Seven children were jumping over a little stream in the woods, with big backpacks strapped to their backs. They were laughing and joking as they made their way over, the water making their clothes wet as they dipped into the little stream by accident more than once.

Many adults would have warned them about the dangers of going over such a stream because they could slip and hit their head, or fall and get soaked. These children however, were very familiar with it, and they knew exactly where to put their feet to get over safely.

”Seokjin, you’re last!” the leader of the little group, Namjoon, shouted when six of them were over. Namjoon was a natural leader, even though he wasn’t the oldest. He had dark hair and observant eyes, and even if he was short and slim, he emitted an aura of seriousness.

Seokjin, the oldest of the group, shouted back at Namjoon from the other side. ”I’m coming!” he laughed as he planted his red-dotted rubber boot on a dry rock in the middle of the stream. His hat slid down in front of his face, but he just repositioned and jumped the last step over to the other side.

”But you’re always so slow!” the youngest one, Jungkook said. Seokjin and Jungkook locked eyes, and Seokjin scowled at him, like eight year olds usually do.

”I’m older than you, you should show some respect!” he demanded. Jungkook just stuck out his tongue in response, but before he could say anything, Namjoon broke them apart.

”Hey, no fighting. We have to get to the tree-house before dark!” he said. This was a very important rule and both Jungkook and Seokjin knew the importance of it. They broke their eye contact, and quickly apologised. Namjoon sighed, and the seven children wandered deeper into the woods.

 

After a few minutes they eyed a familiar tree house. The children had built it themselves with a little help from their parents, and as soon as they saw it they rushed over. Everyone pushed each other to be the first one inside, like it was the first time they came here, and not the millionth. Their tree house was the base of all their fantasies, those they chased on warm summer days deep in the woods. It was their safe house, when they got angry at their parents or each other. It was their meeting place, and they absolutely loved it.

As the little group put their heavy backpacks in the corner of the only room there was and sat down in a couple of worn out chairs around a small table, Namjoon stood up. He was holding a little, blue book with the name ”Bangtan Sonyeondan” written on the front cover. This was the secret name of their little group, and all the children were really proud of it, as they had found the name themselves.

Namjoon cleared his throat. ”This is the first sleepover for the Bulletproof Boyscouts, in our secret base. First, we have to check who is here,” he announced and opened the book like it was a holy thing. Well, it was, after all.

”Jungkook,” he called first, going from the youngest to the eldest.

Jungkook answered with a determined ”here!” as his eyes glittered with excitement. His hair was a little bit too long, and as he answered, some of it fell in front of his eyes. He quickly pushed it away and smiled happily.

Namjoon checked Jungkook’s name off the little list, and went to the next name.

”Taehyung,” he said, very serious. An energetic boy with a squared smile and shining eyes grinned. He waved his hand in the air at the call, his dark brown eyes darting from person to person before they rested on Namjoon.

”Here,” he replied, considerably less serious and much airier than Jungkook.

Then Namjoon checked his off the list as well, and jumped to the next person.

”Jimin,” he said next, and a smaller boy with dark brown hair that sat comfortably in the corner, yawned. His eyes looked up tiredly as he called out a weak ”here,” and rested his head on the wooden wall. Namjoon let out a small laugh because he usually was very energetic and always jumped around, but now was almost asleep even though it was only five in the afternoon.

“Hoseok,” he read off the book, looking at the brightest presence in the room, currently immersed in playing rock-paper-scissors with Taehyung. Hoseok’s eyes peered up when hearing Namjoon say his name, and he gave a thumbs-up before returning to his game with the choice of paper.

”Namjoon,” he said, even though it was unnecessary as he had just called up himself. But this was important business, and everything had to be done in the right way.

”Here,” answered himself, and had problems keeping his excitement controlled. This was very exciting stuff, after all.

”Yoongi,” Namjoon called up next, and a short boy with drowsy eyes and a low, comfortable voice nodded where he was sitting.

”Here,” he answered, just as serious as Namjoon was calling out the names.

