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Taehyung stared at the man lying beside him. His sharp jawline, his slightly parting lips that flashed his bunny-like front teeth. His stray strands of tousled brown hair fell on his forehead and Taehyung’s fingers itched to reach and tuck them behind his ears. Hesitant, slender fingers made its way to touch them, but before it could, the man’s eyes fluttered open. Taehyung flinched.“Good morning,” his voice hoarse, still sleepy. The warm morning sunlight shone over his features and Taehyung wondered, how a man so beautiful could turn into such a beast when he pulled the trigger of his gun. How, the same gentle fingers that caressed Taehyung’s cheeks this morning, was drenched in blood the night before.
“Good morning,” Taehyung replied, hesitant to say his name that still felt so foreign on his tongue yet brought warm to his heart. “…Jungkook.”
Said man yawned and sat up. “Come on, we need to get ready.”It has been their routine since the last few days. Since they escaped the lab, when Jungkook took Taehyung’s hands in his and ran away from the only world Taehyung had ever known. They would hit the road in Jungkook’s car, sleep at the nearest motel they could find on their way, get up the next day and be on the run again.
“Where are we going?”
“Far from here. Far enough until not a single soul there knows about us.”
That was all Jungkook answered when Taehyung asked. There were so many things he wanted to ask the man. But sometimes, Taehyung felt like he could understand the other just by looking at his eyes and his subtle smile. He supposed that was how soulmates are connected to each other.Yes, they are soulmates. That was also the reason behind all this whole escaping thing was happening, that was also why Jungkook told Taehyung everyday that he wasn’t the one to blame. He wasn’t the reason behind their fucked up fate. He wasn’t the reason Jungkook got blood on his hands. Because it was just the right thing to do. Because they are soulmates.
***
The day they found out about their sealed fate started with Taehyung sitting in the corner of his cell, where everything was white and too dry for his liking. A short alarm rang as a sign the door was being opened and came one man and a woman in white clothes and white masks, writing something on their notes and two other men in black suit followed them behind. The usual group that always came and escorted him to the ‘examination room;’ as they call it.“Subject V30, please come to the examination room.”
He didn’t want to go, really, but after some months he found out the consequences of being rebellious was far worse than what they do to him in the examination room. It wasn't wroth it. So everyday, his body moved on auto pilot, soullessly following the command he was given with hollow eyes.On his earlier days, he would blush and try to cover his naked body with awkward hands when the men in white stripped him off his clothes. Overtime, he grew apathetic as he lied naked on the cold metal operating table. He stopped resisting as the leather cuff chained him to each edge of the table, stopped screaming when the men plucked some of his scales for samples, stopped crying when they force him to ejaculate to take some samples, stopped flinching when they shine their flashlight to his eyes, all the while discussing something he did not understand.“His scales have grown more thick over the week, strangely his upper body was not affected.”“How is his swimming ability progressing?"“He has been picking up speed, I presumed he is slowly adapting.”
“…Has he talked?”“No, Professor.”“Take him to the tank.”
The tank, was Taehyung’s favorite. It was this huge space filled with water, with a staircase on side, leading to a space with transparent glass wall that showed the inside of the tank, where the men would observe him from. They supposedly threw him there to count how many times Taehyung comes to the surface for breath, how many seconds he spends underwater, but none of that matters. Underwater, he feels free. He could move faster than he did on land, feeling the stream of water grazed his bare skin as he picks up speed. Well, at least as far as the chain on his feet could allow. He could twist his body upside down, he could spin, he could dance with the water. On top of it all, he loves how his feet looks underwater. His feet grow fins, expanding from his ankles-down, with a shade of blue, complimenting his hair. The fins would retract itself back when Taehyung emerges from the water and he finds himself missing them every time they’re gone.
Sadly, it would only last for only a few hours. Then, they would take him back to his white, dry, room. The men in white would leave him alone for a few hours before they take him back, though. They mumbled something about ‘lunch.’ For a few minutes before the group came back from their ‘lunch’ time, there was always this one particular man that always talked to Taehyung and brought him some food.
“Hello, Taehyung,” the man smiled, his dimple showing. He was the only one who called him that, others just call him ‘subject V30.’ Taehyung learned that it must be his name, or whatever. He liked the sound of it so he just assumed so. “I brought you hamburger today.” Taehyung came to the surface and sat on the tank’s edge, waiting for the man to climb up the staircase and join him. When the man sat next to him, he inspected the food on the man’s hands, sniffing it out of curiosity. When the other gave it to him, he poked it to test its weird, fluffy, texture before he took a bite. The man chuckled.
