Briar Rose - Taekook

Chapter 24

Sorry for the long wait. Anyways, my summer camp is over (for now) so I think I can do almost daily updates! yay!

XXIV: Jungkook ( I promise this is the last Jk pov in a row).

Reality hits me in the face like a sledgehammer, and I jerk away, arms flailing as I open my eyes. My surroundings are blurred, but they begin to clear enough for me to decipher where exactly I am. I'm on a bed. The bed in the healing center, to be exact.

"Jungkook?" Someone shakes my shoulders. "Jungkook? Are you okay?" I blink, staring into a pair of concerned crimson eyes. Taehyung's eyes.

"You were out for so long. I was getting worried." He breathes a sigh of relief. "It's nearly dawn. I was honestly thinking of getting Jin if you didn't wake up in 5 minutes."

"Dawn?" I look out the window, noticing for the first time the pale rays in the horizon. "I've been out for that long?"

He nods. "Time moves differently between memories and the real world. What may have taken you thirty minutes to experience there, was probably the equivalent of four hours here.

"Oh." That was all I could say. My head was still reeling from the memory I had experienced. It had all seemed so real, that it was hard to believe that that incident had happened more than a century ago.

"What did you see?" He asks after a moment. "You don't have to be obliged to tell me, but... well, you sometimes cried out in your sleep. I hope that I wasn't... hurting you." He winces at his words. "God that sounds wrong."

I shake my head. "You didn't hurt me. But you were there. You were having some sort of... fight, with this other man. At Bloodcrest. H-he tried to kiss you. He confessed his love, and you turned him down. And then you―" Taehyung holds up his hand seemingly having had enough.

"And did you hear me say the man's name?"

"Lucius," I say. "You called him Lucius."

Taehyung sighs. "Then there's not much for me to explain. Do you remember me telling you about my friend? In Bloodcrest?" I nod. "That was Lucius. Now, he's the bloodthirsty leader of Shadow Valley, but back then, he was my best friend. He was different. Kinder, thoughtful, he knew how to love. But when he lost sight of all his good qualities, that's when he became what he is today. A Mask. Totally devoid of any compassion."

"But why did he become so angry at you for not accepting his confession? People do that all the time."

Taehyung looks out into the distance, at the glow of light decorating the eastern sky. "He's used to getting what he wants. In the end, I was only a prize for him. A prize that he couldn't get. That made him angry. We'd been together for so long, I think that a part of him automatically thought that I was in love with him. When he was proven wrong, that left a sour taste in his mouth. Nothing he said could convince me. My heart belonged to you from the start."

"You rejected Lucius... for me?" Taehyung smiles, fingertips just brushing my cheek. Even from such a small touch, and my skin feels like it's on fire.

"Of course. Lucius was only a friend. I was waiting for my soulmate. For you. That wouldn't have changed whatever he had said that day."

I blush, which I seem to be doing a lot these days. He laughs, pulling me closer to his broad chest and leaving a trail of kisses up my shoulder where the fabric had fallen away. I don't mind. At that moment, he is nothing like the man I saw in the training room. That man was violent, while this one is gentle. That man craved for blood, while this man craves for love. It was hard to believe that they were the same person, separated only by a few centuries. I shiver as Taehyung kisses my nape, a sense of protection flowing over my body like water. I lean into his touch, wanting to feel more of his intoxicating force.