“Hyung, have you ever tasted snow?”

            “Kookie, that’s gross, I would nev—”

            Taehyung suddenly feels a splatter of intense coldness hit him in the nose and mouth as Jungkook launches snowball after snowball at his bare face.

            “Y-Yah! Give your hyung some respect!” Taehyung hollers as he leaps forward and tackles his dongsaeng to the ground, holding the younger at his mercy.

            Kim Taehyung was your ordinary selfless protagonist.  His parents had known Jungkook’s parents for long years; they had escaped the Fall of Hwangseon, their previous home city, together, when a tyrant decided to take over the government. Taehyung’s mother was pregnant with him when they fled, and gave birth to him at a point during their journey to freedom. The boy was actually supposed to have died from malnutrition; however, his father had saved his life by selling his treasured tool box to a stranger he had encountered along the way. They used this money to feed and nourish their baby, and Taehyung grew up forever thankful for their sacrifices.

            The Jeon family had their kid about two years after Taehyung was born. Both couples had made it to the safe village of Hanbae, where they were accepted as refugees. After a few months of extreme readjustment (from city-people to country-folks), they were able to comfortably settle in. Taehyung was introduced to Jungkook on the younger boy’s fourth birthday. It all started that day, when a six-year-old Taehyung was in charge of “babysitting” the birthday boy. The two had stuck together like glue ever since.

            And now Taehyung was eighteen with a sixteen-year-old dongsaeng that he still cherished deeply and whole-heartedly. He still felt responsible for Jungkook’s well-being and had vowed to himself that he would forever protect the boy.

            “Hyung, get off of me!”

            “Say you’re sorry.”

            “But I didn’t—”

            “Jungkook, have you ever tasted snow before?”

            “I don’t want to ta—” Jungkook’s words are immediately cut off when Taehyung grabs a fistful of snow and pats his face with it.  Screaming for mercy doesn’t help either, Jungkook realizes, as his yelping mouth is suddenly filled with more snow.  However he almost chokes on something midway, and Taehyung notices as he uses a finger to dig through the snow he had thrown onto the male.  What he finds shocks him.

            “A flower?” Taehyung asks confusedly as he picks the pastel-pink daisy from the younger’s mouth.  “But it’s winter…”

            “Hyung, get off me, it hurts!”

            Taehyung scrambles to get off his dongsaeng, and mindlessly places the flower back onto the ground before standing up and brushing his gloved hands against one another in satisfaction.  Jungkook almost immediately recovers as he gets up as well to face the other.  Taehyung gives him a sheepish smile before reaching forward to adjust his burgundy scarf.

            “Keep it tighter.  It’s warmer that way,” Taehyung says in a hushed tone, pulling on the ends of the fabric in order to close the gaps between Jungkook’s neck and the material.

            Jungkook silently observes without much thought as his hyung removes the gloves from his hands in order to lift the younger’s chin with two bare fingers.  His hand is warm.  Jungkook holds his breath as Taehyung’s face nears his own; however, the elder stops midway just to break into his comforting smile again. He takes the same hand under Jungkook’s chin and flicks the boy’s forehead.

            “Y-Yah!” Jungkook yelps in surprise.  “What do you think—”

            A loud boom breaks the frozen air. The two boys unintentionally jump at the sudden sound.

            “Was that a gunshot?” Jungkook asks, his voice too unsure for his own liking.  He looks at Taehyung, waiting for the elder to answer him, but all he can see is fear in the male’s eyes. “H-Hyung?”

            A louder explosion snaps Taehyung back to reality as he frantically scans their surroundings. They were currently situated up on a small, bare hill. Taehyung knows they are vulnerable in such a location as he turns to face his dongsaeng.

            “J-Jungkook, listen to me. Go home,” Taehyung orders in a shaky voice. “Go home now.”

            “How about y—”

            “I’ll return back to my house, too.  You go first.  Trust me.”

            “A-Araso,” Jungkook nods obediently as he raises the top of his scarf above his nose and hurries down the hill.  He halts halfway down to turn and glance at Taehyung; however, the elder only beckons him to move forward, which he does.

            Another gunshot is fired as Taehyung peers over the short rooftops to see a stream of smoke from the previous explosion in the air.  He checks back toward Jungkook’s direction to see the boy swiftly making the turn down his street in the right direction.  Taehyung sighs in relief.  He wanted to ensure Jungkook’s safety before his own.  Knowing that Jungkook was going to be well-protected by his parents, Taehyung hurriedly climbs down the hill to return to his own, the constantly fired gunshots still in the background.

