It was daytime at a remote place, deep in the woods. It was spring, the flowers were blooming and the sun was shining. It seemed like the perfect day to go out and have fun. And that's what Jungkook had in mind to begin with.
In his 14 year old body, he rushed downstairs in a hurry and grabbed a piece of bread from the table.
In return his mother smacked his arm away.
"Why the rush- sit down and eat."
Jungkook shook his head as he stuffed the bread in his mouth. Meanwhile Aimi who was sitting across him rolled her eyes at him.
"Mother, he won't do that. He's probably running off to play with his girlfriend Akila~"
Jungkook furrowed his eyebrows at her, angry. While Aimi took her tounge out.
Mrs Jeon sighed.
"Well, don't stay out too late. You know that you have that thing with Father Reiss tonight."
Jungkook's heart suddenly stopped as he heard thr high priest's name. It made him almost throw up as he slowly left the house and made his way to Akila's house.
Upom arriving there he knocked on her door and waited until she came out.
"Jungkook- you're here!"
Akila giggled as as she hugged him tightly. She was a beautifull young girl, with caramel brown skin and pretty blue eyes. Her long black hair reached down to her waist which got inside Jungkook's mouth yet again.
He softly puked it out before breaking the hug.
"You really have to tie your hair up-"
Akila giggled.
"But you said you like it better when it's down."
A tint of blush creeped up on Jungkook's cheeks as he averted his gaze.
He really liked her. She had this ameazing cheerfull personality that helped him go through his bad days. She was like his medicine; and he needed that.
"Say uhm... i found this big rock by the river. Wanna go see it? It has this really pretty moss pattern on it!"
Akila nodded with a big smile as she grabbed Jungkook's hand and let him lead the way.
Soon after arriving at the said place, Akila's eyes widened in shock.
"Woaaah- it's so pretty!"
Jungkook blushed, averting his gaze yet again. And Akila caught that.
"Hey! I saw that! you always look away when you're embarassed!"
Jungkook crosses his arms, unable to hide his embarassed face.
"W-what?! N-no i don't!"
Akila raised her eyebrows in suspicion before jumping on him and then pinning him down.
"Liar!~ but i like it. It just shows how much you like me back."
Jungkook couldn't say anything back as he looked inside her soft, blue eyes. She really waa pretty.
"You know... since i like you back a lot... let's do something."
Jungkook blinked with wide eyes, curious.
"Like what?"
Akila smiled as she leaned in to Jungkook's face.
"Back in Egypt, i saw people putting their lips together. It was called a kiss. Appereantly two people did it when they like each other a lot."
Jungkook swallowed. He didn't know what it was exactly supposed to mean but, it was making his heart beat faster.
"I-i see..."
Jungkook mumbled, which made Akila a bit dissapointed. He didn't even invite her to do it... but oh well she tought. She didn't need an invite to begin with.
So she closed the gab between them, by touching their lips together. The kiss was soft yet warm.
After a moment, she pulled herself back to find Jungkook with a red face and ended up rolling on the ground in laughter.
But that laughter was only to fade away the next day. He wished he knew that, that was going going to be his last time hearing her laugh.
It was all his fault that she died anyways... all his fault...
The sight of her lifeless body was still lingering in his mind, every time he closes his eyes.
Oh how much did he regret of ever having such a great power in his hands. How much he hated it.
Those toughts slowly faded away as he slowly opened his eyes to find himself in his room. He was covered in sweat and his heart hurt like hell. Always these nightmares.
He did hate his powers... thats why, after meeting Taehyung he decided to help him. To free him of his pain and past mistakes yet... he ended up hurting him again. He ended up breaking his heart and he would never forgive himself for that.
He hates himself for it. He hated it.
So he didn't want to think.
Jungkook quickly pulled himself up and went out to the hallway. He then saw Aimi from the corner of the door. She seemed depressed and sad, cooped up in her bed. It was bad.
After taking a look he went downstairs and took a seat beside Hansuk.
"It's 4pm. You slept a lot."
Jungkook swallowed as he poured some milk on top of his cereal.
"You're not even asking me why i skipped my lessons... something you know?"
