I take another big swig from the bottle of alcohol before passing it back over to Hoseok. I feel it burn its way down my throat into my gut. I look around and all I see is blue; surrounded by a vast ocean and even vaster sky.

“I thought the Captain said we would be there soon.”

Hoseok nods, “We will, don’t be so impatient. We probably have another hour or so before we hit shore.”

I scrunch my face in annoyance, “Why the hell would anyone want to live out here in the middle of nowhere? All that’s out here is water and sand.”

Hoseok snorts beside me, “You haven’t even been there yet. How do you know what it’s like?”

“I’ve heard stories and rumors,” I grumble.

Hoseok shakes his head and shrugs, “Well, it’s not like they had much of a choice. They couldn’t stay in the Land of Lightning, and they couldn’t afford to fight other nations for portions of their land. This was all that was left. The only piece of land that didn’t have an owner.”

“Yea, well it didn’t have an owner for a reason. It’s basically a wasteland. I have no idea what Namjoon plans to do with it.”

Hoseok nods, “Yea, neither do I. But Namjoon is a visionary, and whatever he has planned out, he’ll go to the ends of the Earth to accomplish it. And we should help him do it, right? That is why he called us out here, to help him…”

We both share a look and shrug, to be honest we had no idea why Namjoon asked us to come out; but our best guess was that he needed us for something important. It was risky for us to come all the way here and visit him; if anyone were to see us and report back to the government in the Land of Lightning; it wouldn’t take a genius to connect the dots and figure out both Hoseok and I were double agents. We would be prosecuted for treachery and sentenced to death for plotting against the government.

Namjoon was the main leader that led the rebellion against the Land of Lightning. It was a short battle; a war nonetheless but we were all able to escape with only a few scrapes and bruises. Namjoon was able to lead everyone out here to this wasteland; while Hoseok and I remained back in the Land of Lightning; continuing our positions as spies and feeding Namjoon all the intel we gathered.

The rest of the journey went by quickly as Hoseok and I reminisced about the past. For the most part our past was rough, but at the same time it was sprinkled with so many moments of laughter. My childhood was hard; being raised and abandoned in the rough part of the city. Surrounded by poverty and death; I realized quickly it was going to be hard to survive. At that young age; I came to terms with the fact that the world was made up of only two types of people; criminals and victims. You either steal or are stolen from.

It was at that time I met Namjoon; we were both young and rebellious and got along together pretty quickly. Namjoon started up his own gang, a gang unlike any other. We ran the city, not though force or cruelty; instead we helped them survive. Namjoon always has and always will be a visionary; he has the greatest ability to instill hope into people. He told us that if society wanted us to be criminals; that’s what we would be. But we aren’t going to steal from our own kind, but steal from those who oppress us. We destroyed so many rich cities, towns, families with our actions. We made it so they all fell apart, had nothing left to their name; were left with only the clothes on their backs and memories of before their fall from grace. It was so wrong; and yet it was so right because they ing deserved it.

Only after we started causing some real problems; started getting too influential; that was when the government looked our way. Finally, they took notice of the trash they left to pile along the streets. We met Hoseok around then; he was small and frail and could barely speak. He was frightened by every movement and every sound; we weren’t sure where he was from or what happened to him. When we asked, he would respond with “I was raised by wolves.”

I didn’t know if he met that literally or figuratively, but I responded with “So was I.” He smiled at that and soon after; the three of us were inseparable.

Caught in my own thoughts; I don’t catch the approaching land until it’s too late. We hit the shore a bit roughly and crew men rush everywhere as they start taking down sails and dropping in their anchors. Hoseok and I get up slowly; grab our stuff and make our way off the ship. Like I had imagined, all I could see was piles and piles of sand. Hoseok and I stand there for a few minutes; as we look from left to right slowly and realize that there was literally nothing there but sand dunes. We look to each other; and continue to stand there in the burning heat, not having any idea on what to do or where to go.

“Should we wait?” Hoseok sends me a questioning look and I throw my hands up and shrug in response. We end up sitting down in the hot sand and waiting for an unbearable thirty minutes before we both spot something off in the distance.

At first they were just tiny white triangles, but quickly they grew bigger and bigger as they raced towards us at an extremely fast pace. We hear a young sailor on the ship shout for the men to start unloading the ship; and suddenly the area is hustling and bustling as sailors run up and down unloading crate after crate off the ship.

Hoseok and I watch curiously as the quickly moving vehicles get closer and closer; and we notice that they look like tiny sailboats. On the one leading them all, I see a very familiar head of blonde hair; and Hoseok and I both shout and wave our arms at Namjoon. He smiles and waves back and pulls up quickly beside us before hopping off. For a moment we have a happy reunion, hugging and hitting each other; just like nothing has ever changed.

“I’m glad you guys could make it.”

Hoseok shrugs, “You asked us to come so we did.”

I jerk my head towards the little boat, “What’s that?”