            He also hears people screaming now, along with men’s protective and aggressive cries.  As his heartbeat accelerates in panic, Taehyung can only pray for a better outcome in this situation.  He sees his mother at the door, her left hand gently caressing her expanded stomach, and her face nearly white from immense worry. The woman beckons her son toward the door.

            “Umma, are we under attack?” Taehyung asks, guiding his mother in the house and closing the barely stable door himself.  He hears some clinking in the kitchen and rushes over to meet his father rummaging through fragile cabinets.  He pulls out a small hand pistol and tosses it over to his son.

            “Your sister is hiding in her bedroom. Go find her and protect her,” Taehyung’s father orders sternly. “Your mother and I will take care of any intruders.”

            Taehyung nods obediently and rushes down the small hallway of the little shelter that they called home. He slowly creaks the door open—the new environment is still, almost frozen in time.

            “Yoonhye? It’s oppa,” he announces in a gentle voice, careful to not scare his sister, wherever she could be.  Taehyung hears a scared sniffle in response.  He his head in the direction of the noise—behind the bed (which was basically two stacked mattresses on the floor).  Taehyung approaches her and finds nothing more than a frightened human being that he loved and wanted to protect. She stares up at him, her mid-length black hair shielding a good portion of her face; however Taehyung can see the desperation and fear in her eyes.  Another loud explosion outside slightly shakes the house, and he witnesses his sister’s jump of shock before kneeling down, shoving his weapon into his jacket pocket, and bringing her weeping figure into his protective arms.  “Don’t worry, oppa’s got you.”

            They stay there in silent anxiety until a knock on one of the small house’s walls causes Yoonhye to shiver.  Taehyung hushes her and tightens his clutch on her.  They hear muffled voices from the front of the house, as Taehyung can make out the sound of his father’s decent negotiation skills.  However, when the voices rise in volume, his heart begins to pound harder in nervousness to the point where he has to move Yoonhye’s head from the left side of his chest to the right to make sure she does not notice his own fear.  The teenager begins to wonder whether or not he should go out there and help.  Of course he would leave his sister behind, but he would never let the visitors get to her anyway if he was indeed with his parents at the front door.

            “T-Taehyung-oppa… I’m scared,” Yoonhye shakily says into his chest, the fabric drenched in her frightened tears.  “Wh-What if they kill… Umma and Appa?”

            “Shh, don’t think like that.  I won’t let that happen,” Taehyung assures her, when really, he is afraid of the same thing.

            Another gunshot is fired, but they both know it had come from the front of the house.  Taehyung is quick to cover his sister’s ears as she yelps and sobs even louder.  He hears his father’s voice yelling now, only to be interrupted by a sound of something, probably a body, sliding along the wooden floor, followed by his mother’s scream.  The male decides at that moment that he has to leave the bedroom immediately.

            “I have to go check up on them,” he whispers, tucking a few strands of his sister’s hair behind her ear as she looks up at him.  “Stay here, and hide, okay?  Don’t say anything unless they find you.  And if they touch you, scream.  Fight.  Break the window and run.  I’ll look for you and I’ll find you.”

            “I… I can’t do that,” she weeps as she stares him in the eye.

            “Then you continue screaming and I’ll come get you.”

            “What if they get you first, oppa?!”

            “Don’t think that way.  I’ll protect you,” Taehyung gently kisses Yoonhye’s forehead before getting up and exiting the room.

            He hurries down the hallway, although careful to take quiet steps; he nears the end of the path only to find his father on the floor with a bloody nose.  As he peeks from behind the wall, he sees his mother is still trying to fight, as a tall man with a beige military uniform is gripping onto her by her neck.  No wonder her screams had stopped.  Taehyung hears her desperate struggle for breath and his fist tightens in anger and hatred.  Eying the soldier, he realizes that there are actually two.  They both adorn military helmets that shade their eyes, making their identities impossible to identify.  Taehyung holds one pistol in his right hand and thinks hard about what he should do with the two soldiers in front of him that hadn’t noticed his presence behind the wall yet.  However, when he notices his mother’s face beginning to change color and takes a glance at her pregnant stomach that was holding his soon-to-be little brother or sister, who still had a life to live, Taehyung loses it.  He steps forward, aims, and shoots without thinking.

            The release of the bullet startles everyone in the room, including Taehyung himself.  However the bullet manages to pierce through the assaulter’s chest, immediately causing him to release his grip on the woman to clutch the bleeding pain.  Taehyung’s mother falls to the floor and he rushes over to her immediately, again without thought.

