“I need you” was all the text said. And that’s all Jungkook needed to see before he rushed out of the door and on his way to Jenna. No one was more important to him and she was not one to make demands lightly.

He rushed to her so quickly, in fact, that he forgot his coat and his phone and turned up at Jenna’s door with little warning-and no response to her text.

Jenna, meanwhile, sat slumped over in her Seoul apartment, fiercely perseverating on the text she sent. “I shouldn’t have bothered him. He’s too busy. I’m just being selfish.” Poisonous thoughts swirled through her mind causing the tears damned up to swell over again. She hadn’t known Jonghyun well. In fact, she hadn’t met him, but she had been largely impacted by his music. The news of his suicide hit her like a ton of bricks. There were some people in the industry this may have been expected from, but Jonghyun? This loss was truly great.

As her tears kept flowing she suddenly heard a banging on her door. With no word from Jungkook and her current state she hoped they would just go away. She didn’t want to be bothered anymore. Instead of getting up to answer she tipped herself over to lay on the couch in a fetal position. No one at the door could see her anyway, but she still just felt like hiding.

“Jenna! Are you ok?!” The pounding paused for a frantic sounding shout through the door before resuming in full force. Jungkook had considered that maybe if he pounded hard enough he could bust down the door, but he figured that perhaps he should wait to be sure it was an emergency first.

Upon hearing his voice Jenna perked up immediately. He had gotten her text. And now he was here. A smile broke through the downpour on her face as she rushed to open it. She hadn’t wanted to be bothered. Not by anyone but him.

She rushed to the door and sheepishly opened it, still a little afraid she was being a bother. Jungkook rushed in, placing a hand on her shoulder immediately in attempts to offer a source of comfort, and pushed the door shut behind him. He took time to inventory the problem: looking at her puffy face, her tangle of hair, watery and red eyes. His eyebrows furrowed immediately in concern. He drew a hand to her cheek in attempts to wipe some tears gently with his thumb.

“Hey.” Jenna squeaked weakly. She wasn’t sure what to say. That’s all that came to her.

Jungkook wasn’t exactly sure what was wrong but her distress concerned him. He drew her close, gently but firmly, pressing her head against his chest with another arm wrapped around her back. “I’m here.”

It was exactly what Jenna needed, what she wanted, and yet, somehow, she felt the deluge of tears swelling greater-unstoppable. In the comfort of his arms she lost all control and the sobs just kept coming. Gently, Jungkook rocked her, swaying side to side and softly her head. “It’s ok. I’m here now. Let it all out.”

Moments that felt like years passed before Jenna was able to regain composure. “Don’t look at me. I’m a mess.” She stepped back and covered her face. With a devilish smirk and soft chuckle, Jungkook parted her hands from her face and cupped them in his.

“You’re beautiful, even like this.” He tenderly kissed her forehead and led her to the couch to sit. “Now tell me what’s going on. Who do I have to beat up?”

Jenna snorted. “No, it’s not like that.” She paused. She had just regained her composure and she didn’t want to lose it again. She had to chose her words carefully. “It’s Jonghyun.” She trailed off and dropped her eyes.

There was a thick silence that seemed to fill the whole room. They both knew what she meant. Jungkook even suspected that may be what this was about-part of the reason he was so quick to rush over. But what could he say? It was a tragedy that was touching most everyone in South Korea. Jungkook had no words. How could there be words for something so tragic? Instead he just reached his arm around Jenna and held her there mindlessly brushing her shoulder with his thumb.

“I just wish things were different. I wish a lot of things were different.” Jenna finally broke the silence. She was angry. She was sad. She was worried.

“We can’t control everything in the world.” Jungkook brushed some hair off of her face. “What happened was tragic and sad. And if you want to talk, I’m here.”

Jenna turned in earnest to face him. “How can you be so calm? This was someone in your industry. He helped pave the way for your success. He could have been any one of you. He was the same.” Her voice trailed off as Jungkook broke their eye contact.

“Do you need me to be strong and calm or do you need me to be emotional and upset?” Jungkook gave a deep sigh.

“Are you upset?” Jenna knew she might be entering a place she wasn’t ready for, but she needed to work this out for real, not just pretend like everything was ok. Everything was not ok.

His face still tilted down Jungkook responded quietly, “Yeah, I’m pretty upset.” He didn’t look up and neither did she.

“Then I want you to be open and honest with me.”

He waited a beat. “It’s going to be difficult: for people, for the industry, everything.” He paused. They had already had a rushed meeting about it at Big Hit and prepared for any potential PR that needed to take action. They weren’t allowed to talk about it, to respond to it, nothing publicly. He looked up into Jenna’s eyes. “I don’t know what will happen next. All I know for now is this was tragic and sad. I wish it hadn’t happened.”

Jenna saw a deep sadness in Jungkook’s eyes, something she wasn’t used to seeing. He was always so upbeat and carefree when he was around her. It broke her heart to see him so visibly upset. She knew it was her turn to be strong, to help in any way she could.

“Hey” she grabbed both of his hands. “It’s going to be okay. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not next week, but it will be ok eventually.” Jungkook’s smile returned faintly. “In the meantime, it’s ok to be sad. Jonghyun had such a huge impact. He touched many more lives than he probably knew.” Freeing his hands, she gently touched his face. “Besides, we have each other. If you need to talk about it, come to me. And if I’m struggling I’ll go to you. We should support each other.”

He looked like an innocent young boy when he smiled in return. His sad pure eyes began to sparkle with a gentle eye smile. When Jenna thought back later to the next events she blushed: what had made her so bold she’ll never know, but the tenderness, the sadness, the support between them filled her heart to the point of overflowing-an opposite feeling of the emptiness she had felt just hours before when the news broke. She met her hands-still holding his face-half way, bringing their lips together. It wasn’t a kiss of passion or desire, but a soft kiss of empathy and compassion. After their lips parted Jungkook, with eyes still closed, wrapped his hands around the back of her neck, keeping their foreheads lightly pressed together for a few moments. It was meditative, and peaceful just pausing for a few moments, drawing in each other’s breath.

They both drew back, their hurting hearts a little fuller. “I have to get back to the studio-things are a little chaotic right now.”

“I understand. Send my sympathy to everyone. Make sure they’re all ok. You’re a great friend to them.” Jenna worried for Jungkook, but she worried for the others too. Not all of them had someone to talk to, or would try to stay strong for others-keeping their emotions in.

“I will. They all should be as lucky as me.” He smiled down at her, stooping to kiss her forehead once more before making his way to the door. “Don’t hesitate to let me know if you need me. I’ll be back later tonight to check in.”

“Ok. Thank you, Jungkook.” She said his name with a sincerity that touched him so much he brought his hand to his heart without even thinking.

“We’ll get through this. Both of us.”

“I know we will.” And she was sure now, adding, “Where there is hardship, there is always hope.”

Jungkook smiled at the familiar lyrics.