Archive of Our Own

jimin didn’t use to be a light sleeper.

it’s something he picked up in his years as a legionnaire, fighting frontline in the war against the angels, where being able to grow alert at the mere sound of the lightest of sounds (wings flapping, a branch crunching under a heavy boot, an intake of breath) while you rested on your camp with the rest of your legion could very well mean the difference between living and dying. and even though it’s been years since jimin last stepped foot into a battlefield, even though he doesn’t have any intention of returning to one anytime soon, even though that’s not him anymore ⎼ the sound of a pin drop is still enough to rouse jimin from even the deepest of dreams.

but, if jimin is honest with himself, not even the sound of an arrow piercing through the dead of the night as he slept fitfully in his shared tent was able to get him out of bed as fast as hearing even the slightest noise of discomfort coming from either of their kids does. he shoots up in bed the moment his ears register the faint sound of their daughter whimpering, careful not to wake his fiancé as he gently removes the arm wrapped around his waist and slips out of bed.

“min? wher’r you goin’?”

jimin pauses, halfway out of the door, and turns. taehyung has lifted himself up on his elbows and is regarding him with one sleepy eye barely peeled open, the other one remaining stubbornly closed despite his fiancé's best efforts at staying awake and alert, and jimin ⎼ he can't help the way he melts at the sight of taehyung's cheeks all puffed up with sleep, the faint mark from the pillowcase on his right one. seeing taehyung soft with sleep is not a novelty for him, but each and every time jimin thanks his lucky stars for allowing him the privilege of having taehyung trust him enough to let him witness him at his most vulnerable, again and again.

he berates himself internally for not being quieter. taehyung had been dead asleep before jimin got out of bed, and even though the nightmares are less frequent now than they used to be, he still has trouble sleeping soundly all through the night like he was doing before jimin attempted to unsuccessfully slip out of the room unnoticed.

“go back to sleep, darling,” jimin whispers, padding over to taehyung's side of the bed and leaning down to press a delicate kiss to his forehead. “I’m just gonna check on eunwoo real quick, I think she’s awake. I'll be right back.”

right on cue, their daughter lets out another distressed noise and promptly begins to cry.

"m'kay," taehyung slurs. jimin's chest seizes with affection as he watches him sink back into the pillows with a little sleepy unintelligible sound, his long eyelashes casting shadows over his cheekbones as his eyes flutter shut. " 's your turn to get up, anyway."

taehyung’s sleepless nights these days have a lot more to do with their newborn daughter than with bad dreams about a life that insists on haunting them despite how hard they fought to leave it all behind, now, and it's something that makes something in jimin feel light with happiness. it seemed almost impossible, not very long ago, that they would get to have this, a family of their own, a safe space where their only worries would be mundane things like paying bills and being woken up by their kids at night.

jimin chuckles as he drops another a kiss to the crown of taehyung's head before he slips out of the room and walks down the hall towards the last door on the right, where he can hear eunwoo screaming her little lungs out. he flicks the lights on, and he’s more relieved than he really should be when he spots her fussing in her crib and not crying because... someone is trying to take her away.

"sweetheart," jimin coos, picking her up gently and settling her on his hip, bouncing her gently. "what's wrong, hm? do your little horns hurt?"

he traces the two slight bumps in her little forehead with the tip of his finger, where her horns are starting to grow in. they've been bothering her for a while now, but she doesn't seem to react to jimin touching the tender skin that stretches over the tip of her right horn further than a scrunch of her face, so it must not be her horns that are bothering her. jimin knows firsthand how uncomfortable and borderline painful it can be when your horns start growing, but there isn't really much you can do about it other than bear with it to the best of your ability, although her doctor told them that they could put a bit of anti-inflammatory cream on her horn bumps to help reduce the pain.

growing up, things like anti-inflammatory cream and visits to the doctor weren't an option for demons like jimin, who were raised in cities devastated by the war and whose primary concern was hiding and surviving, so that he could eventually join the ranks and keep fighting against the angels. he's immensely glad that he's in a position now where he can offer such commodities to his daughter, now.

“you don’t seem to need your diaper changed,” jimin murmurs. with how sensitive his nose is he would have known the moment he walked into the room. eunwoo blinks at him for a second, her big, unnatural orange eyes brimming with tears, and then she starts wailing again. “are you hungry, sweetie, hm? let’s go downstairs so daddy can fix you a bottle.”

with his daughter carefully curled up in his arms, jimin picks her pacifier up from where it was dangling from the clip-on attached to her onesie and puts it into her mouth. her little eyebrows scrunch up, the same pinched expression on her face she gets when she’s about to spit the pacifier back up in an act of defiance, but this time it doesn’t come. she continues to frown at him but accepts the pacifier, although she doesn’t look too happy about it.

taehyung has mentioned on more than one occasion how incredible it is that eunwoo is not blood-related to him and yet she has inherited jimin’s fiery temper either way, and in moments like these, jimin just can’t help but agree. she has surprisingly expressive eyebrows for a seven-month-old.

it’s so early in the morning the sun is barely peeking through the horizon, but jimin moves with ease through the darkness bathing their home as he walks down the stairs on his way to the kitchen, careful not to step on the very last one because it’s broken and it makes an inhumanly loud noise whenever they step on it. they have been meaning to fix it for lord knows how long, but in between their business picking up and the preparations for the wedding neither taehyung nor him have had the time or the presence of mind to get it done.

as he makes his way over to the kitchen he's thinking that they should really get to it soon because one of these days they're bound to step on it as they make their way down the stairs all sleepy in the early morning to go feed the animals before they go to work, or one of the kids may hurt themselves; eunwoo now that she's starting to crawl or bada when she races down the stairs when it's dinner time, or ⎼

the blunt sound of the tip of his horns smacking against the top of the entryway leading to the kitchen forcefully pulls him back from the nightmarish images forming in his brain of their kids falling down the stairs and getting seriously hurt. he bounces back a little from the impact; distracted and half-sleep as he was, he forgot he has to duck down before trying to enter the kitchen. jimin rubs at his forehead, giving the arch of the entrance a disgruntled look.

eunwoo giggles, delighted.

"fu ⎼ fudge, how silly of daddy to forget about the dam ⎼ the entrance to the kitchen again, right? " jimin says through a pout. he does it again, pretends that he's stuck (which has actually happened before, like, for real. it wasn't jimin's most dignified moment) just to make eunwoo laugh and clap her hands like she does when she's very happy. "oh no eunwoonie, what if daddy is stuck again? what are we gonna do now?"

"daddy," she says, her pacifier falling out of her mouth as she reaches out to pat his cheeks. "fudge!"

"yes, baby, fudge." jimin says, his cheeks squished under eunwoo's tiny hands. "let's get you fed and back to bed, hm? what do you say about that?"

in the kitchen, jimin places eunwoo on her high chair before he sets to make her a bottle. he keeps an eye on her as he washes his hands thoroughly with warm water and the bar of soap they have taken to keeping under the sink so they don't have to go back upstairs to watch their hands; she's humming and mumbling nonsensical syllables, with the occasional "fudge" and "dada" thrown in. she doesn't look upset anymore, although jimin has learned the hard way that that doesn't necessarily mean she won't start screaming her lungs out any second from now if she feels like he's taking too long at preparing her bottle.

being able to prepare eunwoo's bottles on his own is something jimin has become quite proud of. to most, it would not be a big deal to be able to provide their baby with something as simple as a bottle of baby formula, but for jimin, who was raised in the art of war and killing from a very young age, who has spent most of his life using his calloused hands to hold weapons and tear into his enemies' flesh and never to do something a soft and gentle as holding a baby in his arms, it was priceless.

jimin didn't grow up around children, not the same way taehyung did ⎼ when they first brought their oldest daughter, bada, home, jimin used to rely on taehyung for anything and everything that had to do with taking care of her, from bathtime to dressing and feeding her. bada was four years old when she joined them, and she was so... tiny. so fragile. jimin was worried he would hurt her, or do something wrong that would make her resent him forever.

but taehyung was patient, so so patient with him, taught jimin how to use his hands to nurture life instead of taking it away. he never got mad when jimin asked him for the nth time to check if the temperature of the water was too hot or if two spoons of baby formula were too much or maybe not enough. jimin struggled with his new role as a provider at first when they settled in the human realm, away from the chaos of their old home, and especially when they adopted their first child. jimin doesn't know what he would have done if he hadn't had taehyung by his side to help him find his place in the new, unfamiliar environment of the human world, making everything less scary with his presence.

jimin remembers sitting on the bed of their very first apartment in the human capital city known as "seoul," head in his hands because rent was a thing they very much had to cover now and only taehyung had been able to successfully find "employment" so far, but it wasn't enough. jimin had been trying as well, but ⎼ even if glamoured his eyes and his horns and his wings and painstakingly covered his tattoos before he left the house, even if humans couldn't properly tell what he was, they could still feel his aura and darkness in it, it still made humans feel uneasy, so they weren't exactly keen on hiring jimin.

they had sacrificed so much to get there, taehyung sacrificed so much just to be there with him. haseul, their contact support in the city, had told him not to despair, that things like finding a job took time and that they would help them until they could stand on their own, but. every time jimin came home empty-handed or with a bunch of "we'll call you if you got the position," it felt like failure. it felt like jimin was failing taehyung, was failing them.

