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048: goodbye

chapter 48: goodbye
location: seoul, south korea

True to his word, the next morning, Roger Ernesto and Deborah LaPostale Ernesto held a press conference in front of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center. They explained to CNN and to other news companies about the Mikroksomos Project, how it had been developed by both LaPostale and Baepsae in the 1950's to assist with the Korean War during the Red Scare. The project had been supposed to decommission in 1958, and while LaPostale had held up their end of the bargain, Baepsae hadn't. The result was an entire town destroyed, hundreds of lives lost over decades, due to Baepsae's negligence and carelessness.

The Internet was a good source of news, but fake news was not a thing yet. The United States public became very concerned for the families of those in Buan-gun, and fundraisers were started to send money overseas to the families. But the public in South Korea were outraged. President Daejung Kim signed a national emergency into order after people wouldn't stop protesting in the streets. Shoppers refused to buy Baepsae products. Soon after, David's predictions came true. Baepsae shut down, losing its chaebol status. The assets were divided between several companies, but the remnants of the Mikrokosmos Project and any electronic device production departments were bought by LaPostale. Soon after, the Baepsae building in downtown Seoul had the LaPostale logo on its side instead.

And Debbie had agreed that, despite LaPostale being a Western company, the Korean department needed a Korean man to lead it. While they chose one of Baepsae's executives to run the department for a while, there was an understanding that Kim Namjoon would take over once he finished his studies, first finishing his undergraduate degree in Columbia, then returning to Korea for graduate studies.

But that was all in the future. While Debbie was making her announcement, David bailed all seven boys out of prison -- including Yoongi and Seokjin. They reunited at Baepsae's headquarters temporarily, with the understanding that Yoongi and Seokjin would have to leave for the military in two days time (they, of course, were not off the hook). David kept them all safe in the conference room, and the reunion was unlike anything anybody had ever seen. Seokjin was tackled by Hoseok, who was then tackled by Jimin, the others coming around them. And when Yoongi entered the room, Namjoon ran to him first, holding him close.

"We lost the tape." Tears streamed from Yoongi's eyes. "We lost the tape."

"There will be more tapes, I promise." Namjoon kissed Yoongi on the forehead, then turned, forgetting he was in front of everybody. Five pairs of shocked eyes stared back at him, then shock turned to cheering and excitement.

"It's about time," Jimin said, sticking out his tongue.

"You owe me!" Hoseok yelled at Jungkook. "Two bottles of soju and tickets to the Rockettes!"

"Ugh, I hate the Rockettes," David moaned. "So, your parents have all been contacted, or in Namjoon's case, I guess I'm just hanging out here with you for a while. The government isn't going to let you back into America for a while as we get this all sorted out. Not only do we have to shut down the Mikrokosmos Project, but Yoongi and Seokjin are actually charged with evading conscription and visa fraud. I think the rest of you have been banned from entering America for...what, a year? I think? Ugh, I don't know how Korean politics work, this is why I stick to being an American in America."

All of the boys were silent. "Well," Taehyung said, the first one to voice his opinion. "We don't have anything to return to in America. No jobs, no school right now. No Sara." Sara hadn't called David again, so she had now been missing again for three or four days. "Everything is uncertain. But there are a few things that we are sure of. The first is that we cannot return yet. The second is that we will be able to return, someday. The third is that, even though this adventure didn't turn out the way we wanted it to, there were people who were brought to justice because of it. I think it ended all right." The others nodded. "And the fourth is, I think we should all do our military service now."

"What?!" the others said.

"I thought the whole point was us not getting separated!" Jimin said.

"But that's Taehyung's point," Yoongi realized. "Before, just Seokjin and I had to do the service, because we were graduating and our visa was up. The five of you would remain in America, and we were afraid we would never see each other again. So we all escaped to stay together, and look at us now! We're all together, anyway. So even if we're all in the military together, even if we're all separated, we all know it will be for only a certain amount of time. We will know that we're all going through the same hardships. That we all sleep under the same sky. That we're all going to miss Moon Pies and commiserate and it will be horrible, but at some point, it will be done. And when it is done, we will still be together. All seven of us. And we will go back to America, and we will complete our studies, and we will find jobs that suit us." He looked at Taehyung. "And we will find Sara. We always find Sara, don't we? This isn't the end. Maybe this is just the beginning."

"I agree," Namjoon said. "As much as it sucks, I think if we get our enlistment out of the way now, then we have the rest of our lives ahead of us. We have so much to do with our time in this world, and it may not be how we envisioned it, but we've found a way to walk this path together."

"Together." The seven boys crowded around each other for a hug, shedding tears of joy and of sadness. They had made it. Seven, together, forever.