Hoseok was running through the park, his small feet pattering across the pavement. The hard concrete quickly turned to rough dirt, blades of grass tickling his ankles and breeze kissing his cheeks. He tripped, arms stretching out to brace himself against the fall, but nothing happened.

Yoongi watched the small boy from across the playground, suspended in air. It was as if the wind was frozen around him, keeping him upright and safe. The boy was slowly turned, feet gently making their way back onto the ground. Hoseok looked around him to try to understand what just happened, but the ground beneath him seemed to move, urging him to keep going. So, with a final glance around, Hoseok kept running, the sun beating down on his face.

Yoongi scanned over the park. A few parents were sitting around, some other people seated on the benches like himself.

What caught his eye, though, was a young couple sitting close together, thighs pressed against each other while they both looked into the sky, as though something was there. He let his eyes linger there for a minute, unable to look away.

A tap on his shoulder pulled him back out, Namjoon looking down at him expectantly. Seokjin was sitting on a blanket in the middle of the grass, food spread out and smell wafting into Yoongi’s nose. The two of them sat down with Seokjin, watching the leaves gently blow with the wind.

Yoongi blinked, staring at the waving trees. He watched them slowly turn colour, eyes darting back to stare at Namjoon who was playing with the colours of the leaves.

The younger man just grinned, turning them back into their natural green hue.

Seokjin clicked his tongue, not even bothering to move while he merely raised his hand, a small cup floating over to Yoongi’s direction. The man took it with a hiss, thanking Seokjin without words.

A small you’re welcome floated into his mind and Yoongi grinned, glad Seokjin was finally getting used to talking to him like that.

His mind drifted back to the young couple sitting on the bench. His eyes followed, watching as they sat with their fingers now laced together, still watching the air, eyes dancing across the sky.

There was something about them that Yoongi couldn’t quite put his finger on.

There was something about them that was familiar to him.

“Hey, guys?”

Seokjin and Namjoon turned to look at him.

“You know how all of our powers come from the four elements, right?”

Namjoon nodded, running the colours of the rainbow through the blades of grass.

“Yeah, my power comes from earth. Changing colours of foliage and that stuff, you know? I think it’s kinda cool. Yours and Jin’s powers both come from air. Jin floats things through it, you send telepathic messages. What about it?”

Yoongi paused, not knowing where he was going with this.

“Just, I don’t know, why hasn’t anyone ever seen someone with the four element powers? I’ve never seen someone with earth, air, water or fire. And anyone that I do hear about, their powers are super weak or they can only do it like, once in a light year.”

Seokjin smiled gently, reaching a hand into the air as if he were trying to reach for something. It was slow, but Yoongi swore the wind wrapped itself around his fingers, pressing light kisses to the pads of the digits. But he soon blinked and it was gone as quickly as it came.

Yoongi swallowed, locking eyes with Seokjin’s soft ones. The man gazed deeply into him, his eyes smiling, but a sadness deep within them.

Seokjin’s voice came out quietly, his gaze flicking to Namjoon’s before he looked up at the sky and closed his eyes.

“Do you know the tale of the four elements?”

---

Taehyung stared up at the floating ball of water with wonder. It morphed into different shapes, taking on different forms and even, at one point, taking the shape of his own beloved flame.

“Jiminnie, what are you doing?”

He asked in an accusatory tone, but a goofy smile was on his face as he stared at the months older boy with fondness in his eyes.

Jimin grinned back at him, a large gap where his front teeth were supposed to be. His hands were clasped behind his back, Jimin staring right into Taehyung’s eyes as he slowly floated the bubble of water above Taehyung’s head.

“I dunno, Taehyungie. What am I doing?”

Taehyung’s brown eyes widened and he looked up, his mouth dropping open. He snapped his fingers, fire immediately engulfing his hand.

“Jiminnie, don’t do this. I know you don’t wanna make me get all wet–”

Splash!

Jimin’s laughter rang throughout the house as he sprinted through the halls, hearing the crackling of flames behind him as Taehyung chased after him. Charred marks were on the floors, but Jimin swept them away with a quick wave.

“Park Jimin!”

Jimin gasped loudly when Taehyung jumped on him, fire surrounding both of them.

He long ago learned not to be afraid of the flames, though. With the bright smile on Taehyung’s face, he knew that the boy would never let anything happen to him.

He knew that Taehyung would never mean to hurt him.

