You want a better story. Who wouldn't?

A forest, then.

- Richard Siken

_ _

[SEARCH - KIM SEOKJIN - JOURNALS]

The last of the boarding houses have burned. We'll make a memorial on one of the sites, but the rest will be rebuilt into something better. Yoongi is drafting plans for long-term recovery centers for former companions, where they can have shelter and access to education and other treatment. The hospitals shouldn't hold them forever. A few will be designated for care of companions who are unable to integrate back into society due to physical or mental ailments.

There is so much trauma. Yoongi doesn't like to talk about his, but I know he isn't sleeping well. Sometimes, on rare occasions, Jimin wakes up screaming and I always worry that it's my face he sees in those nightmares. He assures me that it isn't, but that could be him just trying not to hurt me. I would understand, if it is. I have plenty of dreams where I'm the monster. Sometimes, I feel like I can still see my initials under the snake tattooed on his arm.

[PREV] [NEXT]

I'm 27 years old today. The court wanted to declare it a city-wide holiday but I vetoed it. Yoongi's birthday is in a mere three months and it would be silly to have yet another celebration, then. Not to mention that I know Yoongi wants the attention even less than I do. This isn't the kind of king we're trying to be. I remember Yi Seojun's birthdays. Before the one we killed him on anyway. The whole city was supposed to celebrate, but it usually just meant pain for the outer sectors. He would always order additional raids as posturing and take on new companions for his massive entourage.

I found Yoongi in their quarters the other day. Most of them had to sleep on thin mats on the floor. There were chains bolted into the ground too. I asked Yoongi what he wanted to do about it. Yoongi said he wanted to leave it. He hopes that when we're gone, this place will become a memorial of its own. That as terrible and brutal and painful all this history is, we cannot forget it.

Anyway, back to my birthday. I denied a city-wide holiday or a public party of any kind. Instead, I gathered the whole family together (a feat these days) and we had drinks in my quarters. It was nice to be able to just be Seokjin again instead of a king. Taehyung teased me about getting old. Jimin, the menace, kept flirting until I know my ears must have been red.

Everyone looks healthy, these days. Hoseok has taken to wearing a patch over his bad eye, but it makes him dashing instead of ridiculous. Namjoonie seemed tired, but he said that the initial tests of his and Baekhyun's abilities were going well. Soon, we'll try removing Jungkook's mark and see what happens. It terrifies me, but Jungkook's excited.

I hope, for all our sakes, that the results are good.

[PREV] [NEXT]

Rebuilding projects in the outer sectors are going well. In another five years, we should have new housing for everyone. We have plans to raze the condemned zones completely. Hopefully, we'll be able to replace all those crumbling Old World buildings with greenhouses and even farmland. It might take a few more decades before everything is in place, but I have hope.

Education programs are in full swing. So many former Marked were never even taught how to read or write, so we've set up small, local centers all over the outer sectors. Hoseok has spearheaded that effort and we received an abundance of volunteers when we first announced their launch. Another thing that gives me hope. Someday, our universities will be full of students from all the sectors, I believe this. We're also working on creating an organization that will reunite former Marked with their families, if they desire it and if records can be found.

It is going to take a long time, but there is light on the horizon.

[SEARCH: SEOUL INSTITUTE - KIM TAEHYUNG - RECORDS]

KTH PERSONAL RECORD LOG:

Test 20 on JJK successful, ready to move forward with other subjects. Have asked for volunteers and received many applications. Science division will sort through them and choose only those that are in good health and seem as stable as possible. We've all agreed that no other former companions should be tested at this stage, though Yukhei has insisted on participating. I wasn't able to talk him out of it, so he's been added to the roster.

Stubborn idiot. Though maybe I'm a hypocrite since I've volunteered myself too.

[PREV] [NEXT]

Results are varying. It seems that for some, their powers return when the mark is removed. And for others they don't. Mine haven't. It hurts a little, knowing that I'll never have them when We're not certain why. Further tests are required to determine if there's any kind of pattern. So far, results have been good. Only a few cases of instability that we're also researching further.

Another year or two, though, and I'm pretty sure we'll be ready to form a proper agricultural unit. Right now, Namjoon, Baekhyun, Kihyun, and Jungkook have been handling most of the greenhouse construction and maintenance and I know it's wearing on them. But Yukhei is joining them soon. So are Ten and Mark, once they finish the final round of testing.

I feel empty and I'm not sure what to do about it. I know Jungkook is concerned but I can't talk to him. Not about this. I don't want to put anything else on his shoulders, either. I'll be fine, I just need some time to process. It's just another thing to mourn, that's all.

[PREV] [NEXT]

We've discovered something incredible: when a former Marked dies, if their mark was removed and they're buried, a tree grows on the grave site. And its leaves remain brilliant gold, no matter the season. Nor do they ever wither. We've designated a large patch of land in Sector 10 for a cemetary. We want a physical place where people can go to mourn, and we want them to have the option of burial instead of just cremation.

I want to be buried there, whenever my time comes. I like the idea of resting beneath a golden tree. That my body will continue to seed the restoring earth. That something beautiful can come from grave soil. I'll be next to Jungkook too.

Our trees can grow together.

