"Blue is - Um, it's sad right?"

"Mhm, and ability?"

"Water," Taehyung pauses, thinking about it for a moment, "Anything with water I mean - Rain, ice and snow."

A small smile twitches Jeongguk's lips, nodding, "You're correct," He whispers, looking down to his list on the notepad, "Umm, green."

Now Taehyung appeared perplex, leaning back against the tree trunk, thinking heavily, "Erm.... Don't know."

Thinking about it for a moment, taking in the notes as well into consideration, Jeongguk says quietly, "I think peace."

"Don't know?"

Jeongguk grimaces putting his notepad down, "Jewel doesn't really tell me these things, it's just based on what I have observed. When he's calm and peaceful, he talks better with the Earth - hence which makes him easier to manipulate."

Taehyung takings in the information and nods, "Makes sense," Taehyung says quietly, his arm around Jeongguk's body relaxing while he looks over his notes from his shoulder, "Will remember. Must, to understand."

It is a must.

That is crucial. If Jewel is going to be with the Alpha team, Taehyung has to understand every meaning and definition behind each color and it's abilities - plus to what extent Jewel can manipulate it. For Jeongguk it's simpler since he spends time with Jewel like a little shadow, but with Taehyung that's not always the case. It's always a tension and not much understanding from both sides, so it's always near a battlefield when they're breathing the same air together. They do share a common hobby and that's mainly involving fitness - whether it's swimming or running through the trees, swinging off branches or embrace the silence of nature, it's more that type relationship that revolves around action.

And it seems like they bond through that better than sitting down and observing like Jeongguk has been doing.

That's why Jeongguk is sharing this with him, since he needs to understand Jewel not just as an animal, but him as a being with abilities.

Who he really is, or at least who he has shown thus far.

Jeongguk nods softly and leans back to Taehyung's chest, staring at the sky filled with stars before his eyes and letting this silence sink in between them in this peace.

This tranquility.

A time before all of this seems so foreign for Jeongguk to remember, a time before S.H.F.

He can faintly remember those moments.

Born and raised in Busan, South Korea, living there all his life until college, where he traveled to Boston to go to Harvard University - majoring in Neurobiology and Anatomy. Truth is, he ended up getting kicked out because of this rough draft of a thesis essay he wrote about evolution being bullshit and stating that there were possible extraterrestrial beings living among them taking the form of humans, and that's how they came to be - they're just not aware of it. The essay itself wasn't the issue, but how it brought up a lot of vicious debating and controversy in the scientific community, even involving leaders of the said community, calling the idea hazardous to society, and the research had to be sliced off.

So after two years of being there, Jeongguk got kicked out, spent a year living in his friend's couch trying to find a job since they wouldn't accept him anywhere else, not even in a different university - he really was swaying on deep water of possibly ending it right then and there by how hopeless he began to feel.

Until someone took an eye on his research.

And that person was Namjoon.

During that time, S.H.F hasn't been acknowledged by the federal government - so it was technically illegal. It was during one night that Jeongguk finished his shift at this local restaurant as a waiter that Namjoon approached him, asking him about his research. Jeongguk was very annoyedly stubborn and refused to give any information about it, probably because he wasn't necessarily proud of it since it ruined his life. However, that night was what changed his life - and it was when Namjoon knocked him out and decided to kidnap him to take this island - far off South Korea but closer to the middle of the Pacific Ocean - where this facility was.

From there, Jeongguk's life completely changed.

He was introduced to this world, where species of other planets either crash landed or found themselves lost on this universe and would watch how they'd try to communicate with scientists and doctors about their world, and how to help them with their conditions. It was strange how much this didn't surprise Jeongguk as it would to other, and even more odd to how species seemed to be.... Attracted to him while Namjoon showed him around.

They found comfort with his presence, and they seemly felt something about him that they could trust, almost like a magnetic connection.

Namjoon that night offered the young boy two options; He could stay here, learn and study with them with his first job being as a nurse here while working his way up - the facility giving him the academics and education for a degree. Or, he could go back home, and continue his life like this never happened.

If he chose the first option, it meant abandoning everything - his home, friends, his life, everything just for this. And if he chose the second, a being who worked in this facility will erase his memory of everything he saw for confidentiality.

It wasn't much of a difficult choice, since truthfully Jeongguk didn't have a home since he was a foster kid until he moved countries, so he didn't exactly have anywhere else to call home.

So, he stayed, and haven't left since.

Well, occasionally he would be sent with a team whenever there was a sighting of an alien nearby. Usually if they're that near like South Korea or Japan, cops or militants would route to their underground driveways for transportation. It's a strategy to keep the facility top secret and for the safety of those in the facility. Usually in this facility they would get the alert first when something has entered their planet, so they have a whole system to how they navigate their information - which involves scouting out and make sure anyone nearby is tranced to not remember anything unless they're military.

That's how they kept everyone safe thus far.

To this day, Jeongguk still doesn't regret the decision he made to be here, and he has fallen in love with his job. He loves meeting new species from different planets and learning about them, seeing their eyes glow by having someone just as excited about meeting them with a genuine curiosity to their ways of being and how to help them in any way possible. He has grown a connection to his coworkers, and to know that they believe in him truly makes him like this job even more.

They respect him, just as much as he respects them.

