Only three more. Three more. This one, and two others... you ready? *Maniacal laughter*
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Jimin woke up this morning with a strange, heavy feeling weighing on his chest. He ate breakfast with the dull bothersome feeling, even though the strange ache made his stomach uncomfortable with the thought of eating. He practiced with the boys with the same tiresome feeling slowing him down, tripping over his own feet as the other boys watched him carefully. He walked to the cafe with the odd sensation nagging him at every step. He ordered his coffee with an uncomfortable frown, and he sat down tensed.
And he doesn't think it's a coincidence that B doesn't show up.
Jimin stares at the door every few seconds almost obsessively, but the empty seat across from him and the cream clock above the door state a very obvious fact: she's not here, and she's probably not going to be. Not when she's already past ten minutes late.
It's been three and a half weeks since he and B made the deal, and Jimin has now been feeding B lunch every time, as well as cheerfully rambling and dealing with her unnatural amounts of sass. She thankfully stopped losing weight, and even gained back a pound or two after a week of Jimin forcefully shoving sandwich after cookie after sandwich in her mouth. She'd grumbled about it, but both of them know it's a good thing.
Today is Friday, and Jimin was going to feed her a little extra to help her over the weekend, since they only meet on weekdays, but that isn't going to happen now. Jimin covers his face with his hands and lean heavily on the table, the nagging feeling painfully digging into his gut.
I just hope she's okay, but this gut feeling... I feel like something's really wrong.
"She just texted me, telling me to tell you that she's fine, and that something came up," Mina informs, her tone teasing as she leans her hip against the edge of the table, "You shouldn't stress yourself out over it so much. If you're gonna worry about her this much, you might as well ask for her number already."
"Oh, shut up," Jimin grumbles, taking his hands off his face to glares at the overly joyous hostess. He sounds grumpy, but in all honestly he's grateful for the distraction from B's absence, "You were just as worried a minuted ago."
"True, but I wasn't about to pull my hair out," Mina argues playfully, "I'm glad you worry this much about her, though. Tells me I'm great at what I do."
"What you do?" Jimin scrunches his eyebrows together, tilting his head back to get a better look at the peppy girl, "Don't you sell coffee and make people do stupid dares?"
"Hey!" Mina protests, "I do a lot more than that!"
"Like what?"
"Well... for one, I make people do hilarious dares, not stupid dares," Mina huffs, fluttering her eyelashes like an annoyed princess and making Jimin crack a smile.
"That's debatable."
"So says the boy you accepted the dare," Mina scowls, then brightens as she continues, "And I'm also the best matchmaker in the history of matchmakers!"
Matchmaker, eh? She does come off as the type who would enjoy watching people suffer as they pined after 'true love'. I haven't seen her do much matchmaking though, except maybe... Jimin mentally sighs, already knowing the answer to his speculation as he watches the girl in front of him jump with glee at the thought of being Cupid. ...did she try to set me up with B?
"Oh really?" Jimin smirks, "Name a time you were actually successful in pairing a match together, without any outside help."
"My older brother and his fiancee!" Mina giggles, obviously taking great delight in this particular couple, "They're getting married in a couple of months! Oh, and you and B! I mean, you're not officially together yet, per se... but that doesn't really matter. Best Friend matchmaking is just as important as couple matchmaking."
"So you did purposely make me to do the dare on B!" Jimin groans, the revelation not surprising him at all, "Did you expect her to help me out with the dare, or something?"
"No, actually." Mina shrugs guiltily, "I expected her to completely ignore you, just like all the others."
"The others?" Now Jimin's really confused, and he sits up straight.
"Yeah," Mina laughs, embarrassed, "I've actually dared probably a couple hundred guys to talk to or bug her. But, being the crazy hermit she is, she didn't look at even one of them, and some of them were really hot! I know I've got good taste, too. I mean, look at you!"
Jin's gonna hate my over-inflated ego.
"Wait, so you're telling me I'm not the only one that had to do the 'Noise Boy' challenge?" Jimin asks, ignoring her odd compliment, his eyes wide, "There were others?"
"Yeah, lots of them," Mina admits, "I've been trying to get her to socialize with guys for about six months now. I wasn't working at all. Not until you."
"And she... she responded to me?" Jimin's not totally confused, but Mina doesn't know any more than he does, and she just shrugs, "You don't know why?"
"Nope." Mina says, "She just did. Granted, you are a lot more different than any of the other guys I sent over to this table. Don't ask me how, you just are."
"Do you think she would answer if I asked why she responded to me?" Jimin asks quietly. Mina looks towards the door, her face thoughtful.
"I don't think so." Mine smiles gently, "But I'm not sure. Sometimes she does things I never expect."
"There's no harm in trying."
"Agreed."
* * * *
The off feeling still hasn't gone away, even after Jimin finishes his second novel of the night.
