Love Story Short | Jikook/Kookmin

Chapter 17

He is so lost in his head that he almost doesn't notice Yoongi snapping a picture of him.

"You shouldn't have looked," Yoongi checks his work, nudges Jungkook's chin so he is looking ahead again. "Pose like that."

Jungkook smiles weakly, obeying.

Holding onto Yoongi was the best thing he did in the past five years.

They visit a few more viewpoints, each in close distance over the same path of stairs. The road eventually takes them back to the main square, a roundabout like every other street in this maze of islands.

Namjoon shows everyone to the hotel they will be staying at. It's a quaint little fancy building at the heart of a second square. It must be hella expensive, Jungkook bets. Good thing they are not staying there.

"Since you guys were a last minute addition, I couldn't get you a hotel room," Namjoon tells him and Yoongi at the entrance of the hotel. "Everywhere is booked at this time of the year," he claps his hands, looking around as if to justify his point. It's later in the night and although the bustle has quietened, there are still people strolling with swimsuits and cocktails in their hands.

And that's how they are invited to sleep at the little staff cabin Namjoon is provided with by the company.

Namjoon says that there are only two beds in the room. He says he trusts the three of them to fit somehow, laughs at his own joke, unaware of what the alertness in Yoongi's tone means when he is asked where he is going to spend the night himself. "Oh, at my cousin's AirBnb," he then says. "He's in town so we'll catch up, get a few drinks. Wash away the tiredness of the day, haha."

A deafening silence takes over the world. It lasts for as long as Namjoon walks away, the two of them watching him in slow motion. Yoongi's heartbeat trickles over to Jungkook's ears, getting louder and louder, thumping like a dam overflowing with passion.

And then it cannot be stopped.

He makes the move to follow Namjoon.

There is only one thing Jungkook has to do — pay Yoongi back for being his lifeboat, prove his dependability as a friend and donseang and fan. Stick right by his side and follow him wherever Namjoon went.

But he can't.

He freezes in place, and when Yoongi turns to look at him, he desperately utters,

"Jimin is not here."

Ever since the beginning of the stairs where he turned his head the other way despite seeing how hard Jimin was struggling, he hasn't seen him again. Not at the third lookout, not at the sharp turn at the cliff, not on their way down the elevation, not around the hotel.

"Weren't you keeping an eye on him?" Yoongi whisper-shouts, stopping only briefly to skim around.

Jungkook tries to get words out, but nothing comes through.

He hasn't. He had chosen not to.

That's how he watches Yoongi run to one of the most dangerous instances of his life on his own. He will find a lot of time to loathe himself. Oh and he will, rest assured.

But now there is only one thing in his mind, and that is finding Jimin.

There is no way he climbed the rest of the stairs with them. He already looked like he was on the verge of giving up. He must have either gone back down... or he is still there.

Fuck.

Jungkook bolts.

He doesn't know exactly where the entrance of the stairs are since they didn't return from that path, but if he can find the main street near where they disembarked, he can find the alley leading to the stairs too.