t/w: character death and anxiety
(and a shirtless Tae)

Taehyung walked back to his room, a goofy grin on his face as he sat down on the bed, unable to stop himself from replaying the scene in his head over and over. His cheeks blushed pink with delight, and he was definitely looking forward to that date with Jung Hoseok later that week.

“Oho, someone’s very happy.” Jimin teased, as he flopped down on the bed next to Taehyung. “You like him a lot, don’t you?”
“I do.” Taehyung laughed, falling back onto his pillow. “I… I really do. I don’t know if it’s okay.”
“Hey. Look, you’re still coming to heaven whether you like it or not.” Jimin winked, making Taehyung snort. “It’s okay to like a boy. And, Taehyung… you really like him.”

Taehyung nodded, sighing contently as he hugged his pillow, before turning to look at Jimin. “I wish… you weren’t compromised in terms of strength. I’m worried about what those demons could do to you.”

Jimin shrugged, as he settled into the pillow, propping himself up with an elbow and arm. “Well, Taehyung. Let’s try and be together as much as possible. It wouldn’t be good if they try to attack you when we are separated.”

“Though, I understand, it can’t be helped. So... I want you to have this.” Jimin slowly pulled a necklace off (where had that come from? Taehyung hadn’t even noticed it there all this time…) and handed it to Taehyung.

“What’s this? A chain?” Taehyung eyed the silver chain, with a green crystal for its pendant.
“Yes. It’s a protection stone. It starts to glow if you’re ever in danger, and I can come to wherever you are. Don’t worry, we sort of have an internal GPS.” Jimin winked when Taehyung opened his mouth to question it. “Are you sure this is okay? Wouldn’t this make you weaker?”

Jimin shook his head. “Not really. I definitely do have a sort of sentimental attachment to it though, so I hope you take good care of it.”

Taehyung nodded, immediately fastening the chain around his neck. The pendant felt comfortably warm against his skin, and Taehyung smiled at Jimin broadly.

“Hey, Taetae…” Jimin mumbled, looking up at the ceiling, anywhere but at Taehyung. The blond let out a hum to show that he was paying attention to Jimin, before glancing at the angel.

“No, I’m just wondering… if there’s much left to remember.”
“Hm? What do you remember?” Jimin closed his eyes, trying to piece everything together. Unpleasant flashes came into his head, but even then he knew he couldn’t keep anything from Taehyung. And he shouldn’t.

“Well, the first one is when we met, at kindergarten. And then, it was my parents. The third one, this is weird but when we got drunk underage?”
“Oh god, your mother chasing us with a broom?”
“Yes!” Jimin nodded, laughing with Taehyung. “It might be funny now, but you were really upset when I took the blame.”

Taehyung shrugged, smiling knowingly. “Of course I was upset. But I’m still thankful. I’ve told you how bad my mother is, right?”
“I… remembered, when I was in the cupboard.” Taehyung blinked, his brows furrowed together, before he slowly nodded.
“Yeah. You told me.”
“And then before that, when we were at the hideout.”

Taehyung sighed heavily. The day had been long and he hadn’t slept the night before; his head was starting to hurt a lot, and he didn’t know how much longer he could stay up, when he winced.

“You okay-?” Jimin noticed the change in expression, looking at his best friend worriedly.

“Honestly… no. My head hurts a lot. I didn’t sleep last night.” Jimin was stunned, as Taehyung further added, “I couldn’t sleep, I felt so bad after overworking you, and then I was scared of Yoongi and Namjoon coming back to take you in your sleep-”
“First of all…” Jimin looked at Taehyung with concern. “We’re ending this discussion here, and going to bed, okay? Also… those demons are weird. They’ve got some sort of standard and conventions they follow. Stuff they are against. Kidnapping an angel in its sleep is one of them.”

“Besides… they’re a bit melodramatic anyway.”

Taehyung snorted; joking about them helped him to relax about the situation, and he slowly nodded.

