hoodwink -- bts

chapter fourteen [coronation]

'Are you feeling excited?'

The night of the half moon, where the day had fallen from the soft palms of Earth into the clutches of Purgatory. It seemed all so rushed. Only an hour ago, Jungkook had been explaining to be that Taehyung was a victim of incest, and now I was staring into my own reflection as his sister fumbled with my hair.

'I don't really know what to feel.' Keeping my composure, she let out a light laugh, taking out my two braids with a gentle grip.

'Every one has to go through it- well, I suppose every tribute. You should feel honored that you've been chosen to help carry down an important bloodline that has been going for centuries.' The silkiness in her voice was oddly soothing from the moments of hearing Minji crying her heart out earlier.

I felt guilty.

Staring down into my palms, Mi-na seemed to have caught onto my conscious kicking in. She ran her long nails through my strands of hair, parting them into pieces again without the use of a comb.

'You know, you shouldn't mind what anyone else is telling you. Lies run too deep within this household, it's hard to discern between fibs and the truth. Stop worrying so much. If something goes wrong, just remember what I told you; look him straight in the eyes.' After letting the braid fall onto my back, she removed the previous fuzzy robe around my shoulders, leaving me exposed in only my undergarments.

Another semi-transparent silk kimono with detailed peacocks marring the back side, was slipped over my shivering frame. Without my sweater and socks, the temperature seemed to have decreased by at least 15 degrees.

My eyes met the mirrored version of myself, taking in all of the cloth from my newly fitted bra to the matching pair of cream colored shorts. Goosebumps rose along my skin as she lifted a stray piece of hair from my face.

'What is your blood type, Ji-U?' Curiously, her eyes flitted from the tiny jars of powder up to me.

I turned away, looking instead outside as the moon steadily rose into the night sky.

'AB negative.' I brought my arms up and rubbed them along my sides, trying to warm myself up from the cold wind breezing in. 'It's freezing.'

'You'll be warm once he's taken the pills, though I'm not sure he'll be able to resist such a rare blood type.' Chuckling, she grabbed a hold of my shoulders and ushered me out of the tiny dressing room.

Everyone had already gone to sleep as all of the lights to the rooms had already been turned out. I was left on my own to fend for myself against the year old ritual.

Tonight was the first trial so to speak, but really it had just been to see whether I could get pregnant in one go. Unlikely.

Turning around, Mi-na gestured for me to continue down the quiet corridor, until I reached the very end to his room where hopefully he'd be waiting too.

There was never a moment when I had agreed to any of this, but that choice wasn't up to me much anymore. So long as I was living under the roof of a lord, my instructions were merely to submit to his every needs, including nights like these. I found it relatively difficult to believe that anything would actually happen tonight and the doubt soon manifested into fear.

He was only given one month to polish things off so to speak, but I had never imagined that day to be so soon. Without a formal warning or some kind of sign first, I was simply expected to bear a child that would be known as the 'heir' to hopefully carry on the legacy of the Ilex's.

Taking a deep breath, I took another step forward until I had been directly in front of his door, knocking on it before opening it slightly.

The entire area was illuminated by the moonlight that shone brightly through the opened curtains. My gaze was drawn to the figure seated in a wooden chair, one leg supported by the edge of the bed as he mindlessly stared off into the scenery drawn before him outside of the window.

'T-taehyung?' I finally found my voice, speaking out in the silence.

Lethargically, he bent his head to look over his shoulders, making eye contact with me before raking his gaze down to my toes. I couldn't help but shuffle uncomfortably by taking each end of the flowing kimono to cover up my midriff.

He hadn't uttered any words, instead standing I realized he wore a cover up similar to my own that was shaded a deep crimson hue. Instead of elegant peacocks, a black dragon was painted across the sleeves and spilled onto the back.

A tiny sound had gone off from his hand. Peering closer, I saw the same tiny bottle of pills now jangling around with every movement.

Placing the capsule onto the nightstand next to the bed, the water inside the full cup next to it began to shimmer slightly in the pale light.

We stood there for several minutes longer, marveling at each other's barely clothed bodies, the flush in my cheeks not ceasing to disappear.

I took a step back, fearing that I had been placed there by accident and that I could just slip away without him caring. His arm reached out to me, as if he wanted myself to take hold of his hand.

And I had done just that.

Taking small strides, I nervously rested my palm in his own, immediately feeling the warmth radiating from his hand. I was drawn in closer towards the window, my wrist still in his grip as he sorrowfully gazed out to the heavenly moon.

'Ninety seven. ninety seven tries to pass on the family line and I've failed every single time.' Looking towards me, I was taken back by the ferocity in his eyes.

'Will you be ninety eight?'

I drew back once again to look at the pink pills resting on the stand. I evaded his direct question, deciding to ask one of my own to quench my curiosity.

'What type of pills are they?'

His jaw tightened noticeably, a feral expression on his face.

'Testosterone supplements.'

Bringing me in closer to him, I couldn't take my gaze away from his mesmerizing hazel stare. An arm was wrapped around my waist. resting slightly on the small of my back.

'But I'll be just fine without them.' With the simple statement, his lips were brought to mine, a clash of heat in the cold of the night.

-

if i meet jimin, we're going to fight, i swear [jk, i love you chim-chim]

buttteeerrrflllyyyyyyy- not like i listened to the leaked version or anything [and cried]

wellllllllllllllllllll, this chapter was just not how i wanted it be but i'm alright i guess

enjoy!-

-elise