[SEARCH: ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT - KSJ]

Guho,

I write you this letter in hopes you'll heed my warnings. The things you have been talking about - they're dangerous. Haven't you heard the rumors? The kings have a spymaster that sits in the center of an expansive web. There is nothing he doesn't know about, no whisper he doesn't manage to overhear. Just last year, he uncovered Lee Jangmi's plans when they were still in their earliest stages and I'm sure you remember that execution. No one knows how he does it, but he must have spies everywhere.

You are meeting too openly and it's only a matter of time before he intervenes. You must be more discreet. I support you, my friend, and your cause. These new kings have unleashed chaos on our once calm city and who knows what greater damage they'll do if left unchecked on the throne. But we need to go about this carefully and quietly . If the kings' spider finds out, we'll all see the end of an executioner's blade.

KKY

[PREV] [NEXT]

LIST OF CONSPIRATORS, COMPILED BY PJM:

*crossed out names seem to indicate imprisonment and/or execution

Hahn Goeun

Chi Miyoung

Kwon Jitae

Kang Kiyoung

Shin Guho

[PREV] [NEXT]

DRAFT OF A REPORT BY PJM:

He's safe, he's safe, thank the gods he's safe

There was an attack on the king's vehicle tonight at approximately ten p.m. KSJ was traveling to the outer sectors covertly and we're currently unsure how his travel itinerary was leaked, I'll be conducting an investigation of all relevant palace staff immediately.

I'm still compiling an accurate timeline of events, but from eyewitness testimony and KSJ himself, it seems that first his car was fired upon, then an armored vehicle crashed into it, wrecking it. KSJ was temporarily pinned by debris, but managed to free himself after several minutes. He suffered a concussion, a broken arm, and several cracked ribs. The driver of his car died on impact. The driver of the truck is dead, either from the crash or suicide, and the identity of the original shooter is unknown.

KSJ is being treated for his injuries in the palace, attended by private physicians, and JJK and I have tightened security yet again. They're getting bolder, but fortunately not more subtle.

I fully intend to smoke them out. Every last one.

[SEARCH - JUNG HOSEOK]

EXCERPTS FROM PUBLIC BROADCASTS GIVEN BY HOPE:

"Good afternoon, citizens of Seoul. I have to say, it's weird to be addressing you again. And from a fancy recording booth instead of a maintenance closet or an abandoned warehouse. I'm sure that some of you aren't happy to hear my voice. Or that my very public execution didn't go as planned. Unfortunately for you, I'm back and I'm not going anywhere."

[pause]

"I wasn't sure if I was going to continue doing this, though. I originally started out of a sense of desperation. We had no voice, in the outer sectors, and I wanted to be a counter to the endless propaganda and orders from the crown. I wanted to provide comfort, where I could. And keep as many of us ahead of the crown as possible. But now the crown sits on new heads. Now I support it, which a few months ago I wouldn't have been able to fathom."

[laughter]

"I know a lot of you are still wary and I don't blame you. What reason do we have to trust a throne, no matter who's sitting on it? But we all know Suga, don't we? And more than Suga, I know Min Yoongi. I guess this is kind of going to be a new introduction. I had to hide my identity before, just like Yoongi did. But we're out of the shadows now and I want to be as transparent as possible. So I'm Jung Hoseok. I look forward to speaking to you as much as I can in the coming months. And proving to all of you that none of our words are empty."

[PREV] [NEXT]

"Good evening, citizens of Seoul. Winter is coming fast but I have good news. Our food stores are finally in a surplus citywide. This means that as of next week, we'll be easing rationing. Our goal is to do away with it entirely by next winter, but for this one, we will be giving out additional cards to each family. The amount will be determined by the number of people living in the same household. Those still in poorer conditions, with no extra food storage, will also receive an increased amount of cards. And yes, the measure will be in effect for Sectors 1, 2, and 3 too."

[pause]

"We've been working on restructuring our distribution lines, so those in the outer sectors please be assured we'll get resources to you. No more lockdowns. Several new centers will also be opening in Sector 8, 9, and 10 over the next two weeks that will provide blankets, medicine, and any other necessities. Construction projects are still ongoing for new housing, so please bear with us just a little longer on that front. If the building you're currently residing in has been marked as condemned, we promise that we'll have you moved within the next month, before the worst of the cold hits."

[pause]

"Thank you again to everyone who has volunteered to help with these new centers and for all of your patience in this adjustment period. We are still working towards a more comfortable future, but our starving days are behind us at last."

[PREV] [NEXT]

EXCERPT - JUNG HOSEOK PERSONAL LOG

*unlike most of his fellow revolutionaries, JHS did not keep handwritten journals but recorded personal tapes, all of which were handed over to the archives after his death

"Namjoon told me he loves me today. It wasn't a big declaration. He didn't even realize he'd said it until at least five minutes later, like he's been thinking it for a long time and it finally just made it out of his mouth. I remember when he told me that he loved Yoongi —how angry that made me, back then. How angry HE made me. Times really change, huh? This made me ... happy. Really happy. Happier than I expected to be."

[pause]

"I haven't said it back yet. I want to surprise him. Time it just right. I can already hear Yoongi sighing at me, but getting to watch Namjoon nearly choke on his tea because I've pulled the rug out from under him—I don't know, that makes being vulnerable easier. It was always a risk, loving Yoongi. The shadow of loss hovered over us for so long, waiting just around every corner. I never wanted to fall in love with anyone else. Yet here I am, just adding more risk. And it's terrifying. Keeps me up at night, sometimes, knowing just how much of my heart they both have."

