Chapter Text
"Don’t ever associate yourself with Kheton. They don’t belong here. They are a force against nature. Remember that, Jeon Jungkook."
These are words that the man had always heard all throughout growing up. Granted he’s only 23, but it feels like he’s heard it over a lifetime’s worth. And why shouldn’t he? Schools have been drilling these commands into children’s heads ever since they can comprehend right and wrong. And Kheton...are wrong.
No one really knows where they came from. And frankly, no one cares. Living in the small town of Albenne, everyone knows everyone. It was founded many millennia ago. Most of the families living here had been here ever since Albenne was given its name a long time ago. The village is very rural and far from large cities - but that's the way they like it. Most of the people living here are good people, but all of them have no compassion for Kheton.
This is where Jeon Jungkook comes in. The Jeon family were just like any other family living in Albenne. Making ends meet by working humble jobs as farmers, handymen, cafe owners. The list goes on. Their village may be small, but there's still a lot of work to be done in maintaining it. The people of Albenne take great pride in their home. It has survived the worst of nature's disasters. And still the village continued to stand, and the people continued to rebuild. The one thing that they cannot seem to get rid of:
"Those damn Kheton! This is the second time this month I have some of my crops go missing. The sooner we are rid of all of them, the better!"
Jungkook flinches awake from almost falling asleep behind the coffee shop counter. He clears his throat and stands up straight, making sure his apron is presentable for whoever just came in the cafe. The person seemed to be in a bad mood if his exclaims were anything to go by. And it was enough to wake Jungkook up. He watches as the old farmer - Mr Ahn - stomps towards the front of the counter. Jungkook gives him a puzzled look, "Have you run out of your repellent, sir?"
Upon the sight of the tall, young man, Mr Ahn's eyes soften before he shakes his head. His frown is still set, but not pointed towards Jungkook, "I have indeed. And the hardware store's all out of stock for the week. I have to wait until Monday, can you believe it!"
Jungkook gives the old man an understanding smile before taking his usual order of black coffee with a small plate of shortbread. The farmer kept grumbling complaints about his crops even as he walked away from the counter, and took his seat somewhere in the cosy shop. Jungkook sighs as he keeps himself busy by wiping down some of the coffee makers. Ever since the colder seasons have gotten closer, the same thing that happens every year is happening again. More and more crops go missing before they get harvested. This is because the Kheton people take it upon themselves to steal them, to keep for themselves during the winter. Over the years, repellent was invented specifically for the Kheton people. It was a scent that the villagers of Albenne have come to find that the Kheton couldn't stand. To humans, it was scentless. But to Kheton, it was quite nauseating and it would deter them from going anywhere near whatever the repellent was sprayed on. So it stands to reason that the repellent is sold out almost every week, during this time of the year. All to keep the Kheton away.
The villagers aren't exactly sure where they live. Several miles from Albenne, further north, is where they are known to come from. Unfortunately, their village is the closest civilisation to them so they get the butt of all of the Kheton's wrongdoings. Jungkook yawns, stretching his muscled arms across his head. He turns to the clock - one more hour before he finishes his shift. Shit, which reminds him. He has to pick up some weed for Taehyung. If the older finds out that he's left it for last minute, he won't hear the end of it. Looking around for his manager - and upon seeing that she's nowhere to be seen - Jungkook quickly walks to the back of the shop and takes out his phone. After making a quick call to their trusted dealer, the guy agrees to drop by before Jungkook finishes his shift to give him a few grams of the stuff. After hanging up, the male sighs before jumping when his manager comes up from behind him.
"Jeon Jungkook, you have customers out the front!"
After saying a quick apology to humour the middle-aged lady, the young man goes back to the front of the store. Jungkook's smile fades upon seeing the group of girls waiting to be served. Fuck's sake.
Letting out an inward sigh, Jungkook greets them and puts on a polite face, "What's up, ladies? Giselle."
