Bright and early the next morning, Namjoon stepped out of the castle doors as an airport van pulled up and came to a stop in front of the steps. Harley slid the door open, peeking her head out, she was the first to exit the vehicle, stretching her legs and blessing the gods above for the familiar ground that was sprawled out below her feet.

     "Home at last!" She threw her arms up in the air and spun in a circle, cut short as she almost ran into Namjoon who'd stopped right in front of her, she threw her arms around him, engulfing him in a hug, "Joonie!"

     "Hey-" Namjoon exclaimed, taken by surprise.

     "Sorry," Harley giggled as she let go.

     Namjoon turned to gaze upon Hoseok as he climbed out, "Welcome back."

     "Someone needs to wake Jimin, he's knocked out," Hoseok cracked his neck, "Did they burn the lab down while I was gone?"

     "Only partially," Taehyung appeared in the doorway and smiled. He practically galloped over to the van. He glided straight through the sliding door and pushed Jimin hard in the side with his hand, "Wake up!"

     Jimin jolted awake, confused as to what just happened... "Tae?" A smile overtook his face and they hugged, "Dude, I missed you."

     Harley and Hoseok exchanged smiling glances over the reunited brothers as they retrieved their bags from the back.

     "Next time you should come," Hoseok told him, closing the doors.

     Dinner time was noisy, between the trio telling their trip stories and the discussions about Tempest and the generals, it was a buzzing of non-stop conversation...  then there was Sehun, who was sitting next to Jungkook at the far end of the table, a rabbit dry. Everyone stopped to stare once they heard the disturbing slurping noises.

     "That's disgusting," Hoseok grimaced.

      "Says the brain-eating zombie," Sehun pushed the now-deceased bunny away from him and wiped the trickle of blood from his mouth.

     "Why is he here again?" Hoseok inquired, already tired of him.

     "New drinking buddy," Yoongi smirked, turning to glance at Seokjin, whose eyebrows raised a good inch.

     "Did you lose your old one?" Seokjin asked, wondering what he meant by new. Yoongi just winked at him.

     Jungkook cast a puzzled glance at Yoongi, but quickly shook it off. He was sure that was 'code' for 'give a good reason as to why they were keeping Sehun here for so long'. Either way, it meant less time that Seokjin would spend with Yoongi.

     "You don't oppose, right?" Yoongi challenged Sehun who just shrugged.

     "I don't oppose," Jungkook toasted Yoongi with his glass of cola and Yoongi smirked.

     Taehyung sulked, but he didn't want anyone to see he was unhappy, especially Yoongi, so he focused his attention on Jimin and cracked some jokes putting Yoongi's new friend status out of his mind.

     The weather was perfect for picking the last of Taehyung's summer plants, plus he needed the cool air, it became stuffy inside at dinner, especially with how Yoongi was acting. Jimin pulled a baseball-sized spider from the bushel of plants that Taehyung had been working in and held it up to get a better look at it, Taehyung shuddered, backing away with a grossed-out look on his face.

     "He won't eat you Tae, will you little guy?"

     "Just put it in the woods, I'm pretty sure there is a sparse colony in there," Taehyung grimaced, watching Jimin walk over to the edge of the forest and bend down to set it free. Two or six might have been a small number to Jimin, but to Taehyung it was two or six too many, "Why do they like my sagewort so much?"

     "You should be happy, they're keeping the bad bugs away."

     "Yeah, I'll pass. Ginormous spiders can just right off," He shuddered again and Jimin laughed, "Ugh."

     Jimin reached down and coaxed another spider onto his palm, glancing over at Taehyung who was staring down at the plant, "So, Yoongi?"

     Taehyung's eyes shot to Jimin, "What about him?"

     "Don't act like I don't know you well enough to know you were upset that he's going to be hanging out with that Sehun guy tonight."

     "It's nothing," Taehyung went back to staring at the plant, sighing.

     "I don't like that he's using you," Jimin set another spider into the woods.