Seeing these species either going home happily or staying to adapt is one of the greatest parts of his job, since he knows he made them feel welcomed while being here while it lasted.

Some happier than others.

The faint memory had a smile edging Jeongguk's lips, just as Taehyung hugs him closely to his chest, relaxing peacefully against the tree, "Sir, questions."

"Tae-"

"Sorry," At this point, Jeongguk finds this endearing, "I uh.... We never talk about.... Jewel."

Jeongguk's eyebrows twitched, confused, "What do you mean, we always do-"

"Night, that night."

Since the night that Taehyung and Jewel mated, Jeongguk and Taehyung never spoke about it. They more so acted as though it never happened, but the tension is clearly there that they cannot obviously ignore it for long.

Seems like Taehyung reached his limit.

Jeongguk rubs his hand softly, focusing heavily on the stars, "Well.... What do you want to say about it?"

Taehyung clearly began to grow difficulty in expressing himself, but after a moment, he relaxed, "I uh... I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry for?" Jeongguk says calmly, "We both spoke about it before hand, I gave the okay with it. We both got what we wanted."

"But..... Broke loyalty," Taehyung says almost brokenly, "Us good, want us good."

Under all that emotionless soldier armor, there is a good heart of a fragile love the alien has for his scientist. A love he never wishes for it to change or break, a weakness he weaks like tattoos on his skin.

It's something Jeongguk is not blind off, and he feels it.

That's why slowly Jeongguk moves from his arms and turns around, easily facing Taehyung before softly grasping his jaw tenderly - seeing how Taehyung gaze soften to his touch with his fragile grey eyes, and Jeongguk smiled in comfort to him, "There's nothing in this world that would make me feel anything different for you."

A low frown twitches Taehyung's lips, "But... Other night-"

"It was just unexpected," Jeongguk keened, recalling that night where they tried to pass a bit of their boundaries, to which didn't turn out the best, "I just... I never seen you like that with me, so I didn't know how to feel or react - but I get it. After I saw you with Jewel.... I guess that made me understand you a bit more than before, from that.... Instinctive side of you. Just remember that we are still understanding each other and that's okay, there's nothing that can ever divide my feelings for you," And he says his last words with every soul and bone in his body, "We're a family, you're all I have."

Taehyung stares between Jeongguk's eyes almost marveled by the intensity to how it glossed and illuminated within the dark night, quietly asking, "Jewel?"

"What about Jewel?"

"Think Jewel will be family too?"

Jeongguk didn't know what to say about this. Just like Jeongguk when he arrived here, also like Taehyung, Jewel is also alone. The three have been alone until they found each other, and now most of their days have been invested on learning every part of their personalities and understanding the world. Before it was just Jeongguk and Taehyung against anyone, but with Jewel it has began to feel as though it became what Jewel believed it was - a pack.

How is it even possible to forget his existence after being for so long with his captivating presence? There's still so much mystery, questions unanswered, but there's comfort built within it.

A feeling that no matter where they could be, they'd be safe as long as they had each other.

Whether that's the case or not is undenidable.

Jeongguk just stared heavily to Taehyung's sincere eyes before leaning their foreheads together gentle, taking both of his hands to interlace them, "Do you trust me?"

"In a heartbeat."

"I trust you too," Jeongguk whispers, "With my eyes closed."

*Sexual Content*

It wasn't an easy task as expected to have Jewel enter the facility.

Since the first outbreak, no one felt exactly safe - no matter how much time they have observed him from afar. Sure, having Jewel step in here while being fully cooperative is a blessing from the heavens alone since he's such a celebrity, but it's a fame people take with caution. All operatives from the Alpha and Beta unit were on standby and scattered around the facility, just in case things don't go exactly as planned. It's a simple physical examination, yet it feels as though everyone is expecting the apocalypse instead.

Which Jewel can make happen easily.

But he won't, and that's thanks to Taehyung. Which is why Jewel is unrestrained walking in between Dr. Jeon and Taehyung, keeping his gaze ahead just as Taehyung instructed him to do. At first, they were going to cuff his wrists just for safety precautions, but Jewel absolutely refused. They didn't question it further and gave him that trust to not go havoc in the facility. It was a leap of faith since they're aware of Jewel's temper with the scientists here, but they'll just have to put the faith that he'll be compliant to make this process easier.

Now that Jewel is in the building, it was inevitable for many doctors and scientist to look through their windows to the hallway to catch a glimpse in person of the being they've watched through monitors or heard of like ghost stories against the walls. Despite Jeongguk's warning to stay out of their way through this process for Jewel's comfort, many couldn't help from making their presence known as they gawk at Jewel - who calmly is walking as he follows them to their destination. At one point, Jewel made eye contact with one of the doctors peaking, unable to help from sneering his teeth and hissing. Taehyung immediately caught onto this and growls aggressively back, forcing Jewel to flinch and defensively snarls back to him violently.

Those in the Alpha unit got prepared, but once Taehyung grabbed Jewel's throat and snarled harshly at him, Jewel only glares to his face and sneers back before stubbornly scoffs - leaving it be.

Jeongguk glances between the two throughout this altercation, letting his intrusive thought find it quite interesting how with a little fighting and sex could change the power dynamics between two species so drastically. Jewel would've fought back to the death with Taehyung alone provoking him, but he knows he lost to him.

