salt || jikook

twenty four

yoongi reached his hand to open the door to the apartment. it stung, like something shocking his hand and melting his skin off. it was hell fire to a much lesser extent, it was still painful. he swung the door open with all his force. jimin rushed to his side and looked down. he saw the line of blessed salt blocking the doorway. he didn't need to see the white grains to know his assumptions were correct, but now there was no room left to doubt.

"shit...." jimin mumbled, running a hand through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes. sweat was beginning to become more apparent on his forehead and neck. it began to accumulate on the collar of his white t shirt.

yoongi ran over to the sliding glass door, and looked at the ground through the glass to notice a similar salt line.

"they got all the entrances blocked off. check the rooms," yoongi said. jimin and yoongi sped to their rooms and back into the living room in seconds.

"all around the perimeter of our rooms beside the doorways," jimin said, scratching his head in thought, as he paced around the room.

"could i move it?" jungkook asked. he never dealt with salt before, even as an angel, he never used it as a tactic to capture demons. he hadn't ever even caught a demon in his earth time.

"i don't know, usually once all the lines are connected, it can't be moved while demons are within it. it slowly drains our life force to capture us within the salt, eventually killing us if we aren't released from it... on the other hand, it can only be touched by those from heaven, if you're cast out, it might kill you, but i'm not sure..." yoongi said, his expression still thoughtful.

"should i try?" jungkook said, kneeling besides the doorway.

jimin watched him with scared eyes. his eyes were basically asking "are you crazy?!"

"the minute it starts hurting, pull your hand away," jimin ordered. his voice was low and intimidating.

"we don't even know if it'll start burning, jimin," jungkook rolled his eyes. he inhaled a deep breath, reaching his hand into the small mound of salt.

jimin and yoongi watched in concern and anticipation. they clearly needed to worry about salt too often. maybe once or twice but in the end they could get away. they had no idea what the blessed item could do to a cast out of heaven angel. yet nothing happened. quite literally, nothing happened.
jungkook's hand was touching the salt, but the white grains weren't moving. it was almost like his hand was phasing right through it.

"well... it doesn't burn," jungkook said, standing up and dusting his hands off like something was there. "problem is that it doesn't react to my touch..." the words confirmed yoongi's previous statement.

"it's... getting hot in here..." jimin said, holding the hem of his shirt and shaking it to fan himself off. sweat was glistening on his forehead, his eyes fluttered shut. the demon flopped onto the couch not on purpose but because he tripped backwards onto it. his legs were becoming to weak to stand himself up. it was as if he was standing on jelly. he was almost giving up, giving into the fact that there might be no escape.

"sorry that i couldn't do anything..." jungkook mumbled.

"it's not your fault..." yoongi reassured, stumbling slightly. jungkook was quick to catch him and sit him down. due to the salt, yoongi and jimin have become weaker. the longer they stay within it, the worse their condition will get. salt was a common tactic used to trap demons. it was safe to assume the salt was the work of some angels. a thought popped into jungkook's head.

he set yoongi on the couch and then reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. yoongi's chest was heaving, clinging onto oxygen. his weak eyes looked over at jungkook who appeared to be typing on his phone.

"is it really time to be phoning a friend..?" yoongi asked.

"hold on," jungkook said, putting the phone to his ear.

"hello?" the voice on the other line picked up.

"taehyung," jungkook said in a menacing tone.

"what? is something wrong?"

"yes, something's very wrong, how could you do this to jimin and yoongi?!" jungkook's tone became aggressive, more than taehyung was used to. it wasn't something he heard often if ever.

"so the salt is working..." the voice on the other line mumbled.

"how could you say that... my friends are dying..." jungkook mumbled angrily.

"your friends? i you consider those vile—"

"say it again."

the call was silent for a second at the anger in jungkook's voice. taehyung sighed dramatically on the other end.

"listen jungkook, why don't you just repent of what you've done wrong? we can forget about everything that happened, the demons, all you need to do is confess to it and turn away."

"you know i can't repent, because i don't regret this at all, i regret letting myself be tricked by the lies of the council, the lies from clara," he said. "let jimin and yoongi go."

"i don't ever mean to hurt you jungkook, i hope you know that what i do is for the betterment of your future, i can't let them live, you might be exiled from heaven, but i'm still a member of the light, don't forget that this is my job."

jungkook grumbled under his breath, not meaning for anyone to hear. he inhaled and exhaled trying to make sense of it all. he needed a clear and unbiased thought. his glassy eyes looked over at jimin and yoongi, the two sweaty figures nearly passed out on the couch.

it seems like they were grasping on their last strands of life. the salt was basically absorbing their oxygen and their 'being' within it. not only could salt immobilize the demons in time for a group of angels to come and take them, it could also be used as a literal capture tool if the angels took too long to arrive. if jungkook couldn't quickly find a solution, jimin and yoongi might end up trapped with in the salt. then, they could only be released if an angel would allow it, and lets be honest, what angel would do that?

"dammit," jungkook said as thoughts raced in his mind. he was angry with taehyung, but he could blame his angelic friend, or... former friend? it was in his nature to do what is deemed the 'right thing.' he knew because he was once that angel trying to get those to make the right decisions.

jungkook himself wasn't feeling his best, but he pushed it aside to focus on the current bigger matter. it was still cold in the room, at least to him, which only added to the discomfort he had felt since he came back from heaven.

"jungkook, i'm sorry that you're hurt..." taehyung admitted. and it was truthful. he hated how threatening the younger 'angel' had become ever since meeting jimin. he hated the new anger he obtained through being protective of jimin. and how far he strayed away from their closely knit friendship not only with taehyung himself, but with hoseok and jin.

"if you're so sorry then fix this," jungkook said, staring down at the salt lines that trapped them in front of the doorway.

"i... can't... even if i wanted to, salt won't move at all if demons are still inside, that's why it's the most common capture weapon," taehyung admitted.

"then how the hell do i get them out of there?" jungkook asked.

"i'm sorry... i don't know... but you have an hour left before they're gone."