I gasp as Jimin transforms in front of me and my mom. He's looking devilishly handsome in distressed jeans, a v-neck t-shirt, and sandals. His red eyes glow with nervous amusement and there is just a hint of his fangs peeking through. His hair is still cotton candy pink and he gives my mom a deep 45-degree bow.

"That's unexpected," My mom utters.

"Park Jimin, ma'am, at your service. One of the members of the Bangtan group and a man deeply in love with your daughter," he says. My mouth drops open at his words. Well, so much for keeping the mystery.

My heart also warms at his words. I love hearing how much he loves me.

Then to my shock, the rabbit jumps off my lap and transforms into Jungkook. He also bows deeply and introduces himself.

"Jeon Jungkook, ma'am. Another member of Bangtan Group and also deeply in love with your daughter." I think my eyes are going to pop out of my head.

My mom looks between both men. Jungkook is also dressed simply in jeans and a light button-up shirt, although the two top buttons are open. Both of their jeweled red eyes shine with amusement and expectation towards my mother.

My mom smiles, "It's very nice to meet the two of you. Would you care to sit down? This explains a lot." She says simply. I look at my mom, what does she know?

"You aren't shocked or surprised, mom. Why?" I ask her. She looks at me seriously. Jimin and Jungkook take seats around the table.

"As I said before, you've been talking about magic animals since you were 8 years old. You only stopped when you were horribly teased by your classmates. By middle school, you acted like you couldn't remember and your dad and I felt that it was best to leave it alone. Life became normal around here and we didn't really think about it much after that. We'd hear the normal gossip around town about Bangtan Group but didn't pursue it beyond idle gossip. It wasn't until you asked me about your school trip that I started putting more pieces together. I knew something was unusual about the owners of the forestry center but didn't connect them to the animals until I started going through your drawings and papers.

So there really is magic involved here?" my mother looks at both men seriously.

"Yes, we aren't the monsters of mythology, despite what we look like. We are not a danger to your daughter." Jimin reassures her. It's a little funny to hear him say he's no danger when he's poisonous, has fangs and I have coordinating mate marks on my skin. Not that I'm letting mom see those.

"I gathered you took my daughter's safety seriously when she came here and cried her heart out because you wanted to keep her safe. It took a while to help her see sense." She grins at my expense.

"She is really lucky to have such an amazing mom," Jungkook comments.

My mom smiles, "Thank you, Jungkook. Will I be able to meet the others?"

"Do you want to?" Jimin asks. "Will it be okay with your husband?"

"What I know, so does he," she says simply.

Jungkook gets up and moves to the backdoor and slides it open. Immediately, in flies an eagle and owl who land on the back of the kitchen chairs. I'm surprised they don't fall over. A knock sounds on the front door to which Jimin gets up and answers.

Through the front door walk in Jin, Taehyung, and Yoongi. My mother stands up as they come into her home, but before she can say anything, the eagle and owl transform, and there standing are Namjoon and Hobi. All are dressed simply but still looking good and ready to impress my mother, it seems.

"Well, well," My mom whispers. "No wonder you fell head over heels for these boys. There is not a bad-looking one in the bunch."

I laugh, "Mom, they are more than just sexy beasts," I tease her.

"Of course, but sexy beasts aren't bad to have in the bedroom," I hear her tease me back.

"MOM!" I laugh, turning red from embarrassment. What is up with everyone teasing me about my sex life? Good grief.

Each of the men has smirks on their faces, clearly hearing our conversation with their enhanced hearing. Jin bows deeply to my mother, "Kim Seokjin, ma'am, but you can call me Jin." he then offers her his hand and my mom shakes it without question.

"What a charming man," she says warmly.

Namjoon, his white hair windswept from flying, steps forward and bows before shaking my mother's hand. "Kim Namjoon, ma'am. I'm the leader of Bangtan Group. I'm also a man who loves your daughter." My mom looks totally speechless at his introduction. Make no mistake, this was a big deal. Bangtan Group saved our town with all that they do and invest in the community here. With all their rules, the mystery and excitement behind Bangtan Group made meeting them equivalent to meeting Elvis.

