Request prompt: "If nothing saves us from death, at least love should save us from life”- Pablo Neruda.

OC- Min Yuki

They says living is as bad as dying.

But Min Yuki believed it was worse.

There's really no use in living when you're disabled; body paralysed from your arms to your legs, unable to do anything more than sit around all day while a bacteria eats up your brain at each passing hour. Yuki was diagnosed with Meningitis two years ago while she was in the middle of her sophomore year in college. It was the biggest plot twist of her life. The turning point that crushed all her dreams and everything and anything she had ever hoped for.

Meningitis was a curable disease as what most doctors would say, and Yuki was relieved upon that discovery. After all, she was at the peak of her youth: top of her class, travelled the world, had the most amazing boyfriend—perfect boyfriend: Kim Seokjin was good-looking, rich, and extremely sweet that more than half the girls population in campus looked at her with envy. Yuki’s life was close to perfect.

But the world decided to play one big comic joke on her when after one year of continuous medication, she never got better. In fact, the disease caused even more negative effects when she lost the control of her body little by little. Paralysis, she discovered, was one of the effects of the disease.

Ashamed—angry and upset—of what has become of her, Yuki withdrew herself from the world she used to know and love. She locked herself in her parents mansion in the outskirts of the city, away from the university… away from life basically, and spent her days sitting in her wheel chair by her bedroom window; either reading her books of watching the days turn into nights or vice verse.

If this was life, it's worse than death, she thought. Because what's the point, really? When you're already half dead?

Knock knock.

Yuki sighed at the sound and asked Adella, her personal nurse, to flip to the next page of her book. It was pathetic how she couldn't even flip the pages of her own book.

"Yuki? Sweetheart?" Mrs. Min peaked through the door and Yuki groaned inwardly. Because she had lived in this house long enough to know what her mother was going to say next.  

"There's someone I want you to meet."

Yuki gave Adella a look and the woman stood up before helping her turn around. Yuki was so used to her mother bringing in “guests". For the past year, Mrs. Min and her older brother, Yoongi, had been bringing people in to take care of her; posing as assistant nurses or whatever. But Yuki knew the truth.

She knew it's one of their plans to make her change her mind.  

When the medications stopped working, Yuki decided to give up and stop. To let the disease take its course and just let herself die. She was already paralyzed anyway. And there was no way she could go back to her life before even if she did get better. So she didn't see the point anymore of keeping up the medications.

But her family continued to convince her otherwise. There was still hope of getting better, they knew. But that was one thing Yuki had ceased to believe in.

Yuki turned with a sigh, expecting another girl or boy with in the usual scrubs nurses always wore. What she didn’t expect was to see a guy with flaming orange hair standing in front of her with the brightest smile she had ever seen.

"Hi!" He greeted and his eyes turned into little crescents; his mouth showing a set of white teeth that was almost blinding. He was wearing a simple blue polo with faded blue jeans and his hair (Orange. Did I mention it was orange?!, Yuki thought incredulously) was slightly disheveled like he just ran through a wind storm.

"My name is Kim Taehyung!" He reached out his arm for a handshake, looking too ecstatic for normal people. "It's nice to meet you!"

Yuki only stared at his outstretched hand before manoeuvring her wheelchair (she could still move her fingers a bit so she could control her motorized chair with a remote by its armrest by pressing a few buttons); turning around and ignoring him completely.

She rolled her eyes when she heard her mother apologize for her sake and it only made Yuki scoff even more when Taehyung told her that it was okay. She could practically hear the grin in his voice too and she tried not to roll her eyes to the very back of her eye sockets.

Right then, only one thing came to her mind:

Kim Taehyung is a freakin' weirdo.

~~~

A few minutes ago...

“My sister, Yuki, can be quite… difficult.”

Taehyung walked into the lavish mansion and tried not to openly gawk at everything he saw. The place looked like a million bucks (it probably was) and seemed like it was cut out from a Forbes magazine.

He was currently with Yoongi, Yuki’s older brother as what Mrs. Min told him when she left to check on her daughter before they met formally. It was 8:30 AM and Taehyung was in his casual clothing, ready to work and ready to make some money to help out with the expenses at home. He was a college student on scholarship so tuition fees weren’t really a problem so long as he kept his grades immaculate, but now that it was summer break, Taehyung helped his dad out by working part-time jobs.

This year, he was lucky enough to be offered a full time one… one that paid more than his three previous jobs... Combined.

“Difficult?”

“You already know of her condition.” Yoongi said as they walked through a large hall. It seemed that the mansion had more than one building. “And well I hope you understand that she’s not the brightest of people.”

Taehyung nodded just as he opened another set of doors. This place is huge!, he thought. “I wanted to give you a heads up before she does anything… you know—"

“It’s okay, Yoongi.” Taehyung interrupted. “Your mom already told me how Yuki can be—“

“Hostile?” he smirked and Taehyung chuckled slightly.

“I believe Mrs. Min used the word, ‘unfriendly'.” Taehyung corrected. “Though I’m sure I can get her to warm up to me.”

Yoongi smiled, remembering how he met Taehyung at the grocery shop his father owned in the city; how he charmed his way into his cold little heart so easily. Yoongi never thought he could laugh so much till he met Taehyung. He knew he was the exact kind of person his sister needed right now.

Not caretakers or nurses…

A friend.

“I hope you’re right, Taehyung. I hope you’re right."

~~~

Taehyung didn’t know that when Mrs. Min told him that Yuki was unfriendly, she meant completely despicable!

The girl did her best to ignore him most of the time, and when Taehyung would try and talk to her, she would shut him down immediately with awful—sharp—words; leaving him silent and turning away from the room to leave her alone.

