You were currently in your and Emily's shared room, laying on the bed with sprawled limbs and staring at the lonely lightbulb above. There was a silence since you were alone in the room, only accompanied by your own thoughts. Even though you were glad that Jin had reclaimed Tranen with much time to spare, you couldn't be as happy as you should have. There was too much going on for you to feel any sort of joy.

"Your mind is clouded with thoughts of Yoongi," K spoke suddenly, nearly making you fall off your bed out of shock. Turning around, you saw her sitting on Emily's bed, staring at you with hooded and expressionless eyes, hands folded over her lap. "You mustn't feel guilty, Sky. Although, I cannot deny that the break-up was partially your fault."

"Thanks for reassuring me," You replied sarcastically and rolled your eyes before sitting up, both hands ruffling your silver hair. K was still staring back at her, face void of any emotion. Sighing loudly, you yawned and stretched your arms, making your shirt rise to expose your stomach. There was a moment of awkward silence before you decided to speak. "So—"

"You are not that skilled at conversation starters... or at conversing with people, in general," K spoke suddenly, making your eye twitch out of irritation. You didn't think it was necessary for you to be roasted each time she opened her mouth. Although... you kind of felt like you deserved it big time. "You are bored. I suggest speaking to the one person who needs you the most."

You sighed again, knowing exactly what K was trying to tell you. Truthfully, you knew that you needed to clarify more things with Yoongi, since the first conversation you had with him obviously wasn't enough to straighten things. Swinging your legs from the edge of the bed, you craned your neck backwards before speaking again. "K... As much as I'd want to talk to Yoongi, I think it would be for the best for us to not meet right now. I may not be an expert when it comes to social cues but I know one thing. He needs time. I... hurt him. It would hurt him more if I kept engaging with him."

There was a long and uncomfortable silence that thickened in the air until finally, K broke it with an unsurprisingly monotonous voice. "Sky, I was not talking about Yoongi."

It took a moment for you to realize what you said, eyes widening like two large ceramic plates. K didn't say anything and just stared at you, as if expecting an answer but also not. You didn't know what to say, however, since you felt like whatever words you'd say would just worsen the situation. So, you stayed quiet instead.

You couldn't even describe how bad you felt about what you had done to Yoongi. Even though you knew that the best option to not hurt him any further was to break-up with him but paining him was inevitable. You had been absolutely confused with your feelings towards Yoongi that you mistook it as romantic love when it fact it was just platonic love. And you hated yourself for it because you knew how much loved you. The fire gem bearer never failed to show you how much he adored and cared for you.

Yet you screwed Yoongi over and left him for dead. You were a terrible person — you knew that.

"Sky," K spoke as you instantly shifted your solemn expression to one with a smile. You tried to find any emotion in her expression but failed to do so. It made you wonder what happened to her and why she wasn't capable of feeling as much as your or anyone else. "Do not think of yourself that way. You humans are complex, minds filled with complicated thoughts. The way you reacted towards your relationship with Yoongi was merely due to your confusion. And your reason is acceptable. Please do not torture yourself with self-blame."

Your eyes widened at K's words since you knew that she was trying to cheer you up, even with her monotonous voice. Smiling, you turned towards the former guardian with a nod. Despite all that happened, she was still one of your good friends. "Thanks, K."

K didn't reply, only looking away as a response to your statement. You swore that there was a small smile on her face but the angel from where you were sitting made you unsure. "Emily is self-training in the sparring room at the bottom floor of Greta. I advise you speak to her."

You were about to question K but wasn't able to because she disappeared right after she finished speaking. After an awkward silence, you shrugged and hopped out of bed, using your palms to flatten the wrinkles of your jeans. Slowly opening the door, you peaked into the hallway, squinting your eyes and trying to see if anyone was there. Since there was nobody, you stepped out cheerfully.

