⋆ ☄︎. · ̊ * 🔭
chapter thirty-five

"Guess, who I found," Yoongi greets tiredly, as he opens the front door.

Five guys immediately rush towards the duo, kicking away Yoongi to tightly hug Ahri; suffocating her with all their love.

Yoongi stands beside them, offended. His lips are parted, eyebrows loosened. "I'm the one who finds her all the time, but she gets all the love in the end after doing the most shit? That's what we're doing now? Okay."

The boys completely ignore his presence, causing him to scoff dryly. "Fuck y'all, I just want food and my warm bed."

"Where have you been?" Seokjin asks worriedly, holding her cold face with his warm hands, eyes stretched widely. "I, seriously, thought that something bad has happened to you."

"I'm fine, hyung," Ahri mumbles in a quiet tone, her body stuffed in between her concerned members. "But I'm going to really have a breakdown if you guys continue on standing so close. I can't properly breathe."

Their member's nonchalance in her voice causes their eyebrows to furrow slightly, scared that she'll fall into the same hole of darkness she was once in; struggling to find a light to escape that place of hopeless grief.

But if that light of yours, which caused you to stand up, and at very least tried to help you out of that hole, strays further away, how are you supposed to get out?

It's Jimin's turn to embrace her tightly; spinning her around and squishing her body to make it impossible for her to let go. "It's really different without your annoying presence in here."

"And that's supposed to make her feel better?" Namjoon asks, eyebrows furrowed, which causes his face to scrunch up in confusion.

Seokjin asks Jimin in a confused manner, "As in, better without her, or worse without her?"

"Better," Jimin responds peacefully, not letting go of her figure.

"That's kind of hard to believe when you squish the hell out of that poor child," Hoseok counters, his eyebrows raising as he looks his younger member up and down in a judgmental manner.

A pout builds on the lead rapper's face as Jimin refuses to unwrap his arms around her, complaining, "That's unfair! I want to hug Yona, too! I haven't seen her in eight hours, twelve minutes, and 27 seconds!"

"That's way too specific," Namjoon retorts quietly, holding his hand up.

But Hoseok simply ignores the leader, trying to part Ahri and Jimin; whines escaping him as he puts his hands on his male's arms, who keeps on having a peaceful expression on his face, refusing to let go.

"I have this one, hyung," Jeongguk chimes in, holding his hand up while winking confidently.

Jeongguk roughly pushes Jimin away, resulting the older one's arms to leave Ahri's figure, shocking him because of the maknae's strength.

A satisfied smile is on the youngest face as he pats both of his hands as if there is dust on them.

Hoseok exclaims in joy, clapping. He's about to wrap his arms around the female member, yet before he could do that, Jeongguk pushes him away as well and embraces Yona himself.

After doing that, an unreadable expression spreads over Hoseok's face; lips slightly ajar. "Now I know how betrayal feels like."

"Just join their hug, dumbass," Seokjin mumbles exasperatedly, pushing Hoseok towards the two youngest.

With a sigh, he does what the eldest had said, a smile soon painting his heart-like lips.

After Jimin joins them, he smiles widely while motioning towards his older members with his hands; waving at them lightly.

Namjoon and Seokjin glance towards each other, shrugging. Soon on, they chime in and wrap their long arms around the quartette.

A door slowly creaks open, and a small head pokes through, causing the male members to glance at him, lips curling downward.

As Ahri notices the group getting quieter, she pulls her head up higher to glance at what the boys are looking at.

Their gazes clash, and the young girl can just see how dark, emotional his eyes are. As soon as she locks eyes with him, she begins to dive into that ocean of his, wanting to swim, but getting drowned by it.

He swiftly averts her burning stare, looking down in nothing but complete embarrassment. He stumbles over his words as he says, "I-I'll just—"

With cheeks as red as a freshly blossomed flower, he quietly closes the door again, his eyes only holding her for a second, but letting her fall right after.

The lack of light in her life has always bothered the unlucky girl.

Her world is etched in charcoal, the once vibrant hues of the plants are no more than a vivid dream.

It has been many years to the day that the supervolcano had erupted and the blanket of blackness that obliterates the sun has not faded nor thinned.

Day and night just blended into one another, passing through like a busy train.

Yet it felt like she hadn't caught onto the train and was busier on her own train of thoughts, instead of chasing the realism.

