Getting Along
Always UnsuspectingThe sun had already set and the darkness of night overtook the land. Taehyung flipped on the light in the library and slid back into his seat, returning to his copy of Mystical Creatures Monthly. He skimmed through an article on Chupacabras, as he waited for Harley to finish reading. He was quite amused that most skeptics thought of the "goat er" as an urban legend. The drawings of them were even funnier, everything from an anteater looking biped to a downright vicious hairless coyote with a mouthful of abnormally large teeth. Humans and their imaginations.
Harley set 'The Definitive Book on Bonds' aside and looked up at Taehyung dumbfounded. She had questions, a lot of questions.
"You can find most of this online probably, but seeing it in a book is so much better," Taehyung took a deep breath, sniffing in the pungent aroma one could only experience from a book, he loved the smell of books. "What did you think of it?"
"So Jungkook and Seokjin are in love and only with each other, forever?" Harley frowned, watching as Taehyung closed the magazine and threw it aside.
"Yup." Taehyung grabbed the book from her.
"But he's like the abusive boyfriend in those dramas."
"Seokjin?" Taehyung scratched the back of his head, "I never thought of him as an abusive boyfriend."
"He certainly was today," She shuddered.
"Believe me, Jungkook isn't innocent either," Taehyung stood and set the book back on the shelf.
"He scares me," Harley concluded.
"I'm sure once Seokjin learns to control his mind after draining Cato of his powers, things will calm down-" Oh . No one was supposed to know that... He smiled big, his mouth forming a cute rectangle as he turned to her, hoping she didn't hear him. Play dumb. Be cute.
Harley's face said otherwise, she definitely heard him and was at a loss for words on how to respond.
"Umm, I mean... ice cream?" Taehyung scrunched up his face, he knew he ed up.
"Seokjin killed my f-father?" Harley stuttered.
Taehyung sighed, "No. He just drained him when he was dying."
Harley stood, "Who killed him?"
"I did." Jungkook stepped closer, he was dripping water all over the floor, a small puddle had already accumulated below him.
"Did you go swimming?" Taehyung frowned at the amount of water that was seeping into the carpet, "Why are you so damn wet?"
"So, you're the white wolf?" Harley had no love for the man she called 'father', it was just an empty title... but she remembered the one thing he feared, "The prophecy was true."
"White wolf?" Taehyung asked before Jungkook could.
"His death was foretold, he'd meet his demise by the hands of the white wolf, that's why he made preparations just in case."
"What kind of prepping?" Jungkook walked over, leaning his hands on the back of the chair directly across from her.
"He wanted to transfer his power to one of his children, but I guess in this case, his grandchild," She smiled as if she just heard an exciting story, "He told Kiesha to stay behind in the tunnels. She was to take his power if anything happened, slip in and out before anyone realized."
Jungkook tilted his head, trying to process what he was being told, "What happened to Kiesha?"
"She must have died, since the tunnels were on fire and she had the lighter, she was supposed to seal the tunnels after she took his energy, no one would dare chase Cato down there if the place was on fire."
"You should have told Namjoon this-" Taehyung uttered.
"I didn't think about it before," Harley was apologetic.
Jungkook paced the floors, working through scenarios in his head on how it all went down, believing the worst. He figured Cato talked Seokjin into draining him before he died, he doubted that Seokjin's story was as innocent as he made it seem. He stopped to stare out the window for the fourth time in five minutes, hoping to spot the elder's bike coming up the driveway. He had to talk to Seokjin and have him deny this whole ridiculous theory.
It was nearing 3 AM and Seokjin and Yoongi had still not come back, he was getting sick of his late night outs with Yoongi. He took out his phone to text Seokjin, but decided against it, he didn't want him to be able to think of an excuse by the time he got home, he wanted to look into the elder's eyes as he asked, this way he could see his reaction.
A long half hour later, Seokjin pulled through the gates and parked his motorcycle, Yoongi parked right behind and they turned off their engines.
Seokjin removed his helmet and looked over at Yoongi, "Visit your father tomorrow?"
"Something like that," Yoongi spied Jungkook headed their way, a not so pleasant look upon his face, "Angry looking young person approaching fast." He nodded towards Jungkook and Seokjin turned towards the younger.
"I'm not in the mood for your ," Seokjin announced, climbing off the bike.
"Did you drain Cato on purpose?" Jungkook asked, gauging Seokjin's face. The elder flinched a bit like he didn't expect Jungkook to ever figure that out.
