The two of us stood side by side in front of the finished product after seven months and a half of excessive hard work and consequent failures, our hands crossed against our chests as we proudly observed the external details of the finished work. It was definitely a rough ride, especially that it was Taehyung that I had to work with and that was probably harder than implementing the task itself, but I still pulled through and managed to contribute without killing myself at some point.

"Looks good," Taehyung said with a proud smile on his face as his eyes scanned every nook and cranny of our machine off of its surface," so far."

"Yeah, we gotta check if it works just as good as it looks," I said then looked at Taehyung," Are you sure you wanna try this out? Because it's either perfect or we are never coming out of it in the right time and place."

Taehyung's proud smile disappeared as he stared at the machine with a solemn expression, probably calculating his risks and all. Personally, I think there are no pros to this whole project, just risks, because what are the odds that something like this turns out to be perfect on the first try. Quite unlikely.

We stood in silence for about five minutes, seriously contemplating if we were about to risk our lives just to prove how well our machine can travel through time, until I broke the silence," I don't think I can do it."

There was no response from Taehyung, just the same stare with the same intensity, so I continued my attempt to convince him otherwise before he had the chance to make up his mind," We will be risking everything for so little Taehyung. What's the best thing that could happen if it actually works? We are going to pass and graduate. But we can also pass with a project that's complicated but far less dangerous than this one don't you think?"

I felt like an asshole saying that now since we had spent more than five months working on it, but to be fair, Taehyung didn't exactly wait for my opinion when we were brainstorming. If I had the option to reject this idea back then, I straight up would've, because it's a no brainer, but of course Taehyung had to go out of his way and try to prove how he knows everything and whatnot and that's what we get from behind all that arrogance of his.

"Look, we are ahead of everyone else. We graduate in about two months exactly. We still have time to choose something else and try it out," I said but then got interrupted by Taehyung.

"Don't be ridiculous Jungkook. Two months will never be enough to start gathering materials, let alone start working on something else. We have to take the risk," he replied, leaving me completely speechless.

"Oh," I let out, my eyes opened wide in disbelief," So lemme get this whole situation straight. You forced me into working on this whole thing knowing that I was completely against it, and now you are going to force me to risk my life just so I can get a passing grade?"

He turned around to look at me, his eyes empty of emotion, then just shrugged and said," Yes, pretty much. You don't exactly have plenty of options here."

I tried my very best not to go completely mad at whatever just came out of his mouth, but I didn't hold myself back from failing. In no time, Taehyung's body was on the ground, his lips oozing out some blood as he supported himself upward against the interior of the machine while staring at me with wide, empty eyes.

That empty, cold look of his drove the last sane grain in me off the hook and I had no option but to grab his collar with both fists," Listen here Taehyung. I've put up with you for too long, I've put up with your ass ordering me around and I've held myself back from doing so many regrettable things, but it seems like you have forgotten a really important detail. I work with you, not for you, and I absolutely won't allow you to ruin my life just because you are a narcissistic asshole who doesn't care about anyone or anything but himself!"

We sat in a minute of silence, with nothing being heard but both of our panting as it echoed against the walls of the machine. I looked down at Taehyung's lips as they were being drained off of blood, and felt my grip get a bit more relaxed. I lost it, I shouldn't have, but as much as I hated my life, as much as I always thought about never returning back to living with him, I still wanted to live day by day, hoping that one day everything was going to change. Getting stuck in the past or future wasn't something I wanted to risk doing, it wasn't something I hoped for myself to do at some point. My life wasn't something I wanted to trade for the sake of passing with good grades, I wanted to live it.

"Let's just," I sighed out then took my hands off of him and stood up before reaching out for him to take my hand," Let's work on something else. We have the time, let's not waste it on fighting."

I looked down into his eyes with determination, hoping that my anger would've helped him change his mind and finally open the gates of a Taehyung who would be considerate of someone else's needs, but I was wrong.

"It's too late," He said before reaching out with his arm and pressing one of the buttons on the control panel above him.

In that very second, a metallic door slid to the side and slammed shut, leaving only one side of the machine open. I tried exiting through it, but a wave of electricity sent my whole body flying. I groaned in pain as I supported my body weight against my elbow then looked at Taehyung who was smiling at the illuminating control panel.

I reached out and grabbed his collar once more, but this time, he was much happier, relieved I'd say.

"How dare you?" I let out faintly as a tear slipped down my eye and glided smoothly down my cheek then shouted," How dare you Taehyung?"

All of a sudden I felt a strong grip on my wrist, and saw Taehyung's eyes get darker," This life of yours, that life that you are so attached to, that life that you don't want to risk, means absolutely nothing to me."

I stared at him in silence, not knowing how to comprehend what he had just said. Could there exist a human as selfish and inhumane as he is? A human who thought of other's lives as worthless?

He kept his grip on my wrist tight and pulled himself upward till he was towering over me," No one is going to remember you when you die, no one is gonna cry for more than an hour. So do something that'll give your life some meaning and let's get this over with."

