The Afterlife

32) Oh, Mother, Daughter; Oh, Friend

For the world to turn again, there needed to be the call that heeded the whole office. All on their feet, they listened to the voice that rumbled from the other side of the speaker.

"Oh, I know," Kim Namjoon snorted, "they all can hear me, no?" In his voice, an amusement the likes of a marathon winner's sounded from the phone, and they all held their breaths as they listened, "okay, well enough, I have good news," he said, "Kim Taehyung, was it? Ah, look at your phone right," the few seconds in which he paused allowed Taehyung to hurriedly pull his phone out and look at the empty screen with wide eyes, "now."

The laugh the sounded from the phone came along a chime from Taehyung's phone, and at that, his wide eyes became even wider, "that- that is-"

"You have got yourselves a bright fellow right there." Namjoon sighed. "That's right; it is where your precious, precious mother, friend, and wife is," before he could say more, Taehyung was picking his car's keys and hurrying towards the door, where he stopped to listen to the last thing Namjoon had to say, "you might want to hurry; it's, uhm, very ugly where she stays."

"No," Taehyung yelled as soon as the call ended; before him was Yun, who stood eye to eye with him to go the same way he was, "no, you stay," he pointed back at the rest of her family, "Sihyeon's team and I will be going, and we will bring her home, so stay."

"I am not staying here-"

"Yun, please," Naeun approached her, resting a hand on the younger girl's shoulder to gently put her in her embrace, "let your mother come in peace, please."

When Naeun motioned for Taehyung to go, he spared not another second before he was in the car with Yeonjun, Jisoo, Hyejin, and Minji. Yoohyeon did not try arguing to join them, for she knew it would only be a hindrance if they were to face a real fight. She was weak, still, and she needed her rest if she wanted her leader to actually return.

With little thoughts and absolutely no plan, the rest of them advanced, and they were on their way to find the person whom they worried for the most.

It was terribly cold for no reason, and when they stepped out of the car, it was as if the breeze that hit them was made only for them. The night was the darkest it could be, and when it had only been an hour-long drive, they all felt like it had been an eternity. It stretched them to the farthest edges of the city, and where they stood, a white building of bland stone and metal stood tall before their eyes.

"Sir," beside Taehyung stood Minji, who looked at the tall building first then between Yeonjun and Taehyung, "if Kim Namjoon is here, he will be prepared, and we will surely be outnumbered."

"It does not matter," Yeonjun only looked ahead, his eyes lit with rage at the merely still building, "we are not here to fight him; if he wants something in return, he will just have to name it."

Taehyung nodded, "though I doubt it is as simple as he put it," he said, "clearly, Namjoon does not want to fight either."

"He would have, long ago, had it been his objective," Jisoo agreed, and he was first to step ahead, "so he either wants something else," he turned to look at the them to hesitantly speak the last of his words, "or he already had his desired fight."

With that, their advance was with less care. Whether their conclusions had been out of sheer hope or delusion, it did not matter. Their urgency led them forward, and they found themselves pushing against that large gate that screeched upon being moved.

The darkness spread further behind the gate, and while all they could see was a blank void space, the smell made them all recede just as urgently as they had advanced. The odor had them stumbling in their steps, coughing and leaning on whatever flat surface they could find.