𝐋𝐄𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐔𝐒 [𝐓𝐊]

Chapter 1

Angelus Custos

Guardian Angel

In Washington DC, 1950, being a nine-year-old boy with no friends his age could be depressing. But, for Jungkook Smith, loneliness was preferable.

Having an unknown condition that made him burst into tears or rants of rage was best managed when alone. He didn't have to worry about what other kids or their parents might think or say about him if it manifested in their presence. And, more importantly, he didn't have to worry about anyone calling the police on him for being weird.

Weird. Unnatural. A danger to society. Those people were sent to jail or an asylum until they were cured of their differences.

He was none of the above. Yet, his beloved parents told him to be careful.

Because of this unnamed condition, he was homeschooled by his mother, Juliet Smith, until he was seven years old. His father Arthur, on the other hand, began to do his own research on it with the knowledge he'd gained from being a neuroscientist after every doctor had failed to give them an answer. Every doctor except psychiatrists or psychologists.

Loneliness was the better fate. But he wasn't alone. On a good day, he would ride his bike from school to his old friend John's house where he lives with wife Mary. Then, after a long talk about the news or something different, he would go home, turn on the radio, and paint while his mother brought him a taste of whatever she was cooking.

On a bad day, however, his topic of conversation with John would fall back on how grateful he was for his parents. They could've abandoned him in a madhouse but they've refused to give up on him. Every chance they had, they would do something to benefit their family of three. And they would always ask him for his input on any decision even before he was as smart as he was now.

The reason he never felt abandoned even when he was lonely was due to his parents' love. His father who, as a man, was not allowed by the law to display affection physically with another male, hugs and kisses him just like his mother. She, as well, lets him feel her love through the way she keeps their home, but also the selflessness she displays whenever he has a tough day. Even when they wanted to move away from the urban environment, they did so only after asking him his opinion and they'd all agreed on the house.

Two weeks ago, a few days after he graduated from elementary school, they moved to Arlington, Virginia. It had been forty years since the Arlington Memorial Bridge connected it to Washington DC and this allowed Jungkook to be only fifteen minutes away from his old friend John and half an hour biking away from what will be his new school once August came to its end.

But what he liked the most was the woods behind the house, stretching far and wide to the west while it met its end by the east, next to the Potomac River. It was enchanting to him. And it was all his until the rest of the houses in the neighborhood ceased to be empty.

It was his to cry on, laugh, or rage in solitude or in his parents' company without anyone thinking he was sick in the head.

The night of the first of June after an unusually peaceful day is when this story starts.

Together, the three of them ate what his father had bought on the way back from work. The west living room was finally looking like they were settling in thanks to his mother and he was hoping to help her with the east side of the house a bit more. But that would be later. Right then, he told them all about his day.

They were so happy to hear he had a peaceful day that his father promised to buy him more books. He also told them about his new painting and how he wouldn't show them until he finished. Once they were done eating, he hugged and kissed them both and went to bed.