Chapter 10

Eighteen years

“Could you check if my heart is compatible for Jungkook, uncle?” Taehyung asked, sitting confidently in the guests’ chair in his uncle’s office.

“I’m sorry?” Mr. Park Yongjoon asked not quite sure if he heard his nephew right.

Taehyung repeated his question again. With it he added, “You remember Jungkook right, uncle? The boy whom mom and dad…”

Yongjoon was quick to interrupt, “No, no. I know who Jungkook is. He’s a sweet person. I just… Does your mom know you’re here?” Taehyung raised an eyebrow. “Of course not. She thinks I’m on a field trip with my classmates.”

“And why exactly are you here again, Taehyung?” he asked. “Uncle, I’m pretty sure you heard me the first two times,” he replied as if it was obvious, which it was. Yongjoon took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes with his fingers.

“And why do you want me to do that?” he asked with a sigh.

Taehyung looked at his uncle with a look that said ‘are-you-serious?’ “Because you’re a heart surgeon. And you’re the best that my parents know. Also, you’re family. So I assumed it’d be a little easier to ask you than a random doctor,” he replied with a straight face.

“Uhh,” Mr. Park said with uncertainty. “How’s Jungkook doing then?” he tried to switch the topic. Taehyung’s question was a little too sudden to answer.

The doctor sensed the sudden air of depression that filled the room. “His heart is failing. And dad says there’s no suitable donor yet,” Taehyung replied, his eyes not meeting his uncle’s. “So you want to check if yours is compatible.” Mr. Park completed and saw Taehyung nod.

Mr. Park put on his glasses again and asked a question which Taehyung was prepared for. “What if it’s the perfect match? Will you give up your heart for him?”

Taehyung gulped. “I won’t do anything rash, uncle,” he assured. “I just need to know whether mine is compatible or not.” The doctor smiled. “And what if I refuse the test?” Taehyung turned to the elderly man sitting before him. “I said you were the best, uncle. I never said you were the only one.”

As Mr. Park dropped his nephew to the exit after an hour or so, he asked, “I suppose you’d want to keep this meeting a secret?” Taehyung smiled a little and replied, “Only until the results are out. Once again, thank you so much for agreeing to do the test.” Mr. Park laughed heartily, trying to hide his worry. “I didn’t have a choice, did I?’

Taehyung remembered his meeting with Uncle Park. It was awkward at first, to directly ask him to perform a test on him. But later everything became fine because he understood. And until the time they parted, there was nothing that they disagreed on. His uncle performed the test in a matter of half an hour and said that the results would be out only after two days.

During these two days, Taehyung did everything he could to distract himself from worrying. But he wasn’t preoccupied for very long. His thoughts reverted back to Jungkook every single time and what he would do if his heart wasn’t fit for him.

So when his uncle called him up with the results, he knew how to react.

“I sent you the file to your e-mail address, Taehyung. I hope you got it,” his uncle said through the phone. “Yeah, I did,” Taehyung replied and scrolled through the screen. “I’m sorry,” he heard his uncle say. Taehyung replied that it was okay. “I kind of figured that our compatibility would be less than zero,” he tried to joke to hide the tears forming in his eyes.

However, he was pleased to hear that his uncle would be trying his best to search for a match for Jungkook. “I’ll let you know if I get any news about any donor, Taehyung,” he heard his uncle say. After this, he heard a pause as if his uncle was contemplating whether to add anything more to the sentence.

“Mmmm,” Taehyung quickly said, not wanting to hear anything more. “Thank you.” And he hung up after a “bye” and “See you soon”.

~*~*~*~

Summer soon turned to autumn. But Taehyung and Jungkook never distanced from each other. If at all, the passing seasons only made their kisses last longer if not sweeter. Their adoring gazes on each other became more obvious to everyone else and their “I love you”s only became ever more frequent.

Jungkook hadn’t gone out of his room in two days. A few days back, he caught the cold again. His temperature rose and fell erratically during this time.  So he was confined to the bed for the past two days with Taehyung constantly at his side, pushing away the hair on his sweaty forehead whenever he squirmed in his sleep.

Taehyung would never show it but every time Jungkook wriggled in his sleep, his heart missed several beats in fear that he would be suffering from a heart attack or a panic attack any time soon. But it never happened. Even so, Taehyung never allowed his heart to rest.

The fever disappeared completely from Jungkook’s system after a week. It made Taehyung’s face look lighter and happier.

