Unedited. 

XIX: Jungkook 

When I rush into the reading room, the first thing I see is Jimin sitting on a nearby couch, a cup of hot tea in his hands. He was reading a book, but looked up when he saw me coming.

"Hey Jungkook, how was Lon―" Jimin stops mid sentence when he sees my face, the cup of tea halfway to his mouth. His eyes widen. "Oh god! What happened? You look like you've just seen a horde of specters rushing by." He laughs at his joke, but the laugh dies away as his face becomes serious. "You haven't... have you?"

"So many..." I squeeze my eyes shut, rubbing my arms. "They followed us all through London. I-I need to find Yoongi." Jimin immediately stands up, his cup clattering onto the table. "Where's Taehyung? Wait, don't answer that. Knowing him, he's fighting them all alone, isn't he?" At my frantic nod, Jimin curses. "That idiot is going to get himself killed. Come on!"

He sprints out of the reading room, with me hot on his heels. Turning a corner, Jimin bangs open a door on the left wall, twisting the handle so quickly that it breaks. Running in, we see Yoongi sitting in a chair while bending over a map, with a brown haired man at his side. They both look up, twin looks of astonishment on their faces. The unknown man accidentally knocks a glass paperweight off the table, making it shatter on the marble floor. He backs away, trying to pretend that it wasn't him.

"Jimin! What―" Before Yoongi can finish his sentence, I interrupt. "Specters. Lots of them. They were in London, and Taehyung's holding them off right now. But he needs help."

"How many?" the man next to Yoongi pipes up. "More than he can manage by himself, most likely," Jimin says from behind me.

"You have to help him!" I turn to Yoongi, who's already out of his chair, eyes wide with alarm. "He can't possibly fight all of those specters alone!"

Yoongi hesitates, wringing his tunic between his thumbs. "As much as I want to... Taehyung's the only one who can operate that door. It doesn't listen to anyone's commands but his." Seeing the crestfallen look on my face, he adds, "But I'll do my best. Namjoon, come with me. Maybe with our powers combined, we can somehow open it."

The brown haired man, Namjoon, nods, and they both quickly exit the room. I follow them, running to keep up with their fast steps. Taehyung, please be alright. We're coming.

Opening the doors into the kitchen, we reach the oak door . The pinwheel arrow is still on black.

"Let me try alone first," Yoongi says. "If one person can open it, we shouldn't waste our energy." Namjoon nods, backing up so Yoongi has more space. Yoongi takes a deep breath, moving his legs into a stance. "Here goes nothing."

He points his finger towards the pinwheel, and mutters some words. For a minute, nothing happens. Yoongi growls, making a sweeping motion with his hand. The pinwheel starts to rattle, and the arrow seems to be trying to move towards the yellow. Sweat appears on Yoongi's forehead as he concentrates. But a quarter of the way there, it gives up, returning back to the black with a ping.

"Here. Let's try together," Namjoon says, seeing the frustrated look on Yoongi's face. He nods, and this time, they both reach out their hands. Immediately, the pinwheel starts to move, and Namjoon gives a triumphant smile. Yoongi grits his teeth, trying to keep the arrow from straying back to the black. But at the last second, the arrow shudders, returning to its original position with a depressing cling.

"Nothing!" Yoongi kicks at the door in anger. "I can't do it." He sits down on the steps and rubs his face with his hands. Jimin quickly walks over to him, putting an arm around his shoulder. Yoongi smiles at him, and they share a quick kiss, love and passion clearly written in their eyes. I look away, tears pricking at the corner of my eyes. Taehyung had looked at me in exactly the same way after our kiss in the London Eye. Like no one else existed for him. Was it really only a few hours ago that I was safe in his arms? That I was still with him?

I suddenly feel a pat on my shoulder, and turn around to see Namjoon staring at me. "Hey, uh, you're Jungkook, right?" He asks, ruffling his already unruly hair. I nod, and he smiles. "Don't worry too much Jungkook. Taehyung's had more than a century's worth of practice fighting specters. He should be alright even by himself. True, he always had Yoongi then, but as long as he returns by the first light of dawn, he'll be fine."

"Why the first light of dawn?" I ask, wiping my remaining tears with my sleeve. "He always comes back by dawn." Namjoon replies. "The specters reign during the nighttime, but by daylight, their powers weaken. They're creatures of the dark, like us. No matter how hard the battle is, Taehyung always comes back by dawn. So there's no need for you to worry. Right now, we should probably get you to Jin so that he can do a checkup on you."

I try to argue, but Namjoon is persistent. "If one of the specters touched you, it can do more harm than you think. Also, Taehyung would have my head if he knew that we didn't let a healer take a look at you." Seeing me eye the door hesitantly, he sighs. "We won't be able to open the door tonight, Jungkook. It will be much better for you to get some rest rather than tire yourself out by hoping. Taehyung will come back in his own time, I promise."

Finally, I let him drag me upstairs to the healer's quarters, where Jin welcomes me with a hug, and Namjoon with a kiss. Namjoon blushes, and I wonder if this was why he was so adamant that we should go and see Jin. They must be soulmates.

