Jimin couldn’t stop himself from pacing back and forth across the tunnel, feeling weak and defenseless like a human. Here in the Dream World, he really had no power. He could feel things present inside the dark tunnel with him, but he had no idea just what those things could be. It’s not right…I have to get out of here…I have to find Joy…

“I’m here,” whispered a voice from the corner.

Jimin felt the hairs on his neck stand up as he slowly turned around. “Who’s there? Joy? Is that you, Joy?”

“Not Joy,” it echoed back over to him. “I have no name. But I am here because you summoned me.”

“Reveal yourself. Face me so that I may see your shape,” Jimin called out.

From the corner, a trail of whirling, vivid green smoke wafted towards Jimin. He caught its scent and coughed, feeling it go up his lungs. “What the…what are you? I didn’t summon you!” But its brilliant, luminescent shade reminded Jimin of the potion he had tasted to reach this different dimension: the absinthe.

“You want to escape this tunnel and find your friends. You want power,” the smoke hissed, curling around the vampire’s body like a snake. “The lot of you came here in search of power. You wish to defeat the werewolves and Hyuna, and the rest of your enemies in war…I can give you what you desire.”

“But at what cost?” asked Jimin, knowing nothing could be exchanged for free. Everything came at a price.

“Give yourself over to me. You can’t navigate yourself through the Dream World; you’re bound to get lost again just as you are lost right now, stuck in this dark tunnel without any of your friends by your side. By taking me in, I shall guide you, both here and in the real world. I will help you win the war. What do you say? Is it a… deal?”

What other choice do I even have? Will it kill me if I refuse? Jimin was panicking, wishing he had his clan here to make the decision for him. How was he supposed to choose the right thing all on his own? “I…I…”

“Say yessss,” it hissed, its grip on his neck steady and firm now. “Your friends are in danger. Do you wanna save them or not?”

“Y-yes…okay, guide me…I’ll take you in…please, just show me the way to my friends, take me out of this tunnel.”

The smoke almost seemed to smile at him in satisfaction. “That’s a good boy,” it said, and it enveloped Jimin in its thick greenness.

“What’s wrong with Joy? Why is she still asleep?” J-Hope gently shook her, trying to wake her up from whatever deep slumber she had fallen into. J-Hope had only found RM a few minutes before, but he had taken one look at Joy and realized her sleeping like she was in a coma was a very bad sign.

“This definitely isn’t normal,” replied RM, scratching the back of his neck. “Did we screw something up?”

“RM! J-Hope!” Screamed Suga as he made his way over to them at vampire speed. He carried the human Jungkook in his arms. The boy looked on the verge of death, with blood soaking his clothes and sweat dripping from his forehead. His face had morphed into an ashy gray color from all the blood loss, and his hands felt cold as ice when RM reached out to touch them. A long, vertical cut was deeply etched into his left wrist, and fang marks pierced his bloody throat.

“What happened?”

“V attacked him, tried to kill him by slitting his wrist and drinking his blood, and fed him his own vampire blood. We have to save Jungkook before he dies and returns as a vampire.” Suga put Jungkook down onto the ground and then ripped his shirt off to create a tourniquet from the fabric. He tied the pieces around Jungkook’s open wounds to stop the leakage of anymore blood.

“Why would V want to turn Jungkook into a vampire?” J-Hope wondered. “Did the forces here tell him to do that because maybe we need more clan members to defeat our enemies?”

“Even if the forces told him to, V was acting like a psychopath in a blood frenzy. He’s being corrupted by the evil powers of this cursed Dream World.”

Anxiety slashed through RM. “So it’s already started. The evil forces are already trying to control our clan...” he put his head in his hands. “Did I make the wrong decision by agreeing to this plan? Surely I could’ve found a way to win the war without having to do this.”

“There was no other way,” J-Hope spun around and reassured the leader. “Any decision you make for us could never be wrong, RM, because we endure every situation together and face our obstacles with strength. We look death in the face and we say, ‘not today’. Our enemies won’t defeat us today or tomorrow or even the day after that. You know why? Because we, the Bangtan clan of the vampires, believe the most in our leader. We believe in each other. That’s hope. And hope has the power to move the world.”

RM couldn’t help but chuckle at J-Hope’s inspiring speech. It was so typical of J-Hope to encourage others even when he was having a hard time himself. “Thank you, J-Hope. Yes, you’re right.”

