Characters: Jimin & You

Setting: Neverland au, fairy au, pirate au (a.k.a a twisted Peter Pan au)

Genre: angst

Warnings: emotional manipulation, ritual blood play (nothing too nasty or descriptive though)

Summary: They tried to warn you yet you didn’t listen. Eyes closed, lips parted, here you have been paying the price in sickeningly sweet kisses, lost and forgotten in Neverland

Words: 7.4k

According to the legend it’s impossible to tell apart fairies from humans until you are deep into their trap. No wonder why so many lost, lonely souls become their prey, stuck on an island nobody else has ever seen. There are tales and gossips whispered about Neverland, the home of fairies and their victims, the lost boys who are said to never grow up. Some say it’s nothing more than a fabular story told to children to keep them away from wrongdoings.

Yet, after you have seen the most beautiful wonders of the world by your father’s side, miracles called magic tricks and witchcraft, you have learnt to believe even in the most impossible things. Being the daughter of a pirate, you bask in the thought of having seen it all. So that’s why you don’t neglect the possibility of fairies’ existence and dare to hope that what they say about them is also true. That if you ask something of a fairy, there is no such thing they cannot do. Whispers also warn you to beware of the high price you should pay since there is no free wish when you deal with a fairy. But you couldn’t care less about the consequences in this life-death situation when your beloved father, your one and only relative is on his deathbed.

It’s a curse, he told you, a curse nobody can lift off. Maybe not even fairies but you have to give it a chance and you are ready to pay whatever price you need. So you travel from island to island talking with elders, asking them about anything they know of Neverland, even the slightest hint interests you. Most of their answers are gibberish, nothing you can hold onto but you don’t give up. You cannot until your old man still haven’t breathed his last.

However, your journey seems fruitless with no actual clues and an exasperated sigh leaves your mouth as you find your way into a bar in Portland City. The nasty smell of alcohol and dust hang in the air which makes you grimace in disgust but you don’t turn around to leave, no, you walk down on that worn carpet instead, looking nowhere near the drunken bastards around you. They holler after you out of some animalistic urge they have which makes you want to gag. You despise these kind of places on land because they stink of the depravity of humanity.

You slam an empty leather bottle on the counter demanding for a refillment. As you do, you don’t care about the whispers and the rumours around you. A female must have been a rare sight for these folks, you convince yourself and get over it. Though, you are not that apologetic when a bragging voice comes from directly behind you.

“Hey darling, need company?” the man coos shifting closer which makes you snort. Did he really think that this line would work on you? That you are just another empty-headed little girl from around? Oh no, he couldn’t have been more wrong. You don’t have that elegant gun on your belt just for the show.

“First of all, I’m not your darling. Furthermore, I’d advise you to disappear from my sight before I make you regret coming here,” you mutter not even bothering with looking the man in the eye so that he can see you aren’t joking. Which seems like a mistake on your part but not taking the hint is definitely stupidity on his.

“Ew feisty, I like it,” the man crack up and he dares to put a hand on your shoulder despite your warning. As soon as his dirty fingers make contact with your bare shoulder, you grab his wrist as fast as lighting and turn around your axis. Like this, you twist the man’s arm backwards and pin it down on his own back.

“Leave me alone,” you grunt as you let go of the whining man. “If I see you anywhere near me again, I won’t be so forgiving.”

To emphasise the severity of the issue, you take out of a Japanese dagger from your belt and jab it into the wooden material of the table just between two fingers of the bastard. He quickly withdraws mumbling something about you taking it too seriously but a snarl from you is enough to make him run. All bark, no bite, huh?

After leaving a lasting impression on the guests who quickly turn their gazes away, you take a casual sip of your ordered alcohol and search for a quiet corner in the bar. Nobody dares to bother you while you read the same paragraph again and again in your journal that has numerous notes about treasures and secrets. A tired, annoyed sigh falls from your parted lips because once again a day passed and you couldn’t figure out more than you have already known. Every clue you had assured that you were looking for an island surrounded by azure ocean, a skeleton-like cave and a magical atmosphere that makes you lose the track of time. Nothing that could give you the right lead to know where to start searching.