Hansuk crossed his arms, shrugging.
"I do know that Aimi is in a bad condition and isn't in the right mind to do anything. So it would be nice if you stayed home and looked after her."
Jungkook nodded as he looked down.
"Hey... Han... can i... ask you something?"
Hansuk hummed.
"Was... was it my fault what happened back then? It was right? How i killed everyone..."
Hansuk hated it when he used that word. He hated seeing him like this.
"I know that you still put the blame on yourself. But it wasn't your fault Jungkook. You were just a kid who got brainwashed by the high priest and got used-"
Jungkook clenched his hand, feeling the need to hurt himself to opress his emotions.
"But i still could've stopped it... i have all this power in me and all i could do was get controlled. And now i tried to contain it- but ended up making the wrong choices because of my past mistakes and... and now because of me Taehyung is- i broke his heart-"
As tears fell down Jungkook's eyes, Hansuk's eyes widened.
He had never seen him break down like that. Not since Akila's death.
He quickly walked over to him and hugged his brother tightly.
"Stop putting the fault on yourself. You were just trying to do the right thing... noone blames you for it."
Jungkook shook his head.
"No- Taehyung does! I told him that i didn't love him... but i didn't mean it.... he- he hates me now.. i'm back to being alone again. And it's all my fault."
Hansuk squeezed his brother tightly. He didn't know how to make him feel better but he experienced the same thing once, so he knew how he felt.
"It's okay. There is still time to fix this- but if you can't love yourself then... you won't be able to love someone else. So stop blaming yourself."
Meanwhile, Aimi who was leaned against the door sighed. He heard the whole conversation and couldn't end up but start to cry. Just how much more did they need to go like this? Suffering from love... it was almost like a curse. This whole world was cursed. And it hurt... it hurt a lot.
𖤐𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝙰𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚢𖤐
Taehyung slowly walked down the stairs, and made his way to the living room to find his brother. He was the last person he wanted to see right now.
"Oh hey little brother. Did you sleep well?"
Taehyung squinted his eyes while raising his hands up to his chest, in a manner of protection.
"How could you do that? Baal was never a bad person- he was in love and you broke them apart."
Sungho hummed, sipping from his tea.
"True. But he was a manipulative asshole who used people for his own gain. Do you know what he did to me? He took my powers away- i am a mortal now Taehyung. I think he deserved it."
Taehyung's eyes widened as he took a step back.
"He... did that?"
Baal must've really been strong to remove his powers. No witch or warlock could ever do that.
"Yes! He did. And he took my vision as well on the way. Do you feel bad enough about it? Do you think i'm pathetic now? See- your brother got all he deserved because i WAS the bad guy in your eyes right?"
Taehyung swallowed as he looked down. He didn't have too much motivation nor did he have the urge to speak back to him. But for all he knew, he hated Sungho. He dispised him.
"Go to hell."
That's all he could say as he grabbed his coat and then left the house.
Meanwhile Sungho sighed, tilting his head down.
"I will anyways..."
𖤐𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝙰𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚢𖤐
Aimi sighed as she took a seat on the grass facing the lake. It was a nice spring day. Sunny but not so warm. The perfect weather for a... date.
She smiled before looking back down.
Meanwhile, Taehyung slowly approached him from behind and then took a seat beside her as well.
"You look horrible."
Taehyung rested his chin on his knees, sighing.
"Then that makes the two of us. Love shure is complicated."
Aimi giggled, brushing her hair behind her ear. Taehyung then quietly glanced at her.
"So what are you going to do? With... Baal gone.."
Aimi shrugged.
"I'm not shure. He promised to come back to me one day but... that's all about it. Heh... can you believe that we fell in love in such a short amount of time?"
Taehyung hummed. How long was it? Two to three months? Probably around the middle.
"But i guess that's the reason why my brothers are so distant to me."
Maybe.
"Are they?"
Taehyung asked back only to earn a sad smile from her.
"Hansuk didn't even talk to me after i came back. While Jungkook... he... despite saying what he said that night, he was very supportive. He was there to comfort me every time i broke down."
