The Ringleader | knj

47

Hesitantly, he turned to face me.
His eyes were wide and doe, like that of a little child who was currently having to face one of their biggest fears.

I clutched his hand tightly, seeing the uncomfortable expression in his eyes, instantly regretting what I'd done. I bit my bottom lip and hung my head low as I sensed the brokenness in his expression.

"I'm so sorry," I murmured, feeling guilty for making him look so petrified of the situation.

It's obvious that something like this had happened before and it must've ended pretty sourly for it to haunt his memories like this.

I was too blind to see that there was a bigger reason for him acting like his birthday was just another ordinary day.

He shook his head, his eyes still pinned to the ground in awe.

"You... you didn't know," he breathed, dropping his hands from mine.
My mouth parted as I saw him enclose himself with his hands, watching as the atmosphere grew cold and dark. He turned to leave, his sodden eyes gazing sadly at the sky.

"Hey Namjoon!" Seokjin ran to stop him, placing a single hand upon his shoulder. "She worked so hard to prepare this for you! How long are your gonna keep letting the past continue to ruin your life?"

Namjoon halted, his posture growing stiff.

"Yeah Hyung! You haven't celebrated your birthday properly in so long... you used to love the parties we threw you in the beginning," Taehyung sadly sighed.

"Joon, you can't stay cooped up like this forever. It's your day, now come and enjoy it with us," Yoongi smiled up at him, comfortingly.

He bit his bottom lip, shaking his head.
"You guys go on without me, I'm fine, really." He bluntly said, pulling his arms away from Yoongi and Seokjin's grip, walking away.

"Namjoon wait!" I put a hand on his shoulder. "Please don't do this to yourself. I don't know what happened for you to hate your birthday this much, but what I do know is that you can't let the past bother you. You deserve better Joon, you deserve to be able to enjoy the little things in life without having the past bite back. So please, stay and join us?"

His lips parted at me as we both stared at each other in silence. I smiled up at him, reassuring him that everything was going to be fine.
That this birthday would be one to remember... this birthday would be the one to make all the brutal memories disappear.

"Okay," he smiled at me, nodding.

I grinned at his response, surprising him as I pulled him into a hug.
A warm feeling consumed me as I felt two large hands wrap around my back as he pulled me closer to him, resting his chin upon my shoulders as we stayed like that for a while.

"Ahem?" I saw Yoongi smirk overhead and we quickly pulled apart, Namjoon and I awkwardly standing there as all of the members began to stare at us with a stupid grin on their faces.

"So when are we going to get this picnic started? The croutons are gonna go soggy soon!" Taehyung exclaimed, to which we all laughed and nodded.

"Let's eat!" Seokjin bellowed excitedly, blasting the speaker as we busily began to tuck into our food.

**

"Who wants another one?" Jungkook excitedly exclaimed, wavering the half eaten platter of sandwiches high above in the air. Seokjin clutched his belly in agony, shaking his head.

"I've eaten too much, one more and I'll throw up an entire subway store," he groaned, lying sluggishly against the grass. We all chuckled at his comment, intaking our own satisfaction of food for the day.

"Well, more for me then," Jungkook beamed, devouring a dozen in one go.

Everything was perfect.

The members were all lazily resting in the dusk moonlight, a big smile plastered across all of their faces as they talked amongst themselves, giggling and laughing like there was no tomorrow. I stared, a wide grin forming across my face as I saw them happy and carefree; wishing they could always be like this.

I felt as a delicate hand brushed against my shoulder, tapping it gently. I turned around, shaking out of my gaze as I met a soft and comforting gaze.

"Oh was I interrupting something?" he whispered.
I cringed internally, realising that he'd probably seen me zone out at the members whilst smiling widely like a psychopath- this whole time.

"No, I was just watching everyone," I chuckled, shaking my head up at him.  "They all look so peaceful,"

He smiled as he followed my gaze, seeing their happy faces made him smile even wider.

"Thank you Seoyeon," he picked up my hand and placed his on top of it, his eyes dwelling with sincerity. "You've made this the best day I... well, we, have had in a long time,"

I grinned at him, nodding.

"After all you've done for me, this was the least I could do," I said, watching as his eyes began to crinkle into happiness.

We stood there for a while, silently, his hand clutching mine tightly. The sky was fading into a deep magenta, the fairylights glowing even brightly as it began to set, it felt so surreal... so beautiful.
I wanted this moment to be engraved into my memory for the rest of my life, gawking at the perfectness within the atmosphere today.

He smiled up at me, poking my cheek with his finger. I chuckled at him, shaking my head as I realised I'd zoned out once more.

He placed his arms around both my shoulders, shifting me a little so that I was directly facing his gaze.
The sunlight brushed against his tan skin, his whole existence looking so ethereal; so perfect and sunkissed. His peachy bangs glistened a slight chestnut in the darkness, his full lips flushing a bright rosy pink and his dimples shimmered against his flawless skin.

"I've been wanting to tell you something since this  morning," he breathed, clear smoke brushing out of his mouth as the faded sky made the weather more chillier.

"What is it?" I looked up at him, curiously. His smile widened, his dimples expanding deeper and deeper into his cheeks.

"Promise me you won't die of happiness?" he chuckled, intriguing me even further. I nodded eagerly, wanting to know of this elative news.

"You're finally going to get your freedom Seoyeon, tomorrow," he cupped my cheeks in his hands, beaming brightly as if he expected me to scream and dance ecstatically with joy.

But nothing happened.

There was no scream, there was no joy, there was just silence.

I froze at his words, but not with shock and excitement.

My heart sunk rapidly, his words penetrating into my mind as I began to process them further. The cold atmosphere engulfed my body, making me shiver all over.

That once perfect sunset memory had breezed by in a blur, like his one sentence had just ended everything for me.

I'd always wanted this... I'd always wanted to run away and live a seclusive life of my own...

And suddenly, now I didn't.