Mr. Kim smiled bitterly as he sipped his coffee. Retelling the story to Kim Taehyung took a toll on him. His hands couldn’t stop shaking and he was struggling to keep his calm. It wasn’t from fear but from unlimited guilt that gnawed a man and a father’s heart. He knew he was partly responsible for Ji Yeon’s self-murder as he remembered how furious and hurt she was that day, when she found out the truth about her psychiatrist.

“My father didn’t exist then, and he’ll never exist now or ever.”

Recalling the event caused Mr. Kim to clench his hands into fists. He didn’t have any right to be there, looking at the peaceful face of his youngest daughter as she slept. Taehyung, the boy who claimed himself as Ji Yeon’s best friend, however, had made him promise to stay. At least until he finish his schedule for tomorrow.

“I don’t know everything there is about Ji Yeon but I do know this, she desperately needs a reaching hand. And as a father, you can’t give up on your family.” Taehyung said.

Mr. Kim prompted his elbows on his knees as he bend forward, blinking tears.

Taehyung tapped his feet impatiently as he waited for the interview to end. It had been going on for two hours and he could practically feel the glances the members sent him for not responding a bit to the questions. Despite feeling sorry for them, he wanted nothing more than jump into the van and dash for the hospital.

“Ok! That’s a wrap. Good job, guys!” The director announced. The staffs clapped enthusiastically, packing the devices up and bowing at their colleagues. Taehyung was going to sprint for the exit when he felt someone pulled him back by the collar. He pouted at the leader.

“I know you’re worried about that girl of yours but you should at least be polite to the staffs,” Namjoon chided lightly and sighed when he caught Taehyung dejected look. “Then we all will pay her a visit.”

Taehyung grinned and kneeled down, hugging Namjoon’s leg and nuzzling his cheek against it. “Do you know how much I love you, hyung?” The younger said in a high-pitched voice.

“Yah! Leave my leg out of this!” Namjoon said in an exasperated manner, trying to shake Taehyung off.

“Are you sure that we’re not bothering her?” Yoongi spoke up, on behalf of the other guys, who were anxious. And Yoongi himself had never met the girl before so he wasn’t sure what to say to her, especially after a failed suicide attempt. “I mean she may be depressed at the moment.”

“Nonsense!” Taehyung chirped behind the humongous amount of balloons, which he pulled. The hospital’s peaceful surrounding was shattered as he unknowingly hit the passerby’s with his balloons.

Namjoon’s hand was on the doorknob when it swung open, revealing a frazzled Mr. Kim. He raised his eyebrows at the stunned boys, not recognizing them. “May I help you?” He said.

“Uncle!” Taehyung poked his head at the side, grinning.

“Hello, Taehyung.” Mr. Kim smiled wearily, eyeing the worried youngsters behind the boy. “Are you done with your schedule for the day?”

“Yeah, and I brought my friends over to pay Ji Yeon a visit.” He hooked a thumb at the members. “You looked like you’re in a hurry. Are you going somewhere, uncle?”

“Yes, I have an appointment to attend,” Mr. Kim flicked his wrist to glance at his watch. “Can you please keep an eye on Ji Yeon for the night? She can’t be left alone after—He squeezed his eyes shut and couldn’t continue his next words but Taehyung was smart enough to understand him.

“Don’t worry,” Taehyung promised, disregarding his older hyungs’ shocked expressions. “I’ll look after her.”

Mr. Kim’s eyes sparkled with gratitude, nodding. “Thank you.” He said before taking his leave.

Taehyung waved at the man with a reassuring smile when he felt a nudge on his side. Jungkook gave him a questioning look, asking, “You’re going to accompany her for the night?”

“Seems like it.” Taehyung said thoughtfully.

Yoongi frowned as he tilted his head. “How about practice then? You’ve been neglecting a lot of those nowadays. A few days later are you saying that you’re giving up your dream for a girl?”

Jin grabbed his friend’s shoulder in attempt to calm him down, while Taehyung just gave the guys a blank look, unfazed by Yoongi’s comment. He knew his friends quite well to say that Yoongi was the most hot-headed between them so he bound to explode someday or another.

‘Hey, come on now.” Jin patted Yoongi’s shoulder in a soothing way. “Let’s not be dramatic.”

Yoongi slowly nodded and beckoned Taehyung towards the door. He reached out a hand when Jimin suddenly brushed him aside and barged into the room with a big smile.

“Yeonie!” He walked into the room with his arms held out and let out a panicked yelp. “Oma! Hello!”

There have been some exchanged polite bows and hellos between the boys and Kim Min Ji. The boys grew shy at the pretty actress before them while Taehyung, however, was distracted by Ji Yeon, who looked like a living corpse as her dead eyes stared endlessly at the view outside of the window. Blinking his eyes, a frown appeared on his face as he noticed the empty and bare feeling inside the room.

“Yah!” Taehyung blurted. “Why do you look like an undead?”

Ji Yeon diverted her eyes towards Taehyung, unfazed before returning back to her window gazing. Just then Jimin jumped in beside her and showed a plastic vase of tulips that he bought, which made Taehyung scowled in annoyance because he stole his spotlight.

“It wasn’t much but it was enough to freshen up the mood in here,” Jimin smiled as he placed the vase on the bedside stand. “It’ll cheer you up.”

The frown deepened as Taehyung watched how Ji Yeon reacted at Jimin’s choice of gift. She reached out, touching the petal before giving a slight nod at him. Meanwhile, Kim Min Ji observed the youth, smiling amusingly at what seemed to unravel before her.

“I’ll be going now since I’m on my lunch break, Taehyung-ah.” Min Ji patted his back. “If there’s anything you need, please don’t hesitate to tell me.”

“Yes, noona.” Taehyung nodded without moving his gaze from the girl.

Min Ji smiled, saying, “Thank you. For everything.”

Taehyung didn’t answer her, choosing to look at how his friends approached Ji Yeon. Each of them handed her some souvenirs, whether it was a box of chocolates or a book but Taehyung didn’t miss the flash in her eyes. She gave small smiles and nods at the guys but there’s a mixture of despair and hollow in her eyes.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

I feel this chapter is boring without some interaction between our two main characters…

If there is something confusing around here, ask me and I’ll try my best to explain.

If you have thoughts, be it bad or good, let me know.

I don’t bite. So far. Haha.

Oh and sorry for the slower updates.