A/N: It's Jimin Day (in America), so expect to see a lot of Jimin content from me today!

MILKY WAY TIME: 4 YEARS AND 11 MONTHS SINCE NAMJOON AND SEHUN WENT MISSING

NAMJOON'S TIME: 47 HOURS SINCE HE WENT MISSING

The operation hasn't gone as planned.

After months of being stationed near the edge of the solar system, not much has changed. Anya, Hoseok, Sapphire, and their entire team of researchers are getting data every day, but nothing new has developed.

Jimin had to negotiate with Earth several times, practically begging them to let the Tokyo stay where it is to continue research. Although that hasn't gone well and Jimin can only stall for so long, they're in front of the distortion they believe is the Ring reincarnated. So far, every probe they've sent inside it hasn't come back. Not even a single audio recording or a one-second video.

No one broke the new galactic law stating no vessels can go near the edge of the system. With the Tokyo guarding the edge, no one saw a point in trying to be daredevils. At least Earth was smart enough to listen to something Jimin said.

Jimin stands in the dim observation deck, which is empty both due to it being well past curfew and the lack of crew onboard the Tokyo. The Moonchild crew plus a couple essentials stayed, but all the civilians left.

The observation deck is a sphere-shaped room with a giant window to peer into the vastness of space. It acts as the singular light source. Jimin finds himself spending more time here than normal, and nine times out of ten, his partner in crime is with him.

"Alpha Centauri," Irene says as she lays on the soft bed lining the front of the circular window.

Jimin snaps out of his little daydream of a world where Namjoon is back and safe in his arms. Instead, he sits on the side of the bed and watches his daughter's eyes crinkle as she focuses on her book. Her tiny, squishy hands grasp the binding, and he feels the way her feet keep moving side to side and back and forth.

"What's that, honey?"

She giggles. Her laugh sounds so much like her mother's, and it causes Jimin's lips to twitch up and his cheeks to hurt from the spread of his mouth.

"Daaaad," she says in a slur. Her laugh masks most of her voice. "Alpha Centauri, the solar system? It's what humans will conquer next."

"Conquer? That's a big word for you." At her narrowed gaze, Jimin waves his hands around as if they're his white flags. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. You're a big girl, you have a big girl vocabulary."

She pouts. "Fine. I got it from the book."

He ruffles her hair. "Sorry sweetie, we Parks aren't exactly known for our smarts."

"What about mom? She's smart."

Jimin snorts. "Her best friend is Jungkook, she can't be that smart."

"I'm telling her you said that."

Jimin's face goes pale, and he drops his voice to a whisper. "Don't."

Irene bursts into a fit of laughter, and Jimin joins in. The cushion takes up the width of the enormous window, so Jimin has plenty of space to fall back on thanks to his spree of amusement. The seat is soft and warm, almost as soft as his bed. While the rest of the room is a neutral gray, the cushion is a delicate green that reminds him of the grass on Earth. For a moment, he misses home. It passes as soon as it came.

"Why Alpha Centauri?" Jimin asks when they dial down.

Irene flips through the pages of the book. The gentle 'whoosh' of the pages followed by a silky breeze allows serenity to slip into the room. It smells of dust, but it isn't like there's a cleaning crew to make the scent of bleach sit in the air. Jimin doesn't mind it. He never liked it when his ship was too pristine. It made it feel less human.

"It says it's the closest solar system to ours."

"But still twenty-five trillion miles from Earth," Jimin says in a teasing tone. He scoots up by her side so he can read the book from over her shoulder. She backs up and nears his lap, but she doesn't quite sit on it like the old days when she was a toddler. He remembers holding her and reading silly comics to her that were definitely too mature for her. He made sure to read them whenever his wife wasn't around.

"Woooah." Irene lets her mouth fall open. "You're a fucking nerd."

Jimin sighs. "You curse too much. This is why you're never talking to Jungkook again."

"If I talked to Jungkook too much, I'd be calling you short."

"Then why do you have me saved as 'Gremlin' on your phone? Hm?"