“Ah, it’s a new invention we created. We call it a Sand Glider; it helps us travel quickly across the sand dunes. It catches the wind in the sail; or if there is no wind we have a fan attached to the back that can makes some for us.”

I nod as I take in the sight of the thing, “It’s well built. I can tell you used light material to help it travel faster. Is this what you guys have been doing?”

Namjoon smiles slightly, “We’ve been doing a lot of things. We are basically trying to rebuild a whole new nation from the ground up. Everyone has been putting in a lot of effort on building houses and cultivating food. But it’s hard, and we don’t have many people.”

I nod in understanding and look around. The other Sand Gliders that were following Namjoon earlier all pulled up close to the ship. With the help of the sailors, they started to pile all the crates onto the small vehicles.

“It seems like you guys already started up trading with other nations.”

Namjoon shakes his head, “Not really, I just have a lot of connections and know a lot of people who are indebted to me.” He gives me a sly look and I laugh as I know just what he is talking about.

“Come on, we don’t need to stay here and watch them do their business. I’ll take you guys back to my place.”

We follow Namjoon onto the Sand Glider, which is actually bigger than I gave it credit for since it could hold Namjoon, Hoseok, and I; and then even had enough space left over for probably two more people to sit. Namjoon opens the sail and we take off across the dunes at breakneck speed. Hoseok and I shout and scream excitedly as the wind pulls our hair back and snaps at our faces. It was exhilarating; I had never experienced such a thrill in my life before. It was wonderful as we flew across that open sea of sand; and before I knew it; little tiny buildings started to crop up in the distance. Namjoon starts to apply the break and we safely slow down and come to a stop just at the edges of the small town.

We hop off; and I look around at the shabby little buildings; most of them looking like they were still being built. There was only a couple of small trees and a ton of cacti everywhere. There was a small pond of glistening water in the center of the town; and just looking at it I could feel my throat squeeze with how dry it already felt.

Namjoon leads us towards the center of the town; and I could already tell which building was his house. It was the biggest and most well built one; and even had a little garden in the front of it and drapes hanging in the windows, and there were many other details hinting as Jin’s presence. Jin and Namjoon had married about a year or two ago; and it always amused me when I think about it because if it weren’t for Jin; I’m positive the house would look like a dump and be totally destroyed.

Namjoon guides us to the front door; and Hoseok and I struggle to hide our laughter behind our hands as we look at the brightly painted pink door. Namjoon turns to glare at us over his shoulder which makes us laugh even harder.

He opens the door, “Hey guys, I’m home!” and suddenly we all hear a loud crash come from inside. We pause before rushing forward and I can hear Jin shouting along with another higher-pitched voice.

“Jimin! You know this is unacceptable behavior!”

“Shut up! You can’t tell me what to do! You’re not my father!”

We walk into the living room and the first thing I see is the broken glass bottle lying in a pool of dark liquid on the ground. On either side of it is Jin and a much shorter boy with bright orange hair; who I assume is ‘Jimin’. Jin of course, is dressed elegantly and standing like a pillar of beauty within the room, while the other looks like a little troll with his messy hair and dusty clothes.

“Jimin, don’t say that! You know I’m just trying to help you! You are making a mistake hanging out with thugs like them!”

“I don’t have to listen to you! I’m an adult now! And besides, you use to be one those thugs anyway, so you can’t say !”

Anger and hurt flashes across Jin’s face but he stands his ground, “How can you be an adult when you still act like a child?!”

“ you!” The boy bears his teeth and I can see his body tense, getting ready to pounce.

“JIMIN!”

Everyone in the room besides Namjoon jumps as his voice bellows out. The hot anger was evident on his face; and I figured the boy must be pissing his pants about now. I know I would if I were him. But shockingly enough, the young boy’s face turns quickly from shock to anger once more. There was defiance written all over his face with his angry pout and teary eyes. All I could think was ‘this boy has some balls but he also has a death wish.’

“Jimin, what is the meaning of this?”

The boy sniffs but despite how obviously upset he was, his jaw and shoulders were locked tight in rebellion. “It’s nothing! I’m going out.”

The boy rushes over and picks up a torn and dusty backpack; slings it over his shoulder and starts marching towards us; towards the door.

“Jimin, no you are not! Apologize right now to Jin and knock this behavior off!”

The boy ignores Namjoon and races forward to get past him quickly, avoiding Namjoon’s outstretched arm. Hoseok quickly dodges out of the boy’s way so he won’t be bulldozed over; however, I let the boy crash right into me. The force of impact barely causes me to budge, and the boy stumbles back slightly instead.

He turns his fierce eyes up to mine, “Move.”

“Make me.” The boy’s eyes widen and he inches back just the slightest bit. Funny, he wasn’t scared of Namjoon or Jin; yet the boy gets hesitant in front of me even though I’m barely taller than him. Maybe it’s cause he doesn’t know me, or maybe it’s because I don’t shout the words or get angry at him like the others. It’s just a cold threat; a dare if you will.

