"What?" Seokjin asked incredulously.

"I'm jealous of you," Taehyung repeated, sitting up on the bed to face Seokjin. "When I met Jungkook, he talked about you all the time. Of course, he thought you were dead at the time, and I didn't even know you, but that didn't stop me from already being jealous of you."

Seokjin gave him an incredulous look.

"Jealous of what? Would you have wanted to die for Jungkook to honor your memory?"

"No, that's not it."

"Then what?"

"I understood that I could never occupy the same place as you in his heart. You were too precious to him, and nothing seemed to be able to change that."

Seokjin thought about how he'd behaved around Jungkook and his companions. Jungkook had told Taehyung he was a great person, and he'd shown a completely different side of himself. Obviously, he wasn't going to beat himself up for being different from the boy he was at eleven, but he couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

"I imagine you must have been disappointed to see the kind of person I was," he said.

Or maybe he was disappointed and puzzled by the fact that Jungkook valued someone like him more than his loyal samurai. Seokjin himself found it hard to believe.

"No, quite the opposite," Taehyung replied. "After the time we spent together, I understood better what made you special in Jungkook's eyes, and I learned to appreciate you too."

"Really?" Seokjin asked in surprise.

"I already told you I'm not a liar."

That's right, he had said it. Seokjin couldn't help but smile. He suddenly felt closer to Taehyung than he had been when he was his deshi. Almost like a friend. He also felt like he'd answer him this time if he asked him about his past. He wanted to know about Jungkook's life after leaving Joseon, and it was through his first crew member's story that he would learn more. So he asked:

"How did you and Jungkook meet?"

Taehyung turned to Jungkook.

"He saved me from death, so I dedicated my remaining life to him."

And he told him his story. He told Seokjin that he was still a teenager when he was made a samurai. This was quite rare, as most samurai apprentices had to train until adulthood before separating from their sensei and becoming samurai themselves. He immediately entered the service of his sensei's daimyo, to whom he had sworn his life's oath, and that was how he planned to spend the rest of his days. His loyalty had been tested that same year when his daimyo had gone to war against another landlord further south, a daimyo named Usagi Kaïto, who had inherited a vast domain and whose wealth attracted the covetousness of other, less well-endowed lords. Taehyung had had to fight Kaïto's samurai without question, obeying the commands of the lord he served.

The latter had ended up losing his life, along with many of his samurais. Kaïto had invited the survivors to join him and serve him, but following their code of honor, bushido, they had not hesitated to commit seppuku, to die with their lord. Kneeling around the remains of their daimyo, under the amused eyes of Kaïto and the respectful eyes of his own samurai who followed the same code of honor, they had pierced their stomachs one by one.

When Taehyung's turn came, his hand trembled slightly, and his hesitation was palpable. At his side, his former sensei, the one who had seen him as a prodigy among the samurai, had told him not to doubt. He had set an example by stabbing himself in front of him, asking him to join them afterward. Determined, Taehyung then raised his wakizashi, but the hand of a boy younger than him had stopped his gesture.

"Jungkook?" Seokjin asked Taehyung, who nodded.

Jungkook, the daimyo's young only son, had prevented him from killing himself. Seokjin suddenly remembered what Yoongi had said about Taehyung the first time he boarded the Princess:"That's how you were when the captain found you, Taehyung, right ? A reckless samurai ready to commit suicide for the beautiful eyes of his daimyo." Yoongi had compared him and Taehyung, describing them as reckless. Was it because he recognized this side of himself in Taehyung that Jungkook had gone to Taehyung's aid?

"Jungkook told me there was no honor in dying at such a young age," Taehyung continued. There was an unusual emotion in his voice. "I told him that a samurai without a master was no longer a samurai, and that I had no reason to live if I was no longer one. I also told him that I would never serve his father, the daimyo who took my master from me without me being able to protect him."

"So he offered to be your master instead?"

"That's right. I was quite taken aback. Jungkook wasn't a daimyo, he was just an heir. He offered me a ride with him and gave me time to get a feel for the person he was before accepting. His father didn't object, even though he and his men showed me a great deal of contempt for being a pathetic samurai who had renounced seppuku unlike my companions. But I didn't regret it. I quickly realized Jungkook was different from his father, that he was suffering from his father's misdeeds, and that he needed someone by his side. So I took my vows of loyalty and became his samurai. No matter how much contempt I received, I was honored. I couldn't have asked for a better master to serve."

