"How can I help, Chiminie?"

Kim Taehyung waltzed absentmindedly into the rusty aircraft hangar of Yoongi and Hoseok's getaway ship.

The long, delicate-featured man wore a determined expression beneath his sheath of crimped silver hair. His mystical blue eyes twinkled at Chimin as he rolled up the sleeves of his magenta silk shirt, which hung in loose ripples around his slim frame.

Chimin stifled a yawn with the back of his hand. He was sporting white jogging pants and an oversized green sweatshirt with the sleeves flopping down over his hands.

He yawn-squinted down at a clipboard he was holding in both hands. Then Chimin answered groggily, "You mind rounding up the rest of the expedition team? They'd probably be happier to see you than me this early in the morning."

Tae gave a childlike, exaggerated frown at these words.

Chimin ran the back of a pen up the side of his creamy cheek and then slipped it behind one ear. "It's alright, Tae. I know what they think of me now. I was prepared for this."

Like a puppy watching a butterfly, Tae became momentarily distracted by the two nameless crewmembers who were hustling around where he and Chimin were standing. These unknown figures were moving boxes onto Chimin's expedition shuttle, their shuffling noises echoing and grinding inside of the hangar.

Then Tae snapped his attention back to that golden haired young man with the indecipherable eyes.

"Did you really know that Petra would kill Kookie?"

"There's the million dollar question." Chimin smirked. "Certainly no one is one hundred percent predictable, always, Tae. But I was highly certain."

Tae started biting at one of his nails, staring again at the small shuttle that would soon be housing Chimin, Lilith, Jin and Joon on their journey.

"That's not really the question you want to ask, is it?" Chimin tucked his clipboard under his arm. "Go on then, Tae. Spit it out."

Tae's crystal blue eyes shifted and twinkled back at Chimin--his irises haunting fragments of wonder, light, and unshed tears.

"I wanna know why you decided that Kookie's life was worth sacrificing. They said it was your idea. But...."

"If you're trying to figure out just how evil I really am, I'm not sure that I can answer that for you." Chimin's voice flickered with amusement."Yes, Tae. It really was my idea."

"But why, Chiminie? I know you said it was your best option at the time but... I still don't see why you did all this wanting him to die at the end of it all. Why not me or Jin instead?"

"Jin? In combat? Now that's a good joke."

A laugh like tinkling bells sounded from the golden man's smiling lips.

"And Joon was too busy being in Petra's pocket to work."

Perhaps it was something unwavering in Tae's eyes as he watched Chimin laugh... something earnest and true that Chim saw pouring out at him. But for a moment, the scattered parts of Park Chimin's messy persona came together in earnest, and true sadness passed through his lips.

"But you...I just couldn't do it to you, Tae. And I still can't believe you were a Gwangju Ai this whole damn time, anyway."

He ran an anxious hand through his golden mane of hair.

"I thought that being one would break you. And I didn't want to break anyone to get here. I figured that Kookie had the resilience to face death, face any shit this threw at him, and stay himself. But not you, Tae. I hope that you don't hate me for saying so."

"No. I don't. But you still set Kookie up to die, on purpose. And I still can't see why it had to come that."

Chimin shifted his clipboard from under his arm into both of his hands again and cleared his throat, his more detached persona creeping in once more.

"Perhaps once you spend a little time at our base camp, you'll get better acquainted with the... the why part of it all. If you thought it was purely for my sick amusement, then I'm sorry to disappoint you."

Tae gave a soft starlight smile. "No, Chiminie. I never thought you thought this up because you wanted it to come true."

Chimin smiled devilishly. "No?"

Tae shook his head of silvery hair. "No. You love Jungkook too much."

Chimin's trickster smile faltered by a hair.

"So, I don't think you're evil, Chim. I hope that I do come to understand your why... and I hope that me saying that makes you feel at least a little bit better. Because I can tell how unhappy you are."

"What do you mean?" Chimin's smile only widened in amusement now, the more Tae's earnestness poured forth.

Tae gave a vague shrug for an answer. "Don't be unhappy, Chiminie."

In a dreamy daze, Tae then turned and started to wander his way out of the rusty, cavernous shuttle bay to retrieve the other members of the exploration team.

Chimin watched Tae walk away, his sharp eyes narrowing suspiciously at the back of Kim Taehung's head of silvery hair.

