Underneath The Surface (JiKook)

Chapter 5

Jungkook pushed his way through the tightly packed hallways of young men. He tried his best to stay with his friends, but lost them eventually. Jungkook panicked. He didn't remember the way back to the dorm.

Soon the halls were empty, leaving only him wandering about aimlessly. Jungkook groaned. How the hell am I going to get back now...

"Lost?" A quiet voice suddenly sounded behind him. Jungkook whipped around.

There slouched Jimin, smirking at Jungkook. Jungkook stared blankly back, and they stood in an awkward silence until he finally remembered Jimin had asked a question.

"Oh...uh, yeah. I'm a bit lost." Jungkook rubbed the back of his neck. Why did this roommate of his have to be nearly everywhere?

Jimin snorted. "'A bit lost'? Jungkook you've passed at least fifty different hallways and turned twenty-one - to be exact - corners from where you were supposed to."

Jungkook raised his eyebrows, speechless at his stupidity, but also amazed at how easily you could get lost here and how identical everything looked. He sighed.

"How about we go for a tour, huh? I'll help you memorize the path to the dorm from anywhere in the building." Jimin said to Jungkook, brushing past him and walking farther down the hallway.

Jungkook was a bit skeptical; he wasn't sure how much he liked the idea of being alone with Jimin. The boy gave off a weird vibe. However sketchy this seemed to Jungkook, he still jogged after the rapidly departing soldier.

Jimin smiled at him once he caught up.

Jungkook smiled back for the first time.

They turned numerous corners and went down a flight of stairs before emerging into a long hallway. It had no rooms or windows lining it, just a set of double doors at the end of the corridor. The glass let in the sun from outside, displaying the white linoleum in all its weirdly clean glory.

Jungkook's boots thumped loudly on the hard floor, causing the sound to echo around the spacious area. Jimin said nothing as they walked down the hallway, and Jungkook started to become uneasy in the erie silence.

Jimin pushed open the doors at the end of the hallway and Jungkook was abruptly blinded by the dramatic change in lighting. His eyes got used to the sun quickly, but his whole body hated it.

The heat beat down on Jungkook, making him want to scurry back inside the concrete walls of the base.

He heard whistles blowing, people yelling, and the stomping of boots on dirt.

Jimin stopped walking suddenly, observing the scene played out around them. Jungkook halted beside his friend, doing the same.

A gigantic expanse of hard packed dirt layed out in front of them; as big as a football field even. The extreme heat was visible in the form of waves and shimmers coming off the ground.

Different groups of soldiers did various drills and excersises across the field. One group of them did push ups in perfect sync in front of an officer whom shouted out insults and profanities at them. He didn't care to count how many push ups they had done. That wasn't the way things operated.

A different bunch of soldiers stood at attention while higher ranking men yelled in their faces. Whenever one of them flinched or even shifted their body weight from one foot to another, the officer would hit them, yelling even louder and spitting in the soldier's face while doing so.

Jungkook gulped, trying not to look scared or nervous. Jimin saw his roommate's expression and hit him on the back - hard.

"It'll be fine. I can tell you're tough." Jungkook nodded half-heartedly and mumbled an agreement.

Jimin eventually dragged Jungkook back inside. He taught him the way to get to the dorm from the cafeteria, the showers, the front entrance, the outdoor drilling area, and the gym/indoor drilling area.

Jungkook ran it through his mind one more time, smiling beautifully at Jimin before leading the way back to the dorm.

The members welcomed their two friends. Seokjin, who had been gone all day and had even missed breakfast, practically screamed at Jungkook for worrying him so much.

He reminds me of my mother, Jungkook mused internally. He appreciated the thought and held it close to his heart. Eomma Jin was what everyone called him, and now Jungkook could see why. He really was like a mom.

"Seokjin! I'm fine!" Jungkook chuckled and smiled kindly as the eldest enveloped him in a tight hug.

"Aww look! Eomma Jin is already treating Jungkookie like his own child." Seokjin glared at Taehyung, earning a guilty look from the younger boy.

"Sit your butt down Kim Taehyung or you're gonna get it." Taehyung bowed his head and shuffled over behind Namjoon. You could hear giggles coming from behind Namjoon's back. He rolled his eyes but took no action against Taehyung's shenanigans.

Everyone settled back down quickly. They seemed to all have an excited air about them.

"Mail call!" Everyone shot up from their various positions around the room. Hoseok scurried to pick up the mail from outside their door and quickly shuffled back into the room.

They all stared at him as he flipped through the numerous letters. He started to pass them out to his friends, making his way around the room.

When Hoseok got to Jimin he frowned and patted him on the back.

"Nothing for you today, ChimChim. One day, though. Remember we're only five days into our second year!" Jimin nodded, fiddling with the hem of his jacket. Hoseok sighed deeply and started to move around the room again.

Jungkook got nothing. He was not at all surprised because his brother was on a business trip right now, his father was in the same building as him, and his mother...well his mother wasn't even here anymore.

Everyone except Jimin and Jungkook opened their letters excitedly. It was silent.

There were numerous sniffles from around the room from tears of sadness, combined with exclamations of happiness because of good news. Jimin and Jungkook were the only ones to feel partly left out.

Jungkook sighed as he saw Jimin head into the bathroom. Now he was left out and lonely.

----------------------------------------------------

Whatever could he be doing in there? Jungkook looked at the clock on the wall. It had been ten minutes since Jimin had gone in. Everyone had read their letters and were sleeping or reading a random book from home.

Jungkook sighed heavily again as the clock's hand ticked forward.

Another minute.

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Have you guys guessed what's surrounding Jimin? I'm excited to see if anyone knows yet...
-SR