Chapter Text
Birds sang happily as the evening sun painted the trees and brush in an ethereal glow. The light dyed the pale white flowers in the small clearing a fiery orange that danced as the breeze danced across the clearing. Long strands of blond hair, once tied back into a complicated knot, catch the breeze and blow away from the tiny omega nestled in the center of the clearing. His once pristine face was slightly smudged with dirt and his normally bright vibrant scent of ripe peaches and hibiscus was overwhelmed by the scent of the forest surrounding him. Pine and moss fill the air touched very gently by the scent of sweet sweet flowers. This was his favorite spot to hide out away from the mortal wolves.
Here in the southern-most forests where the scent of pine and moss was richest many mortals feared to venture. His mother too had never ventured so far fearful for bringing the wrath of the underworld to the heavens. While his mother often found herself wrapped up in the hierarchy of the heavenly realms, Jimin had never found pleasure in their toiling. His mother was the goddess of creation and birth. She brought forth flowering beauty the likes of which the heavens were wrapped up in. The scents were vibrant and floral and overwhelming in their strength. The heavens didn’t carry the same rich earthy scent that this forest did so close to the mouth of the underworld.
His own scent was not unlike the ripe floral scents of the rest of his siblings. While he was the god of growth and paths, his brothers were tasked with much more important matters as they were born alphas, and he an omega. His mother babied him, sheltered him from the world at large. After the death of his father, the woman had never recovered. His father had been slain in a fit of rage by one of the sons of the god of war. Jimin didn’t blame his mother for her protectiveness but he was tired of constantly being treated as something breakable. He wanted to do something more, be something more. He received offerings and helped his blessed find their paths but only to that extent. He was never allowed to make great choices or be included with the other gods at the heavenly table. His opinion was shrouded by those of his mother and brothers.
Jimin never understood them thinking he was weak and needed their protection and guidance. He was the god of paths and growth. He guided people to make their life choices every day but his own family couldn’t trust him to make his own choices in his own path. His brothers were the gods of the harvest and the weather. They were no better than him, no more powerful than he was. While their gifts left an impression they were nowhere near as destructive as Jimin could be. Jimin felt stifled. He wanted to be free and yet his only freedom was running away in the forests. Somehow by some small miracle, his brothers were never able to find his little hideaway. After being lost in the winding forests one too many times they would simply wait for him to exit the forests to berate him for disappearing again. It wasn’t like Jimin couldn’t do his duties from here. The mortal’s called upon them and he visited them in spirit through whatever altarpiece or statue they used.
He could do that just as easily from his little meadow as he could from the circular tower he slept in within the heavens. Jimin opens his eyes and glances up at the rapidly purpling forest. Overhead, flies a massive black colored bird that swoops into the clearing for a short moment and lands on the rock just beside his head. Jimin smiles and reaches a small hand out to pet over the ruffled feathers of the bird’s head. Both of its eyes were a chalky white color and its beak glittered in the evening sun. It was a beautiful majestic creature. While most people, gods and mortals alike, would be hesitant to come in contact with such a hellish looking bird, Jimin found the creature oddly adorable. It was beautiful in its hellishness. A stark contrast to the ethereal beauty of this little meadow.
He had seen the bird many times since his first visit to these woods. It was the bird that originally lead him to these meadows when he stormed into the forests in a cold fury. His mother had dared to threaten to lock him away in his room when she realized he was visiting the mortal realm. He’d been angrily muttering and weaving a pattern of useless growth between his fingers as he often did while settled on a stone beneath the shade of a tree. He’d very nearly fallen over when the massive black beast of a bird landed on a low hanging branch by his head. Then the bird had taken off further into the forest and Jimin felt the draw to follow. Jimin wasn’t stupid he knew his mother would blow a fuse if he ever told her he followed after a random black bird in the forest at the mouth of the underworld. So he didn’t tell her. When he came upon the beautiful little meadow and found the bird settled neatly on a rock near the center he had been in awe. The meadow was gorgeous and smelled so serene.
