After the reception, Taehyung, Yoongi, Jimin, Namjoon, and I gathered together once more. This time at Taehyung’s house. Without the positive energy that could lighten any mood from J-Hope, the air around us was tense and silent. Sitting in Taehyung’s living room brooding over the grim events that had befallen us over such a short time period, we did not speak a word.

Lounging over in one of the chairs, Yoongi rested his chin in his palm, staring into seemingly nothing. Namjoon stood near the living room entrance, leaning against the wall as he dug his nails into his arm. He was clearly on edge, waiting for someone or something to try and set him off. Sitting next to me on the living room sofa was Taehyung. With his usual vacant stare, he looked up towards the ceiling with his mouth hanging - lost in his own thoughts. Shaking my leg, anxious, I flitted my eyes towards Jimin who sat in front of Taehyung’s bookshelf. Fiddling with something in his hands, lost in thought, I leaned forward to see what he had. It was the ceramic apple that J-Hope had taken from the museum.

“Where did y-you get that?” I shot back, pressing myself into the back of the couch, my heart racing. “No, why do you have that?”

All eyes shot towards me from the sudden commotion. They then turned towards Jimin to see what I was talking about.

Looking up at me with a raised brow, Jimin tilted his head. “You mean this?” He asked, tossing the red apple up into the air before catching it.

I nodded, holding my chest as I curled my legs closer to my shaking frame.
 

“I guess you don’t remember…” He sighed, looking down at the apple in his delicate hands. Rolling the well-crafted ceramic piece in his palm, he continued. “When you passed out, Taehyung contacted us and told us where you were… Apparently the bastards who killed J-Hope had already fled the scene… but he had this in his hands. He must have taken it with him when he left his house.”

“At least those guys were apprehended.” Yoongi grumbled from his curled up position on the recliner.

“You reap what you sow.” Taehyung laughed dryly.

Not allowing the subject to be changed, I pressed onward. “But why? Why do you have it?”

“I guess it was just something to remember him by?” Pinching the bridge of his nose, he groaned. “I mean, he was weak, Jungkook was weak. I wanted to have a reminder that the weak don’t make it in life.”
 

What? What in the world could he mean by that?

The sound of Namjoon slamming his fist against the wall caused us all to flinch and face him. “What did you just say?” He growled, his eyes were dark with rage.

“Ever heard of it?” Jimin chimed, leaning forward and tapping his temple. “Na~Tu~Ral Selection. Come on, Namjoon. Here I thought you were the smart one of us all.” Shaking his head in disappointment, he closed his eyes and leaned back against the bookshelf. He continued to roll the apple in his hands.

Not sparing a wasted breath, Namjoon stormed forward, reached down and guided Jimin up by his collar. “You’re saying our friends died because they weren’t strong enough?” He tilted his head threateningly. “After all that we’ve been through, you have the gall to say that?”

“The best of the best survive. If it were me, I wouldn’t have been a pig like Jungkook or a thief like J-Hope. It’s common sense-” Before Jimin could finish, Namjoon shoved him roughly against the bookshelf. A few of the books tumbled off the shelf from the impact. Thankfully, the bookshelf was built into the wall or it could have fallen forward on top of the two.

Angry tears welled up in Namjoon’s eyes, the grief he was feeling was seeping through him as he raised a fist. Jolting upward I prepared myself to stop Namjoon from beating Jimin to a pulp, but a tight hand grabbed my wrist, tugging me back into the couch. I shot a panicked glare at Taehyung. Why was he stopping me?

“You must see yourself as a little too perfect, Jimin. But it’s time to wake up. You’re just as ed up as the rest of us.” Namjoon growled.

“Pfft, at least I have a better future ahead of me. I have the looks, the money. Hell, if I tried hard enough I could be a billionaire. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m leagues ahead of you guys. It’s too bad that Jungkook and J-Hope couldn’t keep up.”

“You-” Hands wrapped around Jimin’s neck tightly.
 

Tugging free from Taehyung’s grip, I rushed forward, only to be tripped by something darting out in front of me. Grunting in pain, I looked up at Jimin and Namjoon only to see another figure it the mix. It was Suga. Squeezing his way in between Namjoon’s large body and Jimin’s much smaller form, Suga forced the two apart roughly. Namjoon stumbled back, face red and breathless and Jimin fell to the floor coughing and holding his bruised neck.

Stopping his foot against the carpeted floor, Suga grabbed at his hair - a habit he did when he was very stressed - and growled. “Can’t-” He choked out, tears threatening to fall from his face. “Can’t you two just stop?!”

The room fell deathly silent aside from the faint coughs that left Jimin’s lips. Seeming to come back from his blind rage, Namjoon gaped at Suga, shocked by his own actions. Even I was shocked. Suga rarely stood in. He usually kept to himself as a silent observer because usually one of us would step in for him. But now, our friends were diminishing one by one and the stress and agony Suga must have been repressing could be seen on his face. It was a twisted and contorted expression filled with pain and sadness. A look we had never seen on him before.

“Two of our friends have passed away in such a short time and all you two can think about are yourselves. We should be comforting each other. Helping each other get through this. Isn’t that what we used to do? Why are we changing? I’m sick of all the fighting, I’m sick of it. I don’t want to lose another one of you guys.” Falling to his knees, Suga sobbed into his hands. Emotionally crumbling before us. We were all far too shocked to move. The room was filled with the pitiful sobs emitting from our usually tough friend.

