The silent air carried itself through the valley, accompanied by a gentle breeze which aided J-hope's shallow breathing.
It seemed as though he was contemplating about what he wanted to reveal since he had a lot on his mind. Clearly, he wanted to express it all but whether he was going to open up was up to him.
His lower lip trembled with sorrow as he tried to hold it together but it his attempt was far from successful.
A pang of guilt rushed through you realising this might have been a bad idea.
The relationship between you and Hobi wasn't intimate or anywhere near best friends but it was close enough for Hobi to confide in you.
Aware of your actions, you reached out and interlaced your thin fingers with his shaky ones which seemed to reassure him.
He let out a tired sigh and tightened the grip around your fingers. "My parents hate me. I couldn't help with any of the problems when i was living with them and our relationship isn't the best at the moment." He sighed again and shook his head. "I try my best to talk to them but they don't want to see me."
You listened intently to J-hope in silence, afraid of missing out the tiniest detail.
Speaking now, may change his mind to speak openly and if you remained quiet, he may provide extra informations which you need to know, for his and everyone involved's sake.
After waiting for 5 minutes in tense silence, it was clear he wasn't going to talk but as he parted his lips, the empty words which fell out weighed heavily on your heart.
"I've thought a lot about if I wasn't there. If I had gone far away from this world. Would it benefit my parents?"
"Don't you dare say that again. I mean it. Suicide isn't ever an answer. Besides, what you leave behind is harder than anything."
Neither of you dared to speak up, greeting the tense silent once more but this time,warmly.
However the silence left as quickly as it arrived, what with your mind clouded with questions and any words of comfort.
"Hoseok, it's okay to ask for help, especially from those around you, who love you and support you."
"Who? My friends? They'll just see me as weak and embarrassing."
"Not if they are the same people I got the privilege to meet. You all treat each other like family and family helps each other through the tough times. I'll be here too to give you a break from those crazy animals." you chuckled.
J-hope nodded and joined in with your chuckle session. He trusted your words and hoped you were right.
He shifted his weight and lent back to lay on the grass, throwing his arms behind him to break his fall.
"I miss my mother. I can't see her but one day, I'll have her released and living with me." He continued.
"Wait... what?"
"Oh yeah, uhm... she's at a mental asylum."
At Hoseok's bitter words, all you could do was widen your eyes in shock.
How could Hosoek be happy and a complete sunshine when he's dealing with so much?
He paused at a vibrating sensation overpowering his legs causing you to groan as he fiddled around in his pocket. He waved a hand at you signalling he needed to take it and walked away.
He sauntered towards you in 5 minutes time, where you had tacked up the horses for the return.
"The boys." He mumbled, waving his phone in the air.
Your mouth shaped into an O at his words, showing you understood.
The boys had every reason to worry about Hobi since he disappeared without a text or a note.
The sky had turned charcoal above you while you were oblivious to time.
It was nearing 10:00 and with the cold air settling in the air, it was best to leave.
You saw off J-hope at the stables and headed inside, ensuring the horses were fed and safely in their stables.
In the dim lighting, Jared was crouched infront of a barely visible Joshua, who was wrapped head to toe in a large blanket.
"What happened to Joshua? Is he okay?" You raged
You squinted your eyes for a clearer vision of your brother.
Jared shook his head, turning in your direction. "I do-don't know what hap-happened. Hi- His PTSD ret- returned." He paused, inhaling a shaky breath. "I was woken up his loud screams and conversations, flying from his mouth." Jared choked out.
You blinked your eyes in confusion at the word Jared had managed to say. "We should take him to the doctors."
"I had the company doctor fully inspect him. He said, its trauma that he's been building up for the last couple of weeks. Thankfully, we recognised it early." Jared returned his gaze to Joshua.
Trauma?
Thining back on the past couple of weeks, it occured to you that Joshua involved himself in limited conversations and wasn't particularly active in any of them.
You crouched down beside Jared and place a gentle palm on Joshua's forehead.
You instantly gasp at the heat radiating off his forehead. "He's burning up. Jared, fetch a bucket of cold water and a cloth."
Jared dashed into the kitchen, fetching a bowl of cold water and a cloth. He returned to you, handing over the supplies.
The cloth danced around in the cold water before it was squeezed free of the extra water and placed onto Joshua's forehead.
"I've already tried that, it wasn't working." Jared mumbled
You rolled your eyes at your bothers naivety. "How long did you keep it on for? You probably waited for 2 minutes before removing it." You giggled. "It takes time to reduce a fever."
Jared gazed at you sheepishly, throwing his hands high into the sky, in an attempt to surrender. "I give up, you're the expert here."
You chuckled quietly, not wanting to awake Joshua. "Of course I am. You'd be lost without me. Anyway, let's head to bed, if his condition takes a turn for the worst, we'll have to take him to the hospital."
"But I-."
"No buts, he's going. You have work tomorrow, you need sleep. I'll be here, don't worry."
Jared's fingers fiddled with each other as he lowered his head which hung in disappointment. His gaze refused to meet yours.
You remained by Joshua's side and instructed Jared to go.
He sluggishly climbed up the stairs and disappeared into his room.
