Taehyung coughed uncontrollably before saying with a truck load of difficulty, "So- *cough* so I just dive *cough cough COUGH* in?"

"Ye- *cough* -s"

Taehyung tried to stomach his surroundings once more but because of the blinding and stifling smoke all around them, all he could manage to see was blotches of red a little away from them and Seokjin's equally red eyes. He felt Seokjin tying the thick rope around his waist and handing him a piece of bread as small as his toe. Taehyung popped the little piece of magic that would help him hold his breath long enough to pick some fireweed from the bottom of the lake.

Seokjin rested his hand on Taehyung's back and squeezed it as an indication to jump in. Taehyung couldn't even see before him but he could feel the tremendous heat from the lake, so he dived in.

It was the strangest place Taehyung has ever been in his eight thousand years of existence. It was like water, but denser and very much red. It was like he was swimming in tomato soup except that the soup had been shoved inside a furnace. Yes, Taehyung could feel the intensity of the heat but it did not pain him in the slightest. In fact, there was something enjoyable about the heat.

Taehyung sliced through the lava, swimming deeper and deeper into the lake. His heart almost leaped out of his chest when the skeleton of some animal floated past him. He was hit by a long bone in the head as he waded through the lava. He tried not to look anywhere but down because he knew he would see more of the dead if he looked around. Finally, he could see something bright and orange although it was hard to differentiate from the redness around him but there it was- fireweed.

He plucked a dozen of them and began to swim upwards. However, the higher he went, the more difficult it became to swim. It was like the lake was trying to hold him in its embrace. His head started to feel fuzzy and his limbs were becoming heavy with sleep. There was something so comforting about the heat...

Taehyung gasped when he broke out of the surface. He felt hands pulling him on the rough ground.

"Taehyung *cough* are you ok- *cough* -ay?"

Taehyung nodded and held up the weed for Seokjin to stuff into his satchel.

"Oh, um."

Taehyung squinted up at Seokjin who had averted his eyes from Taehyung, his face pink. It took him a minute but Taehyung realised that his clothes were not immune to fire.

After a moment of horrifying awkwardness, a shirt was thrown at Taehyung who looked up to see Seokjin hugging his naked torso in a bashful manner. Taehyung wore Seokjin's thankfully lengthy shirt before he could stare too long at Seokjin's curved waist.

Soon, they were soaring in the sky, the landscape becoming a blur as Seokjin flew higher.

__________

"The lake is blood-thirsty. It knew you wouldn't be affected by the heat so it tried to lull you to eternal sleep," Seokjin explained two days afterwards as he tried to organise his table.

Emphasis on the "tried" because he had made no progress in the last thirty minutes. Everything looked just as haphazard as before.

"But it's strange, you know?" Seokjin said as he turned to Taehyung who was organising the new flower pots on the new shelves.

"What is?" He asked as he added an extra pinch of blue nutrition dust to the pot where he had dumped coffee last week.

"I learnt from Namjoon that Lava lake is a site of punishment. Those who are innocent, they would only be tortured by the heat because they are naturally vulnerable to it, but they won't die."

"Oh?" Taehyung felt a bead of cold dread trickle down his spine.

"It's just fascinating, you know?"

"Yeah." Taehyung swallowed hard before looking at Seokjin to meet his unsuspecting gaze.

Seokjin had warmed up to him by a considerable amount. His gaze was softer, his smiles appeared more often, he sometimes spoke to Taehyung outside of necessary conversation. It made Taehyung relieved and guilty at the same time- relieved because he didn't have to live with the constant pressure of walking and talking right and guilty because Seokjin's kindness was borne from Taehyung's dishonesty.

"Taehyung, do I snore?" Seokjin asked absentmindedly.

"Nope."

"Not even once?"

"Nope."

"That liar Jungkook. He said I snored like a whole orchestra."

Taehyung let out a gentle ring of laughter. He liked to see Seokjin being animated. It was kind of cute.

"Maybe he didn't want to sleep with you," Taehyung replied as he moved next to Seokjin and began to assess what was on the table.

"Hm, yes. He just needed an excuse to sleep with Jimin."

Seokjin heaved a long sigh suddenly.

"Are you okay?" Taehyung asked, hands beginning to separate the jars from the rest of the contents and line them up in order at one side of the table.

"They're soulmates, you know. Jimin and Jungkook."

