Distorted Reflection ✓

T W E N T Y - O N E

The moment both of the older males were gone, Taehyung sprinted back towards his room, tugging on his locks in frustration. 

''What do we do now?''  Jeongguk questioned, staring at the man in front of him. Taehyung groaned, ''Seokjin knows something we don't. It'll be up to me to figure out what. I just hope he'll tell me. But then again, if he did, why didn't he mention it already? Also, didn't you find those readings oddly specific?'' Glancing back at Jeongguk, he watched him nod, a confused look on his face.

''First of all, I need to finish my work. I have tons. Then, I'll try to call or contact Seokjin somehow, and try to find out what exactly it is he's hiding. There must be something. He gave it all away earlier. Depending on what kind of information that is, we need to continue figuring out ways to get you out of your.. position. Hoseok is trying to gather kinds information as well, but there isn't much to find.'' Taehyung stated, planning out loud and with that trying to clear up his head a little. 

''When I was busy giving Seokjin a tour, did you notice anything unusual? Or something that just stood out in general?'' The older male asked, flashes of Namjoon's behaviour coming to his mind. 

''Well, he did look around a lot. Like, a lot. That was a bit strange. But you already knew that. What I didn't fail to notice, however, was when you and Seokjin came back and he started whispering things. I couldn't make up what he was saying at all, so from that we're not much wiser, but I do think that was the strangest of thing that happened today.''  Taehyung hummed in agreement, frowning. 

''He had something in that bag Namjoon had brought with them. There weren't only cards, there was something else. It looked like a book. Now I know for a fact that Namjoon likes to read, but I can't figure out why Seokjin seemed to peek at it when he started mumbling. Perhaps he was just reading the title out loud to himself out of boredom, but that'd be really wierd. Especially since the tension was so thick.'' The dark haired male commented, slowly pacing towards his window to look out of it as he was thinking. He opened it just a little, a soft and gentle, cold breeze brushing past him. He shivered slightly, not thinking anything of it. 

''About that..'' Jeongguk's voice caused his attention to turn solely back on him. ''When Seokjin gave you that goodbye-for-now hug, he was still standing slightly in the hallway and I managed to open the bag just slightly to peek inside. It also gave you that opportunity as well. From what I could make out of it, it was a regular cook book. Perhaps he really was just thinking out loud to himself, and we've gotten delusional and so obsessed with this situation that we're now making things up. Honestly, something else just seems a bit far-stretched. He seems like a nice, normal guy, together with his partner. No offense, but maybe you staring at them for the entire time made them a bit skeptic. I mean, we're saying their behaviour is wierd, but think about ours. Or in this case, yours, as they can only see one of us. Don't forget, Namjoon does readings, maybe the cards just seemed off to him and your matching behaviour made him a bit restless, which Seokjin picked up on. Who knows, right? After all, you said you hadn't seen them for years.'' 

Taehyung sighed deeply, gaze softening. Jeongguk has a point. He indeed has gotten completely obsessed with the entire situation, stress levels now higher than ever. Maybe the younger was right. But if he was, that would mean that they have absolutely zero leads right now. Absolutely nothing that could help them figure out what step to take next. In that case, the entire thing looked dramatically and utterly hopeless. And he just didn't want to admit that. 

He just wanted to help his friend, get this over and done with since he was slacking underneath all of this. He musn't forget about himself. But how could he ever be selfish in these circumstances? If he took one day to a week off, Jeongguk would be one day, to one week longer stuck in his position, in this house, stuck in infinite nothingness. The male should be living his life to the fullest. It had already been five entire years of misery for him. Taehyung didn't want to prolong that all due to his own mental health. Jeongguk's mental health and overall health was way worse, way more important, than his. So, he pushed himself and his own needs aside.

The only thing that mattered, was Jeongguk.

After grabbing a cup of coffee, Taehyung opened his laptop, for a moment doing nothing but staring blankly at the endless documents he had to examine and send. 

Then he realised something.

Hesitantly, he grabbed his phone, searching for his co-worker's number. The girl had added him as soon as he gave her that piece of paper the other day, but up until now he hadn't bothered texting yet. 

𝗧𝗮𝗲𝗵𝘆𝘂𝗻𝗴:
𝗛𝗲𝘆, 𝗝𝗶-𝗲𝘂𝗻. 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽, 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱. 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗿. 𝗠𝗶𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁? 𝗜'𝗺 𝗮𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝘆 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳.

It didn't take long before he got a response. It hadn't even been five minutes yet, when he heard a familliar 'ding' sound coming from his device, his screen lighting up. 

𝗝𝗶-𝗲𝘂𝗻: 𝗔𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲! 𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 :) 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲, 𝘀𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

It felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He smiled, a deep breath leaving him. He proceeded sending her the details, splitting the work in half. At this rate, luckily, he would be able to get it done.

With that, he opened the first file, taking a sip of his coffee and started to work.