Overthinking is like being on a swing.
You're busy, but you don't come any further.

"I'm glad that everything has been going uphill recently," Si-Hyuk states happily, clasping his hands while looking in between the low-hanging heads.

How ironic.

It causes a dry scoff to escape the female member, immediately catching her manager's attention. "Is there something you'd like to share, Ahri?"

"Nope," she replies, a bitter, tight smile spreading over her lips. "Everything's perfect."

The CEO doesn't catch onto her sarcasm, smiling as a response. "I'm happy about that. You know, because of the incident with your mother, and all."

One sentence. Only one sentence can cause knives to be thrown at her heart like darts.

Just as Taehyung's widened eyes dart towards her, eyebrows furrowing while gazing at her stiffened figure. After gulping the huge lump in his throat, his lips curl downward.

If only. Those must be the two saddest words in the world.

Well, it's most definitely in his world. Yet they don't seem to leave his mind nor heart; thinking about what would've happened if he wouldn't have acted so naïve.

Simply thinking about her smiling at him as she did on the very same day it evaporated.

That thought robs all positive emotions and leaves him empty. The only thing accompanying him is his overthinking head.

"Anyway," their manager mumbles, changing the subject. "Since your first album will be released tomorrow, I thought that you guys could rest for tonight."

Relieved yet tired sighs leave the bodies of the exhausted group. It's a really rare sign of affection, which is why they appreciate it and bow their heads politely.

The leader is the first one to speak up for the whole group, "Thank you, sir. We will work harder tomorrow."

"I know you will," the older man responds with a smile, nodding his head softly. "Do whatever you guys want to do today. See it as a break, okay? Go out to eat, or whatever you teenagers do these days."

"Oh, and Ahri." Si-Hyuk spins his head at the dark-haired girl, his face expressionless. "Please tell me if you're going to go out, and where you're going to go." He adds, "And please stay here for a second, I need to talk to you. The others are dismissed."

A quiet, but more likely annoyed, scoff escapes the girl, clicking her tongue while doing so. As her members stand up, they throw her worried yet caring glances, smiling encouragingly at her.

"Do you want me to wait?" Yoongi asks as all the others exit the office, bobbing his head to the side.

She silently waves him off in a reassuring manner, smiling in a way that it doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Nah, it's fine. Go home and rest."

His eyebrows furrow ever so slightly, nibbling on his bottom lip, but accepting her decision and jogging after the others.

As the door creaks closed behind Yoongi, a small silence creeps onto the duo. Even the dry leaves rustling and tumbling in the cold air can be heard as a soft sigh leaves the crook of Ahri's neck. "What is it?" she asks in a quiet, devastated tone, playing with the skin on her fingers while avoiding his gaze.

Si-Hyuk jerks his body more into her direction to give her his undivided attention, hands clasped. His forehead is caught creased, as he gazes at her in an unreadable manner.

"Hand me your phone over," he demands, which causes her hands to be balled into fists; simply hating to be controlled.

But she knows that she can't say anything against it, so she gives him her phone with an irritated sigh, mumbling tiredly, "Here you go."

Rolling his eyes, a scoff escapes him, as he gazes up at her emotionless face. His voice raises while mentioning, "It's not even opened! You have a code."

"I have a code so that other people can't invade my privacy," Ahri deadpans, copying his actions and clasping her hands. She comments in a sarcastic way, "But I guess that doesn't work so well all the time."

With a loud thud, he slams the phone on the desk, making sure not to break it. Another scoff escapes him. "Why are you always acting so careless?"

She shrugs nonchalantly.

"That's exactly it!" Raising his voice, he points at her, his face starting to be the same shade as an overripe tomato. "Don't you ever think about how you damage your group because of your careless attitude? How their success is maybe held back because of you?"

Words can be like X-Rays.
They'll go through anything.
You read, and you're pierced.

Slowly, her lips turn downward. Behind the masked nonchalance she usually wears on her face, there is grief. Her head shifts softly to the side, not daring to hold contact of his eyes while she's in such a weak and vulnerable state.

His eyebrows furrow as he notices her reaction. Unhurriedly, his lips begin to part in complete and utter realization.

Clearing his throat, he mumbles, "Just open your phone. I have to check who you message with since you're not allowed to text any males, except your members."

