Chapter Text
Six Months Later
“Be careful, Jeongguk-ah,” Taeyeon said, patting down Jeongguk for the hundredth time. “You don’t need to be fracturing every universe to find them.”
“Take your time,” Minho said, a serious expression lining his eyes. “If you’re in a frenzy, everything will fall apart. Your mind will need to be at peace.”
“I will,” Jeongguk said, giving his parents a shaky smile but he was confident. “I’ve learned a lot, been taught a lot and I’m fucking terrified right now but it’ll be okay.”
“Remember that your time is limited in each universe,” Lily said, coming up to him and squeezing his hand. “The universes will do everything to kick out an anomaly. As soon as it notices that you’re not mixing in properly, it will force you to stay or force you out, more likely.”
“Call us if you need help, hyung,” Beomgyu said patting Jeongguk on the back. “We’ll be there as soon as possible.”
“I shouldn’t need to but I appreciate it,” Jeongguk said, grinning and shoving off Beomgyu playfully.
Beomgyu grinned back, but it looked pained at the edges. Jeongguk had to push any pain that he felt from leaving his family behind. Without his hyungs, their world could not function.
Jeongguk needed to go.
“Here, oppa, take this.” Tsuki grabbed Jeongguk’s hand and placed a small blue pouch in it. She grinned and said, “For when you’re in a pinch.”
Jeongguk smiled, squeezing his sister’s hand, and placed the pouch in his bag.
“Take care, oppa,” Solar said, rubbing Jeongguk’s arm, similar to Lily. “You’re powerful enough to do this. We need them back as well. Our family won’t be complete without you and your mates.”
“Thank you, Yongsun-ah,” Jeongguk said, gripping his sister’s hand. “I will try my best, I swore that to them.”
Taeyeon pulled Jeongguk into a tight hug, his small mother a force of nature with her hugs. Jeongguk laughed heartily, but his chest constricted with pain. He needed to get to his hyungs. Jeongguk found himself in the middle of a family group hug. His siblings groaned and complained as Minho squeezed all of them together.
It was too much at the same time and Jeongguk wouldn’t trade it for the world. Jeongguk broke himself free, checked his bag one last time for all of his supplies, tightened the strap of his harnesses, and nodded at his family, who huddled together as he formed a portal.
The portal was the same door he used for Euphoria, or their Magic Shop, the wood was lavender over birch wood, the Kim clan insignia etched into the middle of the door in black, and a whale right underneath the outward-facing trapezoids.
But the neatest part of the door was Jeongguk’s work, the rune he drew and Grounded onto the door. It was an intricate set of lines and shapes that drew out his intent for protection, love, and care. It was faded into the lavender-colored wood, but he could see it, plain as day.
“I love you all,” Jeongguk said, eyes tracing each of his family members.
He inserted his first courting gift, a key into the handle on the door. Because of course, the first gift he’d been given would be the thing that brought them back together.
Echos of love fell off of each of his family’s lips. With one last look, Jeongguk turned around, pushed open the door, stepped through, and didn’t look back. His family would wait for him. Jeongguk now needed to find and return the missing members of his family.
No matter what.
⇢
A quaint town by the sea was not somewhere Jeongguk expected to step out into. It was the first place the tattoo on his hand sent him.
After long hours of cultivating the proper tracking spell, Jeongguk could use his clan insignia to locate the soul of his hyungs. It was through countless nights spent in meditation, using a ridiculous amount of magic inside the Simulation Room, and combing through the thousands of books that the Magic Shop had, that Jeongguk was successful.
He had relied on nearly all the knowledge he learned in the past year and six months and his family members to be able to create the spell. His hyungs would be so pissed that he Ground the spell unto himself, but their bond was blocked. Ytris said it would block once his hyungs were so far away but he didn’t expect to feel what he did.
A numbness so great that it felt like he was missing a limb a part of himself.
Jeongguk was desperate to find them.