“Do you like it?”Taehyung looked at him with wide eyes. If he gives him a response, would he report it to the others? Would they perform new tests if he gives him a new reaction?“You like it here, don’t you? In the water,” the man ran his hands on the water. “You were made with a hybrid gene that has a fish DNA in it, it is expected you’d like the water more than the land.” His eyes suddenly turned dejected as he casted them down. “Knowing that full well, and yet they…” he hissed, fist curled up to a ball. Taehyung tilted his head, not understanding. “Don’t worry, though, I talked to them about it. I think I managed to appeal them… Only with a condition that a new guard should stand by here to watch you,” he shrugged. “I guess it’s because they don’t feel safe leaving you in a room without a lock. Silly, as if that chain on your feet isn’t enough.”The man looked at him with an expression Taehyung could not decipher. But he caught the low whisper that sounded something like, ‘I’m sorry.’ The half-fish did not know why he was sorry. If anything, this man has done nothing but being kind to him and Taehyung didn’t want him to look so depressed. Maybe, talking to him would cheer him up, just like how his talks comforted Taehyung.“…Joon.”The man raised his head, surprised filled his face as he stared wide eyed at Taehyung. Flashing him a boxy grin, Taehyung pointed at him with his finger. “Namjoon!”Namjoon, the man, would have jumped in glee in any other occasions, but the men in white returned through the door and Namjoon pushed Taehyung back in the water, causing a huge splash, trying to act as if nothing happened. He thanked the heaven the CCTVs could not record sounds. Who knows what they would do to Taehyung if they find out the subject can actually talk. He doubted they would only make Taehyung read a book out loud.“Mr. Kim? What are you doing up there?”
“Oh, just, you know. Trying to strike a conversation with him like I always did. Haha. Ha.” That was awkward even for Taehyung. He rolled his eyes underwater at Namjoon’s bad acting.“Well, did he respond?”“Nope. Still as unresponsive as ever.”“…Okay,” the other man arched a brow. Namjoon trudged down the stairs to join the others, hoping no one thought he was acting weird.“Have you find a bodyguard for him?” Namjoon asked.“Actually, yes. He’ll be starting today.”The way Namjoon’s face light up was something the other men in the room could not miss. “Great! So he can stay here, right?”“Yes. But may I ask, Mr. Kim, why do you care so much about subject V30?”“Well, Professor Kwon, I believe the well-being of the subject plays an important role to the subject’s development. If we want to see any progress in this research, then we should consider what kind of environment the subject would be comfortable in.”“Just don’t get too attached, Mr. Kim. He’s an experiment subject, remember that.”“…Understood, sir.”That night, after everybody leaves, a man Taehyung has never seen before entered the room. Namjoon has called him ‘Jungkook.’ He was dressed in black suits, with a face that looked younger than he should be for the job, yet masculine feature that made him well-suited for the job. Taehyung watched him and Namjoon exchanging words briefly beyond the tank’s glass curiously, before Jungkook turned to him.The moment their eyes met, Taehyung thought the whole world stopped. It was that transient feeling of warmth in his heart, it was the way Jungkook’s brown eyes pierced through his blue ones, and it was the melody that started playing in his head that Taehyung knew, he knew, and so did Jungkook.
Ah, so that is how a song sounds like,
Jungkook had said, muffled by the water, Taehyung could only make out his words from the way his lips moved.
How beautiful.
Jungkook placed his hands on the glass, Taehyung curiously met his. Separated by the thick glass, yet Taehyung could feel the connection as if their hands actually touched. The two soulmates hummed to the song, though couldn't hear each other, yet stayed in harmony. “…Beautiful,” Taehyung had mumbled, not sure if it was the song or the man before him.
Oh, if only the time could stop ticking right now.
***
The same thought came to Taehyung tonight too, only this time, he said it out loud.
“I wish the time could stop ticking right now.”Right now, when he was in Jungkook’s embrace, his back on the younger’s chest, when they were gazing at the stars in the middle of nowhere, leaning on the hood of Jungkook’s car. They couldn’t find any motels nearby and decided to just sleep in the car.Jungkook turned at him with a fond smile. “Yeah?”“Yeah.”“Well, I don’t,” Jungkook kissed the hybrid’s shoulder. “Because I want to spend more time with you. I want to do so many things with you in the future.”“…Could we?”Taehyung met his eyes, doubt and uncertainty in his gaze. For a split second, he thought he saw Jungkook’s smile faltered. But he quickly replaced it with a grin, gave Taehyung a peck on the lips and tightened his hug on Taehyung’s frail body. “Of course, Tae.”There was nothing in this world Taehyung would not give if it means he could see Jungkook smiles. So he decided to reply his lover’s smile, with his boxy one, the one he knew Jungkook loved. Even though he knew the future they were hoping for might not become reality. Even though the times Jungkook had wished he would have with Taehyung might not be as much as they hoped it to be. But he won’t tell Jungkook that, because then Jungkook would stop smiling, and Taehyung wanted to see his smile, even if it was only for a few minutes longer.“I’m cold,” Taehyung averted his gaze, before the threatening tear at the corner of his eyes could spill.“Let’s go back inside the car,” Jungkook suggested as he stood up, taking Taehyung’s hands in his. Before they could reach the door, Taehyung coughed, low at first, but getting worse each second until the hybrid fell on his knees and curled up to himself. “Taehyung!!!”When Taehyung opened his eyes after his coughing fit had stopped, he saw red. Crimson, red liquid covering his hands and dripping to the ground beneath. He looked at his lover, who replied him the same look. They knew, they both knew, but none of them said a thing. Jungkook frantically reached for the backseat door, rustling at something, and he came back to Taehyung carrying a syringe with a blue liquid in it.“It’s the last one,” he said wearily. “We should contact Namjoon again.”As Jungkook prepared the syringe and injected it to his arm, Taehyung wondered if Namjoon could even make it this time. He had been stealing the medicines and deliver it to them discreetly, lying to his colleagues at the lab again and again. His colleagues are no fools; they would have noticed overtime if the medicines has been disappearing.“Your hair,” Jungkook’s words cut his train of thoughts, “It’s… Turning to mint-coloured.”
