Yoongi's P. O. V.

“Jin? Hey..” I nudged him and he blinked awake, abruptly checking his surroundings.

“I told you to go home, didn’t I?”

He’s been spending all his time here for the last four days, at times leaving only to check on Hoseok and Jungkook, and headed right back here.

“Y-Yeah..I just..” he tried to rub the exhaustion and worry off of his face “any new changes?”

I smiled at him “that’s what I came to tell you about” and the way his eyes brightened sent a sting through me, he’s always had a hopeful soul. It’s amazing to see how he had held onto it despite all the pain and hopelessness he must have gone through these past few months.

“He’s off the mechanical ventilation, his lungs are stable enough and he’s breathing fine on his own” before I could even complete he jumped up from the seat to go peer inside the ICU through the oval glasses.

“Yoongs? Where is he?!”

“Calm down Jin” I grabbed onto his shoulders “he is healing well, and is quite stable now. So we moved him from the ICU, he’s on the second floor, cabin 203. Now you can even go and see him”.

Without a second’s loss he ran off, and I sighed seeing his jitteriness and picked up the bag he had left behind but saw him stop midway and turn around.

He hurried back and knocked the air out of my lungs as I felt him wrap his arms around me.

“Thank you so much, I probably never said this but you’re important to me, not because you’re with Hobi but for being there, all the time, in every step, even your scoldings and the grumblings. No matter whether you agreed or not you always helped me out Yoongi. I can never thank you enough, but I-” “I get it..I get it, calm down” I chuckled as he burrowed into my shoulder “Jin, that’s what family is you know. I like to think the seven of us as a family, we’d always stand by each other no matter what” I patted his back as he pulled his head back “and you didn’t have to say it anyway, I know you’d do the same for us in a heartbeat”.

I won’t lie, I felt tears prickle my eyes too as I saw his grateful teary ones.

“Now go, but you need to understand that it might take him a few more days to gain consciousness and you need to take care of yourself too, you cannot stay here all the time.”

He nodded like an obedient child but I know he’s not really gonna leave this place until Taehyung wakes up. If there is one thing you learn from Jin, it is how to be stubborn about what he believes, and even the lord can’t change his mind once he has decided on something. I smiled to myself seeing him sheepishly rub away the tears and turn around to head straight for the second floor.

“Shit, should’ve handed him the bag” I pulled it over my shoulder as I ambled towards my cabin “he keeps forgetting it”.

And somehow I was taken back to that very afternoon in that little mountain town where Jin had stumbled over the whole thing, fate pushing him to collide with the very person who’d turn his world upside down and how terribly scared I had been that day when he had said that he was saved from impending death.

Looking back to it now, it’s probably been countless times since then when he had tripped over danger and stared death straight in the face. And call it fate or coincidence Taehyung had come to his rescue every damn time.

I had watched Taehyung those early days when I had accompanied Hoseok, always too quiet, rigid and closed off, avoiding every single soul as he stayed frozen in a time where he was a tormented soul who had nothing to live for. Simply existing because death was not yet his to succumb to and so day by day he became more and more emotionless, discarding every human weakness just so he could survive through the pain of carrying so much guilt.

Funny how time has a way of playing with you, and hearts irrevocably melt when you find someone worth melting for.

When I reached the cabin I felt an odd melancholy take over as I saw the two, Jin simply sat there and watched Taehyung. His fingers fearful to touch the other’s limp hand as he lightly ran one finger and pulled away a moment later, sighing in apprehension and sat watching him again.

Hours turned to days, and whenever I’d go to check on Taehyung in between my other surgeries or follow-ups Jin would be right there. Simply sitting, or reading a book while his fingers softly drew unmindful circles on that limp arm, and at times sleeping as he snuggled as close as possible without harming the other.

“He’s stable, healing is slow but definitely positive” I said as Namjoon called me out of the cabin to get the stats on Taehyung.

“Things are not going well at the headquarters” he voiced looking stressed “I tried but they gave me only a month”.

“Namjoon, they can’t put him in prison until he is awake. That is just absurd!”

“Maybe but I don’t think they care. They want him somewhere they can keep an eye on him. The General’s dead and I have no one to support me in this, even the Chief is furious because of how I had pulled all the units to track Jimin and Taehyung, to top it all the mission was kept covert. I’m losing my mind trying to look for something but the truth is I don’t have much to prove his innocence”.

Our attention snapped at the sound of the door brushing open as we saw Hoseok step out of the room and watch us with his keen eyes “hey”.

He closed the door behind him and came to join us. I instinctively took his hand to pull him closer, glad that he was up and well now. Thankfully he only had a flesh wound and healed up marvellously, sometimes he startles me with how strong he can be.