I can see the boy think it over for a second; weigh his options; before gripping his backpack strap tightly and maneuvering around me roughly, barely squeezing his body through the small space between me and the wall. Once he breaks through it though, like a lightning bolt he’s out the door and out of sight.

I stare at the door for a second before looking at Namjoon with a raised brow, “Who’s the brat?”

Namjoon sighs heavily and looks up to the ceiling, “He’s my son.”

“What?!” Both Hoseok and I look at each other with confusion and shock. I turn back to Namjoon, “He’s a bit old to be your son, don’t you think? How young were you when you forced a poor girl to pop out a child like that?”

Namjoon groans, “He isn’t my biological son. I took him in a long time ago and kept him a secret from everybody else. I didn’t want him to get caught up in this .”

I make a face, “Just how long ago do you mean exactly? During the war?”

Namjoon shakes his head, “Nah. I took him in around the time after I met you.”

My eyebrows shoot up in surprise, “That’s a long ing time ago, Namjoon! You were keeping that a secret for that long?! Why didn’t you tell us?”

Namjoon shrugs lazily, “I had my reasons.”

“Explain them.” I give him a hard look and he nods his head.

“I’ll explain everything but give me a second to calm Jin down first.”

With that being said, Hoseok and I look to where Jin is sitting on the ground, next to the broken bottle and picking up the shards gingerly as tears gather up in his eyes.

Namjoon approaches Jin, “Baby, you don’t need to clean that up, I’ll do it. You’re gonna cut your hands up with all that glass.”

Jin sniffles and looks up to Namjoon with big, glistening eyes, “He hates me! He hates me so much! I’m just trying to help him though, he doesn’t realize the consequences of the mistakes he is making.”

Namjoon nods, “I know, Sweetheart. I know you mean well. Jimin knows it to, he’s just in a rebellious phase right now. It’ll pass with time.” Jin nods and Namjoon bends down and takes the glass from his hands into his own. “I’ll clean this up, so why don’t you go makes some tea, all right? I’m sure Yoongi and Hoseok are really thirsty and hungry after their long trip.”

Jin turns to Hoseok and I, and we both nod our heads enthusiastically as we continue to stand awkwardly in between the hallway to the door and the space to the living room.

Jin nods sadly, but he has clearly calmed down some from before. “Okay, I’ll go make some tea and will be back shortly.” Namjoon nods, and before getting up and leaving; Jin leans in to kiss his husband. Hoseok and I quickly turn our faces away, pretending we don’t see anything since it’s pretty awkward to witness your ex-gang boss being intimate with his significant other.

Once Jin leaves, we walk over and help Namjoon clean up the mess. I could tell quite quickly that the bottle, before it shattered, was full of alcohol. The dark liquid smelled and tasted just like Fireball Whisky. After we mop it all up, we sit on the ground around the small living room table.

“So…” Hoseok looks awkwardly between Namjoon and I. “I know we have a lot to talk about, but can we first address the fact that you have a kid?!”

I nod furiously, “Yea bro, what the is up with that?”

Namjoon lets out a deep sigh, “It’s a long story but I’ll make it short. I found the boy a long time ago. Saw his parents walk right into the slums where we were living; I knew they didn’t belong there because they were dressed too nice. Jimin was young, but not young enough to not realize what was going on. They chained him to a dumpster and walked away. The poor boy wouldn’t even have survived if I didn’t witness the whole thing. I took him in, even though I wasn’t much older than him, I figured at that point I was the best he had. I didn’t mention him to anyone; kept him a secret because I didn’t want him getting caught up in all that bad . I thought he was too young, too small, too sweet and fragile for that sort of world so I raised him in a separate one.”

“And how exactly were you able to do that?” I give Namjoon a suspicious look.

“Well, I started stealing from the rich. Convinced everyone that we should actually. And after we would split up the goods; I would use my earnings for Jimin. Y’know, I put him into a good school, made sure he had food and a roof over his head. He wanted to live with me but I felt it was too dangerous; so I got him his own place and would just visit him all the time there.”

I nod in understanding; I by saying, “So basically, you raised him to be a spoiled brat?”

Namjoon snorts but nods, “Yea, I guess you could say that. I didn’t really force him to do much, just asked him to be a good kid. And he was, he was like a little angel. All sweet and naïve but then we moved here and he didn’t handle the change all that well. He says he misses his friends, he wants to go back home. I keep trying to tell him this is his home now, that our old home is too dangerous for us to return to. We fight constantly now; he’s always begging me to let him leave, to let him at least go see the rest of the world if I won’t let him go back home. It’s rough…”

We are all silent for a while, Hoseok and I both giving Namjoon understanding looks. I get it completely; he probably felt like he was this poor kid’s older brother; felt all this responsibility to keep him safe. I would have done the same thing; kept him out of that horrible world and let him live in a much more naïve one. But things change; the boy obviously isn’t taking that change very well.

