<OST: Orbit - Hwasa>
Bang!
Seokjin woke up to a loud sound the next morning. He took exactly three seconds to realise where he was, three more seconds to look around him and realise where the source of noise was coming from, and three more seconds to leap up from the couch.
"Ya!" Seokjin raced to the kitchen, looking frantic. "Cut it out-"
Jungkook reached for the beer in the fridge.
"Cut it out! Ya!" Seokjin ripped the bottle from Jungkook's hands and wrestled him to the ground. "You were drinking all day yesterday and the first thing you do when you wake up this morning is drink again? Are you even in the right mind right now, Jeon Jungkook?"
Jungkook stared at Seokjin for a few seconds, before grabbing the bottle and shoving Seokjin to one side. "Leave me alone."
But of course, Seokjin wouldn't. He gripped the bottle hard and yanked it from Jungkook's grasp once more, scrambling to his feet at once. "You have a CF shoot tomorrow. You're always extra meticulous in the way you maintain your body, aren't you? You should know you shouldn't be drinking so heavily today."
Jungkook hesitated as he slumped against the kitchen counter, staring blankly at the ground. "I don't care anymore... Nothing matters anymore..."
Seokjin put down the bottle on the counter top and slowly crouched to the ground, gently placing a comforting hand on Jungkook's shoulder. It pained him to see Jungkook like that. Seokjin had been with him for five whole years and was already used to seeing him moody and grumpy all the time, but seeing in the state that he was right now... really did make his past self pale in comparison.
"JK, can you tell me?" Seokjin tried. "Can you tell me what's wrong...?"
Jungkook swallowed hard, fighting back tears as he stared at the fridge, avoiding eye contact with Seokjin.
Seokjin took a seat on the ground next to Jungkook, gently stroking his back. "I vaguely heard you saying something about a liar and not trusting someone ever again yesterday, when you were completely wasted. But I want to know the full story."
Jungkook stared ahead, refusing to answer.
"You need to tell me so that I can help you."
Jungkook turned to look at Seokjin with tears in his eyes, his voice cracking as he finally spoke. "You can't help me in any way, hyung."
"I can," Seokjin assured him. "I know that in the past, I have failed to help you with your sleep, failed to speak up for your rights in front of Yang sajang-nim, failed to protect you from fans and I have failed you many times before. But we've known each other for this long now... I'm sure you know that everyday, I try to live up to my best self. I try my best to take care of you, make sure you make it on time to your schedules, make sure you're... happy. And in the aspect of comforting someone, I'm way better than you think I am."
Jungkook remained silent.
"Just tell hyung," Seokjin coaxed, as he patted Jungkook gently on the back. "I've got you covered, JK. Don't worry."
"Hyung."
"Hm?"
"I..." Jungkook glanced at Seokjin once more, this time the tears threatening to fall. "I just-"
"It's okay..." Seokjin's voice quivered. "You can cry. You don't have to hold it in all the time. Let it out, you'll feel much better."
And Jungkook wept.
Jungkook wept and wept for so long that Seokjin didn't even know how to react. He just sat there, on the kitchen floor, next to this boy that wasn't only the artist he was placed in charge of - but who had also become, over the years, a friend... and a little brother. Seokjin patted him gently on the back, not saying a word, allowing him to let out all his tears of sorrow.
Then finally, he slowed down. And he glanced at Seokjin, pointing at his chest.
"My heart... over here-" Jungkook patted the left side of his chest, with tears still falling down his cheeks. "It hurts, hyung. It feels empty, but at the same time, it hurts so bad. My chest feels stuffy, I feel like I can't breathe. But yet at the same time, I continue to breathe. And it blows my mind."
Seokjin knew that feeling way too well - the feeling of being so overwhelmed with emotion that you felt like the world was coming to an end. Well, at least, your world.
"I feel like I just ran a marathon-" Jungkook heaved, taking shallow breaths, his eyes tearing. "I woke up in the middle of the night last night and just lay there thinking... thinking about her... thinking about all the things we did together. It really hurt to think about her non-stop, so I tried to forget about her and go to sleep. I was so tired, I'm so, so tired, hyung. But why? Why can't I forget her and just go to sleep?"
