IF THE DEAD look in Taehyung's eyes wasn't there, Yoongi would have thought the younger boy was okay.
He can talk normally. His breathing — a little erratic, but it's there. He responds to Yoongi's questions and is aware of their surroundings.
But the look in his eyes is enough to make Yoongi feel like there's a knife being twisted in his heart the same way he'd twisted the knife of his own first kill.
Yoongi remembers it vividly. A spy from The Other Side had tried to get to Jeongguk and Yoongi didn't hesitate in stabbing the enemy, twisting the knife slowly and watching blood pool out from the wound.
For a second, he felt accomplished, and then he felt sick to his stomach. His heart hurt — not metaphorically, but physically, and Jeongguk spotted the black veiny marks on his chest before he did.
Yoongi had begged, tears running down his face, for Jeongguk not to tell the others just yet.
And it was then that Yoongi realized his ability was in combat, in fighting, in killing, something he was scared to do.
How tragic.
He got over it. Not like he had any choice — if they were going to survive, he'd have to use his ability. He stopped crying over every kill, stopped staring at the black veins in regret. He'd numbed his mind to the pain he felt everytime he took a life.
He can't let Taehyung go down such a path.
"Hey, here, drink this." Yoongi hands him a little mug filled with water from a nearby stream. Jimin had gotten it for him as he'd requested.
While Yoongi and Taehyung sit, the others try to figure out a way to get past the large stone wall.
"How are your wounds?" Yoongi asks. The wounds from the day he'd busted Taehyung out of captivity wouldn't have been completely healed yet.
"They're healing," Taehyung says. His voice is strained, but that's just how it is now. An aftereffect of his time while he was being tortured. If Yoongi had gotten there sooner. . .
Yoongi opens his mouth to say more but then there's a large, sudden rumble, and the ground shakes. Yoongi wobbles and looks over, yelling, "Hey! What the fuck's going on?"
"The wall!" Namjoon yells. "It's opening!"
;;
HOSEOK'S SEEN A lot of timelines, a ton of different versions of himself and the boys.
A timeline where Namjoon is a superhero, a timeline where Hoseok is cursed to make the sun rise every morning. One where Jimin is locked in a cage, another where they're all angels, and another where Yoongi is a fairy.
And dozens upon dozens more.
Tons of things he decided were complete and utter bullshit, to which the older Seokjin, with slightly graying hair, had only smiled gently at when he voiced his thoughts.
The original timeline, the one that they were in before Seokjin got himself punished for time travelling too much, was a terrible one. Taehyung kills his father, Namjoon is in jail, Jeongguk and Yoongi are dead, Jimin is locked up in hospital, and. . .
Hoseok can't remember anything about himself.
Thinking back on it now, Hoseok can't really blame Seokjin for trying to fix things. Hell, he would try too. But Seokjin tried to play god— he tried to travel back too far and too many times and he got punished, taking the rest of the boys with him.
A large rumble shakes the ground and Hoseok looks up. People scramble and yell, trying to tell the others what was going on.
The large stone wall splits in the middle and opens slowly, the sounds of stone dragging against the ground reaching a crescendo. Hoseok steps forward slowly, squinting to see what was past it.
He was met with the sight of miles upon miles of dead trees. But it's land that Hoseok's never seen before, so it's something.
A figure makes his way out of the dead trees, limping.
Seokjin is first to recognize him, dashing forwards towards the boy, almost tripping over his feet.
"JEONGGUK!" Seokjin yells.
Hoseok runs after him, and so do Namjoon and Jimin. Seokjin reaches Jeongguk first and takes him into a hug immediately, brushing his hands through his hair and squeezing him tightly.
"You shithead," Hoseok hears Seokjin mutter, "it's been weeks. . . we all thought you were dead. . . "
Hoseok didn't, of course. He always knew how this would play out. Still, he can't deny that he's a little grateful Jeongguk's returned in one piece. They all hug him, including Yoongi and Taehyung who'd arrived to the scene a little later.
Hoseok hugs him a little hesitantly. He knows Jeongguk is— or rather, used to be— a traitor.
"Nice to see you again, hyungs," Jeongguk says. His voice sounds tired.
"You ass-hat," Yoongi mutters fondly. "Fuck, I thought something happened to you."
Jeongguk grinned, eyes half-lidded. "C'mon, hyung, we all know I'm too stubborn for that. . . "
"You need food and water," begins Seokjin.
"Namjoon hyung needs to heal you," Taehyung adds quietly. The veins on his neck stand out against his pale skin. Jeongguk seems to notice, but his eyes don't linger on them.
Hoseok pushes Namjoon forward, encouraging him to do his thing.
Namjoon rests his hands on Jeongguk's shoulders. In a few seconds, Jeongguk is looking less tired and sick, and more energetic and healthy.
"Thank you, hyung!" He says, his voice back to its usual happy tone.
The trees behind Jeongguk grow back, leaves green and all, and the 7 of them stare at it, surprised, before looking back at Jeongguk. An odd miracle, for an entire forest to grow back in the blink of an eye, but— they're all too tired to question it.
"Care to tell us what happened?" asks Jimin.
"The Other Side," Jeongguk answers. "Took me in the middle of the night. But I think that's obvious by now."
"And— wait, what are you holding?"
Jeongguk holds up a conch shell. "Found it in a lake," he says. "And I blew it."
"So that— that was you earlier?" Hoseok asks.
"Yeah."
"So the war—"
"It's over," Jeongguk says. His smile is contagious and Hoseok feels himself smile, too. Jeongguk may have been a traitor, but he certainly redeemed himself by officially ending the war.
"The war is over."