Taehyung's eyes glistened under the sun as he swallowes to repress his emotions from flowing out. Meanwhile Aimi bit inside her cheek.
"I... heard what happened between you two. I think i understand where Jungkook is coming from but... he was a bit harsh with his words."
Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows, averting his gaze.
"A bit- is an understatement. He said that he doesn't love me. It doesn't get clearer than that... so all that time all those words i said to him were for nothing..."
Aimi shook her head. She knew her brother well to see that this was not the case at all.
"Believe me, that's not it. I'm shure that Jungkook has told you about his past and... you must also know about his capabilites by now."
Taehyung didn't say anything, which literally translated to a yes.
"But... there must've been some parts he had left out. So let me tell you that part of his story. He.... used to love someone back then. Her name was Akila. She was one of the prettiest girls i've ever seen. She was wonderfull and had a fun personality. I remember that he used to run out of the house skipping breakfast just so he could play with her. Then our mother would scold him with a frying pan- hehe~"
Taehyung smiled slightly at Aimi's giggle. It shure seemed like nice times back then.
"But despite being such a cheerfull person himself, our church didn't allow it. Because of Jungkook's powers, they made him perform various spells on living subjects, corrupting his soul and flesh from inside out. Only our parents knew about this, so they refrained from telling us. And that's why we were soo late to find out about it."
Taehyung didn't say anything as he continued to listen.
"One day, the high priest of our church conducted an experiment on him. They injected him with a highly dangerous serum, stimulating his abilities to extend his power further. But when Jungkook rejected to it, things turned wrong. To trigger his powers, the covens respected ones killed our parents right in front of him only for everything to backfire. So Jungkook ended up loosing control and destroying our whole coven. Together with Akila whom he loved. After that he carried her blood in his hands- convincing himself that this was his doom to never love again. Because he didn't think he deserved it."
Taehyung looked down, feeling horrible. From Jungkook's side of the story it was a bit more censored. But after Aimi told him about it, he seemed to now understand Jungkook's pain.
"And at that time me and Han happened to be outside the village, gathering berries. We got lucky huh..."
Aimi looked down as well, reminicing at the old, unpleasant memories of the past. But as Taehyung placed his hand on top of hers, things just seemed a little bit brighter.
"I'm sorry for what happened... and i feel horrible at how things ended... how you lost the people you loved. I understand."
If she could remember, he had lost his mother right after birth. Altough she didn't know the details.
"Thank you for comforting me. But i'm older than you so- it's my job right now."
Taeyung's eyes softened as Aimi smiled as he pulled his arm away.
"That's why- if he said that he doesn't love you- then i think that he meant quiet the opposite. This is Jungkook we're talking about. He will come around eventually."
Taehyung looked at the lake, watching the reflection of the sun moove around the waves.
"I just... wished that he could've told me all about it by himself. Instead of going trough all of this by himself... he should've come to me.."
His voice was shivery and sad, to which Aimi felt sad also.
"What my brother did was an action reflectes by his fears. But when he understands just how much you love him, then he will come to realize his love for you as well. So give it time. That's all he needs."
Taehyung nodded, looking back down.
"And besides- you can have your fun while you're at it. You know... you're still young. Make him regret it- push him a little. We are all the devil's subjects after all~"
Taehyung smiled slightly while Aimi wrapped her arm around him and sighed.
"Maybe you're right. I should show him what he lost right?"
Aimi giggled.
"That's the spirit! And i- i can't go on being all brooding either! While i wait for my one and only to come back, i'm not going to let myself rot. Altough i've been having these random stomach aches..."
"Have you been eating enough?"
As they they continued to talk and have fun, they had long forgotten about their worries. They were still there, but for the time being, it was okay to let go of things. Life wasn't all about being consumed by emotions after all. And who knew, just like Aimi said, maybe this break was going to be good for them, altough it was going to be hard to believe.
But despite being all smiley and high in hopes, not a single moment passed when Taehyung's heart didn't ache like it was being stabbed over and over again. With every inch of his body, he was holding onto the love he had for him. And he wasn'r planning to let that go. That was his reason after all.
To be continued...