The smell of raw flesh stung her nose. The feel of dust hanging in the air. The sound of metal clanging. The sizzle of something burning.
White hot pain.
"I will give you all of my love."
Ahn Heiran's eyes flew open as a violent shiver traveled down her body. Her vision swam in and out of focus as her brain struggled to grasp reality. Strange. She had thought the nightmares had stopped. Still, on occasional nights, they came for a visit as if to remind her of their presence lurking deep inside her subconscious.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Her psychiatrist had diagnosed her. It made her scoff.
Heiran did not consider herself to be weak. She had a fairly strong mentality with resistance to blood and gore, thanks to the numerous criminal cases she had taken on. Yet, her therapist had insisted that she indeed did have trauma.
"Ones who appear strong on the outside are often the ones who don't realize how hurt they are on the inside," her psychiatrist had explained.
The scars on her wrist faintly tingled as if triggered by the memory. It had been more than six months since the incident had died down. She had enough time to get over it. However, they stayed, promising her a lifelong companionship.
The television kept playing some drama series in muted volumes, the blue light of it casting eerie shadows all over the dark room. Heiran rubbed her eyes and propped herself up. The blanket covering her slipped and fell to the floor. A second blanket was at her side, balled into a chaotic mess, and its owner absent from its place. Whispers of a hushed conversation reached her ears. She looked over her shoulder at the man who stood by the window, making quiet responses to someone over the phone.
Jungkook had an unusual expression of seriousness. Something about it unnerved her. She briefly glanced at the clock; it was two in the morning. She wondered who it was on the phone and what they were talking about, but his whispers were quiet. Too quiet.
"Jungkook?" she called softly.
Jungkook paused his conversation and turned his gaze to the sofa where she sat. With a nod to her, he cut the exchange short and ended the call.
"Thanks, I will call you back."
Noting the frown on her face, he questioned. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"
She shook her head, "No."
But her frown remained, eyes fixed on him as he made his way back to the sofa. Jungkook saw her look but offered no explanations. She breathed a sigh, "I'm sorry I fell asleep for the movie night. I was a bit drained."
"Don't apologize for being tired, Ran." His reply was comforting, but his gaze was clouded as if he had a lot on his mind. Strange.
Jungkook felt oddly distant. It had been that way for a while. All the fervor of a reunited high school relationship hadn't lasted long. It gradually dimmed and faded with time. In the past two months, it was completely lost. Heiran felt that now their relationship was a house of cards, waiting for a mere gust of wind to come to knock it all down.
Now that he was close, Heiran found herself staring into his face, trying to discern what was hidden behind his tired gaze. She took note of the dark circles that bloomed beneath his eyes as if his nights were spent in restless, short-lived dozes. His cheeks were sunken as if he wasn't eating properly. The length of his hair spoke of numerous postponed hair salon appointments. Heiran's frown deepened. Although Jungkook saw her look, he made no effort to respond. He simply stared back. Then in a half-hearted attempt to pretend that everything was fine, he opened his arms invitingly and beckoned her forward with a smile that did not reach his eyes.
"Come here."
Heiran was hesitant; nevertheless, she complied. He swiftly wrapped his arms around her body as she rested her head on the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent. Jungkook was warm and smelled of pine forests with the faintest undernotes of coffee and popcorn. Despite everything, his grip was strong. Reassuring.
She felt the tension fade from her being at the gesture and closed her eyes and snuggled close. The steady rhythm of his heartbeat slowly lulled her to sleep. Even as her eyes drifted shut, she felt that his heartbeats were urgent. As her exhaustion claimed her, she heard his voice in the haze.
"Ran, I need you to be safe and sound. I want you to be alright."
Too tired to talk, she hummed. "Mm."
"Even when I'm gone. I want you to trust me and wait for me."
"Mm."
"And know that I love you."
. . .
"Take care, Ran. I'll be back."
When the morning came, Heiran found herself alone on the sofa once again with nothing to break the silence of an empty apartment but the bird calls outside the window. There was a note on the coffee table. It read,
I will come back. Soon.
