BLACK ✓

37

"Ladies first, and may I say, you look beautiful."

"Well..." She chuckled sweetly, " very chivalrous of you, and I like that." She raised up her glass and made a toast with the couple.

"And may I remind you that your wife is sitting right here?" His wondrous wife pulled him down, by his shirt, to sit back with her.

Inaya smiled at the couple before chugging down the liquor given to her. Jin and his wife, such beautiful and lovely people. And this idea of camping in Jin's backyard was probably what she needed after days of procrastinating and living her life in that one room.

"But before you two start, let me go back to my son." His wife initiated, patting Jin on his back before leaving the two to have some privacy and a talk that Inaya had been running away from.

"So tell me, Inaya, what do you want to do?" Jin asked brightly, pulling out a fresh slot of beer.

"Uhhh... Nothing?" She stared at her friend, wondering what he was up to. Last time Jin had asked this question to her, which was during a drunk celebration, she remembered she woke up with a heavy amount of makeup slapped, literally slapped, on her face. The artist being Kim Seokjin himself. She smiled at the memory before she looked at him again.

And as if it was on cue, Jin immediately started laughing his famous laugh, cleaning all the windows in the house at once, and had to drink water to calm himself. "Oh, no, no, no, that's not what we are going to do." He chuckled. "I was saying why don't you talk?" The sudden change in his humour caught her off-guard.

"Talk about what?"

"Stuff. You and Jungkook."

"Jin... See," She heaved a deep breath, "there's nothing left to talk. It's all over." She looked away, staring at the small bonfire lit by him.

"You cannot keep it inside forever, Inaya, and you know that better than me." He stated, "Who helped us get here? Why are we two together and happily married?" He referred to himself and his wife. "It was you, Inaya. You were the one who said, 'never let the misunderstandings, the hatred win', then why don't you just go and talk to him? Clear it out with him? Probably he has some reasons and he is willing to tell you-"

"If he is, then he won't be just sitting in his home drunk and type utter bullshit over texts to get me back!" She snapped back at Jin, visibly angry, but Jin wasn't the cause and she didn't want to admit that Jungkook was affecting her. "Look, this isn't working so I'll just leave and sleep."

"Inaya, stop." She turned to look at Jin, who was holding her hand gently. "Don't hurt yourself, we all are here for you." There was a look of genuinty in his eyes and Inaya couldn't ignore that, because she hadn't felt that for a long time.

She was broken and she wanted someone to lean on, but had no idea who would fit the job and not break her again. She didn't want a lover anymore, no friends, no family, still she couldn't leave them behind and she was aware. If it wasn't for this marvellous guy sitting infront of her, she would have drank and drank until her senses gave in.

A small drop of tear left her eyes and she felt the warm embrace of her friend. She hung on him like a koala. She sobbed softly and he patted her back with the utmost care. He mumbled something and she didn't hear that but she did realise, all over again, how important he was for her.

Jungkook, how much she loved him and how much she cared for him.

"Stay calm, Inaya..." Jin's palm petted her face sweetly as he stared at the troubled eyes of his friend. It took a lot for him to let her cry, because she needed that, and not console her. He didn't stop her but neither did he leave her alone. Rather he made her sit, wrapped a blanket around her and hugged her form tightly to make her feel warm and comforted.

"I love him..." She whispered, her voice quivered slightly.

"And he loves you, too." Jin mumbled, assuring her.

She needed that, a little reassurance, that all her life she hadn't made the wrong choice but fate had been playing bad with her. That she was right when she loved Jungkook, because that love was reciprocated, but fate just couldn't let her have that. That even Yoongi was a good lover but it was just their careers that had pulled them apart.

But by fair means, Jungkook was a ray of hope, he made her shine, he lifted her from better to best, he made her feel her worth and somewhere he gave her a new reason to love, moreover, he turned out to be that beautiful reason.

She was well aware that he needed her, she had known it the moment she saw his eyes drowned in guilt whilst he stood in the middle of the show, like a clown. A clown that was being humiliated and was upset with no smile on his face but rather a deep feeling of sadness. Because his eyes didn't glitter when he saw her, his mind wasn't at peace when he felt her and his heart wouldn't have calmed even if she would've kissed him. Because she couldn't be the superhero she had once been. Because she had ran away like a coward.

"And I hate myself," Even if she stared at the fire, she couldn't find hope. She couldn't feel warm. She couldn't find faith. She couldn't see a reason to continue...

"Don't say that, Inaya!" Jin shook her form, making her look at him. "Why would you say that?"

"I- I am... Such a loser."

"No! No, you aren't." He hugged her again when he found her tears ebbing out again.

"I didn't keep my promise," She snivelled, tugging on his clothes. "I couldn't be the superhero I should have. I ran away. Like a coward. Because I cannot do it all over again, I cannot let it all drown me again. I don't want to feel the pain but it is already consuming me. Even if I try to suppress that, I can't. I... I hate it, I hate being like this, being the vulnerable one."

She finally let out. She needed someone and Jin could do anything to help her feel safe. Because, as she said, she was vulnerable, but that wasn't just the case, she was strong, too. He had known that, she was strong and he admired her for that. But if she wasn't recognising her own strength, he took it as his responsibility to get her back up.

"It's nothing, Jin, but I cannot believe it. Jungkook is the sweetest person I've ever met, and I've felt that, too. The love, the passion, the desire, whatever you name. And I have selfishly wanted him just for myself because he was the only one. The one to give me my space and still make me do things that I would've hesitated to do. The one who knew each and every detail about me, that probably I would've never known. The one who loved me even when I didn't love him back." She sighed.

"And now, when I am so deeply in love with him, he is snatched away... Just like that. Just like a spec of dust he flew away from me. Just like a drop of water he got mixed in the vast ocean and I cannot find him. Just like... a minute piece of mine that I have dropped somewhere carelessly, he's lost, but I cannot live without it, without him. Because he is so much to me."

She was heartbroken, melancholic, depressed and lonely. She wanted him to come back to her and fly over the cities and oceans, just like he had said. Because she was his superhero and she was supposed to secure him. But she felt defeated, she felt betrayed. As if her own territory had backstabbed her in her weakest point.

She was defenceless and the hard reality had struck her mercilessly. She was shattered and her knight in shining armour didn't come to collect her. She was a Damsel in distress and her worries didn't leave her side. She grew sadder and that was drowning her down, as if some much stronger force was pulling her to the sea bed but she couldn't stop. She needed to come back up and breathe and survive. Because if she would drown, she wouldn't be herself, she would be a dead person whose grave was buried by her emotions.

"Go and talk to him." Jin declared and she stared at him for a few seconds.

"I... Don't know..."

"No, Inaya, literally, go and talk to him. Because if he loves you, he would never leave you."

And that was true, and that she had known.

But was she ready?

†††††

A/n

Damn, this chapter was hard. And idk if it's upto the mark? 乁( •_• )ㄏ

Be the best of you!