Its colour is fading, I know. Taehyung gave him a weak smile. It was just like other hybrids he saw coincidentally in his short time of travelling from his white room to the examination room and the tank. He had seen one with bright orange hair, a few months later it was pale blonde, a few days later, the hybrid was gone. There are many others with solid hair colours, fading each time Taehyung passed by them, and gone in the next few months. Taehyung never wanted to know what happened.
The lab has yet to succeed, and Taehyung was no exception.
Jungkook didn't ask why and Taehyung was grateful.“Will you sing me our song, Kookie?”
***
“…I still wonder, wonder, next story… I want to make you mine,”
As Jungkook finishes the last melody, he met Taehyung’s blue eyes. Taehyung loved it when their eyes met. It was like time exists only for them and nothing else matters. Taehyung was lost in a maze called Jungkook but when Jungkook replied his smile, Taehyung found his way again. Jungkook was both everything he didn’t know and yet everything he had known. Jungkook was his music, guiding him with the melody only they know.They have spent their nights like this, sharing the melody reserved only for them, afraid they would forget it in the morning, in the time when they don’t see each other. Taehyung hadn’t talk to him, but he would add harmony during Jungkook’s singing, and he would marvel about how perfect their voices sounded together. Taehyung would drift to sleep on Jungkook’s lap, under his tender hands, stroking Taehyung’s blue locks.Every night, Jungkook would tell him stories. Stories about the world outside the cage Taehyung known as the lab. He would tell him about many delicious food Taehyung should try. About beautiful places Taehyung would love to visit. About the thrill of riding scary rides at the amusement parks. About soulmates and how Jungkook envied those who have found theirs and walked hand in hand. How he wondered what music sounds like, because when he saw soulmates singing to each other, all he could hear was muted mutterings, lips moving but no sound escaping, drowned by the wind. That’s when he told Taehyung, over and over again, how happy now that he had met his soulmate and that he would sing their song everyday. Taehyung could picture the world in Jungkook’s words and he loved them. He smiled at each of Jungkook’s words and nodded when Jungkook asked if he would like to go with him.“We’ll go there someday,” Jungkook lied and Taehyung pretended to believe him. Love is a foreign word for Taehyung, but Jungkook had whispered it to him, one night when he thought Taehyung had fallen deep in sleep.
“I love you, Tae.
There’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t trade to take you out of here and start a new life with you.”
There was remorse in his voice, sadness, or perhaps hopelessness, some emotions Taehyung could not comprehend, but the way he said it made the hybrid’s heart ached. So he opened his eyes, trying to look beyond those deer-like eyes, only to find them widened, surprised because he hadn’t expected Taehyung to hear it. Gaze never straying from those hazel eyes, Taehyung sat up, braving himself to utter his first words to the other.“So take me,” he plead, “Take me, Jungkook.”It was all it took for Jungkook’s wall to break, as he couldn’t contain his feelings anymore. As he couldn’t contain the urge to lean in and brush his lips against Taehyung’s. His soulmate hadn’t understood the gesture at that time, but it felt right to tilt his head and let Jungkook moulded their lips together. It felt right to close his eyes when Jungkook cupped his cheeks and held him by the waist. He felt himself became dizzy, drowned in a sea called Jungkook. He always questioned himself why he was made, every day, why he was born, and now he had found the answer.
