Before you disappear

Chapter 41

As Jungkook arrived at the airport, he watched the three girls exit the metro before him. They seemed to know exactly where to go, and as Jungkook didn't have the slightest idea, he decided it was best to follow them – for now.

"Did Amber already text? Is she here?"

"Yeah. She told us to meet her in the departure hall."

They disappeared around the corner. Jungkook quickened his pace and just as he arrived at the corner, he clearly heard one of the girls. "I think she's following us."

Jungkook stopped instantly and dove back behind the corner, pushing his back against the wall.

"She looked familiar."

"Is she ARMY?"

"I don't know. She might've heard us in the metro."

"Where is she now though?"

"Let's continue towards the departure hall. We'll see if she follows us there."

The voices died down.

Jungkook breathed in relief, then chuckled. He'd acted as Jungkook, trying to hide from being seen. Yet, he wasn't Jungkook from the outside.

He looked around the corner. The girls were nowhere in sight.

"Now, how am I going to get to the departure hall?" he muttered.

"Oh, that is not too difficult, love," a voice behind him spoke up.

Jungkook turned to face the owner of the voice, seeing an old lady smiling sweetly at him. "It's just up those stairs and then follow the signs that say departure hall. Like that one." She pointed up at a sign hanging from the ceiling. "Can't miss it." She gave him a smile and then walked away.

Jungkook watched as the old woman turned around a corner and then looked up the stairs. The three girls he'd followed weren't anywhere in sight. He looked up at the sign the woman had pointed to, somewhat confused that he understood every word that was written on it.

His written English had never been very good because the letters used in the English language were so different from the letters he was used to in Korean. Never mind the pronunciation. It didn't make sense to him half of the time, though he was trying to learn the language so he could communicate with international ARMY as well as Korean ARMY.

"Departure Hall," he read aloud and took a deep breath. "All right. Let's go."

He would meet her in the bathroom right at the beginning of the departure hall. She'd told him that was a small one compared to other bathrooms and it had a larger cubicle for moms with babies in which they could hide. So, the chance of being seen would hopefully be a little smaller.

Jungkook walked up to the top of the stairs and followed the signs, as suggested by the old lady. It turned out to be only a five minute walk before he arrived at the departure hall. Looking left and right, he didn't initially see the bathroom she'd told him about.

His heart started beating a little faster. What if he couldn't find the bathroom? What if she wouldn't be able to meet him there? After all, she was the one looking like him. Would she be able to get to their meeting point unseen?

She couldn't very well take one of the bodyguards, or any of the members with her, for protection. What would they say if she'd meet him, disguised as her? There were certain rules to follow when it came to meeting girls. Rules, he was sure, she wasn't aware of.

Should I have told her about that?

He shook his head, trying to dismiss the worry that started surfacing. Let's just find the bathroom and go from there.

He took a few more steps, looking left to right, and then spotted a door with a small sign above it with the icon of a female on it. That had to be it.

Without making any eye contact, he made his way to the door and quickly went inside. Even though he was vaguely aware of the fact that no one would look twice seeing him going into a female bathroom, Jungkook couldn't shake the feelings of embarrassment. After all, he might look like a female, he wasn't. And he had never been inside a female bathroom before.

As he entered the bathroom, he almost bumped up against another woman.

"Oh, sorry," he said, feeling flustered. His glance darted towards the ground.

"You're all right," the woman said kindly, and then passed him to go outside.

Jungkook scraped his throat, slowly looking up and around to see if he was the only one left.

There were no other noises, signaling the presence of other women, but you could never be sure about that.

In total there were three cubicles. The first one was clearly bigger than the other two. That had to be the cubicle she had referred to. Had she been here before?

Noises from outside suggested someone coming in.

Jungkook didn't hesitate and darted into the larger cubicle, shutting the door just as a woman's voice came into the bathroom.

"I'm telling you right now, do not follow me, Chad. I need space and this is the only way I know how to get away from you to get that space and-"

Jungkook held his breath as the woman's voice went passed his cubicle.

"You know what, I don't care what you think. You've been chasing me ever since we broke up and you seem to have forgotten the reason why we broke up. You cheated on me, Chad and I-"

The woman took a deep breath, groaning as she exhaled.

"No. That is not true. Don't you dare turn the tables on me. Look, I don't want to talk about this anymore. I stated my side... Chad... Chad! Stop talking and let me finish!"

Something heavy dropped to the floor.

"No, that was my bag," the woman's voice said. "Yes, the bag I packed this morning... What do you mean? It was heavy, so I put it down...No. I'm not going to tell you where I am, just that I'm leaving... Fine. FINE. Have it your way. I'm hanging up now. No. Now. Bye."

A soft beep sounded, followed by the woman groaning again. But within seconds the groaning turned to sobbing.

Jungkook felt a sting inside his chest. The sound was heartbreaking.

"Are you okay?"

As soon as the words left Jungkook's lips, his hands reached up and covered his mouth. His eyes bulged. Why the heck did he say that out loud.

"Oh. I'm sorry," the woman quickly apologized. "I thought I was alone in here."

Jungkook swallowed as he closed his eyes. He couldn't very well pretend to not be here anymore.

"I didn't mean to startle you," he said.

The woman chuckled lightly. "You probably heard every word of that conversation didn't you?" She didn't wait for Jungkook to reply. "I don't even know why I'm crying right now. He doesn't even deserve my tears after what he did to me."

"I'm sorry you're going through this."

"Me too."

He heard her turn on the faucet and water splattering into the sink. Unsure of what to do or say next, Jungkook just stayed motionless in the cubicle.

"Have a safe flight," he heard her say as she walked passed his cubicle and he heard the door open.

Jungkook managed to say you too just before the door closed and he was all alone again. Relief washed over him. Things could've gone a lot differently. What if she'd waited for him to come out of the cubicle? Or started talking about her conversation, or asked him questions in need of advice? What if she'd still been there as the girl in his body would show up?

Things could've easily spiraled out of control, especially if the woman would recognize her as Jungkook from BTS.

Don't talk to strangers again, JK. Just keep quiet and wait for her to show up.

***