"So what do we do?"
The remaining people in the community center averted their preoccupied attention towards Seokjin who was uncomfortable with the awkward silence.
Most of their family called it a night. They packed food leftovers in Tupperware they personally brought for lunch for the next couple of days. Only the men and Halmeoni remained at the center as they waited for Seojoon and Penny to come back.
"We're waiting for them to come back." Taehyung sighed as he checked his Rolex watch for the time. "It's been almost an hour." He sulked into his chair before spreading his legs open for comfort.
Halmeoni Lim yawned. It was past her bedtime, also known as, nine at night. The old lady looked tired but she was still wary for her granddaughter. "It's getting late. I'm worried for them."
"Halmeoni, you should go home," Jimin advised. "We'll be fine here."
As if on cue, the doors opened, causing everyone's gaze to direct that way. But once they saw only a sad-looking Seojoon coming in with his hands in his pockets.
"Where's Penny?" Yoongi spoke out first, concerned that he didn't see his cousin. "What happened?"
"She..." Seojoon sighed as he threw his head down as reflex but pulled himself back up. "She left."
"What do you mean?" Halmeoni asked.
"What the fuck did you do?" Taehyung stood up as he was about to charge at the man.
Namjoon snatched his friend's arm and reeled him back. "Taehyung, don't."
"I told her what happened and why I left," Seojoon explained. "I told her how I felt...she told me to leave her alone and she just left."
"So what, she's just gone?" The prince retorted.
"She didn't say where she went." The man said. "I don't know where she is. She ran crying."
"Yoongi, do you have any idea where she could be?" Halmeoni asked with concern in her voice. Though the area was relatively safe, she anticipated the worse.
Yoongi gripped onto his grandmother's hands as he squeezed them, "I'm not sure. But Imuwa isn't that big, so we can find her."
"Don't you guys track her phone?" Hoseok wondered. "Just go through that and—"
Jungkook pulled something out of his pocket to reveal her phone. "She doesn't have pockets in her dress so she asked me to hold it."
"Well, that's unfortunate..." Hoseok muttered.
"Well, wherever she is, she better be safe." Taehyung scowled at Seojoon. "Let's try split up to find her."
Then something in Jungkook and Jimin sparked as the two exchanged suspicious looks. It's as if they had a hunch on where she would be. Penny didn't usually like being alone, but when she did, she wanted to be where she knew she could have silence.
Yet have some sort of attachment that kept her there.
When she was sad, which was rare, she wanted to be comforted by loved ones.
Even when they weren't around.
Without talking, their eyes seemed to notice both of them having the same location. After clarifying each other, they nodded before standing up from their seat.
"We think we know where she is," Jimin spoke on behalf of him and Jungkook.
"Then let's go." Taehyung gestured them to lead but they didn't move. They stood blankly at the prince, causing him to get pissed. "Rats, why aren't you moving?"
"I don't think it's best for any of you to go." The playboy stated.
Yoongi raised his eyebrow in confusion, "Why?"
"Leave it to her best friends." Jungkook grinned.
-
Here lies the past. They're gone, vanished, disappeared. Some have been forgotten, but somehow they'll always be remembered.
Each one has a different yet unique history that they've held onto. But before they leave the agonizing concept of life, they pass their story down to the future so they can live longer than actually did. Each one wishes those above simply do not mourn for them but wants them to cherish their journey through life and value how they survived. After all, they're like doves, free from adversity, and finally at rest.
With blocks of grey stone surrounding her at every turn and angle, the sobbing Penny sat with her knees to her chest. She heeded her eyes at the gravestone that had the carvings of her mom's name.
She looked at the tombstone that signified the mother she never met. The woman she wished to remember for at least a second. Maybe she could have explained why Penny became like this, why she was treated like this? Maybe she had all the answers for the young girl.
Oh, why must her mommy be taken away from her? She wanted nothing more but to be in her mom's warm arms and cry like a baby.
But alas, her mother couldn't. She was here with a six-feet distance but her soul wandered elsewhere.
Penny didn't have anything that she wanted.
The girl felt cold as she wept all that she could as she felt ashamed. She was ashamed of finally being sorry for herself for not having a mother, for not having a father around, for not having anything desired in normal life.
But her self-pity party seemed to be interrupted as she felt two living beings in her presence.
"Bitch, why you crying on our birthday?" Jungkook retorted, looking down at his miserable friend.
"And in the most terrifying place?" Jimin said as he inspected the sketched view of an eerie cemetery in the outskirts of Imuwa.
"What's the point of celebrating if you're only one year closer to death?" Penny complained. "What's the point of celebrating my birthday while it was the anniversary of my mom's death?"
"Eeek, sounds like Yoongi Hyung coming back to visit is a bad idea." Jungkook retched at how negative she was being.
But when she ignored their playful commentary, the boys glanced at one another, seeing how somber she really was. So the two sat on each side of her. Penny laid her head on Jungkook's shoulder while Jimin intertwined his hand with hers and rested them down his lap.
The trio stared at her mother's grave in melancholy. Lax silence circulated their surroundings as the gentle breeze of the transitional fall brushed through them. Though still weeping, she handled her breathing while Jungkook wiped her tears with a handkerchief he brought.
"We're celebrating because the two hottest people in the world we're born on this day," Jungkook informed. "Come on, Twin."
"Feels like a regretful day even if you and I are hot." She muttered. "Everything about today is just bleh."
Jimin sighed, "Penny, why are y—"
"Seojoon Oppa told me he still loves me."
The Imuwa boys' chocolate irises bulged out at the reveal. There Penny told them what happened between them, how Seojoon was in a state of depression, the attempts, hiding it away from the younger ones, how he lied about his feelings to protect her.
