"HYUNG!" Namjoon cried, running over to a shivering Jin with
no clothing on except for his underwear. Namjoon looked over his  own shoulder and shouted at the street, "I found him!" He prayed that someone heard him.

But that's getting too far ahead. The group had yet to deal with Jimin.

"He never came," Jimin said. "He was supposed to come two hours ago. It's 4:15 and he was supposed to be here by 2:15."

Namjoon ran a hand through his hair. He was really starting to get worried.

"How did you know to find me?" Jimin asked.

"Jin," Namjoon replied. "He told me he was going to hang out with you yesterday night. Luckily Yoongi-hyung was at my apartment when I had asked who you were so he knew where to find you."

"Did he say anything to you? A text? Anything?" Jungkook asked Jimin.

Jimin leaned back on his couch and looked somewhere off at the ceiling. "I think. . . He might've texted me." He reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone. The blue light shined in his pupils and illuminated his face.
"It appears I have gotten a text from him."

"What does it say?" Yoongi asked.

Things were a bit tense when Jimin and Yoongi first laid eyes on each other. Then Yoongi had asked for his help and said it was about Jin and Jimin welcomed them right into his house and they all got down to business. It had seemed like they both came to a silent agreement: There was no time to dwell on the past.

"It says. . ." Jimin moved his thumb around the screen.

Jungkook stood up from the chair he was sitting on. "What? What is it?"

"Hey. . ." Min grasped his hand to try to comfort him.

He didn't even acknowledge her.

"'Sorry'," Jimin read the text. "'Running late. My car stopped working and I missed the bus so I'm just going to have to walk to your house. I'm taking a short cut route through an alley by the bar on 3rd street. Should be there in thirty minutes tops.'"

"Oh, no! Uncle Jin!" Jungkook began to wheeze.

Min shot up from her seat and gently pushed him back on his chair.

"Hey, calm down. Please," she tried.

"Where's his inhaler?" Yoongi asked.

Min cursed. "I forgot it. I'm sorry."

"I think I have one!" claimed Jimin, running around the kitchen looking for it.

"You don't have asthma," Yoongi said.

"No," said Jimin, looking through the drawers, "but you do. I had bought an inhaler when we were still dating just in case you forgot yours and it was an emergency."

Yoongi raised his eyebrows. "And you never threw it out?"

"Forgot, forgot," replied Jimin.

"For a whole year?" said Yoongi.

Jimin waved him off. "Forgot all about it. Good thing I saved it." He gave up with the kitchen. "You know what? I think it's in the spare room. Wait here!" He ran down the hallway.

Namjoon couldn't do anything but stand there and so did Yoongi.

Min ran a hand through Jungkook's hair. "Hey, what's wrong? What's happening?"

"Uncle Jin," Jungkook wheezed, "is in. . . trouble. . . They're going to hurt him."

"What do you mean?" Namjoon asked, worried out of his mind.

"I've been on 3rd street!"—wheeze—"Bad place! I was beaten!" He grabbed Min's arms. "We have to"—wheeze—"find him"—wheeze—"Min! Please! We have to!"

She gripped his arms in response and looked him in the eyes. "We will. I promise. We will find him. But first you need to calm down."

Yoongi crossed his arms. "I remember finding you on 3rd street the first time we met. I had to carry your ass all the way back home because you were being stupid and decided to go with your so-called friends to that bar. You were all battered and bruised because they dragged you in a fight you weren't even a part of, you told me."

"You said you two met at a park," Namjoon told Jungkook.

Yoongi raised an eyebrow. "Is that what he said?"

"Please don't tell Uncle Jin I. . . lied," Jungkook wheezed, beginning to sweat.

"Can't even take responsi—"

"Guys, not now!" Min interrupted Yoongi. Jungkook had let go of her arms so she took his face in her hands. "Breathe, okay? Look at me. Look at me only. Breathe with me."

Jungkook nodded and inhaled when she did; exhaled when she did.

Jimin ran in with the inhaler and handed it to him. He took it and pressed down on the medicine before sucking in the new air. He had pressed down about three times until his chest rose and fell normally and steadily.

Namjoon nodded. "Let's go." He looked at Jimin. "Thank you for your help."

"I'm coming," Jimin said. "Jin is my friend. I'm coming."

"I don't have anymore room in my car," Yoongi tried.

"Well then let's take my dad's van," he suggested. "Should fit about seven people."

Namjoon nodded. "All right. Let's go. Jungkook, take us to 3rd street."

Jungkook jumped out of the car as soon as they reached their destination.

"Oppa!" Min cried.

"Jungkook, wait!" Yoongi called. He huffed. "This damn kid."

"He's worried about his uncle, hyung," Jimin defended. "Cut him slack."

"Come on," said Namjoon. "Hurry."

They all jumped out of the car and chased after him. Once they had all caught up Namjoon looked around.

It didn't look like a pleasant neighborhood to be in.

"We split up," he said.

"I should be with Jungkook-oppa," said Min.

"What about Jimin and Yoongi-hyung?" Namjoon asked.

