#like who is searching up “bongus”

[sadqueerenergy]

I love having things to do and then completely forgetting to do them!

Fun!

[jamkookies]

Me and Nochu

Description :  A trip to Malta for the shooting of Bon Voyage seems peaceful enough until the moment things take an unexpected turn...

Word count : 2.3k

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The darkness surrounding every corner of your vision only emphasises the unmistakable fear in your chest.

You’d never been this alone before.

As you drag your suitcase behind you, the dimly-lit buildings lining the streets are your only consolation.

You march down the sidewalk with wary eyes, alert about every movement and sound.

Mentally thanking yourself for putting on a hoodie and sweatpants, you check  your phone for the thirty-fifth time.

11:30 pm

Well, that’s great.

It had been two hours since you’d secretly left the hospital, trying to get away before the others woke up and you still hadn’t found someplace to sleep.

Just where was that damn hotel?

The streets where dangerous at night, lights or no lights on display.

Your inner thoughts kept telling you to go back, to not be stupid and reckless, but you shoved them out of the way.

No.

There was no going back now.

You were gonna find a hotel for tonight and then fly to Korea first thing in the morning.

That’s right.

You had this.

You were perfectly capable of taking care of yourself.

Holding on to that newly-found feeling of confidence, you push your way forward.

There.

At the right corner, a five storey building catches your eye, a Casa Ellul sign on the top of it.

You fasten your steps, eager to escape from the eerie atmosphere of the streets.

You reach the reception desk, a young lady on the other side of it, greeting you with a warm smile.

“Lejla tajba!"you make an attempt.

"Merħba!” she answers. “Kif nista ngħinek?”

Woah there.

You only knew the most elementary words and the speed of her articulation made you do a double take.

“Um.. English?” you try again.

The receptionist plasters another smile on her face, and you notice the thick accent when she says “Of course.”

“I would like to book a room for tonight.”

After finishing the procedure, you extend your credit card to her and she takes it, swiping it on the machine.

Then she looks at you and mumbles a jumble of mispronounced English words.

“What?”

“Il-karta ta ‘kreditu tiegħek ġiet irrifjutata.”

What in the ever loving world did she just say?

You stare at her, dumbfounded.

She waves the card in front of you and makes a big X with her index fingers.

Oh no.

Your credit card was declined.

That lying son of a-

“Sorry”, the lady says, giving you an apologetic smile.

What were you gonna do now?

You had nowhere to go, you couldn’t speak Maltese and the only belongings you owned were your suitcase and your phone.

If Sejin had invalidated your credit card, that meant he had invalidated every other form of retracting money.

You were gonna have a couple of words with your-

Oh, right.

Your manager was the one who had done this.

You let out an exasperated sigh and as you give the lady a last nod, you make your way out of the hotel.

You fish your phone from your pocket, ready to call your parents to send you some money, but pause mid-air and put it back in.

What exactly were you gonna tell them?

Hey Mom! Sorry for calling so late but  I’ve been acting like a hysterical lately and someone kidnapped me and I got shot in the shoulder and I left the band and now I’m all alone in the middle of Valetta with no money.

Oh and by the way, how’s Dad?

Yeah right.

Like you were ever gonna tell them that.

You’d rather lick the street clean than admit failure in front of them.

They couldn’t know.

Determined to hold yourself on your own two feet, you start strolling along the streets.

You just had to find somewhere to spend the night - that was your main concern right now.

You’d deal with other things later.

Your overwhelming fear on your chest shrinks a little.

If someone dared attack you, you would definitely put that three month self-defense training to use.

You scan the area around you, weighing the possibilities of finding a place without being slaughtered.

The injury on your shoulder kept bothering you, but you told yourself to suck it up.

It was gonna heal sooner or later.

Searching with your eyes, you notice a stone bridge with a minuscule stream flowing under it.

It was considerably far from the buildings, so you supposed it would be a safer option.

Limping along with your suitcase behind you, you get under the bridge and sit on the ground.

The uncomfortableness of the rocky surface makes your butt hurt, and you give up, standing on your feet once again.

Then, you come up with an idea.

You unzip the big suitcase and lay on it, curling into a ball.

It wasn’t the most luxurious thing you’d slept on but at least it would keep you warm and snug.

You couldn’t allow yourself to sleep, not with the risk of being alone.

You had to keep your eyes open in case someone-

You pass out in a span of ten seconds.

* * *

“Jungkook, stop.”

You giggle, feeling the wetness on your cheek with your eyes still closed.

“Stoooop.” you whine once again.