After finishing your drink, you are just about to get bored of this land and put this day down as another fruitless one on your hopeless journey when somebody gracefully slides into your box and sits down at your table.

“I heard you are looking for Neverland,” the boy in his early twenties whispers and you squint at him. He has the features of a pretty, rich boy. Elegant curves, well-trimmed soft-looking hair that resembles summer nights. What a reckless boy to think he could get away with such a stunt just because he’s good-looking. Didn’t he see what just happened? Is he so eager to meet his fate?

“And what’s it to you?” you ask out of spite, furrowing your brows, not at all impressed. His sudden appearance catches you off guard. Even so because despite his simple clothing, the loose white shirt and a pair of brown trousers, he looks so foreign among the dregs, the drunken scum of Earth with his clean skin and wishful smile.

“I want to come with you.”

You laugh sarcastically, treating it as a bad joke.

“No way, we don’t take passengers,” you eye the boy up and down with a dismissive curl of your mouth. He looks like he was born to live on land, has no clothes of a sailor and knows nothing about how to set sail to the open sea. How can he be such a fool to get on a ship full off sneaky pirates? It makes no sense.

“Please… they took my little brother,” he pleads, his soft, sweet voice attempting to melt your walls but it doesn’t work, not really until he adds: “And I have the information you need.”

Well-well, it’s finally something! However, you can’t be sure he actually tells the truth. You lean forward as your fingers still play with the handle of your dagger, ready to strike. The boy gulps and his smile falters but he doesn’t pull away. A brave soul, you have to admit.

“Really? Well then we will see if it’s worthy enough to take you for a ride,” you shrug as you decide to give it a try. In times of need - like this - even lies sound more merciful than this helplessness and empty void. Lies and truths both give people directions and purposes, a chance to turn the tables. Just what you need.

You lean back comfortably, ready to listen and the boy with his curly locks falling onto his forehead props himself up to his elbow and looks around closely watching out for eavesdroppers.

“Second star to the right, and straight on till morning…” he recites like it was sort of a poem or just an over-replayed memory stuck in his mind. It sounds like a riddle and you can’t help but think that it’s exactly something fairies would do. Some misleading phases thrown at uncultured sailors. A smart move.

“Ah fairies and their weird ways of talking,” you click your tongue with a curious tilt of your head, musing over the meaning behind the riddle.

“Jungkook kept repeating this before he was kidnapped,” the boy explains his source. “I have asked several sailors and astronomers which the second star to the right is but they keep asking questions like looking from where, do you mean East and I just don’t kno…”

“Which is the first star that appears when it gets dark?” you quiz him quickly, interrupting his mindless rambling. No wonder why he didn’t get anywhere with this kind of attitude. Pretty boys and the way they see the world in black and white.

“The Morningstar,” he answers confidently which surprises you. You didn’t take him for someone understanding astrology. But he must have engaged in the topic since his brother - was it Jungkook? - was kidnapped. Funny how fate works, isn’t it? You have searched over seven seas to find any clue about this island and once you are close to give up, this boy comes out of blue with the information that could lead you to your destination. In the meantime, he must have been searching just as much for his sibling without gain and here you are providing him the oh so simple solution.

“Correct,” you nod but the crease between the boy’s eyebrows makes it clear he doesn’t understand the reason behind the question and your deduction of the riddle. “But there’s a star that’s always there even when we can’t see it. It’s coming up from the East which is the right side of modern-age maps…”

“You mean the Sun,” the boy realizes a bit belatedly what you are talking about and you look at him amused as he pierces the missing pieces together. “So the Morningstar is actually the second star.”

“Yes, I think so,” you slightly bow your head. Even if you can’t be sure, it’s finally a clue and you have a good hunch about it, so it’s worth a try. Apparently the newly turned up stranger agrees, too.

“Then we have to get going when the Sun goes down,” he states so casually, it makes your fingers stop tapping on the table’s surface.

“We?” you blink at him confused.

How arrogant it is of him to really think of joining you! Is he so naive to believe pirate ships are all about rum, gold and all that jazz? Doesn’t he know about the danger, the blood and the sweat your kind shed to make a name for yourselves, to survive?

“Well I helped you with the information. This was our deal,” he reminds you oh so naively you can’t help but scoff at his childish antics.