He obeys him now, no matter how he may think.

Patiently Jeongguk waited until Taehyung finally gave him the reassurance that it's okay to proceed - not before he glares his eyes to the scientist who made his presence known and hisses harshly at him for being reckless.

They didn't take long to get to their destination, and thankfully the lab was empty when they got there. Dr. Jung Hoseok was reluctant on having Jeongguk do the health examination procedure on his own, but that's the only way Jewel would comply. It's either Jeongguk alone, or no one.

Thankfully they kept their word -

A loud sizzling of an electronic zaps Jeongguk's ears, snapping his attention to the camera that was to the corner for the lab - red blinking light shutting off.

"Privacy," Jewel suddenly mutters, looking around the lab before facing the tinted window, "Don't trust."

Before Jeongguk could even interject, Jewel's eyes shifted green before he shoots a wall of concrete up from the ground, concealing the glass from peaking inside.

Looks like Hoseok is going to have to wait until Jeongguk returns with the details rather than watching discretely, he did warn them that Jewel is attentive of those things.

Moving wordlessly to the computer, Jeongguk sits down and logs in, "Taehyung, do you mind performing basic analysis?"

Jeongguk didn't have to look to know Taehyung obeyed his word, guiding Jewel to measure his weight, height, and blood pressure - while also using his ability of internal examination to make sure his bones and organs were healthy. While this was occurring, Jeongguk was moving to Jewel's profile and updating it based on the numbers Taehyung would throw at him. Once he finished completely on the basic checkup, it was Jeongguk's turn to get up and stand in front of Jewel - who's seated on the table bed.

"How are you feeling?"

Jewel's brown eyes slowly shifts to him, "How should I be feeling?"

"Good? Healthy?"

"Then.... Good? Nervous?"

A small smile fixes on Jeongguk's lips, comfortingly, "I won't hurt you, I promise," He assures him, "I will have to do some physical examinations, so is it okay if I touch you?"

Jewel now eyed his hands, instinctively flinching back, but once he noticed Jeongguk's hands did not move to touch him with a safe space away, he let it slowly ease him down before he relaxes, "Okay."

With that being said, Jeongguk proceeded to check his eyes, pupil reflexes. Interestingly enough, Jewel's pupils are larger than a regular human size pupil, which could be connected to when his eyes become black to see through anything - similarly to Taehyung.

Moving onto his ears, which are quite sensitive. Even with a gentle pull to check inside had Jewel wincing, hissing back to the tender area, so Jeongguk made sure to do that quickly.

From there he checked his mouth and throat. No tonsils in sight, long tongue, and teeth like humans from the front two but tracing to the back is sharper, animalistic really. His jaw is strong, so no doubt he has a fierce bite when he uses his teeth in defense.

His heartbeat is 130 BPM, while a regular heartbeat for humans ranges from 60-100 BMP, meaning his is faster. Considering his speed and strength when he runs or tests his body, no doubt it'd be anything but normal. His lung capacity is also larger than a human's capacity, which is one thousand rather than six - meaning he could stay underwater for series of minutes - maybe hours - without feeling suffocated.

Well, that is without gills.

When Jeongguk tests sea salt water on his skin, scales and gills immediately perked up - meaning he could survive underwater and live in it if he truly wanted to.

Speaking of his skin, it's indeed similarly the same texture as a human but thicker. The marks and bruises from his night with Taehyung have faded completely, even the deepest scars on his back now healed, meaning his body has a quicker response to injury. What could take someone years or months to recover from a fracture bone could take Jewel days or hours, even the faintest scrape can heal in seconds.

As Jeongguk took this in, he made sure to keep this information to himself.

No doubt someone would get the idea on extracting blood to find what's the root of it to give it to the humans in the world, profiting off from it, since Jewel is the closest specie to humans.

They wouldn't hesitate on experimenting with the matter.

"You okay?"

Jeongguk flutters his eyes to Jewel, who's staring at him with a pointed stare to the clear troublesome glint in Jeongguk's eyes. When he meets his eyes, the more Jeongguk tried to fight off those thoughts of what they possibly were planning to do with him if he didn't wake up sooner, and now with this new discovery created more of a protective nudge in Jeongguk's instincts.

Taehyung can see it, and he goes to place a hand on Jeongguk's back of the neck to ease him down.

Letting himself relax, the scientist only forces a smile to Jewel, nodding, "Yeah, you're just.... Quite special."

Jewel seemed a bit confused by this, but Jeongguk quickly proceeds with checking the rest of his body; Knees, feet, legs, his abdomen and stomach of any pain or bloating to then being reluctant to this next task but focused on his doctrine side to do a quick check on Jewel's private area - seeing it healthy and with subtle hair which is normal.

Easing his underwear back in place, Jeongguk guides Jewel to his feet - asking him to do quick moves to check on his strength and density of his balance, along with his spine - which is where he noticed closer the old, ragged marks of past scars when he bent down to touch his toes. The curiosity began to spark in Jeongguk's head to the story behind those marks, but he lets it be for now as Jewel now sits back on the bed and Jeongguk just asked him a few simple questions about allergies or specific pains before finally getting to the part he subtly dreaded.

Since this could turn out not so great.

So he takes a deep breath to the last part of the list and looks at Jewel, "Now, since the lab already took your blood samples, it's not necessary for me to do so at the moment until possibly the next year, but due to.... The other night activity, I will need to do a prostrate examination."