     "He's not using-" Taehyung scoffed, shaking his head, "Yeah right, who am I kidding?"

     "He's toxic, you need to cut him loose," Jimin lectured him, "Stop giving it out."

     "You're not helping," Taehyung was reaching the point of annoyance. He knew all this, he knew he shouldn't let Yoongi always get his way and get nothing in return. The heart wants what it wants, he couldn't help it. He was in love with him, he didn't want to be. He wished he could just walk away, but it wasn't as easy as Jimin made it sound.

     "I'm sorry, but it bothers me... and it makes it worse that it doesn't seem to bother you-"

     "It does bother me, but what do you want me to do?" Taehyung's voice shook with emotion.

     "Tell him no," Jimin grabbed up another spider.

     "Yeah, you're right, It's just that easy," Taehyung rolled his eyes, "Why didn't I think of that?"

     Jimin grimaced, "Well, sorry for caring."

     "I know you mean well, but it's something I need to work through myself," Taehyung proclaimed.     

      "You deserve better," Jimin advised, "I just wanna see you happy." 

      "Thanks," Taehyung flashed a half-smile. He appreciated that Jimin meant well, but for some reason, it made him even more upset that others knew how much he was hurting... and that one of the 'others' didn't seem to include Yoongi.

      Jimin passed the spider from one hand to another, and a sudden smile appeared like he just had the idea of a century, "I'm gonna go see how Harley feels about spiders." His face lit up at the prospect of scaring her.

     "You're gonna get punched," Taehyung warned.

     "Think about what I said," Jimin gave him a reassuring smile and then his heel.

     Taehyung's eyes followed Jimin as he scampered back up towards the house. Maybe Jimin was right. Maybe it was time to go hunt down Yoongi and tell him he wasn't going to be his toy anymore, either he wanted something serious between them or nothing at all. The time for being used was coming to an end. Kaput. Done.

     It was all good in theory, for when Taehyung marched straight into the house determined to tell him off, he lost his nerve when he spotted Yoongi throwing a jacket to Sehun and them both heading out of the front door to go drinking. Way to assert yourself, Tae.

     Jungkook walked down the stairs and stopped midway when he saw Taehyung staring after them.

     "That guy needs an -kicking," Jungkook remarked, then continued down to join him, "You okay?"

     "Yeah, I'm amazing," Taehyung started walking towards the kitchen and Jungkook followed behind, "What are you up to?"

     "Hungry," Jungkook flipped on the kitchen light and went straight to the fridge. A high-pitched screech echoed through the house and Taehyung stopped, remembering what Jimin had said when he left the garden, he laughed.

     "What was that?" Jungkook was alarmed.

     "I guess Harley is afraid of spiders."

     "Not Harley," Harley ran into the room, laughing, "Hoseok."

     Taehyung grabbed a bottle of water and pulled out a chair, sitting down at the table. Jimin burst into the room, crouching down behind Taehyung to hide. He peeked out through the rungs of the chair, a clear view of the kitchen doorway in his sight.

     "I'm going to kill you Jimin!" Hoseok's terrified voice was heard coming up the hallway and he suddenly appeared in the kitchen, a murderous look now muddling up his features, "Where is he?"

     Harley shrugged, snickering, "I don't think he came this way." 

     "Don't bull me, I saw him run in here," Hoseok went straight to the pantry, throwing open the door and turning on the light. Empty. Harley glanced down at Jimin, eyes wide, he held his finger to his lips.

     Shhh. Jimin mouthed, not making a sound.

     Hoseok closed the doors and turned quickly to Jungkook, "Jungkook?"

     "Ah man, I dunno," Jungkook was not good at lying, his eyes darted to where Jimin was squatting, "Maybe the garden?"

     Hoseok smirked, noticing where Jungkook's eyes had settled, "Yeah, thanks."

     Jimin peered up at Harley, waiting for the signal that Hoseok had left, but instead, he began to feel a weird sensation in his stomach. A fluttering, much like there were a bunch of ants building a home in his belly, crawling up and down his windpipe. He clamped his hand over his mouth to keep himself from gagging.

