ᴏᴘᴘᴏꜱɪᴛᴇꜱ ᴀᴛᴛʀᴀᴄᴛ | Jikook

☾ Chapter 14: The Burden ☼

Jimin

"Jimin-Xima, whatever you do, do not scream."

My eyes snap open and I look into a pair of familiar eyes, a hand pressed firmly against my mouth. The person is donned in a cloak and seems to be suppressing their scent. I swallow and assess the situation.

"If I remove my hand, will you be quiet?"

I nod, keeping the promise as they remove their hand and move back, removing the hood to their cloak.

My eyes widen. "M-Mrs. Jeo—"

"Shh, child, don't say my name." Mrs. Jeon places a finger to her lips. "I've come to have an important conversation with you, but we need somewhere with a bit more privacy."

"I know just the place." I nod. "Follow me."

She turns away as I get out of bed and slip into some outside clothes and a cloak of my own. I reign in my scent like she is and then lead the way to a place closer to the river, but not my usual meditation spot. It's a hideout I made when I was young, surrounded by spells to keep danger away.

"This is... wow." Da-eun looks around. "I had no idea you were capable of casting spells of this type."

"My grandmother always said I had quite the knack for it. She helped me the first few times. I need to recast it, since it's been a while, but you can still feel the remnants." I place my palm on the door of the small cabin. I focus and I feel something slightly off. It feels like my own energy, but uncanny in a way. I shake it off and then open the door.

Da-eun follows and I dust off some places for us to sit. She accepts the offer graciously and wrings her hands, gnawing on her bottom lip while looking at the ground.

"I have to say, it was quite a surprise to wake up to you, Mrs. Jeon."

"Da-eun is fine. Missus just feels... well, just don't worry about that." She forces a smile. "I know it's surprising, and honestly, I would've done this sooner, but I had to wait for an opportunity."

"An opportunity for what?" I ask.

She drops to the ground, doing a complete bow.

"D-Da-eun, why are you bowing?"

"Thank you, Jimin-Xima. Thank you for doing what I could not."

"What are you thanking me for?"

"My pup." She looks up at me, tears streaming down her eyes. "You saved my pup, didn't you?"

I cough, trying to come up with a way to convince her otherwise. "No, I—"

"It's not gone," she sits up, but remains on her knees, pressing her hand to her heart, "the bond. It isn't gone. I can feel my Jungkook. He got away and he's still safe, even today, and it's all thanks to you. You jumped in front of Dae-seong and protected him. You then kept him from being shunned. I am forever indebted to you."

"Da-eun..." I get down to her level and wipe her tears. "I—"

"You don't have to confirm it. I understand. Just know that you are a true gift from the gods, Park Jimin. Even though he is not with us, he is alive. I just hope he is well."

"So do I." I whisper and she cups my face.

"You are the Jeons' benefactor."

I shake my head. "I don't know about that. Dae-seong—"

"Isn't a Jeon," she responds bitterly. "Jeon is my family name. He—He isn't included because he has no Jeon blood."

"That's... oh. It makes sense..."

"He's from a small family, not one of the main pack families. His family is one of the newer ones that joined the pack and the smaller families constantly fight for potential mates for members of more influential families. The interest that people have in you now is just a more intense version of what blood Jeons deal with when they're at mating ages. Because we're more often than not ximas, people flock to us, trying to woo us and get in our good favor. There is no love. I was set to have an arranged marriage since the day I was born. I was sickly as a pup and that led to me having a small wolf and weak magic. My parents were surprised I was an alpha, but that sort of stuff is predetermined, you know

"Anyway, when I was younger, I would often dream of love, of romance, but I was instead bombarded by wolves trying to get into my parents' good graces. They had challenges similar to the Xima challenge since whoever I mated would need to be strong to serve as candidate instead of me. But I ended up falling in love..."

I grip her hands. "And I'm guessing it wasn't Dae-seong?"

"The man you've been dealing with is not the man I fell in love with. Dae-seong is not the man I knew when I was young. He's changed. He's grown cold, heartless. He had no part in Jungkook's life, yet still required him to revere him and call him 'father.' And having him denounce my son, watching him take away my name, it has done irreparable damage. Jungkook is a Jeon. Dae-seong is not. His name was Kim. He doesn't have the right to disown and remove Jungkook from the family tree."

"I wish I could allow him back."

She looks into my eyes, her irises turning red as her wolf comes to the forefront. "Keeping my pup is more than even I accomplished, Jimin-Xima. While I would love to have my pup back, I don't deserve to be in his presence."

Frowning, I shake my head. "Jeon Da-eun, I will get your son his rightful place in this pack. I swear on my own name, wolf, and blessing."

A sob escapes and she bows again. When she sits up, her heavy cloak has slipped, bringing down her other clothing layers with them and exposing more of her neck. My nose flares and she quickly covers it back up."

"Da-eun..."

"I should probably head back now." She stands and dusts herself off, making a ninety degree bow before straightening. "We shouldn't be seen going back together and I have to get back before Dae-seong notices I'm missing. Have a good rest of your night, Jimin-Xima. May Zooki and Taiki continue to guide and protect you."

She leaves without another word and I can't help but visualize what I saw hiding under her clothing. There were veins visible, trailing to what I assume to be her mating mark, though I didn't get an actual picture of that. Her skin looked like it was rotting. She must be in a lot of pain. If it was like this last year, I doubt she would have the strength to shift or get between her son and husband.

Maybe I judged her too soon.

Shaking it off, I get up and study my cabin, hoping to reminisce. However, once I get to the door of my makeshift bedroom, I pause. There it is again, that uncanny feeling. I open the door and find the room to be pretty much where I left it, but there are small inconsistencies, places with less dirt and dust than others. I walk over to the cot that is still set up as a nest from a past rut and gulp. I shakily grab my old journal and open it to where the ribbon bookmark is positioned. On that page in dark blue ink, sits handwriting belonging to someone other than me. I trace my finger along the characters, feeling a mix of fear and excitement, my wolf brewing just under the surface at the message.

'Don't get too comfortable without me. I'll make my homecoming in due time.

- ☼'

I inhale deeply, finding the faintest scent of lemon-pine. I chuckle, looking for a pen of my own to respond with.

'I look forward to it. I'll be ready for you.

- ☾'

Author's Note: JK's mother talked to Jimin. She shared her point of view and thanked Jimin a year after things went down. She was also secretive and had what might be a bad mating mark. What could this mean? How did Junkgook get into the little shack and leave a message? What do you think he's going to do?

What do you think of the story so far?

Make sure to take care and love yourself as best as you can.

With lots of love,

-BBM