Average At Best.

Chapter 18

I'm on the bus that will take me to the train that will take me back home.

Landscapes and villages pass in front of the window but I'm too spaced out to notice anything more than silhouettes. Last night's sudden turn of events has given me a lot to think about.

I don't even know how I managed to act like nothing happened when I came back from listening to Yoongi's message and joined my friends again. I must have talked to them like normal because they didn't suspect anything was wrong but I can't remember a single word I said. All I could think of was the content of the message. 

The message that changed everything.

Even now, one sleepless night later, I still can't fully grasp the meaning of it all.

The thing with Jimin, Yoongi's sister, Hobi, Jen, all those people I know and don't know...it's like everything suddenly fell into place, like a constellation of stars that's always been there but only now I can see it too. I have yet to get used to it.

I mean, what do I make of it? 

How do I act now that I have this information?

How do I -

-

Lost in thoughts, I almost miss my stop but the loudspeaker announcement pulls me back into reality just in time.

Squinting my eyes at the glaring sunlight that's flooding the terminal, I stumble out of the bus.

What now?

I don't exactly know how to get to the train station but my maps app tells me it's just a couple of turns away, so I just get going, looking back and forth between my phone and my surroundings.

-

Just when I look up once again, I notice a group of guys right before me in the narrow passageway that I've just entered. They're not particularly tall or muscular, probably even younger than me from the looks of it, but still I suddenly feel the urge to back away and find another way to the station.

I've already turned around halfway when out of the corner of my eye, I notice they are not alone. They're all ganging up on a skinny young girl in a school uniform, threatening her with their looks and gestures. She's holding her schoolbag in front of her in a tight clasp with her back pressed against the brick wall behind her and no way to escape.

Run away, there's a voice saying in my head. 

And to be honest: I really want to. 

But then again...

What if I was in her place? Or my little brother? She could be his age almost...

"HEY!". 

The words leave my mouth before I've even made a decision.

The guys turn around. With horror I notice that there's four of them. Four pairs of eyes that could kill. Four pairs of hands that might actually do so, now that I think of it. 

But it's too late to turn back now.

"HEY!", I shout again, swallowing my fear as best as I can while I walk up to them in big strides. "LEAVE HER THE HELL ALONE!".

Some of the guys look at each other in panic and confusion, but none of them make an attempt to run. 

"And why would we do that?", one of them asks. He's the shortest one of the bunch, but there's an aura of danger around him that tells me not to let myself be fooled by his stubby exterior.