cherry blossoms || ot7 [#Wattys2017]

[spring day]

Cherry blossoms fall down on this beautiful spring day. Cherry blossoms fall down, especially in Daegu, where Taehyung finds himself gravitating towards no matter what happens in his life. He can never forget nor does he want to forget that he's from Daegu and so is his brother, Jungkook.

In his mind, it's felt like forever since he's been here even though it's only been a couple weeks since he brought all of his hyungs to Daegu. He was still under the impression that Baekhyun was Jungkook at this point so he felt like it was time for his other hyungs to visit where they came from. His favorite place to show them is the playground.

Taehyung stands in the middle of the playground and he falls to his knees. He lays his head down on the grass and he lets out a sob of joy, feeling euphoric in his childhood wonderland. He gets up and walks around the playground. Taehyung gravitates towards the swings and he sits down, listening to the clanking of the chains holding up the seat. Pumping his legs back and forth, Taehyung gains momentum and starts going higher and higher.

Next to him, he hears the tinkling laughter of child Kookie swinging to the left of him. "Tae, we're so close to touching the sky! Just a bit more!" He exclaims and continues to swing. In between swings, child Kookie turns into grown Kookie, the real Jungkook. His laughter fills the air as his voice yells out, "Tae, we're so close to touching the sky! Just a bit more!"

Taehyung laughs as he feels exhilaration fill his bones. Swinging with his older brother feels so right. A beautiful monarch butterfly flies in front of his eyes, but this time, he just admires it while he swings. Nothing is going to separate them this time. Nothing. Higher and higher, the two swing and Taehyung stretches out one arm. "Kookie, I'm almost there! I can feel it! We're going to touch the sky!"

With each pump, the bright blue spring sky gets closer and closer until... "Kookie! I can touch the sky! I can feel the spring sky!"

"So can I! Tae..." Jungkook turns to look at his younger brother. "We made it."

•  •  •  •  •

Jimin rushes to the scene while Seokjin calls for an ambulance and the police. All over the floor, there's blood but figuring out who's blood is who would take forever. The Rancher is nowhere to be found but the front door is gaping open. The other boys run out the door, calling for any civilian to help them out.

As Jimin looks at the ground, Seokjin's frantic voice resonates in the empty room, "Hello, my name's Kim Seokjin. I'm at The Rancher's Creamery over in Yeongjong Beach. There were gun shots heard in here and the suspect ran out of the door." Seokjin's eyes glisten as the tears stream down his face. "Ne. The man was very tall, at least 180 cm tall. He was wearing a gray suit." He pauses as he listens to the responder. "Ne. He's a sex trafficker notorious in the underground scene: The Rancher. That's his name in the business."

The other boys rush back in and they pace around, restless. They want to help in some way, but there's nothing they can do at this point. In the back, Jimin curls himself up in the far corner, chanting, "It's all my fault; it's all my fault; it's all my fault..." Yoongi walks over to comfort him as Hoseok and Namjoon just stand, looking down at the crime scene with tears in their eyes.

"Ne..., there's three victims..." Seokjin hesitates. "They're all dead."

On the ground, Baekhyun, Jungkook, and Taehyung's lifeless bodies overlap one another, each one trying to protect the other in their last moments together. Jungkook holds Taehyung's right hand with his right hand as his left arm is splayed across Taehyung's chest. Baekhyun is reciprocating Jungkook's position but with his and Taehyung's left hand, but instead of holding onto his left hand, he's clutching onto Taehyung's wrist. Taehyung's hand is closed in a fist, but not all the way. In the cracks of his fingers, there's a cherry blossom.

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