He was made for Jungkook, to be his, to be in his arms.The sound of the metal door being opened made them jerked. Jungkook quickly stood up and tensed. Taehyung threw himself to the water and swam to the corner.“Ah,” one of the men in white smirked, Taehyung shivered. “Well, I guess we saw progress today, thanks to you, Mr. Jeon.”“Excuse me?” Jungkook frowned, hands curled into a fist, trying not to show that he was shaking, scared of what his smirk meant.“Today we were planning to experiment on the subject’s sexuality and we were pondering if we should partner him with a female or male hybrid. You saved us a lot of time, I suppose.”“What are you going to do to him?”“That is none of your concern, Mr. Bodyguard. You’re dismissed.”Jungkook spared one last glance at Taehyung before going downstairs, meeting Namjoon’s concerned eyes on the way. The scientist walked to the edge of the tank, gently calling Taehyung and pull him out of the tank. On any other day, Jungkook would just leave, however, the ominous air in the room made his skin crawled. Hushed whispers were shared among the men in white, and Namjoon was acting weird. He was drying Taehyung up and helped him put some clothes while keep avoiding Taehyung’s questioning stares. Something bad is going to happen, and Jungkook swore he would kill if that was what it takes to protect Taehyung.He pretended to leave while secretly tailing the group. They were taking Taehyung to one of the cells where they keep the experiment subjects. The group came to a halt in front of one of the doors.“Subject V30 mating experiment with Subject J94, will be starting now,” one of the men briefed. Taehyung wasn’t sure what he meant. He heard something is being thrown away and crushed inside the door and he flinched.“Will Subject J94 cooperate, though? He’s kind of a wild one.”“He’s in rut,” the other man shrugged. “It’s in his instinct.”“Alright. Mr. Kim, would you fetch us the medicines? Just in case.”“…Professor, shouldn’t we reconsider this?” Namjoon said hesitantly, eyes wandering between Taehyung and his superior. His hand was still on Taehyung’s arms, unconsciously gripping too hard, as if ready to run and drag Taehyung away with him.“Mr. Kim,” in one stern voice, his superior silenced him.“…Yes, sir,” the scientist answered dejectedly. He gave one last look at Taehyung, an unsaid apology between them, before turning around. When he turned at the corner, he saw a frozen Jungkook, hands curled so hard it trembled, his nails digging into his own palm and Namjoon had never seen such fury in one’s eyes.“Did I hear that right, Namjoon?”
“Jungkook-““Did I fucking hear that right?” Jungkook hissed, eyes filled with a thirst to kill anyone in his way that Namjoon had never known he had it in him before.
***
Sometimes Taehyung wondered how many lives have Jungkook taken just to save his sorry existence. How many more blood must stain his hands until they can be free? Jungkook wasn’t one to kill. His job only required him to defend and seized people. He never really used his gun before. Taehyung knew how killing people has affected Jungkook. Sometimes he woke up in the middle of the night to find Jungkook weeping, crying soundlessly with trembling hands. Taehyung would hug him then, kiss his hands better.“Am I really worth it, Jungkook?”Taehyung asked for the umpteenth time, and for each time he asked, Jungkook would answer without a pause.“You’re my soulmate, Taehyung. You’re half of me. I won’t let anyone take you away from me, even if it means getting blood on my hands.”The next morning Jungkook would wash his hands over and over until they sting and wrinkled and Taehyung would doubt him again.They were driving in Jungkook’s car that day, like always. Namjoon had told them to meet him at an abandoned beach house that used to belong to an old friend of his, before his family moved from the city. Taeyung liked how the air smelled like in that city. It was near the beach and he could faintly smell the sea. He rolled down the car’s window and let the gentle wind caressed his now mint strands of hair.“Do you think there’s another world beside ours?”Jungkook glanced at him behind the steering wheel. “Another world?”“Like… A world where there are people who looks exactly like you and me, and Namjoon… Where I’m a human just like you and Namjoon, and we don’t have to be on the run everyday.
Where they have music for everyone and everyone loves music.”There was a pause before Jungkook answered. “I’d like to believe there is, Tae.”Taehyung turned to him and smiled. “Me too.”“I hope we will find each other in that world too.”He watched how Jungkook lips curled to a smile, maybe he was just saying that to amuse Taehyung’s nonsense imagination, or maybe because he’d like to have that hopeful thought as well. Taehyung liked to think it was because he wished the same. “I will sing our song when we meet so you’ll know it’s me.”They chuckled and for a moment Taehyung believed they were happy.The sun was setting when they arrived at the beach house. There wasn’t any road leading to the isolated beach, so Jungkook parked his car and they walked. The humid air made Taehyung craved the water and he wanted to dive straight into the ocean when he saw the beach. Maybe he could convince Jungkook to stay here, at the abandoned beach house, by the beach, so Taehyung could go into the water whenever he wanted, start a new life with Jungkook, just as they dreamed. The thought brought a smile to his face and Jungkook noticed.
“What are you thinking about?”
Jungkook asked.
“…You.”