“Okay, Jimin, you’ve convinced me.”
“It’ll be okay! Don’t worry.” Jimin ruffled his best friend’s hair. “We’ll be okay.”

Taehyung grinned, closing his eyes as whispered something along the lines of, “Yeah, we will be,” before falling asleep immediately.

Jimin smiled sadly, as he glanced back at the dummy, and then looked at Taehyung again. He remembered the sad memories he had unwillingly seen through its eyes, and sighed to himself. Taehyung had suffered so much since Jimin had died, and he had wished he hadn’t seen just how much his friend did.

“You’ll be okay… I’ll make sure of it before I have to go.”

-----

Taehyung looked around in awe. He was running, adrenaline pumping through every vein in his body as he gasped, shouting excitedly.

They were in a sunny field, wheat growing on around them and they frocliked through the gold, laughing. Taehyung and Jimin were hand in hand, and as Taehyung glanced behind, noticing that Hoseok was not far behind from them, a wide grin plastered on his face.

The three friends kept running, almost tripping on their own two feet but never managing to fall down once, their hearts and minds fixated on a single destination.

They reached the middle of this field soon, to a tree with large rocks around it. Jimin immediately ran up to it, a bright smile on his face as he reached the tree first, his arms around it in a tight embrace. “This is the mango tree I began to grow as a child, and my grandparents took care of it whenever I had to leave back to Seoul.”

Hoseok was nodding at him, his arms perched on his waist as he looked at Jimin proudly, before he turned back to smile at Taehyung, a hand wildly gesturing for him to come over. With a laugh, Taehyung rushed over to them, and when he looked up at the tree, he couldn’t help but gasp in awe. The tree had grown so much in the last many years; even though it did not bear any fruit now, it was still beautiful, how life had embraced this tree and grown it into something so enthralling.

“You did good, Jimin.” Taehyung sat down on the rock, facing Hoseok, who was looking down at him with a smile, nodding to show his agreement.

However, good things came to an end in that moment. In the worst way possible.

With a scream, Hoseok’s body shook as a large black object shot through his stomach, blood exiting the wound and staining his white shirt. Taehyung’s eyes widened with horror, as Hoseok let out a groan, a hand uncertainly going to his wound and touching it, feeling the wing with horror and blood coming on his fingers.

Taehyung looked up at his face, his eyes widened with horror; Hoseok’s eyes began to water a mixture of tears and blood, his whole body trembling as the black wing withdrew from his torso. Hoseok let out another groan, before falling to his knees, his mouth hung open as more blood projected from his mouth. Hoseok finally fell down, motionless, dead.

“J-Jimin!” Taehyung yelled to his best friend, who was now nowhere to be seen. Taehyung gasped, standing up when he saw that the demon was right in front of him, a devious smile on his face.

“We have your angel now, Kim Taehyung. We have also taken away what you have loved and now will take away what you hold. Your life.” Yoongi smirked, bowing his head in farewell, before his wing lashed out and shot through Taehyung the same way.

Taehyung felt excruciating pain, as he screamed for help.

“Taehyung- Taehyung!” Hoseok gasped as Taehyung shot up in his sleep, letting out a bloodcurdling scream, followed by garbled sentences as he choked on his own words. Hoseok blinked; he had just come over right after his shift, and was surprised to know from Jimin that Taehyung still asleep. Jimin managed to let him in, and left the both of them after saying that he wanted to go for a fly and that Taehyung would be safe in Hoseok’s presence.

But surely, Hoseok did not expect Taehyung to shout and thrash in his sleep so violently.

Doing what he remembered his sister did whenever he had a nightmare, he sat behind Taehyung, holding him close with one arm while a hand moved to his eyes, covering them as he tried to quieten Taehyung.

Taehyung was still shouting, now his words becoming more clearer.