Namjoon nodded, and checked him off before jumping to the next person.

And at last, he called up Seokjin’s name.

”Here,” Seokjin grinned, and Namjoon sat down. All the formalities were done, and now they could do what they wanted to do. But first, they had to plan it all.

Everyone’s eyes were resting on Namjoon, waiting for him to start. Well, everyone’s eyes except Jimin’s, but he was now sound asleep and they decided to let his be as he would be wide awake in half an hour.

”So, this is the first sleepover. We still have four hours until we need to go to bed, so, what do you want to do?” Namjoon asked. Taehyung’s arm shot in the air like a rocket.

”STAR GAZING! We can go see the stars on the top of the hill!” he said and almost jumped out of his chair. The other kids nodded eagerly.

”I also want to see the stars!” Jungkook grinned.

Seokjin, who often had to restrain the others from jumping to rash decisions, looked around nervously. ”But it won’t be completely dark until midnight, and our curfew is nine. That is one of the reasons we’re allowed to camp here alone,” he said, trying to keep his voice steady. He really wanted to go stargazing as well, despite what he said.

Jimin yawned again. ”We can sneak out,” he mumbled, half asleep. The other kids looked at Namjoon. His parents were the supervising ones for the sleepover, so the decision somehow relied on him. Namjoon looked around and thought it over, his gaze settling on everyone for a few seconds. If their parents didn’t find out, it wouldn’t be a problem, right? He smiled. As long as they kept it a secret, they could go stargazing.

”Okay,” he smiled, and the other kids cheered.

 

When the clock passed half past eleven and Namjoon’s parents had come to check on the kids and make sure they were sleeping, Jungkook stood up drowsily and a flashlight. The other kids who had fallen asleep already quickly woke up, and their own flashlights. Everyone was dressed in their usual clothes, and they couldn’t help but giggle on how smart they’d been. They had tricked their own parents!

From the corner, Jimin laughed. Even if he had been sleepy a couple of hours ago, he was now fully awake and ready to explore. Yoongi walked over to him and dragged him along, as they all got together in a circle on the floor.

“Let’s go!” Hoseok whispered excitedly. It wasn’t really necessary to whisper as they were completely alone in the woods, but it made everything more thrilling. The other kids nodded, and together they sneaked out the door.

They had planned everything down to the smallest detail, even making a list and a map. They would go up on a nearby hill, which was a clear grass-meadow surrounded by trees. After that, they were going to lie down in the grass, and look at the stars for as long as they wanted. Then they would go home. It was a very simple plan, to be honest. But for the seven children, just having a plan made it even better to break the rules.

“You know,” Seokjin said as they made their way through the thick woods, towards the hill. It was really dark, and even the flashlights couldn’t always light up their way. Jimin, Jungkook and Yoongi were going on ahead, and Hoseok and Taehyung were in the middle. Namjoon and Seokjin watched their backs, and walked behind. Namjoon turned and looked at his face, studying the look in Seokjin’s eyes. He couldn’t really see his face in the weak light from the flashlights, but he could still figure out his facial features pretty well.

“What?” Namjoon asked. Whenever Seokjin’s voice had that tone, Namjoon knew something he would end up thinking a lot about was coming.

“I don’t really think we go to Heaven when we die,” the older announced seriously, gazing up at the treetops.

Namjoon tilted his head. “What?” he asked. This came right out of the blue. Seokjin turned his head up toward the sky, and skipped along the path silently, tracing the ground with a narrow branch he found. Seokjin smiled and looked at him, and Namjoon could swear his eyes were shining.

“You know, we are always told we go to Heaven when we die, right? My mom told me that that’s where Grandma went. But I don’t think we go there. I think we… become stars on the night sky. That’s why they say there are millions of stars, right? I guess they’re like… Soul stars.” Namjoon himself hadn’t really thought about where souls went before. He couldn’t say he quite grasped what Seokjin was trying to day, but he had understood the concept or general outline at least, he thought. He was proud of those words. ‘General outline’. They seemed so mature, and Namjoon felt smart.