---

Sometimes, Jimin thought that they were a bit weird, that there was something about them that was different from other people. It didn’t help that his mother wouldn’t let him outside of their neighbourhood, even if it was an empty clearing with the closest house miles away.

He was glad he at least lived with Taehyung, though.

Taehyung was his best friend. He was taller than Jimin, even though he was younger, but he had a shorter fuse, always hot-headed and bursting whenever he could.

Jimin kept him calm, kept him level.

Sometimes, Taehyung even thought that Jimin kept him sane.

They were two halves of a broken whole that somehow managed to glue themselves together, or, more accurately, weld themselves together with the power of Taehyung’s fire.

It was a convenient little thing, that fire, when it wasn’t burning their house down. The two of them never had to worry about freezing to death, eating something raw, and with Jimin’s water manipulation, he and Taehyung could survive for years in the wild by themselves.

It was in their backyard, the empty field, the whole forest where they learned how to use their skills, and it wasn’t until Jimin was fifteen that he realized that, yeah, maybe he and Taehyung really weren’t like everyone else.

“Hey, Tae?”

Taehyung turned to look at him, his light brown hair falling into his eyes.

“Yeah?”

Jimin reached for a box of cigarettes sitting not too far from him, but he squeezed his hand into a fist instead and punched the box across the table. His fingers felt tight in the leather gloves, but he knew he needed them if he didn’t want to suddenly splash water in every given person’s face.

“I was just thinking, Tae, that maybe…” He stopped, his lips.

“Maybe we’re really weird. I know that it’s not every day that you find someone who can manipulate water who also just happens to be best friends with the person who can manipulate fire, but I think it’s weird that we can manipulate elements… At all.”

Taehyung hummed, chewing thoughtfully on an old stick of gum.

“I guess you’re right. I know mom told us not to, but I was watching TV the other day. I’ve never heard of people like us, Chim. It’s TV! They’re always talking about the weird on TV, but I haven’t heard anything about people with powers, or even anything talking about elemental manipulation. It’s like it’s something that no one’s ever heard of, or no one’s supposed to talk about. I remember one time, someone said something about setting fire to a building, and everyone was against him. Said he was something like a pyromaniac or other. They put him in jail, Jimin. Jail. I just– is there something wrong with me? With us?”

Jimin got up almost instantly, falling to the ground and grabbing Taehyung’s face in his hands. He brought their foreheads close together, speaking to Taehyung in harsh whispers.

“Don’t you ever think that, Kim Taehyung. We may not be like everyone else, and I know that I’m the one who brought this up in the first place, but there’s nothing wrong with us.”

Jimin pointed to the door, not daring to tear his gaze from Taehyung’s deep brown eyes.

“We’re going to go out there. Together. Mom’s dead, our dads are nowhere to be found. Hell knows where my of a mother ran off to. We’re alone in this world, Tae, but we’re going to make it out of here. We’re going to make it out of here alive, and we’re going to try as hard as we can to do a good job.”

Jimin moved back, pressing a kiss to Taehyung’s forehead, a tear falling from his closed eyes.

“We’re going to show the world that we are powerful and that we can deal with anything they throw at us. We were born different, Tae, but we were made twice as tough as them.”

He sat down across from Taehyung, a soft smile growing on his face when Taehyung stuck out a pinky, the tip of it lit up in flames.

Jimin held out his finger similarly, a small orb of water sitting atop it. He wrapped his finger around Taehyung’s, watching as the water put out the flame, a puff of steam floating into the air.

Taehyung smiled, all his teeth showing, and Jimin flashed one right back at him, the grin fading into a smirk.

“Let’s show ‘em hell.”

---

Jimin took Taehyung by the hand and led him across the street. A backpack hung loosely on each of their shoulders, some water and money buried under layers and layers of clothes, a can of soup and some crackers stuffed into the pockets.

They reached a park soon, and Taehyung pulled Jimin towards the slide. The two of them hid under the slide, small smiles growing on their faces despite the sleep that was creeping upon them.

“Jiminnie?”

Jimin turned to look at Taehyung, his eyes threatening to shut on him. He forced them open, however, his hand reaching up to gently touch Taehyung’s cheek.

“Yeah, Tae. What is it?”

