FORGOTTEN

CHAPTER 9

The members sat quietly at the dinner table. The normally lively group barely ate anything and avoided any subject other than making things up to Jimin. And therein lay the problem. No one had any idea how to go about doing it.

"I'm going to spend the morning at the hospital," Joon offered as he put his dinner plate in the sink. "I found a great movie that I'm sure he'll love.

"Why don't you take Tae hyung with you," JK suggested. "I can go with Suga hyung, and Hobi hyung can go with Jin. hyung." 

"Why would-" Joon started. 

"This all started because we all had our heads so far up each other's asses that we forgot about Jimin. When we first started out, aside from wanting to be here because of Joon hyung, when I saw how talented Jimin hyung was, I knew I wanted to be a part of BTS. I admired him so much." Tears began to run down JK's face. "I love you guys, but I really want to show Jimin hyung we love him just as much as we love each other." He bolted from the dining room. The sound of a door slamming echoed through the house.

"I'll go check on him," Tae hurried off.

"For being such a kid, Kook really does get this." Suga chuckled to himself. "I wasn't sure how I felt about Chim when I first met him. He was way too energetic for my tastes, but there was something about them that just made me feel better when I felt down. Hobi may energize me when I need it, but when I was an emotional mess, Chim always made me feel better."

"I fell in love with his energy the first time I met him," Jin smiled at the memory. "I just wanted to gather him in my arms and protect him from everything." Jin's voice broke, and he began to sob. 

"I know the feeling," Suga nodded.

"The only problem is now he has to be protected from me!" Jin sobbed, and Hobi hugged the eldest. 

"I remember the first time I saw him dance. He left everything out on the practice room floor. I was so jealous of him, but not in a bad way. I was and still am fascinated by the way his body moves, how he teases the audience. He draws them in and won't let them go. Just like he did us," Hobi smiled as he comforted Jin. "I just wanted to be half as graceful as he was. I don't know if I ever told him this, but when I go see him at the hospital, I'm going to tell him." Joon looked at the others, stunned by their admissions. 

"When I first met Chim," Joon cleared his throat. "He scared the hell out of me." 

"What the hell?" Suga cackled.

"I'm serious," Joon insisted. 

"Dude, he was a fetus back then! How could someone so tiny strike fear into the great Rap Monster?" Suga laughed as RM cringed at his previous moniker. 

"Chim is tiny, but he has big energy. Somehow when he walks into a room, he commands the attention of everyone there. I spent the first week wondering how I was supposed to lead someone like him!" Joon ran a hand through his hair. "I remember after one rehearsal, I was so frustrated, and I stayed behind when you guys went outside for a break. I was beating myself up over my lack of leadership abilities. Chim came in looking for me. He heard me ranting and raving, and he sat me down to tell me I was a great leader, and we would be a great group because we worked so well together. I can't imagine not having him in my life to encourage me. How did we mess this up so badly?" The last vestiges of control broke, and Joon joined Jin in sobbing.

"I get it," Suga sighed. "But crying about it won't make things better. Cry tonight, but tomorrow we need to get it together and fix what we fucked up. I'm heading to bed." He left the three behind and headed to shower. It wasn't that he didn't feel bad for the other members, but he did understand that crying wasn't going to do anyone any good.

-----

It had been an hour since the six members of BTS left Jimin's hospital room. Ji-hoon knew Jimin was alone, but he was having trouble bringing himself to go in and sit with him. Oh, he knew he was being silly. Thirteen nights he'd held Jimin's hand. Thirteen nights he'd watched the rise and fall of his chest. Thirteen nights he'd worried the beautiful man might never wake up.

"Sir," a nurse approached him. "Sir, you are Ji-hoon-ssi?"  

"I am; why?" 

"Sir, Mr. Park is asking for you-" the words scarcely left the nurse's mouth then Ji-hoon was off in a panicked sprint back to Jimin's room. He'd never forgive himself if anything happened to the beautiful man. 

"Jimin-ah?" The man called out, breathless, chest heaving. "Are you okay?" 

"Ji-hoon hyung, Jimin smiled. "I'm sorry if I scared you. I just asked the nurses who had stayed with me these past weeks. They said you never left my side at night. Is that true?" Ji-hoon swallowed hard and nodded. 

"The hospital gave me special permission to stay with you." the elder explained.

"I thank you, hyung," Jimin smiled at the man. "It must have been awful for you to have to do that."

"Not at all!" Ji-hoon shook his head. "I held your hand and hoped you would wake up. I couldn't wait for your eyes to open." Tears began to flow down the manager's face. Jimin's eyes grew wide.

"Why?" he gasped. "Why are you crying?" Ji-hoon took Jimin's hand in his own and dropped to his knees. He buried his face in the mattress and sobbed loudly. 

"Regrets," Ji-hoon choked out. "So many regrets!" the pain in Ji-hoon's voice was overwhelming, and Jimin maneuvered himself in the bed to be able to embrace the manager.

"I'm sorry if I've done something to hurt you. It seems as if that's all I'm good for lately. You don't need to stay any longer. I'm sure there's somewhere you'd rather be." He pulled his hand from J-hoon's grasp and turned away from the sobbing man. 

"No! No! You don't understand." Ji-hoon fairly yelled. "Please don't send me away like this." he wrapped his arm around Jimin, nearly climbing into the hospital bed with the young man. Jimin froze at the sudden contact, and for a long time, neither man moved.