Taehyung smiled, not fully lying.Namjoon was already waiting inside the house, sitting on top of a broken dusty couch, a suitcase by his side. Taehyung jogged to him and wrapped his arms around the taller man. He returned the hug, slightly tighter, as if holding something so fragile.“Hey, Taehyung,” the scientist looked at him the same way he always did; fond, regrets, pity. Taehyung looked at him the same way he always did; admiration, forgiving, pity. “How are you feeling?”“Okay, I guess,” Taehyung shrugged. “At least until the medicine effect wears off.”Namjoon hid his bitter smile and opt for a chuckle, ruffling the younger. He turned to Jungkook, as he gestured to hand him the suitcase. “I couldn’t get many of it, sorry, I think the others started to notice. At least this could last you until—“
BANG
Namjoon fell to the ground with a loud thud, crimson blood spilled to his side, Taehyung’s ears were ringing, his head dizzy.
***
The first gunshot Taehyung have ever heard was the day he escaped.It was thundering loud, piercing through his ears, and Taehyung figured it would always be followed by someone dies.That day, the men in white pushed him through a room, the same white room as his, only this time, there was another hybrid inside. He looked at Taehyung with red eyes, breath hot and heavy. His hair was flaming red. Strong, big arms with white fur and sharp claws at each of his nails. Taehyung wasn’t sure what hybrid it was and why did it look so angry. What he did know is that the hybrid had his cock standing in the open, twitching and hard, already leaking some precum and he was looking at Taehyung as if he was going to eat him alive.He was scared.He was scared and he knew he needed to run away. He was either going to get eaten, killed or violated, that much he knew, and he wasn't sure which one was better. He turned around and tried to open the door but it was locked. The men in white was looking at him through the window on the other side, some licking their lips, and Taehyung didn’t understand, couldn’t understand. Why, even though he was so desperately knocking at the door, no one came to help him. He was going to be hurt; and yet why did no one do anything? Where is Namjoon?Taehyung yelped when the hybrid charged at him, throwing himself to the side. He crawled himself back to stand, but the hybrid was faster, stronger. He pinned Taehyung to the ground, forced open the fish hybrid’s weak legs with his thigh until he was helplessly spread on the ground. Taehyung yelled and screamed, trying to free his hands but the other was too strong. His tears began flowing down when the hybrid started grinding down his hips, something hard and foreign threatening to push itself in Taehyung’s hole.“H-Help… Jungkook!”Strong fingers started to rip his upper clothes and traveled to his clothed cock and Taehyung cried louder.“JUNGKOOK!”
BANG
The first gunshot sent the door fly open.
BANG
The second gunshot sent the hybrid on top of him fell limp, lifeless. His crimson blood gushed out on the ground, some landed on Taehyung’s face. A strong arm pulled Taehyung up.“Let’s get out of here,” Jungkook had said to him, splatters of blood on his cheeks, more on his shirt. Taehyung didn’t waste one second before nodding.Outside, Taehyung saw more red. The white coats of the men and white walls of the corridor were now painted in crimson red. Everything was red and white and Jungkook was the only one his eyes could focus on.
Red. White. Red. White. Jungkook is red. Namjoon is white.
Taehyung felt like the world was spinning. Or was it he? Jungkook’s hand was the only thing that kept him from falling.
“Wait!” Namjoon called. “Third floor, second door from the left, take this with you to open the door,” he handed one of the dead man’s ID to Jungkook. “Take the ones with blue colors. Taehyung needed them. Once every two days.”“…Thanks,” Jungkook took them and looked at Namjoon warily.“Now hurt me a little so they won’t suspect me of helping you.”“Sorry in advance.”Taehyung couldn’t forget the way Namjoon waved him goodbye and smile with his bleeding nose.
***
Namjoon was bleeding and it kept gushing out. Taehyung held him in his shaking hands, unsure of what to do, pressing his wound hoping it would just, please, stop bleeding while crying his eyes out.
Red. White. Jungkook is red. Namjoon is red. Why am I the only one different?
Jungkook was at a gun’s point and his gun was aimed at someone else too, someone who wore the same black tux and white shirt like him with the same sad eyes. Pale fingers at the gun’s trigger, threatening to pull them but never did.“Yoongi? How did you—“
“I’ve always knew you were a softie, Jungkook. Didn’t I tell you the first rule is to not fall for the target?”“Hyung, it’s different! He’s—““He’s your target! You were supposed to be guarding him, no more, no less! Couldn’t you see how big of a mess you’re getting yourself involved in?”“So am I just supposed to watch him getting chained and raped?! He’s my soulmate, for God’s sake!”The other man was taken aback. He groaned and cursed at the whole situation. Jungkook took the chance to strike his hands and toss his guns away. Though, the man didn’t back off and sent a kick to Jungkook’s stomach as a reply, and Jungkook’s gun fell. The two men now only had their fists as their weapons. Yoongi; Jungkook had called him; had a smaller frame but his movement was precise. Jungkook was losing and for a second Taehyung thought it was on purpose.“They’ll never stop until they get what they want, don’t you understand?!” He grabbed Jungkook by the collar, yelling on his face as if it would make Jungkook change his mind.“Yoongi, please,” Jungkook coughed, lips cracked and cheeks bruised. “Can’t you just… Please, leave us alone.”Yoongi glanced at Taehyung and his fading hair color, bleeding Namjoon on his arms. “He can’t survive, Jungkook, you knew it, even if we don’t kill him, he will die. The only way he can live is in that lab.”“Then die he will, by my side, rather than live in that hell.”They stared at each other, as if trying to see whose determination was stronger, and neither was willing to give up. Until Taehyung’s weak voice distracted them and they both looked at him.
