Fate of all Realms [Completed]

5: Mortals

Jungkook had his head hung low, standing before Tiara who was fuming in anger, pissed by Jungkook's reckless behavior.

"What if I was not there? What do you think might have happened?" She asked him in a stern tone. Tiara hated to scold him but she had to make him realize the consequences of his reckless actions.

If she would not reached the scene in time, by now the boy standing before her along with his animal friends would have been a meal to the serpent king. She was furious that not only did the boy risk his life but he also dragged his friends into danger.

With glossy red eyes, Jungkook rose his head to meet her eyes and that was it, one drop of tears from the boy's eyes and she melted like ice in heat. Tiara outstretched her arms and pulled the boy to engulf him in her embrace filled with affection.

"Oh kookie, what will I do with you?" Jungkook sniffed twice and spoke in between sobs "Sorry Noona, I won't repeat it again" he then wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her chest.

"Don't you know how much you mean to me? Do you have even the slightest idea what would have happened to me if you would get hurt? You are the sole reason for my entire existence." She explained to him stroking his hair.

"Sorry Noona" Jungkook started to cry louder than before.

Tiara pulled away and kneeled in front of him catching her ears as she spoke "Sorry Kookie for raising my voice now please stop crying, My heart is bleeding seeing you cry" Jungkook nodded his head rubbing his eyes, and enveloped her in his bear hug as Tiara soothed him rubbing circles on his back.

Unseen to Tiara the boy had a huge mischievous grin on his face as he winked his eye at his friends who were watching the whole scene from the window, shaking their heads and even praising the boy mentally for his splendid performance.

Jungkook clearly knew his effect on Tiara and therefore always used it to his full advantage. He knew no matter what he did, she would forgive him in the blink of an eye as he was her entire universe and it was the same for him as well.

"I love you so much Kookie" as these words escaped her mouth, Jungkook scrunched his nose, not liking the fact that his noona never called him by his real name.

All the memories of his past were locked in the corner of his mind, which he would never visit but there was something he had never forgotten and that was his name was Jungkook, not Kookie. There were so many times he wanted to snap and scream at the top of his lung saying his name was Jungkook not Kookie but he controlled himself as he was afraid of Tiara's reaction.

He could feel like his heart was sinking slowly like a wrecked ship but putting up a fake smile he replied to her with equal enthusiasm.

"I love you too, Jungkook loves you more" He declared holding on to her.

The next morning, Tiara watched her world, tussling and turning in the bed mumbling incoherent words in his dream with a vibrant smile on her face

"Wake up bunny" It was the fourth time she had called him but as usual Jungkook ignored her, groaning in his sleep.

"Don't you remember what day is today?" Tiara pulled the cover off however it had no effect on the heavy sleeper. Tiara let out a sigh and stood up from the bed.

"Okay then, I think I will have to go to the market alone" As soon as the 'market' word escaped from her mouth, Jungkook jolted up from the bed with excitement beaming on his face, making Tiara giggle at his reaction.

Every once in a year, she took the Jungkook to the market in the mortal land and since that was the only opportunity for the boy to venture into the world outside of the forest, he waited for the day like kids waited for their favorite festival to come.

"Get dressed now, we will be leaving soon" Jungkook nodded his head with enthusiasm and then jumped out of the bed to get dressed to go to the market.

The market was crowded with people who were chattering buying and selling stuff, children running and playing around, and the environment was filled with the aroma of delicious food coming from the bar and food stores.

Jungkook wandered his big curious eyes around perceiving all the things before him. The human land was indeed drastically different from the place they had come from and in the span of a year, a lot had changed as well.

"Noona look" Jungkook pointed his finger at the flying kite in excitement.

Seeing his eyes glow with excitement, a smile of contentment crept on her face. They both had worn a black hooded cloaks to hide their face and blend in with the crowd.

As they reached the shop, Tiara took a high-quality flower-printed golden cloth to buy for Jungkook.

"Noona I like this one" Jungkook showed her a black silk cloth with a golden dragon printed on it.

"We will take this one" She took the cloth from Jungkook's hand and passed it to the seller.

"Where is the Halmoni today?" Jungkook asked in curiosity when he didn't see the old woman with whom they had been buying the clothes every year.

The older women always used to praise Jungkook for being a good boy and gave him sweet candies due to which he had grown attached to her therefore he used to look forward to seeing her whenever they visited the market

"My mother recently passed away" The seller informed them with a melancholy face.

Jungkook felt his heart grow heavy hearing the news. Even though he didn't grasp the concept of dying, he knew that it meant he could never see the old woman again.

"Sorry for your loss, she was a very kind woman" Tiara bowed down to give them her sincere condolence.

After they were done with shopping and buying necessary supplies, they returned back to their home, which was situated in the middle of the forest.

"Noona how did the halmoni pass away?" Jungkook asked her the question which had been bugging him since he learned about the kind old women's death.

"She grew old and died Kookie" She simply stated the fact.

"You mean we all grow old and die one day," Kookie asked her again sitting in the chair of their dining table.

"Mortals like Humans do," Saying that she placed a blow of soup she had prepared on the table, in front of him and then turned away to take some fruits.

"You mean I will grow old and die someday" He murmured staring at his feet as he felt a knot form in his stomach.

Tiara froze at her spot however she knew, telling him the truth about humans was very essential. The boy had grown up with creatures who could outlive humans by hundreds of years therefore, Jungkook was still naive when it came to the concept of the life cycle.

"Kookie, first you need to know that no matter what, I will..." She turned around to find only the untouched bowl of soup on the table and the boy was nowhere to be seen.