“Well…” he wasn’t quite sure what to answer, so he settled for a thinking silence, to show Seokjin he was actually thinking about this. But it made sense, in a way. His mom had told him that even if you counted all the stars on the sky it wasn’t even a tiny bit when you compared it to what was actually there. So, even if all the people on Earth died, it would still be enough space on the sky for everyone to fit in.

Seokjin smiled, and took Namjoon’s hand. He jumped in surprise, and looked at their intertwined fingers. He didn’t say anything, but kept on smiling. Despite the cold, Namjoon felt warm, and he turned his face the other way, not knowing what to do.

 

After a while, they reached the top of the hill. It was even more beautiful then they had imagined. There were no clouds on the sky, and only a single, old tree stood on the hill. The grass was completely dry, and Hoseok, with his usual grace, face planted as soon as they reached the top. He would usually cry by now, but instead he just rolled over on his back and looked at the sky. He didn’t say anything, which was unusual. He just kept staring at the sky.

By Hoseok’s lack of words, the kids realised that this was truly an amazing sight. And so, everyone lay down in the soft grass in an uneven line. Namjoon lay between Yoongi and Seokjin, and as they watched the beautiful stars their even breaths blended together and Namjoon swore afterwards that he had never felt so small but yet so huge at the same time. The stars were even more beautiful than he had imagined, and he sighed in awe. Although they were only eight years old and didn’t grasp the enormousness of this at all, even they understood that this was something extraordinary.

“Look there,” Taehyung said and pointed up. Jungkook, who lay beside him, hit him in the arm.

“The sky is big. How are we supposed to know where you are pointing?” he said. The words sounded harsh, but he used a mild voice. Despite fighting all the time, they were really close and it was more unusual to see them apart than not.

Taehyung sighed, but didn’t hit back. “There, the star that shines the brightest of them all.” He corrected himself. Namjoon tried to find the star, and it didn’t take long before he spotted it amongst the others between the other intricate patterns of constellations.

Hoseok and Jimin gasped at the same time. “Wow,” They sounded awestruck.

“When I grow up, I’m going to explore that star,” Jimin announced seriously.

“Silly,” Yoongi replied. “Stars are big balls of gas or something. You’re going to burn up.”

Taehyung silently nudged him in his ribs. “Yoongi, come on. How can a star possibly be gas? It doesn’t make sense. The stars are glowing, and we all know you can’t see gas.” He smiled. Yoongi sighed, and Taehyung nodded for himself. Sometimes Yoongi was so oblivious.

 

Namjoon honestly didn’t know how long they were there. They pointed out funny-looking stars and constellations. They breathed in the cold, fresh air that the night brought, and listened to the sound of the wind that made the trees rustle.

 

In the end, after watching stars for something that seemed like an eternity, Jimin sat up abruptly, grinning at the others. Jungkook looked at him as he did so, seeing how Jimin had stayed still the whole time only to suddenly move.

“What are you doing?” he asked quizzically, furring his eyebrows.  

Jimin gave him a slightly shy look, averting his eyes. “Not your problem,” he muttered, his cheeks starting to turn red. Namjoon laughed at Jungkook’s confusion, and Jimin kicked him in the shin. Namjoon looked at him like he’d been betrayed, which he completely felt like being.

“What did you do that for?” he asked, and tried to resist the urge to cry. Jimin’s kick really hurt.

Hoseok sighed, seemingly being the only one to understand what was going on. “You can’t just ask people that! Are you idiots?” he said annoyed. Namjoon looked confused at him, not really understanding the problem. Was there anything wrong about asking where he was going? If it had been him or Taehyung or even Yoongi, they would have shouted out to the whole world where they went.

Seokjin sighed beside Yoongi. “It’s not worth it,” he told Hoseok. “They are not that grown up yet,”

Jungkook scowled at him, but it didn’t really work because he looked like a hurt animal, rather than an angry boy.

“What does that have to do with anything?” he said irritated, as the fact that him being the youngest was a sore spot for him. Jungkook like to believe he was the oldest, when he in fact was born in December and Seokjin was almost a year older.

