"Why are you just sitting there? We need to go."
Jin didn't look up at you. He continued to sharpen his sword, eyes focused on his work as the metal scraped against the rock.
"It won't be much longer until sundown," you said. "Are we going to save him or not? I swear to God, Jin, if you don't --"
"Shut up." He checked the blade one more time before shaking his head in disapproval. He scraped it against the rock again. "Wait."
"Wait for what?"
This time, he looked up from his work to smirk at you. "Wait for the right moment."
"I think immediately is the right moment."
"And that's why you'll never be a place of power. You'd rather run your mouth and follow your own ideas then look at the best way to control the situation."
You folded your arms. "I'm giving my honest assessment of the situation. You have a problem with honesty?"
He laughed. "I have a problem with you thinking poor tactics is honesty. Also, I have a problem with you thinking that honesty is a good tactic. You're built on reactions. Yujin was the same way. That's what got her killed."
His voice softened for a quick moment when he said her name, then toughened immediately after.
Before you could ask Jin's relationship to Yujin, someone burst through the door holding his chest and panting.
"Jin!" Jimin cried, his words forced through shallow breaths. "The Underground in the South. They've been -- huff -- they've been captured!"
Jin raised his head, with a flat expression, nothing revealing any sort of feeling, except for a glimmer of mischievousness in his eyes.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
Jimin nodded frantically, not speaking.
Jin pulled his blade from the rock and glanced at it for a brief moment before placing it in his scabbard. He nodded to Jimin.
"Prepare the horses," he commanded.
Jimin nodded and disappeared outside.
Jin smiled and scratched his chin. He gave a dramatic sigh. "What to do? I've been entrusted with a prisoner, but those under my command need my help. I can't very well leave them to die to protect our enemy... can I?"
He rolled his neck around to loosen it.
"You planned this... didn't you?" you asked.
He shrugged, smiling. "I didn't get this far by my handsome face alone, you know. Here, you're going to need this."
He held his arm out, a familiar dagger in his hand. The metal shined with a dark light now, weighing your heart down.
"You know this was hers, don't you?" he asked.
"Whose?"
"Yujin."
There was no trace of irony in his eyes. He inched it closer to you.
"Hoseok wouldn't have given this to you - on more than one occasion, I might add - if he didn't have faith in you," Jin continued. "He sees the past in you, maybe. But I also think he sees a promising future. So don't let him down."
You hesitated. With a long breath, you reached out and took it, the grip warm and familiar. You hid it in your robe, close to your heart.
"I won't," you replied with a whisper.
Jin took you by the arm, dragging you towards the stables. The camp was mostly empty, save for a couple of medics and their sick patients. As you reached the stables, a face you had nearly forgotten about in the chaos appeared in front of you, scowling in hollow concern.
Your wayward little brother.
"Where are you taking her?" he asked Jin, more of a threat than a question.
"Nowhere you can follow," Jin replied flatly.
He stepped to the side to pass Jungkook, but Jungkook only stepped in the way again.
"If it's about the emperor's men, take me with you," Jungkook said. "Leave Y/N here. I can help you destroy them much easier than she can."
Jin sighed. "That's the problem. You think I'm out to destroy. Step aside."
Jungkook fastened to his spot, eyes narrowed. You searched for any emotion in his face - anything besides the desire to prove himself - but found nothing.
It wasn't there. It never had been.
"Leave, Jungkook," you commanded.
Both of them looked at you.
"You have your freedom now," you said. "So don't waste it. I'd like to pretend you're doing this to protect me, but you're not. I can see it in your eyes right now. You're only thinking of yourself."
He looked surprised. "Y/N? What are you --"
"I don't have one good memory of you," you said, trying to hold your nerves. "I don't remember you protecting me. I don't remember you encouraging me. I don't remember you comforting me. Namjoon did that. I've realized... I erased all the good memories I had of Father because he spent so much time with you, trying to turn you into a good man that would take care of our family when he was gone. And I was so angry at him... because he failed."
Jungkook's eyes hit the ground for a moment before he looked back up at you.
You took a deep breath before continuing. "I loved you with everything I had, hoping someday you'd show some sort of compassion towards your only sister. I thought that us being the last living family would make you change... but it didn't. You still have no idea what family means, and I'm tired of trying to teach it to you."
"What are you trying to say, Y/N?" he asked, still emotionless.
"I'm saying you're a shit brother."
Jin scratched the back of his ear as Jungkook looked between you.
"I honestly believed you didn't kill those guards," you said. "I didn't think you would go that far. It was... my last hope. But you're still out for yourself."
Jungkook then took a single step back, laughing. "What do you want me to do then? Give up everything I've worked for to support your ideas of morality? You and Father are the same, you know that? Always preaching to others, while never having the backbone to actually get something done yourself. And even when you try, you mess it up. You're too caught up in ideals to realize the reality."
"You know," Jin said, his voice flat. "You say a lot of words for an idiot."
Jungkook's anger transferred to Jin, a look of defiance in his eyes. "You want to try me, then? Trust me, I have no trouble letting my blade do the talking."
He reached for his side, but suddenly stopped. He slumped to the ground.
It took you a moment to register his unconscious body sprawled across the dirt, and another moment to register Jimin standing behind him with a long plank of wood in his hands.
He stared at Jungkook's motionless body, eyes wide.
Jin chuckled. "I didn't know you had it in you, Jimin."
Jimin shook his head frantically. "I don't. I'm quite nauseous right now, actually. Did I kill him?"
Jin looked at Jungkook's body and put two fingers under his nose. He shook his head, stepping over Jungkook and pulling you with him.
"He's fine," Jin said. "Take him to the medic tent and tie him up. We'll deal with him later. We have people to rescue."
You didn't bother glancing back at Jungkook as you walked to the stables with Jin. There wasn't a good way to say goodbye to your brother, so you decided not to.
He would wake up. Maybe someday, in more ways than one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There are guards on the west side that change stations when the bells ring every hour. The east guards change 15 minutes later. The southern guards change fifteen minutes after that. And the northern guards change every two hours."
Jin soaked up the information you gave him in the best way he could: with considerable distaste.
"Can you offer me something other than that? Hardly seems like enough information to get in."
You grunted. "I'm not sure how to get in otherwise. There are only two gates, one in the north and in the south. But Namjoon only brought me through the northern one. I'm not positive on the location of the second."
Jin sighed. "You were almost useful."
Jin, you, and the "captured" Underground members hid among the trees of the forest, watching the guards change. The sun was starting to lower, not quite sunset, but getting far closer than you'd like.
"Murderers get three months," you said. "Namjoon had twelve hours."
Jin hummed. "Namjoon shamed the name of the emperor. We're lucky we got this much time."
Because of me.
Hold on, Namjoon. Don't die. Not like this.
"I'd love to storm the prison, but it doesn't seem wise at this junction," Jin said. "You have a different idea? You watched from the inside. What can you tell me?"
You shook your head. You watched from inside of Namjoon's house. All you could ever see were the useless things outside the dusty windows. There wasn't much else that was of any real value. No one went in or out without the filthy eyes of the guards on them.
Wait... Except...
You turned towards Jin. "I have an idea. It's going to require your persuasion skills."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOUNDTRACK: And Now I'm Empty by Danngogh
Wow! I got some great fanart this week, fam! Check it!
From @Kpop_Is_The_Best_1
From @NovChicana
From @GeliLuci
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