"maybe I'm just not made for this," he said, letting his hands fall from his face, limp. taehyung stood in front of him, still in his work uniform from the "fast-food restaurant" where he worked, where he had to stand on his feet for hours on end and people where unnecessarily rude and belittling towards him and the other employees a lot of the time and the pay was nowhere near enough for all the work he had to do. "I feel like I'm just dragging you down."

"hey, hey, none of that," taehyung knelt in front of him, taking jimin's hand in between his. his hair was still blond back then, cut short in the typical unassuming style all angels had. his smile was still the same, still made jimin's heart flutter, but it wasn't enough to hide the dark bags under his eyes that only seemed to get deeper every day. he was exhausted, but he hid it well. jimin is still not sure how much of it was his rigid training and how much of it was just him trying not to worry jimin anymore than he already was. "jimin-ah, you're not dragging me down. you're trying, it's not your fault that things aren't working out. haseul already said she has us covered for this month, and then ⎼ "

"and then what? I hate this. I hate sitting here twiddling my thumbs and watching as you break your back every day at that shitty job to keep us afloat. I feel like I'm not doing enough - "

"but darling," taehyung said, leaning forward to rest his forehead against jimin's. "you're doing more than enough. you're here, with me. I get to come home to you without having to look behind me every step I take. I will gladly go out there and deal with entitled humans every single day if it means I get to keep that."

they have truly come a long way since then, from the first overwhelming months in seoul as they struggled to adapt to humans and their customs, living in a shelter with other angels and demons and trying to leave their war days behind, to their first apartment in the outskirts of the city, barely any bigger than a shoebox, but still home, still theirs. they slaved for months and months on end working jobs that they didn't necessarily enjoy just so they could get to where they are now: living in a beautiful farm in geochang with far better jobs, two kids, a puppy, a wide assortment of farm animals that they love and adore, and an upcoming wedding ceremony that they have been preparing for months now.

even more important than that: they're safe. it's been years since the last time they sent anyone after them; word probably got around that they did quite the number on the last party of heavenly hitmen sent by the high divine council to eliminate them and no being, angel or demon, wanted to try and test them again after that.

he and taehyung send those fuckers a card every year on the anniversary of the attack to the hospital where they're still recovering from the long-term effects of their injuries as a reminder of just what will happen if they, or anyone else, try to hurt their family again.

"alright, tiny demon, here you go," jimin says, as he finishes mixing the baby formula up with the water, giving it a couple of extra shakes just in case. eunwoo, who was previously smacking her hands against the tray attached to the high chair rather impatiently, perks up at the sound of jimin's voice.

she reaches out for him when he walks towards her with the bottle in one hand and her bib in the other; jimin carefully ties it around her neck before picking her up to relocate to the living room, where he carefully sits down on the rocking chair by the corner that faces the big window on the left side of the room, his favorite spot, and feeds the bottle to eunwoo, who promptly begins to eagerly drink from it.

"you were pretty hungry, huh?" jimin murmurs, trying to angle the bottle in such a way that it makes her drink a little slower to no avail. "you know, you don't have to drink it like someone is going to take it away from you any second now, you're going to ⎼ "

he doesn't even get to finish his sentence when eunwoo starts coughing, but luckily the bib catches most of the mess of baby formula that comes flying out of her mouth and drips down her chin.

" - make yourself choke. hey, don't look at me like that. I didn't want this to happen either."

jimin props her up so that she's sitting on his lap rather than lying on it, wiping at her pout with the bib to the best of his ability as eunwoo shows her disagreement with the situation by shaking her head and trying to pull away from him. he manages to get her mouth mostly clean before he gives up altogether and lets her have the bottle again.

leaning back, jimin beings rocking the chair gently as his daughter feeds, his free arm curled protectively around her as he watches the darkness lingering outside with sleepy eyes. he could fall asleep like this, has fallen asleep like this before, actually, surrounded by the mostly-quietness of the early morning, only interrupted by soft baby noises, the ticking of the grandfather clock in the living room and their rooster crooning at the top of his lungs every now and then.

jimin yawns. each time he blinks his eyes take longer and longer to open again, and eunwoo seems to be well on her way to be sound asleep as well, so jimin decides that it's time for both of them to go back to bed. as careful as he can possibly be so he doesn't disturb her too much, jimin hoists her up with an arm under her thigh; eunwoo rests her head on his shoulder, sleepily clinging to the collar of jimin's shirt as he walks to the kitchen to leave the now empty bottle on the sink, figuring they can just take care of it when they wake up, properly, in a few hours to take care of the animals and be somewhat presentable before haseul and the others come by to finish getting everything ready for their big day.

he's thinking of the warmth of his bed and its weighted blankets and his soon-to-be husband's body heat as he carries eunwoo back to her room, of slipping back under the covers and wrapping his arms around taehyung's waist so he can't escape when jimin presses his cold feet right up against his shins, giggling uncontrollably as taehyung squirms and calls him every name under the sun without any real heat in his voice laced with laughter and fall asleep just like that, with his nose buried in the nape of taehyung's neck and their legs intertwined, pressed so close together he doesn't know where he begins and taehyung ends.

the sound of quick footsteps coming from upstairs makes jimin pause with his foot hanging mid-air where he was about to place it on the first step. he backs away from the stairs quickly, holding eunwoo closer still to his chest as his mind races with a thousand explanations of what could possibly be happening, each one worse than the previous one because it doesn't sound like bada or even taehyung getting up to go to the bathroom, the steps are fast and loud, like someone is on a hurry, but even the stupidest of paid assassins wouldn't be making that much of a ruckus if their mission was to break into their house at night and catch them by surprise.

maybe taehyung is injured. maybe bada is too, and the dogs, maybe they're all injured and can't call out for help and they need him, but he also has to think of eunwoo, and ⎼

jimin takes a deep breath to ground himself, then moves to quickly and carefully deposit eunwoo's asleep form on the couch before he advances towards the stairs slowly, unsheathing his claws as he goes, then pressing his back against the wall next to them to wait for the attacker to come down the stairs. jimin flexes his clawed his fingers; it's been a while since he's used them to fight but he's not too worried. he could take any idiot any of the councils send their way on his sleep with his hands tied behind his back.

the sound of footsteps grows louder and louder until they stop briefly, right at the top of the stairs, before they pick back up again. jimin's muscles tense, getting ready, and pounces as he catches sight of a flash of white running past him ⎼

⎼ only to have the attacker spin around and catch him by the wrist, using his grip to twist jimin's arm and press it right against his back. jimin grunts as they slam him against the wall, feels the sharp tip of a blade against his back where his heart is and reacts accordingly: he lifts his legs and kicks at the attacker with all his strength, sending them flying backwards and straight into the opposite wall with a loud bang and a yelp, which startles eunwoo, who begins to cry as loudly as her little lungs will allow.

jimin frowns, then freezes. that voice... he would recognize that voice anywhere.

jimin turns around so fast he almost loses his balance, and finds taehyung on the floor, rubbing his lower back with a hand and his face scrunched in pain. he's holding jimin's old sword in his other hand. jimin gapes.

