Young Gods | BTS FF

Chapter 32

"Uh, guys?"

Jungkook blinked out of his trance. Ares had shared with him memories of what had just happened.

Hoseok was staring at all of them, a confused and wary look on his face. "Did you all just collectively have a brain fart?"

Namjoon's eyes were wide. "Did they just-"

"They did." Yoongi said slowly, also in shock.

"Power of Hermes." Taehyung said, a note of pride in his voice.

"Hold on, guys," Hoseok whined. "Why is everyone acting so weirdly?"

"Wait," Seokjin paused, tipping his head curiously at Hoseok. "You didn't get the message?"

"What message?"

"The gods had a secret meeting," Jimin explained, a little awed. Then, his expression turned awkward. "Without your god."

They watched as Hoseok put together all the information. Then, his face went scarily blank. "Oh."

Anxious to avoid an awkward silence, Namjoon immediately updated Hoseok on what had happened. Personally, Jungkook felt a little fearful and was thinking about the same thing as everyone else.

What was Jaegyu planning?

"This is bad," Taehyung muttered, staring at their discarded UNO cards on the table. "Very bad."

"'Bad' doesn't cover it," Namjoon said grimly. "Even Athena doesn't have an explanation."

Now that was a truly terrifying thought. Jungkook should have expected it to be the case - for Prometheus to outsmart Athena, but the actual confirmation was like a hard kick to the gut.

"If we go in, we'll go in blind with no information," Yoongi pointed out, obvious worry to his tone. "Only our instincts."

"And our gods." Taehyung added, his determination unbroken.

Jungkook glanced quickly at Hoseok. He was staring at his linked hands with a furrow in his brow, seemingly not listening to the conversation.

"We can't just avoid him?" Jungkook asked quietly, silencing the room. He knew Ares would have his back no matter what, but his feeble 17-year-old body wouldn't be able to handle the war god's power for long.

He suspected - only now more sure of it after the battle - that it was the case for everybody else. Two or three days after the fight, everyone had been completely sore and were unable to move. If that battle had nearly pushed them to the limits, what about the coming one with Jaegyu?

There must have been a reason why he let them all go, maybe because he wanted to bring them more pain.

And Jungkook couldn't imagine anything more painful than the previous one.

"We can avoid him," Namjoon spoke, his gaze shadowed. "But will we ever live in peace after that?"

His gaze flickered towards Seokjin and Jungkook before it returned to his linked hands.

Jungkook imagined being paranoid for the rest of his life just like now. If that was the case, he wouldn't live very long because of stress. His hands were clammy and his heart was racing.

So this was Prometheus. He had cornered them all with his cunning. And now, they had no choice but to head blindly into battle.

Everytime Jungkook was with his foster parents, he imagined getting killed at a young age before he can even start a family of his own. Back then, it didn't scare him as much.

But now? He was terrified. He was scared for his life. He was scared that any of these people sitting around him should die.

Stop being so pessimistic. A sharp, rough voice cut into his thoughts. Honestly, you're such a worrier.

Taken aback by Ares' sudden appearance, Jungkook stayed silent.

You'd really think we'd let you all come to harm? Ares snorted. Hey, ever heard of the Olympians? Yeah, those super strong dudes from myth? They're real, and they're going to do their job properly this time. Protect humankind. And don't worry about the feeble body thing, I'll take extra care even if I don't like it.

Tha....nks? Jungkook thought, a little confused.

Yeah, you'd better show some gratitude. So chin up, scrawny boy, and sit back while we whoop Prometheus' ass.

Jungkook had to stifle a laugh. His heavy heart already felt lighter. He tried to imagine a reality where they all lived after Prometheus was defeated. One day, he will get married, and after that he'll have children. And Ares would be yelling at him all the way.

"Prepare. That's all we can do," Hoseok suddenly spoke up, fire in his eyes. "We are BTS, and we will make sure all of us head out of this alive."

"Because if you don't," Seokjin interrupted dryly. "I will smack you."

Several laughs broke out at this.

Jaegyu had cornered them all. But as long as they have each other, he would never break their spirit.