Each one takes turns introducing themselves to my mother and a few are even bold enough to give her hugs. Taehyung particularly seems to stay within the arms of my mother the longest. They exchange whispered words that I can't hear, and when he steps back, I can tell there is a glossiness to his eyes. Was he being emotional at meeting my mom? I look around and I see equally teary expressions in each of my men. What did my mom say?

Yoongi coughs a bit, trying to cover up his emotions by picking up the paper that held my drawing. "Is this the only drawing she has from that time period?" he asks my mother.

"She also had a journal for that year that has many similar drawings. Let me get it." She gets a funny smile on her face and lets go of my soulmates and heads back to the bedrooms. When she comes back, she has a very old notebook that looks rather used and looks full of doodles on the covers. Her expression tells me I'm in trouble.

"Oh no," I moan. I'm curious what I wrote, but I also know I'm probably going to be horribly embarrassed.

My mom hands the journal to Namjoon with a smirk and he opens it. He takes a moment to smile, which makes the rest of Bangtan crowd around him to see what was inside. Jin coos at whatever he sees and he looks up at me and smiles. I can see Namjoon blush a little. Oh, boy, what did I write?

Jungkook gets a naughty look on his face, "So, you were planning on marrying Namjoon from the start?" he looks at me with a smirk?

"What is in there?" I walk over and take the journal out of Namjoon's hand and on the front page is a picture of me and a man with white hair and dimples in an obvious picture of a wedding ceremony. Namjoon blushes even harder and I want to hide. I can't help but smile even as my face flames in an obvious blush.

I hide my face in the book and I feel Namjoon lean in and wrap an arm around my waist. "I will absolutely marry you one day," he whispers in my ear, making me shiver. I look up into his face and see his genuine and serious intention for our lives right there on his face.

"You can sweep my daughter off her feet later, but you should probably look through the rest of the journal," My mom says with a smile on her face.

Namjoon takes the journal out of my hands and sits at the table, the others surround him so they can look over his shoulder. Do I get to see what they are looking at? Nope. no room for the girl who actually drew what's in there. I want to know what my 8yr old self knew, of course, the biggest question is why did I forget?

There are smiles and coos from various men as they comb through my journal. I can tell that most pages don't have anything important in them because they waste no time looking at it. One page, however, makes them all stop and get a serious look on their face. As one they look up at me. I bite my lip, nervous about what made them pause. Namjoon turns the book around and my face blanches as I look at the image drawn there.

It's of a woman in a black hood and cape standing in a section of broken, white, trees. I know that image because I was just in that clearing.

"It seems your 3rd-grade field trip was more eventful than we thought," Namjoon says. His face is serious.

Jin looked confused though. "When would she have seen her, though? We saw her leave the center, we watched over her. Jimin and I escorted her back to the center from the cave. She was never with the witch that day."

I point to the picture of me on the table. "The coat. There was a child's coat found in the cave. My mother said I didn't come home with my coat that day. That my clothes were torn and muddy. Did I play that hard with you?" I ask Jin.

"You kept playing Hide and Seek with us. You would hide under bushes and try to crawl around boulders. You got very dirty, especially when you went into the cave to hide." I could tell from his expression that his cave reference and mine were about two different caves, but my mom didn't need to know that.

"So maybe she took off the coat and you guys found it later?" My mom offers, not knowing we're referring to two different caves.

"You might be on to something," Namjoon says, his eyes giving away that his brain is very busy putting puzzle pieces together. My own brain is also jumping around. The witch shows she could invade my dreams. She could control my body. What if I did meet her in the cave I played in that day? Or, at least saw an image of her, then?

"Can we keep this journal?" Namjoon asks my mother.

"Certainly. Just bring it back when you're done," she smiles, "I like to keep my daughter's keepsakes until she finally gets married." She winks at the boys. Every single one of them smiles and winks back. My mom grins at me in satisfaction.

