Trigger Warning
Chapter 33:
"Y/N, we have arrived." Jin called your name, waking you up from your sleep. You didn't realize you fell asleep all throughout the way to Busan, it was to be expected, since you didn't get to sleep that much that night. You took all your belongings and got off the train. Jin called for a taxi and you both entered the vehicle.
"Busan Hospital please." He told the taxi driver. Hearing the word hospital made you wonder why you needed to go to the hospital. You turned to Jin's direction, attempting to ask about it, but decided against it and you kept your mouth shut.
The ride on the way to the hospital was silent, neither you nor Jin attempted to start a conversation, nor even turn to look at each other. Jin stared outside the window the whole time, while you sat on your spot, fidgeting, not knowing what to do. You just hoped for the best, hoping everything you're thinking were all wrong.
You arrived at the hospital and got off the cab. Jin paid for the taxi and got off as well. You let Jin lead the way as you walk behind him, just following him wherever he goes. He went to the nurses station and talked to one of the nurses.
"Which room is Jeon?" You heard Jin ask the nurse. The young nurse smiled at Jin and volunteered to take us there. Jin signaled you to follow them and you unwillingly complied.
Every step you took gets heavier and heavier, it was suffocating you inside, you were having trouble breathing. You were hoping for the best, you were hoping it was nothing serious, you were hoping this was all just a prank orchestrated by Jungkook. You hoped this was all just a joke, and maybe a surprise was waiting for you inside. You told yourself you will forgive Jungkook, no matter how sickening of a joke this was, as long as it wasn't anything worse.
The nurse stopped by the room 420 and bowed to you and Jin before leaving. Jin held your hand and gave you a smile, his way of calming you down. He knows you've been anxious the whole day, and you definitely needed his comfort. You tried your best to reciprocate the smile he gave you. You let out a deep breath as Jin turns the knob and opens the door. You closed your eyes, hoping, for the last time, that everything is fine. You wished it would forever stay closed, maybe then you wouldn't have to see the view before you.
You opened your eyes, and you see a lone man lying on his bed, a needle stuck in his left hand, with a dextrose hanging on the metal beside his bed. He groaned, waking up from the sound of the door and sat back up.
"Oh Jin, you're here." Jungkook greeted Jin with a faint smile. You scanned him all over his body, and you noticed he lost a lot of weight, he got thinner, his round cheeks are no longer evident. His once rosy lips now as pale as the patient gown he was wearing. The dark circles under his eyes were also visible, possibly caused by lack of sleep. It has only been three days since you last saw him, but the changes are noticable. You covered your mouth in shock
His eyes wandered off to you, his eyes widened as he yelled, "Wait, why is Y/N here with you?! Why is she here?! I specifically told you not to tell her!"
Jin looked at you in guilt before walking closer to Jungkook, "Jungkook, calm down. I- I'm sorry." Jin apologized in a low voice as he tried to console him. He shoved Jin's hand away without averting his eyes from you.
"Why are you here?! Didn't you tell me you didn't want to see me?! Didn't you say you don't want me near you ever again? So why? Why are you here?!" He spat, he was shouting at you, but it wasn't out of anger, it felt more like he was grieving inside.
"J-Jungkook. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for everything I've said. I didn't mean any of that. I was so selfish, I was mad..." You cried as you approached him, you held his hand softly, he felt uneasy with your touch and turned to the opposite direction. "Listen to me please."
He brushed your hand away and yelled, "No, go away! I don't want you here!"
"Jungkook, hear her out. She came all the way here because she cares about you. Today is the day of her exam but she's here! She didn't take her exam for you because she wants to see you. I didn't even force her to come, she wanted to come on her own." Jin defended you calmly. Jungkook looked at you in surprise, "Y-you ditched your exam for me? But why?! I thought you said your exam was more important than anything?! Why did you ditch them for me?!"
You started to tear up, you bit your lower lip to try to stop the tears from falling, but failed. "It's because I love you!" You confessed. Jungkook's mouth dropped open slightly hearing your confession. "M-me?"
"You mean to me more than anything! I don't care about any damn exams, I don't care about anything else, I'll drop anything in a heartbeat just to find you... Just to tell you I love you." You continued as you sobbed harder. Jungkook's eyes started to water as he looked at you.
"I didn't tell her anything, I just told her you were in Busan and she decided to tag along with me, even with just that little amount of information. That's how much she loves you, Jungkook. I didn't tell her because she needs to hear it from your mouth, not from me. So tell her..." Jin stated in a serious tone, Jungkook looked over to him before looking at you. He looked at you in sorrow, tears streaming down his face, and muttered,
"I-I'm... I'm dying."
'You're lying.' You thought to yourself.
It can't be true, right? After all, he has been nothing but healthy for the past months. You twi have just spent the last months hanging out with each other, you were busy having fun, you had a few fights here and there but you never once caught signs of him dying. How could he be dying?
"There's... There's something in my head... It's been here for a year now. The doctors couldn't figure out what it was and couldn't find a cure. Last night, the doctor told me I only have less than a week to live." He managed to let out a smile in between his sobs. You shook your head repeatedly, doubting every word he said, uttering "No, no, no" nonstop.
"Stop kidding, Jungkook. This is not funny. Tell me it's just a joke. I swear, I'll forgive you if this is just a prank if you tell me now. Please. Please. This has got to be a joke. Please." You pleaded, your voice cracking as you tried to laugh it off. Jungkook didn't respond and just stared at you as his tears flow down.
