For the first time in weeks, you felt rested when you opened your eyes. You weren’t at all tired. It was actually quite worrying, but the more pressing matter what that you really seemed to be in the usual meadow of your dreams. In your dreams, you never realized that it was a dream though. You pinched your arm. It hurt just as much as when you were awake, and nothing was happening. Was this reality?

Suddenly you heard the rustling of leaves behind you. You already suspected who it was, but didn’t want to turn around and see him. As long as you could, you wanted to try and ignore him, and wake up in the real world.

“Hello.” At the sound of his voice, you turned your head. It wasn’t all that surprising to see the cat grinning at you, tilting his head as his tail swished around him. Your legs refused to cooperate, so you remained seated on the floor. Jungkook made a leap, landing in front of you on his hands and feet, bringing his face closer to you in order to sniff your shoulder. After a few moments of sniffing, he sat down and folded his legs, nodding as if he’d confirmed something. He had the air of a cat that was really quite pleased with itself.

“Jungkook.” You said after a few seconds. He raised an eyebrow and flopped his head to his shoulder once more. As he did this, his ears trembled a little. You couldn’t help but wonder if they were as soft as you had dreamed them to be. Then he slowly raised a hand and started rubbing it over his cheek.

“Yes?” He asked. He was much quieter and calmer than you remembered. Was this a different kind of dream? You wondered if anything you dreamed of was still reliable. When you didn’t answer Jungkook got up and stretched himself out a little. As he stretched his arms above his head a small strip of skin became visible between his shirt and pants.

“Where can I find Namjoon?” You asked. Either he was suddenly deaf, or Jungkook was pretending not to hear you. You tried again but the only response you got was Jungkook turning to face away from you. “Jungkook, please help me..” You tried.

He turned back to you immediately with a wide grin plastered over his face and crouched in front of you. You could feel his tail over your arm, but tried to focus on his deep brown eyes.

“Help you with what?” You could just hear the smirk in his voice. Was he mocking you? Frustrated you tried to push yourself up from the ground, but your legs weren’t working. Jungkook said nothing, but his widening grin was enough to offend you.

“Please help me up..” You muttered, embarrassed that you even had to ask. Jungkook clicked his tongue and took both your hands. He pulled you up so fast that you thought you might accidentally get tossed up into the air. At least it seemed to wake your legs, and you could finally stand up. You wanted to brush your hands over your knees, but Jungkook was still holding them, looking at you expectantly.

“Can you help me find Namjoon, Jungkook?” You asked.

“No.” Came the answer, followed by yet another wide grin. When you said nothing, he continued. “You need to call things by their proper names here.” He seemed so much smugger than you remembered him. Sighing you bit your tongue and tried to figure out what Namjoon was called again in this place. They’d mentioned it a couple of times, but you’d always ignored it.

“What about Rap Monster, can you help me find him?”

“Yes, I can help you find him.” The unnecessary stress on the word ‘can’ along with everything else about him was really starting to get on your nerves.

“Will you help me find him?”

“No.” You could have hit him, but instead pulled your hands out of his and turned around to find the forest. Even if not everything was the same here, Jungkook was in the meadow, so Suga was probably in the forest. Not that he had ever been much of a help, but you were really tired of Jungkook’s pestering.

“Hey!” Jungkook just seemed to creep into your view, but this time he wasn’t grinning. He crossed his arms and blocked your way. “You didn’t even thank me. Why should I help you, then? I thought you understood by now that you always need to ask the right questions.” What an annoying cat. But he was right about something.

“Thank you for helping me up, Jungkook. Can you.. Please tell me who can and will help me find Nam..- Rap Monster.” He nodded, seeming somewhat pleased with this question. Then he yawned and sat down, pawing lazily at something on the ground. You assumed he was playing with an insect or something.

“Why do you want to find Rap Monster?” A soft squeak alerted you to the fact that Jungkook wasn’t playing with insects. He’d caught a mouse and was playing with it, pretending to let it get away before grabbing it by its tail. You did your best not to be too grossed out and crouched down in front of him. He wasn’t looked at you at all, but you knew he was still waiting for an answer.

“He’s my friend.” You offered. Jungkook didn’t seem impressed and held up the mouse by its tail. Its squeaking was too sad for you to bear, so you slapped his hands. The mouse fell out of his hands and immediately scattered away. Jungkook stared at you with wide-open eyes. Apparently what you did gravely offended him. For a few moments you were scared of him, but you forced yourself to remember that he was a cat.

“Rap Monster is my friend, so I’m trying to find him.” You said as sternly as you could, “please take me to someone who will help me find him.” Jungkook’s ears that had been lying flat on his head slowly raised up. Maybe it had been better when he was grinning, you thought.

“He’s also my friend, but I’m not looking for him. Why do you want to find him?” He asked again, a low growl audible in his voice. You tried not to be intimidated by him.

“I need to bring him back to our world. His family misses him.” Jungkook remained motionless for a few seconds. Then he got up and stretched out once more, yawning again.