Hoseok shook his head, obviously unamused. “You don’t understand it, because you’re young,” he said, squinting at Jungkook with an amused smile, like waiting for Jungkook to declare war. Jungkook sat up as soon as he said it, and locked eyes with Hoseok. Their eyes almost shot sparks, and Namjoon knew they were on the verge of an argument. He quickly broke them apart, and tried to reason with them both.

“Wherever Jimin is going isn’t our problem. So let his be and focus on the stars,” he said, and got them to make peace with each other. He was rather curious about where Jimin was going, but he was smarter than Jungkook, and didn’t ask. Maybe Jimin would tell him afterwards, after all.

Jimin sent Namjoon a thankful look, and ran into the woods. In just a few seconds, he was completely surrounded by darkness, only the flashlight giving away his presence.

Namjoon took a deep breath and fell back into the soft grass. Jungkook and Seokjin eventually got back to their places again, as well. They had become friends again, and were linking hands as a way of completing their truce.

 

After a few minutes, Yoongi, who had stayed mostly silent, gasped. Everyone turned their heads towards him in confusion, wondering why he was suddenly making noise.

“What is it?” Taehyung asked curiously. Yoongi didn’t answer, but pointed at the sky.

“There, beside those stars! The three in line!” Seokjin said, who had obviously realized where Yoongi was pointing, even if the sky was huge and the others didn’t understand how Seokjin found out what Yoongi was gesturing to. Namjoon looked at the sky beside the three stars in line, and then opened his eyes wide, letting out a small gasp himself.

It was a star that none of them had seen before, which seemed to shine brighter and brighter as they looked at it. Namjoon cocked his head slightly. Jimin would probably have liked that. That reminded him of the talk they had been having before they arrived at the hill.

“I wonder who died,” he thought out loud as he looked at the night sky, breathing in the cold air.

Taehyung, who had heard what he said, turned his head to him. “What do you mean, died?” he asked. Namjoon realized he had been thinking out loud, and started to explain what Seokjin had told him to the others. He had thought they would laugh at the idea, but they seemed genuinely interested, like they actually thought about it.

“It must have been an important person,” Yoongi said and closed his eyes.

Taehyung nodded. “Someone loved, someone that shone bright,” he added.

“Maybe it was Barack Obama,” Jungkook suggested. Seokjin hit him in the arm, but not very hard.

“Barack Obama isn’t dead, silly,” he said and laughed.

Hoseok sat up. “What about the queen of England?” he wondered. She was at least a hundred years old already, so she could die any moment, he thought.

The other kids thought about this for a couple of seconds, before Taehyung sniffed, his breath hitching.

“But I don’t want the queen to die!” he mumbled. Seokjin sighed and hugged him, and sent Hoseok a deadly look.

“He isn’t dead, Hoseok is just a little stupid,” he comforted Taehyung. Hoseok shrugged and didn’t bother to say anything back, as it would only make things worse and a crying Taehyung was the last thing they wanted to deal with.

Jungkook shook his head and fell back. "We shouldn't fight," he said, "whoever died lived a great life and inspired many," he tried to sound cool, but Namjoon could hear that he struggled to keep his voice from wavering. Death was a forbidden theme. No one liked it.

Yoongi nodded. "It's just as Jungkook says, Taehyung," he agreed. Namjoon smiled for himself. Yoongi was probably the smartest out of all of them in that way, so even if everyone listened to Namjoon, they agreed with Yoongi. But that wasn't the best thing with Yoongi. Even though he kept quiet a lot he cared, and always wanted people to have it okay. Every time people had it bad he would comfort them, even if he came out as cold as passive at most times. He always had the right words to say, which Namjoon for example, hadn't. While Namjoon tended to break everything he touched and tripped over his own feet, Yoongi walked patiently beside him and helped him up.

 

After a while, Namjoon started to wonder where Jimin had gone. He had been away for quite a while already.

