Chapter Text
Jin wasn’t answering his phone. He wasn’t texting back either. Normally, this wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but they were supposed to be rehearsing for a performance later that week, and they had all talked about being there bright and early that morning.
“Did he answer?” Tae asked from across the room. He was bouncing up and down on his heels, clearly eager to get started.
Yoongi hung up without leaving a voicemail. Jin had been acting weird lately, so his inability to answer his phone was just an addition to a growing list of off behavior. “No.”
“He said he would be here,” Tae said with a shrug and leaned against the wall outside the rehearsal room.
“I’m sure he’s just too busy staring at himself in the mirror,” Yoongi deadpanned. Except he had a feeling Jin was only busy trying to stare at himself in the mirror while nothing stared back.
~~~
Two weeks ago
“What do you call a fake noodle??” Jin suddenly asked enthusiastically, interrupting the rest of the conversation at the dinner table. Everyone was staring at him now, waiting for the inevitable punch line. The rest of the restaurant might as well have been empty because it got that quiet. “An IMPASTA!” Jin exclaimed excitedly and started laughing hysterically.
“You should have to put money in a jar every time you tell a bad joke,” Yoongi said, although the corner of his mouth curved up in a half-smile. No one heard him over Jin’s-and now Jimin’s too-laughter. Other customers that had overheard were even chuckling.
“Can I get anything else for you all?” The waitress approached their table and asked politely. She was slight and pale, with dark hair and a kind, yet, tired face.
“Oh! Do you have any juice?” Jin asked.
Yoongi looked at him from the side of his eyes. “Is this another joke? You’ve already told, what, eight tonight?” Jimin commented through his laughter.
“No, do you have any juice, like something red? Really red and, you know,” Jin gestured with his hands like what he wanted would magically appear there. Like he expected the poor waitress to be able to read his mind.
“I don’t think we have any…juice…” The waitress looked worried.
“Can you check?” Jin insisted, but politely.
The other guys had lost interest, but Yoongi watched intensely. This was not only weird, but slightly entertaining. Not that Jin wasn’t always slightly entertaining, in some way or another. Although, Yoongi would never admit this to his friend.
“I really don’t—” The waitress started to say, but Jin cut her off.
He leaned closer to her and repeated, “Can you please check?” A blank look passed over the waitresses face before she nodded and wandered back into the kitchen with a glazed look in her eyes.
Jin stood then and looked at Yoongi. “Tell me if my stuff comes, I’ll be in the restroom.”
“Right I’ll use my telepathy to tell you. Or would you rather me shout at you, considering the restroom is on the other side of the building?” Jin just winked sarcastically before sauntering away.
The waitress didn’t come back with his juice, in fact, she seemed to be taking a while to be “just checking”. Yoongi glanced at Jin’s plate. He’d cleaned the meat off it, and it looked barely even cooked. Jin had weird eating habits, but this was a new low.
Suddenly, there was a loud shout-screaming sound that echoed through the dining room. It sounded like Jin.
~~~
They’d already started rehearsals without Jin when he finally called back. “So, I think I’m sick. I can’t come in today,” he said before he proceeded to cough dramatically.
“I’ll wait,” Yoongi said in reply to Jin’s clearly fake coughing fit. It lasted several seconds too long.
Jin cleared his throat. “Right, so yeah, sorry about not calling earlier. I woke up and my window was open and I think I got a sunburn through the window!” He said this like it was the craziest thing ever. Which, in a way, it was.
There was an obscure slurping sound, like Jin was drinking something thick through a straw. “Wow,” Yoongi replied.
“I know!”
“What’s going on?” Jimin asked.
“Oh is that Jimin? Tell him I have a new joke!”
“Sick people don’t tell jokes,” Yoongi said. “And maybe stay out of the sun.” With that, he hung up. “Amateur,” he muttered under his breath.
~~~
“I don’t want to catch whatever he has, so if I do, I’ll make sure you get it too,” Namjoon declared.
“I don’t really get sick,” Yoongi replied with a shrug.
