Two-Sided Coin

Chapter 22

As expected, two hours later I was walking home alone. Now that Jin was not with me, my mind was buzzing with thoughts of my best friend. Hugging my sweatshirt close, I thought back to our conversation and tried my best not to worry too much. He couldn't have actually run too far or for too long, right?

Right?

But, the moment I stepped inside our home, I knew something was wrong. As I shut the door and slowly wandered toward Jungkook's room, I felt the air, heavy with unexpected silence.

"Kookie?" I tried, my heart dropping from lack of response. My throat went dry and my chest restricted.

"Kookie? Kookie? Kookie?!"

I raced through the house, not finding a trace of his return. With trembling hands, I pulled out my phone, typing in his number. Bringing it to my ear, I heard the generic, robotic voice, kindly informing me that his phone was off. I let out a groan of frustration and repeated the process, my knees growing weak and head spinning when no answer came.

"Answer, goddamn it!" I screamed, tears beginning to form in my eyes. In the back of my mind, a voice kept whispering, telling me that I was overreacting, letting me know that I was just being ridiculous and blowing everything up. But, at this moment, that voice was being far overpowered by the explosive panic flooding my head.

It was so hard to bring myself back. I managed to stumble to a room and crash onto the bed, my breath coming in gasps and tears dripping down my cheeks. Why did this seem like such a big deal? Why did I feel like him disappearing meant my world was ending? Why did the thought of being alone make me want to cry out and punch the wall and tear the blanket and kick over the drawers?

I bit my lip, clenching my fists until my knuckles turned white. The stream of tears began to slow as I shut my eyes with all of my strength, trying to focus on the sting of my palms, the smooth linen under me, the itch of my clothes, anything other than Jungkook. My pulse was pounding painfully and for what felt like hours, my pathetic sobbing filled the otherwise empty house.

But, eventually, the sharp pains in my chest reduced to dull throbs and I uncurled myself to lie down normally. My eyes never fully dried and the silence never let up, however my breathing evened and I managed to fall into a restless sleep.

...

That morning was terrible.

The physical pain came first - a pounding headache, stinging lip and palms, throbbing eyes. I lay, silent and unmoving, for a few minutes, keeping my mind blank and trying to delay having to remember what happened. But, then came the mental pain - recalling the disappearance - fueled by the utter stillness of the house.

I was completely torn between not moving and simply lying in bed until Jungkook came back, and getting up, maybe even going to school, to distract myself. I stared up at the ceiling, internally debating which was the better option.

Before I knew it, I was up, dragging myself into the kitchen. I suppose I was going to go to school today. It could go terribly and everything could be in ruins, but at the moment, I didn't care much. I didn't feel like things could get much worse.

Though my stomach hollowed, pulling against my ribs, I couldn't bring myself to even take another step closer to the pantry. Spinning on my heel, I moved back to my room, threw on my uniform, grabbed my bag, and left as fast as I could, determined to get to school before I change my mind.

...

The stares.

Oh my lord, the stares.

Not a single person spared me.

I realized as I walked to my class, I hadn't been to school in days and, when I show up, I look like shit. What could they possibly be thinking?

"Well, well, well," I heard an oh-so-familiar voice say as I slid into my seat. I immediately grit my teeth and prepared myself for the worst.

"What the hell happened to you?" J-Hope spat, flicking me in the temple. He stopped behind me, leaning over my shoulder to look at me more directly, both of his hands resting on my upper arms. Slowly, as the seconds of my silence ticked by, his grip tightened and I could sense his anger build.

"I said," he tried again through gritted teeth. "What the hell happened to you? Were you running? Were you scared?"

His voice lowered and he got closer with each sentence spoken until eventually, his anger was coming as breaths against my neck. My jaw began hurting from how tight it was locked, but I kept my breathing even, wishing nothing more than for him to move away. But why would he do that when his favorite chew toy was finally back in his hands?

"Hey! Taehyung!" he hissed, quickly straightening and hitting me upside the head. All of my energy was set to keeping my cool, but that quickly proved to be for naught when the familiar dizziness began clouding my head. Dark spots flitted through my vision and, soon, my sight was gone and then, my consciousness.

A/N:

Sorry that this chapter was short :/ Next chapter is longer and is from V's POV