Save Me (Kim Namjoon X Readers)

Chapter 25

I love you.

Namjoon bolted up from his sleep. His head was pounding and his heart was uncontrollable. He held his head, wondering why he thought he heard you saying you love him. It was impossible, he dismissed, you would never feel that way for him. Pulling his hand back, he noticed that he wasn't in his normal uniform. He was in a silk pajama that he had often seen Seokjin wearing. A peasant like Namjoon could never afford that privilege. But this was reality, and he was wearing this. It was black, with gold engraving of a snake.

The room was also unlike any that Namjoon had ever slept in. The bed itself rose above the ground like a pedestal. His blanket was thick, and golden. The bed frame smelled of expensive wood. A canopy draped over the bed, making everything outside of it look like a dream. He pulled the layer back, carefully taking in everything he saw. A table with an exquisite looking tea set. Windows with no holes in them. A dresser made of the same expensive wood as the bed. The atmosphere reminded him of Empress Wei's room, regal.

He thought back to the last thing he could actually remember. The mask men, the pouch of smoke, you. You fighting the men alongside him, risking everything to save Namjoon. He remembered fainting, while you held him. Unable to think of anything else, and consumed with deadly thoughts of what could have happened to you, Namjoon dashed out of his bed. At the same time, the doors pushed open.

Madam Li waltzed in, her black dress cloaked the ground like lava. Her hairpiece of dangling jewels glimmered in the sparced sunlight. Namjoon fumbled back towards the bed, his eyes unable to pry away from her. Her face was porcelain white, with crimson lips painted with the blood of people her drugs had killed. It made Namjoon sick to his stomach to be in her presence. And yet his heart was yearning for his mother, to feel the love that was taken from him all those years ago.

Her face cracked into a smile as she opened her arms, embracing him. "My son," she hummed. The smell of flowers was a stark contrast to everything else about her. Namjoon debated about pushing her back, and demanding she tells him where you were. But in that moment, the child in him came through and he began to wail. His arms wrapped around her as he continued to cry on her shoulder, something he had always wanted to do since stepping into the Kim's residence. "You're finally here." she continued. "And we can be a family again."

Family, Namjoon thought, that sounded perfect. The only time he thought about having a family was with-

"Where is Y/N?" Namjoon asked as he pushed Madam Li back. Her face shifted, her smile was gone but it appeared again in a split second. She hadn't expected him to mention you so quickly, but it proved to her that you would be an obstacle.

"Don't worry, my child. She is simply resting in the room right across from here." she answered. Namjoon's face burrowed.

"She's...resting?"

"Yes, of course. She is our guest. I know she's important to you, so I would only treat her with the utmost respect."

"I-I want to see her." he voiced quietly.

"My dear, I think you should let her sleep some more." she began and saw that he wasn't satisfied with the answer. "But if you insist, we can take a small walk." She led him outside and his eyes grew when he saw the line of servants outside his chamber, if he could even call it his. "This is all yours." his mother reminded. "What's mine also belongs to you." Namjoon wasn't sure how he was supposed to react to that statement. She gestured for the servant to open the door of the other room.

Peeking into it, he saw the familiar body laying on the bed, with the cotton blanket draped over you. His heart felt at peace at last. "She is sleeping." he commented.

"I'm afraid you were more resilient with the smoke. I apologize for that. But she should be waking up soon."

"Thank you...mother." he spoke slowly. The word felt foreign to him. She was delighted to hear it.

"Anything for you, my son. I am so glad you are here with me." Once back in his chamber, she began to recount the story of their separation. "Your aunt had always been jealous of me ever since we were little. Despite having magic, she has never been loved the way I was. From our parents, friends, then your father. She loved him, and was heartbroken and outraged when he married me instead. With that jealousy, she kidnapped you a few years after you were born, and took you far away from me."

"But why haven't you ever looked for me?" Namjoon asked, it was something he had always wanted to find out. "Did you..not love me?"

"My son, how could a mother not love her child?" she retorted. "I have searched every corner of the world for you. But my sister cast a spell over the river, which made it impossible for me to track you down. I swear to you, not a day went by that I didn't look for you. And when I found my sister again, I felt that it was a blessing from the god."

"Speaking of her, where is she now? I need her to break the curse." he urged. His mother placed a hand on his back to calm him down.

"You are still too weak right now. And your aunt needs time to perfect the enchantment. I've been watching over her, don't worry. Once Y/N wakes up and your body regains its strength, I promise the curse will be lifted." she soothed. After some more talking, she revealed that she had to settle some matters in her court and left Namjoon, but she promised to join him for dinner later on. The black dress disappeared from his room.

Namjoon sat back on the bed, feeling content with his life. It was finally going in a positive direction. But there was a nagging in his mind. Why didn't Madam Li just break the curse herself? Why didn't she tell him she loves him?