Chapter 34

"A change"

After pressing the "STOP" button, Ha Na immediately got up from her seat on the bus and got ready to get out, once the bus pulled over. She sent the bus driver a smile and waved while she walked out to which the bus driver waved back. While waiting for the bus to leave, Ha Na started looking for cars so she could safely cross the street, when suddenly she noticed a tall figure that resembled one particular good friend.

As soon as the road was free of cars, Ha Na ran across and stirred directly towards Hakyeon. She gently poked his shoulder two times and Hakyeon turned around to be met by a huge smile.

"Oh it is you," signed Hakyeon, "I was wondering who would approach me by poking. Are you on your way home from work?"

"Yes, how about you?" asked Ha Na.

"Same, do you want to come and hang out at our house tonight? I think Jung Hwa misses you."

"Don't you miss me too?" signed Ha Na and fake pouted to which Hakyeon responded by hitting her gently on her arm.

"Stop that, you look hideous," signed Hakyeon while laughing, "yes yes I miss you too, since we haven't seen much of you the last few weeks. Things seem to go well with Jimin?"

"Yes," signed Ha Na and sent Hakyeon a smile, but little by little, the smile seemed to fade away.

"What is wrong?" asked Hakyeon, Ha Na being unable to hide anything from him.

"Nothing is wrong, come on let us go-" Ha Na was about to start moving forward when Hakyeon grabbed her arm and pulled her back in front of him.

"Tell me," said Hakyeon while signing, and his serious expression made Ha Na gulp.

"Just let it go," signed Ha Na and diverted her eyes.

"Is it about Jimin? Is that why you won't tell me? You are scared you will hurt my feelings?" Ha Na didn't reply, but her eyes gave her away in an instant.

"Woah, I thought we were past this already! Didn't we agree to not be awkward with each other, that we would stay friends like we used to? That-"

"Okay okay!" signed Ha Na and Hakyeon stopped talking, "I will tell you if you would stop whining for just one second." Hakyeon nodded and gave Ha Na a look saying "I am listening".

"Since a while ago, I have been a little worried that people aren't very nice to Jimin at the company. I was scared he pushed himself too hard, but he never complained about anything and I didn't have the courage to ask. But then, a few days ago I noticed that he had lost a lot of weight and he seemed much more tired than usual, he had big dark circles under his eyes and he looked really pale. I am just... worried about him."

"That doesn't sound good," said Hakyeon after carefully watching Ha Na explain the situation, "that doesn't sound good at all, if he is pushing himself too hard it can be dangerous for both his physical and mental health."

"I know... that is why I am worried."

"I think you have to talk to him about it."

"I know... I just don't know what to say."

"Maybe you could say-" Hakyeon stopped talking all of a sudden and Ha Na then noticed a car had pulled over right next to them, which seemed to be the reason for Hakyeon's sudden diversion of attention.

It was a shinning red KIA that looked like it had just driven out of the store, not a scratch or a single piece of dirt on it. Ha Na tried to focus on the person in the front seat, but she couldn't get a clear vision of who it was, until he rolled down the window and both Hakyeon and Ha Na almost fell backwards from the shock.

"Namjoon," said Hakyeon when he saw that smug smile coming from his friend behind the steering wheel, "what are you doing with a car?"

"I bought it," said Namjoon, "jealous?"

"Well, yeah I am!"

"But Oppa... why did you buy a car? And how can you afford it?" asked Ha Na, looking partly worried and partly in love with the gorgeous red car.

"Get in both of you, then I will explain everything!"

Ha Na and Hakyeon went over to get inside the car and Hakyeon made sure Ha Na would sit in the front seat so it was easier for her to see her brother's signs. Once they were both seated, Namjoon turned off the engine and turned around so he could look at both of them.

"I got promoted at work and I got a raise," said he while signing for Ha Na.

"Congratulations!" signed Ha Na and then clapped her hands, together with Hakyeon.

"But..."

"But? What do you mean 'but'?" asked Ha Na nervously when she saw Namjoon do the sign "but".

"I am being transferred to the Prosecutor's office in Busan, they already found an apartment for me so I will move there by the end of next week."

The car suddenly got dead silent as Hakyeon and Ha Na both stared at Namjoon with horror written on their face, mouths open and none of them blinking for a long time.

"Don't look at me like that, you are acting like I just told you I am going to die!" said Namjoon in a mocking tone while signing.

"You might as well have," replied Hakyeon, "Busan... that is almost 4 hours away. When will we see you?"

"See that is where the car comes into the picture! I can just drive up to visit you."

"You don't just drive 4 hours spontaneously, and it is not something you will have time for very often," signed Ha Na in a firm manner, making sure her brother was taking this as serious as they did.

"Alright maybe we won't see each other as often as now-"

"You think?" Hakyeon almost yelled out, "are you comparing 4 hours to just next door? We are used to seeing each other almost every day, this will be a huge change."

"Yes, but don't you think our small group is in need of a change?" asked Namjoon and looked specifically at Hakyeon, "we have lived next door to each other for a long time now, I want to try and see the world on my own, become independent."

"You are almost 29, it is a bit late for that, don't you think?" asked Hakyeon while Ha Na followed along in the conversation.

"It is never too late, my friend," said Namjoon with a smirk, "now, don't be sad you two, I am already nervous about telling this to mom and dad, so if you two don't support me then-"

"Of course we support you, you idiot!" signed Ha Na and hit Namjoon on his head, "just give us a second to take in this news, we are going to miss you a lot."