“What does he have? He’s probably faking,” Jungkook interjected as they knocked on the door to Jin’s hotel room. The three of them were surprising Jin with food and checking up on him. It had been Namjoon’s idea, and a bad one if you asked Yoongi.
“If he’s faking, then we can catch him and he will have to come to rehearsal’s tomorrow,” Yoongi pointed out with a shrug.
“If he’s faking, Hoseok owes me, we bet on it,” Jungkook said just before the door swung open.
“You bet on my illness??” Jin exclaimed. Jungkook’s eyes got big. “My hearing is impeccable; I know you bet on it, I’m offended. But you can come in.” Jin stepped aside to let them in. It was dark in the room, all the curtains were drawn and the only light came from the small bedside lamp.
“Yoongi said you had a sunburn, you look kind of pale to me,” Namjoon leaned forward to see Jin better in the dark, but Jin leaned back to avoid him getting too close. Namjoon was right, there wasn’t even the slightest hint of a sunburn on Jin’s skin. Rather, his skin looked even more flawless than usual.
“I might sneeze on you.”
“I thought you had a cough?” Yoongi set the bag of food on the bedside table and asked.
“That too.”
“So…you aren’t faking?”
“No!”
Jungkook sighed and started texting on his phone furiously. “Well, we got you some food.” Namjoon opened the take out bag and reached his hand inside. Not two seconds later, he abruptly pulled his hand back out of the bag with a wince. Even in the dim light, it was obvious he had accidentally cut himself on something, maybe a plastic utensil, in the bag. It wouldn’t have been a big deal if it weren’t so dark in the room and impossible to see if there were any tissues or to find any bandages.
Yoongi quickly reached into the bag himself to get a napkin and thrust it in Namjoon’s direction. “Here, I’ll find something to put on it.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“Why is it so dark in here? I’m opening the curtains,” Jungkook declared, oblivious to the other happenings in the room. Yoongi was busy looking in the bathroom for bandages, Namjooon was holding the napkin to his hand and Jin was watching Namjoon so no one really heard Jungkook or was paying him any attention.
“There aren’t any bandages in here!” Yoongi called.
“It’s fine, really. It’s pretty much stopped bleeding anyway,” Namjoon said and went to throw away the napkin.
“I got it!” Jin snatched it from him just as Jungkook yanked the curtains back and sunlight streamed into the room. “Hey!” Jin jumped back away from the line the sun cut across the room and into a shadowed corner, still clutching the napkin in his fist. “I’m sensitive! Close it!”
Namjoon laughed-actually laughed, like this was all so funny-and jokingly said, “Are you having a mid-life crisis Jin?”
“I’m not old enough for that. You know, I think I’m going to barf, you guys should go. Thanks for the food though.”
“Now you’re going to barf, honestly Jin, if you aren’t faking then something seriously weird is up with you,” Jungkook said just as his phone beeped and he muttered something about telling Hoseok that Jin was, in fact, faking, and that he won the bet.
“Maybe I’ll be better by tomorrow,” Jin said as he gestured for them to leave. Yoongi helped them along, grabbing the bag of food on his way. He didn’t think Jin was going to eat it and the fact that he didn’t protest only confirmed that Jin was not himself.
When Namjoon and Jungkook were halfway down the hall, Yoongi poked his head back in Jin’s room. “You know, I saw a sign about there being a blood drive around here,” Yoongi mentioned. Jin blanched and said nothing. “I thought we could go,” Yoongi shrugged casually. “It’s a good thing to do right? Anyway, but since you’re sick, we better not. Feel better.” At that, he left and closed the door behind him. None of them noticed, as they were leaving, a girl with her hair falling in her face, making her way up the stairs at the entrance of the hotel. She was holding a cup in her hand and a shirt with a nametag stuck out of her bag. If they had noticed her, they would have realized it was their waitress from the restaurant they were at several weeks earlier.
“He didn’t even tell any jokes while we were there…” Jungkook remarked thoughtfully when he looked up at the building looming over them. The curtains to Jin’s room were closed again.