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Somewhere in the wilderness just outside of a city long past its heyday Kim Namjoon rode. He rode away at a speed where one wouldn’t be blamed for guessing there was someone, or a group, after him. And the hypothetical person would be kinda right. Nobody was actively after him now.
But on the other hand if the reason for his mad dash across the abandoned roads, then yeah he’d have people after him. Not exactly people as in humans, but people as in gods. The deities that have total reign over the world for as long as he’d been alive.
For as long anyone can remember even.
Rumor has it the gods reclaimed their power over humanity ever since there was a solar storm and all technology had been obliterated. They reclaimed the hold they once had in the very ancient past. Only it was much stronger now. If anyone asked why humanity hasn't gotten back to the same level of technology as before nowadays, people would point to the gods for the reason.
Believe and follow lest one wants misery and terrible calamity to befall them.
There was also the fact that the number of humans had been drastically reduced since the Great Reset to a time before electricity was invented. Not enough people to get things going.
Not for a lack of trying though. Some people tried to get electricity back up to speed but it didn’t stick long enough for one reason or another by the time Namjoon was born. Society was effectively in the Medieval Ages by then.
Although that said, horse and buggy and radios managed to hold on after a few millennia. As well as other minor things here and there.
It was a beautiful day. Sunny and warm but wasn’t enough to keep away the eerie, ominous vibe of a city long overtaken by vines and plants. Broken down skyscrapers, billboards amidst flowers and animals who moved into the area. A scant reminder of what humanity achieved once upon a time.
This was Seoul. Or well it was back in the day pedantically speaking. Nowadays the Seoul people referred to was a small village Namjoon had to pass through to get to this ancient version of Seoul. Old Seoul people called it.
And Namjoon had to pass through this once active metropolis in order to reach his final destination. He was also supposed to meet up with Jungkook, his lover, on the other side. From there they would head towards a field where they would be picked up by their alien friends.
Namjoon hasn't met them face to face yet, but via Jungkook he has talked to them. Wonderful group of people willing to pull off this risky stunt. The reason for this was just simply freedom.
Namjoon and Jungkook wanted freedom to stay together. Be together in one place for longer than two hours at a time. Seven days a week would be preferable.
See, Jungkook was a minor god. Not the most powerful, but not the least either. Just big enough that unfortunately if someone found out about his relationship with a human then both of them would get punished. Namjoon would just get his memories erased. Jungkook’s punishment would be ten times worse.
As in, Jungkook once told Namjoon of a god whose power was stripped before they both were sent back in time. The former god was sent to a period significantly after the period his human lover was sent to.
Never to be reconnected ever again. Of course there could be something else equally as worse but why find out?
Both Namjoon and Jungkook would rather the world burn than be permanently kept apart.
So here Namjoon was, dressed in a simple white shirt, jeans and a black billowy cloak. Which alright to be fair the cloak might be a bit too dramatic. But sue him, if he put on a mysterious intimidating vibe, other people would most likely stay away from him then not. He didn’t want to deal with any questions about his decision to follow a god that barely has any followers left. Especially on a day like today. Most people are just genuinely curious and then move on after the initial question. They honestly don’t care what god he followed.
But, unfortunately, some were obnoxious about it. Question after question after question as if they wanted to convert him to their god. They can’t fathom why he chose to mainly believe in a practically unknown village god.
Namjoon would more or less tell them to fuck off.
(Namjoon might’ve punched a few of the proselytizing assholes out of sheer frustration. He would pray to Jungkook for forgiveness afterwards.
This was of course before he met Jungkook himself and thus learned he would’ve pretty much done the same thing if the roles were reversed.)
So what if he was the last Jeon follower in this country? If anything it just made things easier in a way once he and Jungkook fell in love. There wasn’t anyone else to get jealous to the point of resentment. No one else to yell accusations of favoritism or abandonment on Jungkook’s part. And because of the lack of followers outside of Namjoon, he would easily slip under the radar if he played his cards right.
Ever the realist it was Namjoon who told Jungkook it would be smarter to play by the rules when they put their plan into action. Just like they have been doing for the past several years. One day every week Jungkook would come down to Earth from the Heavens to spend time with him. Other than that, Namjoon would pray to him and Jungkook would speak to him via telepathy.
His horse galloped down the broken streets all covered in weeds and flowering plants at lightning speed. Namjoon wanted to get to the other side sooner than later. Because then it would be all the more sooner to meet up with Jungkook and finally head to the alien ship to leave this planet forever.
Fuck all the convoluted rules and the stifling parameters of this particular society.
