VENGEANCE

17. Face the memories

"Ahh, finally!" Taehyung exclaimed as Jimin and Jungkook walked in, carrying a trekking backpack with them. "My mum was making a fuss about carrying snacks with us" Jimin said. "My mum gave snacks too" Jungkook said. 

"Taehyungie, come here" Taehyung's mom suddenly yelled from the kitchen. "Looks like she is gonna give some too" Hoseok said as Taehyung ran to the kitchen. Soon, he returned with a bag full of snacks. 

"I don't think we will need to have lunch today" Taehyung sighed as he stuffed the snacks bag into his backpack. "Okay, let's go! Thank you for the snacks, Mrs. Kim" Jin hollered. "You are welcome" she said as she walked out of the kitchen. "Stay safe. Return in single pieces" she said, making them chuckle. 

"Mom, we won't be back for dinner. We are going to Doore Yoo in the evening" Taehyung said. "Oh! You never went there, right? Make sure to add a photo if you can" she said. "Okaiie" he said as they went out and walked to the bus stop. 

They reached the point where they were supposed to start climbing up. They start walking up to the peak of the mountain, following the trail as they looked around, enjoying the scenery and the refreshing, cool, soothing breeze. 

"Aaahh, it's been long since I breathed in this kind of air" Jungkook exclaimed as he enjoyed his surroundings. "I know, right?!" Jin and Hoseok exclaimed. 

Namjoon turned away, blinking away tears as he fought the memories that he had buried deep inside his mind from resurfacing. 

"Ohh! Look at that! Pyeonggwang Apples! It's been long since I ate them! Let's go, let's go!" Taehyung said and soon, they were running towards the beautiful orchid. They sat under one of the trees and opened their snacks. 

"Let's get the apples too" Hoseok said and got up. Jungkook tried getting them, but they were far too high for him to get them alone. "Tae, come here" he called. "Haan" Taehyung said. He understood what Jungkook wanted and immediately bent down on all fours. 

Jungkook climbed on his back and reached for the apples. Soon, they had a dozen apples with them. They dusted themselves and settled down to have their snacks. 

They spent a lot of time under the tree, cracking jokes and laughing at each other, talking about their childhood experiences. "Let's go to this Gatwabi Buddha. After that, we can go back" Jimin said. 

"It's the sculpture which grants you your wish if you pray from your heart, right?" Hoseok asked. "Yeah" Taehyung and Jungkook answered. 

"It actually works, you know? I prayed that I wanted to study together and live with Taehyung and Jimin in Seoul. It worked" Jungkook said. "Aigoo" Taehyung and Jimin exclaimed and hugged him. "Okay, then. Let's go" Jin said, got up.

"Namjoon hyung, are you crying?" Jimin suddenly asked, looking at the tears forming in Namjoon's eyes. "No, no, it's just the dust" Namjoon said as he wiped his tears, rubbing his eyes in his process. 

"Namjoon...." Jin said, placing a hand on his shoulder. And that was all it took for him to finally burst into tears. 

"I shouldn't have come back" he cried. They stayed silent, letting him cry so that he would let it all out. They all knew how much Namjoon had gone through in the past three months. Jin simply rubbed his arm, providing him some support. 

"What was I thinking? It is pure torture for me here. Everything is bringing up memories that I worked so hard to bury. I thought I would be able to handle it after five and a half years, but everything is the same. Everything is familiar, and everything is reminding me of all the stuff I ran away from" Namjoon sobbed.