“Taetae hyung,” Jugkook called out as Jin placed the sushi plush on top of the pillow. Taehyung placed down the book he was reading and turned to the slightly shorter male. Jungkook was looking out the window, his forehead plastered on the cold glass.

Jungkook turned to the fluffy cotton candy haired male, completely ignoring Jin. “Kookie wants to go o… on… a…” Taehyung lifted his eyebrows in amusement. “On a what?” he asked.

“Kookie wants to go on a date,” his voice almost turned to a whisper at the end, “…with hyung.” Taehyung swore his heart leapt right out his chest and ran out the room. “What?” he asked astonished and taken aback. Jungkook took heavy breaths to hide his nervousness and repeated the sentence with a pout.

Taehyung turned to Jin to ask if it was alright to take him out. Jin nodded with an approving smile. “Okay,” Taehyung replied, walking up to Jungkook. “We’ll go on a date. Tomorrow.” He planted a kiss on Jungkook’s forehead. Jungkook smiled happily.

Taehyung decided that the best place for a date would be in the garden under their favorite tree. After all, the place was currently breathtaking and it wasn’t far away in case Jungkook felt tired. So that night, he prepared a list of things he could do, asked him mom to help him pack lunch in a hamper (yes, he still couldn’t cook) and planned out what to do during the date.

But thinking about it, there was nothing much they could do in the garden beside their usual paper folding or drawing. But Taehyung didn’t mind. If he could spend time with Jungkook, that was more than enough.

However, as fate would’ve had it, all his happiness faded away in the blink of an eye that night. Jungkook awoke screaming and clutching his heart right as Jin was about to leave. He thrashed about violently hurting Jin in the process. Lucky (or unluckily) for him, Taehyung was just on his way over to wish him a good night when he noticed the commotion.

Seeing the chaos, Taehyung ran up to the boy on the bed and held him tight. “Shhh,” he tried to calm him down. “Jungkook, it’s okay. It’s okay. You’re fine.” He repeated the words over and over again until Jungkook’s screams decreased to faint whimpers. Jin pulled away from the two of them and rubbed his eye.

“Did he hit you there?” Taehyung asked Jin while holding Jungkook in his arms. “I’m fine,” Jiin said and walked up to the two of them. “It’s amazing how you manage to do that,” he said, choosing to ignore the tears that were in the corner of the deep voiced boy. “He always calms down faster if you do it,” Jin added.

Taehyung bit his lips and continued to rub insignificant patterns on Jungkook’s back as the younger eventually breathed more evenly. He waited for him to go back to his once peaceful sleep. “Hyung,” Taehyung asked softly. “Can you please watch Jungkook tonight? Just tonight? Please? I have something to do.” Jing nodded pathetically. He would do anything to make Taehyung regain his once cheerful face and Jungkook to sleep in peace.

Dinner was awfully quiet. Taehyung heard the clanking of the plates and forks while his mind wandered off into his own world. He was going to tell them tonight. He was ready.

“Mom, dad?” he said and felt their attention shift to him. He gulped loudly and opened his mouth. “I’m sorry if I was irrational and childish these past few months. I’m sorry if I have ever let you guys worry,” he started. Both his parents kept quiet and listened with tender looks in their eyes. They had a vague idea where this conversation was going.

“But I also want to thank you for being very considerate and patient with me,” he turned to look into their eyes. “A few weeks back, you said that you would tell me everything regarding Jungkook’s case. But I wasn’t ready at the moment. But now…”

Mr. Kim nodded and took a deep breath. Only at that moment did Taehyung realize that it was from his dad that he got his looks. And he didn’t know how the thought came to mind but he was grateful that he inherited his father’s good looks.

“Tae-ah,” his father began. “We’re not telling this to make you lose hope. We just… Its, uh…” Taehyung had never heard his father feel so nervous before. But he couldn’t blame him.

“Taehyung,” his father said again. Taehyung closed his eyes, his nose and eyes suddenly beginning to sting. He recognized this dreadful tune. “Jungkook is becoming weaker by the day. And with the unavailability…” he sighed in the middle. It was hard for Mr. Kim to say it out. And it was equally hard for Taehyung to listen and take it all in.

“Finding a donor is hard enough, you know that right?” he said. Taehyung nodded, his eyes finding way to the ground again. Nope. He couldn’t do it. He thought he was ready but he couldn’t do it. His mother cut in his father’s uncomfortable speech, thankfully. “It doesn’t mean that it’s impossible, Tae-ah. But you should know when to… We’re not telling you that it’s too late but…” His mom wasn’t doing a great job with her speech either but it seemed more comforting than his dad’s.

