“Just ten minutes.”

Daehyun agreed to the terms and went into the room.

He sat facing a woman he thought he knew for all his life. Only a transparent glass separated them and he picked up the white bulky telephone. Both of them only placed the device to their ear but none said a word.

“How are you doing, son?” The woman finally spoke.

“Well. How are you?” He questioned her.

Mrs Jung only smirked, knowing she couldn’t lie about her well-being seeing that she was out of her sparkling suits and fancy accessories. “Fine.” She kept a straight face along with her pride to say that.

“You must be happy to get all the freedom you’re having now.” Mrs Jung mocked him to which Daehyun smiled, feeling more than relieved that his mother was behind the bars now.

“Definitely. Father is getting better nowadays since he’s no longer living on sleeping pills. And the company… I’ve become the youngest president any other company could ever have.”

Mrs Jung clenched her teeth, feeling vengeful of what could have been hers. But she remembered one thing that could upset him greatly, “But what’s the point of having everything when your love is gone now, right?”

Daehyun’s heart sank and his nerves perked up as she settled on the topic he never wish to listen to. “You…” His grip on the telephone was so tight that his knuckles turned white. The polices on stand-by took their cue and escorted him out of the room before any verbal abuse from both sides could happen.

He then sat in one of the seats by the wall and ran his fingers through his hair in distress. He never thought this topic could still hurt him as much as it did during the incident. A vivid flashback came across his mind when he was reminded of the shot that Sora took and how her knees crumbled to the ground as her eyes slowly closed.

“Daehyun…”

Eunkyung held his shoulder and he woke up from the traumatising event. The lady invited him to the canteen for a cup of coffee and he followed silently. They sat awkwardly opposite of each other and Eunkyung took the courage to break the silence first.

“Did you come to visit your mother?”

Daehyun nodded. “And you?” He asked her to which she nodded as well.

“I don’t know how to say my sorry. Each time I see you, the guilt piles up even more and I can never look at you in the eyes the same way as before.” Eunkyung gulped and that was when Daehyun cleared his throat. He could see how sorry she must have felt to have tears welling up in her eyes. He slid the napkins he had from his pocket towards her.

“There’s no point hanging onto the past… It’s not like we can undo some things. I understand your situation, Eunkyung. It must have been hard to put someone you love behind the bars and that made you a part of them even when you didn’t want to. You don’t have to feel sorry… I know you’re someone with a genuine heart. My years with you told me that.” Daehyun’s lips gave away a smile and Eunkyung couldn’t help but to feel a little relieved to see the forgiving side of him.

She clenched the napkins in her hands and brought out the final words she had been hesitating to say.

“From now on, this shall be the last time you’ll see me, Daehyun. I’m moving out next week in hope that I can move on with life. You know, I’m pretty emotional and I can’t forget my crime over a day or two. I’m here to say my sorry and also my goodbye. I’m sorry to have caused a huge mess in your life. If only my mom and I hadn’t appear in your life, I bet you’d be happy with her by now, right?” Eunkyung turned sensitive as she talked about Sora.

But Daehyun shook his head gently saying that it was unnecessary of her to leave the country. But he guessed, if he was in her position as well, he would have felt horrible if he ever crossed paths with the people he victimised before.

Eunkyung then offered a hand with sorrow eyes, in hope that he would accept it. Daehyun then received and shook it.

“It was nice meeting you, though. But I hope you don’t avoid me too much. Saying goodbye is a pretty sad thing since you’ve been in my life for quite some time. Let’s still be friends, hm?” Daehyun suggested to make her feel better. Eunkyung was taken aback by his request and nodded tentatively.

They then stood to leave the place as they both separated ways.

-

Detective Ryu peeked into the room to see how his son was doing.

Taehyung’s head laid on his desk and it had been in that position for a few hours now. He refused to eat and the only thing he could do was to stare at the blank wall that provided him no answers. Detective Ryu then entered and sat on his bed consciously.

“V, I’ll be heading out to Busan tonight but your condition worries me a lot. I invited your friends over and they willingly said that they would help me to look after you for the next two days.”

He spoke but Taehyung didn’t respond at all. He then clasped his hands and stood up from his seat.

“It’s been almost two weeks already, son. It’s time to take a break.” He sighed and left the room. Outside the room were six guys that tried to listen to their conversation. Detective Ryu seemed depressed on his way out but he still invited them into Taehyung’s room warm-heartedly.

BTS walked in a single file, still unsure of how they should comfort their friend to make him feel better. Suga, Namjoon and Jungkook took a seat on his bed stiffly while the rest sat crossed-legged on the floor as they waited for Taehyung to react to their presence.

“Oh, Ryu didn’t tell me beforehand about his plans. Sorry I couldn’t prepare you anything.” Taehyung apologised but the rest immediately shook their hands and said they were not expecting anything.

Everyone was back to being silent until Hoseok said, “Time will heal you soon, we’re all sad about this too and we know that you face it worse but trust me on this, time will heal you.” He assured Taehyung that things would get back to how it used to be in the past. The rest agreed to what Hoseok said and were more than glad that someone said something to make him feel better.

“Meanwhile, since we’re all here… How about pizza?” Jimin asked, not cooperating with the situation. Others were giving him death glares and mouthing vulgarities at him but Taehyung unexpectedly gave him a smile and went along with the tempting idea. Jimin’s face lit up in impish glee and made a dash towards the telephone.

