Thursday, October 2^nd, 2014

Yoongi looked at his phone as it rang, and looked at the clock on top of the screen. 2:45 AM?

"Yeah, Jungkook?" He asked as he answered the phone, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Yoongi, I need you to come here. It's Hwa."
"What's up, Jungkook?" Yoongi sat up, noticing the panic and worry in Jungkook's voice. 
"Please, it's urgent."

Yoongi immediately hung up and pulled on a jacket over his t-shirt, not bothering to close the door behind him as he strode over to Jungkook's flat.

"What's up?" Yoongi asked, and looked at Jungkook's puffed eyes worriedly. "Jungkook, you okay?"
"Dad passed away. We found out a while ago." He muttered.
"Jungkook-" Yoongi blinked. "Jungkook, I'm sorry-"
"Yoongi, I'm fine. Please." He looked at him pleadingly. "Hwa's in her bedroom."

Yoongi edged past Jungkook and rushed to her bedroom. As he opened the door, he found her in a hunched position in the corner of the room, her back facing him. Yoongi immediately knelt down beside her, and tapped her shoulder.

"Junghwa..." He began nervously. "Junghwa, talk to me-"
"I don't want to." She shook her head, her face buried into her knees. "I don't want to see anyone."
"I'm only trying to help." He murmured.
"Don't bother." She said curtly, now looking at the wall. "No one can help me now."
"Junghwa."

Yoongi said more firmly now, as he turned her around with one of his hands. In a fit of anger, her hand flew across his face, startling him. He looked down in shock, the red lines of her nails now prominent across his cheeks.

"Oh, , Y-Yoongi-" She stuttered, cursing over what she'd just done. "Y-Yoongi, I-I-"

Her voice failed her as he looked at her coldly. She looked down, covering her arms as she shivered from hurt and from the cold, but it was futile wearing a sleeveless shirt and expecting not to feel cold.

A momentary anger had flown across Yoongi's face, but he chose to ignore his feelings, and slowly pulled off his jacket. With a whoosh, he put it around her shoulders.

“No-” She stammered, as he took her hands in his. "Let me go!”

Junghwa tried to push him away, but he kept a firm hold on her hands. She gritted her teeth as she struggled against his grip.

“Stop being so nice to me!” She cried. “Stop being so kind! I’m such a , it’s my fault that mum died, and dad knew, and he left me too-"
"Hwa, it's not your fault!" He shouted, grabbing her arms tightly as she flayed about violently. 
"Yoongi, please! Stop pitying me-”
“Shut up.”

He finally snapped. Junghwa stopped stuttering as she looked up at him. He looked down at her with a cold expression, his eyes blazing with anger. Junghwa bit her lip, feeling that she'd hit a nerve.

“I’m not pitying you. I’m trying to help you get through this. Through the pain. I’m trying to break down these ridiculous walls you’ve put up to shut everyone out.”
“But-” Junghwa gasped, the emotions were choking her, being held her in , making her unable to speak.

“You know why some people build up walls, Junghwa?” He whispered, taking her tear-stained face in hers. “To see who cares enough to break them down.”

Without uttering another word, Yoongi pulled her into a tight, reassuring embrace that forcefully pulled out her emotions, as slowly, but surely, the shivering had become more pronounced.

“Sh, it’s not your fault. Never was, never will be.” Yoongi exhaled as he held her more tightly, as Jeon Junghwa, letting her walls finally fall, broke down and began to cry.

"Is she alright?" Jungkook walked into his sister's room. Yoongi was kneeling down beside the bed, Junghwa now breathing normally as she slept. Her hand was still in his.

Yoongi nodded as Jungkook sat down on the bed beside her sleeping figure.

"I knew she was going to take this bad." Jungkook mumbled quietly. "It's not easy losing both parents in a span of two months."
"Are you okay?" Yoongi asked him. Jungkook nodded.
"Yeah, I'm okay. I think so." He sighed. "I'm just more worried about Hwa."
"Yeah..." Yoongi nodded. "Jungkook, can you go and lock my apartment?"
"You're going to stay here?"
"Yeah. You should get some rest." He nodded at Jungkook.
"You don't have to, Yoongi-" Jungkook began.
"Jungkook, it's fine, really." Yoongi said firmly. "You've had a long day. Get some rest. You're gonna need it if you're flying back to America tomorrow."
"Thanks." Jungkook smiled gratefully.

