The Eighth One - BTS AU (Mystery/Thriller) | Complete

Chapter 62

Kookie was the one who ran in front. Being more athletic he could run very fast. Jimin himself was very well toned.

As they neared the lake, they started searching frantically. They looked for any movement that would indicate the presence of a living thing.

The lake looked beautiful at night. The reflection of the moon in the clear water amidst the shadow of the trees was indeed a sight to behold. However to them this beauty seemed like a bad omen.

It was too silent. Even the breeze made no noise. Leaves didn’t rustle. The sky was devoid of any clouds.

“I don’t think he is here hyung,” Kookie said feeling defeated.

Joon eyed Jimin who stood silently. It was clear that he too thought the same. Joon hung his head down as he sighed. Feeling beaten, he hoped that the others had some luck.

He turned to the younger ones as he got up. But as he looked up, the expression he saw on Kookie’s face intrigued him. Apparently Jimin too had noticed this.

Joon followed the maknae’s gaze who seemed to have been observing the surface of the water.

Surprise spread over Joon’s face as he saw increasing number of ripples. Jimin walked closer to the shore of the lake for a better look. Taking out his phone, he flashed his light to find the origin.

By the time Joon found him, Kookie shouted,

“TAEMINAH!”

The ripples grew in number. It was Joon who screamed this time.

“TAEMINAAAH!”

Just then, there was a movement taht originated much farther. Jimin shone the light to the core and the boys saw Jin’s head on the surface of water. He was much far from the shore, standing half immersed.

Immediately Jimin removed pulled off a shoe.

“NO! DON’T YOU DARE!” Jin screamed.

“Wha…?” mouth agape, Jimin stared at him.

“No one! And I mean no one is allowed to step into the water!”

“Okay!” Jimin put down the shoe that he had taken off.

“Taemin please come back!” Kookie yelled.

“Please don’t hurt yourself!” Joon screamed as he stepped forward.

“Jin will not be able to handle the suffering and pain Joonah! I was with him his whole life! I know him well. I know all his secrets! He is too weak to spend his whole life in an asylum…”

“He won’t spend his whole life in an asylum! He’ll get better soon!”

“If he gets better, I die! And he goes to jail!”

While the focus shifted to Joon and Jin, Jimin noticed Kookie take silent and slow steps backwards.

“He won’t go to jail! They won’t find out! That is why we are leaving this place!”

“Lies! Of course they’ll find out!”

Joon felt frustrated and lost. Amidst the chaos no one noticed Kookie gradually leave the scene.

“Which is why I have a solution,” Jin‘s voice boomed over the water.

Fearing the words that might follow, Joon’s heart rate increased a thousand times as he waited in silence.

“Jin will not go to an asylum or prison, and I will not disappear without a trace…”

Joon breathed in, bracing himself for the words that followed,

“...If I end it right here, right now.”

“NO!” Joon screamed,” absolutely not!”

“Why not? I have no reason to live anymore! No matter what happens, Jin will suffer if he lives!”

“Please...no…” Joon mumbled as he rest both his hands on his head. His eyes brimmed with tears.

“And you won’t love me back…ever…” Jin rubbed his eyes to hide the tears. He then combed back his hair, revealing his forehead.

“Please let us die in peace,” he said as he started to turn around and walk further into the water.

Joon lurched forward to follow him. He put down his coat and started pulling off his shoes as he sat down on the ground. Watching from the side-lines so far, Jimin ran forward and placed a hand on Joon’s shoulder.

Watching Jin walk deeper, he screamed in confusion,
“Are you going to drown yourself?”

Jin didn’t reply back and kept walking.

“But you know how to swim!”

Joon looked up at Jimin stating the obvious. Eyes wide and mouth agape, he turned his gaze to Jin. A loud mocking laugh erupted from the eldest as he turned around.

He clapped his hands and said,
“Very good! It’s true! I can swim.”

Joon and Jimin eyed him feeling confused.
Just then he stopped laughing and said,

“But Jin cant.”

“I lied to you Jiminah,” he continued,

” I lied to you when I said that I cannot predict if it’ll be me or Jin who wakes up the next morning. It used to be random,”
he put up both his hands in the air,

”but unfortunately ever since Jin gave me total control, I can come and go as I please!”

He shook his head as his eyes popped out, mocking the ones at the shore. Jimin was scared. This was his Jin hyung, and yet it wasn’t.

Jin continued.

“So I’ll go deep. I’ll go underwater,” Jin pointed to the deeper parts nodding hid head, as if he was giving them a step by step tutorial,

“But it’ll be Jin who drowns!”

Jin’s face fell immediately. He raised his hand and gave a gentle wave. Recognising the mood, cold breeze blew from the lake making them feel blue. Jin turned his back towards them as he simultaneously lowered his arm.

Watching this, Joon jumped into the water immediately. While Jimin pulled off another shoe, he turned to the sudden footsteps behind him.

“WHERE WERE YOU?” Jimin asked seeing Kookie run towards him. Behind him Jimin saw Hoseok, Yoongi and Tae sprinting with fright.

“I called them when things had started to get out of hand.”

Jimin nodded as he resumed his actions.
“I did one more thing,” Jimin looked up at Kookie as he said those words.

As he swam to the centre, Joon could only see Jin’s hair. He increased his speed, and the possibility of a cramp decided to slow him down. As he paused to avoid pain, he saw Jimin swim past him.

“Hyung! are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine! Keep going!” Joon replied.

When he looked past a fast swimming Jimin, panic got the best of him.

“Jiminah! I can’t see him!”
his eyes frantically searched the surface of water in the dark. But Jimin gained speed to a certain ddirection Following the trail, Joon resumed swimming.

And then he saw. A half immersed frantically waving hand. Jin’s head came up momentarily and it yelled an unclear,

“HELP!”

Pain got the best of him, but he kept swimming forward. His hyung was his priority than his own life right now. But the cramp finally made an appearance. He couldn’t swim anymore.

As he writhed in pain, he clutched his leg. Slowly, but surely he was drowning. The dark water surrounded his vision, as the night sky disappeared.

He tried to look around but could barely keep his eyes open being blinded by the pain and suffocation.

Is he okay?
Did Jimin save him?

He thought as he let go of his leg and slowly lost his consciousness.