Seokjin sniffled, wiping the last hot tear away from his cheek before composing himself and collecting the food. He wasn't that hungry but he knew that if he wandered around his donsaengs would get worried and even more hungry.
He could see the illuminate 'open' sign glowing in the distance hanging against the window as his white trainers patted against the puddles. He wasn't feeling good, he had always carried a regret after that night, one that made him feel ashamed and embarrassed, how could he have been so reckless?
"Sir?" Seokjin snapped his head to the man behind the brick wall who was waiting patiently for his order.
The boy hadn't even realised how long he stood there just staring into space before the man had interrupted him, "Oh, Sorry.-" Seokjin started but got interrupted by the ringing of the bell signalling that someone had entered.
"Oh my gosh! Can you believe it? It's definitely a publicity act like who the hell would do that? seriously it's messed up." A teenage girl entered with her friend talking passionately as they waited behind Seokjin who tried his hardest to ignore them.
"U-Um two portions of lamb skewers please." Seokjin smiled still in a daze as the man nodded and asked for the two teenagers to order.
Seokjin sighed as he sat down, the smell of take-away food making his nose scrunch up in disgust but his stomach grumble in hunger. His gaze dropped to the floor and he instinctively pulled his hat down lower to cover his face when the girls sat next to him.
"I don't know, why would they want to fake something like that just for publicity? They're famous enough Yoona do you seriously think that they need any more attention? And I'm pretty sure that in the unlikely event that they did they wouldn't fake three of their members' deaths." She replied matter of factly while scrolling through her phone. Seokjin bit his lip anxiously, is this what people thought? Were people really debating whether or not their whole situation was true?
"H-Hey look at the guy next to me." Seokjin heard the girl closest to her whisper, his heart started to race.
He was really not in the mood for fan girls.
He coughed clearing his throat and pulled out his phone pretending to act busy but before he knew it he was already being interrupted.
"H-Hey Jin-oppa. We're sorry to hear about you're band mates." The shortest girl spoke with her head hung low.
"J-Jin-Oppa? Can you sign this for me?" The girl who he remembered as 'Yoona' asked impatiently pointing at her shirt.
Seokjin huffed, this bitch was really getting on his nerves. "Sorry, I don't have a pen." He replied watching as the girl's smile dropped. "Uh, can you at least tell Jiminnie-oppa that I love him?" She asked with a disrespectful tone making Seokjin scoff.
"Order number 8 please come and collect your food." The man from the kitchen shouted as a thin layer of sweat coated his forehead.
"Oh that's us! I'll get it." The tallest said sweetly leaving the other facing Seokjin in awe.
"Um I'm really sorry about her oppa, she has no respect please ignore her." Seokjin perked up his head a little at the girl's words, "I just want to say that your my bias and you're not alone, I know that right now must be really tough on all of you but please don't push yourselves, and take a break if you need to." She fidgeted with her fingers as she waited for a response.
Seokjin was taken back, he had not expected anything like that to come out of the girl's mouth, he smiled softly "thank you it means a lot, I now feel like I have a lot of strength." He chuckled a little making the girl smile brightly with her flustered cheeks.
"Fighting!" She said enthusiastically making Jin smile - a genuine smile that he hadn't shown in months.
It had been a long time since he had last interacted with fans especially nice fans that actually respect them. A warm feeling washed over Seokjin's body, he wasn't alone, he never had been and he never will be.
"Order 7 come and collect your food please." Seokjin jumped slightly when the man's voice dragged him back to reality, "thank you for your kind words I will remember them." Seokjin spoke as he stood up and walked to the counter, the girl nodded as they walked out of the door together, "good luck with your tour oppa, I'll see you in Japan, don't give up!" She smiled and waved just as her friend joined her with a bag full of food.
Seokjin smiled, suddenly feeling excited to tour in Japan as he carried the food bag in his arms, the burning sensation of his hands tingling as the warmth spread across his fingers made him only walk faster- like it was a reminder that he was out in the cold and he would get ill.
