That same evening Hoseok had gotten permission to stay the night in Hyeri’s room. He had been offered to do so a while back, but school hadn’t really allowed him to. Home was lonely and his time would be better spent in the hospital, where he could be there for Hyeri and now for Taehyung. Jungkook was the only person who had visited Taehyung in the time he had spent in his new room and even then it was done sparingly. Otherwise Taehyung didn’t really have anybody else seeing him, but this didn’t deter him from what Hoseok had seen in the days they had spent together. He held himself high regardless of the aching headaches and fatigue that raged him during their time spent together.

Later in the evening, Jin had bid Hoseok goodbye after getting him accommodated with blankets and pillows. The night nurse that was in charge of this wing of the hospital had come in not long after Jin had departed. Her name was Hana and she was a completely sweetheart. Hoseok had the honor to have met her a few times before and he had really enjoyed her treatment and the patience she had with Hyeri. She had comforted Hyeri in any way possible when Hyeri would let her defenses down at night, when Hoseok or nobody else was around. Their mother had passed away during their birth after complications arouse during the C-section. Hyeri had lacked a prominent female presence in her life so she was raised a little tougher than most. In the few months Hyeri had known her they had bonded immensely.  At school Hyeri was never really able to make girlfriends because of her tomboyish attitude. A single one of her classmates, who went by Sojin, had maintained some sort of friendship with Hyeri had managed to visit her a few times, but Hoseok hadn’t seen her around for a while now.

“Hoseok you’re not allowed to roam the hospital after hours, but I am making an exception. I hope you respect that and just go into Taehyung’s room alright? I’ll try to keep this hallway empty so you won’t get in trouble.” Hana’s gaze held a stern look, but her subtle smile said otherwise.

“Thank you noona, I promise I will be mindful.” Hoseok offered her one of his smiles as he propped his pillow on the pull out sofa bed that he was going to use to sleep.

“Alright well I’ll be around checking up on these two soon enough. If anything comes up you know where to ring me.” She left without another word.

Having nothing to do in the meantime he sat right by his sister’s bed were she lay sleeping. He grabbed one of her limp hands and felt how cold they felt in his warm ones. He could feel how her knuckles protruded and the skinniness of her wrist. She looked so fragile and Hoseok could feel a lump forming in his throat. After all Hyeri had always been the strongest between the two. He may have had a five minute advantage over her but she was always the sturdiest. They had always been inseparable and it seemed ludicrous to Hoseok that would soon change.

“Hyeri-ah…. Im sorry I was never your pillar. We only ever had each other and I relied solely on that. Im sorry for being such a terrible brother. Im sorry for not being able to take your pain away,” amongst his quiet whispers a few tears had managed to slip down, “You know dad loves you right? He is working really hard to keep you here Hyeri. Even if he is not here I will make sure to pass his love to you.” He lowered his lips to her forehead and left a chaste kiss. Even against his lips her skin felt icy cold. He wiped the tears off his face clumsily, and tucked her blankets in to keep the warmth in. He grabbed the stuffed lion Taehyung had given her and set it right next to her.

 The little stuffed lion immediately reminded him of his visit to the next room over. He managed to not make much noise and from what he could see Taehyung was still knocked out cold. They had used a high amount of sedatives to calm him. He reached a hand to feel Taehyung’s forehead and he was pleased to find it was mildly warm. His fever had significantly gone down. He felt much calmer after affirming that and decided to organize all of Taehyung’s various belongings. Stuffed animals and books seemed to the prominent objects that lay all around and Hoseok began placing them around a shelf that had been provided in the room. He picked up a book that had been placed right next to Taehyung’s hospital bed, and a picture seemingly fluttered out as he held it. With careful fingers he picked up the picture to find it was one of Taehyung and what he assumed to be his pet cat. The picture showed a younger Taehyung tightly holding a kitten up to his face adorned with that special smile of his. Happiness radiated off the picture and Hoseok found it simply adorable. He stared at it for a little while longer when inspiration struck. He pulled his phone out and shot a quick text to one of his most recent contacts. The response was quick to Hoseok’s liking and after setting up what he needed he bid Taehyung goodbye with a squeeze of his hand.

