DreamScape

PART 3: THE WAY GEMSTONES ARE MADE - X

"Particularly, I would like to draw attention to the two lives lost who belonged to fire-fighters: Kim Min-Sok and Daichi Kitajima. They died saving us, and we are eternally grateful."

Taehyung took a deep breath, knew it would be his turn to speak soon. He just hoped he could keep his voice steady, and so he let the anger simmering inside of him rise to the surface.

"The two terrorists," Namjoon continued, his voice quivering with fury, "these two bombers who targeted us, took much more than what they originally set out to destroy."

"They had come for me."

The crowd turned their eyes on Taehyung in a single movement.

"You may have heard of me coming out several months ago now."

He spoke with strength and fury, calmness empowering him, his eyes blazing. No one spoke, no one even dared nod at him.

"As it turns out, some people disagreed with that. They seemed to think my songs about loving yourself and opening up would poison younger generations... That my homosexuality would be a virus, contagious to anyone who heard about me."

The chuckle which left his throat was void of amusement; a dark toiling rumble.

"Those two people were murderers," he hissed, watching people flinch, smirking at them. "What? Don't want me to call them what they are? They are murderers."

By his side, Namjoon set a comforting hand on his back, pulling him back from the anger, silent communication reminding him: logic would fight this battle, not anger. He took a deep breath, and it rattled in his chest. Dissipating his fury, however, came at a cost. Unrelenting sadness and despair seemed to wash over him, attempted to drown him. He pushed it back with all his might, focussing on the script he knew by heart.

"They did this because they believed I was deserving of death for my love."

Another breath, he forced another in, despite the pain, despite his legs begging to run away.

"I have never hated others. Not when I was being controlled, not when I was being attacked, not even now. I do not hate them. Instead, I am heartbroken. For out there, I know there are still people who will think these terrorists had their heart in the right place."

One camera flashed, capturing the moment his eyes lifted through a glaze of angry unshed tears.

"And I am telling you, no matter how well planned you think you could be, no matter how small your actions, no matter whatever excuse you will think up to allow yourself to hurt others, you will never foresee the consequences of your actions. If you pick anger and retaliation, this is what will come of it: death and heartbreak. Innocent people hurt or killed, families crushed in the aftershocks."

Deep breath.

"I refuse to lie down and accept that these people will not stop. I will continue to walk this earth with my head high, spreading as much positivity as I can. In six months, I will be going on tour, so I may continue spreading that message."

The press rose to their feet with questions, but Taehyung wasn't answering any. He let his arm fall back to his side, clutching onto the microphone for something to focus on.

"We are not letting this ruin us," Namjoon took over, voice booming over the racket. "The movie will also resume it's course."

More shouts and questions, taking longer than expected to quieten.

"BigHit Entertainment will rebuild itself, moving forward into an age of acceptance. and with us we will carry those forty-six colleagues we lost. "