Poking at his plate of steamed vegetables, Namjoon frowned softly. He knew that he should be in a better mood, but he had fallen into some thoughts lately that had him a little down. So here he sat, in a small diner with Seokjin for breakfast. It was just the two of them. They had breakfast together occasionally, having become much closer as friends over the past few years. Maybe Namjoon didn't realize how quiet he had become until he noticed that Seokjin had stopped eating his waffles."Oh, sorry. I got lost in my thoughts."

"I could tell. Is everything okay?" Seokjin set his fork down onto his napkin and gave his full attention to his friend."This isn't the first time you've gotten lost like this. If anything is upsetting you, you can tell me."

"You know, I admire your heart, Seokjin." Having become more comfortable with saying such soft things, Namjoon wanted to express himself more fully."I still struggle to understand love sometimes, but you express it so well, and not just toward Jimin. Everyone sees your familial love for Jungkook and Yoongi as well. You treat them as if they are your own flesh and blood."

Those words brought a small smile to Seokjin's lips."I've learned here on Earth that friends are the family that we choose for ourselves. It's a pleasant concept that I hold dear. I've accepted all of our friends as my family, even you."

"Even me?" Namjoon didn't fully know how he should feel about that. Part of him knew that he should be happy. After all, he thought that Seokjin might be the same for him too. He just couldn't quite voice his thoughts about family like that though."What of our families in Szarvoun?"

Now that was something that erased Seokjin's smile."Did we even have families, Namjoon?" The concept of a family wasn't really known in Szarvoun."We had parents who were fully subservient to the emperor. Does that count as family?"

Namjoon didn't know the answer to that."It seemed so normal to us. Raised by parents until we reached the ripe age to attend training then never saw them again. I can't even remember what my parents looked like. We were never children, just small nothings to be molded into machines of war."

"You know, Earth isn't the only world we've seen with such family structures." Seokjin stated factually as he grabbed his fork again."Do you remember Zorjato?"

"Of course I remember. I could never forget." Namjoon cringed as he thought of the people who had inhabited that world before the war that had raged upon the incubi invasion."Mating with a Zorjatan was the weirdest thing I have ever experienced."

A chuckle slipped out from Seokjin."It wasn't too bad. I was kind of into it, I guess."

That caused Namjoon to cringe again."Of course you would be into mating with a slime being."

"But that's not the point I wanted to make." Seokjin ate a small bite of his waffles before continuing."The Zorjatan had a family structure that was very similar to the people of Earth."

"I thought they were so stupid, you know." Namjoon admitted."They welcomed us so easily, even though we look nothing like them. It makes more sense to be accepted here because we blend in so well, but the people of Zorjato were literally large globs of different colored slime. We couldn't even tell the difference of their genders. Did they even have the concept of genders? We'll never know because we waged a war that ended in their extermination." Becoming upset at his own words, Namjoon pushed his plate of vegetables away a little."They welcomed us, and we killed them. We're monsters, Seokjin. They were pleasant, happy creatures. Their world had never known war. It was a world of peace, and we destroyed it. We were the stupid ones."

"That's true. We were stupid. We listened to a ruthless, power-hungry emperor." Seokjin wished he could change the things they had done, but he knew that wasn't possible."But you know who taught us more about sympathy and love than anyone else?"

Namjoon did know."Yoongi." Just their friend's name was enough to calm him a bit."He scolded me when I acted like a dumbass. He probably didn't even realize how much he was teaching us, but I know we each learned a lot by seeing the ways he interacted with everyone around him. I look up to him a lot as a leader."

"I think he makes a fine leader." Seokjin could definitely see Yoongi as the leader of their group of friends. He tended to be the one everyone went to with their problems. Though he would sometimes groan or whine, it was obvious that Yoongi liked to help his friends.

"You heard that, right?" a man outside the diner said to another, a small device held to his ear.

The other man gave a small nod."Yes. What shall be done?"

"Find that leader." the first man commanded."I'll tail the former collector."

"Yessir." The second man knew exactly how to find the aforementioned leader.

A dark expression came over the first man's face as he continued listening to the conversation between the two incubi inside the diner. However, he could no longer understand as they had stopped using their native Szarvounian language. Perhaps they only used Szarvounian whenever they needed to speak of things that they did not want this world's inhabitants to overhear and understand.

This man soon shut off the small device in his hand and frowned as nearby smells assaulted his senses. He could not allow himself to be distracted by sweet things. He had a mission, and he would ensure that it was a success. Failure would not be tolerated. This mission was important, for more reasons than one. The risk and reward were equally massive, and he intended to receive the reward of success. It was only lucky for him that he had overheard such a conversation with the mention of a leader, someone who would be valuable to them. Now he just needed to get a chance to face the former collector one-on-one. Tailing Namjoon would surely reveal such an opportunity.