Or so you thought. The moment you closed the door of your room, a foreign voice rang from behind you, along with a tap on the shoulder. "Hey, Sky!"

You nearly jumped out of your skin at the sudden voice but made sure to keep your cool when you turned around. Due to this, you became face to face with Hoseok, who was floating upside with crossed legs and arms, dark bangs falling and revealing his forehead. He was smiling, mouth forming the shape of a heart. You wondered how the air gem bearer was glowing despite Jungkook owning the light gem. "Geez, Hoseok, you nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Whoops, sorry," Hoseok giggled before twirling in the air and landing softly on his feet, giving you a short view of his bare stomach before his white t-shirt covered it. He stared at you for a moment with smiling eyes and you failed to see what was running in his mind at this very moment. "Yoongi went that way, not sure where he's going though."

You raised an eyebrow as Hoseok pointed at the empty hallway behind him with his thumb, the same heart smile still on his face. There was a moment of silence and you only spoke after realizing that he was gesturing towards Jungkook's room. "I'm... not looking for Yoongi."

"Oh?," Hoseok's smile dropped and now he was wearing a frown, something that resembled an upside down heart. He stroked his chin, obviously in deep thought. "I was sure that you were. Sorry."

You softly shook your head and kept a warm smile despite the awkward situation. "It's fine, Hoseok."

"Emily is downstairs," Although K already provided you with this piece of information, you were still stunned by Hoseok's intuition. It was almost as if he could read minds like Jungkook, which terrified you a bit.

"How did you know I was looking for Emily?," You asked slowly, failing to hide your baffled expression.

"Well," Hoseok clasped his hands together and pursed his lips, revealing a tiny dimple at the left corner of his mouth. He used two fingers to push up his glasses and you swore that there was a shine that glinted across the lens, if that was even possible. "To put it simply, I merely used the law of elimination to finalize my deduction. As of right now, the Single Men Club are gathered in Jimin's room for reasons I still have not figured out and Jin is in the kitchen, raiding the fridge. Taehyung is captaining the ship. You were walking the opposite direction of where Yoongi and Jin's shared room is located so I assumed that you were looking for Emily, who I witnessed walking down the stairs to the bottom half of the ship while I was taking a stroll."

You were silenced by Hoseok's mixture of being extra and being smart and watched him cackle like some kind of anime protagonist. Setting aside your thoughts of the air gem bearer literally stalking everyone, you turned on your heel and waved at him. "Uh... I'll get going now. See you later—"

"Yoongi is a good man, Sky," You froze at Hoseok's words, his tone changing drastically, feet rooted to the wooden floor of the hallway. Not even daring to turn around, you listened to the air gem bearer as you heard gust of winds flutter by. "And we all know that you're someone good too, both as a friend or as someone more, in his case. You shouldn't feel bad for what happened. Maybe it was for the best, you know? You shouldn't beat yourself up for it."

You were unsure whether you should turn around or not and if it was right for you to say something or not so instead, you stood there and stared at the dark hallway ahead. From the side, you could see Hoseok's shadow, telling you that he was still standing behind you. Should you laugh, cry, be angered? You didn't know.

It took a moment until Hoseok whistled, breaking the silence. This finally made you turn around to see the air gem bearer rubbing his nap awkwardly, smiling once again. "I should get going too, I mean, who else is gonna bother Taehyung and attempt to force him to open up? See ya!"

You blinked and glanced over your shoulder to witness a literal cloud of air fading away as the door to the deck slammed shut. A bit stunned by Hoseok's duality, you slowly walked the stairs confused and pushed the door open. You were greeted by a room inside Greta that you have never thought of entering.

Hoseok was right because the bottom half of the ship really was a storage room. The purple paint on the walls was fading and chipping away. Both open and closed boxes were littered everywhere, as if they had been tossed around the area, which was swaying from side to side in the water. You slowly stepped forward and glanced around the room, spotting strange objects — furniture such as wooden seats and tables, house decor, lamps — it was as if someone had tried to relocate using this ship.

