Just A Few Numbers Away

Chapter 73

​The Long Countdown

The interior of the car was a sharp contrast to the warm, Milo-scented air of the apartment he had just left.

It smelled of expensive leather and the faint, lingering scent of the woodsy cologne Aen had gifted him.

As Yoongi steered the vehicle out of the Hannam THE HILL gates, the city of Seoul was just beginning to stir, the Sunday morning traffic light and easy.

​He gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white.

He wasn't driving to HYBE for work.

He was driving toward a life-altering finish line.

​His phone, resting in the center console, buzzed.

He didn't even have to look at the screen to know who it was.

He hit the Bluetooth steering wheel control.

​"I'm out," Yoongi said, his voice sounding deeper, raspier in the quiet cabin.

"I just cleared the gates. I'm on my way to the studio now."

​"Copy that, Hyung," Namjoon's voice filled the car, steady and grounded.

"The 'War Room' is already set up. Everyone is here except you. Don't rush-we have the whole morning-but Jin hyung is already complaining in the gc that he hasn't seen the ring in yet."

​"Tell him to be patient," Yoongi muttered, a ghost of a smile appearing as he navigated a turn.

"I feel like a criminal, Joon. Lying to her face like that this morning... I hated it. I saw her looking at me, and I just wanted to drop to one knee right there in the hallway."

​"That's how you know it's the right time," Namjoon replied softly.

"The lie is just the wrapping paper, Hyung. The gift is what happens at 4:00 PM. See you in fifteen."

​The call disconnected with a soft beep.

Yoongi reached over, his hand trembling slightly as he touched the velvet box sitting in the passenger seat.

He thought about the phone call last night-the way Aen's mother's voice had cracked when he called her "Ma."

He thought about how his own parents in Daegu were probably sitting by their phones right now, waiting for the "Mission Accomplished" text.

​He turned up the volume on the stereo.

A soft, familiar piano melody began to play-the track he had been working on for months.

It was the sound of a once-broken bond finally finding its perfect, permanent rhythm.

***

Yoongi pulled into the underground garage of the private Gangnam studio.

He chose this spot specifically because it was off the HYBE grid-no staff, no trainees, just a safe space for the members.

​When he walked in, the room wasn't as loud as usual, but the focus was intense.

Namjoon, Jungkook, Jimin, and Taehyung were already there, but two large tablets were propped up on the console, displaying Jin and Hobi via video call.

Both were in their military buzzcuts, wearing their olive-drab tees, looking in from their respective bases during their morning break.

​"The main character has arrived!" Jin's voice crackled through the tablet speakers, his classic windshield-wiper laugh slightly distorted by the connection.