He'd purposely picked the happiest sounding novels he could find, and both turned out to have satisfyingly perfect endings, but the unprovoked mood of rain clouds and depression still gnaws away in the bottom of his gut. Jimin sighs and tosses the finished book on his pillow, no longer in the mood to read.
I wish I knew why I felt like this. There's no reason to feel like something's wrong, right? Nothing horrible happened to anyone, that I know of. Something work related came up for B, Namjoon's at work in his room down the hall, Hobi, Jin, and V are out practicing, Jungkookie is in the living room playing games, and Yoongi's been napping for the past four hours. Yet... why do I feel as if something's gone terribly wrong?
Jimin peels himself up off his bed and trudges out of the open door of his room, determined to find some way to alleviate this awful feeling in his chest. He passes the closed door of Yoongi's room, as well as Tae's, stopping in front of Namjoon's cracked door.
Annoyed mumbles creep out through the two-inch-wide opening, to jumbled up to be unrecognizable as words. Silently Jimin pushes his way into the room, not surprised to see Namjoon poring over an old newspaper. Stacks of yellowing and torn newspapers and articles and the like surround him, covering his bed and floor. The only one out of hundreds that keeps Namjoon's attention, though, is the one he tightly grips in his hand.
"Did you find anything?" Jimin asks as softly as he can, trying his best not to startle the focused boy. Namjoon jumps a little anyway, his eyes quickly flickering up to meet Jimin's curious and slightly worried face, "'Cause you look a little tense."
"Just... just this." Namjoon holds the paper out, sighing, and Jimin gently takes it with two trembling hands. Jimin's eyes quickly glance over the title at the top of the page before his eyes catch on to a picture in the middle. Even though Jimin has never met her, he instantly recognizes the beautiful woman.
Who knew Suga-hyung looks so much like his eomma?
His eyes flicker back up to the headline before a flash of pity burns in his already aching gut.
OBITUARIES
Min Chunja passed away this Thursday, October 10, at the age of 33. She is survived by her loving husband and her two children, an eight year old boy and a four year old little girl, who will miss her dearly.
She was a thoughtful wife and a caring mother who always put others' well being above her own, and she loved to invite others to her home cooked dinners. Min Chunja was well known for welcoming new neighbors with plates full of warm cookies and a bright smile.
Although a tragic car accident has taken her from us, we will never forget her comforting words and kind actions. Her memorial will be held at the South Baptist Church this Friday at 10 AM, and all are welcome to come and share their memories of this wonderful woman who left us too soon.
The picture is faded, but the similarities to Suga are still as clear as day. Her sparkling eyes radiate kindness, and her thin pink lips are pulled up into a genuine smile. Jimin smiles sadly, re-reading the paper again as his heart aches in his chest.
Hyung was eight. Eight. He lost his mother when he was only eight, and had to take care of his four year old sister. Not to mention he had to deal with his horrible drunkard of a dad at the same time. I don't know how I would've done it, if I was him. He had nobody. Nobody but his little sister, who was looking to him to lead the way.
Jimin looks up from the paper with teary eyes, wiping away his tears with his sleeve as he hands the paper back to a solemn Namjoon. Namjoon smiles weakly and stares blankly at the faded article.
"This is the only thing I could find about any of his family, and he already knows about it, so it's basically useless information," Namjoon tosses the paper away and buries his head in his hands, "I've found nothing. Absolutely nothing. I've looked through newspapers, school articles, and even random photos taken from other people living in the neighborhood at the time around his sister's disappearance. Nothing."
"Then maybe we're just looking in the wrong place, hyung." Jimin smile gently, patting the top of his distressed friend's head, "I'm sure something will work eventually. We've just got to look in the right place."
"Yeah," Namjoon agrees even though he doesn't sound too optimistic, "Just gotta look in the right place."
Jimin leaves the room just as quietly as he came in, rubbing the remaining tears from his tired eyes. He trudges back down the hall towards his room feeling even worse than he did before. Now all he wants to do is sleep, hoping that the awful feeling will go away with some much needed rest.
But Jimin knows sleep is no longer an option when the muffled sniffles greet his ears. With a tired sigh he turns towards Suga's closed door.
Jimin doesn't even knock this time, no longer afraid of his Suga-hyung lashing out at him after all the heart-to-heart talks and crying they'd been sharing lately. He carefully opens the door to reveal his hyung hunched over on the edge of his bed, something grasped tightly in his pale fingers. Yoongi's head snaps up at the sound of the sound opening, but his panicked look quickly fades back into sorrow when he recognizes Jimin.
Yoongi tries to compose himself somewhat, wiping the tear streaks off his pale cheeks, but one glance down at the slip of paper in his hands and all pretense of strength is thrown out the window. A new wave of silent agony hits him, and Jimin rushes to support Yoongi as the young man folds himself into a trembling pretzel.