            “A-Are you okay?” he asks her as he stares, traumatized by her pale face.

She weakly smiles at him before nodding.  “Pro…tect yourself.”

            “Who do you think you are?!” the second soldier questions him intimidatingly.  Taehyung glances over at him to see him holding the injured soldier.  He observes the wounded area more closely only to realize that he had shot the man in the heart.  That’s when Taehyung realizes that he’s in trouble.

            If the rest of the invading soldiers had found out that he had killed one of their men, no mercy would be shown on his family.  He had to kill them both.  But wasn’t it just luck the first time?  How could he possible shoot again?  Taehyung clutches the handle of his pistol more tightly.

            “You can’t kill my mother and the baby inside her!” he screams back at the man.

            “We do what we want. Do you want to die in her place?”

            “I’ll kill you!” Taehyung shouts desperately, evoking a few chuckles from the healthy soldier.

            “Taehyung, stop!” he hears his father order.  The teen clamps his mouth shut.  “I told you to stay with your sister...”

            “There’s a younger female?” the soldier smirks almost creepily before dropping the dying body in his hands as if it were nothing but trash.  Taehyung is stunned by his heartlessness.

            The man approaches Taehyung and launches a harsh kick at his abdomen to weaken him.  Taehyung cringes in pain, causing his mother to sob worriedly for her victimized son.  The soldier walks forward afterward, striding down the hallway that Taehyung had come from.  The teenager watches him in hatred, because he is currently too paralyzed to stop him.  He tries to get up, but as he pushes himself up, he groans because of the nonstop throbs of pain in his lower half.  It’s not long until he hears a high-pitched shriek.  Taehyung clenches his fist and his grip on the pistol even more tightly as another desperate scream follows.

            “Let go of me!  Let go of me!”

            Taehyung grits his teeth and groans, forcing himself up, at least enough to crawl.  He determinedly drags himself across the cold wooden floor, pushing his feet and reaching with his arms, struggling to slide his aching body.  The teenager sighs in relief as he passes the now dead soldier on the floor—he was moving.  Another yell emits from the bedroom and Taehyung forces his body to crawl faster.

            “No, stop!”

            Having enough of the sick bastard, the teenager pins his feet to the ground and pushes his body up until he is on his knees.  Setting both hands on the walls on either side of him, he takes a step to pull himself up, hissing in extreme pain as he does so.  The throb in his gut, although milder than before, is still painful, but Taehyung chooses to take it as he approaches the door.  Lurking behind the doorway, he quietly peers in only to have the sight shock him.

            Yeonhee’s nightgown had been stripped from her and she was squirming unsuccessfully on the bed under the hovering soldier’s mercy.  A fire erupts in Taehyung as he sees this, and he wastes no time to charge at the man assaulting his sister.  Taehyung leaps and tackles the soldier, until the two of them both fall to the other side of the bed.  Taehyung unfortunately lands first and is on the bottom as the soldier reaches into his pocket to pull out a knife.  Yoonhye screams in fright.

            “Oppa!” Taehyung hears her shriek and that’s enough to motivate him as he takes the assaulter by surprise, rolling them over and pinning the man’s hands to the floor.  The soldier struggles and Taehyung knows he can’t hold him down for long.  The teenager thinks hard and after a couple of seconds, he turns to Yoonhye and her nearly body.  She yells again and Taehyung immediately turns his head back, speaking to her without looking at her.

            “Yoonhye, take the gun.”

            “W-What?”

            “I said take the gun!” he unintentionally yells at her too loudly and she whimpers in immediate response.  Taehyung apologizes before speaking more softly.  “Protect us both.  Mom and dad need our help, too.  It’s up to you and me.”

            “I… I can’t do that, oppa!”

            “You have to fight!” he closes his eyes and blurts out the truth for her, choosing to regret it later.  He was taking away a ten-year-old’s innocence, and she clearly did not deserve to have her purity snatched.  Taehyung hated himself for having to ask his own sister to murder someone, to execute such a bloody task.  But he couldn’t shoot the struggling man below him either, because he needed both hands to pin him down.  Taehyung knows that is he were to let go and toss the gun at his sister, the soldier would immediately take the chance to attack him.  He had no choice.  “Yoonhye, you can do it.  I have faith in you…”

            “O-Oppa…” she sobs, not strong enough to agree.