He nods at the main girl of the group, who had been staring at him with an amused yet sarcastic look on her face. Her friends behind her giggle and talk amongst themselves after they order their drinks and pastries. Afterwards, they noisily take their seats near the window in front of the shop while Giselle stays behind to chat with Jungkook. Honestly, the male could not be bothered with this today. As he makes himself busy by wiping down the counter, Giselle follows him across it, "How are you, Kook?"
"I'm well. You?"
Giselle shrugs with a pout, "I've been waiting for you to call or text me. When are you going to take me on another date?"
Jungkook gives her a smile albeit fake. He then chuckles, "That was just the once, Giselle."
He sees the girl begin to speak but he beats her to it, "And yes, that includes what happened afterwards in my car."
The girl looks hurt, but more angry than anything. She huffs before walking away, not letting Jungkook ruin her day with her girlfriends. The male couldn't care less about her feelings, to be fair. He told her from the beginning what he was looking for, and he got it. It's not his fault if she got inside her head and thought this was some love story between them that will blossom eventually after fucking that one time. After work, Jungkook drives through the village and makes his way towards the bottom of a mountain that is famous for its hiking trail. It sits just before one leaves Albenne, and it's a great historic site. Him and his best friend, Taehyung, have been coming up the trail ever since they were children. There's a place up there before one reaches the top - there's a turn-off and it leads to an opening overlooking the whole valley. Not a lot of people know about it, and the two friends are one of the lucky few who do.
"I'm serious, Giselle is creeping me out."
Taehyung laughs, almost coughing on the smoke he was inhaling, "What do you expect? She's had a huge crush on you since high school and she finally got you on a date. And yous fucked afterwards to make it even better for her."
Jungkook groans. He waits for Taehyung to finish his turn of puffing as he passes the joint to him. Taking a long drag, he speaks while holding his breath, "I should've known she wasn't going to let that go so easily."
Inhaling out a satisfying amount of smoke, he hears Taehyung hum as the older looks through his phone, "Yeah, well. That's all you, bud. And can you please tell her to stop bothering me about you? Honestly, it's bad enough I have to lie to your mum sometimes to save your sorry ass. Is Giselle going to be another problem to that list?"
As best friends, the two males know that they will go to the ends of the Earth for each other, whatever that may be. Jungkook has covered Taehyung's ass as many times as the other has done for him. And they both are happy with it that way - they wouldn't have it any other way. Living in Albenne wasn't bad. In fact, both friends would go as far to say that they couldn't have asked for a better place to come from. But they know that there's bigger and better things outside the valley. Bigger problems than worrying about some Kheton's stealing crops. Taehyung scoffs, shaking his head, "Have they bothered you much with your mum's backyard? Your house is closest to the farmers'."
Jungkook laughs and gives his best friend a look, "The only thing they can take from my mum's yard is the dog house...and the dog."
The two laugh. Jungkook continues, "And as far as I know, Kheton don't steal living animals."
Jungkook doesn't have a problem with Kheton people. Honestly, he couldn't care less about the feud and the ongoing dramatics between them and the villagers of Albenne, no matter how long it has been going on for. But still, Jungkook would rather keep out of it so he does what he can to get by. This means not caring for Kheton and not wanting to do anything with them.
"Have you ever seen one? Up close?"
Taehyung loves asking this question. Mainly because this gives him an excuse to tell Jungkook once again that he has in fact seen a Kheton before up close. The younger male chuckles and shakes his head, eyes glancing at his own tattoo sleeve up his arm, "No. But I know that you're going to tell me you have."
Taehyung rolls his eyes, "You're just jealous."
"Why would I be jealous, Tae?"
The older sighs, "Because Kheton are one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen. No word of a lie."
Yes, Jungkook has heard his friend gush about how gorgeous Kheton people really were. He's the only person that Taehyung could talk about that to. But nevertheless, it's such a taboo topic to be talking about in the first place. It makes the younger uncomfortable with just how much Taehyung would sometimes talk about them freely. Even if they were alone together right now, Jungkook just doesn't like the feeling. He doesn't speak but continues to listen to his friend, recalling the event of him getting a glimpse of some Kheton who were brave enough to ride their stallions across the main road of Albenne. It doesn't happen often but when it does, all of the humans in the village are distraught. Jungkook sighs, "Why don't they just ride outside of the village? Instead of through it?"
