Synopsis: Park Jimin was much too familiar with how one night stands work. Not because he engaged in them often. As a matter of fact, he had only hit the sack with a stranger once. But that feeling of hurt - of disappointment - plagued him. Because a lot can happen in a single night. From falling in love with a foreign girl in a matter of hours inside of a shitty 7/11 to the small girl staring up at him with galaxies in her doe eyes.
“Stop the car,” I say, launching against my body against the seatbelt.
I press my face against the tinted window, hands splayed against the glass. The car is stopped at a light, allowing me to see the girl I’ve loved and left four years, two months, and sixteen days ago and the small child she toted around. The feeling of something being wrong - so terribly out of place - settles deep in my stomach.
“What’s wrong, Jiminie?” RM asks, the previously worn out male suddenly alert.
I’m too stunned to reply, mind whirling with a hundred and one possibilities.
Is it mine? No! It can’t be!
The voice of one of their managers temporarily recaptures my attention. I turn to look at the older man with eyes wide as saucers.
At this point, everyone in the vehicle is looking at me in concern. I panic internally - I don’t know what to do, or what to say. I could ignore it, ignore Gaia and the little girl that looks too much like the both of them. But then it would haunt me. Plague me more than Gaia already does.
“Um - I . . .I just need to talk to a friend. It’s pretty urgent,” I say, making up the fakest sounding excuse.
Our leader sighs in annoyance.
“Jimin. We’re literally on the way to an interview. It can wait. Just call them later,” He says, tone of voice final.
I don’t know what to say. I never got Gaia’s number, and even if I had, I’m sure she would have changed it by now. I can't just burst out of the car and sprint in her direction, nor can I just let the car drive away.
“I - I - “ My words get choked up in my throat and my hands start to shake slightly, causing me clutch onto the expensive shirt.
A wave of dizziness washes over me and I lean against the cold glass, shuddering and heavy breaths escaping me.
Gaia lifts the small girl into the air and she laughs, kicking her legs out.
“Just - just stop the car. Please,” I manage to stutter out.
Someone must have told the driver because he pulls over to the shoulder of the road. The desire to throw open the car door and sprint over there is overwhelming but I feel one second away from passing out.
“Jimin are you okay?” Yoongi asks.
I barely hear him. All I can focus on is the scene in front of me - of the two girls in the park just a couple of strides away from me.
A warm hand lands on my forehead.
Comments about my condition float around the car.
“Is he having a panic attack?!”
“I think he’s going into shock!”
“Let’s get him to the hospital!”
Every word blurs as my breathing gets heavier to the point I think I'm going to suffocate. I black out when Gaia takes the child into her arms and walks away deeper into the park.
When I come to, I'm back at the dorms, the six other members and three of our managers hovering around me. I’m propped up on my bed, socks and shoes off and discarded in a corner somewhere. The shirt I’m wearing had been unbuttoned and my personal manager holds a fan over my face, waving it frantically.
I groan and sit up slightly, propping myself on my elbows and squinting at the sudden light, blinking rapidly to clear my vision.
“You okay?” Namjoon asks softly.
Everyone else is still, all looking towards me for answers.
“Yeah . . . I feel okay,” I say, rubbing my forehead.
A glass of water is thrust my direction and I down it gratefully, feeling better with the refreshment.
“What happened, Jiminie?” My manager asks, “what did you see? Why’d you want us to stop the car?”
I debate internally for a moment only to be interrupted before I could open my mouth.
“And don’t you dare lie, Park Jimin,” Yoongi hyung says, voice low and serious.
“Just . . . someone. Someone I hadn't seen in a while. I was just a bit surprised,”
“Surprised my ass. We almost had to take you to the hospital. Surprise doesn't send you into shock and make you pass out for an hour,” Hoseok says, a tinge of anger in his voice.
“Who could make you react like that?” Jungkook asks, concern evident.
I sigh heavily, raking my hands through my hair.
“Just tell us,” Seokjin hyung adds in.
“There . . . four . . .,” I take another shaky breath, preparing myself mentally to let go of my best-kept secret, “Four years ago, we got into a fight. Taehyung and I. I don't remember what it was about, but I was so angry that I stormed out of the dorm in hopes of drinking my problems away. It worked, sort of, but I mostly ended up drunk and hungry instead of blissfully unaware of our argument. And . . . there was a girl. At 7/11. And she was so,” I laugh, cutting myself off as I remember the look on Gaia’s face all those years ago.
I’ll never forget it. Not even when I die.
“She was so intriguing. This foreign girl sitting all alone in a convenience store with this dazed expression on her face. Like she was mulling over the mechanics of the universe in pajamas while drinking a bottle of flat Cola. So I went inside and ate something and mostly stared at her until I remembered not to be a creep and talk to her . . .”
I trail off, looking at everyone in the room and gauging their expressions. It’s a good mixture between confused and intrigued.
“We talked a bit, then I decided to go home. But I was lost and tipsy and couldn't find my phone so she offered to let me crash at her hotel -”
I’m cut off by my manager’s disapproval.
“Jimin, that's dangerous! She could have been some crazy fan! What if she knew who you were?”
“She did. She did know who I was, but she didn't act differently at all. She was laid back and spoke to me like a person. And we talked for a long time and watched movies and ate snacks and everything was perfect,”
My heart contracts as I remember the bliss of that night - the tranquility and peace I felt.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Jimin. You only knew her one night,” Namjoon says.
“I did. I loved her more than anything. I still do. She’s always on my mind. I see her in everything. It was only one night, but my heart stops every time I think about her and it’s been four years, hyung. If that’s not love, I don't know what is,”
“Okay. You met a girl, you fell in love. What does that have to do with you passing out earlier?”
“I saw her. I saw her and she wasn't alone,”
“Jimin, people move on. Especially if they were in a relationship that lasted only one day. You can't -”
“She had a kid. She had a kid with her. A little girl. Maybe two or three,” I say, cutting off Hoseok hyung’s words.
The room is still as everyone is silent, holding their breaths.
“What are you saying?” Taehyung asks, breaking the silence.
“I . . . I think I have a child,”
The room erupts in outrage, everyone yelling at me and over one another, confused and angry words being tossed around.
All except our group manager. He’s gone deathly pale and silent.
The room is silent once more as we all turn towards him.
“What . . . what was her name?”
“Gaia. Her name is Gaia,”
