Sugar Rush

51

The land is empty.

Seokjin's eyes went wide, "What?" He gently pushed Namjoon aside and got off the platform, "What do you mean?"

We dug the land as far as we could but there was no gold. And if we dig even one metre more, the land will become useless for building anything on it.

Seokjin ran a hand through his hair, "Okay. I will be there in an hour." He cut the call and then immediately made another, "Yoongi, did you hear about the land?"

"Yes."

Seokjin chewed his inner lip, "Bring my clothes to Namjoon's place. We will go to the land directly from here." Getting an okay, Seokjin cut the call and looked at Namjoon.

Namjoon looked at Seokjin with puzzled expressions, "What happened, hyung?"

Seokjin sighed and held Namjoon's hand, "Joon-ah, they didn't find the gold in the land."

Namjoon gasped, "What? Did someone take the gold before us?"

Seokjin shook his head, "No. I have seen the land. It was untouched."

Namjoon released his hand from Seokjin's grip and ran to his room. "Namjoon!" Seokjin ran behind him. When Seokjin reached Namjoon's room, Namjoon had already emptied almost the entire wardrobe. He took a box out of the wardrobe and emptied it as well. "Namjoon, what are you doing?"

Namjoon sat on the floor, legs crossed and rummaged through the stuff that fell from the box. Seokjin saw a frame of Namjoon with his parents. All of them looked very happy. Looking at the photo and then at Namjoon sitting under him made him realise that Namjoon hasn't changed at all. He still looked cute and soft. The only thing that was changed was that this Namjoon in front of him was more mature. He had gone through so many things that the kid was unaware of. Namjoon must have been protected by his parents when he was a child, but just in one second, they took away the kid's entire world. Seokjin really wanted to see Namjoon smile just like in the photo frame. He sat beside Namjoon, keeping his hand on his shoulder, "Joon-ah..."

Namjoon opened a book that he found and scanned through the pages. "See!" He pushed the book to Seokjin, "These coordinates are from Gasan-dong. The exact land that you are talking about."

Seokjin read the page and hummed, "They are coordinates for Gasan-dong. But where did the gold go?" He thought for a while and then his sight fell on the little doodles on the page, "What are these?"

Namjoon raised his eyebrows and looked at where Seokjin was pointing. "Oh, those? They are just little doodles. Appa loved to doodle when he was bored or was thinking."

Wait a minute. They were not doodles... Seokjin turned the book upside down and chuckled, "Your appa was really smart. These are not simple doodles. They are ancient Chinese numbers. It is going to take time to find someone who knows what these mean." Namjoon took out his phone immediately. Seokjin clicked his tongue in disapproval, "You won't find it on the internet."

But Namjoon wasn't browsing for the answers. He made a call and put it on the speaker.

Namjoon, my man! How are you? How did you suddenly remember this lost lover of yours?

Seokjin raised his eyebrow at Namjoon. Namjoon on the other hand was already embarrassed. He rolled his eyes but his cheeks were definitely pink, "Jackson, for the last time. Stop calling me that."

There was obnoxious laughter from the other side. "You know how much I love teasing you. Anyway, how are you?"

Namjoon cleared his throat, "I am fine. I actually called you for something. I have some ancient Chinese numbers. Can you decipher it for me? It is related to appa's case."

"Sure man! Send them to me. I'll do it right away."

Namjoon sighed, "Thank you so much! I owe you one." He immediately clicked the photo and sent it to Jackson. "Did you get it?"

Jackson hummed "Yup! There it is." There was silence for a while and then Jackson spoke again, "Okay, I got it. The numbers are 22, 0, 19, 4, 17, 17, 4, 18, 14, 20, 17, 18, 4. Ah, this was fun. This brought back memories of childhood where we played the alphabet to the numbers game."

Namjoon's eyes widened, "Alphabet to numbers?"

Jackson sighed, "yeah. Alphabets to numbers. In that game, we would write Ancient Chinese numbers for words given to us. That way we would remember the numbers as well as the position of English alphabets."

"But there is a zero in it." Namjoon's face scrunched.

"Oh, yes. We start it with zero. So zero would be your A." Jackson explained.

Namjoon smiled, relieved that he not only got the numbers but a possible answer as well. "Jackson, I really owe you big time. You helped a lot today!"

"Eyyy! If you want to thank me properly, then come to the show. We are performing in Korea after three weeks."

Namjoon's eyes went wide. Seokjin didn't miss the way they sparkled, "You are coming to Korea? Of course, I would come to your show. When have I ever missed it?"

Jackson laughed, "And bring a date this time or mama is really going to set you up with Jennifer. And this time, I won't be able to help. I am mailing you two tickets."

Namjoon giggled a little, "Okay, okay. I get it."

"Oh, sorry man. I'll have to leave. I have to practice. I'll see you later, yeah? Take care."

Namjoon unconsciously nodded, "Okay. Bye! You take care as well." Namjoon cut the call and looked at Seokjin.

Seokjin looked up, "It says water resource. There must be some water resource on the land. I want you to come there with me."

Namjoon nodded. When Seokjin got up and was about to leave the room, Namjoon stopped him, "Hyung..." Seokjin turned back, "Jackson is the only friend I have from the orphanage. He didn't live there. His family runs a show where they perform various dangerous tricks and explain their culture to the people. They used to perform every month near our orphanage and that was the only entertainment we were allowed. I met Jackson there. He used to teach me these small tricks and I used to help him study. Now their shows have become bigger and they travel around the world to perform. They come to Korea every two years to perform and if they can't do that then Aunt Wang and Jackson come here to meet me."

Seokjin swiftly walked to Namjoon and knelt in front of him, cupping his cheeks, "Joon-ah. I know we had a bit of miscommunication before, but you don't have to explain everything to me. It is hard for me to trust people easily, but I am trying. So give me some time, okay? Don't feel obliged to explain your every connection." When Namjoon nodded cutely in his hands, Seokjin melted right there. He placed a light kiss on Namjoon's forehead and left the room.