[pause]

"But I wouldn't trade it, or their presence in my life. Not for anything."

[FAST-FORWARD]

[STOP]

"An update. Namjoon did, in fact, nearly choke on his tea. And then spit it out almost in my face. But Yoongi laughed harder than I've heard in a while and Namjoon kissed me after he was done smacking my arm so it all worked out, in the end."

[SEARCH - AGRICULTURAL DIVISION - KIM NAMJOON - RECORDS]

FOOD PRODUCTION INVENTORY COMPILED BY KIM NAMJOON

*undated but appears to be the near the start of the third winter of MYG and KSJ reign

Sector 10

1 greenhouse - fully operational, 20 maintenance staff (overseen by BBY)

GOAL: two more greenhouses by next winter + look into options for open farmland within next decade (will need LOTS more former Marked to help)

Sector 9

1 greenhouse - operational within 2 weeks, need at least 2 more maintenance staff (overseen by LMH)

GOAL: same as Sector 10, less options for farmland, though - might be able to build larger greenhouses instead

Sector 8

2 greenhouses - fully operational, 45 maintenance staff (overseen by [real name redacted, codename] TEN)

GOAL: 3 more greenhouses by next winter, overall structure of the sector not as decayed as 9 and 10 - should be able to build greenhouses faster, which can help 9/10 until construction efforts finish

Sector 7

5 greenhouses already operational + 1 more nearing end of construction - total 200+ previous maintenance staff + 20 new former Marked, with more hopefully to come.

NOTE: All city food production is currently overseen by Minhyuk's family. Have left him in charge of placing new managers at the greenhouses.

Sector 6

Manufacturing sector - no greenhouses. Will stay that way for now.

Sector 5

Manufacturing sector - no greenhouses. Will stay that way for now.

Sector 4

Primarily distribution sector but 2 operational greenhouses, 50+ previous maintenance staff + 5 new former Marked

NOTE: No current construction plans until all outer sector greenhouses are complete

Sector 3

6 greenhouses already operational, no current construction plans until outer sector greenhouses are complete - 200+ previous maintenance staff + 15 new former Marked, with hopefully more to come

NOTE: currently salaries are under negotiation but I've put it forward with the Kings that any former Marked working in greenhouses should receive a large bonus as compensation for previous unpaid labor.

FURTHER NOTE: will need to continue massive hiring initiations to compensate for previous unpaid labor by former Marked. Focus on the outer sectors for now.

Sector 1 + 2

No greenhouses and no plans for construction but am drafting proposals for community gardens to be built on former boarding house sites.

Honestly no fucking wonder there were so many food shortages, we only had 13 operational greenhouses to feed over 15 million people what the fuck

[PREV] [NEXT]

EXCERPTS FROM KIM NAMJOON'S PRIVATE JOURNALS:

I'm tired. This winter is set to be one of the coldest on record and we've prepared as much as possible but it still doesn't feel like enough. Every night, I lie in bed and my mind runs through scenario after scenario, trying to come up with more solutions, more things I should be doing. On top of it, Yoongi's sick—a cough that's lingered for two weeks—and it has the whole palace on edge. Just to be sure, Jungkook and Jimin triple checked all the food and drink he's been consuming but it seems to be just a normal cold, not poisoning.

Yoongi says he used to get sick almost every winter, that we shouldn't worry so much, but it's hard not to. Especially since there have been more and more grumbling amongst the elite after being "asked" to hand over two thirds of their wealth and at least a third of their personal food stores to the crown. It was a risky move, angering them like this. But we need the resources and we need the money and power can't stay condensed in Sector 1. In order for us to distribute it better, we first have to consolidate it back around the throne. The Eight have had too much sway over the court for too long.

So, I'm tired. And I can't sleep. Outside, it's snowing and I'm sitting watching the white flurries blanket the courtyard. When I was a child, the first snow was a magical thing. Now, it feels menacing.

Oh, I can hear Hoseok calling me. I suppose I should try to go back to bed.

[PREV] [NEXT]

I know I'm supposed to be drafting a progress report on the first farmstead in Sector 10 (it's going well) but Yoongi gave me a ring today. Sometimes, we're all so busy that it can be hard to see each other for more than a few brief snatches. I can't remember the last time we were intimate or had more than a handful of hours together, especially all three of us. But Yoongi cleared his evening for me and Hoseok and cooked us both dinner himself. Then, almost shyly, presented us with the rings.

He said he was sorry that it couldn't be a public union. But he'd been thinking about Jimin and Seokjin's secret ceremony a few months ago and wanted to do something for us too. To show us his commitment, and that he never planned on marrying anyone for political reasons. We may need to stay secret, for safety, but we won't have to put up with anyone else in Yoongi's bed.

Hoseok teared up, then insisted he wasn't crying. I definitely cried. It's a simple silver band, unengraved, but it's beautiful. Yoongi has one, too, that blends in with his other jewelry. Hoseok and I insisted that we take turns putting it on him, then he put on ours. It wasn't what I'd planned on, years ago, but I'm happy. I don't need anyone else to know my status as Yoongi's and Hoseok's partner. The ring on my finger is enough.

Anyway, back to that report... .