"Hyung, what is it?" Jimin asks softly, pulling the boy into his side so that Suga won't hurt his back being hunched over, "What's upsetting you?"
Yoongi doesn't say a word, instead opting to hand Jimin the source of his breakdown. The old paper on the back feels rough on Jimin's skin, but the front of the photo is still smooth and untouched; the product of being well taken-care-of.
The woman in the photo is the exact same woman Jimin saw less than a minute ago, except in this photo she's holding the hand of a little boy, and supporting the most adorable little girl on her hip. The little boy is no less than Yoongi himself, sporting the brightest smile Jimin has ever seen on him, and Jimin can only assume that the pretty little girl with dark hair and dark eyes is Byeol.
Why in the world does she remind me so much of B? If only she had a brother... she really could be Suga-hyung's sister.
"This- this is the last picture we took together," Yoongi whispers, sniffling heavily. His glistening eyes are glassy, but no more tears make their way down his peaked face, "It was the day before... the day before-"
Yoongi falls silent, and Jimin reaches his left hand up to run it through his hyung's brilliantly colored hair. The duo sit in perfect silence, neither of them sure what to say to break the tense cloud of sorrow hanging over their heads. Jimin sighs lightly, entwining his fingers in Yoongi's soft hair.
"Namjoon found her obituary, and he just showed it to me a minute ago," Jimin informs the older gently, smiling when Yoongi involuntarily leans into his hand, "Do you... wanna talk about it?"
Yoongi stays silent, refusing to look at Jimin's gentle expression.
"Come on, hyung," Jimin softly coaxes, "You'll feel much better if you get it off your chest. I won't judge, and you don't have to tell me everything if you don't want to."
Yoongi shuts his eyes tightly, trying to block out the memories from the one period in his life that he'd rank as the worst. When he opens his eyes again Jimin is already looking straight into his soul, patiently waiting for his hyung to tell his life's story. It's easy for Jimin to see that Yoongi really doesn't want to, but... who can resist these adorable, trusting puppy eyes?
Yoongi can't.
"It was... so hard." He whispers, dark eyes flashing, "She was always so thoughtful, and loving, and patient. We, even as kids, were completely content with whatever we had, no matter how little, just because we had her. Our perfect eomma. Everything I did, everything I said, everything I wanted to do... she was there. Helping me, guiding me, supporting me. No one else did what she did, always telling me that I could do anything if I just tried. I had complete freedom with her, and I knew she would always love me no matter what I did, so I didn't look to anyone else. I reserved my respect solely for her.
"She always did everything around the house, and she never asked for help. She remembered everything we liked, and tucked us into bed just the way we liked it. She never expected anything from me, except our respect for her as our eomma, because she said she wanted us to have the childhood she never had. Carefree, loved, and guided in the right direction. She didn't ever want us to struggle all on our own.
"The only thing she expected me to do, no matter how hard it was, was-" Yoongi abruptly stops, burying his head in his hands for a moment to hide his crumpled expression.
"S-she always told me to take care of my l-little sister," Yoongi manages to get out through his tightly clasped fingers, "B-because she said I was only ever gonna get o-one. She always told me that family is the m-most important thing in the world, and that f-family always has each others' back. And what did I do?"
You took care of a four year old, when you were only eight. Then you practically raised her by yourself, struggling to find your own way at the same time. Then you left her, even if it hurt you to do so, because it was what you thought was best.
"I deserted her, and l-left her all alone to suffer in that horrid place!" Yoongi sobs, and Jimin forcefully grabs his arms to prevent his hyung from punching the wall and hurting himself, "I had one shot at taking care of her, and I f-failed."
"You did not fail," Jimin sternly corrects, now convinced that his heart can't possibly ache any more than it already is, "You raised a four year old all by yourself, and then you left to be able to free her from the prison you called home. How is that failing?"
"I- I left her."
Sometimes I wish Suga-hyung wasn't so stubborn...
"I think your eomma would think that you took wonderul care of your sister," Jimin consoles, telepathically trying to shove the sentence into Suga's thick skull, "Especially considering the circumstances. I've heard that your father is a drunk... did he become that way because of your eomma's death?"
An extremely bitter look fills Yoongi's watery eyes at the mention of his father, and his dark gaze scares even Jimin, who knows Yoongi is the opposite of violent.
"You- you don't have to answer if you don't want to." Jimin mumbles, a little frighten by the fierce change.
"That man..." Yoongi growls, "Was always a filthy worthless drunk. He never gave my eomma the time of day unless he wanted something from her. When she- when she died, the only way showed that it affected him was the extra bottle of beer he drank every night. Probably not because he missed her, but because she wasn't there to stop him."
"Oh." Jimin shudders, wrapping his muscled arm tighter around Yoongi's back when it starts to tremble in anger. The trembling resides, replacing the anger in his eyes with the tiniest hint of relief.
