HEARTBREAKER / KTH.

AIN'T NO CRYING IN THE CLUB / KSJ

| SEOUL / 23:12 |
| a month after leaving him |

YOU THINK / THAT YOU'LL DIE WITHOUT HIM / YOU KNOW / THAT'S A LIE THAT YOU TELL YOURSELF

☆

KIM SEOKJIN DID NOT USUALLY CRY.

when he did, something had to be terribly wrong; normally he smiled, made bad jokes, and had the loudest and most contagious laugh you'd ever hear. none of his friends believed he was capable of even shedding a tear.

but, in that moment, his world was falling apart, and seokjin was barely the man he used to be.

he sat huddled in a bathroom stall in some stupid fucking gay club in seoul, legs pulled up to his chest, t-shirt stinking of sticky and disgusting alcohol. his eyes were bloodshot, his breath stank of weed and alcohol, and he just wanted to go home. he didn't want to see another pretty boy, or a neon light, or hear loud, thumping techno, never ever again. all he wanted was to get back to his apartment, slump on the sofa, and cry his eyes out in his roommate's arms.

he heard footsteps come into the bathroom, and silenced his sobs, hand over his mouth, shirt sleeve wiping harshly at his eyes to get rid of the tears. the people who had come in chatted to each other animatedly, sounding very flamboyant, like seokjin himself usually would, if he hadn't been reduced to a pathetic, crying mess in a toilet stall. it made him so angry that he got like this; he could be so overly emotional, letting breakups and rejections get to him more than something that trivial should. he put it down to how he grew up, wanting some way to justify how he never cried, and when he did, he would completely shatter. kim seokjin was an enigma to himself, it seemed.

he fumbled in his jean pockets for his phone, wanting to text mark and ask him to come and pick him up. seokjin was two seconds away from breaking down, he couldn't walk home like that. he found the boy's number and hastily typed out a text, fingers shaking.

DADDY LONG LEGS

marll can you pick me up please o neeed to com home

seokjin ? is everything okay?

imm two secondss away from a brekadowm pleas

shit, jinnie, where are you?

cluhb called dramarama on 33 strert

pleade hurry

i'll be there in five. can you meet me outside?

ill be ghere

stay safe, hyung

seokjin groaned, stuffing his phone back into his pocket and getting up off the floor, vision slightly blurred as he steadied himself. he shook his head and stumbled out of the stall, falling into a tan guy with startlingly white hair.

"s-sorry." seokjin managed to stutter out, pushing past the guy and his friends, his head spinning as he tried to make his way through the club, everything bringing back bad memories of that stupid fucking boy he had met. the boy that had left him with tear stains on his pillow and an aching heart, drowning his sorrows in weed and drinks. these had rendered him a nervous wreck the past few weeks, and the first time he had gone clubbing in a month, he fucked up by having a near-panic attack in the bathrooms.

weaving his way through couples making out, friends dancing, boys smoking pot and girls taking ecstasy, seokjin finally found the door, breathing in deep gulps of cold night air and rubbing at his eyes, eyeliner smudged around the rims and his irises bloodshot. mark's small fiat panda pulled up almost instantly, and seokjin stumbled over to it, sitting in the passengers side.

"jin-hyung," mark looked over at his best friend affectionately, placing a gentle hand on seokjin's thigh. "we need to talk, alright?"

"w-what about?" seokjin asked, confused. mark was using the tone of voice he used for business calls; it demanded, but in a sort of sooth, calming way, and seokjin wondered why he would speak to him like that. mark started up the ignition, pulling away from the curb with a sigh.

"when we get back home, you get cleaned up, and we can have a chat, okay?" mark smiled at the blonde and seokjin nodded, buckling up and clinging his knees to his chest, leaning his head on the window and watching the bright lights of seoul pass by.

they got back to the apartment quickly, and seokjin went to shower, stinking of alcohol, sweat and weed. he watched the water disappear down the plughole with tears pricking at his eyes, for reasons unknown to him, as he scrubbed his tainted skin raw with lemon and ginger scented soap. he felt dirty, for some reason, and he wanted nothing more than to erase the horrible husk of a once cheerful man and bloom again, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

seokjin changed his clothes and found mark sitting on the sofa in the living room, cross-legged with his hands in his lap. seokjin sat down, meeting mark's eyes, and the brunette smiled gently.

"seokjin-hyung," he started, voice sincere and kind. "you, uhm, you've been in a real state, the last couple months. i know why, and it hurts me to see you like this."

seokjin's throat seemed to constrict at mark's words, a lump forming in his oesophagus. tears pricked at his eyes again.

"i threw away all your drugs today, hyung," mark said. "it hurt me that this was something i had to do. i had to burn a bag of weed in a trashcan, flush pills down the toilet, fuck, i'm lucky i didn't have to bury a baggie of coke," mark was obviously agitated, his voice rising in pitch. "i can't let you get like this because of that cheating bastard taehyung, okay? i just can't. i won't allow it. so will you stop? please?"

seokjin's lips parted weakly, a small, quiet "yes", leaving him. "i will, mark, i swear."

"the boys and i miss you, jin," mark admitted. "jaebum wants to make kimchi, and laugh with you again. and jinyoung, god, he misses his partner in crime, seokie. please, get better, for us?"

"i swear i will," seokjin sounded more sure than he had in months, voice firm, taking his phone from his pocket. "i'm gonna delete everything i have of that fucking red-head's. burn his hoodie. i can't... i can't believe i let myself get like this."

mark grinned widely, leaning forward and taking his best friend in a strong hug. it looked like the old kim seokjin would be back soon.

☆

aw seokjin :(

also shameless friend promo: go read 97youngnrich's got7 fanfic 'forever the sickest' because a) theo is amazing and b) just?? got7???

- jace