"Oh," Taehyung didn't know what else to say. He was neither acquainted with the two nor cared much about soulmates.

The air felt somewhat awkward so Taehyung cleared his throat and inquired, "So, where to next?"

"Eros's Garden to get the feather of a black phoenix."

"There's no such thing as a black phoenix."

"How are you so sure?"

"Sorry. Where is this garden?"

"Not too far from here. It will take us a maximum fifteen minutes by air."

"Then why didn't we go there first?"

Taehyung regretted asking that question because an uncomfortable quietness enveloped the kitchen. His hands began to assemble the objects faster so he could just leave the room.

"I need to extract the juice from the fireweed before we get the feather. We will go next week."

"Next week?!".

Seokjin turned to him sharply, frost forming over his orbs slowly.

"Perhaps, you can suggest a better way to make the potion to grow a fresh set of wings?"

"Sorry," Taehyung mumbled before returning to his job.

Seokjin inhaled deeply before saying, "Taehyung, you must realise that it is very costing for me to prepare this potion. I am not only stirring a pot but also channelling my magic into it. It is one thing to regrow wings and it is another thing to give you an entirely new set of wings. I have told you before, light wings cannot be grown a second time but dark wings can be. And giving a Light one dark wings... Moreover the Garden of Eros is a dangerous for someone who... who is weak minded. The last time I went there..."

"Just give me some time, please."

Taehyung felt his face burn in shame and a fist tighten over his heart.

"Seokjin, I'm sorry," Taehyung murmured, genuinely.

"I'm exhausted. Jungkook will bring dinner. Tell him I went to sleep," Seokjin spoke in a hollow voice before leaving Taehyung with himself.

Taehyung sighed and continued working until he had to let Jungkook in.

"It's almost like this is your house," Jungkook commented as he set down the packed dinner on the table.

"Seokjin went to bed early," Taehyung explained as he helped Jungkook unpack.

"Really? Usually he stays up when he is making a potion. Did something upset him?" Jungkook said pointedly as if the real question was "What did you do to my hyung?"

"We were talking about the Garden of Eros. That seemed to upset him. And... I may have rushed him," Taehyung admitted, scratching his nape.

"Hm." Taehyung hoped Jungkook wouldn't snap his spine or slap him halfway across the land with his wings.

"I apologized," Taehyung mentioned for his own safety.

"Just don't mention the garden until you get there. And don't talk about it after you return from there," Jungkook advised solemnly.

"But why?"

"Touchy subject," Jungkook spoke as if the words were hard to utter.

"Okay..."

__________

The next days consisted of Taehyung trying to break Seokjin's facade by arranging his table after he finished working, sanitizing the kitchen after customers left, taking care of his plants even though it required him to wake up at the crack of dawn and hanging half of his limbs from the edge of the bed so Seokjin had the most space.

One morning, Taehyung woke up later than usual and found himself, to his horror, tangled with Seokjin. Seokjin's head rested against his chest and Taehyung had his arms snaked tightly around Seokjin's form, the latter's wings blanketing his arms. But before he could think of an escape plan, he found Seokjin staring at him with big, curious doe eyes as if he was trying to read Taehyung like a book. Taehyung began to unwind his arms and maybe , just maybe he saw a hint of disappointment in Seokjin's eyes.

Taehyung hauled himself out of the room to water the plants.

"Who are you?"

Taehyung missed two steps before stumbling uncontrollably in the dark of the living room and crashing into someone who was thankfully fast enough to catch both of their balance.

"Are you a friend of Seokjin's?" asked the mystery person as they walked into the kitchen leisurely.

"Yes," Taehyung answered, although he felt like an intruder with that answer.

"Who are you?" Taehyung asked, hoping this was no serial killer.

"I am a friend of Seokjin too." The person opened one of the kitchen windows and Taehyung noticed his reptilian eyes. His entire body was covered with black- a black coat, black pants, black shoes and black gloves. Only his face was not shrouded.

"He is still asleep. Do you need something...?"

The man's lips curved upwards in an intelligent manner as if he was scrutinizing every inch of Taehyung, and that went beyond physical means.

"You can say I lost and found what I needed at the same time," the man said in an eerie tone. "Goodbye, Taehyung."

The man's body turned to dust before it got carried outside the window by a sudden breeze.

How did he know my name?

__________

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