Yoongi's phone buzzed in his pocket, just as he managed to step inside his house and lock the front door behind him. Another drunk stumbling into his house wasn't really on top priority for him, so best to keep it that way.

As he walked further into the house, he fished his phone out of his jacket pocket. A quick glance at the screen told him that an unknown number was calling him- but, remembering how Jimin was still yet to contact him, he nonchalantly answered it and put the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

Yoongi's expectancy to hear Jimin's cheerful, high pitched voice proved him right, soon enough.

"Hyung! You should have told me I forgot to call you!" The younger student chided, causing Yoongi to chuckle a little as he reached the living room, dumping his bags before settling down on the sofa.

"Ah, I'm sorry. That was the night I got drunk, I ended up forgetting." Yoongi chuckled.

It was barely minutes before Holly ran into the room, sitting at Yoongi's feet and looking up at him. The third year smiled, holding his phone between his cheek and shoulder before reaching down to pick up Holly, lifting him up and letting the poodle kiss him, little tail wagging.

"Yah, don't get drunk so much hyung. You'll be a bad influence on my Jungkookie." Jimin whined, voice a little static over the phone. Yoongi just chuckled, nodding his head even though Jimin couldn't see it.

"I promise I won't, Jimin-ah."

The conversation died down for a minute, leaving Yoongi to absentmindedly pet Holly- who had been put back down on Yoongi's lap moments prior due to Yoongi nearly dropping his phone- before Jimin spoke again.

"...Is there... is there anything else you want to know about Taehyung?"

His voice seemed quite a lot more hushed than before. It was almost like... almost like Taehyung was there too. Like Jimin had to be quiet... but that was absurd. Jimin wouldn't sell him out like that, right?

"Like with Cerridwen?" Yoongi asked. At the mention of Taehyung, he had perked up slightly; becoming too attentive to the conversation to remember about petting Holly. The little toy poodle, almost as a reminder, just started licking his hand instead.

"Yeah, like with her. I just wasn't comfortable with telling you back then because... Well, let's just say Taehyung isn't just Taehyung. People will snitch if I'm talking about him, especially to you, and I don't think he'd like that," Jimin laughed nervously. "But anyway... the one about Cerridwen and Taehyung dating? I'm not sure that one is entirely true. I just heard it around. I thought I might as well just drop it in the notes to lead away from what I knew was the truth, but..."

"You told me it was true?"

A curious tone plagued Yoongi's voice.

"I thought... I wanted to mislead you. Recently, I... had a change of heart, I guess." Jimin paused, sighing gently. "'Cause... I realized you actually want to find something. You don't want to just screw Taehyung over. Right?"

For a moment, Yoongi was quiet. Holly jumped off his lap, and padded off out of the room- most likely to have something to eat or drink.

It was a moment before the student replied.

"...Yeah."

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The rumors had carried. Like wildfire, Jimin had said. The school whispered around him so much that it was starting to feel like even the empty corridors did. That morning, there had been no one waiting around for him. No Namjoon, sat around rushing his homework that was due first period, no Hoseok, calmly sipping a coffee shop drink because he had done his the night it had been set. Not even Jimin; but Yoongi was inclined to believe that was for another reason entirely.

So Yoongi kept to himself.

He skipped the free period classes to sit at the birch tree where he had seen the disappearing girl all those days ago.

"Because it was calm there," Yoongi mumbled. There was no one around to hear it.

It was a cold day; no one was keeping track of temperatures, but the breeze was chilly and hands would get cold if they were left out of pockets for too long. Yoongi kept his coat on, a small insulation against the chill. He'd never really liked bulky, winter coats, with fur on the hoods and all. The idea seemed nice, a warm little fortress to bundle yourself in during the colder months, but in practice, they were actually quite irritating. Without them, you were too cold. With them, you'd break a sweat from walking. They were too awkward to carry; so if rain or snow was predicted for the day, but it was sunny when you were going out, it was either wear the coat in the sun too or leave it at home and risk getting soaked.

Instead, Yoongi's coat was a raincoat. Just plain black, noisy as ever when he moved, but it still did him good. At least, he wasn't freezing, sat with his back against the trunk of the birch tree. He was sat on the ground, instead of the bench, for comforts sake. He wasn't planning on going to class for the whole day, so might as well get used to sitting there, right?

What with the rumors, it wasn't like anyone was going to come near him during breaks anyway.

...Rumors. The rumors.

Was he ruined? Who didn't know about that right now? His friends certainly did. At this point, he knew he wasn't just making 'what ifs'. As everyone was leaving for their first classes in the morning, he'd seen both Hoseok and Namjoon; talking in hushed voices. Hoseok had turned, almost as if to check for someone, before he spotted his... friend? He'd turned straight back to Namjoon and started talking louder. They'd both let out fake, almost rehearsed laughs, like one of them had just told a joke and that was it.

So who didn't...

Yoongi sighed, leaning down and plucking at the short, green grass. When he pulled on it, the grass blade snapped in half; one doomed to die in his hand and the other still destined to grow.

Who?

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Birdsong rang in his ears as he slowly came to his senses. He was already stood up; it felt like he had just passed out on his feet.

It felt like?

It felt like he was stuck.

Every color he could see was muted. The sky, instead of being a sky or baby blue, was more of a grey. The greens were paler, every flower looked pastel.