You lift one hand to your face and bite back a scream when you touch a mass of fur.

As you blink, you go cross-eyed at the thing in front of you.

It’s a cat.

And it’s licking you.

Oh God.

You had thought it was him and that he had been k-

You shake your head and try to distract yourself from all the unholy places your mind was willing to take you.

Not today, Satan.

The cat stares at you silently as you grunt and spill a bunch of profanities when you try to stretch.

Your muscles were stiff and aching from sleeping in a fetal position all night.

You hadn’t even moved an inch.

“Are you on your own too?” you say to the cat.

She doesn’t answer.

“Cat got your tongue?”

You huff a laugh at your own joke.

The white and orange fluff-ball approaches you and snuggles on your leg, trying to get your attention.

You scratch her back and pet her, enjoying the feel of soft fur under your fingertips.

“You’re a cute little thing aren’t you? Are you hungry?”

Your own stomach growls in anticipation and you’re suddenly reminded that you haven’t eaten anything since yesterday.

You had been trying to avoid the fact that you literally had nothing  but now the time had come for you to face the reality.

A ticket to Korea was not cheap and you didn’t have a single dollar bill in your pockets.

You were gonna have to work for it.

Putting the strewn-out clothes back into the suitcase, you make an attempt to fix yourself up as much as you could.

Even though you didn’t know what to expect, there was a surprisingly pleasant mood that had settled on you.

You’d been used to getting your things ready by other people and you missed the sensation of having to earn them on your own.

Miserable as you were, excitement was seeping out of every corner of your body.

You take confident steps and enter the hotel once more.

The lady recognizes you on first sight and you can’t help but feel a surge gratitude.

You raise your index finger, gesturing for her to wait and stick out your phone.

Come on, Google Translate! Help me out.

“Bongu!” you say, eyes on the screen.“Tista 'jekk jogħġbok għinni?”

There’s an amused expression on the lady’s face.

You realize that she did know English but you were trying to prove her that you could get out of your comfort zone.

She needed to understand that you were willing to get what you wanted.

“Dażgur.” she says in a soft voice.

You take this as an affirmation to go on.

“M'għandix flus.Għandi bżonn xogħol.”

You look straight into her eyes,pleading with your own.

“Jekk jogħġbok.” you add.

You didn’t know if it was that last word of begging or the fact that she was a nice person, but she instantly gives you a genuine sympathetic look.

“Follow me.” she says, thick accent still there.

Your face immediately lights up in anticipation and you trail after her.

She guides you down the hallway and stops in front of a brown door.

Then, she extends a hand for you to shake, which you gladly take.

“I’m Liena.”

* * *

You were on cloud nine.

It was amazing how willing the staff had

been to help you.

After talking for half an hour in fluent English with the manager of the hotel, you’d convinced him that you had no money and no place to stay.

He’d been deeply touched by your fake story of how you’d lost all of your cash while being on vacation and you felt slightly guilty about it, but you’d had no other choice.

You couldn’t just let him know of your every dreadful tragedy.

He had required your passport, which you’d luckily still had with you and then you’d gone over the procedures.

You would work as a janitress, cleaning and scrubbing and arranging every hotel room they assigned you to.

What you didn’t expect though, was the small room, similar to a cupboard, under a pair of stairs, where you were supposed to sleep.

Harry Potter at its finest.

It did have some kind of space, you had to give them credit for that, but your expectations had been somewhat…higher.

You mentally slap yourself.

This was not the time to act like a spoiled child.

They had provided you with a job and shelter and you were extremely grateful for it.

After showing you around, Liena had asked you to follow her into the kitchen.

She was now watching you intently as you gobbled down massive amounts of seafood risotto.

You’d tried to take it slowly at first, but your growling stomach had urged you to go faster and faster and now you were left with an aching stomach and indigestion.

As you lick the plate clean, you pat your inflated belly and burp in satisfaction.

Hunger was one dangerous little thing.

Liena giggles at your shameless act and offers you an apple from a nearby basket.

You raise your palms in denial, face already grimacing, but she doesn’t take no for an answer.

Well, what would one more do, anyway?

You surrender and take the apple, bowing your head in thanks.

“Grazzi.” you chirp.

She nods once and leaves the room, making you fall prey to the constant bothering thoughts.

You hadn’t stopped thinking about him not even for a second.

The boys too.

Their phantom presence lingered on the deepest corners of your mind and no matter how hard you tried to forget, no matter how hard you tried to distract yourself from all those good and bad memories alike, they still dwelled inside of you.

A permanent link which you couldn’t sever.

Did it even matter anymore?

