Finding Zen (With BTS' JIMIN)

5. What Just Happened

HIM

It wasn't the first such mob encounter and it certainly wasn't really the last ever, but he couldn't help wishing this didn't have to happen. He wanted to feel normal, but not everyone seems to respect it. There were so many lenses pointing their way and photographs and videos getting recorded that he slightly zoned out wishing they would all just freeze and they could get by. He managed to catch himself though, in time and he nodded tothe rest as they had planned, with an intention to speed walk their way in with their managers and staff helping get them some breathing space.

Not what happened there though. The crowd suffocated them and the staff basically tried to get everyone at least away from physical contact distance.

Things seemed calm inside and he sure wanted to go in, but a silent fear rose within him.

What if there were some inside who were just waiting for the right moment...

It was a stark contrast to the chaos that made it really hard for him to breathe, but what if they were really just waiting. Almost everyone was watching and no one was getting up.

The automatic doors decided that they should close and a few staff members went over to keep them open and a lot of security forces were diverted to the scene.

The staff seemed to compose themselves pretty quick and the queues were being processed again and a lot of people queued had already turned away too.

Finally they slipped in. He didn't want to look like a kid studying the place, but he had already taken quite a glance. Mainly to distract himself from the mobbing, but he realized that he had memorized quite a bit of the scene and could note some of the people who had left the seats to queue up and some others who had moved ahead in their queues.

He didn't know why, but he had this wierd moment of feeling peace, like what he was looking for, but he didn't know what made it wash over him.

There was both deja vu and jamais vu right that moment and his mixed emotions weren't helping as he followed Manager Seijin, blindly, still lost in his thoughts, amidst the others and the staff.

They walked the whole span of the area to the VIP counter and he could feel his confusion grow. It was extremely unbearable and he almost spoke it out loud, but his brain had emptied. He was spacing out as he mumbled "Taehyungie...?" with some feeling that he was next to him, which he was but he had to stop, almost walking into Namjoon ahead of him when they stopped at the desk. Tae hadn't seem to notice since no reply came and he began looking around for him.

The confusion in his head peaking to climax while he felt like he was alone in a crowd but as he turned he froze and it seemed like his brain was empty, not just of the confusion, but of literally everything.

Taehyung had heard him and managed to walk up from where he was and give him a "hm?", but Jimin didn't respond. His gaze was almost a stare as he faced a young woman who moved from him to all of them, greeting them politely in bothKorean and English. Tae was amused since she didn't seem Korean, he smiled since she seemed like she could be a much nicer type of a fan.

He could have sworn that she gave Jimin a second glance before she turned away and reported at the desk, heaving her luggage onto the conveyer. He also knew that Jimin literally froze and he was probably staring with his jaw open and he made it a point to tease him on later. He waved among few staff, Namjoon and Hoseok, before leaving, one hand on Jimin to make sure he was coming.

The older male snapped out of it, more confused and overflowing with questions.

Did the others see it... There were so many people there...

But who was she- she definitely knew I made eye contact-

But who is she... I don't think I have ever seen her before... not fansign... no... not really anywhere...

Wait- what have I done....

DID I MESS IT UP FOR EVERYONE-

Tae patted his shoulder, interrupting his growing thought spiral. He slowly decided to approach it, keeping it between them; "what happened...?"

After a brief silence he let out a whisper "I don't know... this deja vu... the jamais vu... the moment we got out of the van... I don't know, but at one point it felt... calm... like... I stopped overthinking... but now it's back ever worse..."

Tae hugged him, throwing an arm around his shoulders, "want to keep this just between us? We could get it talked through?" Jimin nodded, fiddling with his clothes, making Tae more concerned as they made their way rothe VIP lounge.

They all plopped down and Jimin stretched hoping that seeming sleepy might keep them from noticing how fas his head was working.

The boys and managers split - some heading over to the refreshments, some staying back while few others head out to the restrooms.

Jimin gave Tae a nod as he stood up, but shook his head when he got up to follow. He gave him a light pat before slipping out, reassuring the others and Tae that it wouldn't be necessary to have a manager accompany him.

He slinked out, but he chose to avoid the others in the VIP area by slipping into a stall in the Business class lounge.

Locking himself in he first took a few moments to quietly pace. The anxiety bubbling up within showed no signs of fizzling out as his mind clouded with questions.

Hienq

He had heard someone come in while back and he also thought he was hearing the tap. He knew it would probably be really odd for someone to have been in for so long and so he composed himself for a few more moments and opened the door.

He almost instantly wanted to just explode. He wanted to get back in and lock the door, but he also wanted to approach her about all this that was happening despite the fact that he shouldn't have been without a manager and that he shouldn't have even come to this lounge. Gulping down what they might do if they realise that he had never gone to that restroom and ran for another space to calm down at, he walked out trying not to face her directly or through the mirror over the sink and turned to even shut the door behind him.

He wanted to disappear, or at least run away, but he wanted to get to the bottom of why that one moment of peace had started giving him more unrest. Also, she seemed to know them and could be a fan, she might be able to tell it's him too since she had seen him in the outfit and it would be extremely awful and horrifying if he just walked out like that from a stall after being in there for so long and having touched the door, without washing his hands. It wouldn't just be indecent, it was also completely unhygienic. Even though he knew he would use a sanitizer when he got back to the others, he couldn't seem to not want to ruin how he seemed to her, though he didn't actually know how he already did.

He sighed, grip on the door tightening for a moment before he turned to the sink, having steeled himself enough, or so he hoped.