"We can handle it," said Jimin with a gentle smile, one painfully a lot like Jin's. He understood why Namjoon was worried about those two being alone.

"I could go on my own," Yoongi suggested.

"No," said Namjoon. "If anyone is going alone it's me. We're both pretty street smart, but you'd be a better guide for Jimin since you're more familiar with this place."

"It's settled then," said Min. She grabbed Jungkook's hand and took off to the left.

"I'll protect her for you, Namjoon-hyung!" Jungkook called from over his shoulder.

"You better!" Namjoon shouted.

"You have my number, right?" Yoongi asked Namjoon.

"Yeah," he said. "And Min has mine."

"Let's go, hyung." Jimin walked off in the other direction. Yoongi followed.

Namjoon walked down an abandoned alley, eyeing the rusty old walls covered in graffiti.

He walked for who-knows-how-long, looking for any sign of his hyung.

"Hyung!" he'd call. "Jin-hyung, where are you?"

No sign. No clue for the longest time. He wandered everywhere down that street, calling Jin's name until his throat was sore.

He stopped, remembering back to the other day, the thing Jin had said.

"If you ever get frustrated when you can't find what you're looking for, Namjoon," his hyung told him, "close your eyes and stay still. Listen. Listen for anything. Anything that whispers to you. Just take a second to clear your mind and let your heart take you where you need to be. You'd be surprised what you can find if you just stopped using that head of yours every once in awhile."

Namjoon sighed. He thought it was ridiculous at first, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and listened.

This is so stupid, he told himself.

But then it was as if Jin's presence was there, whispering in his ear: Don't think, Joonie. Just listen.

Okay, he thought. Okay.

He stood there for a moment, clearing his head, the cold, bitter November breeze stinging his cheeks. He listened closely. People were talking. Cars drove by. Clanks made from chopsticks on plates. Then he could hear hushed cries coming from somewhere. They were so faint he had a hard time deciding if it was real or in his head.

He opened his eyes and looked in the direction he thought they were coming from. He cupped his hand behind his earlobe to try to get a better hearing angle of the noise.

Carefully he followed them, taking slow, cautious steps, wary of his surroundings. He lost the sounds and closed his eyes to see if he could hear them again. The faint noises came back and he kept walking until he didn't have to cup his ear anymore. The noise was louder and was coming from a dark alley he hadn't been in.

He gently planted his hands on a brick wall and peeked to see where it was coming from.

A person was slumped against the wall, hunched over, shivering and sobbing. He was bare, nothing to keep him warm from the harsh air.

Namjoon stepped away from the wall and walked towards the person, squinting, until he was close enough to identify the person.

"Hyung!" Namjoon cried, running over to a shivering Jin with
no clothing on except for his underwear. Namjoon looked over his  own shoulder and shouted at the street, "I found him!" He prayed that someone heard him.

He threw off his jacket and wrapped it around Jin, who looked like he didn't know where he was, ignoring the cold breeze that tried to wrap his body in its embrace despite the thin sweater he had on. Jin was covered in bruises and his colorless bottom lip was bleeding.

"Hyung! Hyung!" Namjoon cupped his cheeks to see if the senior seemed like anything was wrong with him mentally.

Jin wouldn't look at him. His teeth chattered and his skin was unhealthily pale. He seemed half brain dead and if Namjoon hadn't been supporting his weight he might've fell over.

"Hyung! Hyung, it's me, Namjoon!Can you hear me? Can you stand?"

Jin looked up, and then left, and right, and down. He looked everywhere with no meaning or purpose.

"Joonie," he wheezed. His voice was barely audible, as if a whistle was stuck in his throat, and it took Namjoon a moment to realize what he said.

"Yes!" he replied. "Yes, it's me."

Namjoon had never been so scared for someone in his life. He pulled Jin into an embrace, whispering how sorry he was.

Jin stayed limp.

Namjoon scooped him up in his arms and rushed out of the alley.

Namjoon bit his lip as he sat with his hands folded and touching his forehead, hunched over. He was waiting to hear the update about Jin.

After he had left the alley with the half-dead boy in his arms he carried him to the van. Luckily Jimin was already there with Yoongi. Jimin spotted them first and then the older male.

People gave them frightened or concerned looks, covered their mouths, or just stared.

Namjoon called Min on her phone, but she didn't answer. He called again. No answer.

"Hold on," he told them. "Min's not answering. Stay in the van with Jin and put on the heater. He's most likely blind right now because his body temperature is way too cold."

Jimin nodded.

"I'm coming," said Yoongi. "Jimin, stay with him.

Jimin nodded again and helped Jin in the van and shut the door.

Yoongi said, "Let's go!"

They were off in the direction the two went.

It wasn't long before Namjoon spotted a strange man breathing down Min's neck and two guys holding Jungkook back from fighting him.

Yoongi and Namjoon were about to drop-kick all of those guys when Min beat them to it.

She punched the man square in the face and judo-flipped him. He gasped for air, seeming to have gotten the wind knocked out of him.