Taehyung was the first to move, approaching Suga with a silent grace that attracted our full attention. Crouching behind Suga’s trembling body, Taehyung wrapped his arms around his shoulders and rested his head against his back. Scrambling to my feet, I rushed to Suga’s side and ran my fingers through his hair. I scooted as close as I could to him before I to wrapped my arms around him to comfort him. We were shortly joined by Namjoon who quietly repeated mournful apologies to Suga, to Jimin, to Taehyung and I, and to the ones we lost.

Jimin never joined us. He scowled at us in disgust, rubbing the already finger shaped bruise around his neck and rolled his eyes. Picking up the apple that had fallen from his grasp when Namjoon attacked him, Jimin tossed the apple into the air. Catching it in its fall, he gazed deeply into the apple face that showed his reflection.

We stayed like this for quite some time before Suga asked us meekly to get off of him. As we detached ourselves from Suga, he roughly wiped his swollen eyes and sniffled. Reaching forward, I dabbed at his cheeks, smiling reassuringly at him.

“You’re all free to stay the night here, I have extra rooms since my family moved out.” Taehyung suggested, sitting back onto the couch. Without speaking, a silent agreement of the arrangement was shared amongst us.

I stood up and offered my hand to Suga. He stared at it for a moment, debating whether or not he should take it. Eventually, he came to a conclusion and took my hand. Helping him up, I wrapped an arm over his shoulder. I ran my thumb along his tear stained cheeks. I silently led him into the kitchen. Passing by a solemn looking Namjoon who gazed blankly at his feet, I patted his shoulder and continued forward.

Entering the kitchen, I guided Suga over to a seat before breaking away from him to make him a glass of water. Setting it before him, I motioned for him to drink. He stared lifelessly into the glass. Not even blinking. Gently, I slid it forward to catch his attention. Coming back to earth, he blinked rapidly before slowly taking the glass and lifting it to his lips. I smiled at him when our eyes met.

It had been a rough day. For all of us. Rubbing my tired eyes, I found myself looking forward to sleeping in one of Taehyung’s extremely comfortable bed. That is to say, his guest bed.

It wasn’t long before the others had the same idea. Each one taking their time to saunter into a respective bedroom, we turned in for the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Plagued by the stress of grief, I found myself unable to sleep. Jimin’s cold hearted words echoed through my mind as well as the fearful looks of the ones we lost. I could almost see Jungkook’s innocent wide eyes filled with tears before his skin seemed to melt off of his body. Restless, I laid in the bed, drenched in a cold sweat. The soft mattress did little to ease my woes. Deciding that closing my eyes was far worse than staying awake, I slid out of the bed. Maybe a late-night stroll would do me some good. To get my mind off of things. Exiting the room I was staying in, I tip-toed down the hallway so I wouldn’t disturb the others who were sleeping.

As I neared the livingroom, my ears caught a faint whisper in the silence of the sleeping house. Feeling my heart leap into my throat, I pressed myself against the hallway wall just before the living room entryway, and held my chest tightly. I could have sworn that everyone was asleep.

The whispering continued but it was far too incoherent for me to pick out any definite words. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I prepared myself for the worst as I inched forward to peek into the room.

The entire living room had somehow been rearranged. How it had been done in complete silence was a spectacle of its own. The only furniture left was the black leather chair that I remember Suga had been sitting in earlier that evening. Aside from the furniture missing, another scene played before my eyes that convinced me that I must have actually fallen asleep and had been thrown into some twisted nightmare.

Sitting in the chair was Jimin. His body was relaxed and unmoving. Dressed in a white nightshirt and pants - likely borrowed from Taehyung - his body seemed to glow as if under a spotlight. Around his eyes was a wide black blindfold that wrapped around the back of his head. A spot of movement caught my eyes as a pair of large hands reached around Jimin’s head and entwined before his already blinded eyes. Jimin’s head lulled backwards and landed on the shoulder of the figure behind him. Blinking my eyes to further adjust my sight to the darkness of the night, the figure behind Jimin- and the leather chair upon which he sat- finally processed.

Eyeing Jimin with a twisted sort of fondness, Taehyung marvelled the male in his arms. Rolling off of Taehyung’s shoulder, Jimin exposed his neck to the other male. Smirking darkly, Taehyung whispered something into his ear before placing a gentle kiss against his neck.

Heart racing, I felt my cheeks and ears turn red with embarrassment and panic. As if he could hear the sound of my thudding heart, Taehyung’s eyes flitted up and met my gaze. My breath hitched in my throat as he slowly raised his head, never unlocking our gaze. Quirking his lips into a open smirk, a shadow flickered behind Taehyung, spreading along the shelved wall behind him.

The moment the shape of the shadow processed, everything went completely dark. The next thing I knew, I was gasping for air. The sun was shining in my face from the window besides the bed I was laying in.

Looking down at my hands, I remembered the night Taehyung and I were laying together on the couch at J-Hope’s place. The rough spot under his clothes. The shadow from last night… or perhaps a dream. My hands began to tremble and I held my head desperately.

“Wings…”