Red String of Fate (Taekook AU)

Chapter 25: Feelings under the skin

August 2065, Mountain House

The darkness and silence were filling up the tent. Only not-so-calm breaths were heard and occasional ruffling of sleeping bags fabric.

'The soul stone... the fifth power. It's because the spirits made it. It's not just the sheer power of your soul...' Taehyung concluded.

'Yeah... probably the four elements would be the basic power of Jeryn if they hadn't given him something more...'

'And the second one? The gift?'

'I think the other seed we see in soulmates' dimension - it's hidden there...' Jungkook nuzzled his nose onto Taehyung's shirt. Like a puppy trying to indulge himself in known scent to find safety.

Taehyung was his safety.

Taehyung was looking at the ceiling of the tent, frowning. He felt the fear crawling under his skin. Fear and anger.

'They gave Jeryn more power than the other Islanders, because they knew they were sending him to fight with something much more powerful than he could ever be...' he gritted his teeth. Then he sighed. 'But at least they let them share it...'

Jungkook tiled his face, hiding it more into Taehyung's shirt, even if none of them could see in the darkness.

'I felt it... When Jeryn made a deal... I felt his guilt... The guilt that he involved Taeghan's soul in all of it...'

Taehyung felt the grip of Jungkook's hand over his shirt was tightening. He heard the heavy gulp.

'Do you think he was mad at him...? Taeghan?'

Taehyung knew Jungkook from the time he was born... He knew too well how fast to blame himself... How fast he felt anxious...

He could recognize the layers of his questions. He could recognize the slight difference in his voice. The other note... The tone one could hear lingering in the air after the last note of a symphony...

Jungkook wasn't asking about Taeghan...

'Well... don't know about him... but I would be mad and hate you...' He felt the fingers gripping his shirt, trembling. '... if you wouldn't involve me. So I'm glad the deal was like it was. And probably Taehgan was too... Imagine your husband telling you to stay, when he is going to deal with some demon... I would freaking tie the guy and kick him back to the lake to change the deal...'

Jungkook giggled quietly in relief.

'I don't think they encountered the demon in the end...'

'And others?'

'I don't know... Not the ones we saw in our dreams, I guess.'

'So we don't know anything about him...' Taehyung sighed, then a sudden thought came to his mind. 'Why did she say she loved him? He had a soulmate he sacrificed right? What kind of fucked up triangle is that?'

'Good your dad doesn't hear you...' Jungkook said. 'Her tone... I don't think it was romantic love... More like... all three spirits treat him like a son? They didn't look like someone who likes people much...'

'Oh? That would make sense. Someone they raised... They thought they could trust him...'

'It's all just guesses...' Jungkook sighed tiredly. 'What hour it is?'

Taehyung looked at his electronic watch.

'4 o'clock.'

'I can't sleep anymore...'

Taehyung's hand was rubbing Jungkook's back soothingly. Reaching from his waist to his nape in slow motion. Squishing the material of the shirt by sliding upward, only to straighten it soon by sliding downward.