Suga looked up with fire burning in his eyes. “There’s no turning back now. If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl. Even if you have to crawl, gear up. Today we will survive.”

“Today we will survive,” echoed RM and J-Hope.

J-Hope dared to steal a glance at the human, whose blood smelled dangerously sweet. He wasn’t breathing anymore. “He’s gone. When he wakes up, he’ll be one of us.”

“That will be our very last option,” Suga hissed.

“I’m the only one who can save Jungkook,” Jimin announced as he appeared before the group, surrounded by thick green smoke.

The other three vampires studied Jimin in disbelief. “…Park Jimin, where were you?”

Jimin flashed a cold smile. “I was trapped in a tunnel of darkness until I found the green smoke. It promised to get me out of there and that it would lead me back to you, and it was right. It saved my life. The green smoke also said it would guide us in the Dream World and help us win the war.”

“The knowledge of good and evil comes with a price,” RM said quietly. “Anyhow, for now, do what you have to in order to save Jungkook.”

Jimin kneeled beside the boy and placed his hands over Jungkook’s heart. He changed a Latin prayer, his eyes shut in deep concentration and his lips moving rapidly without hesitation. As he prayed, the green smoke swirled around Jungkook, creating a shield around his body. It seemed to be whispering something in the boy’s ears. Finally the smoke cleared and Jimin rose from the ground and gazed down at Jungkook, who still lay motionless.

Suddenly Jungkook’s eyes opened wide and he gasped for air. He was choking, his eyes watering as he tried to take a deep breath. “I-I was dead, wasn’t I? I died.” Jungkook stared at Jimin in shock. “Y-you saved m-me,” sputtered Jungkook, still panting heavily. “You brought me back to life. Jimin, thank you so much for saving my life.”

“Anything for Joy’s friends,” Jimin replied with a smile.

“I can’t believe it,” Suga breathed, his expression unreadable. “…You…” he took a dizzying step backwards, putting distance between himself and Jimin. “…whatever you did…whatever deal you’ve made...it’s given you too much power. This is what Jin warned us about. Did you stop to think about him for even a second?”

“There was no time to waste. I couldn’t just let myself be trapped in that tunnel forever. And I sensed that our group was in danger.”

“We have bigger things to worry about at the moment,” RM interrupted. “Is V...I mean, is V being possessed by the evil forces?”

“That’s right. It found V first, before it could possess the humans, because he’s the youngest vampire of the Bangtan clan so he lacks the patience and skill that the elders have acquired. I’m still lacking, as well. Neither V nor I have yet passed the two hundred year milestone as a vampire at which vampires become full adults. While V may act silly on the outside like he doesn’t have a care in the world, he’s really struggling inside. So V…he was in immense danger from the moment he stepped foot into this dimension. He was the perfect prey.”

Jungkook frowned. “How would the evil forces know something like that?”

Jimin turned towards to the boy and put his hands on his shoulders. “This place knows everything about us. Our past, including our deepest, darkest secrets, and our future. It knows our sins and our flaws. And V...” he let out a dry laugh. “His flaw, his sin is his pride. It overpowers everything else for him.”

“What’s my sin?” Jungkook was more afraid here, in this very moment, than he had ever been before in his life. The meeting with Hyuna, sneaking into the werewolf camp, waking up here in the Dream World with V chasing him...all of that seemed small and insignificant compared to this. Jungkook realized that Jimin’s new knowledge was not only a gift, but a curse as well. It was a curse to have to learn and live with knowing what your deadly sin was.

“Your sin is lust,” the vampire breezily answered him. “You lust after Joy. You lust after everything you cannot have.” Jimin’s gaze softened and he took the human boy into his embrace. “You have to let her go, Jungkook. You must learn to be content with the life you live. It’s the only way to fight the evilness of the Dream World.” When they pulled away, Jimin looked around at his clan. “We all have to fight our demons if we want to get out of here alive. We can’t give in to the temptations this world offers us. And...while I’ve already taken a bite of the apple that holds knowledge of good and evil, I’ll make sure that none of you do so. After all, we only need one person to be our eyes and ears here. I don’t mind taking on that role, if it means saving our clan and winning the war.”

RM grinned. “That’s my boy. I’m proud of you, Jimin. You’ve really matured and become a responsible adult vampire.” He patted Jimin on the back. “Let’s go to Joy.”

She was asleep on the bed of the truck, strands of midnight hair sticking to the sides of her face in sweat. Her face looked pale and sickly with dark eye circles and cracked lips.