The pain of separation shattered something within him that he was scared to look at.
The wind blew steadily, warm and cool against his body, the breeze salty on his lips, and the sun hot against his skin. His magic portal had supplied him with the proper outerwear as he stepped out of the door.
Jeongguk found himself no longer in his favorite pair of boots and black-toned clothes but instead in bright yellow shorts, paired with a grey tank top, and blue flip-flops. Thankfully he had sunglasses as well or the sun would’ve been hurting his eyes.
It was very bright, very sunny, and wow it was ages since Jeongguk had visited the beach.
Where the hell was he?
Jeongguk had no recollection of where he was. It seemed like Earth, but he could be seriously wrong.
Wisps of laughter echoed in his mind as he thought back to the time his hyungs had taken him down to Busan. Wistfulness sat heavy in his heart. It felt like a lifetime since he’d last seen them.
Jeongguk tried to not think about the three months he was all alone at the Estate during the day, because he needed the time. But it was too much that his parents had all but forced him to come to live in the palace while they searched for answers that Ytris wasn’t allowed to give them on how to find Jeongguk’s mates.
Jeongguk closed the door behind himself, whispered a thank you to it, and placed the key back around his neck on the necklace string. He would let his magic guide him. His portals would lead to wherever one of his hyungs landed. Jeongguk had to trust in their combined magic. The tattoo on his arm warmed at his thoughts.
Jeongguk waved at the door and it faded away, gone from the wall as if it were never there.
The area was sparse of people. Only a few walked about, drove on the road, and entered shops. Jeongguk had some exploring to do.
After about an hour of grabbing some food, and walking down to the beach and pier, Jeongguk eavesdropped on the locals. Jeongguk munched on an ice cream sandwich and sat on a shaded bench near a park that bordered the beach.
There he had the perfect vantage point to listen in nonchalantly, blending in seamlessly. He even put on a pair of headphones. The area by the beach was much busier with boardwalkers, people, and families lounging and playing in the park, beachgoers, stall vendors, and a whole slew of people. Everyone looked human, he couldn’t distinguish any auras, meaning maybe this place was void of magic, meaning Jeongguk might have less time than anticipated.
But regardless, Jeongguk would not panic.
Panic would get him nowhere.
He took a breath and allowed his magic to slip out of him and form a grid as far as he could push it. Then he whispered a spell that would activate distant hearing and followed up with a translation spell. Namjoon had taught him the distance spell, knowing that Jeongguk’s preferred fighting style was long-ranged and he liked to take his enemies by surprise. Seokjin taught him the translation spell, something the vampire had built himself because he didn’t want to put effort into learning other languages.
Oh yeah, Jeongguk harped on him for quite some time about that.
“Sara said no? My god Jeesung is going to be so sad.”
“I know, Veronica had planned everything for them.”
Nothing of interest with the two girls roller skating past him.
“Lyra, come back here!”
A man’s dog had gotten loose.
Jeongguk shifted on his feet and tucked his hair behind his ear as the dog stopped running a few feet from Jungkook and waited for its owner. Jeongguk munched some more on his melting ice cream. It was perfectly sweet.
He closed his eyes and exhaled again, strengthening his search.
Jeongguk bounced his distant hearing from person to person, but no such luck. He brought his hearing closer and inspected the boardwalkers in front of him. He opened his eyes.
“Mei didn’t want to see me. Why will I try to see her? She’s the one that broke up with me.” A lady spoke rapidly on her phone, rummaging through her bag some forty feet away. She was tall, dark-skinned, with a curly afro. She stopped in front of a chili dog stand. “Dinah, absolutely not. I’m no-”
Jeongguk moved on, not wanting to intrude more than he already had been.
He landed on a man, a few inches smaller than himself. The man was on the phone as well, walking a fluffy white dog, his face was half-covered by a black medical mask, there was a black bucket hat on his head, he wore a black sweater, black shorts that showed his pink knees, pale skin, and he wore sandals. The man’s voice froze Jeongguk on the spot.