Taehyung held Jimin’s hand in his own, his fingers wrapping around Jimin’s tightly. Hope flickered in his eyes like a weak flame, and Jimin’s heart swelled with happiness. A ball of fire was lit up between them, illuminating Taehyung’s face like the night sky.

“Jiminnie, tomorrow, let’s head out into the city. Let’s go see everything, and let’s go show everyone that we’re the same as them, that there’s nothing to fear about us.”

Taehyung paused, his eyes turning sad but a smile staying firm on his face.

“I’ll finally be 18 tomorrow, Jimin, and we’ll be free to do anything we want. We can finally tell people who we are, and maybe they won’t be as scared of us as they were when…”

Jimin squeezed his hand, making Taehyung look down at him.

“I know, Tae. I remember what happened. Tomorrow, everything will change. After eighteen years, people will finally know about us, and we’ll finally be free.”

Taehyung breathed out a laugh, extinguishing the flame in his hand.

“Yeah, free from this world.”

Jimin grinned and kissed Taehyung’s cheek.

“Let’s show ‘em hell, Tae.”

Taehyung hummed and rolled over onto his side, pulling a blanket out from one of the bags. He threw it over them, hugging Jimin close to him.

“Goodnight, Tae.”

“Goodnight, Chim.”

---

Jimin shook Taehyung awake, the younger boy rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Mm, Jiminnie, what is it? What time is it?”

Jimin pulled something out from behind his back, showing it to Taehyung.

“Happy birthday, Taehyung. You’re finally eighteen.”

Taehyung’s jaw dropped, and he took the small necklace into his hands, arms trembling the entire time. The red pendant shined in the light, a burst of orange flashing through it when it was held at just the right angle.

“J-Jimin, did you buy this for me? Just for my birthday?”

Jimin nodded, motioning for Taehyung to put it on. He did just that, holding the pendant in his hand once again when it was just clipped on.

“I love it, Jimin. Thank you, thank you so much–”

Jimin planted a quick kiss on his lips, shutting Taehyung up, fire blooming in his chest and colour spreading across his cheeks.

“We grew up together, Tae. It’s the least I could do for you.”

Taehyung’s eyes started watering, the boy lunging forward for a hug.

“Jimin–”

Splash!

Jimin ran away from a now soaking wet Kim Taehyung, laughter filling the air of the quiet neighbourhood.

“Catch me if you can, Taehyung!”

A roar came from behind him, the familiar crackle of flames like music to his ears as Taehyung got closer and closer to him.

“Park Jimin! I’m going to burn you alive!”

Jimin laughed.

Taehyung smiled.

 

 

And then all of it was gone.

---

Taehyung looked down at the mess, his hands coming up to cover his face.

There was blood.

Blood.

Blood everywhere.

It was all he could see, and the crash was all he could hear.

Taehyung grabbed onto his hair, pulling the strands out by handfuls, pain searing across his scalp, but nothing compared to the desperation he was feeling.

He didn’t register the flames that were slowly engulfing his body, the screams that were erupting from around him, the anger that was bubbling from within him.

He didn’t realize that people were scared and running away from him, from his fire, from possible death.

All he knew was that Jimin was lying dead on the cold pavement, blood trickling from his head and eyes rolled up and back, the whites of his eyes boring into his soul.

All he knew was that Jimin left him alone in this world, and now he was alone to fend for himself.

“Let’s show them hell, Jimin.”

Tears poured from his eyes.

“Let’s show them hell, Jimin.”

Fire crept down his arms, spreading across his body, swallowing him whole.

“Let’s show them hell, Jimin.”

He snapped.

His eyes burned red.

His sanity vanished.

“I’ll show them hell, Jimin.”

---

He couldn’t remember what happened after that, but Taehyung woke up alone, in the middle of a field, holes burned straight through his clothes and the ends of his hair singed to a crisp.

The smell of smoke lingered around him, filling his nose and suffocating him.

He got up, a headache pounding through him as he stumbled forward. Taehyung noticed a small pond before him, and he ran towards it, falling face first into the cool stream.

Thoughts of Jimin flooded back into him, and he let out a sob into the water, wondering desperately if he should just end it right here, right now.

He closed his eyes and breathed in, feeling the water enter his lungs.

Something wrapped around his legs, branches creeping over his arms. They flipped him over, pulling him away from the water and onto the dry land.

He coughed and spluttered, throwing up water endlessly. The sound of footsteps was loud behind him, but he was too busy catching his breath, trying to weakly pull his arms away from the roots wrapped around them.