            But Taehyung has no time.  He lets go of his left grip on the man’s wrist to toss the pistol in his left hand into his sister’s bare lap.  Almost instantly, the man’s unpinned right arm reaches up to grab Taehyung by the neck. Instinctively, the teen releases both of his hands from the soldier below him to attempt to pry off the hold that was suppressing his breathing.  However, the soldier only tightens his grip before raising his other arm to launch his fist across Taehyung’s cheek.  Taehyung grunts in pain, trying to muffle the sound as much as possible by biting on his bottom lip, enough for it to bleed, just so Yoonhye won’t become more scared.

            “Sh-Shoot,” he mouths at her because he can no longer use his voice.

            He hears her fire and shuts his eyes for the impact, but nothing occurs seconds afterward.  The grip is still life-threatening-tight on him and the fist only attacks him in the same spot again.  Taehyung hears the soldier chuckle at his sister’s pathetic aim, before feeling blood leave his face and painful stings on his violated cheek.

            “I can’t do it!” he hears Yoonhye cry and Taehyung finally feels the waves of regret.  Why did he make her do such a thing?  If he had fought harder, he could have saved them both himself.  He could have protected her and kept her away from the violent task.

            “I’m going… to… t-try again…” Yoonhye whispers, but audible enough for Taehyung and the soldier to hear it.  He silently pleads at her with his eyes to stop, because it’d be okay if she gives up; he’d understand.  The soldier laughs again, and Taehyung wishes for nothing more than to smack the man in the face for his arrogance.  He decides to stop trying to save his own neck and use the last bit of his energy to do something more meaningful as he raises a fist and punches the soldiers face.  This only further infuriates the man.

            “I’ll kill y—” the soldier’s words are cut off as his eyes bulge like coconuts.  Taehyung is almost confused, but he understands instantly when he feels his neck slowly being freed.  The teenager looks down to see scarlet liquid drench the assaulter’s uniform.

            The man releases him before colliding with the floor.  Taehyung looks over at Yoonhye to see her traumatized expression.  Regret.  He feels it.  Taehyung is about to reach for her nightgown on the floor, but he stops his actions when he realizes it had been shredded apart.  Hatred.  It engulfs him.  Taehyung takes the blanket and approaches his younger sister, gently removing the murder-weapon from her shaky hands and setting it to the side before carefully draping the blanket over her to cover her bare body.  Once she's wrapped up, he embraces her and tucks her frightened head into the arch of his shoulder, rubbing her back and hushing her soft whimpers until her tears drive her to sleep.

            He sets her head down onto the pillow behind her before brushing the strands of hair from her face.  Once she seems comfortable enough, he quietly climbs off the bed to meet his parents, praying for their well-being along the way.

            Fortunately, his father’s nose had stopped its bleeding, as the man had somehow managed to get himself across the floor to tend to his exhausted wife.  Taehyung finds his father holding his mother lovingly as she struggles a bit to gain her breath.  The teen limps over to the kitchen to get a glass of water before bringing it to the weak woman and urging her to drink it.  His father takes the cup from him and helps her consume the liquid.  Taehyung disappears to the kitchen once more and returns after a minute with a bowl of warm water and a rag.  He kneels down beside his parents and dips the rag into the heat before gently dabbing it onto the bottom of his father’s nose.

            “I’m okay, son, check on yourself,” his father insists.  “Does it still hurt?”

            “A bit, but I’m alright.”

            “How is your sister?”

            “She’s sleeping.  He harassed her.”

            “D-Did he… get away?”

            “No.”

            “Did you kill him?”

            “Yoonhye shot him.  I tried to protect her, but she ended up protecting me.”

            “No, Taehyung.  If you were never there, she might have died.  You were her guardian.  She was repaying the debt.”

            “I took her innocence away from her,” Taehyung whispers, the tears storming down his cheeks.  “How can I ever look her in the face the same way?  I told her to kill a human.  She’s going to live her life thinking that she’s a murder.”

            “Taehyung, it was self-defense.  It’s not your fault.  Don’t take the blame…”

            “Appa…”

            “Go rest, son.  You’ve been through a lot in the past hour.  I’ll take care of your mother…”

            Taehyung nods in defeat as he stands up, wincing again at the sting in his cheek.  He is about to head toward his own room but guilt gets the better of him, drowning him in the memories of earlier—the sounds of his sister screaming for help.  He was too late.  He could’ve stopped the soldier from stripping her clothes off.

            “Let go of me!”

            It sounded familiar.  He would’ve protected her earlier if he could.  Taehyung’s eyes open wide when he realizes something else.

            “Let go of me!”