“Please, stop- don’t hurt us-”
“Taehyung, you’re dreaming, baby. It’s okay,” Hoseok whispered into his ears, nuzzling his face into Taehyung’s shoulder while his hand began to pat Taehyung’s arm comfortably, the other hand still held to shield his eyes. “Taehyung, it’s Hoseok. Nothing’s going to happen to you, baby, okay?”

It seemed to take a while to comfort Taehyung, but finally the younger male was listening, as he began to scream less, but he was still shaking and Hoseok, realising with shock that his hand was becoming wet, understood that Taehyung was crying.

“Hyung, I-” Taehyung prised himself from Hoseok’s embrace and hunched over, his body racked with sobs and shaking through his whole self. As he cried, flashes of the nightmare began to go through his head, and he found his heart racing, he didn’t think it could go that fast. His chest constricted, making it difficult for him to breathe.

“Hyung- help-” Hoseok was confused as to why Taehyung was suddenly asking for help, but the staggering breaths and the way he shook was clear evidence of a panic attack, and Hoseok had to act fast.

“H-Hey- Taehyung-” Hoseok pulled Taehyung closer, putting his arms around him. “Tae, listen, breathe with me.”
“Hyung, I can’t, please-” Taehyung gasped out, shuddering against Hoseok. “Help me, I can’t breathe-”

Hoseok somehow managed to Taehyung around and face him, and instinctively brought the younger man closer to him, holding him against Hoseok’s chest tightly. Taehyung’s arms went around Hoseok, as he gasped for breath, grabbing onto Hoseok’s shirt, something, anything, that could help him calm down.

“Hey, Taehyung, let’s breathe together, okay?” Hoseok murmured, as he began to breathe sharply; Taehyung made an attempt to follow, but couldn’t, and his grip on Hoseok’s shirt tightened.

“Hyung, help- I really can’t-” Taehyung cried, and Hoseok whispered comfortingly, asking Taehyung to try again. This time, Taehyung was able to take a deep breath, exhaling with Hoseok which was just as difficult. However, Hoseok praised him, nodding at him to do it again.

Taehyung took another breath with Hoseok, feeling comforted when their chests moved with each other, and it was slowly getting a bit easier to take breaths.

“Mm, that’s good, you’re doing it, Tae.”

It wasn’t long before Taehyung was finally more calm, and he could feel the air in his lungs again. He wanted to pull himself back and thank Hoseok, but somehow he was unable to, only sinking further into his embrace. Hoseok hummed contently, whispering praises, words of comfort, as his fingers ran through Taehyung’s hair.

“Thank you, hyung,” Taehyung whispered, closing his eyes, not wanting to leave the warmth Hoseok was vibing off to him. They stayed like that for a good while, as Hoseok gently rocked him back and forth, his embrace so comforting and Taehyung just wanted to fall right back asleep in Hoseok’s arms.

Eventually, Taehyung withdrew himself, and looked at Hoseok with a grateful smile.

“I hope you slept okay after not being able to the other night.”
“Yeah, well, until this nightmare, I slept okay…” Taehyung nodded, just as Jimin rushed into the room through the window and wall, making the two humans look at him in surprise.

“You walked through the wall-” Hoseok murmured disbelievingly, but Jimin ignored the statement and rushed to kneel beside Taehyung, looking at him worriedly.

“You- were in danger-” Jimin said in between pants. “I got here as fast as I could-”

Taehyung’s hand went to the green pendant, feeling it slightly warmer now, and when he pulled it out, it was glowing from within the crystal.

“I had a nightmare- Hoseok hyung calmed me down a little- I’m okay, Jimin-” Jimin slowly nodded, throwing Hoseok a thankful smile. “I guess it really is good Jin chose you as his soul-bound.”

Hoseok smiled shyly as he insisted that it was nothing, and that he would have done the same thing for anyone else. Taehyung’s heart seemed to tingle at those words, both at delight with his unconditional giving, and slight jealousy that he could not explain.

