Long Night

Namjoon is at the rooftop, looking at the stars. His mind was still a mess, but the stars above him are even more complicated for him. He looks at his phone once before heaving a deep sigh, suddenly missing Seokjin's presence lingering beside him. It's like he cannot live a minute without the elder beside him; even if he was physically absent, his presence was always felt by him. It's as if it is a part of him.

Bored, he starts counting the stars, one by one, thinking about Seokjin and Taehyung at the same time.

While his relationship with Seokjin is quite confusingly platonic, Taehyung is quite different. It isn't a love-hate relationship, or a completely-despising relationship or a not-hating-on-you relationship. It is... unexplainable. Yeah, unexplainable, that's what it is. So unexplainable that even Namjoon, the one who writes the best out of the whole group; the dictionary among the seven, is at a loss of words.

He never really likes how he came to know about his half-brother.

It was a long night, with his parents fighting again and him shutting himself in his room, trying to block out the sound. He was a grown adult, but he still never liked it when his parents fight; nor had he knows how to avoid or block it from affecting his life.

It was even more depressing that they were arguing over him being illegible to be the legal heir, once his family found out he was gay.

There's nothing wrong with the way of your heart, He had consoled himself, but it still hurt.

"I've hid it from my son for years that you have another son; A son who isn't fit enough to be in our family! You have betrayed us and I never told him anything about that! And now you are going to bring him in to replace Namjoon?"

It was so loud and clear that he wondered whether they were faking it or it just came out in a flow.

"I'm not even helping them anymore! They're suffering, and she is now counting her last days! Your son isn't fit for the family anyway. He's going to ruin my reputation out there"

That hurt him deeply. People never think through before they say anything, right? He chuckled to himself. Grabbing his hoodie, he got out of the house through the back door, being as quiet as possible.

He just wanted to run away to the end of the world and cry his heart out.

A ring from his phone snaps him from the trail of memories.

Can you come to the IB, like now? The short message reads. It is Seokjin.

"IB? Why would he go to the Infirmary?" He frowned as he gets up, dusting his pants out of habit and grabbing his phone before heading downstairs to the Infirmary Building.

Why the IB tho? He replies to his message with the ask, confused and curious.

And never had he run this fast in his life.

Hoseok stands at a corner, slightly shivering in fear.

"It's nothing; just exhaustion and dehydration. He should be fine in about a couple of days" He heard the Head Doctor say, but he still cannot bear to see Park Jimin-- the one who is equally hyper as him and Taehyung-- unmoving and unconscious just like that. 

Seokjin stands beside him, sensing how afraid Hoseok is right now. He could understand, though: he was practically spoiled with the happier side of life that the boy just doesn't understand any of these. Though he was a guy to worry over a lot of things, he had never given a single thought about something like this. He had assumed that people were always healthy enough to live a long life; that sick was just an exaggerated expression of someone being too tired. He had heard of fainting, but had never experienced or seen it in real life.

You can say he had been living under a rock of happiness all this time.

"You don't have to look like you're guilty of killing someone, Hoseok" Seokjin jokes, trying to lighten up the grim and dampened atmosphere.

"... Is he that sick?" He asks, looking like a clueless puppy.

"Sick? You can say that, if you want." Seokjin shrugs back, trying to find words to explain it to him.

"He's going to be fine, right?"

"This isn't serious, Hoseok. It's... it's like your body forced you to rest"

"I told that brat to take a break; I didn't know he was in the room the whole evening dancing his off without a break! I was just kidding about that!"

Seokjin knows no way to say anything to comfort the frightened guy because he himself is a bit shocked. Jimin is usually a hard-worker, yes, but he never takes anything this far and this serious. He looks at the black-haired guy resting peacefully, and all he could do is sigh.

Namjoon walks as fast as he can: the Infirmary Building is practically at the other end of the huge campus. He still cannot believe what Seokjin said.

On his way, he sees Taehyung and contemplates whether to inform him or not, but finally chooses not to. Probably because he doesn't know how the latter would react, since Jimin was the closest friend of his.

"Hey! Wait, hyung" He really dislikes it when Taehyung calls him 'hyung', implying that the two were having a somewhat close relationship. More than for his own, he doesn't want to be close with this guy for at least his mom. That would be like betraying her.

"I'm not your hyung, Kim Taehyung" He growls.

"Sorry, hyung" This guy doesn't get it in one time, does he? "Where are you going?"

"No-thing... To the IB?"

"IB? Are you sick or something?" Taehyungs keeps a hand over the taller's forehead, and the latter's reflexes are inhumanely fast.

"I'm not sick!"

"Then?"

"... Jimin"

"Oh... Wait, did you just say Jimin?" There. This was the reaction he was afraid of.

As much as Hoseok hated the mere word of 'sickness', Kim Taehyung did too. "Did something happen to him? Is he really at the IB?"

"Y... Yeah."

"I'll come with you" With that, Taehyung walks-- more like runs-- ahead of Namjoon.

"But what happened?!" He yells from a distance to Namjoon.

"I'll come, idiot" The taller guy groans and walks to Taehyung.

"Wait, who told you about Jimin being here?" Seokjin asks as soon as he sees Taehyung enter the room instead of Namjoon. The mentioned person followsright after him, heaving a deep sigh.

"Hyung, you could have looked after him!" Taehyung whines as he sits beside the bed, worry writ all over his face.

"How did he come?"

"I just... He happened to see me on the way"

"And?"

"I couldn't not tell him about this"

"Managing this guy itself is hard, now with Taehyung... you know both are uncomfortable with these conditions"

"How did he end up like.. this?" Namjoon diverts the question, hoping Seokjin would forget it too.

"Hoseok said the boy possibly danced his off from this evening, witout a break. He's so scared, Joon"

"As you said, he's uncomfortable with situations like these." Namjoon looks over at the two, Taehyung fussing all over Jimin while Hoseok never left that corner of the room.

This is going to be a long night.