A Thousand Reasons Why

Yoongi’s fingers touch the side of his face,

and Jimin doesn’t know what to do anymore.

“Please don’t,” he pleads with a whimper one last time, “please don’t, hyung, I don’t-“ mind about everything, care about the pain, and “I don’t want to forget you.”

But Yoongi just smiles, continues smiling as he down Jimin’s cheek, starting from the soft tips of light brown fringe hair down to his sharp jaw that’s moister than usual, and glances into Jimin’s glossy eyes. “Don’t cry Jimin.” Jiminie. My Jiminie. “You know I’ll always be with you. I’ll still have your back. I’ll take care of you from the shadows, so don’t be afraid. I promise to do my best looking after you no matter what happens.”

Jimin grabs Yoongi’s hand, glaring at the elder with fallen tear paths on his face clearly apparent from contrasts of light. “You know I don’t give a about my safety anymore, hyung! You know what I want! You know what I need so stop trying to make it sound like I only need you around when my life’s in danger. You know I love you, Min Yoongi. You know I want you.”

Yoongi’s eyes are fixed on Jimin’s, and Jimin’s almost certain that the elder is holding in tears; they’re barely visible on Yoongi’s face but Jimin knows. He sees the way Yoongi’s eyebrows furrow, the way wrinkle lines form on his forehead and the way his fingers tremble against his skin. Jimin’s blood is pumping aggressively; how much more obvious does he need to make it for Yoongi to understand that he doesn’t want to lose him.

And how much more obvious does Yoongi have to be for Jimin to know that every word he throws melts his heart, his breath away and threatens him to break down any second because you ing know that the only thing I want in the whole world is you. And if I could, I’d do anything for us to be together. But we can’t. It’s not a choice. It’s a force.

“But there’s always a choice! You made one a few weeks ago when you decided to train to be my guard.”

“I was forced too, it wasn’t by will.”

“But you’re happy you did, right?”

Yoongi reflects for a few seconds before chuckling lightly. “I guess so,” and Jimin’s bright smile is so worth the cheesy realisation. He stands by watching as Jimin continues to pick weeds.

“And that time you took in that cat when you were little. You could’ve left it out in the rain, but you brought it inside and kept it warm.”

“It was pretty cold that day.”

Jimin grins at Yoongi’s comment, and the stare makes Yoongi look back at him. “But do you think the cat was willing to go with you?”

“Well obviously, it was freezing outside.”

“But if I was the cat I’d be scared and confused if a stranger, and especially a human suddenly picked me up and took me away, most probably far from home too. You didn’t give the cat a choice; you forced it to go with you, and that choice of yours led to better days. Now the cat’s fluffy and healthy, isn’t it?”

Yoongi pauses and Jimin grins again. “See? There’s always a choice.”

Yoongi’s repeated those life changing words over and over for the past few nights. He’s even cried too. Min Yoongi – crying; it had been the first time in years. But in a way, it was good he cried, because crying means he cared, about something, about someone.

I don’t want to lose you either, Jimin.

“But what other choice do I have? I’ve thought about it so many times but there’s no other way! If I can’t get Jimin to defeat the Northern king, there’s no hope of saving the kingdom. The only way is to remove his memory, take away his status and save his life. Then maybe one day, he will live to take back his place on the throne.”

Hoseok frowned deeply and turned to face Yoongi in shock. “Are you crazy? You can’t do that! How can you take the Prince away from his only home, throw him on the streets and expect him to survive alone?!”

Yoongi’s straight face broke. “Well at least he won’t die! I’ll be there to watch over him! I’ll help him, toss him free food, earn him money, fix things in his house when needed.”

“Like an invisible guardian?”

Yoongi nodded.

Hoseok let out a long sigh before putting an arm on Yoongi’ shoulder. “Look, Prince Jimin may be naïve, but he’s not dumb. He’s smart enough to figure out that a shiny apple bought from a dusty, dirty apple stand does not magically roll out onto the street to ‘coincidently' land right at his foot. Besides, he won’t take it. You’ve been with him long enough to know that he’s more likely to give it to a little kid than eat it himself.”

