There are no ordinary moments
–Dan Millman
The King was frustrated because his plan didn't work.
"It should've worked, I even saw it working on you, But Vante wasn't affected at all. He is useless and a trouble. I should-" The King was trying hard to control himself from breaking something.
"You must calm down and think about it. Maybe your aura isn't supposed to work on someone like Vante because he might be invulnerable to the things like that too. Besides, making someone trust you is never that easy. You've to really be good to him to make him trust you and really like you," Jimin said.
"Good?! Even though I felt like killing him right there, I tried my best to be good. Did you not see it? It didn't work!"
"It wouldn't work that way. If you really want to gain his trust then it will take time. You've to be really good to him for it to work."
"How good? Do you think I can do that?" The King chuckled "Why would I?"
"I don't know. Do you really want to be invulnerable?" Jimin sounded serious.
The King didn't react for a few seconds.
Then he nodded.
"Since you do, you've to be careful about it. Right now, it seems like there's still a chance that Vante will trust you. But if you mess up again, you won't get a second chance. There will be no chance left for you to get invulnerable again. You will have to forget about it."
The King frowned.
"You can take your time to think about it. But better decide something soon so you could act accordingly," Jimin said.
The King nodded. He knew he had to. He couldn't let the opportunity slip away because of his mistake.
"Ok. I'll think about it. You can leave"
"Ok," Jimin said and left.
He wanted to go to a place where it was quiet and for once, he really wanted to not think about the decisions he made or had to make because even though there was nothing he could do to change some things, he still felt regret and stress. He wondered how he could still do the things that mattered to him when he still had so much stuff to do.
He didn't know if Jungkook too was a busy person like him. It was surprising but it felt like he wanted to know how Jungkook did that, what his words really meant.
Because Jimin's life was never that bright or lively. He only had regrets, fear, and the burden of the decisions he had to make. He had no friends because had no time for such things, also, he didn't want to trust anyone for help.
He realized that the work made him so busy that he didn't even notice how he had been missing out on so many small yet important things in life. This time, he felt he should try to change that but it wasn't easy.
Recalling how he misinterpreted Jungkook and made him cry made him feel sad and guilty. He wished he could get a chance to apologize.
✧ ✯ ✧ ✯
Taehyung was wondering whether he was making the right decision to stay there at someone else's place and have almost everything for free, if he should really trust those people. And a part of him was telling him it was okay. There was something about that place that felt good, it felt like he should stay.
Hoseok entered the room. "Hey!"
"Hi"
"Are you ok?"
"Yes. I am," Taehyung replied but Hoseok felt like he had something more to say.
"Is there something you want to say or ask?"
Taehyung nodded, "Is there something wrong with The King? He was acting a bit strange before I left"
Hoseok laughed, trying to hide his nervousness, "No, it's nothing. He is ok. It's just that he isn't used to making friends. It must have been somewhat difficult for him a while ago but he was still trying. He may behave a bit strangely at first for the same reason."
"Okay. I get it," Taehyung said.
After that, he was still contemplating what to say to Hoseok.
Hoseok noticed it.
"I know what you're thinking. Don't worry. You're not a bother to us. The King made you suffer so he wants to make up for it. Also, where else would you go? It is not safe for someone to just roam freely. And, there are a lot of things I still need to tell you. Seems, like I've to be spend some time with you for the next few days"
"What things?" Taehyung was confused.
"I'll tell you. Firstly, you need to understand that you can no longer speak to The King like you did that day. His temper is not good. You've to avoid being impulsive and saying harsh things. If you just speak normally, he'll be good to you. I think not talking back will be much easier than roaming alone in this unfamiliar place. Can you do that?"
Taehyung thought about it. He really didn't know many things in that world and Hoseok was being good to him and only trying to help him so the least he could do was to listen to him and be cautious at the same time.
"Yes. I'll try," Taehyung said.
Hoseok sighed.
"Now, do you remember anything like 'aura' or 'Zeť? Have you heard of it?"
"No"
Hoseok had seen Taehyung exhausted since he was locked up. He knew Taehyung was invulnerable and couldn't die from exhaustion or starvation but he still suffered from it when it was extreme.
"Everyone must know about it. But since you don't remember, I'll tell you"
"Ok," Taehyung nodded, giving his attention to Hoseok. He was relieved that Hoseok wasn't doubting him.
Then Hoseok explained to Taehyung what aura was and how one had to learn Zeť to open or close the aura pores and manipulate the aura.
"Is that the cause of my exhaustion right now?" Taehyung asked.
"Yes. Because a large amount of aura keeps escaping your body and you don't know how to stop it."
"But I don't understand how those aura pores opened in the first place. I never learned Zeť, or the meditation and focus method you just mentioned,"
"That was one efficient method to open them but there's a second ill-advised way –semi-force. If someone hits you using their Zeť aura, it will release your aura. I think it happened when The King pushed you with force before throwing you in the dungeons."
For a moment Taehyung almost forgot that they were having a real conversation about him, it felt like he was hearing stuff from some fantasy book.
