lux ✧ minjoon

12. swelter

I can't sleep. I feel the globe making a rotation, 

and I'm not supposed to be, but I'm awake for it. 

I'm at that age when everyone is talking about the kinds of love
they've been using to get by.

It's a very dark late.
The sound of a towel dropping off the rack

into the bath
carries my name with it.

I get up to turn on the dryer
to block out all possibilities of ever

hearing anything else 

fall.

- anne guthrie

✿

"he's really not picking up." hoseok sighed in frustration, after the third call to namjoon's phone. they were all gathered in the living room, the tension building the longer they sat. one thing was clearly evident, namjoon was nowhere to be found. "leader always answers his phone." 

"what should we do?" jungkook asked, as he paced back and forth along the carpet, directing it towards yoongi who was considered second in command. there was irritation flashing across his face, his eyebrows furrowed, his fists clenched so tight that jimin could see the veins running up his arms. he remembered the anger issues that the other's had mentioned before and couldn't help but wonder where they stemmed from. he knew that the other was probably more upset than anyone else, growing up along side namjoon for the past decade. 

yoongi leaned back in his chair, popping a cigarette between his pink lips, taehyung lighting the end for him without a word. "jin, i need you to start tracing the number, see if we can pick up a location from it." 

"gotcha. i'll be quick about it." jin answered at once, leaving the room, his face set in a determined frown. 

"if we get a hit, who's going to go?" taehyung chimed in, fiddling with the rings on his knuckles as he looked around the room. 

"when we get a hit," hoseok interjected, jerking his chin in the direction jin had gone, "i'll go. been waitin' to use my new toys on someone. and if they do have namjoon..." he trailed off with a glint in his eyes that sent a shiver down jimin's spine, "well let's hope for their sake that they don't." 

"then i'll come with." tae decided, his tone purposeful, clasping hands with yoongi as the older man glanced over. "you're the best with weapons, hobi, but you might need me for this one." 

jimin just sat, trying to push down the last bit of nausea that was trying to climb up his throat. it was still so insane to him how casually they all talked about violence when he couldn't even defend himself without having to puke. 

and the absense of namjoon, who would have been by his side, holding his hand, making him forget whatever he was so anxious about, was obvious. if he closed his eyes hard enough he could see the brunette's dimpled smile and that was enough to calm him down for the moment. 

"and me." jin broke in smugly, waving a piece of paper in his hand as he reentered the room. "let's go." 

"and what am i supposed to do?" jungkook huffed exasperatedly, rolling his big doe eyes, "there's no way you expect me to just sit here and do nothing." 

"you're right, i don't expect you to do that." yoongi lamented, blowing out smoke, "that's why you're going with me. we have to check namjoon's place, see if there's any clues." 

"and what should i do?" jimin asked in a small voice, tentatively raising his hand as if he waiting for a teacher to call on him. 

jungkook and yoongi turned to look at him, seeming perplexed as if they had truly forgotten that he was still in the room. 

"you need to stay here, where it's safe." 

"but i live in the apartments too!" he protested, pushing himself up with a frown that looked more like a pout than anything. "and apparently this person, whoever they are, they say they know me. you might need me to help joonie." 

he still had no clue who it was behind the messages, he couldn't even bring himself to guess. but one thing he was sure of was that he couldn't sit idly, while namjoon was hurt because of him. 

"he raises a good point, babe." taehyung sing-songed as he walked by, pressing a kiss to the top of yoongi's head, the smaller man leaning into it. "we're leaving now, call me if you find anything." 

yoongi sighed, crossing his tattooed arms, "fine, but if anything happens to you, you can't say i didn't warn you, got it?"

"got it." 

＊

"it looks the same." jimin murmured as they stepped into namjoon's apartment, the front room neat, not even a book out of place. 

"maybe that's the point." jungkook slid past him, starting to lift couch cushions and pillows, looking around for any hint that could help them find the older man. 

the blonde decided to help, looking around the kitchen for any signs, gasping with surprise when he remembered something. he dropped to his knees in front of the couch, peeking his head under, sliding his hand against the floor, frowning when he found nothing. 

"it's gone." he whispered as he stood, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. 

"what's gone?" 

"there was a gun here." jimin pointed, leaning his back against the front door, "but it's not there anymore." yoongi and jungkook shared a look before ushering jimin out of the apartment and to the elevator. 

the dance teacher's apartment happened to be opposite of namjoon's. the sofa was overturned, papers that had been taken out of his desk were covering the floor like carpet, even his kitchen light flickering. his bedroom looked like a war zone, clothes everywhere, dresser drawers pulled out, his mattress up against the wall. his computer was smashed to bits, only the keyboard still intact. 

"whoever was here was definitely looking for something." yoongi observed, picking up a piece of the shattered computer screen, looking over his shoulder. "i'm sorry, jimin." 

"it's not your fault," he shook his head, picking up the remnants of an old dance trophy that had been smashed against the wall. 

"wait," jungkook said abruptly, as he stepped over a broken candle holder, "what if this fucked up mystery person is leaving a message? what if they weren't looking for anything?"

"what do you mean?" jimin asked softly, sliding down against the wall, feeling way too dizzy for everything that was taking place. 

"namjoon's been gone since even before you got those texts." he hummed, pressing a finger to his bottom lip in thought. "they claim to know you, claim to know things about you but if it was just you they wanted, couldn't they have just come here to get you? i mean, they've already wrecked the place, they obviously knew how to get in."  

"they said they wanted to play a game." he mumbled into his knees, trying his best to pretend like the room wasn't spinning. 

looking at the damage that had been done, the sick feeling that had been sitting his stomach came back once more along with guilt. he couldn't help but think, what if the person behind all of this came for him and namjoon just got caught in the crossfire? he thought back to the brunette's promise that he would never hurt him, that he couldn't. he had told jimin that if anything was to happen to him, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. and the blonde felt the same, as he sat on the floor of his damaged apartment. 

"what if the game's already started?" yoongi followed up on jungkook's thought, sitting on the edge of the bed frame. "what if it started the moment they got joon?" 

"and we had no clue." the black haired man sighed, pressing his head into his hands. they sat in silence for a few moments, taking in the small amount of information they had gained. 

 "fine. they want to play?" jimin mused, standing with a strong-willed nod. "then let's play." 

＊

hi bbs! tbh i really don't even know how i feel about the last two chapters //: i guess i'll just see where this goes. 

as always, please get some rest! drink some water, eat something and take care of yourselves. self care is the best care. i'll be here if you need me.