     "Ants are such interesting creatures, the way they burrow into the earth creating tunnels-" Hoseok called out, smiling.

     Jimin gagged a few times. Harley looked down at him, disturbed at the thought of a colony of ants crawling around in Jimin's stomach.

     "Aren't ants a bit extreme?" Taehyung recognized a hallucination spell when he saw one.

     Jimin burped up an ant, letting out a frazzled scream. The ant crawled about on his hand, weaving in and out of his fingers, "What did you do to me?"

     Hoseok raised his eyebrows as Jimin sprung up from his hiding place, "And there's never just one either."

     Jimin burped up two more ants, looking down at them, "Hoseok-"

     "What are you doing to him?" Harley looked at his hand, but she didn't see anything.

     "Tons of them, scurrying about-"

     "Dude, stop," Taehyung called out. "You made your point."

     "He stuck a giant spider on my forehead while I was sleeping and then poked me so I'd open my eyes-"

     Taehyung was appalled, "By all means then, enjoy yourself."

     "Taehyung!" Jimin called out, a look of sheer terror now taking up residence on his face.

      "Next time you put a spider on me, I'm going to make this real," Hoseok was trying to be serious, but the smirk on his face suggested he was quite enjoying taunting Jimin. A bit of revenge on Jimin for his pesky ghost days.

      Jimin looked down at his hands, the ants were gone, "It was a trick?"

     Taehyung sighed, shaking his head, "Jimin, you're an idiot." He stood and trudged from the room.

     "What crawled up his ?" Jimin pouted, checking his hands once more to make sure no ants were creeping over his skin.

     "I think you should be more worried about what's crawling up your ," Jungkook kidded and they all laughed.

     Except for Jimin, who sulked as he plopped down on a chair.

     Yoongi was very obviously drunk, almost to the point of being incoherent, stumbling about as he grabbed a canister of gasoline from the trunk of his car. Sehun watched as he poured the gasoline around the perimeter of his house, nearly pouring it on himself in the process. He threw the empty canister down and took out his lighter.

     "Why are you lighting your house on fire?" Sehun was amused.

     "Bad memories," Yoongi slurred, taking a deep breath, "Better to burn them-"

     "Shouldn't you salvage your belongings first?"

     "No, everything in this house has been tainted," Yoongi flicked the lighter on several times, staring at the dancing flame. 

     "Who is this about? Seokjin?"

     "Don't you dare utter that name," Yoongi grabbed Sehun's collar and pushed him back.

     Sehun straightened his shirt out and rolled his eyes, "You're going to set yourself on fire."

     "Go wait in the car, you're killing my mood," Yoongi yelled at him, then turned back to the house, staring at it. Everything in him implored him to light the fire and watch all the memories inside of it go up in flames.

      "What are you waiting for?" Sehun hadn't moved, he just stared at the back of Yoongi's head, hands in his pockets, bored.

     "I hid here, hid from everyone," Yoongi yelled at the sky then turned to Sehun, "Noni urged me to tell him, she said letting hidden emotions fester was bad for the psyche."

     Sehun glared at the house, "So why didn't you?"

     "You know Seokjin, would you have told him you were in love with him?" Yoongi grimaced, "I wasn't going to risk our friendship over some trifling feelings."

     "Trifling?" Sehun raised an eyebrow, "If this is your definition of trifling, then how unhinged are you really?"

     "What good comes from having emotions?"

     "What good is holding them in? Maybe you'd have a healthier, more fulfilling life if you weren't so repressed."

     Yoongi scoffed, "Don't be dumb."

     "You're the one out here about to burn your house down," Sehun frowned, "Not my fault you're an emotionless jackass."

     "What did you say?" Yoongi sneered, angrily pacing, "You don't know ."

    "I don't think you do either, dude," Sehun yawned, "I'll be in the car, try not to off yourself."

