Hoseok blew a strand of hair out of his eyes as he leaned against the concrete, the bars of the cell separating him from the dangerous knight residing inside. She was sitting on the opposite side, as far away from him as she could get. One of her hands was on her right knee, her armor shattered. They didn't have much in the way of prison attire, so they allowed her to keep her armor after an intense search led by Hoseok himself. She appreciated them letting her keep the armor. In fact, she seemed relieved upon hearing the news.

Her hair was neat all things considered, the long strands running down her sides and displaying her hourglass body shape perfectly. Hoseok didn't much like women romantically, but even he had to admit she was beyond gorgeous. It was what made her a good knight. She was unpredictable. Seductive and charming. Only her charms didn't work on Hoseok, and he was able to overcome her albeit barely.

"Your punches are weak," she said, clicking her tongue despite the light tone her voice carried. "It felt like I was getting tickled."

"Tickling can be dangerous, I'll have you know," Hoseok replied, her chuckling from his response. They went silent, Hoseok keeping his eyes on the wall ahead instead of the cell behind him. He could feel Adamma's eyes seeping through his skull, and he wasn't sure if he should turn to meet her dragon-like eyes or not. In a way, she had traits of all his friends. The dragon eyes of Namjoon, the leadership of Jin, the softness of Taehyung, the seductiveness of Jimin, the intelligence of Jungkook. Oh, and who could forget she fought like Hoseok. Better than Hoseok in many ways. The more Hoseok thought about it, the more he was convinced he won out of sheer luck, not skill.

"This is the second time you've come to visit me, yet you sit there and say nothing," Adamma said, Hoseok stiffening his body. "Is there something you'd like to say?"

Hoseok pondered the question, tossing it around his mind and seeing where it would stick. It landed on his tongue, and words spat out before he could stop them. "Do you ever feel guilty?"

"Guilty?" she asked, and he could feel her eyebrows raising.

"You're like me. A commander of an entire kingdom of knights. Every battle is on your hands. Every single drop of blood is stained on your body, on your armor, on your sword - whatever. It's everywhere."

Adamma pushed herself up, trotting over to the front of her cell. Hoseok only peeked back at her, keeping his gaze forward for the most part. The woman gripped the rusted bars of her cell and stared at the back of Hoseok's head. What amazed him was that she didn't speak. She didn't utter a word, and he wasn't sure why until she took a short breath. It was a silent agreement. She was giving him a moment to compose himself. It was like she understood him without him needing to so much as look at her, and it brought a dangerous consolation he wished he didn't desire.

"I feel it every day. When I close my eyes, all I see is red." She broke off, Hoseok turning to her only to see her grip tightening on the bars. "I had a sister," she said in a mutter, her irises flickering down to the concrete ground covered in dust. "A twin. A resilient warrior who was better than me." Another pause, and this time, she released the bars. "She died in my arms from my blade. Mine."

"How did... how?"

"I made a mistake. In the midst of a battle, I mistook her as an enemy since they were wearing similar armor. I showed no mercy. My own sister, and she died because of my ignorance. My need for war. And ever since, any knight that's died under my watch comes to my dreams, my sister's face painted on their bodies. I can still hear their screams. Or maybe they're mine, and they're drowned out by my fear."

She lowered herself to her knees and shifted, pressing her back against the gate to her cell. Hoseok observed her, but she refused to meet his eyes. Now it was her who was running from the eye contact, and Hoseok craved nothing more than to console her. The enemy. It wasn't because she was charming or seductive, or because she was a talented fighter. It was because she understood what no one else could. And that was what made Hoseok go closer.

"I guess we've all lost someone, huh?" Hoseok said, his tone nearing a snort.

"Who did you lose?"

Hoseok rolled his tongue around the roof of his mouth, his hands forming beads of moisture that threatened to drip onto the floor in front of him. He let his teeth bang together, the vibration sending a shockwave down his flesh, nibbling on the crevasses of his skin until he finally let out the breath he had been meaning to. And that process repeated with each breath he took, his lungs begging for more, but Hoseok continued to lessen his air flow. He pinched his nostrils, closing his eyes before he choked out an answer.

"Myself."

Adamma cleared her throat. Or coughed. Hoseok couldn't tell for sure. "There's a lot of people in this world who die every day. I'm sure if you go far enough north, you'll find nothing but the skeletons of those like us. The ones fighting for something they weren't sure they believed in. My question to you, Mr. Jung, is why do you still fight if you know you'll hate yourself after?"

"My people need me," he whispered.

"Even at the cost of yourself?"

"Small price to pay," was his answer. After a beat, Hoseok and Adamma gazed at one another. She was the only one who understood the mental pressure that came with leading people into battle. Even Jin couldn't understand that. He had been a prince his entire life, and only recently had he began to make decisions for the kingdom on his own. Meanwhile, Hoseok had led the knights for years. He had led the battles that were massacres for his brothers, or massacres for the other side. Either way, whenever the body of a knight hit the ground, he felt a part of his soul tear itself out of his body. And he wasn't sure how to cope with that.

"If you're looking for advice, I'm hardly the person to talk to. I can't tell you how to get rid of the guilt, I'm still figuring that out myself. I'm sorry, for whatever that's worth. And I know I'm a stranger, but I hope you can believe me when I say I truly am sorry. No one deserves to go through that pain. Not me, and certainly not you either."