At the halfway point he stopped. Ideally he would’ve wanted to go a few extra blocks, but the sun has been beating down harder than usual. So it was definitely time for a break, for his sake and his horse’s sake. It’d be dumb to overwork his horse so a half hour break in a shady spot was on the border.
Plus Namjoon was hungry enough to eat.
He tied up the horse to the branch of a nearby tree before he reached into his bag. First he gave some food and water to the horse before he reached back into his bag. He took out some wrapped sandwiches he got in a trade this morning and sat down.
He wasn’t even a few bites in when he felt a presence in the corner of his eye. Someone was coming up, luckily they seemed friendly. It was a young boy who looked to be maybe around his age. Maybe a little on the younger side.
Turned out he wanted to see if Namjoon had any spare water bottles. The boy was with four other friends across the street and they ran out of water. Namjoon was more than happy to help.
Beomgyu, the boy’s name, gazed at the ink on Namjoon’s arm in amazement when he took the water bottle. As expected whenever his tattoos were visible, there was a reaction.
“Whoa, those are cool tattoos,” Beomgyu exclaimed with sincerity and Namjoon smiled. There were quite a myriad different arts sprinkled with quotes on his arm. The most prominent was an intrinsic symbol in the form of a rabbit.
(Namjoon was never offended when most can’t tell off the bat anymore, but the rabbit tattoo was a religious one. It’s Jungkook’s associated animal and the way it was designed denoted him as a follower.)
The two talked for the next few minutes. Namjoon wanted to be sure Beomgyu and his friend were alright. They were. Apparently they were from the smaller village of Seoul to explore the city while on vacation.
“...there isn’t much to do that isn’t breaking the law except come here to explore and try and find things you missed from the last time you explored here.” Beomgyu explained, “It’s 30 minutes away from the village so it's an easy choice for a day trip.”
It made sense to Namjoon. He smiled casually, “Yeah. I’m sure you’re bound to find a million things you miss here. It’s a pretty big city.”
“Yeah. This is our third time exploring this month. We come here lots of time before and we always still find something new. Even if it's just one little thing.”
Namjoon nodded and Beomgyu continued enthusiastically, “The last major thing we found was evidence of an entertainment company being a front for an international crime ring a thousand years ago. And nobody fucking knew!”
Beomgyu stopped for a scant moment then sheepishly amended himself, “Or, well, that’s our wild theory at the moment.”
Namjoon chuckled, “Well people could’ve found out, you just haven’t found the evidence yet. But your theory could very well be true.”
Beomgyu nodded excitedly, “Yeah. We already found some stuff about old kpop groups, it's really interesting.”
“You know, me and my friend might’ve once found something that predated the era when kpop was popular.”
Beomgyu’s eyes widened and a big smile formed, “Whoa cool!”
“It was. Very cool.”
Namjoon carefully omitted the part where said something was actually shown to him by Jungkook. He was a very old god. Ancient. Jungkook was created to represent the region he would eventually be born in.
A short time later Namjoon was on the road again. Other than Beomgyu, he didn’t run into anyone else. He knew there were groups of people who still lived in the area, but they were more or less on the outskirts. Never further in.
Eventually Namjoon made it to the other side. He had to take some detors in order to get through the labyrinth. But luckily it didn’t hold him back terribly. It was still light out and he was still on time. Now he just has to make a turn into the field near the old highway and head to a good spot to call Jungkook.
There Jungkook would send the signal to Seokjin and let him know they were ready.
Thankfully, nobody was after him. Namjoon checked before he gently nudged his horse into action. He headed towards a wooded area, a small cluster of trees between him and freedom. It was only when the trees surrounded him did Namjoon stop.
He took a second to admire the scenery. A peaceful view of vibrant trees and flowers all under the canopy of a still blue sky. He took a deep breath and another look around before he lowered his head. Namjoon kissed the little bunny shaped amulet around his neck before he prayed.
It wasn’t long before Jungkook appeared. Namjoon suddenly felt a comforting weight behind him as the god materialized out of thin air. He instinctively leaned back into Jungkook’s embrace as he wrapped his arms around him. And Namjoon smiled the happiest he’d felt in recent memory.
“Hey Joonie, I got your message,” Jungkook said with a giddy, loving smile of his own before the two kissed. For such an ancient, eons old god, his demeanor was the exact opposite of what one would expect. Current evidence being his doe eyes and youthful appearance, “I also let Jin know we’re ready so they should arrive by the time we get there.”