You paused when your foot hit something soft, which felt like a sack of cotton. Looking down and seeing the small devil toy on the ground, you picked it up with a frown and inspected it. The doll's face had a smirk of pointed fangs, a short black tail sticking out of its ass with twin horns on its head. While staring at it, you noticed a portrait on the floor.

Setting the doll on one of the boxes, you squatted down to get a closer look at the portrait and moved some of the glass shards away. It was a framed picture of a family of four but the shattered glass made it impossible for you to see the young girl and mother's face. Instead you saw the father's stoic expression and a little boy you did not fail to recognize. It was none other than the bearer of the gem of darkness, Taehyung.

Taehyung. Again, you thought about him. You remembered how you had taught him about comfort and how uncomfortable he seemed throughout the whole thing. It made you sigh at loud, especially since you knew what he thought of you. Still, seeing the portrait made you wonder what his family was like, if he was close to his parents or not and who his little sister was.

You heard a loud grunt, your train of thought shattering when you recognized it as Emily's. Looking forward and seeing a slightly opened the door, you sprinted towards it and peeked into the sparring room's interior.

Emily was standing in the middle of the sparring room, her skin glistening due to how much she was sweating, long brown hair tied into a bun and shirt tucked upwards to reveal her belly. She had both fists balled, wrapped with bandages, and was in a fighting stance as she breathed heavily, a sandbag hanging in front of her. Releasing a loud battle cry, you watched as your best friend kicked and punched at the sandbag continuously and without mercy, telling you how stressed she was feeling. It didn't take long until one of the punches bore a hole into the sandbag, destroying it completely.

You quietly stepped in the room as Emily abandoned the broken sandbag and walked towards the rack of weapons. The moment she grabbed a wooden staff with blades at both edges, you spoke. "Hey, Em—"

Emily's first instinct was to swing her weapon and you immediately blocked the attack by raising your arm. The blade would have cleanly sliced your throat if you didn't. After a moment, the protector realized who she was facing, her fierce expression fading. "Sky? Oh my God, I'm sorry! I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No... it's fine, Em," You smiled, although you still couldn't help but think that you could have seriously died if it wasn't for your instincts. Still, you didn't show Emily this. "You've been in here the whole day. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Emily answered with a low voice as she turned away. It was silent as she tossed away the destroyed sandbag and grabbed a new one from a pile of sandbags at the side of the room. She hung it by tipping on her toes and you could hear the friction of the rope as she made knots.

"Em," You paused when Emily spun the staff in her hands and struck the sandbag, one of the blades grazing its body and making grains of sand fall to the floor. "I'm your best friend. I know whether you're being bothered by something or not. Also, you're a terrible liar. What's wrong?"

Emily sighed loudly after slashing the sandbag multiple times, grains of sand pooling around your feet. Taking a towel from the small desk, she wiped the sweat off her face and leaned on the wall. You watched your best friend take deep breaths as silence fell in the room, tension thick in the air. "It's about my mother."

Huh? You had to blink to fully process Emily's words. Since you were both orphans, it was strange for her to be bothered about the mother she had never met before. Unless... "Your mother? What do you mean your mother?"

"Stop asking. You won't understand," Emily snapped as she tossed her wet towel away and tightened the bun on her head.

Somehow, Emily's words hit you hard and you felt a pain sting in your heart. She was right. You wouldn't understand because you had never met your mom either and for some reason, you felt bad for feeling that way. You were quiet as she picked up the staff again and prepared to spar with the sandbag. "You're... you're right, Em. I wouldn't understand."

Emily glanced at you for a good five seconds before she realized what she had said. Eyes widening, she dropped the weapon and ran towards you, grabbing your shoulders as you looked away with sad eyes. "Sky, I'm so sorry. I— I didn't mean it that way."

