Made for Min | SOPE

seventeen | "he's great, isn't he?"

"I should warn you before we enter."

Taehyung kept his fingers locked on the doorknob. Hoseok arched an eyebrow, curiosity peaking at the sudden change in Taehyung's tone.

"They've probably already sensed your presence," Taehyung said. "Your scent. No matter what, stick by my side."

"What's this about?" Hoseok asked. When he received no response, he sighed defeatedly. "Fine. You can't leave me in the dark for too long, though."

Taehyung pushed the door open, and with his free arm, pushed Hoseok behind him. Multiple pairs of eyes shot the front at the door's opening, and Hoseok almost jumped in surprise at their sudden presence. Then, shouts began to erupt from the crowd, ones that began to rush towards Hoseok at lightning speeds— expressions filled with rage and fury.

"So this is where the glorious Prince has been hiding this entire time?!" Hoseok heard one of the shouts as Taehyung brusquely moved people out of the way. "Lounging around the comforts of the Purebloods' palace while we suffer the consequences of your actions!"

"That's enough," Taehyung's eyes began glowing orange, his hands slowly becoming engrossed in an ember flame. "Make way, or I will make you."

They scurried at the sight of the flames, though did not refrain from casting dirty looks and shouting profanities at Hoseok. Feeling overwhelmed, Hoseok remained silent, letting Taehyung lead him to the opposite side, where Yoongi was waiting for him. Hoseok watched Yoongi go, confusion evident in his features, though he turned to follow Yoongi through his eyes. Upon meeting Hoseok's gaze, Yoongi smiled and nodding once breezed past him.

Yoongi calmly strode to the middle of the room, and with a simple clear of the throat, silence fell the room, to which Yoongi smiled wider.

"Welcome to our home," Yoongi bowed slightly. "There are enough rooms in here for all of you. I would like to report the success of our retrievals, and while there were some casualties, it was not in vain."

Casualties?

Hoseok turned to Taehyung, who only nodded grimly. "Your father ordered invasion onto the vampire side of the city. They were forcefully removing vampires and tearing them apart from the humans that they lived with. You were aware that humans and vampires intermixed in the vampire side of town, correct?"

"Well, yes, but my father just stormed to the other side and started killing vampires?"

"Not just vampires, Hoseok," Taehyung answered. "He murdered his people as well. Anyone on that side of the city was instantly deemed a traitor. You understand, don't you?"

"Those were innocents," Hoseok whispered, his mouth running dry. "All of them were."

"Guess a father will do anything for their child," Taehyung smiled, though the smile never reached his eyes. "Either way, the innocents had to pay the price. Yoongi tried saving as many as he could, but for some of them, it had been too late."

"Yoongi?"

That's what made the most sense. Hoseok had been here four a couple of days— almost a week now, and this was the first time he'd seen so many species in one place. Is that why there were so many people— a mixture of vampires and humans Hoseok could now presume, given what he was told, here at the palace? Had Yoongi decided to go and try to save some of them from his father's wrath?

At first, he didn't think that he could truly accept that his father had done this, mostly because it would also mean that Seokjin had also participated. Even though Seokjin did have antipathy towards the vampires, he wouldn't raid their side of town, much less take innocents captive and killing them. It wasn't like Seokjin to do so. Hoseok didn't think his father was capable of such cruelties either, but it was hard not to force himself to open his eyes.