Briar Rose - Taekook

Chapter 55

This chapter is... pretty different from anything I've ever written. Also, I strongly recommend listening to the song above while you read! :)

LV: Jungkook

We reappear in the moonlit meadow where we first started our trip through his memories. The heap of charred wood that once resembled a house stands a mere five feet away, but neither of us make any movement to get closer. The monster doesn't let go of me, and I don't make him. We stand there, two figures bathed in moonlight, each clinging on to the other. Each needing the other's support.

Finally, with a shuddering sigh, the monster relaxes his hold on me, taking a step back. His eyes still have remnants of tears in them, but his voice is strong, if broken.

"I felt it," the monster murmurs. "When I saw the house burn down, I felt the emotions you call sadness. It... hurts. Do all emotions hurt so much?"

"Not all," I tell him, "Some feel wonderful. It's mostly a combination of both, really. There's no getting used to it. But pain isn't the only thing in this world. Feelings like joy and happiness and euphoria exist with it. That's what makes life worth living."

"Like love," the monster murmurs, almost to himself. "Like you."

I don't know how to respond to that, and a faint blush colors my cheeks. It's been a long time since I've felt the familiar feelings of shy affection in my heart. But as I look at the monster now, it strikes me that I know not one of the basic things about him. Not even his name. All these days, and I haven't thought once to ask him.

"Do you have a name?" I ask. "It sounds wrong to call you a monster now. You aren't a monster. I want to call you something different."

"My name..." The monster appears confused for a second. "My name? Everyone now calls me a monster. That is all I am. That is all I will ever be. But I had another name..." His features harden in concentration, like he's trying to remember a memory he can't quite grasp.

"V," he finally says. "That is my name. Before I was the monster, I was V. Though I haven't used that name in a long time." An expression of longing crosses his masked face.

"V, then. That's a nice name," I comment, and V's eyes shine. The mask covering his face gleams silver in the moonlight as he gazes down at me. It's been on for so long, that the edges are starting to melt into his skin. I run a tentative hand over it, feeling the cool silver beneath my skin. I shiver at the unnatural coolness of it. He must see the question in my eyes because he tilts his head.

"Can I?" I ask, and he nods. I bring my fingers up to the edges of his mask, giving it an experimental tug. It doesn't budge, latched firmly onto V's face. But this time I want it off. I don't want his face to be covered by this sheet of silver anymore. I want to see his bare face. So I pull harder, until the mask finally drops into my waiting hands with an angry hiss. The back is bent into sharp spikes, and blood drips down V's face from the places where the spikes had dug into his skin. I let out a small gasp, dropping the mask. His face is inches from mine, and I can see the dozen small wounds glistening on his face. It looks painful. A flash of unreadable emotion crosses his eyes as he gazes down at the mask on the ground. Then he looks back at my face.

"I'm so sorry," I say. "I didn't realize―"

He stops my words with a kiss. His lips, infinitely soft, brush against mine as his left hand entangles itself in my hair. For someone who always keeps his emotions locked within, he kisses me like a man who will never be sated. Even though it has a sharp urgency to it, the kiss is not like the one we shared on the battlefield. It is... not gentle, but not devouring, either. This is my first kiss with him where I feel something warm and curious stir inside my chest. This is the first kiss that makes me want another.