“I don’t feel like helping you. But maybe if you offer me something nice, I’ll help you out.” With that he wandered off to lay down in the sunlight, curling into a ball on a nice, cosy spot. You gave him one more glance and turned back to the forest. Suga was in there somewhere. Maybe he could give you some directions at least. Namjoon was probably somewhere with one of his friends. He could even be with Suga, so you could check that out. Jungkook wasn’t going to be helpful anyway.

You set out to the forest. As you approached it, you could see the path that you were used to taking. You didn’t remember much of the path, though. Normally Jungkook was here with you, but he wasn’t going to help you. Once the shadows of the forest fell over you, you glanced back to look at the boy. You couldn’t see him from there. With a sigh, you turned back to head into the forest and almost had a heart attack.

“First you don’t thank me, then you steal my mouse and now you don’t even say goodbye.” Jungkook had crossed his arms and was blocking you from entering the forest. You tried to look around him into the forest, but Jungkook manoeuvred himself directly in your line of sight. Then you did the only thing you could think of and stepped closer to him. When he blinked you reached around him and rubbed the spot on his back between his shoulder blades. First, his eyes widened, then a soft purring noise spread through him as he relaxed his arms, leaning his head on your shoulder so the spot was easier for you to reach.

The overwhelming scent of musk, herbs and something wild filled your nose as Jungkook relaxed and loosely wrapped his arms around your waist. Then he turned and pressed his nose into your hair, still purring softly. You continued rubbing his back for a little longer before lowering your hands.

“I’m sorry Jungkook... I just felt bad for the mouse. I won’t do it again. And sorry for not saying goodbye. I’m just worried about Rap Monster because he disappeared out of our world and it seemed like everyone was forgetting who he was. Now that I’m not there anymore, there’s probably no one who will remember either of us.” You muttered, trying to ignore Jungkook’s breath on your neck. It probably wasn’t intentional, but the warmth of it left your skin slightly moist. Jungkook let out a soft hum and straightened himself up. He looked a lot less cross with you now.

“Well, I won’t forget you. I’m your friend after all. Let’s go to Suga, I’m sure he’s got some tea going on. After that mouse got away, I’m pretty hungry.” Jungkook grinned and grabbed your hand. You wouldn’t have protested against it, but he was darting through the forest so quickly that you might have lost track of him if you weren’t physically attached to him. Then he suddenly stopped, making you crash against his shoulder.

“Ow..” You muttered, rubbing your nose. In front of you Jungkook turned around to you and grabbed both your arms. Begrudgingly you looked up at him. There was a different kind of expression on his face, now.

“You might not like seeing Rap Monster as much when you see him, so you should be prepared to be disappointed.” That sounded suspicious. You narrowed your eyes at Jungkook. He was definitely not smiling this time. His grip on your arms tightened a little. “Do you understand? Rap Monster here might not be the person you knew in your world.”

Just the fact that he was called Rap Monster here could have shown you that, but you still nodded. Then an odd feeling crept up on you. If Namjoon didn’t have his own name, then did you? Sure you remembered being called Areum by these people, but that was in your dreams and in the other world.

“Hey Jungkook.. What’s my name?” You asked. Jungkook straightened up and shrugged his shoulders, taking your hand once more as he headed to the exit of the forest. The way he brushed the question off made you feel even more suspicious. As soon as you left the forest you didn’t have time to think about what he was saying, because suddenly you were facing the largest table you had ever seen. And it was completely stacked with tea and all sorts of treats.

Most importantly of all though was that Namjoon was sitting at the table together with Suga, drinking tea. They laughed at a joke that Namjoon probably told, considering he was grinning pretty proudly, and you noticed how different Namjoon looked. Maybe it was because he wasn’t tired. Jungkook squeezed your hand softly and glanced at you. You looked back at him.

“I’m going to leave before Suga tries to touch me. Be careful on your journey, and make sure you know what you’re getting into. Make sure you know what you’re trying to throw away by leaving this place.” His lips smiled but his eyes didn’t as his voice became a hushed whisper. You almost jumped back, but as soon as it appeared the evil smile was gone again. Jungkook nudged you towards the table and ran back into the forest.

Since Jungkook was gone you approached the table and waited for a few seconds to see if they would notice you. Neither of them seemed to see you, so you coughed softly. This had better not be another situation like Jungkook’s where you had to be overly clear about anything you said. Luckily it wasn’t like that, because as soon as he saw you Suga jumped up from his seat and ran over to you.

“Finally! We’ve been waiting for you! Come sit.” He laughed, pulling out a chair for you. “Tea, tea! You must have some tea!” Somewhat reluctant you sat down on the chair he pulled out for you, and looked at the gigantic cup of tea he poured for you. It was at least the size of your head. How would you even lift that thing? In an attempt to avoid the tea, as well as for the sake of you both, you turned to Namjoon.

“Hey, how are you doing Namjoon? I mean.. Rap Monster.” You waved over at him. He raised his eyebrow but smiled at you.

“How’d you know my name stranger? And can I know yours?”