Before he wouldn't have cared, but now after his interaction with a fan it had changed his mind. He wanted to live on, he didn't want to die just so that he could be reunited with his donsaengs and boyfriend he didn't want to be torn a way from Hoseok, Namjoon and Jimin. He wanted to live his life, and make the most out of it.
He kept his eyes on the ground as his feet walked down path after path, the street lights reflecting on the small collection of rain in the dips of the road. Gently swinging the food bag as he hummed in boredom, thinking.
He hadn't even realised he had walked down his road until he was knocking on the front door of the dorm and waiting patiently for one of his donsaengs to open it.
"Hyung!" He was greeted by a smiling Jimin, his eyes turning into small crescents as Seokjin was welcomed to the warmth and the smell of recently brewed coffee.
"Oh thank god, I'm starving." Namjoon muttered placing his laptop on the floor and rubbing his hands together whilst eyeing the food like it was his prey.
Seokjin hummed placing the food on the table, as Hoseok hopped up to the kitchen grabbed some plates.
"Hobi-Ah don't bother getting me one I'm not that hungry, I need to go out again anyway." Seokjin shouted out to the boy whilst sneakily grabbing a piece of lamb.
"You're not hungry? I don't believe that for a second hyung." Hoseok said as he placed the plates on the table.
Seokjin let out a forced laugh trying to ignore the worried glances Namjoon and Jimin were giving him. "I know right, it makes a change. I'll be back later so just leave some in the fridge." Hoseok nodded slowly watching his hyung suspiciously as he grabbed his coat and tugged his hat further down his head.
"Go careful." All three said in unison making the latter chuckle softly and beam as he pulled his mask over that beautiful smile.
"Of course." His reply was muffled but the three could hear it as the male shut the door behind him
Hoseok sighed tucking into the food with his eyebrows furrowed, "I'm worried about him, when was the last time he ate?"
Namjoon thought hard, "I'm not sure last time I ate with him was yesterday morning... I think."
"No, it's definitely not that." Jimin cut in, "I've pretty much spent the last week with him because of singing lessons, he's eating fine, if anything he's eating more than usual." Hoseok nodded thoughtfully. "But I definitely think that there's something wrong with him, he never usually goes out this late especially when it's cold and raining." Jimin agreed peering out of the window that had raindrops falling against the glass.
Namjoon huffed rubbing his temples, "maybe we are over thinking it here guys, maybe he just needs some alone time. A lot has happened and sometimes people find it easier to be alone through those rough times, I personally am like this." Namjoon continued, "or he might be going out to clear his head and get some fresh air, he's probably stressed and to be honest I don't blame him."
Hoseok nodded, but frowned when he saw Jimin with glassy eyes, "But hyung, what if he's not okay? What if we make the same mistake we did with Kook?" His voice wavered as he let his thoughts out, "won't we be kicking ourselves? If we had a feeling that something was wrong yet we just stay here and sit on our asses?"
He finished making Hoseok and Namjoon look at the picture from a whole new perspective.
Silence.
"But what would we do? Stalk Jin-Hyung only to find out that he's taking a casual stroll, 'yeah sorry hyung we just thought you would do something stupid.' doesn't that sound ridiculous? Shouldn't we just trust him? He said he'd be careful anyway." Namjoon countered fiddling with his fork.
Jimin sighed, a defeated look over his face. "I don't know anymore hyung. I just have a bad feeling." He whispered, "I can't lose anymore than I already have." His voice broke a little.
"Hey Jiminnie, hyungie wouldn't do anything like that okay? Why would he when he knew how much it hurt to lose Kookie like that? He'll be fine just have a little faith in him." Hoseok comforted.
"Yeah he would never dream of doing that Jiminnie." Namjoon added.
Jimin nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat, he had a sudden urge to see his eldest hyung, to hug him and tell him how much he loves him.
He was trying to concentrate on the conversation Namjoon and Hoseok were having but the voices in the back of his head kept on yapping at him that something wasn't quite right.
