27

Day 23/29

Today was Saturday and I sat in my living room in my pajamas watching kiddie cartoons thinking back to the day where I was watching them by Jungkook's side instead of alone. I stared at the two cracked objects that rested on the coffee table in front of me and sighed. The pocket watch only seemed to crack more by each passing day and the crystal amulet no longer glowed. I closed my eyes and fell on my side and hugged my knees.

Why did I have to be the 'Liberator' and why did Jungkook commit suicide in the first place?Everything was still a mystery to me and I only had seven days left, possibly less. I pulled the blanket I had brought down from my bedroom over my head to just sleep the stress away when I heard my father calling me from the kitchen.

"Jimin! Do your mother a favor and buy some groceries! She won't be home until late tonight, something came up at the hospital."

I groaned and rolled over which ended up in a disaster as I fell off the couch, causing me to groan even louder in frustration and pain. I dug myself out of the blanket while rubbing my elbow. My father watched from the doorway in amusement. He held out a list along with his debit card while motioning towards the front door.

"Alright, fine, but I get to buy candy in return."

"Knock yourself out, kid. Be back by two and call if something comes up."

I gave a grunt in return before collecting my two items off the coffee table and climbing up the stairs, and into my room where I made myself presentable. At the front door, I pulled on my navy blue dufflecoat and the boots that Jimin had bought me.

"Where'd you get those?"

My father appeared out of his office once more to hand me the list and his card. I shrugged and took the two things and put them in my coat pocket before replying vaguely.

"My friend bought them for me. I'll be back by 2:01, so don't be too mad when I don't show up at two. Bye, Dad."

I heard my father chuckle as I left the house with my hands shoved deeply in my pockets. When I arrived at store, I scanned the list and quickly collected everything in a rush. Once I finished finding the things on the list, I rolled the cart to the candy section where I spent the next thirty minutes trying to decide which candy to buy. In the end, I gave up and bought both packs of candy along with the rest of the groceries. Hauling the box of groceries, I left the store while staring at the two packs of candy that were placed at the top of the box. While walking pass the other stores around the area on my way home, I pulled the pocket watch out from my pocket to make sure it wasn't past two already. As I did so, I spotted two familiar faces across the street. My subtle smile faded to a frown as I watched the both of them walk down the sidewalk. She was smiling brightly with her hands clothed in those same white mittens I first saw her with. Her balayage hair was braided to the side as she talked to Jungkook who walked next to her with his hands shoved deeply in his winter coat. He had a painful scowl on his face as he kept his eyes straight, not giving AhYeon a single glance.

If he loved her so much, why did

he always looked so pained when he was with her?

I turned my attention back to the pocket watch to check the time when I saw that the cracks had gotten worse. I let out a frustrated sigh and snapped the watch shut before shoving it back in my pocket and pulling out my phone. I turned it on and saw that I had twenty minutes until it was two. After taking one last glance at Jungkook, I curtly turned away and headed home.

Something wasn't right. There was something in the back of my mind that kept telling me that I had to do something, but in no mood to do so, I silenced it by blasting music on the stereo loudly the second I got home. I spent the rest of my Saturday up in my room, only coming out when lunch and dinner was ready. My only thoughts were of the seven days I had left to stop what I knew would be scarring nightmare.

•••

Day 25/29

"Park Jimin, eat your own damn lunch!"

I swatted Jimin's chopsticks away from my lunch box as he tried to steal my food again. He pouted and crossed his arm. I pointed at his own lunch box which had an abundance of food packed in it.

"But, Jimiー"

"No 'buts' you dork. Now hush up and eat your food."

Jimin grunted before going back to eating his own lunch. I swear, this kid acted like he was five years old sometimes. We ate in silence as I stared outside while slowly chewing my food until Jimin asked if I wanted to go somewhere after school today. I thought about it for a second before shaking my head.

"Not today, sorry."

Jimin frowned fora moment before smiling again. He ruffled my hair before standing up.

"Then we'll go somewhere tomorrow, right?"

"Hmm? Yeah, sure.."

"That's a promise then! See you tomorrow, Princess."

"W-wait, whaー"

I was cut off by the bell, signaling the end of lunch period. Jimin blew me a kiss before waving and walking out of the classroom. I sighed as I put my lunch box away. He was unpredictable, doing things unexpectedly and out of the blue. It wasn't a bad thing, I just wished he'd ask before making plans sometimes.

As the dismissal bell rang, I leisurely packed my things and walked outside, breathing in the cold December air. I tightened my scarf and shoved my hands into my coat pockets as I felt a smile spread on my face. I glanced up at the sky and wished that it'd snow soon before walking out of the school gates. I walked home alone again as Jungkook had taken the other turn. He was on his phone again, talking into it with a death glare on his face. I missed his smile. The soft and gentle one I saw when he was on his computer composing a track.

I sighed and watched my breath puff out and fade away in the cold weather as I walked down the road. I took a different turn from my usual one and found myself headed to the playground I always took my brother to when we were younger. I placed my backpack on the bench nearby the monkey bars before sitting down at one of the swings. I closed my eyes at the peaceful atmosphere until I heard the loud giggles of little kids entering the playground. Several of them swarmed the swing sets while the others attacked

the slides and monkey bars. I couldn't help but smile that them as broad smiles and loud laughs escaped their mouths. I thought back to the times where I was like them, carefree and full of happiness.

Breaking from my train of thoughts, I felt a light tug on my sleeve. I looked down to see a small boy looking at me with pleading eyes. I asked softly if he needed help and without speaking, he nodded and pointed to the swing next to me. I chuckled and nodded back. His pleading eyes turned to excited ones as he sat down on the swing. For the next hour, I ended up playing with the kids at the playground.

Finally exhausted, I sat down on the bench and hugged my backpack as I leaned back and let out a long breath. The kids were still energized as they ran around the place playing tag. The girls were on the monkey bars. I closed my eyes to rest for a few minutes when I heard a loud yell. I sat up with a worried expression to see what happened when I saw the two of them again. Both of them were silent as they walked next to each other. Jungkook had his headphones on while AhYeon looked like she was lost in thought while staring at the ground. I decided to ignore them and walked over to the kids who were huddled together while staring at something.

"What's wrong guys?"

They turned towards me looking scared. The tallest boy among them seemed to be avoiding my eyes while hiding his hands behind his back. I stared at him in confusion until he yelled a loud apology.

"I'm sorry! It wasn't me, I swear! I just wanted to look at it!"

He hung his head low as he held out the golden pocket watch with both his hands. There was a new crack that went from the top to the middle. I sighed and opened my mouth to tell him it was okay when he cut me off.

"It wasn't me, please don't tell my mom! It cracked when that noona started talking, right guys?!"

The boy pointed at someone and I looked up to see that he was pointing to AhYeon who now has her arm wrapped around Jungkook's arm while talking. The boy frantically looked around as he asked his friends to verify his explanation. They earnestly nodded their heads and looked at me with honest eyes. I felt something churn in my stomach as I repeated the boy's words in my mind again and again. I took a deep breath before telling the boy that it was okay as calmly as I could before taking the pocket watch back. I gave a kind smile before pulling on my backpack and leaving the playground.

The boy had revealed a valuable detail and there was little to no doubt about what part of the problem was and what I had to do now.