"Jungkook, what's the time?" he asked. They had gone out around half past eleven, but he had no idea how much time had passed since then. Jungkook squinted to see what his white and blue watch said, but soon gave up and used his flashlight. He was the only one with a wristwatch, but he didn't really use it because he had problems understanding it. It did look cool though.

"What does it mean when the long thing is pointing at twenty, and the short thing it pointing between twelve and one?" he asked, after studying it for a couple of seconds.

Seokjin sat up, leaning over to him to see it for himself. "Let me see that," he said. He was the only one who could use a watch just yet, and had become their unofficial timekeeper.

Jungkook willingly held his hand out to him, and Seokjin took it gently to see the clock. After a few seconds, he could tell them that it was twenty minutes past twelve. Namjoon thought about it.

"Jimin had been gone for a long time now," he mumbled in wonder. Jungkook looked at him and nodded.

"When he left the long thing was at twelve as well as the short one," he said, referring to his watch.

Seokjin's eyes widened. “That’s twenty minutes ago!” he exclaimed.

Jungkook tilted his head slightly. “It’s only twenty minutes,” he said, “is it that bad?” he asked.

Taehyung looked at him like he had just killed a cat. He had stopped crying, and now seemed horrified by Jungkook’s lack of understanding. “Of course it is! You don’t use twenty minutes to go to the toilet!” he exclaimed. The boys looked wide-eyed at him, realizing exactly where Jimin had gone.

“Wait. He went to the toilet?” Yoongi said with mild surprise in his voice. Only Hoseok, Seokjin and Taehyung had realized why he left, so it came like quite a shock to the other three. Namjoon wondered why he hadn’t thought about it before. It made sense, but why would he be so secretive about it? It wasn’t like it was a big thing, he had even peed in Jungkook’s garden in a time of need. Taehyung furred his eyebrows, and for a second his upset face was gone, replaced by a slightly irritated look. Then it turned back, and he looked worried again.

“I’ll go look for him,” he said. Namjoon was about to volunteer, but let it be seeing how Taehyung was the most shaken up of them all, as he and Jimin were even closer than their already tight group.

The other kids nodded, and Taehyung ran off.

 

For a couple of minutes, the children left had no idea on what they were supposed to do. The stars were somehow not that exciting anymore, and right now, they were more interested in seeing Jimin and Taehyung again.

And then they heard a scream. A piercing scream, more terrifying than anything else they had ever heard. It pierced their ears and they felt it even in their bones. It was a shriek for help, filled with anger, helplessness, sadness and fear. It was so loud a couple of birds took off from the trees they were resting in with confused cries, leaving in the dark night. The scream was the worst thing Namjoon had ever witnessed, and he realized something was wrong. Extremely wrong. And even though he had heard nothing like it before, he knew who it was; he recognized it even if a voice should never be allowed to express such feelings.

The non-human sound was made by Taehyung.

 

They ran towards Taehyung, and Namjoon felt confused tears push behind his eyelids, because he had no idea what was going on. Was Taehyung hurt? Had he met an animal? Namjoon had his flashlight in one hand and tried to use it to see, but didn’t really help as it kept moving everywhere as he ran, and he ran in almost complete blindness. But somehow he didn’t crash into anything, and he managed to keep running even if he tripped over himself anytime else.

Behind him he could hear Seokjin, Jungkook, Hoseok and Yoongi breathe heavily, trying to keep up with him. Namjoon wasn’t a very fast runner and Yoongi was probably the fastest out of them, but hearing Taehyung scream like that it was like something had switched on inside him. He didn’t feel the acid burn in his legs like usual, and his lungs didn’t cry for air as he sprinted past the densely grown area.

They could hear Taehyung before they could see him. They knew it was serious, because he was crying heavily and shouting things no one could understand, his words being gibberish and muffled like he was pressing his face against something.

“Taehyung? TAEHYUNG!” Namjoon shouted wildly, trying to locate the younger. The crying stopped for a second, before it became even stronger, even more heart breaking. It rose in volume; whatever had muffled the sound now being gone. And when they reached him, when they reached the spot where Taehyung was crying so heartbreakingly, they knew why.

