Optional background music: BTOB - Movie (piano ver.)

"Hope," Michael wandered throughout the rainbow spectrum of the flower field, shouted out her name, "where are you?"

"Here I am!" The young teenager popped out of the blurry purple and waved some lavenders at him before disappearing again.

"Hope," he sternly called out, "I'll give you five more minutes."

"Twenty!" her small voice bargained from the far distance.

"Ten!" he yelled.

"Fifty!"

"That's not how it works, Hope," Michael shook his head, "I'll give you fifteen!"

"Alright then!"

I worry, he thought to himself as he comfortably laid on the perennials, she is maturing fast. Will she be alright? With seven males? I feel sadness and fear inside me. Ah, how my heart painfully aches for her. Michael rested his hand on his chest, breathing in and out as he reminisced. She's almost eighteen. Soon, on her birthday, I'll be sending my wild dove away. She will be taken from Heaven to Earth below, where time is quick and one's age fastens. Perhaps I can make a deal with the other archangels to let me send her to the Vatican Palace in person. Perhaps not. Ultimately, it is up to her to show them the forgotten compassion. I doubt she would have any trouble with that, but I wonder how the princes will react. The youngest of the princes should be around her age if I recall correctly. I'll have to look through the records again after dropping her off at the cubicles. I still remember the times when she once lived in a small bedroom in my house, when she once tied my hair in tiny ponytails, when she once gave me a hug from behind after the exams, when she once kissed my cheek-

"Hope?" Michael opened his eyes to find Hope poking him in his gut. Slowly, he sat up and groaned a bit. "Shall we go now?"

"Okay," she smiled, "but, first, I made you a bouquet!" She brought the hand she hid behind her back and presented him her flower arrangement. "Michael, isn't it lovely?" Oh, Michael painfully smiled back at her, I already miss you.


“How did you sleep?" Taehyung asked as we continued to walk within the palace. Every now and then, he would hum a few notes or giggle at something he mumbled to himself.

"I slept well," Hope replied, "thank you for asking. Say, where are we heading to?"

"Trust me now, angel," he whispered as he stroked the stiff walls with familiarity, "this won't take too long-" His eyes widened and he looked around cautiously, frozen in his position. "Someone else is here," he whispered, his pointer finger on his lips.

"Erm," Hope turned her head around, "I don't see anyone." They were at yet another empty, grand space. To their right on the wall was a mural of the apostle Paul and candles below the painting left burning. Who lights these candles? How is it that they do not cry tears of wax?

"Yes," he coughed and rubbed his hands, "of course, you don't."

"What do you mean by that?"

"By that, I mean exactly what I said."

"Pardon? I do not understand."

"Hm," Taehyung patted the sweat of his palms onto his pants, "there are many things you cannot and will not understand." He's weird, Hope thought to herself.

"Well, then," Hope cleared her throat, "shall we continue moving?"

"No, no," he pointed back into the direction they came from, "let's go back."

"Huh? Are you not even going to tell me where we were planning to go?"

"You see," he stepped closer to her, "I do like surprises. Perchance we shall go next time." Unexpectedly, Taehyung jerked his head to the side and faced the apostle's mural, as if by force. His body moved like a puppet as he seized the candlestick. When he picked it up, his grip tightened and he started to whisper in another language. Latin? Cantonese? I do not recognise it. I should have taken a language course back at school. Stronger than an earthquake, his hand violently shook as he let out a small whimper.

"Excuse me," Hope stammered, "are you alright?"

"Argh! Begone!" Taehyung finally threw the candlestick to the ground with a loud 'clang'. The sound of candlestick and Hope's frightened scream echoed throughout the space before all was oddly silent. Panting out of breath, his body fell to the floor. The candlestick which he threw was still suspiciously still lit. Sprawled on the ground like a forgotten doll, he shut his eyes and told Hope, "please leave me be."

"O-okay."


Still shaken from the incident, Hope tried to find her way back. She climbed stairs, walked through doors, and travelled past pillars. Because she was so focused on Taehyung's odd behaviour, she could not know if she had gotten off-track. Seconds felt like minutes which then felt like hours and, without seeing any windows, she felt hopelessly disoriented. How ironic.

"Lost?" said a low voice. She slowly turned her body around to see who it was, anxious if it was just a voice.

"Y-you're Yoongi, right?"

"Mhm," he beckoned her to follow him with his hand, "come with me. We will explain what you want to know.

Notes

hell yeah
I finally updated