Detecting Falsehood

40

Jungkook takes a deep breath, standing up and encouraging me to do the same with his hand. It's been about three hours since we ran out of his tunnels, about three hours since they nearly collapsed on us. We agreed to take a break, simply because we didn't have any other choice. If we didn't, I would have keeled over by now.

But now it's time. It's time to try and find my family, before they're found by someone who could do them harm. It's time to finally try and sort out all of this mess before it's too late.

For a moment we stand there, silent, frozen in our own thoughts, frozen in time, frozen with the realisation of the seriousness of our situation. Sure, we've been threatened with death before. That's not what bothers us. It never has been.

Losing everyone we love is much worse. There's no way to explain it.

We walk through the forest in silence, Jungkook sort of in the front, constantly looking over at me to make sure I haven't vanished or gotten hurt or even just tripped over. We both know I would make some sort of alarm or complaint, but that doesn't stop the paranoia from building within us both.

Our lives have been too stressful to avoid such thoughts. That's just how we've been brought up, by our experiences and our family background. Sure, it's not the most healthy way to live, but it's the safest for us right now.

Jungkook pauses at the divide of forest and the city, glancing at me one more time, clearly having some sort of conflict in his head. And then he nods to himself, grabbing my hand and leading me forward, quite clearly avoiding eye contact.

"Why-" I start, but he interrupts my train of thought.
"I don't want you to get lost, and this way we stick together," he says quickly, too quickly, even though there's a hint of truth in his words. I say nothing, just raise an eyebrow at him, so that he knows that I'm aware that this isn't the whole story.

Much to my surprise, he smiles shyly, eyes flickering down to our joined hands and then back up to my face. "And maybe sometimes it's nice to just have a moment where you're not with someone that hates you," he says quietly, in a voice that's barely audible. "With someone who's focusing their whole opinion on you based on the existence of someone else."

I nod in sudden understanding, realising that he's right. It is nice to be able to be myself around him. It's nice that he trusts me enough to be able to tell what the difference between honesty and deception is. It's nice that he believes that I'm not a bad person, even if that's what I think myself.

Jungkook leads me through the city, his eyes dark with concentration, face serious but still hiding the caution within. It's difficult to tell whether he's scared or just uncertain, because he's so good at being withdrawn, but in this situation I guess it doesn't matter either way. As long as we get there, I don't need to know.

And then I see her, and my heart twists into a tiny ball of emotion.

The side profile of my sister is enough to show the toil the last few months have had on her. It's almost saddening to see her face so drawn, with dark circles under her eyes, hair tied back messily in a ponytail, wrists painfully thin. There's something reassuring, however, about that familiar fire in her eyes, something I always knew would never burn out, no matter what. She's strong. She's had to be. And now, I know. She has survived and she has done everything she can to support our family.

And then her head turns, and she catches sight of Jungkook and I, in the corner of her vision. I don't speak, jolting my head towards a nearby cafe, and then vanishing into the crowd. She doesn't seem to react, but when we duck into the cafe in question, asking for a table for three at the back away from the windows, I can see her finishing up the conversation she's having and starting to move on.