Waiting Game | pjm ✓

052. Before the Storm

It's always calm before the storm.

Recently, Aera spent a lot of her time reflecting on that sailors' adage. The eerie stillness she was currently experiencing resembled a lot said 'calm' preceding a tumultuous storm.

Days passed by incredibly slowly. Following Aera's night encounter with Yoongi, he had practically disappeared off the face of the Earth. Hoseok had vanished into thin air as well, and Hyukjae still remained AWOL.

It was safe to say, his absence was a blessing. Understandably no one missed him. But the same didn't go for Hobi. After Meisa had told her about Hoseok's real motives for his wrongdoings, Aera was heartbroken for him. He had betrayed them, but at the same time she acknowledged that all of his actions came from a place of love. Love for his sister. She couldn't possibly be angry with him.

Nothing of importance happened except Aera finally retrieving the crystal skull from Yoongi. Clearly, she should have told her friends where she got it from, but something inside of her was resisting. Lying didn't feel right to her, but she also felt uncomfortable disclosing her conversation with Yoongi, like it was some kind of shameful secret she wanted to bury deep inside. She was fully aware of the amount of questions that would follow, like what was Yoongi doing in her penthouse. Which would soon lead to the next question – what exactly did they talk about.

The details of their conversation were bothersome to Aera. Inwardly, she felt... tainted. She was reluctant to pay any mind to how he had attempted to seduce her with enticing promises of a greater, epic life. As honest as he could be, he had swooped in with the bold declaration that he still wanted her. But what exactly was she to do with that information? Their time together had ended. She had moved on.

Also, it was evident they wanted different things out of life. Apparently he wanted to act like a creepy vampire, and she just wanted people to stop trying to kill her.

Which brought her to the main reason she was unwilling to reveal to anyone about Yoongi's true feelings for her. She was terrified it would upset Jimin. And it was the last thing she wanted to do.

It was wrong to keep secrets from him, considering the fact that he had never been dishonest with her. But she kept on doing it regardless, out of fear of hurting his feelings. It was better this way, or that was what she desperately kept repeating to herself.

Speaking of, Aera had been on cloud nine ever since Jimin had given her the promise ring. There was nothing that she found more natural than to spend with him the remaining days of her life, no matter how long that would be. She was glowing with elation from the inside, unable to contain the face-splitting grin that occupied her face every time she looked at him. It was unbelievable how much head-over-heels in love she was with him, and finally saying it aloud felt amazing. As long as he was by her side, she knew she would be alright.

Despite that, there were still moments when she'd stop in her tracks and the hairs on the back of her neck would stand up, she'd turn around cautiously and get scared from her own shadow. Almost constantly, she had the feeling that someone was watching or following her. The sensation of impending danger waiting just around the corner clasped at her throat. No matter how many times she reassured herself she was simply being paranoid, Aera couldn't shake the sinister feeling off.

It's always calm before the storm.

On top of everything, it seemed like the weather had completely lost its mind. It was around the middle of September and instead of Mother Nature gracing the town with the last sunny days, there was a constant accumulation of dark clouds along with an occasional ominous rumbling. However, not a drop of rain touched the ground.

Much like the gray that carpeted the sky, there was a certain darkness blanketing Namjoon's face these days. As a matter of fact, the gloom was reflected in everyone's mood. Jungkook spent most of his time in front of his computer or with his nose buried in heavy books, not really talking to anyone except Meisa.

As for Meisa, even despite her tight smile, she had seemed extremely anxious which Aera deemed to be natural, considering she was probably worried about her brother. Taehyung had gone off wandering somewhere and swung by the hotel once every two or three days, along with his pet dog Vinnie. During the short periods of time that Aera caught a glimpse of him, he was wearing a permanent frown on his face.

The only ray of sunshine in the group of gloomy faces was probably Jin, who in spite of the whole turmoil had started a new job at his father's clinic. Aera was glad to know that he was making the most of his healing powers by serving other people. So there was a silver lining at least.

During the brief meetings they'd have every day, the friends would sink into awkward silence. None of them knew what to do or had any ideas about what would happen next. The danger was seemingly gone now that Hyukjae and Yoongi had done their disappearing act and everyone felt like they could finally breathe, especially Aera who had her fair share of torture from her vicious bother. Yet, she was afraid that this would merely be the infamous 'calm' people talked about, the one right before the storm hits.

It was like playing a waiting game, only they had no idea what they were waiting for. Or rather, what was waiting for them.