Taehyung responds after taking a few more puffs, "Well, I don't speak for them obviously. But I'd say because it's easier for them. And if I was part of their tribe, I wouldn't mind seeing the little villagers' shocked faces as we ride our horses through their home soil."
Jungkook gives his friend a look which makes Taehyung laugh out loud. The older male always did have a way with words. But they both know that this conversation is very much not allowed in Albenne. Before Taehyung could go on about Kheton (and he will) Jungkook decides to change the subject.
Kheton tribes date back to the dawn of civilisation. They have been here before Albenne was established, but that's not exactly something that is taught in school. No one knows what started the hatred towards Kheton people, but no one really questioned it. It was the forefathers who founded Albenne that drilled it into the villagers that Kheton people are nothing but trouble. All they do is steal, vandalise and tempt. They are not ethical and they are not civilised - they're savages. Jungkook has never seen one up close, of course. But it's not hard to miss a Kheton if you come across one. The majority of their appearance look similar to a human's - in that they are almost completely identical to normal people. One thing that makes them stand out - as confirmed by Taehyung - is that they are abnormally alluring. Kheton come in different shapes and colours like humans, but they seem to be more accepting unlike some human communities. But all of them no doubt are attractive, even for Albenne eyes. The main thing that causes Kheton people to stand out - and therefore makes them very easy to spot - are that they share some features from cats. Pointed ears that are the same colour as the hair on their head, sit atop the mid-scalp region. A matching tail protrudes from their tail bone, like a cat's also. Their teeth are similar to a human's except that their canines are a little sharper, noticeable enough to differentiate from a normal person.
After spending a few more hours up on the mountain, the two friends make their way down to Jungkook's car. It's getting dark at this point but the younger drops off Taehyung at his house and soon he is back in his own home. Jungkook's house is in a well-off cul-de-sac. One thing that the male hates about it though is that the neighbours don't seem to mind being nosey. The first time Jungkook came home with his new tattoo sleeve from the city, his neighbours had managed to let his own mother know before he got to show it to her personally. Of course there wouldn't be tattoo parlours here in the humble village of Albenne. They're too pure for that. Or they like to think so.
Announcing his arrival once he gets in the house, the smell of dinner wafts through the air and Jungkook lets out a hum. The voice of his mother calls him to the kitchen. The son greets her before leaning against the counter. The 40-year-old woman, Ada, gives her son a smile, "How was work, hun?"
Jungkook shrugs, taking off his jacket, "It was fine. Giselle came by."
Ada laughs at the face that her son made at the name. She continues making dinner but comments, "Maybe you should take her on that second date then."
"I don't want to! She's clingy already and I don't want to date her anyway. She knows this."
"Ah, little brother, always such a gentleman."
The sound of his older sister's voice makes Jungkook roll his eyes. He gives Eunjung a sarcastic smile as the smaller girl walks in the kitchen, book in hand. Jungkook gives her a condescending laugh, "Your ex-boyfriends should take a page from my book then. Maybe they wouldn't be such losers, hm?"
Before the two siblings butt heads like they usually do, Ada intervenes, "Alright, that's enough. Kook, get changed and come back downstairs for dinner. Eunjung, set the table for me."
Jungkook sticks out a tongue at his sister - the other doing the same - before they obey their mother. Jungkook never met his father, and he was alright with this. He doesn't need one. With a mother and sister as great as they come, Jungkook couldn't have asked for a better family. He hasn't told them yet that he wants to do something and be something bigger than what Albenne can offer him. The young man knows that the two most important women in his life will understand and support his decision to leave the village for good, but he feels selfish in doing so. It's just one of those things where he avoids thinking about it too much because it makes him a little too anxious, so he ends up just leaving it for now.