            “You stole my bread, you little bast—”

            “I was hungry!”

            Jungkook. Was he safe in the midst of all this chaos?  Taehyung rushes to the open front door without any exchange of words with his father, and immediately begins storming toward the direction of Jungkook’s house.  The pain he had felt before in his gut and in his face suddenly disappear at that moment, as all he can think about is Jungkook’s well-being.  The teen makes a swift turn down the street corner and scrambles to his dongsaeng’s front door, only to find it wide open.  Gulping, Taehyung cautiously enters the intruded house.

            The kitchen is empty.  He sees pots, pans, and plates knocked over on the floor; some dishes are even broken and shattered.  Something horrible must’ve happened at the sight.  Taehyung’s heart begins to pound even harder in fear as he exits the kitchen and heads toward Jungkook’s parents’ room.  He takes a deep breath as he takes a step through the doorway and almost immediately, a wave of various emotions hit him.  Taehyung doesn’t know whether he should cry, scream, punch a wall, or throw up.

            Below him, Mr. and Mrs. Jeon’s bodies lied cold, , bleeding, and dead on the wooden floor.  The teenager gasps.  Where was Jungkook?  From the corner of his eye, Taehyung notices a shift in movement.  He his head over in response and scans his surroundings carefully before noticing a pair of shoes at the bottom of the rags hung up over the window as improvised curtains.  Feeling sick from the stench of the room, Taehyung cautiously approaches the hidden figure, having a sense of the person’s identity, before carefully pushing the drapes aside to reveal a frightened-half-to-death Jungkook.  The black-haired male gasps in surprise, but relaxes when he realizes it is his hyung.

            Taehyung stares down at him lovingly, wanting nothing more than to tell the boy that everything would be okay, but he knows that isn’t the case.  Jungkook’s parents are dead.  He isn’t sure if the boy is aware of the fact yet, so he remains still, watching the younger’s glossy and moist pupils as they stare back at him helplessly.

            “We need to get out of here,” Taehyung finally states and Jungkook nods, but his body is too frozen to move an inch.  The elder grabs both of Jungkook’s hands.  “Kookie… your umma and appa… they’re… dead.”

            Jungkook’s doe eyes bulge for a second but his eyelids droop back down a couple of seconds afterward.  “I see… I heard the slashing, but I didn’t want to believe it.”

            “I’m sorry.”

            “It’s not your fault.”

            Taehyung purses his lips before guiding Jungkook out from behind the drapes.  Jungkook lets go of his hands and trudges toward his parents’ bed before lifting the blanket and pulling the material off the bed.  He continues walking and Taehyung swears he hears the male’s breath hitch as he prepares himself for the sight on the other side of the bed.  The elder can only watch as his dongsaeng takes another step and gasps before cringing.  The blanket is long and drags on behind him as Jungkook drops it on the ground before kneeling down to cover his parents’ corpses with the material.  The younger male pulls and pulls at the thick blanket; Taehyung knows it can’t be that heavy, but he also knows that seeing his parents in that state must’ve made Jungkook emotionally and physically weak and unstable.  He was now even more fragile than before.  Taehyung hates the ones that are to blame.  He approaches Jungkook and kneels down beside him to help.  They cover Mr. and Mrs. Jeon until their bodies can no longer be seen.  Taehyung prays with Jungkook before turning toward him to comfortingly embrace the younger teen as he sobs into his shoulder.

            “I’ll take you in.  You’ll live with me.  You’ll have a home.  I won’t abandon you.”

            He feels Jungkook nod as he continues to drench the material of Taehyung’s dirty shirt.  The elder helps them both up before gently tugging Jungkook’s head away from his body.  “Where is the scarf?  It’s cold outside.  Your jacket is thin.”

            “In m-my… room,” Jungkook hiccups through his tears.

            Taehyung brushes the younger’s cheek with his thumb and temporarily leaves him.  He returns later with a box of Jungkook’s clothes before setting it on the floor.  Taehyung retrieves the burgundy scarf from the top of the pile inside the cardboard and carefully wraps it around his dongsaeng’s neck.

            “C’mon, you’ll be okay,” Taehyung assures him as he motions the boy to follow him before lifting the box and leaving the house.

            The walk back is silent.  The bombings and shooting have stopped and all Taehyung can hear now are his own footsteps, followed by the trudging of Jungkook beside him.  He glances over at the boy to see him staring lifelessly at the ground below him, his nose and mouth hidden by the scarf.  Taehyung swears then that he’d make a difference to protect the people he cherished deeply.