[SEARCH - JEON JUNGKOOK - JOURNALS]

*ARCHIVAL NOTE: Jeon Jungkook kept no personal journals of his own. This is a collection of taped interviews and letters that offer insight into his mind and character

EXCERPT FROM INTERVIEW BETWEEN KTH AND JJK:

KTH: "And you're not experiencing any side effects?"

JJK: " No, nothing. I feel fine? No more tired than usual. And not like I'm going to lose control."

KTH: " That's good. We just need to run a few more tests and then I think you should be in the clear."

JJK: "So is my isolation period over?"

KTH: " Within the next three days, yes."

JJK: "Great, I'm sick of this place."

[pause]

KTH: "Jungkook, I-"

JJK: "That was a joke, Taehyung-ah. I'm okay. I signed up for this, remember?"

KTH: "I know, but having to keep you here in the Institute, running all these tests. I feel like ... like them."

JJK: "I know, but this is different. This is for the greater good, isn't it? Think of everything we'll be able to change once we know how our abilities work. I'd stay in here forever if that's what it took.

KTH: "Well it shouldn't. They're going to run another series of tests tomorrow and then we should have the results back by the middle of the week."

JJK: "Okay. I'm looking forward to it."

KTH: [whispered] "Me too. I miss you."

[A chair creaks.]

[END TAPE]

[PREV] [NEXT]

WITNESS TESTIMONY FROM JJK - CRIMES OF CHOI NAYOUNG

"I've been asked to tell the members of the court and the king's advisors about Choi Nayoung. Really, though, what do you want to hear? You have all the evidence in front of you. Some of you, it seems, have refused to look at it. Does it make you too uncomfortable? To hear me and others screaming? To see the pain she inflicted on us? To know that some of us died under her hands? And those were just the companions she owned personally. We haven't even talked about the dozens of Marked locked up in the Seoul Institute for years."

[pause, deep breath]

"You want me to remind you how horrible she was, so that you can denounce her. So that you can wash your hands of her and shake your heads and pretend like you were better. The former king was told about her crimes, told about her experimenting on companions outside of the Seoul Institute, and he didn't care. I'm sure neither did you. Some of you were probably even guests at her house. Anyone who used a drugged companion at a party benefited from her work. You're not better. You can execute her but that won't absolve you. I'm not going to tell you what you want to hear. I refuse."

[chair creaking, indistinct whispers]

"Look at the videos. All of them. Don't you dare fucking look away. And then figure out how you're going to fix this. It doesn't end with Choi Nayoung's head hanging from the palace walls. I won't let it. I survived, but so many didn't, and you owe them to make sure this never happens again."

[retreating footsteps, a slamming door]

[END TAPE]

[PREV] [NEXT]

Taehyung-ah,

What's Busan like? Is the ocean really as big as all the books say it is? How about the queen? Is she more like Yi Seojun, or Seokjin and Yoongi? I have so many questions and I wish letters weren't so slow.

I know you've only been gone two weeks, but I miss you. Another month of this kind of separation seems almost unbearable. There's a fear in me I didn't realize would manifest. Or maybe it's just been lurking all this time and never had any reason to show up until now. But either way, I keep worrying that I won't see you again at all. Like I used to after being sanctioned, trying to prepare myself for the inevitability. That I would die alone in Sector 1.

I don't like talking about those days much, but the fear won't leave me alone. It doesn't listen when I tell it it's irrational. So annoying.

But everyone here is okay. I know you'll ask about them. Yoongi-hyung's been waging war on a very persistent bird that likes to follow him around the palace. Hoseokie-hyung has been spending most of his days out in Sector 10, checking up on the centers there ahead of winter. Namjoon-hyung goes with him, but to talk to construction workers in the condemned zone. They should have all the Old World buildings cleared out by the time you get back. Jimin told me to tell you to make sure you take at least some pictures of the ocean. Seokjinie-hyung wants you to bring him back a seashell.

And I'm okay, too, I promise. The bed kind of feels too empty, but Jimin sleeps in with me some nights. And the nightmares haven't made any kind of resurgence. The last bad one I had was still nearly six months ago. So don't worry about me. You always worry too much.

Anyway, I hope you're well and I hope the diplomatic talks are going well. I'm sure they're going to be fascinated by all the research you have to present to them.

Write when you can.

All my love,

Jungkook

[SEARCH - MIN YOONGI - JOURNALS]

I dream, sometimes, that I'm walking through an endless forest. I can feel the leaves crunch under my feet and hear birds singing in the distance. The canopy towers so far above me that I can barely see the sky or the sun, just the beams of it that break down to dance amongst the trees. I'm never sure where I'm going, as I walk. My feet just carry me along unseen paths through the undergrowth. Once, I found a river unlike anything I've ever seen, so much water rushing past me. Another, there was a swarm of butterflies that engulfed me, fluttering in a brilliant tornado around me.

And tonight there was a tomb, sheltered by a tree bigger than all the others. I couldn't read the name on the inscription and the statue had long crumbled to dust and rubble. But as I approached, the tree began to shed leaves. They rained down on me, thousands of them, and each that touched my skin turned to brilliant, sunlit gold.

The wind picked up, then, swirling the leaves around me and when I turned back to the tree, someone was standing at the base of it, watching me. There was a rusted crown on his head, the kind Old World kings from far off lands wore. I couldn't see his face very clearly but I think he looked like me.

And then I woke up.

[PREV] [NEXT]

"Hey, Choi Soobin!"