“Okay… Look. How about we go to a cafe, and try and get your mind off things?” Hoseok asked Taehyung gently. Jimin nodded in agreement, saying it would help Taehyung unwind too.

“Oh- let me just change, then.” Taehyung hopped out of bed and walked towards his closet, disappearing inside the little room, rummaging around for stuff which Hoseok could hear well. Taehyung soon walked out wearing ripped black trousers, muttering to himself as he looked for a shirt to wear.

Hoseok blinked, not expecting the younger man to walk out without a top, and he could feel a blush form on his cheeks as he looked away. Jimin was the person he had (unfortunately) chosen to look towards; the angel stifled a laugh, as he looked away, a smile on his face.

Finally, Taehyung found the t-shirt he was looking for, a grey colour, and pulled it on, before he looked at Hoseok and Jimin.

“Okay.” He lazily ran his hands through his hair, not bothering to comb it as he somehow fixed the blond mass of hair with his fingers. “Let’s go.”

Hoseok, dazed, slowly nodded, standing up as he cleared his throat. Jimin giggled, making Taehyung look at the pair suspiciously, but decided not to bring the matter up, as he took a black jumper that was far too big for him and pulled it on.

“You look so young in these big clothes.” Hoseok chuckled slowly. “It’s cute.”

Jimin coughed loudly; Hoseok and Taehyung both looked at him in confusion, but the angel waved it off, insisting he was okay.

Little . Hoseok cursed the angel despite himself, knowing he was getting a kick out of his and Taehyung’s intimacy. But Hoseok couldn’t help that he liked Taehyung so damn much.

The three slowly walked to the cafe, both Hoseok and Jimin doing their very best to make sure that Taehyung was calmer, and made sure he didn’t think about his nightmare. They were rather successful in their attempt to cheer him up, for Taehyung could not stop himself from laughing at their silly antics.

“Oh, you two-” Taehyung shook his head as they walked inside the cafe, smiles on their faces as they walked to a seat by the window.

“As much as I’d like to around with the people who can’t see me, you don’t have to get me anything, yeah?”
“Haha, well, alright, if you insist.” Hoseok grinned at Jimin, just as a girl came over to their table, a bright smile on her face.

“Good morning, can I take your order- Oh, Taehyung?”

Taehyung looked up at the girl, before his eyes widened in surprise. “Yumi?”
“Yeah, it’s me! Oh my gosh, it’s so good to see you!” She gasped as they both exchanged a quick hug.

“Wow, Taehyung, it’s been years, look at you.”
“Look at you, Yumi, you’ve grown up to be such a pretty woman.” Taehyung grinned. “How come you moved back from Japan?”
“Well, Taehyung, home’s always home.” Yumi grinned, as she looked at Hoseok. “Oh, nice to meet you, I’m Yumi.”
“Jung Hoseok.” The brown-haired male nodded at her with a wide grin. Yumi glanced at the both of them, before she bent down to whisper to Taehyung, “Is this a boyfriend of yours?”

Taehyung was flustered, turning pink as he stuttered, “Y-Yumiko, what are you saying-?!”

Hoseok had overheard the exchange and let out a laugh, and said with a shrug, “Well, we’re working on getting there.”
“Aw, that’s so cute!” Yumi squealed, before grinning at the both of them. “Here, what would you both like?”

Jimin slowly looked up, and gasped to himself.

Yumiko was beautiful. With pin-straight black hair, an attractive eye smile that Jimin could only sink in further and further. Her gums would show whenever she smiled or laughed, and he could have sworn this felt like heaven on earth.

“Ah, Yumi-chan, hey.” Thirteen-year-old Jimin grinned as he walked up to the counter, ready to order his coffee. Yumi looked up from the cash machine, giving him a bright smile.

“Jiminie!” She gasped. “Wah, this is amazing, I didn’t think you’d come.”
“Of course, why wouldn’t I want to? I believed you when you said this cafe is amazing.” Jimin grinned, bringing out a 500 won note. “Taehyung had to go to school early to help with an art exhibition.”