"tae ⎼ taehyung? what ⎼ what happened? are you okay?"

taehyung's head snaps up sharply at the sound of jimin's voice. his eyes widen until they look like they're about to pop right out from his skulk and his hands come up to cover his mouth in horror. the sword clatters to the floor with a clank.

jimin blinks. his mouth opens and closes as his adrenaline-ridden brain struggles to figure out what on the lord's green earth has just happened, but no words come out. he looks over to his fiancé sprawled on the floor of their living room surrounded by pieces of splintered wood looking like god himself just appeared in his living room, and then he looks back at their youngest daughter sobbing on the couch and feels like the worst parent in all the existing realms because she's crying because of him, he made her cry, even if he had a good reason to do it or, at least, he thought he had ⎼ it's still unforgivable. he made his own daughter cry, and then he ⎼ he hurt his own fiancé because he didn’t recognize him and thought he was an attacker.

needless to say, this isn't how jimin imagined their wedding day would start.

"I woke up and you ⎼ you weren't on the bed," taehyung says, sounding as hysterical as jimin feels, like he too is struggling to pierce together everything that happened in the past minute. "and the lights on eunwoo's room were on but she wasn't on her crib either so I thought maybe ⎼ they had tried to take her again and you went after them and got hurt, so I went to check bada's room and left her there with the dogs and then I went back to our room to grab your sword and I came downstairs because I ⎼ I heard noises coming from downstairs and thought that they were still here so I just ⎼ "

"you thought I was one of them," jimin says softly, as it all clicks in his brain. taehyung thought he was an intruder, and jimin thought taehyung was the intruder and they, well. they almost jumped each other in a desperate attempt to protect their family. "I ⎼ I thought you were one of them. I went to check on eunwoo when I heard her crying, and then I came downstairs to prepare her a bottle. I ⎼ I told you before I left the room, but you were pretty out of it so I think you just... didn't hear me."

"I'm sorry, jiminie, I'm so sorry. I thought ⎼ I thought I heard you talking about going to check on eunwoonie but you know how my nightmares are like, I couldn't remember if that had actually happened or if it was just a dream," taehyung covers his face with his hands. "oh god, I can't believe I almost ⎼ "

jimin feels like crying, like he wants to break something. the vase with flowers they keep on their living room table, maybe, or the spines of the assholes who did this to taehyung, who hurt him to the point he can't even trust his own reality sometimes. going to therapy has helped him immensely, but stress makes him especially vulnerable to them and both the wedding and the baby have been sources of stress for both him and taehyung, even if taehyung wouldn't admit it. he's still as good as hiding his exhaustion from jimin, and now, from the kids as well as he was when they were barely surviving in that shoebox apartment in seoul.

and, well. jimin can hardly blame him for it, when he knows first hand how hard can it be to shake off the convictions that are drilled into you from a very young age that you accept as the absolute truth because it's all you know. society in heaven is built in one principle: everything has to be for the greater good, and anything that encourages individual thinking and actions is heavily frowned upon. angels are taught that they have to carry their negative feelings inside, that expressing their hurt aloud will disrupt the peaceful environment they fight so hard to keep because, in a way, it's a way of individual expression. jimin guesses their logic is that if they can express how they feel then the next step is wanting things for themselves and eventually, breaking free from the hivemind mentality so prevalent in their society.

jimin makes it a point to ask taehyung how he feels or what he thinks about this or that often, because even though he's gotten better at asking for the things he wants and expressing himself, it's still hard for him sometimes. sometimes he still struggles with it, because even though he knows jimin wants to know how he feels because he loves him and he worries about him, about how taehyung insists on carrying the burden of their struggles alone despite jimin being right there, more than willing to share it with him.

it's something that stood out to him in particular when they were shopping for furniture for their new home on the farm and taehyung seemed almost afraid to disagree with jimin's opinion on what type of curtains would look better in their living room or the color they wanted for the cabinets in the kitchen. jimin wanted to know to taehyung's opinion, but taehyung mostly just shrugged his shoulders and said: "whatever you think is best, honey", even when jimin purposefully picked godawful options just to see if taehyung would object to them.

"I'm sorry, jiminie, it's just that I'm still not used to my opinion mattering at all," taehyung said in response to the pointed look jimin gave him when he saw him actually considering agreeing with jimin when he suggested putting neon green carpeting on their bedroom. "but um, yeah, that looks awful. I want - "

jimin's eyes sparkled. "yes?"

a deep breath, and then ⎼

"I want wooden floors."

they used to fight over it occasionally when they first got to the human world, when they there still adjusting to not only living together, but to doing it on a whole other world that wasn't anything like the one they grew up in.

they managed to escape from it, but their demons still followed them here. seeing the man he loves, the man he's going to marry, looking so lost and small crumpled on the floor makes jimin want to burn heaven to the ground.

"I technically almost ⎼ almost hurt you too, so. we're even," jimin says, even though even uttering the words makes his heart shrivel up in his chest. if he had actually harmed taehyung he wouldn't have ever forgiven himself. "eunwoo thinks so as well, isn't right, sweetheart?"

jimin hurries over to the couch and pulls her into his arms, cooing at her and bouncing her gently as he brings her over to where taehyung is.

"we're safe, tae, see?" jimin says, kneeling in front of his fiancé with their daughter in his arms. eunwoo, who calmed down almost immediately the moment jimin held her in his arms, reaches out for taehyung the moment she spots him. "we're safe, we're okay, you were only trying to protect us."

"yeah, yeah, I know, but still ⎼ " taehyung sniffles, smiling fondly at eunwoo as she squirms happily on his lap. jimin mirrors his smile almost subconsciously when taehyung leans down to gently nuzzle at eunwoo's hair, breathing in the strawberry smell in her hair as if to ground himself. "hey, sweetie, did you know dada is an idiot?"

"dada," she replies, nodding enthusiastically. "idiot."

"dada is not an idiot, don't listen to him, eunwoonie," jimin says, narrowing his eyes at taehyung, although he doesn't think he looks very threatening considering he's trying his hardest not to smile and failing at it. taehyung sticks his tongue out at him, and just when he's about to lean forward to steal a kiss the sound of what he can only describe as an stampede charging down the stairs makes him hip his head towards the stairs in alarm.

taehyung opens his mouth to speak, but before he can utter a single word, bada comes running into the living room, a smoky ball of ether in one hand and a crackling ball of nether in the other, looking about ready for battle in her cat pajamas, yelling, "you fuckers leave us a - oh."

she stops in her tracks when she notices the lack of fighting happening in the living room, the energy in her hands vanishing into thin air.

spot, jimin's old war hellhound turned guard dog and wonderful house pet and yeontan, their regular-sized pomeranian dog, come running after her. all of spots sets of ears and his tail are raised high in the air as he sniffs the air for threats. when he finds none, he flops down next to bada, as relaxed as a dog can be, but still alert.

meanwhile, yeontan makes his way over to jimin and burrows into his lap, demanding to be pet. jimin obliges, still trying to make sense of how exactly they ended up in the current situation they're in.

"what ⎼ what are you doing, sitting on the floor like that?" bada says, incredulity oozing from her voice. "dad said there was someone in the house. did you... take care... of them, already?"

eunwoo shrieks, thrilled at the sight of her big sister. "baba!"

"you could say that, yes," taehyung says, exchanging a Look with jimin. "didn't I tell you to stay in your room until I made sure everything was fine, anyway?"

"you were taking too long, I was worried!" bada protests. "I thought maybe you had gotten hurt or something. and I've been practicing my offensive magic, I could have totally helped you, dad. see?"

she cups her palms together and nether immediately fills them, crackling around her fingers and wrists, and jimin can't help but be unbelievably proud of her for being able to wield nether like that; nether is an element natural of demons and because of that it doesn't come easy to most angels, but with jimin's guidance, she has been able to use it with a dexterity angels decades her senior can only dream to have.

it wasn't an easy task to achieve, but it's a skill jimin wanted her to have as an extra protection measure, just in case they don't give up chasing after them: with ether, the element natural to her, she can hurt demons, and with nether, the element jimin taught her, she can hurt angels so all her bases are covered. just as jimin taught bada how to work nether energy in addition to taehyung guiding her through the use of ether, when eunwoo grows up, they will be sure to teach her all the same.

when he and taehyung started to look into adopting children from orphanages full of children whose families were torn apart by the war, they promised themselves that their future kids would never have to fight like jimin did and it's a promise they intend to keep. teaching them how to fight is just a precaution: if they want their children they will have to go through them first.