“I said I would decide later but you know what? Come with us and if you are wrong, we will leave you wherever we end up by the morning.”

It isn’t fair and you know it. Especially because you came up with the plan, not him. Yet you know that he would only be a burden and your liability. One more mouth to feed, one more risk to take. You don’t mean to add a new member to your crew and especially not one like him. He would probably cry the first time he saw a kraken.

However, the boy doesn’t show any sign of protest but rather there’s a curious, almost awe-struck glint in his dark, dark eyes.

“Are you always this cruel?”

“Nah, I just learned how to live in this harsh world,” you answer half-heartedly and flip your coat onto your right shoulder as you stand up from your table, ready to take a leave.

“Cool. I’m Jimin by the way,” the boy once again showcases the manners of a merchant’s son as he eagerly reaches for your hand, a shy smile adorning his surprisingly delicate features. It has been a while since you last saw a man with such a soft skin.

Against all your better judgement, in the end you leave the bar with this gorgeous young man by your side. Knowing your crew certainly won’t be happy with the new addition, you are ready to face with their wrath and protest against letting him on board. Thankfully, you manage to shut them up with the promise of Neverland, the land where wishes come true. And then, when the last flicker of the golden Sun disappears behind the wide ocean, you point to the brightest shining dot in the sky.

“Eyy, there we go, my men. Head to East and let’s not stop until morning,” you order and the crew follows you without questioning your decisions. They all respect your father - as much as pirates can be loyal - and he’s still their captain even if he had to stay on land because of his condition, the sickness that ties him to bed. You’re not sure his men would listen to you even after he died but you don’t even wish to think about these what ifs. Not yet, you will have to deal with it eventually when the time comes. Hopefully not too soon.

Third Eye, your father’s right-hand takes the wheel from you, providing you time to rest and ease your mind but you can’t possibly close your eyes without seeing horrors. You fear of what tomorrow might bring, destroying your foolish hopes. So while everybody else is snoring in the ship’s bottom level, you find a good place on the deck, near the nets and stare up at the stars leading you to Neverland or your end, whatever it may be.

“Can’t sleep?” Jimin suddenly plops down next to you, dirtying his elegant clothes but he doesn’t seem to care. Just like the wind messes up his neat hairstyle but he doesn’t bother to fix it. Still, even so dishevelled, he’s so out of place. A ship full of pirates, carrying guns on their belts and wearing their hearts on the sleeves… he doesn’t belong to this kind of crowd. He’s a mystery, the wrong screw in the machine, a beautiful flaw in the system. There’s something off about him. Way too trusting to jump on the chance and join a bunch of brute pirates. You could have killed him the moment he stepped on deck after you got the information from him but he still seems to trust you. Maybe that’s why you lowered your guards - not for the pretty face but the fact that he couldn’t hurt you anyway.

“Uh well yeah. Even if we found Neverland, there’s no guarantee fairies exist to grant wishes,” you shrug speaking about your inner doubts out loud and it feels freeing in a weird way. You probably won’t see each other after tomorrow anyway. After he saves his brother and you save your father, you part ways like you never met so you aren’t afraid of him taking advantage of your uncertainties.

“Oh but they exist, you can be sure of that,” he nods, determination clear in his eyes and from a naive boy you didn’t expect any less.

“How do you know? How can you be so sure?”

“They took my brother, remember? Everybody keeps saying he must have drown and got lost in the sea but I saw it. I saw them taking him,” he explains and for once, it makes sense. But is it remorse or guilt tinting his voice? It makes you curious.

“How long have you been searching for him?” you ask instead of admitting that you are also one of those non-believers. He saw a fairy and lived to tell the tale? Such a rare occurrence. Seems a bit too convenient for you but you don’t complain. There’s no reason to until you keep your guards high up enough… those walls that seem to quiver at every single glance of this naive boy sitting next to you on the bench.

The moonbeams light his pretty features just right, making him seem unreal and ephemeral at the same time. He doesn’t look at you but stares ahead, at the brightest star on the dark night sky among dozens of sparkling dots lacing this holy canvas. So he watches the Morningstar and you watch him, equally as beautiful and unfathomable. There’s something about him, something more than his pretty face but you can’t quite put a finger on it.