He settled in his makeshift bed and was able to fall into a quiet slumber not long after.

The following morning Hoseok was awoken with Hyeri’s loud retching. Unfortunately she hadn’t made it to the sick bowl that had been set up next to her and most of it had landed on the floor. Without wasting any time, Hoseok bolted from bed and grabbed the bowl while carefully holding her up to ease the discomfort. There wasn’t much left in her to release but to Hoseok’s horror the majority that she had vomited had been blood. It covered the side of her bed and littered the floor in all its threatening glory. By now dry heaves were what tormented her and he could tell that the force of the heaves was hurting her. After a few more movements she finally calmed down and he helped her lay back down.

“Im going to call the doctor Hyeri.” He whispered to her while he used some tissues to clean up her face. The pain was evident in her face and all she could manage was a shake of her head. With a sigh Hoseok pressed the button on the wall for assistance.

Not long after Doctor Choi, who had been her primary doctor from the beginning, stepped in, “What seems to be the problem Hoseok-ah?”

“She threw up blood again doctor.” he pointed at the floor where the mess still laid.

With furrowed eyebrows Doctor Choi called another nurse in and asked Hoseok if he could please step outside for the meantime. He did so accordingly not before glancing once more at his sister finding her moving restlessly in what seemed to be pain.

He wasted no time in entering Taehyung’s room not realizing that it was still fairly early in the morning. After walking in he found Taehyung groggily sitting up in his bed rubbing his eyes furiously. Hoseok froze watching Taehyung’s behavior. The boy kept rubbing his eyes and looking around in what seemed to be panic. He kept the same actions using shaky hands to feel around him and grasp things clumsily. When Hoseok began to hear the erratic quickening breaths that were coming from him he decided to make his presence known.

“Good morning Taehyung-ah, how are you feeling this morning?”

At the sound of his voice the boy quickly snapped his head towards him with squinting eyes, “Hoseok hyung is that you?” his voice had come out as a shaky whisper and Hoseok felt his heart drop at the vulnerable state he saw him in.

With quick steps he approached him and carefully held one of his shaking hands, “Yes it’s me. Do you feel better? Last night you weren’t doing so well.”

“You came to visit me! Thank you hyung! I had made sure to tell Jin hyung to tell you that I wasn’t able to make it. I really wanted to be there with the both of you. I wanted to tell noona about the dream I had of her two nights ago! She was in a really beautiful meadow and she was super happy. It was a really nice dream.” A soft smile adorned his face and Hoseok felt Taehyung’s grip on his hand tighten when he enthusiastically told his story.

The pale face and drowsy eyes were a complete contrast to the eagerness he was now displaying.

“Of course I would come visit you silly. And don’t worry as soon as the doctors are done checking up on Hyeri I promise we can go see her so you can tell her your dream. I bet she would really like that.” Hoseok responded as he patted his hand.

“Hyung can you help me get to the bathroom? I need help with the IV stand.” With careful practiced hands Hoseok helped him and tugged the IV stand with him. The bathroom wasn’t far from Taehyung’s bed but the walk took a bit longer when Taehyung had to stop to rub at his eyes vigorously. He almost nearly bumped into the door of the bathroom, but Hoseok was able to open it. Hoseok helped him in and as soon as he was right by the toilet he walked out and waited for him to do his business. A flush later, Hoseok deemed it safe to walk back in and get him back into bed.

Once he was settled into the pillows Hoseok decided that he would finally get his questions answered, “Taehyung-ah, I want to get closer to you.  Is it ok if I ask you a few questions?”  At the proposition Taehyung nodded his head in agreement and Hoseok deemed it ok to go right ahead.