"I know, sweetheart, I know you control nether pretty fluidly now, but these people are... " taehyung sighs. "I just don't you want you to get hurt."

"well, I don't want any of you to get hurt, " bada frowns, resting her hands on her hips. "so where do we go from here?"

"we go to bed, I think," jimin interjects before they can really get going. they're both so stubborn they could very well be there all night if he doesn't say anything. "come on, we need all the rest we can still get, today is a big day."

jimin turns towards him when he feels taehyung's hand covering his, stroking it affectionately with his thumb. taehyung gives him a blinding smile brimming with happiness, the smile of a man in love, and all of a sudden it's like all of jimin's worries slip away like they're sand between his fingers. he can't help it when he leans forward to steal a kiss from taehyung's sweet mouth, and then another, and another one after that, much to their oldest daughter's chagrin.

"okay, okay, I get it, I'm going to bed," bada says hurriedly, dramatically covering her eyes with her hand as she walks backwards towards the stairs. "spot, come on, let's leave our dads to show their affection in private they way it was intended."

spot barks once and obediently gets up to follow her and when yeontan spots them leaving, he wriggles out of jimin's hold and hurries to follow after them. they watch them trudge up their stairs with small smiles on their faces, forever endeared by how much their dogs adore their kids, especially their oldest daughter, to the point they insist on sleeping in her room on most nights. spot likes to sleep in eunwoo's room sometimes, and in some occasions yeontan will whine and beg until they give in and let him sleep in their bed with them, which usually means for jimin that he won't get to cop even the smallest of feels because "not in front of tannie, jiminie. but you can hold my ass if you want."

they go to eunwoo's room together. jimin watches with a rather besotted expression on his face as taehyung sings her to sleep, an old nursery rhyme jimin knows he used to sing to the children he took care of in heaven. jimin dozes off, where he sits in the rocking chair by the corner, lost in the soothing cadence of taehyung's low, soulful voice.

he doesn't get to see the soft look taehyung gives him, when he notices he's fallen asleep with his cheek smushed all cutely where it rests against his palm and his rumpled mismatched pajamas: he's wearing a pair of checkered pants on the bottom and an old shirt of taehyung's from an adopting campaign they did at the vet clinic he works at, now. jimin glances with half-closed eyes at the ring glinting in taehyung's finger as he tucks their daughter in and thinks to himself, "I am lucky enough to be marrying this man in just a few hours."

even to jimin himself, sometimes it seems almost unbelievable that this is their life now. if anyone had told his old self, who took pride and joy in all the pain and suffering he caused even towards angel civilians in the war, who used to be known, among angel and demon ranks alike, as "the black plague" because nothing survived him that not only there would be a day in which he would be putting his weapons down, but that he would be doing it for the angel he fell in love with, jimin is sure he would've laughed himself to tears right before he tore that poor unfortunate soul apart with his bare hands. commander jimin would have been downright offended about the mere suggestion that he could feel anything all for an angel.

but that's not him, not anymore, and he owes it to taehyung. he ignited the spark that led to the moment in which jimin looked at himself and thought, "what am I doing? what's the purpose of all of this? what are we really fighting for?". the person he is now could never raise a weapon against someone else, not unless he was doing to protect his own family from harm.

"come on, sleepyhead," taehyung whispers softly, shaking him by the arm. "let's go back to bed."

jimin opens his eyes fully. taehyung's warm, brown eyes are fond as he looks down at him, stroking gently at his shoulder. jimin opens his mouth to say "okay" but instead what comes out is:

"I love you."

"I love you too, jiminie," taehyung replies, without missing a beat. his cheeks and ears have colored adorably, pleasantly taken by surprise by jimin's sudden declaration of love. "but I'm not gonna love walking down the aisle with dark eyes under my eyebags, so come on. up we go."

"as if you have anything to worry about," jimin says, letting taehyung pull him to his feet. "you're gonna look beautiful no matter what."

taehyung swats at him. "oh, shut up. you sweet talker."

"make me," jimin says, grinning big when taehyung turns to give him a pointed look, raised eyebrow and everything. jimin still loves making him flustered as much as he did when they met for the first time, even if he didn't know what that meant for him just yet.

they give one last look to eunwoo's sleeping form before they leave her room, closing the door behind them as quietly as they can. their room is not far at all from eunwoo's room, but the journey there takes them a little more than it normally would because jimin wraps his arms around taehyung's waist and clings to him all the way there, effectively slowing them down. taehyung grumbles about clingy demons who want him to have raccoon eyes on their wedding day, but jimin knows he doesn't really mean it, because he put his hands over jimin's ones and growled a little when jimin tried to let go.

"c'mere," jimin says, after he's slipped under the covers with a little happy sigh. "wanna cuddle."

"yeah, let me just ⎼ "

taehyung scoots over, and they arrange and rearrange their limbs until they find the desired cuddle position for the occasion: they're completely wrapped around each other, with taehyung's legs wrapped around jimin's waist, his arms around his torso and his face buried in jimin's chest, right against the little mole jimin has there, and jimin's hands around taehyung's waist and his nose buried in taehyung's hair.

"hmm," taehyung hums in sheer contentment, like there is nowhere else he would rather be in the world right now. "this is so nice."

"I agree," jimin whispers, inhaling the sweet strawberry smell of taehyung's hair as he squeezes taehyung's ass through his pajama pants. "I never want to leave this bed again."

"how are you gonna marry me if you don't leave this bed?" taehyung says, his chin digging on jimin's chest as he looks up at him.

"I never want to leave this bed again unless it is to marry you," jimin amends quickly.

taehyung hums, nuzzling jimin's chest. "better."

"I can't wait to be married to you," jimin says. "I'm gonna be the best husband you could possibly ask for."

"luckily for you," taehyung says, squeezing jimin tighter. "you're already the best husband I could possibly ask for."

"even after I nearly clawed your face off on our wedding day?"

"especially after you nearly clawed my face off on our wedding day," taehyung purrs. "you're so hot when you get all intense in combat. and you know how sexy I find those claws of yours."

"is that so, hm?" jimin lets one of his hands trail up taehyung's back, dragging the tip of his claws against his skin with just the right amount of pressure so that he feels it but not enough to hurt him.

taehyung shivers against him. "hng, don't. you're gonna get me hard."

jimin hums, stroking his claws up and down taehyung's back. he carefully traces the twin scars on taehyung's shoulder-blades, where his wings used to be before he Fell. it's a very sensitive zone for him, but it took him a while before he was comfortable with letting jimin touch them. most of the time he didn't even want jimin to see them, said they were ugly, and jimin respected his wishes even if he disagreed because to him, no part of taehyung could ever be ugly, least of all his scars.

the first few months in the human world were particularly hard in that sense, for them. taehyung's whole balance was thrown off when he lost his wings, so he couldn't take two steps without losing his balance and at night, the nightmares were so horrible he woke up screaming in panic and pain. jimin held him every time, crying even harder than taehyung himself sometimes because it just. wasn't fair. it wasn't fair what they did to him, when his only offense was falling in love with someone that wasn't chosen for him.
jimin still feels guilty, sometimes. he feels responsible for taehyung's Fall, even if taehyung has told him multiple times that it's something he chose for himself, that he doesn't regret choosing jimin over his wings and that he would do it all over again if given the chance.

"I would rather have you and nothing else," taehyung told him once, as he clung to him as he recovered from a particularly bad night. "than have all of heaven and not you."

it was a long process, but eventually taehyung felt comfortable enough with his scars to do things like walk around the house shirtless or let jimin take him from the back and jimin has never, ever taken that trust for granted. he knows it wasn't easy for taehyung, and he's eternally grateful for the trust that taehyung has put in him, from the very first moment, with all parts of him, both the good and the bad.

"you have your ‘I'm blaming myself’ face on."

jimin blinks, pulling back a little to be able to look at taehyung in the eyes a bit better. taehyung is giving him a look that's both exasperated and fond, the same one he always gives him when jimin thinks about taehyung's wing scars and blames himself for it.