Namjoon hadn’t realized as he had followed the sound, but they had somehow ended up by the little stream they jumped over to get to the tree house. It wasn’t far from their own neighbourhood. It flowed silent and steadily, but every sound it might have made was drowned in Taehyung’s screaming.

“Taehyung, what is it?” Namjoon ran towards him. He was sitting on his knees on the ground, holding onto something – no, someone. A lifeless creature with dark that laid limp in Taehyung’s arms. A ball of fear started to form in his chest, but Namjoon forced it away. It couldn’t be, he wouldn’t allow it to.

Taehyung looked up at Namjoon when he reached him, his eyes puffy and his face red. Tears streamed down his cheeks uncontrollably, and Namjoon understood who was in his arms. He had so intently hoped it was some kind of animal Taehyung had found or something like it, but that was too hopeful even for them.

“He…” Taehyung sobbed, “He won’t… He just lay there…” he shook the lifeless person in his arms. “It’s not fun!” he screamed. “JIMIN, WAKE UP!”

And Namjoon knew he had to accept who it was, even though wanted to refuse to believe it. He fell down on his knees beside Taehyung, his face expressionless. The cold, moist ground didn’t bother him, nothing did anymore. Rather than instant sadness it was numbness that reached him, it was the numb feeling that spread down his spine and out in his fingertips. Why wasn’t Jimin moving? He was completely soaked, but Namjoon could still see it. His dark hair, now wet and drawn back by Taehyung. His favourite Big Bang t-shirt, the one his brother had bought him when he had been to their concert. But most of all – his face. It was just like before, but with no expression. No indicator on what he felt. It was like he was there – but not there at the same time. His usually rosy cheeks were pale. His whole face was. It like he was sleeping peacefully. But Namjoon knew he wasn’t. He would never fall asleep, just like that. Just minutes ago, he had been so full of life.

Behind Namjoon the other four closed in with baby steps. They knew something was wrong, even though they didn’t know about Jimin. Because they knew Taehyung, and they knew that he had never let out a sound like that ever in his life. Not even when he fell off his bike and broke his arm, he had. A smile and some tears, but he’d insisted he had been fine. He got emotional over the small things, but never more than sniffled and maybe dropped a few tears. That was the Taehyung they knew, not this.

When Jungkook saw Jimin his legs gave in beneath him, colour draining from his face. This wasn’t natural. Jimin would never joke about this. He was so pure-hearted, he would never even think of it.

Seokjin and Yoongi also realized what was happening, and dropped down beside Jungkook, tears rolling down their cheeks. But Jungkook didn’t say anything. Because the hole he felt inside him, couldn’t be healed by tears. In despair, Taehyung dropped Jimin to the ground, and he hit the ground with a soft ‘thump’. Namjoon grabbed him as soon as he landed. He shook his shoulders, desperately trying to get contact with Jimin. He was pale and ice cold, his lips more blue than the usual pink. He had to wake up! This wasn’t fun, who did he think he was fooling by doing this?

“Jimin, this isn’t fun! Wake up Jimin, don’t sleep! Stop playing with us! Why are you like this?! Jimin, if you care about us, wake up!” he pleaded, shouting promises and threats in between each other. And the tears started to stream down his face, as uncontrollably as Taehyung’s. Jimin would never take a joke this far. He would open his eyes, smile at them and say, “It’s okay, everything is,”

“I – I found him upside down in the water,” Taehyung said in between the hitches in his breathing, trying to keep his voice stable. His clothes were wet and dirty, most likely from dragging Jimin up from the stream.

“Ch…” Seokjin tried to say something, but the words just wouldn’t come, like they were stuck in the throat. Finally, after something that seemed like an eternity, he forced them out. “Check his heart. Mom said that every living person has a beating heart,” he stated, convincing himself that as soon as they heard Jimin’s heartbeat, it would be fine.