Taehyung stares to the back of Jeongguk's head, while Jewel looked a bit confused, eyebrows furrowed, "Prostrate?"

Yeah, this is not going to be simple.

"It's like a little seed in your anus that gives off pleasure and basically produces the sperm in your body, in simpler words," Jeongguk informs casually, standing up from his chair, "Since Taehyung had a grand time rampaging against it, I need to check if its healthy."

He didn't have to look to know Taehyung's hand is on his face, hiding the humiliation by that comment, but oh how Jeongguk enjoys teasing.

Jimin still looked a bit confused, "Where is this prostrate?"

"Through your anus, right by the rectum," Jeongguk chirps as he slides his gloves on and while retrieving the lubricant, "It shouldn't take long, I just need to check it."

It must've processed in Jewel's head what all this is meaning because his eyes quickly flashed a flicker of orange, "You want to mate?"

Before Jeongguk could even answer, Taehyung covers his eyes with his large hands, glaring at Jewel, "No mating, check body. That's it. No orange! We spoke about this!"

"But he will touch me," Jewel says back, confused again, "That is not mate-"

Jeongguk removes Taehyung's hand from his eyes, glaring at both of them, "Can I please just do my job! It's just a physical examination."

The two didn't say anything else back to this, so Jeongguk instructed for Jewel to get on all fours on the table while he stood behind him. Jewel didn't seem nervous, not like how Taehyung was, as Jeongguk carefully lowers the underwear down, "Okay, this will be fast. If you need me to pull out, just say so."

Jewel didn't respond verbally but he did nod right before he suddenly grunts when Jeongguk slid his finger through his anus, carefully. For a moment Jeongguk was actually shocked that Jewel was discharging from there, as in he's wet. That raised a bit of a concern as to why or how that was happening since men don't usually do unless there's a hormonal or chemical issue in the body, so Jeongguk carefully slid his finger all the way until he felt it.

The prostrate.

A shudder quivered Jewel's lips, but he didn't say anything, so Jeongguk had to look over to him to check, "You doing alright?"

"Mhm."

"Okay, let me know if it feels uncomfortable."

Jewel only nods, so Jeongguk proceeded on grazing his finger over the prostrate to not feel an bumps or unusual texture. He seems to have a large size prostrate than a normal human man, so it's safe to assume his specie was heavy on mating and reproducing - which connects to what he said on his people being a kind who protected and mated. With a prostrate that size, no wonder he gets a little hormonal from time to time, which explains his animalistic instinct to fight and mate with the adrenaline.

However, that doesn't explain why he was discharging from that area.

So Jeongguk began to feel more around to make sure the gland is completely healthy, still not feeling anything that could give off any warning signs to this strange oddity, until suddenly Jewel suddenly moans quietly against his hands.

It was low noise, not meant for it to be so loud, but it was vocal enough that fueled heat to Jeongguk's cheeks.

"Taehyung, did you see any abnormalities when he ejected that night through the penis?"

"It was dark," Taehyung responds stiffly, "I couldn't tell."

Jeongguk grimaces and looks back to Jewel, "The liquid coming out of your rectum does not seem as though it's infected, but it's not exactly normal for us, so I have to ask if this is normal for you?"

A subtle nod forces Jewel's head, eyes closed, "Men from my people would get wet from there, like women in their private area. Produced when - Um -"

"You're getting hormonal," Jeongguk noted, nodding, "Have you noticed anything unusual with your sperm lately?"

Jewel bites his bottom lip, a low breath escaping his lips, "Why don't you find out?"

Jeongguk finger twitched inside him, provoking Jewel to whirl his head to look at him with vivid orange eyes.

A blazed, intensive orange orbs.

It was too late for Taehyung to conceal his eyes because Jeongguk was already entranced by it completely. It was as though he was yanked in through this door that Jeongguk didn't think he'd ever feel the need to step into, yet it filled him with curiosity and a physical yet mental reaction that provoked every since hormone to suddenly rattle awake. It heated his neck to nearly make his skin sweat and lips subtly dry by such hungry yank of impulse, feeling his pelvis swirl with these puncturing twists as it made his own dick twitch and harden in seconds.

Without even realizing it, he pressed on Jewel's prostrate again, forcing another choked moan from him with his back arching - nails instinctively easing out with a feverishly snarl out his lips.

Jeongguk began to feel marveled by Jewel's scarred skin before his eyes, feeling himself shake as his breath grew heavier and heavier with this intensive and uncontrollable need for sex. It drove him so mad that he couldn't even hear or connect with anything around him anymore, only on his adrenaline that made every him grow near angry to letting it out - whether it's through fucking or punch a damn well, it made him completely insane.

Fingers shaking as he rises his hand, nearly growling under his breath as he goes to touch Jewel's spine - until a hand grabs his wrist, tightly.

Even if Jeongguk wanted to feel Taehyung's presence beside him, he couldn't snap out of it. Of this feeling. No matter how much distance Taehyung forced between Jeongguk and Jewel - practically across the room and away from him, snapping at his face and shackling his shoulders, Jeongguk couldn't awake from it.