That was the last of him that Heiran would hear for several weeks.
* * *
You have 1 new message.
Unknown Number
Hello Prosecutor Ahn
There's something you should know
It's important. Can we meet?
It's about Jungkook
- J.S
Unread
* * *
"It's been two weeks! Where the hell is he?!"
Yoongi ladled his soup into his bowl, unbothered by the commotion that raged outside the kitchen.
"His car is gone! His clothes are gone! He took a freaking leave from the office for a whole month and did not mention a word about it to me!"
Exiting the kitchen, he calmly trudged over the broken vase, his precious couch pillows, and shredded papers in the living room before safely managing to reach the table, dodging a banana on his way.
"The little sh*t doesn't even open my messages and all he left me was a note saying what? 'I'll come back soon'?!!"
Steam rose in faint wisps from his soup and Yoongi took a cautious sip, closing his eyes in ecstasy at the taste. As usual, he had outdone himself.
"He never cares to say a thing going on in his life to me. Does he even want me in it?! Some boyfriend, he is!"
Feeling something missing, he scrunched his nose. Then in realization, he walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a can of beer.
"He's been this way for two freaking months! He's been behaving way too strangely. More than his usual strangeness. What the hell is going on with him?!"
Yoongi let the alcohol burn his throat and hissed in appreciation. He couldn't have been more content with everything. Vaguely he wondered what Minseo was up to.
"Wait... I see the signs...Oh my god! OH MY GOD! How did I not see it!"
Picking up his phone, he checked his Messaging app to see if his beloved girlfriend had texted him. To his disappointment, the last text from Minseo was an adorable sign-off from yesterday.
Bye, babe. Hope you have nightmares about me.
A smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"THAT'S IT! HE IS CHEATING ON ME!"
The incredibly absurd conclusion made him choke on his soup. Finally, Yoongi turned his attention to the unhinged wild woman in the living room.
Ahn Heiran stood fuming over the mess she had created with the wildest look in her eyes Yoongi had ever seen. He sighed and shook his head. Yoongi was good at reading people. Even if he had only really known Jungkook for the past six months, he knew enough to know that the idiot wasn't the cheater type.
"How could he do this to me?! That bastard! How could he?!"
Finally convinced that Heiran had gone deep enough into the wormhole of possibilities to the point bordering on stupidity and that an emergency interjection was necessary, he interrupted.
"Trust me. If Jungkook cheated on you, then there will be no more couples in this world. He's one of those annoying hopeless romantic types who devote themselves to only one person their whole life and sh*t."
Heiran's steam evaporated in an instant at his statement. Plopping down on the couch, she asked meekly. "You think so?"
He gave a bored nod of his head.
"Still he could have at least told me something! All he left was a stupid note and no explanation!"
Yoongi shrugged. "That's between you guys." As if to prove his point, his phone rang at the exact moment lighting up his girlfriend's name on it. "Could never be us." He added with a smirk, shaking the phone at her face before answering the call with a joyful greeting.
"Evening, my Spawn of Satan. What's up?"
Heiran's jaw hung open at the sheer audacity of the man who called himself her best friend. She huffed out an aggressive breath before flipping him the bird.
"Hope you choke on your tangerine, Yoongi!"
Yoongi peeked back from his bedroom with his phone to his ear, "I have a better suggestion. Report the man missing. I'm sure the police would have the answers to all your questions within a few hours then."
Heiran couldn't deny that the thought crossed her mind, but circumstances told her that this was not a missing case. Jeon Jungkook had deliberately gone into hiding and did not want to be found. He had made as much clear from the hundreds of text messages and calls that still remained unread and missed.
Besides, he had said he would come back. Heiran trusted him.
Yet the absence was becoming a bit too much, and his lack of any explanations made everything worse. Heiran decided she had enough of remaining in the dark. She gave him all the space and time he needed to tell her what was going on. Now she needed answers.
She picked up her severely abused phone from the couch and scrolled through her contacts until she reached a name. Without any hesitation, she called the number.
"Heiran, is that you?"
A/n: And the story begins once more! Who's excited?