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24:00:00
people were counting down, holding their breaths and praying to the heavens above that the fates had made a mistake and that the news anchor tomorrow morning would announce that this was a fluke, like all the other dates that came before this. that the sun would shine once again, and everyone would come out the end of this a little shaken – but unscathed.
suddenly, nobody wanted to die anymore, and everyone wanted to live, because 24 hours was all they had before they couldn’t live anymore.
24 hours was all they had before it was the end of the world.
and this time, it was real.
15:52:19
jimin bent down and peered underneath his bed, letting out a grunt as he fished out a faded blue box. he wrinkled his nose at the cloud of dust that came with it, sneezing three times one after the other before finally settling down.
the box stared up at him, seeming to mock him for the coward he was.
he looked at it defiantly, voices in his head arguing back and forth.
the seconds ticked by, 38, 37, 36…25.
oh fuck it.
jimin stood up abruptly, grabbing the box with him, barely putting on his coat on properly before exiting the house in a rush.
what would you do if you had 24 hours left to live? people had always asked each other, and jimin had always gone back to the blue box under his bed. the box that he would open from time to time, only to leave something in it, then pushing it back under his bed, his heart feeling a little lighter each time. the cursed blue box and its contents, that jimin would never, in a million years, show anyone.
never ever, unless the world was ending in less than 24 hours of course.
15:40:17
yoongi was sleeping.
yeah, he knew the end of the world was coming – didn’t stop him from sleeping though. this was the last chance he’d ever have the chance to sleep again, and honestly, he was tired from the monopoly game that tae insisted they played with jeongguk, jin and hoseok because “when will i ever feel like a wealthy business man reigning supreme power over all my peasants again?”. and so they all grudgingly agreed to play monopoly, and it lasted for four hours. four hours.
tae won.
so, excuse him, but yoongi was going to sleep and he was sleeping rather peacefully considering the end of the world was coming, until he felt his whole house shake. he woke up blearily to a loud crash and realised that his clock had fallen off the bedside table, amongst other belongings, and that everything was shaking. he stood up, still woozy from his sleep and looked at his phone, which was vibrating furiously.
“YOOOOOOONGIIIIIIIIIIII-
yoongi winced and placed the phone further away from his ear just as he heard another loud bang coming from downstairs.
“YOONGI YOONGI YOONGI WHERE ARE YOU ARE YOU SAFE TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW-
“tae! stop shouting i can hear you fine,” he said, rubbing his eyes and heading downstairs. he should probably hide under a table or something, is that what they did in an earthquake? he didn’t know.
“OH MY GOD YOONGI WHY DIDN’T YOU PICK UP I THOUGHT YOU DIED.”
“u-huh nope got 23 hours left till that.” he looked out the window, noticing that car sirens were going off at the vibration and that cracks had formed on the roads. it was going to be the end of the world, alright.
“…THERE’S AN EARTHQUAKE END OF THE WORLD SYMPTOMS THEY SAID. WHERE ARE YOU IM COMING TO FIND YOU STAY RIGHT THERE.”
he frowned. “what no, tae. you gotta stay where you are. please don’t do anything stupid.” he wasn’t sure what proper earthquake etiquette was, but he was sure getting into a car and driving ten minutes on cracked roads was not one of them.
“BUT WHAT IF-
his kitchenware was going crazy now, plates were smashing and pots were falling and it was getting hard to hear what tae was saying. yoongi should really get under a table right now. but there was someone standing outside near his post-box, looking terrified and clutching a blue box. yoongi squinted, barely registering what tae was saying from the other side.
“tae, tae look i can’t talk right now there’s someone outside i’m gonna bring him in. don’t come to my house okay?” after a pause, he added, “i love you.”
there was a beat of silence before tae replied, “WAIT WHO? YOONGI NO-
“i’m hanging up in 3, 2-
“NO OKAY WAIT I LOVE YOU CALL ME-
“yesyes i will, now bye.” yoongi gave a small smile, ending the call. yeah, tae could be really annoying sometimes, but yoongi didn’t know what he’d do without him on most days. suddenly, he felt a rush of sadness at the thought that that didn’t matter, because taehyung wouldn’t be alive to be annoying, and yoongi wouldn’t be alive to care. a loud crash nearby made him jump, and he realised that the vase his mother gave him had fallen and shattered into pieces. shit, she would kill me. but there was no need for that, he thought drily.
okay, he should really hurry and get the man the fuck out of there or else he’s actually going to die. or else they would both die. yoongi opened the door, eyeing the doorway as it wobbled treacherously and silently willed it to stand. the man was still there, except he was now crouching next to the post-box, holding the blue box on top of his head and shutting his eyes tightly, looking absolutely frightened.