“Hello pretty.” The bird leans into Jimin’s gentle petting. “You’re visiting quite late today. It’s a good thing I haven’t left yet. I would have been sad to miss you.” The bird inclines it’s head as if to apologize. Jimin smiles serenely and scratches likely under the bird’s beak. “Mother was her usual self today. She kept going on and on about me disappearing into this little haven and how I’m just a stupid little boy for believing I won’t be hurt. And maybe I am...but at least I made my own choices then, right? I weave the paths of life and yet, they can’t even trust me to write my own path. I wish more than ever to just run away from it all.”
Jimin startles when the bird takes off into the sky rather quickly. Stumbling up from the ground Jimin follows after with a shout. He weaves through the woods following the dark shadow in the sky. After a few moments of running, Jimin comes to a stop when the bird in the sky disappears. With a sigh, Jimin turns to go back the way he came, but stops short when he hears a voice cut through the silence around him. Sneaking forward slowly toward the edge of the treeline, Jimin peeks out from behind a large pine tree.
Leaning against the base of a massive towering pine tree is a man. His dark hair fell in tangled waves against his shoulders. There was deep tiredness to him as he sat reclined on the ground. His left leg was bent at the knee and an arm was tossed haphazardly over it as he blinded tiredly up at the massive bird perched on the rock to his right. “Hello, little one. You’ve flown a long way today haven’t you.” His voice is low and so pretty. Jimin feels his heart stutter in his chest. The man was gorgeous in a dark and serious sort of way. It was as if he was the antithesis to Jimin’s vibrancy. “You’ve made a pit stop somewhere again haven’t you little bird. Don’t be shy now little thing. We all need a break and if you’ve found a companion somewhere I will not fault you. Death waits for no one...though I suppose his messengers can take breaks every now and then.” The man chuckles deep in his chest as the bird gives an indignant little squawk and taps his hand with a black beak.
Jimin sucks in a quiet little breath upon registering the man’s words. This was the very same being his brothers warned him against. This was the god of death and the underworld. This was the man everyone in the heavens called a devious sort. He’d heard how cold and callous the god of the underworld was. His brothers, who often met the man as the symposium of the gods, would go on and on about how quiet and uncaring the man was. Taemin often commented that it was a wonder the man wasn’t mated yet considering how horrible the alpha was. Sungwon would often murmur that in order to have a mate your scent would have to be something other than death and decay. To Jimin, the man sitting on the ground exhausted beyond belief, talking to a massive beast of a bird was nothing like his brother’s described.
No, this man was gorgeous beyond compare. His dark hair was beautifully curly and left to hang in a tangled sort of chaos compared to Jimin’s usually tightly braided hair. What he wouldn’t give to run his hands through the silken looking strands. The urge to do just that has his hands clenched into fists. His eyes were wide and expressive. There was a certain power to the dark depth. From this distance, they looked black and bottomless. He didn’t wear the lavish golds and pure whites that many in the heavenly realm preferred. Instead, he was dressed in a simple pair of black pants and an equally black shirt tucked into the pants. He wore large black boots as well. There was a smattering of black color coiling up over the hand that he reached out to pet the bird. Despite his beauty, Jimin couldn’t ignore the pure exhaustion that seemed to seep into every muscle of the man. He looked as if sleep had eluded him for many days. Jimin wanted to scratch at his scalp and hum lullabies for the man until he fell into a deep and restful sleep.
“Well, might as well get back to work, little bird.” The god of the underworld stands and brushes his black pants off. Standing he was even more beautiful than he had been sitting down. Jimin’s mouth ran dry when his top parted slightly to reveal a beautifully sculpted chest. The man reaches down and plucks a ring of dark thorns up off the ground and places it on his head haphazardly. Jimin’s hands itch to reach up and fix the crown for the man. “Like I said before little bird, death waits for no man, The souls of the departed rarely find their way to me on their own. Come along if you’d like...we’ve got a few more hours before the beasts take over for the night so I can dole out judgments.”
