CRYSTAL EMPIRE | JINKOOK

TWENTY THREE

He looked at his body in the mirror, he noticed the bandage that covered his chest, wrapped to cover the wound on his lower back. Jin immediately thought that he would surely have a hideous scar from that, then he remembered that Jimin gave him a bowl of coconut oil that his friend said would help him to minimize the marks. If he thought about it, that was why he didn't have a scar from his first child. His body was still sore, walking was a bit annoying and he preferred to stay in bed all day, however today he could not stay in bed. He would never go back to that bed again... or to JungKook's arms.

It was about ten o'clock in the morning, the timing could not have been more perfect as JungKook had left for a meeting with the chiefs of small tribes distributed near the metropolis. He dressed in a tunic, put on sandals and covered with a black cloak, then he decided to go down to the entrance where Jimin and Hansol would be waiting for him for a light farewell. He shouldn't cry, he didn't want to, but feelings are very hard to control.

"You should ask JungKook for help," Hansol ratified unconvinced of the fabulous plan hatched by the General's husband and the young Spartan.

"I hope that, if you don't hear from me soon, then you will be the one to ask him for help,"

"How will we know if anything has happened to you?,"

"The soldier I will go with will take care of me, but if something goes wrong," which Jin believed was most likely "then he will return with my son,"

"Nothing will go wrong," Jimin asserted with a lump in his throat.

Jin did not answer, he only managed to hug them with all the strength his tired body allowed him.

That was the farewell. He entered the strange carriage where a soldier was waiting for them, he was wearing civilian clothes at Jimin's request so that nobody on the way would suspect. Their journey began.

In half an hour he passed through the brown gates of Athens and an earthy road welcomed him, but his wound did not allow him to enjoy the fresh air or the rugged landscape. He remembered how he arrived, in an equal carriage with guards, with so much fear and concern for both his life and that of his little Jungwon. When Lord Yoongi spared his life he never believed that the way to collect the favor would be to put a dagger in his hands so that he would assassinate the Emperor of Greece.

"I hope one day you will understand that I did not mean to harm you, but I also hope you will understand that I had no choice" Jin muttered.

He came to think that if Yoongi helped him it was because he caught his eye as a maiden, he believed that at some point the Lord of Sparta would think of taking him to his chambers, but that never happened which gave Jin peace of mind even if it was very fleeting.

"What would have happened between us had the story been different? Would you have allowed me to stay by your side as more than just a kompos?" Jin said to himself.

The carriage arrived in a few hours at the strait that connected Greece to what would very narrowly be an island. The sun was setting when they crossed through the where large ships glittered on the sea. The soldier suggested stopping at a small hut where they could eat something and rest for a few hours before continuing. The suggestion was something that Jin was infinitely grateful for as his wound was already hurting too much.

A woman with long blond hair and an attractive body attended them, that place seemed to be a restaurant for the sailors that arrived to land. The food, although expensive, satisfied their voracious appetite, and soon they and soon they were resting. Jin's eyes closed as soon as he finished eating, and the first image he saw was that of his son, that memory he had of the the last day he saw him, with his little eyes teary because of the fear of being abandoned by his father. His chest tightened at the thought of how lonely his little boy must have felt, how unprotected and fearful of all those strangers.

'Have you forgotten me?'

'Do you think I abandoned you, baby?'

'I haven't stopped thinking about you, Jungwon, I haven't stopped fighting to get back to you.'

'I knew someone, a very good man I've fallen in love with.'

'You would like him very much as a daddy, and I know he would love you too.'

But, the situation for his beloved to learn the truth was not the best. Misunderstandings and the few explanations allowed by the Emperor were the reasons that doomed their idyllic love story.

'I do not regret having chosen you, because although I have lost the man who made me happiest, I will be able to get you back even for a moment.'

At around ten o'clock in the evening they set out again for Sparta. Jin caressed his flat belly with melancholy, longing to see it growing for his baby. When he learned of the baby's loss he cried for hours, until the saltiness of his tears made his cheeks burn. He never gave it much thought when he stopped HyunJin from harming JungKook, he only saw fit to save him as an act of retribution and apology. It was a mistake to do so without thinking first that his son's life was in danger, but adrenaline and fear-driven impulses are as dangerous as that same sword that was inserted into his side.

'You were going to have a brother'

The past sounded painful, devoid of any hint of joy.

The chill of the night chilled his bones, he grabbed a woolen blanket the soldier had brought with him and covered himself with the blanket preventing his body from continuing to shiver like a leaf in the midst of a blizzard.

'What are you doing now, JungKook?'

'Are you with Taehyung?' 

'When you're with him do you think about me?'

'Have you made love to him like you used to make love to me?'

He didn't really want to know the answers to those tormenting questions, but he could at least think of them to somehow reduce his anxiety to know.

'Do you love him like you used to love me?'

Jin was unaware that no two people could be loved in the same way or with the same intensity, at least not at the same time.intensity, not at the same time at least. And the little maiden begged one day to be the only one, or at least the one now, even if little or nothing succeeded in settling for the crumbs of a love he longed for vehemently.

'Do you miss me?'

In Greece, JungKool returned to his palace late at night, and was surprised not to find Jin in his room, he looked for him with one of the maids who told him that he had gone to spend the night at Jimin's house. However, something there seemed very strange to him, and a bad feeling ran through his body as he imagined an unfavorable scenario.

"You wouldn't leave me, SeokJin, would you?" muttered JungKook in despair at not finding the little boy.