LAST RESORT | JIKOOK ✔️

38. LESS OF A COINCIDENCE

Jimin is sitting in the police station, staring at the ground in some kind of trance. He fails to notice how intensely his leg is shaking up and down until he feels a hand placed on his knee.

He glances up and Taehyung is looking at him with an uneasiness scintillating from his eyes.

After the funeral, he had been so caught up in the heat of the moment that his ringing phone sounded nothing more than white noise.

"You ignored all of my calls. How come?" Taehyung asks.

Jimin is chewing on his bottom lip, letting Taehyung's hand on his knee be a reminder to stay collected. "I was distracted. This day has felt so long and it only seems to get longer," he replies. "I'm just glad Jeongguk Hyung checked his phone."

Taehyung shares a sympathetic smile. And although Jimin misses it, he can still feel waves of rapport wrapping him up in a solid embrace.

The fact that someone tampered with Soomin's vehicle still doesn't feel real.

It's not like she was his sister and yet his mind is totally scrambled. He can't even begin to wonder how Jeongguk is feeling and what he's thinking.

Can he even think? It doesn't even seem possible, not after everything he's been through.

Thankfully, they've become less of a hot topic for the media. Day by day, the attention gradually lessens and hopefully, soon enough, it will all deplete.

However, the family tension is still blistering. Despite having little to no contact, the animosity surrounding them is still so ripe that it can almost be felt on the tongue.

And although Jeongguk seems to be handling things okay, it's still hard at times for Jimin to tell what's going on inside of his head. Every now and then, an obvious facial expression or series of body language will give it away. He tries as hard as he can to keep everything together.

"I can tell that he's upset just by looking at his back," Taehyung remarks.

Jimin frowns. "He's had to carry so much weight on his shoulders. I don't know how he does it."

"You both have," Taehyung mentions and his eyes shift to Jimin's side profile. "Life never used to be simple, per se, but it definitely used to be a lot more simple than what you've been experiencing for the last while."

Jimin sighs, leaning into the back of his chair while running his hands down his face. They land in his lap heavily. "My biggest worry was income. And I used sleep with a new guy basically every chance I got to deal with the stress."

"And my biggest worry was you," Taehyung replies, staring at Jimin. "You were such a handful."

Jimin rolls his eyes. "I never asked you to worry about me."

Taehyung scoffs. "You're my best friend. Do you think I'm just gonna not care about you?"

A chuckle. Jimin shakes his head. His attention then transfers to Jeongguk who wanders toward them with a sour look on his face.

"What did they say?" Jimin asks, standing.

"They aren't sure who did it yet. They're opening an investigation to see if they can find some evidence aside from the tampering of the vehicle itself." Jeongguk slumps into one of the chairs.

And Jimin doesn't blame him. It seems like one problem after another.

"Why would anyone tamper with her car in the first place? I didn't know her personally but it still doesn't make any sense to me," Taehyung chimes in.

"We're all wondering the same thing. As far as I know, she had no enemies. Maybe it was someone she didn't know. I guess only time will tell." Jeongguk sighs.