Arranged | Jinkook ✓

Chapter 24.0

Seokjin.

That was his name.

That was the person that Jungkook loved.

That was the beginning and end of everything.

...

"Where are we going?" He tried to keep the panic out of his voice. He did. Tried to keep it calm and even.

But it was impossible when he was being pulled through the darkness of the in-between space that separated them from the warmth of the present and the cold chill of the past. There was no way out. No where for them to go.

"Jungkook -" He couldn't stop it that time. Couldn't keep the fear from rising up. Because each and every single time he went to that place, more memories came - and he just didn't have time for that particular mental break down.

"Do you trust me?" It was almost shocking, how quickly the prince turned. How fast he went from leading them through the darkened, empty rows to suddenly being before him.

"Yes." He didn't even have to take a moment to think. Said the word without even hesitating. Because he did. He trusted Jungkook with all of his heart. "I trust you. With everything."

"Then trust me now." Rationally, it stood to reason that Jungkook knew this place far better than he did. Knew where he was going. What he was doing.

But unfortunately he wasn't feeling very rational right now.

"You don't -" Understand. But how could anyone? How could anyone ever understand the things he felt when those memories came? He didn't even fully understand them himself. "That's where he -"

"I know." Jungkook hadn't been there. No, it had been Taehyung who had been with him in his last moments. Had been the one to beg him to stay. To reconsider. "And I know you're afraid." He was. Absolutely terrified. So scared that he was honestly shocked he was shaking. "That you'll end up like him. That history will repeat it's self. But you have something he didn't."

"Yeah? What is that?" Besides for an entire life time of memories stored away within his mind, just laying in wait to play at the most inopportune moments.

"Me." Of all the things he had been expecting, that hadn't even been on the list. Yet that one single word seemed to sink into his very core, easing away the tension and fear that settled into every fiber of his being. "You have me."

It could be argued, really, that Jimin had Jungkook too. At least to some extent. Perhaps the actual difference was that Seokjin actually wanted Jungkook. Actually wanted everything that he had to offer. Wanted this life. Wanted to spend it entirely in the presence of his prince. Loved him so incredibly deeply that it felt as though he would die without him.

"You have me too." In all of the ways he'd never had Jimin. Had his mind and his soul. Had his heart. Had everything that he was. Everything he had to give. Even if it was only himself.

But that was all Jungkook had ever wanted, wasn't it? That one promise that had been whispered under flickering firelight. All he had to give was himself. And that was enough.

"Then let's go."

...

Wind blew in from seemingly no where, channeled through the deep canyon below, forced upwards until it hit them directly, sending shivers down the length of his spine. What he wore was poorly suited for what they were doing, the material thin and barely able to keep the incoming chill of winter at bay.

But they moved quickly. Down one set of stairs - there were eight. The thought moved unbidden through his mind, flashes of memories he didn't wish to see rapidly playing, as if trying to find the perfect one to torture him with. But his eyes had screwed shut, fingers clenching around the ones they were currently intertwined with, taking deep, continuous breaths until they were forced to fade - and up another, one that he didn't even know existed.