namjoon drops the phone, sinking to the floor.

no.

no.

NO!

fuck, no.

and then he's crying, screaming, begging for this to all be a dream. he shouts in frustration, in anger, in regret, in pain.

the others come running at the sound. dimly, namjoon hears jin asking him to tell them what's wrong.

"He's gone, jin. He's gone."

"NO!"

the scream that follows resounds through the entire place, even shocking namjoon. what's so surprising is that he never imagined seokjin, the eldest and most composed of the lot, to make such a sound.

that makes it all the more heartbreaking.

jimin...

come back, please.

——

taehyung does not attend the funeral. no one knows where he is anymore.

the private event passes by in a blur of tears.

yoongi is the first one to break down.

seokjin sheds the least tears -- he had cried them all.

jungkook cries until he is out of breath, cries until he collaspes. when they rush to his aid, the glaring red scars on his skin stun them all. and it is the same word repeating over and over again -- jimin.

hoseok leaves halfway through the service, unable to take it anymore.

as for namjoon, he just laughs at it all.  he was broken by jimin's death, broken to the point of insanity.

aren't they all?

bangtan isn't bulletproof.

not without him.