At least they were safe.

At least they were moving on with their lives, far away from you and your bad influence.

A teardrop stains the smooth surface of the table, followed by a silent weeping that shakes your shoulders violently and echoes into the white walls of the kitchen.

* * *

It had been a week already and if you were completely honest with yourself, you hadn’t even noticed the time passing.

The hotel had been quite busy and there had been no time for you to rest, constantly changing bed sheets, mopping the floors or cleaning the fine layer of dust coating the furniture.

By the time you went to bed, sleep knocked you off almost immediately, too tired to rethink your life decisions.

Liena had proved to be a real friend with her never-ending food offerings, constant check-ups on your health and occasional chatting.

You had found yourself bonding to her more and more everyday.

The week had gone smoothly except for an unlucky incident that involved your phone slipping from your pocket and falling down the stairs, shattering to bits and pieces.

It had been useless to begin with, not being able to talk to or message anyone, but you’d still felt bad about the pictures you had taken with the boys.

Those were precious memories you had intended to keep with you, but luck just wasn’t on your side this time.

“Guess it’s just you and me now, Nochu.” you say to the white and orange cat pecking at the bread crumbs on your hand.

She had loyally stayed by your side for the past week, spying on every chance she got to eat from your hands.

You usually gave her leftovers or any other thing you could get, but you never let her starve, not even once.

You took pleasure on the rewards she gave you, such as snuggling on your feet or playing with your hands.

“Il-waqfa spiċċat!” you hear a voice down the hall.

That was your cue to finish the lunch-break and get back to work.

Liena had familiarized you with some pattern-words that were essential to your job and it had made it even easier to understand the orders being given.

“Bye, Nochu.” You pat the cat’s head one last time before getting back inside.

One of the hotel employees is waiting for you on the hall, a tray of food on his hands.

“Kamra hawn fuq.” he says and points his finger upstairs.

You take the tray from his hands and look at the card with the number of the hotel room.

72

As you climb up the stairs, you can’t help but notice how light the plates actually are. The person ordering this must not have such a big appetite, you think to yourself.

However, the curiosity wins you over and you peek at the lids covering the plates.

A salad and some roasted asparagus.

Oh, wow.

They really intend to kill themselves, then.

You find yourself in front of the door and knock twice.

“Come in.” you hear someone on the other side.

Wait.

That voice….

You pull down the handle with nervous hands and swing the door wide open.

Curly hair and doe eyes greet you.

The tray falls from your hands and onto the floor.

[jamkookies]

° Bon Voyage °

• Part XI •

Me and Nochu

~

The darkness surrounding every corner of your vision only emphasises the unmistakable fear in your chest.

You'd never been this alone before.

As you drag your suitcase behind you, the dimly-lit buildings lining the streets are your only consolation.

You march down the sidewalk with wary eyes, alert about every movement and sound.

Mentally thanking yourself for putting on a hoodie and sweatpants, you check  your phone for the thirty-fifth time.

11:30 pm

Well, that's great.

It had been two hours since you'd secretly left the hospital, trying to get away before the others woke up and you still hadn't found someplace to sleep.

Just where was that damn hotel?

The streets where dangerous at night, lights or no lights on display.

Your inner thoughts kept telling you to go back, to not be stupid and reckless, but you shoved them out of the way.

No.

There was no going back now.

You were gonna find a hotel for tonight and then fly to Korea first thing in the morning.

That's right.

You had this.

You were perfectly capable of taking care of yourself.

Holding on to that newly-found feeling of confidence, you push your way forward.

There.

At the right corner, a five storey building catches your eye, a Casa Ellul sign on the top of it.

You fasten your steps, eager to escape from the eerie atmosphere of the streets.

You reach the reception desk, a young lady on the other side of it, greeting you with a warm smile.

"Lejla tajba!"you make an attempt.

"Merħba!" she answers. "Kif nista ngħinek?"

Woah there.

You only knew the most elementary words and the speed of her articulation made you do a double take.

"Um.. English?" you try again.

The receptionist plasters another smile on her face, and you notice the thick accent when she says "Of course."

"I would like to book a room for tonight."

After finishing the procedure, you extend your credit card to her and she takes it, swiping it on the machine.

Then she looks at you and mumbles a jumble of mispronounced English words.

"What?"

"Il-karta ta 'kreditu tiegħek ġiet irrifjutata."

What in the ever loving world did she just say?

You stare at her, dumbfounded.

She waves the card in front of you and makes a big X with her index fingers.

Oh no.

Your credit card was declined.

That lying son of a-

"Sorry", the lady says, giving you an apologetic smile.