Although it was a definite fact that Emily's words had hurt you, you knew that she had only said it out of anger and didn't mean you any harm. And you forgave her for that, no matter how much you were pained by it. So, you faced her with a smile. "It's alright. I knew you didn't."

Emily stared at you apologetically before she dropped her hands off your shoulders, obviously feeling sorry. She dug into her pocket and fished out a crumpled yet neatly folded piece of paper. You stared at it questionably as it was handed to you. "Read it and you'll know what I mean."

You stared at Emily with arched eyebrows as she gestured at you to open the letter. Hesitantly, you opened the letter and read it carefully, eyes widening the more you progressed. When you were finished, your jaw was now dropped. "Wha— Mathilde is your—"

"Apparently, she's my mother," Emily scoffed and shook her head before picking up the staff again. This time, she just straight up stabbed the sandbag without doing any sort of special moves or attacks. You could tell that she was going through a complicated mixture of emotions and since you understood how it felt, you were concerned. "Ironic, isn't it? How my mother had been next to me at one point and she never even made me aware of it. It's funny, you know? All my life, I've been angry towards my parents for leaving me behind, forcing me to grow up early as a child! I took out all my anger by training because how else could I?! I'm still mad at my mother but now that she actually showed me signs of existing, I—"

Emily froze once the sandbag had been completely sliced in half and the two of you coughed at the amount of sand polluting the air. You watched your best friend as she slowly dropped her weapon, lips trembling as she furiously untied her hair and ran her hands through them. You didn't say anything. You knew you shouldn't be right now.

"I... I don't know what to do," Emily's voice cracked and it was obvious that she was close to tears but you could tell that she was holding herself back when it came to any emotion that wasn't anger, like she always did.

You watched in silence as Emily slipped off her sweaty shirt and took a clean folded tee resting on the small desk. In situations like these, you knew that you should be careful with your words since your best friend was very sensitive at the moment. Releasing a sigh, you stepped forward once Emily was wearing the dry pink shirt. "You should give yourself some time to think about all this, Em. Maybe after that, you'll be able to figure things out, you know? Thinking about it a lot will just stress you out, trust me. The answer will come to you eventually."

Emily glanced over her shoulder to face you with glassy eyes, seemingly contemplating your words. After a moment, she smiled and jumped towards you, embracing you in a big hug that nearly made you lose your balance. The way she clung at you made you remember that she was younger, which was a fact that you had forgotten due to your best friend acting all mature as your protector.

"Thank you," Emily spoke softly, her grip on you tightening.

You awkwardly pat Emily's head before smiling back, ignoring how she smelled of sweat. "You're my best friend, Em. You'll always be welcome."

-

"I don't understand," Jungkook chewed on his bottom lip, wings folding behind him as he scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. It didn't help that he was being bombarded with Jimin's thoughts, which was adding more to his predicament. "What is this concept of drinking that you humans have?"

Since Namjoon revealed that it had been pretty obvious for Jungkook to be Vredeian because of his wings, he started to question the human culture. For example, when Jin asked the angel about Vredeian wine and said something about a celebratory drink, he couldn't understand what they were trying to do.

"Well, Jungkook, I'm sure that you can read my thoughts right now but I'll explain anyway," Jimin clasped his hands together and pursed his thick lips, eyes turning into crescent lines, his orange bangs swaying over his eyes. Jungkook blinked innocently, his mouth slightly open due to his curiosity. He raised a finger and used a tone that sounded like it belonged to a salesman. "The concept of drinking is simple, Jungkookie. We humans tend to use alcoholic drinks whenever we feel stressed or down. Take me as an example! Back when I was a celebrity, I would sometimes drink in the middle of the night after late schedules to wash away my sad thoughts with high levels of alcohol! It made me feel so much better even though I had a splitting headache every morning whenever I did. Worth it."