Taehyung just nodded and replied that he understood. Still not lifting his head, he asked, “How much time does he have left without surgery?” “If his condition remains stable, he can still survive a maximum of six years which if plenty enough for him to find a donor and get the surgery,” his dad answered.

“And if his condition drops?” Taehyung asked, wiping his tears away. He couldn’t have his eyes blur out now. He turned up to his parents with red eyes assuming a heart clenching answer. But he was hoping for a different one.

Both his parents kept mum. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to tell him the answer. They too weren’t sure. Taehyung recognized this type of silence far too well.

After a moment of calming himself, Taehyung said silently. “I like him.”

Both his parents looked at him a little surprised, if not worried. They expected this. But they didn’t think that Taehyung would tell them under such circumstances.

“I like him to the point of getting envious if he laughs with someone else other than me. I like him so much that I miss him even when I’m in school. I like him so much that I, myself, get scared sometimes. I like him…” From the first sentence, Taehyung’s voice cracked. And by the time he said all these, he was trying hard to breathe and control himself from completely breaking down.

His pained face warped into a sad smile. “We’re going on our first date tomorrow. I know it’s nothing extravagant but I’m excited because I’m going to be with him. And I promise I’ll introduce him properly to you by the third date. I’m sure you guys will like him too because he made me like him…” Tears rolled down his already blurring eyes. He had to say everything or else they wouldn’t get it. They wouldn’t understand how amazing Jungkook was if he didn’t explain everything to them clearly.

He suddenly felt warm fingers wipe his tears away. “Take all the time you want, Tae-ah,” his mother said in her soothing tone. “If he made our only son like him this much, I’m sure we’ll like him too. Just take all the time you need.” Taehyung nodded and forced a smile.

Taehyung stared at the black haired boy play with the flowers in the garden. Their date was going well. Both of them had eaten the food that Taehyung had prepared (with his mother’s help, of course) and now, Jungkook had gone off into the garden saying that he wanted to decorate Taehyung’s hair with ‘pretty flowers’. Taehyung tried to smile at seeing the younger getting distracted with a small yellow butterfly. But he couldn’t. Jungkook wasn’t with him at the moment. He couldn’t see him. So he didn’t bother smiling because he didn’t have the strength to do so. Why? He spent his last ounce of energy last night, crying himself to sleep.

You have to pull yourself together, Taehyung, he scolded himself. At least for Jungkook’s sake.  Taehyung noticed that ever since he got the news about Jungkook’s illness last winter, he had been nothing but a depressing black hole; not only his but other’s happiness away. There hadn’t been a day since then that his eyes were completely dry. But he couldn’t help it.

His eyes then took notice of his partner making his way to him. In Jungkook’s hands were a bunch of uprooted daisies and yellow buttercups. And he looked absolutely excited with the poor plants in his hands. Taehyung didn’t need to force himself to smile at that moment. “Mom’s gonna flip when she sees this,” he laughed, almost to himself.

Letting Jungkook play with his hair, he listened to the younger hum a tune. There it was again. Taehyung’s favorite song. And Jungkook was humming it with his husky and melodious voice.

The short laughter disappeared all of a sudden when Taehyung’s mind wandered off again. His whole body became numb for some reason as he recalled everything about Jungkook. From the time they met till the current situation, all the scenes and moments passed through his head as Jungkook hummed the song.

He felt his cheeks get wet again.

Taehyung wanted to control it. And he really tried to do so. But it was too hard. Why did someone as perfect as Jungkook have to suffer? Was it punishment from his previous lives for being too perfect? Was he being punished for being too lovable and too beautiful?

Taehyung wanted to know. But on the other hand, he didn’t want to either. So he continued to cry silently as the soft humming came to an end.

“Finished,” Jungkook announced, his adorable bunny teeth biting his lower lip. Taehyung reached out to feel the flowers on his hair. It was wreathed into a delightful crown around his head, with the flowers and leaves and even the small roots. Just how much talents did Jungkook have?

“Taetae hyung?” Jungkook asked, finding that Taehyung wasn’t making a huge reaction as anyone would’ve expected. Kookie-ah, hyung is so sorry for crying in front of you, Taehyung apologized mentally and gritted his teeth in self disappointment. He was sorry for a lot of things. He was sorry for crying in front of Jungkook. He was sorry for being weak. He was sorry for troubling everyone, including Jungkook, because of his weakness. But he was never sorry for one thing. He was never sorry for making that first approach at Jungkook. It was under this same tree.