“yah- PARK JIMIN!” yoongi yelled.
15:39:02
to say that jimin was scared, was a big understatement. he had no idea what to do, had no idea if squatting next to this post-box was safe, had no idea if he should call someone or just hold still, knock at someone’s door – although he was very well aware whose house he was in front of, or take cover under a tree, no, that would be dangerous, the tree might fall on him and then he would die and he didn’t want to die, not yet. he panicked, so the first thing he did was to make himself as tiny as possible, and that meant crouching and praying to all the deities out there that that was good enough.
“please if you’re listening up there anyone please i want to live i promise i will do good no i will do GREAT THINGS in my next life on mars and i will volunteer and help the homeless and never talk back to my par-
“PARK JIMIN!”
he stopped praying, and opened his eyes, only to see min yoongi frantically beckoning him from his doorway.
min yoongi, who he hadn’t seen in a year, who he used to see everyday, who he didn’t talk to anymore, who he missed a lot but would never admit it, who he still cared about, despite what happened, and who now screamed at him to “GET THE FUCK INSIDE”.
jimin made a run for the house, narrowly skirting a falling branch and almost tripping from how hard the ground was shaking. before he knew it, he was through the doorway and yoongi was tugging him inside, telling him to ‘hurry up, hurry up, hurry up’.
“follow me,” yoongi yelled over the noise, hastily walking towards the dining table. jimin ran after him, heart thumping loudly in his chest, and scared.
no, absolutely terrified.
they both ducked under the table, jimin letting out a small whimper as his head hit the edge. then, they were in the cover of the table, hunched uncomfortably and jimin still hadn’t stopped praying, praying that the table was stable enough to withstand the earthquake, and that the earthquake would pass soon. praying that his family would make it through, and all his friends too and that his cat with his parents would be alright.
that day, yoongi prayed too, even though he was an atheist.
everyone prayed in the end.
15:37:49
jimin wasn’t sure how long they stayed under there, but every second felt like hours and without knowing, he had started crying. everything was so loud, and he was so scared that the whole house was going to fall apart and that yoongi would die, and he would die, and he hasn’t even done half the things he wanted to yet. he couldn’t bear seeing all the things crashing and falling, so he closed his eyes tight and hugged his knees, the blue box tucked between his chest and his legs.
15:37:23
the earthquake subsided, and yoongi’s house was a mess. but he was unharmed, thankfully. he released a breath he didn’t even know he was holding, and climbed out under the table. everything was deathly quiet, almost too quiet, a stark contrast from what it was like a few seconds ago when things couldn’t be loud enough. if the world wasn’t ending, yoongi would have felt more dismayed and upset at the damage the earthquake had done, but something about the world ending made people reckless and unbothered. some things didn’t matter as much anymore.
he heard some sniffling, and turned around to find that jimin was still in the same position as before, his head against his kneecaps and arms wrapped around them.
“jimin,” he kneeled down and gently prodded him. “the earthquake’s over.”
jimin looked up slowly, eyes watery and face flushed.
still endearing, even after all this time.
“it’s over?” he glanced around warily, as if he was afraid that the earthquake would come back any second.
“it’s over,” yoongi replied, eyes fixated on him. he offered a hand to jimin. “come out?”
jimin stared at it for a moment before nodding, wiping his nose on his sleeve, then grasped yoongi’s outstretched hand. yoongi pulled him to his feet, and jimin didn’t realise how cramped his legs were in that tight space.
“are you hurt?” yoongi asked, briefly glancing over him.
jimin shook his head. maybe his prayers were answered after all.
“okay, that’s good,” yoongi said.
suddenly, he didn’t know where to look, and heavy silence stretched between them. his hands were too heavy by his sides, and should he be doing something with them? jimin looked just as unsure, outright avoiding yoongi’s stare.
he cleared his throat. “um, do you want some water?”
jimin finally looked up, a steady blush creeping into his cheeks, or maybe it was just because of all the adrenaline from before. “yes please,” he said.
