A/N: Yeoliju are "Dragon Jewels" or "Dragon Orbs" (yes, like from Dragonball Z) that contain a huge amount of power. In the hands of a Dragon, they bring peace and prosperity and allow him/her to rule over all the elements. If a Four-clawed Imugi gets his hands on it, he/she can transform into a Dragon. Basically, it has a ton of power and anyone that devours it or get his/her hands on it can transcend all other living beings. And yes, this is an actual part of Korean mythology (I was surprised as well). I guess gods have career advancements, too?

~~~

Sleep.

"Are you a god?"

Bewildered, Jimin shook his head furiously. "What? No, I'm - "

"Yes, I am," from behind him, a massive serpent slithered through the forest, "why do you pray to me, human?"

Their gazes were going straight past him to each other and, upon closer inspection, Jimin realized that this child was himself. And the serpent wasn't a serpent at all - it was a dragon. He held his breath as he stepped away from them carefully. This was a memory.

"Please," little Jimin's voice cracked, "help us. Mom and Dad and everyone, they're stuck in the car and Taehyung, he's not breathing."

"They're dead."

Wow. Whoever this thing was, he was one hell of an . Way to traumatize a kid, dragon.

But, instead of crying his eyes out like any other child would, little Jimin just stared.

"I know." He gave a little sniffle before holding his friend's corpse tighter and the dragon approached a bit closer. "But you're a god, right? Shouldn't gods be able to bring them back to life?"

Huh.

The bellowing laugh that the deity howled shook the entire area and Jimin staggered back, losing his footing. However, as his back made contact with cold metal, he had the distant feeling that he probably shouldn't look behind him. That coupled with the metallic tang of blood that filled his nostrils - he already knew what grisly picture awaited. He tried to focus solely on the monstrous being, who was beginning to shift into the vague form of a man.

Seokjin-hyung.

"I am a god, but I am a weak god. However, considering how intriguing you are, I will grant you a part of your wish." A chilling breeze whistled through the woods as Seokjin's eyes shone an intimidating gold. Still, the child bravely stood his ground. "Who do you want me to bring back?"

"One person?"

"Just one."

A moment of hesitation. Young Jimin made a move to glance back to the wreckage before also deciding against it. He looked down at the boy stiffly held in his arms.

"Taehyung. Bring him back."

"Even if I am a demon and the price is your soul?"

"I don't care!" his tiny fists curled up as he gently let go of his friend's head, "Just help! I don't care if you're a god or a demon, so please - " he hiccupped softly, "bring him back."

Seokjin's lips curled up into an amused smile.

"As you wish."

The ground below them was shaking, but neither seemed able to notice - was it only happening to him? Just as the earth opened up and Jimin was about to be swallowed up, he saw his younger self collapse next to Taehyung. Seokjin knelt down.

~~~

When he opened his eyes again, he was inside the shrine. Hoseok was there, speaking quietly with Jin, while Seungwan tended to the two children's wounds. Judging by the fact that his and Taehyung's past forms were still here and that no one seemed to have noticed his entrance, Jimin figured that he was still in a vision. Funny, though: none of the three adults seemed to be any different. Hoseok, especially, seemed just as mid-20s as he did this morning when he was eating breakfast with them.

"I know that you're bored, Jin," the shaman let out an exasperated sigh, "but you can't ignore the laws of nature just 'cause. You pulled the children's souls from the Underworld, but they were too close to Death - they simply don't have enough energy to survive."

"So is that all they need? Energy?"

Hoseok narrowed his eyes at the dragon. He followed his pointed gaze to the center of the shrine, where the pedestal rested. What had once been empty (or at least, in the future), now held a beautiful orb which caught the light, reflecting colors in a thousand different directions.

"You can't be serious - have you lost your mind?!" he grabbed Jin by the lapel, half-shaking him, "the Yeoiju* is the source of all your power. Sure, you've weakened over the centuries, but it's still one of the most precious items in this realm!"

"And?"

"And you're going to use it to revive some little kids?! You're ing insane."

Jin slowly detached Hoseok's fingers from his neck.

"That boy over there - Jimin - he prayed to me for two days straight. No food, no water, no rest. We both know that I haven't been prayed to in a long time and Jimin wasn't even praying to me; he was praying to anyone that could listen." The shaman grew quiet, so the dragon continued. "What good is phenomenal power if I let him die, Hoseok? The humans may have forgotten me, but I am still their god."

His hands fell from the deity's shoulders and Hoseok turned around. His expression was unreadable as he observed young Taehyung, who whimpered in pain.

"You can't do it alone," he muttered.

As if the footage had been fast-forwarded, when Jimin opened his eyes again, the dragon and shaman sat on either side of the children. They breathed in deeply before closing their eyes and lifting their hands into the air.

"We've never done this before," Hoseok swallowed nervously, "channelling the Yeoiju completely...do you think we can do it?"

Jin looked down at Jimin, who stirred, but didn't wake.

"No, but what other choice do we have?"

With that, they began to chant.

Wake.

Jimin looked down at himself; his body was shifting in and out of focus.

Open your eyes.

His feet were fading into darkness and a sense of panic rose from his throat.

Breathe.

