"What the hell happened to you?" Namjoon asked, looking at my exhausted face. "You didn't get enough sleep?"

"It's nothing," I replied, taking a sip of the soda I bought. "Give me a couple of bottles and I'll be fine."

He shook his head disapprovingly. "You really have an addiction to that stuff, you know."

"Yep, and it's not going to stop anytime soon."

He stared at me from across the scratched table top, holding a paper cup filled with steaming coffee. The strong wind blew the steam across his face as I shivered in my seat. It was freezing outside and I was beginning to regret buying a cold soda, but I couldn't stand the dirt-like bitterness of the coffee here.

"So we're going to the music studio today?" He asked, drinking some of his coffee as I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

"Yeah," I replied. "I'll ask if anyone has seen him. Last time we went, he left some stuff there."

"Really? What kind of stuff?"

"Back then he used to try composing his own songs," I explained. "He would leave sheet music everywhere and stored some of his songs under all of the equipment." I smiled a little at the memory. "He would even try humming his songs. One time he even tried to convince Yoongi hyung to help."

Namjoon stared at me again. "You really do miss him, don't you."

I looked down at my soda. "Yeah."

His phone rang. "Sorry, one second." Setting his coffee cup down, he answered his phone and raised it up to his ear.

"Yeah?" He listened for a second. "Oh, hi Jimin. Tae and I are just talking in front of the convenience store. Mhm...now?" He looked up at me. "Okay. We'll wait for you."

"What'd he say?" I asked.

"He wants to go to the music studio that you were talking about earlier," he said as he took another sip of his coffee. "He went shopping, so he should be here in a few minutes."

"I thought you had work today."

"I called in sick," he blew the thin trails of steam away from his face.

My jaw dropped. Namjoon, calling in sick? "That's...really unlike you."

"I'm pretty sure this is more important than filing papers," he replied, smiling.

I couldn't believe him. "Wow, hyung...thanks."

His smile grew wider, showing his dimples. "Anything for you, Tae."

I heard someone running and then heavy breathing. "Did...did I make it?"

Namjoon laughed. "Jimin, why did you run? We weren't going anywhere."

"I thought," he paused to take a deep breath that became a puff of hot air in the frigid wind when he released it. "I thought you had to go work soon."

"Nah, I called in sick," he said coolly.

"Wow...did not expect that," Jimin said. "When's the last time you took a day off? When you first started?"

"Ha ha, very funny," Namjoon smirked. "So, are we going?"

Once he threw away his coffee-stained paper cup and my empty soda bottle, we began walking down the street. Along with the fact that it was unnaturally cold, the gray sky hinted rain. I tucked my hands in my pocket and watched my breath hover in the air for a second before disappearing. We all crossed the street ahead of us quickly, making it to the other side of it where stores lined up to the left of us and the street continued on our right.

I looked up at the signs above the stores, reading them out loud under my breath. "Bangtan Burger...Lamb Skewers...RM Bookstore...Spring Studio."

We stood in front of a small music studio with one or two people wandering around inside and a familiar girl watching the customers from the front desk with a bored expression. Her pink hoodie and highlights made her stand out from the earthy-colored music studio. As we opened the door and the bell above us jingled lightly, she turned to us and perked up.

"Welcome to Spring Studio!" She said, forcing a smile in greeting. "What brings you here?"

"We just came to look," I replied. "Can we check the second recording room?"

"Of course," she reached under the desk and pulled out an old key. "Here. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

"Thanks," I said as Jimin led Namjoon to the back where the recording rooms were. I walked a little bit away from the desk then leaned down and whispered, "You know, if you were a little more enthusiastic, you'd get paid more."

She sputtered. "You can't tell me how I'm supposed to do my job!"

"You're right, I can't," I said, frowning. She'd been so cheerful yesterday, despite the rain. "You were so happy the other day. Try doing that here."

She scoffed, crossing her arms. "Easy for you to say. My job isn't any of your business, anyway. You don't know what it's like."