Irene snickers and continues to read. It's a space education book with plenty of pictures to keep her entertained. He got it for her fourteenth birthday. He's planning on getting the next volume for her fifteenth in a couple months.

"Alpha Centauri could be the key to life beyond our solar system," she says before turning to him with the starlight twinkling in her brown eyes. "Dad, will you lead us there?"

"I think you should lead us there, my little adventurer." Jimin breaks off to clear his throat and make his voice higher. Like Irene's. "This is Captain Park Irene speaking, you guys ready for some fun?"

Irene closes the book with her jaw dropping. "I don't sound like that!"

"You literally just sounded like that-"

"Dad!"

She jumps on him and buries her head against his chest, which makes him chuckle and stroke her hair. It's still damp from her shower, and it smells of the cherry blossom-scented shampoo and conditioner set he recommended her. Her t-shirt is a size too large and has a faded rainbow on it along with two holes near the collar. Her shorts are black with two white stripes on each side, and they hug her tiny waist as he pulls her closer.

They turn toward the window and peek outside. Jimin sees an infinite abyss of light from the stars. The distortion isn't far. It's subtle; almost like it's playing an elaborate game of hide and seek. It's a small ripple in the otherwise dark space.

"Why haven't we gone to Alpha Centauri yet?" she asks while rubbing her eyes.

"We don't have the tech to make it that far, princess. Let's stick to understanding our solar system, yeah?"

"But there are so many, we shouldn't stay here. We should explore."

He boops her nose with his finger, which causes her face to scrunch up. He can see the way her eyes fill with amusement, and her lips part to show off her teeth. Some of the ones on the top row are crooked. Jimin makes a mental note to schedule an orthodontist appointment for her the next time the Tokyo is full capacity.

"We will. You have so much time left. I'm sure in your lifetime, you'll see Alpha Centauri."

"But what about you? I don't want to see it without you," she says with a small whine hitching her words.

"We'll see, your old man might be too weak to get out of bed."

She sticks her tongue out to tease him. "You already are."

"Ahh, you're just like your mother," he mumbles, and he grins when he feels the rumble in her stomach that turns into a belly laugh. He wraps his arms around her and rests his chin on the top of her head. "Irene, what we're doing out here could help us get to Alpha Centauri."

She nods against his chest. "Do you think Joonie found it?"

He stiffens. What feels like a thousand years worth of memories come crashing down on him all at once, and a shiver slithers its way through his skin. Jimin kisses her head and holds her a bit tighter than before.

"Maybe."

She pulls away from him and has the cutest little pout resting on her lips. A smear of glittery pink lip gloss is there. It looks like Y/n's, which means Irene is "borrowing" her makeup again.

"When he left, I was too young to understand," Irene says in a quiet, deflated voice. "Maybe I still am, but from what I know, it wasn't your fault. You know that, right?"

"I want to."

It's the honest answer. He isn't sure why he let it slip in front of his daughter, but it left his tongue before he could think of a sweet lie to say instead.

She hesitates before taking the book and placing it in his hands. "Fourth grade. You got me a coloring book."

He knits his brows together. "Yeah, what about it?"

"You showed me all the patterns. You taught me everything I needed to know about them." She points to a bent page in the thick book. "Space has patterns too, even if they're weird. First, Uncle Ji Ji and his crew go missing. Then, Namjoon and Sehun go missing. Third, Jungkook goes missing. All in similar ways."

"Yeah, that's right."

"Dad. You're so smart, but so stupid at the same time."

He doesn't bother protesting; after all, it's true.

"It's not your fault," she continues. Her voice quivers and drops an octave lower than he's used to hearing from her. "It's just a pattern. Look."

She opens the book and shows him the bent page. It's an info guide to constellations, completed with a bunch of small pictures depicting some of the more famous ones. He spots Ursa Major and Cassiopeia, Leo and Aries, Orion and Scorpius.

"Patterns," he whispers, and she hums.

"Just because someone points their telescope to the sky doesn't mean they're at fault for noticing the constellations. Maybe it means it was fate."

Fate for Jihyun to disappear. Fate for Namjoon to leave. Fate for Jungkook to go after them with a determined, bunny-like smile. Jimin wonders if fate has plans for him, too.