Yumi nodded, as she took Jimin’s order of two sandwiches to go, one for his best friend, he later said.

“That’ll be 395 Won, please. Hey, Jimin, if you can wait a few minutes, I’ve finished working and I can walk with you to school.”

Jimin nodded, of course, and soon the both of them left the cafe together, talking about school, their homework, pets, literally anything to keep the conversation and it was not hard to do so, either. The two friends always got along like a house on fire.

And little things like her dimpled smile, her new experimental hairstyles that Jimin never failed to notice, and the way their little fingers entwined whenever they walked to school together, all had Jimin so happy and his heart bursting.

The memory flashed forward to the both of them standing in a secluded area of the school, Jimin looking up at Yumi, only slightly taller than him, with a pout on his face. “Do you really have to go to Japan?”

Yumi smiled sadly, as she nodded. “I do. Mom and Dad are very insistent I spend the rest of my schooling in Japan. I wish I could stay too, but I’m also excited to move back to my home country.”

Jimin nodded, laughing a little. They were both fourteen now, Yumi a few months older. There was no denying that there was some sort of affection he had felt for the girl, for a long time now. And now that she was leaving Korea, he would not be able to show her how much he liked her. He was starting to fill himself up with regret.

“Y-Y-Yumiko. I like you a lot…” Yumiko’s eyes widened a little, before her lips curved into a soft, caring smile as she stepped closer. “I like you too, Jimin.” Their eyes instinctively fluttered shut, and their lips closed the distance for a soft, tender kiss. They both pulled back, their cheeks pink as they both looked at each other bashfully. “If it’s meant to be, Jimin, we will definitely meet again, some day.” Yumi smiled.

As Yumi walked away, Jimin looked at her, his heart blooming in chest as he watched the girl walk off with a skip in her step, and a bright smile on her face. Taehyung glanced at him as he grinned at Yumi, before clearing his throat slowly.

“Hey, um, Jimin, what’s the matter, you’re very interested in Yumiko…”
“I remembered her.” Jimin said slowly, and looked at both Hoseok and Yoongi with a small smile. “My first love.”

Taehyung smiled slowly, happy that his friend had regained another memory, and that he had also remembered something good; perhaps it was bittersweet, but nonetheless, the thought of Yumiko brought a smile to the angel’s lips, was something Taehyung could see.

“Yumi was someone Jimin was interested in back in middle school, when we were thirteen, fourteen? And well, they only told each other that they liked each other when she had to go back to Japan.”
Oh, Jimin, that’s a shame…” Hoseok pouted, looking at Jimin with a frown. Jimin smiled rather bitterly as he mumbled, “Maybe if I hadn’t died, I would have gotten to meet her in person once more, and rekindle those memories.”

Taehyung looked at Jimin sadly, and Jimin realised that he had hit a nerve. With a quick sorry, he looked back down at his crossed arms, not even thinkng about the people aroud him as he attempted to distract himself with the cutlery in front of him.

Taehyung opened his mouth to speak, but Hoseok held out his hand, gently placing it on Taehyung’s palm as he shook his head. Taehyung refrained from speaking with a small nod, allowing Hoseok’s thumb to run across his knuckles comfortingly.

However, there was something else that had crossed Taehyung’s mind in that moment, and it had been nagging him ever since he had set foot from the house.

First, that dream he had. Taehyung had only been there once, as a child, but he was sure the field he saw in his dream belonged to Jimin’s grandparents, whom he stayed with every time he was in Busan for the holidays. Surely, that was a good place to retrieve some of Jimin’s memories, if not a lot of them. There wasn’t a doubt that there would be some sentimental attachment that he would have to his hometown.