"Dumb ass logic," Ahri mutters aside quietly while leaning forward to unlock her phone. Fortunately, her words go unnoticed by her boss.

After he's finished checking her phone, he hands it back to her. But as the female member is about to stand up to finally go home, he holds his hand up; stopping her.

"Let's have a little talk."

Eyes stretching as wide as possible, Ahri stands still while staring at him in fear. "I don't want to learn about the Bees and Flowers!"

"Wha— No!" he exclaims in disgust, face scrunching up. Sighing quickly, he massages his throbbing head. "It's about your career."

"Oh," she blurts out dumbly. She sits back down, pursing her lips while keeping her hands placed on her lap, playing with a pencil to calm her down.

"Okay, so, I didn't actually want to do this, and I thought that it wouldn't come this far, but you are going to have fewer lines in the next songs," the CEO reveals, gulping.

Many lines build up onto the youngest face as her forehead creases in confusion. Anger drips from her voice as she asks slowly, almost below a whisper, "Why? I write almost half of the songs."

"I know you do," he responds. Adding, "It's a consequence of you not following the rules. A few of your members had to go through that as well."

That was the breaking point of her patience. At that moment, she's blinded by a five-course serving of rage that tastes bitter, yet surprisingly satisfying.

"Oh, so I have to follow every small thing you say, just to rap?" Yona starts to count with her fingers in utter irritation. "Even if I practice every single day, write all of the songs, run away from home, I still get no lines? Because I do what? Because I meet up with friends, and live my life just for a small bit? Do you realize how stupid that sounds?"

His voice is atop hers as he loudly exclaims, "Watch how you speak to elders! I'm not someone from your age, that you could talk to so casually!"

"I know! I see that!" she exclaims sarcastically in a louder tone, pointing his figure up and down.

"The only thing I want from you is to stop meeting up with those boys to stop all of those rumors!" her manager continues their fiery fight, staring at her with those widened eyes that are just about to pop out in nothing but complete anger and impatience.

His words slice through her like many swords, causing her to continuously stare at him while her jaw is wired shut; stopping the lava-like blood to come through.

"It's not like I work with seven other dudes!" she yells back, throwing her arms around in frustration. "There are already countless of rumors about me and my members being together. So why would it be bad if there were more about two other boys?"

"The boys suffer because of you!" her manager states angrily.

Her fingers curl tightly around the pencil, she could see the man's neck snapping in her mind and it felt good.

And there is no Seokjin to calm her down.

"No, the only thing you want is to control everything I do!" the rapper disagrees, breathing heavily. "Do you even know how it feels like to let your privacy, dignity, freedom, pride, choice of every small thing you do, be taken away?"

"Then stop being an Idol!" he concludes. His patience has faded at the same time the bird-song did.

"Maybe I will!"

People live and breathe words.
Yet when they have no air to breathe, they start to suffocate in fear and say anything to survive.

With a loud thud of slamming the door shut, the female member strides outside of her manager's office.

Her anger is like the vexing of her soul. It's just like a swelling of the veins; waiting to explode. The blood, somehow, always rushes into her head; saying things, she would've rather left unsaid.

Yona's request is control, calm, and purpose, yet all Ahri wants is adrenaline, anger, and a black tranquility behind it.

Anger. It's like the monster unleashed under her bed; scared that it'll find her and eat her up.

Cold stalks her through the abandoned streets as if it passes like a specter death, the bitter wind laughs as it tears right to her heart and turns her blood to icy sludge. Her muscles begin to ache and grind like the cogs in an old machine.

The cold moves in only to meet the hotness of her blood, her defense against such ice. She can feel it washing over her skin, again and again, only to be met by the beat of her heart, again and again.

The dark-haired girl walks along the rough cobbled streets that cause her feet to ache. The buildings are tight together and loom over her, like a forest of stone.

When she quickly looks up, the roofs are so close together that she can only make out a sliver of the blue sky that is mirrored by the tiny stream of light that trickles along the cold stone ground.

The alleyway twists and turns back on itself, first going to the right, then to the left. From where Ahri stands, whether she looks in front or behind, she sees nothing but darkness.

I'm right. I know I am. I'm right, he just won't listen. She repeats in her head countless times. I could explain all damn day and he still won't get it.