Jewel couldn't contain his own instinctive impulse and roars angrily at Taehyung before lunging towards them, but Taehyung forces a kick that sent him back to the table - bellowing him across the room. It seemed that it managed to settle him down momentarily, but his eyes remain orange, heaving violently.

Yet Taehyung didn't care, only looks at Jewel, eyes blazed in grey, "SNAP HIM BACK!"

"Mate -"

"NOT WITH HIM!" Taehyung growls angrily, teeth sharpening, "Mine, now snap!"

Jewel looks at him with his lips twitching in a challenging snarl, but once Taehyung roars angrily at him, Jimin hisses annoyed and shifts his eyes to brown in seconds.

Just as Jeongguk blinks softly, that feeling slowly draining away from his body and going back to reaching his senses. That feeling was so intense that he had to recall how to breathe again, mellowing down his racing heart rate hysterically with gasping breaths. Taehyung quickly looks at him softly, hand on his shoulder, "Okay?"

Jeongguk continues to pant in his breaths, fixating his gaze to across the room to see Jewel with his eyes closed as he also calms himself down too.

And he whispers, "T-That.... That was strong," Jewel flutters his eyes open, "I couldn't snap out of it like Taehyung, why?"

Jewel stares at him with a long stare, before saying, "Because you didn't want to resist."

Taehyung now looks at Jeongguk, who seemed shocked by the response as he was.

Jewel only stared at him and stared.

And stared.

In life there always has to be a balance: Light and darkness, life and death, fire and water - a connection of how it all rounds into beautiful circle filled with experience in between. Without balance, destruction only follows in its awake with a desperation on how to make it all equal again. Too much of one thing can be damaging to another, and that's when life falls into a spiral.

Point in this is to always find a balance, and making it work, even if feels near impossible.

That's what Taehyung and Jeongguk have been aiming for since the second Jewel has stepped into their lives, finding a way to make it work with his abilities and the facility. Making sense of a life before and after before Jewel's eyes, cooperating in order to maintain peace from both sides - to make it work.

And so far, the balance has been set, and now it's going to be put to the test.

The sun is bright and hot today, along with the Earth reflecting back to it. The facility is busy as it's always been, but now the air feels a bit more anticipated than usual. Far more than how it previous was when Jewel stepped into the building. Everyone knows what today is, and clearly they're unsure how it could completely turn out.

Either excellently good, or horribly bad.

Here, in the training grounds for the Alpha unit, many of the volunteers are warming up and stretching to begin their exercise training today. Taehyung is by the corner of the dirt field, going down the list to make sure everyone was here, but stops when he came upon a name.

A new name, to which he anticipated it for.

Park Jimin, or better known as Jewel.

After the day of the physical examination, Jewel was immediately put into the system and was created a new profile. He was given the name Park Jimin, identity of a grad-student if he were to ever leave this facility sometime in the future. Not only was he given a name, but also a dorm in the facility with the Alpha unit.

He hated it.

He hated being indoors in general.

So in the meantime, they're trying to figure out a way to accommodate him while he stays there. He has enjoyed the food though, but thus far has kept to himself without really engaging with anyone besides Jeongguk or Taehyung.

And today happens to be his lucky day.

Quickly Taehyung looks around, not spotting him anywhere in sight, so he spoke on his earphone, "Dr. Jeon, Jewel - I mean Jimin?"

"He should be arriving, we had to do a few adjustments."

Taehyung furrows his eyebrows, adjustments?

Just then the door to the facility opens, revealing the familiar man exiting from inside the building. That man being him, Jimin, and Taehyung immediately knew what Jeongguk meant by adjustments. What immediately caught Taehyung's eye is Jimin's now short hair in a smooth cut - all the long locks gone completely from sight. Also, his body is no longer only consisting of just an underwear, but now he wears a black body suit - in which seems he's having a difficult time adjusting to by how he keeps picking on the neck area with a frustrated scowl.

Seeing him like this, different then how he got used to seeing him, took Taehyung a minute to adjust and at the same time take his breath away momentarily, especially when Jimin made eye contact with him before approaching him with the scientist tracing behind him. Standing in front of Taehyung now, Jimin with a clear stubborn stare, he grumbles, "This clothing is suffocating. I hate it."

Taehyung fights a grin to his complaint while Jeongguk nudges his arm, smiling, "Oh you'll love it even more after today!" And he looks at Taehyung, moving to stand beside him with the tablet, "I think this will be great."

Great would be too much of an understatement.

This will be spectacular.

Sending a side eye to Jeongguk of adoration, Taehyung then faced everyone else with his face still, not before shouting with his whole chest, "ATTENTION FORWARD!"

Jimin twitches his nose as his body startles to the abrupt loud voice echoing the field. It's obvious he was going to react against it, but then he subtly looks around to see everyone else moving forward and standing upright in a line to face Taehyung. Noticing the tense and stiff postures, Jimin quietly stands to the end of the line and mimics them awkwardly before facing ahead.

Taehyung goes down the row to eye them all equally with a heavy glare, sending a subtle snarl to Jimin - who responded with a hiss, but shuts up when Taehyung leaned to his face aggressively, keeping his lips sealed.

Look at that, he catches on quicker than usual.

Standing back, Taehyung crosses his arms, "At ease."

Simultaneously they all placed their hands to their backs, still facing ahead. Jimin was still standing still, but the familiar being filled of electricity -Seonghwa - beside him gained the confidence to nudge his side, forcing Jimin to send him a glare but then noticed their different postures and quickly mimicked it, rolling his eyes.

