You were happy

Pt3

You felt the tears coming before any sort of breath could make its way out of your lungs. It was hard for you to figure out if your feelings were anger, betrayal, sadness, frustration or a toxic mixture of everything under the sun. "You knew?" It was so sad and pathetic sounding-you were amazed he could even hear you over the music.
His expression of pity made you feel like you wanted to slap him and curl up into the floor at the same time. Was it possible for a person to become one with the carpet? "Y/N-I didn't...I couldn't-"
"You knew." Your words were fevered, rushing past shaking lips. Unlike his darting eyes that searched for safety, yours were steady on him. "You knew and you still asked me to come here. You still gave me that smile of yours. You still asked me if I'd ever been in love. You freaking said you'd beat up whoever hurt me. You forgot my birthday; you still kept up your god damn flirty behavior. You knew and you couldn't just cast me to the side instead you left me there and then picked me back up when I was convenient for you." You were amazed you weren't sobbing-hell you were lucky your words regained some sort of dignity at the end. The tears that fell down your cheeks didn't even feel real, nothing really did anymore. Everything was empty-hollow. There wasn't a single thing left in you that wasn't shattered.
"I didn't want to see you hurt." He looked like there was still something left to protect in you, some part of you left untouched by the hurricane that was Park Jimin-something he had left unbroken.
"So you were going to let me live in limbo for the rest of my life?" You tried your best not to shout.
"You were happy."
It was like a record stalled in your head, a single high pitched noise rang in your ears and now it was all you had to keep your voice at a yell instead of a howl. "How the hell do you know how I felt! If you thought I was happy then you were tripping on some heavy shit!" It was a drunken snarl mixed with a horrible sob that would have had you laughing at any other time. "I can't even be around you right now." You tried to pull away from him, to escape but he held you back so he could get in front of you to block your exit. Nothing that came past his lips was coherent; you didn't even know what he was trying to say, he looked so broken himself.
Good.
You were drunk and absolutely nothing mattered to you in that moment. You pressed your hands against Jimin's chest and pushed him with every ounce of drunken strength you had, successfully knocking him back into the nearest person. He'd never seen your eyes so cold and empty before. By the time he'd managed to apologize and regain his footing you were already long gone.
You ran through the crowd of people seeming to pulse around you in slow motion. You knew Taehyung and Jungkook were mixed somewhere up in this mess. Eventually (when Jungkook realized you weren't going to make good on your promise) they would come look for you-hell, they probably already were if you knew them well enough. You couldn't even tell how much time has passed since you'd ditched the youngest on the dance floor.
They wouldn't find you for a while, that you would make sure of. Not until you could fix your face and have another drink.
You found the hallway that housed the bathrooms, a supply closet that must have been left open by maintenance and a heavenly door that said EXIT in neon letters. You pushed through the door, bursting into the side alley and inhaling deep breaths from the crisp night air. It cooled your sweat-drenched skin and dried the tears streaking your cheeks. It was so quiet outside in comparison to the thump of the music you could still feel vibrating through your heels. Now you could better hear the sound of your blood rushing in your ears from the alcoholic buzz in your brain.
Speaking of heels, they were really starting to get on your nerves and they were creating blisters and red marks from where they rubbed against your skin. You grunted as you reached down in an attempt to take them off, but you already weren't very balanced and so you had to keep adjusting the position of your feet just to keep them underneath you.
You suddenly became aware of another presence also outside when chuckling erupted because of your drunken antics. The man from the bar flicked his cigarette on the ground, strolling towards you (god he had a model's walk) before stooping down to your feet. His nimble fingers helped you detach the buckles that were too difficult for your currently sloppy digits.
"What are you doing here?" You pulled your right foot free from its shoe, relishing the now flat ground you could walk on. Taking off high heels after a long night was one of the most pleasant feelings in the world-so much so it almost made you forget about Jimin for a second.
Almost.
"Well, I was out here for a smoke break and then I notice this tipsy beauty crying as she was trying to take off her shoes. Now, being the kind man I am I couldn't let her struggle all on her lonesome, could I?" He tugged off your left shoe and beamed that damn handsome smile at you.
You couldn't help but weakly reflect what resembled a smile back at him. "Thank you."
