Ch.21
A lot had happened the night before. You'd be lying if you said you were fine from all the events. It made it really hard to sleep and now you'll look over your shoulder twice. Seokjin even offered to pick you up in the morning and bring you to school then back. How could you accept!? The poor man was shot in the attempt to save his friend from dying. Memories from the night before gave your body all kinds of shivers. It's not like you were a fan of the thoughts, but you couldn't control them from popping up in your head. Too much happened. It was a good thing Hyosung had already gone to bed by the time you arrived. She never questioned you in the morning and that was good. You might have broken down in tears and you were tired of crying. You wanted to be able to defend yourself.
When you were captured by Myon and his members, it was already the worst night of your life. He made you believe that you wouldn't see the light of day ever again. All your hopes for the future and living were slowing fading as you tried to accept the situation you were put it. That was your attempts to make death not sound as horrible, but it was. After he first talked to you, he hit the back of your head with his gun. It hurt like a b*tch and it did manage to make you knock out for a while. It didn't last as long as he wanted. Soon you found yourself awakening by the time all the boys were in the room. Once they were all in the room, you heard the sounds of flesh pounding against flesh, the cracking of bones, and grunts of pain.
Scrunching your face, you tried to shake those thoughts off. It was so hard though. The only time you've seen them remotely fight was during the deal you witnessed. Even so, it was mainly only Jungkook who did the damage and he was only defending Namjoon. Jungkook had himself under control, but tonight was different. From what you could see, something blinded him. All the anger built inside him was unleashed on Woohyun, then Seunjo, and eventually Myon. It was hard to believe that it was your sweet Jungkook who could just switch like that. In the end, you forgave him since it was life or death. You had no time to be angry at him. Just like you, they all could have died while trying to protect you. It would be insane to be angry at him. Honestly, you were just glad that he was safe, but you did tell him to not lose control again.
Myon lost his mind with Jungkook. The man was already not the most stable person on the planet, but he really couldn't handle Jungkook attacking Woohyun. Myon also hated Yoongi for not being the way he used to be. It made you learn new things about the Min Yoongi the gang knew. The way Myon described Yoongi was the one you knew. The supposed Yoongi of the past, but you knew something did change him. The blue hair stayed by the oldest's side through the whole night and refused to leave Seokjin alone. It touched your heart and made you not hold so much frustration against the third year. When Namjoon was taking you home for the night, Yoongi raised his head and told you to never bring his tears up again or he'd kill you. It sounded fair, especially since you knew he could definitely follow through with that threat.
Jimin also left you shocked that night. He cared for you a lot which was really sweet. It was upsetting to know you ruined his chance of taking the dance class, but Jimin had to make you stop talking. He said you were more important than the dance class. In your head, you weren't so sure what to do with that information. Dancing is his dream, so for him to say it wasn't as important as you made you become a crying mess again. Jimin and Jungkook held you for the longest time. Taehyung sat in front of you making silly faces in attempts to cheer you up. It did help. You didn't say anything else about the rescue, but you were surprised by Jimin's fighting skills. He looked like he couldn't hurt a fly, but they were gangsters. They were a lot tougher and skilled in things that you'll probably never learn about. At least, those were your hopes.
That whole night left you scarred. Namjoon and Hoseok drove you home since the two oldest weren't going to. You wanted them to finish having their moment. While Namjoon tried not to crash, Hoseok cheered you up in the only way he could. Hoseok was so kind and pure hearted in your mind. He reminded you so much of a loving older brother. Having him as an older brother already sounded amazing. Namjoon probably would have the same title, but there was something about your relationship with him that didn't remind you of a brother. There was also the fact that Hoseok kept teasing the two of you about being a couple. Not to mention, Namjoon's Mom was also in favor of that idea. It always had you shaking your head as well as Namjoon.
In the morning when you woke up from a few hours of sleep, you didn't get out of bed right away. It's not that you were too tired to get up or lazy. Not even that you were only running on four hours of sleep at most. You just didn't want to get up and face the world. Instead, you turned on the TV in your room and it landed on a news channel. Great. Now you were being forced to see the world through your TV screen. Before you could change the channel, the anchor lady spoke about the old factories and it made you freeze. A helicopter was flying over the buildings as her voice spoke over the footage. They found two dead bodies and three incredibly injured men. One died from supposed blunt force and one had a bullet stuck in their skull that entered from the bottom of their chin. The ones that were alive were getting arrested for all the crimes they've done after getting hospitalized. They also discovered a giant heroin business in another factory. The good news was, the boys weren't caught and the factories were getting torn down.
Good.