I see you, Tae Tae. But you can't see me.

Shae smiled sleepily into musky skin. She kept her eyes closed, not wanting to drift fully out of the fuzzy lightness of dreaming. A large hand smoothed its way up her bare back, making her shiver despite the warmth of plush blankets and warm skin engulfing her.

"I hate to wake you," Joon's voice was amber-warm, "but I'll be setting out with Chim soon. I gotta get up, so...."

Shae stretched an arm over Joon's chest and pressed her skin into him, nuzzling her face into his neck and taking in a single, long breath. Then she let out a sigh.

"Mmm."

She could hear and feel his soft chuckle echoing in his ribs beneath her, and it made her squeeze him a little tighter.

"Shae." His voice was boyish and amused. "I gotta get up."

"Are you sure?" Her muffled voice tickled his chest.

Joon shifted his weight, rolling Shae onto her back and arching himself over her. He was grinning like a schoolboy, perfectly free and happy. Joon planted a kiss at the top of Shae's ribcage, where it curved just slightly out of her skin. His kisses started to trail down the line of her ribs while she tried and failed not to giggle.

Before reaching her stomach, Joon popped his head up and over Shae so that their warm eyes washed over each other.

He thought to himself, This. This is perfect bliss.

Then Joon dropped his whole frame heavily, tightly over her slender form, still bracing slightly onto his elbows as his skin pressed into hers and their lips met: tender and lingering and slow.

She thought to herself, This. This is living magic.

Then a second kiss, barely a peck.

Joon groaned, a laugh in his voice as he rolled himself off of Shae, off of the bed, and onto his feet. He made his way to the restroom of his suite, and then made busy getting himself ready for departure.

The parting of the ways was near, after all.

Meanwhile, Shae pulled the thick blankets up around her skin and tucked a wad of them into her chin as she breathed, steady and happy.

But he is leaving. And a whole different world waits for us both outside that door.

Shae glanced at the door that led into the circular hallway of Yoongi and Hoseok's ship. Her mind's eye swam with all the resistance that waited for them there. Or... for Joon, mostly.

Ava's protective criticism.

Jungkook's righteous anger.

The seething in Lilith's eyes.

Yoongi's scoff.

Hoseok's snarl.

Jin's bitterness.

She reluctantly remembered that outside of that door, Joon was almost as loathed as Petra herself.

Almost.

Taehyung and Chimin were the only wild cards in this game, and she couldn't tell who's side they were on yet.

The sound of cabinets opening and a sink turning on in the bathroom, these ordinary echoes felt bittersweet. They were the cacophony of a could-be-routine that wasn't meant to be just yet.

Shae buried herself into the thick blankets, closed her eyes, and breathed deep.

Remembrance struck her. Memories of the night turned to morning. Of the warmth and kindness of Joon, the earnestness and terror in him, the fear. The pure euphoria.

She closed her eyes and let the emotions and sensations and images shuffle through her mind's eye like a million photographs flipping through her fingers at once. Every one of them fleeting and precious.

Joon's voice echoed from the bathroom, "There are some more extra clothes in that second drawer. They'll be big, but the sweater and shorts should fit ok."

Shae sighed her way out of those warm blankets and longing thoughts. She dashed quickly through the cool air to the short dresser across the room, her feet padding on hard floor. She pulled the shorts out and slipped through the elastic band. Baggy, but decent. Then she found the sweater. These will do.

She nervously hurried to dress before Joon came back out of the bathroom.

When he did, she was surprised to see him already fully dressed in a grey jumpsuit with pale yellow accents, his white hair neatly swept to one side. It all made his tanned skin look even darker.

"You really are leaving, aren't you?"

Joon smiled, that single dimple greeting her. It was a lovely thing, his smile.

Shae could see the dull grief creeping back into his eyes, though, at the mention of his departure. It made her feel uneasy whenever he leaned in to kiss her on the forehead.

"Leaving with Chimin, Jin and Lilith is better than staying here a prisoner like Petra. So I'll take what I can get." He tucked his chin down to kiss Shae gently on the lips. "I'll be back."

"I'll be waiting. As patiently as I can."

Joon's smile rose up from his core at her words, like a lovely shield of warmth and love to help him fend off the darkness.

For now.