“You shouldn’t do that, you know. They don’t like it.”

Taehyung’s head shot up despite how tired he was, a blurry boy standing in front of him.

“What?” He managed to pant out, his chest still heaving up and down.

“Drowning yourself. Pulling the roots and stuff… They don’t like it. They don’t like seeing death around them and pulling them hurts, just like pulling hair. It’s not very nice.”

Taehyung almost stopped breathing, blinking the water out of his eyes. A boy just inches shorter than him stood there, clothes too large for him hanging off his body. A small rabbit sat beside him, a strand of grass in its tiny paws.

“I… what? Do you understand them or something?”

The boy in front of him blushed, biting down on his bottom lip. He did it discreetly, but Taehyung had long ago learned to suspect even the slightest movement.

The boy flicked his wrist behind his back, and the grasses holding onto Taehyung sank back into the ground, Taehyung rubbing his wrist with an odd look in his eyes.

“I guess you could say I understand them. It’s something like that, I suppose.”

Taehyung sat on the ground and tried to read the boy’s mind, but he had the power of fire, not mind-reading.

“What’s your name? I’m Taehyung. Kim. Kim Taehyung. Eighteen. Legal adult as of… was it yesterday? December 30^th, anyway.”

The boy’s eyes widened and he sent the rabbit away, sitting down a ways away from Taehyung, eyes never leaving him.

“I’m Jungkook. Jeon Jungkook. September 9^th. I’m sixteen.”

Fire shot up Taehyung’s spine as his interest in Jungkook grew, unconsciously moving closer to the boy who seemed to have a thick barrier built up around him.

“Well, Jungkook, I know we just met and all, but would you happen to have any parents?”

Jungkook’s eyes widened before they narrowed into slits, his hand wrapping around something stuck in the waistband of his pants.

“No, I’m afraid that I don’t. Why?”

And despite the threat that was in Jungkook’s eyes, Taehyung smiled brightly, an odd sense of belonging blooming in him.

“Jungkook, you wouldn’t happen to be able to manipulate earth, would you?”

His jaw dropped and his hands fell forward. Jungkook basically crawled into Taehyung’s lap, his eyes wide and eager.

“How did you know?”

Taehyung’s grin just grew even wider, and a crazy glint made its way into his eyes. He stuck a hand in front of Jungkook’s face and snapped, a bright orange flame glowing between them.

“Because I can manipulate fire.”

---

Taehyung and Jungkook laid side by side, flames flying through the sky and embers landing around them.

They discovered something cool, where, after the embers had landed on the ground, Jungkook could take them and change the colours of them, shining all different shades of colours before they faded out.

They talked about random things; how it was living in the forest, what it was like living in a field. How Taehyung got there, why Taehyung was there, and why he was alone.

Taehyung stared into the sky, his eyes empty and lifeless. He breathed out shallowly, no expression on his face.

“His name was Jimin.”

Jungkook inhaled sharply, the cold tone which Taehyung spoke in chilling his spine, and the choice of words he used setting dread in his mind.

“Was?”

Taehyung breathed out shakily. Nodding.

“Yeah. Was. He died. You remember the day I came here?”

Jungkook nodded.

“The day after your birthday.”

“Yeah,” Taehyung said sadly. “He died that day. Car crash.”

He stopped, and Jungkook didn’t know if he was supposed to ask a question, but Taehyung kept going.

“I guess I snapped. Went crazy. Burned down a lot of stuff. And then somehow I ended up here. With you.”

He turned to look at Jungkook with the last sentence, searching Jungkook’s eyes for something that was missing inside of him.

“You know, I sound like a terrible person for saying this, but at first, I only stayed with you because you reminded me of what I had with Jimin. We were both alone in the world, the only people like us. We were fighting for everything we had, and we had nothing except each other. Jimin helped me figure out who I was and… to be honest, I think I helped him too. When he died, I may as well have died with him. I tried to kill myself, remember? Tried to go by drowning. It’s funny, now that I think about it, since Jimin could manipulate water. I was trying to go by hurting my best friend.”

There was another pause, and Jungkook let Taehyung gather his thoughts.

“I actually don’t know if he was my best friend anymore. He kissed me one night and… we didn’t say anything about it again because he died.”

Jungkook wiped a tear that was on Taehyung’s face and the older boy smiled at him, whispering a quiet thanks to him.