15:31:22
jimin had called his parents not long after, and all his close friends as well, practically sobbing down the receiver knowing that they were fine and that they had remained fairly unharmed. everyone was okay, and that was all he asked for. he thanked the deities in his head for looking out for them, grateful that they had gotten to live.
but now, jimin was going to die. and not the physical type, but mentally, because this was actually torture. maybe the physical type too though. he took a sip of water from a cup which was miraculously still in one piece, wishing that maybe a sinkhole could open up right underneath him and swallow him whole. why wasn’t yoongi saying anything? why wasn’t he saying anything? maybe he should go. no, that’s right he should go right now.
they almost just fucking died and jimin couldn’t functionally socialise with a human being. the absurdity of it made him smile, because how stupid was that? he peeped up to see yoongi looking at him, an expression on his face jimin couldn’t decipher.
maybe it was a bad idea, coming here. and maybe he was overthinking. it was just – jimin wanted to do it. he wanted to give the letter to yoongi, wanted to prove to himself that he could do it, and that he would do it.
“what’s in your box?”
jimin looked up, unconsciously holding the box tighter. jimin knew yoongi wouldn’t judge him, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready to share.
yoongi looked at him expectantly, then maybe he sensed that jimin was hesitant because he said, “it’s cool if you don’t wanna say. i get it.” he shrugged and gave jimin a small smile.
still so nice, even after all this time. now was his chance, jimin thought. say it. tell him.
“it’s actually,” he hurriedly said. “um, it’s actually letters?”
yoongi didn’t say anything for a moment, and jimin was embarrassed and felt the need to explain himself, so he did.
“sometimes, i write letters? but they’re not for anyone but me. they’re letters i write so i can get things off my chest and i never actually send them off because they’re way too personal and maybe i wouldn’t actually say any of those things in real life so yeah they’re letters, and i thought since the end of the world was coming why not send them off and let people know how i felt about this or that or about them right?” jimin realised he was babbling a little too late, and now he was even redder than before. shoot. okay, time to leave. he hastily placed the cup on the sink, avoiding looking at yoongi.
“i think i might go now, so thank you for the water-
15:26:10
jimin was doing that thing again. that thing when he got flustered and started spitting out random shit and yoongi was smiling because at least that hadn’t changed. that, and that he was still so easily flustered, after all this time.
he didn’t mean to pry, but yoongi was genuinely curious what was in that little blue box of jimin’s, and why he was holding it so tightly as if he was afraid of losing it. it was damaged now, squished and dented on more than one side, but still intact.
“-thank you for the water and um, for saving me?” jimin frowned at the floor, eyebrows quizzed as if he wasn’t sure if yoongi had actually saved him or not. then he nodded once, looking back up at yoongi with a determined expression. “thank you for saving me. goodbye, min yoongi.”
then jimin started to walk away, and yoongi was startled because already?
“you’ll be alright making your way back?” he called out, following jimin – who was surprisingly quick as he tiptoed around the mess and broken glass.
“yes,” yoongi barely heard before jimin was already out the doorway and walking down the porch.
people were now coming out of their houses, observing the damage done around the streets and yoongi could hear the faint sound of sirens, and perhaps he should have been more worried and called his parents and his friends to see if they were fine, but all he could think of at that moment was that he didn’t want jimin to go.
not like last time.
seeing him again brought back memories, the good and the bad and all the ones in between, and the hurt as well, but still, he wanted jimin to stay. seeing him made yoongi realised with a dull ache how much he missed him, along with all his little mannerisms that yoongi still remembered.
but yoongi didn’t say anything, because.
because well, some things were better left in the past.
07:19:12
tae had stopped by a few hours ago, hugging him tightly and not letting go for at least two minutes.
yoongi wasn’t made for hugs, but he let tae hug him for as long as he wanted. he was fine, and so were the others, and his family was alright too, yoongi found out.
everything was alright. except that tae had gotten a big bruise on his forehead from a falling branch by saving a cat.
(“tae, you prioritised a cat’s life over yours?” yoongi asked in disbelief.
“yes! how many times do i have to tell you, and i couldn’t just leave it there! it looked so sad and lost,” tae had whined. “i couldn’t leave it there all by itself. and besides, i’m still alive! and so is the cat, which i’m gonna name after you,” he beamed proudly.
yoongi had protested profusely with him about that, but he was mostly just relieved that tae was alive.)
he thought about how strange human beings were, to feel and give this much love only when the world was going to end. to say what they really wanted to say, to do the things they’d never done before, only because the world was ending and nothing less.
the end of the world, and nothing less.
in that moment, with tae wrapped around him, yoongi finally understood the weight of the saying “live life to the fullest”, because you never knew when the last day, was the last.