“I hope Im not being entirely nosy, but Im curious Taehyung. Why are you in the hospital?”

This time a bittersweet smile adorned his face at the question aimed at him, “To be honest hyung Ive been in this hospital for the past five months. I’ve always been very sickly since I was a baby, so my dad thought it would be easier for me to just stay in the hospital. It wasn’t until my prognosis got worse that they moved me to the room next to Hyeri noona. I was diagnosed with a pituitary tumor weeks ago. Fortunately it is not cancerous but the problem with it is the placement. The tumor grew and damaged my optic nerves so in other words Im going to lose my eyesight,” As he told his story he subconsciously raised a hand to touch one of his eyes, “Everything is blurry now, they told me I don’t have very long now before I wake up completely blind.”

“Can’t they operate you Taehyung?” Hoseok was glad that the tumor wasn’t cancerous. When Jin had told him that Taehyung had a tumor anxiety had plagued him all night thinking that he would end up just like his sister. He couldn’t go through that once again. 

A slow sad shake of his head answered the question, “They can’t, since it’s too risky. My body is very weak anyways. They are beginning radiation therapy tomorrow.”

Hoseok was about to ask another question when a knock on the door brought them both out of their musings. With Taehyung’s permission, Hoseok quickly stood up to answer the door to find a smiling Jungkook standing with a pet carrier in hand.

He quickly stepped out and closed the door shut before giving Jungkook a hug in greeting, “Good morning Jungkook-ah thanks for coming in so early.”

“It’s nothing hyung. Is Tae hyung doing better now?” the worry was evident in his tone as he shuffled with the pet carrier.

Hoseok took it from his grasp peering to see the beautiful cat settled inside, “Yes, his fever is gone so let’s head inside to give him the surprise.” He handed the carrier back and made sure to cover it with his body when stepping inside once more.

“Jungkook is here Taehyung-ah. “ At the sound of Jungkook’s name, Taehyung’s face broke into a smile.

“Jungkookie! Im glad you are here early today.”

“Me too hyung and I brought a surprise for you.” This time Jungkook picked up the carrier and quickly brought it forward placing it on the bed right in front of him. At the sight of the carrier, Taehyung released a loud gasp and with clumsy fingers he ped before grabbing the cat and somehow managing to fit its long body in his arms.

Once the cat was in his arms it began purring and rubbing against its owner managing to reduce Taehyung into tears, “Oh Haru I missed you girl. Have you been good to Jungkookie? Did you miss me?” the questions were asked through hiccupping sobs, and Hoseok looked over to find Jungkook also wiping a few tears that had managed to slip down his face. The cat all the while continued to purr and meow seemingly happy to be in its owner’s arms once again.

“She is a beautiful cat Taehyung. May I pet Haru?” the question seemed to minimize Taehyung’s tears and through a tear stained face he smiled carefully handing her to him. Haru’s big green eyes were aimed at him watching his every move as he gently pet her head. After a little bit, the massive cat settled in his arms, and lazily lay there purring every once in a while.

By then Jungkook had settled down next to them and a comfortable conversation was maintained all the while the three of them pampered the cat.

“Taehyunggie, Can I ask you something?” With Jungkook’s arrival, Hoseok hadn’t managed to ask Taehyung all the things he wanted to ask. The more he learned about the enigma that was Kim Taehyung the more he felt himself slowly falling for his charm.

“Sure what is it hyung?”

Hoseok opened his mouth to release the flood of questions in his brain, but a knock soon interrupted his musings. This time Jungkook stood up to answer the door and grave faced Jin was there to greet them.

“Hoseok can I please speak to you outside?” The choppy sentence paired with the grimace that hung on Jin’s face had Hoseok quickly handing over Haru to Taehyung once more. Without looking back he followed Jin outside and his nerves grew even more when Jin gently pushed him to sit on the bench outside in the hallway.