“When do I meet you? Tomorrow? No, sorry my daughter has a doctor’s appointment.”
No way.
Jeongguk would not believe his luck. He’d only just arrived. But… Jeongguk didn’t dare turn and look at the man. He was still some twenty feet away from Jeongguk. The man kept walking, unaware of Jeongguk observing his every last move. The dog was super cute and looked every bit like a fluffy cloud.
“Aish, what I have told you,” the man continued, voice low and gravelly. Jeongguk knew that voice like the back of his hand. The man spoke Korean in an accent that was similar to Daegu satoori but it also held traces of something else. “Okay fine. Mina has her appointment at nine but after that, Joon has her for the rest of the day. We’re switching days because I need to get some work done. I can meet you at two, the earliest.”
The man walked past Jeongguk and let out a breath.
Yup. Okay. He was doing this.
Jeongguk stood up, ate the last of his ice cream, and reigned in his magic. Jeongguk cast a quick dual spell over himself; a silencing and cloaking spell as he dumped the ice cream wrapper on the trash bin and hurried after Yoongi. At least, he was sure it was seventy-five percent Yoongi.
Yoongi turned onto the next street, where the sidewalk led back to the residential area and Jeongguk picked up his pace. He was no longer worried about blending in because he didn’t even register to anyone he passed, no one even looked at him. Yoongi tutted at the dog as it tried to sniff a piece of trash on the floor. The dog barked cutely and trotted off, tail wagging and Yoongi following behind.
Yoongi entered a coffee shop. Jeongguk dropped both spells on a whim and entered the coffee shop a few seconds later. He stood behind Yoongi, who was lazily thumbing through his phone. Jeongguk swallowed his sudden nerves and looked around. But what stopped him in his tracks was none other than Jung Hoseok, a barista taking people’s orders.
Jeongguk pushed his sunglasses up and schooled his features, taking out his phone and nervously tapping through it. With the help of Tsuki, he was about to enchant his phone for inter-dimensional traveling, courtesy of her lunar magic. Jeongguk didn’t know how her magic worked and would not question it.
If it worked it fucking worked.
Except…It seemed as if he inhabited not his own body, but the body of the Jeongguk that belonged in the universe Jeongguk had stepped into. Only because the phone wasn’t his and there was a wallet in his back pocket, he could feel it against his butt. He never carried a wallet anymore, due to everything being conveniently through his phone.
Jeongguk swiped open the phone and looked through it. But he was momentarily distracted as Hoseok greeted Yoongi with a bright smile. Yoongi replied in earnest, the corners of his mouth lifting as he pulled down his mask, and Jeongguk shifted on his feet, he was so close yet so far.
But these were and weren’t his hyungs, Taeyeon had warned him of this. Although it was one step closer to finding them.
Suddenly it was his turn to order and he was faced with a beach blonde, tanned-skinned, bright-eyed Hoseok, who grinned sunnily and asked him what he wanted.
“Iced strawberry matcha latte please,” Jeongguk said, automatically, tapering down on the wave of emotion that climbed over him.
“Oh, perfect choice!” Hoseok replied, a sharp cap in his mouth as he wrote on the cup. “Name?”
“JK,” Jeongguk replied, now watching Hoseok with thinly veiled fascination.
“Perfect! Okay, sweetness, that’ll be four dollars. We’ll call you when it’s ready.”
Jeongguk did not flirt back, as much as he wanted to, and paid with a tap of his phone, which surprisingly worked. Hoseok winked and waved him off, already attending to another customer.
When Jeongguk stepped aside, he looked up to locate Yoongi and found the man already staring right at him, with a look of disbelief. Yoongi had parked himself in a booth and the dog curled up at his feet. Yoongi’s phone was loose as he gaped at Jeongguk, his mouth parted slightly.