“Namjoon… He needs help, please,” his hands were still trying to stop the flow of blood on the older’s chest in vain. His breath was barely there; Taehyung couldn’t tell if he was breathing at all.“Shit, I hate my job,” Yoongi turned around and kicked a stone before he calmed down. “...More will come, Jungkook, they didn’t send me alone. I only got here earlier without telling them.”“I know.”“There’s nowhere safe, where would you go?”For the first time since Taehyung met the man, Yoongi looked at Jungkook with genuine concern. His lover shrugged, though, returning Yoongi’s gaze in a silent lament. The answer they both knew but didn’t say. The ending they all knew but continue to defy.
Nowhere.
There’s nowhere to go.
There were distant noises of car engines and guns loaded, Taehyung flinched, panicked, he threw questioning look at Jungkook, and his lover looked as lost as he was. Yoongi took his gun that was on the floor, placed it in Jungkook’s hand with a firm grip.“Run,” he commanded.Where, he did not state. Where, Jungkook did not ask. Where, Taehyung did not question, but he would go anywhere with Jungkook’s hand in his. Again, like always, they were hand in hand, running away from the world that was trying to set them apart.“Tell me how music sounds like when we meet again, yeah?” Yoongi had asked when they ran past him. Jungkook took one last glance at him. The older was smiling, assuring. Jungkook didn’t smile, doubting. In a whisper that Taehyung almost missed, Jungkook muttered a ‘thank you.’They were far enough from the beach house when the first gunshot was heard, didn't stop when the sound of gunfires continued. One distinct sound of gun trying to battle dozens of others. Each trying to outdo the other, until they heard one last shot and then everything fell silent. Jungkook paused in his steps, his grip tightened around Taehyung’s hands.A piece of him had died that day and Taehyung was holding onto the last piece that keeps him sane.
***
“What’s a family?”Taehyung asked, pointing at an advertising board that showed a man, woman and a child. The tagline said something about loving your family by choosing the right jam for your breakfast sandwich. The board was annoyingly large and it covered up most of the view they could see from their modest motel room. Jungkook thought for awhile.“Someone who is blood-related to you, I guess, simply put,” he stared longingly at the picture.
“Do you have a family, Jungkook?”He smiled at the question. It had been awhile since he even heard the word ‘family.’ “I used to have one. But my father died of cancer and my mother slowly followed him. You know what they say, soulmates couldn’t exist without each other, so,” he shrugged.The hybrid didn’t take his eyes away from Jungkook, waiting for unsaid words. “…But I do have one person who is like a family to me.”“Like a family?”“Yeah. We’re not necessarily blood-related, but… Someone who knows me inside out, supports me, and someone who I know I can always depend on. Like, a real brother. Get it?” Jungkook teased his lover, poking his nose.Taehyung pouted. “What is he like?”“He’s my mentor at the agency, actually. He has a grumpy face and always tries to act tough in front of me even though he has a smaller frame,” Jungkook chuckled, suddenly found himself missing Yoongi and his naggings. “But he’s the most warm-hearted person I’ve ever met. Do you have someone like that, Tae?”Taehyung hummed. “I don’t know a father or mother. I don’t have one.” He said it nonchalantly but it made Jungkook’s finger twitched. It reminded him that Taehyung wasn’t born. He was created, and his hatred for the lab grew again. It soon subsided, though, when Taehyung grinned at him. “But Namjoon is someone I can depend on. Does that make him my family?”“Yes,” Jungkook smiled.“Can we make our own family?”“Of course, Tae.”“You, me, and a small baby?”“I’d like that.”Taehyung smiled so wide, Jungkook had to resist the urge to kiss him right then and there. The thought was so endearing and Taehyung giggled to himself, imagining the future he knew they’ll never had. Still, it was a nice thought to have.“Hey, Jungkook?”“Yes, Tae?”“I’m glad you’re my soulmate.”
***
The palm trees around the coast did not provide much of a hiding place. They were in a hunting ground, out in the open. Jungkook shot his last bullet through a soldier’s head and cursed as he threw away his gun. Another man launched a punch at him but he managed to dodge. His wound on his right knee made him lose his balance and he fell. The soldier took out a dagger and was about to slash his neck before Taehyung whacked his temple with a gun he picked from one of the dead soldiers. He took Jungkook’s hand and dragged the wounded man with him. One after another, their assailants number did not seem to end. Their aimless wandering brought them to a cliff, where waves crashing on the rocks below, and the last shine of the setting sun shone over the sea and the two lovers.