Her face has become rigid, jaw clamped tight, teeth grinding. I hope his stupid brain rattles in his stupid skull, Ahri tells herself; her own way to calm her down, or to at very least pretend so.

The tips of her fingers start to tickle, resulting her to glance down at them with a tightly shut jaw and angrily widened eyes.

Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.

The grey of the wall is diffuse and mottled, like the sun on a storm cloud. Ahri runs her hands over the surface, silent, face unreadable.

She couldn't think wisely or rationally when she let out her boiling antipathy and swung her tight fist, too quick and potent, into the wall made of brick; the impact like thousands of venomous blades piercing apart her clammed fist.

She knocks the darker parts with her knuckles, then the ones that represent a black tranquility.

Darkness. She is looking for the darkest point to focus the strike on; hoping that they will tear apart and let her see the foreign light again.

"Ahri!"

A chill runs through her spine as she hears the yell of help. It makes her shudder more than the freezing, cold wind does.

Her widely-brimmed eyes glare down and focus on the blood-soaked area on her knuckles. Everything runs cold and a bead of sweat drips down her face.

She stands there, helpless, not knowing what to do and too scared to even think.

The leaves under Seojun's feet make rustling noises as he rushes towards the completely damaged girl, his heart sinking down while he stares at her with those widened chocolate eyes that could just make anyone melt away.

There is the hug of gentle arms that still gives the space to breathe; then there is the hug of strong arms that tells everything that you are - body, brain, and soul - that they are with you.

The ice inside her melts. Suddenly, she's burning up and terrified, scared she'll be too weak to stay away from that fire that, somehow, always causes her to burn up.

The young girl is quick to push his tall figure away with all her left strength, catching him off guard; stumbling slightly.

"Leave me alone!" she screams at the very top of her lungs, voice strong, yet strangely weak, at the same time. "Don't come any closer!"

Her eyes are swimming in an ocean of silvery tears, drawing a grief picture of its own.

As he's about to open his mouth, he's left hanging with agape lips, her swiftly cutting him off, "You'll leave me just like everybody else did!"

Ahri cries as if her brain is being shredded from the inside. Emotional pain flows out of her every pore.

From her mouth comes a cry from so raw that even the eyes of the usually emotionless boy are suddenly wet with tears.

Grabbing onto the collars of his leathered jacket, she starts to push him away even more, many more sobs escaping her. "Just leave now before the pain gets too hard to endure."

Seojun watches her letting her burning pain out on him, his eyes blank yet filled with a pool of tears.

In those earthy hues are his soul, not in the ways of those walls, so obsessed with coldness, but with the kind of beauty and warmth that expands a moment into a personal eternity, a heaven someone wishes to be apart of.

He allows her to let her resentment, hurt, and pain out on him. Even as she starts to throw punches on his chest, the tears not stopping to flow, as if they're mad at her for keeping them in for so long.

The whole world has vanished for her, now there is only pain enough to break her, pain enough to change her beyond recognition.

As he notices her getting weaker and weaker by the moments, as her sobs and cries grow softer and quieter, he heaves a silent sigh and slowly wraps his arms around her fragile figure, his uncustomary warmth radiating through her cold body.

It is her tears that keep her soul alive in the furnace of this pain. They cannot extinguish what has been, yet only carry her forward until a time comes when that searing pain is distant enough to forget more than remember, and maybe one day erase itself from her brain. Well, that's what she hopes.

So perhaps it may be an oddity to thank her tears and be proud to cry, yet if that's what saves her from becoming a monster, a person indifferent to suffering and sorrow, then crying is the smartest thing she can do.

"Everyone is leaving me, and I don't know how to hold them back." She whispers in such a pained tone that it causes his heart to cry. "How I could've held them back."

"I'm tired, Seojun." The loud thuds from her heart and against her own flesh start to calm down as he runs his hand comfortingly through her hair, resting his chin on top of her head. "I'm tired of anything. I'm tired of everything. Tired with the world's weight that I've never chosen to bear."

"I know, mi amor." His voice is as quiet as her, scared that any loud noise will scare her away. So he repeats in an even quieter tone, pained and unable to know what to do, "I know."

The smallest of words can be the ones to hurt you, or save you.

Slowly pulling away, he takes her cold face into his palms, immediately warming her up. A tight smile of his warms her chest up even more. He unhurriedly wipes the tears away, which were in the corners of her eyes. "Let me bring you home now, okay?"

