Pathways

So Far + So Close (part I & II)

The wind blew over the banks of the Han River and the cool, evening air soothed the earth and the scars. Stars began to shine through the clouds of sunset as a group of five young men sat in a broken circle, talking loudly. Millions of others might have done that before them but they didn't share their stories. Peacefulness and chaos mixed in equal proportions, obtaining balance.

"What do you mean they left?" Jimin sat down together with one of the big brown bags he helped carry to the meeting spot.

Seokjin and Namjoon already started distributing the food and drink, mindful of sauces and what everybody else ordered, double-checking the receipts. Hoseok pushed a handful of money into Namjoon's hand, telling him it was the amount Jungkook left them for his and Taehyung's food, just before leaving, only a couple of minutes prior to their arrival.

Namjoon looked at the money like a madman. "What am I supposed to do with their food, then?" he asked while frowning at the box of chicken wings. If somebody was to ask Namjoon, leaving a meeting spot was not peculiar behavior for Jungkook, but leaving a full dish of food to waste, certainly was.

Jin asserted the situation by moving his eyes between Yoongi and Hoseok, "but what happened? Why did they leave?".

"Tae started crying," Hoseok began and a loud noise came from Jimin's direction which was already searching for his phone in panic. Tae's crying sprees could be vicious if they happened.

The calmness was threatened by agitation but Yoongi placed his hand over the phone and pushed it downward, signaling to the younger boy to let go of the device. He could have sworn that Jimin flinched at the touch but he dismissed it as a reaction to the news.

"He was out of it, Jimin-ah. He's just upset... let him..." Yoongi whispered paternally as he also caressed Jimin's hand to comfort him. Something in what he said or did worked wonders because the boy calmed down almost instantly, letting the phone fall on the grass gently. He placed his free hand over Yoongi's and squeezed it lightly.

Namjoon sat down properly and went through all the bags for whatever looked appetizing enough to eat first. He knew so little about Taehyung that his distress was simply reasonable. Of course somebody would feel like shit in his circumstances and crying was a way of letting out frustration. He had no idea how complicated Tae's soul was and how well Jimin knew the pathways of his suffering. He figured that sometimes, knowing a subject's details too well made one lose sight of the bigger picture. "Maybe he wants to process everything," he casually stated as he bit into a chicken leg, hungrily.

The pink turned white bush of hair that was Jimin's, snapped in his direction. "Then why did he leave with Jungkook?" he spat back, a bit of poisonous jealousy appearing in his tone out of nowhere. A gentle squeeze of his palm from Yoongi came as a breeze in the desert heat.

"Sometimes it's better to vent to a stranger. It's just easier, you know?" he casually answered with a mouthful of chicken. "And Jungkook is a good listener, don't worry about them," he added as he reached for the napkin Jin handed him, aware that there was too much sauce in his vicinity.

Hoseok side-eyed Yoongi for a split second, wondering if he should speak up about everything he had learned but his hyung only looked at the ground, careful to attract as little attention as possible. "He looks like he'd fuck his life up for Tae" came Yoongi's words in his mind. He instantly decided that he hated keeping the secret and all the fragments of information which still made little sense. The truth had to surface eventually and he would also be trapped in the lies. All that he could do was soften the blow. Even if he barely understood what had happened, Jungkook really did look like he would destroy himself for Tae, even if the idiot tried to hide it. It was a matter of time and nobody could know exactly who would end up the most hurt.