Fate

Together With You

Jungkook stares at Hyun-woo's grave next to his family and squeezes the flowers in his hand. The rain continues to slowly stop, so water just drips from Jungkook's hair and down his face. He takes a deep breath and leans over the grave, and sets the flowers down on top of the rocks. He drops his arm to his side, and his empty eyes fall to the bottom of the grave.

"You and Seul-ki always preached to me about how important it is to make connections and actually care for those that care about me." Jungkook grabs his chest and squeezes it tightly as it still feels as if it's being ripped apart, "Why would you leave me alone then? Why force my heart to open only to rip it apart?"

Jungkook closes his eyes and lets out a quiet cry but quickly clenches his teeth. He drops his hand to his side and lets out a shaky breath as a tear falls down his cheek alongside a droplet of water. He weakly turns and starts aimlessly walking through the meadow until he reaches the forest. He walks for a few minutes before his eyes land on a small white flower next to a rotten tree. He scoffs, and a tear falls down his face as he forces himself to walk closer to the flower.

"Why would you bloom next to something so ugly and dead?" Jungkook's voice trembles as more tears fill his eyes. He falls to his knees and brushes his fingertips against a few petals of the flower. His smile trembles as he desperately tries to hold back his tears. "Why didn't you run from me?"

Jungkook stumbles to his feet and turns to the side before he appears in Hanuel's room. Jungkook quietly makes his way to Hanuel's bed and crawls onto it, then slides right next to Hanuel. Jungkook lifts his hand and traces his fingertips against the side of Hanuel's face that glistens with tears. Jungkook weakly smiles and lays his hand on Hanuel's cheek and slides his thumb across it to wipe away the lingering tears.

"You should've run." Jungkook whispers.

Jungkook slides his arm over Hanuel and pulls Hanuel into his arms. Jungkook shoves his cheek against the top of Hanuel's head and takes a deep breath of the strong strawberry scent.

"Uncle Hyun-woo... is gone?"

Jungkook tenses up as Hanuel's muffled voice breaks the silence. Jungkook slides one of his hands up Hanuel's back and into his hair as he pulls Hanuel closer. Jungkook closes his eyes to hold back his tears as he hears Hanuel sniffle.

"Y-yeah. I, um, I..." Jungkook trails off and bites his lip. "He, uh, he had a bond similar to mine. He stayed for as long as he could. I'm sorry, Hanuel."

Jungkook's heart breaks as Hanuel starts crying harder and squeezes his hands against Jungkook's chest. Jungkook leans his head against Hanuel's head and holds him tightly as Hanuel cries for a long time. A tear falls across Jungkook's face as he takes a weak breath and starts patting the back of Hanuel's head.

"I know, I know. It's okay. He loved you so much." Jungkook whispers, and Hanuel shoves his face into Jungkook's chest.

Hanuel's cries start to get quieter until Jungkook lays in silence for a few minutes. Jungkook slowly leans back and flashes a weak smile as he sees Hanuel sleeping quietly. Jungkook moves the longer pieces of Hanuel's hair out of his eyes and then slides his fingers down Hanuel's cheek. Jungkook clenches his teeth and slides closer so he can put their foreheads together. Jungkook closes his eyes and lets his exhausted body fall asleep next to Hanuel.

Jungkook jolts awake and snatches Hanuel's arm as he feels movement on the bed. Hanuel gasps and flinches and stops sitting up to look at Jungkook. Jungkook quickly lets go of Hanuel's arm and sits up to study the room for anyone or anything.