As you sat idle by, a lightbulb flickered in your head as you scrambled to get your laptop, flipping open its lid.
Tapping your finger impatiently, you waited for it to boot up, pulling up the web browser. You tap profusely on the keyboard and hit enter.
Results popped up instantly, all with the similar headlines. Impatiently, you clicked on the top headline.
"Elderly, shot dead in their Korean apartment, by own blood"
You scrolled through the article, skimming through the lines, coming face to face with a familiar name whose eyes stared deep inside your soul.
Mr.Min.
The name itself cropped up at least 20 times alone and you didn't want to believe it may be Yoongi's father but the picture proved otherwise. Yoongi resembled his father in an eerie way.
It was no wonder Yoongi banned you to meet his father. This may be the reason Yoongi never talked about his parents or anything else for that matter.
Yoongi's father was a murderer.
It was hard for your mind to accept the past of Yoongi's father but there was no other option or possibility.
Millions of questions instantly popped into your head, leaving no space for anything else.
Why would he murder his own parents? What happened in the past which lead to these events? How did his father live with the conscience of their death?
After reading the article, a definite meeting with Yoongi's father was waiting for you.
Shutting down the laptop, you settled down to sleep but twisting and turning on the floor, rendered it futile.
Your mind was clouded with the information you had discovered so instead you laid awake, reading one of Joshua's books until the morning came with a steaming mug of hot chocolate to calm the knots in your stomach.
Pushing the therapy door open, you expected to be welcomed by the boys and Jisoo, but the room was empty.
A glance around the room led you to believe no one even entered the room before.
There wasn't much time to ponder over the location of the boys as your shoulder was tapped on violently.
Your instincts jumped into action, catching the individual off guard as they leap out a cry of help.
Soobin glared at you harshly, glancing to your hand whicj had gripped hers tightly, restricting her blood circulation.
Apologetically, you release your hand away from hers. "Ah, I'm sorry, instincts"
She clutched her wrist, comforting it by running a hand over her arm continuously. "Right" she rolled her eyes and struggled to smile from the anger that flickered in her eyes. "Your session is cancelled today since Jisoo is occupied. The boys left you a note wanting you to meet them at the park."
You titled your head to the side in confusion. Why the park?
Maybe, they wanted to have some fun or relaxation time but the park had become a spot of confrontations.
An unsettled sensation sat in your heart and you weren't anticipating the visit.
Bowing your head at Soobin, you trotted off to the park, in exploration of the boys.
True to her word, two shadowed figures occupied the swings, relaxing peacefully and smiling at each other.
A smile played with your lips at their interactions as you approached them.
"Raise your hands where I can see them."
Jimin struggled under your grasp as you pulled him into a headlock.
"Yah, what're you doing?" Yoongi asked clearly bothered by something.
"I said, raise them." You said mockingly.
"Have you lost your mind?"
What kind of person refuses to role play? Apart from Yoongi, who refuses to move an inch."
Yoongi struck you across the head but as the relisation hit him he instantly backed away.
You turn to meet his face with an eyebrow raised. "Yah! Why'd you do that for? I'm speaking the truth, you couldnt even introduce yourself."
"Are you going to constantly use that against me? In my defence, I was in a rotten mood."
"Aren't you always?" You muttered under your breath which caused you and Jimin to snicker quietly.
He threw a death glare in your direction, hoping to intimidate you but your attention was on Jimin.
"I heard you showed Hobi-ah, your horses and he got the pleasure to ride one." Jimin said hopping off the swings.
"Yeah, I thought they needed a good run. They've been stuffed up in their stalls all week." You replied
"Next time, I have dibs. I want to ride with you, feeling your arms wrapped tightly around me." He whispered in your ear.
"Yah, who gave you permission to go around throwing dibs on horses but nevertheless, I have the perfect horse for you."
"Really? How mysterious." He smiled.
You scanned your surroundings for Yoongi, whose eyes were glued on yours. Like always, his face was expressionless. He rolled his eyes and averted his gaze.
"Alright, now to reveal the real reason we're here. Let's all sit down." Jimin instructed and pulled out a picnic basket from behind him.
As soon as he did, a loud groan caught your attention. Yoongi's growl echoed off into the distance as he joined us, scoffing himself with the food being laid out.
You shook your head at the immaturity of his actions.
"Hangry, are we?" You chuckled.
Yoongi ignored your comment and instead tucked into his food with a smile.
Jimin's plate was full with food as he guzzled down his spicy dumplings. He scoffed them down with water before wiping his mouth and waving a hand in your direction, advising you to eat.
When you didn't reply, he gathered a dumpling around his chopsticks and reached over to feed you.
However it never entered your mouth as Yoongi pushed his hand violently out of the way and replaced it with his own.
Your eyes widen at Yoongi's action but he wasn't going to back down. Your mouth widens and Yoongi inserts the remaining dumpling into your mouth, with his chopsticks.
Jimin coughed heavily before wiping down his hands in an attempt to gain our attention.
"Time to come clean." He said, averted eye contact.
A/N: Sorry for such a rubbish chapter! Hopefully, you guys enjoyed it! If you do see any critisims, do let me know and thank you for reading!
Votes and comments are greatly appreciated!