It's not only because he has the need to be beside her. No, it's because he fears that she'll do something to herself, considering the state she has been in for a while now. And he could never forgive himself if something like that would ever happen.

Eyes dilating, she's quick to shake her head, gulping. His eyebrows furrow at her response, not quite understanding. "Why not?"

"I-I'm not allowed to," Yona whispers, taking hold on his hands to keep them on her cold cheeks, because they are slowly letting go of her face as she finishes her sentence.

He's still left utterly confused, a frown adorning his perfectly sculpted face. Seojun repeats, "Why not?"

Nibbling on her bottom lip, she casts her gaze to the side to avert his burning stare. "M-My manager told me to stop being with male friends."

All that comes out of his mouth is, "Oh." Yet those two letters come out so detached and cold.

As she notices the change in his voice, her lips curl downward. She adds in a whisper, "I just don't want my boys to be burdened because of me."

A dry scoff leaves the crook of his neck, hands on his hips as he looks up at the cloudy sky. "Yeah, your boys," he remarks in a bitter tone.

"What do you mean 'your boys'?" she mocks him, face scrunching up and voice going many octaves deeper.

"Are they the only people that are important to you?" he asks, his voice raising. Many glares of his are thrown her way as he looks down at her, jaw clenched.

The younger one's eyebrows loosen as she realizes what all of this is about. Clicking her tongue, she mirrors him and puts her hands onto her hips. "Seriously? You're going to act jealous again?"

"I'm not acting jealous!" His tone goes higher at her, from his view seen, false accusation.

Humming while nodding curtly, she heaves a sigh right after in a mocking way. "Three years ago. Dragón," is all she says. Three words are enough to result a rolling of his eyes. "Look! You're still jealous!" she playfully comments.

Slowly yet surely, a smile finds its way to back to her face. It's a foreign place.

It takes a lot to make a completely damaged person smile. It's even harder to warm up the constricted and shallow North Pole. But it's not hard for someone who tries its best in the most genuine and caring way.

"I am and was not," he disagrees, crossing his arms over his chest.

She continues in a deadpanned tone, "You kicked him out of our group because he asked me if I wanted to buy ice-cream with him."

Gasping softly, he shakes his head. "That is not true!" he states childishly, as if he's offended by her accusation. "I kicked him out because I noticed how he kept on looking at you. I couldn't have someone like that in my group."

"He was thirteen!" Yona reasons, lips twitching into a light smile.

"And? I was thirteen as well, and I know how horny these boys are—"

"Oh, my God!" she exclaims loudly, covering her ears with her hands tightly. "How many times am I going to have this talk? First Yoongi hyung, then you..."

Seojun notices. He notices her smile. And it causes his own lips to spread into a sincere and charming smile.

"No, but seriously," the female rapper begins, putting her hands down slowly. Her dark orbs lock with his. "I thought you changed."

"You're right," he mumbles, looking down in embarrassment, his cheeks tinted a light shade of a blossoming flower. "I'm sorry..."

"I know that the old you is, sometimes, haunting you. But that's just not who you are." She looks up at his hanging head, a smile on her face that, unfortunately, isn't reaching her astonishing eyes. "My members, Jaehyun, and you have different places in my heart. So stop acting jealous, dumbass."

Sheepishly scratching the back of his head, he admits, "I guess it's because they can see you every day, but I cannot." A light chuckle escapes the female member, shaking her head at his childish behavior. "No, really, I miss seeing your face, Ahri."

"One day." She nods her head. "One day, we'll be living so good and free, these bad days won't even matter."

Maybe she tried to reassure her old friend with those words that day. But maybe she just tried to tell those words to herself; trying to make herself believe that, one day, she'll be living so good, those bad days won't even matter.

Maybe.

Just as the front door of the dorm creaks, it is slammed open by another figure.

Ahri's widened eyes stare in between her member and back down at the ground, debating where to focus her gaze on. Gulping, she stands on the other side of the door, which she just creaked open.

Seokjin stands in front of her, face unreadable, yet cold and firm. His prominent eyebrows aren't loosened like they usually are, they are stiffened. And the two orbs underneath them aren't any softer, either.

A nervous and awkward chuckle comes out of her mouth. "Hi."

"Inside," Seokjin orders, swiftly pointing beside him with his head.

