzzles against Hoseok's hand, sighing contently and closing his eyes. After Jeongguk had brought him in, the chick immediately took a liking to Hoseok, just like most animals do. Mending his broken wing and bandaging it had been a breeze, and getting him to listen to Hoseok was a piece of cake.
Hoseok suddenly notices the deafening absence of Jimin and calls for him. When he gets no response, he gets up from where he was sitting and walks to Jimin's room. He knocks on the door, expecting an answer. The chick hops behind him, not wanting too much distance between them. "Jimin?" Hoseok asks, pushing the door open slightly. "Look, I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. I'm so-"
Jimin's not in his room.
"Jimin?" Hoseok calls louder. "Jimin?? Oh, come on, where are you-"
"Hoseok, I've got the food, what's wrong?" Namjoon says from behind Hoseok, startling him.
Hoseok can't seem to get the words out of his mouth, he's so confused.
"Hobi?"
"J-Jimin is gone," Hoseok stutters.
"What do you mean, 'Jimin's gone?'" Jeongguk appears behind Namjoon, startling them both.
"I mean Jimin is gone," Hoseok snaps.
"Where could he have gone then? I thought he was here," Namjoon asks.
"How could I know?" Hoseok says.
"I saw him fly out of the house a while ago, come to think of it," Jeongguk says softly. He opens his flask for the little bird to drink out of. "He'll be back soon, I think. I think he just needed to blow off some steam."
"If he doesn't come back before nightfall, I'm going to alert the council," Hoseok mumbles.
"You're starting to talk like me," Namjoon laughs. "But I doubt he's in danger. Just let him be."
Hoseok takes a deep breath. "Okay. Okay."
"He's fine, Hoseok."
"Yeah, right," Hoseok says, trying to convince himself. "He's fine."
"He won't be gone long," Jeongguk interrupts. "He always gets homesick."
"You're right," Hoseok breathes. "It's not like he went to find an entrance to the Otherwor- oh my god he went to find an entrance to the Otherworld."
"Hoseok, you're overreacting," Namjoon reasons.
"No! No I'm not! He's going to get hurt!" Hoseok yells, putting on a cloak and getting restrained by both Namjoon and Jeongguk. "Let go of me! He's going to get caught by the council and he's going to get sentenced to death! I'm-"
"-home!" Jimin exclaims, pushing open the door. "How is the hummingbird chick?"
All four fairies stop in their tracks, Hoseok's arms still twisted behind him in Namjoon and Jeongguk's grips. They release Hoseok's arms quickly and smile.
"Hi, Jimin!" Namjoon greets happily.
"Hi, hyung!" Jeongguk says with vigor.
"Hi, guys," Jimin says hesitantly, noticing the unusual perkiness they carry themselves with.
"You-you're home?" Hoseok asks.
Jimin waits a moment to answer. "...Yes? I live here?"
"Well, yeah, but-" Hoseok starts.
Namjoon slams a hand over his mouth and continues for him. "-We were just worried what time you'd be home! I brought some food for everyone," he says with a smile.
"...Okay?" Jimin says. "That's nice of you."
"It's no problem. The bird is fine, by the way. Oh, there he is!" Namjoon exclaims. The little chick has hopped behind Hoseok and is hiding behind his legs.
"Glad to hear it," Jimin says, skepticism coating his voice. "Are you guys all okay, or-"
"Just fine, hyung!" Jeongguk says brightly.
"Okay, you guys are freaking me out," Jimin says. "I'm gonna go to bed now."
"You're not going to eat?" Namjoon asks, shoulders drooping.
"You literally brought birdseed, hyung. For the bird," Jimin laughs hollowly. "Goodnight."
"Uh, Goodnight?" The three of them respond, saying it like a question.
Jimin turns around and enters his room, closing the door behind him. "That was weird," he thinks out loud.
"That was weird," Hoseok says.
"Hoseok, I hate to break it to you, but you looked like an actual madman when he came in," Namjoon says.
"Shut up, no I did not," Hoseok shrugs his cloak off and hangs it back up.
"You did, hyung," Jeongguk says softly.
"I said shut up."