D-6 Until the War:

Jennie practically tiptoed through the disgusting waste of space Namjoon liked to call ‘tunnels’. They had been travelling through this god-forsaken place for an entire day and night, barely pausing for a quick nap in between. Her clothes were spattered with mud and her once silky, luscious hair hung in frazzled waves down her back. She was beginning to think she had become one with the tunnels, a thought that truly terrified her.

A scream escaped as a bat flew above her head, the constant flap of its wings practically a taunt. In trying to dodge the vicious creature, she not only managed to bump into Taeyong’s back but also stepped into a pile of cool liquid that certainly wasn’t water.

“Motherfu—”. She stopped when Namjoon turned towards her disapprovingly. He claimed she had a cursing problem, and she was currently trying to prove him wrong. It had become kind of like a bet, a game if you will, to help pass the time in the darky, endless tunnels. Namjoon had bet 10 silver pieces that her resolve would break, and she would curse before the war. Taeyong had bet 15, and Seokjin, that idiot, had bet his entire life savings. Not like there was much to begin with. But still.

“Aha!” Seokjin pointed at her with a victorious grin, “you swore, you lose, give me my money !”

Jennie narrowed her eyes at him as she tried to clean her soaked shoes, “I didn’t finish the word, so it doesn’t count, idiot.”

“Well since you said half of it, can you atleast give me half the money?”

“That’s not how it works.”

Taeyong decided to input his useless opinion at that point too, “I don’t know, Jen, it sounds pretty logical to me.”

“Murdering the princess also seemed logical to you at some point, so…” Jennie shrugged, “your opinion is invalid.”

“Good point.”

They grinned at each other before continuing to follow Namjoon’s lead. Between Namjoon’s constant philosophical dilemmas and Seokjin’s loud singing, she was admittedly glad to have Taeyong there to save her sanity. And although he constantly argued with her and tried to infuriate her, she had developed a sense of tolerance to him that was bordering on affection. The constant bumping into each other within these confined spaces wasn’t helping to diffuse this growing attraction.

Within the next hour, they finally reached the Ilsan entrance. Jennie could not be more relieved, practically throwing herself through the tiny opening at the top of the low roof. She even forgot to blow out her torch, almost scorching Seokjin’s feet as she followed him out and not feeling too remorseful about it either.

“Finally, some fresh air!” she exclaimed, inhaling deeply as the brisk fall breeze entered her lungs.

She may have gently pushed Seokjin out of the way in her attempt to escape the tunnels as quickly as possible, but he didn’t seem to mind. Surprising even herself, she began to twirl around on the vast green fields in an uncharacteristically joyful way, absorbing as much fresh oxygen as she could.

It wasn’t until a few silent seconds later that she turned all the way around and realized there were thousands of soldiers watching her with expressions of pure amusement.

“,” she mumbled, embarrassment washing over her as she realized just how ridiculous and disheveled she looked.

“I heard that!” Seokjin pointed at her with a smug laugh, “you lose.”

“,” she said again, this time with much more venom in her voice. Great. Now she was miserable and poor.

~{❀}~

D-5 Until the War:

Lisa sat in the corner of the ship, pretending to read a book with a lantern sitting beside her to combat the dark night. In reality, she was trying to cure her motion sickness, using anything and everything to distract her from the swaying ship. The dizziness had begun early that morning, followed by nausea, a scorching throat, and bouts of vomiting all throughout the night.

Music and reading had always been her distraction of choice, but there were no musical instruments on their ship and the only book she could find was Jimin’s favourite, “The Art of War”. She did not know whether to be impressed or annoyed that he managed to sneak in such a useful but dreadfully boring piece of literature onto an already overcrowded ship.

Lisa glanced up from the second page of the book, tearing her eyes away from the paragraph she had read over and over until she had practically memorized it, to observe her surroundings.

She was the only woman on this ship, the rest of the passengers comprised of Busan warriors and Jimin. Each of their ships had three floors and an underground area saved for storage purposes, and the majority of the soldiers had wandered off to find a place to rest among these spaces. Some of the ones who could not fit in the other sections lay on the main floor in various positions.