Yoongi’s eyebrows furrowed as his crossed arms tightened around each other. He looked at Hoseok and waited for the other to continue. “Like I said, he won’t survive alone. If you erase his memory, you can still be by him in daylight. Just like a change of outfit means no one will recognise him, he won’t recognise you either.”

“But you don’t understand, Hoseok. There’s a condition, a weak point to magic, to any power.”

Hoseok blinked in confusion. “What’s that?”

Yoongi sighed and looked down. “If someone’s memory is erased, they won’t remember anything or anyone…with exception to those they love.”

“Yeah, so? Both his parents were killed, there’s no one else in the world to spark his memory.”

Yoongi looked up with guilty eyes, and as their gazes met, Hoseok instantly lit up in fury. “You ing did not.”

Yoongi didn’t say anything, and Hoseok’s fingers curled into fists he held back to whack across Yoongi’s face. “Are you out of your mind?! What were you thinking making Prince Jimin fall in love with you! You idiot, Min Yoongi!”

Yoongi’s ears perked up at that. I made Jimin fall in love with me?

There was silence for a long while as Hoseok relieved his anger. He returned after a quick fifty metre drop off the cliff and twenty second fly back up again. He landed with cheeks less red and a clearer mind. “Okay, look. If that can’t work, either we get another guard to look after Jimin, or we do some research.”

“Research? For what?”

Hoseok leaned in close and Yoongi listened intently. “For the Northern King’s weakness.”

Yoongi tilted his head, signalling for more information. Hoseok continued. “You said that there’s a condition, a weak point to every magic and power. The Northern King must have a weakness too, we just don’t know what. If we open the King and Queens’ tomb-“

“WHAT?!” Yoongi screeched. Hoseok’s firm glare silenced him. “Listen to me. If we find out exactly how they died, we’ll know how the Northern King killed them; what magic he possesses. If we know that much, maybe you can know what will stop him.”

Yoongi didn’t speak, even when Hoseok nudged him, and suddenly, he shook his head sadly with a faint whimper that left his tight lips. “What’s wrong?” Hoseok asked, seeing the loss of hope in Yoongi’s eyes.

“I guess you didn’t know, Hoseok. The generals haven’t updated you, have they? The King and Queen lost their lives…because of their love.”

“What? Why?”

Yoongi gulped and his dry lips. “The Northern King…threatens you. He says that to spare your life you must be able to let go of the person you love the most, and if you do, you’re hypnotised to join his team. If not…”

Hoseok tapped his foot impatiently. “If not what? Tell me!”

Yoongi tensed up. “Even Jimin doesn’t know this, so you can’t…tell anyone.”

Hoseok nodded and Yoongi leaned in the closest. “They…were hypnotised- controlled…to kill each other. That’s how the Northern King’s army is expanding so fast; either you join him, or you’re killed. I can’t allow Jimin to face him, there’s no chance of survival, not to mention winning.”

“So what you’re saying is, even if Jimin agrees to let go of you, he’ll still be controlled and hence there’ll be no one left to be crowned our King.”

“That’s correct.”

“And if Jimin can’t let you go…”

“He will be killed.” Yoongi emphasized clearly.

Another long moment of silence before Hoseok tugged Yoongi close with an arm around his student. “You’ve really grown a lot, Yoongi. Do you still remember when you first began training under my lead?”

Yoongi looked at him, arms still crossed. “It was only about three weeks ago. And do you still remember that I’m older than you?”

“By like what? 11 months? Come on man, younger or not, I’m your teacher, and you’re my student. I call the shots.” Hoseok pointed a thumb at himself and smiled proudly as Yoongi scoffed and looked away.

“This is a low kick, and this is a slide kick. They’re different, don’t fuse them together just because it looks cool or is more convenient. If your person is trying to escape, you can’t risk tripping them over. Now learn it.”

“You’re getting the hang of it, new one. Maybe one day you’ll carry on my work and teach more people.”