Not needing to tell her twice, Ahri hastily goes inside. She swallows the huge lump in her throat, as her eldest member slowly closes the door and spins towards her.

She has never seen the vocalist quiet, yet today is an exception. His voice has a husky drawl and every step he takes is in slow motion, compared to almost anyone else she knows.

Seokjin is quiet and calm.

That scares Ahri.

The silence is like a gaping void, needing to be filled with sounds, words, anything.

Yona jumps in surprise, as Seokjin pulls her close to his chest while exclaiming loudly, "Do you know how worried I was for you?"

"How could you be so dumb to not even call us? To tell us where you are?" he continues his fiery speech and scolding, but his affectionate actions speak and show otherwise.

Her small voice comes out muffled as she's pressed against his chest, huffing slightly. "I'm sorry, hyung."

But he completely ignores her apology, acting like she didn't say anything. "Do that one more time, and I'll lock you into a tower like that witch did with Rapunzel, understood?"

So she simply hums and nods her head as a response, pulling away from his warmth. With a tight smile, she takes a few steps away from him, making sure to hide her wounded fist in the pocket of her jacket.

Moving towards the empty kitchen, Ahri heaves a few sighs while opening the refrigerator to find something to eat.

Carefully pulling her hand out, she hisses as the wound makes contact with the material of her jacket; biting her lip harshly to stop herself.

One pair of almond eyes are widened as he stares at her from the doorway of the kitchen, silent.

As she notices him, she jumps in complete shock, clutching her chest because of the sudden thumping of her heart.

She's quick to avoid his stare, spinning back around to fish herself a tissue to stop the bleeding, making sure to ignore his presence.

Just as Taehyung's eyes move towards her wounded knuckles, a silent gasp escapes him, immediately rushing towards her.

"What happened—" he asks in an extraordinary loud tone.

But Ahri is swift to lay her healthy hand on top of his noisy mouth, both of their eyes stretched widely.

The moment they lock their eyes, it's as if it's the same second in which their souls do, also. His emotions telling her he needs more of a connection, like they once did, or that she does, though she guesses, in reality, it's both of them.

His eyes are so different in moments like these, softer than she knew eyes could be.

Fragments of thought, splinters of words, and droplets of silence spin into a kaleidoscopic jumble, shifted infinitesimally, and fall into an incredible new pattern.

Due to Yona becoming more and more weak because of his burning gaze, Taehyung takes his chance and slowly lowers her hand, and examines the other one. "What happened?" he asks quietly, his bangs blocking his eyes as Ahri stares at him.

Finally reconnecting her soul with reality once again, she snatches her hand away from his, muttering, "Nothing."

His head moves up, slowly, very slowly. Her own eyes are widely brimmed as he unhurriedly gazes up and locks their orbs. They are so intense that she wants to look left or right, anywhere. But she, somehow, can't. She just can't.

Eye to Eye: the most beautiful yet dangerous connection in the world.

Pulling away from his hypnotizing self, she averts his stare and looks down. "It's fine..." she mumbles in a softer tone.

"Yona," he calls out ever so lightly, his voice coming out as smooth as silk, causing a shiver to travel down her spine. "Let me take care of it, at very least."

"N-No—"

A swift scoff and even quicker actions of his result Yona's hand to soon be in Taehyung's, and there's nothing she can do about him and his stubborn mind.

Surprisingly, he finds the Aid-Kit in almost no time, quickly opening it and starting to examine her wounded hand.

Noticing her shocked expression, he locks gazes only for a second, before looking back down at her hand. He reveals sheepishly, "I fell down a lot of times, that's why."

There is no response from her side, simply staring at him as he takes care of her pain.

After being finished with her wounded self, he straps the bandage tight, making sure to be careful with it. "Tell me if it feels uncomfortable."

He is mesmerizing from the depth of his almond eyes to the gentle expression of his voice. The little sparkles in his eyes are almost enough to make her give in. Almost.

Moving his head back up, he intertwines their dark eyes once again. It is as if it's the only way their souls know how to communicate.

Then his lips curl upward, and it simply causes her own to turn downward in hollowness.

That smile is the prettiest thing she has seen in a while, for it extends to his eyes and deep into his soul. He is the gentle touch, the honesty that is a purity, their childhood mirroring; so vibrant and free.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness,
only light can do that.