Jeongguk chuckled nervously and went to turn away to go to another booth.
“Wa… Jungkook?” Yoongi asked and Jeongguk’s world tumbled.
He looked at Yoongi, alarmed, because what the fuck?
“Uhm…” Jeongguk shuffled, awkward on the spot as Yoongi waved him over.
Jeongguk went because of course he did. He could never disobey Yoongi, not even in another universe.
“It’s been such a long time,” Yoongi said, not standing up but also not inviting Jeongguk to sit.
Yoongi had spoken fluent English, much like Hoseok had, which Jeongguk hadn’t even processed until two seconds ago. Jeongguk spoke in English. Yoongi had been speaking Korean over the phone but English to everyone else.
An onslaught of images flashed through Jeongguk’s eyes and he caught a few. It was the memories of Jungkook in that universe. Yoongi and Jungkook had known each other, years ago. With memories floating at the edges of his consciousness, Jeongguk squared his shoulders subtly.
He truly had to go with the flow here.
“It has,” Jeongguk replied with a nod. A vivid memory flashed. His stomach dropped. His voice got breathier than he intended. “Since college.”
“Right,” Yoongi said with a dip of his head. Yoongi’s eyes traced over him like he didn’t believe what he was seeing. His eyes lingered on his tattoos and his eyes dilated. “Would you like to join me?”
Jeongguk didn’t wait for anything further and slid into the booth across from Yoongi. Yoongi smirked but it was gone as quickly as it came.
“Sure,” Jeongguk said, grinning quickly. Before he could stop himself he continued. “How are you, Namjoon, and Mina?”
Yoongi didn’t look surprised that Jeongguk asked and a soft look crossed his expression.
“Mina is a menace at six,” he said with a fond shake of his head. “Joon is as bad as her I guess. I’m good, still working at Genius and Namjoon has grown RKive even more.”
Meaningless and meaningful to Jeongguk all at the same time.
“That’s lovely,” Jeongguk said, twiddling his fingers together. Another image flashed through his mind and Jeongguk’s stomach dropped. He and Yoongi. He and Yoongi were ex-boyfriends. Jeongguk held in his reaction. His mouth worked before he could stop it. “I can’t believe Mina is already six, it seems only yesterday that I heard you and Namjoon brought her home.”
There it was, that sad look in Yoongi’s eyes. It was the same look Jeongguk had seen before Yoongi broke up with him. No, not him but this world’s Jeongguk. And fuck, that hurt.
Off to a great start in finding his mates.
“Do you still have your herbal shop?” Yoongi asked.
A very vivid memory flashed through Jeongguk’s head. Yes.
“Oh, I do,” Jeongguk said. “Same place as always. You’re always welcome, Yoongi.”
It was as if Jeongguk wasn’t even part of the conversation. His body was doing the talking for him. Oh. He was stupid. So stupid. He was sharing this body, it wasn’t his.
The Jungkook he inhabited must’ve thought this was a dream, by the way, part of Jeongguk’s head was floating off, not focusing.
“Maybe I might,” Yoongi said, with a small, still saddened, smile. “Joon loved your tea.”
“I’d love to have both you and Joon there,” Jeongguk replied, but he hadn’t thought to say anything.
Jeongguk panicked, his body had worked on autopilot. Jeongguk forced his magic to spread through his body but no luck. This particular universe had found him and now Jeongguk was an observer. For a brief moment, Jeongguk observed ex-lovers rekindle a friendship that would not only connect two of them but three of them, ending the cat-and-mouse of misunderstanding and heartbreak.
Jeongguk blinked and gasped for air as he found himself flung out of the body and into a middle plane of existence. He was there but he wasn’t really there. He looked at his hands and he could see right through them.
The clothes he wore were his familiar clothes. He looked at the Jeongguk sitting across from Yoongi. Jeongguk had dyed bright blonde hair, a face devoid of piercings, but a body littered with tattoos, familiar and unfamiliar art. He talked animatedly and Yoongi smiled, still sad around the edges.
