Cole was gone. Just like his sister, killed by the dybbuk. We couldn't do anything. We couldn't save either of them. God knows how ashamed we feel, such bad friends we are, Cole and Serena deserved better.
"Should we....leave? With his body?" Taehyung asked. "Mhmm." Jimin hummed. The boys carried his body and me and Rachael grabbed our stuff and left the cabin. Clyde said he will come later. He had to do something in the cabin. He confessed that he will turn himself in to the police about Serena and Cole's death. He also said he will go to a mental institution, all this dybbuk thing made him depressed and his mental health was deteriorating.
We told him not to do anything like that, but how would we explain the dybbuk thing to the police..? They'll think we kids are stupid.
"How high up are we?" Rachael mumbled. "Put it this way. If it rains, we'll be the first one to know." I replied. She grinned as we started our journey back to our homes. An hour passed and we had completed half the path. Jungkook and Taehyung were getting tired
because of carrying his body.
So me and Rachael insisted in carrying the body in turns. So did Jimin. We did as we said, taking turns to carry his body. Jungkook was so silent. I'd never seen him so silent. Sure, he doesn't talk much but today, he is extremely silent. Nobody talked much as we were reaching down.
None of this felt real. The shock had swallowed us, taking in each and every cell of our bodies. Persuading us to believe that all this was real. We all refused, carrying his body made me believe that he will open his eyes at any second. He is just playing with us, teasing us.
He is alive.
No, he's not.
Yes, he is.
Can't you see him? How lifeless.
The two parts of my mind were disputing between each other. I didn't know which one to believe.
One more hour passed and we were finally back on the road. Tired as hell. We didn't know where to put the body for the time being, we needed rest. We needed to stop at a restaurant or something. We'd been walking for a long time. But how would we hide the body? We couldn't enter a cafè with a big bag carrying a dead human.
We were sitting at a ground, a few yards away from the hill, waiting for Clyde. He texted us that he's coming and told us to wait. I started playing with the grass on the ground, pulling it out. Our group which has always been up to something and having fun was now sitting in a ground, late in the evening with a corpse, waiting for a friend.
How fast can life change, we all knew the best about it.
Clyde eventually came, with a big car. "Hi, guys. I'm gonna take the body to the police and surrender. You all can go home and rest. All this must've been very shocking for y'all." Clyde said with a big fake smile plastered on his face.
"Are you sure about this? You'll spend your some of the adult years in jail, you know that right?" Jungkook finally spoke.
"Yes, I'm sure. There was nothing I could've actually done with my life anyways. Rotting in jail is better than living a life like mine."
We decided not to comment anything at that statement as he took the body and drove to the police station. We'll soon see ourselves at police station too for the questioning.
Walking to our favourite cafè again, 'Déjà Brew', made me feel a bit happy. But the happiness was short lived when I thought that our iconic six seated table will be missing a person. The bell chimed as we walked in, sorrow written on our faces.
We sat down, as a girl in her teens with a yellow notepad approached us, ready to take our order. "What can I get you?" She asked benevolently. We ordered our drinks and waited for them to come.
"What will we do after this now?" Rachael whispered. "Go to our homes, sleep. Just forget what happened at all for one night and try to actually sleep." Jimin advised.
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We bid farewell to each other and decided to go back to our homes, ready to hear a lecture from our parents. As I was walking, a hand grabbed mine and I gasped. I was totally zoned out and then someone grabbed my hand, of course I'd freak out.
"Shh it's me." Taehyung mumbled.
"What the hell? You scared the life out of me."
"Um sorry, but actually I um have nowhere to go. I don't have my house keys. I tried calling dad but he isn't picking up. So can I-I come with you?" Taehyung admitted shyly.
I chuckled . "I'm sure we'll have space at our home for you." My phone had no battery, so even if my parents had called me, I wouldn't know. Which leads to double lecture.
I opened the door, trying my best to cease out of view from my parents' eye but unfortunately, I'm not that lucky. Mum was sitting on the couch, biting her nails, which she often does when she's nervous. Dad was talking loudly on the phone to someone.
"I wanna talk to your senior. Mr. Kim. He only listens to us. Give him the phone right now. I'm telling you! My daughter is missing! I'll ruin you career if you- "
"Y/N!!" My mother screamed. "Ohmygodwherewereyouwehavebeenwaitingforyouforthepasttwentyfourhours." She spoke so rapidly that she failed to acknowledge the person with me.
"Who's this guy? Have you been dating him? Why didn't you tell us? OH MY GOD, WERE YOU WITH HIM FOR WHOLE 24 HOURS? What did he do to you?! We were waiting for you all this time and you were doing this behind our backs! Y/N, you were raised better than this. Get out of my house! Right now! Leave my daughter!" My dad yelled.
"Chill, mom and dad." I said as I pushed my hair back in frustration. "It was just umm a small one night trip from school." I lied. "Oh, really? I don't think so. Let me ask your teacher." My mom stated.
Phew. Thankfully, Jimin tried to seduce our teacher with his charms a day before Cole died because we all knew we'd get in trouble when we reached back home. We all had clicked pictures back on our way to home to manipulate them and make them believe that we actually had a trip.
My dad talked to our teacher and fortunately, he believed our story. "See, we even have pictures." I showed Taehyung's phone to my parents and they nodded in response. I finally breathed. "Why didn't you tell us before going? We were worried for no reason." Mom muttered. I just gave her a sheepish grin in response.