Sitting by the dinner table eating such warm, lovely food made by Ada - it's something that Jungkook can always look forward to every evening. The family can take the time to ask how their day has been, how they're feeling and they are just able to talk about anything. While their mother works two jobs both part-time - at a flower shop and a receptionist for the village doctor's clinic - Eunjung works full-time as a primary school teacher. The sister is first to go on about her day, telling the family what she and her youthful class has been up to.
"Oh, and I told the little ones I have a surprise for them tomorrow. Since it's a Friday, I'll let them watch a movie. Any suggestions?"
Ada hums for a second before shrugging, "Oh, I know a few cartoons but they're quite old. I'm sure the children nowadays would find it boring."
Jungkook continues to listen and enjoy his meal. He's happy here in Albenne with this family. He was born here and he grew up here. It didn't really occur to him that anything too exciting can happen in this humble village. To be perfectly honest, the Kheton are probably the only source of zest in the villager's lives. But no one would dare think that, even if it is true. When it was their mother's turn to recall her day at the flower shop, she sighs, "It was a good day for sales."
The siblings look up at Ada after the short sentence, surprised that she didn't have more to say. Eunjung glances at her little brother before turning back to their mum, "Is everything okay, Ma?"
Ada gives them both a reassuring smile before sighing again, the gesture fading a little, "Howard Abbott stopped by the shop today. Do you kids remember him?"
Jungkook looks up from his meal and raises a brow at his mum before his sister answers, "Yeah, I think so. Isn't he exiled because he---?"
"Because he married a Kheton. Yes, that's right." Ada had been nodding, confirming the daughter's question. Jungkook sighs, giving his mother a stern look almost, "What did he want?"
Ada shrugs, "He wanted a big bouquet of flowers to give to his wife. He was telling me that it's his and hers 10th wedding anniversary. Isn't that lovely?"
Eunjung simply gave her a nod while Jungkook had more to say, "Why did you serve him, mum? He's not even allowed in Albenne. You could get into serious trouble for helping him."
Ada gives Jungkook a shake of her head, "Jeon Jungkook, if there is one thing I am not going to do, is to turn away someone with good intentions. The man only wanted flowers. And I practically run the damn shop myself so if they want to fire me, then they'll be losing out on more business than they can hope for."
Eunjung sighs before turning to her brother, "I'm sure Mr Abbott didn't mean anything by coming inside Albenne."
Jungkook gives her a look, "I'm sure that's the case too. The only thing I'm thinking about is our mum. I'd rather not see her in any trouble, all because of some lawbreaker who wanted to marry outside our race."
Ada quickly cuts in between the siblings, her face a little more serious, "Now, Jungkook. Just because we have been told to hate and degrade a particular community by our own, does not mean we do it under the safety and privacy of our own roof. I don't want to hear that sort of talk inside my house, hear me?"
The young man gulps a little - their mother can get quite intimidating. He simply nods, before the family get back to their dinners, changing the topic promptly after. As Jungkook lays in his bed (scrolling through his phone) he couldn't help but think back to how understanding his family is towards Kheton. They may not be hurting others, but they're still such an inconvenience to Albenne. And nobody even knows what they're actual deal is. Sighing, Jungkook turns to lay on his side. He faces towards his bedroom window, the one overlooking the backyard and towards the horizons of the valley. The cul-de-dac that the Jeon family live in are closer to the edge of the village up north. The young man's eyes focus a little more when he notices white flurries start to fall outside his window. It's not uncommon for snow to fall in the valley, it just doesn't start to snow so early on in the month of October.
Jungkook wouldn't have known that the snow was not going to stop at all from then, during the entire winter season. Waking up the next morning, the young man gets up off his bed and stretches his arms above his head. His black, wavy hair is getting a lot longer so he made it a habit of tying up the crown portion, leaving a few strands down. While Eunjung made fun of him occasionally, the two ladies of the family were telling him that it suited Jungkook surprisingly. Looking out the window that morning once again, his eyes become a little bigger as he sees nothing but white. Approaching the glass, the man is mesmerised by the white snow that heavily sat on everything across the valley. Walking down the stairs and into the living room, the youngest sees Eunjung lounging on the sofa in her pyjamas, hair in curlers. A horror movie is playing on the TV but Eunjung didn't seem too focused on it as she paints her nails. Jungkook scoffs before commenting, "Date tonight?"