Yoongi raised a cocky eyebrow. “By then I’ll be a grandpa. Your teachings are slow and they . I’m better learning alone.”

“Oh really?” Hoseok challenged, picking up an apple and throwing it at him. “Upper slice!”

Yoongi reacted instantly, lifting his sword and slicing through the apple, splitting it in half.

“Slow, , and maybe useless, huh?” Hoseok commented while clapping lazily. Yoongi rolled his eyes. “Fine. Some of it doesn’t .” He admitted and bent down to wipe his sword clean. Hoseok skipped over to him. “You know, you’re pretty good. It would seriously be a lot easier if we could get along. You have some skill, being like me is the least of your ability. You’re good enough to even guard the king.”

Yoongi’s tilted his head up and stared into Hoseok’s eyes for a long time.

“Okay.” He got up and began walking away.

“Wait. Is that- ‘okay I’ll be your friend’ or ‘okay I’ll guard the king’ because I might have over-exaggerated that part. Maybe the prince? Oh, whatever. See you tomorrow, pupil!”

And Yoongi smiled while walking away. A friend.

“The name’s Namjoon. I’ve been in here for about three years now. Usually I’d tell new prisoners to not worry because they’d get used to it soon enough, but I’m busting out pretty soon.”

“What do you mean? Yoongi asked, not affected by the dusty cage at all.

“The King and Queen have just set out to war with the Northern King right? The Northern King is magical; he possesses powers we normal people don’t.”

Yoongi almost rolled his eyes. “You do know that commoners have magic too.”

Namjoon slapped the air to shut him up. “I know, I know. Just let me finish. He is powerful, stronger than any sorcerer the world has seen. And his army is expanding like lighting. Pretty soon our king and queen will die in his hands, and after that, he’ll head straight for our kingdom, and when he reaches here, he’ll take over here too.”

“And so? How does that set you free?”

Namjoon smirked. “When the palace is invaded, it will be hectic. All guards will rush to help fight, and we prisoners will be left almost unguarded. My friend Seokjin has stolen the keys countless times but we’ve never succeeded when there are at least a hundred men between us and freedom. When the war happens here, there may only be two or three guards, and I’ll be outta here.”

Yoongi chuckled, almost smugly. “Can you count me in to that plan?”

Namjoon smirked. “Sure thing. But hey, what got you into here anyway?"

“I was put in prison after stealing food.”

Jimin blinked, listening intently. “For what? Because you didn’t have enough money?”

Yoongi shrugged and began pacing the room. “I don’t know. For my village? For my cat? For myself? Seeing that large cart of delicious food roam through our empty streets with a chubby man whipping the horse, trotting along because they were lost, and only to end up leaving us behind starving was too frustrating to believe. I had to do something.”

“At the time, you didn’t know it was a palace horse right?”

“I didn’t mean to kill it, its death was simply necessary. I was only going to sneak onto the cart, take some food and jump off. But I was caught, and if our village was going to be reported for disloyalty to the King, I might as well have gotten as much as I could’ve from it. So I killed the man and his horse, and the people in our village were fed for days. When those days ended, I was captured and taken here. They knew of my skills, and you can see how this conversation became possible.”

Jimin blinked slowly. “No…family?”

Yoongi shook his head firmly. “Never knew of them. I grew up on the streets. Bet you can’t relate right? Too absorbed into the naïve world where you get everything you want, and have people serve you like the king you will come to be.”

Jimin didn’t look much offended. “Do you wish to go back to your village?”

Yoongi’s light footsteps paused for a moment before he continued strolling in large circles. “Wouldn’t really be much different than here; anywhere, I still fight for my survival.”

“But you grew up there, it’s all you know. Like a home.”

Yoongi stopped and stared at Jimin. “Never knew of such a thing.”

Jimin looked down sadly for a few minutes. Then he glanced at Yoongi and gave him a small, sweet smile. “We can be family, Yoongi hyung.”

“What?”

Jimin’s voice was so soft, so careful, so easy to mistake as innocent. But he is. And yet he isn’t. It’s complicated. “Well, I lost my parents, you don’t know where yours are. We match quite well, don’t you think?”

