The Sound Of The Ocean/SEQUEL-[m.yg]

~17~

"What now?", I asked, breaking the silence.

I was staring at the ceiling of Yoongi's bedroom, taking up most of his bed as I played with the material of the blanket underneath. My legs hurt and so did my head. A warm shower and clean clothes had still done nothing to warm me up after getting drenched in that rain. Though the memories of kissing Yoongi in that boat still left a tingly feeling in my stomach.

Yoongi was slumped in his armchair, facing the window that covered most of his wall and was looking at the ocean. The waves were now calm, a silent lullaby playing in the back of my mind. A few seagulls screeched outside and the golden light of the sunset illuminated his pale face.

He looked so incredibly tired that it crushed me. Like a ghost of what he had been merely a week before we'd travelled here. Before we'd returned to this place.
Nevertheless, he was so handsome, as always. His thin hand with pianists' fingers were underneath his chin, thoughtfully tapping against it. He always made that face when he was lost in thought.

"Nothing." He replied to my question with a sigh. "We did what we could."

I recalled his brother's harsh reaction after taking our warnings the wrong way and the devastated look on Yoongi's face before leaving the room. The meeting with Geumjae had been a catastrophe. Though, I hadn't expected it to go any differently, if I was honest.

Yoongi adjusted his sitting position to a more upright one and still stared out ahead as he spoke. "Maybe we really should just give it up. The storm has passed. Let's take a ferry back to the main land, get to Seoul as quickly as we can. Let's leave this damned place."

I mulled over the things he'd said. There had been such determination in his eyes after there had been progress regarding the case and he'd wanted to stay until the it was solved. He'd felt indebted to Minah, a friend which he'd thought had killed herself because of him. Partially also for Jimin's sake, I guessed. Now, he seemed like he was done with it all. There was no more energy left to give. Nothing left of himself to give. I understood that.

I got up from his bed and carefully walked over to the armchair he was sitting on. He looked up at me solemnly and then extended his arms. I accepted the invitation and sat myself on his lap, my legs dangling from the armrest and my arms around his neck. He leaned back and held me in his arms, resting his chin on my hair. His smell was still the same as always. I knew he was crushed after hearing Geumjae's reaction. So many years he had spent not speaking to his brother, somehow still hoping they had a better connection than with his father. Yet, now even his only other family member seemed to be against him.

"I'm sure that's not really what Geumjae thinks of you, Yoongi", I quietly said, suspecting that that's what had been bothering him. I played with the collar of his black shirt. "He overreacted."

Yoongi buried his nose in my hair and breathed deeply. "Mhm."

I placed a hand on his damp cheek, which was hidden between the strands of my hair.
"He's your brother and loves you, no matter what."

"Don't know about that", he said, with a somewhat bitter laugh.

"Hey", I soothingly said, placing my hands on his cheeks and lifting up his face towards mine. I saw the tears forming in his eyes and immediately felt my heart sink.
"Geumjae once told me that he worries for you and that he thinks you have a good heart. I'm sure his opinion of you wouldn't change so easily. No matter what, you guys are still family."

I didn't have any siblings myself, but I was quite sure that such family bonds didn't break so easily. I felt so sorry for Yoongi, because he barely had any family bonds to begin with. Without his mother and a jerk of a father, his brother had been the only family member Yoongi had ever been close to. The fact that they hadn't kept in touch had been a result of Yoongi's disappointment in his brother for siding with their father. As if he'd felt betrayed by him. That was what I had guessed, judging by the way he'd spoken about it.
Though, he'd generally never spoken much about his family at all. That was still a wound that had yet to be opened. It was as if Yoongi had always hoped that deep down, Geumjae was still the same, even though he was working with their father. Today felt like he'd been proven wrong and it had hurt him.