"That's interesting," he said.
"What?" Hoseok was surprised by the reaction.
Taehyung shook his head, getting back to reality, realized that he shouldn't react in a way that'll create suspicion, "Nothing, this new stuff seems so... new. But that's okay. What do I do about it now?"
Hoseok smiled, "About that, I'm going to help you, don't worry. I'll teach you the basics: how to manipulate the aura, so that you can stop the aura flow or generate it whenever you want."
Taehyung was confused, "Didn't you say it takes weeks? Do you have the time to teach me? Don't you have other work to do? I don't want to be-"
Hoseok waved his hand, "No, it won't take weeks. The basics just include releasing and stopping the aura, but not the manipulation of aura for fighting techniques. And I guess you'll learn in just two days since I can sense that you're a fast learner"
"Sense? How can you when even I don't have an idea?"
"It's my power I ca-," Hoseok realized what he said a bit too late.
"Power?" Taehyung asked as it suddenly reminded him of The King's question.
Hoseok panicked a bit then quickly told himself it was ok. Vante was going to learn about his own power sooner or later and that he just needs to avoid telling him before that.
"Yes, my power is that I've strong senses, that is why I work as a spy. Jimin's power is to detect lies, he works as an advisor for The King. Yoongi doesn't have a golden core, so he doesn't have any kind of power," Hoseok admitted. He knew how being that honest will be a great step in making Vante feel comfortable around him and trust him more.
Taehyung was surprised Hoseok told him all that but he also felt more of a relief learning information about things he didn't know before, like the Golden Core.
He was starting to accept the fact that people in Euphoria had powers. But then he realized that he didn't have one, he didn't even know how to tell if people had a golden core. It scared him.
What if he asks if I have a golden core? I do not since I'm not from here. What if he tries to teach me Zeť and I get caught? Should I say no to learning Zeť? But what if-
"How would you rank the three of you who in Zeť?"
The sudden question surprised Hoseok. But looking at Taehyung's curious eyes, he chuckled, "It depends on the level of skill and also the experience. If I'm being honest, I'll be the last, Jimin who is much more skilled than me will be the second, and Yoongi is first, one of the best."
Taehyung nodded. He just wanted to know what Hoseok had to say about Yoongi. Since Yoongi was mentioned, Taehyung felt relieved that people could learn Zeť even without a core.
"If you're ok with it, let's start learning now. It'll be better to start as soon as you can," Hoseok said.
"Ok," Taehyung agreed.
Hoseok started to teach him basic focus techniques and Taehyung learned fast.
It took him just a day and a half to learn to control his aura.
✧ ✯ ✧ ✯
Seokjin was done teaching the students a few minutes ago and was just sitting in the corridor, waiting for Jungkook. Jungkook had left saying that he'll be back but wasn't back for almost two days and it worried Seokjin. Seokjin even went to Mr. Jeon's house in the morning to see if Jungkook was there.
Mr. Jeon told him that Jungkook wasn't there since he went to attend singing classes. He also told Seokjin that Jungkook was back home the last evening.
When Seokjin asked Mr. Jeon if Jungkook looked ok when he came back, Mr. Jeon said that he looked exhausted and said that it was because of the practice and helping Seokjin teach some students.
Seokjin knew it was a lie. And since, Mr. Jeon had informed Seokjin that Jungkook will be back at the castle in the evening, Seokjin was waiting for him.
Within the next five minutes, Jungkook arrived.
Seokjin wanted Jungkook to speak something first but he didn't. So Seokjin had to.
"Why did you lie to your father? I mean I'd still cover for you but I should at least know the reason. You're worrying me. What happened?"
"Why are you worrying? Nothing happened"
Seokjin laughed, "You're not good at lying. And why wouldn't anyone worry when you go away for days while you're pursuing someone dangerous like Park Jimin"
"No, he is with dangerous people. But he is not a threat!" Jungkook corrected.
"So you really went looking for him again?"
Jungkook nodded. He could no longer hide it.
"I messed up. I flipped out on him, cried in front of him, said something I shouldn't and now he surely thinks I'm like a dumb kid or something. But he almost made fun of my feelings, called them childish I didn't know what to do"
"Maybe you think you messed up but crying in front of someone doesn't make you a child. And if he really made fun of your feelings, it's his fault too"
"I shouldn't have flipped out on him, should've just left. I feel miserable"
Seokjin patted his back, "It's ok. It's done. But it's not like it's the end since it seems like you're both at fault. You just need to talk about it and maybe apologize to each other when you get a chance"
Jungkook nodded.
"Since when did you start to give up that easily, get discouraged that easily? Just two days ago, you were so curious to see today's sparing but you never came."
Jungkook's mood slowly lightened up and he was getting back to his normal self, "No, I'm not discouraged. I was just sad but realized I just wasted time longer than necessary and even missed coming to today's practice because of it. Now I regret it. For the same reason, I won't repeat the same mistakes again. That's all I can do," he said and smiled.
"That's good"