24 ⋆ Skirt

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Jimin's POV

Tuesday

Jungkook's mom sat me down in the chair and turned it so I could stare at her rather than the mirror behind me.

"Now, traditionally, the oracle paints your markings. So I invited Yoongi over and he's going to do a few designs on you and you're going to choose the one you like best."

I swallowed, nerves flowing through my veins at this decision. "What if I don't like any?"

She frowned and lightly slapped the back of my head. I hissed and rubbed it as Yoongi walked into the room with a smile.

"There he is. Nervous?" He asked, walking forward.

I shook my head, but inside I felt as though my heart was going to burst through my chest. "No. But this feels like getting ready for a wedding." I grumbled, trying to cover it up.

Yoongi laughed, "Well, this is our version of a wedding. Humans do weddings, we do mating ceremonies."

I just glared at him and mumbled, "Smartass."

"Watch it," Yoongi said with a gummy smile, setting down a giant mason jar full of white paint. I widened my eyes and swallowed, somehow managing to get even more nervous.

"Take off your shirt," Yoongi said in a bored tone as if he'd done this too many times.

"It seems like you've done this before," I commented as I took the shirt off, blushing as I usually only took it off with Jungkook.

"Yeah, try thirty-three times."

I stared at him, confused. "How? It looks like you're only old enough to have done Jungkook mom's." I said with furrowed eyebrows.

Yoongi glanced at Jungkook's mom who looked back at him with eyes that said something along the lines of he doesn't know?

"Jungkook never told you, did he?" She asked softly.

"Tell me what?" I asked nervously, looking between them.

"Jimin, I just celebrated my 247th birthday," Yoongi said.

I stared at him, then looked at Jungkook's mother.

"523rd." She commented.

"How old do you guys..." I trailed off, in shock.

"Oracles pass around 900 years, Luna's and Alpha's pass around 800 years, and everyone else passes between 600 to 700 years. I've seen many of these ceremonies and carried them out."

I swallowed as my eyes drifted to the floor, trying to work the math in my mind.

"How old is...?"

Jungkook's mom laughed. "Relax. He really is twenty-two. He's still considered a newborn in our world. You aren't even a teen really until you reach 100." She explained.

I slowly looked down as my heart slowed, thinking about it as Yoongi opened the jar slowly. I was going to die way before he did. I was going to be old and withered and dying while he still was young and alive.

Yoongi and Jungkook's mom seemed to realize what they had done.

"He'll still love you when you're old, Jimin," Yoongi whispered, setting down the jar to look at me.

I blinked at the floor and nodded.

"Really, he will. Werewolves have fallen for humans many times. It happens. He'll always love you. Now, let's start working on some designs." Yoongi said, quickly moving on from the topic.

I didn't say much after that, just kept to my thoughts running rapidly through my head.

Yoongi and Jungkook's mom talked quietly between themselves as Yoongi looked me over, dipping his thumb into the white paint and starting to mark over my face and chest. I sat there as he worked, feeling the cold paint cover my skin as he drew intricate designs all over it- a twist here, a dot there.

"Oh, you're drawing mine." Jungkook's mom said, a fond smile spreading across her face.

"I know. As soon as I turned you around you wanted it." Yoongi laughed, recalling the memory.

After a few minutes, Yoongi finished and turned me around to face the mirror. My eyes went wide as I was painted from head to toe in the white paint, absolutely covered with swirling lines and dots.

"Uh... it's a bit much. Do you have anything simpler? No offense, mom." I said bashfully.

Yoongi nodded and began to wash the paint off, starting on a new canvas. He stared for a while then smiled. "Simple. Got it."

His thumb drew two thick lines over my cheekbones, and one fat stripe starting from the bottom of my nose to my chin, running it over my lips. With the tip of his index finger, he carefully dotted the skin under the stripes on my cheeks and on top of my eyebrows. Yoongi swiped another line of paint around my right bicep, adding the dots underneath it, then stepped back to look at his work.

He turned me around slowly and smiled at the reflection. I looked at myself in the mirror, absolutely taken away by the simple paint that made me feel almost better about it all.