"You think raping girls is funny?" she asked. She spread her arms, looking at the other two men. "You want a piece of this, huh? Come at me and end up just like our friend, you sick fucks!"

The two men moved away and let Jungkook go. He took the opportunity to knee one in the stomach and kick the other on the side of his leg, making his bone pop out the wrong way.

Yoongi grimaced. "Damn. Who taught these kids how to fight?"

Min must've heard him because she looked in their direction. "Oppas?"

They walked over to her.

"Are you all right?" Namjoon asked.

"Yeah. Thanks for the help."

"It didn't seem like you needed any," said Yoongi, looking at the three beaten men.

Jungkook put a hand on her shoulder. "You hurt?"

Min shook her head with a reassuring smile.

Namjoon pictured Min in Jin's place, in nothing but her bra and underwear, battered and bruised, to the point where she couldn't even sit upright, shivering in the cold.

He pulled her into a hug. "It's all my fault. I'm sorry."

She stiffened at the contact. "I'm fine, oppa. Really. Let go."

"Just a little longer. Please," he mused.

She didn't say anything after that.

Jungkook bowed to Namjoon. "I failed you, hyung. I'm sorry. I couldn't protect her."

Namjoon didn't care at that point. He reached over and ruffled his hair, just relieved that they both were all right.

Yoongi rubbed Jungkook's back. "Come on, kid. Let's get going. We found Jin."

Jungkook stood upright. "Really?"

Min pulled away slightly. "Where was he? What happened?"

"We'll explain on the way to the hospital," Namjoon said, walking away with her by his side.

"Oh no," Jungkook murmured as he followed.

Namjoon noticed that Yoongi wasn't following him so he sent Min and Jungkook off ahead and went back to see that Yoongi had given the guy who was harassing Min one more good kick.

"Hyung!" Namjoon shouted.

"Coming!" Yoongi said, running over to him.

. . . Namjoon stared at the wall for a very long time. For once in his life he didn't feel like thinking.

Jimin sat beside him with a soft smile. "How are you doing, hyung?"

"I'm just peachy," Namjoon dryly replied.

Jimin put a hand on his shoulder. "You should eat. Everyone else is in the cafeteria."

"I'm not hungry."

Jimin retracted his hand and looked down at his lap.

Namjoon continued to stare ahead, wondering if he should confide in a stranger he'd only known for a day. At the moment he decided that if he remained in his mind any longer he'd go insane and after venting to Jin he didn't feel as uncomfortable talking to new friends.

"Jimin?"

"Hmm?" The younger boy looked up at him.

"Have you ever felt like you. . . Failed someone?"

Jimin tilted his head. "You can't blame yourself for this hy—"

"Just answer my question," he interrupted.

The ginger clicked his tongue. "Yes. I have."

"With who?"

"Yoongi-hyung." Jimin frowned. "For a long time after we broke up I blamed myself for our problems—for his problems. I felt guilty for raising a hand to him when we had our last fight. No matter how angry he made me or what he said I shouldn't have done that because I know if it was the other way around he'd never even consider the thought of harming me physically. And I have to live with that guilt for the rest of my life."

Namjoon looked over at him. "How do you deal with that?"

Jimin looked over at him, his lips stretched into a thin line. "You haven't really experienced failure before, have you? You don't regret much."

"My first time," he said. "Since Jin came into my life I've been feeling less like a machine and more human and after today. . . I feel like my heart has only barely begun to beat."

"Ah." Jimin nodded. "Love does that to you."

"Love?" he asked, puzzled. "You think I'm. . .?"

Jimin stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

Namjoon shook his head. "No." He chuckled a little, but without humor. "No, no. It's not like that."

"Right," Jimin said, unconvinced, "right. Well to answer your question there's no easy way of dealing with guilt. The best way to deal with it is to forgive yourself for what you've done."

"Is that what you did?" Namjoon asked.

"Yes and no," said Jimin. "I forgave myself, but I still feel bad. I still find it hard to believe in all of your years of living you just barely got a taste of guilt. Let's see, how old are you?"

"Eighteen," he said. "Just turned on the 12th of September.

"You're a junior?"

"Senior. But I really feel like a freshmen in college from all the AP classes I take."

"Ah. So you're like a brain prodigy. Must be nice."

"One would think. It doesn't feel so rewarding when the only thing you don't know is the one thing you would give up all the information you know for."

"Which is?"

"A purpose in this world."

"You mean to tell me you don't know what your purpose is in life? You have no idea what you want to do?"

"Yeah. I have yet to figure that out. I can feel I'm getting there. There are just more puzzles I need to put into place."

"But, hyung, you can do so much with the knowledge you have!"

"But I don't feel like. . . I was. . . meant for it, you know? I feel like I was meant for something else. Something that doesn't involve my brain, but my heart." Namjoon put his hand over his heart and clenched his shirt. "I've only begun to realize it now."

"After you met Jin-hyung."

Namjoon froze, staring into space. "I guess so," he admitted, and he finally began to realize why his heart beated so fast for the older brunette boy.

Hyung, he thought, don't make me regret meeting you.