Desert • Flower | TaeJin || BOOK 3#

XL. Disturbing concerns

"Oh, that's normal. Jin has always been a liar" Jungkook shakes his hand with interest. "To this day, with everything I lived next to him, I'm sure I never really knew him. The only person who could say he did was my stepmother and Jimin. It was only with them that he stopped being so fake."

Even though it sounds terrible, Taehyung understands what he means. Jin acts without even realizing it. Cloaking his pains and insecurities under less decayed aspects to the real ones. As if it were possible to be more broken than he already let on. Taehyung bites his lower lip in annoyance. Seok plays with Kurimjanie or rather said, Kurimjanie teases him.

"But there must be some way for it to open right? Haven't you ever gotten it yourself?" he demands to know and Jungkook ponders for a few moments.

"It's nothing you haven't done yet: listen to it. Usually kisaeng are ignored when it's not a meeting where they are called. That's why they talk so much among themselves. They are left with so much to say. Both what they think about what is being talked about and how they feel," Jungkook says thoughtfully. "What more can you want from someone who has told you about their ailments? I doubt there is more to tell."

"It's just... he's so unclear."

"OH! NO!" Jungkook guffaws throwing his head back, Taehyung lowers his eyebrows and looks at him wrongly What's so comical about the restlessness that keeps filling him up!? "Not at all. You can't expect a kisaeng to be clear They are never clear! I tell you from experience. I've messed with kisaengs by the bucketload since Agust ascended the throne. Unless it's to ask you to shut up, they won't be clear."

"There must be a way I rarely understand what he means at the moment! It's convoluted, complex and almost-"

"Manipulative? Yes, it's the unofficial name for kisaeng. Let me explain the following" He approaches Taehyung to whisper in his ear. Kurimjanie crushes Seok without the earth dragon being able to shake her off. Unknown how it is so big and strong It's daytime! "The kisaengs are nothing but nobles and intellectuals trapped in a slave rank Why do you think that in every gathering of nobles there must be at least one?"

"Entertainment?" he stammers in confusion. Jungkook shakes his head.

"Because that single kisaeng can do the work of every politician in the room" Taehyung drops his jaw slightly. "Samsu are not taught so much because there are already many Haengsu, that is, there are many with permission to speak at meetings and so on. The better the Haengsu, the better it is to hide that they can win the game for their lord. That is why they choose some and not others. If you have a distracted Haengsu, you could end up in ruin."

"But how do you know that if they hide it?" stammers Taehyung in confusion. Jungkook points upstairs, looking through Kurimjanie. Seok notices the same for Taehyung. What he points out is Jin and Jimin talking in low murmurs as they move down the hallway, you can tell they are too serious and by lip reading, they manage to pull out that it has to do with Agust.

"Because while they seem to be talking about the clothes they will wear tomorrow, they are planning how to eliminate their lord's enemy. Fascinating, isn't it?" Taehyung nods dumbfounded. It never occurred to him to consider that this is why Jin is able to order the servants what to do or what to recommend to him at the time of a problem.

He thought it came from common sense. Why couldn't it be so? He doesn't know much about kisaengs and Lord Choi even commented it to him: how incredibly demanding Jin was and he was not allowed to leave the imperial palace much. Of course, having to favor someone else, who knows what would have happened.

To shut him down and squeeze him in that palace was to impede his intellectual ability to go out in his greatest strength.

"It has also been mentioned that the better the kisaeng, the better the child she will give birth to Didn't it ever strike you as strange? The emperor could look for dozens of kisaengs, women and young girls to become pregnant. On the contrary, he insisted that it should be Jin's" Jungkook remarked. "Then he wanted them to be from Jimin. The tiny little problem is something I don't even understand and only Namjoon seems to be able to explain it."

"The what. I'm impressed enough as it is." admits Taehyung with an exhausted and commiserating expression. He feels his mind explode into a thousand pieces from the impression.

"They're beautiful."

"And? That's not-"

"It's... It's everything Hasn't that happened to you?" he asks intimidated. "That out of nowhere you stare and think you could kill anyone for stopping them from touching that person so... absurdly beautiful."

Taehyung sounds his lips, how to say no to that.

"Beauty overrides thought absurdly" the general rounds up. "Deep down, they are possibly the most powerful people in the empire, they just keep them at bay so it's not so."

The lord is not sure if it makes him feel Calm? Satisfied?

~ * * * ~

She keeps her eyes closed, the glass casket open and a slight glow gushing from the girl who breathes with increased rhythm and strength. The pale tone of her skin is starting to fade and overall Yune looks better. Just with the small dilemma that she is still asleep. Soo pops out of her mouth and back into Jimin's hand, climbs up his arm and out of his clothes, playing and gurgling. Taehyung suffers a shiver. That was a bit unpleasant to watch.

"Any physical wounds inside her are already healed" Jimin announces, opening his eyes. "There's little more I can do from here on out".

"What do you mean, she's not going to wake up?" questions Jin worriedly. Kurimjanie leans on the edge of the glass, sniffing her.

"No. She won't yet," replies Jungkook. "From the beginning Kurimjanie was struck by the smell. A dragon of darkness attacked her" He makes known. Both Jin and Taehyung were unaware of what caused the damage to Yune to begin with. "Kurimjanie doesn't know how to do it yet, but when it's daytime and in order to become strong, they consume light. It is very usual that in illuminated spaces they consume it and thus grow. They are natural enemies of the light dragons because of that. They eat each other."

"But he just pierced it," says Taehyung. "How could it possibly do that?"

"Does it take more to devour such a small light?" counters Jungkook."

"I-in... What sense should I take that to mean, won't her ever wake up?"

"Yes she will. The lights may go out, but with the right impulse, light up again. After all, it is your soul that turns on that glow, not the other way around. The problem here is that his soul is lost. I assume his dragon is nowhere to be found. "Taehyung shakes his head. "Then that's the problem. She's not here."

Jin lets out a groan, bringing a hand to his face and trying to breathe, trying to find at least a bit of calm. Jimin gives a chuckle, arranges a few strands of blonde hair.

"She's still a little girl and it's so dark.... If someone don't call her how will she know to come back?"

Jimin holds his skirt so as not to get dirty with the dirt on the ground, full of vegetation that Jin has made grow. He withdraws without saying anything more than that. Jungkook wrinkles his face a little. It's dangerous to be with Namjoon for too long. Everything you say will undoubtedly become unintelligible.

Jin remains thoughtful, approaching Yune who is breathing slightly through her mouth. He takes her hand and squeezes it affectionately. Jimin and Jungkook are saying that there is still a chance for her to come back and that is all he needs to feel calm enough. Understanding better what he should do is next. A squeeze on his shoulder makes him turn around, finding Taehyung with a soft smile on his face.

"You see? She'll be fine." Taehyung gives him a kiss on the temple and Jin lets out a chuckle.

~ * * * ~

Not getting to sleep, Jin preferred to walk around the corridors for a while, checking for anything unusual. He sees Jimin asleep on top of Jungkook, the general hugs him quite tightly and confidently. They are dressed and Jimin lying down where he can hear Jungkook's heart. He imagines he does that to be quiet without Namjoon and his horrible snoring.

His journey ends on the second floor, sitting on the edge of the hallway and humming with nothing on his mind. His hands clasped together on his lap. The small sound escaping his lips stops when he notices a small, tiny spark between them.

"Keep singing this beautifully Yes? You're the only voice of the flowers that can be heard."

Jin gives a sob, closing his hands to his chest. This time, he can really save that light that makes him so happy.