            He wakes up during early dawn the next morning, expecting the village leaders to march down the streets on their horses.  They reach his house eventually, thankfully before any of his family members wake up.  That morning, Taehyung signs up for the military draft in his father’s place.

-

            Taehyung returns home in six months, adorning his green military uniform and a rifle on his back.  The training period was harsh; he was only taught for four weeks before entering the battlefield outside of the village.  Taehyung had witnessed his new comrades die and had seen enough bloodshed for the rest of his life.  But they had won.  The Village of Hanbae had beat out the invaders of the North that had invaded his parents’ hometown before.  No one was sure how it happened, but a miracle had occurred and they had emerged victoriously.

            The teen isn’t sure how much he’s aged in the past twenty-four weeks, but he knows he’s different now.  Taehyung is aware of the dark bags under his eyes, of the scar on his forearm from a knife cut, of the stress clouding his mind, and of his worry for the safety of his family and of Jungkook, whom he had told nothing of his departure to.  But he is home now.  Taehyung is standing in front of his house with his knuckles a few centimeters away from the door and ready to knock at any moment.

            How will they take it?  He hasn’t seen his sister in a long time.  Will he be able to look at her without guilt now?  Will he be able to greet his mother and father and apologize for his disappearance without sounding like a disrespectful son?  Will he be able to meet eyes with Jungkook and tell the boy that he loves him?  Taehyung sighs in defeat and slumps down onto the floor, taking a seat on the cold dirt.  He won’t be able to.  They’ll hate him for abandoning him.  What has he gained from going to war besides the chance to avenge the pain of his loved ones?  Was it all worth it?

            He remains there for hours in deep thought, observing as the afternoon sun begins to dive toward the horizon.  A half-hour before his family’s supper time, he hears the door creak and he turns around to see his father peering down at him in disbelief.

            “T-Tae…hyung?” the man stares, struggling to absorb the sight of his son sitting in front of his house in a warrior’s uniform.  “You’re… alive…”

            Taehyung chews on his bottom lip, ashamed of himself for abandoning his loved ones and disappearing for half a year.  But the old man sees him as much more than trash.

            “We figured you left to join the military…” his father sniffs.  “But after hearing about the extreme number of casualties… we assumed you died in battle.”

            The old man crouches down and takes his son’s body into his embrace, reminding the teenager that his family would never stop loving him.

            “Appa,” Taehyung whispers as his eyes begin to water.  “Appa, I’m home.”

            “H-Honey!” his father calls toward the direction of the kitchen.  “Honey, set an extra bowl of soup on the table!  Our son is home!”

            Taehyung finally breaks down and cries into his father’s arms.  The door is swung open even wider and the teenager looks up to see his mother’s teary and longing eyes staring back at him in a sad happiness.  She drops the bowl in her hand and covers , refusing to believe the sight in front of her as well.  Taehyung releases himself from his father’s hug and stands up to greet his mother.  However, a girl emerges from behind her and runs to him first, wrapping her arms around him with joy and with love.

            “I’m home, Yoonhye,” he smiles down at her with his tear-stained expression, running his fingers through her black hair that had seemed to grow longer during the period he was gone.

            Once she releases him, Taehyung approaches his mother as well before burying his face into her shoulder as he throws his arms around her figure.  Something’s different though, Taehyung notices.  He pulls away from his mother and looks down only to see her flat stomach.  Taehyung stares at his mother in surprise and puzzlement, but what’s behind her causes his train of thoughts to immediately halt.

            Taehyung’s eyes meet Jungkook’s as the younger male stares at him longingly with sparkling and grateful eyes.  The elder diverts his gaze to the stranger in Jungkook’s arms—an infant boy.  His mother steps aside to allow her son to enter the house.  Taehyung instantly heads straight toward Jungkook before leaning over a bit to make eye contact with the baby.

            “Minhyuk, say ‘hi’ to your older brother,” Jungkook tells the baby in his mellow voice.  The infant stares at Taehyung, who places a finger in front of him that he immediately grasps onto with his tiny fingers.  Minhyuk breaks into a laugh and Jungkook chuckles with him.

            “Looks like he wants you to hold him,” Jungkook smiles up at Taehyung who is taken aback for a moment.  He immediately regains his composure though and wipes his tears—that he didn’t know were falling—with his sleeve before allowing Jungkook to place the baby into his arms.

            Taehyung sniffs.  “I’ve missed out on so much.”  He places a kiss on the infant’s forehead, causing him to giggle some more.