"Uh, you never told us that," Namjoon chimed in with a stunned expression, eyes wide and mouth slightly parted. He was sitting on the bed next to Jungkook, while Yoongi and Jimin were on chairs across them. "How often did you do that?"

"Not the point," Jimin replied with a wide smile before facing a very baffled Jungkook again. "What I'm trying to say, Jungkook, is that you'll finally be able to experience how humans hold a drinking party!"

Jungkook wasn't really sure if he was down for that. Even though Jimin was the only one who looked excited since Namjoon was hesitant and Yoongi didn't really care, the angel thought about what he could get out of this. As he thought deeply, he unconsciously mumbled out his thoughts. "Hm, according to chapter eighteen of Intergalactic Studies: Volume One, humans tend to do acts that harm themselves without hesitation. Is this proof?"

"That's actually true," Yoongi replied with a shrug, cat eyes dead and void of any emotion. Jungkook caught both Jimin and Namjoon giving the grey haired man a worried glance. The fire gem bearer let out a loud sigh as he slumped on his seat, looking nearly identical to a corpse. "Say, Jungkook, what's the lowest level of an alcoholic drink that you've had?"

Jungkook raised an eyebrow as he had a war of flashback of his entire life in Hemel and tried to remember the answer. When he finally did, he snapped his fingers and grinned to reveal his bunny teeth. "The last time I drank was the day I turned eighteen in Vrede. I think it was about... thirty percent?"

All the other members of the single men club let out a simultaneous scream: "What?!"

Jungkook was bombarded by both verbal and mental questions right after, the most prominent being Jimin's thoughts of how all the alcohol didn't kill him on the spot. Again, the angel was confused and he tilted his head. "Why do you guys think it's strange? That's the lowest level of alcohol we have."

"I won't even question it anymore," Yoongi groaned and Jin walked in the room at that very moment, holding a bottle of Vredeian vodka in his hands. Jungkook wondered how he identified the drink then he went through the water gem bearer's mind and found out that he had sniffed every liquid in the fridge. Weird.

"You aren't drinking with us?," Namjoon asked after Jin set down the drink on the table and turned towards the door.

When Jin replied no, both Jimin and Namjoon made an effort to convince him to stay and drink with them, which took a painstaking thirty minutes until they finally succeeded. Jungkook watched in both bafflement and amusement as his human friends poured drinks for each other (one for him). Even Yoongi, who seemed not at all interested just a few moments ago, now had a small smile on his face as he sipped on a glass of wine.

And not even a few minutes passed when:

"And I!," Yoongi suddenly stood on the table with a flushed face and empty glass, stunning everyone in the room. Well, that was quick. He then coughed violently and nearly smacked Jimin in the face with his ass. "Holy sh— Will always! Love you!"

Instead of being concerned, laughs rang throughout the room and Jungkook couldn't help but join them in their wacky story-telling and joke-cracking. As he listened to the clinking of glass and slushing of wine, the alcohol coating his taste buds, he suddenly felt refreshed. They all, for a moment, had forgotten about how they were the only ones who could stop two worlds from ending.

Jungkook, however, knew this scene of joy reminded him of something. And his smile faded instantly.

"Jungkook, must you leave your own party so early?," Queen Miranda, Jungkook's mother and queen of Hemel, called out when she noticed her son dodging the guests and heading towards the stairs.

Releasing a sigh under his breath, Jungkook put on a smile as he turned around and faced Queen Miranda, who was a long sparkling white dress, the skirt puffy and resembling an upside down budding flower. Her wings had gold charms attached to the feathers and matched the golden crown on her head of curly blonde hair.

Jungkook looked down at his own white tuxedo, arranged his black bowtie and slowly folded his wings behind his back. He bowed a bit, some strands of his blonde hair falling over his face. "Mother, I wish to retreat early for the night. I still have the official prince coronation tomorrow morning, do I not?"