Jeongguk walked forward toward the table, wanting to get closer and try again. Yoongi’s eyes met his. Jeongguk stopped altogether in his tracks and his eyes widened. Yoongi saw all of him.
Yoongi shook his head subtly and went back to talking to the blonde Jeongguk as if nothing had happened.
Jeongguk blinked again and this time he was standing at a door. It was his door to Euphoria. Jeongugk took a breath, unhooked his key, and pushed inside, sadness and relief crawled into his heart and he left the world behind.
⇢
Jeongguk blinked, blinded by the sudden light. He lifted his hand and used it to shield himself from the light.
“Who the fuck are you!”
Someone shouted and Jeongguk was yanked down to the ground. His back hit metal, his eyes focused, and he groaned in pain. Blinking didn’t help him much. There were sleek silver walls all around, clanking sounds, shouting, shaking, and staccato shooting vibrations.
Someone turned and Jeongguk’s breath caught.
It was Taehyung.
Not his Taehyung because this one had stark white hair, wild green eyes, and in a thrown-together cargo outfit, varying colors of green. In his hand was a gun and an angry-surprised look on his face. It was still Taehyung, he had all his moles, the shape of his lips, the slope of his nose, and the tick of his jaw.
“Jeongguk.”
“Fuck,” Taehyung spat. He turned and crouched over the low barrier they were behind. From his gun, he shot lasers; fiery dangerous lasers . Jeongguk’s pulse sped up at the sight. Taehyung slammed back onto the metal ground glaring at Jeongguk. “I’m going to ask again, who the fuck are you, pretty boy? Are you with SYND?”
Jeongguk must’ve looked more confused than he felt because Taehyung clicked his tongue, stood up again, shot lasers from his gun, and sat back down.
“Right,” Taehyung said, flipping a switch on his gun, his fingers were quick. “If you dropped out of nowhere, probably the Academy. I’ll get you out of here.”
Jeongguk once again found himself going with the flow, and if he stopped a few lasers from reaching Taehyung as they stood up and ran (read as Taehyung yanked Jeongguk’s arm and pulled him with him), that was his business.
Jeongguk wondered where the hell he’d been sent this time. They ran through some other metal-lined hallways with people shouting and shooting at them. Up ahead, doors slid open and they ran into a hangar. There was a lot more laser fighting and hand-to-hand combat fighting.
“At the end of the hangar, the blue ship,” Taehyung snapped as he elbowed someone out of the way, shot his laser gun, and pulled Jeongguk along. Jeongguk looked where Taehyung mentioned, and none other than Namjoon was at the end of the ship’s ramp, fighting people off with not one but two laser guns. No, Jeongguk did not drool. “That’s where we’re going. Try not to get killed yeah? You Academy students are fucking priceless.”
Jeongguk didn’t know how much magic he was allowed to use, as per his last trip. But glancing around Jeongguk spotted some people using some sort of abilities. That meant this dimension had magic or something similar. Jeongguk didn’t have to use much magic, because Taehyung got them to the ship quickly enough, shooting anyone down.
Taehyung shoved Jeongguk and Namjoon forward and whistled for the ship’s ramp to close.
Jeongguk was corralled onto the bridge as Taehyung snapped and walked straight over to the cockpit, which was half a dome at the front of the bridge. Jeongguk had barely glanced over the ship as he was led through the halls.
“Joon, this is Jeongguk,” Taehyung said, throwing himself into the chair. “He’s a drop from the Academy. Jeongguk, this is Namjoon.”
Namjoon watched Jeongguk steadily, something alit in his eyes as Taehyung messed with controls. Namjoon had long silver hair, tied at the base of his neck. He had light brown eyes with clear goggles over his eyes, which were concentrated on Jeongguk. He was tall as ever and about as muscular as his Namjoon. He was dressed in combat clothes, pulled tight with buckles and there were wards in a language Jeongguk didn’t understand, etched into the lining of the straps on their clothes.
