Behind the Mask

~Chapter 32~

~Jisoo's POV~

When Yoongi called for me from outside the bathroom with a serious, but worry-coated tone to his voice, my heart suddenly sped up and I wondered what could possibly make him sound so stiff. I exited the room rather warily, not knowing exactly what to expect when I sat down on his bed, next to him.

"Everything alright, Yoongi?"

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and then slowly puffed the air out, staring at me with a focused expression.

"There's something important that I need to tell you, Jisoo. But first, you should know that I haven't shared this with anyone else yet and, if you're not comfortable telling the others, I'm willing to keep it between us."

"Okay..? What is it, exactly?" I asked, growing more confused. This was not his normal self, he didn't act so careful, so cautious around me, ever. His slight hesitation as he spoke, constantly holding my gaze, didn't help soothe the rapid heartbeat in my chest, either. Something was bothering him.

"Well, during the past month we've shared this room, I've watched you become more and more worn out by your schedule and, especially, your lack of sleep, which seemed really curious to me. So last night, I decided to investigate a little, to find out what's been keeping you from resting properly. And so I was awake until pretty late at night when you finally caught my attention. At first, there were just strange, muffled noises coming from your side of the room, but then I found you staring at me from beside my bed. You nearly killed me with the look you were giving me, by the way. I'll remember not to cross you anytime soon, you can get terrifying when you want to. But as I was saying, you walked out soon after, without a word, and I followed you to the living room, where you didn't respond to any of my attempts to get your attention. You just mumbled something and cried in my chest for a while, then stopped abruptly and walked back to bed, all without really acknowledging my presence right beside you. And this morning when I confronted you about it, you couldn't remember a thing. So I've come to a conclusion, which experts seemingly approve of. Jisoo, you're a sleepwalker."

As he stated that, he looked intently into my eyes, trying to assure me that it wasn't something to be ashamed of, yet I already sensed his pity. I remained silent for a while, thinking about everything he told me, but something about his story caught my attention.

"Wait a minute, you said I cried?" I asked, dumbly. This detail just didn't make sense. I haven't cried in longer than I could remember.

"Yeah, but not for long. And don't worry, I didn't record you, although I was tempted to."

Yoongi's childish grin earned him a good old smack to the back of his head, but my thoughts still tried to wrap around his strange confession. After all, he didn't have any reason to lie to me or make the story up, but there were things I still didn't understand.

"Did you catch anything out of what I rambled?" I further questioned.
He gave it some thought, trying to remember any fragments of my blabbering from last night, but then sighed and shook his head. "No, not really. Sorry." 

"I figured so.. listen, if it's not too much to ask, and you have some hours to spare tonight, could you watch over me one more time? I'm curious about this sleepwalking idea of yours, because it would clarify many things, but it would also pop some questions.."

"Oh it's okay, you don't have to explain yourself to me." He cut me off, staring down at his hands, tucked nervously between his thighs. "I'll try to stay up, but I'm not making any promises. I'm really tired after last night."

"Sure, I understand. You don't have to do it tonight precisely. But sometime soon, if possible. Please." I asked, and the slight begging in my tone surprised me, even.