“The absinthe made her sick,” observed Jimin. “Just like it did to Jungkook. Drinking such a strong, pure amount and transporting to this world used up all of their energy. The evil forces here are also trying to take advantage of the humans because they’re weaker than us and therefore much more vulnerable to the evil, just like V.”

Jimin smiled as he went over to Joy and placed a hand on her forehead. She was so cold, her touch felt like that of a vampire’s. While he knew everyone else’s sins, he couldn’t figure out what hers was. Was it possible that she didn’t carry any sin on her shoulders at all?

Jungkook watched as Jimin did the same thing to Joy as he had done to him. Green mist kissed Joy in its embrace and brought her back to life. She immediately sat upright, gasping for air, and clutched Jimin’s arms. He hugged her fiercely, as if to never let her go again. Everything about the scene, the way she sobbed into Jimin’s shirt and the way he her hair, telling her that everything was going to be okay, it was too much for Jungkook to bear. He couldn’t watch anymore. It felt too intimate, like he was spying on them, so he turned away and faced the other vampires. After what Jimin had said, they knew of his love, of his lust for Joy. Heat rose to Jungkook’s cheeks.

All Suga could offer the boy was an encouraging smile. He saw a younger version of himself in Jungkook. While Suga’s love story differed from Jungkook’s, they had something in common, and it was that they both didn’t know how to let go of love. They didn’t understand how to move on, and they carried their pain and sorrow deep inside of them instead of sharing the burden with others. That loneliness drove them crazy and made them feel suffocated and alienated. Suga’s heart had been broken once when he was still a human, approximately 872 years ago. In a moment, he let himself be transported back to the days when he was still a living, breathing, human boy named Min Yoongi.

SUGA’S FLASHBACK

Yoongi’s eyes slowly fluttered open. He glanced around at the room he shared with the other three musicians. All of their beds were actually thick wool blankets spread on the cold concrete floor, and six years ago when they first started sharing the room, they pushed their blankets together so that the distance between their beds could be finished. His roommates were amusing in that way. They always tried their best to work as a team and to never let anyone feel excluded, and Yoongi really appreciated having friends like them in his life.

His life hadn’t always been filled with happy memories, though. Yoongi was born into a poor family. He had moved to live with his grandmother at a very early age and fallen in love with the brown piano that sat in the corner of his grandmother’s house. Whenever he played it, he could only yearn for his mother. A few years later, when Yoongi went to live with his parents, he left his childhood home and the piano became a memory for him. He returned to visit his grandmother after some time had passed. He had neglected the brown piano when he once yearned for it, so dust had piled up on the white jade-like piano keys. When he was a teenager the realization hit him that he had failed to realize the piano’s significance, even though the piano remained loyal to him and had protected his spot. Yoongi wandered over to the piano and when he touched the keys again for the first time in what felt like forever, the awkwardness lasted only for a moment. The piano welcomed him without repulsion and they spent the entire night with each other. It was then that Yoongi asked his piano to never let go of his hand, and Yoongi also promised to never let go again, either.

He began working day and night to produce music beats and write his own lyrics, pushing his studies to the side so that he could pursue his one and only dream: music. His parents were dead set against him making music, and they began to hit Yoongi, throwing things at him and shouting to make him listen. They hoped he would “grow up” and change his mind, but Yoongi refused to give up his passion even as he continued to live in a home that had become violent. He was an outsider in his own family, and people began instilling doubts in him that he would cause his family to spiral into even more poverty. But what if Yoongi could change their fortunes? He was determined to make a career out of playing the piano and writing songs, so he competed in the national auditions that were selecting a new music team for the royal palace, in the city near the sea. He won second place and was admitted into the new team as a pianist and songwriter. Ever since, he had been living with the other musicians and improving his passion daily to become the best version of himself that he could possibly be.

However, all that changed when he was struck by a man on a horse in a hit-and-run accident halfway through his fifth year as a royal palace musician. He was crossing the street when suddenly, out of nowhere, the horse charged towards him and knocked the air right out of his chest. The horse rider never even glanced back at the damage he’d caused. Yoongi’s shoulder was completely damaged, but instead of telling anyone, he kept the secret to himself and fought through the pain silently. He was afraid that if he told his team members, he would lose his career with them. Even now, 872 years later, when Suga moved too fast or hadn’t fed in awhile and grew weaker, the stinging pain in his shoulder would return like an untreated sickness, always repeating itself in a cruel cycle.

