In the dark

28

One day was left. The boys had one more day left to find Peri before their tour would begin. BTS would not be back in Seoul for several weeks. That was too long for her to be out in the city alone.

Luckily, HYBE gave the boys the day off to rest up before the tour. That gave them the opportunity for all of them to split up and look for Peri. Each of them would take a section of the city and look into every building or park they came across. They would meet up at HYBE in the afternoon for a final review of their upcoming tour schedule before splitting up again if she wasn't found. 

Jin was the only one who was not in the search party. He had already found Peri last night. She was currently snuggled up in his guest bedroom. As much as he wanted to tell the guys about finding Peri, she needed to sleep more. They would only hound her with questions, and Peri looked like she hadn't slept in days. 

He would keep quiet until their meeting. Until then, he poured himself some coffee and sat on his couch. He smiled to himself when he thought about his and Peri's interaction last night.

"Where are we going, Peri?"

"I am not going back to that apartment!"

"Then, let's go back to my place. I have food here. We can reheat it, eat, and you can tell me what exactly happened at Tae's place."

"I already ate. Tae was nice enough to make instant ramen before he became, as you called him, a knucklehead."

"Instant ramen is not a meal?! You need real food! Besides, did you tell me you are always hungry?" Peri smiled. He got her to smile. He could always get her to smile. He never really had to try hard, either. She would always smile and laugh at everyone. Always so easy and genuine- always. "I'll even throw in the desert."

"Ice cream?"

"Sure, we can have ice cream, but NO mint!" Peri gave a little chuckle and put her hands up, signaling she would not get any mint chocolate. The pair turned around and headed to Jin's car. "Start from the beginning,"

"Tae and I were eating dinner, then Jimin showed up, and" Peri started talking.

"No, before then."

"I was walking in the botanical gardens..."

"Before then. I want you to start after you left HYBE. Where did you go?"

Peri took a deep breath and released it. As much as she didn't want to tell him, there was no point in arguing with him. She knew he wouldn't let her ignore everything that had happened over the last week. When it came to her and her well-being, he was stubborn. Jin would stay out all night until she told him. Peri had to resolve herself to say to him what he wanted. 

"After I left, I came back to the BTS apartment."

"I want every detail."

She took another deep breath and then began. Jin stayed silent and nodded as he listened to her talk on the way to the car. She told him how upset she was after Yoongi yelled at her, how she took his words seriously and decided to leave.

She continued her story as they drove to his apartment. When she told him she slept in a child's playhouse during the first night of the storm, she saw him grip the steering wheel tightly. Jin sucked in a breath and covered his mouth when she told him about her walking all day, night, in the rain, or out in the sun. Nothing seemed like a reality to her. She slept whenever her feet gave out. Alleyways, park benches or leaned up against a dumpster. It never mattered. She wasn't going to stay there long.

He parked the car, and they stepped out to walk to his apartment when she got to meeting Tae at the botanical gardens. Tae convincing her to leave the garden with the promise of food. They ate dinner, and then Jimin showed up. He unlocked his apartment door when she was finishing her story.