A Warrior's Heart

Chapter 47; The talk

The soft humming of a car and the noise of wheels rolling over the road filled the air. The radio was turned off, and neither of the two in the vehicle talked. They were just doing their own thing. The older of the two driving, the younger of the two thinking.

He looked outside the window as he thought. Thought about how he was going to tell his brother about all of this. It was kind of ironic, really. The one person he wanted to leave out of this was the one he needed to get it fixed. He knew his brother would understand his feelings, that wasn't what he was worried about. It was just the face that he knew he would get all protective and ask a lot of questions and in the worst case scenario, he wouldn't let him go back there if he decided it was too dangerous.

And in a way, he understood that. He would understand his brother's concerns and worries for his well-being. But there was nothing to worry about. At least not anymore. The king was defeated, the people were happy, the bad guys hadn't shown up in a while and everything was peaceful.

"Having a hard time dealing with it?"  The man beside him finally spoke up.  "I can see you're thinking about it a lot."

Taehyun looked away from the world passing by outside the car and instead faced the older.  "I'm not having a hard time dealing with it, I just don't want him to tell me I can't go back."  He replied, getting a chuckle in return.  "He won't, I promise."

"How do you know? You haven't met my brother, have you?"  He said, only after voicing it realising it might've sound a tad rude.  "I-I mean, I can't remember you guys ever meeting, so.."

Namjoon nodded and changed gears.  "That's true. But I did hear stories about him. And from what you've told me throughout your time working at the shop I kinda figured that he's a good man. Or am I wrong about that?"  He said, glancing at the younger shortly. The brunette shook his head.  "You're right, he's a good guy. Doesn't change the fact that I'm still worried though."

The older exhaled and stopped the car in front of Taehyun's place.  "This is it, right?"  He asked to be sure and continued when the younger nodded.  "Alright. Time to find out what he thinks about the matter then."

Taehyun nodded again, looking at the house outside the car. He thought about who's he was going to say to for a little while more, and opened the door a few moments later. He stepped out the car, and walked towards the front door, Namjoon following behind him.

"You have a nice place, it looks so peaceful and homey."  He complimented and the younger smiled at his words. "Thank you, Hyung."

Together they approached the door and after fishing for his keys in his pocket, Taehyun unlocked the door. The house was quiet, and he didn't know if his brother was even home or not. He hadn't memorised his schedule because he never needed it, but now he wished he did.

"Hyung?!" He yelled as he stepped further into the warmth of the house. He waited for a reply but it never came. He sighed in relief. "Looks like he's not home."

"So what now?" Namjoon asked, looking around the house a little, not able to hide his curiosity. Taehyun shrugged. "I'll just go look for it I guess." He said and noticed the older peering into the living room. "You can look around, you know? I'll go look for it so make yourself at home." He chuckled. Namjoon widened his eyes and nodded, stepping into the living room while the younger stepped on the stairs.

He knew his brother kept the Opal upstairs. In his room maybe, on in his study. It certainly wasn't in the kitchen or anything, so he could save himself the effort of searching there. He walked up the stairs and went straight to his brother's bedroom.

It was a rather big room, with a cabinet pressed to a wall, a big double bed, large windows to look out over the more nature part of the city, and a door was placed in front of the walk-in closet. On the walls hung a couple paintings he had bought from a friend, and the room was decorated with flowers and candles.

He stepped into the room, putting his hands on his hips as he thought of where to start first. He decided on looking through the cabinets, as that would be the most logical place to keep it. He doubted his brother had placed it somewhere where he had no view on it, thrown between clothes, but it was worth a shot.

He opened the cabinet and pushed aside the neatly folded shirts and sweaters his brother owned, peering into the closet but seeing nothing pressed up against the back wall. He checked every plank of the cabinet but didn't find anything there either. He sighed and closed it, before sitting his mind on the bedside table. It would be the last place his brother would keep something like the gem, but again it was worth a shot.

He opened it and rummaged through it, but didn't find anything that even looked like the Opal. What he did find, however, were notes. He frowned and pulled them out to read them. He knew he maybe shouldn't go through his brother's stuff like this, but his curiosity didn't agree with him on that.

After he had carefully undid the rope tied around them he turned the first one to read it. His eyes slid over the words seemingly written by Jin, if the handwriting was anything to go by, while his mind progressed it and his mood went down to a hint of sadness. He couldn't help it, the words stuck to his heart and pained him. He quickly moved to the second note, and on that one too, stood words that got to his heart.

It were small letters written to their parents.

He had never known that his brother had been writing them for all this time that their parents had left them. A part of him felt sadness, and another part felt anger. Sadness because the words were put into the right sentences to make him cry, the meaning behind them so beautiful. And anger because he hadn't known about this. Hadn't known that his brother still felt so hurt. He felt hurt too, of course he did. But the band between their parents and his brother had been unbreakable. He could only imagine what it was like for the older. He should've been there for him.

"Taehyun!"

The voice of Namjoon snapped him out of his thoughts, and he quickly but carefully tied the rope back around the notes. He didn't want to tear or damage them, and not only because his brother would know he had been up here. He just didnt want to damage something that he was sure held a lot of emotional value to it. He placed them back into the drawer and quickly left the room, running down the staircase once he heard someone entering the house.

Which could only mean one thing.

He raced down the staircase and almost tripped and landed on his face if it wasn't for Namjoon standing at the bottom waiting for him. He thanked the older and straightened himself, looking up at his brother standing before him.

"Hi Hyung!" He squeaked, playing innocent as if he hadn't been going through his stuff a few seconds prior. Seokjin narrowed his eyes as he took off his coat, hanging it neatly by the door. "Hey. What're you doing?"

"I'm not doing anything, we were just waiting for you." Taehyun replied, smiling up at him. His brother nodded and turned to the other. "And you are..?"

"Oh- I'm Namjoon." The man introduced himself quickly, bowing slightly. "Tae works for me, and he invited me over for a drink so that's why I'm here" He said, and the brunette thanked him silence for being able to come up with a believable lie. Well it wasn't a complete lie, although he wasn't only here for a cup of tea or coffee.

"Ah, alright." Seokjin smiled at him before turning back to the younger. "So what were you doing in my room?"