Yoongi scoffed. “I’m sorry Prince, but you honestly confuse me. Number one, I don’t think you’d ever be able to get used to the life I’ve lived. Outside these palace walls, there are battles going on every day. People fighting for food, for clothes, for shelter, even the smallest bit of money. There’s such a thing as different levels of people, sir, and you and I – we’re on different levels. Number two, this is only the fourth day I’ve been assigned to guard you. Trust should still be a pretty big issue.”

“Hoseok hyung seems to trust you enough.” Familiarity flashed through Yoongi’s eyes and Jimin smiled at that common factor. “I grew up with Hoseok hyung. He was always funny and cheerful; he kept me alive in these lonely buildings. He was my hope.”

Yoongi’s gaze softened slightly, just slightly. “Stop making yourself sound like the poorest child on the planet, you’re probably the luckiest kid in the country. You have everything; parents, servants, endless food and clothes, a mountain load of money and a whole army to be under your control in a few years time. You’re lucky.”

“Probably.”

“Seriously, people would kill to be in your place.”

“Sounds right.”

“Frankly, I don’t understand why I was forced to be your protector.”

“Forced?”

Yoongi nodded with a definite expression. Well, he was promised a lifetime of luxury, so other than reluctantly agreeing to the deal, he was indeed, ‘forced’.

Jimin struggled, yanking at the ropes around his wrists behind his back. He muffled useless screams into the thick fabric tied over his mouth, and every jaw movement hurt like hell as he tried to escape. He held back the tears, the hot droplets of liquid that threatened to literally burst out of his eyes with just a mere blink. He fought against it all.

Another whack at the back of the head failed to knock him unconscious, and he fell to the ground with eyes wide open, witnessing firsthand the instant drop to the hard floor, head slamming onto it painfully. He screamed at the aching feeling in his head.

Yoongi. Yoongi. Yoongi.

“I don’t think you’re manly. Well, you don’t look it, at least.” The younger teased. Yoongi raised an unpleased eyebrow. “You’re handsome, I’ll give you that. But most of the time you’re too cold for me. You only talk when you need to, and you’re too sassy. Cocky. It puts people off about talking to you.”

“Then it’s working then.” Yoongi smirked. “I don’t like talking to people.”

“But I don’t want you to become my personal tree. We need to communicate, you know, to get to know one another better. I mean, who knows how long you’ll be my guardian for. I want us to at least be able to call each other friends once we separate.”

“Well you don’t have to worry. I should be off the job in the next few weeks, so don’t bother trying to be friends with me.” Well, if Namjoon’s words are worth anything, at least.

Jimin’s head sank and he turned silent, and suddenly, Yoongi’s features lost their tenseness and he found himself glancing at Jimin’s lips, acknowledging secretly that he doesn’t like the sight of the younger pouting.

“The Northern King’s army will reach us in three weeks. We need to make a plan. With the Southern King and Queen killed, Prince Jimin is our highest priority…and our only ray of hope. He needs to be protected all the time starting today. Hoseok, I want you to assign your highest skilled student to become Prince Jimin’s personal protector, his guard that will follow him everywhere twenty-four-seven. His sole duty is to keep Prince Jimin safe with his life. If our kingdom goes down, the only chance for it to ever rise again, is our prince. He is most important right now. Hoseok, go now, quickly, and make sure you convince your student to look after Prince Jimin at all costs. His one life determines the lives of many more. Make sure he knows that.”

Hoseok nodded. “I understand General Bang. Leave it to me.”

“What’s this?” Yoongi almost gasped.

“Pretty, right? It’s my personal garden! I planted everything you see here from scratch.”

Yoongi smirked playfully, arms crossed with his long sword in grip and hanging by his side. “Even the grass?”

Jimin glared at him lightly. Cute. “Well…minus the grass. The rest of it is my doing! I planted roses, alstroemerias, snapdraggons, million bells, daylilies, dafodils, carpet bugle, bellflowers, skyflowers…”

“Yeah, alright, I get it flower-lover.”

