Being a famous idol in the country of Korea has pros and cons, and he used to think that there were more of the good ones than those of the latter. Kim Namjoon, the leader of the famous idol group had been entrusted with great responsibility in keeping the group intact, though sometimes he's a part of the troublemakers. Being a rapper was the best part, but the downside is that he's twice as busy alongside with the rest of the rappers in the group; Suga and J-Hope, but they seem more relax, always managing to go through phases of relief despite being in the middle of creating their new mix tapes. Having a loving girl by his side made him all the more happy in spite of the struggles around each and every corner. He can't be lucky enough.
But this time, it looks like as if it's the other way around.
"I care, Namjoon! I care about you suddenly disappearing off in the middle of the night and appearing approximately five hours after!"
The man groaned inwardly as he threw his bag on the couch, drawing his fingers through his hair and freeing it from the clutches of the soft beanie that now fell to the floor. He had simply came back home from the bar after a long and tiring day at practice, his friends inviting him over to have shots at a nearby bar. Being stressed and all, he couldn't help but at least let loose for the night. Now he had a pounding headache -he didn't even have his hungover yet- probably due to his nagging girlfriend following him from room to room. Exclaiming how worried she was and how he replied to none of her messages.
"Can't you just reply at least once? I was scared."
Namjoon whisks his head to his girlfriend, his eyes shooting knives.
(Name), ah, she looks like she's way more stressed than he ever is.
"I can't reply at work." he replies cheekily as if it was the obvious thing a grade school student can understand. Her reaction was one of bafflement, her mouth dropped open in shock as his words continued to process in her mind. In less than a second, her shocked features changed into an exasperated one. "You can't? You get at least five breaks the whole day! At least twenty or half an hour even! And you say you can't reply to a simple message!?"
Namjoon buries his face into his hand, his fist clenching tightly against the hems of his shirt. Trying to push away the urge to just lash out then and there, but he doesn't want another terrible dispute similar to that of a month ago wherein you two nearly parted ways. He doesn't want an encore. At least not yet, he snorts. This action only made the woman huff sharply at him, her face contorting into confusion and longing with an undertone of irritation.
"Look, I'm sorry," He begins to say, taking off his coat and hanging it on the rack. Wanting to drop the pointless argument and succumb into a peaceful sleep in an instant. "I'll make sure to reply next time, okay, jagiya?" he speaks without having to look at her. He simply continued to place his necessities at their places. A second later, he heard a soft, tiny sigh.
"That's what you said.. again." her voice echoed.
And just like that.
Snap
"I try to drop the subject because I was tired and I already have a damn headache, now I get this? What's wrong with you?" he snaps back bitterly, unclasping his grip on his pajamas he had just pulled from the wardrobe so he can face her with his now glaring eyes. Watching as she stared at him in shock, her orbs wide in slight fear. Just the sight of her is enough to make his blood boil in annoyance. His brows furrowed, "I thought you understand!" he speaks up again, his voice rising.
(Name) thins out her lips to a straight line as she stands up from the bean bag, her arms folding over her chest as she prepared to talk back. It was just unfair. How can he say such things when she does everything for him to be satisfied? Only texting him when he hasn't arrived on time for dinner, waking up at an ungodly hour to prepare breakfast for him, and simply so much more she can't even count with her fingers.
"I do understand! All I ever needed was your time, even for only a second. Spare something!" she replies. Her hands balling into fists.
It was true.
"You never had any time for me! That was all I ever wanted. Please, just hear me out this time. Just this one time listen to me, acknowledge me for goodness' sake!" she yells.
Namjoon licks his lower lip, his brows furrowing even further as he gives her a grumble. "And all I wanted ever since then is silence." he mutters.
He didn't plan to be heard. No, not at all. But the way she gasped and perfectly understood what he meant, he can't help but flow along.
"What's gotten you so surprised?" he rolls his eyes, "All I hear when I come home is your petty voice nagging at me. Who wouldn't be annoyed? You should be lucky I managed to even stick with you for two years." he snorts, the feeling of being superior amusing him, Polishing his pride to a new level.