Jimin backs away slowly, carefully. He didn’t want to alert the man to his presence. He looked like he had enough on his shoulders and Jimin didn’t want to bother him any more than necessary. Jimin easily wanders back through the forest to his little meadow and then toward the entrance of the forest. Jimin rolls his eyes when he sees Taemin sitting huffily on one of the many rocks scattered near the entrance of the forest. His blond hair is ruffled and he looks irritated. There is a stain on the corner of his top, like from a bird dropping. Jimin walks right past him ignoring when the alpha scrambles up to give chase.
“Jimin you can’t keep disappearing like that!” Taemin shuffles after him trying to get his attention. “You know mother worries when you go off on your own like that. Sungwon and I can’t go in there and get you if anything happens.”
“Yeah. That’s kind of the point brother.”
“Would you stop walking so damned fast Min!”
Jimin rolls his eyes and walks faster just to spite his overprotective brother. Taemin huffs and quickened his pace as well. Rolling his eyes again, Jimin twists on the spot and returns to the heavenly realm. Taemin pops up behind him once again after a few moments and growls out a frustrated sound. “I’m perfectly old enough to do thing son my own thank you very much! I’m a fucking god, the god of paths or life to be specific, so I think I can handle myself just fine.” Taemin scoffs and tugs Jimin to a stop.
“Yes, and our father could as well but that didn’t stop him from getting himself killed in the mortal realm.” Jimin hisses out a warning between his teeth and tugs his wrist from his brother’s grasp to continue through the gates of their home. Jimin used to think it was the most beautiful palace in all the heavens with its vibrantly blooming flowers. Now it was nothing more than a beautifully decorated prison. “You’re too innocent to be there. Especially not in the forest of the undead.”
Taemin hisses the last word fearing their mother overhearing where Jimin spent his time. She feared the god of the underworld more than she feared the god of the mortal realm for some unknown reason. It was all stupid in Jimin’s mind. “Obvious the forest likes me and protects me if it keeps you lot the hell away from me.” Jimin turns sharply toward his tower and slams the door in Tamein’s face before the alpha can argue with him.
That night, as Jimin lays quietly staring up at the stars from his bedroom, all he can think of is the beautiful tired alpha. He wondered if the man was sleeping or if he had eaten anything that day? He wonders if the man has even finished his duties for the night. He wonders if his crown is still crooked and his hair still a mess on his head. Jimin wonders if he’s staring up at the skies of the underworld wondering if there would ever be someone who would want to be with him. Surely he’s not impervious to what the others say about him. Surely he must want love just like the rest of them did. They were not unlike mortals in that sense. They lived such very long lives. They wanted to spend those lives with mates and loved ones. Jimin pities the man. He was stuck in the underworld, alone and surrounded by the dead. While not all of the dead were miserable ones but there would always be a certain melancholy and unknown in death. In a similar sense, Jimin’s own gift worked in uncertainty and fear of the unknown. Death is just another path all mortals must take. It is frightening and unknown but so are many other choices in the lives of mortals. Jimin’s family never understood that in the same way that Jimin did. Maybe...just maybe the god of the underworld would understand something no one else seemed to, Jimin thought as he drifted off to sleep.
That thought is what brought him to the little pathway a few minutes from his meadow day after day to see if he’ll get another glimpse of the beautiful alpha. Day after day, Jimin watches on as countless souls pass by the tree he sits behind. Some souls are old and withered and some souls are young and vibrant. In some souls, there is a tormented kind of pain in their faces. In some souls, there is the happiness of a long life lived to it’s fullest. Jimi watches, between his duties to his blessed, as people are guided along by birds, wolves, and various other animals all as black as the moonless night. Occasionally, he will see flashes of the god of death walking along talking quietly with someone reassuring them. Those times Jimin ducks behind the tree and tries to listen closely to the man’s voice. He never hears much more than the soothing rumble of his voice, not like that first day, but it’s still nice.
