The glow of the moon fell on Eden's face softly, illuminating her features like something straight from a renaissance painting. She supposed she should go inside now, since it was beginning to get really cold and she didn't exactly have proper clothes. But the night sky was so peaceful, so beautiful and still that she just wanted to bask in it for a moment.
After everyone went inside, Jin made a quick dinner and they all split off to do their own thing. Jimin and Taehyung went upstairs to play games on Jungkook's playstation. The latter stayed in the living room with Jin, Namjoon and Hoseok to watch yet another movie. Yoongi had turned in early, muttering something about not feeling well.
Eden felt absolutely fine though, so they knew he lied.
After that, she had slipped out the back door and sat on the swinging bench, just to watch the stars and calm her mind down from all the racing thoughts. Though the argument had happened so long ago, she was still so angry, and Yoongi's behavior wasn't helping.
Besides that, she was getting a bit antsy now after sitting like ducks in the middle of nowhere for close to a week. Namjoon assured her that Yoongi would tell them when they could go back, and that they were safe here, but something about it all felt... wrong.
She sighed and shifted so she was sitting on one of her feet, gently kicking her dangling leg to move the bench. At least here, in the dark, she could feel some semblance of peace.
"Room for one more?"
Jungkook's head poked out the back door, a curious and kind look in his eyes. Eden smiled and nodded, moving over so there was space for him to sit too. He emerged from the door with two steaming mugs, one in each of his hands. He handed one of them to Eden as he sat down, a hopeful look on his face.
"I hope you like hot chocolate," he said softly. "I figured you needed something to warm you up. It's a little cold out here."
She smiled and held the steaming mug in her hands. "I love hot chocolate," she grinned. "Thank you."
The two sat like that for a second, the sounds of nighttime and their slurping encasing them in a comfortable silence. Jungkook may not have had Jin or Jimin's powers, but Eden always felt comfortable with him. She definitely considered him to be the one she was closest to out of all of them.
She cringed internally. Was that wrong? Should she be closest to Yoongi?
"The moon is pretty tonight," Jungkook muttered. "So are the stars."
Eden nodded. "Something about the dark is just... comforting," she sighed. "I know I need to go inside soon 'cause it's cold, but I really don't want to."
"That's fair. I'll stay with you for a bit if you don't mind the company?"
"Not at all."
They swung on the bench for a bit more, sipping their hot chocolate and making off handed comments about the night sky and the rest of their crew inside the house. Jungkook told stories of when they were younger and just left Iphorus, having to blend in with the people around them in this realm. He did a good job at avoiding the obvious, managing to find everything but Yoongi to talk about.
"I'm serious." He shook his head. "Namjoon wore sunglasses all the time. So much for blending in, right?"
Eden laughed, holding her hot chocolate cup tightly to avoid spilling what was left. "No way," she giggled. "I would pay to see that."
Jungkook chuckled and drank from his mug. "He really was a different person 6 years ago. I guess we all were."
"Wow," she breathed. "You guys left Iphorus six years ago? So you were, what, 13?"
"I hadn't even turned 13 yet," he laughed. "I was just a lanky 12 year old who could barely control his powers."
Eden laughed at the image. "I bet Jin took very good care of you."
"Surprisingly, Yoongi was the one who looked after me the most. He's only 4 years older than me, but he acted like he could be my father. He was always doting on me and making sure I was okay. He even trained me."
Eden was surprised. They all really were different people 6 years ago. She couldn't imagine current Yoongi doting on himself, nonetheless Jungkook. She sipped her hot chocolate in thought, her eyebrows meshing together tightly. "How did you meet them?"
Something flashed in Jungkook's eyes, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Well..." he started. "It's sort of a long story."
"If you wanna tell it we have time," Eden hummed. "But if you don't, that's fine too."
Jungkook shook his head and downed the last bit of his hot drink. "No it's fine, I'll tell you."
He puffed his cheeks up and blew the air out, blowing his bangs up and off his face. "Okay. So. You know I'm in the Achitia clan, right? And Jin briefed you on how clans work? Well, basically, right before I was supposed to start training, there was a rebellion— really just a small protest but they called it a rebellion. The person in charge of Iphorus at the time was a complete asshole. He wanted to fully establish a hierarchy to keep his family in charge."
Eden stayed silent, sipping the last bit of her hot chocolate while her eyes stayed trained on Jungkook's face.
"He started ordering for powerful families of other clans to be killed." Jungkook swallowed thickly. "He wanted to make sure no one could get in his way."
"My family was really well respected in the clan. My dad was such a good guy, he trained so many of the kids in the clan and made sure they knew how to use their powers. He was supposed to start training me really soon, but..."
Eden reached over and put her hand over Jungkook's, squeezing tightly. "It's okay," she whispered. "You don't have to continue."
The taller boy shook his head. "It's okay," he breathed. He took a second to collect himself before continuing. "A few weeks later, I woke up to our house on fire. The smoke was all so thick, I couldn't see my hands in front of my face. I tried to get out of my room but the door handle was so hot it burned me. I started crying and banging on the door hoping it was just a freak accident and my parents would come for me, but they didn't."
"I guess I knew once I woke up that they were already dead. I didn't know what to do, so I just sat on the floor and waited to die too. But my door busted down, and a set of hands grabbed me and threw me on their back and ran out the house with me."
Eden's eyes were wide. "You got kidnapped?"
Jungkook laughed, the heaviness in the air disappearing as he did. "No silly," he chuckled. "It was Yoongi. He saved me that night. He brought me back to this... abandoned building, and everyone else was there; Jimin, Hobi, Joon—everyone. I was so tired I just fell asleep and, well, I guess the rest is history."
"Wow," Eden breathed. "That's... That's insane."
Jungkook nodded. "Sure is. I can't imagine what would've happened if he didn't save me."
Eden let out a heavy breath. Why was it that everyone seemed so fond of Yoongi despite his obvious assholery? Everyone admitted it, they all agreed that he definitely was being awful, but they still wanted her to hold out hope for the future— as though once he was comfortable enough to tell her his story, all would be forgiven.
"He can be... well, let's say he can be very not nice," Jungkook muttered. "But deep down, I know the good guy is in there somewhere."
Eden let out a dry laugh. "Are you gonna tell me to hold out until he's nice too?"
"Oh— absolutely not. Call him out on his bullshit for sure. Just don't give up on him."
The two laughed to themselves. Maybe Yoongi was being a complete piece of work, but he wasn't the only one she had to deal with. Jungkook, Jimin, Jin— everyone else made it worthwhile.
As she stared up at the stars, watching small clouds pass them by, Eden felt safe. She felt content, calm, and with Jungkook sharing the night sky with her, she felt loved.
******
To avoid having a 10 year age gap between Eden and Yoongi (which is fine its just not the vibe I wanted), I had to age down the members lol. Here are their ages:
Thats all for this author's note! How are you guys enjoying this so far? Feel free to let me know :D
xoxo
layerjoon