Taehyung tried not to smirk, "Dr. Jeon give announcement."

Jeongguk steps forward, looking over to them briefly. Quickly it was as though every single one of them relaxed, especially to the familiar face of the scientists.

Guess you could say Jeongguk has a reputation of being a tender-hearted celebrity here amongst the beings here, and insanely attractive too.

"Good morning everyone, hope we didn't keep you waiting here for long but of course there's a few announcements," He states calmly, making one of the guys in line blush to his smile, "As you could see we have a new member in the unit. Many of you knew him by Jewel, but his name is now Jimin, and he's going to be in the Alpha Unit starting today. I encourage all to welcome him and give each other the respect needed as a team. Throughout this training today, I will be here just observing while Taehyung instructs - and seems like today you have a new training routine."

Everyone seemed a bit confused by this, until Taehyung stepped up, "Today we race as test. Start here, go across other side of island, past shore and to reference point in ocean, come back and then physical combat. First place will decide training for tomorrow."

Suddenly everyone seemed more excited about it, except for Jimin - who seemed quite monotone to the activity.

Someone suddenly raised a hand, letting Taehyung nod, all eyes leading it to Taeyong with the frost white hair, "Will we be able to use our abilities or -"

"Yes," And Taehyung stepped aside, revealing the cuff, "But physical combat must wear cuffs."

A series of groans and grunts echoed down the line, meanwhile Jimin only eyed the cuffs emotionlessly and then looks at Jeongguk, "I don't know physical com-"

Taehyung abruptly hisses, eyes thin, "No permission to speak!"

Jimin grinds his teeth together, a fist balled on his back before looking aside, reverting to silence. Jeongguk sends a cautious look to Taehyung, but he only ignores it and nods to them, "Get on line to start."

Everyone began to obey order with a salute before moving to the side where there's an open wooden gateway where they'll begin the race. Jimin didn't move though, his eyes trickling in red the longer he stares at Taehyung, but then as an instinct when he looks to Jeongguk they revert to brown to his encouraging nod, before giving a poor salute and sluggishly moves with the rest.

This didn't miss through Jeongguk's gaze, noticing Jimin's clear irritation, that could lead to rebellious behavior if further pushed.

"Don't be so hard on him."

"If not, no soldier with discipline, needs stronger spine," Taehyung mutters sternly back, glancing to him, "Now watch."

Jeongguk only gives in and eyed Jimin as he glances to the rest - who are warming up quickly, sparking up their ability intensively to get ready. Jimin only looks to the trees with his eyes now black in darkness to see through to where this reference point is, right before a loud horn blows off - breaking off his concentration. Just as he was about to take off, he nearly collapses to the ground by how he didn't realize his feet were yanked to the ground, slowing him down as everyone else raced through the entrance.

His eyes vividly glowed green and he snaps ahead, seeing a girl - Ariana - with eyes completely a mud brown and shaped as vines giggles as she swings on the branches effortlessly. This did catch him by surprise to see such ability similar to his, and not exactly in a good way.

Jimin snarls his teeth and easily eases up, claws easing out his body in offense.

"Goal for you," He snaps his head to the side, to Jeongguk's stern stare, "Don't kill anyone and no cheating."

You've got to be joking -

Right as Jimin was ready to protest against this, Taehyung huffs angrily at him in silence and he annoyedly takes off.

Don't kill anyone and no cheating.

Of course he gets rules.

Nothing about playing fair.

A vine securely wraps around his torso and swings him through the air to get an eye view of the distance from where he is while uses the top of the trees to leap between them like gentle pillows. However, a branch suddenly tangled his ankle from under him protectively, just as a vine shoots up in attempt to push him off grid. No denying the branch felt the movement of the vine and protected him from impact, so placing his hand on the branch as a thank you, he also ordered the trees to stop the one in their command. Once taking a clear view back on top, Jimin moves quickly before looking down to a tangle of branches holding that girl down from earlier - no matter how much she attempted to use her ability to free herself.

Jimin smiles as he gives thanks to the trees and continues moving. The wind is warm on his skin and the sun smiles down to him just as he does when he gazes to the sky, feeling it's energy through his body - but that was cut short when aggressively he was blown aside by a vicious cold wind that froze him in the clouds.

Angrily he shrieks to the trap, seeing Taeyong with frozen white hair snowboarding through the clouds cockily with a laugh.

This fired Jimin up, feverishly, and he wasn't the only one.

Snapping his livid red eyes, he bursts through the ice with wings of fire as a gift from the sun's own rage of solar flares and flew directly to Taeyong, flying beside him with fists of fire. Taeyong didn't notice instantly until he took a double take to the side - his smile dropping to Jimin's maniac grin as he waves his fingers to him before swatting it across the snow Taeyong was creating with the clouds, immediately knocking Taeyong off trajectory to fall down to the trees.

Taehyung looks to Jeongguk after witnessing that, seeing the equally surprised expression on his face, "You knew? Fire wings?"

"I.... Did not."

