Calm After The Storm | OT7, TK, YM

The Questions

It's been 2 years since hell broke. 1 year since they went on hiatus. 1 year since most of them moved out of the country, where did the other one go? None of them knows. They do get his letters through mails once in a while. They do know he is doing much better, way better than he did in the past few years. He is happy, not scared or frustrated anymore. But he still wonders if he would see him again. If this unruly brat of a kid, will ever come back barging in his studio, asking to cling onto him while he works. His random chatter, endearing anecdotes of day to day activities and soothing humming ever fill his ears.

But all he can do is to wonder. He knows he was harsh with the kid, for the last few years; for his own protection, but it was harsh indeed. He meant well but it cannot take the guilt away. He knows he too has sacrificed a lot to reach where they had reached, but still he had no right to dictate the life of his fellow members, leader or not.

He was brought out of his monologue by the buzz of his cellphone. 'Bang PD' it said. He picked up the call, without even realizing, just like it was a habit of his, "PD Nim..." he said, which was replied by a scoff like laugh from the otherside, "Joon-ah, or should I call you 'Rkive' now, huh?", still a bit dazed, but Joon replied, "It will always be Joon to you PD nim.", "I know, I was just trying to lighten the mood. We have a lead by the way, and it seems really strong this time." A sigh leaves his lips before he says,

"Like the other 3 times in past 4 months?"

"No, it really seems potential. Hopefully we can get hold of him."

"He is NOT a culprit, nor is he a thing to get hold of. Why are we still treating him like a puppet, that's the reason he is not here, 'cause we always tried to 'get a hold on him', I am sorry for my words PD nim, but I really don't want to repeat the same mistakes."

"I am sorry Joon-ah, I understand, and I really didn't mean it that way, but we got an address this time. And the owner of the address seems to be known to you. It's Woo CheolSoo/ Chris Woo to be precise, rings a bell?"

*
Air got knocked out of his lungs and all he could do was to try and make sense out of everything. Everything that he knew was challenged by this news. News? Can we call it a news? It could be a mere speculation or even a hoax, but if it is true, this would shatter everything they built in this new country, as the trust they have in each other would be completely shaken up. The chain of his thoughts broke with the words from the otherside,

"You know what it means right? One of them knows where the kid is, and they kept it from us. One of them must know..."

"No hyung, not Jin hyung, not him. He wouldn't be able to keep something this big to himself, never..."

"So you are already sure about Yoongi? You think he can pull something like 'this' "

"By 'this' if you mean 'taking help of his ex-love interest, who he respectfully stayed away from to make their life easy; just to help someone he loves so much' ; then yes, I think he can do that. And specifically when he decided to stay in New York while all of us are here in LA, it might make more sense. But I don't want to jump to any conclusions. Do we have anything to support these strong leads?"

"We might get a few in the next few hours, it would be better if you can all come down to the LA HQ. I just have reached there myself."

"You flew down to LA from Seoul, just for a mere lead? What are you not telling me hyung? And why do we have to come to the Company HQ? We don't work for them anymore, you don't work there actively anymore, then why?"

"Just collect the boys and meet me at the office, whatever I have to say, I better say face to face and the proofs that we might get should better be discussed there. Also we might have a few other things that you guys might be interested in. Yoongi is already on the flight. See you at the 5pm Joon, and ask Jimin to be on time. "

With a slight chuckle from otherside he heard the call being ended. But the chain of thoughts picked up the speed again.

'Did yoongi really do that? While all this while, when all of them were searching for the missing one with all their might, did he really hold such a crucial piece of information to himself? Why would he do that?'

Is there anything Joon is missing? God knows how he might be able to hold himself up for the next few hours? But he has to do that. He might not be their leader anymore, but they still share the same bond, even much deeper if that is even possible.
With the roll of his chair, he reaches for the phone on his workstation. And opens the group chat while swiftly typing away the message.

[ Meeting with Bang PD, 5pm, at LA HQ. We might have a lead.]

He closes his phone as he knows, his notifications would start blowing up in a few minutes. He knows everyone's schedule just like his own, Jimin must be in his dance practice, Hobi and Jin out for their double date brunch with their respective girlfriend and fiance. Jungkook might be working on the track they discussed a few minutes back, so he must be somewhere in the same building. And Yoongi? Oh right, no one knows what his schedule is like. They haven't even seen his face in the last few months, anyways he would only visit when it's one of theirs' birthday or some festival they might celebrate together. They might not be the band they used to be, but they are family after all.

And that's what makes Joon even more sure, that Yoongi might have crossed his own line of principles just to keep the other one hidden. 'Cause Yoongi loves his family, and Tae is Yoongi's family, alright. And he would do anything to protect Tae, even if it means hiding the truth from his members. So that's why Yoongi stayed away? Chose a suburb IN New York over the life in LA with all the others. Only Yoongi can answer these and he knows he will make sure tha Yoongi does.