And when he whispers ‘four years’ the moon sighs and grieves with him.

“Oh gods…” you mutter but Jimin doesn’t need your pity.

“The problem was that nobody believed me and I couldn’t solve this riddle,” he shakes his head tearing at his hair in wild frustration. When he looks at you, his fingers still in-between his locks and he looks so young with stars in his dream-like eyes. It makes your cold, cold heart skip a beat. “But now? I finally have hope.”

“Well, we cannot do much more, only hope we are not going to be late,” you whisper softly yet it leaves a bitter aftertaste in your mouth.

Hope is such a dangerous thing to bargain with. It tends to delude people into believing in miracles that would never happen. These false hopes can ruin people, can make them chase after mirages. Who would know it better than you? Searching for an island that might not even exist? Begging to fairies for their help? Since when have you been so pitiful?

But now that you have come this far, you don’t really have any other choice. You decided to sail these seas and there’s no way you would change your direction now. So you can only wait both excited and afraid to see what fate the morning brings.

For the longest time nothing happens. Jimin starts snoring by your side, then his head falls onto your shoulder and you’re so startled by the unfamiliar contact, you freeze in place. Your limbs go rigid and your breathing becomes shallow as disbelief fills your body. You could plunge your dagger deep into his lungs after all the threats of you leaving him on an inhabited island yet he chooses to trust you. Or does he know something you don’t?

Gosh, he just fell asleep! Why are you already calculating if he had any ulterior motive or not? Maybe it’s your intuition telling you to be careful even if he doesn’t seem much of a threat. But careful or not, at some point you also doze off. Luckily, preserving your reputation, you are up before dawn could rip apart the canvas of the night with its magical colours. You can already smell the fresh smell of the break of day in the fishy air but looking around you see no signs of any land nearby in this faint lighting. Anxiously and abruptly, you stand up letting Jimin’s body fall onto the deck without anyone to hold him up. It startles him awake which is no surprise since you weren’t quite nice about it.

“I don’t see anything,” the corners of your mouth droops in bitterness as you take in the sight of the eternal ocean around you but there is only water and nothing else as far as you can see.

“Maybe we were wrong about the stars,” the boy behind you grumbles, sleepy roughness still in his raspy voice. Oh no, you don’t want to think about how attractive his deep tone is.

“Or it’s really just a fairytale and the island doesn’t exist,” you bite into your chapped lips drawing blood and it has a metallic taste… like disappointment.

Jimin seems to notice the slight shift in your behaviour and quickly picks up on it. He walks up to you, standing just by your side staring out into the open, uncharted waters. The dark, blue waves are illuminated by the faint orange hues of day-break without the Sun actually appearing within sight. It’s a peaceful kind of sorrow, a heart-breaking kind. Like realizing you have given up on a dream.

But what kind of dream? the boy might wonder.

“You know why I came but why are you searching for Neverland so desperately?” he asks curiosity dropping from his melting voice. You haven’t mentioned your reason before in your short-lived acquaintance and he doesn’t expect an answer now either. He knows you don’t trust in him, not really, just barely enough to bring him with you to the middle of nowhere, following a star just as clueless as him. But when you do answer he can almost discern resignation in your tone. Like you had nothing more to lose.

“I need a fairy to grant me a wish or make a deal with me, I don’t care which,” you shrug seemingly unbothered by his curiosity for once. Your face is stone-like, marble like ancient Greek statues and your heart is just as cold.

“Why?”

“I don’t want my father dead,” you confess in a whispered tone, genuinely, blinking hard with trembling lips. “Especially if I can do something about it. But I have been doing this for so long and I… I haven’t even seen my father in a month and… what if he dies while I’m away?”

Your slam your mouth shut, willing yourself to get a grip on yourself because you absolutely shouldn’t cry. You just can’t, not in front of a stranger nor your crew. They can’t know that deep down you aren’t that fearless you like to think you are, that true to your heart you are nothing more than a coward afraid of being left alone.