"Yes... that is right, you do," Queen Miranda said after a few moments of silence, a warm smile on her face. She gently held Jungkook's arm and rubbed it as a sign of affection, since the more obvious ones like hugging wasn't deemed acceptable in front of the public, which was absolute nonsense in his point of view. "Have you told your father?"

Jungkook didn't reply and only glanced behind his mother to see the figure of King Adrien, his father and King of Hemel, laughing as he conversed with the council of the light kingdom. He was wearing his long red cape and white outfit, paired with his crown that held the light gem, white wings big and proud.

Queen Miranda got the message through Jungkook's silence and released a sigh of exasperation. "I see. I will tell your father in your place. Rest well, okay my little angel? Make sure to see the fireworks before you sleep, alright?"

"Of course, Mother," Jungkook smiled, still eyeing his father's figure as he bowed towards the Queen and ascended up the flight of stairs. As the party noise slowly faded the farther he got, a smile slowly grew on his face. There was only one reason why he wanted to get away from the party and it definitely wasn't because of resting for tomorrow's coronation.

Jungkook's ears perked when he noticed his two personal guards still standing next to the tall golden doors of his bedroom. After dismissing them, he quietly shut and locked his the doors before switching on the lights, anticipation pooling in his stomach.

Just like Jungkook had expected, Kiana was sitting on his bed, her flawless side profile shown to him because of how she looked out the window and to the night sky. She was much taller, thinner and had more curves now, obviously grown into a beautiful lady. She was still wearing her black stockings matched with black heeled shoes. A transparent purple cape was draped over her shoulders, revealing some of her skin because her inner black shirt was sleeveless, and a single ring was on both middle fingers of her hands, connecting to her cape. Her long silver hair was tied in a single curled ponytail that ran down her shoulder.

"Kiana," Jungkook breathed out with a big bunny smile, making Kiana turn around and return the same expression. They both ran to each other's arms for a big hug, the angel using his wings to wrap around his best friend. "I knew you'd come."

"Of course. I wouldn't miss my closest friend's eighteenth birthday, now would I?," Kiana pulled away with a smile and used her palms to straighten Jungkook's white tuxedo. She looked up at him fondly and the angel swallowed dryly at the short distance. Strange. "Look at you, all grown up. I used to be much taller than you but I now I have to look up whenever we talk. You're officially getting the light gem at tomorrow's coronation too."

"You sound like my mother," Jungkook laughed, making Kiana chuckle. He was just staring at her with a loving expression, head tilted slightly to the side. He knew that he already felt something more for his best friend but he didn't dare tell her. It wasn't an option for him to possibly ruin their friendship.

Although, Jungkook made a promise to himself that he'd tell Kiana one day.

Kiana turned back towards the window, staring silently at the night sky. Her expression shifted into a solemn one as he eyes shifted to the ground. "Taehyung would be so proud of you."

Jungkook's smile faded as he recalled a small Taehyung playing hopscotch with him on the rough plains of Hel. Then, his snarling face flashed across his mind and he flinched. "You know that's not true."

"Don't say that," Kiana replied sternly and wore a serious expression. "I know that Taehyung still cares about you, me... us both. He's just... not the best at expressing himself."

A silence fell over as the two stared ahead, awaiting Hemel's yearly birthday fireworks for the prince. Jungkook quietly glanced at his side, being careful so that Kiana wouldn't notice him. He stared at her perfect features, her sharp eyes and her pink lips. At that moment, he realized that he was so in love with his own best friend.

And since the two of them were from two opposing kingdoms, Jungkook knew how hard it was going to be. But he was willing to try. He slowly slipped his hand in Kiana's and tightened his grip, a blush rising to his cheeks.

Kiana's eyes widened as she glanced at Jungkook, who turned away just in time. He was regretting his decision until he felt her squeeze his hand back. This stunned him so he turned back around and saw the Helian smiling at him fondly.

Jungkook knew what that smile meant.

