UNIVERSE / BTS.

54: if we hit on troubled water / namgi

IF WE HIT ON
TROUBLED WATER

FOR Str0ng_P0wer_Thancc ( changed it up a lot, whoops sorry )
WORD COUNT 3.7k
OVERVIEW "when we were young, we were the ones". or where they're best friends, and one day they get sick of this town ( TW for homophobic slurs/mentions of abuse/mentions of self harm / heavily inspired by hayley kiyoko's 'what i need' mv & troye sivan's 'blue neighbourhood' trilogy / title from brother by kodaline )

PLAYLIST brother / kodaline, spring day / bts, summertime / my chemical romance

∆

NINE YEARS OLD. two fast-footed boys speed through the forest on the outskirts of town, laughter loud amongst them, hearts racing. hair flies, smiles wide, and they finally reach the spot they were running to, hunching over and breathing heavily, laughing all the while.

"i won!" min yoongi, gap toothed and scabby kneed, exclaimed with a proud smile, collapsing onto the ground with star-struck eyes. he grins at his best friend, who flops back onto the dewy grass with him, breathless laughter leaving his lips.

"i let you," kim namjoon, messy haired and glasses askew, replies, with the biggest dimples grin. yoongi pushes his shoulder with a laugh, and the two lie back, t-shirts wet with sweat. the sky is as devoid of clouds as their life is devoid of worries, and yoongi rests his head on namjoon's arm, gums on display as he can't stop smiling. "i'm serious, i let you!"

"sure, joonie," yoongi chuckles, looking up at the blue sky. their innocence is sweet, like cherubs in ripped jeans and stained t-shirts, black hair frizzy and cheeks sore from so much laughter. they're inseparable soulmates, sharing their whole lives since two years old, their old houses next to each other on the edge of the woods they've played in for seven years. yoongi looks over at his best friend, and namjoon is staring up at the sky, childish wonder in his eyes. "joonie?" he says, quiet, and the glasses wearing boy turns to face him. "wanna play kingdoms?"

namjoon nods eagerly, and the two get up, instantly in their roles, the same game they've played for the last year. kingdoms, where they're the princes of their own universe, kings of the world, this fantasy they've created inside the forest. namjoon voices their characters, gives them life, while yoongi makes them and names them, giving them their appearances. with imaginary golden armour and heavy sticks disguised as swords, they face every enemy and always come out on top; climbing into their castle, the treehouse namjoon's parents had helped make, they exchange stories about their beautiful fantasy.

"the dark king has sent messengers!" namjoon cries when a bird settles close to them, and he pretends to listen to the birds twittering, as if it were a language he was fluent in. yoongi looks on in silent awe of this prince with a tooth missing and a crown of messy hair. "yoongi! the bird says we must go to the enchanted creek and meet old man comet!"

the other disheveled prince is up on his feet in an instant, and they grab the crowns they'd woven, cramming them on their head. two pairs of old trainers step down the shaky ladder, and suddenly they're running on pine needle carpeted forest floors, identical grins on their faces, sure their youth will last forever, as they hold hands and jump over logs and get to the creek that has the most rickety bridge ever, to meet with the wisest man in their fantasy land, breathless as ever.

they feel invincible. every child does.

three years later. one of our makeshift princes sits alone, by the rickety bridge creek, back to a tree. there's tears on his cheeks that mingle with rainwater, and a bruise on his left eye that he doesn't know how to disguise.