Lost & Found

8 - Calls

Of course, he has no plans. His only plan was to go fishing with Yoongi, who turned him down. His backup plan was to be a couch potato but with Taehyung by his side. He did not have a backup plan for his backup plan.

Seokjin decides to go through his college emails on his phone and maybe study a little. He then sees one missed email labeled as 'High Importance'. He is sure that there were no pending assignments on his plate. He hurriedly clicks it and reads it.

Then, he rereads it. He missed a major assignment submission. Panic clouds his head. He is sure he wrote the essay. He clearly remembers reviewing it. He goes through his 'sent' list of mails and panics more when he can't find it. He goes through his outbox to see a 'failed' next to the assignment's mail.

He did not submit his assignment. He rereads the 'High Importance' mail again – the professor clearly states that he is way past the deadline, and he'd have to mark it as 'F' unless provided with a strong reason.

He didn't have a strong reason unless the outbox failing to send the mail is considered as a strong one. He hears the water overflow in the bathroom and remembers that he was supposed to take a shower. He numbly steps into the shower and turns off the tap as soon as he realizes he filled the tub with cold water. He hates cold water.

He hates missing assignments and he hates that he is being marked as a failure. His college education is one thing that Seokjin took pride in. It didn't matter how much he lagged behind everyone else, his college work has always been his safe place – his to own, his own achievement and no one else's.

Now, he failed at that too. His mind unnecessarily pulls back the time he fell down during practice, when he hurt Taehyung, when no one asked him about his plans, when Taehyung left him alone – all the times he felt that isn't good enough.

He sits down in the tub as the water goes down. He is crying. Again. He feels tired. His eyes hurt, his head hurts. He has callouses under his feet due to long dance practices. He remembers that he still hasn't planned appointments with his trainer. He hasn't been to the gym in a couple of days and he feels puffy and fat. He wishes someone would reach out to him and hug him and tell him that everything will be fine.

In a world of seven billion people, he feels all alone.

He hears his phone go off and he ignores it. It must be his mum checking on him and he doesn't want to answer the call crying like a 5-year old and worry her. But the phone goes off again.

He clears his throat and picks his phone. He is surprised that it isn't his mother.

"Jin?", Baekhyun says.

Seokjin feels weak. He needs someone. He breaks into a muffled cry.

"Jin? Are you okay?", Baekhyun asks again, sounding worried.

Seokjin mumbles a tiny yes.

"Do you want to talk?", he asks again.

Seokjin mutters another inaudible yes and he can hear shuffling at Baekhyun's end.

"Jin-ah? You at your dorm?", he questions and hears another yes in response.

"Okay. Stay there.", Baekhyun says and cuts the call.

Seokjin spends a good 10 minutes bawling before he takes a shower.

....

Seokjin cleans the last bowl and pats it dry. It is then that he receives a call from Baekhyun again.

His finger hovers over the accept on the screen and finally picks the call.

"Where are you?", Baekhyun says.