But before he could raise the device, a call came in and he turned to Taehyung, expecting him to pick it up. BTS looked on as they made way for him to get the call. They then began talking among themselves until they heard a long pause from Taehyung. He didn’t say a single word until suddenly, the phone fell from his grip and he stood so still.

“Taehyung?” Suga called for him but the guy then woke up from his trance and quickly rushed for his coat. The call was too urgent that he left without a word. His wallet and handphone was also left behind.

“Taehyung! Where are you going?” Namjoon called.

The rest then followed behind and someone popped the bubble they all had in mind.

“Sohee…?” Jin asked.

Taehyung urgently mumbled a yes before he began running out of the house to fetch his car.

-

Taehyung got to the hospital as soon as he could and went up to the ward to see Himchan and Mrs Kim in the room. His eyes only searched for one person the moment he got there. And she was still there, well and alive.

He panted, chest heaving heavily. Mrs Kim approached him and patted his back.

“Why didn’t you let me know about it? What if the surgery went wrong? I wouldn’t have had the chance to say goodbye to her…” His tone was direspectful especially when he was conversing with a parent. Himchan was about to step in until Mrs Kim calmed her son down and tried to deal with Taehyung again.

“If I had tried to make a call to you, you’d be worried sick. I can’t help but to only inform you after her condition is stabilised. And also, Ryu told me about how you weren’t sleeping and eating well. I can’t let you get worse than that.” A heart of a mother poured out some concern for someone who was her son’s age but Taehyung began to cry unwillingly.

Himchan approached the two and laid a pat on Taehyung’s shoulder as well. “We’ll leave the ward for now. Have some time with Sohee, I’m pretty sure she wants to meet you.” Himchan then brought his mother out and and kept the sliding door closed.

It broke Taehyung’s heart to be visiting this ward again yet the person he’s talking to was always ignoring his word. He thought, was it that hard to even return his greetings? Taehyung came nearer to the patient’s bed and felt like he was choking on his own tears the more her face became clearer in his view.

“S-Sohee… Your brother’s here…” He forced himself to smile as he focused on the bruised face that was healing faster than his. But yet again, there was no response. Sora’s body laid in front of him but the only thing that lived was her breath. Taehyung wiped his tears and found a fine marker laying on the nightstand. He uncapped it and saw that her casts were still clean except for one message on her right arm from Himchan wishing her a speedy recovery.

He tapped the marker on the bed, not knowing anything comforting to say. He gave another look to Sora and sighed. He got tired of being depressed although he was in no position to be feeling that way for as long as Sora hadn’t given up on herself.

“Sohee-ah… Whether or not you’ll meet us again depends on your own will. Are you really going to sleep forever? Wake up, Sohee. Don’t you think you’re too foolish? For someone that walked on a thousand of needles just to raise you, are you going to leave him just like that?” He held the marker tight and hung his head low, not wanting Sora to see the feeble side of him. But he didn’t realise the uncapped marker formed traces on her neat cast.

The longer he cried, Taehyung thought that there was no longer a need to hide his tears. Sora needed to know how much he needed her back in his life. He was going to say everything he needed to say this time without fronting his pride before himself.

“Daehyun… Don’t you want to see him anymore? You barely know your parents and Himchan for all your life so please, don’t just think of yourself. You’re still needed here, Sohee… God, please show mercy… Taehee, let your sister stay with us a bit longer, i’m begging you…” He lamented and cried out loud for the first time in his life.

His face turned red from the pressure he put himself in and he rested his head on the bed right next to her cast. Taehyung then got lost in his thoughts as he drew circles and effortless traces of messy lines on the mess he had already made. It took him so long to finally calm down and realise the stupid thing he drew. Taehyung reached for some tissues to wipe his tears and mucus before he capped the marker and stood up from his seat.

For this might be the last, he planted a gentle kiss on her forehead and cheeks before he could look away. The marker laid next to her hand on the bed and he didn’t bother putting it back in its place.

Taehyung walked away from the bed right away as he was already having second thoughts on staying with her till the sun sets and probably until the next day. He reached the sliding door and slid it open until he heard something dropped. It was a light sound but he could still hear it. He returned back to the bed to see the still marker from before had rolled off the bed.

He picked up the item without giving it much thoughts until he realised that the marker couldn’t have dropped on its own. Taehyung turned nervous of all sudden to look at the truth. He walked closer to the side of the bed without meeting Sora’s eyes. He made sure his movements were slow so that the shock wouldn’t get into him too much. But what showed in front of him was a miracle that he would sell his soul for.

The pair of gentle eyes opened and closed slowly. The hand that was wrapped in a cast fidgeted a little as her breathing rate became more lively. A stream of tears escaped her eyes but she couldn’t say a word. Taehyung fell on his knees and cried once more as if his heart would break. He held her hand in his as he thanked the heavens, God and Taehee over and over again. Although it was something he had been waiting for, Taehyung felt weak and he couldn’t feel his knees as he tried standing up.

“Sohee… Sohee, you’re back. You’re really back… Oh god, how do I ever repay  you?”

He kissed her forehead for countless of times and he finally looked at the girl in the eyes. Sora breathed through her mask and stared at him with tired eyes.

“It’s okay if you can’t say anything but thank you, for waking up.”

Taehyung smiled down at her and laid the last kiss on her forehead. Little did he realise Sora was all warm in her heart for all the love he gave her. Her fragile fingers wrapped around his a little tighter and that was when she felt alive more than ever. 

(a/n) sigh i cried writing my own story T^T