Funny How It Works

• XXIII •

"Wait, Jin, are you crying?" Namjoon asked in urgency as he walked closer to Jin who was sobbing silently.

Namjoon only went to the men's room because he needed to pee, he was absolutely not expecting to see this heartbreaking picture when he entered.

The older boy hastily wiped his eyes before sniffing one last time, then turned to face Namjoon. His puffy red eyes and tear-stained cheeks brought pain in Namjoon's heart.

"Umm, uh, I just..." Jin struggled.

Namjoon pursed his lips and rapidly moved forward, pulling Jin into his arms once he got near enough. "Damn it, Jin. I know something's going on inside your mind. You don't have to pretend. If you want to cry, then cry all you want."

And there it was, Jin breaking down into fits of sobs and tears as he held unto Namjoon's now wet button-down shirt. The younger boy tightened his hold around Jin's shaking body, burying his nose to the top of Jin's hair and inhaling the older's shampoo as he listened to his sobs.

They stayed like that until Jin slowly calmed down and his sobs decreased. When Namjoon thought that the older boy was already calm enough, he gently kissed Jin's forehead then pulled back a little bit to see the older boy's face.

"Are you okay now?" he asked in a whisper.

Jin nodded, sniffing a little.

Namjoon sighed contentedly, swiped away a strayed lock of Jin's hair before gently raising Jin's head with his hand under his chin to make the crying lad face him. "Should we go back to the office now?"

Again, Jin nodded, and together they walked back to the office. Namjoon brought water for Jin but did not ask any questions, wanting the older to share only when he wanted to. Sooner though, Jin began to speak.

"Sorry for that. I just got...a little overwhelmed."

Namjoon nodded understandingly. "This is about Jimin, isn't it? His flight is already this afternoon."

Nodding sadly, Jin gulped some water before he spoke again. "While I was washing my hands back there in the men's room, I just suddenly realized that Jimin would be far away from me for a long time. This never happened before, you know, Jimin and Jihyun away from me. They're always just there, following me around. I'm not sure if I can..."

Namjoon chose this moment to wrap one arm around Jin's shoulders and pull him closer to him, making the older boy rest his head on Namjoon's waiting shoulder. He could see that Jin was unhappy, but the older always refused to admit it.

"Jihyun is also sad," Jin continued. "He tried pretending to be happy and all because he knew that this is good for his hyung, but I can still see the sadness in his eyes. Aish, even Jimin is sad too, but he's so determined to go that he can't be stopped. We're seriously like a bunch of pathetic idiots in the house. We're all pretending to be happy but really, we're just plainly miserable inside."

Jin drank some more water and Namjoon couldn't help but stare. He couldn't believe how things became like this. It was all so fine before. Namjoon was frustrated because everything was like a math problem that he couldn't solve. But he guessed that maybe, wherever love was involved, nothing would really be solved.

It's all too complicated.

"Come on, Jimin can still visit. It's not like he's required to be there forever," Namjoon said in his efforts to comfort Jin.

"But it will not be the same, Namjoon."

"Well, even if Jimin will be gone, at least there's still this one person who loves you that will remain by your side."