After she told them, Jungkook and Jimin had a change of perspective, finally understanding why Seojoon did what he did. They accepted how ignorant they were to it. They didn't suspect anything. There were no signs, but now they knew, so they were proud he was able to overcome it.
However, Penny blamed herself. Blamed her for being her, for subconsciously making him stay quiet in his despair. If it wasn't for her, he would have gotten help earlier and left.
"Twin, it's not your fault you didn't know." Jungkook tried to reassure. "He did this to protect you."
"But I hated him so much for years because he left. He made me do things that I've regretted. No offense, Jimin." Penny said with a stuffy nose.
"None taken, squirt," Jimin commented as he rubbed his thumbs on her hands.
"I blamed him for all the hurt he caused me, but my dumbass didn't realize how much he was hurting internally." She sobbed as the tears kept coming. "I even pushed him away when he wanted to talk to me."
"But he understands why. And look, he's better now." The playboy emphasized. "Sure, he's conflicting with what you currently have but feel happy that he was able to overcome himself."
"I know and I am. But he made me realize something after I asked him why he couldn't tell me." She finally declared her inner self. "And I ca—I can't do this anymore."
Jungkook asked, "Do what?"
"My life sucks. I got hit with the harsh reality. I understand the pity Imuwa gives me." She admitted the cruel truth that is her life. "I have no mom, I haven't seen my dad in years, Halmeoni's getting older and weaker, we're having financial issues. I may have to stop school next month. I-I-I'm the poor girl."
Penny hated to admit it. After suppressing this for so long, she conclusively lets it out of her. She hated those two words with a passion, but you know what? It was her label. The label hurts her, it's a big bitchslap to the face.
"Pen, don't say that. Don't give in, you never wanted to give in. You never wanted to think about that." Jungkook shook his head, finding disbelief in her words. "That's why you worked hard to get to this point."
"Yeah, but why is it that I continue to work hard and this is what I get?" She gestured at her mom's stone. "More challenges? More hardship? No one tells me anything because they don't wanna see me suffer. Because they know I won't be able to handle it." She wailed into the younger boy's shoulder. "My life knew where it was going, the second I was born."
Jungkook clutched her waist while he shushed her to calm down. Jimin scooted closer as he tightened his grip on her hands. The older rested his forehead on the crook of her neck. They waited patiently until she spoke again.
"People tell me to stay positive while they think of my struggles. I try to cover it up, but fuck it. I might just pull a Yoongi for the rest of my life." She said in between heaving.
"PenPen, you do have struggles. But so does everyone including me and Jimin Hyung." Jungkook gently massaged her cranium with his fingers. "I realized that those people shouldn't have told you to cover it up, but instead simply embrace it."
"Embrace it?"
"They don't mean any harm when they call you that. But you know, they tiptoe around it to see how you are. I think they just don't want to be part of the never-ending cycle of adversity and add to the damage to your life." The younger explained. "But they want their pointless two cents in it."
"Everyone struggles and copes differently. Maybe you've been given all these obstacles because the world knows you can be resilient and overcome them. Be proud of them, accept them, it's okay to acknowledge it." Jimin grinned faintly once her sobbing died down.
"But I don't want to be known for just that." She groaned. "Like am I nothing more than that? It's hard to acknowledge it when I hate it and it never felt good to hear or say it out loud."
"Penny, you're much more than that. You're the sweetest, smartest, and strongest girl we know and we both love you." Jungkook praised his lovable best friend. "To be honest, you're a role model for us."
"Really?" The girl sniffed as she rubbed her nose with her vacant hand.
"Yeah, I mean look where we are, honestly. I fuck everything with a hole or slit and Jungkook is a lazy chip-eating bitch." The older one chuckled, earning sad smiles from the younger two. "We see you and what you're doing, you make us want to better ourselves."
"It's true." The younger piped. "I've been actually trying to do well this year in college so I can graduate with you."
"Thanks, guys. That's so sweet. I didn't know that." A happier smile formed on her soaked face.
"That's because you never ask, you selfish bitch." Plant boy snarled childishly.
"Jungkook, not now." Jimin flicked his friend's forehead. "The point is Penny, we see so much in you and we know you can do more. We're proud of you. Halmeoni, you dad, Yoongi Hyung, they're all proud of you." Though he was cautious, she needed to hear the next words he said. "Your mom would have been proud of you too."
"She's still dead because of me," Penny mumbled as she glanced at the tombstone.
"Hey, she loved you so much and she always will. She sacrificed her life to give you a way better life and make a name for yourself." Jungkook indicated.
"She was a fighter just like you. She wants you to overcome the battle she couldn't finish so you had the spotlight to achieve greatness." Jimin concluded. "She wants the best for you and you'll get it."
"How did I ever deserve friends like you two?" She pushed her lower lips out as she sniffled. She wrapped her arms around them and they naturally embraced her back. Both of them kissed her head before nuzzling their faces into her neck, making her giggle.
"We love you, Penny." Jungkook and Jimin said in unison.
"I love you so much. I will never let go of our friendship." She pecked their cheeks. "How could I ever repay you?"
"Threesome!" Jungkook suggested.
"Okay, I regret saying those words."
The trio had a friendship that was unbreakable. They were one another's missing link. It wouldn't be the same without either of them. The bond was everlasting. Others, lovers, hookups will come and go. But they will remain standing in each other's lives.
Their love will last more than a lifetime.
~
Needed some appreciation for the Imuwa trifecta. I love their bond so much, it needed to be recognized!!! Tbh I love Jimin and Jungkook in this the most