CLOSER

˚e l e v e n˚

okay y'all are finally getting your answers 😎 hope you enjoy!! also have a merry christmas/happy holidays!!! 💗💗  love u guys

╔═══"chapter eleven" ═╗

                      ╚═ "intervention" ═══╝

"so," taehyung spoke, kicking at a rock on the street. "what's our plan? we don't even know where he is. hobi hyung said he's been gone for what, four days? five?"

a mischievous smile made its way onto jimin's face. "that's where you're wrong, tae."

"uh, what?"

jimin giggled. "this morning, while guk was still sleeping i went on his phone and tracked seokjin down. they have each other on the 'find my friends' thing. kinda creepy, if you ask me. either way, i have the address of the hotel he's at."

jimin also couldn't help wondering why, if jeongguk had seokjin tracked this entire time, the younger boy never tried to go find his boyfriend.

"okay... i'm gonna ignore that. so, when we do get to this hotel, what are we gonna do?" taehyung asked, looking up at his boyfriend.

"christ, taehyung, what the hell do you think we're gonna do? play a game of yahtzee?"

taehyung's cheeks heated, and he looked to the side, away from jimin. "shut up," he mumbled in embarrassment. "you know what i meant."

jimin rolled his eyes, stopping in his tracks and grabbing onto taehyung's hands. the younger refused to look jimin in the eye, so he reached out and tilted his chin up. "taehyung. stop acting like you're in a freaking k-drama. i love you, but your ass is so extra."

taehyung huffed, displeased with jimin's words. he'd hoped jimin was going to apologize for being a sarcastic asshole, but all he got was even more sass. he pulled away from the smaller's hands and started walking ahead of jimin, hands shoved in his coat pockets.

jimin frowned as he watched taehyung walk away. "hey! tae!" he started jogging to catch up. "wait up! you don't even know where to go!"

➴

a loud knock at the hotel room door was what woke seokjin up. blinking his sleep-encrusted eyes blearily, he slowly rose from the bed with the blanket wrapped around his thinning frame and walked to the door. unfortunately, there were no peep-holes on the door, so he would have to open the door to see who was there. sighing, seokjin unlocked and opened the door, poking his head out.

"oh," he said quietly, his voice cracking. "what do you two want?"

jimin took a deep breath. "we just wanna talk, hyung. we're concerned."

seokjin missed the way taehyung shot jimin a confused look, and he seemed to internally debate for a minute before opening the door wider to let them in. "sorry... for the mess. i haven't been doing too well." he walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, as jimin and taehyung sat down on the small couch.

"so–"

"what the fuck do you think you're actually doing, seokjin? do you have any idea how jeongguk is?" taehyung blurted, his voice loud as he stood and angrily stared the eldest down. "he came to our apartment a few days ago and broke down in our arms. he's been partying and drowning himself in alcohol to forget. he's a fucking mess, and it's all your fault. and the worst of it is, he's blaming himself. you're a piece of shit, kim seokjin."

seokjin's breath caught in his throat as a sob fought its way up instead, and he brought his hand to his mouth to muffle the sobs. of course jeongguk would blame himself; seokjin had left after basically telling the younger he was clingy and annoying. not that that was true, of course. he probably thought that seokjin wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

when it was completely the opposite.

"i..." seokjin tried to regulate his breathing, furiously wiping at his cheeks with shame. he didn't deserve to cry, he was the problem. "i never meant f-for guk to hurt this b-bad. you guys don't get it, i love him so, so much but i didn't know what else to do." his last words were barely more than a whisper.

jimin's expression changed then, seeing seokjin so in pain over whatever this was, made his face soften. he got up from the couch, despite taehyung's outstretched hand, and walked over to seokjin. "hyung, i don't think any of this is going to get anywhere unless you tell us what's really going on," he said quietly, trying his best to keep his voice gentle.

seokjin looked up with teary eyes. jimin met his gaze, and there was a minute that passed where taehyung swore the two were communicating with only their eyes. finally, the eldest croaked out a hoarse, "okay," and took a shaky breath.

"this is my last year of university, right?" jimin and taehyung both nodded, this was not new information. seokjin nodded, "well, i've applied to some professional cooking schools. i've always wanted to be a chef, ever since i was young. anyways, i got accepted to my dream school, but-"

jimin nodded, humming as a prompt for seokjin to continue. the eldest bit his lip, lowering his head. 

"but it's in japan."

the room fell quiet for a few seconds, as jimin and taehyung processed seokjin's words. 

"this is why. for the past month, i've been torn... it would kill me to leave the love of my life behind, but i also know that if i don't go to japan, i'll regret it for the rest of my life. i-i don't know what to do."

as soon as he spoke the last word, seokjin broke down into sobs again, reaching forward and clutching the fabric of jimin's sweater with his fists as he cried. taehyung got up, moving to sit on the bed next to seokjin, and wrapped his arm around the eldest, laying his head on his shoulder. "and here i was thinking you were cheating on jeongguk and didn't have the guts to break up with him," taehyung murmured, a sad smile on his tanned face.

seokjin laughed, coughing slightly. "as if i would ever even think of doing that to my gukkie," he sniffled, wiping his tear-streaked cheeks. he took a minute to breathe in and out until he was calmed down, and then took of jimin and taehyung's hands in both of his. "promise you won't tell him? it's a conversation i need to have on my own with him."

both boys nodded firmly, and the three hugged. not long after that, jimin and taehyung left, and seokjin was again alone in his room, his heart heavy with the knowledge that he had to finally man up and talk to jeongguk.

he had to fix his mistakes.