It was already late when Jungkook stopped the car near Hanagae Beach and the two singers reached the beach together. Covered by their black surgical mask and black cap but already sufficiently preserved from view by the enveloping darkness of the evening, they quickly reached the shore and walked for a long time silently, before dropping down on the cold sand, leaving the noise caused by the ebb and flow water to rock them away from their problems.

     The setting sun was diffusing its last orange rays which gave the impression that the sea and the sky merged in a flamboyant moving painter's canvas. The view was breathtaking and as they rarely had the opportunity to go out freely like this, the idols took advantage of this fabulous spectacle without saying a word during several minutes.

     When the sun had almost disappeared over the horizon and the sky turned more indigo than orange, Jin turned to observe Jungkook's serious face whose dreamy gaze was always fixed on the horizon.

     He found that the maknae had changed since he had received his convocation for the army. At the beginning, he had the impression that Jungkook was acting like a child but now, he had the strange impression on the contrary that the boy had suddenly matured several years. 

     Admittedly, they had often laughed at the fact that sometimes Jin acted more like a maknae than Jungkook when he was next to him but he had never really felt that Jungkook was older than him and could watch over him. That was his mission as an elder. But in the space of three days, everything seemed to have changed. Now, it was as if Jungkook suddenly decided to switch roles.

     Taking his gaze away from Jungkook, Jin started to draw a long series of letters in the sand and Jungkook, intrigued, tried to decipher them.

     "Endless streams of evils, tumultuous eddies of my heart which imprison my being in the words of the mourner," Jin sang, to an unknown melancholy tune.

     "Who is the mourner?" Jungkook asked. 

   "My other me. The one who finds the right words. Or at least who found them." Jin added, remembering his stuttering earlier in the evening. "Wouldn't that be the start of a beautiful song?"

     "It would be a very sad song..." Jungkook lamented, "but worthy of our pathetic situation."

     Jin gave him a sad smile.

     "We weren't even able to find the words to calm things down with the others. Lying seemed so complicated... maybe it was a good thing that the discussion hadn't been concluded like that."

     "Probably," Jungkook sighed, "but hyung, are you sure it's just lying that made you stutter? In general, you can lie without any problem... "

     "Yaa kid! Are you calling me a liar?"

     Jungkook shook his head sharply.

     "No, but with your legendary self-assurance you've never had a problem making a lie look true if you wanted to so I don't understand..."

    "I was just confused that the lie to come would tarnish your bond with the rest of the group," Jin cut him off, unsure of that explanation himself, "I wasn't sure I could do it. It was not a good plan so it will have to be reviewed. "

     Then, after a silence:

    "JK, you didn't have to get mad at the boys for not trying to convince me to stay. They weren't thinking badly, they were really thinking about my happiness. And... they weren't wrong either when they said you were our pillar, not me. I'm just the eldest, anyone can become the eldest if I go, it's a changing place that's only related to age."

    Jungkook's voice was harsh and unmistakable:

    "Stop proving them right, I don't want to go back to this hyung: they were hypocritical when they told me to accept your departure when they would not have mine. And they revealed that they had an inadequate opinion of you. Also, stop always bashing yourself, and accept the idea that you are important to us. To me."

     Jin knew he should have defended his dongsaengs with more conviction, but he would have been lying to himself if he had pretended that Jungkook's words did not flatter his ego by making him feel appreciated and... important. 

     Important in the eyes of someone dear to his heart. It mattered after feeling belittled by many people and ultimately by his own members, although it was not their intention, he was convinced of it. It mattered even more after everything that had happened in the last few hours.

    He began to look at Jungkook differently, not like his little JK but like someone strong with whom he felt safe and valued. Why hadn't he noticed over the past few weeks that it was he who always stood behind him to carry him when he felt himself fall into a spiral of negative thoughts and words hurled at him? He only wanted one thing now, to stay by the side of that person he made him feel loved.

     "I lied," Jungkook said suddenly.

     "I beg your pardon?" Jin said, perplexed.

      "When I said it was only a threat and that I wouldn't leave the group, I lied."

     "W-were you really ready to leave the band with me, JK?" Jin asked incredulously. "Are you crazy?"

     "As ready as I was when I decided to change my hairstyle with you. And no, I'm not crazy," Jungkook pouted.

     "But a hairstyle it's not the same thing as leaving the band for two years! BTS and Army ... it's your whole life, your world, your universe, you could never have left them without being deeply unhappy!"

     "No hyung," Jungkook denies, looking at him intently, "They are my stars but you, you are my universe. "

    Jin blushed at the maknae's words and felt his ears heat up dangerously, announcing that his cheeks weren't the only parts of his body that had stained. He was overcome with a new  sensitivity towards the young singer and preferred to fix his gaze on the black waves when he grabbed Jungkook's hand and squeezed it gently:

    "You are my pillar, and I am yours. Together, we will find the strength to pull ourselves out of this situation."

    Jungkook nodded with a smile and squeezed Jin's hand in turn, suddenly happy.

    "Hyung, let's make a wish in the sand and let the sea take it, maybe it will come true?"

   So they approached closer to the wavelets that washed up on the beach and wrote their fleeting vows, like a person in distress going to throw a bottled SOS into the sea, hoping for some providential help. 

     It didn't take long for the sea to completely obliterate them under their gaze, carrying them to the depths rather than to the surface.