Eʏᴇ ᴏғ Asᴍᴏᴅᴇᴜs

1. Promise of a Virgin

There is a bridge connecting heaven and earth.

It is called the Rainbow Bridge because of its many colors. Just this side of the Rainbow Bridge is a land of meadows, hills, and valleys with lush green grass.

When a beloved pet or person dies, they go to this place. There is always food and water and warm spring weather. The old and frail are young again. Those who were maimed are made whole again. They play all day with each other.

There is only one thing missing. They are not with the special person who loved them on earth. So each day they search until the day comes when everything turns dark for a moment and the light fills around the bridge. The humans' noses twitch. The dogs' ears perk up. Everything remains the same except in the new light, the loved ones appear out of nowhere.

And when you and your special one meet, you take them in your arms and kiss their face again and again and again and you look once more into the eyes of your trusting pet. 

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together, never again to be separated again. Eternity starts then.

Jungkook believed that he would get to meet his late best friend and a pet on the Rainbow Bridge again. He had lost his pet when he was five.

At the age of twenty, his friend left him two weeks ago, a few hours before his eighteenth birthday. 

He was walking, the darkness around him was giving him a sense of safety of not being watched. The last two weeks had been overwhelming, with his family checking up on him in the middle of the night, with his friends not leaving his side to make sure that he wouldn't do anything drastic. He felt a sense of privacy enveloping him in the form of black as he strolled down the rocky and slanted pavement leading up to a temple. 

He had worn his cotton co-ords, the color white calming him as his thoughts stilled to a distant memory of him and Taehyung playing in the fields behind their school when he heard something.

His legs halted, and his neck craned as he quickly examined his surrounding. It sounded like something was breathing. From the sound, he could sense that it ought to be an animal, a big one. "Is someone there?" He called, his voice steady, his fists tight. 

When no one answered, he lurked ahead, his speed increasing. He started regretting not going with his family in their car and taking up this lonely route. The little light from the street wasn't doing much to help his situation. 

For the rest of the way, he kept his head low and kept striding. His mother used to tell him stories about an evil spirit that wandered in the wilderness. She would tell him that the spirit often took the shape of a woman or a wounded animal. If any man or woman stopped to help it, it would possess them until they killed themselves. 

Jungkook loved listening to those stories. He liked being afraid. It made him think of ways to preserve himself if he ever encountered a situation like that. He would silently spend hours scheming, his imagination would run wild. In the end, he would fall asleep, exhausted.

Now he realized that there wasn't much he could do if he was attacked, but by now, he was used to the feeling called fear.

He didn't panic and continued to walk fast. When his eyes fell on the rust-colored grandiose walls of the temple, a victorious smile bloomed on his face. Temples were sacred. Everyone knew that. No evil ever came close to it.

The temple was big with four worshiping rooms in each direction in the right wing. The center hall was colossal, separating the sanctuary situated on the left wing, which was a two-story affair with numerous rooms.

A few caretakers and monks took their permanent residence inside. The place was also open to anyone traveling from a different city. The administration offered a free quarter for vagrants to stay and economical meals three times a day. It also offered locals a place to dwell in.