灰色オオカミ「Grey Wolf」

Phase 6

Summer 1924

Jimin's POV

Today was the last class before summer break. I kept away my books and walked back to the dorms alone. I heard everyone talking about their plans for the summer. "Where are you going for summer vacation?" "My dad bought a yacht, so we're going on a cruise." "Lucky...Wish I was going out to sea. Our summer house is in the highlands..." Summer vacation, huh? With just two months, I don't think I can go back to Korea... I want to enjoy the summer too... "There he is! Jimin!" I heard Taehyung calling me. "How about going to the Mediterranean Sea?" he asked me "Mediterranean Sea... You mean the Mediterranean Sea?" "Yeah. My grandma has a summer house there, and she told me I can bring a friend. As long as he's well-mannered, she said. So um... If you're interested..." he asked me. "Yeah, I'd love to go." I answered back. "H-Hold on a minute." I told him and walked to the library. "All right."

"This heat is killing me..." I was walking up nearly a hundred flights of stairs. By the time I reached the top I was sweating like hell. "There you are, Yoongi... Huh?" "No case to solve?" "W-Why would you ask that? I just wanted to talk to you—" "Then where are the sweets?" Yoongi cut me off again. "I don't... have those either." "You came up here without a single present? You're getting quite full of yourself, Jimin." "Wha—" "Bring me sweets from the world below! Until you find something that'll completely satisfy me... This is all I have to say to you." "Fine! I'll buy you sweets from the Mediterranean!" I said and went back down to pack my bags.

Yoongi's POV

"Hmph. The fools... They move about so cheerfully in this heat... But even among them, the award for the biggest fool of them all goes to Yoongi. It's too easy to see what he's thinking. He comes in here without a crime to solve or a present... On top of that, he was all smiles... It was so obvious that I didn't need the wellspring of wisdom to know what he wanted! He's such an idiot! Burning himself under the sun's harmful rays until his skin peels off...when...when he could've...been right here with me." I said out loud while watching the others from the windows.

Jimin's POV

Both Taehyung and I went to the train station to catch the ship in Heraklion for our vacation. "Hurry up!" he said as he quickly boarded the train and went to find our seats. "W-Wait a second, Taehyung!" "Mama!" I heard a kid say and ran to his mother. He kind of reminded me of someone. "Jimin, come on!" Taehyung said sticking his head out of the window. "I'm sorry. I can't go after all." I apologized. "Why not?!" "Yoongi is at the academy. I think Yoongi will be lonely with everyone gone. So... I'm sorry." "I see. What can I do? You're thoughtful when it comes to your friends, Jimin. I understand." "I'm really sorry." I apologized to him again.

"It's okay. I'll buy you a souvenir. And one for Yoongi, too! How about if I buy you two a matching hemp shirt and a dress?" he said. "A dress? I don't know... Yoongi always wears clothes that have a lot of black and white shirts..." I told him. "Huh? It sounds like she has an eccentric sense of fashion for a girl." Taehyung said. "Oh, he's a boy." "A-A boy?!" Taehyung screamed as the train took off. After the train left, I made my way back to the academy and found Yoongi rolling on the grass in the sun trying to read books while muttering to himself. "Sunlight... The words just go right through my head... This is a discovery. Even with a boring book...the sun has a... strong effect..." "What are you doing, Yoongi?" I asked him.

"J-J-Jimin?! Y-Y-You...! Weren't you going somewhere?!" he asked. "Here, a parasol. I bought it for you." I handed him the colorful parasol. "Never said I wanted one... You had to come after I found a revolutionary method of reading..." "Also, a package from Korea arrived at the post office." I told him while searching for something. "First, here." I gave him some candy that were shaped like a bunny, a rose. "Are these... precious stones?" Yoongi asked me. "It's candy. Sculpted candy." I said "And there's a response to your previous message to my brother. I don't know if you remember or not..." I said as I handed him a letter.

*flashback*

I was reading a book next to Yoongi. "Turn the attacking thug's strength against him... Like this! Use it to slip past his defenses..." I said quietly. "What are you reading?" Yoongi asked me. "Oh. It's a magazine sent from Korea." I said and showed him the cover of the book. "'Monthly Hooligan'." "That's a disturbing name." "As the third son of a Korean soldier, I mustn't neglect my daily training, even in the faraway land of Crete. After all..." I said. "This one... Is that a science book?" he asked.

"Yeah. My eldest brother is muscular, but my other brother is especially bright. I'm no match for either of them." I told him. He told me to follow him downstairs and went to search for a book. "Here" Yoongi said as he handed me a book. "What about this book?" I asked him "Tell your second elder brother to solve this within 5 minutes." "What is this?" "The idea is to use this horse to make one more 'running horse'." "One more horse?" "If he really is as bright as you say, this should be child's play." Yoongi said.

*End of flashback*

"It looks like this is his response to that." I told him. "Hmph ... looks like he took a lot longer than 5 minutes." Yoongi said. "Well of course, the mail was delivered by boat. Um... The white space becomes a picture of a horse! I see. Wow... You need to change the way you think to get this. How interesting! What's this? He wrote a note. 'This was really easy~ I got the answer in just three minutes~ Tell that to the little boy, he says.' That's odd. Both my brother and my older sister, who sent you the hanbok, seem to think you're a small child. Well, it's true that you look like a child..." before I could finish what I was telling, Yoongi poked me with the parasol right in the middle of my spine.

"Hey... Oh. Something's written in a corner of the letter." I said as I rubbed my back. "It's my sister Chaeyoung's handwriting... Our brother was so troubled over this puzzle, he had nightmares about horses. After some begging, his math professor solved it for him." "Well then, that means I win this round." Yoongi said proudly. "At any rate, these colors aren't very appetizing." He said and looked at the candies in his hand. "You don't like them? If so, I'll take them back..." "I'll hold onto them for now! But next time, bring me better sweets." "Fine. Sheesh..."

"Say...You aren't going back yet?" asked him after some time. He didn’t reply me back so I climbed up the tree. I looked down and saw Yoongi looking at me with amazed eyes, but when he saw me staring back, he turned his attention back to the book he was reading. When I'm with Yoongi like this... I feel a slight fondness for my brothers whom I'd feared so much. It's hot here in the summer, just like it is in Korea. But something feels different. Summers in Crete aren't filled with the cries of cicadas... laying down reminds me of korea…

*Flash back to summer when I was 10*

"Jimin is this fragile because you're not bringing him up properly!" my father yelled at my mother. "Please forgive me." Mother said. "You always do this... You shield the boy!" father said. "Please forgive me..." "It's all right, Jimin. Don't become like Father or our brothers. They're hairy, make a needless mess at meals, and have square jaws for no reason... I shudder at the thought of Jimin becoming like them! Don't you agree, Mother?" my elder sister said as she tried to comfort me. "Oh, Chaeyoung!" mother said while giggling. "Jimin should've been born a girl. Playing Dolls and wearing a pretty Hanbok... right?" "I'm not so sure... Jimin is always kind, no matter the situation. That's not possible unless one is strong. Jimin is very manly." Mother said while patting me on my head.

*End of flashback*

In my memories of summer, my mother would always take me under her wing... And yet, I left for Crete... I went to Crete to run away from everything... "I-I fell asleep?!" I sat up and looked down to see Yoongi staring at me. "W-What? You could've just called out to me." "It seemed to me that your useless brain was busy reconstructing some useless Chaos." He said and started to walk away from the tree. "W-Wait! Yoongi, your books..." he didn’t look back even once. "Your books!" I said again.