It was... surreal, to say the least.

Stood further down the garden from him was a girl. She had a brown bob, but that was all he could tell; her back was facing towards him. Maybe, if it mattered that much... she was wearing a white, sleeveless top and ripped, denim shorts. In her hand he could just make out a watering can. Perhaps he could tell from the sound of pouring water, or the angle she held it at.

It was her garden.

"...I'm sorry you're here." She called out. Despite the distance and the necessity to raise her voice for him to hear her, she still sounded very gentle. It was something comforting; something familiar. Familiar from... from where?

"I can send you back, if you like. I was a little lonely here but you're better off by the tree..." Her voice trailed off, and he just continued to stare at her. He just felt like he couldn't speak. The garden she kept was so peaceful; he didn't want to change it with an accidental harsh tone, compared to her melodic one.

"I'll see you, Yoongi. Forget about me, and enjoy your graduation."

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The harsh ringing tones of the school bell shocked Yoongi awake. It was like a giant, oversized alarm, that made him realize he was still sat by the birch tree. He must have fallen asleep for the entire rest of the day... right? The way students were chatting and cheering in the buildings nearby must mean something similar.

Yoongi sighed and stood up, stretching out his arms and legs before leaning down to grab his bag. When he opened his hand to take it, he was slightly surprised to see the small, picked blade of grass fall down. It was crumpled into a ball, almost condensed, and was starting to look a lot darker than the rest of it's lighter green kind.

Around him, students were letting out of buildings. They all milled around in one general direction; the front gates. So it was the end of the day.

Yoongi nonchalantly walked forward, joining the congregation of students. They moved in an almost stampede formation, except a hell of a lot slower, a pace that made many people want to punch someone; many people, of whom Yoongi was one. He followed the crowd, painfully slowly, until ways parted and he was able to speed off down the street, past everyone else walking the same way up as him. Despite having done literally nothing but sleep, he still wanted to just get home.

He'd walk alone. Wherever Jimin was, he wasn't up for waiting. He didn't want to run into Hoseok and Namjoon either; after that morning, it would be the most awkward thing if they walked past him waiting for the school gossip.

To hell with people, anyway.

After he was a considerable distance away from his school, and the rest of the walking students, he slowed down. Just slightly, he started to calm himself down.. calm his pace down, calm his thoughts down, everything.

Maybe he could fix everything.

In the distance, Yoongi spotted someone familiar. He walked at a leisurely pace, hands stuffed in his trouser pockets, bag straps sliding slowly off his shoulders. There was an ever so slightly familiar way about how he seemed to carry himself, but... perhaps it was the unnatural, silver hair that proved it.

Something sparked in Yoongi's head, like the flame of a lighter when a restless person holds it; flicking it on and off again, on and off again.

Without barely any thought prior, Yoongi started to speed up again. He didn't shout for Taehyung; he didn't really want to attract that much attention. All he wanted to ask was a... harmless question.

At some point of trying to catch up with Taehyung, he had taken a completely different turn, away from the direction he lived. Yoongi sped up ever so slightly more; within a few more moments, he had caught up.

Yoongi grabbed his arm.

Both boys stopped walking. Taehyung cautiously turned to face him; however, even when he had recognized Yoongi, he didn't say anything.

Yoongi didn't let go as he took a breath.

"Who was your sister?"

Suddenly, the world seemed to stop around them. Sound faded out, and while cars still passed on the road beside them, engines rumbling, while people still passed on foot or on bike, they were in their own little world. Just them. Just the harmless, horrible question Yoongi had asked.

Like a ticking bomb, Taehyung exploded.

He yanked his arm out of Yoongi's grip, face contorting into something akin to anger or disgust; like someone had pranked him into drinking sour milk and was currently laughing at it all right in front of his face.

He swung his fist in anger, colliding strongly with the side of Yoongi's face. The force of it made Yoongi's head turn; yet he only cringed in pain, and took a step back. He didn't, at any point, try to dodge.

"You fucker." Taehyung hissed, stepping forward to face him closer. The glare in his eyes was nothing short of furious, but Yoongi didn't step back anymore. He was done. He was fucking done with the guessing, and the memories, and the rumors, and he just wanted to fucking know. He wanted to know who this mysterious Kim child was, how he'd even known her, how he was even connected to Taehyung.

It was so much to ask, wasn't it? To know.

"Is that what she was to you?" Taehyung hissed. He never took his eyes off Yoongi's. "She goes and you just forget. You just forget who she was."

The hiss broke. His voice broke. The glare broke, his straight face broke, the walls holding back emotion broke.

Tears blossomed in the corners of Taehyung's eyes, and Yoongi realized, the harmless, horrible question was the worst thing he ever could have asked. The worst thing he could have ever said, with a tone like he didn't care. The worst thing, but it agonized him. Taehyung was crying, angry, but crying, and it agonized him.

Fucking agony.

He didn't know why. He couldn't piece together why it was so wrong. Why Taehyung was crying. Why his heart felt like it was breaking, why he hated the cherry blossoms in spring and summer, why he wanted to reach out and hug the boy, why he wanted to cry too.

"...You should try and remember." Taehyung let out, in something that was barely a whisper. He reached up to wipe his eyes, before staring into Yoongi's eyes again.

"Remember, before you fuck yourself over too."