[CONTENTID1]CHAPTER NINETEEN[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]

The evening was dead silent that day. SeokJin still in the café working till his bones rattled with exhaustion; NamJoon facing the disrespectful customers; and YoonGi god knows where, scattered everywhere and nowhere at the same time, though his wounds still had a way to go before healing.

Only HoSeok was present, but even him I did not see, being barricaded in his room with bags spread open before me and my shaking hands packing the clothes into them. With no house to move into, I gave up on searching all together, deciding to go to this area’s council and ask for some help, maybe even money to get me started all over again.

I wasn’t staying here any longer. Not now. Not when I lost my job because of my own foolishness of deciding to help a man who helped me on many more occasions. Lost my job due to being selfless for once. Lost it in order to repay my own debt. And now I’ll lose a place to live in, as well, because I wouldn’t be able to help them in any financial way. Would only burden them even more.

in a deep breath I rubbed at my cheeks, trying to distract myself from the gathering tears in the corners of my eyes. I will not cry. I was not weak. Not anymore.

Shutting the bags closed I stood up frankly, creaking the door open to an endless darkness that surrounded the rooms of the condo. It seemed like even HoSeok was not present with his sunny smile, warming the atmosphere and melting my heart every time I saw it.

It’s for the better, though… No ties to hold me back.

Quietly, on the tips of my toes, I scurried for the hall near the doors where my shoes were thrown to the side, along a couple of pairs of bigger ones, dirty with ears of use, some with holes, others with lost ties. It was their house, and my shoes, surprisingly clean compared to theirs, did not fit the scene at all. It didn’t blend it. I didn’t blend it.

The journey out was quick from there, and as I stood outside the living apartment, I turned to face it for the last time, taking in the balcony that I never even visited, blinds shut closely so that no prying eyes would see into their condo.

I thought back to the note I stuck on the fridge as my eyes wandered to the window of the kitchen. Wondered if what I wrote on the note would be enough to relieve them of their worries.

With a sad smile, I realised for myself that the words I spoke to reassure my pitiful self were all lies. I was weak. I was worse than weak, much, much worse. Pitiful, weak and ungrateful child. I should have stayed, waited till at least one of them came back home and told them that I was moving out. But instead I left a note saying not to worry since I found a new apartment.

Ah... That’s right… Maybe a part of why I simply left a note for a goodbye was because it was a lie, since there was nowhere for me to move out into. I was never a good liar, SeokJin could always read me, and I’m sure HoSeok could do the same. NamJoon would simply not let me move out until SeokJin would return, and then the tune would repeat.

I spun on my heels, slowly departing from the apartment and made my way down the road, somewhere far away. Somewhere where they would know less of where I lived, so that they wouldn’t worry as much.

Burying my nose into the red scarf tied around my neck to keep the cold away, I paused after a twenty-minute walk. There, parked in front of me, a black door of a limousine opened, and from inside the expensive vehicle, a groomed YoonGi stepped out, a frown creasing his young features as he slammed the sleek door and watched the car drive off.

A minute passed, then another, and another, and another, and he stood still, unflinching against the cold winds of the approaching winter. Until finally he sighed, and his shoulders slumped, spine curling inwards as he slouched, undoing the top button of his formal white shirt and untying the tie around his throat.

“Are you going to be standing there for much longer?” he spoke with impatience, tapping his foot against the cemented sidewalk and turned to face me with another frown. This one with less malice and more tiredness.

I watched his face for a little bit longer, until my eyes slid to the ground and I put a foot in front of myself, then another, and another, until my shoulder brushed his as I passed him. Only not too far, as his hand grabbed the handle of my bags and took them into his own.

“Where are you going?” his voice was cold, colder than the wind that blasted at my back, and bitter, even more so than