(Name) was about to speak, but he beat her to it.
"Namjoon! Listen! Namjoon, where were you?" he mimics, adding a laugh of sarcasm right after.
(Name)'s look was something of pain and confusion as she struggled to process that this was reality, that her own lover continued to speak so badly of her. How come he can't see that she cares for him, and only wants him to listen and spare time for her?
"That's everything you say and it's annoying! I want peace. Peace and silence, get that?" he spat,
"So leave!"
Horror.
Fear.
Her expression screamed all of it.
If there's something he can understand in her, is that there's desperation. She doesn't want to leave.
But he's having none of that tonight.
"No, no, Joonie, wai—"
"No, (Name). You listen to me, leave!" he shouts in exasperation, figuring that if he wants to claim silence, he has to do things his way. So he rested his large palms against the woman's tense shoulders and begin pushing her towards the front door. Ignoring her fear filled exclaims of protest as she fought to keep her ground. Despite her shouts and pleas, she was forced to stand outside his apartment in the cold.
The rapper sighs as he walks away from the door, blocking his hearing from the continuous cries from outside along with the pounding against the door. He doesn't want to continue an argument bound to break them up, escaping it seemed to be the only option left for him as he ascended the staircase that leads to the hall to his bedroom. He looks at (Name) from the window, how come he didn't notice it was raining outside? The said person has her arms around her body, probably in a futile try to keep herself cozy whilst being away from comfort. He hesitates, questioning both his pride and compassion. But he refuses to acknowledge the latter, thus drawing the curtains to a close as he falls on the bed to accept the invite of sleep.
You stared at the white door in front of you as you shivered under the rain, the door blocking you from the person you deemed as your source of warmth and comfort. Your shelter from the bitter world around you, but now you found yourself away from it.
A hand nor a finger unable to trace the shell of protection guarding you from the harsh truth everyone calls reality. Hesitantly, you step out in the cold. In the rain. Your heart banged mercilessly in your chest, hammering your mind with the worst thoughts possible. You sent a total of at least two texts to Namjoon this day, and both were of equal importance. You hoped he was able to read it, even after you were forced to stand out here. Vulnerable to anything that comes in the way.
You cursed as you walk along the sidewalk, you didn't bring your car earlier, figuring he would let you stay for the night. But it appears not, and he had kicked you out.
The more you walk away, however, the more the hair on your skin stood. The more your heart began to hammer, the more you became afraid.
Before you even knew it, the splashing of water and the rushing footsteps following it made you quicken your steps. Desperate to find a café, or any buildings you can get to.
Your mind went wild. Maybe.. maybe if you didn't speak up, you won't be in this predicament? Maybe you'd be safe, encased in his embrace.
Those were probably the last thoughts with his name in your mind, before a hand covered your mouth.
The following morning.. isn't so great. He woke up half an hour after his alarm had stopped ringing, he awfully had to eat instant noodles (he doesn't want to cook and burn the whole thing down), shower in a quick jiffy, get dressed, and basically run to the company building. There was no one to pick him up, considering he is late. The driver probably thought the rapper had gone to the building earlier than expected so he skipped his house.
The very moment the leader entered the practice room, he expected a lot of shouts and teasing regarding about his tardiness -which is rather rare- but none came. He received a sad look from the eldest of the group; Jin, a surprisingly solemn glance from Suga, and an utterly devastated expression from J-Hope. Even the maknae line aren't noisy.
"Hyung.."
Jungkook's depressed sounding voice came ringing to his ears.
From that moment on, he knows something came up that he isn't aware of.
"You didn't know.. ?" came Jimin's voice, he was sure he heard it crack in between the question.
So that's how the group got their leader sitting on the floor, huddled together, in his hand is J-Hope's phone. Playing a downloaded news video about something relating to a murder recently, which happened to be last night. Before the video even got to a ten second mark, Hoseok already stood up and isolated himself somewhere in the room, muffled sobs blocked by the long sleeve of his shirt as Jin followed after to comfort him. Such action only increased Namjoon's curiosity, thus skipping a few miscellaneous info and into some camera footage. It showed a female dressed in casual attire, rushing down the street under the rain. The leader can make out who she is due to her style of clothing and simply due to the familiar environment around them.