Today as Jimin kneels behind a tall pine tree, he watches as a little girl is holding tightly to the scruff of a massive black wolf. Her hair is pulled up tight in pigtails and her free hand is rubbing harshly at her eyes. Jimin blinks a few times when the god of death appears beside her. They are close enough that Jimin can hear them.
“Are you frightened little one?”
The little girl peeks her head out of her hand and looks up at the tall man standing beside her looking ahead. She looks to be in complete awe of him for several long moments. “Y-yes. I miss m-my momma.” Jimin watches as the tall alpha folds his large body down easily to reach her level. The rest of the line moved forward without interruption but the alpha and the small soul stood still.
“There is nothing to fear in death, little one.” The tall alpha reaches out and tenderly brushes away a few stray tears from the small girl’s face. His large hands are very nearly larger than her face but he was so very gentle with her. Jimin could imagine the man being just as gentle with his own pups when they cried. “You’ve already done the hardest part. From here it will only get better. Your momma will eventually come back to you but until then you’ll have to be nice and strong for me. Can you do that, little one?”
The little girl looks up at him contemplating his words and then nods slowly. “What if I don’t ever see her again?” The tall alpha takes her hand in his and gives it a little squeeze.
“You will.” There was so much conviction in the man’s voice that even Jimin would have believed him. Maybe the man believed it himself. Jimin wished he could be so optimistic. “Think of this as a great fairytale adventure. You’ll be the princess going off on her own to find her destiny. It might be scary at first but once you find your destiny it will all be worth it right?”
“That means you are my knight, right?”
Jimin almost expects the man to be insulted to be called something like a knight when he was in fact a god. Instead, the man smiles a vibrant smile full of teeth and wrinkles his nose at her. “Of course, little princess. I’ll be your faithful servant protecting you on your journey into the next great adventure of life.” The tall alpha stands and offers the little girl a hand which she takes happily. He then begins leading her down the path with the other souls of the departed.
Jimin watches between bouts of meeting his own blessed as group after group of the departed make their way down the paths toward the underworld. Eventually, when the sun is setting and there is a lull in the souls passing through, Jimin watches as once again the alpha settles into the spot under the massive pine tree. He reaches up with a gentle hand and removes the delicate crown of thorns from his hair and sets it to the side. The god rests his head back against the tree and closes his eyes for a few moments falling into a peaceful sleep. Jimin almost wishes he would have brought food for the obviously overworked man but he didn’t know what exactly the man enjoyed eating. Jimin watches for a few more moments as the tall god sleeps away his small moment of peace.
Jimin steps back slowly and a branch cracks under his foot. The alpha’s eyes shoot open and dart in his direction and Jimin turns tail and darts back through the trees toward his meadow. He reaches out his senses as far as he can into the growth of the trees and falls to his knees near his rock in the meadow in relief when he doesn’t feel the alpha giving chase. He clutches tightly to his chest and begins to giggle softly at his own foolishness. Why run? He wasn’t doing anything wrong he could have easily said that he had stumbled upon him while wandering the mortal realm.
Jimin falls onto his back and closes his eyes. Even as he feels the presence of his favorite bird joining him he remains relaxed. “I was very nearly caught staring at him today, little bird.” The bird gives a mocking kind of sound back to him and Jimin scoffs softly. “Of course, I ran like a fool instead of introducing myself.” The bird makes the same sound and Jimin sighs softly. “He’s just so...so handsome. He’s different from what they all say...so very different. I wonder what he likes to eat? If I made him something would he even eat it? I know what idiot would eat food they found randomly on the side of the road. I certainly wouldn’t. He’s just always so tired and if he’s not sleeping properly then it’s not far off to say he likely isn’t eating properly either.”
Jimin hears the bird take flight and when he peeks his eyes open the sky is painted a dazzling orange hue. That was always his cue to start his returning journey home. His brother worried enough when he was in the forest during the day time heavens forbid if he happened to stay past sunset. Taking a deep breath into his lungs and cementing the overwhelming smell of pine and moss into his lungs, Jimin forces himself to his feet and away from his peaceful little meadow. Today his meadow smelled more strongly than usual but it was likely just his mind playing tricks on him.