Soobin jerks at the loud voice right next to his ear, snapping his gaze away from the monitor to the frowning face of his boyfriend, framed by recently dyed blond hair.

"Yeonjun," he gasps, clapping a hand over his chest, "what the hell are you doing here?"

Yeonjun pokes him in the arm. "Coming to get you. You were supposed to meet me by the river an hour ago, remember?"

"Oh shit." He glances down at his watch, blinking in shock at the numbers informing him it's after three p.m.

Yeonjun sighs, long-suffering, and pokes him again. "When did you get here this morning? Or did you even go home last night?"

Soobin blinks, trying to cut through the fog of the last few hours. He always feels a little off after surfacing from a deep research dive. Like he's adrift through space and time and needs to anchor himself in the present. He's sitting in the archives, at his usual computer station, not at the palace seventy years ago, watching Min Yoongi and Kim Seokjin crowned the last kings of Seoul. It just always feels so real. They died years before he was born, but he feels like he knows them.

"I went home," he assures Yeonjun because he does have vague memories of dozing off on the train to Sector 2, stumbling up the stairs to his and Yeonjun's apartment, and collapsing into bed still dressed. Yeonjun works two nights at the communication center, which means at least he wasn't home to witness that disaster. Or the fact that Soobin's breakfast was a candy bar he shoved in his mouth on the way out the door to his first class.

"Well wrap up now, okay?" Yeonjun insists, glancing at the screen filled with scans of Min Yoongi's journals. "Your mom will be mad at me if I don't make sure you come to dinner."

"I don't know why she blames you," Soobin grumbles, but starts to pack up his notebook and his hard drive. "I'm nearly twenty. I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions, you don't need to babysit me."

"It's because I'm older," Yeonjun says. "She thinks that means I'm more responsible."

"Ha." Soobin shoulders his bag. "How did you even get in here? You don't have clearance."

"Nayeon is working the front desk," Yeonjun says, a little smug. "I told her I was here to rescue you and maybe brought her a pastry from that place she likes up the street and she let me in."

Soobin sighs, but he isn't that surprised. Yeonjun has always had a way with people that Soobin is both awed by and envious of. He makes friends wherever he goes, with easy grace, while Soobin so often feels awkward in his own skin—too tall, too quiet, too much time spent with ghosts instead of real people. Still, he waves shyly to Nayeon as he follows Yeonjun out of the archives and onto the train that will take them to the main elevator.

"I'll never get over how huge this place is," Yeonjun says as they wait for the train to arrive.

"Only about a fourth of it is open to the public." And even then, you need to apply for special research clearance from your university to be allowed access to the sprawling archives. It's the only part of the Seoul Institute that Soobin's ever seen. The rest is still geared toward scientific research, including evolving studies of Gifted abilities and recovering Old World data regarding fields such as technology and medicine.

"They used to experiment on people here, right?" Yeojun asks. "Like ... unwillingly?"

"Yeah," Soobin whispers, thinking about the reports he read a few days ago regarding Jeon Jungkook and Kim Taehyung's strike team that broke into the Seoul Institute. They were the first outsiders to access the archives in three centuries, and the first to shed light on the truth of the Cataclysm. Without them, Soobin doubts he'd have so much fascinating information at his fingertips.

"Creepy," Yeonjun mutters. "I don't know how you spend so much time down here."

"I'm researching," Soobin says. The train glides up and they get on, joining a mix of students and workers headed home for the day or to other parts of the facility. "And the archives aren't bad." It's not like he's really focused on his surroundings, anyway. No, he's walking through palace halls or running across crumbling rooftops or watching Kim Seokjin pen entries in his journal by warm evening light.

"You also do so much of that." Yeonjun shakes his head. "You have at least two more years before you have to turn in your dissertation, you could slow down."

He probably needs to. He knows Yeonjun and his other friends worry about him, knows that sometimes his interest can border on obsession, but the past keeps pulling him back in. He's always wanted to know it beyond the statutes and memorials that litter their city, beyond the dry tours you can book of the old palace. He thinks it's important to know it, to keep it alive. It still has so much to tell them.

"I'll work on it, hyung," he promises Yeonjun. They've had this conversation before, several times in the year that they've been dating. So now Yeonjun just sighs and affectionately cups the back of his head, petting through the dark strands of his hair.

The train spits them out by the elevators and Soobin holds his breath while it ascends. He's never liked this part, always can't help imagining it grinding to a stop and being trapped in the dark, metal space. Yeonjun holds his hand, humming to himself but mostly for Soobin's benefit, until it stops at the surface level and opens into the light of the main visitor's lobby.

They check out at the front desk, nodding at the guard on duty, and then exit the building into the warm afternoon. Soobin sucks in a deep breath of spring air, tilting his head to feel the sun on his face.

"Okay," he admits. "I was down there too long."

"You're going to turn into a vampire," Yeonjun warns.

Soobin waves a dismissive hand, leading the way onto the street from the Institute's courtyard. All the trees are in bloom and the whole city feels draped in pink and white petals as they gradually drop from branches to blanket the ground. In the distance, Soobin can see the gleam of the Han River—carved back into the earth and restored to its apparent Old World glory twenty years into Yoongi and Seokjin's reign. It now has various parks dotting its banks, all carefully cultivated and maintained with gardens and places to sit and enjoy the view. Soobin's spent many afternoons there with Yeonjun and his other friends, eating and reading and lazing in the sun. He can't imagine how the city must have looked without it, back when there was nothing but glittering steel and crumbling concrete and everything remained divided behind towering sector walls.