"I'm not ⎼ I'm not blaming myself, I swear," jimin reassures him quickly. "well, I kind of was, but then I thought of taking you from the back and I got understandably distracted.."

taehyung groans. "lord, you're insatiable. and I thought I told you to not make me hard, we have to sleep."

"can you blame me, though, when my future husband looks this good?" jimin says, scratching taehyung's back with his claws softly one last time before sheathing them again so that it's just his palm displayed on taehyung's warm back.

"flattery will get you everywhere, future husband," taehyung yawns, snuggling into jimin's chest. "but not when I'm tired enough to fall asleep in the middle of it. now let's sleep."

jimin wants to say that it wouldn't be the first time either of them falls asleep mid-blowjob; it used to happen rather frequently when they still lived in seoul and both of them worked night shifts (jimin, as a cashier in a convenience store and taehyung as a cashier at a gas station) and they tried to make the most of the little time they had to spend together, but sometimes their exhaustion won over their horniness and they ended up falling asleep before they could really get anywhere.

the same thing happens to jimin now. one second he's thinking about sliding down on the bed to give taehyung a sleepy blowjob and in the next he's fast asleep, holding tightly onto his soon to be husband. he dreams of running through endless strawberry fields, holding taehyung’s hand.

❊

jimin wakes up with a gasp.

he can't really tell what pulled him from the deep slumber he was blissfully in, at first. he squirms, fingers curling around the pillowcase on each side of his head as he bucks his hips, unsure if he wants to get closer or get away from the sweltering heat between his legs ⎼

"hng," jimin groans, eyelids fluttering open as he struggles to shake off the last tendrils of sleep clinging to him. "ah, what ⎼ baby?"

jimin has seen quite a few impressive sights in the twenty-something human years he's been alive, like the light reflecting off taehyung's halo as they flew together through the sky or the sunrise after spending the night in a temple dedicated to Lust with taehyung, hiding from the world that didn't approve of their love, but sometimes he finds like they can't really compare to the view of taehyung lying between his legs under the covers, warming one of his dicks while he strokes the bigger one with his hands, paying special attention to rub the soft bumped patterns along the shaft the way he knows jimin likes.

"shit, tae, and you call me insatiable," jimin moans, sliding a hand under the covers and into taehyung's curly hair to pull him off his upper dick. it's a bit smaller than his lower one, but taehyung claims it's his favorite to blow, says he loves how the small spikes and fat little knot feel in his mouth, how it fills his mouth completely when it expands and all he can do is lie there and swallow all the cum jimin gives him until the knot goes down.

taehyung widens his eyes, the picture of innocence, although it falls a little short considering how he's licking his lips and smacking them like he's tasting the most delicious of delicacies.

"what? can't a devoted husband wake up the love of his life with a blowjob?"

"I never said that," jimin says, pressing his thumb again taehyung's swollen bottom lip. "and technically you're not my husband yet."

"but I will be, in just under a few hours," taehyung grins, giving jimin's thumb a lick. "and I'm celebrating that with a blowjob. I think it's a much more pleasant way to start our wedding day, don't you agree?."

"oh, I most definitely do, my beloved future husband," jimin says, making a show fold his arms behind his head. "I'll let you get back to it then."

taehyung winks at him, and then he swallows jimin's upper dick down without warning. jimin hisses a few expletives in an ancient language he hasn't spoken in quite a long time, and then a few more when he notices the smug smile in taehyung's face, as much as one can smile when they have a dick in their mouth.
the double dick is a genetic remain of jimin's ancestors, many of which were incubi. jimin doesn't need sex to survive, doesn't have enough incubus blood in him for that, but he does enjoy sex quite a bit more than the average person does, especially with taehyung, who works him in a way that no one has ever done before. he has one hand wrapped around jimin's lower dick, stroking it quick and dry the way jimin likes it and the other wrapped around the knot in his upper dick, squeezing it periodically, using his grip on it to keep his dick steady as he enthusiastically bobs his head, swirling his tongue around the spikes near the head in such a perfect way it has jimin squeezing his eyes shut in pleasure, a dry sob getting stuck in his throat as he falls apart under taehyung warm mouth and skilled hands.

it's something that rather surprised jimin about him when they first started hooking up, because as far as jimin knew angels were meant to stay virginal and pure until marriage yet taehyung had the skills of someone who had clearly been at it for a while.

"well, as you know, the nursery I work at is located in new jerusalem, which is one of the biggest cities in heaven," taehyung told him. "we get a heavy traffic of crusaders because of that, and there's not much else to do when literally everything is prohibited because 'it's sinful and wrong and will distract you from the holy way.' not everyone is half as holy as they claim they are up there."

taehyung has always said that his first big crack in his perfect angel exterior was the day he found jimin outside of the fortress of new bethlehem with a blessed arrow stuck to his side as he prowled through the burnings remains looking for survivors and decided to save him instead of finishing him off like he should have done, even if there were other cracks here and there before that, even if he wasn't doing it out of the genuine desire to save jimin's life: he just wanted the so-called black plague to live with the knowledge that he owed his life to an angel, because to a demon like him that would be even worse than dying by the hands of a low-ranked angel such as taehyung.

it may haven't been inspired by the good holy values heaven promotes so fervently, but it still was something taehyung decided to do because he wanted to, not because it was the right thing to do. a crack.

"oh lord, I missed this," jimin says, voice breaking towards the end of the sentence when taehyung removes his hand from the base of his upper dick and sinks all the way in, letting his teeth grace the knot gently with his teeth as he pops it into his mouth. taehyung says he likes teasing himself with it, wrapping his fingers around jimin's knot so he can't have it when he sinks down on his dick over and over and only removing his hand and letting it into his mouth when neither of them can't take it anymore. "shit, tae, just like that."

taehyung hums his agreement, licking around his swollen knot encouragingly. the vibrations feel so nice around his dick that jimin has to cover his mouth with a hand so he doesn't moan so loudly out loud, mindful of the fact that their daughters are just down the hall. adopting a baby has been fulfilling in every aspect of their life except in the sexual one: with the little one crying almost every night neither of them had the energy, will or time for anything that wasn't a quick handjob before going to bed. this is the first night in which eunwoo has only woken up once during the night, and they both intend on taking full advantage of that before the start of one of the happiest days of their lives.

taehyung pulls off his dick with a wet, loud pop and a little moan of satisfaction, letting go of both of jimin's dicks completely. the thick strands of saliva and precome connecting the tip of his dick to taehyung's swollen lips nearly make jimin come right then and there.

"get the lube, jimin-ah. I wanna ride you."

jimin doesn't have to be told twice. he slides a bit further up the bed, twisting his body to reach their nightstand and get their lube while taehyung climbs up his body, settling on his lap with the sheets pooling around his waist.

"hurry up," taehyung whines, bouncing a little on jimin's lap. "I miss your dick, c'mon."

jimin grunts, handing taehyung the lube once he manages to locate it among the mess that's in their nightstand drawer. "you're such a brat. here you go."

"well, that's why I got you, don't I?" taehyung says, pouring lube onto his fingers with a triumphant smile on his face. "to put me in my place."

jimin raises an eyebrow. he reaches for taehyung's waist as taehyung reaches behind himself to rub at his hole with his lubed-up fingers, sighing when he pushes the half of his ring finger in one go.

" 's that what you want, hm?" jimin hums, rubbing at taehyung's hipbones with his thumbs as taehyung pushes the finger fully into himself, pushing in and out of himself quickly. "you want me to put you in your place, remind you exactly where you belong?"

"hnng, yes. I miss it so much. want you to hold me down and fuck me until your name is all I can remember."

"I know baby, I know," jimin coos, sliding a hand down to squeeze at taehyung's ass as he whines, fucking himself on two fingers now. "tonight, yeah? hobi said he would gladly babysit eunwoo tonight and bada is staying over at a friend's house. we're going to have the whole house for ourselves."

"oh god, stop, I'm gonna come," taehyung groans, pulling his fingers out and wiping them on the sheets without much care. "we're going to have the house just for the two of us. we can fuck and not worry about traumatizing our kids forever!"

jimin giggles. "exactly, darling. that means I can fuck you as loudly as you want for as long as you want."