Jimin guides the wings in its flight as he grows closer to the ocean shore, but he didn't last long before something blew the fire wings off his back, plummeting him down to the trees - to which a tree carefully caught him with its leaves, giving him the eyes to see another winged woman, Becky, eyeing him from the skies - eyes glowing in white to the clouds forming around her. Jimin bares his teeth to her, but his attention was snatched when he received distress signals from nearby trees, tearing his focus immediately away from her and shoots down to reach the ground. Quickly he lets the ground swallow him up before abruptly teleporting him in front of the distress, and it was because of Seonghwa's electric currents slicing through the air as he fights with another man, Hyunjin - who dodges the bolts for it to abruptly strike a tree behind him.

And they kept fighting.

That tree.... The trees around them...

A forced wild green to whirl Jimin's eyes, and angrily he digs his fingers on the ground and twists it. The Earth quaked feverishly so suddenly, and the two beings were suddenly held down by arms of rocks from preventing them from using their hands - tightly. Quickly Jimin goes to the trees who were injured in the process, soothing a soft hand over them with his worried gaze - relieved to have healed them in time back into shape.

The distress signals soon were vanished, now left with gratitude when flowers bloomed by his feet and hands, like gentle kisses of appreciation.

After being assured of their health, Jimin turns around to the two beings tied up, sneering angrily, "Your abilities are against nature! Disrespect nature, they disrespect back in return," And he narrows his eyes ahead, the trees suddenly shifting to the sides - creating a direct pathway to the sea, before looking back to them, "Be nice, or I'll let them break your bones in your body with pleasure."

The others only grunt painfully in response to this before Jimin eases the rocks off them and continues to take off down the pathway created for them, all the way until he reached the shore. A shore of sand and rocks, leading all the way to the crystalline waters of the salty ocean. Bodies of water he has not touched since he was awaken, and it called out to him like a desperate child waiting to be reunited.

But of course, this race isn't meant to be easy, and that was shown more evidently when abruptly he was shoved back by the own ocean waves harshly.

What?

"Sorry newbie, this race is mine."

Jimin wipes the water from his faces, eyes snapping to a woman standing over him with this aquatic physicality about her, Rosie. Unlike the beings Jimin has seen thus far, Rosie is the only one who doesn't appear so human. Skin so light grey and teeth sharp as one of a shark, fins and gills spreading her body to survive the ocean with ease. Her platinum hair even appears so silk back and tightly away from her face, showing more her gills on her cheekbones.

Peculiar appearance, yet for Jimin it looked so.... Beautiful.

So different, yet familiar.

However, that doesn't blind him of the fact that she washed him back away from the sea.

Twitching his nose to her presence, Jimin's spats a force of water towards her - but easily she divides it by the center with a single hand, her eyes white illuminating with a smile.

"I know that's not all you've got right?"

Even her voice is peculiar - rough yet toned, a gentle husk to it by a feathery gentleness of a voice.

It's so alluring.

"You both sure like to waste time!"

Becky spats above them, her metal wings suddenly narrowing together as she bullets into the ocean - directly to their objective. Jimin eyed where she once was, but shifts his gaze when Rosie giggles, nearing the shore, "Well, let's take a dive. The reference mark is under, so don't stray too far behind newbie."

Before giving him the time to respond, Rosie dives under the waves and disappears beneath the waters.

There's a long moment that Jimin remains still, digesting this in of what has been going on since the second he started this race. He didn't realize he was feeling this familiar adrenaline thudding his body, reminding him of this familiarity that almost was beginning to feel foreign to him. That excitement, the feeling of being with more people - a competition, but a fun competition.

It felt... Warm.

Unable to help himself from breaking a smile to this euphoric feeling that ran through his body, Jimin didn't think twice before he dives under the waves of the ocean and welcomes the gills that breathed on his body - accepting the water to become one with him. The familiar saltiness released the endorphins that was held in his cells of depression, feeling this sudden unexplainable joy and wildness that he couldn't help but accept his golden eyes as they glitter underneath the water, crystallizing his stare to glimmer beneath the surface.

For that moment, he completely forgot about this race, feeling this connection with the sea as he did with the Earth - the sensation of its calling in his veins, welcoming him home after being away.

And the waters weren't the only thing appreciating his return.

With his smile widening, he beams to the fishes who began to swarm around him, dancing on his skin and fingertips. He swims along with the sharks and turtles who were called past him, running his fingers along their bodies as he embraces their presence with him before he happily swims within their guidance - letting them guide him wherever they wished to take him.

Everywhere his soft touch met immediately was welcomed by his presence, like a long-lost family member welcoming him home. There's something about these waters and how they connected with him brought back to a time where he and his people would swim with ichthyosaurs, ride the fast currents with the sea turtles like surfing in the waves, even sometimes make home to the deepest parts of the ocean as a sanctuary for calmness and peace away from the lands.

These waters hold stories of his people, they are the closest thing besides the land to some familiarity to his kind. After all, they have kept him safe throughout these years in the depths of the ocean until it was safe for him to be found.

He is their protector after all.

In complete peace and relaxation within these waters, Jimin followed the new sea creatures who were created in this new era, leading him to their world.

Yet just as they were leading him far off the coast, Jimin's body abruptly was forced back by a forceful thud.

What?

Confused, Jimin carefully looks around him. Even the hammerhead shark that went through turns to look at him when he didn't feel his presence, almost waiting for him to come through with him. Yet when Jimin tried to, he was forced back again, now placing his hands on the evident wall of a forcefield preventing him from going further.