“So, what are you gonna do about him?” Hoseok asks, giving Namjoon a questioning look.

Namjoon shrugs, “Like I told Jin, it’s a phase and he will grow out of it.”

I raise my eyebrow in doubt, but don’t say anything. Namjoon knew the kid better than me; but I couldn’t help but feel that this kid was stubborn and he wasn’t just gonna ‘grow out of it’.

“It’s not a phase Namjoon.” We turn to see Jin enter with a tray full of tea and small snacks. He sets it down and starts to pour hot tea into everybody’s cup.

“Come on Jin, you know Jimin is a good kid.”

“I didn’t say he wasn’t. All I said was that this isn’t a phase. He’s getting worse and worse and we need to do something before he really gets himself into serious trouble.”

Namjoon rolls his eyes, “He isn’t getting worse…”

Jin sends him a sharp glare, “Yes, he is. First, he didn’t come home at all last night and stayed out doing gods know what with gods know who. Then, I decide to check on him this afternoon, since I figured he would have been back by now, and I find him in bed with another boy!”

“Well…” Namjoon looks at both Hoseok and I awkwardly, “He’s at that age Jin…”

“It wasn’t just any boy! It was ing Jackson!”

“Oh no!” Namjoon slams his hand loudly on the table, “Jimin knows I don’t approve of him hanging around that guy! Do you know how much trouble he gets into?!”

Jin slams both of his hands on the table as well, “That’s what I ing said! I was like ‘Jackson, why the are you in my house?’ Then I went and grabbed the kitchen knife and told his scrawny he better run cause if I catch him anywhere near Jimin again I’m slicing his balls off! Then, Jimin got all mad at me and I saw the bottle of whiskey on his dresser and I knew then what sort of stuff he was getting into. He’s hanging out with all those older men in the storehouse drinking and smoking all night long!”

Namjoon slams his fist on the table once more and cusses. Hoseok and I share awkward glances, not sure how to respond to such conversation. Neither of us had any experience with kids; although Jimin was less a kid and more like an immature young adult.

Namjoon lets out a sigh, “What are we suppose to do? It ain’t like we can ground him.”

I shrug, “I can talk to the kid for you.” Everybody turns slowly and gives me a look. “What?”

Jin raises an eyebrow, “You, of all people, think you are somehow going to be able to talk sense into Jimin?”

I roll my eyes, “I didn’t say that. What I mean is, the boy probably doesn’t listen to you guys cause he sees you as his parents. After a while, kids don’t like listening to their parents no more. Instead, he’s listening to what those guys in the storehouse are telling him; he’s listening to what boys like Jackson are whispering into his ear. What I’m trying to say is; he may not listen to you but he may listen to me.”

Jin pouts and looks towards Namjoon, who nods his head before looking dead straight into my eyes, “You have a point Yoongi, but at the same time you aren’t much of a good influence either.”

I raise my hands in surrender and shrug, “I’m just trying to help. Besides, I wasn’t going to say much, just tell the boy he should appreciate you guys more.”

Namjoon leans back and takes a sip of his tea, “Yea, well I guess we will think about it. I mean, I prefer him listening to you over the men at the storehouse.”

I don’t blame him; even though I didn’t know which men were at the storehouse, I could easily assume they were probably the criminals that go out seeking for trouble. A young and delicate boy like Jimin would be eaten alive by those men in no time. The only reason they probably haven’t done it yet is because they know Namjoon is the one taking care of him.

Hoseok clears his throat to catch everybody’s attention, “Um…now that we have the whole discussion of Jimin out of the way…do you mind telling us why you called us here?”

“Oh!” Namjoon laughs and shakes his head, “I nearly forgot. I called you guys here to tell you that you can leave the Land of Lightning now and come join us here. I know how dangerous it is for you guys to continue working there, that’s why I prefer it if you just come live here instead. We don’t need intel on their government anymore; and instead we need all the help we can get here so we can build our own nation.”

Hoseok’s face beams into a huge smile, “That’s great! Man, I’ve been missing you guys so much. I hated working as a spy; and I was ing terrible at it too. I was only able to get away with it because of my ability and Yoongi.”

Namjoon laughs and looks towards me, his smile drops when he sees my face. “What about you, Yoongi?”

I frown and swallow roughly, “Yea…I don’t think I can live here with you guys…”

The table is quiet for a minute as everyone looks at me. Namjoon gives me a hurt and confused expression, “I don’t understand. We are family and we worked so hard to get here…”

I shake my head and close my eyes, “I’m not saying I don’t want to be with you guys. You are my family but…I wouldn’t be happy here Namjoon. You created this place because you wanted everyone to be fair and equal. You saw how corrupted the Land of Lightning’s government was, and you decided that society shouldn’t be split into rich versus poor. I get it; you want to create a nice, peaceful world where you can protect people like Jimin and in the future raise your own children with Jin. But…I don’t fit into that type of world. I live off of corruption and chaos and I get my thrills through watching those with power fall. This ain’t no place for me, I’m a criminal and always will be because that’s all I know. And to be honest with you…you’re probably going to realize soon that most of the men you brought over here feel the same way as me.”