You turned to Jin, you grabbed his shirt aggressively, asking, "Jin, please, tell Jungkook to stop this! Tell me you're a part of this too! Tell me it's just all a bad joke!"
Jin didn't turn to look at you, his eyes stuck on the floor as a tear escaped his eye, "I-I'm sorry."
That was when you realized... It was true after all. The looks on their faces didn't show a hint of lie. It was pure grief and sorrow. You turned your head back to Jungkook, tears were still welling down to his chin, you cupped his cheek as you wipe his tear away, "No... No... Jungkook. It can't... be... Why didn't you tell me earlier? If you had told me earlier, maybe we could've... We could've done more things. We could've- I could've-"
You couldn't continue what you were saying since you had a hard time breathing, you sniffed, trying to stop the tears from flowing any further. He took the hand you used to hold his cheeks and held it gently.
"I... I didn't tell you because I didn't want to get you through underhanded means. I didn't want you to like me back just because I'm sick. Just because I'm dying..."
"You didn't need to worry about that! Healthy or not, I will love you and I always will. I lied about not loving you, pride just took over me that's why I said that... And I regretted saying that... Every second of my life, I wanted to kill myself knowing you're out there somewhere suffering by yourself. And it hurts even more knowing I'm the cause of your pain. I'm so sorry, Jungkook." You held on to his dress, sobbing on his chest. He patted you in the head before pushing you gently to meet his face.
"When you told me you didn't love me, I was hurt... But more than the pain I felt in my chest, I was relieved. Because then, I could leave this world without any regrets. I could leave this world knowing you won't be hurt. That's why I could accept my fate. I didn't care if I died. But seeing you right now..." He paused momentarily as tears cascaded down his cheeks. "Makes me want to live for a few more days... a few more months... a few more years... So why? Why did you have to come?"
You pulled him into a hug, he sobbed on your shoulders as he held you back. "Don't worry, I'm here now. I won't leave you alone anymore. You've been fighting this all alone for a year, but don't worry now. I'm gonna carry your burden along with you. We're gonna fight this together."
Jin moved away from the two of you, giving you two a bit of privacy as you two cry your eyes out. Just then, the door swings open, revealing two figures entering the room. You two didn't care to turn to look at the two people, instead continued being comfortable in each other's arms.
"Jungkook, what is she doing here?!" Mrs. Jeon called out his attention, causing you two to pull away from each other. You stood up and faced Mrs. Jeon and bowed. You knew she hated you and you never talked back to her and showed her unconditional respect.
"And you have the gall to show your face around here? How dare you!" She screamed at you angrily, Mr. Jeon came to her side, asking her to stop. You didn't move an inch, keeping your body bent in front of her.
"Mom, please, don't... It's not her fault..." You hear Jungkook plead to his mom.
"Well whose fault do you think it is why you're like this?! If it weren't for this girl just idling around, you wouldn't have gotten hit in the head!" She snapped back at Jungkook. She turned to look at you, "You! It's all your fault why my son is in this condition! If you had just stayed in your place that time, none of this would've happened!"
You slowly stood back up, confused as to why his mom is blaming you. Suddenly, events from last year's football game entered your mind. You suddenly realized, everything was your fault. You turned to look at Jungkook, your eyes still red from all the crying, now wider than before. Your heart started beating fast, it all makes sense now. You recall the moments when Jungkook would open his mouth but wouldn't say something, you recall that time when you hit him in the head and he told you he hated it, you recall that moment he was benched the whole football game, you recall that time he told you he'd be hospitalized. How could you have not noticed?
"Do you understand now?! You're the cause of my son's suffering. That injury on his head that caused his condition to be like this! If Jungkook hadn't protected you that time... Maybe he'd be..." Mrs. Jeon closed her eyes as she teared up. Her husband hugged her tight to comfort her.
"If I hadn't protected her that time, yeah, maybe I'd be healthy right now. But she... She could've died that time! She wasn't even wearing a helmet, she could've died on the spot. And if she died right in front of my eyes, knowing I could've done something to prevent that, I don't know how I'd be able to take it... I could've died along with her! Mom, I love her... I'm willing to give up everything for her. Even my life. I'd give everything just to see her smile. You see, I've been nothing but shit to her, but still, she is here right now and forgave me for everything. She continued loving me despite everything. My life is a small price to pay for everything I've put her through... You've been through so much Y/N. I'm sorry." Jungkook apologized for the thousandth time as he looked at you, crying.
You looked straight into his eyes, your eyes scrunching as tears began falling again, "I- It's all my fault. Jungkook... If I weren't there that time-"
Jungkook pulled you into a hug and spoke, "It's not your fault! It was my decision to protect you, and never have I ever regretted that decision. I've done a lot of stupid things in the past, but protecting you was the best decision I've ever made in my entire life. I'm lucky I got to see your face again after that. I'm happy I got to see you smile."
You cried harder in his arms, the whole room was filled with nothing but cries. Jungkook's parents were crying in each other's arms and Jin sobbed quietly in the corner. It felt like eternity, it felt like in just a span of an hour, you cried half of your tears away.
To be continued.
A/N: sorry for abruptly cutting it here, I needed a break, that and, I realized it reached 2k words already, it would be too long if I continue here. I'll be updating as soon as possible. Thank you again for reading up to this far