"That's.." he was a loss for words.
"(Name)-ah." Taehyung's deep voice spoke only once.
Why are they showing him this?
Further more into the footage in a back view, a person followed right after her. Presenting a chase scene at a late hour in the night.
Namjoon, being smart, already had an inkling feeling as to what this is about. And he hope it isn't true.
After a few more seconds, the man had pulled her into an alleyway before coming out of the same alley after a few minutes. The footage stopped before showing the reporter, a blank look against her face as she read the news out loud, a slightly blurred picture of a woman in a puddle of blood showed at the right side of the screen with a label "(Name) (Last Name)" right below it.
His blood ran cold.
" We certainly don't receive such depressing news this early in the morning, I am here to report about the murder of (Name) (Last Name) which happened the night before. The victim faced several stab wounds directly at the chest and at her side. Her legs are severely injured as well, police predicted that this is so that the victim won't be able to run away. We are looking more into the given footage in hopes of finding the murderer. We talked to a person who happened to be aware of the situation before the murder and claimed that there were shouts inside a house before the victim was forced out in the rain— "
Silence.
Namjoon had turn off the phone in a way to stop playing the video. His eyes are clouded with disbelief and grief as he dropped the phone on the ground. His heart hammered painfully against his chest, suddenly finding it rather difficult to breathe.
"H-hyung."
This can't be happening.
"You should've replied to her messages." Hoseok spoke up from the other side of the room, standing up and walking over to the huddled group in order to retrieve his phone on the ground. Namjoon looks up at him, his voice cracking, "How'd you know about that?" he whispers. Unable to keep his voice steady, the fear of breaking down in front of everyone kept him at his peak. Hoseok stared at him in disgust, which is surprising. He was never like this. Never.
"She texted me when you weren't replying to her, she was worried. Now you manage to tear up? I asked her what was wrong, why you need to see her messages as soon as possible." he draws out a long, tired sigh. "But she won't. She said that even if I am her best friend, it's only you who must know." no longer can Hoseok hold on his tears again, they streamed down his cheeks and onto the flooring. His lower lip trembled at the news of his best friend's death. He stormed over towards the door, giving the leader a harsh, cold glare no one has ever received before.
"This was all your fault, you bastard."
Slam
Silence.
One by one, the remaining Bangtan members stood up from their places. Understanding and solemnity etched into their faces as they turned to leave the broken man be. They weren't saying anything, but no one was contradicting what Hoseok mentioned a little while ago.
Slam
Slowly, Namjoon drops to the floor, immediately securing himself propped up on the wall. Fishing out his phone from his pocket.
His heart broke into pieces, memories of last night coming back to his mind. His headache didn't help cope with the situation of the death of his lover he deemed annoying. Oh how much he regrets saying all of those the night before.
Sniffing subtly, he opens his inbox to see two unread messages. No longer did he hesitate, he simply opened them in one tap.
[ Joonie? When are you coming home? I received a text from an unknown number. They're threatening me, Namjoon-ah. ]
[ Namjoon, please reply. I'm scared, I really am. I'll be waiting for you in your house, alright? ]
The phone loosened in his clutch, falling to the floor instantly as Namjoon sobbed into his hand. Your pleas resonated in his mind, in tune with the continuous sound of his heart splitting and being crushed into nothing. Leaving nothing but a remainder of darkness in his chest as he cried and mourned alone.
"J-jagiya," he sobs.
What kind of boyfriend is he? His own partner being threatened, and because of his pride and stupidity to force her out, she had died.
She even left the world without making amends with him, she left without getting to hear a proper apology from him. A loving confession, a gentle hug. What hurts the most is that she had died with the image of him mad at her painted in her mind—she died with a broken heart. And he wasn't there in her last moments, nor was he there to beg her to stay. The pain of losing someone he loves broke him down asunder, crushing him again and again. Reminding him of the pain he caused, and of the pleas he ignored. He truly was a foolish man. No longer will he consider himself lucky. Kim Namjoon, finally had a living regret. For all he knew now,
Summer is almost here! What are you planning to do for your summer vacation?