"You know what will happen, right?," Kiana spoke slowly as she continued to stare right into Jungkook's baby blue eyes. "If they ever find out—"

"I know," Jungkook replied before Kiana could say anything else and used his free hand to cup her cheek. "It's going to be okay, Kiana. We're going to make it work. I promise."

Kiana nodded hesitantly with a worrisome smile. Jungkook kept staring at her face, his eyes unconsciously flicking towards her lips. She got the message and closed her eyes, signaling him to lean in and do it.

Jungkook gulped, his heart hammering against his ribcage. His wings flapped violently as a sign of how nervous he was. Closing his eyes as well, he leaned in and let his emotions do the rest of the work.

And just as the first firework exploded into a series of bright lights in Hemel's night sky, Jungkook and Kiana had proved one thing to themselves — they loved each other and their secret was sealed with a kiss.

"Jungkook? Jungkook, can you hear me?"

Jungkook blinked multiple times until he realized that he was back in his room inside Greta, watching the Single Men Club members riot during their intoxicated states. Before he could register that Namjoon was twerking across him, he turned towards Jin, who was now sitting next to him. He looked more sober than most. "You aren't drunk?"

"Didn't drink. Just pretended to so they could leave me be," Jin shrugged with his broad shoulders before facing Jungkook with concern. Of course, this confused the angel. Jimin was hollering electric guitar noises in the background. "Are you alright? After you drank a bit you spaced out and just... silently stared at the wall. I thought you died while sitting down or something. You even cried at one point."

Jungkook suddenly felt the tears running down his cheeks and quickly wiped them with his hand. He smiled at Jin, who was anticipating his reply with a raised eyebrow. "I'm okay, Jin. I think my eyes were just a bit dry."

Jin didn't push the topic any further. Jungkook was glad. He was definitely not okay.

-

Taehyung slumped on the captain's wheel and released a loud groan due to his mixture of frustration and boredom. He was glad that Hoseok, who had decided to burst his personal space bubble by throwing random science facts that he could care less about at him, had left before he could fully consider murdering him. However, there was nothing but the sound of rushing water around him, which fueled to his boredom.

Not being a fan of loud noises, Taehyung felt like stabbing Hoseok in the gut when he literally arrived screaming in high pitches. Although, he would admit that it slightly entertained him during the silent trip. He stared ahead and watched the water, leaning on the railings next to the wheel with crossed arms and using purple mist to drive the ship. He could also smell the salty sea water in the air.

"One day, I'll sail the skies with my very own ship!," Young Jungkook exclaimed as he stood on a protruding rock on the plains of Hel, pointing a finger upwards with a smirk, wings angled to make himself look fierce. "I'll explore the world!"

"Ships can't fly, dummy," Kiana giggled next to Taehyung, who was just staring at his two younger friends in amusement.

"But I can! If I can fly then so can ships!"

Taehyung sighed loudly at the memory, feeling irritated at himself for feeling... soft at what he had recalled, especially since ships like Greta now had the ability to sail through air and Jungkook being in the said ship meant— No. Just as he was about to shake off these thoughts, he heard the fluttering of wings, followed by footsteps and the shutting of a door. His blood ran cold at the voice. "Tae?"

Jungkook stood there with eyebrows slightly furrowed, mouth parted to reveal his big teeth, eyes big and round. Taehyung stared at the angel for a few seconds and expected him to say something but when he didn't, he spoke instead. "What?"

"It's nothing, I just...," Jungkook trailed off before stepping closer to Taehyung, who straightened his back and grabbed a handle of the captain's wheel by instinct. "I just want to chat. You know, like what old friends do."

Taehyung didn't know what to say to that and ended up staring at Jungkook, who was staring at the horizon solemnly, his blonde hair fluttering with the wind, light bouncing off his blue eyes. He followed his gaze and saw how the sky's colors were mixing beautifully with orange and pink. Sky. He pushed away the thoughts before it could reach his mind.