Junghwa woke up, feeling an unknown numbness overcome her. Something was wrong. But what...?

"Hyung? Hey, why'd you call?" 

Junghwa looked up at her brother excitedly. Finally, her older brother was calling them after a long time. She jumped up towards them, a wide grin across her face. However, her smile fell when she saw the happiness fade from Jungkook's face. She looked at him worriedly, as he held onto the table to support himself. 

"Jungkook-?" She asked, taking the phone from his hand. Seeing that he was unable to speak, she held the phone to her ear. 
"Oppa?" She began. 
"Hwa, you might want to sit down." Jungho said quietly. Junghwa sat down, blinking rapidly. 
"What is it?" She whispered. 
"Hwa, it's Dad..." Jungho's voice cracked as he spoke, the strain in his voice obvious.

"Hwa... Dad's gone." 

Jeon Junghwa's already fragile world came crashing down around her.

She gasped.

Her dad was dead. Gone.

First her mother. And now her dad.

Tears appeared in her eyes and slowly streamed down her cheeks. She didn't want to cry. But she couldn't hold back the tears that formed.

"Is that all you needed?"

Junghwa listened to the voice closely. Wasn't that-

"Oh, you're up." Yoongi walked into the room, looking at Junghwa expressionlessly. She nodded slowly.
"You came over last night..." She mumbled, looking at his jacket which she was now wearing. He slowly nodded. She made to take it off, but he shook his head.
"Keep it. It's chilly outside." He said quietly. Junghwa slowly nodded.
"Thank you... for coming over. I appreciate it." Junghwa said softly. He sat down on the bed next to her, sighing heavily.
“I’m really sorry about your dad, Junghwa.” He mumbled. Junghwa nodded, looking out the window.
“He was a great guy…” Junghwa smiled wistfully. “When my mother couldn’t make me feel better, my dad always would.”

She looked down at her blanket, her tears piercing her vision again. She wiped her eyes rapidly, before looking back up at him.

“What about your dad, Yoongi?” She murmured. “Surely, he was a great man.”
“No.” Yoongi glared at the floor. “He was a bastard.”

The already tense feeling around her suddenly became more intense, more strained. Yoongi seemed to ooze with anger, as he looked away. She reached out to pat his shoulder, but he yanked himself away, his body language clearly showing that he was under pressure at the mere mention of his father. Junghwa blinked in surprise. What-

“My dad-” Yoongi clenched his fists tightly. Letting out a heavy sigh, he looked at her sadly.
“Sorry, I won’t ever understand how you feel.”
“Huh-?” She began, but he stood up and strode towards the door. He stopped at the door, glancing back at her.

“Call me when you’re there.” He mumbled, and walked out of her room. Junghwa looked after him in surprise.

Yoongi sighed to himself as he looked at his English textbook. It was really lonely, he realised, when Junghwa wasn’t sitting next to him in class.

But this was just like before. He was always alone in class. How come her absence was affecting him so much?

He had gotten so used to having someone sitting next to him, he had forgotten what it was like to be alone.

Even with his best friends, he was so distant, until Junghwa came along.

How was it that the presence of one person had affected him so greatly?

His mind raced with these thoughts, as he thought of the Jeon twins. It wasn't easy, losing both parents almost simultaneously. He didn't worry much about Jungkook though. Jungkook was strong, and Yoongi knew that he would be alright, after the initial shock had waned. But Junghwa... the poor girl was already traumatised by her mother's death, having had to witness it herself, and she was only just recovering from the loss of a parent. It seemed so cruel that her father had to unfortunately pass away as well. Yoongi suddenly began to fear for the girl. She had already contemplated suicide on the night they jumped into the pool, he didn't know what might happen, with the pressure of the emotions on her. He had a bad feeling that the cheering up he had tried to do, with the list they made together, would prove to be futile.

