Does He Really?

Chapter 17: What Happened?

Narrator's POV
Jin looked up from his phone when Taehyung opened their room door. Jungkook stumbled in, looking distraught. "Jungkook? Where's Mikki?" Jin set down his phone. Jungkook shook his head. "Jungkook?"

"She's gone." Jungkook mumbled.

"Gone? What do you mean, gone?" Jin's tone grew menacing and he rose to his feet, hands clenching into fists. "Where's my sister? What happened?"

"Sh-She took off running. I didn't think she was actually going to-"

Jin grabbed him by the shirt collar and shoved him against the wall. "She's in New York ALONE?! If you cared about her half as much as you said you did, you would have run after her!" Jin snarled, bringing his fist back to punch Jungkook.

"HEY!" Taehyung snapped. "Stop it!" He pulled Jin off of Jungkook. "Lashing out at him isn't going to help Mikki get back safely!" He pushed Jin to sit back down on his bed. "Mikki's obsessed with Twitter lately. She always has her phone. Call her phone."

Jin scrambled for his phone and dialed. They heard her ringtone coming from Jin's pocket. "Oh no. I forgot that I took her phone from her lap when she and Jungkook were arguing to keep her from reading all the hate." Jin hung up, taking in deep breaths. "We should go looking for her."

"In New York?" Namjoon was in the doorway of the room. "I don't think that's going to work. In America, you can wait forty eight hours to file a missing persons report. If she doesn't come back by then, I'll call the police."

"That's two days." Taehyung gulped. "We leave in three. That would give the police one day to find her in New York City."

"Then we hope to that Mikki can find her way back on her own." Namjoon nodded over at Jin. "She's smart. She'll be back soon."

Jin and Jungkook barely got any sleep that night, waiting for her to come back. She never did. They went down for breakfast and we're going to go to a photoshoot in New York when they heard a commotion in the lobby. Jin and Jungkook exchanged hopeful glances and took off running for the lobby.

"Wait! Wait!" Mikki was being dragged out by security, blubbering in Korean. Her clothes were in tatters and she was covered in dirt and blood. "Wait!" Jungkook ran towards the security guards. "That's my girlfriend! She's staying here too." The security guards let her go and she ran into Jungkook's arms, wailing into his chest and shaking. "Shhh." Jungkook scooped her up and went straight into the elevator, Jin following close behind. They took her to the room and listened to her hysterical rant.

"I got lost and this man said he'd help but then he beat me and took my purse and ran and I couldn't stop him and I was alone in the Subway train. Nothing made any sense and everyone thought I was a homeless woman. I ended up in Central Park and a dog chased me and I ran back to the trains and I ended up back in this area so I tried to find the hotel and this group of ARMYs tried to take pictures of me and a group of men tried to-"

"Shhhh...." Jungkook kissed her forehead and held her protectively. "You're safe now. Did you have anything important in your purse?"

"No. Just some cash and makeup." She shook her head. "Jungkook, I'm sorry for running away and being such a drama queen and-"

"Mikki, I don't want an apology. I'm sorry for yelling at you the way I did." Jungkook brought his lips to hers. "Take a shower and change. We can buy you new makeup after the photoshoot ends."

"Don't leave the room." She kept her face in the crook of his neck, sucking in a sharp breath and holding a fistful of his shirt. "Please? I'm so scared."

"Mikki, I won't leave." He kissed the side of her face. "I promise." His hands rubbed along her back comfortingly.

"I need you." Mikki mumbled, shaking.

"Take a shower." Jungkook kissed her lips again, cupping her cheeks. "I promise to stay here." He waited as she gathered her things and took a shower. She came out in jeans and a white t-shirt with her timberlands. They were matching. Jungkook grinned as she left her hair loose and he handed her the black face mask she was using now. She put it over her mouth and nose. "Let's get you breakfast. You need to eat."

"I'm not hungry. I'm still too shaken up for that." Mikki shuddered and blushed as Jungkook set his red beanie on her head.

"You should try to rest on the drive to the docks." Jungkook looked at the time. "The photoshoot is at the Statue of Liberty."

The drive to the Statue of Liberty was mostly quiet. Everyone let Mikki sleep and once she had knocked out, Jungkook relayed the story of her long night to the rest of the guys who had been worried once they heard that Mikki hadn't come back last night. Jungkook checked Twitter and found pictures of Mikki all beat up and dirty in different places of New York. Jungkook clenched his fists and looked out the window.

This relationship isn't going to be easy. Mikki and I are going to struggle a lot. ARMY will take a while to calm down. Long distance is going to be hard. But we'll make it through. I won't stop fighting for us. I'm in love. And people who are in love don't give up. No matter what comes their way.