“It’s alright. Everyone feels a little lost sometimes,” the boy beside you puts his hand on your shoulder soothing your tensed muscles gently. There’s something magically calming in his touch, the way it makes you feel relief almost immediately. You want to say something, to argue but then it happens…

“Hey, look there, at the edge of horizon,” Jimin points ahead and your gaze follows the direction of his elegant fingers. Just as the first rays of sunshine peak to the surface, a crooked form of an island appears on the horizon. It really must be magic, there’s no other explanation..

“Land!” one of your pirates yells too and a relieved smile ghosts on your mellow lips.

“We are going to anchor the ship there, everybody get ready,” you shout at the still drowsy crew. Excited as they are, singing a pirate song about hunting for treasures, the ship turns into the right direction. Your men are so eager to discover the island, go and get their hands on the promising gold that you have a hard time gaining their attention.

“Don’t forget that supposedly fairies live here and they are manipulative creatures, so be careful!” you warn them and all of you agree to come back before sunset and if anybody found something interesting, they should blow the horn.

However, pirates are ever so reckless and careless creatures so all of them expect your second-in-command jump off the ship as soon as you reach the shore and they run into the wildness before you can breathe out any other words. Idiots.

Now you can’t bother with them. You have a lot more important mission. First, you need to find a fairy. Cool, easy-peasy. It isn’t like fighting evil sirens off or crossing a river full of crocodiles to get to the gold. You secure your gun on your waist belt, get a compass and take on after your crew. But sadly, just like them, you have no idea where to go or what to explore. Seeking out of a fairy isn’t like hunting for treasure, there’s no map with a big X mark on it, no messages in bottles. Now, you have nothing more than whispers and tell-tales.

“Can I come with you?” Jimin picks up the pace with you and even though you aren’t quite impressed by the fact that he practically launches onto you, you don’t push him away. You are glad to have company even though you don’t need pretty boys following you around on a possible suicide mission where they can get both of you dead because of their recklessness.

“Sure,” you shrug, agreeing because you don’t feel like being alone.

The wet sand under your feet is cold, you feel it even through your leather boots and it makes you shiver. There’s something wrong with the waters. It smells like blood.

You make a disgusted face but keep walking on the slippery sand in the morning light until everything shift out of focus and the world seems to turn upside down. It takes a moment and a little shake of your head while you collect yourself. It isn’t hard to pinpoint what changed. The Sun is nowhere to be seen, instead the silver ring of the Moon is up. Darkness falls upon the island and the chilly weather sends a shiver down your spine.

“What… what is this?” you gape, not quite believing your eyes.

You watch it in awe as you reach out a hand towards your ship and when your fingers get past a certain, invisible border, the edge between light and dark, you see sunlight glinting on your rings. It’s like fairy tales coming true right in front of your eyes. Huh, it’s true, isn’t it? Time really passes differently here.

“Magic,” Jimin hums looking around without an ounce of panic or fear on his handsome face. There’s no crack in the perfect picture which makes him even more unreadable. Most merchant boys would have run out of the world screaming if that happened to them. But as it looks like, this is definitely not the first time Jimin leaves home to wander around a bit. Was it while he searched for his brother? Or do you have a completely different image of him printed in your mind? Maybe he isn’t that innocent and harmless after all and it would be better to keep him at least in an arm-length distance. Or maybe there’s nothing wrong with him, only this eerie atmosphere makes you feel uncertain and confused. But oh well you are so good at avoiding problems. Time will reveal his secret eventually, won’t it?

“So how do they look? The fairies?” you cough to clear your thoughts as the two of you make your way deeper into the woods interlaced by hanging vines and the scratching sound of the wildlife. It makes you itch in an uncomfortable way.

“I heard they are gorgeous,” the boy on your right smirks and you roll your eyes. It’s not easy to prepare yourself for the enthralling effect of beauty. Although, they can’t possibly be worse than sirens in your opinion.

“Not helping,” you bite out bitterly and you come to a stop when the road ahead of you splits into two.

It’s only a momentary hesitation though, because you choose the less obvious and more sinister-looking one because usually these kind of paths lead to the reward. You don’t mind getting dirty on the way either as you crawl under branches. That’s how you end up by a river that cuts the island in half with Jimin following you quietly. Usually you have a great sense of direction which comes in handy since your compass seemingly broke, its pointer turning around and around without a stop.