That's when you turned off the TV to feel relief wash all over your body. At least that made you feel clean. Like perfect timing, Namjoon had texted you to eat with him again. He was starting to know whenever you needed a pick me up. He was outside with his bicycle, happily waving at you with his cute dimples. So that's where you were now. Namjoon had brought you to his favorite porridge restaurant once again. The familiar bright color of red and the yellow cream walls. The air was warm with all kinds of scents floating around. His meal was being place down in front of him and so was yours. He was so thoughtful for bringing you here. Especially since you still had questions about last night. Of course, he would have the answers to them as the leader of the gang.
"Eat up." Namjoon smiled as you gave your soup an empty gaze.
"Huh? Oh, sorry." You laughed in embarrassment. "I'm still thinking about yesterday."
"I see. Are you feeling better?" Namjoon put a spoonful in his mouth.
"A little. A lot better than I thought I would feel today and its huge improvement from last night." You grinned a you picked up your spoon. "I stopped shaking so that's a plus."
"I'm sorry we dragged you into that." His eyes lowered down in shame and you had to shake your head. The last thing you wanted was anyone feeling guilt for what happened.
"Don't be. We're okay now. To me, that's all that really matters." You sighed. "I do have a question though, about Seokjin." Pursing your lips, you watched as Namjoon lowered down his utensil. It clinked with his bowl, slowly sinking into his hot food. He took few side glances before speaking to you in a low tone.
"He's recovering now. Yoongi really knew how to help with gun shot wound and so now we just have to wait for Seokjin to heal," Namjoon whispered. "He's got to have his wound cleaned every now and then, rest, not lift anything too heavy, and slowly get used to using his arm again."
"I hope Seokjin gets better soon." You smiled to see him nod in agreement. For a moment there, you felt like calling him Seokjin oppa like he wanted. You knew he was older than you and it was to be respectful, but it was embarrassing. None of the members used honorifics with each other unless they were being nice and needed something. Except for Yoongi. Yoongi really did say it out of respect.
The both of you continued eating peacefully. Your conversations weren't all centered about last night. That would be a nightmare and a sad breakfast. Namjoon knew you would want to speak about something else and gladly did so. It wasn't awkward in the slightest. Jimin was brought into the conversation and you couldn't help but start talking about all the first years. Namjoon asked how school was for you and the other younger members. Soon you found yourself telling him all kinds of stories. How Taehyung is finally pushing Mr. Pyo over the edge, how Jungkook's symptoms are gone and he can focus in class again, and how Jimin and you mess around during physical education. You didn't say the two of you dance since Jimin told you to never mention it to them. At first you wondered why he never wanted you to bring it up, but you respected his request.
Before long, the two of you finish eating your meal. Namjoon paid for the two of you without a second thought. He made sure to tell you that you didn't have to repay him. Was the guilt on your face that obvious? Picking up your things, you followed Namjoon out the restaurant with a soft smile on your face. Namjoon didn't walk away from the place right away like you thought. Instead, the two of you stood in front of the restaurant and continued talking. It's not like you were in a rush home. Unnie was working today and you as well as the other boys had the day off. School would be back tomorrow which was the worst timing in your opinion. If only it could be break already!
"It was nice of you to invite me out again." You sighed, holding your balled-up jacket in your hands.
"Ah, no problem. I just wanted to check up on you and make sure you were okay." Namjoon ruffled your hair. Giggling at his actions, you tried smoothening it down, but you would need a brush to fix what he did. "You want me to walk you home?"
"No, you don't have to worry about me," You said as his phone beeped. "I'm gonna try and toughen it out."
"Please be safe." Namjoon frowned, not expecting you to decline his offer. He pulled out his phone to check the message as you nodded. You were going to make an effort to be more aware of your surroundings. You got too comfortable here too quick. "Sh*t..."
"Everything okay?" You asked to see his mood change.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll see you later, okay?" Namjoon quickly gave you a tight hug as he turned around.
"O-Okay...bye," You mumbled to see him riding his bike back home. He was rushing, pushing the pedals as fast as he could. Seeing something drop at the side of your face, you looked up into the sky to see grey clouds forming. Well, dang it. It was too late to ask Namjoon for a ride now. Then there was also that strange message that changed the atmosphere around him.
Furrowing your brows, you wondered what could be happening now. It seems like the group never gets to rest. Letting out a heavy sigh, you hoped that whatever was going on with Namjoon that it would all clear up soon. Hoseok could probably help cheer him up. They were the best of friends with each other. The second years never caused drama compared to the others and were always kind, helpful, and understanding. Everyone could stand to take notes from them. Kim Namjoon is an amazing leader and Jung Hoseok is a great person. Thank goodness the gang had them to keep themselves in check.
