6 years.

It had been  years since I'd met him.

6 years that  he'd had been always been there.

6 years that he'd  always brought a smile to my face, always there to hug me a little too tight, always there to brighten our days with that unforgettable rectangle smile.

How could any of us ever forget all those alien faces he made? His deep gravelly voice that was just too low to match his face? His incessant positivity? His weird habits? His unending love for us, for our Army's?

I thought all these things as I watched the projections on the wall in that very same abandoned parking structure.

Memories passing.

Memories fading, but I could never forget.

Maybe a walk would clear my mind.

Why is my face wet?  

We'd all got some time off to make peace with everything.

It feels like it's been an eternity since the countdown ended, the slate clicked, and the scene had begun.

It's only been 3 days.

It's so cold.

I've revisited every spot we filmed at; the empty pool... he'd stood on that ledge so confidently. How could we have known? It was a scene.

That's all.

He just got really into the scene is all he said, but I saw it in his eyes. His eyes saw further than the horizon to something, some thought beyond what our eyes could see.

...the paths in the forest...we were having so much fun. I could've sworn his smile was true....

...the bathroom... I had always wondered why he'd never watched that scene get filmed. The words must have struck him wrong...

...the abandoned building... I'd always wondered why he genuinely wanted to go back to that beach... Maybe I should visit there too. I've sat here a bit too long watching all those videos... that beach...

... goddamn, that beach...that dock... Why was that scaffolding even there? He always did love to be up high. "To be above all his troubles," that's why he loved it so much up there.

We'd already finished the scene though. Why was he up there again? He just got dried off.

We'd all watched and laughed. "Do a flip!" we said.

We cheered.

We laughed.

He was right, it really does seem like you're high above your troubles. They don't seem so bad from up here.

All our memories we made... What am I supposed to do with them now?

I feel weightless.

I've always been told to face my problems head on, but they're all coming so fast.

Too fast.

I feel like I'm drowning.

Everything is wet.

Maybe some sleep would help?

It's  so dark.

Goodnight, friends.

I'll see you soon Tae.

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There wasn't one candle, but two that night.

It wasn't fair. They had left us too soon. The rest of them could agree on that much. What they couldn't figure out was: why?

That was a lie. The two were inseparable.

That was the end of it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We'll miss you. 

We weren't ready to lose you.

Our Army's will miss you too, but not more than we will.

We hope you finally managed to make it to that place that's above your troubles.

We just we weren't left below with your sorrows.

Rest easy.

With all our love,

Seokjin, Yoongi, Namjoon, Hoseok, and Jimin