Humans believed all vampires were perfectly created, otherworldly beautiful creatures of the night who couldn’t feel pain or sickness, but they were wrong, and Suga was proof of that. There were some days when he suffered from so much pain because of his shoulder that he couldn’t move around much and lacked the energy to venture out into the streets to feed. He hated telling his clan about his pain because it made him feel like he was the weakest. Though sometimes he did request them to bring something back for him, other times he lied that he wasn’t hungry enough to feed.

But 872 years ago, Yoongi hadn’t known that his sixth year of being a royal palace musician would be his last.

He and Princess Mi Rae, the oldest daughter of the King, had been meeting secretly for nearly one year now. He treasured those precious moments with her, when she was only his and he was only hers. In those moments they forgot their social statuses and put their titles of “Princess” and “musician” behind them. Yoongi could have given up everything for her. If he had just one day left to spend with her, he would want to peacefully fall asleep intoxicated with her sweet scent and see his own reflection in her warm and deep eyes. Yoongi liked her long, straight hair, and her breathtaking neck when she put it up and the strands that fell out. Whenever he saw her, he ran out of breath. Her voice when she said his name was the loveliest sound in the universe. He wanted to get to know her more; he was an explorer venturing through her deep forest of mystery. He appreciated the masterpiece that was Park Mi Rae, for her existence alone was art.

On a cold morning in mid February, Yoongi and his music team were minutes away from performing what would be one of their biggest shows held inside the royal palace. It was to celebrate Princess Mi Rae’s twentieth birthday, and tens of thousands of guests hailing from wealthy and powerful families were set to attend. The three musicians had practiced day and night for this concert so that they wouldn’t make a mistake in front of such a large audience. Yoongi especially wanted to make Mi Rae’s birthday a truly special day to remember.

The musicians headed out to the stage and took up their positions in front of the enthusiastic audience. They cheered and clapped even before they began performing, which made Yoongi’s heart soar with pride. They had worked so hard for this. They deserved this.

Yoongi’s fingers knew the piano like it was an extension of his own self; playing the piano came naturally to him. He closed his eyes, losing himself in the gentle music as if he were swaying in the cool breeze. Chani was the singer, his melodic voice dripping with honey, able to transform any song Yoongi wrote for him into a masterpiece. Rowoon was the violinist, telling a story with each violin string that entranced listeners and transported them into a world of fantasy.

Suddenly the palace doors swung open to allow the national army to pour through, and screams and guttural cries pierced the air, causing the musicians to pause playing. Yoongi looked around at his team members, confused as to what was happening, when another round of bloodcurdling shrieks reached his ears. The audience grew panicked and tried to escape through the stained glass windows, but it was useless. Soldiers cornered them and cut them down right before Yoongi’s eyes.

“Why are you doing this?!” he screamed at the king. “How can you do something like this on your daughter’s birthday?!”

The king seemed unfazed by all of the bloodshed, relaxed upon his throne made of pure gold. He reached over and grabbed his glass of red wine, as if he were drinking the blood of his victims, and said to Yoongi, “They were conspirators, enemies, trying to steal my throne. They were disloyal subjects, and they held too much power. I needed to eliminate them. This concert was the perfect chance to get rid of them all for good.” The king finished his drink and went over to oversee the soldiers.
Yoongi couldn’t bear to watch anymore. The stench of blood reached his nostrils and almost made him sick. Chani and Rowoon were huddling in the corner, whispering prayers for the dead and the dying. What was Yoongi supposed to do in this situation? There was nobody left alive in the audience.

“Looks like my plan succeeded,” noted Mi Rae as she went to stand by her father’s throne. “Now nobody will get in our way.”

Yoongi stumbled backwards, staring at her in disbelief. “…Princess…this was your idea?”

She pouted. “What other choice did we have, Yoongi? We had to protect the throne from those who conspire against us.”

“Your birthday will only be remembered as a day of mourning.” Tears welled up in his eyes. His hands balled into tight fists at his sides. He wanted to punch something and scream at the top of his lungs. “Your father will be remembered as a bloody monarch. And those children…” he gasped, unable to hold in his panicked sobs. “…those innocent children died for nothing! They weren’t conspirators. They weren’t our enemies. You wanted to kill their parents, fine! But what crime did those kids commit? You should’ve at least let them go!”

