ego

7: Old Favour

Act II, Chapter Three

"Sometimes even to live is an act of courage." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

. . .

Three weeks since the orange tulip was found at the window. Namjoon came to the house with his section, each investigating specific entries any Deities member may have access to. New locks were put in again, one key shared between Jimin and me.

"Don't leave the house without Jimin by your side, understand?" Yoongi said the first week, after the check was complete.

Taehyung, the one in an arm sling and cast now said, "I'd like any electronics or laptops you have. In case. If you need to call your Mom, do it with the phone I've given Jimin. It's safer."

A prison is what home felt like. Although being stuck here would've driven many mad, I was able to face the realities of Dad's death. The smells in his Office, his old books, the ink from his fountain pens, his old sweaters still in his room. It no longer bothered me.

It took me a while to finally enter Dad's room and open his wardrobe. Crying surrounding a mountain of his clothes, each weep after the other started to feel like a release rather than a reaction to being upset. Once the end of the month came, I knew I wasn't okay with having Dad gone from my life, but I was on the way to living without him around.

Having Jimin around wasn't bad either.

The first week was chaos and preoccupied checking and peeling of window curtains. Jimin seemed overprotective and pressured to keep the house secure when his section wasn't around. He didn't sleep much on my bedroom floor, I could see the tiredness in his eyes more than usual.

The second week, he eased himself by relishing in the liquor Hoseok brought by in their check-in. He laughed with Taehyung, the rest of the men laughing and hollering at each other too. I stayed in my room and read, trying not to watch the window which was blocked off with a black-out curtain under cream ones.

Namjoon had come to my door, making me jump. His calm smile made me return one, telling him to sit comfortably. He sat by my feet asking me how I was. I wondered if he was drunk and laughed, shaking his head. Someone had to be the designated driver. I found comfort in the man as he pointed at my book and asked questions.

"How's everything going with your plan?" I said.

"It's going slow, but well..." He chuckled. "I let Jimin in on a new change of plans, hopefully he remembers the next morning."

"You can tell me? I'll remind him?"

Namjoon smiled a little less. "Now that won't be necessary."

I felt my throat tighten.

"I wanted to ask something," Namjoon said. "This is our second check-in and there's one room my section hasn't been able to access. For safety precautions, I was wondering if you knew the code to your Dad's office? If there were entrances we didn't know about to secure there?"

I stared at him hard. "I uh, from my knowledge the only way to come into that room is from the locked door. No other entrances, so I'm not too worried about it."

"Did you know the passcode?"

I refrained from narrowing my eyes at him. "No."