Just the thought of packing can send some people into a tailspin. Just packing for yourself can feel overwhelming, and if you have kids, that adds even more to your load. But don’t let the thought of assembling items and possibly forgetting things stress you out.
There’s nothing worse than being in the middle of some remote place and not having a life jacket, sunscreen or other essentials. Relieve some of your vacation planning stress and read our family-friendly summer vacation packing checklist.
Toiletries and First Aid List
Thermometer and medication. Don’t be caught in the backwoods or in a hotel room late one night with a baby and a fever. Pack the thermometer and a fever-reducing medication appropriate to your child’s age.
Bug spray and anti-histamine. Summer comes with loads of effervescent bugs. If you or your child has not been stung by a wasp yet, don’t take a risk and be caught without an anti-histamine.
Basic First-Aid kit. You never know when a real injury could happen where you’ll need gauze and larger than normal band-aids.
Sunblock with an SPF of 30 or higher. For babies and those with sensitive skin, bring something a little more gentle.
Aloe Vera is great to have on hand for days when the family receives a little too much sun.
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Hair comb
Diapers and wipes for those with babies and toddlers toilet training. If you’re flying, don’t go too overboard as they take up room. You can always buy a pack when you arrive.
Water Clothing to Pack
Swimsuits are the summer essential! If you have room, bring two per person. This way you can rotate them throughout the vacation and you’ll always have a dry set to put on.
Towels. Pack a towel for each body heading on vacation. No more, no less.
Water shoes are a must especially if heading to a river or ocean full of large pebbles and rocks.
Life jackets are a must for kiddos that aren’t strong swimmers, and should be used in rivers regardless. Currents can be unpredictable, and not all ocean fronts have active lifeguards on duty.
Extra plastic grocery bags to store wet clothing from place to place.
Rope and pegs. If you’re camping, then toss in a rope and some pegs to hang the wet gear each night!
Goggles so the kids can check out the underwater world.
General Clothing to Bring on Vacation
A full brimmed hat is ideal for all summer locales and temperatures. Even on a cloudy day, sun gets through. But if you don’t own a full brim, then a baseball cap will do.
Warm clothing. Mountain regions call for a range of clothing to cover various temperatures. Pack a beanie hat as well as a sweater for each person. It’s better to be prepared when the sun goes down.
A rain jacket is a lightweight addition and good for breaking high winds, rain, and for trapping body heat at night to keep warm.
Casual clothes. If you’re camping or glamping in a cabin, then keep the Sunday best clothing at home. Opt for old pajamas and track pants that are broken in and well worn. Kids get so dirty when camping, so pack clothing that’s comfortable.
Shoes. Beach resorts and river towns are usually okay with kids showing up for dinner in flip flops. But be sure to pack a pair of sneakers for each child in case of impromptu hikes. If you’re heading on vacation to a city, then a nicer pair of shoes might look best while visiting museums, ball games, and restaurants.
Undergarments. Bring enough underwear for one week, and then consider hand washing them if you need them for longer than 7 days. Do the same for socks. Even though they’re small, those little items can really bulk up. You’ll want to consider this especially if you’re flying.
Miscellaneous Travel Items
Floating tube. Heading for a river? Bring or rent a floating tube!
Lawn chairs for some good lounging on the coast.
Flashlights are a great addition to pack whether you’re camping or not. Bring a headlamp if you have one.
Video camera. The kids are growing fast, and you’ll look back on this footage with love and nostalgia down the line.
Reusable water bottles. Use a carabiner to attach it to backpacks for easy carrying. This will save you from spending money on disposable bottles, and make it easy to stay hydrated.
Quilt. Pack a quilt for picnics, staying warm, and any other impromptu reasons to lay on a hillside and relax.
Passports and visas. If you’re heading international, don’t forget these important documents!
Phone charger. While you can buy one on the road, it’s better just to have one with you.
Favorite pillow. Make sure to bring a favorite pillow for fussy sleepers.