“You dare question my father’s leadership? If you really want to marry me, you better not make any more of a scene here today. I’m sacrificing a lot just by being with you, Yoongi,” she whispered, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. “Come to your senses. I was going to give up my princess title just so that I could spend my life with you. But now I’ve won my father’s trust. He’ll most likely allow us to marry without any objections, and I’ll get to keep my princess status.”

He refused to look her in the eyes. “This whole time, you’ve never loved me, have you?”

“What?” she scoffed. “What are you saying?”

“If you really loved me, you wouldn’t have orchestrated this whole thing. You knew how hard my team worked for this concert. This was our dream, to perform in front of such a large crowd! We hardly slept, we skipped meals so that we could perfect our songs. How could you do this to me? How could you hurt me like this?!”

“I did this for us, Yoongi!”

“You did this for yourself! You just wanted to continue living your life as a princess, enjoying all of the luxuries the royal palace can afford for you. If you hadn’t been able to keep your title, you never would’ve married me. I realize that now. You’re so selfish! Get away from me,” he said, shaking her off. “I said, don’t touch me!” Yoongi shoved her hard, bringing her down to her knees.

“Please, Yoongi. I love you, I really do!” she sobbed.

“I’m so sick of this fake love,” he scoffed. “Don’t say you killed all those people for me, Mi Rae. Don’t you dare put their blood on my hands. You disgust me.” He walked past her and helped Chani and Rowoon to their feet. “Come on, let’s go, guys.”

“She never loved me,” Yoongi muttered to himself as he poured himself another drink. He had been sitting inside the musicians’ house all day. A week had passed since the massacre at the royal palace, and he was still living life as if he were stuck in a daze, in a daydream. He couldn’t cope with what Mi Rae had done, and he knew he would never be able to forgive her. She was power-hungry just like her father. Why had he ever thought she would turn out to be different?

“Damn it!” he screamed, throwing his glass across the room. It hit the wall and broke into little, sharp fragments that spread on the concrete floor. He wanted to break everything. He wanted to rip out his hair and destroy his piano. He wanted to set fire to all of his music sheets and the lyrics which he had written so carefully, and he wanted to burn this whole place down, including the palace.

Yoongi was finally tired of pretending. He was tired of pretending like his shoulder didn’t hurt when it was what caused him the most physical suffering. For Mi Rae, he had pretended to be happy when he was sad. He had pretended to be strong when he was hurt. He had wanted to become a better man just for her, and he gave the world, just for her. Now he didn’t even know who he was. When he looked in the mirror, he didn’t recognize the reflection that stared back at him. That forest he had ventured through, filled with all of the obstacles of his love for her, it turned out that Mi Rae hadn’t been there by his side at all. He wished love was as perfect as love itself, and that all his weaknesses could be hidden. But the sad truth was that Yoongi had grown a flower that couldn’t be bloomed in a dream that couldn’t come true.

So he would leave. He would leave the palace forever because that was the only way he would ever be able to forget the massacre and the screams of the dying souls. Leaving like this was the only way that he would stay sane.

After he had packed all of his things and said his goodbyes to Chani and Rowoon, who decided to stay and continue their lives as royal palace musicians, he set foot outside the palace for the first time in six years. He hadn’t even visited his childhood home due to strict palace laws forbidding anyone to leave without direct permission from the king. Luckily his family had been able to make the long trip from their city to the palace and attend his concerts several times.

On his way out of the Royal City, he stopped by the seaside and pondered over its beauty for a long time. He watched the waves roll forward and collapse on top of one another; the vivid blue and the white foam mixed in together until they became one. It reminded Yoongi of how he had worked with Chani and Rowoon to become one team. They had shared the same dream. Now, he was forced to go like this. He tried his best not to be sad and to leave behind the bad memories and only cherish the good times. But he couldn’t do it. No, he didn’t want to. It hurt too much. Yoongi wanted to shut it all off and stop the hurricane of thoughts swirling around inside of his chaotic mind. Even though he missed Mi Rae and yearned to hold her once more, he still hated her, and he promised himself that he was going to erase her like the last traces of white smoke because that hurt less than blaming her.

Why did he ever think he could be happy? Happiness wasn’t meant for people like him. Did the blood of those victims really stain his own hands? Mi Rae had said she killed them to be with him. Was it true? Was Yoongi to blame for their deaths, then? What right did he have to keep living when all of those innocent families had died?

Those kids would never grow up. Their souls would forever remain as children for whom time had stopped. They would never get to live out their dreams or fall in love for the first time. They would never experience the heartbreak and longing that came with a first love.

