Belong | Min Yoongi

22: Present Day

You struggle for the next 2 weeks, trying to keep all the hurt in until you finally concede and ask your friends to come over so you can cry everything out. They do their best to comfort you, but they know that all you want is their presence so that you don't have to go through this all on your own. You insist that all you need is a good cry and you'll be fine.

There's a whole world waiting for you in 2 weeks' time. The crew hosting you there wants you to experience Paris in the best way possible. You're excited for the lessons and you can't wait to be with your mom again. Jimin will be accompanying you so you know you won't get bored, and there's so much to see and do that you think you'll be too preoccupied to think about your broken heart. You've met with the cast and you already know that you're gonna get along well. Your male leads have been lovely, too, and you know you have to be comfortable with them enough for the intimate scenes you'll be having.

But tonight, you cry and you cry hard. It ends with Taehyung hugging you as you sleep, and that wouldn't be the last. For the next several days, Jimin makes sure that you're never alone, always showing up with a cup of coffee and texting you everyday of a new place to check out in Paris. Jin savors the time he has with you, taking you to lunches and dinners - sparking once more those rumors about the 2 of you dating - and hyping you up for your role.

You even meet Jungkook and Namjoon, who try their best to comfort you after you narrate what happened.

"No need to update me about him this time," you tell them. "Somehow I just know he's gonna be okay. But still, please make sure he is."

Your busy schedule helps keep you from thinking about Yoongi, but as you learn, all it really takes is a broken hair tie to remind you of the love you lost the second time around, and how despite all the good things waiting for you, you know deep down you would've wanted to experience all of this with him.

It doesn't help that on the weekend before you leave, your photoshoot location happens to be in a town just 30 minutes west of Daegu. Following your heart this one time, you instruct the driver to head to Yoongi's house, assuring Jimin that you just want to have a proper goodbye with the man before you leave.

Yoongi's car is parked outside so you know he's home. Keeping yourself from running back to yours, you garner the courage to walk the steps to his front door, ringing the bell and taking a deep breath when you hear footsteps behind it.

He stands before you, his disheveled hair and the black crescents under his eyes telling you that he's maybe struggling just as much as you are.

"Hey," you greet, trying so hard to level your voice. "I was in town and thought I'd drop by. Can I come in for a bit?"

"Y-yeah, sure," he says, stepping aside to let you enter. "It's just quite a mess."

You look around, his apartment suddenly looking way different from that last time you were here. There are unwashed dishes on the sink and piles of takeaway boxes on the table. You spot the bottles of whiskey on the floor and the blankets on the couch. You hate to think that this is how he was that first time, and the thought breaks you even more.

"It's just been a hard couple of weeks," he says, seeing your face falter at the state of his place.

That's quite an understatement, actually. He's been a terrible mess since you left that day. He's glad he's at least professional enough to get his shit together during training and games, but once he gets home, he stops caring about anything else. He likes to think it's just a phase; he was like this the first time he let you go, and it took a while but he did get his act together.

"It's been hard for me, too," you admit, catching him by surprise. "I leave in a week but I feel quite unprepared. There's too much of myself I'm leaving behind."