“I think we should cross the river,” you prompt, eyes scanning the area until you find a few bigger rocks planted in the river-bed leading to the other side. The water is so still in the crack between lands as if smooth glass was covering the surface. It looks beautiful, almost dream-like.

As soon as you take a step forward, Jimin grabs your elbow gently, halting your actions.

“Are you sure you want to go further?” he asks in a soft voice, curious yet warning.

You have come a long way here, there’s no way you would turn back now that you are so close to disclose the truth. You want to tell him this and question his motives, his plan to rescue his brother but then your ears peak up on something more interesting.

“Do you hear it?” you whisper concentrating on the rhythmical drum sounds that only seem to get louder and louder along with your heartbeats.

“What?”

“Music,” you answer enchanted, almost possessed by the melody as your footsteps unconsciously follow the slippery rocks straight towards the skull-shaped cave on the top of a hill on the other side. “Could that be it?”

In your hurry and excitement you take a wrong step having your leg slide down the rock and you almost slip into the mud. If it wasn’t for the strong arms securing you by the waist, you would have fallen face-first into the dirt of the riverbank.

“Careful,” Jimin whispers as he catches you. His warning is a bit too late for your shaken up state but you nod anyway. You don’t want to break a neck before getting to the fairies.

“Thanks,” you mumble locking eyes with him and staring right into those endless pits of darkness, for the first time, without any valid reason to, you feel inferior.

“Don’t mention it,” he waves it off kindly but there’s something off about his smile. Or the ease in his steps. He moves around like he owned the place, like he knew of any twist and turn, all the trees… as if he had been familiar with this place. But that doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t fit his story or the one you unconsciously made up in your head about him.

You keep walking, legs deep in mud, avoiding traps but this time, Jimin leads you and you let him without a question. He doesn’t even act clueless anymore like he knows you suspect something and doesn’t care if you knew. But know what exactly? Who is he? Or rather… what is he?

“Jimin…” you prompt softly, words sticking to your throat, sour and bitter. Your nails dig into the soft skin of your palm because you clench onto your dagger so hard.

“Hm?” the oh so confident boy ahead hums, not even turning around. He keeps going straight up on the rocky road.

You don’t know as much about cartography as your beloved father but you are quite sure he’s leading you to that skull-like hill, the source of the primitive music and for some reason it makes you more nervous than it should. You have faced and defeated a lot stronger man who happened to be lacking in the brain area. You, women, are resourceful and merciless if you have to be. Perhaps that’s the reason why men fear you. Why they say it brings misfortune to have a woman on board. Silly them, they are all so obvious, an open book for you to read and manipulate if you need to. It isn’t easy to earn respect as a girl among men. But you had your ways and didn’t think anybody could be an exception. Until Park Jimin happened. He’s unreadable even for you and he makes you question the balance of forces. He makes you question a lot of things actually.

"What it is?” the boy turns around eventually, getting impatient or just more curious because of your silence and you blurt out the first thing that comes to your mind.

“You said you saw it when they took your brother. Why didn’t they take you, too?” you quirk a brow elegantly, intertwining your fingers behind your back.

Four years ago, both of them must have been children. What was the difference between him and Jungkook then? Why did the fairies only take the younger and left him behind?

Most people don’t react too well if you pry in their business but Jimin’s behaviour is rather impassive. It doesn’t match his vibrant demeanour.

“Who knows?“ he scoffs bitterly and the rawness of his tone makes it painfully human. "I have never been anybody’s first choice. Just like I wasn’t the favourite son either.”

Suddenly, he seems so open, so vulnerable and so willing to talk, you want to know everything about his story. But first, before you reach the inhabitants of this island, whether they are real fairies or not, you need to confirm your suspicion.

“You have been here before, haven’t you?”

It’s been all too obvious from the moment he revealed his riddle but you let him lead you and your crew straight into this trap wherever that may be, Neverland or not.

Despite your quiet voice, your question puts Jimin off, it disturbs his casual walk and yet, it doesn’t get the reaction you expected. You were so sure his shoulders would tense up and he would look at you with innocent, doe eyes with a soft pout on his rosy lips. But he does none of these.

“I might have,” he flashes a confident, lopsided grin that makes your stomach drop with cold realization.