My lips quivered and a tear slid down my cheeks as I stared at his psychotic smile with disbelief while he started pressing some buttons on the control panel. That was it. The whirring of the machine echoed inside my head as I processed my new reality. It was either I lived through this or I don't, and even worse, I'll have to die next to Taehyung, a death I never wished to have. All that for what? Grades? A non-pathetic life?

I gathered whatever was left of my energy to stand back up and stared at Taehyung who was working on the panels with pure excitement. Nothing different than the psychopath he normally is except that this time I was the victim.

"You are an asshole. The only reason I'll let this slide is in case this thing fails and we die, I'll be considered a martyr for ridding the world of you," I let out in disgust, but Taehyung couldn't care any less. His mind was engulfed in the mechanics of the machine, he most probably didn't realize I was speaking. I leaned against the walls of the machine and just closed my eyes. There was nothing else I could do to change the fact that I was trapped, might as well take a deep breath and relax in what could be my last time being in 2060.

"There," I heard Taehyung say all of a sudden, his eyes shining bright, probably just as bright as the blue hue of the electric gate that electrocuted me as he took a couple of steps back," We should be gone any second now."

The whirring of the machine started getting louder and more rapid, causing the electric gate to expand and suddenly form a black hole right through the center. A few seconds after the black hole had formed, Taehyung gave me the signal to move forward, and that was when in a blink of an eye, everything suddenly went black.

••••••••••••••••••

I whirled my body around to get a good stretch when I suddenly felt a strange material graze my skin, a material I've never felt on my body before. I paused midway and furrowed my eyebrows, my eyes closed as I took in all the information my senses fed me before I finally get shocked by whatever my reality has become.

I could hear muffled noises of men shouting, women chattering, carriages, horses and donkeys, metal clanking, and wood creaking. All at once. Not only that, but the sounds I was hearing didn't compare to the itchiness I felt all over my body and that weird texture that was under me.

I took a wild decision to finally open my eyes to start grasping whatever was awaiting me, but once I did, the shock hit me too hard that I yeeted myself off what seemed to be a bed.

I got up and looked down at my body. There was nothing on me but a skirt wrapped around my waist with a belt. I was too flustered to even realize I didn't know where the hell was I until a door was slammed open and a duck ran chaotically into whatever space I was in. The whole chaos of the duck flapping its wings and screaming its lungs out and the absurdity of my situation made me climb back up on the bed, holding onto my damned skirt for whatever reason made me feel like I was safer that way.

A woman entered with baskets in her hands and one balanced on her head and slammed the door shut while cursing at the duck that just spilt a pot of wheat, I guess. The lady placed the baskets down cautiously before chasing the duck around until she finally held both its wings. The whole situation was too absurd that I couldn't even think anymore, I was just standing there in a tiny as hell skirt in some random as hell house being terrorised by some damned duck. Not only that, but there was some lady in that same exact house with a door shut acting like I was a regular component of that house of hers.

After placing the duck in a cage, she dusted off her hands against her off-white dress, leaving a beige stain on whatever clean spot was left on her clothes. She paused in her tracks at the sight of me and looked slightly confused. Her confusion didn't really relieve me, because she wasn't confused enough as to scream and question why a strange man was standing on her bed barely wearing anything.

"Why are you standing on the bed? Are you okay?" She asked me, her head tilted in confusion, her braided hair hanging off her shoulder slightly.

I felt as though my vocal chords have jumped out the window and left me helpless in front of a woman I was oblivious of, but I gathered all my strength to let out just three words," Who are you?"

I furrowed my eyebrows immediately at whatever just got out of my mouth. What language is that? Wait. Why do my thoughts sound like that too?

Before I had the chance to register my thoughts, I found that lady threatening me with a stool.

"You have a death wish don't you?" She said then threw the stool aside and gave me a death glare before scolding me out," You stayed indoors all day again didn't you? While I went out to work in the fields again? Do you even know how it feels like to come home after such a long day and still have a mouth to feed? Don't you feel sorry for me?"

I stared at her, not knowing what exactly she was speaking to me about, nor if she could even see who I were because I for sure didn't recognize who she was.

"Forget it, same thing everyday, talking to a wall. I pray to the gods everyday, when will I ever get to live like those well off women. Anyway you stink, let me help you shower," she said then walked towards me, her hands aiming for my skirt.

It took the last bit of energy in my body to throw myself off that bed and stand defensively away from her hands. Even if I had to sell my soul, I absolutely would not let her take the skirt off of me, it was whatever was left off of my dignity.

"Stay away from me lady," I said defensively, my hands grabbing onto my skirt and belt.

"Lady?" she let out in confusion, all while still walking towards me. I kept backing up, every now and then bumping into some pot or stool laying on the ground.

"Don't come any closer or I'll have to get violent," I warned once more while aiming one of my hands at her and it finally worked. She stopped walking towards me, but instead she started laughing her lungs out.

"What's wrong with you today Jabari," She let out in between breaths.

Jabari? Who in the world is Jabari? What was she on about?

Before I had the chance to think about what she had just said, I felt a cold breeze hit my lower body and that's when the realization hit me.

My skirt went loose.