Someone in the skies must have heard Taehyung’s silent pleas for Jungkook to not see him cry because right at that moment, as Jungkook leaned down to check his not very enthusiastic hyung, millions of droplets of water fell on their heads and body.

Jungkook’s attention got sidetracked to the falling rain much to Taehyung’s relief. The former covered his head with his hands and cackled like a child. He hadn’t been out in the rain in a long time.

Fearing for Jungkook’s health, Taehyung quickly grabbed the picnic mat and the hamper and dragged Jungkook inside to the hallway. But they were already soaked. Normally people who had been out in the rain looked horrible with their hair sticking onto their face and their faces all ruined due to the dripping water. It was a rule, be it in movies or in real life. But apparently, that rule didn’t apply to Jungkook.

Wondering how someone could still look so beautiful after such chaos, Taehyung simply stared at the younger ruffle his own hair to get rid of the excess water. He continued to giggle happily, not noticing Taehyung’s protective yet affectionate gaze on him.

Taehyung had to get Jungkook into dry clothes immediately. Or else he would get sick again. But he couldn’t move. Jungkook looked too stunning for him to react properly. Unable to control his own actions, he dropped the objects in his hands and walked up to Jungkook.

Before Jungkook could say or do anything, Taehyung yanked Jungkook not so slowly and crashed their lips together. He pushed the slightly shorter male with his body till his back touched the cold wall. Jungkook’s wide eyes soon closed and he let Taehyung kiss him. It would’ve been a lie to say that Jungkook knew what was happening but he liked it. It was definite that Taehyung’s desperate kisses made Jungkook want to melt in his arms. And right then and there, time seemed to be limitless because everything else didn’t matter.

His lips never leaving Jungkook’s, Taehyung’s hands reached for Jungkook’s neck and tugged at his hair. The sudden excited hitch in the younger’s breath only made him want to touch him even more. Both males got so lost in the passionate kiss that the thought of catching their breath only came when it was a little too late.

Taehyung pulled away slowly, his breathing all uneven and erratic. Jungkook was in no better condition. Both their faces flaunted a bright blush and their lips throbbed from the loss of contact. Jungkook’s jet black hair protruded messily in all directions but both eyes never wavered from each others.

Then the elder male leaned back in and let their forehead’s touch. Their lips were dangerously close again but Taehyung knew continuing would only distraught Jungkook. So he controlled his desire for Jungkook’s lips and let the boy in front of him catch his breath.

“Hyung,” Jungkook chose the perfect time to whisper softly, partly stammering. The single word almost broke Taehyung into kissing the speaker breathless again. Maybe even more. But he decided not to startle the younger anymore so he just smiled.

“I’m sorry if I scared you,” he apologized. Jungkook shook his head clumsily and pulled himself to give his hyung a small peck on his swelling lips. Taehyung’s smile never disappeared as he bent down to Jungkook’s neck.

“I love you too,” he whispered softly, sending goosebumps to crawl all over Jungkook’s body. Jungkook’s face broke out into a satisfied smile but he didn’t understand something. Why was a small streak of tears accompanying his smile?

Jungkook’s eyes didn’t open when Jin tried to wake him the next morning.

“Jungkook?” Jin called out and saw that the boy was forcing his eyes shut with a sour look on his face. His face was paler than the previous day and he was visibly sweaty. He made small whimpering sounds as he continued to breathe heavily and exhaustedly. And was that blood on the corner of his lips?

Growing alarmed, Jin reached for the lying boy’s forehead. It was warm. No, ‘warm’ didn’t cover it. It was scorching hot!

 “Jungkook?” he called out again trying to wake the boy. His eyes suddenly caught sight of Jungkook’s sushi plush on the floor. Why was it on the floor? Didn’t Jungkook hug it to sleep every night? That was when he noticed the drops of dried blood on the white cloth of the plush.

Trying not to panic, he tried to wake the younger boy by pulling away the covers and shaking him awake. But it only resulted in him noticing more blood on the pillow and under the sheets.

“!” Jin swore for the first time, his eyes widening into the size of an owl’s. He was definitely panicking now.

Author's note:

Deepest apologies for the late update... I would've updated earlier but I had to get THAT ONE SCENE PERFECT!!!

It's not very good (self comment) but I did the best I could (Yes, I'm talking about the scene in the hallway where Taehyung and Jungkook... ye~ah)

Anyway, I hope you liked this coz the end is coming near... MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

(EXO, BTS Hwaiting!!!)