He gripped your elbow while his other arm snaked around your waist as you nearly fell in your attempt to grab your shoes. "Ah, careful there. Are you okay?" He tilted his head to examine your face. He brought his hands to your face, wiping the pads of his thumbs across your cheeks to brush away the tears. "Someone as pretty as you should never have to cry."
"I-I uh had a real bad night." You half-laughed with a slight redness developing in your cheeks from his touch.
"Can I make it better for you?" He chuckled, his eyebrows drawn together with concern.
To you this man was your angel, the first person to approach you with concern and care after Jimin shattered everything you'd built to protect yourself. You were also drunk, so anyone who showed you any remote sense of kindness would be your angel-but it helped that Jimin had disliked this man earlier. It made you want to go with him, talk to him and let him whisper all the things you'd wanted Jimin to tell you. It made you want to satisfy some form of vengeance against the man who had broken your heart.
"Buy me a drink." You whispered, eyes glossy with all the promises the existence of this man held for you. "Ah-I'm Y/N by the way; I didn't get a chance to introduce myself before we were interrupted." What was left of your heart bled more at the mere memory of Jimin. "He's an ass." You whispered under your breath.
He laughed again, pulling you close to him so you could steadily walk alongside him. "Well, Y/N, it's nice to meet you. I'm Haneul." He pulled open the door, carefully escorting you inside. "Come on, let's get you that drink."
You didn't even realize you'd left your shoes outside, which should have been a sign that you were too drunk to make rational decisions.
You pulled back as he tried to pull you into the large space of the clubroom, you wanted to go back outside, stay in this hallway-anywhere but out there where you had the chance of running into Jimin. "I can't go out there." You were starting to cry again. "I can't. Please. Anywhere but out there." You were scared of what he'd do if you saw him again-you were scared of what you'd do. It was something your heart wouldn't be able to take right now.
Haneul nodded at your distress, wrapping you in his arms and blocking your view of the clubroom. He pressed your face into his shoulder and smoothed down your hair until you stopped crying. "Shh, shh, see? All better now. I won't make you go out there-don't worry." He gently altered his path from the openness of the club room to the open supply closet. He gently maneuvered around the boxes and helped you get settled in a spot where you could rest your back against the wall. He double checked three times to make sure you were as comfortable as possible.
"I'll be right back with that drink, okay? Don't you go anywhere, beautiful." He flashed you another dazzling smile that had you blushing before he was gone.
This man was kind to you. This man was way too good to you. You were drunk. You hated Park Jimin. All of these were facts that should have strung together more coherently in your head. All of these meant that you should have immediately found Jungkook or Tae.
God you were so stupid.
You barely had time to blink before he was back, a drink in each hand. You admired the one he handed to you, finding it absolute heaven at the moment. The alcohol would help you forget everything; it would smooth out all the rough edges Jimin had created. You wouldn't be sad anymore tonight-at least that you would remember tomorrow.
You downed it, much to his widened eyes-it was easy to see how you always managed to get drunk so fast if you drank like a fish.
"That bad of a night, huh?" He chuckled, setting his own drink on a shelf next to some rolls of toilet paper. He watched you lying against the floor, his demeanor shifting as he leaned against the boxes with his arm crossed.
You stared up at him, licking your lips. He seemed different now; you were just now questioning this angel man in front of you while alarm bells started to ding at the back of your brain. You thought of Taehyung and Jungkook-people knew you were here. "They're probably looking for me." You whispered, your head was feeling fuzzier and you hoped you could just blame it on the alcohol.
His smile no longer made you blush. "I don't think so, beautiful."
You eyelids were feeling heavy-you knew you couldn't blame it on the alcohol anymore. "Why not?" you voice felt like lead in your throat as you tried to stand up. You were so sleepy.
"No one will be looking for you anymore."
You felt his arms wrap around you, easily stopping you from going anywhere. Your head lolled on your shoulders, about three seconds from sending you into the deep abyss of unconsciousness.
Oh shit.
~.~
Taehyung was caught up with another girl group that had demanded his attention when Jungkook stepped in beside him and tapped on his shoulder. The girls' squealing got significantly higher in pitch, especially when he flashed an apologetic smile for interrupting.
"Hyung," He whispered. "You need to come here for a second."
His heart dropped slowly with every step-he could see the clench of Jungkook's jaw, the anger and worry in his eyes. The kid was never good at hiding his emotions, especially when he was real upset like now.