It bothered Taehyung why she disliked him so much and he wasn't even sure what he did wrong in the first place. Everyone liked Taehyung.

Everyone except Yuki, that is.

How could anyone be so…, Taehyung thought as he was once again kicked out from her room with a “Leave me alone, carrot head!”  while she tried to run him over with her wheelchair.

Beastly, he finally finished, thinking how that was definitely the right word for it.

~~~

"So… what do you wanna do today?"

Unlike Yuki's previous caretakers, Taehyung was persistent. He was quite the chatterbox too and Yuki couldn't exactly understand why he couldn't see through her constant dagger-like stares. She was pretty sure she made herself clear when they met that she wanted to be left alone.

"I want to read my book, Taehyung." She said and when the boy looked at her expectantly she immediately added, "… in peace. So if you don't mind, can you please shut up?" She snapped and Taehyung flinched slightly at her sharp retort. Yuki would've been sorry except that he recovered quite quickly.

“Well, you know? I like to read too..." He said and Yuki tried not to groan in frustration. "My favorite book is ‘The Little Prince'. I could still remember the day I first read it. My dad bought me—"

"Why don't you read it, Taehyung?" She said through gritted teeth and Taehyung grinned, taking it as a friendly invitation when in fact, it wasn't.

"Oh yeah I would love to! Would you like to read it with me? I can take you outside in the garden. The weather is so nice today—"

"And leave." She said and Taehyung stopped at her words. "Just take the goddamn book from my shelf and leave Taehyung. Then let me read my book in peace."

When Taehyung didn't move, Yuki finally snapped. "I said leave!" She shouted at him and he flinched. "Why is it so hard for you to understand?! Are you deaf?! Is your brain damaged?! Because I'm pretty sure I'm the only one in this hell hole who has a brain disease!"

"Yuki—"

"Or are you just plain stupid?" She spat. "Can't even understand a simple instruction! Just leave me alone and shut the hell up! Nobody cares what you have to say!"

Taehyung stared at her in surprise, eyes swimming with hurt and Yuki would be lying if she said it didn't affect her at all. But before she could begin to apologize, Taehyung was already turning to leave.

His footsteps echoed through the room, reminding her of her sharp words that she shot so recklessly like bullets. Yuki bit her lip and looked out the window instead to keep herself from breaking down. She had been practicing her stoic expression for more than a year now; keeping her heart as strong as steel and as cold as ice to even show any type of emotion.

Because emotions were for the living. Not for the dead. Or the almost dying.

"You know what?" A voice broke the eerie silence and Yuki looked up in surprise, seeing Taehyung by the doorway, with an expression she didn't expect him to wear after just being shouted at and humiliated.

Taehyung looked at her sadly, yet there was no sign of anger or even pity.

Just pure sadness.

"For someone who's dying," he said and something in that statement made her chest constrict. "You're pretty mean.”

Without another word he left, closing the door with a soft click. Yuki remained still until she could no longer hear his footsteps. Mean, he had said. A small world from someone she barely knew and yet...

Yuki breathed out just as a single tear fell down her cheek.

~~~

The next day, Taehyung arrived bright and early—8 AM, on the dot as usual. He greeted the security guard by the gate who let him in with a wave and a smile. After two months of working here, the people living in the mansion already knew him and he pretty much knew everybody as well too; having so much free time on his hands, considering his one and only job refuses to talk or have anything to do with him.

Yuki was definitely harsh and rough around the edges for someone so cute and petite. Taehyung would've liked very much to be her friend if she didn't act like Cruella Devil 99% of the time.

But Taehyung was never quick to judge people. Even if the girl had been nothing but viscous towards him in the last two months. In fact, he was slow to judge… too understanding to judge, even. No matter how heartless she might have been.

Because even though Yuki treated him like sh*t, he couldn't begin to imagine how much she's been through. He heard stories from the other workers here; heard how she was a top student in her college, was smart, beautiful (not that she wasn't still beautiful, he thought), and loved by everybody. The perfect daughter with the perfect life...

No wonder she's so grumpy all the time, Taehyung thought as he stared at the closed door to Yuki's room. She was probably with Adella right now and going through their usual morning routine. Taehyung winced at the knowledge of how much medicines Yuki had to take.

It would've made him grumpy too if he would say so himself.

Taehyung was making coffee in the kitchen of the lodge when something caught his eyes by the counter. It was a brown rectangular package tied with a blue ribbon. He reached out and looked at the package, surprised to see his name written on it.

To Kim Taehyung, it simply said and Taehyung was intrigued and moved to open it immediately. He always did love presents.

What he saw surprises him. Under the wraps was a book, his favorite book: "The Little Prince”, a limited edition version. He had read this book so many times and yet he felt his chest constrict with happiness upon finding the beautiful book with a hardbound cover and golden spine pages.

He opened the book to the first page and found a small note inserted between the flaps and the title page. Taehyung opened it and found two simple words signed with a name that made him smile.

I'm sorry.

- Yuki

Guess she's not so heartless after all, Taehyung thought just as the door to Yuki's room opened and out came Adella holding up a silver tray.

"Good morning Taehyung darling," she smiled and Taehyung smiled back. "Would you mind making some tea for Yuki?"

"Of course." Taehyung nodded before heading towards the cupboard to make Yuki's favorite tea.

Green tea with a hint of lemon. Before serving, he decided to add a couple of oatmeal raisin cookies on a plate as well.

Because it's the little things, he thought with a smile as his gaze glanced over at the book once again.

The little things that make a difference.

~~~

"Would you like to go outside?"

Taehyung closed his eyes and held his breath upon asking the question, unsure how she would respond. It's been a couple of days since he received the book and Yuki and he have been more… civil since. She didn't shout at him anymore though she asked to be left alone still. The difference was that