Connection | KTH

Chapter 39: Lost Hope

The next day neither Jin nor Jungkook came to school, and you had not received a word from either of them.

All day, people stared as you trudged in the hallways with your eyes down and body slumped. At lunch, you sat alone.

People whispered amongst themselves as you passed—knowing about Ara's disappearance—and to them, it had looked extremely suspicious that your other two friends were gone as well.

But they didn't dare come close to you.

From afar, Taehyung watched you in silence. The emotional pain had gotten worse, yet there was nothing he could do about it. You refused to talk to him about your problems, and he was stuck trying to make things better for himself.

When you sat alone at lunch, Taehyung couldn't keep his eyes off of you. He knew you were stressed about Ara, but there was a sense of hopelessness in him that he was feeling.

Were you giving up?

Did you think she would be gone forever?

He had felt this sense of lost hope and despair before.

Hell, it never went away.

His whole life he had hoped for a brighter day. He hoped for a happier time and a sign of love from his father—or from anyone at that. As the years passed, unfortunately, he knew he would never get that.

That was what it felt like you were feeling, except this felt worse.

Taehyung was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize his eyes were reddening and glossing over with tears.

"Tae, are...are you crying?" Namjoon uttered, seeing that tears unknowingly fell down Taehyung's cheeks.

Taehyung quickly wiped his hands against his face in shock as he looked at the liquid that fell from his eyes and onto his hands. He hadn't noticed it as he tried to fully understand his emotions.

The only thing he did know was that this connection was growing.

Everybody was concerned. Jimin and Hoseok eyed each other with question in their eyes while the other two waited for a response. Yoongi furrowed his brows and studied him, noticing his shaky movements as he stood up from the table.

"I, um, I'm going to go to the library," Taehyung replied, grabbing his stuff in disorder.

—

When the day ended, you refrained from contacting any of your friends. They weren't answering you, so you weren't going to put much effort into talking to them.

However, you needed to know what they were doing and where they were.

If they didn't come to school, then that meant Jungkook joined Jin in the endless search, but maybe they were waiting for you. So as usual on any day of searching for Ara, you stopped by Jin's house.

Once you reached his home, you hiked up the cobblestone steps and in front of his door.

For some reason, you were hesitant to knock. You felt as if maybe you should turn around and let the search rest in somebody else's hands, and you were confused as to why you were feeling this way.

Ara was your friend. Jin was your friend, and Jungkook was your friend. You couldn't turn your back on them.

So you knocked, only to be greeted by Jin's mother.

Before you could greet her, she flashed a hurt smile, suddenly pulling you into a tight hug and rubbing your back. When she pulled away, she looked down at you with a brief frown and hid it with another weak smile.