Caramel - MYG

26

Yoongi

I'm sitting in Ash's studio, one arm casually wrapped around Charlie's waist, as we watch Ash stare down at her note book. I've got a couple of hours break from practise and instead of working on my mixtape in my studio, I've chosen to spend the break with my soulmate. I'm very curious to watch Charlie work on songs with Ash, as I haven't seen her work since she properly started at Big Hit.

However, it seems that not much work is going to be happening anytime soon. Ash has been subdued all day and I have no idea why, although it's clear that she's in no state to work. The silence in the studio has started to become too much for me and I cast a glance over at Charlie. One look at her and I know that she doesn't know what's going on either, but I can tell she's worried from the way her eyebrows are furrowed and her lips are set in a light frown. Finally, I've had enough and I speak, wanting to get to the bottom of Ash's quietness.

"Alright, what's going on?"

My voice cuts through the silence like a sharpened knife and Ash jolts at the sound. She puts her pen down and turns her head towards us. I'm instantly concerned when I see how unhappy her gaze is and I hold back the urge to go over to her and wrap her in a careful hug. I hate seeing my friend like this.

"What do you mean?" She replies, her words slow and quiet.

Charlie speaks, "Something's wrong Ash, we can both tell. You're not as lively as you usually are and you've been sitting there for a good half an hour, just staring at your notebook. You were so excited yesterday to get the next song for Bangtan's album done today. What's happened to dampen that excitement?"

Ash's shoulders slump and she nearly curls in upon herself. I can see behind the arm of her armchair, her legs are pulled up against her chest. Her expression drops and tears well in her crystalline blue eyes.

"Joon and I had an argument."

The dejection with which she says this breaks my heart. Ash has been my friend for years and she's always been there for me when I needed her. For as long as I've known her, she's always been a strong, kind, funny woman and I've only seen her like this once before, back when she was working at her old company. It hurts me to see her downtrodden and muted, because it brings back those memories of seeing Ash steadily get worse in the abusive workplace and not being sure what to do about it.

I've only ever seen Ash cry three times: when I told her that her workplace was toxic and abusive, when she bonded to Namjoon but left him and when Namjoon made her cry the day of her kidnapping. The prospect of seeing her cry again, because of Namjoon, makes me both upset and angry. She hasn't told us what the argument was about, but it's evidently big enough to bring her close to tears and I don't want my brother and my best friend fighting. I'm trying not to get annoyed at Namjoon, since I don't know the whole story yet and it might not be his fault.

Ash continues, "It was this morning. We were both getting ready for the day and I went to shower, but when I came out of the bathroom, Namjoon was half dangling out of the window. Namu, his Bonsai tree was on the window sill and apparently he had accidently knocked it out of the open window and then tried to save it. H-He scared me to death."

When Ash tells me that Namjoon was hanging out of the window, my breath catches in my throat and a pang of panic shoots through me. I can clearly visualise Namjoon doing this and it fills me with complimentary feelings of fear and anxiety. Charlie seems to sense my emotions through our bond and her hand finds my arm, softly stroking up and down to help me calm down and get this image out of my head.

"He saved his tree, which is great, but I got annoyed with him for putting his own life at risk for a plant. It was in the heat of the moment and I think I was a bit too harsh on him, but he really scared me." Ash says, her head bowed slightly.