Jimin sighed out loud and began watering his flowers. Yoongi took a moment to admire the beauty of the isolated place; isolated pieces of art, isolated beauty, uniqueness, serenity. Yoongi’s eyes travelled across the bright garden as he spun in a full circle, and his eyes landed on Jimin who’d suddenly bent down and started to pull out weeds, mouth mumbling complaints about the uninvited plants. Yoongi concentrated more, and it hit him.

Isolated beauty.

He let his eyes run over Jimin from head to toe, scanning the boy as if to try and figure him out. He wasn’t arrogant like Yoongi thought, he wasn’t proud of how filthy rich he was, and…strangely, he didn’t seem as loved as Yoongi thought he would be. And for some reason, he felt pity for Jimin. Maybe, just maybe…the Prince of the Southern Kingdom was simply a precious boy too fragile for his own good.

“Come on, you stupid weed! Come out!” Jimin whined as he pulled on the bundles of green with all his strength, falling back but celebrating when he saw that he’d succeeded. He shot up his head and met eyes with curious Yoongi. “Hyung, look! I did it!

Park Jimin, stop making me want to get closer to you.

Invasion happened – of course it was predicted; just how powerful the army would be was unpredictable – and it was hectic. Jimin forced Yoongi to go check on the situation and in the mere five minutes of their first separation, Yoongi got lost, and Jimin was surrounded.

Namjoon appeared and before Yoongi could process why his former prison friend stood before him, the other grabbed his hand and pulled him along, the two running frantically down narrow hallways. An open window – their exit – was right ahead when they ducked down and hid against tall wooden cabinets. They sank to the ground to catch their breaths, and Yoongi noticed the prison uniform Namjoon was still wearing. “Wait. How did you get past the prison guards?”

“I killed them obviously.”

“What?!” Yoongi yelled, and Namjoon shot him a bewildered look. It’s obvious of the words the latter’s eyes sent: just weeks ago you wouldn’t have hesitated about killing anyone that got in your way. What’s with you now?

“They forced me to! I had no choice!” He reasoned.

Yoongi’s pants softened and became replaced with sighs. “There’s…always a choice.” He mumbled subconsciously, realisation coming over him slowly.

“What are you talking about man? We need to get out of here now!”

One, Yoongi rejected the thought that came to mind.

Two, Yoongi shook his head; no, it’s a stupid idea.

Three, he shut his eyes. God dammit.

Four, he groaned. “No, I can’t leave.”

And five, he pushed Namjoon’s hand off and turned around.

Jimin.

“What do we do with him?”

“We hold him hostage until the battle outside calms down. Then we’ll take him to the Northern King and let him decide the prince’s fate.”

“What if he gets away before then?”

Jimin’s breathing was no less harsh or rough. Every inhale and exhale was tough, and the pleads in his head faded out every now and then as he wavered between consciousness and unconsciousness. The pounding in his head hurt, but nothing prepared him for what was to come.

“He won’t.”

A long snapped slab of wood was raised in the air, and Jimin felt his breath hitch as he watched it being slammed down on his leg. He let out a long, pitched scream because the pain was excruciating and there was no stopping the tears now. They flowed down and left him: left him like his parents did. He bit down hard on the dusty material within his mouth, screaming as loud as he could, screaming at himself. Believe it, have faith in him.

Trust that Yoongi will come for you.

The sound of a grown man collapsing onto the floor beside him snapped Jimin out of his thoughts and he shot his eyes up to see Yoongi fighting the ten men that tied him up. A painful exhale left his mouth but he’d never been so relieved, and so thankful.

Yoongi fought them all, slide kick, low punch, spin and side kick, slice. They were all dead in thirty seconds. And Jimin doesn’t know, but when Yoongi rushed to his side to see his bruised face, bleeding leg and trembling body, something in Yoongi cracked, something located in his left chest, it broke.