"What about this guy, though?" Dad asked. "We were not doing anything obnoxious like you think we were. He's a new student and he moved here not too long ago. His father is a cop. Mr. Kim, whom I presume you were trying talking to. He's a good guy. And we're not dating...."- Taehyung looked at me with a disheartened look- "yet." I explained.
"Oh! He's Mr.Kim's son? Isn't he the one who worked for an NGO and did charity work this summer?" Mom exclaimed. "Yup, that's me. The one and only." Taehyung said, manifesting a boxy smile. "Your dad must be so proud of you. Teach our daughter something too about charity." Dad demanded.
I had a strong urge to roll my eyes, but I didn't for the sake of my life.
"But sweetie, what is he doing here? It's almost 11pm." Mom said. "Oh. Sorry for the disturbance but actually I have nowhere to go. I forget to tell about this trip to my dad and I don't have the house keys. I called him and he isn't picking up." Taehyung elaborated.
"Oh I-" Dad stuttered. "What's wrong, dad?" I asked. "Honey, actually your aunt came this afternoon, so the extra room was taken by her. And your little brother doesn't like to share rooms. So um we don't have place for him." Dad said.
"S-So, can he spend the night in my room?" I barely mumbled, but somehow they heard me. "Of course, he seems like a gentleman. But if I see you two doing something which you shouldn't, then he'll be out of this house in an instant. Am I clear?" Mom commanded.
"Okay." We both responded at the same time.
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"Look, we don't want either of us sleeping on the ground. So why don't we both sleep on the bed, and it's not like we are sharing the bed for the f-first time." I confessed.
"Ooo someone's needy."
"I'm not!"
"Sure. What if your parents acknowledge this? I'll be out in an instant."
"They didn't mean it that way. Also, I'm not sharing my bed with a guy for the first time. Jungkook and Rachael had come a lot for sleepovers."
"Okay." He said and jumped on the bed. I got under the covers, pushing a pillow between our bodies.
Half an hour passed, we both were wide awake. Cole's death was a lot to take in. "About the Jungkook thing. How many times did he sleep on the bed with you?" Taehyung interrogated.
"A few."
"Hm."
"I can't sleep."
"I can see that. What should we do?"
"Should we sneak out. My parents won't know. They are deep sleepers. And my brother plays games late at night with his headphones on high volume. He won't know."
"Seems like a good idea."
We walked around the alleys, in the dim brightness of the street lights. I had been thinking for Cole for a long time now. Too long for my own good. "Stop thinking about it. I know you're thinking about Cole. I understand, it's hard. But, we have to accept the truth. He's gone." Taehyung said lamentably.
"It's-" Suddenly I couldn't speak. My voice was stuck in my throat and it was getting hard to breathe. My head was hurting but I wouldn't call it a headache. My panic attacks were complicated and it felt like I would pass out. Everything and everyone shows me that all will be okay, but I'm anxious. It comes as an electrical storm in my brain that, quite honestly, is painful. It's different from a headache and it feels the same as intense sorrow, perhaps as a sort of frozen panic with nowhere to go. Great. Such a nice time to have an encounter with my anxiety attacks.
Anxiety attacks were something that I usually had. Mostly at night where my mum and dad would come storming in my room and calm me down. It was the first time happening in front of Taehyung. I didn't know what to expect.
"Y/N. Y/N, listen to me."
"Come on, inhale. Take a deep breath. DO IT. Here's what we will do. Listen to me carefully. Inhale and exhale. Nothing too hard. Inhale and exhale. Inhalation must be shorter than exhalation. Okay? Hear me? Inhale for 6 seconds, exhale for 8. Understand?" Taehyung said in a hurried voice, trying not to panic himself by seeing my state.
"Inhale. 1,2,3,4,5 and 6. Now, exhale. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8."
I did as he said, my eyes all red from crying and my hair all messed up.
"Come on, one more time. Remember, exhalation must be longer than inhalation."
I did that again, trying to calm myself down. "One more time. But now I want you to think of your favourite thing. What's your most favourite thing? Not a person. A thing. Tell me."
I stayed silent and my anxiety was trying to come back again with such a swift motion. Taehyung shook my body strongly, almost hurting me. But I knew he was just doing this to help me.
"TELL ME, WHAT DO YOU LIKE?" Taehyung yelled in the void alley. He shook me again. I finally spoke, "B-Books. I l-like books and yeah....that's what I like."
"Nice. Now, I want you to think of books in your mind while inhaling and exhaling. Same thing. Nothing different. Just keep books in your mind. Your favourite book, your favourite line from a book, anything related to books. Come on, start. Exhales must be longer. Hear me?"
I had finally calmed down after all that inhalation and exhalation. Taehyung decided that we should go back home and rest. It was almost 2:30 AM.
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We were back at my house, under the covers, safe and sound. "Thank you. I thought you won't be able to help me go through my anxiety. But you proved me wrong." I said and turned to face him.
"It's okay. I'll always be there for you. Even when you're having anxiety attacks. Keep that in mind." Taehyung said, now facing me. He pushed a strand of my hair which was concealing my left cheek. "Try to go to sleep, okay?"
I nodded and hugged him tightly. He embraced me with the same tightness and mumbled, "What about your parents?"
"I don't care."
His deep and raspy chuckle was the last thing I heard before going to sleep.
Just close your eyes and imagine tho 🌚
A/N: here's an update. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. :))