“Yoongi?”

He was snapped out of his thoughts as he looked up at his classmate, Kwon Jiae, who smiled at him.

“I needed some help with English, could you help me?” She asked hopefully. Yoongi opened his mouth to say no, but stopped. What was the point of pushing people away? He couldn’t do it forever… plus he was sure Junghwa wouldn’t have wanted him to, either.

He looked up at Jiae and smiled kindly.

“Sure. Grab a chair, and come over.”

“Oh, Yoongi, I heard you’re helping Kwon Jiae with Shakespeare?”

Namjoon looked at Yoongi with surprise. He slowly nodded.

“Yeah…” He mumbled. Namjoon let out a surprised gasp.
“Whoa, Yoongi, looks like you’re finally opening up, huh?” Namjoon gave him a small smile.
“Whatever.” Yoongi shrugged, sighing heavily as he opened his locker to take out one of his books. Just then, something fell out of it. Namjoon had noticed, and bent down to pick up the Polaroid photograph that was on the ground.

“Ah, when did you take this?” Namjoon grinned. Yoongi glanced at the picture in his hand, and realised that it was one of him and Junghwa.

“You both are adorable.” Namjoon snickered. Yoongi, in a fit of embarrassment, grabbed the picture from Namjoon, turning red as he stuffed it into one of his books.

“It feels really lonely without the twins.” Hoseok mumbled as he walked up to the two boys, followed by Taehyung, Jimin and Seokjin.
“I feel so bad for them.” Seokjin murmured. “Losing their mother was hard enough, and losing their dad within two months…”
“I’m really worried for Junghwa, though.” Taehyung murmured. “Remember when she pranked us with the doughnuts? When you all left for ramen, I went up for a smoke, but I forgot my lighter, and when I got back, she was in her room, screaming and crying.”
“Oh, , really?” Jimin’s eyes widened with shock.
“Yeah. She threw this picture of her and her mother against the wall, and she cut herself.”
“Oh, so that’s why you were putting Band-Aids on her knees that day.” Namjoon asked.
“Yeah.” Taehyung nodded. All the boys walked to the terrace, a solemn silence filling the hallways as they walked away from the noise of the ecstatic teenagers, happy for their hour-long break. After a while, the silence was getting to them. 

“We really gotta look out for her.” Jimin sighed. "Junghwa may be tough at times, but I just know that on the inside, she's really bothered about the whole thing. Poor Junghwa."
“What about Jungkook, though?” Seokjin shrugged. “We gotta look out for him, too.”
“Jungkook can take care of himself.” Yoongi said quietly. “It’s Junghwa we need to worry about.”

Everyone looked at Yoongi in surprise. He looked up at them, and shrugged nonchalantly. Hoseok suddenly held his arm out in front of Yoongi.

“Dude, your cheek.” He murmured.
“Yeah, Junghwa was hysteric when she found out about her father.” Yoongi nodded as he pointed at his cheek, the red lines faint but still noticeable from a close distance. “I tried to calm her down, but then…”

He shrugged, as he flew his fingers across the scratches on his cheek. 

“Yoongi’s right…” Taehyung nodded. “We really need to look out for her.”

A few days later...

Yoongi was in his room, writing down words in a notebook rapidly, when he was interrupted by a phone call.
"!" He grumbled, throwing his pencil down. Namjoon, who was sitting on the sofa behind him, looked at him in surprise. 
"Sorry, Joon." Yoongi sighed as he looked at the caller ID.