No - no, this wasn't right! He knew these weren't his current feelings, but these were the sensations that his childhood self felt. He was being ripped away from the natural fabric of mortality and it was as if someone was shredding his entire existence. Tears streamed down Jimin's cheeks as the emptiness inside him swallowed him whole. The pain wasn't reality, but that didn't mean it wasn't felt.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the bright light exuding from the Yeoiju as it filled the gaps between his and Taehyung's empty souls. But something was wrong. The energy from Taehyung's side was climbing up Hoseok's arm furiously, burning through his mortal flesh. The shaman let out a heart-stopping scream, but he didn't stop transfusing the Yeoiju with the boy. Only when there was nothing left did Hoseok finally detach himself from Taehyung. And when he did, another hot tear fell from Jimin's quickly-fading eyes.

Hoseok's arm was gone.

~~~

"Seungwan-noona!" Jimin must've been about thirteen as he laughed gleefully from behind the priestess, "guess what I did!"

She raised a questioning eyebrow at him when Jin burst into the courtyard - with obnoxiously neon green hair. He snarled at the little boy before lunging at him.

"Eek, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," but he wasn't sorry at all, still giggling like mad, "you look like a grass stain!"

Jin stopped and his vein visibly protruded out of his forehead in anger. But instead of snatching the kid for a punishment, he just gave him a terrifying smile. With the flick of a finger, Jimin felt his body unwillingly drag itself to the dragon. He let out a shrill squeak.

"My lord, I'm sure we can get that out - "

"Don't worry, Seungwan, I'm not going to hurt this brat," his cackle rang through the shrine and the child gulped in fright, "could you find me your old hanbok?"

"Noooooo! I'm sorry, Master! I won't do it again!" he was practically crying now, "I'll pay attention to my lessons and I'll - I'll even practice my spear today! I'm sorry."

"Too late."

An intense wave of horror shot through the older Jimin's spine. Spell or not, he couldn't believe how much he'd forgotten about Jin's actual personality; especially his sadistic side. And soon enough, the younger version of himself trodded out of the inner chambers in a disturbingly pink ensemble. Even his hair was done up, auburn bangs pulled out of his face with a butterfly pin. He looked about two seconds away from crying and for a second, Jimin wondered if he was even breathing - he was just that beet red.

"Aw, look at you! How precious!" Seungwan's coos were automatic, but even her fawning couldn't drown out Jin's obnoxious guffawing.

"YOU LOOK SO PRETTY!"

"My lord, that's not very graceful."

"I don't care about grace or whatever," he was completely out of breath from the laughter and struggled to stand, "where's the camera?"

"NO!" The little Jimin was practically shrieking as he scurried out of the dragon's reach.

The raucous must've been absolutely deafening, since a sleepy Taehyung poked his head out of his room. Wow, waking him was nearly impossible to do, even in the future, so that was one hell of a feat. However, the moment Taehyung saw his friend, all dressed up and cute, he shut his door again.

To be honest, Jimin felt a little offended. He didn't like what he was wearing, but he sure looked adorable. Ugh, stupid Taehyung didn't understand beauty.

"JIMINNIE, COME HERE~~"

, he forgot about that freak.

He practically flew away from the god, which was funny, 'cause Jin actually could fly. But all that training wasn't for naught, as Jimin narrowly escaped all of his master's grappling attacks. They ended up spending the afternoon chasing and running and by the time they were too tired to move, Seungwan's camera was at max capacity.

Jimin smiled at the memory fondly. His past wasn't something he enjoyed and the loss of his parents was obviously traumatic, but these moments were the jems that he wanted to cherish. After that accident, he could've been left for dead, but he wasn't. He and Taehyung could have been indentured, but they weren't. They were loved.

How could he regret his memories when they were so full of his family?

This time, when he felt the pull, he breathed in calmly. This was his mind, his memories. He was in control.

~~~

They hadn't stepped outside the temple in more than a decade. And the time had finally come for Jimin and Taehyung to be reintroduced into human society. Every lock that came off of the shackled gate was another nauseating wave of anxiety, another clench of excitement. When the last seal gave way and the crimson doors finally pulled open, it was done. Screaming thoughts of 'why now?' 'why at all?' raged through his hectic mind, but the pull of becoming human again was no simple temptation. So he ignored it all.

19 year old Jimin took one tentative step into the outside world. Taehyung stayed still. They both looked back at their master, who only smiled encouragingly at them.

This was it.

Breath hitching in his throat, Taehyung shoved his hands into his pockets and steeled himself to leave the walls of the past 11 years. The cotton clothes and denim jeans felt foreign against his skin; he wanted his linen robes back. All he'd known, crammed into a shrine half-a-block wide, he'd be leaving it all behind. Seungwan was crying, he knew.

When Taehyung's feet made contact with the grass, it was as if someone had replaced the filter on his eyes. The world just seemed like a clearer picture, one that seemed so bright and majestic and so full of all the optimism that they'd never had the chance to jade away. And both of them were too enamored by their newfound freedom that they didn't notice the figure approaching them. A cold hand against each neck, Jimin and Taehyung fell to the forest ground as electric currents warped through their body.

"Wha - Master Jin."

"Why are you - "

He knelt down to Jimin, like he'd done all those years ago, and pressed his talons to his temples.

"I will hide you."

As if Jin's promise was the key, the lock on Jimin's memories clicked open.