x. " The Figure"

“Jungkook spoke towards the figure, wanting to know if the figure was also in this deep desire to feel free..”

“Jungkook, why haven’t you come down to feed Sky?” The voice echoed in the room as his tall figure peaked through the door.

Jin peered at the sleeping boy. The covers looked like they were eating him, covering him up to his ears as he was simply curled up in a ball. It was now five in the afternoon, and Jin had come to visit, like he does every Sunday afternoon.

But he was completely taken aback seeing the bowl of the poor dog empty, and no one has filled it. The young heir never allows the house staff to look over his pup. And therefore, as the hours go by, no one thought to feed the poor dog.

“Sky, come on,” Jin whispered, his body reaching towards the bed.

The dog looked up, his eyes round and glistering, a small cry escaping its mouth. It was such a broken cry that Jin’s heart broke. The dog was worried, he always was. When Jungkook staid in bed for hours and days, the dog begins getting depressed. Sky can feel the sadness and cannot be happy, and that shatters Jin’s heart even more.

“Jin-ah, I’m sorry,” Jungkook mumbled, his voice crashing right into his pillow, muffling his apology.

Hot tears stained the pillow and Jungkook’s face, but it was hardly noticeable from Jin’s angle. The older boy simply didn’t know what Jungkook should be sorry for. He didn’t even notice the stability of the younger until he felt the poor pup struggle in his grasp.

Jin felt his heart sink as the dog leaped out of his soft grasp and landed on the bed. The pup hasn’t eaten anything all day, this much he knew because Jungkook never went go get the food. But the dog didn’t care for that, is quickly rushed to Jungkook’s side and begun to his face, showing his affections in one of the few physical ways it can.

Sky never acts like that, it must sense something very grave. Otherwise the pup would be downstairs, by his bowl waiting to be fed.

“Kookie, why don’t we go feed Sky? I’ll carry you,” Jin spoke, worry beginning to form sweat on his temple as he didn’t know what was going on.

The way Sky acted frightened him, but the way Jungkook simply laid there frozen, frightened him even more. Jin simply took a shaky breath, his shoulders feeling unstable as his stomach sank so low, he could step on it.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, waiting for Jungkook to move or say something. Jin sat there in silence, for about five minutes of pure dreadful silence. He had to double check to make sure Jungkook was breathing, which the boy was.

“Are you not mad at me?” Jungkook’s soft and broken voice echoed in the room with a hollowness to them.

Jin’s throat tightened, not knowing where this was coming from or why he should be angry. He just felt the knot form in his throat as he could hear this empty feeling coming from the younger boy.

“No, I’m not angry. If I was, would I come visit you? I’m not mad, but if you want to make it up to me, climb on my back and lets go feed Sky,” Jin spoke, his voice slightly shaking as he tried to keep his voice from sounding odd.

It was hard to speak as if he was casually talking to Jungkook because, there was this negative force hugging him. And the nervous and warning feeling that begun to brew when he walked in, was now boiling.

There was a long pause, and Jin felt even more worried. He’s never seen Jungkook like this. He has been told of certain episodes, where the young heir refuses to get out of bed and doesn’t work nor eats. But he’s never failed to feed Sky and take care of the poor pup. But today, he gets to see it, full on and worse, he is refusing to do the one thing he always does.

He felt his heart stop the moment he felt two hands wrapped around his neck. The warmth of his body was pressed against his as the younger simply tucked his face onto Jin’s neck.

The older felt this huge pressure on his heart loosen as he reached back to fasten his arms under Jungkook’s knees. The covers still heavily attached to the younger but Jin didn’t care, he stood up in one huff, pulling Jungkook with him.

Jin hasn’t carried Jungkook like this in years, and the younger was sure heavy. He was nearly all muscle, but Jin didn’t care. He slowly but surely carried Jungkook away, finally getting him away from the dreadful bed.

Jin had sat the younger in a high chair. The younger’s arms were very tightly locked around his neck, it almost seemed like Jungkook was too scare to let go, but he eventually did. Jin turned around, noticing how red Jungkook’s eyes were and how puffy his nose was, red and a little irritated from being cleaned.