"Yeah, I do," I replied calmly. "Just be happy. Is that too much to ask?"

I ignored her glare behind me as I maneuvered past rows of CD's and microphones. In the back, there were only two rooms--the recording rooms. The one with the blue number "1" on the wooden door was empty and the lights were turned off. On the second one, Jimin was leaning down, fumbling with the key as he tried to open the door.

Sighing, I came over and waved them aside."You don't know how to put in a key?"

"Sorry, Tae," Jimin said, wringing his hands. "I do know but..."

"What about hyung?"

Jimin shook his head. "I bet you he would break it."

I opened the door and looked up at Namjoon. He shrugged. "I mean, he's not wrong."

My hand searched the wall for the light switch, and I turned the yellowish light on. The small piano was against the wall as it usually was, except it was covered in dust. A microphone was put up in the center of the small room, as well as some of the equipment near the door. The musky scent of wood filled the room.

I could almost hear Jungkook's voice filling up the entire room.

"What are you looking for, Tae?" Jimin asked.

I leaned down and rummaged through one of the black plastic containers attached to the wall. "He left some sheet music around here...I want to see if that exists."

I searched through the other papers stuffed in the container but I couldn't find any of Jungkook's sheet music. I looked under the pile of books on top of the piano, but nothing was there.

"Maybe someone moved them," Namjoon said, but he sounded uncertain.

I shook my head. "Jungkook and I have been going to this room for years. No one has ever found his sheet music before. This room looks like it hasn't been opened in a while, too."

I made a silent prayer before checking behind the equipment. Under the old keyboard was nothing but more dust. There was nothing behind the computer and nothing under the speakers. I sighed and put my head in my hands.

"There's no use," I whispered, talking to myself and them at the same time. "He's gone. Everything involving him is gone."

Namjoon placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "It's okay. You'll find him."

"I hope..."

Namjoon opened the door. "Do you want me to ask the girl at the front desk about him?"

I nodded slowly and closed my eyes once the door shut. Only then did I hear Jimin's quiet sniffling. Immediately, I looked up and I saw him at the piano, wiping his tears away. I walked over and sat next to him as he continued to push away his tears.

"Hey," I began gently. "What's wrong?"

He sniffed. "I keep trying to remember him but I can't, and I don't know why." He wiped away another tear. "Every time I try thinking about what he looks like or some vague memory I have my head hurts. I just want it to stop, Tae..."

"It's okay," I wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders. "Everything will be okay."

"W-who are you trying to c-convince, you or me?" He hiccuped.

I was silent for a moment. "I'm not trying to convince anyone," I said. "That's the truth. Everything will be okay, I promise."

"S-sorry...what I said was rude."

"It's okay."

We sat together in silence as he cried more, resting his head on my shoulder. I wanted to comfort him so badly, but it was hard when I was at lost for what to do myself.

"Can I ask you something, Tae?"

"Of course."

"What was Jungkook like?" He asked.

"Ah...he was really determined in everything he did. Give him a task he felt passionate about and he would go way past what you asked him to do."

"A-an overachiever, huh?"

"Yeah," I smiled. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. He always tried to make us laugh...and usually, it worked. I remember one time..."

I talked about Jungkook for a long time, remembering the silly things he did and the amazing personality he had. Jimin laughed when I started talking about that one time Jungkook had pranked Hoseok and had scared him senseless. He smiled when I described the surprise birthday party he had thrown for Jimin. My throat grew sore from talking, but I kept going.

Namjoon opened the door and saw us, smiling and talking. He waved his hand at the girl with the pink hoodie, who groaned before marching back to the front desk. Quietly, he closed the door and walked to the front desk.

"What did he think of me?" Jimin asked, most of his tears gone.

"He called you short, a lot," I said, grinning. "But he also cared a lot about you. He cared a lot about all of us, actually."

"Well...how much did he care about us?"

"He never let us down," I said.

"Not even once?"

"Not even once," I replied. "And I'm not going to let him down."

Music: "Outro: Tear" piano cover by Smyang.