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PL.
• — ••• — •
❝ You were born to be real, not to be perfect. ❞
—Min Yoongi.
⊱Chapter 43⊰
DEAREST FRIEND
• — ••• — •
Jungkook was surrounded by little sparkles as the sun shone down on the sea. The Fall breeze hit him, it was cold yet very light, and he didn't flinch. He was lost in his thoughts. He stared into space as he brought a beer can to his mouth before sipping the liquid.
Suddenly, sound of footsteps could be heard on the pontoon's wooden surface. It grew closer to his position. Nonetheless, he didn't take a peek until a familiar voice rang in his ears.
"Jungkook."
He immediately recognized the voice. It belonged to one of his dearest friends, one that he's been lying to for years, one he didn't deserve.
He looked over his shoulder only to see Jin bending down to sit by his side, letting a sigh of exhaustion like an old man would do.
"What are you doing here?" Jin asked before his eyes fell on the several beer cans coming out of Jungkook's bag. He felt a pinch on his chest yet he tried his best to hide it. He reached for a drink and opened it for himself, "I didn't know there was a party to go to. Why wasn't I invited?"
Jungkook's eyes fell down to his hands as he remained quiet.
The silence caused Jin to look on his side. He observed his friend for a few seconds before sighing. He immediately understood Jungkook wasn't doing fine too.
He reached for his phone in his jeans and went to look for something. After finding it, he held his phone in front of Jungkook and the latter looked at him confusingly.
"Take a look," Jin insisted, "Please."
Jungkook grabbed the device and stared down at the screen only to see it was a video. He tapped the play button.
[A/N: Video description will be in italic]
"Is it recording?" Jin's voice could be heard over the image of his shoes displayed on his phone screen.
"Really? Are you that old not to know how to record a video on your phone?" Chaeyoung whined before lifting the phone up towards the bed.
Jungkook gasped at the next image.
"Y-you two are so noisy.." Hyejin groaned as she adjusted herself on the bed. Her voice was weak and sweet. "W-why a-are you filming?"
"The guys are gonna be here in any second and Mom asked me to film everything." Jin explained.
Jungkook felt his heart ache at the sight of Hyejin being awake, speaking and moving. She looked weak but most importantly, she was alive.
"Ok, smile for mom," Jin asked only to get a frown from the patient.
"What?" She made a face.
A light laugh escaped Jungkook's mouth.
"Just do it already or we'll hear her complain for hours—"
"H-Hi mommy." She obeyed just by the thought of their mother going on a monolog on how parents worry about their reckless kids, "I'm doing better, d-don't worry. I—"
Jungkook paused the video.
Hyejin's face was perfectly framed on the phone screen. Despite the bruises, the cuts, the bandage and everything, she looked so pretty to him.
A soft smile made its way to the boy's face as he traced his finger on the screen, caressing her face oh-so gently.
"She's awake.." He finally spoke out.
Jin softened before nodding, "She is. But.."
Jungkook abruptly looked up, worries taking over his entire expression. "What? What happened?"
He took hold of his phone again before sliding it back in his pocket, "Nothing, she really is fine. At least physically. She—"
"What do you mean by that? Not mentally? What is it? Is she traumatized or something?" He panicked.
"Will you let me finish? I can't answer your questions if you cut me off." Jin raised his brow.
Jungkook bit on his lips before relaxing a little bit. "Sorry."
Jin sighed. "We had an argument that led her to depression. She's been silent ever since then and no one was able to pull a word out of her mouth. No one, not even Hobi."
All of a sudden, Jungkook was mad. He knew it wasn't his place to feel that way but he did. The only though of her being depressed triggered him.
"How come? You guys never fight."
"We fought about you." He admitted and gained his full attention. He exhaled deeply before meeting his eyes, "I'll be honest with you. I blamed it all on both of you equally. I told her that this shouldn't have happened in the first place, that she was dumb for even falling for your words knowing she'll be hurt again. And—"
"And you were right. I keep hurting her despite all of my efforts. I-" He stumbled on his voice. His gaze fell to his half-empty can and the sudden burst of emotion made him finish his drink in one go.
He gulped down the beer to its very last drop.
"It's all my fault if she's in this hospital bed right now." He stated, crushing the can in his hand and reaching out for another one.
"Ok ok, stop it now." Jin stopped him and took hold of his drink, "I wasn't done speaking."
"I was mad. In fact, I was furious. I just needed to put a blame on someone as I felt like I failed as a big brother to protect her. But I was wrong." He gained the youngster's attention again.
"Whatever you two lived in the past, I believe you have changed now. I'm sure you didn't call her for nothing that night and most importantly, I'm sure it wasn't your fault."
Jungkook was on the verge. His big round eyes got glossier as tears took control of them. "I just wanted to tell her everything I had in mind ever since she came back hyung. I didn't want her to get hurt. I didn't want—"
"I know Kook, I know." Jin placed a hand on his shoulder, "I shouldn't have thought that in the first place. I just needed time to process what happened to her and shouldn't have put it all on you like I did. I'm sorry."
The youngest fell speechless.
Ever since Jin sent him off that night, he kept on asking himself why. Why did he call her, why didn't he walk her down to her car, why was he so selfish, why was he.. so in love.
He kept questioning his life and decisions which brought him to his hometown, where he'd usually recharge himself.
However, it didn't help. It only caused him to think more and led him to drink in order to forget.
"You have to come back now." Jin continued, bringing him back to reality.
"I can't. It'll only be a matter of time before I cause another disaster."
"You two will never understand." Jin sighed and threw his head backwards in exhaustion.
Jungkook watched him confusingly.
"When will you two understand that you are putting so much pressure on yourselves for absolutely no reason." Jin started, "The only thing that is causing harms to yourselves are your own feelings that you contain for one another."
He shook his head in disbelief,
"You are afraid of reliving what happened in High School yet you both know it isn't some kind of teenager story anymore. You both grew up, you both know how to make relationships work because you lived all the downs already. You both are ready but just too scared."
His words echoed in Jungkook's mind. He examined them very carefully and the more he recalled them, the more he realized that Jin was right.
Their relationship was so toxic and destructive back then that getting close to Hyejin again became terrifying for him.
He didn't want to hurt her anymore. He didn't want to see her cry for him anymore. But why would he?
He knew what hurt her before, he knew what he did wrong. He knew he won't make the same mistakes again so why be scared?
"You're right. I love her and I won't remake the same mistake I did when I was younger." He snapped. "I have to see her. Right now!"
He abruptly stood up from the ground only to stumble on both feet. The alcohol smashed his head in a heartbeat and soon enough, Jungkook fell down to the ground with Jin shaking his head in disbelief.
The elder reached for his drink and took a sip of it, "I take my words back. You didn't grow up one bit."
While Jungkook was groaning, rubbing his behind after colliding with the ground, Jin watched the sun on the verge of setting down.
"Hyung, we have to go back to Seoul!" Jungkook whined in the back.
"Shush kiddo, all of this sucked my energy. We'll go back tomorrow."
"WHAT"