a/n: i ing hate my life but i like lurking around on this show

kang jade

two months later

It was amazing how fast they let me into their group. It had taken a week for Taehyung to convince me to formally meet the rest of his circle and then another month for him to convince me to join his circle as a promoter mage. But once I had agreed to, it was almost as if they were welcoming a younger sister. I’d met Jimin but he was far sweeter once I’d gotten to know him, Jeon Jungkook, the earth mage that was a year younger than me but somehow still made me feel like a younger sister and Min Yoongi a water mage that specialized in ice, quiet and prone to mood swings but valiant and protective.

And then there was Taehyung. Loud, friendly, borderline cocky. Our bond had only strengthened over time to the point that it grew hard for me to not see him every couple of hours. He grew antsy as well if he wasn’t ensuring my safety all the time. However, that was all it ever was. Him checking on me every now and then to make sure I was alive. Taehyung was a good friend, fun to talk to no matter what you wanted to say, ballsy when it came to a challenge. But our relationship beyond that was the bond, every heart racing touch was a reaction to the bond between our magic.

And that’s all I could ever let it be. They allowed me into their circle and in turn, I’d opened up a lot to these boys. But there was one thing that I could never tell them, one thing I could never tell anybody.

“Jade, let’s go,” Taehyung called me from the living room. I sat in Jungkook’s room, trying to perfect a rune that would tattoo a design of a rose he so desperately wanted but couldn’t get because he was terrified of needles. He sat in front of me on his bed, his arm resting between us. Taehyung’s voice completely breaks my concentration and shatters the half-drawn rune as I lose my place in the incantment.

“,” I muttered, opening my eyes, feeling my power fade. Jungkook growls in annoyance.

“Taehyung. Shut the up!” He calls, letting the foundation of the house rumble slightly with his words. In turn Taehyung flickers the flame of the candles I’d lit around the bed.

“You shut the up,” Taehyung childishly returns.

“Sorry, Jungkook-ah,” I say apologetically. This was the third time I’d tried. “But I think if I tried one more time, I could get it.” I lift the crinkled piece of notebook paper with the tattoo designs off his forearm before the ink bled out completely and reached for the bottle of argon oil to prepare for another try.

“JADE,” Taehyung cries, shouldering the door open and storming into the room. “What the are you two doing?” He halts, looking between us suspiciously.

“She’s trying to incant a painless tattoo,” Jungkook says grumpily. “If you hadn’t scared her and broken her trance.” I don’t bother to look up as I drip more argon oil onto Jungkook’s skin and begin to massage it in.

“Not a trance, just my concentration.” I correct, my fingers stall when I feel the warning from Taehyung. “Would you calm the hell down, I’m giving him a tattoo, not a hickey,” I mutter. He always got like this when spells got too touchy or he’d walk into one of his friends’ room and find me asleep on their bed because casting had wiped me out. Grouchy, grumpy.

He would then attempt to assert some form of alpha male mojo on me, which never worked. I’d glare and raise an eyebrow. He’d retreat with his tail between his legs.

Today I skip ahead to the glaring part as I press the paper back down on Jungkook’s forearm. I drip more oil onto the paper and begin to spread it evenly.

“You promised it would be your treat this morning. I got out of bed before eleven for this.” Taehyung reminded me about our breakfast plans. That was another thing about Taehyung. He preferred long nights and late mornings.

“Well, if you shut up and let me get this right, then maybe we can make it before they close,” I say, referring to his favorite breakfast place that always closed at two pm.

Taehyung mutters something lowly but sits down on the floor and begins playing with the candle flames. Rolling my eyes, I begin to run my finger over the ink design, mouthing words from the spell I had practiced. I ran the same pattern repeatedly, my finger heated up against the paper, turning it to ash until it was just my finger against Jungkook’s skin. I was glad I had used so much oil now, the less friction the less burn he would feel.

My mage marks rose on my skin and I felt my eyes light up. In a sudden rush, magic flew through my fingers and slammed onto Jungkook’s skin. My eyes flew open and Jungkook pulled his arm back with a yelp.

“Did it work?” I ask, craning my neck to see the dark ink of a new tattoo on his arm. Just the way he wanted it.

“It’s so awesome,” Jungkook grins, pulling me into a bear hug. “Thanks, noona.”

“Alright,” Taehyung clears his throat. “Now that Jungkook’s little escapade into the rebellious side of his persona is finished, shall we get breakfast?”

I turn to Taehyung and shake my head, a smile tugging on my lips. “You’ve been watching too much Criminal Minds,” I tell him.

“Do I have to remind you that my major is criminal justice?” He asks, raising an eyebrow.

I sigh, getting up off the bed and stretching my legs. “Why bother, you remind me at every chance.” I grab my jacket from Jungkook’s desk. “And Jungkook, if you have any kind of reaction to the tattoo, call me. I’ve never performed a cosmetic spell and I’m not sure if there’s going to be any side-effects.”

“Side-effects, side-effects,” Taehyung speaks up before Jungkook can. “You’re always worried about side-effects. The side-effects of me not getting the breakfast I promised is a headlock.”

I turn to him, pulling my jacket it. “You wouldn’t dare.” I challenge him, smiling goodbye to Jungkook and ducking out of the room before Taehyung can fulfill his promise.

“We’re out of bacon,” the server at Billy’s Breakfast intoned. She was sweet, always chewing spearmint gum and offering us crooked smiles. Taehyung turned to me with widened eyes.

“They’re out of bacon, Jade,” he tells me. I look up from the menu and roll my eyes.

“What do you want me to do about it, Taehyung?” I ask, eyeing the blueberry French toast.

“Magic up some bacon, Jade,” he says as if it were obvious what he wanted me to do.

“That’s not how that works, Taehyung,” I look up from the menu at the server. “Can I get the blueberry French toast. Is it possible to get powdered sugar and whipped cream?”

“I’ll see what I can do. Anything to drink?”

“Hot chocolate,” I set my menu down. “Extra chocolate syrup.”

“Alright, honey. And you?” She turns to where Taehyung is still staring at me.

She takes my menu and when he still doesn’t respond, I look up at him and raise an eyebrow.

“Taehyun