Preventing anyone from moving in or out actually.

Of course, to not have anyone escape so easily.

Even though Jimin could easily break through this wall if he wanted to, he knew now was not the time.

He still has to wait.

His task isn't over.

Now looking at the shark, Jimin frowns, shaking his head, "I'm sorry."

The hammerhead closes in on wall, meeting his snout against Jimin's hand on the forcefield, being able to move in and out of it easily and wanted to demonstrate to him that he could do it too.

Jimin only continues to frown as he softly pets him, lips gaping at him in their tongue, "Come back, promise."

The shark only nods understanding to his tongue and turns around, swimming away. Jimin only watches with a heavy stare before glancing down to the ocean floor and then around him, trying to find the reference mark to head back. After concluding that he probably went too far off the current, he closes his eyes and feels the oceans in his body. He not only feels it but allows himself to become one with the body of water, becoming the waves and tender movements of its waters, all the way to feel the disturbance in it.

A strange metal floating device.

Snapping his blue eyes open, he immediately swims so quickly towards it - shooting through the water effortlessly before he finally came upon the disturbance. It's a cylinder metal object, perfect for floating in the water but purposely meant to obviously be a reference mark for those to not get too far off the coast.

This wouldn't have been an issue if he didn't feel the clear heat radiating off from the inside, creating an electrical current that was disturbing to various fishes near the area.

Even for Jimin it was near painful for his ears.

It's ruining the peace for these creatures.

Jimin stares at it with fingers running over the rough surface and he scowls, looking back to the shore.

Meanwhile on the land, Taehyung and Jeongguk wait as they stare at the entrance of the gates leading back to the field. They haven't said a single word to each other, more so focused and uneased to how Jimin may do on this test.

Undoubtably with his skills he could excel this easily, earning first place without even trying so hard. He's a competitive person, so if he really wanted to, he could beat everyone in a heartbeat.

Yet, that didn't happen as expected.

Immediately perking up upon hearing rustling by the trees, Jeongguk's expression falls still when Taeyong and Rosie made it through, putting on the cuffs quickly as they immediately get into one-on-one combat, with no surprise Rosie putting Taeyong down with her knowledge in physical combat. Then suddenly through the trees, emerged Becky, to which meant her combat with Taeyong. From that point on Jeongguk's mind was a bit in a haze, unsure how to feel as more of the Alpha unit emerged through, all eventually except for Jimin.

Long moments pass, and he still hasn't returned.

Did he end up ditching the race?

Or, did he get injured?

Taehyung's face hardens, looking to the crowd, "Where's Jimin?"

"I don't know," Seonghwa heaves as he drops to the ground in exhaustion, "Last time I saw him was when he locked me and Hyunjin down to the ground and created a pathway to the shore."

A pathway?

Taehyung looks at Jeongguk, whose immediately checking the cameras, and the tracker stating Jimin is still within the radar, "It doesn't make sense -"

Abruptly Jeongguk was forced back by Taehyung's hand, forcing him to the gates roughly just as a metal cylinder object dropped to the center of the field - forcing everyone back by the sudden push.

Taehyung covers his eyes to the dirt that scattered the air, but eventually looks up once it was cleared to see Jimin on top of the object, glaring down to him almost in a mix of anger and disappointment.

That was in the ocean as a reference point.

Taehyung eyed between that and Jimin, shocked by his strength to have lifted that across the island to here.

Unless he had help by the forest.

Jimin on the other hand didn't seem so amused, bearing his teeth angrily to Taehyung and Jeongguk, "Your shit was in my ocean," He growls slowly, a gutted expression slowly cascading his eyes in a blue sunset, "Planet not a playground. Respect nature, and nature respects you. Not so hard."

And suddenly Jimin raises his fist and slams it brutally against it, bellowing it so hard that it suddenly became dust. They covered their eyes to the sudden force, but Jimin gathered all the particles together, what once was a metal reference mark now became a small ball of Earth before Jimin forced it down to the ground - returning it to the crust.

Taking it's natural minerals and destroying the intoxicating ones.

Jeongguk lips parted, unable to believe how Jimin just shifted metal back into its natural form - breaking it apart to return it back to the Earth in a matter of seconds.

Reversing what was created.

He.... Did that....

"Oh shit! That was so cool!"

Hyunjin suddenly appeared right before Jimin's eyes, purple eyes dancing in excitement, "Wow you're honestly so cool! And how you made the trees move like whoosh and then how that turn to - Ugh! Wow!"

Jimin eyes thinned, and he hisses in defensively back to him for being so close. Hyunjin teleports back, hands up with eyes in caution to his sudden behavior. There's a moment where the silence is too tense to bear, and Jimin seemed to have had enough for the day when he turns to look at Jeongguk and Taehyung, shaking his head before taking off within the trees.

Taehyung immediately was about to go after him, but Jeongguk takes his arm, shaking his head, "Give him a moment."

It's clear Taehyung didn't want to leave Jimin alone, but regardless he still listening to Jeongguk and steps it back to focus on training instead.

No doubt this was all too sudden for Jimin to handle, a drastic change in a day, he needs his space too - and also time for them to understand what just happened.

____________________

A/N:

Okay okay I know what I said for the millionth time, but I've been getting inspired by this story lately :')

I purple you <3