What were you gonna do now?

You had nowhere to go, you couldn't speak Maltese and the only belongings you owned were your suitcase and your phone.

If Sejin had invalidated your credit card, that meant he had invalidated every other form of retracting money.

You were gonna have a couple of words with your-

Oh, right.

Your manager was the one who had done this.

You let out an exasperated sigh and as you give the lady a last nod, you make your way out of the hotel.

You fish your phone from your pocket, ready to call your parents to send you some money, but pause mid-air and put it back in.

What exactly were you gonna tell them?

Hey Mom! Sorry for calling so late but  I've been acting like a hysterical lately and someone kidnapped me and I got shot in the shoulder and I left the band and now I'm all alone in the middle of Valetta with no money.

Oh and by the way, how's Dad?

Yeah right.

Like you were ever gonna tell them that.

You'd rather lick the street clean than admit failure in front of them.

They couldn't know.

Determined to hold yourself on your own two feet, you start strolling along the streets.

You just had to find somewhere to spend the night - that was your main concern right now.

You'd deal with other things later.

Your overwhelming fear on your chest shrinks a little.

If someone dared attack you, you would definitely put that three month self-defense training to use.

You scan the area around you, weighing the possibilities of finding a place without being slaughtered.

The injury on your shoulder kept bothering you, but you told yourself to suck it up.

It was gonna heal sooner or later.

Searching with your eyes, you notice a stone bridge with a minuscule stream flowing under it.

It was considerably far from the buildings, so you supposed it would be a safer option.

Limping along with your suitcase behind you, you get under the bridge and sit on the ground.

The uncomfortableness of the rocky surface makes your butt hurt, and you give up, standing on your feet once again.

Then, you come up with an idea.

You unzip the big suitcase and lay on it, curling into a ball.

It wasn't the most luxurious thing you'd slept on but at least it would keep you warm and snug.

You couldn't allow yourself to sleep, not with the risk of being alone.

You had to keep your eyes open in case someone-

You pass out in a span of ten seconds.

* * *

"Jungkook, stop."

You giggle, feeling the wetness on your cheek with your eyes still closed.

"Stoooop." you whine once again.

You lift one hand to your face and bite back a scream when you touch a mass of fur.

As you blink, you go cross-eyed at the thing in front of you.

It's a cat.

And it's licking you.

Oh God.

You had thought it was him and that he had been k-

You shake your head and try to distract yourself from all the unholy places your mind was willing to take you.

Not today, Satan.

The cat stares at you silently as you grunt and spill a bunch of profanities when you try to stretch.

Your muscles were stiff and aching from sleeping in a fetal position all night.

You hadn't even moved an inch.

"Are you on your own too?" you say to the cat.

She doesn't answer.

"Cat got your tongue?"

You huff a laugh at your own joke.

The white and orange fluff-ball approaches you and snuggles on your leg, trying to get your attention.

You scratch her back and pet her, enjoying the feel of soft fur under your fingertips.

"You're a cute little thing aren't you? Are you hungry?"

Your own stomach growls in anticipation and you're suddenly reminded that you haven't eaten anything since yesterday.

You had been trying to avoid the fact that you literally had nothing  but now the time had come for you to face the reality.

A ticket to Korea was not cheap and you didn't have a single dollar bill in your pockets.

You were gonna have to work for it.

Putting the strewn-out clothes back into the suitcase, you make an attempt to fix yourself up as much as you could.

Even though you didn't know what to expect, there was a surprisingly pleasant mood that had settled on you.

You'd been used to getting your things ready by other people and you missed the sensation of having to earn them on your own.

Miserable as you were, excitement was seeping out of every corner of your body.

You take confident steps and enter the hotel once more.

The lady recognizes you on first sight and you can't help but feel a surge gratitude.

You raise your index finger, gesturing for her to wait and stick out your phone.

Come on, Google Translate! Help me out.

"Bongu!" you say, eyes on the screen."Tista 'jekk jogħġbok għinni?"

There's an amused expression on the lady's face.

You realize that she did know English but you were trying to prove her that you could get out of your comfort zone.

She needed to understand that you were willing to get what you wanted.

"Dażgur." she says in a soft voice.

You take this as an affirmation to go on.

"M'għandix flus.Għandi bżonn xogħol."

You look straight into her eyes,pleading with your own.

"Jekk jogħġbok." you add.

You didn't know if it was that last word of begging or the fact that she was a nice person, but she instantly gives you a genuine sympathetic look.

"Follow me." she says, thick accent still there.