"Advice," Hoseok said, clicking his tongue. "No, that's not what I'm after. I'm far beyond help, I'm afraid. But understanding? There's still time for that. You understand. You're my enemy, but you understand me more than any of my closest friends. If I can even call them my friends now, I haven't been around to maintain relationships with them. I doubt they'd consider me friends anymore..."

"Well, I'm not sure what your friends think of you, Hoseok," she replied, letting out a soft breath as if contemplating her own dilemmas. "But you're wrong. You're not beyond help."

"How? No one can help me."

She smiled, and in the distance, Hoseok heard the door to the upstairs swing open, signaling he had little time left. Adamma sensed it too, her eyes waving goodbye to the fellow commander. He wasn't sure what to say, but she was. Despite all his confusion, his walls broke down in mere seconds, and Hoseok craved nothing more than to sprint back to his room to sob into his pillow. And all because of what she said next.

"It's not too late, you can still help yourself, Hobi," she said, and the nickname made his eyes expand. She must have heard Jin call Hoseok that when they were originally escorting her to her cell. It was a kind gesture. A gesture that said she was paying attention to him and his friends.

Adamma kept her smile, Hoseok unsure how he should react. However, a male figure came up behind him, and Hoseok stood up in time to notice a cloak. When he turned, he furrowed his brows at the sight of Min Yoongi in front of him. Hoseok personally thought Jin trusted Yoongi too much, but what was one man going to do against an entire kingdom? Especially one he helped save. Yoongi had no reason to betray them, so Hoseok kept himself cautiously optimistic about Yoongi's future at Shadowcrest.

"Jin sent me," he said, Hoseok humming and trekking down the halls with Yoongi by his side. He meant to bid his goodbyes to Adamma, but in a sense, it felt as though they already did that a moment ago. "Jin's preparing more interrogations with Jungkook and Namjoon's help, and he's hoping you can talk to him about the status of the knights. He's eager to rebuild and get Shadowcrest in a more powerful position in case anything like this happens again."

"I'm just as eager as him, but there's some things that take longer than a few nights to fix. We'll have to discuss a long term plan to rebuild what we've lost."

Hoseok and Yoongi pitter-pattered their way up the staircase, departing the dungeons and entering the main sector of the castle. Knights with sparkling armor dipped their heads to their commander. Hoseok was almost too stiff to return the action, but he managed to after a beat. His heart panged, whimpering behind his ribs and cowering away as his thoughts drowned his body.

"Should I ask how you're holding up?" Hoseok asked to distract himself, Yoongi furrowing his eyebrows.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean you came out of your cave to help the kingdom. Not to sound rude, but even I didn't expect that, and I like to think I'm pretty good at reading people. What changed your mind?"

"Looking back, I'm amazed I did it too," Yoongi said, bringing Hoseok closer to the balcony Jin had an obsession with. "I didn't think I had it in me, but then, I don't know... I..."

Hoseok halted right before the balcony, spotting Jin there with his back facing the duo. Jin was as elegant as ever, his hair brushing in the wind. Sometimes it almost hurt to watch Jin. He was so gorgeous, it genuinely offended Hoseok sometimes. Hoseok knew he was attractive too, but Jin was so handsome it was like a punch to the gut for all of the inner circle members, not only Hobi. Years ago, when he and Jimin were best friends, they would gossip about how Jin was the one swaying all the hearts in the kingdom. Hoseok missed those days more than anything, and the thought of Jimin made Hoseok frown. Another friendship down the gutter, and all because of Hoseok.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Hoseok said, Yoongi shaking it off and grunting after a beat.

Yoongi held up his hand to prevent Hoseok from stepping out onto the balcony. The look in Yoongi's eyes screamed that he had other things to do, so he couldn't follow Hoseok. This was the end of their conversation, and strangely enough, despite not knowing Yoongi well, Hoseok didn't want the man to go yet.

To be frank, Yoongi smelled like shit. His cloak reeked of germs and dirt, maybe blood. That was without mentioning the chipped, long nails and even longer hair that was disheveled and probably hiding a nest of bugs inside. However, Hoseok didn't mind the stench or state of Yoongi. He wanted to talk to him anyway.

"I thought of Jin and Taehyung. I thought of them needing my help, and it was like it wasn't a choice anymore," Yoongi whispered, Hoseok biting his cheeks to prevent his jaw from dropping. "I know I may seem like the homeless man in a cave who acts like a savage, but I promise you Hoseok, I will do what I can to help your kingdom. Your kingdom means so much to me, and not just because it used to be mine. The only people I care about are here. And... I want to think that includes you. If you're okay with that, of course."

Hoseok stared at Yoongi, and it occurred to Hoseok that Yoongi and Adamma were opportunities at new friendships. Sure, one was his enemy, and one was a stranger who could be his enemy, but the idea was dazzling. It enraptured him, his feet remaining still for a few beats longer. And then, he realized his friendships weren't over yet. Not even his friendship with Jimin. Adamma was right, and Yoongi, without knowing it, hammered the point home. Hoseok could still save himself. And so, he gave Yoongi's shoulder a squeeze.

"Only if I can include you too."