"Where's Y/N?" Taehyung barely wanted to ask the question for fear of the answer. Jungkook's gaze looked to the floor- he's always known how Tae felt about you, he's known ever since Jimin had introduced you to his friends. You were not Taehyung's type at all, but you had the soul to match him and he knew that Tae would eventually fall for you.
He never knew just how hard the boy would land though.
Jungkook led Taehyung to the bar where Jimin sat with his head held in his hands. Taehyung knew instantly that he would rather turn around and leave. He would rather walk away from everything right now and pretend that nothing happened and that you would be there waiting for them at the end of the night. He wanted to do it so bad, but this was reality and he knew if he wanted you he'd have to figure out what had happened.
"Tell him what you told me." Jungkook's voice had never sounded so cold to Taehyung's ears.
"I hurt her real bad, Tae." He whispered into his hands. "I told her I knew about her feelings and she was so upset-"
Taehyung clenched and unclenched his fists to keep his anger in check. "I don't care about your sob story right now-I'll be pissed at you later. Where is she?"
Jimin's voice cracked. "That's the thing, I don't know. I tried to find her when she ran-Hana even helped me and...I don't know. She was with a man before when I initially talked to her."
Taehyung's hand slammed on the bar next to Jimin, making the other 95er jump. "What'd he look like, what happened?"
"She was so drunk."
Taehyung laughed with a bitter tinge, remembering how you always seemed to drink at the most inopportune moments. Of course you were drunk-of course. "She's so stupid."
Jimin's gaze narrowed on Taehyung, almost like he was angry. "Do you like her, Tae?" It was a protective hiss that had Tae clenching his teeth.
"You don't get to be pissed about that. Why don't you go worry about your girlfriend and ignore Y/N like you always do. I'll care for her, I'll pick up the pieces and I'll watch over her each and every night while you string her along like you always do." He shoved himself away, ignoring both Jimin and Jungkook who jogged along behind him.
Jungkook had never seen Tae like this-like he would bite someone's head off at any second. Truth be told, he'd never had a reason to be afraid of Taehyung, but the thought of you in danger was enough to make a once-happy man a sudden cornered animal that shouldn't be approached.
Taehyung tried to think like you, tried to picture you hearing the news. You wouldn't want to be in the same room as Jimin, no matter how large it was. You'd immediately burst out the door.
He imagined you walking down the hallway past the bathrooms, past the empty supply closet with a forgotten glass of alcohol. He imagined your slender hands on the door beneath his hands as he pushed it open.
He wanted to close it again, wanted to pretend like he didn't see them.
Your shoes were there, left behind for whatever reason. One: you never forgot anything, unless you were dead drunk or someone was distracting you. If you were dead drunk you'd be passed out by your shoes. Two: you couldn't get far without your shoes, and you sure as hell weren't in that room if Jimin couldn't find you.
He fished out his car keys as he scooped your shoes off the ground, looking to Jungkook. Tae was frantic; every part of his body shook.
Where were you? What happened? Were you safe? Would you ever be back? Were you dead?
"Come on, maybe she's at her apartment." Even though he said it he knew that he wouldn't find you there. You had no way to get there unless this man dropped you off-but then you wouldn't have forgotten your shoes. He drove like a mad man, nearly driving through several red lights.
He didn't care-if you were at your apartment he'd yell at you for them later. It was your fault for making him worry so much.
They had spare keys for the times you asked them to housesit or the times you'd call them drunk off your ass needing help because you managed to get stuck behind your bed. They never asked how you got in those situations, but you always managed to get in them. The thought would have made Taehyung laugh, if he didn't open the door to empty silence. If he didn't look at the way everything remained in its place as it was before the party. If he didn't look at the fact that you hadn't been home.
His hand shook at he brought it to his ear, expecting to hear your ringtone from your phone. It didn't even ring, it went straight to voicemail.
Your phone wasn't on; your phone was always on even during movies, and it was always charged-you made sure of that.
He dialed the second number; the number he didn't want to call. The number he thought he'd never have to call for you.
"Hi, is this the police?" He paused as they replied. "Yes, I'd like to file a missing person's report. Yes I know it hasn't been 48 hours, but listen to me please."
They did.