Chapter Fourteen

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"For all of the light that I shut out
For all of the innocent things that I doubt
For all of the bruises I've caused in the tears
For all of the things that I've done
All these years, no, yeah
For all the sparks that I stomped out
For all of the perfect things that I doubt

I'll be good, I'll be good
And I'll love the world, like I should
Yeah, I'll be good, I'll be good
For all of the times I never could."



Taehyung looked up at the sky once again, hoping to see the gray ceiling of his own room, but he was greeted not by that familiar image, but by the starry sky that stretched above them. The doctor sighed, then turned his eyes to the man crouched next to him, Jeongguk's eyes also focused on the sky, a scenery he hasn't seen in a while.

Taehyung smiled once he noticed the teenager's bright expression, but as happy as he was for Jeongguk, panic was still gnawing at his insides. He had learned a few hours ago that they weren't very far from headquarters but the forest they were in was unpopulated, and they were hungry. Not to mention how frightened Taehyung was because of the animals that might appear from between the trees after scenting them. At least, Taehyung was frightened, because Jeongguk didn't seem to have a problem with being out in the woods without food and shelter.

On their way to a safer place where they were not exactly enveloped by trees and other dangerous and unknown things, Jeongguk had acted like a magnet for the surrounding animals, some rabbits had even come near him to sniff his bare feet. Taehyung had panicked for a moment because, for all he knew, the sight of them could trigger Jeongguk's memories and his manic episodes but the teenager hadn't reacted. He had continued to laugh happily as if nothing around him was strange—as if he belonged in that forest.

Maybe he did, or so Taehyung thought. Certainly, it was clear that something has changed inside Taehyung because the teenager resting his head on the doctor's shoulder was by no means the same withdrawn and scared one from that isolated room. He was different but Taehyung couldn't decipher if it was because of the sceneries he was seeing after so many years of being isolated from them or because of something else.

"Taehyung?" The teenager spoke, his voice still making Taehyung's whole body shiver.

He's been trying to get him to talk for a while but lately Jeongguk's been doing more of that on his own, which made Taehyung both excited and scared.

The doctor looked down at the teenager next to him in surprise, but Jeongguk wasn't looking at him. His eyes were closed, which made Taehyung's lips curl in a gentle smile that soon disappeared because of a frightening detail he noticed—the teenager's eyes were trembling.

"Jeongguk?" Taehyung shuffled until he was facing Jeongguk, his palms gently touching the teenager's cheeks as he inspected his face and made sure he wasn't having a seizure or hypothermia. He wasn't. Still, his eyes moved under his eyelids and Taehyung realized he's seen that image before, on the day he's been pushed out of the room by Jeongguk—or rather by someone inside Jeongguk. "Jeongguk, look at me, please."

The teenager didn't answer him and the doctor thought that he had given up on what he wanted to say, but when Jungkook suddenly stood up from the ground and stepped away from him, the doctor knew that what he wanted to say was serious. Jeongguk's back was turned to him, the light, white, shirt he was wearing ruffled by the wind caressing their skin. Taehyung wondered if Jeongguk was as cold as him or if the teenager owned some type of cold resistance because, during the time he had rested his head on Taehyung's shoulder, his body felt warm.

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