Free Will

Fire

"We're back!" Hobi slings his arm around Jimin's shoulders. "And we're starving."

"At least you guys got to snack in town, and don't pretend you didn't, you boys are shameless snackers." Jin says, approaching the pair with Taehyung.

"Like you should talk, Jin Hyung." He responds, "Every time I see you, you've got your cheeks stuffed." He leans further into Jimin. "You should see this guy, Chim. He never stops eating."

"At least I'm not always talking."

Tae gasps. "Hyung! I feel personally attacked." He falls onto the elder dramatically.

The elder struggles with the weight of the tall man. "Help?"

With a snicker Hoseok shakes his head and pulls Jimin away to Jungkook and Namjoon. "Hey, geniuses!"

Jungkook scowls and throws a stick at Hoseok, who blocks it with Jimin's body. The spot on his arm where the stick his has a small cut, but he's not to worried about it, it'll be gone soon.

"Shit, I'm sorry Chim!" He turns to Hobi, "You're so dead, Jung."

With a pat to Jimin's head, the red haired man runs away. Jungkook follows after him, quickly catching up with the elder and wrestling him to the ground. Jimin watches them for a moment, concerned for Hobi's safety.

"He'll be fine." Namjoon says.

"O-okay. You read my mind th-there for a second."

"Hah, yeah. It's the whole genius thing." Jimin turns to Namjoon with that he's sure is an incredulous expression, which causes the taller man to bend over with laughter. "I'm kidding, I can't read your mind. We've all worried about Jungkook killing one of us at some point or another, but he hasn't yet so don't let it bother you too much."

"Yet?"

Namjoon ignores him. "So how'd things go with the Maknaes? And Jin Hyung..."

"It was fine, how did it go in town?" He looks around, only to see five out of the six other men. "And where did Yoongi H-hyung end up?"

"Ah, he went for a walk, doesn't like to be around Taehyungie when he asks a hundred questions about town." Namjoon sighs. "I know you're wondering why he can't come with us, and I'd love to tell you, but that's not my job." He looks over to where Taehyung had convinced Jungkook to stop attacking Hoseok and was now proceeding to pry every detail of the trip into town out of the men.

"If I ask," Jimin hesitates. "If I ask, will he even tell me?"

Namjoon looks sad at the thought. "Probably not, but let's not dwell on it too much. We brought back some food for Jin Hyung to cook. Help me carry it?" He gestures to two reasonably sized burlap sacks.

"Yeah, okay" Jimin bites his lips, wondering what the content of the bags are and how much money they have left. If his suspicions about their real job are true then they probably have plenty left. If the situation wasn't what it is, it would be strange that he wants them to be broke. The thought brings a small smile to his face, which only provides him with a strange look from Namjoon.

"Oh look at my strong boys! Carrying such heavy loads." Jin calls as the approach him with the bags. "Don't even think about turning that into a sexual innuendo Namjoon!"

He chokes on his breath. "I would never, Hyung."

"Mhmm, sure. Where's Yoongi?"

"He went for a walk." Namjoon says.

"Ah, that just won't do, He'll miss dinner. Chimmy?" The small man squeaks in response. "Aw, cute. Can you get Yoongi for me?"

"Why me?" He cries in a high pitched voice that draws the other boys attention.

"Because I have to cook, Namjoon would break something if he tried, we can't just let Taehyung go like that, Jungkook won't go anywhere without Tae, and Tae won't let Hobi leave him before he wrings every detail from his cold lifeless body. You're the default decision, deal with it, cute stuff."

"You'll make a perfect sacrifice- I mean messenger!"

"You're not helping him Tae!" There's a smacking sound as Hobi hits Jungkook instead of Taehyung, and then a squeal as the redhead is tackled again.

"So you'll do it?" Jin asks.

"You'll do fine. Yoongi's not all that bad." Namjoon lies, unconvincingly.

Jimin just turns and enters the forest.

Rationally he knows that these boys have spent more time with the grumpy man, and know more about him then Jimin does, which means he must have somehow be able to get them to like him somehow. Despite this, Jimin won't allow his judgement to be dictated from them when in his experience Yoongi is a jerk. Should he show that he's actually a nice person, Jimin won't consider him a jerk anymore.

But as it is, Yoongi's jerkiness keeps Jimin from interacting with him.

That explains the fact that Jimin finds himself unable to take a step forward from behind a tree to make his presence known, even when the two men appear from the brush. They both look dangerous, towering over Yoongi threateningly. They circle around him like beasts going in for the kill.

"You've been following us for a while now." Yoongi's raspy voice just barely reaches Jimin's ears.

"No one steals our stuff and just gets away with it." One says.

"Well that works out perfectly, seeing as I'm no one." The joke makes one of the men mad so he comes running at the grumpy man, making Jimin to cling tighter to the trunk of the tree out of fear. Yoongi, however, shows no signs of fear. He simply steps out of the way before the man can reach him, which angers the partner.

He pulls out a large knife, forcing Yoongi to turn his attention to the second man- completely ignoring that the first is now behind him. Jimin lets out a choked breath as the first grabs Yoongi so that he can't fight back. He steps forward to help the grumpy man, but is surprised to hear both the assailants start screaming. Fire engulfs their bodies, turning them into faceless withering shapes. The flames only stop after the men stop screaming.

So, Jimin thinks shakely, Yoongi's gift is fire.

"Are you so much of a coward that you couldn't join your friends?" Yoongi turns to him, probably expecting another one of the men, but his eyes widen as he sees Jimin. "Chim- what? What are you doing here?"

"Hyung sent me to f-find you. Are you al-alright?" Jimin says.

Yoongi assesses him. "You're stuttering. Are you afraid of me?" He says coldly.

"W-what? No! If I was afraid I would have run away! I doubt you'll hurt me, Hyung, honestly." The older man looks sceptical at Jimin's words so he steps forward into the clearing, edging around the bodies and closer to the other man. "It's time to eat, Hyung. Aren't you hungry?"

Yoongi stares at him for a moment. "Yeah, I guess. Hey, don't tell the others about this. They'll only worry unnecessarily."

"Okay Hyung." He turns to start back.

"Chim?" Jimin stops walking. "Taehyung told me that you said you were gifted, so why didn't you do anything to help? Before I burned them. It's cowardice if you have the ability to help someone and do nothing."

Jimin snorts. "You know, Hyung, not all gifts are dangerous to those around you." He turns to look Yoongi in the eyes. "Some are self inflicting."