01:52:26
“it’s the end of the world and you have fucking mail?” tae waved an envelope in front of his face.
yoongi ignored him, continuing his ‘Elsa’s Magical Ice Palace’ lego-building.
it was easier than he thought, considering that he had never built anything with lego before, and he sort of understood what the dig about it was. it was somewhat therapeutic – you controlled what went where, piece by piece and everything went exactly where it was supposed to be.
nothing tricky.
“yoongi, i think you should read this. it saaaaaaaays,” taehyung squinted, chewing his lip and flipping the envelope to the other side. “fuck you, min yoongi. and then there’s a heart.”
now that got his attention.
“wait what?” he paused, holding what appeared to be part of olaf’s nose.
“ooo an enemies to lover au. End Of The World Symptoms,” tae wiggled his eyebrows. “just kidding it only says your name, but it definitely would’ve been more interesting if it did say fuck you.” tae sighed and thrusted the envelope onto yoongi, which landed on his lap.
yoongi dropped the piece of lego and looked at the envelope.
to: min yoongi
he would recognise that handwriting anywhere.
47:00:12
they had announced that the world was going to end three days ago, and time hasn’t stopped since. it worked tirelessly, always constant, always moving – never ending.
it kept going, regardless of pleas and cries thrown at it to just slow down a little would you? people said nothing lasted forever, but time did.
time has, and did, and always will.
park jimin was seated on his desk, a pencil and an empty piece of paper looking up at him.
the world was ending.
the world was ending.
the world was ending.
he repeated that to himself, like a mantra, but he couldn’t process it no matter how many times he told himself that. it was hard to believe that in less than two days, all this would be gone.
he wouldn’t have the luxury to wake up, to bike-ride with namjoon around han river when the sun was setting, to cook japchae with his mother and to listen to his brother gush about the new book he just bought, to live.
the world was ending.
the world was ending.
the world was ending.
jimin picked up the pencil, and for the last time, wrote a letter.
01:21:57
dear min yoongi,
so, the world is ending huh? i’ve been thinking about it, and i think how unfair it is for us, and for everyone really, that the multiverse decided that it was going to be right now, that this was the time that the world was going to end. and what about all of us? what about the generations after us, and all the lost generations? i guess it was bound to happen sooner or later, with everything happening around us. maybe we deserve it, humankind i mean. maybe this is the multiverse’s way of telling us that we fucked up big time, and it’s a payback for all the damage we’ve done to mother nature. but why us? and that’s always going to be the question isn’t it.
i guess i just wish we had more time.
it’s been a year, a bit more than that actually. and i think i’ve figured out how to think about you without it ripping my heart out, but i still wonder how you’re doing, and if you’re happier now. they’re right though, time really does heal. i won’t say that i regret anything, because i know what happened was eventually for the best, and i know it’s been more than enough time to move on, but i think that i’ll always have a piece of you in my heart, whether you like it or not.
and sometimes, when i’m really tired and not focusing, i still order two coffees, one black coffee for you and the other a caramel latte, for me. i realise a little too late all the time. or sometimes, when i’m doing the laundry, it’s like the memories catch up with me and it still hurts. you’d laugh at me now, call me stupid or selfish, or whatever. i’d certainly do the same. i guess my heart’s not used to it yet. but it will be, i know it will. that is – if i had more time, it definitely would have, so don’t flatter yourself.
did you know, when the first warnings were broadcasted, (this would boost your already high self-esteem even higher, but) the first person i thought of was you. i tried to imagine your reaction, when it happened, and it really got me thinking, were you sitting in your living room watching television, or if you were outside when it happened – maybe you were with tae and the others getting drunk. and did you think of me too? and i know what we had is over, but still, it doesn’t stop me feeling sad that i will probably never see you again, before the world ends. and i know we ended, but why do i still feel like i have so many unfinished things left to say? why do i still want to tell you about my day, and ask about yours and if you ever finished making that mixtape you were working on? but that’s also probably for the best right, that i don’t see you, because i know you weren’t down for forever, and it’s fine. i know, as well as you do, that we weren’t made for each other, and it’s fine.
it’s fine.
(but still, if the world was ending, you’d come over right?)