"oh, thank fuck," taehyung reaches back for jimin's upper dick, holding it steady and lining it up so he can start to slowly sink on it. "like, lord knows I love our kids with every single fiber of my being, but I'm only gonna get married once, you know? I want to enjoy my wedding night to the fullest."

"only once, huh?" jimin bites down on his lip hard enough to draw blood when taehyung bottoms out. his lower dick is nestled right in between taehyung's asscheeks so it will receive stimulation as well as taehyung rides his upper dick and when jimin comes, he will fill taehyung up with his cum and come all over his lower back and ass simultaneously, which is something both of them go crazy for: taehyung loves being marked up with jimin's cum as much as jimin loves marking him up with it.

"ah ⎼ yeah, you're it for me, jiminie. you should know that by now." taehyung grunts, throwing his head back as he starts to swivel his hips in tight little circles, making jimin groan low in his throat as his hands scramble to find purchase on taehyung’s ass. his fingers dig into the soft flesh there as he helps taehyung find his rhythm as he bounces on jimin’s lap.

“and I do, darling. but I love hearing you say it.

“you’re it for me, jimin,” taehyung whimpers, reaching down to wrap a hand around his own leaking dick. “you’re my everything.”

they go at it quick and hard, aware that they don’t have much time right now. jimin holds taehyung up with the grip he has on his ass and plants his feet on the mattress to fuck up into him as hard as he can, knowing that he never lasts long when he’s worked up and jimin bounces him on his dick like he’s a ragdoll. taehyung mewls, letting his head fall back as he takes it, so jimin shoves three of his fingers into taehyung’s mouth to keep him quiet.

“you look so good taking dick, darling,” jimin grits out. he can feel his knot expanding, he just needs a little more ⎼ “you feel so good, all tight for me. ‘m gonna come, fill you up like you deserve, yeah? just like you want.”

taehyung moans frantically around jimin's fingers, deliberately squeezing around jimin's knot to encourage him to come already and fill him up. he doesn't have to wait much longer: jimin thrusts into him three more times in quick succession before he buries himself inside of taehyung as deep as he can go and stills, turning his head to bite into the pillow instead of crying out taehyung's name like he really wants to do. in the end, it's a combination of the gorgeous visual of taehyung on top of him, lost in pleasure, the sheets bunched around his waist and light of dawn bouncing beautifully off his skin what pushes jimin over the edge.

taehyung holds onto jimin's shoulders as the knot in jimin's upper dick expands fully and locks him in place, his eyes rolling back when the spikes shoot out and sink into his walls as well, completely immobilizing him as jimin's upper dick twitches and starts to pump him full of warm come at the same time that jimin's lower paints his lower back and asscheeks white with come.

jimin used to worry about the spikes hurting taehyung. he used to keep them inside every time taehyung sat on his upper dick or he fucked him with it, until taehyung sat him down and explicitly told him that it was fine, that he didn’t have to hold back because he liked it.

“it doesn’t even hurt, I promise,” taehyung was quick to reassure him when jimin didn’t seem to convinced. “it’s more ⎼ like a sting? it’s not painful at all. I like it.”

later on, taehyung will whine about "all the wasted cum that could have gone inside him instead", even though he knew as well as jimin that they absolutely did not have the time to first get him ready to take both of jimin's dicks, and then clean him out of all the cum inside of him. even now, with just one dick inside of him, his stomach is considerably bloated. taehyung groans obscenely when he notices, rubs his stomach with his free hand as his other hand speeds up over his dick until he comes all over jimin's stomach and chest, encouraged by jimin's own hands pushing down gently on his stomach and rubbing on his puffy hole, stretched so prettily around jimin's knot.

"oh god, I think I'm dead," taehyung whimpers, slumping forward onto jimin's chest like a puppet whose strings have just been cut. "you have killed me. you will have to tell all our friends that the wedding is canceled because your stroke game was so bomb it killed me."

"first of all, don't even joke about that," jimin says, nuzzling taehyung's sweaty hair. "secondly, I think we have about fifteen minutes before our second alarm is supposed to ring but if you're so dead then I guess you don't want me to eat my cum out of your ass ⎼ "

"I'm not dead! I'm not dead, I haven't been this alive ever before," taehyung sits up abruptly, letting out a little moan when the sudden movement pulls at the spikes still buried inside of him. jimin doesn't miss how his dick twitches at the short burst of pain, either. he would just rather banish that thought from his head for now. "see? I'm good. please eat my ass."

jimin pretends to think it over. his long, forked tongue comes to lick at his lips and taehyung whines. "mhm, I don't know. I don't think you deserve it."

"jimin."

he was only joking, of course. he has taehyung sitting on his face the second the spikes pull back and his knot go down, eats him out through another orgasm that leaves taehyung's legs shaking and, in return, taehyung fingerfucks a deliciously good orgasm out of jimin, whispering roughly in jimin's ear how much he wants to fuck his sweet little ass.

if their circumstances were different jimin would have gladly let him, but they have a lot to prepare for today and if they don't stop now their friends will get here and they will still be tangled together in bed and no one wants that, so it's with that thought in mind that they reluctantly get out of bed and get dressed in clothing that they don't mind getting dirty to tend to the animals and finish setting everything up at the indoor riding arena and when they're done with that, they will shower and get ready for the wedding.

jimin doesn't think he has ever gotten dressed with so much enthusiasm as he's doing today. he pulls on a pair of jeans, his heavy brown boots and a thick sweater, ties his shoulder-length hair back into a ponytail and follows taehyung downstairs, where they will make breakfast before they head out to make their rounds among their animals.

bada is in the kitchen, just finishing making breakfast it seems, when they get there. maybe they spent more time than they thought they did... intimating, because when he looks over at the table his jaw drops at the full breakfast he sees displayed on it: rice, soup, meat and a full array of side dishes. there's cold cucumber soup, grilled short ribs, bean sprout rice... and it seems like their daughter made it all from scratch.

bada looks up and promptly does a double-take when she notices them just standing in the doorway, frozen with surprise. she looks... caught, like she wasn't expecting them to come downstairs so soon.

she recovers a lot quicker than they do, though. she straightens up, clears her throat, and finishes putting down the chopsticks on the table like she was doing before they interrupted her.

"well? are you just gonna stand there all morning or are you gonna come sit down and eat before it gets cold?"

something they've learnt about bada as they watched her grow is that she mostly shows affection through actions, not words, and that grand gestures of gratitude spook her so, with that in mind, they show their thanks with a big hug (taehyung) and a kiss on the forehead (jimin) before sitting down at the table and tucking into their food.

"what do you think? is it good?" she asks, going for casual, taking a sip of her soup immediately afterward so it looks like she doesn't really care that much about their opinion.

"this is really good, sweetheart. thank you," jimin replies enthusiastically. taehyung, who had been previously shoveling rice into his mouth, puts his dish down and nods vigorously. bada flushes, clearly pleased but wanting to desperately pretend it's not a big deal, and resumes eating.

"can I ask what prompted this?" taehyung says, after taking a sip of his water to wash the rice down. "don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely over the moon that you did this for us, but this is the kind of thing your dad would pull when he's forgotten yet again to replace the blown lightbulb in our bathroom that he swore he was gonna get replaced last week, without fail ⎼ "

bada snorts as jimin lets out a fake outraged "hey". she then shrugs. "I just wanted to do something nice for your wedding day, is all. I um ⎼ I couldn't get you anything so I thought this could make a very nice wedding present. It's probably a bit lame ⎼ "
"it's not lame at all, honey," jimin interjects. he looks at taehyung, who gives him a nod, before looking back at their daughter. "this took you a lot of effort and we appreciate that you did this for us and that you even thought of getting us a gift, even if it's not something that you have to do at all. you being here with us is the best gift we could ask for."

she must have really been worried about this, because she doesn't immediately quote a vine to try and make light of the situation. she shrugs again, pushing the kimchi on her plate around with her chopsticks.

"yes, I know, but you've done so much for me. I wanted to do something for you in return."

jimin looks up at the ceiling, pretending to have spotted a fly as he wills himself not to cry. when they first brought her home, they worried constantly about not raising her right, thinking that maybe a redeemed demon and a fallen angel could just not be good parents to a full angel child, but when jimin looks at her now, when he sees the person she has become, he wishes he could give his old self a call and reassure him that he has nothing to worry about. their little angel is gonna be just fine.

