(3rd person POV)

When Taehyung had received the information about a foreign spacecraft asking for permission to board without being part of the alliance, he immediately strode towards a small hangar of the starship reserved for VIP spacecraft. Luckily the Major General was still sleeping and wouldn't be able to disturb him. The sound of Taehyung's footsteps echoed through the dark hallways, lights brightening up only in close proximity to him thanks to the motion sensors installed in the walls.

The old spaceship boarding in the landing zone looked sordid and broken, rust spreading almost over the whole metallic body and scratches and bumps scarring and deforming it even more. What rendered Taehyung rather surprised was the fact that it was still able to fly since it was an outdated version; its production having gotten stopped many years ago.

Taehyung stood upright, the black cloth, as usual, covering everything but his eyes. The black cape fluttered in the wind caused by the engines of the starship that carefully landed on the ground and stood there for a few seconds, making Taehyung wait impatiently.

Finally, the doors of the rusty vehicle opened, and the tall shape of a person appeared in the doorframe. Light softly shone on him and lightened up his features, showing off his elegant beauty that gave an impression completely the opposite of the ugly vehicle. When the person, whose eyes before had wandered around in the landing area in a searching manner, spotted Taehyung, a smile immediately formed on his plumb lips.

Taehyung walked to the spaceship with powerful steps, trying to maintain his façade and hide the insecureness that came up at the sight of his childhood friend. Memories flooded his mind, memories of him being a child when he hadn't needed to hide anything and always had shown his sincere feelings to Jin. Now the situation was different, but still, the inner child of Taehyung wanted to come out and excitedly run towards his friend for a hug, escaping all the pressure and restrictions. 

Seokjin descended the stairs, rendering Taehyung finally able to make out all of his handsome features that seemed to illuminate the room.

When they stood in front of each other, Seokjin suddenly pulled Taehyung in an unexpected hug. Taehyung's body went stiff in surprise, and the reaction of wanting Jin to let go flashed through him, but on the other hand, he certainly enjoyed being near to his friend; he desperately needed the comfort the hug was bringing to him.

With closed eyes, arms dangling on his sides without returning the hug, he counted five seconds before lightly pushing Jin away, signalizing that he didn't want to be engulfed in the hug.

Jin seemingly wasn't offended by the clear message since his lips continued to show a carefree smile, his eyes sparkling in a soft pink color, filled with warmth. Taehyung didn't fail to notice that the handsome thief in front of him still was slightly taller than him like back in their childhood days.

"Nice to see you again, Tae!" Jin exclaimed, his eyes sparkling playfully.

The glint in his eyes was still the same as years before, making Taehyung feel a wave of nostalgia washing over him. He wished he could travel back in time and spend precious moments together with Jin and his other childhood friends that had been like brothers, but sadly reality was hard and inescapable.

Taehyung tried to compose himself, locking his emotions behind the wall around his heart.

"Where is the gold?" he asked stridently.

"In my ship." Jin pointed over his shoulder towards the battered vehicle. "How are you? I've heard there's very much going on right now. You've already kidnapped over eight hundred species as far as I know."

In Jin's eyes, the playful glinting still shone, but in his voice laid a certain wariness. Taehyung squinted his eyes in suspicion at his statement. The mission of the SS Commissioner was a secret to everyone who wasn't part of the alliance, and the number of species that were held captive was confidential information. How did Jin know about all of that?

"Erm," he stammered confused, unable to gain his composure back, but then he shut his eyes, concentrated, and when he opened them again, the silver orbs were shining with nothing but coldness. "Just give me the gold, and nobody will figure out that you ever set foot on the SS Commissioner," he demanded sternly.

Jin sighed in a worried manner and turned around to walk up the stairs to the door of his spaceship. In the process, he motioned for Taehyung to come with him to unload the gold.

Taehyung was the son of General Minsoo and the commander and captain of his spaceship. Consequently, he only had to obey his father's orders. But Jin was still older than him, and Taehyung's mother had taught him to pay respect to his elders, so he followed Jin up the stairs to the door without complaining. Carefully, he put one foot after the other, afraid that the sordid spaceship would break if he placed one foot wrong.

Seokjin noticed the wariness of his childhood friend and watched how Taehyung got up the stairs.

"You don't have to be that careful," Jin grinned amused and jokingly rolled his eyes at Taehyung's wariness. He stroked over the rusty surface of the spaceship, causing rust powder to rain onto the ground. "This baby and I survived years together and withstood all dangers, and nothing has happened yet!" 

Jin let out a squeaky laugh that was oh so familiar to Taehyung and brought memories back of a time when he had been happy and carefree, when different opinions hadn't mattered because, in the end, every fight could be overcome by eating sweets and laughing together.

"Whatever," Taehyung mumbled and gave his best to keep his distant and cold persona alive, even if a smile was tugging on his lips upon hearing Jin's familiar laugh.

It didn't take long to unload the gold since both of them were Lucyndians, which made them automatically stronger than other species. When they stood outside of Jin's rusty spaceship again after unloading, it was time for them to part. Taehyung didn't know how to say goodbye and awkwardly and insecurely stood there, facing Jin, who blinked friendly.

Suddenly, like a few minutes before, Taehyung got pulled into an unexpected embrace. Jin held him tightly, putting all of his comfort and love for his younger childhood friend into the hug since he didn't know when they would meet each other again.

Taehyung was taken aback a little, but he didn't fight the hug and instead just stayed still, knowing that he needed the comfort even if he wasn't allowed to return it. Uselessly, his arms were dangling on his sides, aching to throw themselves around his older friend but forbidden to do so. Suddenly he felt something touching his hand, something cold, hard, and small that Jin put into his hand. The softly pink-eyed alien closed Taehyung's fingers around whatever he had just given him.

Feeling utterly confused, Taehyung looked up to meet Jin's soft pink orbs, wondering what the small thing was.

Jin's lips brushed on his ears when he whispered to Taehyung: "In case you want to get out of this mess and break free, open it. See you!"

With a playful wink, Jin broke the hug and went up the stairs of his spaceship with long, elegant steps, leaving Taehyung standing cluelessly and confused on the grey metallic floor of the hangar.

Before entering the starship, Jin blew a hand kiss towards Taehyung and shot him a smile. Then he disappeared inside the ship, the doors closing behind him with a metallic sound. The engines started to roar, becoming louder and louder, and finally, the starship with the silver-eyed alien's childhood friend took off.

Taehyung stood there motionlessly for a few minutes, trying to get behind the meaning of the last words Jin had spoken to him. He remembered the thing in his hand and brought it near to his face to get a close look.

The thing that was lying in his hand was a high-tech box, resembling a flash drive that could save enormous amounts of information, like coordinates and maps of the universe, for example.

Questioningly, Taehyung stared at the box he held in his hand and wondered what kind of information it contained.

But then, he came to the sudden realization that it shouldn't matter to him. Jin wasn't part of the alliance, and in that sense, he was an enemy. Taehyung shouldn't keep the box since it could bring harm to not only him but also the alliance or the mission. He had to destroy it immediately.

But for whatever reason, Taehyung on his own even didn't know why, he put the box into a pocket of his clothes, intending to keep it.

1488 words

Everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

I didn't give up on learning Korean (yet?) and I'm still motivated to finally understand what BTS are speaking about without having to search for translations.😊

Stay at home everyone, I hope you stay healthy and happy! I purple you!!!💜💜💜

Website link for the pic: https://www.deviantart.com/vattalus/art/Sci-Fi-Hangar-514401399