I nodded with a smile, "Yeah. I like this one."

Yoongi grinned as Jungkook's mom clapped, all of us staring at the paste on my body.

"Okay. Now that that's done, it's time to look at dresses!" Jungkook's mom cheered.

Yoongi and I both turned to look at her.

"No. No dresses." I said, shaking my head.

She frowned but nodded anyway, starting to walk out of the room, gesturing for us to follow.

Yoongi began to wash off the paint once more. We walked downstairs to meet Jungkook's mom in her room, watching as she swung open her closet and revealed hundreds of outfits. My eyes went wide at all of the outfits; dresses, body necklaces, shoulder necklaces, veils, skirts, everything.

"Where's the men's?" I asked with a tentative laugh.

Jungkook's mom looked over at me. "Majority of Luna's are female so... you'll have to find something from the outfits before you. But you have a small frame so they'll probably all fit you, don't worry."

I groaned and nodded, walking forward into the walk-in closet swamped with clothing items.

"He could always go shirtless with a shoulder necklace and some loose pants," Yoongi whispered to Jungkook's mom as I walked.

"I think I'll just go with the pants," I said, looking over my shoulder and smiling nervously at them.

I pulled out a few dresses and skirts, realizing everything looked like lingerie or was extremely scandalous- nothing looked like clothing at all. "Why does everything look so... sexy?" I asked, confused.

They laughed, "It's a mating ceremony, Jimin. Mating is literally in the name."

I shook my head and put the dress I was holding, which barely qualified as a dress, back on the rack.

"This is a disaster," I whispered to myself and reached out, grabbing some sort of white skirt that could pass off as shorts if no one looked at the giant cut out sides. Basically, the fabric only covered the front and the back, almost something that looked like a caveman would have worn long ago. I tucked it under my arm, embarrassed.

"Alright, got it," I mumbled with a blush. Jungkook's mom and Yoongi frowned as I walked by with the skimpy skirt-like clothing, my cheeks turning even more red under their stares.

"Are you sure?" Yoongi asked, following me as I walked back upstairs.

"It's just going to come off, right? So yeah, it'll work." I pointed out. They followed quietly as I walked into my room. I closed and locked my door before they could say anything else.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

I was running from something I couldn't see, but I knew I needed to run. Trees appeared at random in front of me, my vision in the dark and snowy night barely able to see anything.

"Where are you going, Jiminie?" A voice asked, amused, somewhere behind me and close.

"Leave me alone!" I cried, stopping and circling around, staring at the dark forest around me.

Suddenly, a man I had never seen before stepped out behind one of the trees. His smile was sinister, stretching from one side of his face. It reminded me of something rather joker-esque.

His shaggy dirty blonde hair was pushed back and his eyes stared at me as if he was sizing up his next meal.

"You look so scared." He said, his smile dropping as if this displeased him.

His face turned to that of mock concern as I backed up against a tree, finding no escape "Why are you scared? Is it something I did? I sure hope not." He said, worried.

His eyebrows suddenly relaxed and his face turned cold. He seemed to switch emotions rapidly, leading me to believe something wasn't right mentally with him.

"Why were you running, Jimin? You know there's nowhere for you to go. You're stuck here with me. Forever." He told me sternly.

"You're wrong. I don't even know who you are. I belong with Jungkook." I whimpered, staring at him as tears fell out of my eyes. He scrunched up his face at the name as if he was in pain.

He quickly walked forward and jammed a hand against my throat, staring at me evilly. I reached up and grabbed his wrist, attempting to loosen the grip.

"You know exactly who I am though. And so does your beloved Jungkook. Everything you love, Jimin, is about to be ripped out of your hands just like he ripped out of mine. And he's paying for it. He's paying for it by giving me you. You know exactly who I am, don't you?" He questioned.

"Yeah... you do. You're mine now. You're not Jungkook's anymore. You're mine." He growled, the joker-like smiling spreading across his face once more, making me sob.

"No!" I gasped, sitting straight up from my bed. I panted heavily, my skin broke out in a cold sweat. I sat there for a while, goosebumps over my skin. Slowly, I laid back down and stared at the ceiling.

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