The next morning, Taehyung was up early. He took a shower, a short one, just making sure he was clean and that he didn’t smell, then changed into a swimming pants with a long-sleeved shirt. He sat down on the bed, watching Hoseok sleep and a small smile formed, the edges of his lips pulling up. He looked so peaceful. Not that that would last long, seeing as in a few days, the sadness would hit. He sighed and closed his eyes.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his cheek, making him jump and open his eyes to find Hoseok. Hoseok was smiling, removing his hand and pushing himself up. His hair was sticking out everywhere. He looked at Taehyung, seeing the sadness in his eyes and sighed, wrapping the male in his arms. “It’s okay, Taehyung. It’s going to be okay.” Taehyung started sobbing. He couldn’t help himself, he wanted to have a good time but on the other hand, he knew that soon enough he’d have to leave the members alone to struggle. He wouldn’t be able to give his unconditional love to them and he wouldn’t be able to comfort them and cheer them up.

Another hour passed until there was a knock on their bedroom door. Taehyung had stopped sobbing, but had just been quietly wrapped in Hoseok’s arms. Hoseok released him, and he got up to open the door, finding the rest there.

“Ready for breakfast?” Seokjin asked, smiling friendly at them. But Taehyung noticed the tear stains, they were faint but they were there, and he wondered if Seokjin had been crying. He hoped not, he didn’t want the members to cry. He didn’t want anyone to feel sad.

They both nodded and headed out with the rest of the group to the dining hall, where they lined up for breakfast and then sat down to eat. After breakfast, they headed back to their bedrooms to get changed into swimming attire because today would promise lots of sun and Taehyung was really fond of swimming. And then they headed out to the swimming pool.

Taehyung was the first to jump in, happily splashing the others as they were standing on the edge of the pool. He surfaced, laughing. Genuinely laughing, which was a rare moment. Jungkook and Jimin jumped in as well, while the rest laid down on one of the beach chairs.

And so they spent their mornings playing in the water and annoying their hyungs. Until Taehyung grew very tired and had to lay down so he didn’t pass out. His cancer was taking a toll on him, and it bothered him. He sighed and closed his eyes, basking in the sun.

Hoseok took Taehyung’s hand and gently rubbed it. “Are you okay?” he asked, looking with worried eyes at the younger male.

Taehyung opened his eyes and looked at Hoseok. “Yeah,” he answered, smiling faintly. “Just tired,” he said. Hoseok knew exactly what that meant and sighed softly. They were silent, Hoseok just rubbing Tae’s hand.

“Hey Taetae, you want to go out for lunch somewhere?” Jimin asked, pulling himself out of the pool and plopping down on the chair beside his friend.

“Yes!” Taehyung said excited, sitting up and brightly smiling. The rest nodded as well, and so they headed off into the city, taking a taxi and then heading out into the centre to search for a nice place to eat lunch. Once found, they sat down and ordered.

“So…” Yoongi started, looking at Taehyung. “How’re you holding up?”

Taehyung swallowed and smiled faintly. “I’m holding up okay,” he said.

Yoongi nodded. “So, we have a surprise for you,” Yoongi said, smiling at him.

“A surprise?”

“Yes. Once we’re back at the hotel, we’ll show you,” Namjoon chirped in.

Taehyung was excited, lunch was served and they ate happily but quietly. Once done, Taehyung decided to pay and they took a taxi back to the hotel.

Hoseok got out a blindfold, which he had been carrying since this morning. He blind folded Taehyung and held his hand. “Do you trust us?” he asked, wrapping his other hand around Taehyung’s shoulders. Taehyung nodded, and they headed into their room. The blindfold was taken off and Taehyung gasped, tears immediately welling up.

His family, consisting of his mom and dad, younger sister and younger brother were standing there, smiling brightly. He hugged him mom, quiet sobs coming from him. He’d missed his family so much, even though he had the other members.

Hoseok smiled, tears welling up in his eyes as well but he swallowed them back. He was glad to see Taehyung so happy, knowing Taehyung needed that. Tomorrow, they’d head back home, and then the happiness would be gone. He felt more tears but quickly wiped them away, smiling happily as Taehyung turned to them.

“Thank you so much!” he chirped excited through the hiccupping and the sobs. Hoseok hugged the younger boy, kissing the top of his head. “I know you needed this,” he said, rubbing his back.

Taehyung nodded and Hoseok wiped his tears away as Taehyung calmed down. He went back to his family, happily chatting away but Hoseok saw the sad expression in Tae’s family. They too knew that soon enough, they wouldn’t have their son anymore.

After having caught up on the most recent events, they headed all out to the dining hall for dinner. Taehyung sat among family, still happily chatting away and playing with his younger siblings. Hoseok took out his phone and filmed it and took a few pictures, as memories and smiled, but with a sad glint. He’d treasure every memory he had, and he was thankful for having the other members around.

Suddenly, Jimin fled from the table and Seokjin rushed after. Hoseok wondered what happened, but stayed seated and looked towards Jungkook, Yoongi and Namjoon who shrugged. Taehyung had noticed too and was now silently watching in the direction Jimin had gone to, wondering what was wrong. He his lips and looked at Hoseok, who shrugged and ate his food.

Jimin eventually came back, followed by Seokjin who just sat down quietly. Jimin stared at his food and decided he wasn’t hungry.

“Are you okay, Jiminie-hyung?” Taehyung asked, worry obvious in his voice.

Jimin looked up at Taehyung and nodded. “We’ll talk later, okay?”

Taehyung nodded.

After dinner, they headed back to their rooms. Taehyung’s family would fly back again this evening, so Taehyung said his goodbyes and waved off his family as they left. He then turned to Jimin.

Jimin sighed and scratched the back of his head. “I’m just really going to miss you. Seeing you this happy with your family made me cry and I didn’t want to cry while everyone was with me, so I went to the bathroom where Seokjin-hyung comforted me.”

Taehyung gulped and wrapped his arms around Jimin. “I’m going to miss you too, Jiminie-hyung,” he said, voice soft and on the verge of breaking. He sighed softly. “But I’ll be watching over you from above,” he said with a soft giggle. This made Jimin laugh, and they continued hugging each other.

“Did you have a fun day?” Jimin asked, looking up at Tae who was looking down.

“Yeah,” Tae said, stepping back and releasing Jimin. “It was great! A great way to end the last few days,” he said with a sad smile. Jimin nodded, then heard Yoongi call for him.

“Stay strong, Taetae. Soon we’ll be home,” Jimin said, turning and leaving to join Yoongi.

Taehyung laid down on his bed and looked up at the ceiling. Soon he would be home, soon he’d be in bed, a doctor making sure that Taehyung would pass away peacefully. And soon, he’d be buried, his friends and family mourning. It was difficult to accept, but he had no choice. Taehyung curled up and closed his eyes, falling asleep.

Hoseok came in and closed the door, seeing Taehyung asleep. He smiled and climbed into bed beside him, then fell asleep.

Next morning, they ate breakfast in silence and packed their stuff before heading to the airport. In the plane, Hoseok decided to film a little tribute to Taehyung while the boy was asleep.

“Dear Taehyung, we will miss you,” he started, tears welling up and he decided to let them go. “But know that, we will always remember you for your kind personality and your bright smiles. For the past few years, we’ve been family and friends. We’ve become closer to each other than I could have ever imagined becoming close to anyone. You will leave us, but you’ll always be with us in our heart,” he said, and stopped recording. He put the phone in his pocket and soon enough, the plane landed, waking up Taehyung and they got out, got all their luggage and headed back to the dorm.