Yoongi untied the ropes around Jimin’s wrists and freed his aching mouth before lifting the weak boy up and holding him in his arms just for a moment, a moment where he apologised more than a thousand times because there’s always a choice, and I should’ve stayed with you even when you told me to go, but please forgive me since I made the choice to come back, and please, please, be okay.

“Yeah, alright, I get it. You’re 11 months older, okay? I should call you hyung and respect you and blah blah.”

Yoongi chuckled and gave Hoseok a light smile. “I’m glad you weren’t killed in the invasion, Hoseok.”

The latter gave him a nod. “And I’m glad you were happy to help. You saved Jimin, Yoongi. You’re the saviour of the kingdom’s last chance, you have to know that.”

Yoongi turned his head back and glanced at Jimin who was sleeping on a wooden bench nearby. Hoseok had helped to patch up his broken leg and they spent time putting ointment on the bruises over the boy’s body. “I don’t know, Hoseok. Is it right to risk Jimin’s life? He’s so kind and fragile, he doesn’t deserve this kind of life.”

Hoseok didn’t respond, and when Yoongi looked at him, he saw the watering in the younger’s eyes. “I’m glad you finally see that. But life isn’t fair, sometimes we’re forced to do things we don’t want to.”

“Jimin said there’s always a choice.” Yoongi replied immediately, like second nature.

Hoseok chuckled a bit. “Did you think twice about killing those men who tied Jimin up? You could’ve just knocked them unconscious, but you got rid of them instead. Like the life you lived before Yoongi, this is the outside world, where we fight to survive. There will be a way to defeat the Northern King, and Jimin is the answer.”

“But what can he do?”

Hoseok glanced back at Jimin this time, poor Jimin. “I don’t know.”

“You see? There is no answer! I’m not going to allow Jimin to throw his life away on a string of useless possibility. You assigned me to protect him, and that’s exactly what I plan to do.”

Hoseok gave Yoongi a long, firm glare before hugging the latter suddenly. Yoongi blinked at the sudden embrace.

“Take care of him, Yoongi, and take care of yourself. We’ll do our best here to hold off the Northern King’s army. By then, you better already have Jimin some proper shelter and some proper food. I don’t know how you’re going to help him without letting him know who you are, but you’ll figure it out somehow. I believe in you.”

Yoongi hugged him back. “I hope so. Thanks for believing in me, Hoseok. Jimin was right; you are the definition of hope.”

When Jimin woke up, Yoongi was staring down at him, and as everywhere on his body hurt, his heart felt warm. He felt safe. “Thank you for coming back for me, Yoongi hyung,” were the first words to leave his lips, and he smiled because the way Yoongi glanced at him so gently told him that he’d finally broken through his guardian’s coldness.

Yoongi breathed a warm smile and leaned down to hug Jimin with two arms around his shoulders and neck, lifting Jimin ever so carefully. The younger let out a soft giggle and hugged Yoongi back, feeling so warm, so cared for. “Yoongi hyung, hold me a bit longer. Please.”

Yoongi nodded in response to the request. “Okay.”

Tick tock tick tock.

Yoongi wasn’t sure how much time really went by, how long he’d spent with Jimin in his arms, but he’s sure, so, so sure that it was one of the happiest moments of his life. “Jimin-ah, I’m so sorry. You’re so sweet, so kind, and I mistook you for someone you weren’t. I’m sorry I left, I shouldn’t have listened to you, I should’ve stayed.”

Jimin smiled. “It’s okay, it’s good you listened to me. You should listen to me. So for now, just keep me warm.” Yoongi nodded, rubbing up and down Jimin’s back softly and feeling reassured in the way Jimin melted into his touch. Everything with Jimin needed to be gentle, even those irresistible kisses Yoongi planted along his neck; those had to be as light as a feather but equally soothing, equally meaningful, and above all, loving. Jimin lacked loved, and Yoongi had mountains of it to give because god damn it he had fallen hard for Park Jimin.

“Please don’t,” he pleads with a whimper one last time, “please don’t, hyung, I don’t-“ mind about everything, care about the pain, and “I don’t want to forget you.”

