cherry blossoms || ot7 [#Wattys2017]

[24/7 = heaven]

Yoongi slowly opens his eyes and above him, he sees a large tree with cherry blossom petals. He's a bit confused since it's the middle of October and leaves should be falling off trees, not growing on them. In retrospect, Jimin should've waited until spring to plant the cherry blossom tree but he didn't want to ruin Jimin's birthday. Plus, Yoongi wasn't thinking at the moment either.

Gazing at the clear, blue sky, the sun's position looks to be about noon. Yoongi decides to sit up and he observes his surroundings. His hands run through the soft grass as a sense of familiarity comes over him. He glances around the area. There's a playground: swings in the far corner, a slide right across from the swings, seesaws next to the slide, other playground contraptions sprinkle the left side of the park, a field for recreational sports on the other side and in the middle of the park, there's a cherry blossom tree. This...this is Taehyung's park.

Confused, Yoongi searches for Jimin. How did they end up back here? Is this a dream? Did Seokjin hyung bring them here after breakfast? Are they playing hide-and-seek and he's it? Brushing the dirt off his pants, Yoongi stands up and starts calling out, "Mochi! Mochi where are you?"

"ChimChim? He isn't here hyung," a voice gushes behind Yoongi.

Immediately, Yoongi whips around to see... "Taehyung."

"Annyeong hyung!" Tae wraps his arms around the older boy. "I missed you! But that didn't mean I wanted you to come here so quickly!" He punches Yoongi in the arm and looks at the tree. "I see you guys finally planted the tree I asked for and on ChimChim's birthday too! That's so sweet of you guys."

"What do you mean Mochi's not here?"

The smile on Taehyung's face contorts into a frown and his eyes look everywhere except at Yoongi. "Look..."

"Yoongi?"

Both the boys turn their heads to see Jungkook jogging towards them. In that moment, everything starts clicking in Yoongi's mind.

"Oh my God..." Yoongi whispers.

"I'm sorry hyung," Taehyung rubs circles on Yoongi's back.

"Aniyo, mianhae Taehyung. I should've been more careful and now I won't be there for Mochi anymore. I failed you." Yoongi stares at the palms of his hands as the helplessness starts to take over his body.

"Failed me? You did a wonderful job. I know ChimChim can be a handful sometimes, but I love him. He's my best friend."

"H-how do you know?"

Jungkook and Taehyung share a knowing look and they smile. They thrust their fists in front of Yoongi and turn their hands palm up, opening their fingers slowly. In both of their palms are two of the most beautiful monarchs that Yoongi has ever seen.

"So it was you two at Jeju Island?"

"Jeju, Busan, Daegu, at the studio..." Jungkook begins listing everywhere the group has gone these past couple months. "Everywhere and anywhere you guys were, we were there too." He smiles, showing his cheeky, bunny smile.

"It all makes sense now..."

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but at least you can be with me and Kookie. We can stay here forever and have fun all the time," Taehyung hesitates. "That's if you wanna be with us Yoongi hyung. You don't have to be here." Taehyung starts to twiddle his thumbs.

"Of course I wanna stay with you guys," Yoongi smiles and slings his arms around Taehyung. "I missed you so much. Of course I'd love to stay. Besides, did you read the sign that Jimin made for the cherry blossom?"

"Sign? He carved it into the tree," Jungkook scoffs.

"What?"

"Look for yourself."

All three of them walk towards the tree and lo and behold, Jimin really did carve "Bangtan's Cherry Blossom, Young Forever" into the tree.

"But it's just a sapling. We just planted it last night... How is it already a full grown tree?"

"It's always spring here so the tree is in full bloom. Look, even the azaleas are in full bloom. Spring's our favorite season. So many good things happened in the spring. So many beautiful memories happened those days."

"Yeah, but you two also died," Yoongi mutters. "If you two are here, where's Baekhyun?"

"Oh Baekie is over on the field. He's lying down, taking a nap as usual." Taehyung rolls his eyes. "You two would get along just fine."

Taehyung continues to chatter as Yoongi's mind is overwhelmed with other worries. Is Jimin okay? Is he injured in any way? How are his parents dealing with this? How are the others going to take this? Who's going to tell Jimin? Oh God... Yoongi groans.

"What's the matter hyung?"

"Who's...who's going to tell Mochi?"

Taehyung sighs. "Babo. Of course you are."

"How?" Yoongi sounds exasperated and tired at this point.

"How else?" Taehyung summons a butterfly onto Yoongi's palm. "You're going to send him a message that you're alright. You'll be fine hyung, I promise. Just put ChimChim's mind at ease right now." He cups the older boy's face in his hands and presses his forehead against his.

Yoongi reciprocates the notion and smiles as tears fall down his cheeks. "It'll be alright," Yoongi echoes Tae's words. "I'm sorry Mochi. I did my best in fulfilling my promise. I'll always be here for you. I'll be here waiting along with Taehyung and Jungkook for the day you can be with us again. I'm gonna miss you... Saranghae Mochi..." With that, Yoongi releases the butterfly and he watches it fly into the sky, in the direction of Busan, where hopefully, Jimin receives this message.

"It'll be alright Yoongi," Jungkook pats him on the back.

"Everything will be alright." Yoongi smiles sadly as he gazes at the butterfly, growing smaller and smaller as it flies further and further away. "I'll be here Mochi..." He whispers. "I'll be here for you always."

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