𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐍 | ✓

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟖

Naira didn't think in a hundred years would she have to stand in the hallway of a place filled with the smell of antiseptics and bleach. Her thin dress barely protected her body from the coldness of the hospital.

As much as her body hurt, she couldn't care about anything other than the dull, screaming agony brewing inside her. This was not the first time she came to a hospital to pay the bills of an orphan. But the orphan she came for this time, was one that owned every inch of her heart.

Her only love.

Jimin.

Naira silently cried to herself in front of the door of his hospital room, trying her best not to break down in the face of public. She prayed and prayed to every God of every religion she had heard of; at least one would answer her and protect her love from the paws of the evil fate.

She has been standing for 4 hours now, empty stomach since the sunrise. She didn't know what happened to Jimin, and didn't know what was happening behind the closed door. The anticipation was far worse than anything she had felt before.

First, she finds him unconscious on the rooftop. Second, she finds him screaming in pain until he passed out in his home. Why was it all happening, she wanted answers. So she knocked on the gates of the hospital.

Half an hour more ticks by in dreadfulness, and a tap on Naira's shoulder makes her flinch and turn around. "Miss, you're with the patient Park Jimin, right?" The doctor asked her and she immediately nodded her head as she began to cry. "Yes, yes I am. How is he? Is he okay? Can I meet him?"

The doctor's lips stretched to a smile, but it was so different from the smiles we show to kids, to loved ones, to kind people. It was a smile we show to people we pity.

And it tugged at her heart so bitterly.

"Miss, I'm really sorry to say this, but the patient.. Park Jimin.. didn't make it."

"W-What...?"

What? What did he mean by that? What did 'he didn't make it' mean? What happened to him? What was wrong in the first place? Million questions hit inside her skull at once. Her bewildered gaze lingered at the doctor, seeking for a better explanation.

"Park Jimin has been suffering from a deadly brain tumour growing in the centre of his brain for years now. As per the test results, he never seemed to have taken any precautions, any previous surgeries, any medications to try and save himself. You brought him to us in a very critical situation, miss. We tried our best, but we couldn't help him out. We were late."

No

Naira's breath halted in her lungs, her vision going blurry. This cannot be happening, no.

Her entire body went limp and her legs began quivering. All her strength, all of her life faded away and she turned ghastly pale, her heart dropping down to her feet. What kind of news is this?

Jimin... passed away?

'No no no, no. No this isn't true. This can't be true.'

"What do you mean, doctor? Are you just.. pranking me? Tell me already it's a joke. Tell me I can go meet him and he'll be better off without any sickness. Tell me!" Naira grabbed the collar of the doc, her rage and confusion taking over her mind and body.

The doctor saw the ache, saw the shock she was going through. So he didn't say anything. He let her drag him, let her cry, let her yell at him. The news was not something she expected to hear, ever.

This isn't heartbreak, this is murder.

'How can this happen?! How can Jimin leave me alone!'

Naira finally broke in tears, her weak body crashing against the cold floor in misery. News of Jimin's demise was too heavy for her, no part of her being able to accept the fact. This was too bad to be real. Too bad to be real.

This was too painful to be real...

'Y/n.'

'Isn't it time to call you, "best friend" ?'

────

Standing under the dark sky, Naira drowned herself in her thoughts, her soul being blown away from her by the cold, gushing wind. Although time was ticking nonstop, it felt frozen to her. Her entire being was numb.

She has been standing outside since evening, and now the clock ticked 11:15.

For about 45 minutes, no sound was heard except that of the wind. Only then Naira heard hurried footsteps behind her, followed by exhausted pants.

Naira didn't have to turn around to make from the pants who the person was.

"Jimin passed away."

"...What?"

Giving Y/n no scope to calm her breath down after the run, Naira hit her with the hardest shock, and the clock struck 12.

"What did you say?" Y/n stepped closer to her friend, heartbeat thumping in her ears as a shiver ran down her spine. "Jimin passed away," so ruthlessly Naira just repeated her words, not saying anything more or less.

Frustration was growing vigorously inside her, "What do you fucking mean, Naira?!" She raised her voice, walking up to her and turning her around harshly. Naira's wrath couldn't stay hidden anymore, and she lashed out at her friend, "I mean if you were considerate enough to fucking come and love him back, he wouldn't be there now! All you care about is money?! Do you not at all care about the guy who loved you so much, till his last breath, screaming your name whenever he was in pain?!"

Naira's words left Y/n speechless, tears gradually welling up in her eyes.

"He longed for you everyday! He thought of you all the time! Always walking to your empty locker and staying there! Always staying with that damn chain of yours!!" She pushed Y/n, making her stumbled backwards. "He didn't love me back because he loved you! He never smiled, never lived after you left! Are you happy now?!"

Y/n tethered her body, the weight of the sky suddenly falling on her. 'Jimin.. passed away? He gave me back my chain and.. left the world?' Realisations sharper than a sword sliced through her, a painful hit to her heart silencing her.

A huge feeling of regret engulfed her heart, and she finally broke down. But she knew, no matter how much she cried now, she wouldn't get him back. She couldn't believe the person she knew very well passed away. The person who made her smile even when he wasn't around passed away. The person she loved so secretly.. passed away.

Shattered ‐ That's what her life felt like at the moment. Pieces everywhere, but each had the name of Jimin only.

Darkness - That's all she could see with her bloodshot eyes, swallowing her up inch by inch in immense depth every second.

Her vulnerable figure stumbled backwards, being hit by every memory, one by one. Her tears glinted under the moonlight, her pain resurfacing in her broken appearance.

Oh how bad she wanted to be with Jimin at that moment.

Jimin, Jimin, Jimin, that was everything now.

"Jimin," her broken voice uttered in a whisper, gloomy eyes glued to the chain in her hand.

My chain...

"I love you, Jimin.. Oh my god, I love you so much..."

'I love you more, Y/n.. I love you my baby.'

THE END