In the dark

34

Peri shifted in her sleep. She could no longer feel the warmth of Namjoon's body next to hers. She could feel a soft, fuzzy blanket covering her. She reached out her arm from under the blanket and gave the space beside her a tap. She was looking around for him, thinking he might have scooted away from her while they slept.

Peri cracked one eye open and searched around her peripherals. Her eyes had, and her hand had failed her. She bolted upright and took another look around. From behind her, Peri could hear snickering. She craned her head all the way around. Namjoon was at the table with Jin, Jungkook, Hobi, and a very sleepy Tae. 

"You should see your hair!" Jungkook called out to Peri with his bright smile. Peri glared at him and got up to make her way to the table. 

She sat down in a huff and smoothed down her hair without looking. "If I could, I would," she told him. "For the love of all things unholy, can I have coffee?" she called out.

As Jin got up and walked into the kitchen, her words sank in. "Can you not see yourself? How?"

"So I can see my hands in front of me. I can see all the way down to my toes. I can see I have long hair, and the color is black, but no, I can not see myself or my reflection anyways," she told them. Jin put her coffee in front of her and sat next to her. They all did not seem to grasp what she was saying. 

Hobi took the extra step in understanding and pulled out his phone. He gave a click with the camera and looked at his screen. Jungkook leaned in beside him and looked too. They could see Jin sitting in the chair, looking handsome as always, but no Peri. The camera only captured the empty hallway that was behind her.

"Weird," Hobi said, stretching out the word's letters.

"I'm not there, right?" Peri asked. The boys just nodded their heads. Jungkook got up and walked away casually. Peri watched him as he disappeared down the hall to his bedroom. She took a few sips of her coffee. Jungkook reappeared with something in his hands and sat at the table across from her. 

"It has something to do with the invisibility thing. Cameras can seem to catch me." The sounds of pen scribbling on paper caught her attention, and she looked over at Jungkook. His face was so close to the paper that he could smudge the ink with his nose.

"Ignore him. He gets focused on something; he won't quit until it's done," Namjoon said to her. Peri peeked a little further into what Jungkook was doing, but he sensed her eyes and pulled the book further away from her. Whatever it was, he didn't want anyone to see it until he was ready. She was going to have to wait. 

"So, now that you are home? What are your plans?"

"We have off today, but then it is back to promotional work, album to make, dance practice to do until the next part of our tour," Jin explained.

"Next part of the tour? You are going back on tour?" Peri asked, a little surprised. 

"Yeah. We have about two weeks back at home, then were off again," Tae chimed in.

"Two weeks?! You are home for two weeks, not for rest, but to work

"Oh," Peri said, trying not to sound as disappointed as she felt. They just got here. Now she would get two weeks with them before they would leave again. Peri couldn't help but be a little bummed by it. She didn't want them to feel her sadness and changed her mood to match. "So, where are you going this time?"

"We're goin' London to Paris. Where ever we go, it's a party!" Tae began to sing. Peri had to giggle at his silliness. Thanks to his hint, Peri was able to figure out Europe was the next stop on their tours. 

"Airplane part two," she told them when she picked up on the song lyrics.

"Very good, Peri!" Hobi exclaimed with his sunny smile. She looked over at him and smiled back; she had to. You can't look at his smile and not give up one yourself. "You know our songs. Are you practicing the dancing too?" he asked. Peri violently shook her head.