A sign of love.

The sky was fairly dark that day, with small droplets of rain falling time to time. It was a Friday, so it was not unusual to see Taehyung standing at the sidewalk with an umbrella in his hands. His lover would be home any minute from now and just in case he would get soaked in the rain, he brought an extra umbrella for him. Soft hums could be heard from his direction as he was in a good mood, especially since it was his birthday.

Hoseok would have prepared something special for me right? Taehyung questioned himself before chuckling in excitement. Hoseok always bought him something for his birthday and he wasn’t expecting any different for this year. As they slowly entered their 3^rd year together, Taehyung obviously anticipated for something more special as his gift. He wondered if he would get him the notebook he has wanted to get for so many months.

As the time slowly ticked away, Taehyung started to get a little bit worried. Hoseok would always take the 8:15 p.m. bus back here but today he’s running late. Hoseok has not once come home late, plus without notice. The rain started to hit harder as the older male’s presence didn’t appear even after the second bus came. With the younger male now squinting in order to see his front view, a bus pulled over at the opposite bus stop. Only one person came down, with his back hunched and coat loosely draped around his shoulders.

Ah, it must be him.

Hoseok slowly steped down the steps before standing at the bus stop, head a bit tired but still conscious enough to know where he is. He didn’t realize it was already so late when he finished work, especially since he reminded himself to not slack today. He had a small smile hiding behind the eyebags because his few months of hard work has payed off for today. The rain splattered around the bus stop as the white paper bag was gleaming prettily in his hands, creating a small wall between him and his husband. He squinted to see what’s in front of him, and to his expectation, his husband was there. A big grin appeared on the older male’s face as the pink-haired boy waved towards him.

“Hobbie! I’m coming to get you!” Taehyung screamed.

“It’s okay! I can wait for the rain to stop!”

“I’ve got an extra umbrella! Just wait for a minute!”

Hoseok just sighed before chuckling at how adorable he is. As he looked at the younger male step on the road, his heart beated with excitement. He couldn’t wait to wish him a happy birthday before enjoying dinner together. The rain splattered even harder as nothing was visibles and colors were blurred into one big concotion. Hoseok's bright eyes couldn't make out where he was anymore. As Taehyung slowly walked against the rain and wind, an approaching faint light could be seen beside him. The older man rubbed his eyes a little, wondering if he was hallucinating. 

“Is that a light or is it- no, no, no, TAEHYUNG GET AWAY FROM THE ROAD. GET OFF RIGHT NOW.” Hoseok bellowed with all his might.

“Why? I’m already-“

Gone.

A car came flying towards Taehyung as he body was swung all the way to the end of the street just like a rag doll. A large "thunk" follwed by the screeching of the car as the body dropped souless on the brittle ground. The poor boy's eyes were wide open, with scratches scattered all around his face and his body bent in a terrifying way. HIs face was stained with an emotionless scream --- a soundless cry. There were no movement at all as his body was soaked with blood and rain. The driver got off the car immediately before yelling a bunch of profanities, which obviously doesn’t help the situation at all. The passersby quickly called the ambulance before trying to stop the traffic, just in case cars would ram the dislocated male’s body again. For the whole time, Hoseok just stood there frozen, with the white bag slowly slipping out of his hands. The brand new notebook crashed on the hard concrete floor. He couldn’t move at all.

And in that moment, Hoseok could never regret as much as he ever did in his whole life.

If only he came home earlier,

If only he picked the present earlier,

If only it didn’t rain,

If only the driver wasn’t that careless,

If only he ran towards him a bit faster,

Maybe his life wouldn’t need to be sacrificed that way.

“Hey.”

“…Yeah?”

“You’re finally awake.”

“I was awake quite a few times actually. It's just that this time I have the strength to talk. Well, how long have I been out?”

“At least a week.”

“Oh…I guess I missed my birthday then.”

“It’ll come again this year.”