“Hey, Yoongi!” May chirped through the phone

"Yo, May." He nodded, drumming his pencil against the table impatiently. He hated it when his train of thought was interrupted.
“Sorry, I might be bothering you, but I wanted to ask you something."
"It's alright..." He let out a resigned sigh. "What's up?"
"How come Junghwa and Jungkook haven't been in school?”
“Ah-” Yoongi hesitated. Should he just lie about it?
“I’ll tell you, but don’t go telling other people just yet.” He mumbled. “Their dad passed away.”
“Oh, no…” She gasped. “Didn’t their mother just pass away… this August?”
“Yeah…”
“Poor them.” May sighed.
“Do me a favour.” He asked quietly.
“Yeah, anything.”
“Look after Jungkook for us, when he’s back.” He smiled wryly. “I mean, yeah, Taehyung’s in your class-”
“But it’s nice to have someone else?” May suggested.
"Yeah... hope that ain't too much to ask for."
“Of course not. I’ll keep an eye out for him.” May agreed. “But I’m gonna ask you to keep an eye out for Junghwa too.”
"Count on it. Hey, I gotta go now. Talk to Junghwa sometime soon, if you can."
"Alright. Byeee~"

Yoongi hung up immediately, looking back at Namjoon.
"You think I shouldn't have told May?" He asked.
"Nah, it's alright. May deserves to know, she's really close with Junghwa and Jungkook, so-"
Yoongi nodded, and went back to writing. Just as he was getting into the flow of it, his phone beeped with a message.

"Aish, seriously-" He snapped, unlocking his phone. He was about to switch off the phone for a while, but stopped immediately. It was a IM on snapchat from Junghwa.

Junghwa: Yoongi, if you make me smile, I’ll be truly grateful 
Yoongi: What? Are you okay?
Junghwa: No... I know it's been a few days since my Dad passed... but I still feel bad
Yoongi: I get it, Junghwa. It's okay to feel this way
Junghwa: if you tried to cheer me up I’d appreciate that…

Yoongi shook his head, and quickly scrolled through his camera roll, until he found a picture Taehyung had edited. 

Yoongi: I wasn't going to send you this anytime soon but ok here
Yoongi: Taehyung's editing >_>
 
Junghwa: OH WOW
Yoongi: Well :3
Junghwa: you did well, Yoongi x'D I can't stop laughing
Yoongi: :3
Junghwa: i can't wait to be back the atmosphere here is too horrible
Junghwa: and I miss you T^T

Yoongi bit his lip sadly. Junghwa looked so sad in her picture... it was obvious she was forcing a smile for the sake of the picture. He held his phone up and took a quick picture of himself, before sending it through their chat.

Yoongi: I miss you too ㅠㅠ

Yoongi: hold up I gotta get changed
Junghwa: Is that Joonie in the back?
Yoongi: eyyyy girl wassup
Junghwa: sup namjoon
Yoongi: aw you can tell

Yoongi: ayy wassup
Junghwa: ayy not much
Yoongi: look it's minswag a few months ago when we were super drunk XD

Yoongi: he'll hate me for this ;3
Junghwa: he gets drunk? o.O
Yoongi: HAHHA YOU DON'T KNOW?
Yoongi: Min Yoongi is crazy intolerant when it comes to alcohol
Junghwa: awww XD
Yoongi: Oh there's one in which he looks like an ahjumma, wanna see
Junghwa: yesh :3
Yoongi: ok :3

Yoongi: tadahhhh ㅋㅋㅋ
Junghwa: ㅋㅋㅋ
Yoongi: i'm sorry you had to see that
Junghwa: Yoon?
Yoongi: yeah... i gotta go
Junghwa: byeee :D

Yoongi: yay you smiled!

Junghwa: Bye Yoongi ㅅㅇㅅ
Yoongi: Bye :D

"Dude." Namjoon snickered as he pulled on his jacket. "You both are too cute."
"Shut up." Yoongi rolled his eyes, but he couldn't hold back the small grin that had tugged at the corners of his lips, as he looked at the picture of Junghwa again. 

So I ended this chapter with a Snapchat moment, 'cause i wanted to dispell the solemn mood I'd created at the beginning. So basically, they're trying to make Junghwa feel better, by trying to get her mind off what happened to her dad. I don't know why I'm justifying myself here, but in case some of you think "wtf Junghwa's dad just died and you're showing Yoongi and Namjoon are making fools of themselves", it's only cause they're trying to cheer her up. And guess what, it worked! Sorta.
There are many ways in which people make their friends cope with a loss. This is one of them. Thanks for understanding. Sorry if the story's going in a totally unexpected direction! But I hope you keep reading it anyway. - Haru.