Jungkook

“Are you crying?” Jin asks without compassion as he comes through the front door. Namjoon follows closely behind him, but he pauses the second his eyes meet mine.

I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting motionless on the couch, but it still isn’t long enough for reality to have been absorbed just yet. I’m still hoping this is a dream. Or a nightmare. This isn’t how things were supposed to turn out.

“Jungkook?” Namjoon says hesitantly. He knows something is wrong, because I’m sure my swollen, bloodshot eyes clearly give me away.

I attempt to form an answer, but I fail to come up with one. As much a part of this as I am, I still feel that Jimin and Yoongi’s situation isn’t mine to be sharing.

Luckily, Namjoon doesn’t have to ask me what’s wrong, because I’m spared by Jimin’s presence. He’s barging through the front door, taking both Jin and Namjoon’s attention off of me.

He pushes between the two of them and heads straight for his room. He swings open the door, then comes out through the bathroom seconds later. He looks at Namjoon and signs something. Namjoon shrugs and signs back, but I can’t follow their conversation at all.

When Jimin responds again, Namjoon looks directly at me. “What does he mean?” Namjoon asks me.

I shrug. “I failed to learn sign language between now and the last time we spoke, Namjoon. How the hell should I know?”

I don’t know where unwarranted sarcasm is coming from, but I feel Namjoon should have anticipated that one.

He shakes his head. “Where’s Yoongi, Jungkook?” Namjoon points at the counter toward Jimin’s computer. “He said he had his computer, so he had to come by here after he left the hospital.”

I look at Jimin to answer but can’t deny the fact that jealousy is coursing through me at watching his reaction when it comes to Yoongi. “I don’t know where he went. All he did was walk in, set your computer down, and grab his things. He’s been gone for half an hour.”

Namjoon is signing everything I’m saying to Jimin. When he finishes, Jimin runs a frustrated hand through his hair, then takes a step toward me. His eyes are angry and hurt, and he begins signing with forceful movements of his hands. His obvious anger makes me wince, but his disappointment in me fills me with my own share of anger.

“He wants to know how you could just let him leave,” Namjoon says.

I immediately stand up and look Jimin directly in the eye. “What did you expect me to do, Jimin? Lock him in the damn closet? You can’t be mad at me for this. I’m not the one who failed to delete messages I wouldn’t want someone else to read!”

I don’t wait for Namjoon to finish signing for Jimin. I walk to my bedroom and slam the door behind me,