I Need You

High Alert

Namjoon

“Hyung!”

I sat up, my blankets falling to a soft wrinkle at my stomach. Hearing Jungkook shout as stomping neared my door, I groaned and rubbed my eyes before flopping back over and covering back up.

“Why are you yelling? It's the two in the morning.” Yoongi complained.

“I can't find Noona and she isn't answering her phone!” Jungkook shouted, his voice cracking.

I sat up, quick, and threw my blankets off me. Nearly leaping from my bed, I ran to the door and flung it open to find Jungkook nearly hyperventilating. His eyes were red and his cheeks had tears staining them while his entire body shook.

“What do you mean?” I heard Jin ask as he rushed from his room.

“I woke up because I had a nightmare and wanted to sleep with her because she calms me down.” He was talking so fast I could barely keep up.

“Jungkook. Calm down. Jin. Get some water.” I said, calmly before guiding Jungkook to the living room. “Sit down.”

He sat on the couch and started to cry again. By this time, everyone else had filed into the living room. Jin came back with a glass of water and handed it to the panicked brother.

“What happened?” Eun-ji asked, softly, for his sake.

Jungkook took a few deep breaths before taking a sip of water and continuing to speak. “I went to go lay down with her since Taehyung went home last night so I knocked on her door. She didn't answer so I opened the door a little bit and asked if she was awake.”

I looked around the room at the worried faces then back at Jungkook.

“When she didn't answer, I opened her door all the way to find her bed empty! So I went to the bathroom thinking she was in there and the door was open and the light off! I tried calling her to see if she was anywhere in the house and her phone rang twice then went to voicemail!” He continued as he fumbled for his phone.

I watched him tap on it a few times then turn the screen towards us. “I got this from her after I hung up but when I texted back, the message wouldn't send!”

I looked at the screen and read in a blue bubble “I am fine.” followed by his rejected message.

“Someone try to text her.” I said, looking over the messages.

A moment of silence went by before, one by one, everyone said their messages were being kicked back and rejected. I jumped up and grabbed my phone from my room to find a text from Taehyung.

“Can anyone there reach Min-Hee? I can't text her. My phone is being weird. It wont let me send any messages to her. I tried to tell her I accidentally took her house key and it wouldn't send.”

Walking back out to the living room, all eyes were on me.

“Taehyung can't get to her either. It's doing the same thing.” I said. Everyone immediately went pale.

I pulled up my conversation with her and began to type.

“Min Min?”

I stared at my message waiting for it to turn grey with a red failure notification only for it to send.

“I got it! My message sent!” I said.

Some time passed, the room in an eerie silence, before my phone went off with a text. Jungkook nearly tackled me to see what she said.

“I know it's weird and I can't say I don’t remember. But there was a time when I would Go Alone just to see the Stars. Ever have Ice Cream? What about Tea? Haha it was almost like I Was Falling. And then I did. But time is only a constant reminder that everything keeps going. Ever want it to stop? There was a time where there was No Time. It can only be determined by that who controls it. Not every battle against time is a win. I'm sorry. For everything.”

“What the hell does that mean!? And why are certain words starting with a capital letter?!” Jungkook shouted, grabbing my phone and reading it allowed.

“I don't like the apology part! Why is she saying sorry!?” Jimin shouted.

I grabbed my phone back from Jungkook and read it over again. My head was pounding because nothing in that message made sense.

“It's like she's breaking down. The sentences don't flow with each other.” Yoongi said, Eun-ji nodding in agreement.

I read over the message repeatedly and for some reason, a voice in my head was screaming at me.

“I don't want to lose my sister!” Jungkook shouted.

I texted back, just to reassure myself and everyone else, to make sure it wasn't the worst.

“I don't want to die. I'm just scared.”

“Calm down. She isn't planning to do that. She just said so.” I said.

Jungkook gave a sigh of relief and slumped back into the couch. I gripped my phone tight and reread the message, over and over.

“Maybe she's trying to do a secret message thing?” Eun-Ji said.

I looked it over and the more I read it the more she was right. I set my phone down and grabbed a piece of paper. Yoongi took it and pulled a pen from our game table.

“Write down everything word I say.” I said.

He nodded and tested the pen to make sure it worked.

“Go alone.” I said pausing to watch him write. “Stars. Ice cream. Tea. I was falling. No time.”

He finished writing and handed me the paper. I set my phone down and looked it over. Nothing was making sense to me.

“Didn’t you two use to get ice cream together after school?” Jin asked.

I paused and thought for a moment before everything began to fall into place.

“Yes!” I shouted. “We would! We would get ice cream and walk through the park. Then sometimes she would pack a small picnic and we would meet in this small hidden place at night. She would bring some sandwiches, homemade snacks and-” I paused before looking at the paper.

“Tea.” Jungkook said, starting to understand.

“Yeah. And we both just sat there for hours under the summer night sky and stared into space. We never could remember how long we laid there for. It was like we lost track of time.” I said.

“No time.” Yoongi said, looking at me then Jin.

“It was also the place she confessed that she loved me. That she had fallen for me.” I stopped talking and as if a lightbulb went off, I knew what to do. “Jin. Go make a few sandwiches.” I said. With a nod, he walked off.

“What are you doing? Food? Now?” Jimin asked.

“I know where she is. And she wants me to go alone.” I looked at Jungkook. “Find me a backpack.” He nodded and ran down the hall.

“Hoseok. Go make some tea. Hibiscus and green. Put it in something to keep it warm.” Jimin got up and went into the kitchen.

“Jimin. Find me that really soft blanket. Yoongi. I'd say go back to bed but you can't yet. Tell Taehyung I'm going to find her.” I tossed him my phone then stood up. “Me? I'm going to dig through my closet for that hoodie she likes. She's not okay right now and I need to find out why. She would never up and abandon us like this.”