Wow, they were so very handsome. And wow Jeongguk could feel the powerful magic from the wards.
“He’s not, Tae,” Namjoon said and glanced over at Taehyung, his light brown eyes flashing gold. “You’ve brought us someone more than priceless.”
Jeongguk’s skin buzzed with the implication of Namjoon’s words. He didn’t say anything, preferring to watch how things would unfold. This wasn’t Jeongguk’s world, he didn’t have a say in how things would go. Jeongguk would most likely be thrown out of this world soon either way.
“Fuck, another Zip?” Taehyung sounded frustrated, his voice dipped deep into his chest. He flipped a few more switches and then the ship lifted off. A fucking spaceship, Jeongguk tried not to gawk as the window showed them lifting into space. Taehyung stood up and came to stand next to Namjoon, who was still eying Jeongguk with interest. Taehyung said, “Okay, you’re not of our universe, who are you then?”
Jeongguk cleared his throat, looking back and forth between them.
“I’m looking for people,” Jeongguk said, intentionally vague with his words. “They’re pretty special to me.”
“I see. Unfortunately, we are not of any help to you. I’m sorry, Jeongguk,” Namjoon said. There was a faint sadness in his expression as he regarded Jeongguk. “Are you by any stretch of the matter new to Zipping?”
Jeongguk scrunched his nose. “I don’t know what that is, but if you’re aware of dimension hopping, then that’s what I’m doing,” Jeongguk said. “I created a spell to lead me to the people I’m looking for.”
“What we call Zipping is what you call dimension-hopping,” Namjoon said and motioned for Jeongguk to follow him over to a table. Namjoon pressed a button on the side of the table and a hologram of a map popped up over the table. “This is a map of our known galaxy.” Namjoon pointed to a glowing dot, closest to Jeongguk’s side of the table. “This is our current location, on the Outskirts of the galaxy. This is one of the popular spots where Academy students are dropped during their Port drills. There’s an Academy outpost here on the next planet over. They frequently end up on C-H.”
“You’re saying words that I sort of understand,” Jeongguk said, frowning. He had yet to be kicked out of this world. Inside himself he felt it, there was something important he needed to learn. So he turned his full attention to Namjoon and gave him a look. “I am not of your world, yes.”
The look on Taehyung’s face flipped and twisted as if he’d eaten something sour. Taehyung crossed his arms over his chest and eyed Jeongguk. Namjoon eyed him contemplatively and calmly.
Jeongguk, after a moment, said, “Please explain to me what you’re getting at.”
“What I’m getting at is that the point at where you dropped next to Taehyung, is a point in time and space where Other-Worlders drop,” Namjoon said, pointing to the yellow planet hovering in the hyper-realistic hologram. “It’s the biggest reason why there are always fights there. We are what we call Retrievers, a bit on the nose but it’s what stuck. We are tasked to retrieve, mainly, any students that are dropped and take them back to an Academy outpost. Or if they’re Other-Worlders, we take them in or guide them to the appropriate planet. It’s quite unfortunate that most drop locations are in the midst of people trying to take over the galaxy. Hence, the laser fights.”
“We’re given descriptions of the students,” Taehyung said, mouth twisted. “Imagine my surprise when someone not on the roster shows up.”
“Caught up?” Namjoon asked right eyebrow ticked up.
Damn, he was hot. And damn, so was Taehyung. They were both so rough around the edges, something wild in their gazes that Jeongguk really wanted to explore.
“Caught up,” Jeongguk said, nose twitching and he thought for a moment before he said anything. “So, you’re used to having people from Other-Worlds drop in?”
“We are,” Namjoon said, quirking his lips, a look of something passing through his face. “Just not… familiar people.”
Jeongguk pulse leapt at that.
“You know me?” Jeongguk asked, a bit too eagerly.