He shrugged, continuing.

“Anyway, I just thought that maybe you could fill in the hole that I felt when Jimin died. I thought you could keep me happy when I remembered all the fun things that he and I did.”

Jungkook nodded, a sinking feeling in his stomach as he started turning away from Taehyung.

“I realized, really quickly, though, that you weren’t Jimin.”

Jungkook’s head whipped around, an apology already on his lips, a bitter taste coating his tongue.

“You weren’t Jimin, and it’s been an absolutely amazing thing.”

Brown eyes blinked at him and Taehyung laughed, resting his head on Jungkook’s shoulder.

“It’s been over two years, Jungkook, and I’ve learned that you’re nothing like Jimin. Sure, you’re both silly with me, but you’re confident where Jimin was shy, you’re sneaky where Jimin was honest, you’re cute when Jimin was feisty. You’re different, and I couldn’t possibly thank you enough for giving me everything I’ve ever wanted and needed in my life.”

A bird called out in the trees, a smile resting on Taehyung’s lips.

“You’re smart and sweet, and even though you aren’t water, you do a hell of a job keeping me calm.”

Taehyung pursed his lips, wondering if Jungkook was even listening to him anymore.

“I’m sorry for being so tough to handle. I know that I have a short fuse and that I burst a lot more than you would have expected, but I’m so glad that you’re here to help me through it. I know that I can bubble through your mountains, that I threaten to burst through your cracks, but you just tend to them and care for them, and you just make sure that I’m okay, no questions asked.”

Taehyung gasped quietly when Jungkook’s arm came around his waist, his face tucked in Jungkook’s neck.

It was warm, warmer than Taehyung expected, but it was anything but unwelcome.

“I know that you don’t think that you’re enough, especially compared to Jimin, but I’ve known you for two years, he knew me for eighteen. You’re earth, he was water. It’s natural that you don’t think you’re enough, but yeah. You’re trying, and that’s all I need.”

The wind whistled through the trees.

“Thank you, Jungkook.”

Jungkook pressed a kiss to the top of Taehyung’s head.

“You’re not a problem, Taehyung, and I can’t express how much I’m grateful that you came into my life. You’ve given me that extra, flare, that I was looking for, and damn all if I would ever let you go.”

Taehyung laughed at the awful joke that Jungkook made, pressing a hand against his chest. He smiled against the skin of Jungkook’s neck, his hair tickling Jungkook’s chin.

“I love you, Taehyung. I really do. I’m so happy you’re here with me. Thank you for staying with me and letting me know that I’m not crazy.”

Jungkook felt a droplet against his neck, but he ignored the sniffling that came from the older boy, opting instead to gently his back.

“I love you too, Jungkook. So much.”

Jungkook stared into the sky, the sound of a duck splashing in the pond reaching his ears. A thought occurred to him, and he stared into the air with a newfound vigour, eyes scanning every detail he could see.

“Taehyung, what did you say Jimin could manipulate again?”

Taehyung’s head peeked out from Jungkook’s neck, a question written all over his face.

“Water, why?”

Jungkook shook his head.

“No reason.”

---

Once Jungkook was sure that Taehyung was asleep, he carefully peeled Taehyung’s arm off of his chest, sliding out of the man’s hold and raising the dirt in his shape. Then, he ran off to a clearing where he sat in the middle of the grass, the air calm.

The trees stood still, the leaves hanging down and the branches reaching high. A gust of wind suddenly blew around him, but the leaves stayed still and Jungkook sighed.

He was right.

“Jimin.”

The wind blew again, but this time, it was softer, gentler, almost telling Jungkook where to go. He slowly got up and walked in the direction the wind blew, ending up at the small pond where he first met Taehyung.

There was no more breeze, and Jungkook was confused until the wind forced a splash upon the pond, the water tracing the outline of a person before settling again.

Jungkook quickly wrapped some grass around the figure, and soon, in front of him was none other than Park Jimin, water manipulator.

Or, more accurately, Park Jimin, air manipulator.

Jimin grinned, and he spoke, but Jungkook wasn’t sure if he heard his voice, or if he thought he did.

“Did you say something?”

Maybe.

Jungkook jumped, the voice small but amused, invading his head and crowding his thinking space.

“Whoa, you can do that?”

Well, what else would I be doing, then? Can’t very well speak. I am still technically dead and all that jazz.