"Humans are strange, don't you think?," Jungkook started as he leaned on the other side of the captain's wheel, just a few inches away from where Taehyung stood. The darkness gem bearer was still using purple mist to properly navigate the ship. "They are aware of what may potentially harm them but it seems that it doesn't matter. Their species indulges in pain."

"I think humans are just idiots," Taehyung scoffed loudly and used his free hand to play with a small cloud of mist, swirling them around to resemble a solar system. He honestly expected Jungkook to talk about Kiana or the past so this topic caught him by surprise. "Don't you remember human warfare? They destroy with what they create. They're a very dangerous and a very stupid species."

Just like Hel.

Jungkook looked a bit stunned by getting a reply but Taehyung just stared at him blankly, as if it wasn't a big deal. It took a moment until the angel regained his composure. "That may be true but not all of them are. I mean, our friends are okay. I know that they don't represent the whole human race but at least we know that not all of them are bad. Although... I am a bit... confused by their drinking habits."

This made Taehyung arch an eyebrow in curiosity. He shifted his position and now had his stomach pressed against the railings, the strong wind blowing the hood off his face. He didn't bother to put it back on. "Drinking habits?"

"Drinking habits," Jungkook replied while shaking his head, seemingly finding the idea itself amusing. Taehyung was staring in anticipation. "I personally witnessed it with the Single Men Club. Humans have this habit of intoxicating themselves to celebrate achievements or just... to make themselves feel happy."

"Are you sure it isn't just them?," Taehyung questioned with crossed arms. "I mean, that perfectly fits into the humans being dangerous idiots trope."

"No, it's common for their species," Jungkook shrugged and ruffled his own blonde hair with an eye closed. "They have one percent and two percent alcohol levels in their drinks because this behavior is usual to them."

"Really?," Taehyung laughed lightly, a boxy smile spreading across his face as he shook his head. "That sounds so stupid yet so intriguing."

Jungkook didn't reply, making Taehyung stare at him in confusion. When he realized what had happened and registered the angel's stunned look, his eyes widened and his smile instantly faded. Dead silence was in the air as the two only stared at each other, not knowing what to make of this situation.

"T-Taehyu—"

"Take the wheel," Taehyung spoke with gritted teeth, not willing to hear whatever Jungkook was going to say. He passed the angel with noisy steps, intent on going straight to his room.

Jungkook paused for a while as he grabbed the wheel, a bit of panic striking him when he realized that Taehyung was going to avoid him again. "Tae, wait a sec—"

"Don't," Taehyung hissed the moment he grabbed the door's handle, eyes flashing purple as he glared at Jungkook, who looked like his heart had just shattered. "Just... don't."

Taehyung slammed the door behind him, leaving Jungkook alone in the deck with his own thoughts. He stared down at the stairs leading to the hallway but instead of walking down, he leaned his back on the door and grunted, running both his hands down his face. He hated himself for feeling all these and he hated himself for not being able to understand.

The only thing Taehyung could do was whisper under his breath, his voice low. "I'm sorry, Jungkook."

-

A/N - unedited lol did i or did i not forget to warn y'all about the angst in this chapter hmmm biggest mystery of kpop and how could I not add a drunk single men club scene??

Also to clear things up: Taehyung is an anti-hero which means he is a mix of good and bad. This will be further explained as the story progresses. And did anyone else freak out when he laughed for the first time in the history of ever (in this story) cos I did

Aaaaand the following three arcs are gonna be a major angst fest (get ready to cry at #KooKi 's story that's kiana and jk btw) so yeah prepare yourselves cos when I told my friend about it she screamed multiple times

My college semester also ended which means vacation = more time to write!! Yes!! I'll do my best to update frequently during my 5 weeks of no school ;;

Also I dropped so many hints in this chap regarding future events I hope y'all got them ohoho

I hope y'all loved this 6.5k word update! See y'all in the next chap!