Seokjin still didn't know what exactly had happened, but he felt like he had some idea of what was to come.
"Before her... I had no one," Jungkook carried on, clutching on tightly to his chest. "I had no one I really cared about, I just lived my own life - it was mundane, but I lived on just fine. But now that she left... why did I become like that? I know I'm the one who chased her away, but why did I become who is nothing like myself? Everything reminds me of her, hyung... everything... Whenever I think of her, my heart hurts like it's about to rip open, hyung-" Jungkook sobbed, pulling at his shirt. "But why can't I stop thinking about her? What am I doing, still holding onto memories? It's not like she ever genuinely cared, so why do I deserve to be sitting here, hurting all alone?"
Seokjin just continued consoling him, not knowing exactly what to say.
"She's the one who fooled me, hyung-" Jungkook cried as he buried his head in his hands. "I'm not the one in the wrong, why do I deserve to suffer like this? She's the one who's a reporter and who drew near to me on purpose so as to expose me... She's the one in the wrong, I'm the victim and I should hate her so much... but why am I still sitting here, wishing that all this is just a nightmare, and that I can still keep her by my side, hyung?"
Finally, Seokjin understood.
-•-•-
"Ya. Wake up."
"I don't want to."
"Lee Jieun-" Byulyi tugged at Jieun's blanket as she glanced at the clock by her bedside. "It's already 12pm. Aren't you gonna wake up?"
Jieun was tugging back. "I said I don't want to."
"I know how sad you are right now, but you can't just lay in bed all day and wallow in self pity, can you?" Byulyi frowned as she took her seat next to Jieun, still tugging gently at the blanket. "Get out of bed, take a nice shower, wash up a little. Trust me - you'll feel much better."
No response.
"Lee Jieun, are you even listening?"
Silence.
"Tsk, Lee Jieun-ssi-"
More silence.
"Are you not going to get up?"
Not a sound.
Byulyi's patience had reached a limit as she yanked the blanket even harder, pulling it out of Jieun's grip and finally exposing her.
"Lee Jieun, you-"
Byulyi stopped short, as she spent a few seconds to take in exactly what she was seeing. Jieun just lay in bed, staring blankly into the air with tears running down her cheeks. For how long she had been lying there, Byulyi wasn't sure. But now Byulyi finally knew why she had her blanket over her head and refused to get up the whole morning.
Byulyi softened.
"Ya..." Byulyi patted Jieun on the shoulder gently with a small pout on her face. "Stop crying... Look, your eyes are all puffy."
"It's all my fault..."
"Hm?"
"It's all my fault, unnie-" Jieun sobbed, as she glanced at Byulyi with her tear-filled eyes. "I'm the stupid one. I should never have thought of this stupid idea in the first place. I should have been just like Hyejin-ssi... working my butt off in the office without being greedy for immediate success... If I had never thought of this insane idea, then I would never have met him... then I would never have fallen for him and lied to him... then I never would have done such a horrible thing to him by breaking his heart and his trust for the second time after restoring it... He hates me, but I hate myself even more... I'm such a horrible person... I deserve all this... I don't deserve him..."
"Don't say that," Byulyi said as she lay down in bed right next to Jieun, turning to look at her. "You're not a horrible person, Lee Jieun. You never knew that this was going to happen. If you knew it, you would never have started it. Things don't usually turn out in an undesirable way because people saw it coming yet still made the wrong decisions - undesirable outcomes are usually a result of uninformed decisions. You were ambitious, so you did what you did. Even if we could turn back the clock, you'd still do the same, because you had no clue that your life would become so intertwined with his. You had no intentions to hurt him. It's not your fault you fell for him, and not your fault he fell for you either - your odd relationship right now is just a result of... fate."
"But he said he hated me, unnie-" Jieun cried. "He hates me... He is not one who uses such strong words so easily. He didn't like saying 'sorry', and neither did he like using 'love' often either - so for him to use 'hate'... and for him to use it on me, of all people... it freaking hurts."