Jungkook nodded, his lips pursed the whole while.

“True, true. Don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”

You know, Jimin thought(?) to him. You can just think of your answer. I can read your mind to that extent.

Jimin laughed at how Jungkook’s eyes widened, and Jungkook thought that he quite liked the sound of the older’s voice. Or, at least, what he thought was the older’s voice.

Yes, this is what my voice sounded like, Jungkook. Back to the mind reading, though. I can’t invade your thoughts and demand to know every single thing that you’re thinking at any given time, but I can talk to you about as well as I could talk like a normal person. I’ve had a long time to myself, and a long time to learn about the air. It’s not that different from water, to be honest. They’re both pretty flowy. It’s a lot easier than I thought.

Jungkook nodded, glad that his thoughts were still his own.

He and Jimin ended up talking for the rest of the night, and Jungkook learned a lot, both about Jimin and Taehyung that Taehyung failed to mention to him. Whether it was out of fear or if he simply forgot, Jungkook was grateful for anything he could learn about him.

“So, let me get this straight. You could manipulate water.”

Yep.

“And then you died.”

Well, not like, immediately, no. I didn’t learn to play with water and then suddenly keel over, clutching my heart and gasping for air, if that’s what you’re asking.

“Oh, shut up. You know what I’m asking.”

Jimin grinned, leaning back against a rock.

Yeah, that’s pretty much what happened. I got hit by a car. Didn’t even live long enough to see if Taehyung ran towards me, cradled me in his arms. I just died.

Jimin stopped for a second, and Jungkook swore that he was chewing on his bottom lip.

You know, my biggest regret is probably that I never told Taehyung I loved him. Whether it was as a friend or something more, I never said it.

Jungkook tried to look at him, but Jimin refused to turn in his direction.

“Jimin,” he tried starting, hoping that it would elicit some sort of reaction from the older boy.

“Jimin, Taehyung still cares for you a lot, and I think that’s why you’ve been given a second chance. That you came back and you can still talk to him–”

But what if he doesn’t want to see me? Or, hear me, whatever it is. What if he doesn’t want anything to do with me anymore? I left him on his birthday, Jungkook. The day he turned eighteen. I kissed him and told him we were going to show the world that we aren’t monsters, that there’s nothing wrong with us, and I left him. He should hate me.

Jungkook let out a shaky breath.

“Jimin, after you died, Taehyung went crazy. He burned almost everything in his sight. He destroyed an entire city. He was so angry and so upset, and I’m so glad that I found him in time. He was trying to kill himself when I found him he was so devastated. But Jimin, Taehyung only ever talks about you with fondness now. Sometimes there’s sadness. Sadness that he couldn’t save you, sadness that you weren’t still here, sadness that he never really got to say goodbye. There’s no anger, though. Taehyung would never be angry at you. He couldn’t.”

Jungkook couldn’t see it, but tears fell from Jimin’s eyes. He cried for a long time, and Jungkook did nothing but wait for an answer.

He didn’t get one, though, so he left.

“Talk to him, Jimin. He misses you.

I can never fill the hole you left.”

---

Jungkook stalked back to where Taehyung was now awake, pacing back and forth with a frown on his face.

“Taehyung, Tae? Are you okay? What happened?”

As soon as he saw Jungkook, Taehyung breathed out a sigh of relief and brought him into a hug, breathing in his scent deeply.

“Oh, Jungkook. I thought something had happened to you. I woke up and you were gone, and I thought you’d left me like Jimin did. I was so worried. I didn’t know what I would do with myself if you got hurt– Jungkook? Is everything alright with you?”

Jungkook just blinked at him a few times, an internal conflict on whether or not he should tell Taehyung that Jimin was still technically alive burning through his skull.

“Yeah. I’m great. Perfect, actually.”

Taehyung narrowed his eyes, and he was about to let it go, but the wind blew harshly, sweeping his hair into his eyes.

“Oh, gosh. The wind’s been crazy ever since a few minutes ago. It’s like it’s trying to tell me something. Maybe there’s a storm coming.”

Jungkook swore, piquing Taehyung’s interest. He focused on the wind, a thought threatening to break through him.

Jimin, are you ready to talk to him?Do you want me to say something?

The wind suddenly stopped, and Taehyung looked around curiously.