Yoongi longed for an end to the cruel winter. He wished for warm sunshine that would hit his face like the rays of heaven and light his path. But he felt something wet and icy fall onto his hair and looked up at the colorless sky to see that it was snowing. The snowflakes glittered like white crystals. This wasn’t what he wanted. How many more sleepless nights would he have to spend until the days of spring arrived, until the days of flower blossoms?

“Farewell to my love, to my friends, to my family. We shall meet again in the next life,” Yoongi whispered, and surrendered himself over to the sea. The current swallowed him up, pushing him deeper and deeper below the surface of the water. It was freezing cold and dark there, and for the first time, he was truly alone. Nobody would save him.

So this is how I die. Alone and helpless, suffering at my own decision to end everything.

Everything faded to black.

“Drink,” a voice urged him. “It will heal you. Drink fast.”

Drink? Drink what? Yoongi struggled to open his eyes but couldn’t. It seemed like there was a blinding light behind his eyelids. Was he still floating in the sea? He tasted something foul and coppery on his tongue, making him gag. “What is…this?”

“It’s my blood,” the voice answered him. “My blood will heal your pain.”

“Who are you? Are you an angel?” Yoongi accepted his blood and drank desperately, wanting all of his pain to go away.

“My name is Jin. I saw you jump into the water from afar and decided to save you.” Jin retracted his wrist from Yoongi’s lips and lay down beside him in the sand, the foamy waves rolling at their feet.

Yoongi could feel himself slipping away again, just as he had in the water. “I don’t want to die,” Yoongi mumbled, but he could barely hear his own voice.

“I know,” replied Jin, reaching out and taking Yoongi’s hand in his.

They stayed together like that, lying on the shore by the sea, until Yoongi woke up again.

He opened his eyes at last, and gazed at the world around him. Everything was different. His vision was so perfect that he could practically see through things, and his eyes were able to make out every tiny detail. His ears picked up on faraway sounds that he never was able to hear before. He no longer felt the cold winter air biting at his cheeks, or the thumping sound of his heartbeat.

“I’m dead, aren’t I? This is the afterlife.”

Jin shook his head. “You died with my blood in your system, and it saved you. You have been brought back from the dead. Welcome to your new life, little one.”

Yoongi gazed at his savior in disbelief. He was too beautiful to be real; his flawless skin, his perfectly chiseled jawline, his broad shoulders, his big purple eyes, his pink hair that reminded Yoongi of cherry blossoms…he had to be a living sculpture, the real form of every girl’s dream guy.

“You are my first creation,” Jin whispered, smiling at Yoongi and holding his face in his hands. “You will be my companion. You said that you didn’t want to die. Here’s your second chance at life. This is a gift, my dear child. Open your heart to me and I shall teach you about this new and fascinating world. There is so much for us to discover together.”

“A companion,” echoed Yoongi, a single tear running down his face. “A second chance at life. Thank you for saving me. Why did you choose me, out of all the many souls who must have been facing death at that same moment?”

“This was our destiny. It was simply fate that your life ended the way it did and that I found you. I believe everything happens for a reason.”

Yoongi glanced back at the outline of the royal palace. It lingered in the distance, its red and green shape towering above all of the other buildings in the city. Then he turned towards Jin again. “I wanted to start over, but I didn’t know how, so I jumped in the water instead to take my own life. Since you’ve given me another chance, I won’t waste this gift.” He nodded. “Help me face my darkness. Let’s do this together, because I don’t have anyone else. I’ve lost everything that was precious to me. I even lost my way.”

Jin’s smile grew wider, delight sparkling in his purple eyes. “The morning will come again. No darkness, no season is eternal. Wait a little bit, just a few more nights, and this winter will be over.”

Yoongi was ready to leave behind his human life and embark on this new journey with Jin. He hoped Jin would never leave him. He believed that if Jin was there to guide him in this world, Yoongi would be able to achieve greatness and find happiness once more. Life would take on a new meaning and shed away his previous worries and sorrows. Like a butterfly that emerges from a chrysalis, he would become someone new, someone better, someone more beautiful not only on the outside but on the inside as well. He thought of the snowflakes that fell down just moments before he hit the water, and of the sweetness that once filled his universe from playing his favorite brown piano and making his family proud. He yearned to achieve that sweetness again.

“My name is Suga,” he said, smiling back at Jin. “It’s nice to meet you.”