“I’m gonna head over to check on Jungkook” he says, fingers pressing lightly on mine “he’s going to be discharged today, I was thinking about taking him home for now”. He turned to look at me, and I suddenly realized he was actually asking if I was okay with it or not. I nodded, and he turned back to Namjoon “is Chim doing okay?”

“Yeah, a lot better. I can never thank you enough for what you did for him Hoseok, you-“ “Namjoon, we have been through this already” I watched Hoseok smile at him as he set an assuring palm on his shoulder “I did what felt right, he wasn’t supposed to be dragged into all that anyway.” 

Yes, I was proud, who wouldn’t be to know how brave and selfless the one you love can be but that didn’t stop me from internally grumbling at the way he had thrown himself in front of a gun.

Didn’t I cross his mind even for a single time when he did that? Did he not think how that single bullet he so brazenly took to his body could tear me apart as well?

“I’ll call you once we get home” his soft peck at my cheek startled me out of my reverie, he's rarely this sweet in his actions and as if in an instant response I grabbed at his wrist before he could move away.

“Be careful”

He watched me stunned for a moment, and I gulped.

This was the first time I had told him something like this since the day he had chosen to become a soldier, didn’t want him to think that I don’t believe in his strength or capability as a soldier. I always told myself to be strong, and believed that he’d do what was necessarily called for while on a mission. Told myself he had consciously chosen this life, and I had chosen to accept his decision. And in all the years that I have stood by him, telling myself through sleepless nights to have faith that he will be safe, this was the first time he had actually managed to scare me to the brink of sanity when I had seen him pale and unconscious on the hospital bed.

The fear of losing someone you love is a crippling thing, and no matter how strong we tell ourselves to be, our hearts are still fragile.

“I-I am just going to drive Jungkook home” his eyes were stunned as he looked at me, possibly trying to understand.

“I don’t want you getting hurt ever again, so just be careful” I gently let my fingers unfurl from his hand and watched his confused eyes melt into soft pools of affection as he flashed that sunny shade of his smile at me before leaning in to whisper ‘love you too’ in my ear.

I felt myself smile at that as I watched him trot down the hallway and disappear.

“Jungkook will have to be soon taken to the headquarters too, his name has popped up as a witness and some suspecting info came up, although those aren’t as severe as Taehyung’s” Namjoon’s voice breaks through my reverie and I turn back to him “but there’s no leak about his real identity right?”

“Not yet at least” I watched him sigh and rub at his temples, eyes digging into the floor “looks like Byun doesn’t intend to reveal anything about him, but he has been hell bent on pulling Taehyung down.”

“What do you mean?” 

Namjoon stared at the door to the room where the other lay still unconscious “Byun was interrogated”.

I waited for him to continue and watched his features stiffen more.

“He revealed that Taehyung is his son and..” he turned to me as I waited with tensed ears “apparently he was being groomed to be the next leader of Axel, they had this planned all along Min. Taehyung had simply given in to the trap they had set up for him”.

“But they didn’t trust him one bit, why’d they even-” “Of course they didn’t, Byun was well aware that Taehyung would go after him for his revenge. He knew bloodlust would drive the boy, believed with proper tactics they could bring out the rage he harboured within and use it.”

“If it was the Taehyung I had met a year ago at the safe-house I’d have believed they could succeed, he looked feral back then” I reminisced going back to the days I had seen Namjoon and Hoseok hold an enraged Taehyung down as he fought with them to let him go to avenge all the deaths he had witnessed, make Axel pay in full for their brutality.

“Yeah, no arguments there, he was a severe pain in the ass back then” he chuckled shaking off the memories and sighed with a half smile pulling at the corners of his mouth “Seokjin really happened to be an accidental gift for him.”

“Nothing’s accidental” my pager buzzed drawing my attention and I took my leave in a hurry to head towards the emergency.

I wouldn’t say I am a strong believer in fate or fortune but yes, I do believe some souls’ have a way of gravitating towards each other, going beyond the world’s rules as they surpass every hurdle thrown at them, held prisoners to each other merely by an unexplainable sense of longing.

It’s the longing after all, we may try to hide away the soft affectionate and sweetly sensual tug we feel in our heart till it bursts into a whirlpool of undeniable need.

Nothing’s accidental, it’s just us running blind, too blind to realize we keep running inadvertently towards what makes us feel.

Seokjin’s P.O.V

His chest rises and falls in soft puffs, more than a dozen stitches marring his honey-gold skin and a dozen more of those black and blue welts, holding proof of the brutal tortures he had been through, healing at a slow pace.