However, the dream Taehyung had seen had ended very badly. Hoseok had been killed, Jimin taken away… was that risk worth it? Losing the people he cared about most to evil. Even if it would have been just Namjoon, Taehyung knew that with Jimin around, and maybe even Hoseok, nothing would happen to them because he knew the demon was weaker than when he paraded around with a haughty attitude.

But, it was not Namjoon Taehyung had seen in the dream, but it was Yoongi. That was definitely worrying. Even though the demon showed himself as lethargic, indifferent even, Taehyung was suspicious that there was more to Yoongi than met the eye. He was definitely a formidable foe, not one to be reckoned with.

There was no telling what would happen if the dream was actually a vision for what would happen if they went to find Jimin’s mango tree. That was something Jimin and Hoseok had to decide, though.

After Yumi came back with their drinks, Taehyung cleared his throat once more to garner their attention.

“Um, I want to ask you something,”
“Of course, Taehyung.” Jimin nodded slowly; he had noticed the young man make a perturbed face at the table, brows furrowed with thought and he barely managed to laugh at Hoseok’s jokes (which were stupid but funny nonetheless).

“What’s up, kiddo? You okay?”

Taehyung nodded, as he said slowly, “Jimin is from Busan. During the summer, he would go to stay with his grandparents. He had a tree he used to grow in their field.”
“Okay-?” Jimin murmured, absolutely confused as to where Taehyung was leading the topic. 

“Your hometown, Jimin! We can collect a few memories from there since I’m sure there will be some sentimental value you hold to it.” Taehyung spoke in a hushed voice as people walked by.

“Well, what are we waiting for then? Let’s go!”

Jimin stood up, but Hoseok shook his head, urging at Jimin to sit back down.

“Seoul to Busan is four hours by train. We’ll have to accommodate for the time we’ll spend there and the travel, that’s 8 hours alone.” Hoseok whispered. “I can’t come until the day after tomorrow, I’m working both jobs tomorrow.”

Taehyung hung his head low, his lips quivering as he tried to bring light to what was bothering him about the whole matter. Hoseok and Jimin, who were talking about what they could do, glanced at Taehyung, who was trailing the rim of his mug as he looked away nervously.

“I saw the place in my dream.” Hoseok tilted his head curiously. “The nightmare…?”
“I saw Yoongi… hurt you, hyung.” Taehyung said quietly. “That’s why I don’t know if this is a good idea. We might run into Yoongi, Namjoon?”
“Who?” Hoseok raised a brow as he looked at the two best friends. “Yoongi and Namjoon-?”
“They’re these two demons that are coming after me to try and get me to sin, and eventually turn into a fallen angel.” Jimin began. “Basically, we’re trying to get my memories and making sure I don’t fall into their ‘trap’ and protecting Taehyung at the same time.”

Hoseok nodded, as he held his hand up for the bill. “Well, that is problematic. But, if it’s for Jimin’s memories, that’s honestly the least of my worries. Getting hurt is the least of my worries at this point.”
“Hyung, while that’s very sweet of you, you need to care for yourself too. Especially around Yoongi and Namjoon, I wouldn’t underestimate them.” Jimin mumbled, playing with his fingers uncertainly. “I mean… we’ll be okay as long as I am able to protect you both somehow.”

Taehyung nodded, thinking about the matter a little bit more, before he let out a small sigh. “Listen… I have nothing against it. I trust Jimin will do what he needs to if such a situation arises.”
“I do too.” Hoseok said quietly, as Yumi came with the bill. Hoseok took the plate and began to pay for both his and Taehyung’s coffees, much to the younger male’s dismay.

Jimin cleared his throat, slowly nodding. “I can do it. Let’s go to Busan in two days.”

08.04.2017; sorry this took so long! I had deadlines, and I was so busy...
I was going to do a double update, but I decided that I should leave you in suspense for another 24 hours and update around this time on Sunday instead :)))
Hope you like this update and the story so far, don't forget to let me know what you think if you'd like to <3 

- Haru.