He strokes her hair one last time. "I told you nothing good would come from those books."

She giggles and gets up to give him space. Bags wait under her eyes, but they aren't large yet. They're manageable, assuming she stays on top of her sleep schedule. Considering she doesn't know what curfew is, Jimin's willing to bet she'll have bigger eye bags than both her parents soon enough.

"Bedtime?" he asks, and she yawns in response. "Did you brush your teeth?"

She mumbles a few words he can't comprehend and kicks at the ground.

"Say 'aaah'," Jimin says as he kneels in front of her. She crosses her arms over her chest. He snickers. "Brush your teeth."

She stomps her little foot. "But I just showered."

Jimin makes a fake shocked face. "You have to shower and brush your teeth on the same day? Oh, the horror!"

She gives him a playful nudge. Jimin sits back on the window seat as she goes to the door. When it opens, she turns back to him and waits for a few beats. Then, she fills the area with her sweet voice.

"I love you, dad."

She doesn't say that often. Jimin understands why. In his childhood, there were times it was hard to say those words to his parents even before all the abuse. He never understood why, but it was hard to admit. He did love his parents, but saying it felt like a giant weight on his chest. Maybe he felt it was too sappy, too cheesy, too much commitment. Or maybe it was a fear that love would fizzle if he said it too much. Every time he hears those three words from his children, whether they say it every day or once a year, he will cherish them. He'll burn them into his memory if he has to.

"I love you too, princess. Sleep for at least eight hours, okay? Don't wake up in an hour and sneak off to find any boys."

Her smile doesn't quite reach her eyes due to her tiredness, but it shines nonetheless. "Men are disappointing."

If Jimin wasn't in his fifties, he'd get up and do a cartwheel.

"Thatta girl. Repeat that every night until you're eighteen, got it? No—twenty. Until you're twenty."

"Twenty-five?" she offers, and he beams.

"You're my favorite child right now." He pauses and loses his smile. "Don't tell your mother I said that."

She waves him off. "Goodnight, dad."

"Goodnight, Irene. Brush your teeth and go to bed, no stopping in Seulgi's room."

Irene whines when he foils her plans, but she agrees and leaves him alone in the observation deck. He enjoys the silence, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't want Irene to stay with him all night. Like him, she's a night owl. The rest are like their mother and prefer to sleep earlier. That leads to Y/n waking up long before Jimin, and sometimes Irene's siblings tease her for waking up at eleven or twelve instead of the "standard" of nine o'clock sharp.

Being Commander Park, Jimin doesn't get much alone time. Any free time he has is spent with his family. He doesn't mind. After all, his source of happiness comes from his beautiful wife and his terrifying but cute children. His daughters scare him most. Jimin has seen what dangers await them; dangers he had to save Y/n from. He'll never forget that time on Ganymede when she cried in his arms for hours. All because of danger she shouldn't have had to deal with.

Jimin worries about his sons for different reasons. Like Namjoon, they're growing up with intense pressure thanks to the family name. Not that his daughters aren't, but they seem like they care less. His sons sweat whenever their names are spoken in full. Irene said it isn't Jimin's fault, but he knows the struggle of living up to a family name because he's married to a L/n. Maybe he should've been more careful.

"Wallowing in self-pity won't get you anywhere."

Jimin snaps his head around to see Yoongi leaning against the doorway. He gives Jimin a small wave as he enters and sits on the window seat a little too close to Jimin.

"I was expecting one of my scientists," Jimin says, and Yoongi pats the air like he's swatting a bug.

"Anya passed out on her microscope. Sapphire and Hoseok are working on the newest samples with their teams, but there isn't much to go off of. Seulgi told me to talk to you about an idea she had."

"Why isn't she telling me herself?"

"Hoseok needs her help. And... with everything going on, I think they miss each other."

Jimin misses his wife and children more than anything, so he brushes the topic off. Although he would much prefer to get a debriefing from his right hand, Yoongi is just as trustworthy as anyone else in his crew. Well, maybe except Jin.

