𝒜𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇𝑔𝓁𝑜𝓌

endearing trivia

The two of them continued to meet for the days to come, without explicitly deciding to, and the duration of their conversations grew longer as the infatuation burgeoned. Choosing to ignore the customs of their villages for as long as time would let them, Jimin and Jeongguk got tied by strong threads of intimacy, woven into each other's lives by unspoken consent.

"If you were to stumble upon a serpent being burnt in a fire," Jimin had asked once as they had strolled leisurely through the forest, "what would you do?"

Jeongguk, confused yet amused by the omega's absurdity, had replied, "Try to get it out of the fire, of course."

"And if it were to bite you? Wouldn't you be afraid?"

The warrior had been silent for a while, pondering over the question in comfortable quietude, and said, "It is its nature to bite, as is mine to help." 

Jimin had laughed, impressed by the alpha's wisdom. "You leave me no choice-I'll always have to follow you like a shadow so your kindness won't get you in trouble."

Jeongguk had grabbed his forearm, his fingers a gentle yet firm pressure, and his eyes intense. "Don't be my shadow, Jimin, become my companion."

The omega stared right into the depths of his eyes and asked with all solemnity, "And what shall become of all the wool that longs to be knitted in my chambers?"

Jeongguk smiled, endeared. "A question for you, now."

"Proceed."

"The song I had heard you sing, back when we had first met, where did you learn it?"

Jimin blushed, looking away. "Why would you want to know that?"

"I've read tales of sirens luring in their prey with their voices, I'd always thought of them as ugly, bat-like creatures who'd devour anything that came within their sight."

Jimin blinked at him, uncomprehending. 

"But the small fragment of my sanity that still functioned when I had laid my eyes on you registered how wrong I was in assuming them to be vile, not when I had encountered a person as ethereal as you."

Jeongguk watched as a white hue overlaid on Jimin's features, and then the deepest of reds filled the omega's cheeks as though it were painted on the soft, tanned skin. His heart swelled with dread. Had he gone too far?

"What you heard," said Jimin, eyes looking everywhere but into Jeongguk's earnest ones, "is an excerpt from a book I was not to read. Eomma has a lot of scrolls and parchments in her chambers, some of which she reads to Jihyun and I on occasion, but some of them were forbidden for the two of us to touch.

"One day, I was overcome by a sense of rebellion and found myself slipping into her chambers while she was asleep. I had grabbed the first book that came in my sight-a rather old, dusty thing-and began to read it. I had only lived twelve winters then and there was much in those pages I didn't understand like I do now. But what I did comprehend was that it was a love tale. A young girl was sitting by her windowsill, alone in her chamber and yearning for a companion. As she fantasized about a lover to find solace in, she began humming her hopeful thoughts aloud. I had only gotten to the fourth verse when Eomma discovered me."

Jeongguk smiled, exuding youth and virility all at once. "Park Jimin," he said quietly, "why are you the way you are?"

Jimin finally looked at him, mirth deep within his hazel eyes. "What am I, Jeon Jeongguk, if not a prisoner of curiosity and a zest for life?"

The warrior shook his head, incredulous that such a mundane memory would add yet another layer of attraction towards the omega. "You baffle me."

There was a mischievous sparkle in Jimin's eyes after hearing that, and Jeongguk found himself growing addicted to it. "You're one of many then."

***