A Year to Change Your Lives

Chapter 41

It was surreal in the extreme, to see Jin, largely unprotected and vulnerable in a crowd, let alone sat with a stranger, half in his lap and kissing him hungrily.

"Oh god." Reader gasped, realising the whole horror of it. Laura spun round in her arms to block out the sight of it, both her hands brought to her stomach as though to remove a knife that had been stuck in there. Her eyes were wide and blinking and her jaw was locked. She was beginning to tremble under Reader's hands.

Reader registered Namjoon standing up with Jimin and urgently making his way quickly through the crowd, taking one of the security team with him. She assumed they were going to extract Jin, who must be either very drunk, or very reckless, or both. She looked back to Laura whose face was like a wild animal caught in a trap.

"Come on, come with me." She said, soothingly, full of grief for her friend. She wasn't yet sure where she was going to lead Laura, but she knew she had to get her away from here.

Laura's paralysis suddenly vanished and she twisted round, trying to escape Reader's grasp. "No, no. I have to go over there." There was anger in her voice, but Reader could hear anguish too and she knew she had to protect them all from Laura creating a massive scene and from causing herself more humiliation. Whether she wanted to get to Jin to plead with him, to weep at him, or to beat him, Reader didn't know, but she couldn't let any of those happen.

"No, no, no." Reader told her, holding her fast and looking round wildly for help. "We have to get you out of here." The remaining security guard approached them cautiously and Tae and Yoongi were close behind. They were relatively close to their table and Reader knew as long as they all kept their cool, this would just look to passers-by as a strange white woman having a bit of a meltdown. No reason to link it to Jin. "You have to come with me now." She repeated firmly.

Laura, who was now crying in earnest, seemed unable to carry herself on her own feet for a minute and she was supported on her way towards the exit by the guard. The drunkenness she'd been dancing off had now taken over her. Jungkook and Hoseok were rising nervously out of their seats. They clearly didn't know what to do for the best. They were alone now, all the security had scattered, one with Jin in the first place, one with Namjoon to retrieve him and one taking Laura out of the building. There were bags and coats and drinks at the table, and they couldn't be left.

"Go get mine and Laura's bag." Reader told Tae and Yoongi carefully, hoping they'd hear and understand her over the din. They went back to the table where Jungkook was watching her nervously. They were all being observed by now. Although the spectators might not know what, something had obviously brought BTS's enjoyment of the evening to an end, and neither of them wanted to add fuel to the fire.

Reader signalled that she would message him, miming texting on her phone. Tae and Yoongi returned with the girls' belongings and also with their own. Over their shoulders, Jungkook gestured for her to go and to take the two boys with her. She nodded swiftly, then rounded after Laura who would be alone and outside by now.

They were all bundled into the minivan by an agitated guard who spoke hurriedly to the driver then started running back into the club, probably to cover Jungkook and Hoseok who had been left alone.

Laura was turned into the cold window, her face hidden from the others, her shoulders shaking a little. Reader laid a hand on her back, but she ignored her, pressing her forehead against the cool drizzling glass pane.

Reader turned silently to the boys who were sat behind her and shrugged at them. What on earth had happened to make Jin behave in such a way? Not just devastating to Laura but completely against the boys' decade-long code of practice. They shrugged back at her, their faces heavy with worry.