     Sehun trudged off and Yoongi stopped pacing, he flicked the lighter on and off a few times, staring at his house, the home that hid so much of his pain. If he could get rid of this, it would be one step closer to getting himself over Seokjin, one step closer to being free of that torture. Truth was, he didn't know why he ran away, he was sure that back then Seokjin felt something too, after all, even if they were drunk, they did share a bed. He wasn't in love with you, don't be stupid. Nothing would have come from telling him, it was better to run away, better to hide out and deal with it yourself. Yeah, Yoongi, how did that work out? The only reason you're out here now is because inside, on that couch, even if Cato had his mind, he made you feel things again. Burn it. BURN THE ING THING TO THE GROUND. Yoongi set the lighter so the flame would stay on and turned it to the highest setting, the flame was a good six inches, flickering about, urging him to throw it.

     "Burn it!" He stepped closer, holding out his hand as he stared down at the ground where the gasoline had pooled alongside the canister. He let go of the lighter, it fell to the earth... "Burn it 'til it's all gone."

     *POOF* The flame marched along the trail of flammable liquid up towards the porch. The perimeter went ablaze in a matter of seconds, illuminating the whole area as it flickered off the trees like a sinister fire goblin doing the shimmy to the crackle and pops of the growing flames. He backed up, shielding his face from the intense heat, smiling as he watched the fire engulf the house. 

     "Crazy er," Sehun muttered to himself, pressing his head against the glass, watching the blaze annihilate any trace of the house.

     Yoongi screamed out, it felt so good, the pain trickled out of him like his body was purging itself of all the emotions he had hidden for so long. The heat warming him like a blanket, telling him everything would be okay now. He felt free, for the first time in a long time. He was free. There was just one last thing to do... Now, he needed to see Seokjin, he needed to get everything off his chest.

     Seokjin had been walking the grounds for the last half hour, he had left Jungkook fast asleep back in his bed. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with Yoongi, a sudden pang of misery had washed over him and he couldn't drift back off to sleep. He thought maybe the fresh air would clear his mind, but the growing dread crept further in. He stared down at his phone, tempted to ring Yoongi again since he hadn't answered his call earlier... Yoongi, where are you?

     "Seokjin!" Yoongi's voice called out from the darkness and for a minute Seokjin thought he was dreaming.

     "Yoongi?" Seokjin turned around to try to locate where the voice came from.

     Yoongi grabbed his arm and turned him around, "I need to tell you something-"

     "Are you okay, I had a weird feeling something was wrong."

     Yoongi was confused for a moment, but he shook it off, if he didn't say what he had to, to Seokjin right now, he would lose his nerve, "You need to listen and not say anything, just let me finish."

     "Okay?" Seokjin noticed there was soot on Yoongi's face and clothing.

     "I need to be free of you, of what I feel for you..." Yoongi turned away from Seokjin, he couldn't look at him while he bore his soul, "I left all those years ago because I was in love with you and I knew it was one-sided and I knew it wouldn't work out." He took a deep breath, "I figured when I came back, it would have been over, that what I felt was long gone... but then Cato took over, and I... I felt things, things I knew foolish, but I still hoped." He scoffed, looking up at the sky, "I know it was stupid, but I let Cato get into my head," He took another deep breath, running his fingers through his hair. "I should have told you back then, things might have been different, I don't know, it doesn't matter now. What matters now is that by telling you this, I am free, It's not stuck in my head festering anymore."

     "Yoongi-"

     "I'm letting it go," Yoongi turned his head to stare at Seokjin, tears welling up in his eyes, "I know this doesn't make sense, but just know from now on, I won't look at you in that way anymore. You'll just be my best friend, nothing more."

     All Seokjin could do was nod. Yoongi stared at him for a good ten seconds and Seokjin could see that he was working through it all. For the first time in a long while, he saw that spark appear, the spark in Yoongi's eyes that used to be his passion, that used to make him such a great fighter, a great friend. Yoongi looked back up at the sky, his mind a lot lighter.

     "I need to go