I carefully weave my fingers through the rough tresses matting on his nape, gently tucking a few strands that messily surrounded his sleeping eyes and thumbed along his scruffy jaw. I slowly leaned nearer to him, setting my chin right beside the pillow as I carry on running my fingers through his hair.

“How much longer are you going to torture me like this Tae? Come on now…please open your eyes” I whisper almost inaudibly in his ear, hoping stupidly that he will hear me.

I realize now, I have so much to say to you, so many things about which we never got the time to talk.

Wish we could lie in each others’ arms, and talk about all the unimportant things in life, your favorite flavor of ice-cream, your rainy day routine, favorite color, where your mind wanders to when you think about nothing, and just forget about the world, let everything else pass us by while we build a universe around us.

There is always so much to say, so much to do and yet never enough time…

My thoughts are interrupted as I hastily sit up when Namjoon opens the door and walks up to the other side of the bed, eyes keenly inspecting Taehyung. He doesn't speak and just stands there for awhile, looking lost.

“Seokjin” I looked up at him and saw him gulp before meeting my eyes “we might have to move him from here soon”.

He speaks making my gut clench and heart sink “w-what do you mean? Where? Why??”

He looked at me and I knew what he meant, and had to rigidly hold back the fear that wrecked my chest. This was what they had been talking about for the past four days, he was a wanted criminal after all and the headquarters wanted him under their surveillance.

“But he-he’s still in a coma..?! What do they even-“ “They don’t want to hurt him, and it’s not right away but he has not been proved innocent as of yet.”

I saw him watch Taehyung with an expression of a concerned elder brother, someone who had been with him through thick and thin.

“I’m going to fight with everything I got to prove his innocence. He’s been through a lot already...he deserves some peace for surviving what he had been pitted to suffer.”

My eyes go back to his softly heaving chest and for a moment my mind swamps with ache and worry.

Is he going to be taken away from me again?

“I’m going away”... “I will not bother you anymore”...

... “I cannot bear to ruin you for my battles baby...need to let you go”...

“I’m a ruined soul..there is nothing left of me...” “...give me my peace and I’ll be thankful to you”...

..."even if die, it will always be you..."

“You possess me far more deeply than any mark can show Jin”

A soft caress over my cheek interrupted and the voice in my head began to reel back, that voice has somehow always been my companion despite the utmost pain it sometimes brought along.

I feel another soft touch over my brow and feel my trance scatter away as I slowly open my eyes to realize I had fallen asleep in the room again.

Fingers gently thread through my hair, and I freeze.

“Jin..?”

The voice brings tears to my eyes, I wanted to see but stayed frozen while my stupid heart frantically debated if this is still a dream as I felt his fingers carry on caressing softly.

“Baby, you awake?”

His voice was raspy and I felt like I was listening to him after decades as I let the deep vibrations in his chest seep into me.

That’s when I realized I had fallen asleep on his chest and fear gripped me to think I must have been hurting him all this time I’ve been stupidly lying there. I jerked to move away but he set his hand atop my head and cradled it back to where it was.

“Tae..your w-wound-“ “I’m fine” he assured and I tried to settle my jittery heart down.

“Can you breathe ok with my head like this?”

“It’s the only way I know how to breathe” and suddenly there was a mild aura about the silence around us not the depressing heavy feel it had a day ago “please stay like this a while more” 

I slowly turned my head about to see him, and met those dark soulful eyes gazing back at me.

Oh thank heavens! It’s not another dream.

“You’re awake” I perked up remembering I need to inform Yoongs about this.

“You’re so beautiful” his eyes soften more, ebony orbs delving deeper into me and I felt so thankful to be able to look into them again, so thankful.

“Don’t do that ever again” I spoke, realizing at this moment how fearsome it is to see the one soul you value face with fatal dangers and how he must have felt that day when I had gone missing “you scared the shit out of me”.

I saw him smile, a rare sight and all the more precious therefore.

“You fear losing me” his words weren’t a question, it was as if he was repeating to himself a long known fact. His fingers moved down the side of my face to cup my cheek and was about to say something when the door opened and I heard Yoongs come in, towing in Hobi.

They stood stunned for a moment till he rushed to Taehyung, paging a nurse to come in instantly as he got busy checking the monitors. After running a series of tests and ticking a hundred boxes in their innumerable charts the room finally cleared out after what seemed like ages.

“Well, looks like you can take him home in a couple of days” Hobi smiled at me as we watched Taehyung resting peacefully.

And my eyes stayed on him, hopeful yet dreading because I have learned through the hardest of experiences that there’s always a little sadness in our happiness.

Tragedy, like a sharp shiny blade, cruelly trying to slice our ever-after into pieces.

á na márië

[A/N] I apologize for the late update.

Take care of yourselves💜