"you can help us with the animals today, if you want," taehyung says, and his voice sounds tellingly wet, but neither of them acknowledges it. bada nods eagerly, says she misses it, and it's thanks to that that they don't all end up crying during breakfast.

they take care of the dishes together when they finish eating: jimin washes, taehyung rinses and bada dries, and then they all head out to feed and clean the animals. together, they clean the chicken coop, collect all the eggs and feed them, let the horses out into the field, feed the pigs and clean out the soiled, damp straw of their bedding in the enclosure, replacing it with fresh straw, and milk their three cows before letting them out into their field so they can graze.

it's after they have safely carried the buckets, full of milk, to the house, filtered it into jugs and placed them into the freezer for speed cooling (bada set a timer on her phone and promises to take the milk out of the freezer and into the fridge when it's time) that they hear the telltale sound of cars arriving at the farm.

they get to the front porch just in time to see spot pouncing on haseul, who’s halfway out of the driver’s side of her truck, begging for pets while yeontan stands right in between them and the truck, barking intermittently. haseul laughs, delighted, and does her best to pet spot’s three heads at the same time with her two hands.

hyunjin, haseul’s heavily pregnant wife, comes out of the car with a bit of evident effort on her part, and jimin barely resists the urge to sigh. they told her she didn’t have to come help with the decoration considering she’s about to pop, but she insisted, and she’s a lot like taehyung in that once she has set her mind on something, it’s almost impossible to change her mind.

“hey, remember what we talked about, hyunjin?” taehyung calls out to her, sounding equally fond and exasperated. “if you give birth during our wedding you have to name the twins after us!”
hyunjin shoots finger guns at them, wobbling towards the back seat. her halo sits crooked on her head, because she says her arms hurt and she can’t reach the top of her head properly. hyunjin likes to always wear her halo, because to her, it’s a way of showing that they may have chased her off her home but she still has her identity.

“I suggested that she stay at home and wait for us to pick her up for the ceremony after we were done setting up the riding arena,” haseul says, closing the car door behind her. “and she threatened to divorce me, so we reached a compromise: she’s gonna sit on a chair and blow up balloons for the arch and not lift anything heavy.”

she gives her wife a meaningful, side-long glance as she says that. hyunjin waves her off with a “yeah, yeah.” jimin feels something warm spreading through his chest, watching them bicker, because he sees himself and taehyung in them. their stories are kind of similar, in a way: hyunjin was lucky enough to escape the high council before they could sink their claws on her and came to the human realm seeking refuge, where she met haseul, a human woman, fell in love, and got married. together they started a program to help other angels, and then other demons as well, to flee the war and start a new life away from the violence of their realm.

their children, much like jimin and taehyung’s children, will grow up safe from the never-ending strife between heaven and hell.

it means a lot to both taehyung and him that they’re all here today, hyunjin and haseul, and yerim, chaewon and jinsoul, who all seem to be protesting very loudly about being buried under a mountain of garment bags in the backseat that doesn’t allow them to get out of the truck; they were the first people they befriended when they arrived in the human realm and without their help, jimin doesn’t know where they would be now.

jimin commanded a legion of thousands of demons for years, but he knows their loyalty wasn’t anywhere near as sincere as haseul, hyunjin and their girls’ is. they all hopped on a train and came all the way here from seoul and they offered to help with organizing the wedding even though they didn’t really have to. they will be forever grateful to them.

hyunjin seems to be struggling to get one of their garment bags out of the backseat to free chaewon. haseul walks around the car to help her, while bada goes to the other door to help them jinsoul and yerim: there are five blue bags, one for each girl, that are immediately taken to their guest room so they can change later, and two red ones, which contain his and taehyung’s suits.

“they’re so cool,” yerim says, bouncing a little. “kahei truly outdid herself this time. I can’t wait to see you cry when you see taehyung walking down the aisle with his on.”

she runs into the house, giggling, with them before he can answer, the wind tangling her colorful hair around her horns, but, oh, well. it’s not like she’s wrong. he cried watching taehyung just try on suits when they went shopping for them many months ago; taehyung didn’t want to get married on an angel robe because they reminded him of a life he would rather not remember and “they’re too plain, anyway”. jimin shared that sentiment: he didn’t want to get married wearing his old armor, like he would have done if the wedding was happening in the other realm, because that armor represented a part of him that he let go of, that he didn’t want to honor anymore.

and so haseul put them in touch with kahei, an ex-legionnaire like jimin who found comfort away from the battlefield as a fashion designer, who was more than happy to design custom suits for them, and for far cheaper than she would usually charge.

“it truly is something to marvel at, your union,” she said. “a demon and an angel getting married. I never thought I’d see anything like that. of course I have to do anything I can to help.”

they needed a last minute adjustment, so they dropped them off on kahei’s shop last week so hyunjin and the girls could pick them up on their way there today.

once they have their clothes placed securely inside the house, they shift their focus to the back garden, where the structures of the arches they put together in the previous days, one at the beginning of the aisle and the other right over the altar, sit naked, waiting for them to decorate them with flowers and balloons. they set up the chairs pretty quickly, and then the angels and demons who can fly move inside the riding arena finish hanging the string of cloth and lights on the ceiling.

when they first started planning the wedding, both jimin and taehyung agreed on one thing: they didn’t want anything too extravagant, or too big. taehyung loudly proclaimed that he would rather eat his own vomit off of the floor than getting married in a church, as petty as it would have been, but they didn’t wanna risk provoking them in their special day, so they settled for celebrating it in their home: the altar would go in the back garden, where namjoon, a friend of hoseok’s who got ordained a priest online, would marry them, which was still petty but wouldn’t have heaven’s fury falling on them, and then the reception would be held in their indoor riding arena.

they just wanted it to be a gathering of the small family they had found here in the human realm, both human and non-human and, after a bit of consideration, they decided to invite a few angels and demons back in the other realm that they still trusted, with a little reminded on the invitation to please behave.
at some point during the morning, taehyung pecked him on the lips and went inside to wake eunwoo up and give her her morning bottle, keenly aware that if they let her sleep through the morning she wouldn’t sleep nor let anyone sleep during the night, and even if hoseok had a special blessing when it came to children, eunwoo is a force to be reckoned with when she can’t sleep at night.

jimin hadn’t realized, immersed as he was in making sure even the smallest of details was perfect, how their time flew. one second he was setting chairs in the garden and putting fresh flowers in the centerpieces of the tables, courtesy of his boss, who supplied the flowers to them for half the price since jimin had “employee’s discount” and the next he was being ushered upstairs because “you need to get ready! taehyung is already getting ready, the guests will start arriving at any moment, chop chop chop, jiminie.”

as per human tradition, jimin and taehyung won’t be able to see each other in their suits before they’re in the altar although, in their case, haseul says it’s less because of that and more because “we don’t want you being late to your own wedding because you saw each other in your suits and couldn’t keep your hands off of the other” , which jimin admits it’s a valid concern to have. it wouldn’t have been the first time they’re late to a movie night because they lost track of time making out or going for a quickie because taehyung’s ass looks particularly sinful in jeans and jimin can’t just not fuck it after seeing it like that.

jimin wonders if taehyung is nervous, where he’s getting ready in the guest room with the help of the girls and hopefully, yoongi, his best man (if he’s managed to get here in time from the other realm) because jimin knows he is. he wasn’t before, but as he lets the warm water cascade down his body, little nervous butterflies attack his stomach, tying it in knots. it seems a bit silly, that he’s nervous now, when was fine before and when what he and taehyung have is so solid, so sure. he wouldn’t say it’s nerves as if he thinks taehyung is gonna stand him up at the altar, it’s more like… impatient nerves. he wants to see taehyung already, he wants to be able to call him his husband already.

when he comes out of the shower, haseul, hyunjin and hoseok are waiting for him in the room to help him get ready. hoseok is holding eunwoo in his arms, dressed in an adorable baby blue dress.

“hello little demon, you look so cute,” jimin coos, melting at the sight of his baby reaching for him. he presses a gentle kiss on her forehead, right in between her horns, before he moves away, even though it hurts him greatly. “daddy can’t pick you up right now, sweetheart. I’m sorry.”