"Seulgi thinks you'll hate it," Yoongi continues, and Jimin sighs. If Seulgi thinks that, then it's true. "She wants to fire at the distortion."

Jimin's eyes bulge out of his head. "Like... shoot it? Shoot the possible reincarnation of the God damn Ring?"

Yoongi nods. "Exactly."

"Seul was right, that is the dumbest idea I've ever heard-"

"She thinks we aren't getting much from the data because we're staring at a void, not a lifeform. If we do a single shot, it could make it more active."

"Is the risk worth the reward? Am I the only one who remembers how much was at stake when we were in the Ring?" Jimin asks, but he hopes it's a rhetorical question.

"You're right, but we're running out of options. We have to explore this eventually, right? Might as well be now, on the best ship we have."

Jimin tilts his head side to side and back and forth, like Irene does with her feet whenever she's bored. He swirls his tongue around his mouth and tastes the warm, gooey saliva hiding behind his bottom row of teeth. When he swallows it, he meets Yoongi's familiar expressionless gaze.

"No."

Yoongi explodes with emotion. His mouth goes agape, his eyes sink, his cheeks fall. Even his eyebrows curtain his face as he brings them together.

"No?" he asks. The single word feels foreign.

"No," Jimin repeats. "My children are on this ship. I'm not risking their lives by firing at an unknown entity. Seulgi is a great XO, but she isn't a scientist-"

"Sapphire and Anya approved."

Jimin sets his jaw. "My answer stays the same. We have no idea what we're messing with. When Jungkook was in the Ring, he only got hurt because he attacked first. If this really is the Ring, then what's to say this won't have the same result? Having my kids here is already making me uncomfortable, but attacking the distortion? That's too far."

"When Jungkook attacked, he caused the scanners to light up with activity. We were able to get some data, but not enough since, y'know, we were fighting for our lives." Yoongi hesitates and taps his finger against his chin. "What if we move to Pluto and have a probe shoot at it? A tiny little laser that won't do much damage. No risk to your kids or the crew, and the attack is small enough that it won't cause heavy retaliation."

"You don't know that. You're guessing."

"It's a hypothesis," Yoongi says, and Jimin grunts.

"Dammit, I forgot you married a scientist." Jimin pauses to place a hand on Yoongi's shoulder. "I don't approve, but I trust my crew. Talk to Earth about it. If they agree it's a necessary risk, then we'll do it."

"Since when are you a stickler for the rules?"

"I fucking hate Earth," Jimin says with an eye roll. "But it'd be wrong to make a massive decision like this without consulting them first."

"You know they'll want to send an entire army out here if we do that, right?"

"Maybe."

"That'll take months."

"If you think this risk is worth it, then maybe months is a small price to pay for the research," Jimin says with a shrug. "I want to figure this shit out more than anyone, but I'm not risking my kids. Not again."

Yoongi stands, causing Jimin's hand to fall into empty space. The grandpa moves away and goes closer to the metal door that makes a loud 'creak!' whenever it moves.

His hair has gotten longer. It shapes his soft cheeks, or maybe that's just the lack of light in the room. For a few seconds, Yoongi doesn't move. He has a black turtleneck with dark sweatpants covering his body. His attire makes his pale face stand out. Jimin stares at Yoongi, the man who has his thin lips pulled up, making him look like a cat missing its whiskers.

"We're going to save them," Yoongi says. His tone doesn't waver or crack, and he keeps a steady posture as he says it. "You know that, right?"

Jimin moves his gaze to the window and stares at the beautiful ripple not far from him. It calls to him, like it's begging him to come closer. Jimin smiles. It doesn't reach his eyes.

"I know."

It's a lie. The optimist in him wants to believe, and Yoongi's words are like a long embrace after years of torment, but Namjoon slips between the cracks of Jimin's fingers more and more every day. Yet, despite it all, he doesn't give up.

He never will.

~~~

A/N: After the chaos of last chapter, I thought I'd give you a more character and world-focused chapter with some plot advancement at the end. The next two chapters will explain everything you read in the Namjoon chapter before this, so look forward to that, I'm working very hard on them!