The room is silent except for Namjoon’s fingers tapping against the table top, “What are you going to do then? You can’t go back to the Land of Lightning, it would be only a matter of time before they link you to me and figure out you were the one that stole the amulet.”

I shrug nonchalantly, “I don’t need to go back there; there is a whole world waiting for me to explore it. I’ll keep myself entertained.” I smile at him and he smiles back, “If you ever need my help though, don’t be afraid to ask. I’ll make sure to keep in touch and visit frequently.”

Namjoon nods, “Alright, I guess I can work with that. Make sure to not get into too much trouble on your adventures though, alright?”

I chuckle, “I won’t. Or at least, I won’t get into any trouble I can’t handle by myself.”

With that, we spend the rest of the evening catching up and drinking. We even started to play cards for a while until Jin told us to knock it off so we could eat dinner. It was around that time, when the sun started to set and it was getting dark out; that we heard the front door open and slam shut. We all pause eating our dinner, and look up to find a little orange-haired troll standing at the entrance to the living room. He was covered from head to toe in sand and dirt, and he was tracking it all over the floor.

“Jimin, how about you come eat dinner with us and our company?” Jin says it so sweetly, being so polite to the boy despite the events that took place this morning.

Jimin sniffs and makes a face as he glares at all of us, “Nah.”

Oh man, this kid was just begging to get his whipped wasn’t he? I could already see Namjoon clenching his fists at Jimin’s short and clipped response; but I knew what made it worse was the accent the boy said it with. There was no official name for the accent; but you could only find it in one place in the world and that was in the slums of the Land of Lightning. We all had it; excluding Jin of course since he wasn’t even born or raised in the Land of Lightning; But Namjoon made sure we all learned to hide it.

There were multiple reasons why he forced us to break our old habits of speaking; the major one being it was a dead giveaway during the war on which side we were on. Hoseok and I especially had to hide it since we were working up close with important government officials and we didn’t want them to grow suspicious of us.

Namjoon had a whole list of other reasons why he didn’t approve of the accent; but I’m sure the other main reason was it tended to make people look down upon you and think you were uneducated or uncultured. And I knew that didn’t apply to Jimin; Namjoon told us he sent him to a good school. The boy is only speaking like that to spite Namjoon; and probably because he grew into the habit of using it by spending his time around all those men drinking and smoking in the storehouse.

“Jimin, Jin asked you very nicely to come join us.”

Jimin slides his eyes over to Namjoon; and I could see the boy was tired and not in the mood to fight by the way he sort of shrunk under Namjoon’s stare. “I’ll eat later. I’m all dirty; I gotta wash up.”

We all looked the boy up and down and I’m sure no one was denying the boy needed a serious bath; it looked like he had been rolling in the dirt all day long. Namjoon sighs and tells him he can go; so Jimin speedily rushes into his room and shuts the door. The boy doesn’t return for the rest of dinner, and eventually Jin goes to knock on his door and gets no response. I tell them the boy is probably sleeping and they should just leave him alone for a while. But the truth is; I already know the boy isn’t in his room; I saw him sneak off a while ago through the window and figured I would go approach him by myself later.

Namjoon shows Hoseok and I to the small guest room in the house; and says we can stay there for however long we want. I told him I would only be staying for a few days so I can rejuvenate before starting on my journey. Hoseok said he would probably stay until he could build his own house.

With that, Namjoon leaves us to bathe and go to bed; but it was still too early for me to be tired and I was curious about a little brat that escaped from his room earlier. I told Hoseok he could bathe first while I go out to get some fresh air. I step out and head in the direction I saw the boy take off too.

He wasn’t hard to spot; his orange hair makes him stick out in the rather dull and lifeless environment. He was curled up in a ball on the ground; next to a large building which I assumed was the storehouse since I could see men drinking and partying through the windows. Some of the men I recognized since we lived and worked together before; most of them I knew would break poor Jimin in half or abuse the poor boy if given the chance.

I walk up to the small boy and clear my throat. His head quickly jerks up and his eyes look at me with surprise. I was sort of surprised too when I looked at him. Earlier, he was all dirty and rumbled; covered in sand and hair sticking out in every direction. Now, he was suddenly a real beauty with a soft baby face and pretty eyes. His face and hair were all clean and styled up; and he even wore a little bit of eye makeup; which I assumed he learned how to do from Jin.

“What are you doing here?”

He sneers the words at me with his heavy accent and I curl my lip up at him, “Boy, you better not be using that tone with me; I ain’t your daddy, I’ll pop a cap up in yo if you give me that attitude.” I sneers the words right back at him and lay my own accent on them nice and thick; and as I expected the boy actually smiled and giggled; finding my words amusing since he knew I didn’t mean them seriously. I could already tell he was more comfortable around me now with the way his head perked up and his tense shoulders dropped; he probably assumed my accent hinted I was on his side and not Namjoon’s.

