Milk in My Tea

12. Raw

Namjoon’s POV

I took the steps two at a time, ignoring Yoongi-hyung’s shout about waiting for the elevator. I didn’t have time to waste on waiting, Quinn needed me and she needed me now. I burst onto a lower floor, where thankfully one of the other elevators had opened as soon as I reached the landing, finally jumping in.

The trip from the very top of our company’s building to the basement floor felt like the longest two minutes of my life. I expected to hear her crying when I reached the bottom floor, but I was greeted by something else that was even more terrifying -- silence.

As I neared the classroom door, I found J-Hope leaning against the wall outside of the room.

“Joon-ah-” was all he managed to get out, before he shook his head and motioned towards the door. “She’s not crying. At all.”

“What?” I questioned dumbly, my brain barely processing his words. Not crying?

Hobie shook my shoulders and repeated the words, “Tae Tae and I are really worried because she’s not crying. She’s not making any sound-”

I didn’t let him finish, turning away to step into the doorway. I could hear Taehyung’s soft murmurs searching around the room for them. I finally stopped when I found him sitting next to Quinn on the floor, his arms around her shoulders as she stared straight ahead, her eyes focusing on nothing at all.

Taehyung looked up the moment he saw me, “Hyung, she-”

Quinn’s gaze finally shifted on me and I saw her blink slowly. Her bottom lip began to tremble, and I realized the problem. It wasn’t her, it was them. Quinn was trying to hold it together because the others were in the room with her.

Because she was technically still at work.

“Wangbi-ah,” I whispered, hoarsely, approaching the two of them slowly. Taehyung stood and Quinn allowed him to help her up from the floor. I kept my gaze centered on Quinn, “Taehyung, go outside and close the door. Don’t let anyone in.”

Taehyung looked at me in confusion for a moment, but nodded and slowly removed himself from Quinn’s side to do as he was told. I held my arms out and Quinn approached me slowly, the first of many tears streaming silently down her cheeks, “Baby, it’s okay. No one else is here.”

“N-Namjoon,” she choked out with a sob that sprang from instant she heard the door close. I crushed her against me as she began to cry in earnest. It turned to outright bawling in seconds and I just held onto her tighter, her hair.

“You can cry now, baby. It’s okay. Wangbi-ah, let it all out.”

At my words, Quinn sobbed even harder, the force of her grief wracking her body with tremors. Listening to her sobs was probably one of the worst moments of my life. I just wanted to do whatever I could to make her feel better, but I knew that this was all I could do. Quinn sunk back down to the floor and I knelt down with her, still holding her closely, feeling her tears seep into my shirt.

It was there and then, listening to the grief-stricken sobs of the most beautiful woman I’d ever met; holding her against me, that I realized I was completely and absolutely in love with Quinn “Queenie” Abbé.

Quinn’s POV

I wasn’t sure how long I stayed in Namjoon’s arms, crying myself sick from my baby sister’s phone call. Surely longer than either of us expected and long enough for Niah and Karissa to come to Big Hit to pick me up. When Namjoon finally let me go to open the door for them, I had cried myself into a numb silence.

“Oh, Queenie,” Niah murmured softly, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. She and Karissa spoke softly to the guys around me, while Namjoon held my hand on my other side. When his manager came down to find us and told him gently that he couldn’t hold off anymore off their schedule, I finally realized what I had done.

“Joon-ah, you should go.” Namjoon opened his mouth to protest, but I shook my head slowly, “I need you to go.”

“Wangbi-ah, I can’t leave you like this,” he told me in a pleading tone, and I silenced him with a single finger against his lips.

“You’re not leaving me. You’re going to work. Niah and Rissa are here. Please go.”

He looked like he wanted to say more, but at his manager’s insistence, he finally agreed to it. Namjoon frowned, pressing a kiss to my forehead, “Text me when you get home. I don’t care if I’m on stage; I promise I’ll answer.”

I gave him a watery half-smile and waved him off, watching as he looked over his shoulder unhappily one more time before he disappeared from view.

“Come on, girl, let’s get you home.” Niah told me, reaching into my purse to pull out my car keys. We got to the parking garage without incident and Karissa climbed in the back of the car with me, while Niah slid into the driver’s seat.

We rode in silence until Karissa bumped my shoulder with a soft smile, “This might not be the right time to say this, but…. Thanks, Queenie.” When I lifted an eyebrow curiously, she continued, “You talked some sense into the guys and let me tell Kookie my plans, on my own. We didn’t give Niah that chance, but you let me have mine.”

“Baby Girl-” I began to say, but Karissa shook her head, cutting me off.

“He has some growing up to do and now, I know that I do too.”

I squeezed Rissa’s hand, leaning against her shoulder, “I think we’re all growing up a lot more than we ever