"I have to go back to check on Yoongi, but I'll come right back," Namjoon promises, sending an air kiss to Jin before slipping out the door. Jin smiles, and I briefly wonder if I should go too, just in case Taehyung came back. But when I look at Jin, he shakes his head.

"Jungkook, sit here," He says, motioning towards an armchair. I want to protest, but he fixes me with a hard stare. "Sit. You need to calm down. It won't do anyone any good if you tire yourself out by worrying. If Taehyung said he's going to come back, then he will come back. He doesn't break his promises."

I sit down, bringing my knees close to my chest for comfort. Jin gets up, only to come back a minute later with some herbal tea, placing the steaming cup in my hands. "Chamomile," he explains. "It will calm you down." I nod a thanks and sip the hot liquid, feeling it spread throughout my body. Jin sits down beside me, taking one of my hands in his. "Did any of the specters touch you? Graze you with their fingernails?"

"One touched me on the arm, but none of them drew blood," I say, letting him pour something on my left arm.

"Good." He nods as he presses an ointment into my skin. "The touch of a specter is easy to erase, but if one of them cuts you, it's a whole different matter. That is a scar you'll wear to your grave, and it's pretty hard to treat, too. Shadows and blood are never a good combination." He uses a cotton pad to wipe off all the excess liquid off my arm, leaving my skin tingling, but feeling stronger than before. "There, all done."

"Thanks," I say, moving to stand up. "I should go back to the kitchen now." No matter what Namjoon says, I can't give up hope that there's some way to open the door. There has to be a way to help Taehyung. And I was going to find it.

Suddenly, I double over in pain, feeling as if someone is stabbing a burning knife into my heart. I fall to my knees, and the teacup falls out of my hands, shattering on the floor. Hot tea spills everywhere, while I clutch at my chest to try and ease the pain. Jin rushes to my side, but I can barely see him through the spots dancing in my eyes. My lungs become tight and constricted, and I struggle to breathe. Blackness creeps in at the edges of my consciousness, fingering its way across my vision. I feel like passing out.

"Breathe, Jungkook, Breathe." Jin's calming voice calls out of the darkness. "You have to breathe."

I feel as if someone coiled a snake around my lungs, but I do as Jin says. The first breath is shallow and short, but it gradually becomes easier. The tightness eases little by little, so that I'm left gasping for the oxygen that I've missed. Jin slides my arm around his shoulders, and half carries me to a nearby bed. I promptly collapse on top of it, curling myself up into a ball and whimpering in pain. The shocking wave of pain slowly recedes, but the stabbing feeling remains. I hear someone else enter the room, but I don't even want to open my eyes. My limbs hurt and my heart feels like it's compressed.

A cool cloth gets pressed onto my forehead, and gentle voices mill around me. Someone covers me with a blanket. "Jungkook, can you hear me?" Jin's voice asks. I groan in response. "Is he alright?" A girl's concerned voice asks. "He looks so pale."

I force my eyes open to see two hazy figures leaning over me. It takes me a moment to realize that they're Jin and Lisa. I try to reach out to them, but my hand doesn't seem to be working. All I can manage is a feeble shake of my arm. Jin notices, and puts a hand on mine. "Don't try to move anything until your body is ready. You shouldn't rush it."

"I haven't had a panic attack in years," I wheeze out. "I don't even have my inhaler." Lisa and Jin look at each other. "That was no panic attack, Jungkook," Jin says gently. "From what I can figure, that was a part of the soulmate bond." Seeing the confused expression on my face, he sighs. "Oh, how do I explain this? Basically, when you find your soulmate, sometimes you can feel what they are feeling. There's nothing too intense until you two officially bond, but until then, you can sometimes feel a fraction of what they're feeling right now. What you felt is nothing more than a phantom pain."

"So, you're telling me that the pain I felt is actually Taehyung's?" When Jin nods, I feel my heart clench all over again. If that was only a small part of what Taehyung was feeling, what had the specters done to him? Your soulmate will die for your insolence. I'll make sure of it. The specter's shadowy voice echoes in my head. Oh gods no...

"That means that my brother―" Lisa looks at Jin worriedly. He pauses, then shakes his head. "It's too early to tell. Perhaps Jungkook is right. Maybe it was only a panic attack. Until we have all the facts, it's no use to worry." He turns to me. "Can you sit up?" My mind is still reeling at the thought of Taehyung in pain, and Jin has to repeat the question two times to get my attention. I nod.

Pulling myself up into a sitting position, my head screams in protest. I clutch at it, and Jin immediately gives me some medicine in a blue bottle. "It will numb your pain," he says, and I take it from him, drinking the cold liquid. Immediately, the pain dulls, leaving my head cooler than before. From my vantage point, I can see out of the window on the opposite wall, revealing the beautiful landscape of snow-covered trees. But that wasn't all.

Dawn's rosy fingers are just beginning to touch the sky, weaving it into silk sheets of gold, purple and blue. The sun's rays peek out from behind the horizon, washing away the predawn darkness with its blinding light. To anyone else, it would be just a sunrise. Beautiful, yes, but nothing out of the ordinary. But to me, it was like a bucket of ice cold water being splashed on my face.

The first light of dawn.

And Taehyung still wasn't back. 

Next chapter will be Taehyung's POV :)