I nudge him with my foot and he scoots over to let me sit next to him, “Why ya here?”

I smile at the boy’s words, “Saw ya sneaking out earlier. Figured I would ask you why you did it before ratting your out to Namjoon.”

Jimin shrugs his shoulders sulkily, “They don’t get it, I hate it here. There’s nothing to do and nobody I’m allowed to hang out with. The only guy around my age is Jackson, and they don’t want me hanging around him cause they think he’s gonna get me in trouble. He ain’t even a bad guy y’know? He’s actually really nice and I know him and Namjoon get along really well; so I don’t understand why he can hang out with him but I can’t! Him and Jin always tell me what to do; but they’re a bunch of hypocrites so why should I listen to ‘em?” The boy’s face gets all puffy and red as he finishes up his angry little rant. I saw where the boy was coming from; there was nobody his age to hang out with here, and most everybody here had some criminal background; Jin and Namjoon didn’t approve of him hanging out with these people so he is then left with nothing. No friends, nothing to do but roll around in some sand, and no choice but to get himself into trouble.

“Well, first what I will say is your right.”

Jimin’s eyes widen in shock and he looks at me as if I had grown a second head, “I’m right?”

“Yea!”

He raises an eyebrow in confusion, “Yea?”

I laugh at his face and words, he was clearly dumbstruck. He probably wasn’t expecting me to agree with him, but I understood his situation. Heck, I would probably do the same; rebel and get myself into all sorts of trouble.

“Well, I can understand your situation; you just want some friends to hang out with. But you have to understand where Namjoon and Jin are coming from. They know Jackson isn’t a bad guy, but they also know he gets his into a lot of trouble. They’re just trying to keep ya on the right path, they don’t mean to isolate ya.”

Jimin shakes his head sadly at me, “Yea, they do. I always ask ‘em to let me leave, but they won’t let me even though I’m an adult. They say I’m not ready yet, that I need someone to take care of me. I don’t want anyone to take care of me though, I wanna be strong and capable. That’s why, I even got the guts up to ask ‘em to send me to a training academy.”

I cringe when I hear those words, “I can naturally assume that conversation didn’t go over well.”

The boy bites his bottom lip and for a second I’m scared he’s going to cry by the ways his eyes start to glisten, but luckily he doesn’t. I wouldn’t be able to handle a crying child, that’s not my forte. Interrogation however, is much easier.

The boy sniffs lightly, “Yea, I don’t like to think about it. Jin got real upset y’know. Namjoon did too, although I don’t know why. He probably won’t tell me either.”

I shake my head, “You’re right, he won’t. It’s a long story and to be honest, it’s not mine to tell and you are better off not hearing it.”

Jimin nods sadly, “Yea, but I didn’t know what else to do. No matter what they won’t let me leave here. Well…Jin would but only because he wants to introduce me to different men and marry me off. Says he can find me a good guy who can take care of me, give me whatever I want and need. He doesn’t understand I don’t want that; I want to be able to take care of myself.”

I nod, “Yea, but if ya wanna be independent ya can’t be hanging around guys like these.” I gesture with my thumb over my shoulder to the guys inside the storehouse.

Jimin shrugs sadly, “It doesn’t matter anyway. I can’t even hang out with them now.”

“Oh yea? What, did they kick you out or something? Is that why you are sitting out here all alone?”

Jimin shakes his head, “Nah. It’s just, Jin caught me and Jackson in bed this morning and he totally overreacted! He even grabbed the damn butcher knife! I was so embarrassed and felt so bad. I kept telling Jin that we didn’t do anything but he wouldn’t believe me. I was telling the truth too! Jackson just walked me home because I drank too much and I asked him to stay the night.”

I give the boy a knowing look, “You guys didn’t do anything?”

Jimin flushes and looks away, “Okay, we kissed a little but that’s not weird because I tend to kiss people a lot when I’m drunk.”

I cackle with laughter and the boy shushes me, “What? Are you embarrassed?”

Jimin laughs shyly, “No, I just don’t want the guys inside to know I’m out here. I think Jackson told them what happened; and I don’t know how they’re gonna react.”

As if on cue, the front doors to the store house are kicked open and the sound booms out into the night as they slam against the walls.

“Hey! Who’s laughing out here huh? Why don’t ya bring the party in here?” The man walks around the corner and spots Jimin and I sitting with our backs against the wall. The man takes one look at me and I can tell that even in the dark, he recognizes my silver hair and sharp eyes.

“Oh !” Without a second thought the man takes off back around the building and rushes inside.

“Damn, seems like they found us Pumpkin.”

Jimin makes a face at me, “I’m not a pumpkin and why the hell was Jace so scared of you?”