"Even if he decided to be a pirate like his father?"

Samurai were supposed to be the opposite of pirates, honest, loyal, refined... Obviously, Kaïtos' samurai were an exception. How could Taehyung have accepted this?

"Jungkook's motivations were not the same as his father's."

Seokjin gave a dubious pout, meaning a pirate was a pirate, no matter what anyone said.

"Let me explain," Taehyung told him, sensing him ready to protest despite his lectures on patience. "For starters, Jungkook's crew is different from his father's."

He told Seokjin how Jungkook had finally made the decision to go to sea and how he had saved the others from their living conditions: Hoseok, the Joseon slave exploited by the Ming; Jimin, the starving Ming peasant who had contracted an illness and was quarantined by the villagers to die alone; Yoongi, the Ming army deserter sentenced to execution... Each crew member had a similar story that connected them to Jungkook. They weren't his devoted servants as were Kaïto's men but men who had chosen to follow him.

Seokjin looked at Jungkook with admiration. He was still asleep but a powerful aura seemed to emanate from him, commanding respect. Yet, something nagged at Seokjin.

"Why would a wako, especially Kaïto's son, do this for others?"

It was inconceivable.

"I'm not sure, but I have an opinion. Do you want my opinion?"

Knowing Taehyung wouldn't tell him if he didn't agree explicitly, Seokjin nodded.

"I think his life in Joseon shaped him this way. There, he experienced hunger, poverty, cold, injustice... and the loss of a loved one at the hands of pirates."

"Me," Seokjin breathed.

"Yes. And he also came into contact with your sense of justice, your kindness, and your selflessness. I believe you transformed Wakaï in Joseon, and he returned to Japan as Jungkook, a changed person. Without you, he would have remained a selfish daimyo and perhaps he would have become a bloodthirsty, Joseon-hating pirate, like his father? In any case, none of us would have survived our dire destiny. I would have died under my own blade, Jimin would have succumbed to starvation or disease, Hoseok under exhaustion from his tasks or under the blows of his masters... In other words, you didn't just save Jungkook in Joseon, you saved us too."

"You're going a bit far, I didn't do anything like that," Seokjin protested. Sure, he could consider that by saving Jungkook's life in Eobu, he had linked his fate to theirs, but to say that he had saved them all? That was excessive. "It was Jungkook who decided to save you, not me."

"But it was you who made him the man he is today."

"In such a short time?" said Seokjin, finding it hard to believe, even though his ego was suddenly inflated. "You, who lived with him for so long, must have changed him much more than I did."

"No, I only taught him how to fight and control his emotions. Otherwise, he didn't change who he was when he returned from Joseon. He treasured what he learned there and decided he wouldn't be like his father."

This echoed what Ihnkyang had told him. Seokjin suddenly thought of the poor man he'd abandoned despite his promises to help him escape. Despair washed over him again. How many people had he disappointed? The list was growing.

"I'm not a good person," he declared. "I'm not altruistic, I act for myself, and I kill to live."

"You've changed, you are not the same as before," Taehyung conceded. "But Jungkook kept alive what you were before the pirates destroyed your life. If you let him back into your life, this time he can be the one to teach you how to be a good person."

Seokjin saw the irony in this situation.

"A wako who would teach me how to be a good person?"

"You think that's impossible?"

"No, I believe Jungkook has indeed become a better person than I am, but I think I've come too far in this life to change now."

"Jungkook is the heir of bloodthirsty pirate lords, and he was raised to be one. Yet he chose to take a different path. You can always branch off and take a different path, too."

"I still want to kill wakos. Even more so now that my father is dead," Seokjin added, clenching his fists.

"Jungkook never stopped killing pirates either."

"I understood that he attacks wako crews but is it true that he only kills wako?"

"Yes. He assembled a pirate-hunting crew. He never attacked innocent people. How could he when he was trying to honor the memory of an innocent?"

It took Seokjin a few seconds to realize that Taehyung was talking about him. He felt even more unworthy of Jungkook's friendship. But he wondered what he intended to do now that he knew he was alive. And himself, now that he knew Jungkook was alive, should he replace his revenge with another, for his father, and continue living the same life?