“And you lied to me.” He has been, all this time. Oh what a scum! You made the same mistake men usually commit when they look at you: you should have known that a pretty face doesn’t mean he’s harmless.

“Well, I tend to alter reality to fit my own tongue’s taste,” he admits like it was nothing and for the first time, you really look at him under the Moon’s pale light. His soft ginger locks, dark orbs resembling the universe, the defined jawline and that mischievous smile playing on his mellow lips. You have seen it all before but you have never really looked hard enough to catch the stars reflecting in his eyes and the pixie dust on his cheeks sparkling under the light.

“You… you…” your stutter helplessly. Your voice betrays you and Jimin smirks devilishly.

“Have you figured it out yet?”

You look him in the eye and realize that tales about tiny fairies with wings that could fit into your palm are nothing but lies. In reality, they live in bodies God has wasted too much beauty on.

“You are one of them,” you whisper stunned, taking a step back. Oh you should have known better, Park Jimin is way too peculiar to be a mere human.

“Well, that’s one way to put it,” he shrugs languidly and trots forward with a laugh that makes your skin tingle. Oh so there’s more to it, you guess and fasten your steps to catch up with him. You won’t leave him out of your sight now that you know he’s the one who can help you. Yet, you still need to rearrange the puzzle pieces of his mystery before you can trust him with your father’s life.

“Why are you doing this? Kidnapping kids?” you ask breathing hard while the two of you are climbing to the top of the hill. You wonder where you are going and what he wants to show you but you don’t ask these frivolous questions that will be answered one way or another anyway.

“You are talking about it as if I was so bad, a prison guard. They all knew what they were doing, they are here willingly.”

“But why are you doing this?” you repeated the question desperately wanting to know the reason. Not the kids’ motives but his. Jimin, whether it is his real name or not, turns around to look at you and grimaces.

“You know what the biggest magic is here, in Neverland?” he asks and staring at the glowing flowers emitting sparkling substance everywhere you step, you shake your head. You had never been in a place similar to this before. At first sight it might have seemed ordinary but every fiber of its being breathes magic into this island and the deeper you get, the more it shows itself before you.

“It reveals the real you,” he says and you blink with a lump forming in your throat. Jimin previously assumed that you had cruelty in you but by now he must have known that you are rather weak and lonely. You just pretend to be the opposite. Should you even try to deceive him at this point?

“Immortality has a price,” he continues with burdens too heavy on his shoulder, finally satisfying your curiosity. Between the vowels of his words there’s an unsaid confession: and I keep paying.“Once I was a lost boy. Rejected by the society, a disappointment to my own parents who disowned me. Then I found this place and learnt its magic. I brought my half-brother here and we gathered those who are similar to us. Desperate, alone and lost. We became a family.”

While he is talking, you arrive to the top of the rock formation, standing on the roof of the dirty white skull, looking down at the greenery of the island and the parade of other youngsters down in some kind of alley. Now they are all looking up at you curiously and you gulp nervously.

The question “Why did you lead me here?” falls off your tongue shakily as you look at the boy oh so confident in himself.

“Like many of us, I also heard of the pretty pirate girl searching for the island. I got curious. I was in the mood for a little game,” he winks playfully and silence falls upon you. Nausea is choking you as you take a step away from him and his overwhelming presence only to stop by the edge of the cliff. You are very much aware that there is nowhere to run from here. This is his territory, he would find you in every hidden spot. Or would he let you leave? Just like that if you said you changed your mind? But you didn’t and he knows that.

“Come on, ask! The question you wanted to pose all this time,” he encourages you with a lovely smile as he traps you between his body and the abyss behind you. Would he push you and watch you fall? No, that wouldn’t make sense, right? And even if he would, you aren’t afraid of dying. It sounds quiet, peaceful, easy… Then why is your heart beating so loud?

“Is it true then? What they say?” you blurt out without thinking.

“Ah but they say an awful lot of things, darling. Which one did you think of?” he inquires further, yearning to hear those words from your mouth only, to know that you need his help.

“Can you really save my father from death?”

“Of course, we can do anything and everything,” he hums and puts his index finger to his chin as if he was thinking hard, calculating the odds. “But it takes a lot to bribe Death.”