Lisa couldn’t help but smile as she watched them. In a strange way, this moment felt bonding – as if they were having their own sleepover. To her right, a soldier had fallen asleep in a sitting position, his head bobbing back and forth with every movement of the ship. And a few feet to her right was a row of soldiers completely splayed out on the floor, using each other’s bodies as support as they snored peacefully. A few of them were scattered all around the main floor, whispering and chattering as they shared small fur blankets, huddling together to conserve body heat. At the very front of the ship stood a few of the more eager warriors, learning how to sail the ship by listening intently to Jimin’s instructions.

Watching the gentle yet firm method Jimin used to teach only caused her smile to grow. Somehow, he seemed to be good at everything imaginable. Dancing, Horseback riding, politics, teaching, he was talented in every aspect. The most impressive part of all, however, was the way he carried himself. He was equal parts composed and confident as he was handsome. And his kindness shone through every soft word he spoke, every smile he flashed, everything he did. All of these characteristics made it hard to believe a man like him existed in this harsh world.

She continued to watch him, her book now completely forgotten, as she became distracted with the way he ran his hand through his dark hair and handing the ship steering wheel to one of his trusted students. He had been controlling the ship for the past two days and yet the first thing he did when his hands were free was fetch water and bread for the warriors.

Her heart practically skipped a beat as her eyes followed him across the ship. He made his way from one end of the ship to the other, breaking off chunks of bread and pouring cups of water until there was barely anything left for himself.

He saved Lisa for last, approaching her with the last remaining portions with a casual smile on his face. She averted her gaze immediately when he turned towards her, lifting her book and pretending to be immersed in it when the only thing she was fully aware of were each of his steps. There was no way she would allow him to catch her staring, because no matter how kind Jimin was to others, he seemed to reserve a special playful side for her that specialized in teasing and giving her a hard time.

“Please don’t tell me you snuck one of your novels on this ship,” he gasped as he took a seat beside her.

Lisa gave him a long, unimpressed side glance and held up the book for him to see, “I’m reading your favourite.”

“Ah,” he nodded in satisfaction and then tried to hold back a chuckle, “but you might enjoy it more if you read it the correct way.”

Her eyes widened in mortification as she realized, in the midst of her distraction, she was holding the book upside down.

“Oh, um, I like reading it this way,” she lied, chuckling awkwardly, “it’s more challenging so it helps uh exercise the brain.”

“Oh?” Jimin was trying not to laugh again, her excuse not convincing him in the slightest, “well you may enjoy it more if you were not staring at me the entire time.”

Lisa’s jaw dropped in shock. This was exactly the kind of stuff he only said to her that left her a sputtering and stunned mess. And she could tell he was enjoying every minute of it.

Before she even had a chance to respond, he offered her the food. She turned her head immediately, raising a hand to as another bout of nausea crawled up .

“No, thanks,” she managed to croak out, fighting the urge to heave to the best of her abilities.

“Sea sick?” his voice was laced with concern, but his grin was filled with amusement, “do you want me to sing to you?”

“What?” the shock of his question momentarily distracted her as she whipped her head back towards him.

“As a kid, whenever I experienced motion-sickness, my mother would sing to me and it would distract me,” he explained, his smile now sincere and gentle, “it might help you too.”

She considered it for a moment. Never in a million years would she have guessed that Park Jimin would sing to her, but he continuously surprised her.

“Okay,” she agreed, desperate to find a solution as the ship began to rock back and forth with much more force than before.

And so, he began to sing, his quiet voice barely above a whisper. It was as if he was reserving it only for her ears as he smoothly progressed through a traditional folk song. His sweet voice immediately calmed her, drawing her in so that the only thing she could focus on were his next words. Her nausea became only a distant memory as she closed her eyes and lost herself in the song. Before she knew it, her head had slowly drifted to rest on Jimin’s shoulders and her calmness had progressed into a deep and peaceful sleep.

The last thought on her mind was that she hoped this would not be the last time she would hear his angelic voice.

~{❀}~

D-4 Until the War:

Seokjin rounded the corner of the dark tunnel, overhearing the hushed whispers of Daesung and Namjoon on his search for a midnight snack.

“Was it a successful journey?”

“I would say so.”

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