Level And Life | KTH ✓

37. Playtime

"Time isn't the main thing. It's the only thing."

...

Taehyung snapped his eyes open, and now with his original dark brown orbs. His head was still a little dizzy. A sigh of relief involuntarily escaped his mouth when he realized the same surroundings, he was back in front of clock towers. 

The clocks continued to sing that soft hypnotizing music into his ears but this time, he couldn't let it get control over himself. He wouldn't.

Taking in a brief glance around him, he could spot all his friends staring blankly at those clocks chiseled in the antique clock towers, and all of them showed the same time as of before, 12:00. It didn't take him a more second to register that he was actually spellbound by the clocks, which were just stuck at 12:00, even the second hour wasn't working as if they've chosen that time for eternity.

The more Taehyung thought about himself and his friends who had to go through all that just added fuel to the fire. His irises were now glowing purple as one of his hands balled into a fist, and with teeth gritted he shot bright purple beams which then penetrated through the air towards the clocks. A small smirk crept up to his lips when few cracks were made at the base of one of the clock towers. But it faded the next moment as it had no as such effect on the tower which was still standing tall. 

Taehyung knew his efforts weren't enough, he needed someone who could destroy, someone who could burn.

Taehyung winced in pain when a pointed object right pierced through his arm, making the droplets of blood splatter on his own clothes. His eyes grew wide as he turned around, just in time to see another razor-sharp hour hand of the clock launching towards him with the pace of a javelin. His eyeballs shined to a shade of powerful purple as he immediately formed a tough purple shield around himself. 

With tensed jaw, Taehyung sprinted towards Hoseok. Meanwhile, every 'clang' made by the collision of multiple pointed hands of the clock with his shield made him flinch.

"Hyung," Taehyung turned him harshly in his direction. Hoseok's eyes glazed pitch black, expressions completely blank as he peered into nothingness.  

"Please listen to me, I know you are wandering within your memories but it's just an illusion, it's just a trap. Snap out of it!" With a deep breath, Taehyung squeezed his shoulders, then shaking him violently.

Hoseok didn't respond, as if he had long lost the sensitivity to any type of sound.

God.

"Look here," Cupping Hoseok's cheeks, say it a small hope to retrieve him back, Taehyung gazed into his eyes. Hoseok's eyes dazzled with the same color as his, an intense purple. Suddenly, his skin against Taehyung's hands felt alive as his eyes were slowly neutralizing back to their normal chestnut color.

With a rapid expulsion of air as if he was holding his breath for so long, he jolted out of his daze. "Ah, my head—"

"It h-hurts. T-Taehyung, what's going on?"

"I'll explain later, first of all, we have to free the others." 

With a quick nod, Hoseok summoned orange and red hues of flames that burned around all over his arms, his eyes glistening fiery orange. He hurled explosive balls of a blazing fire at the towers. Soon, his flames changed into the blue fire, which was far hotter and more intense than the ordinary orange one. He then released flame blasts that split into multiple fragments, each engulfing a tower. 

The music stopped as soon as his flame blasts licked the surface of the towers, and they bombed with ringing explosions, sending sparks through the air.