But Yoongi just smiles, continues smiling as he down Jimin’s cheek, starting from the soft tips of light brown fringe hair down to his sharp jaw that’s moister than usual, and glances into Jimin’s glossy eyes. “Don’t cry Jimin.” Jiminie. My Jiminie. “You know I’ll always be with you. I’ll still have your back. I’ll take care of you from the shadows, so don’t be afraid. I promise to do my best looking after you no matter what happens.”

Jimin grabs Yoongi’s hand, glaring at the elder with fallen tear paths on his face clearly apparent from contrasts of light. “You know I don’t give a about my safety anymore, hyung! You know what I want! You know what I need so stop trying to make it sound like I only need you around when my life’s in danger. You know I love you, Min Yoongi. You know I want you.”

Yoongi’s eyes are fixed on Jimin’s, and Jimin’s almost certain that the elder is holding in tears; they’re barely visible on Yoongi’s face but Jimin knows. He sees the way Yoongi’s eyebrows furrow, the way wrinkle lines form on his forehead and the way his fingers tremble against his skin. Jimin’s blood is pumping aggressively; how much more obvious does he need to make it for Yoongi to understand that he doesn’t want to lose him.

And how much more obvious does Yoongi have to be for Jimin to know that every word he throws melts his heart, his breath away and threatens him to break down any second because you ing know that the only thing I want in the whole world is you. And if I could, I’d do anything for us to be together. But we can’t. It’s not a choice. It’s a force.

I would do anything to save you.

Jimin breaks out into uncontrollable sobs and Yoongi instantly pulls the younger into his chest, wrapping two firm arms around him and murmuring words of useless comfort. Jimin speaks softly with his head leaning against Yoongi’s clothing. “Hyung, don’t do this. Hoseok hyung said I was the last chance, right? Let me face the Northern King, I’ll figure out something. Whether I defeat him or not, it’s fate. You can’t stop fate.”

“I can, Jimin, and I will. There’s always a choice, remember? I’m not letting you go into that battle, it’ll be like suicide.” Yoongi says firmly, and Jimin lets out a chuckle, a chuckle that confuses Yoongi. The younger lifts his head and looks into Yoongi’s eyes as if this whole time, Yoongi’s been the one too innocent for the world.

“Hyung, some choices we make on our own, some choices fate makes for us. Even if you take away my memory now, if it’s my fate to defeat the Northern King, or if it’s my fate to be defeated, it will happen.”

Yoongi almost wants to slap Jimin across the face because what don’t you get about the fact that I don’t want to watch you die and don’t look at me like I’m dumb because I’m just scared, okay? I’m ing scared of losing you.

Sadness flashes through Jimin’s eyes, over his face, as if reflecting what’s written on Yoongi’s own, and the elder shuts his eyes for the heart racing moment when Jimin brushes some of his fringe hair to the side and leans in to kiss him on the lips. The kiss, that kiss. It was truly…isolated beauty; a type of intimate action within serenity, a happening that no one else will ever know about; something precious, something small and yet with so much meaning. It took Yoongi back to Jimin’s pristine garden, a wonderful place, the place where his heart first skipped a beat for the boy that was kissing him, the boy he loved, the boy he loves. 

“You’re so beautiful,” he comments as they break away, leaning in to let their foreheads touch for a moment. “But I love you too much to see you risk your life.”

Yoongi’s fingers touch the side of his face, and Jimin doesn’t know what to do anymore.

“Hyung…” he whimpers, voice cracking, tears spilling. “No…”

And a tear slides down Yoongi’s cheek as he holds both sides of Jimin’s face to keep them close for one last time. “Jimin-ah, I’m so sorry… I love you.”

And Jimin’s mind goes blank. 

Author's Notes

I wrote about 98% of the story for like five hours straight last night and finished it just earlier.
This is my first time writing a long war based, fantasy fic and also my first time writing a yoonmin fic!
Hopefully you guys like it and sorry if it's confusing. 
I will make a poster and more arts stuff soon so please check it out when it's up. 
There may be a sequel to this one shot. :)