SOMETHING RUSTLES IN the night, and Yoongi is on alert immediately.
He and the kids had set up camp as best they could in a small clearing in the forest. They were all asleep on the ground, no blankets or mattresses, but they were alive.
Yoongi doesn't sleep.
Instead, every few minutes, he counts the kids.
28. There are 28.
He keeps counting. If he ever misses a kid, he panics and begins counting again until the number is 28 again.
His counting was interrupted by a rustle in a bush. Yoongi turns quickly, hand already on the knife he has hidden in his belt.
Just in time, too, for the hidden person jumps out from behind a tree and tries to stab him.
Yoongi screams. Not because he's afraid, but to wake the kids.
And they're up, yelling in fear and backing away as far as possible but never leaving the scene completely.
The enemy's knife is inches away from Yoongi's heart as they wrestle, Yoongi on the ground with the enemy attempting to kill him on top.
Yoongi feels the knife in his arm but doesn't scream, because when the man went to stab him, he opened up an area for Yoongi to get an upper hand. Yoongi drives the knife into his stomach, and the man dies on top of him rather quickly.
Groaning, Yoongi pushes the body off of him. His previously white clothes are soaked in blood that both is and isn't his own.
As Yoongi stands up and sheathes his knife, he turns to the kids, who were all cowering away from him, afraid.
"Oh, grow the hell up!" Yoongi scoffs, wringing blood out of his shirt. "You're all afraid of me now, huh? What do you think I'll do? Kill you, too?"
His words are harsh, sharp, and the kids wince at every sentence.
"We're going to keep moving. I have no way to fix this damn wound and I'll die from blood loss in a few hours. If I die, you're all done for. Wakey wakey, rise and fucking shine, get a move on."
Yoongi turns and walks away, heading back to their base camp. He knows the kids are following him— all 28 of them. They have no choice.
His arm aches with every movement and Yoongi bites down on his lip to stop himself from letting out a noise of weakness. The knife is still in his upper arm — Yoongi won't risk taking it out, because that'll just cause more blood loss, and he'll die faster.
He has to get these kids to safety. Dying can come later.
The war had hardened Yoongi. And that was good. He wouldn't have survived otherwise.
Seeing all these kids being afraid and unsure made him angry. At the world, at the enemy, at himself. There was no time to be scared.
It's kill or be killed, and, at this point, Yoongi doesn't mind either.
;;
HOSEOK HAS NO remorse as he watches Jeongguk bleed on the ground. There's a crow sitting on his shoulder, and, carelessly, Hoseok throws a knife into the crow's chest.
The crow disappears, like evaporation, taking the knife with it. It was a spy for The Other Side.
If they know Jeongguk is here, the war begins again, right after it ended.
Jeongguk is the key. The last piece of the puzzle.
A traitor to both sides.
Hoseok knows this. Seokjin from the other timeline, the wiser one, told him. Told him that Jeongguk was from The Other Side, but then his loyalties switched and he truly sided with BANGTAN.
Yet Hoseok still holds him guilty. This war started because The Other Side wanted Jeongguk back, and it ended because they finally got ahold of him.
And, though they likely know that Jeongguk has escaped, they can't start another battle. Neither of the sides have enough resources, or people, or drive.
Everyone is tired.
Hoseok included.
Jeongguk's eyes are closed and, painfully, Hoseok is reminded of the times he used to stay with Jeongguk until he fell asleep, Jeongguk's head in his lap as Hoseok played with his hair.
Hoseok kneels down, brushing Jeongguk's hair out of his face.
"Oh, Guk. . ." His eyes trail to the wound on his shoulder before back to his face. ". . .what have we done?"
This world has fallen to pieces, and it took us with it.
Hoseok can't help Jeongguk, or it would risk everything. Jeongguk has to find his path on his own.
Hoseok stands, giving one last glance at Jeongguk before turning and heading away, never looking back.
