Yoongi

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Min YoonGi

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I stopped walking at the clumsy sound of a piano. The only sound in the empty construction site was the popping of a fire someone has lit in an oil drum. I knew the sound of the song I had just played, but why had I thought of that? My drunken footsteps stumbled. I closed my eyes and walked even more carelessly. As the heat of the fire grew stronger, the piano sound, the night air, and my intoxication all grew fainter.

I opened my eyes at the sudden sound of a horn, just as a car grazed narrowly past me. In the confusion of the headlight's brightness, the wind of the car's passing, and my own drunkenness, I stumbled helplessly. I heard the driver curse at me. As I came to a stop, prepared to curse right back, I suddenly realized I could no longer hear the sound of the piano. Amidst the sound of the fire blazing, the wind, the silence left in the wake of the car, the piano sound was gone. It seemed to have stopped. Why had it stopped? Who was playing it?

The sparks from the fire surged forth from the drum barrel with a sharp noise. I looked at it for a long moment, spaced out. My face became hot with its warmth. It was at that moment that I heard the clanging sound of a fist slamming down onto the piano keys. On instinct, I looked behind me. For a moment, my blood rushed so strongly that my breathing became erratic. The nightmares from when I was young. It was like a sound I had heard there.

In the next moment, I was running. Without any will of mine, I ran toward the music shop, my body turning of its own volition to look behind. I felt, somehow, like this was something I had repeated countless times before. It was a sensation of having forgotten something important.

The music store with its broken window. Someone was sitting in front of the piano. Although many years had passed, I recognized them in an instant. They were crying, their hands curled into fists. I didn't want to be concerned with someone else's life. I didn't want to comfort anyone else's loneliness. I didn't want to become a person who meant something to anyone. I had no confidence that I could protect that person. I didn't have the confidence to be at their side until the end. I didn't want to hurt them. I didn't want to be hurt.

I walked slowly. I intended to turn back and leave, but I approached before I knew it. A wrong note rang out. Jungkook lifted his head and looked at me, "Hyung." It was our first time seeing each other since quitting high school.