Jin wondered how many buckets of tears he has cried. But then the most important thought came to him. Why was Jungkook crying in the first place?

“Aigoo, why must you become a red snot monster Kookie?” Jin asked, a smile trying to form on his face, but the smile never reached his eyes.

The older simply reached out and pulled the covers around Jungkook a little tighter. Making sure that the boy was completely covered and tightly held by the blanket, and the only thing exposed was his red puffy face.

“Here, Sky must be hungry,” Jin spoke, picking up the bowl of food from the dog’s feasting area and placing it on the counter.

Jin grabbed the dog food, and simply pushed the bag towards Jungkook. Then, he grabbed the pup from the floor and sat him on the counter. The pup simply stared at Jungkook from across the bowl and food, his eye glistering in sadness as the young heir simply felt his heart sink.

“If you don’t feel like working tomorrow, I can help Moonbin-ah with your work. The furniture in your house is already arriving, so I can help you pack for the move this week,” Jin begun to speak once Jungkook begun to pour the food and water into the bowls.

Sky simply not resisting the plain hunger and begun to eat, forgetting about its own worry for its owner. Jin knew Jungkook would also refuse to go to work, he always does whenever he begins to act like this. The staff have all talked about it.

“Can you stay over?” Jungkook mumbled, his words slightly weak as he refused to look up and look at Jin directly.

Jin’s words were caught in his throat as he didn’t know why Jungkook was asking him that. Jungkook looked at the counter, blank but painless emotion glistering in his eyes as he asked. Jin felt his shoulders stiffen as he realized why Jungkook had apologized.

Just yesterday, Jungkook was completely offended and hurt that Jin had told him that giving a two-year engineer an individual project was uncalled for. And Jungkook must have thought he was mad because the younger blew up at him.

“Yeah, sure,” Jin spoke, his softly echoing in the room as Jungkook nodded and tugged his knees towards his chest.

Jin didn’t know what to say, nor what to do. He’s never seen Jungkook like this, he’s always too busy or not home to see him like this. Looking defeated and beyond unenergized to do anything, he nearly looked empty. He was only told he has gets like this, now he can see it.

Silence was the only thing omitted from either of the step-brothers. The dog’s animalistic eating was the only thing that could be heard.

“Let’s go upstairs, before they come back,” Jin suggested, realizing what time it was.

Jungkook didn’t move, he simply sat there, his vision frozen and staring blankly towards the counter as Jin reset everything. He placed the dog bowl back to its place as he placed Sky on the outside patio, making sure the dog had some time to exercise and take care of its business.

When Jin turned around, he felt a warm feeling creep into his stomach as Jungkook stared at him and simply had his arms wide open, waiting to climb back onto Jin’s back. It simply reminded the older of when Jungkook was a little kid, so innocent and cute.

He never thought when he would see little Jungkook at company parties, that he would be his step-brother. And that’s all he could think of when Jungkook locked his arms around his neck and buried his face against the crook of his neck.

“Yein-ssi still has her things upstairs, I think she is staying the night. We can have a movie night just like when we were little, you don’t have to talk nor say anything. Just watch the movie,” Jin spoke, huffing as his words came out with a loss of breath.

The three have actually known each other since young. Their three fathers having founded and creating the same company only meant that their respected children would bond. Yein’s father was the only one to leave the company to build another after a few years.

The time the three men had a partnership, was enough for the three children to bond and create memories. Memoires they pretend never existed because, the way each grew up, it feels like they never did exist after all.

“Okay,” Jungkook’s hot words crashed onto Jin’s neck, sending tickling sensations throughout the boy’s body.

Jungkook laid in bed once again, his eyes darting towards the wall and all he kept thinking about, was the hostess' odd stories.

Jin was currently packing clothing, exploring Jungkook’s room and placing tags and notes on all the clothes and objects, getting organized to pack and move everything smoothly.

Jungkook simply kept thinking about the hostess. How calming and how filled her voice was. She never once stopped talking to ask how he was feeling, to ask why he was feeling the way he did and she never told him to try and do anything to stop himself from feeling like that.

It was almost as if she knew what he was feeling and knew that by simply talking and reassuring he was not alone, was the best way to get him to forget. She knew that the feeling wouldn’t go away, but she knew what could help.