Taehyung’s eyes drifted around the white room, admiring the structure and interior that has kept his half-dead body alive. He wonders if the doctors were disgusted to see his condition; it wasn’t a glorious sight. Well, it’s not like he could fix his body back up to look nicer when the ambulance came. He let out a whisper-like chuckle at the thought before wanting to talk to the older male about his condition.

After inhaling a small breathe of air, Taehyung slightly shifted his head so that it is facing his husband, only to find out that his dark eye circles has increased drastically.  The older male probably spent days and nights sitting beside the bed, praying for his recovery. He probably didn’t even attend the important dinner party where he specially bought a suit for it. A small smile appeared on his face before he forcibly moved his left arm closer to his hands. The younger male didn’t realize it was such a pain to move, let alone grab a person’s hand. Hoseok took notice of his actions before grabbing his husband’s hands, preventing him to move too much.

“You know, if you need anything or want to do anything, just tell me. You don’t need to move personally cause the doctors said that you have bruises all over. It’s going to be a hell of a pain to do it.” Hoseok reminded him.

“Well damn... oh yeah, how's my condition and when will I be able to leave this bed?”

“You’ll need treatment and practice for the next two weeks so I guess you’ll leave this bed-“

“What practice? Why? Am I auditioning for a K-pop industry?” Taehyung joked.

A sigh was released for the older male. “Taehyung, please don’t scream or yell when you hear this because your body can’t stand-“

“Scream? Why would I scream? I don’t understand! What is going on here?”

“Please know that the doctors tried everything to save you back but-“

“What is it? Just tell me right now.”

“… Both of your legs was amputated. It was badly crushed and the nervous system-“

Taehyung’s face froze. ” You’ve got to be kidding me right? Please, take those words back or else I'll be angry.”

“I’m… not kidding. I really wish I was.”

Tears slowly trickled down Taehyung’s eyes after hearing it. There is no way that his legs could be amputated. The car crash on his birthday has now taken away something so important from him. It wasn’t fair. Hoseok got up from his seat before wiping the tears away, feeling remorse at every drop. The young male shivered horribly as it was hard for him to hold the wails in. But once Hoseok’s eyes turned red, Taehyung had no choice but to cry harder. His sobs of sadness have brought pain from every part of his body but he couldn’t care anymore. He couldn’t accept the fact that he is now a useless person, someone who couldn’t do anything without the help of others. Hoseok couldn’t bear seeing him cry before crying on his own, realizing how big of an impact it was.

“IT’S NOT FAIR. WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE ME? WHY MUST IT BE ME WHO GETS TO BE RUN OVER BY A CAR?”

“Please, Taehyung. Don’t scream, it will worsen your pain.” Hoseok begged through his tears.

“IT’S NOT LIKE IT CAN MAKE ME FEEL MY LEG AGAIN. I DON’T UNDERSTAND. NOW I AM A PIECE OF UGLY USELESS THING THAT EVERYBODY HATES”

“No, you’re not. People will still love you-“

“They won’t… I know they won’t” Taehyung slowed down as his voice trembled.

“I will still love you. The rest won’t matter.”

“But I won’t be your perfect little TaeTae anymore. The nice and perfect TaeTae that you can show off to others. The TaeTae that doesn’t look … so broken.”

“It doesn’t matter. I love you even if you will only give me burden throughout my whole life. I love you even if people talk behind my back. I love you because I do, not because I can.”

Taehyung’s eyes were overflowing with tears after hearing Hoseok’s words. He understands now, that his love doesn’t change just because he can. Taehyung’s insecurity was pointless because if Hoseok didn’t love him anymore, he wouldn’t be here accompanying him for the whole week. Hoseok didn’t even cared about how he would look like in the end, all he wants to see is Taehyung waking up again, smiling while calling out his name. The older male then left a light kiss on his face before wiping away the last tear. The two then had a light talk about adjusting the place for Taehyung before falling asleep again, no pain felt.

a/n: ssshhh I know it's not that nice

main pic:hobikiu