Ruined (A BTS fanfiction)

Chapter 13 - Pressure

I dragged the cloth back and forth over the final dirty window. The dirt slowly loosening its iron grip on our ability to see outside. Sweat rolled down my face as I struggled to keep my aching arms moving. When I was finally finished I flopped backwards into a chair, flinging up hundred-year-old dust in the process. Progress on cleaning the house had been slow. I could hear the sound of the younger boys messing around as they supposedly cleaned the kitchen. It didn't help we didn't have any air conditioning. While we were reaching the end of summer, it seemed the weather wasn't aware of this yet. Yes, summer was coming to end. The boys needed to go back to school soon. I glanced at my watch. It was only three o'clock. I decided it was time for a break. We would have plenty of time to clean, we weren't going anywhere anytime soon. I stood up and headed into the kitchen. I entered to find Taehyung, Jungkook, and Jimin soaked head to toe, still splashing each other as I stood there. The mop I had given them lay on the wet floor, alone and neglected. Jimin froze when he finally noticed me. After a few moments of blissful ignorance, the other two also noticed me. They all stared at me like deer in the headlights.

"We were hot," Taehyung eventually said.

I couldn't help but laugh. They had somehow managed to wash the entire floor and keep themselves cool, I couldn't be mad. I ushered the boys out of the kitchen and out the door. I had given the older boys the immense task of fixing up the front yard. Jin and Namjoon were both hard at work, mowing the lawn and pulling vines off the house respectively. It seemed as though Hoseok had interpreted "put all the grass clippings into a pile" as "use the grass clippings to make a snowman". Yoongi was sitting in a small pile of vines he had probably at some point been pulling off the house, staring up into space possibly contemplating the meaning of life. They all stopped as I came outside. "We're going to take a break now," I called. "And we're going to go on a little trip."

"Where to?" Hoseok asked excitedly, pushing over his grassman.

"I'm going to give you a tour of town," I said.

"Yay!" Jungkook said, pushing past me and heading towards town with no regards as to whether or not anyone was following him.

We all quickly followed his lead and began walking to town. We took out time walking through the trees. Because they had grown up in Seoul, the boys had never really been in a forest like this. So, we walked in silence, taking in the sounds of the wind rustling the trees, the birds chirping, and the soft crunch of the gravel as we stepped on it. But the silence was broken as Taehyung began to hum to himself. At first it was just random humming but slowly it turned into the familiar tune of Arirang. Jungkook began singing along with his humming. Jin and Jimin joined in too. And soon all seven of them were singing. They sounded like angels. As I listened to their cheerful singing and watched them prance around to the tune, I regretted telling them to give up on this dream of being musicians. So blinded had I been by my own failures, that I failed to see their talent. They were not me, I believed they could achieve their dreams. I smiled, peacefully listening to their song. I would let them chase their dreams.

We arrived in town. As we walked along, the boys marveled at every little detail. I did my best to answer all their questions. But I could feel the stares of the town people. They were probably confused, maybe even suspicious. I doubted any of them recognized me. To them we were some random family who showed up out of nowhere. It didn't help the boys were reacting like we were at the zoo. Still, I wasn't concerned with how they felt. But my mind was not at ease. Although I was happy to be back in my hometown, farther away from the fears of yesterday. I was not safe. We were not safe. I hadn't forgotten. I couldn't forget. So, as we walked, I was on high alert.

Finally, we reached the school. Its large shadow loomed over us. It was the biggest and oldest building in the town. Its bricks were faded and chipped. Many of the windows didn't open anymore. And there was always the danger of rats. Despite its dreary appearance, it held some of my most precious childhood memories.