"I know, I know-"
"You don't know!" Jieun wailed. "You'll never know... Unnie, my heart aches... I'm in so much pain... He told me that he doesn't want to see me ever again, what should I do? I can't... I... I... I can't imagine not seeing him ever again, I-"
Byulyi sighed, completely at a lost of what to do as she gently patted Jieun on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. "This too will pass, Jieun-ah, this too will pass..."
"I don't want this to pass if it means I won't see him ever again-" Jieun caught sight of the jacket Jungkook had bought for her as a form of compensation and began sobbing uncontrollably once more in her best friend's arms. "I miss him, unnie... I already miss him so much... but seeing him makes me overwhelmed with guilt... I don't know what I'm going to do from now... Where am I supposed to go...? What am I supposed to do...?"
"Life still has to go on, doesn't it?" Byulyi said as she stroked the back of Jieun's head gently, this time speaking to both herself and Jieun. "Life still has to go on, Jieun-ah. Even when the person you miss most is no longer in your life, life still has to go on - that's just the way life is."
-•-•-
"Hello?"
"What do you want?"
Jennie giggled as she pressed the phone to her ear. "Oppa."
"Don't you dare try anything funny again, Kim Jennie-" Jimin was just as cautious as usual. "I'm warning you - the thing with the PD-nim was enough."
"Come on, what kind of person am I in your eyes...?" Jennie scoffed. "That was just a one off thing. I'm not the type of person who throws my weight around like that. I'm a celebrity, oppa. A celebrity."
"You better not be up to no good-" Jimin warned her. "I'm in the office right now - I can tell Yang sajang as much as I want, whenever I feel like it."
"Woah, woah, woah-" Jennie laughed. "Okay, slow down, mister. That's not the time for that. I have more important things on hand."
"What?"
"Um... so, you see..." Jennie pursed her lips, twirling her hair around a finger. "I need to you to help me do something - but don't worry, it's nothing huge, just something really small and effortless... Something someone as capable as you can do without even lifting a finger..."
"Cut the bootlicking and get to your main point, Jennie Kim-ssi-" Jimin sighed. "I have a lot of paperwork to settle regarding your Cinderella contract and other CFs that have been flooding back in ever since your name was cleared."
"Well... you see..." Jennie bit her lower lip, knowing that Jimin's response won't be too... welcoming. "I have a friend who's going for an interview at SBS today..."
There was a pregnant pause.
"A friend?" Jimin barked. "Since when did you have friends?"
"Excuse me?"
"I mean..." Jimin cleared his throat. "Which friend?"
"Well... it's not like you don't know him too..." Jennie was clearly beating around the bush. "You've met him before, it's just that, well- you know-"
"Him? Wait a minute..." Jimin seemed to have caught on quick, as he let out a dramatic gasp. "Wait... him?!"
Jennie let out an awkward chuckle. "Well, yeah, I-"
"Jennie, no."
"What?"
"Whatever it is... no."
"Why?"
"You know why."
"I already told you-" Jennie assured Jimin. "He's not the person you think he is."
"How are you so sure?"
"I confirmed it."
"He told you."
Jennie pursed her lips and nodded. "Yeah."
"What did he tell you?"
"Well, that-" Jennie hesitated. "I can't tell you."
"You're helping him hide secrets from me now?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"I told you, I love him."
"Jennie."
"What?"
"Some things can't be hidden. You need to tell me so I can help you see if you're in danger."
"I'm an adult, no?" Jennie sighed, sick and tired of repeating the same thing over and over again. "I can make a decision on my own. You said you'll look into his case, didn't you? So what have you found?"
"Nothing."
"See?"
"Nothing isn't good news, young lady-" Jimin sighed. "I'm concerned about what he's telling you - whether his words can be trusted or not."
"He definitely can."
"So... he told you, it wasn't him?"
"Yeah," Jennie said after some hesitation. "But I can't tell you the details - that's way too private. He entrusted me with this information - I have to keep it a secret from everyone else, including you, oppa. I'm sorry."
"What can I say? Nothing I say nowadays will change your mind."
Jennie let out a small chuckle. "You're the best, oppa. I'll make sure I put in a good word for you the next time I meet Yang sajang."
Jimin let out a deep sigh in response. "So what was the favour you asked of me again?"