past

taehyung felt his feet move on their own as he found ahro and yeowool crouching in front of his room, fear and indescribable guilt clouding their visions. he wasn't exactly in the mood to have another pointless conversation with his best friends — considering that the last time they did, it didn't end very well — but he also understood that avoidance wouldn't be smartest way to solve their problem too.

so, when their eyes finally met, it didn't take long until ahro stood up from the floor and ran into his arms, tears already cascading down her cheeks.

"oh, taehyung . . ."

"hmm," he caressed the top of her head, letting her warmth surged through his veins. "it's okay, it's okay. there's nothing hyung and noona should be mourning about."

unwrapping her arms from taehyung's waist, ahro blinked her eyes to regain some composure, as she scratched the back of her neck and smiled. "yeowool and i want to apologise for hurting your feelings. we won't act impulsive again."

taehyung believed it.

or at least he wanted to.

because after losing too many people and too many things in his life, taehyung wasn't sure if he still had the strength to believe again. but at the end of the day, no matter how tiring and painful the wounds that circled his heart, all the forthcoming ruler could do was smile and pretend as if everything was okay. as if he was okay.

"no, don't be," taehyung shook his head. "if i were in your shoes . . . i would've said the same thing."

"and about your time-traveling journey," yeowool continued, a slight pang of worry underlying between his words. "can you-"

before the young eunuch could finish his question, one of the guards who was in charge of protecting the royal families ran across the quiet hall, fear clustering his expression as a loud scream from outside suddenly erupted through the room.

"what's wrong, shin?" ahro took over.

"h-he's back . . ." the guard spat in between his short breaths. "the enemy who poisoned our king is back."

present

"if we look at this photo, the collapse of joseon spawned the creation of the small kingdoms of the proto-three kingdom period . . ."

trying his best not to yawn in front of the guide, jungkook stole a glance at a very giddy hoseok and scrolled his eyes around the room, paintings and artefacts lining up before him. it wasn't that he hated the idea of going to an old history museum — in fact, this was one of his favourite places throughout seoul — but the fact that his mind was all over the place, didn't really help the contradictions that swam inside his head. 

it was as if he was drunk on something that wasn't even real. 

when hoseok finally realised that jungkook had been zoning out the whole visit, he tapped the younger's broad shoulder and flashed an encouraging smile. "hey, you're good?"

"y-yeah," he stuttered. "sorry, i was thinking about something else."

hoseok only nodded in reply, as if understanding that jungkook's nebula of stressors was only seconds away from blasting.

" . . . and after that, the three kingdom period later coalesced into the mightier kingdoms of goguryeo, baekje, and last but not least, silla."

jungkook felt his heart drop to the ground.

"taehyung," he lowly called, so low that he was the only person able to hear it. 

maybe this was the only chance jungkook could prove himself that there was no such thing as supernatural powers, magic, or the most logical, yet illogical of them all — traveling through time. maybe this was the only chance jungkook could prove himself that what he had seen by the alley was nothing but delusions. 

he still remembered how taehyung's body slowly vanished against the thin air, burning through every inch of his body . . . becoming a dust that was ready to evaporate. it hurt him so much to see the person he cared about sobbing like a whining child, as if the pain he was suffering from was so unbearable, he could only beg to the gods above to do something worse. 

but it wasn't like jungkook could hold him; saying that everything was going to be fine, because he knew it wouldn't. what was the point of loving and caring, when lying became a part of your routine? 

wasn't a white lie, nothing but a lie?

all jungkook had to do now was to find taehyung. it was always better to confront, facing the probability of being the most delusional man in the world, rather than letting his curiosity roam inside his head like a whirlwind of mortification. 

"the kingdom of silla developed tactics and weapons, including the famous hwarang horse-back warriors. then, starting as a chiefdom in the samhan confederacies, they created an alliance with china, eventually conquering the other two kingdoms . . . until their last ruler and bravest soldier of all time, king taehyung, fell during a war against the kingdom of goryeo while protecting his people."

"whoa, that king taehyung is so cool!" hoseok and another few students shouted, earning his attention in the speed of light.

"king t-taehyung?"

looking up to see portraits of silla's falling rulers and ancestors below the artefact, jungkook's doe eyes immediately widened at the sight of his hanbok man, dressed in his usual robe and long hair, as if he never left in the first place.

curiosity killed the cat, but sadly, jungkook didn't know where to begin.

CLIMAX NUMBER ONE! an early update won't hurt anyone, right?

votes, comments & constructive criticisms are always welcomed in this book :)