This time Jimin doesn’t give Sungwon or Taemin time to berate him when he steps out of the forest to find them both settled on rocks arguing with one another. He returns to the heavenly realm and heads to his room before either can catch up with him. Once behind closed doors he settles in at his work table and begins to write ideas out on how to help the large alpha. Perhaps an herbal tea to help him relax or maybe a lavender sachet to toss in his bath waters to soothe him before bed. Surely the underworld did not have those same plants in the same abundance as the heavenly realm did and Jimin could imbue them with his own godly powers to help guide him down the path of sleep.
With his mind made up, Jimin reaches for his own collection of dried herbs and begins to put together both a tea mixture as well as a bath mixture to leave for the large alpha. With deft fingers, he sews up the bags for bathing. The entire time he works he focuses on the path to the sweet land of dreams and sleep. His fingers glow golden the longer he works making the ingredients much more potent. Gods were far less susceptible to herbs and remedies but Jimin had a special ability to create direct paths into whatever he wanted so his teas were much stronger than the normal mortal’s.
The next day Jimin waits patiently as the large alpha of death and the underworld guides more souls into the depths of the underworld. He looks as exhausted but beautiful as ever. When the sun is beginning to make its evening descent, Jimin slips cautiously onto the path with the small basket clutched tightly in his hands. He takes three quick strides toward the tree that the alpha usually settles himself under for his nap and places the basket down with great care. Turning quickly he heads back to the tree line quickly not once seeing the amused black eyes following his movements from a bit further down the path.
Jimin watches as the alpha walks slowly up the path and stops short upon noticing the basket. His dark eyes dart around before returning back to the basket. He squats down and reaches in to pick up one of the small sachets of relaxing herbs. Jimin blushes when he brings it to his nose and takes a deep long breath. Jimin was sure his own scent was imbued into the little sachets due to him using his magic while he worked on them. The alpha glances around once more and then places the sachet back in the basket and settles in for his normal nap. Jimin waits patiently despite the setting sun to see if the alpha would take his gift or not. He’s greatly pleased when the alpha rouses from his nap, stands, and takes the basket with him when he returns back down the path.
Jimin watches until the alpha is out of sight and then sprints back through the forest toward the entrance. Whichever brother was waiting for him would be fuming but he was too overjoyed at the alpha taking his gift. Nothing could ruin his happiness, not even his irritating brothers. Jimin stops just short of exiting the forest and glances back at it. He wished he could stay in his little meadow forever some days. Taking a deep breath of the overwhelming pine and moss scent, Jimin steadies his will to return home and walks the last few steps out of the forest.
Sungwong is muttering angrily to himself when Jimin exits and spins on him the moment he sees him. “Why are you so late?” Jimin raises an unimpressed eyebrow at his brother and begins his trek back up the hill toward their departing point.
“One of my blessed called on me for guidance.” Sungwon matches him step for step and narrows his eyes like he didn’t quite believe Jimin. Jimin rolls his eyes, feeling his happiness become muddied by Sungwon’s distrust. “Whether you and hyung like to believe it or not I am still a god and I still have duties to perform.”
“I wasn’t questioning your abilities as a god.”
“No?” Jimin raises another angry brow. “What were you questioning then? Were you questioning if I have blessed who would call upon me? Do you forget that I control every path a life can take? I’m more powerful than all of you but you only decide to use it when you can’t find sleep or need something to go your way! I’m more than a fucking cheap trick! I’m more than a small useless omega too Sungwon!”
Jimin turns sharply on his heel and returns to the heavenly realm leaving his brother behind once more. One day, he swore, he wouldn’t return to his brothers outside the forest. One day he would simply remain in his meadow long into the night watching as the sky turned from brilliant orange to near black and then back to orange again. He would count the stars while surrounded by those beautiful white flowers and the scent of pine and moss. One day they would all be sorry for treating him the way they do. One day. One day it would all be easier and he would find someone who trusted him to take care of himself.