“I would do anything,” you interrupt him quickly. It’s for your father. If you had to, you would walk through Hell without regrets or looking back at all.

“Anything? Are you sure about that?” Jimin tilts his head childishly and it’s almost endearing that his dimples only appear late, as signs of the blooming years of teenagers.

“Yes,” you nod confidently, embracing yourself for whatever comes.

“Even if it means you can’t see him again?” Jimin asks and you falter for a moment because your father would never forgive you if you made a deal like this. But if it’s for him, you couldn’t live peacefully, knowing that you could have saved him but didn’t. It’s the burden you have to live with

“If I can be sure he’s healthy, it’s enough for me.”

“What a selfless girl. So stupid,” the gorgeous boy coos, gentle fingers your cheek and you don’t have enough willpower to turn your head or slap his hand away. Less than a day, when another man tried to touch you, you threatened their life but Jimin… He has you wrapped around his finger. It must have been his aura, the magic, this magnetic pull of his being.

“But aren’t we all? Stupid, I mean,” he chuckles lightly and you find it truly mesmerizing. You had never been one to fall for men’s charm but this boy, this ethereal creature makes you weak in the knees. You are both fascinated by him and afraid what he could do with that kind of control over you.

“Have you heard of crossroad demons, sweetheart?” he asks as he takes your hand, gently as ever and places it palm flat out on his chest just over his heart… or at least where his heart should beat but there’s nothing but stillness. Your breath hitches and his entire demeanour changes. There’s nothing left from the coy boy asking for a ride in the bar. He’s rather sly and manipulative now. The real him.

“There are no crossroads where I’ve grown up,” you confess and there’s no lie in your words. You have grown up sailing the seven seas. You have set foot on the land so rarely, it still makes you uneasy after a while. So many strangers, the crowd, that stuffy feeling of being locked in and you missed the scent of the oceans, the breeze in your hair.

“Very true,” Jimin cannot argue with you but it only makes his evergreen smile grow a bit bigger, the curl of his lips a bit more sadistic. “We are called by a lot of names: fairies, lost boys, demons. But all we do is striking deals and I’m telling you this so you know what you get yourself into if you agree. I can save your father. He can live a long life missing you and searching for you because in exchange you have to give up on your most precious thing.”

“What?” you furrow your brows in a confused manner since you have close to nothing to offer him beside gold and rum or your ship. But Jimin doesn’t talk about physical currency. He averts his gaze somewhere behind you and you follow suit. The sight of the maelstrom colours takes your breath away.  “Oh… the sea.”

“Yes. You cannot leave this island once we come to an arrangement,” Jimin lays down the rules and whispers into your ears in his raspy, cunning voice. “You just have to say the word… Deal?”

It’s scary to know there’s no way back but you are in too deep to give up now.

“Deal,” you nod and Jimin claps his hands together gleefully.

“Perfect! All I need is a little blood,” he winks at you as his fingers run down along your arm until they reach the dagger clenched in your hand. You hand it over to him willingly and let him leave a tiny cut on your index fingertip. You watch the carmine drops fall but you in a sharp breath when Jimin lifts your hand mouth level and closes his lips around your digit. He around the wound, lapping off the blood in a kittenish manner and you could do nothing but stare at him. He pulls off with a pop sound and smiles at you with ruby red stained lips. “And a kiss.”

You don’t need crossroads on seas to know how deals with demons work so you stand on your tiptoes, fingers grabbing the collar of the fairy’s and press your lips to his. It tastes bittersweet and it gets to your head quickly like good, matured wine.

Jimin pulls back after a short while brushing a mop of hair lovingly behind your ear.

“Welcome among the Lost, darling,” he whisper-tells and his eyes glow in the dark. You have so many questions, so many doubts but before you could utter anything out, he grabs your shoulders and with a swift movement he pushes you off the cliff, into the void.

Everything falls and you scream with your eyes shut closed but the pain you expect never comes. You dare to pry your eyes open just enough to see the sparkling dust floating around you in the air. The magic-tasting air of a place you might have seen in your dreams and there’s a boy more beautiful than sunsets smiling down at you, reaching out a hand. You don’t know him but somehow you know you can trust him, so you take his hand without hesitation and then… then you fly, darling.