Yeah. I think I am. And ah, uh, yeah. If you could sort of lead him into things, that would be really, really appreciated. Thanks, Jungkook.

Jungkook sighed and grabbed Taehyung’s shoulder, turning him to look him right in the eye. Taehyung’s own were wide, surprise lighting them up.

“Whoa, hello Kookie. What’s going on?”

Jungkook bit his lip, happy at the pet name but dreading the future conversation.

He could see why Jimin didn’t want to have it anytime soon.

“Taehyung, you have to promise me that you will listen to what I’m about to say and you will not question why I know this. All I need from you is to understand what I say and believe that it is correct. I would never lie to you about this.”

Taehyung blinked, confused, but nodded nonetheless.

Jungkook took a deep breath, looking Taehyung dead in the eyes.

“Jimin’s still here.”

The wind swept past them, flipping their clothes up and sending the leaves blowing off the trees.

“Wh-what do you mean?”

Jungkook swallowed.

“You remember how you told me that Jimin was the water manipulator?”

Taehyung nodded.

“Well, the world is based on the four elements. Earth, air, water and fire, and you’ve met three out of four of them. Hell, you’re even one of them. You’ve never met the air manipulator, though, right? Well, when you heat up water, what do you get?”

Taehyung paused for a moment, wondering if it was a trick question, but Jungkook’s eyes urged him on.

“…Steam?”

“Right, and where does steam go?”

Taehyung’s mouth widened a bit, and he covered it with his hands, realization setting into him.

“Into the air.”

Jungkook nodded slowly, another gust of wind blowing past them much more slowly this time, and Taehyung’s eyebrows knitted together.

“It goes into the air. Gets carried away by the wind.”

The wind suddenly stopped, and Taehyung swore he felt someone behind him. He turned to see Jungkook’s branches crawling up a figure, an outline of a man coming into shape.

He almost cried.

“Jimin? Park Jimin? Water manipulator– no, you’re not water anymore. Air. Air manipulator.”

Jimin just winced, nodding.

Taehyung looked torn, wondering whether he should jump into Jimin’s arms or scream and demand for an explanation, so he just settled for in between the two and backed into Jungkook’s hold, questions crawling out of his throat.

“Why are you still here, Jimin? How are you still here?”

Jimin swallowed, his eyes sad as he watched how comfortable Taehyung looked with Jungkook.

We’re immortal, Tae.

Taehyung blinked at him incredulously, his eyebrows furrowed together and sparks shooting down his body. He shocked Jungkook, but he would apologize later.

Right now, he had more important things to deal with.

Again, he didn’t notice how Jungkook slowly backed away, leaving Taehyung to stand on his own. He just spun from confusion, seethed with anger.

“If we’re immortal, then why did you still have to die? Why did you have to leave me? Why couldn’t you have stayed? What part of being immortal is that? Immortality means not ing dying, Jimin. You’re dead right now, doesn’t seem very ing immortal to me.”

Jimin could only laugh, looking at Jungkook sadly. The boy was off in the distance, afraid to approach him, but even more afraid to deal with Taehyung.

He’d never had to deal with him when he was this bad.

Jungkook didn’t know what to do.

He thought he knew Taehyung. He thought that he had finally gotten a hold of who he was and how bad his temper could get, but this was something that Jungkook had never faced before, and he was scared.

He was terrified.

Jimin looked at Taehyung sadly, his eyebrows knitting together when he saw the flames that were crackling in his eyes, the red fire that threatened to burn through him.

He had to think quick.

Taehyung, we’re just jellyfish, you know?

He sighed to himself when the flames disappeared almost instantly, the anger on Taehyung’s face replaced with confusion.

“Jellyfish– Jimin, what?”

Jimin smiled when he saw Jungkook’s face light up, the younger boy understanding his implications. He seemed to hesitate whether or not he should voice his thoughts, but he shuffled forward a bit, keeping his hand down by his side as he spoke out to Taehyung.

“We’re immortal, Tae– Taehyung, but we’re not invincible.”

Taehyung blinked, his features scrunched together, a frown fixed on his face.

“Immortal, but not invincible? Like– oh. Oh. Oh. Immortal but not invincible. We’ll live forever if we aren’t bothered, but if something happens then… That’s it.”

Jimin breathed out a sigh, a sad expression on his face.

Yeah, that’s it.

Taehyung finally looked at Jimin, a calm melancholy look covered up by a weak smile, his awful attempt at trying to tell Jimin that he was okay.