Jungkook has been bleeding so badly, he couldn’t even see straight. His vision started to get blurry, covered with sweat or blood, he wasn't sure. The loss of blood made him drowsy. Taehyung caught him before he could crash to the ground and held him on his arms, resting his head on his laps. The hybrid didn’t have much strength either, the medicine’s effect has worn off and his scales are peeling, his hair turning paler by the seconds. He coughed blood, smearing Jungkook’s shirt, though it didn’t make any notable difference because his shirt was already so red from his wounds.They were dying, in one way or another.“Look,” Taehyung whispered. “The sea is orange in color. It’s beautiful.”“Yes,” Jungkook reached for Taehyung’s cheeks to make the other turn to him. “But I prefer them blue.”Jungkook watched Taehyung as the sun’s last light was setting down. His fading mint-blue hair under the setting sun, his blue eyes that look at Jungkook like he was the world, and everything he would miss. He watched every last inch of it, trying to carve it to his head, never to be erased, never forgotten, not even if he were to be reborn. He would look for that boxy smile in another life, in another world, in another fate, until they are together again.“Taehyung?”“Hm?”“Will you sing me our song?”Through his blurry vision, he could see how Taehyung’s lips curled up to a smile as he took a breath.Soft melodies echoing from Taehyung was the only sound at that place. As if the world suddenly fell silent to lament over their fate. Taehyung's melodies complimented the sound of crashing waves, muting the background noises of cars and hurried footsteps of armed men behind them.
“I still wonder,wonder, beautiful story
Still wonder, wonder, best part.”
Jungkook closed his eyes, Taehyung’s lullaby made him feel sleepy as he felt himself drowned in the melodies that no one else could hear. The melodies created for them and them only by the cruel universe that tied them together.
“I still wander, wander, next story…”
Before the last piece of his consciousness faded away, the last thing Jungkook remembered was the heaviness of a gun on his hand, warm hands covering his and guiding them to the trigger.
“I want to make… You mine…”
One last gunshot, one last ray of sunlight, then the ocean mourned over two souls.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Jeon Jungkook!”Jungkook woke up in a jerk.“Uh? What?” He blinked his drowsy eyes a few times, trying to find the owner of the voice. He turned to see an annoyed Namjoon.“Sheesh, you’re always so hard to wake up. Get ready, it’s almost your turn to record,” the leader snorted, both found the act endearing and annoying.“…Namjoon hyung?”“What?”Jungkook stared at him for awhile. “Nothing,” he muttered. He got up from the couch and head to leave with Namjoon to the recording room. The older, however, couldn’t shake away his uncomfortable feelings because Jungkook’s kept staring at him with those big, deer-eyes and he wanted to be angry because it annoyed the hell out of him but then again, he found the act cute, so he couldn't get angry. He turned around and raised an intimidating brow.“What? Stop staring at me like that.”“Hyung, are you… Are you okay? Like, I mean, you… Nothing out of the ordinary?” Jungkook searching for something on the older’s chest, rubbing the clothes. Something like… A gun wound? Namjoon backed away and gave Jungkook a weird look.“Are you drunk?”“No, I just… I had this strange dream…” Jungkook scratched his head. “It felt so real.”“Focus, Kook, you need to record in a few minutes.”“Right…” Jungkook slapped himself mentally. It’s just a dream. Just a dream.Yoongi’s turn had just finished when they reached the studio and the rapper came out from the room the same second the two opened the door.“Oh, you’re here?” he greeted lazily.“Yoongi hyung!”Yoongi blinked and frowned to look at a wide-eyed Jungkook, who looked like he’s seen a ghost but oddly excited about it. Before he could ask, Jungkook engulfed him with his bigger arms, the older's small frame drowned in Jungkook’s bigger ones. Behind Jungkook’s shoulder, Yoongi eyed Namjoon who gave him a shrug.“Jungkook- What- What are you doing?” Yoongi wriggled himself free.“Oh, sorry, I just—I had this strange urge to hug you and…”“I think he’s drunk,” Namjoon whispered loud enough for Jungkook to hear.“What did Jin hyung make you drink?”“I’m not drunk!” Jungkook whined. Yoongi shook his head.“Anyways, Joon, hear me out, about this new song, I talked to Hoseok and I think we should change the arrangement a bit,” Yoongi turned to Namjoon and their conversations drifted off to music jargons Jungkook couldn’t quite catch. Still, he looked at Yoongi endearingly and without him knowing, his lips grew to a smile.“…You’re really good at music, now.”
Now?