The empty feeling cradling him and eating him away, was less apparent with her presence. And the more he heard her voice, the more he felt drawn to it. The more he wanted to go hear it personally rather than on the phone.

Her calming and soothing words simply engraved themselves in his head, and he wanted to hear more.

You should have jumped when you had the chance, the wicked voice returned, filling his head as he continued to stare blankly at the wall. He could have jumped, and taken flight and completely feel free for once.

But if he goes now, if he jumps, he’d never be able to hear that soothing voice. He’d never be able to hear Cinderella’s filling words that simply make him forget he feels empty.

But was it worth it, he asked himself. A few seconds of feeling free, letting the wind just crash against your face with no strings to hold you down. Was the desire to hear her voice stronger than his desire to just end it all.

Jungkook blinked, not realizing he had moved, not realizing he was actually no longer staring at his wall. He was staring at a dark figure, a figure frozen as they looked towards the infinite land before his eyes. The figure simply looked at the dark sky consuming the burning orange colors as the sun set.

The figure’s hands grasped the balcony, the body sitting on the actual railing and suddenly, the cold wind hit him. His lungs filled with the cold and refreshing wind, his bones ached for feeling that air as he flew.

His skin turned hard simply touching the wind he wanted to become one with that wind.

“Take flight, it’s that easy to fly,” Jungkook spoke towards the figure, wanting to know if the figure was also in this deep desire to feel free.

But the figure never moved, it simply sat there, grasping the balcony. Never responding, and it was almost as if Jungkook wasn’t even there.

Jungkook took a deep breath, feeling the wind roll again and crash so refreshingly against his own skin. And he decided to approach the figure, wanting to ask it what it desired, and if it desired the same thing he did.

But the closer he got, the faster his heart speed. And the harder it became for his lungs to grasp the air. It almost felt like he was suffocating and panicking at the same time.

He looked closely, and realized he was staring at himself.

The figure sitting in the balcony was in fact him, but the figure was doing the thing he desired greatly. It was about to take flight. And he wasn’t sure what to feel, because this inevitable feeling of nothingness still had a chokehold on him.

He didn’t say anything, because he wanted this. He wanted to feel free and feel something for once instead of emptiness. He had no desire to stop himself nor get someone to stop this from happening.

‘No matter how empty you feel, remember you fill up the hearts of others,’ her voice echoed in his head.

And the moment he heard her voice, was the moment Jin and Yein both walked up to him. They walked up to the Jungkook grasping onto the balcony, too afraid to let go and let the wind take him.

He realized that he was watching this from outside his body, the events unraveled before him and the him that was standing at the side, was the Jungkook no one can see nor took notice of.

He watched himself, realizing that he was too scared or simply too weak to let go of that balcony. He reassured himself that that is what he wanted, to just let go.

“You want this, you want to let go,” he spoke, telling the Jungkook being cradled by Jin and being carried away from the balcony.

The moment Jin turned around with Jungkook’s body, everything turned dark. Pitch black was surrounding him and he could feel nothing.

He heard nothing and couldn’t see anything it was almost painful. His breathing was hard to grasp, he felt like he was suffocating. Like he was trying to breath in air only to get nothing and all his lungs did was panic, causing his heart to race.

And just like that, he could feel his hand tightening around a shoulder and he could feel his irritated eyes rub against rough fabric.

“I don’t want it,” he cried out, his lungs grasping for tangible air as he gasped and opened his eyes.

Air rushed into his eyes as his heart was racing so fast, it nearly jumped out of his body. He opened his eyes to see Yein staring painfully at him as Jin simply placed him down on the bed.

His mind and conscience returning to the figure, it had returned to the Jungkook who sitting in the railing, and there was onky one Jungkook around. His. Senses returned to the Jungkook who was set on doing what he always wanted to do.

It returned to the Jungkook too afraid to jump and feel free.

Okay, if you need me to bluntly say what was up with the end, I'll say this.

Jungkook saw himself about to jump off the 2nd floor balcony.

So, there are 2 main mental instabilities from his mental problem I induced in this chapter.

Hopefullu you can figure out the two I meant.

Hope you like it, and happy reading.