Namjoon quickly leant over and put his ear to his chest. The tears made his vision blurry, and his mind was spinning. But he listened. He listened so intensely, after a beating. He could imagine the beat, he could imagine Jimin’s eyes open so much it seemed real. But all he heard was his own, terrified, heart beating erratically. Nothing. No sound. Absolutely nothing came from Jimin’s chest.

“N-” he stammered. “No… no sound.” He forced the words out, despite not wanting to say them. Why was Jimin like this? What had happened? He should run to mom. He should run to mom and she’d hug him and tell him that Jimin was going to be okay.

“Yoongi,” Jungkook said, his voice dead calm. His face was expressionless, and his thoughts were a mess. His body felt numb and cold, like his mind and body didn’t want to work together. Out of all things, he wanted to fall asleep and never wake up. But he knew what he had to do.

“You have to get our parents. You run the fastest. Tell them that Jimin has fainted and we don’t know what to do next.” Because that had to be what was happening. Jimin had fainted. Jimin was unconscious, but nothing more.

And Yoongi, who had been standing paralyzed, nodded. Jungkook had a point, and he knew that he was the fastest out of them all. So he got up, and ran for his life.

 

Namjoon shook Jimin, screamed at Jimin, pleaded Jimin to wake up. But he couldn’t hear him. His head was drifting and nothing made sense, so when Yoongi returned and someone tried to take Jimin away from him, he started to kick and scream. Why were they taking him away? What were they going to do with him? For a second, he tried to think rationally, and looked up into the eyes of the person dragging him away from Jimin. It was his mom.

“DON’T!” he shouted. “Don’t take him away! He needs to wake up!” Only he could wake Jimin up. Didn’t they understand that?!

His mom just shook her head slightly and said something. But Namjoon’s brain, as messed up as it was, didn’t catch it. His ears were only receiving twisted, loud noises and his sight was wavering and unstable. All of his body felt numb and he was unable to control himself, only thrashing around trying to get back to Jimin. It was like he saw the world through a window. His mom tried to comfort Namjoon the best she could, but he never caught anything he said, and didn’t even notice she was saying anything.

However, the real struggle didn’t start until a couple of unknown men took Jimin away from where he was lying.

“GET AWAY!” Namjoon screamed, his voice cracking. “HE WON’T WAKE UP IF YOU TOUCH HIM!” But he was tired. His mom held him with a steel-grip, enduring his kicks, his clawing and hitting. In the end, he fell limp in her arms. He didn’t have the energy to keep going.

And somehow, his mind cleared, just enough to hear an unknown man’s voice say; “Park Jimin. Date of death: July third, 2005. Time of death: Found 12.46 a.m.”

Death. The words sunk into him like a rock thrown into the sea. Death. He’d only experienced it once before, when is grandma died, and even though he hadn’t really known her he’d cried at her funeral. Somewhere far away he heard someone say that Jimin had probably slipped on a rock, fallen unconscious, and drowned. But he didn’t care.

Because he understood, even if he tried to deny it.

Jimin was gone.

He didn’t get it.

Jimin.

Gone.

And despite all of this, he still expected Jimin to open his eyes any second.

At some point, his mother put him down. He didn’t notice, but just sat there, unable to do anything. He had stopped crying. It seemed so unreal, him crying because Jimin wasn’t there. Yoongi dropped down beside him after some time as well. Namjoon turned his head towards him, but it was like he looked right through him. His eyes were glassy – they didn’t focus at all. He looked at nothing and everything at the same time, and everything was blurry.

“You know,” Yoongi whispered. He didn’t cry, but wasn’t in a comatose-like state like Namjoon either. Yoongi was the strongest out of them all; he had somehow managed to keep himself sane when the others didn’t. Namjoon blinked and tried to focus on what Yoongi had said. He had noticed that he had tried to say something, but not what.

“Remember what Jimin told you about the stars and souls? And… I just thought, remember that star we saw, the one shining brighter than everyone else? I think that was Jimin. I think that’s the reason it started to shine just then. Jimin is a star now, Namjoon.” He said slowly. “Jimin is up there, where he belongs. He’s a soul star, shining bright and watching over us, so we won’t be sad.”