Jungkook frowned at himself. Maybe he really
was drunk. Yoongi and Namjoon threw him a questioning look.“What do you mean ‘now,’ I always am,” the older scoffed.“Yeah, right. You should teach me sometimes, hyung,” Jungkook smiled and tapped his shoulder. “See ya,” he left the two rappers who were still scrutinizing him and head inside the recording room. Jimin was inside the booth, harmonising with Jin and Hoseok. Taehyung was on the couch, waiting for his turn. The older waved a hand, acknowledging Jungkook, and he replied with the same gesture, before he went into shock mode after realizing Taehyung’s hair.“Hyung, your hair…”“Oh yeah, I just dyed it. What do you think?” Taehyung grinned, showing off his newly dyed hair. It was blue, the perfect shade of blue and it triggered something in Jungkook.“It’s… I… It’s…” Jungkook opened and closed his mouth, unable to find the right words to explain the weird feelings inside him. It’s just like in my dream.The older hesitantly asked after seeing his reaction. “Is it that bad?”“No! No, it’s beautiful, I mean… It really suits you! I… I love it.”Taehyung blinked and was confused for a brief moment before he gave away his signature boxy smile, “Thanks.” Oh, Jungkook could feel how his face was getting warmer and he thanked the choice of lamps in the studio because it was dim so Taehyung didn’t notice he’d gone red. “Anyways, come over here, I just composed a track and I want you to tell me your opinion on it.”Taehyung pulled him to a door, connecting to a separate soundproof room, silencing the sound of the other members who were recording. The sudden silence that suddenly engulfed them felt awkward to Jungkook as Taehyung closed the door behind him, but it didn’t last long as he offered the younger an earphone and soft piano tunes started playing through it.“What’s the title?”
“Scenery.”
It was a familiar melody that Jungkook felt he heard somewhere before so he asked Taehyung what song did he take as the sample, but the older nudged him as he looked slightly offended. “I made it from scratch!” he claimed.Jungkook sneered. The melody swayed in his ear, as if to coax him to close his eyes. Jungkook gave in and he did. He closed his eyes only to see a whole other view. He saw blue eyes, longingly staring at him, arms stretched out for him to take. Fond smile playing on the man’s lips as his blue hair was blown by the sea breeze. He would pull him to the water, to the deep ocean, but Jungkook wouldn’t drown. Jungkook would marvel at the beauty of his fins, shades of blue glimmering under the sunlight that penetrates through water. He would follow the man’s alluring moves underwater, the way he spins and bends. The the wave was his stage and he was the dancing star.He was the ocean that Jungkook was drowned in but he was breathing fine.
Jungkook.
He could hear his voice, low and deep, yet sweet and warm.
Can you hear it?
It’s our song. I’m singing it to you.
“…Our song?”
Our song, Jungkook.
“Jungkook!”
For the second time of the day, Jungkook jerked and opened his eyes awake. The last note played on the earphone and the song ended. Wide-eyed and concerned Taehyung held him by his arms.“Are you alright? Is the song too sad?”“Huh? No, I…”“But... You're crying.”
Jungkook threw him a confused look as he wiped his cheeks. His hand came back wet. He blinked, only to draw more tears spilling to his cheeks. “That’s weird…” He mumbled. When he turned to look at Taehyung, something clicked.“Hyung.”“Yeah?”“I don’t want to make things awkward between us, so don’t freak out after I do this, okay?”“Do what?”Jungkook stepped closer, Taehyung flinched but refused to take a step back. Slowly, the younger leaned in, their breaths caught together, Jungkook eyed the older as he parted his lips slightly. They were close enough until their lips brushed. Jungkook stopped. Taehyung didn’t pull away. He took it as a cue to keep moving, close his eyes and cupped Taehyung’s cheeks tenderly. It was almost nostalgic when he felt their lips touched, like it was something that was meant to be done years ago. The perfect way their lips met each other, the thrill in his heart when the older sighed into his mouth. Something in Jungkook that had been starving, had been lost, for so long, was quenched and he knew Taehyung felt it too when he pulled away and saw a tear rolled down on the older's cheek.“Jungkook, I—“A knock on the door made the pair flinched.“Taetae? Kookie? You there?" Came Jimin’s voice from the other side. "The PD is calling for you, it’s you guys’ turn to record.”Taehyung quickly wiped his tears with his sleeves, sniffing and made sure his voice wasn’t shaking when he answered, “Coming!” He threw a quick glance at Jungkook.“…I like the song, hyung,” Jungkook handed him the earphone. Taehyung didn’t answer but gave him a knowing smile.“I’ll talk to you later, Kookie.”“Sure, Taehyung hyung.”The blue haired man bit his lower lip, trying not to smile too much and hoped the others didn’t notice he was blushing when he walked out from the room. Jungkook's gaze lingered on his back with a content smile on his lips.
I’ve found you.