TWELFTH RUN

Hold me tight. Hug me

Can you trust me?

Can you trust me?

Please, please,

Please pull me in and hug me.

No one was talking when Jimin finally came back to the camping spot after two hours ran away. They were silently watching the boy and Hoseok walking in sequence. Jimin was in the front meanwhile Hoseok followed him in safe distance. The crew searched for Hoseok’s eyes to ask what happened when they were missing but Hoseok only shook his head.

“Do you want to go back to Seoul tonight?” Jin was the first one who voiced out his worried.

“Is there any train to go back?” Namjoon chimed in.

Jin sent a warning stare toward the boy. Namjoon only shrugged. He was only trying to state the fact.

Jimin didn’t answer any question. Instead he sat in front of the campfire and hugged himself again. The crew fell into silence once again. No one knew how to deal with the situation.

“What the hell with this crew?” Yoongi grunted after a long silence. This situation frustrated him. He wiped his face and had a long sigh. Yoongi squatted beside Jimin, pocked at the fire with small tree branch.

The rest of the crew stood still on their spot. Taehyung was especially upset about the situation that happened to Jimin. It was his idea to play but once again it was Jimin who became the victim of his act. Once again he felt guilty. Why he could only hurt people around him?

Hoseok put a hand on Taehyung’s shoulder. He patted it to assure the boy that it wasn’t his fault. He could feel that Taehyung was blaming on himself again. Hoseok drew a smile on his face then he moved to Yoongi’s side.

“Hey, how about we play some truth game?” Hoseok suggested.

“Is it the right time to play?” Yoongi muttered.

“Let’s have a heart to heart talk. Right here, at this moment, we can talk about everything that bothered us. No one will judge anyone. What we hear and say here will stay here.” Hoseok was still trying.

“I’m in.” Jin understood what Hoseok trying to do there. He took a sit on in front of Yoongi and Hoseok. He waved his hand to ask the rest crew to join too.

Started from Jungkook who gave in and walked to Jin’s side, then followed by Namjoon. The last one who stayed standing was Taehyung.

“Come on, Taehyung.” Hoseok stood back and dragged Taehyung to sit on his side. “Who want to start first?”

Hoseok circulated his stare around the crew. Everyone didn’t want to stare back at him. Everyone hide something behind mask.

“How about I start this first?” Hoseok finally gave in. He took a deep breath before started to tell his story. “I… “

This thing was also hard for Hoseok to tell the crew.

“I’m a drug dependence.” Hoseok’s confession got the crew’s attention straightly.

They stared at Hoseok at the same time. Questioning the truth behind Hoseok’s word. It was impossible for a person like Hoseok to have that kind addiction.

“Not that kind drug.” Hoseok smiled bitterly as he knew what was circulating inside the crew’s minds. “As you know it already, my family is poor. We have seven mouths to be fed and I’m taking 3-4 part time works to help my family’s financial. Sometimes things were also felt hard on me. It was up to the point that I really wanted to run away from my home to live my own life. But when I thought about Howon, Hara, Hani, and Halmoni, I couldn’t do it. My parents are rarely home. If there’s something going wrong in the house, no one will protect them. That’s why I took anxiety pills regularly to calm my nerves. I’m not saying this is a good way to deal with things, but it’s hard for me to get out from this. I can’t function well if I didn’t take at least one.”