            “You’ve missed out on your umma’s cooking, too,” Jungkook adds.  “Why don’t you join us at the dinner table?”

            Taehyung nods as his mother comes to take Minhyuk away from him and guide the older two boys to the table.  After dinner, Jungkook insists that they take an evening walk to catch up on things.

            “So you’ve learned how to properly hold a rifle and use it?  That’s great,” Jungkook comments as they take their seats on the top of a familiar hill.

            “Yeah, but war is awful,” Taehyung replies as memories flood back to him.  “You see so much blood that you start to wonder if the victory is worth it anymore.”

            “I’m just thankful you’re alive and here with me now.”

            Taehyung turns to look at the younger, who avoids eye contact with him as he pulls some flowers from the grass below them.  It was summer now; the flowers were fresh and lively.  Taehyung observes the colors—pastel-pink.  He also notices that Jungkook is still adorning his burgundy scarf.  It contrasted well with the younger’s pale skin.  Taehyung thinks it looks amazing on him.

            They both suddenly hear some shuffling on the other side of the hill and Taehyung peers over first, only to widen his eyes as a beige-uniformed soldier is seen climbing it.  He stares in disbelief, unable to do anything as the soldier takes notice of his green military uniform and grits his teeth in immense hatred.  How could this soldier enter the village?  They had won the war.  The only way he could’ve entered without being caught was over the tall walls behind the village… But the inside was slippery; one couldn’t make it over without falling onto the cold cement below.

            “You!  You Hanbae soldiers will die!  I’ll kill you all!  The Warriors of the North will win!” he screams, hissing in pain afterward at his slightly injured back, but managing to straighten himself as he immediately charges at the two of them once he reaches the top.

            Instinctively, Taehyung reaches behind him for his rifle, but his breath hitches in shock when he realizes he had left it back at his house.  How could he call himself a Hanbae soldier if he wasn’t even prepared for battle?  Taehyung reaches into his pocket for his only weapon to resort to.  He retrieves a pocketknife.  The male guides his dongsaeng behind him, and the two of them experience a sense of déjà vu.

                        “You’re foolish, Kookie,” the low voice comments through gritted teeth as he reaches behind him with an arm to secure Jungkook in his protective hold.

            “I’m sorry, Hyung, I just wanted to eat and—”

            The teen’s cut off when his guardian bows respectfully to the assaulter.  “We apologize for Jungkook’s selfish behavior.  Please let it pass.  He’ll return your bread.”

            “Tch,” the larger and more intimidating boy arrogantly crosses his arms, still not fully convinced.

            “Kookie,” the mediator calls and Jungkook sighs before releasing himself from the elder’s hold.  He takes a few steps to approach the male further away from him before throwing his closed hand in front of the male.  He bitterly unfolds his fingers to reveal the small bread loaf that he had stolen.  Immediately, the assaulter snatches the item and marches off.

            The elder of the remaining two males turns to face his dongsaeng.  “What were you thinking?!”

            “I-I’m sorry, Hyung… Umma ran out of food and—”

            “You can’t steal from people.  They are in the same situation as the rest of us and they’re struggling to survive, too.  You can’t be greedy.”

            It was happening again, Jungkook realizes.  Taehyung was going to protect him once again—like he always does.

            But Jungkook doesn’t want it to happen again.  He doesn’t want to be weak.  He wants to return the favor for once.  Jungkook reaches forward to swiftly grab Taehyung’s wrist and pry his fingers open to take the pocketknife from his hand.  “I’ll do it this time, Hyung.”

            “What are you doing, Jungkook?!” Taehyung screams when he breaks away from his trance and sees the enemy soldier nearing them.  “Give me back the knife!”

            “I said I’ll protect you this time,” Jungkook says, tightening his grasp around the weapon’s handle.

            “You can’t do close combat!  You’ve never fought before.  Let me do it!”

            Jungkook stubbornly remains still behind Taehyung, who purses his lips together in dilemma as he refuses to abandon his shielding position.  The soldier tackles him to the ground, but Taehyung is stronger this time.  He rolls them over immediately and brings himself atop.

            “Jeon Jungkook, give me the knife!” he says pinning both of the enemy’s wrists down, this time with only one hand, his other hand reaching out for the weapon.

            He turns to look at Jungkook desperately, but the moment he lets his guard down, the soldier rolls them over again before releasing himself from Taehyung’s grip and immediately launching blows onto the teenager’s head.  Jungkook watches the scene in hatred, but is unable to gather the willpower to move.  What exactly was he fighting for again?

