"Are you going home soon too, Namjoon ?" Mr. Kim had asked after taking his eyes off his wife and son, positioning himself behind Jin's wheelchair, ready to leave the building.

     "Yes, I was just waiting for all the members to leave, now that you came to pick up Jin hyung, I will leave too," Namjoon had replied, looking away after noticing Mr. Kim's wife's pained expression whose makeup had been ruined by her tears.

     "Do you want us to drop you off at home?" Jin's father had proposed.

     "Thank you, you're very kind, but I still have to settle some things before leaving."

     Mr. and Mrs. Kim had noticed that Namjoon seemed very uncomfortable in front of them.

     "Namjoon, darling, is everything okay?" Mrs. Kim had asked gently as she let Jin who was calmer and approached the other.

     Thus, Namjoon had thrown himself on the ground, falling to his knees, head on the ground and crying, he had shouted so loudly that Si-Hyuk had opened the door of his office to witness this terrible scene:

     "I'm so sorry, everything that happened to hyung is my fault, I'm their leader and if, if only I had been able to realize what was happening rather-"

     But he had immediately been interrupted by Mrs. Kim who had rushed to make him straighten up, hug him and cry with him under the broken gaze of Jin, his father and the CEO.

     "Sweetie, we never, even for a moment, considered it was your fault, never, do you hear me? We know you always did your best to protect Seokjin and the others. And we are very grateful to you for that. You have all saved Seokjin several times, without hesitate to risk your life to save Seokjin's. We know that Jungkook even took a knife for him. For that and more, we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts, even if we can never thank you enough for that because what you have done is priceless to us."

     They had stayed like that for a few minutes, Ms. Kim patting Namjoon's back, waiting for him to calm down, but Namjoon had too much on his mind and he needed to exteriorize it and be reassured to get better, Mrs Kim understood it. Namjoon had always had too many responsibilities weighing on his young shoulders for many years and without Jin to support him, he too had ended up being particularly weakened by everything that had happened. He had tried to support his group as he could but he in turn needed to be supported.

     "I-I-I should have been the one who suffered, not him or Jungkook, I was responsible for them, I should have been their bullet-proof... But Jin hyung took everything and endured everything on his own, I so wanted to take his place if I could go back," Namjoon had sobbed, leaving a new stream of tears in his cheeks.

     Jin's mother had been particularly enraged at the CEO, but at Namjoon she felt no such sentiment. Namjoon had also suffered, like his son, like the other members. He had endured and done his best. How could she blame him for what happened to Jin?

     "Namjoon, listen to me, okay? Seokjin suffered a lot to protect Jungkook that's right, but we never wanted Jungkook nor you nor any of you to bear the pain of our son, we are not that selfish. And we know without a doubt that Seokjin doesn't resent any of you, so it would be very wrong of us to resent you. So, don't cry anymore: you played your role of leader as you could, and Seokjin played his role of elder as he thought he should. It's like that."

    Sniffling loudly and wiping away his tears, Namjoon had finally sat up and muttered:

    "Th-thank you. For not being mad at me. Please take care of hyung until he returns to us, help him smile again because we all need to see that smile and hear his laugh again."

     "Namjoon, regarding this, we have decided that Seokjin will not return," Mr. Kim had said regretfully at the time.

     Jin had turned sharply to his father, his eyes wide in surprise and his mouth open as if he was going to say something but after a few seconds of thinking, he had finally looked down and closed his mouth, realizing it was maybe a good thing after all.

     He should have made the decision to leave a long time ago and his parents had just done it for him what he had never been able to do because he was too attached to his dongsaengs, to the love of his fans, and to the enjoyment of the music he felt and shared. He had stayed out of selfishness, which he should never have done.

     After all, none of that would have happened if he had left for his military service long before. Lee wouldn't have come into their lives because the CEO wouldn't have been mad at them as Jungkook wouldn't have challenged the company and being threatened. And the fans - with the support of haters - wouldn't have attacked the band on tour and at the airport without him being with them. So no tragedy without him, he was convinced. Now that was all over. He must feel relieved that he won't be the cause of so much pain in the future, right?

     However, it hurt his heart so badly that he wanted to shout to his parents that he didn't want to. But he still remained silent.

     Namjoon, on the other hand, was even more shocked and he stuttered:

     "Wh-what? I must heard wrong... d-didn't I?"

     "I'm so so sorry Namjoon, believe me," Mr. Kim said, "I know the seven of you are close and a very united group, but Seokjin can't come back after everything that happened to him, I'm sure you'll understand. Of course, our family will accompany BTS to the end in the lawsuit against Mr. Lee as soon as our son is well and perhaps start another lawsuit against Bang Si-Hyuk if our grief and anger does not subside. We will support you until the end. But after that, we want Seokjin to get away for good from the toxic environment that destroyed him."

     Mr. Kim had said that while glaring at the CEO, seeing him motionless in the doorway of his office. Namjoon on the other hand had not seen the CEO and focused only on Jin's father's words. 

      The rapper had been short of breath for a few seconds : he did not expect this. After everything they had just been through, it was too much, he didn't know if he could take it. How could they go on without Jin?

     "H-hyung...?"

     He had turned to Jin, waiting for him to react, to challenge this decision of his parents, but the elder had kept silent and it had pained him. A lot. He knew he shouldn't have attempted to hold Jin back because after all, it was that initial decision of Jungkook that indirectly led to all the suffering Jin endured.

     The leader didn't want to replicate that in his turn but imagining BTS without Jin made him suffer so much that he suddenly understood Jungkook's fierce struggle to keep their hyung by his side. In reality, without him, there would be no BTS. None of them would have the strength to continue without him, he knew that.

     Faced with this, the BTS leader, who had a tight throat, had preferred to settle for stalling:

     "I understand but please wait until Jin hyung is in a better condition and let him make this decision himself. If he wants to leave us voluntarily, then we will accept it, even if it is difficult for us. But at the moment, he is in no condition to make this decision with a clear mind and on your side, you are also in shock at what you have just learned. Suffering sometimes causes us to make rash decisions.

     But you have to keep in mind that taking him away from what allowed him to be blooming during ten years, even if that's also what hurt him, and taking him away from us for good is not necessarily what will allow him to heal, and this is not necessarily what he ultimately wants. We are here for him and we will remain so, give him time to realize it, please."

     "Namjoon..."

     "Please, I only ask you to wait until he is ready to make this decision on his own, we promise that we will accept his decision without blaming him if he decides not to return," the BTS leader had insisted, looking in particular at Mrs. Kim who had tears in her eyes and had been touched by his speech. "Please... "

      Mr. and Mrs. Kim had looked at each other worriedly and then had looked at Jin who was not looking at anyone, lest he be asked his opinion on the spot when he himself was undecided when what to do. But Namjoon's words had inevitably reached Jin and his parents could not ignore it at the risk of making him suffer too.

     "It's understood Namjoon, we'll wait," Mr. Kim had sighed, much to Namjoon's relief. "We will let him choose, but we will take the time to discuss it at length to be certain that he is sure to make the right choice, the one that will make him happy."

     "I understand, thank you, thank you very much!" Namjoon had exclaimed bowing as low as possible several times.

    Then had followed, as with the other members, heartbreaking goodbyes and Jin clung to Namjoon for a long time before letting go - or was it the other way around? Namjoon couldn't figure it out - feeling that he would not see the eldest again for a long time.

     "Take care hyung and come back to us ," Namjoon had whispered in his ear as he hugged him. "We will be waiting for you, always, so take the time you need to heal."

     The leader then had pulled away from him and let Jin's father guide the wheelchair towards the exit, not knowing when he would see Jin again.