*~*
School was starting to become boring everyday like it usually does. Jungkook, Taehyung, and Jimin helped make the days feel shorter. As soon as you saw them today, you hugged them all tightly to their surprise. For some reason they all thought you would hate them and avoid talking to them. You've tried avoiding them before and that was the worst. Taehyung was so happy to receive a hug from you. His embrace was soft and warm. It was sweet like him and he kept pulling his head back to give you his cute square grin. Jungkook was stiff at first, but then accepted the hug with a tight, firm hold on you. It felt like he was happy to see you in front of him again and refused to let go. Mr. Pyo had to make an embarrassing comment to get Jungkook off that made the class snicker.
Taehyung even laughed at Mr. Pyo's joke. It was the typical teacher joke between two students, saying that the two of you can kiss out of the classroom but focus while in class. Jungkook's face was on fire while you refused to raise your head. A bunch of students were staring in your direction. Taehyung kept laughing and even gave Mr. Pyo an air high five. What a little punk! Mr. Pyo chuckled lightly to that, so Taehyung wouldn't stop talking about it during passing period. Jungkook rolled his eyes as you rushed over to Jimin who was standing nervously near the window. All his nerves seemed to have melted away once he saw you running at him with a giant smile.
You shouted 'JIMIN!' happily at the top of your lungs, holding him tightly. Jimin's hug was gentle at first before he got confident enough to squeeze you. The two of you were laughing, ignoring the students who were walking by. Forget about them! The two of you had a gun to your head so you were happy to be alive. Jungkook and Taehyung came over with two different reactions. The silver hair was glad the whole first year gang was here meanwhile Jungkook looked away from Jimin. Whatever was going on between these competitive two, you wanted them to get over it.
Lunch then finally came! Your prayers have been answered! Listening to Ms. Lee for any longer would make you eat your own arm. Jimin and you hurried over to the cafeteria to meet up with the rest. Taehyung and Jungkook were already there, messing around. You were glad things could go back to normal after everything that went down. Sitting on the ground with them, Jimin sat by your side as the third years came out. Yoongi pushed open the door for Seokjin to enter. It looked like Seokjin was fine until he took off his jacket. At that moment, Hoseok came panicked to see Seokjin with his arm out. It was wrapped with dried blood, but that didn't mean it wouldn't cause some people to question it.
"Seokjin hyung, put your jacket back on!" Hoseok lowered himself to block the eldest member.
"Why? It's so hot. It's not against dress code to take it off." Seokjin frowned.
"Like we listen to the dress code." Yoongi chuckled.
"We don't want people staring at your injury. We want them staring at your handsome face, right?" Hoseok grinned, easily persuading the eldest.
"I see. You're absolutely right!" Seokjin slid the jacket back on with the help of Yoongi. "My face deserves to be seen."
"I'm blessed just staring at your face, Seokjin-nim!" Hoseok clapped his hands, then bowing as if Seokjin were a prince.
Shaking your head at them, you knew what Hoseok did. Seokjin might have picked up on it, but he probably didn't care. He'd take the chance to get compliments from his members any day. Yoongi opened Seokjin's meal for him and handed it to the oldest without looking him in the eyes. The smile on your face grew wider to see them getting along again. That's always good. Jimin and Taehyung were eating each other's food. They were always really close with one another. Glancing over at Jungkook, he had a fork in his mouth while he did homework that was due next class. This boy. Maybe Namjoon could help him. He was really smart after all! Looking around the group with a smile, it slowly became less bright as you noticed the leader missing.
"Where's Namjoon?" You asked with curiosity. The first years shrugged and the third years looked over at Hoseok who had become tense.
"...he's absent," Hoseok said quietly before drinking his juice. His eyes went down to the ground for a second. Then he gave each member a quick glance but skipped over you. They all seemed to catch a secret message and nodded.
"May I ask why?" You tilted your head.
"I'm not so sure myself. He just left me a text that he wasn't going to show up today." Hoseok shrugged.
"Don't worry about it," Yoongi added.
Turning your face to him, you slowly nodded. Seokjin and him weren't fighting anymore, but that didn't mean the two of you were in the clear. He was a little more respectful since you did witness him crying. This was his polite was of telling you to shut up and stop asking about something that wasn't any of your business. Maybe he wasn't meaning it that harshly, but you couldn't quite tell. Yoongi didn't want Seokjin getting stressed about this all over again so he was trying his best to hold back. The conversation completely changed into something else and you just smiled. You weren't listening though. Namjoon was still stuck in your mind as well as that message he received out of the restaurant. What's happening now?