I shrug my shoulders and send him a bright smile, “I don’t know. How about we go find out?” I grab the kid by the waist and hoist him up with me. I start walking towards the front of the storehouse and he follows me obediently. I step into the light flooding out from the main entrance, and I can already see Cain standing there with a wicked smile on his face.

“Oh my dear Cain! What a pleasant surprise it is to see you. How long has it been? Three months?”

Cain snarls, “It’s definitely been a while. What’s your scrawny doing here, Agust D?”

At the mention of my nickname, I hear multiple gasps including Jimin’s high pitched one behind me. I could see everyone react by tensing up, some people grabbed their weapons tightly while others looked as if they were about to run. I guess this is the perfect example of the fight or flight response.

“Why am I here? Am I not allowed to be here, Cain?”

His scarred and mutilated face scrunches up and he looks absolutely horrifying and hideous, “This is our town.”

I nod, “It is. Seems like it needs a lot of work though.”

Cain takes a threatening step forward, “Yea? Well, we don’t care what you think.”

I chuckle, “You may not care what I think but you care about what I plan to do, right?” Nobody responds to that and I laugh some more when I take in their tense postures and faces. “Don’t worry.” I say playfully, “I don’t plan to do anything. I don’t even plan to stay in this wasteland of yours, I’m only here for a couple of days.”

Cain grunts, “Well, in that case, why don’t you leave here sooner rather than later, so we can enjoy this wasteland in peace?”

I feign a hurt expression, “Oh Cain, I feel almost as if you are trying to kick me out of the party.”

“That’s because I am! You can get your outta here, you don’t run us no mo’. You can leave Jimin behind on your way out.”

Some of his followers step forward with their weapons in hand; as if they think they would be able to fight or intimidate me. Jimin steps closer behind me as he looks towards the others with frightened eyes, and I sling an arm around him and pull him tight to my side.

“Sorry Cain, but Jimin is coming with me. In fact, you’re not allowed to hang out with Jimin no more, he’s mine now.”

Cain gets a dark look on his face, “Jimin owes me money and alcohol, that boy stays here until he pays his debts.”

I look at Cain as if he has lost his mind. Does he not realize he is ing with Namjoon’s boy? If Namjoon heard he was collecting debt from Jimin, Cain’s throat would be slit open right now.

I snort out a small laugh, “I’m sorry to break this to you Cain, but when I say he is mine; I mean he is mine. And if he is mine, that means he isn’t yours.”

Jimin presses himself closer to me and gives me a nervous and scared look. Under his breath he says, “Stop! You’re gonna get me in trouble. They’ll beat me up, they’ll beat both of us up if you don’t stop.”

I turn to Jimin and send him a small wink, showing him I had everything under control.

“Jimin!” The boy jumps in my arms as Cain shouts at him, “Get yo over here, right now!” I try to hold back my laughter as Jimin shakes his head at him. Although it was funny to watch Cain’s face twist up at Jimin’s disobeying behavior, it wasn’t funny noticing how the boy trembled in my arms. I didn’t understand why the boy was so scared of Cain but not scared of me. Cain was just a who talked all the time.

Cain growls and turns on me, “You got one last chance to leave here without Jimin, before I set my boys on you.”

I burst into laughter at that, and it takes me a while to get it under control so I can respond back, “Are you sure that’s a smart move? Do your boys really want to get their asses set on fire? Especially in a building made mostly out of wood?” At that, Cain’s men take a couple steps back and give him hesitant looks.

“Besides Cain, I’m trying to make a deal with ya here. I promise to leave you guys alone, let all of y’all enjoy your peace here in this wasteland. I won’t even tell Namjoon you’ve been adding up debt against Jimin, since it’s already bad enough that he knows you been supplying him with alcohol. And in return for my generosity, I’ll get Jimin for myself. That means if any of you ever try to speak or do anything to him ever again; all deals are off and I’ll murder every last one of you. And we all know Namjoon would look the other way when I do it…”

The room is quiet for a second, and I can see fear on all of their faces. Cain is obvious in his attempt to hide it with anger, but I’m sure the memory of me burning the one side of his face beyond recognition is still ingrained in his mind.

Roughly, he motions us away with his hand, “Fine, take him with you. He was just a pretty to look at anyway.”

I grit my teeth when I hear that, and if Jimin weren’t pressed up right against me I probably would have knocked Cain out or worse. Instead, I flick him off, turn on my heel, and lead Jimin away. I hear them slam the doors behind us and we continue to walk in the dark and silence of the night towards Namjoon’s home.

Jimin continues to quiver against my side, and I raise a questioning eyebrow at the boy. It was funny in a way, how he wasn’t scared of Namjoon, Jin, or even all that frightened of me but he seems absolutely terrified of Cain. The boy obviously has a poor judgment of character and places his trust in the wrong types of people.

