Superstar (Sequel to I Can't Hold on Anymore)

A New Path

It was weird how things changed after just one person was gone. Jungkook had expected some things to change, but the suddenness of it all was jarring.

Sometimes, he closed his eyes and liked to pretend that what had happened hadn't actually happened. That Jin was still alive, but just busy. That every time his call wasn't picked up, it was because Jin had turned his ringtone off.

In many ways, the members had never gotten over Jin's death. Most of them talked about him in the present tense.

They had sat down - the six of them and a bunch of managers and staff - to discuss their future. It had come down to an exasperated yes. Them falling apart hadn't been a part of the plan, and they were too tired to make up something new.

So they fell into his new routine. They would go days without talking to one another, days without any of the laughter or banter that used to fill their days. Once in a while, a producer would pitch them a song. Yoongi or Jimin would start to cry and the whole thing would amount to nothing.

It was weird. There were some days when Jungkook could barely get out of bed because of the aching grief inside was too strong. But there were other days where he wished everyone would just get on with it and realize what had actually happened.

Jungkook understood it - Jin had been targeted. He saw it all clearly.

Everything that had happened, from Jin initially getting beat up, to Dang Seung's arrival, to Jin slowly losing everything from himself, everything was connected. There had to be a reason why this had all happened. Jungkook knew that there definitely wasn't anything that Jin had done to deserve this, but the people behind all this certainly thought so.

If he could just get the others to listen, he would get somewhere with his theory. He would figure it out and get some justice for Jin. He would make them feel sorry that they ever messed with him. But most of all, maybe this horrible empty feeling inside of him would disappear.

Magically, maybe Jin would even come back.

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"I need to tell you something."

Jungkook had burst into Taehyung's room after finally working up the courage to tell somebody. It was nearly midnight.

Taehyung stopped short. His face paled when he saw Jungkook's serious expression. Slowly, he sank down into his bed.

"What is it?"

Jungkook shook his head. "I need you to promise that you won't get mad at me."

Taehyung's face scrunched up even more. "What are you even going on about?"

"Something important."

"About what?"

Jungkook went and sat down next to Taehyung. Up close, Taehyung looked even more freaked out.

"It's about Jin hyung. Don't you think that everything that happened was connected? That Jin hyung was targeted?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, think about it. First, Jin hyung gets beat up, then Dang Seung comes and then that interviewer," Jungkook continued.

Gradually, that lost look on Taehyung's face morphed into genuine understanding.

"It all did seem a bit too coincidental," he quietly agreed.

Jungkook nodded.

"What are you planning to do?"

"I..." Jungkook faltered. What would he do? He didn't have a plan or anything. "I... I was thinking that we could figure out why or who was behind it all."

Taehyung didn't say anything but when he glanced at him, he was nodding.

"How do we do that though?" Taehyung asked. "By ourselves especially? If you think about it... none of the others will agree."

"I know."

"You know who really won't agree? Min Yoongi. He doesn't want to talk about what happened to hyung at all."

"I know, it's just..."

"Just things to consider, that's all."

Jungkook sighed. Taehyung was right. Yoongi seemed to barely do anything these days. Sometimes he would just sit in what used to be his and Jin's bedroom and look at the bloodstains on the wall. They seemed like relics of a distant past. Namjoon tried to talk to him about it once, which ended in a massive fight that Jungkook didn't like to remember.

"I'm with you on this one though," Taehyung said. "I want to find out what really happened too."

Smiling in relief, Jungkook glanced down at his lap. He just had to figure out what to do now.

"You know who would agree too?" Taehyung asked.

"Who?"

"Jimin."

"Really?"

Taehyung nodded. When Jungkook caught his eye, he caught the first real glimmer of happiness that he had felt in months.

"I have a place to start too," Taehyung continued. "For whatever reason, the police gave the note back to me and I have it with me."

Jungkook's eyes widened. They did have a place to start. It was right in front of them.

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