Ride or Die

The Golden Crest

They lived together with their setup peacefully. Dara got more comfortable living with him, she got used to his environment, and she's happy.

One lazy afternoon, they were lying on the floor, the movie they were watching just finished. Jiyong moved and laid his head on Dara's stomach.

"Oppa..." Dara started, while tracing the tattoo on Jiyong's shoulder. "I noticed the crests pinned on your men's collars. What are those?"

"Hmmm. That's The Court's insignia. The golden crest with three stars. The crest's design differs, depending on their rank." Jiyong explained while still lying on Dara's stomach. He moved so that he's lying next to her, she pulled her and made her face him. Now they're on their sides, face to face.

"The ones you see on my men, the crest that has three stars with crossed swords, are the ones junior officers have. The subordinate officers has the same crests, only theirs has no crossed swords. The senior officers has the same crests as the junior officers, only theirs has a pair of wings. That's the crest of Seungri, Youngbae, and Daesung, also, Jinu hyung, and Sean hyung."

"Ah. So the subordinate officers has the plain three star crest, the junior officers has the crest with crossed swords, the senior officers has the crest with crossed swords and a pair of wings?"

"Yes."

"You? You don't have one?" Dara asked.

"I do. I keep mine hidden though." Jiyong pulled a necklace, longer than the conventional length so it ended up under his shirt, just above his stomach. He took it off and gave it to Dara. The crest is the same as the ones the senior officers has, but this one is inscribed in a circle, and the stars has embedded gems on it, red, white, and blue.

"You can only find this crest on the hands of the direct descendant of the Founding Fathers and their family. So my uncle has one, Victoria, TOP hyung, and me. There're just four of these in the whole world. Unless of course you marry me, there'd be five." Jiyong explained, he got the crest from Dara's hand. "These three stars has symbolism." He pointed.

"What do they stand for?" Dara asked, as she ran her fingers on the gems embedded on the crest.

"This red gem symbolizes strength, power, determination, and passion. The white one represents purity, peace, and goodness. The blue one represents loyalty, wisdom, intelligence, and faith. They said the gems also represents the Found Father's character. Which one is which, I don't know." Dara just stared at the crest. It is beautiful.

"You know, sometimes, this saves lives. Some people recognize this and they stay away."

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"Baby!" Jiyong called Dara. "Baby girl!" he tried again. "Dara!" with this, Dara closed the book she's reading and she looked at him.

"Why are you calling me baby?" Dara asked.

"You don't like it? I think it's cute. I will call you baby girl."

"Okay. I wouldn't answer though."

"That's unfair!" Jiyong complained. "Someone would be arriving later. They'd be bringing clothes and shoes for you." Jiyong informed Dara, who came back to reading.

"What? What for?"

"I told you we'd attend the Commemoration Dinner, right?"

"But I can't. I'm not part of The Court. I don't want to cause trouble."