Omens Between Gods

十二

Before Yoongi knew it, the slaves were already bringing out the final course of the feast, the dessert. The slightest feeling of disappointment filled Yoongi at the thought of this feast being over. The only thing making the feast in the slightest enjoyable is the male sitting across from him. Although it was his first time meeting Taehyung, it was one of the first times a god treated him with any form of kindness. It was unusual but nice, more than nice.

For the first time in a long time, Yoongi felt normal. Just talking to Taehyung made him feel like less of an outcast and more like everybody else, someone that mattered. The slaves placed a Nian Gao, a famous Chinese dessert, in front of us. The small round dessert smelled and looked delicious. The dessert's faint taste of caramel and vanilla made the whole sticky rice cake taste divine. Yoongi wasn't the only one who seemed to enjoy the taste of the delicacy. Taehyung had a look of pure joy, almost shoving the treat down his throat.

"You really like this dessert, don't you?" Yoongi asked, generally curious about his new friend. Taehyung looked up, meeting him in the eyes, frozen in embarrassment, a bit of the Nian Gao poking out of his mouth. Yoongi couldn't help but laugh at how Taehyung looked with his mouth stuffed full of the delicious dessert.

Yoongi's laugh traveled through the air, and although it had been a relatively quiet laugh compared to the other loud conversations occurring, the noise caught the attention of a handful of the other gods.

Seokjin turned his head towards the direction of the soft laughter, pausing when he saw it was the night god who was making such a delighted noise. What got Seokjin's attention was who the night god was laughing at, Kim Taehyung. The male definitely looked better than before, no longer covered in blood. Seokjin felt bad for Taehyung, who most definitely was upset about being placed further down the table, but it was merely a precautionary measure. The fight before had freaked a bunch of gods out, and the only way to keep the celestial peaceful was to separate the two gods. Considering that Jungkook was a supreme god and Taehyung wasn't, it was more than obvious which god was going to get moved solely on position.

But it didn't seem like Taehyung was that hurt by the placement of his seat. Instead of sulking like Seokjin thought he might, he was laughing. His face was flushed red with both embarrassment and happiness. It had been a while since Seokjin saw such an expression on the younger god's face. Seokjin was just surprised that it was the night god that Taehyung would find. It was surprising to Seokjin that the night god would let someone like Taehyung close to him, and vise versa. It wouldn't surprise Seokjin if neither one of them knew each other's position, Taehyung especially, someone who was known to be oblivious to the most random of things.

But Seokjin wasn't the only supreme god that noticed the happiness on Taehyung's face. Jungkook gripped his chopstick in his palms tighter, tight enough for the specially crafted sticks to begin to bend under the pressure of his grip. Jungkook's eyes bounced between Taehyung and the guy who he recognized as the one who rudely bumped into him the day prior. Seeing Taehyung with that guy made something inside Jungkook burn with anger. Although Jungkook wanted nothing to do with Taehyung anymore, something inside Jungkook didn't want anyone else to be by him either.

Kwon Soon-young glanced at Jungkook, who was sitting across from him, noticing the chopsticks in his hands bending, saw the veins on the back of Jungkook's hands pushing towards the surface. "Jungkook-ah?" Soon-young called out to the god, concern filling him. After witnessing what happened earlier, Soon-young was concerned that the younger god was a ticking time bomb. Soon-young wanted the events of this celestial to go well, so he could return to Ameki knowing that the gods could get along for a short period without war breaking out.

Soon-young waved a hand in front of Jungkook's face, gaining the younger gods' attention. Jungkook turned towards Soon-young, a bashful expression on his face.

"You okay?" Soon-young asked, looking at his friend, worried. It was unlike Jungkook to seem so angry unless Kim Taehyung was involved. Soon-young could remember the days when his friend was closest to Taehyung. He had once been envious of their relationship, wishing for one as strong as theirs. When the two of them went their different ways, it only proved to Soon-young that no relationship is perfect, that even the best of friends could grow to hate each other. Most of the gods only saw the anger and rage that came from the friendship falling apart, but Soon-young saw what the other gods didn't. The nights that Soon-young would spend holding his sobbing friend were uncountable. The amount of times that Jungkook would cry about how he ruined the best friendship he'd ever had made Soon-young want to go back in time and stop whatever made the two of them fall apart. Not even Soon-young knew what happened, Jungkook himself didn't seem to understand what had gone wrong, this and that but never a direct answer.

"Huh?" Jungkook asked, still angered by what he saw, but confused as to why it bothered him as much as it did. Taehyung shouldn't concern him in the slightest, so why was Taehyung of all people the only thing on his mind? "Oh, I'm fine, just got a little distracted," Jungkook hoped that the answer would get Soon-young to be less concerned. "I'm fine, Hoshi-Hyung, I promise," Soon-young didn't look certain, but he let the case drop, but he was going to be keeping a tighter eye on the younger god, watching for the next time that Jungkook would explode in a fit of anger.

"If you say so," Soon-young said playfully, hoping to distract Jungkook from whatever had angered him moments earlier.

Soon all the dishes were collected, but the meal was far from over. Kwon Ji-Yong stood from the head of the table, a champagne glass in his hands, raising it high, silencing every conversation. All eyes turned towards Kwon Ji-Yong, the single god who deserved every ounce of respect and watched him with the most attentive eyes.

"Friends, it is yet again that time of year, the time that we all come together and celebrate the beginning of a new start, a new beginning," Kwon Ji-Yong's eyes glanced over the crowd at the table, noticing a few eyes, and not noticing others. "It has been many years since the last time, so many of us have been able to attend, and I can only hope that the number can continue to increase until every god can rightfully claim their place at this celebration. Let us leave behind the past and look towards the future," Ji-Yong raised his glass higher before lowering it to take a single sip.

All the gods raised their glasses as well, taking a drink from some of the finest alcohol, laughing, and cheering to the words of the high god.

But not every god agreed with the words spoken. Not every god urged for peace and prosperity. Not every god wanted to ignore the past and move on. Some gods sought vengeance, and some wouldn't stop until they had what they seek.