Jungkook held on to Namjoon tight as they rode through the forest. The latter weaved through the trees masterfully, and in no time they reached the edge. Before them was a vast expanse of nothing but wildflowers. Here was where they hopped off the horse. They wouldn’t need to ride on horseback for this last short leg.
“I got us a pocket universe ready and we can put Yun there,” Jungkook explained as he opened up a portal big enough to lead the horse through, “I knew you’d be sad if you had to leave him behind, and so would I honestly, so I expanded our private universe. He’ll have enough space to run around in and there will always be food for him too.”
Namjoon’s heart swelled at the kind gesture. Not that he was worried Jungkook would pull anything assholish, But seeing how Yun was his trusted companion for years, something like this lifted a weight off his back Namjoon didn’t know was there.
“There are other animals there,” Jungkook continued as Namjoon led Yun to his new home, “Cats, dogs. Bunny rabbits,” He added after a beat of silence with a chuckle.
“I figured that,” Namjoon smiled as he stepped back out a short few seconds later.
The portal was closed and both Namjoon and Jungkook took a step back into the shadows of a nearby tree. The ship hadn’t arrived yet and there was a mutual decision to not risk waiting out in the open air.
“If someone casted an observation spell, they’d probably gonna see us one way or the other,” Namjoon pointed out. Still there was no denying the secured feeling of a hidden spot underneath the thick canopy.
Jungkook held him close with one arm while he rummaged in his back with the other. He kept his voice low, “I know but I don’t want to take any chances. Nobody noticed me leaving but I hate to risk shit too early you know.”
“I think we’re both in agreement there,” Namjoon said as he shifted his gaze from Jungkook to the field ahead of them. There was still no ship and Namjoon had to remind himself to be patient. It hadn’t even been ten minutes.
“I forgot to tell you earlier Joonie,” Jungkook’s voice brought his attention back over to him. Namjoon noticed there was a small vial with a dark maroon liquid inside, “I got the immortality potion all ready for you.”
Namjoon eyed the vial for a few seconds as he reached out for it. Jungkook just smiled knowingly as he put it back in the bag. There was slight disappointment in Namjoon’s eyes, “We should probably wait until we’re on the ship. It might make you sleepy for about a half hour afterwards.”
“Oh yeah good point,” Namjoon said softly with an air of resignation.
Jungkook smiled fondly, “Remember good things come to those who wait.”
Jungkook then gently placed his hand on his cheek and brought him in for another passionately shared kiss. They were like this until a short minute later, the rumbling sound of Jin’s ship landing brought them back to reality. They watched as the big grey metallic ship landed gracefully just right outside the forest.
Luckily it was a hop and a jump away from where they were at. Jungkook immediately swooped Namjoon into his arms bridal style and ran like hell the moment the ramp was opened.
______________________________________
Seokjin bowed almost 90 degrees before he entered the room. Jungkook had just finished tucking Namjoon in when he noticed him. The vial from earlier, now empty, was on the table next to the bed.
Jungkook’s face lit up shyly in a sheepish smile as he walked closer, “You don’t have to bow every time you see me.”
“I know but it’s a hard habit to break. You know me and the others were raised to show reverence to a deity. Any deity.” Seokjin explained with an awkward laugh.
Jungkook nodded. He gets it, he really did. Hell, just before Namjoon went to sleep, he automatically prayed to him the same way as all the times when they were apart. He did appreciate it but it was high time to just be himself. Be one of the guys so to speak.
This day was a long time coming for a lot of different reasons.
“Wish there were more gods like me in this universe who don’t give a shit about being all high and mighty in some way,” Jungkook said with an indirect annoyed sigh, “Seems to be rare these days.”
A comfortable silence fell between the two as Seokjin nodded in agreement, “I hope the room is alright. I know it's not a grand palace,” Seokjin jokes, which garnered a favorable reaction from Jungkook.
“It is. It looks great. Me and Namjoon will make it look less like a spare room in no time,” Jungkook said with a grateful smile.
“Great. Well…I probably told you the plan first is to get the hell out of the Solar System here right?”
Jungkook nodded. Seokjin continued with a big grin, “Alright, well you two are gonna like this. Yoongi found a planet in a galaxy several lightyears on the other side of Andromeda that's habitable but no one lives there. No civilization of any kind. So I figured we can go there and make that our homebase. It’ll be our little private planet run by our own rules.”
A beat then Jungkook smiled excitedly. He loved the idea of that and he was sure Namjoon would too.
“I’d love that!” Jungkook beamed, a sense of great relief washed over him.
Finally he and Namjoon would get to experience the freedom they lacked back home.