"Are we still going to the river?" he asks.

Yeonjun shakes his head, checking his phone. "Dinner with your mom, remember? We're supposed to be in Sector 10 in three hours and there are delays on the train."

Soobin sighs. He shouldn't have agreed to dinner, with the current burden of his studies, but he's never been able to deny his mom anything. It's been just the two of them for so long and he knows how hard she worked to make sure he could attend a prestigious Sector 1 university—the first ever in his family. And she's alone since his grandmother died a few winters ago, so Soobin makes sure to visit her as often as possible. Fortunately, she likes Yeonjun (after some initial wariness due to Yeonjun's elite background and wealthy upbringing) and has welcomed him into their home. Unfortunately, he sometimes thinks she likes Yeonjun better than him.

"Alright, let's head for the train. And I want to stop by the Golden Forest on the way."

He hasn't been back in over a month and he owes his grandmother some flowers.

"Fine," Yeonjun agrees easily. He doesn't understand Soobin's attachment to the large cemetery on the edge of Sector 10, but he always tags along amicably when Soobin wants to visit.

There are definitely delays when they reach Sector 1's central train station, announcing that the next train out to Sector 10 won't be coming for another twenty minutes. They find a bench out of the way of the mingling, frustrated crowd and Yeonjun fishes out a container of gimbap from his backpack as they sit, passing it over.

"Oh," Soobin says, surprised. "You don't have to—"

"I know you've barely eaten anything today and I made these for you," Yeonjun says, with put-upon seriousness. "So I'll be very offended if you don't eat them, Soobin-ah."

Blushing, Soobin takes the container. He's used to looking after his mom and grandmother, ever since he was young. It's been strange, dating Yeonjun and suddenly having someone that wants to take care of him in turn.

"So what were you researching today?" Yeonjun asks. "Any new interesting stories?'

"I've been going through a bunch of stuff but mainly Min Yoongi's journals," Soobin replies through a mouthful of gimbap. "And some personal records from Kim Seokjin and the other five revolutionary leaders." He swallows. Dusts a few stray grains of rice from his jacket. "They're always talked about like they were these fearless heroes, but they were only a few years older than us, you know? And they were really afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

"Failing, becoming something they hated, leading the city astray."

He wonders what it must have been like, standing on the steps of a palace at twenty-six with a new crown on your head, knowing that millions of people were now looking to you for guidance. Looking to you to change everything, to make it better. That crown must have been so heavy. Both Yoongi and Seokjin wrote in their journals about the weight of it—how they never quite got used to it, even by the end of their forty-year reign.

"It must have been a lot of pressure," Yeonjun agrees. He shakes his head. "My grandfather keeps saying we're all soft now. That we've grown up in this time of peace, after all the turbulence has faded, and we don't know how to survive anymore." A slightly bitter laugh. "Which is really ironic coming from him. He was born into wealth, so much wealth that when the crown forced his father to hand two thirds of it over to the royal treasury, the family was still able to keep their fancy house and expensive tastes. What does he know of struggle?"

"Yeah," Soobin agrees. Yeonjun's family home still makes him uncomfortable sometimes, which is why Yeonjun never brings him over. It's too ostentatious, too close to the gilded apartments and mansions Soobin's read about, where the elite dined and partied and Marked companions went to die.

He thinks of Kim Namjoon's accounts of his first meetings of Min Yoongi, long before they became the partners they would be for decades, and it's too easy to picture himself in Yoongi's shoes and Yeonjun in Namjoon's. This may be a time of relative peace, but wounds are still closing, he thinks. The blood's dry, but has yet to fade. His grandmother remembered the coup—had been a young girl in an orphanage when Min Yoongi and Kim Seokjin ascended the throne. His mother was born a decade into their reign and remembers Seokjin's funeral—five years after Yoongi's and five years before the election of the first Presidents and Soobin's birth.

And even now, peace feels like it's still growing roots, anchoring itself further and further into the soil. The agricultural corps has begun to establish outposts beyond the city walls, slowly reclaiming more and more of the barren, wild earth that hasn't been touched since the Cataclysm. There are stories of monsters lurking in that no man's land, warped by disaster into hideous and dangerous creatures, so the work is slow and fraught. Relations with the council in Gwangju and the queen of Busan have been stable since the rocky first years of Yoongi and Seokjin's reign, but Soobin hears whispers of unification on campus and knows it won't come in his lifetime. Maybe one day they will be a single country again, like the Old World, but there is still too much healing to do. Too many bridges to build.

And then there is the upcoming election. Seoul's first two presidents (modeled after the two kings, so one Gifted and one not) are coming to the end of their twenty-year term in a few months. It has been a relatively calm one, but a whole new generation is voting in these next elections (including Soobin) and who knows what will happen? This generation doesn't remember the monarchy, or the centuries of pain and strife that gripped Seoul. What could that change? People are divided on the importance of the outposts and the necessity of continued restrictions on public use of Gifted abilities. There is even, amongst the older generation, still opposition to the presidency and a desire to return to the monarchy since they see elections as too chaotic. Who knows what—

"Hey," Yeonjun squeezes his shoulder, pulling him out of his spiraling introspection. "Our train's here."