"The only good thing about that man was the fact that he despised violence." Yoongi mutters, "He never once hit eomma or Byeol-ah. Never. He slapped me across the face a couple times when I told him to stop drinking his life away, but he never physically hurt us. That's... that's one reason why I thought it was okay to leave. No matter how angry he got, he'd never hurt my Byeol-ah."
Jimin stays silent, even though his curiosity demands that he ask questions, content to let Yoongi finish talking at his own pace without any more interruptions. He continues to hug his brother, transferring his warmth into the thin older's cold frame.
"He'd yell a lot." Yoongi sniffles, "And even scream profanities at us sometimes. But eomma always told us not to believe a single word that came out of his mouth, so that's what I told Byeol-ah, too. But at least she was safe there; now we don't know where she is! She could be d-dead for all we know."
The panic rises in Yoongi's dark irises again, his eyes flitting around the room as if someone was out to get him.
"We don't know that, hyung!" Jimin scolds, thumping the back of Yoongi's head with his palm. Yoongi yelps in surprise, and thankfully stops panicking, "Stop thinking so negatively! There's a very high possibility that some nice person found her and took her in, or at least that she found herself a job, just like you did. We have no reason to think that she's dead!"
"Whatever," Suga huffs, miffed that his dongsaeng hit him.
"Don't "whatever" me hyu-"
Both of the boys' heads snap up when the already cracked door opens all the way. A very surprised Jungkook quickly takes in the sight of his two hyungs hugging, and a pout forms on his adorable face. He crosses his arms.
"Why are you guys having a cuddle party without me?" Jungkook whines, his dark bangs falling in his doe eyes, "I want cuddles too!"
"Suga-hyung needed cuddles, that's why, and you were too busy playing your games to notice," Jimin retorts, pulling Yoongi tighter up against him. Yoongi groans, knowing what's about to come next.
"Yoongi-hyung needed cuddles..?" Jungkook trails off in awe when he finally notices the tear streaks trailing from Yoongi's puffy red eyes. Adoration blooms in Kookie's shining eyes, "Hyung really isn't a robot after all!"
Jungkook's eyes quickly turn accusing, though, and flash over to Jimin.
"You made him cry, didn't you, Jiminie?" Jungkook scolds, "Are your cuddles really that bad?"
"I did not make him cry, you little rat!" Jimin protests, honestly glad that Jungkook came in and lightened the mood, "I give the best cuddles in the world. And YAH! I'm your hyung, show me some respect!"
"You do not give the best cuddles in the world!" Jungkook shoots right back, striding towards the bed as Yoongi struggles to escape Jimin's tight hold and the steadily approaching cuddle war, "I do! And if you didn't make him cry... than what did?"
Yoongi's eyes dart to the photo in Jimin's free hand, and Jungkook launches himself forward to peek at the thing sad enough to evoke tears from his normally stoic hyung.
"Is this... your eomma?" Jungkook asks, suddenly very reserved. His gentle eyes lift for a second to watch Suga solemnly nod before Kookie carefully takes the photo into his own two hands, "And- this is you, hyung! And Byeol-ah, too? She's so adorable."
Kookie's large eyes examine the picture closely, trailing a finger along his hyung's carefree face, and the pure happiness in his eyes. If this is what having his sister with him will make him feel... than I'll do anything to help him get her back. My hyung shouldn't look so closed off all the time. He should be happy, and carefree, like me! Jungkook looks up at his older brothers, his eyes crinkling at the corners with a blinding smile.
"I can't wait to meet her." Jungkook giggles, his innocent optimism striking both Jimin and Yoongi like a heavy blow. But Jungkook doesn't give them any time to recover; quickly placing the photo on the desk before launching himself onto the bed to join the cuddle session for his sad hyung.
"Yah, get off me you whale! You're crushing my lungs!"
"No! Jimin-hyung said you need cuddles, so that's what you're gonna get!"
Needless to say, Yoongi got more than enough cuddles.
Honestly, I kinda hate this chapter. I mean, a lot of the content in it is extremely key to the plot, but I hate the way I wrote it. It's AWFUL. But I hope you like it anyway.
Sorry that I took so long to update. College is hectic.
I can't wait guys! TWO MORE CHAPTERS TO GO! I'm super super excited! In the meantime, though, I hope you liked Kookie. I made him a little extra childlike in this book because 1.) he's only 17 (War of Hormone age, when he still looked like an adorable little fetus baby) and 2.) because why the heck not. Extra child-like Kookie is an extra adorable Kookie, and an extra adorable Kookie is extra fun to write. I just hope it's extra fun to read, as well.
Well, I hope you guys have an awesome day!
Don't forget to VOTE, and COMMENT to your hearts' content. I love you guys. Having supportive fans is heart-warming.
~singformeangel