Your face immediately lights up in anticipation and you trail after her.

She guides you down the hallway and stops in front of a brown door.

Then, she extends a hand for you to shake, which you gladly take.

"I'm Liena."

* * *

You were on cloud nine.

It was amazing how willing the staff had

been to help you.

After talking for half an hour in fluent English with the manager of the hotel, you'd convinced him that you had no money and no place to stay.

He'd been deeply touched by your fake story of how you'd lost all of your cash while being on vacation and you felt slightly guilty about it, but you'd had no other choice.

You couldn't just let him know of your every dreadful tragedy.

He had required your passport, which you'd luckily still had with you and then you'd gone over the procedures.

You would work as a janitress, cleaning and scrubbing and arranging every hotel room they assigned you to.

What you didn't expect though, was the small room, similar to a cupboard, under a pair of stairs, where you were supposed to sleep.

Harry Potter at its finest.

It did have some kind of space, you had to give them credit for that, but your expectations had been somewhat...higher.

You mentally slap yourself.

This was not the time to act like a spoiled child.

They had provided you with a job and shelter and you were extremely grateful for it.

After showing you around, Liena had asked you to follow her into the kitchen.

She was now watching you intently as you gobbled down massive amounts of seafood risotto.

You'd tried to take it slowly at first, but your growling stomach had urged you to go faster and faster and now you were left with an aching stomach and indigestion.

As you lick the plate clean, you pat your inflated belly and burp in satisfaction.

Hunger was one dangerous little thing.

Liena giggles at your shameless act and offers you an apple from a nearby basket.

You raise your palms in denial, face already grimacing, but she doesn't take no for an answer.

Well, what would one more do, anyway?

You surrender and take the apple, bowing your head in thanks.

"Grazzi." you chirp.

She nods once and leaves the room, making you fall prey to the constant bothering thoughts.

You hadn't stopped thinking about him not even for a second.

The boys too.

Their phantom presence lingered on the deepest corners of your mind and no matter how hard you tried to forget, no matter how hard you tried to distract yourself from all those good and bad memories alike, they still dwelled inside of you.

A permanent link which you couldn't sever.

Did it even matter anymore?

At least they were safe.

At least they were moving on with their lives, far away from you and your bad influence.

A teardrop stains the smooth surface of the table, followed by a silent weeping that shakes your shoulders violently and echoes into the white walls of the kitchen.

* * *

It had been a week already and if you were completely honest with yourself, you hadn't even noticed the time passing.

The hotel had been quite busy and there had been no time for you to rest, constantly changing bedsheets, mopping the floors or cleaning the fine layer of dust coating the furniture.

By the time you went to bed, sleep knocked you off almost immediately, too tired to rethink your life decisions.

Liena had proved to be a real friend with her never-ending food offerings, constant check-ups on your health and occasional chatting.

You had found yourself bonding to her more and more everyday.

The week had gone smoothly except for an unlucky incident that involved your phone slipping from your pocket and falling down the stairs, shattering to bits and pieces.

It had been useless to begin with, not being able to talk to or message anyone, but you'd still felt bad about the pictures you had taken with the boys.

Those were precious memories you had intended to keep with you, but luck just wasn't on your side this time.

"Guess it's just you and me now, Nochu." you say to the white and orange cat pecking at the bread crumbs on your hand.

She had loyally stayed by your side for the past week, spying on every chance she got to eat from your hands.

You usually gave her leftovers or any other thing you could get, but you never let her starve, not even once.

You took pleasure on the rewards she gave you, such as snuggling on your feet or playing with your hands.

"Il-waqfa spiċċat!" you hear a voice down the hall.

That was your cue to finish the lunch-break and get back to work.

Liena had familiarized you with some pattern-words that were essential to your job and it had made it even easier to understand the orders being given.

"Bye, Nochu." You pat the cat's head one last time before getting back inside.

One of the hotel employees is waiting for you on the hall, a tray of food on his hands.

"Kamra hawn fuq." he says and points his finger upstairs.

You take the tray from his hands and look at the card with the number of the hotel room.

72

As you climb up the stairs, you can't help but notice how light the plates actually are. The person ordering this must not have such a big appetite, you think to yourself.

However, the curiosity wins you over and you peek at the lids covering the plates.

A salad and some roasted asparagus.

Oh, wow.

They really intend to kill themselves, then.

You find yourself in front of the door and knock twice.

"Come in." you hear someone on the other side.

Wait.

That voice....

You pull down the handle with nervous hands and swing the door wide open.

Curly hair and doe eyes greet you.

The tray falls from your hands and onto the floor.