“A version of you,” Taehyung said, still frowning and closed off. “Some time ago…”
“Took us by surprise,” Namjoon interjected, sending Taehyung a look. Taehyung huffed and walked back over to the pilot’s seat and clicked through some buttons. “But here you are or I suppose, here a version of you is.”
“Have you…” Jeongguk cleared his throat again. “Have you lost, the other me?”
Jeongguk wondered, about the life of his other self, living in this different world. A world where Namjoon and Taehyung were hardened by their hectic, space-led lives. Where Taehyung was more angry than happy. Jeongguk’s heart reached out to them, sad that he couldn’t do much to help them.
“In a way,” Namjoon said, cryptic with his answer, although he didn’t need to tell Jeongguk anything. Jeongguk could see Namjoon was battling something inside of himself, not hiding his feelings. Namjoon’s feelings were just above the surface. “You need to be careful with the universes that you Zip into. Some are more dangerous than Tae yelling at you and you dropping in the middle of a laser fight. I hope you find what you’re looking for, Jeongguk-ah.”
“Thank you, Namjoon-ssi,” Jeongguk said, giving Namjoon a small bow. “I hope you do too.”
Jeongguk glanced out the window, seeing nothing but the vast expanse of space around them. For a moment, awe filled him like nothing before. It stole his breath away and space itself called out to him.
“Do you know?” Taehyung asked, after setting the ship into autopilot once more and standing. He walked back over to them, breaking Jeongguk out of his stupor. “Do you know where you would go in the universe?”
Jeongguk stared at Taehyung, who was so much like his own and not at all, the feeling of longing was heavy in his chest.
“Depends,” Jeongguk said, licking his lips, testing his words.
“On what?” Taehyung’s eyebrows furrowed and he seemed even angrier at Jeongguk’s words, as if Jeongguk’s words cut deeply, as if they were doubtful.
Jeongguk’s heart hurt but he mustered on, the answer coming to him like a Spring day’s breeze.
“Depends on how Jeongguk would be feeling at the time he was lost,” Jeongguk said, pouting, feeling strange and right about talking of himself in the third person. “I know if I’m feeling lost, I go looking for those that mean the most to me. Or if I was stolen, I follow my instincts back to them. I’d go somewhere familiar. Right now, I’m not the one lost, sort of, but I’m the one trying to find those that were taken from me.”
Jeongguk wasn’t prepared to see the tears stream down Taehyung’s cheeks. Namjoon made an alarmed tone at the back of his throat and came over to Taehyung. He wrapped Taehyung in his arms and whispered loving and caring words into his ear because that’s how he knew Namjoon to be, no matter the version of him. Taehyung’s arms came up and clutched at Namjoon’s shirt.
Taehyung looked straight at Jeongguk, still crying. It cracked some part of his heart to see Taehyung cry and he couldn’t comfort him, because he didn’t know how to comfort this Taehyung, the one that wasn’t his.
“Oh,” Taehyung whispered, brokenly. His bottom lip wobbled. “Okay.”
It was jarring but Jeongguk didn’t have more time to process it. There was an incessant, warm tug at his tattoo, the clan insignia on his hand. He glanced at it. The tattoo glowed a lavender sheen, pulsing with energy.
It pulled him away.
Jeongguk’s brows furrowed but Namjoon and Taehyung weren’t paying attention to him, they were wrapped up in their world. Jeongguk turned around and took a breath, letting the sudden feeling guide him, and the door to Euphoria appeared. Jeongguk walked toward the door purposefully, leaving Namjoon and Taehyung behind.
“Thank you, Jeongguk-ah.” Jeongguk turned his head, just as he inserted his key into the lock. Namjoon gave him a small smile. “Good luck,” Namjoon said.
“Thank you,” Jeongguk replied, smiling back.
He stepped through the doorway, taking his key and leaving the strange world in space behind, feeling both lighter and heavier.