Taehyung, you–

“Taehyung,” Jungkook came up from behind him, wrapping a tentative arm around Taehyung’s waist. Taehyung didn’t seem to mind, far from it, actually, and so Jungkook hugged him tighter, brought him in closer with more confidence.

“Tae, you’re not alone in this. You still have Jimin, you still have me, we’re still here for you, and we always will be. Water was strong enough to put your flames out, but that’s gone now. Now, you have earth and air, and we’ll work our hardest to help you, and we will never give up. I think it’s been made clear from the fact that Jimin’s still here that we probably won’t be dying for quite some time.”

Taehyung hummed, placing his hand on top of Jungkook’s before he slowly laced their fingers together. Jungkook accepted easily, a smile playing on his lips as he pressed a gentle kiss to Taehyung’s left cheek.

“Yeah, I guess we won’t be, huh.”

Jimin smiled at them, floating over to wrap what arms he had around the two of them, resting his head on Jungkook’s shoulder.

Then, a wicked grin made its way onto his face, Jimin almost pushing them over with excitement.

Hey, if we’re going to be living forever, shouldn’t we leave some kind of legacy?

And soon enough, Jungkook and Taehyung were sporting matching grins, the three of them sitting in a small circle on the ground, animated words flying through the air and even more animated actions cutting through it like knives.

They talked for a long time and came up with many rules, and at the end of it, Jimin woke up to find Taehyung’s legs tangled in Jungkook’s, his hand in the younger boy’s hair and Jungkook’s arm around Taehyung’s waist.

It hurt a bit, knowing that he would never truly be able to touch them again, but he felt like it was enough just knowing he could spend the rest of eternity with them.

He looked down at the stick stuck in the drying mud, random scribbles all over the earth, but a few solid ideas down, and even some that weren’t there when he fell asleep.

Jimin looked at Jungkook and Taehyung fondly, sitting down by their feet and waiting for them to wake up.

A grin crawled onto his face, his eyes crinkling and disappearing into the smile. He wiped away the tears that escaped his eyes, a final whisper going unheard.

Let’s show ‘em hell, boys.

---

Namjoon booed when the story was done, crossing his arms over his chest. Yoongi just shook his head, eyes closing in disappointment.

“That was lame, Seokjin. Lame.”

Seokjin’s jaw dropped wide open, a hand on his heart as though Yoongi had just personally offended him.

“Excuse me!” He yelled in a shrill voice. “That was beautiful! It was sweet, it was sad, it was cute and it was comforting! That story was anything but lame, and it makes total sense. Explains all the bull rules that are in place, like why only fire based manipulators can have rocky road ice cream. Like whatever, it’s not even that good.”

Namjoon snorted, leaning back with his hand against the grass.

“You expect me to believe that the geniuses who came up with our powers, the ones who created all the laws surrounding them, the ones who made sure that no one under the age of eighteen had them, made sure that they didn’t fall into the wrong hands, made sure that people didn’t abuse their powers, you’re expecting me to believe that it was a bunch of kids? Younger than us? You gotta be kidding me, Jin. I love you and all, but that’s ridiculous.”

Seokjin pursed his lips, turning his head away from Namjoon and Yoongi.

“To make it clear, they’re not younger than us anymore–”

“No –”

“But fine, believe whatever you want to believe about where your powers come from. I’m sticking with that story, though. It’s been through my family for years. I’m not about to give it up now.”

Yoongi wasn’t listening anymore, his eyes fixed on the couple sitting on the bench. They hadn’t moved once the whole time Seokjin was telling the story, and he was adamant about finding out who they were.

That was when he saw one of them raise his hand, a flame shooting into the air where it danced around a figure, flying around the faint outline of a person before it burst, ashes falling to the ground where they flashed different colours before seemingly getting swallowed into the earth. The two of them then got up and started walking out of the park, but not before they noticed Yoongi staring.

The brunet man’s eyes were wide open, his grasp on the other man’s fingers tightening, but the blond man just grinned and winked at Yoongi, sending a curl of fire up into the air before they walked out of the park like nothing had happened.

Yoongi stared Seokjin right in the eye, mouth hanging open.

“I believe you.”

He felt the wind blow past him, a small breeze that felt like an apology.

Yoongi brought a hand up to his cheek.

“Yeah, I definitely believe in your story.”