“Why did ya do it?” Jimin raises his head and looks at me with wide pretty eyes. His eyelashes flutter as he searches my face and I feel a terrible twinge of shame at how attracted I am to him in that moment. “Why did ya take me with you? Why did you say I was yours?”

I shrug roughly, “This may hurt your feelings Pumpkin, but I’m Namjoon’s friend, not yours. He doesn’t want you hanging out with those guys no more, so I made it happen. Sorry, but you have no friends now. They won’t let you ever return, won’t even speak to you or spare you a glance. Well, maybe Jackson will; but if you care about the boy you won’t get involved with him anymore.”

Jimin looks down sadly, “What am I suppose to do now then?”

I let out a low grunt, “You can start behaving, that’s what you can do. No more getting into trouble; hang out with Hoseok instead. You’d like Hoseok, he’s a good guy; nice and full of energy. He’ll make ya laugh and play around with ya all day long. And Namjoon and Jin will definitely approve of you spending time with him instead of those losers; hell, I could even see them giving him their blessing and letting him marry you. Trust me, they won’t voice a single complaint about Hoseok; and he will be a better friend to you than any of those guys could ever be.”

Jimin looks up at me curiously, “What about you?”

I frown, “What about me?”

“Can I hang out with you?”

He says it so innocently and sweetly; and I almost wonder if the boy completely forgot about what just went down in the storehouse. “You don’t wanna hang out with guys like me. Guys like me will lead ya to danger; not trouble. Guys like me will take advantage of ya”

He stops walking and his lack of movement causes me to jerkily come to a stop as well. “I’ll let ya take advantage of me.” My head whips around and I stare at the boy in shock. I couldn’t believe my ears until I saw him repeat the words, “I’ll let ya take advantage of me; if you give me something in return.”

It’s quiet for a while as I look at the boy with my mouth slightly open. I felt my heart thump in my chest as I took in the pretty sight of him, his feminine and gentle features were highlighted by the moonlight and his orange hair surprisingly gave him a y edge that was more than slightly . I felt like the worse person in the world thinking these thoughts about him, he was Namjoon’s younger brother/child.

“I don’t think you know exactly what I mean when I say I will take advantage of you…”

Jimin shakes his head and clutches me tighter, “I don’t care! You told those other guys you weren’t staying here. You’re leaving in a couple days, right?” I nod my head slowly, “Take me with you! Take me back home and I’ll let you do whatever you want with me.”

I feel my jaw drop and practically hit the floor. I look around quickly to make sure nobody heard him and that we weren’t anywhere near the house. If Namjoon ing heard him saying this to me I was going to have a lot of explaining to do. “Um…I…I don’t think you quite understand what you are saying…”

“Take me home with you.” He says it roughly and I feel like murdering myself when all I can imagine is actually taking him back to my place and doing stuff with him that would end my up on Namjoon’s top wanted list.

I look away from the boy so I don’t have to see his sweet and perfect face anymore, “I’m not going home. I’m not returning to the Land of Lightning.”

Jimin is silent for a minute, and I curiously look over to see his face and immediately regret it; the poor boy looks heartbroken; like I ing kicked his dog or something. He shakes his head and looks down at the ground, “That’s fine…you don’t have to take me home then. Just…take me with you, please? Anywhere is fine, anywhere but here…”

He looks up at me with begging eyes, pleading with me to help him escape. But I can’t do it; I can’t just whisk him away with me and then leave him somewhere to fend for himself. I have to admit Namjoon and Jin are right; the poor boy wouldn’t last a day on his own.

I shake my head slowly at the boy and pull away from him, “I’m sorry. You’re looking for a hero in a man who can’t save you.”

It hurts to watch the slight bit of hope fade from the boys’ eyes. It feels like a stab to the heart when I watch that beautiful face crumble and tears started to stream down from those stunning eyes. Overcome with emotion, the boy hides his face in his hands and starts to let out little whimpers and sniffles. I sigh heavily and wrap an arm around his waist and continue to lead him home. When we get there, I lead him to his room and tuck him into his bed.

“Go to sleep.”

He shakes his head at me and continues to cry silently. I wipe some of the tears away gently, “I ain’t leaving till ya go to sleep ya little brat, so hurry up.” He laughs a little at that, amused by my fake portrayal of annoyance. He closes his eyes, and slowly his little sobs disappear and are replaced by deep and calm breathing. I watch him for a while; watch as his tears dry on his cheeks and his saddened expression leaves his face.

Once I leave, I make sure to be absolutely silent so I don’t wake him up or anybody else in the house. I go to mine and Hoseok’s room and curl up in my bed; but it takes a while for me to fall asleep cause all I could think about was the orange-haired boy trapped in this wasteland.

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YAY!! I got the first chapter up and written! I hope you all enjoy it and feel free to subscribe, comment, or ask a question. I will reply to any comment or question you have as soon as I can!

By the way, this is related to my main story State of Honor; so if you are interested go check it out. Suga appears in later chapters...i believe either Chapter 7 or 8.