“how are you feeling?” hyunjin asks from where she’s sitting on the bed. “nervous? excited?”

“both,” jimin answer truthfully, tugging on his sparkly suit pants. “I just want to get down there and marry him already.”

“I have seen him, and let me tell you,” hoseok says, a big, sunny grin on his face as he bounces eunwoo on his hip. “you may think you’re ready to see him, but I can assure you you’re not. he looks stunning.”

“oh lord, please stop,” jimin’s hands are shaking so badly haseul has to take over buttoning his dress shirt for him. “stop saying words to me or I think I will cry.”

“you’re going to want to save your tears for when you’re in the altar waiting for him because ⎼ “

he’s holding out his arms for haseul to slide his jacket on when someone knocks hurriedly at the door. his heart nearly stops for a second, thinking it’s taehyung, but the voice that comes out from the other side of the door doesn’t belong to him, but to their oldest daughter.

“dad? can I come in?”

“come in, sweetheart.”

she pushes the door open, and does a double take when she sees him. he spreads his arms and does a little spin, showing off his sparkly dark grey suit.

“how do I look? will your other dad run away screaming when he sees me?”

“don’t be ridiculous, he wouldn’t do that even if you came out wearing a trashbag,” bada says, a hint of emotion in her voice. “you look, wow. you look amazing.”

jimin manages a wobbly grin. “thank you, little angel. you look gorgeous as well.”

she’s wearing a blood red suit with a white dress shirt underneath, and she looks as beautiful as they knew she would look in it when they got it for her. she’s got her halo perfectly placed on her head, and with the heels she has on, she stands taller than jimin, has to bend down to be able to hug him properly.

“I already finished dad’s makeup,” she tells him, when they pull back. “he looks so good. I can’t wait for you to see him.”

jimin, who is not above whining, does so. “I can’t wait to see him either but we’re still not done here so please, let’s just hurry so I can see my husband already.”

“alright,” haseul says, guiding him by the shoulders towards the vanity in the corner of their room. “just sit down and try to relax, we’re almost done and then you will be able to see your boy.”

they work quickly together to get him ready in no time: haseul braids his hair, bada does his makeup and hoseok, hyunjin (and eunwoo!) hang little charms and flowers on his horns.

“there we go,” bada says, putting her brush down. “all done. what do you think?”

when bada told them she wanted to do their makeup for the wedding, they almost cried nearly as much as she did when they got engaged. they couldn’t think of anything better; to them, no professional could do better than they own daughter.

“you did an amazing job, little angel. I love it,” jimin says, putting as much emotion in his voice as he’s capable of. bada preens, happy to be able to do something like this for her parents in such a special day.

“oh, um, there’s one last thing,” she says, when jimin is out of his seat and about to open the door to leave. “that told me to tell you that he wants you to unfold your wings. us. he wants us to unfold our wings.”

jimin inhales deeply. most of the time, angels and demons keep their wings “folded” (glamoured) because in the human world they just get in the way and there’s always the risk of a human with a bit of the Sight seeing them. some like to keep them unfolded in the privacy of their homes, but jimin got into the habit of keeping them folded even when he was at home when they lived in seoul, right after taehyung lost his own wings, so he wouldn’t be constantly reminded of what he had lost and when they moved here, he just kept doing it, out of habit.

“I think we should do it,” bada continues, when jimin doesn’t say anything. “I think he will be unhappy if we don’t.”

“okay,” jimin says, breathing out slowly. “okay, yes, you’re right. let’s do it.”

“that’s so romantic,” hyunjin coos, as jimin and bada work to get rid of the glamour of their own wings. “it reminds me of my own wedding. haseul asked me to unfold my wings too.”

“and what a sight that was, darling,” haseul says, leaning over to press a kiss on her cheek.

bada has two wings, white and feathery, the standard wing type for angels. jimin, as a high-ranking demon, has six in total: three pairs of wings, bigger to smaller. he almost has to glamour them again because he gets stuck on the door, but he manages to fit through it, horns and wings and all, at last.
“oh, wow,” hoseok says, taking jimin in. “taehyung is one hell of a lucky man.”

“If anyone is a lucky man, it’s me,” jimin says, almost floating with excitement as they step outside. “I can’t believe he chose me. I can’t believe he wants to spend the rest of his life with me.”

“well, you better believe it, jimin-ah,” haseul says, squeezing his arm encouragingly. “because it’s about to happen. we’re almost there.”

the sound of the wedding march has jimin’s heart jackrabbiting inside his chest as bada takes him down the aisle. he keeps his eyes upfront, on namjoon, who’s waiting for them at the altar, but on the corner of his eye he still can spot a pair of wings here and there, both fluffy and scaly, and horns, as well. he’s not too worried about the humans in the crowd: most of them won’t be able to see anything out of the ordinary, and the ones that do won’t be telling anyone on them.

bada squeezes his hand real tight before she leaves him standing before the altar to go to her seat, and he tries his very best to breathe. he stands with his hands twisted together in front of him and his back to the crowd, waiting. namjoon offers him a reassuring smile that he tries his best to mirror, although he’s not very sure he succeeds at it.

luckily for him and his frayed nerves, taehyung doesn’t make him wait long. he’s twisting his head to look the second his ears register the sound of people standing up again, and he swears the sight that greets him made his heart stop beating altogether for a whole three seconds.

jimin doesn’t think there are enough words in any language in the world to describe the emotions that overcome him when his eyes meet taehyung’s across the aisle, or that could describe how incredibly gorgeous he looks: he’s wearing a dark suit with intricate gold designs in the jacket, and a white dress shirt with a high collar and ruffled cuffs. his hair looks extra curly, making him look even more angelic than he usually looks. yoongi, his beloved half-brother, walks him down the aisle with pride shining in his eyes.

he doesn’t even attempt to stop his tears from falling, doesn’t think he could even if he wanted to. he’s openly sobbing by the time taehyung, who is also openly crying, reaches his side. jimin immediately grabs his hands and presses a kiss to the back of them, which only makes taehyung cry harder.

“jimin, you look ⎼ ” taehyung says, voice so tight with emotion he can barely get any words out. “you look stunning. look at your wings. I’m so lucky.”

“oh shush,” jimin sniffs. “I’m the lucky one here. I still count my blessings every night that you deem me worthy of being your husband.”

hands clasped tightly together, they both turn to namjoon. their guests sit.

“today we’re here gathered to celebrate a very special union,” namjoon begins. “between two people who defied everything they believed in to be together. neither the fire of hell nor the lightning of heaven were any match for the power of their love. today, with both heaven and hell as their witnesses, a fallen angel and a demon are getting married.”

“you saved me,” jimin tells taehyung, when the time to say their vows come. “you believed in me when no one else did. I owe everything I have to you.”

jimin is greatly proud of himself for being able to say his vows in a way that everyone could understand, considering the way his voice shook and broke every five words he said.

“I think that my heart already knew that you were gonna be it for us when we first met,” taehyung says, when it’s his turn. “I think that’s why I was unable to put my blade through you. it saw you and thought: ‘oh, hey, it’s you. it’s gonna be you.’”

when it’s time for them to exchange rings, jimin’s hands are shaking so hard he almost drops his. the rings are rather special: they’re made from taehyung’s old halo, melted down and given a new purpose, now it symbolizes a key piece in their future, rather than a bitter memory of their past.

taehyung steadies his hand. with his beautiful brown eyes shining with tears, he tells jimin: “easy. I’m right here, jimin-ah, I will always be right here. you don’t have to rush.”

and that’s true, isn’t it? they will always be together now, forever. there’s no need to rush. they have all the time in the world to figure things out, together.

“I declare you husbands,” namjoon says, at last. “you may kiss.”

they’re on each other before namjoon can even get the words out. taehyung wraps his arms around jimin’s waist to pull him close, and jimin holds taehyung’s face between his hands and kisses him, not like there is no tomorrow for them, but like they have all the time in the world, like there’s a thousand of tomorrows waiting for them after this.

jimin may not know what the future holds for them from now on, but what he does now is this: he and taehyung have the rest of their lives to figure it out. together, as best friends, as lovers, as husbands.