Don't Leave Me Behind || Namjin AU

Chapter Three. Part Two. Falling Apart

Warnings: swearing, smoking, drinking, mental illness, anorexia, mental breakdown, etc.

They said time healed all wounds... but there were scars that remained.

Two months had passed by and the six still hadn't recovered from the wounds Jin left them with... so when are they going to get healed into scars, when they yet had to deal with more wounds in the uncertain future?

Things just got worse.

Not all at once, but slowly so that nobody noticed, until they reached the worst point and crashed right in front of them, taking them by shock and knocking them off their guards.

Taehyung and Jungkook tried their hardest on their own to continue their studies.

Namjoon was out of their reach, Yoongi already had Jimin to take care of, and Hoseok had to work to support everyone all day. They tried their best to look after themselves.

But their grades only went downhill, despite everything, despite the long nights they stayed awake to study, to complete everything on due time, despite how they went on till they passed out at the table from exhaustion.

Everything just got worse.

Till they understood they couldn't go on like this anymore and had to reluctantly drop out of college.

They'd only cause problems working hard till they lost all their energy and sanity, only to fail every test.

Looking for a job was a better option now, wasn't it? Let the long-awaited dreams be forgotten, since they could at least support everyone else like they did in their case... instead of running after what might not have been meant to happen.

"This is gonna be a great change in your life," Hoseok had told them, when they shared their view with him, one night in the empty dark hallway when he returned home from work.

Their hopeful hyung had become this quiet serious person who seemed to have aged twenty years faster from grief and the sudden twist in his life. His positive energy was gone, crumbling to dust and slowly fading away into nothingness, leaving a hopeless soul behind.

Jungkook and Taehyung had stood close to Hoseok, looking determinedly into his dark eyes, the sparkle in them gone and replaced by empty pits of numbness. Trying to show him they were ready, for whatever impact their decision had.

"You and everyone else were there for us," Jungkook had said quietly. "You stood in front of us when we needed protection, too weak to look after ourselves. You taught us to be strong and showed us how we could stand independently for ourselves. You literally brought us up when everyone else turned their backs on us."

"Let us take the responsibility of everyone," Taehyung had added, squeezing Hoseok's shoulder. "We can take care of ourselves, hyung... and we can do that for you too, just like you did- you've done enough. Let us do our part."

"We wanna make you proud of us," Jungkook had went on. "And Jin hyung too."

"And not because of our college certificates and achievements." Taehyung's voice had been strained with emotion. "It's because of the kind of people we end up being. Someone everyone looks up to."

Hoseok had stared at his two dongsaengs, their words strangely making him feel vulnerable, like they'd found the darkest secret and weakest part of him, but at the same time, he'd felt safe, like he could lean on Jungkook's and Taehyung's shoulders, like they'd done in the past.

His eyes had moistened, his heart aching, though he felt glad and appreciated. He'd taken a step forward towards the other two, before pulling both of them into a hug, as they did the same.