            “J-Jungkook!” Taehyung calls, dodging a blow to the left side of his face only to be met by a fist on his right.  “Please, just… give me… the knife… if you want… us to live.”

            “Hyung, don’t protect me for once.  Let me… protect you this time…” Once I manage to move, I’ll run to you and protect you, Hyung.

            Taehyung gathers the strength to stop a fist and shove the soldier off of him before tackling him deeper into the ground.  “Stop and think rationally!  Let me do it before you get hurt!”

            Jungkook stares at Taehyung’s bruised cheeks and bleeding bottom lip.  If he had been able to take a step, he could have saved his hyung from those blows.  But why wouldn’t he budge?  Even if he wanted to hand the knife over now, his body refused.

            “Hyung, thank you for wrapping this scarf on me to protect me all the times that you did,” Jungkook mutters as he reaches up to secure the scarf over his nose and mouth.  “Let me pay you back for the times I was a burden to you.”

            “Wh-What are you talking about?!” the elder asks in disbelief as he struggles to hold the soldier down while maintaining his train of thought.  “I’ll… I’ll wrap that scarf a million times around you if I have to!  Jeon Jungkook, do you understand?!”

            “H-Hyung… s-stop!”

            “I’ll protect you a million times if I have to!”

            “Hyung, I ing love you, okay?!” the tension in Jungkook’s heart breaks as he screams his contained feelings out.  “I love you more than you think I do!  Do you think I can possibly live with myself if every time you protect me, I become more worthless than I was before?!  I want to deserve your love, damn it!”

            Taehyung’s eyes widen as his ears absorb the words that they have just heard.  He turns over to stare at the younger male, but at that moment, the soldier below him aggressively flips them over before pulling his own pocketknife out from his pocket and raising it up in the air, tip pointed toward Taehyung’s face and prepared to stab at it with all of his arm’s might.  The victimized male can only watch helplessly as his mind is too scrambled up at the moment to process anything new.

            “No!” Jungkook shouts furiously, his legs finally pushing forward as he charges toward the assaulter.  I know what I’m fighting for.  “Get off of him!”

            Jungkook grabs the man’s arm and pulls it backward; he hears a loud crack as a bone is broken and the soldier’s weapon drops from his now lifeless hand.  The enemy screams in horror at his paralyzed arm, but has no time to react any further as Jungkook tears him away from his hyung to tackle him to the ground and mercilessly stab him in the chest.

            Taehyung struggles a bit to get up, but when he does, he immediately heads over to Jungkook and helps the boy up.  They stand staring at each other for a mere silent moment before Taehyung turns his gaze back down the hill.

            “Let’s go home.”

            Jungkook is too enraged at everything to protest and resist, so he only follows his retreating hyung’s figure.  They reach home after a twenty-minute walk, accompanied by nothing more than silence.  Taehyung is about to approach their front door when Jungkook finally loses his mind and grabs the elder’s hand, turning him around.

            “Is this it?!” Jungkook asks in a broken voice.  “I just drained my heart’s feelings to you and you’re just going to walk into that house like nothing happened?!”

            “Kookie, I—”

            “You what, Taehyung?! You what?!”

            “My head hurts… I have too many thoughts on my mind.”

            “You don’t know how to handle a burden like me, do you?!” Jungkook cries.  “It was bad enough that you had to protect my fragile body, but now you have to cope with my feelings for you, too!  I’m pathetic, aren’t I?”

            “That’s not it!” Taehyung responds in a frustrated tone.

            “You’re afraid you’ll feel guilty for agreeing with me, aren’t you?!”

            “I love you the same way, damn it!  I've loved you that way for years!  I protected you because I loved you, and I accepted the fact that you’d never feel the same way.  How do you think I feel now, knowing that you actually do?!”

            The younger is taken aback by Taehyung’s declaration, as his intense breathing finally slows down due to realization and acknowledgement.

            “I was supposed to confess to you on the hill,” Jungkook surrenders, calming down.  “None of that was supposed to happen.  I’m sorry, Hyung.”

            Jungkook takes a step forward and gazes into the elder male’s eyes.  He glances down at Taehyung’s busted lip before hesitantly reaching his hand to it and brushing the blood away with his thumb.  He drops his arm back down afterward and walks around the older teenager to open the door.  Just before his hand is about to touch it, he’s turned around. Jungkook is about to question the elder, but he’s stopped when Taehyung connects their lips together.

            “I love you, Kookie,” he whispers against the younger’s lips before kissing them again.

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