The sister doesn't look up from her nails and nods, "Did you see that snow?"
"Hard to miss."
"Well, it's definitely taken everybody by surprise. I hope my date doesn't cancel on me tonight."
Jungkook finishes drinking a glass of milk in the open kitchen and walks back in the living room, taking a seat on a wingback chair adjacent to his sister. He then sighs, "Text me if he stands you up. I'll take care of him."
Eunjung gives him a look before shaking her head, the curlers rattling along with her movement, "Oh, absolutely not. You're one of the reasons that I can't even keep a relationship for long. You scare whoever is interested in me."
Jungkook rolls his eyes, "It's not my fault they're all too chicken to stay long."
"It's because you don't give them a chance. And besides, I'm telling mum if you ruin this for me again."
At the notion of their sibling telling on them to their mother, Jungkook has the same reaction as would any child. He sticks his tongue out at her before mumbling, "Dare you to snitch on me...."
The sister picked this up and was in the process of throwing a slipper at Jungkook before they hear the doorbell ring. The two share a quick glance before the brother makes a move to answer, seeing as Eunjung wasn't going to get it while she's in the middle of pampering herself. Jungkook sighs and opens the front door. Their next door neighbour, Mrs Palmer, stands on their porch wearing a thick coat and hat. It was only after opening the door to the icy cold morning, and Mrs Palmer's blatant shock at Jungkook's appearance, that he realises he's not wearing a top. His bare chest is fully visible for whoever was walking by their house - in all his tattooed arm's glory. Mrs Palmer looked a little distraught but she quickly composes herself and gave the young man a firm smile, "Hello, Jungkook. How are you today? I was just wanting to talk to you about your yard."
The young man stares at the woman for a bit before stating politely, "It's ten in the morning, Mrs Palmer."
The old woman nods, "Yes, and I must say that something was in your yard last night. There were an awful lot of noises. Have you checked your garden shed as of late?"
Jungkook can't believe this. He's always hated how older people get on sometimes. It's as if they have nothing else better to do than nosey around other people's lives just so that they can gossip or complain about it to someone else. Or both. Nevertheless, Jungkook would never dream of being rude to anyone significantly older than him, so he nods, "I didn't hear anything last night, Mrs Palmer. But I'll go and check out our yard now."
He doesn't intend to. But it was just something to shut the old lady up. After taking in a few more words of advice on how to live his life, Jungkook is saved by his ringing phone that was nestled in one of his pockets. Explaining to the older woman that he has to take this, Mrs Palmer hums before finally leaving the porch. The young man thanks the universe inwardly as he watches the woman walk away, before answering his phone, "Hello?"
"Kook-ah, are you heading to the town centre today?"
"I wasn't planning to. But do you need anything, Ma?"
Jungkook hears some murmurs of voices in the background, which means that the flower shop is quite busy for his mother right now. Strangely enough, the snow got more customers coming to buy their flowers. Perhaps they're afraid that the snow will only get heavier now, so might as well get their Halloween decor - and flowers along with that - while the shops are still open.
Ada sighs through the phone, "Hun, can you do me a favour and bring some more seeds from the back? Just two crates should do for today."
Jungkook agrees to running the small errand for his mum with no question. He doesn't have anything planned for today anyway. After putting on something warm (rather than just purely sweatpants) Jungkook takes his hair out of the bun before stepping out into the snow in their backyard. Some of the seed crates for the flower shop are kept just beside the garden shed. Since the shop is small enough in itself, it doesn't hurt for the employees to bring some produce home just to make up for space. As Jungkook stacks one crate on top of the other and is about to take it to his car with no struggle, he glances towards the shed.