"You can fight this battle for a more just cause," Taehyung said as if reading his thoughts.

"What do you mean?"

"Ridding the seas of his killers isn't a noble cause when it's done for revenge. It becomes one when it's done to protect people. And this time, you would do it together."

"Do you honestly think I'm going to join a wako crew?" Seokjin retorted. "Why? To massacre wakos to protect Joseon? I can do it as an admiral."

"You could do it," Taehyung corrected. "You will no longer be able to do without the protection your father offered you."

Faced with Seokjin's astonishment, he explained:

"Your father told Jungkook, I only heard."

"Wha- What did he say?" Seokjin stammered, eager to hear what his father had shared with Jungkook that had undoubtedly convinced him to join his rescue mission.

"He said your life as a sailor was driven only by revenge, which made you immoral. All those pirates you killed without respecting the laws of Joseon, it's thanks to him that you were able to continue doing so all this time, because he wanted to allow you to heal from your suffering. You were ultimately acting more like a wako than an honorable marine, weren't you?"

"He never told me that," Seokjin huffed.

It was something he'd never accepted. He hated wako and had sworn to eradicate them. But knowing that even his father had perceived the immorality and kept it deep in his heart made him realize this now. How much had he hurt him, and his mother, by taking this path? His father had told him many times that he was proud of him, but was he really?

"I don't think he was mad at you. He must have just been sad for you and saddened that he cannot help you overcome your suffering."

Taehyung's gaze was still unfathomable, but in his cold, lucid way, he showed a concern that touched Seokjin. He thought back to his father's expression before he died. He had smiled. At him and at Jungkook. He wasn't sad at that moment. He seemed at peace facing his ultimate accomplishment. After that, Seokjin didn't want to cause him any trouble beyond death.

"Do you think he'd be sad if I avenged him, just once, by killing Kaïto?" he murmured.

Taehyung thought about it.

"I think he'd be sad if you did it in this solitude you've lived in for so long," he said finally.

This brought the ghost of an amused smile to Seokjin's sad face.

"You really want me to ally myself with you, huh?"

"In my eyes, you're already one of us."

His sincerity disarmed Seokjin.

"Am I like you, a suffering being that Jungkook took in?" he wondered then.

"We've shared enough that I know you're more than that. I always believed that if I were to die before my lord and captain, my life would have to end. After all, Jungkook gave me a second life, and I didn't want a third. Today, I have a newfound certainty. If Jungkook weren't to survive, I would choose you as my lord and captain."

Stunned by this revelation, Seokjin looked at him with astonished eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't speak lightly."

"I know that, that's why I'm wondering if you've lost your mind."

"I haven't lost my mind. You're the person closest to Jungkook, and he asked me to look after you. I would be honored to honor my promise to him with someone like you."

Embarrassed and feeling his ears getting hot, the admiral quickly said with confidence:

"Jungkook isn't dead. He'll wake up and he'll have to find you by his side."

Taehyung offered him his boxy smile that Seokjin found funny on his serious face.

"You're right. But he'll also have to find you. That's probably what will make him want to hang on and survive the most."

He stood up and helped Seokjin up as well, but instead of leading him toward the exit, he sat him down on the bed and lifted his legs to lie him down next to Jungkook.

"What are you doing?" Seokjin asked, frowning.

"You need to rest, so do it here. Someone has to watch over the captain constantly, and I have to watch over his ship until he comes to."

"I'm not the most qualified person right now to watch over anyone," Seokjin protested, sitting up and wincing in pain.

But Taehyung forced him to lay his head on a pillow next to Jungkook's.

"On the contrary, I believe you're the most qualified person in this case."

Seokjin turned to Jungkook's unconscious face.

"Your samurai isn't very reliable," he told him. "Do you realize he appointed me to protect you?"

This amused Taehyung, who didn't regret his choice. He was about to leave, but a sudden thought stopped him.

"One last thing, do you know a man from Joseon named Ihnkyang?"

_________

A/N: This song really sounds like a Japanese anime ending. I haven't even found the translation of the korean songs on the album yet, I'm just enjoying the music and the sounds X)

https://youtu.be/UFeCEeD85AU