Broken//Kim Namjoon

14; A Dying Soul

Unedited

"Athena!" Namjoon's voice ricocheted off the hallway to Athena's store. "Athena please!" He turned opened the door into the store. He went to the door labeled 'no entry' but stopped when he saw someone else in the shop.

"What do you think you're doing?" a man said from the cashiers table. He frowned. Athena had no employees the last time he checked.

"Who are you? I need to talk to Athena," he said, tapping the counter anxiously.

"Thena? Who are you?" he asked. Hearing him call her that in such a sweet voice made Namjoons blood boil.

"I'm Namjoon. Her boy-" he cut himself off, realizing that wasn't accurate. "I need to talk to her," he said. "It's urgent so I'll just go up-"

"What? No! You can't do that!" the guy stood up, coming around the counter. "You're Kim Namjoon right?" The man nodded. "Great. In that case, you can't go in."

Namjoon frowned. "What? Why now?"

"I don't know, she just says that if a Kim Namjoon shows up, don't let him in. I asked why, but it's a touchy subject for her, so I didn't pry. But I'm sure you know all about that," the boy said. Namjoon took a step back, hurt.

"I really need to see her," he told the man, even though he knew he wouldn't let him through.

"I'm sorry. Go home," he said. Namjoon hung his head and walked out.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Athena!"

"Athena?"

"Athena."

"Athena..."

Namjoon visited every day, coming for her, even though he never saw her. He felt like a creepy fanboy, and he realized this is probably how saesangs felt. Constantly crying and grieving for the unattainable person who didn't want, nor cared about them. Not once had he even gotten a glimpse of her. Except today.

Sixteen days. It had been sixteen since he had seen her. Fifteen since Taehyung had seen her. Thirteen since Jin's last visit. The man who ran the cashier as the shop, Myunghoon, revealed that he rarely saw her nowadays. They all were worried about her.

But today, he came early. Every day he'd come at eight o'clock sharp. But today he had practice early, so he'd come at seven thirty. He walked down the hallway, his feet dragging under the weight of his heart. But upon opening the door, he saw not one figure in the room, but two. The whipped around and looked at him. Myunghoon stood up and put an arm in front of the other figure protectively.

Namjoon barely recognized her, but he was sure it was her. Athena. The fire in his belly lit as if it had never gone out, but his heart clenched at the same time. She was wearing a tank top, and jeans. It took him a moment to realize those jeans were meant to be skinny jeans. Her tank top must've been bought recently, because they highlighted her ribs perfectly, which were jutting out, the skin stretched over them. Her eyes looked way bigger in their hollowed sockets, wide, like a deer caught in the headlights. Her many bracelets hung loose around her wrists, almost slipping off. She took a shaky step towards the 'no entry' door, but it was shaky, and somehow he could tell she was about to pass out. Athena almost fell, grabbing onto Myunghoon's arm for support. She whispered something into his ear and he nodded, guiding her to the door. She slipped the through the door and disappeared. Namjoon took a step towards the door, but Myunghoon stopped him in his tracks.

"Don't step closer," he warned, not wanting to look at Namjoon. Namjoon looked down. Myunghoon sighed seeing how torn Namjoon was, and seeing how hurt Athena was. "That's the first time I've seen her in a week. She's getting worse."