"I am going to miss you too," said Namjoon and looked at both Ha Na and Hakyeon, "but now let us go home, I have to break this news to my parents as soon as possible or I will explode."

"Sure, let us go," signed Ha Na.

"Wait!" said Hakyeon suddenly, "have you told Jung Hwa?"

"No, I haven't," said Namjoon and looked a bit saddened, "and I would appreciate if none of you told her yet, I want to tell her myself."

"Of course," said Hakyeon and patted Namjoon on his shoulder, "she should hear it from you."

After arriving home, Ha Na and Namjoon said their goodbyes to Hakyeon and decided it was better to hang out another day, since they both just wanted to be with their family.

The entire evening was a strange mixture of celebration and sadness. At first it seemed like they both took it pretty fine, Byung Ho simply wished Namjoon congratulations and Eun Ji immediately started preparing a feast so they could celebrate her son's promotion. But while Namjoon and Ha Na were eating happily, Byung Ho didn't seem to have any appetite and Eun Ji suddenly left, whereafter Namjoon could hear a faint sound of someone crying. After finding his mom crying in his bedroom looking at old childhood photos, Namjoon seemed to finally break down too and he stayed in his mother's arms until they were both so dehydrated that no matter how much they wanted to cry, they had no tears left.

For the rest of the week, the only thing Ha Na could think about was how much she would miss her brother, and only the thought of seeing Jimin on Friday evening was keeping her spirit high. She had already told him about Namjoon and he had been texting her every day to make sure she was okay and wasn't crying alone somewhere.

"Thank you for today's hard work," said Sang Hoo when Ha Na stood in front of him at the end of the day, "have a nice weekend and I will see you Monday, right?" Ha Na nodded and smiled as genuinely as she could, then waved goodbye and got on her way towards Jimin's company. Since he wanted to practice a bit more before the weekend, they decided to meet there.

While walking through Jimin's company, memories of that one afternoon came flashing back to her and she tried to avoid eye contact with anyone, afraid she would bump into those kids from that day. Even if she forgave Jimin, it still hurt her whenever she thought about that day.

When she reached the practice room Jimin had told he would be in, she gently opened the door and looked around the large, empty practice room. It didn't seem like he was there after all, since her eyes couldn't find any boy dancing carefree around, but then she looked at the floor and noticed the silhouette of a person. As Ha Na slowly neared the person, she felt her heart beating faster and her paranoia grew bigger, until her eyes widened in fear and she ran up to Jimin who were lying on the floor, collapsed and drenched in sweat.

Not knowing what to do, Ha Na gently shook Jimin, trying to wake him up, but she got no response. She got more and more scared and started calling out to him the best she could, not knowing how to correctly pronounce his name and not being able to hear what she was saying. In the end she let go of every thought and simply kept shaking him while yelling as loud as she could. Then suddenly, Jimin moves a bit and he slowly started opening his eyes.

"Wha... who... what is going on?" said Jimin while sitting up, his vision still blurry after passing out, "Noona, why are you crying?" Ha Na moved her hand to her face and felt the wet tear drops on finger. She hadn't even noticed she was crying in the midst of all the chaos.

"You were passed out!" signed Ha Na, still crying silently.

"Passed out?" asked Jimin, "no no... I was just taking a nap. I was tired after practicing and-"

"Jimin, you weren't napping. I have seen what has happened to you lately."

"What do you mean?" said Jimin, keeping his distance all of a sudden.

"Jimin, why won't you talk to me? What you are doing isn't healthy. If something is going on then you need to talk to someone about it."

"Nothing is going on!" said Jimin annoyed, "I was tired. You know, it is not easy keeping up with dance practice and a girlfriend."

"I know you are trying to balance everything, but you are pushing yourself too hard, Hakyeon Oppa said the same thing."

"Hakyeon?" The anger was shining in Jimin's eyes and Ha Na immediately regretted bringing Hakyeon into the conversation.

"Are you talking to Hakyeon about me?"

"He knew something was up with me so he asked me what was wrong. I just told him I was worried about you... please don't take this the wrong way."

"How do you want me to take it? You are talking to your childhood friend, who by the way has a huge crush on you, about a problem you have with your current boyfriend, a problem that doesn't even exist."

"There is a problem!" signed Ha Na, "Jimin I am scared."

"What are you scared of? I am fine, I. WAS. JUST. TIRED!"

"Jimin please... if you keep this up you... you will die!" Jimin looked at Ha Na with a furious gaze and she looked back at him with fear and sadness while waiting for him to reply.

"Get out."

"What? Jimin, can't we talk about this?" Ha Na tried reasoning.

"GET. OUT!" said Jimin and got up from the floor whereafter he pulled Ha Na up too and pushed her towards the door.

"Jimin stop!" Ha Na tried to sign, but Jimin wasn't even looking, the only thing he was focused on, was getting her through that door and once he did, he closed it tight and locked it behind him.

While resting his back against the door, Jimin felt the continuous knocks coming from the other side, but he just ignored it and then slid down to rest on the floor.

"Just leave me alone..." whispered Jimin before closing his eyes, his weak body giving in and letting him doze off while feeling the knocks getting harder and more frequent against the door.

"You are better off without me."

Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember to stay warm and eat healthy and take care of yourself. Stay safe.

Also, don't forget to leave a comment down below.

Love, Annalise~