Detecting Falsehood

Taehyung's POV

Jimin, unsurprisingly, is the first to recognise me. He stops dead still, chest heaving ever so slightly, his mind and body in conflict over what to do. Once everyone else sees that he's frozen solid, they look more closely, and realise that they really do know me. That I'm here. I'm not dead.

Jimin breaks into a sob, running forward suddenly and wrapping me in a firm hug, weeping profusely into my chest, an action which (of course) sets me off crying as well, even though I was trying to hold back the tears already anyway. "Oh my god, Tae, thank fuck you're alive, I can't believe-"
"Neither can I," I say quietly into the air between us, as the others stand there, still too shocked to move. "I thought I was going to die. But I'm here."

My best friend hides his face in my chest still, and I smile slightly, fondly, my grip tightening a little as proof that he's not dreaming. This is really happening. And I've missed him more than I could possibly say. It's been so long since I've seen that familiar crescent moon smile, heard that paper thin voice, felt the strength of our 'best buddy hugs'. Too long.

And now that they're back, I don't know how I managed without them. Or any of my friends. These guys keep me going, make me want to carry on fighting for that new tomorrow, and without them it was hard to see the positive side. But now that they're here, I can't stop the wave of euphoria running through my veins. I wouldn't want to, though. Happiness is rare and I'm not throwing it away for anything anymore.

Jin is the next one to rush forward, followed swiftly by Namjoon, and Jimin steps back to let them have their embrace as well. Jin's howling right into my ear by this point, too emotionally driven to stop. Too relieved to do anything else.

His motherly attitude was always something I loved about him, even though I know that now it's been stretched to its absolute limit. But I can see that wonderfully well-known sparkle in his eyes returning by the second. He's not totally shattered, and I'm proud of him for it, even if I know it's partially my fault that it ever vanished in the first place.

Namjoon is silent, by comparison, something I recognise more than anything. He's never wanted to share his emotions quite as much as his partner, something I respect him for. In a sense, he's like the support network I never deserved but totally needed. I don't know how I survived without that for so long, but now that it's back, I can only think of the present.

But when he pulls away to let Yoongi and Hoseok take his place, I see it. The look of pure relief in his eyes, the happiness he feels at seeing me alive again after so long, the exhaustion. His face is sunken in almost with the worry he's been holding onto over the last few months. But my heart is lifting, because that look is slowly fading, replaced with disbelief and sheer joy.

Hoseok is uncharacteristically silent, his arms wrapped more firmly around me than Jimin's, but I'm not offended or even bothered by that fact. I know that he was terrified of coming down here, terrified of every shadow that passed him over the last few months. It's hard to lose a best friend, to watch those you love fragment into pieces over the same grief you suffer from.

And Yoongi? He doesn't step forward for a hug until his fiance has moved away again, and the action is surprisingly long, surprisingly intimate for someone who hates any kind of physical contact. He doesn't meet my eyes, his body slightly tense and his heart rate high, something I can feel through the artery in his thumb, which rests on my torso in the process of the hug.

"I thought you were dead, Kim Taehyung," he says simply as he pulls away, choking up before he can even finish his sentence. Before he can even say my name. But he gets it out after a moment's consideration, clearly desperate to seem as unbothered by emotion as always. I'm not fooled. I know my best friends. And I know when they're suffering.