After our visit, my mom walks me to my car, with her arm around my waist so she can talk to me privately, "Thank you for letting me meet your wonderful men. I didn't think you were going to after our last discussion."

"I didn't know what to tell you. How do you explain this?" I pointed to them. Yoongi was standing outside with a transformed Namjoon on his arm, getting ready to launch him into the air.

Mom looked at them and started to nod, "I can understand that, but when do I get to know the truth about what is going on?"

I see a few pairs of eyes shoot in my direction, letting me know that my private conversation isn't so private. What do I tell her?

"I'm not sure what to say," I hedge.

"Well, I know they aren't actually vampires who can shapeshift into animals, right?" She glares at me facetiously.

I chuckle, "Correct, they aren't actually vampires. They just play ones on tv." we laugh together.

"Is there magic involved?" she asks.

"Yes, there is. How did you know?" I ask.

"I'm old, not dumb, sweetheart." I see Jimin grin at my mother. "So, if there is magic involved, does that mean you are helping them to fix some type of curse?"

Like, I said, nothing gets past my mom, "Yes, that is what started all of this."

"So, like a "beauty and the beast" situation?" she gives me a look.

"Yes," I nod slowly.

"Is there a witch involved?"

"Yes," I confirm.

She pauses and looks around at the guys letting that information stew for a bit. I can see her jaw moving, her lips compress into a grim line, and then she looks at me. "You'll be careful?"

My mouth drops open. That is NOT what I was expecting my mother to ask me. "Shouldn't you be asking me not to put myself in danger? Shouldn't you be trying to persuade me not to be involved with dangerous men?" What is going on here? Why is my mom being so understanding?

"Things are not always what they seem to be in this world," She says cryptically.

"What do you know, Mom?" I ask her. I stop near my car and face my mother. What does she know?

"I don't know anything about this curse, but I do know that our lives are not always in our control. I learned that when you nearly choked to death when you were born." She then hugged me. "I love you. You be safe and fight that curse. You and your men come see us when it's over."

I nod and reassure her we'll do just that.

She gives me a dead-serious look, "I mean it, no matter what happens, you come to see us. Okay?"

"I promise, Mom." She pats my shoulder and nods to herself before she turns away and calls to Jin.

"Jin, honey, I have something for you," She holds out a small photo book that has pictures in it. Jin takes it from her and opens it and gets a big smile on his face.

"Those are some pictures of Y/N from when she was very little. I hope you can enjoy them and find them useful." Jin's eyes scrunch up for a second in confusion at her words but he bows to her and then gives my mom a hug.

"Thank you, Eomoni," he says, making my mom confused at the title. "It means "mother" in Korean." This makes her smile really big at him and she leans in and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

"Dear Jin, I hope you never change. Now, take care of my girl."

"We will," He hugs her tightly, adding the photobook to the journal he carries before we start piling into our cars and return to the center. 

On the drive back, I notice Jin looking through the photobook as he sits next to me in the front while I drive.  

"Find something interesting?" I ask. 

"You just being adorable," He coos.  I roll my eyes.  

"I'm being serious, here.  Mom must know something."  I say.  

"Yes,  she clearly does."  He replies, almost absentmindedly as he looks through the pictures. "But does that mean what she knows applies to the curse or something else?  That is the question."  He keeps turning pages. 

"I guess we'll have to go back and find out at some point,"  I mutter, clearly getting disgruntled with all the secrecy. 

"Hmmm, let's see what this journal and photobook can tell us first, okay?"  He says.  He lays the books down and watches the road as I drive. 

I sigh deeply and Jin grabs my free hand and holds it, placing it in my lap.  "I love you,"  He says softly.  

I look over at him quickly and smile.  "I love you, too."  

He leans over and whispers in my ear, "Let's get home quickly, I want to show you a few things,"

"Oh yeah?" I ask.  I feel his hand start to massage the inside of my thigh as I drive.  

"Oh yeah,"  he nuzzles into my neck, nibbling at it.  

I get us back to the center in record time.  

A/N:  Second update today!