"Define 'on purpose', because the will to live is pretty 'on purpose'-"
"Did you do it because you wanted to or did you really think if you hadn't, you'd be dead right now?"
"Welp, I'm out of here," Yoongi strolled off, an amused smile on his face.
"Why am I not surprised that he knows the answer to that," Jungkook was beside himself, Yoongi's reaction pretty much outed Seokjin. "You lied to me."
"Let's be honest, you knew the answer to this before tonight." Seokjin set the helmet down on the seat.
"Did Cato ask you to take his power?"
"No, but why would I waste an opportunity to take it, he was dying." The elder was a little too smug, "That kind of power doesn't present itself often."
"So the story about doing it because you were going to die-"
"I probably would have if I didn't, but that's not what I was thinking when I was draining him."
"Why lie?"
"You wouldn't have been happy about it, you're ing pure, you don't think about power-"
"Neither did you?" Jungkook yelled, "Why would you do this?"
"I'm not weak, I don't plan on ever being weak." Seokjin shook his head, "There is always someone better out there, someone stronger to fight. The more power I have, the better I can defend myself and you-"
"I don't need your protection, I can take care of myself."
"Well you have it, whether you want it or not-" Seokjin maintained, "I need to be able to look after you-"
"No, what you need is to be the stronger one, because with Namjoon's power, I was the strong one."
"If I can't take care of you, what purpose do I have?"
"Did you think having Cato in your head was going to be good for us?"
"I didn't know that would happen-"
"No, because you don't think," Jungkook was livid, "You're reckless."
"Sometimes to be the best, you have to break a few rules."
"You don't have to be the best at everything."
"Yes, I do."
"Why?"
Seokjin felt sick to his stomach, he wanted Jungkook to understand, but he also wanted to tell him to stay out of his business. It was making his head throb. Maybe it was selfish and stupid, but he had to be the stronger one, he had to take care of Jungkook, he needed Jungkook to have a reason to look up to him. What else did he have to offer other than strength? "I didn't get where I was by being weak, what else do I have to offer you?"
"I don't love you just because you're strong," Jungkook hoped all these years that Seokjin didn't think he liked him just for his muscles.
"My life up 'til now has been training and fighting, trying to get myself to a place where I could beat Jacker-" Seokjin looked down, "Don't fool yourself Jungkook, the basis of your feelings stemmed from my physical appearance, you didn't fall for my brains."
"Is that the only thing you think I like about you?" Jungkook was hurt, his heart broke, "I felt close to you because you understood me and because you never give up, I never met anyone who was more stubborn than you."
"I'm stubborn, that's all you got?"
"Do I need to have a good reason for loving you?"
Seokjin scrunched up his nose, he hated that all he was to anyone was a pretty face or a pillar of strength, no one would ever remember anything else about him because there was nothing else. He wasn't emotional, he didn't feel things deeply like Jungkook, he wasn't smart like Namjoon or Taehyung, he wasn't funny like Hoseok. He was reckless and did stupid , and he had to be managed. The only one that really got him was Yoongi, one of the biggest reasons that they were so close is that he could be himself around Yoongi, he could be a miserable old and Yoongi was okay with that.
"The fact that you can't come up with anything is pretty clear."
Jungkook didn't know what else to say, it was obvious that Seokjin was under some delusion that Jungkook couldn't possibly like anything else about him, maybe he wasn't the most open person, but Jungkook knew things about him others didn't, he felt like they understood each other deep down. Ughh. He was so conflicted, maybe at first Jungkook saw Seokjin as this hot guy that was a badass fighter, but the other things he felt around Seokjin since back then, it was his world. He couldn't pinpoint just one thing that made him feel the way he did.
"I just..." Jungkook couldn't find the right words, and he needed to say the right thing, "If you can't trust me with the truth, then why bother?"
"Hey, maybe you can find that book on removing a bond again, I'm sure you could move on with Harley, she seems pretty into you," Seokjin snarled, not knowing where the anger was coming from. He turned to walk away, because the aggrieved look on Jungkook's face made him want to scream.
"Stop ing running away from this-" Jungkook yelled out, Seokjin stopped. "You're not the jealous one, so don't pretend this is about what happened with Harley, or me wanting out of this bond. This is about you feeling inferior and being too obstinate to admit someone might actually like you for more than your physique."
"You think I want to be that guy?" Seokjin seethed, not looking at him, "I have to be that tough guy, it's who I am. It's what people expect from me"
"I don't get you." Jungkook walked over to face him, "Do you need to be like Cato or Jacker that much-"
"No, they are the ex
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