"Right I need to sleep, see you guys tomorrow in the dance studio." Namjoon nodded as Hoseok took his plate away and left him with Jimin who seemed to be troubled with his own thoughts.
Namjoon reached over and placed a comforting hand on the boy's knee, "he'll be okay, stop worrying. You'll wake up tomorrow and he'll be there cooking you breakfast." Namjoon smiled sweetly dimples showing as he followed Hoseok taking his plate into the kitchen before heading to his room.
He'll be okay.
___
Jin shivered the sudden harshness of the rain hitting him as he turned the corner. The rain patted down on his coat soaking through and making him cold, he wanted to stay out longer but really didn't want to get ill so decided to head back. His hair dripped in front of his vision as he took in the silence of the road, the only thing making a sound was the rain gently smacking against the concrete.
Calming.
That's how Seokjin would describe it, he usually wasn't one to go out in the rain but right now he was becoming attached to it. It reflected his mood, however he had no more tears left to cry, so the rain cried for him.
He shoved his cold, damp hands into his pockets as they shook asking for some sort of warmth. He kept his head down, so he was unrecognisable to anyone, it would not be good if he had been spotted in the middle of the night out in the rain walking along the Han River.
Luckily he was nowhere near the Han River any longer, that had been about an hour ago when he was skimming rocks across it and watching the ripples it created. However now he could barely feel his feet as they made their way back to the dorm, his coat had turned out not to be waterproof and his hat had become soggy making him take it off and just carry it as he let his locks breathe.
He would be surprised if he didn't get ill at this rate, it was stupid. The members were most likely wondering where he was, probably coming to the conclusion that he'd just stayed around a friends house when in reality he hadn't stepped into a single person's house, and he was frozen.
A smile tugged on Seokjin's lips as he finally faced the door of the dorm, he quickly fished out his keys and unlocked it, startled to see a figure uncomfortably sprawled across the couch as he slept.
Jin took his shoes of sighing in content at the heat that engulfed him, he quickly took his coat and mask off and walked over to his sleeping donsaeng scooping him up and holding him tightly.
"H-hyuunng." Jimin murmured snuggling closer into Jin's chest, "y-you're freezing." He muttered eyes fluttering open as Seokjin walked down the hallway leading to their bedrooms.
"Get some sleep we've got lots of practising to do tomorrow." The latter whispered ignoring the boy's comment.
Jimin nodded, as he got gently placed onto his bed, Seokjin was about to leave when Jimin grabbed his wrist stopping him mid track.
"Stay." Jin almost looked shocked, before quickly regaining his composure, he nodded softly and went into his room grabbing a new set of clothes as the ones he was wearing now were soaked.
Once he had changed he walked back into Jimin's room seeing that the boy had patiently waited for him to come back.
Jimin smiled, he felt secure now that his hyung was back, all of the uneasy feelings he had felt before had vanished when he woke up to be in his hyung's arms.
"Are you okay Jiminnie?" Jin asked as he pulled the quilt back and scooted in next to the boy.
Jimin gasped as Seokjin jumped in, he could feel how cold he was and they weren't even touching eachother. "Hyung, seriously why are you so cold? You should be taking care of yourself, you're frozen I can feel it from here." Jimin whispered as he caressed the boy's hair making him shut his eyes in comfort.
"I was clearing my head Jiminnie, and I'm cold because my coat wasn't waterproof." He replied opening his doe eyes, Jimin would have found it mesmerising if he didn't see the bags underneath them first.
With out another word Jimin snuggled closer into Seokjin's chest hoping to give off some heat as he closed his eyes and listened to his hyung's steady heartbeat.
He was relieved that Seokjin was fine, but was worried too. Why hadn't he been taking care of himself? He's lucky he didn't catch hyperthermia out there in that rain.
The thoughts clouded his brain and he furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't realise Seokjin still had his eyes open as he felt the male place his strong arms around him, a sign of comfort. Jimin smiled, he was safe, he was home.
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Thank you for reading this chapter I hope that you enjoyed it! I made this one a little longer as it was updated late. 💜