GONE HOME.

1- START ANEW.

rain pelted the windows, lightning striking off in the distance as seokjin dragged his luggages up the stairs to his parents home- which would also be his own had he not gone abroad to their home country, korea, before they moved with his younger brother, jeongguk. he dropped his bags under the patio roof, looking up at the door to see a note tapped to it. seokjin, recognizing the messy writing that shamelessly belonged to jeongguk, he leaned close to read it.

"jinnie-hyung, i'm so sorry i can't be here to welcome you home from your trip- but please. don't go digging around to figure out where i am. i don't want anyone to know. we'll see eachother again. someday.

—jeonggukie."

seokjin's brows furrowed. jeongguk had scribbled out 'mom and dad' and wrote 'anyone' over it. "what's this idiot talking about?" the man mumbled to himself as he picked up the christmas duck, seeing a key under it- like his mother had said over the phone. he felt as if jeongguk was just playing a trick on him to welcome him back home after being gone for so long. figuring he could just bring his belongings in later, he unlocked the door with a smile, opening it only to be welcomed by complete darkness.

strange.
jeongguk would usually have every light on in the house when he was alone.

"jeongguk?" he called out, only to hear his voice echo through the large house. shrugging, he reached around on the wall blindly in the dark, finding the light switch for the foyer's overhead light. now that he could actually see, he made his way over to a table near the stairs, where the answering machine resided. it was a habit to check it everytime he came home before. he wiggled his fingers around a bit before he pressed the button to play messages from that current day.

"jeongguk.. jeongguk, hellooo..- jeongguk!" a deep, almost distressed sounding voice came from the machine, seokjin had no time to question it before it went to the next message- someone sobbing- maybe the same person as the last message. "jeongguk.. where are you? i need to talk to you- please, be there.." seokjin bit his lip in confusion, the machine forwarding to the next message, which was his own- letting his family know he'd be back home early.

one question was on his mind as his eyes wandered up the large staircase.

where's jeongguk?

—

AUGUST 20TH, 1994.
dear seokjin,
so much has changed- even just since you've been away.
we moved into a new house, i'm in a new school, and you being gone for an ENTIRE year doesn't make it any easier.

it feels.. unreal.
but i can't let it faze me. i used to tell you everything, and if i can't tell you in person, because you're prancing around who-knows-where.

i'll tell it to this journal.
as if i was talking to you.

—
sooooo :> how we feelin ?
it's not as long as i want it be but—