Cold wind blew. Clouds formed various layers on the sky making it almost impossible to see the sun. It was getting chilly.
The Bowl felt different in the past few days. Jimin had noticed that. So did Joon. They were all at the Bowl, together. And yet things seemed different.
Kookie and Tae were sitting together like always. But their mood was off. Jin was as usual, silently staring at a distance. Hoseok who usually was the life of the group, seemed to be in sabbatical.
Yoongi had his doubts. He eyed Hoseok constantly, thinking of ways to cheer him up. Watching the rest, Jimin and Joon eyed each other and sighed.
“Alright. That’s it.”
Jimin spoke as he stood up facing everyone. When no one reacted he continued.
”I know a lot of things have been going on. And I never asked anything to any of you because I didn’t want to upset you. But this is getting out of hand! Someone please talk to me!”
Frustration was visible in Jimin’s voice.
“I agree,” Joon stood up,
“Tae? Kookie? You two have a lot of explaining to do.”
Tae looked at Joon while Kookie saw Jin glancing at him from the corner of his eye.
“You too hyung,” Jimin addressed Hoseok.
This gave Yoongi a nudge,
”So it’s not just me! Hobi speak up. You have been so distant and down recently.”
Yoongi sat beside Hoseok, placing his hand on Hoseok’s shoulder.
“Nothing,” Hoseok lied.
When silence ruled for a few seconds, Jimin spoke again crossing his arms across his chest.
“What happened with Sohyun?”
Tae suddenly looked up, Kookie avoided meeting eyes with anyone while Yoongi felt Hoseok stiffen.
“We broke up a few days ago,” Tae answered.
“Why? You seemed to really like her,” Jimin sounded concerned.
Tae himself didn’t know why. He didn’t have the answer. And couldn’t drag Kookie into it. The frustration Tae had bottled up for days had decided to come out at the wrong time and at the wrong person.
“I liked her back then. Now I don’t!” he semi-yelled at Jimin.
Jimin had short temper but he understood that Tae was upset. So he controlled himself even after being yelled at for no reason. He had his ‘mask’ on.
“You could have told me Tae…you know we’d help you in any way possible,” Jimin said softly.
Tae stood up all of a sudden.
“I DON’T NEED TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN MY LIFE. THESE ARE MY PROBLEMS. NOT YOURS!!!”
Jimin was shocked. So were everyone else. Mouth agape and eyes wide, Jimin’s arms loosened from his chest. Kookie stood up and pulled back Tae, clutching his arm asking him to calm down.
“Hey hey…” Yoongi walked to Tae and patted his back. But Tae brushed off his touch. A mild squeal emerged from Jimin as he said,
“So this is what I get after all these years? Your problems! Your friends! Your life! Has any of you tried to know how I’m doing? Do any of you know my problems?
Even after supporting you all these years this is what I get? Or am I still the rich boy who accidently walked into your group?”
Jimin was close to tears by the time he had finished. He clutched his head, turned around and walked a few steps getting away from them.
“You know it’s not like that Jiminah,”
Joon walked to him and touched his shoulder.
Jimin immediately hugged him. Hiding his face from the rest, he shed a tear. After a few seconds he wiped them off, broke the hug and turned back to Tae.
“I know you are most attached to Kookie”, he sighed and gestured at either of them as he said,” But I thought we were best friends!”
This melted Tae’s anger a little. He glanced at Jimin and saw him look away. He wanted to call out Jimin’s name but something inside didn’t let him.
Suddenly Hoseok stood up. He said,
”Taehyungah! I need to confess something.”
The boys were confused at what was happening. What they however didn’t notice amidst the chaos, was a group of figures approaching the Bowl.