He stops. It's not like he saw, heard or felt anything out of the ordinary. Jungkook merely remembered what Mrs Palmer had been moaning about earlier. His room is the closest to the backyard for a reason. If there was any sort of sound towards the back of their house, the son would be the first to know about it. Jungkook sighs before shaking his head, muttering unpleasantries about Mrs Palmer to himself. Then he walks away, towards his car in the driveway.
The drive there was quick enough. After delivering the crates to his grateful mum, Jungkook decides to kill time by helping out around the shop. The rest of the day went by quickly enough. Before the two knew it, Jungkook is already giving himself and his mum a ride home, as the sun starts to set.
Things remained normal, until the next morning. The lives of the Jeon family were about to change forever - and they had no way of knowing or preparing themselves for it.
It is a Sunday morning and this usually means church for the Jeon family. However, Jungkook decides to sleep past his alarm, convinced that his mum or sister would wake him if they're definitely going to church that morning. The two ladies of the house had no work today neither but they were both up early just to enjoy the snowy, morning air. It must be around 11 in the morning when the Jeon house is suddenly rattled to life when Eunjung's voice rings out:
"Mum! Jungkook! Get out here!!"
At the sound of his sister's distressed voice, Jungkook instantly wakes up from his deep sleep and falls off the bed trying to get his bearings. He didn't even think about putting on a shirt so he simply flew down the stairs in his usual sleeping clothes - his grey sweatpants. By the time he got downstairs, the freezing cold wind was being let in through the back doors which are wide open. Jungkook can feel his heart pounding from the wild wake-up call, but also how fast he's running towards the sound of his family's voices out in the backyard. As Jungkook steps out in the freezing cold, he notices that his mum and Eunjung are outside the open door of their garden shed, peeking inside warily. Jungkook pants as he comes closer, "What's wrong? Are you alright?"
The ladies were at a loss for words for a second, before Eunjung turned to her little brother with wide eyes like his, "It's...a person."
The Jeon family look inside the shed, no one daring to step a foot in. Jungkook's brows furrow as he finally manages to see who's inside. It definitely was someone. The person was laying at the very far end of the small shed, hunched over on themselves. They don't seem to be conscious at the moment. As Jungkook stares at the figure in slight shock, Eunjung states, "I'm calling the ambulance."
However she doesn't get to unlock her phone even. Ada stops her from doing so gently. She places a hand on Eunjung's - which was holding her phone - and says with a shaky voice, "We shouldn't do that."
Just as she says this, Jungkook's eyes land on something peculiar towards the bottom half of the person, as their back is towards the Jeons. The young male's eyes grow even wider, and becomes a little more hostile at the sight of a furry tail coming from the figure's lower back. Ada speaks, "It's a Kheton."
Eunjung comments to no one in particular, but the situation seemed to call for it, "Holy shit."
There's a silence - a long one at that. Then something clicks inside the mum and she shakes her head, "Jungkook, carry them inside. They'll die out here."
Jungkook's head snaps towards his mum, not believing what she just told him, "What? We can't, mum! Are you crazy?"
But Ada was having none of it. She slaps the back of the boy's head before saying, "Do as I say now, Jeon Jungkook. Now hurry up, before anyone sees us!"
Jungkook lets out a loud huff before quickly following their mum's orders. Being very wary of the stranger, Jungkook still proceeds to carry them like a bride. They were very light, and they were also a boy. As Jungkook stands from picking them up, the male is stunned to see how beautiful this boy is. So Taehyung wasn't lying. Nevertheless, Jungkook shakes his head and proceeds to carry the Kheton out of the shed, and inside the warmth of the house. The boy didn't weigh a lot, but it didn't seem like he had been starving before ending up in their property. Ada instructs her son to set the petite body down onto the sofa in the living room.
Jungkook is of course still in shock - what they're doing is so taboo and unprecedented, that he can't begin to believe that this is happening. They are basically harbouring an outsider now. An unwelcome outsider at that. What's going to happen to them now?