Soobin pats his knee in thanks and hands him back the empty gimbap container. Yeonjun tucks it under his arm as they board, flashing their student IDs to the ticket officer at the train doors, who waves them onto the car without charging a fare.

Soobin gets a seat by the window and watches the scenery whip past outside - Yeonjun's head on his shoulder. The skyscrapers of the inner sectors gradually give way to houses, clean-energy run production plants, and greenhouses in the middle sectors, and finally the open fields, forests, and farmland—dotted with small hubs of apartment complexes and shops—of Sector 8, 9, and 10. He can see the bright yellow of the Golden Forest glowing like a beacon amidst the darker trees and buildings.

He always feels a little bit called to it and he's heard other Gifted say similar things. Maybe it's all the power and memory sleeping there, amidst the eternally yellow leaves.

Yeonjun trails him out of the train and up the winding path to the cemetery. The grand gates stand open and leaves crunch beneath Soobin's sneakers as he crosses their threshold. It's already quieter in the outer sectors than the bustle of the city center, but there is a special hush draped over this place. Leaves fall almost continuously, fluttering to the ground in twirling dances. They're always immediately replaced. In seventy years, these trees have never been barren.

All of the Seven are buried here. Against tradition, Kim Seokjin asked to be placed next to his husband of thirty years (a marriage only made public on Seokjin's death bed) instead of entombed in the grand memorial the city no doubt had planned. Soobin stops by his and Park Jimin's graves first, bowing low. One tree stands behind Jimin's headstone, but its branches stretch to cover Seokjin's, as well—and the statue erected a few years after his death. Leaves from it drape over the stone ruler's shoulders like a cloak.

Even in death, Park Jimin shelters his husband and king.

Jeon Jungkook and Kim Taehyung are buried not far away. Their headstones are simple, lacking the ostentatiousness of Seokjin's, but their trees are some of the tallest in the forest, growing together into the sky. Soobin bows to them, too, and sees Yeonjun mirroring him in his periphery.

He heads to his grandmother's grave next, tucked away in a back corner of the cemetery. Her tree is small, just like she was, but its leaves remain healthy and brilliant, practically glowing in the evening sun. He kneels in the dirt by her headstone, tracing the characters of her name with loving fingers. She died nearly six years ago and he misses her still—her booming laugh and endless stories.

"Hi, halmeoni," he murmurs. "Sorry, it's been so long." Though it's clear his mother has been visiting, judging from how clean the headstone is and the flowers that withered only a few days ago. Soobin plucks them gently from the earth and then digs his fingers into the soil, closing his eyes.

"Soobin-ah," Yeonjun warns, but Soobin tunes him out.

He breathes in deep, exhales slow, and reaches for the spark inside of him, sinking his awareness into the ground beneath his palms and willing life to form, imagining the shape of the plant in his mind. He can feel stems sprouting between his fingers, leaves brushing his sleeves, and when he opens his eyes a cluster of white chrysanthemums flutter in the breeze.

"There," Soobin says, dusting his hands off on his jeans. "Those should keep you company. I'll be back to visit properly tomorrow."

He stands and turns to see Yeonjun predictably frowning at him.

"It's not a big deal," he says before Yeonjun can voice his familiar protests.

"You could still get fined," Yeonjun insists. "Just get renew your license. It's an easy test, right? That's what Taehyun said."

Soobin wrinkles his nose. "But then I'll have to volunteer with the agri corps."

"For like one weekend every six months."

"I'll do it. Soon."

He just doesn't like the drudgery of park and greenhouse maintenance and he isn't Taehyun, who wants to start a farm of his own or work permanently in an outpost. It's not like he uses his abilities often—mostly just to tend to his grandmother's grave or help keep the plants alive in his mother's house. And the first fine is usually very low.

Yeonjun sighs but doesn't argue further. A part of Soobin wonders if Yeonjun's a little scared of his abilities, in spite of his insistence that they don't bother him. Soobin wouldn't really blame him. The power can be scary and dangerous. It's why the Two Kings put the current system in place to ensure that Gifted could control it. You go, take a test to show you're not a risk, and then you get a license which allows you to use your abilities almost anywhere, within reason. If you fail, you get mentoring and then are tested again. If you're too afraid or don't think you can ever control them, you can opt to have them suppressed.

In return for the license, you also agree to donate one day every six months to help with park maintenance or in the greenhouses. That rule might become obsolete soon, now that there isn't a shortage of Gifted who are in control of their abilities and want careers in agricultural and forestry. But back at the start of Yoongi's and Seokjin's reign there were still massive food shortages, testing and removal of the mark was agonizingly slow, and they were desperate. Soobin thinks they needn't have worried—former Marked always volunteered. They wanted the crops, the forests, to see the world grow again.

"I want to visit one more," Soobin says, though he's sure Yeonjun already knows.

Yeonjun nods and then startles as his phone suddenly buzzes in his pocket. "Ah, it's my dad," he says when he checks the screen. "I'll meet you back by the entrance."

He kisses Soobin quickly on the cheek and hurries off, answering the phone with a bright "hi, appa!"

Generally, Soobin likes Yeonjun's father. He was worried that he would be considered "beneath" Yeonjun since he doesn't come from a wealthy background and he's a Gifted, but so far the man hasn't seemed to care. He's as easygoing as Yeonjun is and Soobin won him over quickly. They share a love of history and Yeonjun is always bringing Soobin books from his father's extensive collection for Soobin to borrow.

