Broken//Kim Namjoon

16; Try Again

Unedited

 Athena sat in front of her vanity, looking at her reflection. A ghost in her shell stared back. She hadn't looked in a mirror for a long time. She was indeed paler, and had lost a lot of weight. She was doing better since Myunghoon had called a doctor to help. She was forcefully being fed, for her 'health's sake' according to Myung.

It was five o'clock, the day after Namjoon had found his way back into her home. Now was the time to decide whether she was going to go or not. It was now or never. She glanced at her phone.

Athena hadn't used it at all since she left Namjoon. She took a breath and grabbed it. There had to be at least a hundred notifications. She unlocked it. Namjoon and her own face stared back at her. Athena frowned and went to the phone app. There were seventy-one missed calls. Five from Taehyung, six from Hoseok, thirty from Jin, forty from Namjoon. Athena looked at the dates. Namjoon had called every day since then. That's not counting the voicemails.

Not wanting to listen to his voice, she went to messages. Eighty-six. Again, from various people, but most coming from Namjoon, and quite a few from Jin. Most contained similar messages.

I'm sorry

I love you

Are you okay?

Please talk to me

I'm lost without you

Athena couldn't read the rest, her eyes were blurry and she set the phone down. A heavy, heavy sigh escaped her lips, full of pain. Athena stood up and went downstairs.

Her workshop was neat, freakishly so. Her countless project were shelved neatly, and her drawers were sorted so that not a thing was out of its place. Athena frowned. This was not her, and she knew it.

Out of nowhere, she spoke and asked a question. "Where did I go?"

~~~~~~~~~~~

It was 7:25. Namjoon sat at Nightskye park. He had spent all of last night setting up. Jin had called him several times, but he didn't want to explain to the older one what he was doing. Namjoon tapped his foot, wondering if she'd actually come. At this point, he was sure she wouldn't. He took the moment to lay back and look at the night sky.

It was a clear, quiet night. Here at Nightskye, the bustling city doesn't seem to exist. Everything seems so still and serene, especially at night. Namjoon looked at the stars and recognized constellations that he'd learned in school.

The clear night sky was something that he'd always taken for granted as a child. Living in a small, countryside village away from the city meant that thousands of stars could be seen from there, but he'd never taken the time to look at them. Namjoon closed his eyes and sighed. There were too many things he'd taken for granted, and ruined.

To his right, there was some rustling. He sat up immediately, and looked in the direction. Someone emerges from the trees.

Athena came out, her eyes filled with wonder at what he'd set up. Fairy lights strung around trees could be seen reflected in her brown eyes, along with strings of photos of the Namjoon and her he'd clothespinned to strings, along with a picnic of her favorite foods. Her eyes finally found the boy, sitting in the middle of it all, looking at her, his face full of nervousness.

"Namjoon..." she gasped, still amazed by all this. "Did you do all of this?"

He didn't answer her question, and instead took her hand. She stiffened under his touch, but let him lead her. Namjoon sat her down in front of him. He pulled a black backpack in front of him. He began pulling things from it as he started speaking.

"Park Athena. On November eighth, I broke something of my teammates, something very close to him." Namjoon pulled something wrapped in paper out of the bag. "He cast me out of the hotel." He unwrapped the first paper. "I was chased by fans, and I found myself trapped in an alleyway." The second paper. "You saved me. Not only that, but you offered to fix my mistakes, which I'm known to make." He finished unwrapping the thing and placed it in front of them. She inhaled sharply. It was her trophy, the one which he'd broken ages ago. Her eyes watered, but he continued.

"My mistakes didn't stop there. I broke many, many, many more things." On each 'many' he pulled an object she'd fixed for him and placed it in front of him. "But you always fixed it.

"By then, I was already in love with you," he said, pulling more things from the bag. The first movie they watched, the Bangtan Bomb light from the first concert, even the first polaroid they had taken, which he had stolen from the board the day before. Namjoon stopped, the backpack empty. He stared at the ground, expressionless for a moment. Several tears ran down her face.

He shook his head, coming from his short trance. "But once again, I broke something. I was being stupid, because I refused to get over my own irrational fears. This time you couldn't fix it, because-" he sniffed, his own eyes filled with water. "Because I broke you. You are the most beautifully complex thing on this planet, but I knew I had to fix you somehow. I've never done anything but destroy, and wreck. But I want to try." He let out a shaky breath and looked up at her. "Park Athena, let me try and fix you. Let me try."

There was silence, making anxiety course through his veins. Quiet tears left tracks on her face. "What am I supposed to say to that?" she asked, her tone not at all the rejection he was expecting. It was lighter, slightly playing

"I-uh uhm. I don't know," he stuttered. "I guess this is my way of asking if you'd be mine?"

"You sound like a cheesy Valentines card, but... yes," she said. He was taken aback.

"Really?" he asked, surprised. She gave him a light smile, although he could tell she was in pain. Namjoon hugged her tightly, to his chest.

Just feeling her bones, he knew that it would be awhile until she was alright again. He had left a deep mark on her, but he knew they could do it.