As Yeonjun's voice fades completely, Soobin turns and heads deeper into the forest. It takes nearly ten minutes to reach the graves, located at the very center of the large cemetery. There are three of them, side by side by side and all matching. Yoongi hadn't wanted any statues and Seokjin made sure city officials listened.

There's no need for statues, anyway. Because behind the headstones grows a massive tree, the biggest in the cemetery. If you look closely, though, you can clearly see that it's three trees that have intertwined into one—their branches twisted and fused over the decades until it's impossible to tell entirely where one begins and another ends. At the base of the tree are dozens of offerings and pinned carefully to the weathered bark, prayer slips flutter in the wind.

Soobin isn't sure Yoongi would appreciate being worshipped like this, but maybe he would grudgingly allow it if he knew how much comfort he still brings to his people. Seokjin was also an incredible king, and people leave offerings to him too. But mostly at the large statue by the Han River. This forest is for the Gifted and Yoongi, in so many ways, was theirs too.

Soobin bows to Kim Namjoon first, then Jung Hoseok, and finally Yoongi in the middle.

"Hi," he whispers.

He always feels a little silly, coming here to talk to a long-dead king. But then he remembers Yoongi's journals, dripping with fear and determination and heart, and thinks that Yoongi probably wouldn't mind. Maybe somewhere, Yoongi is even listening. He hopes so. He hopes Yoongi can see how big the forests have grown, how far the city has come, how bright the future still looks because he and the others bled so much for it.

"It's me again. I know I probably come here too much but." He shrugs. "I like talking to you. I wish, sometimes, that I could have known you. Min Yoongi, not the king. Though I guess, when I read your journals, I kind of end up feeling like I do. In a way."

Yoongi and Seokjin both insisted that all of their private records and journals be turned over to the public upon their deaths, wanting as much transparency as possible. There have been plenty of books published about the journals since, but Soobin doesn't think any of them do Min Yoongi justice. They're too reverent, too distanced. They call Yoongi's writing "human" without really understanding what that means. They don't talk about how the handwriting is shaky on some pages, like Yoongi's hand was trembling when he penned the letters. Or how sometimes he violently scratched out whole sentences, nearly ripping through the paper. Or how you can trace the times and hours that Yoongi let himself be most vulnerable because he dated nearly everything and he spent so many nights awake with his thoughts.

Or even the simple joy that spills from certain entries. His giddiness at the first full tree that grew in the city. His love for his partners and how much happiness spending time with them brought. His ongoing annoyance at the birds in the palace gardens that always tried to steal his food.

Yoongi was vibrant and bold and determined and sad and so, so many things that get glossed over. Soobin isn't sure if he'll ever write a book, but if he does, he wants it to be full of those little details that make up the real picture of Min Yoongi.

"I shouldn't stay too long," Soobin continues. "I'll be back tomorrow, anyway. But I just wanted to say that I've been reading more of your journals lately and ... thank you. Thank you for sitting on a throne even when it scared you so much. Even when people tried to kill you. Even when the weight of it felt crushing. You ... you gave us so much. And I know you'd sigh at that. Insist we gave it to ourselves. And maybe you're right but still. Thank you. I promise I'm going to write an awesome dissertation."

He bows again.

"I hope, wherever you are, that you've been able to watch the city grow. I think we're going to keep getting better and better. I believe that. I have hope. My grandmother used to talk about watching you on the night of the coup. Your bloody face on the screen at her orphanage. The triumph and fire in your eyes. She said she knew, right then, that nothing was ever going to be the same. She was only ten at the time, so she might have been exaggerating a little, but I think she was right. You were her hero, she even met you once. She says you shook her hand and there was so much warmth in your eyes, that you always held so much love for us. Thank you for that too."

He coughs, unsure of how to wrap this up. He always gets too sentimental when he comes here. "Anyway, I'll be back tomorrow. I'll bring some flowers from my mother's garden. She always says that white chrysanthemums get too bleak after a while. There should be more color in the forest, even if the trees are gold. Rest well, Yoongi-nim."

One last bow, and then he turns away, heading back for the entrance. Yeonjun is waiting for him by the gates, leaning against one of the pillars with his head tilted toward the pink evening sky. The setting sun has turned his hair into a halo framing his face, glowing nearly as brilliantly as the trees.

"Ready?" he asks.

Soobin nods and threads his fingers through Yeonjun's. They head back towards the station where they can rent bikes to ride the last leg of the journey to Soobin's family home, situated near a large farm. Soobin's been trying to convince his mom to move further into the city, but she insists that she likes the view, and the families that run the farm always give her a discount on produce. In exchange, sometimes she helps out with the planting.

As they leave the cemetery behind, the wind picks up, rustling the leaves in the trees overhead and plucking at Soobin's clothes and hair. If he closes his eyes and listens closely, he can almost hear laughter in the whistle of it. His grandmother's, Yoongi's, soft and joyous and light.

It makes Soobin want to chase it and he gives in to the sudden urge, dragging Yeonjun along as he breaks into a run. Yeonjun laughs, loud, and matches his pace—still gripping his hand. Their sneakers kick up dust and blossoms in a flurry of pink. And the wind settles at their backs. Pushes them forward, towards the glowing horizon line.

Towards the future.