The Villainess (Kim Taehyung ff)

☆ Chapter 2 ☆

Y/n flicked through the channels on the TV, which was hanging from the ceiling in front of her bed. She rarely used it. She much preferred the books that Yu-jin would sometimes bring her, or she preferred sleeping so she would feel less weak. At the moment, y/n was flipping between cartoons, some dull crime show reruns, and old movies. She had learned that there was nothing worth watching on hospital television. In the beginning, y/n was interested in the TV channel called "Animal Planet" because she always admired nature. But when it started regularly showing lions killing animals, she stopped watching it. She had heard enough—endless talking about blood, flesh, and tears; death was all around the hospital all the time, which made her lose hope in her own life.

"Sweetie, I've got some news for you." Yu-jin came in after lunch, as y/n was feeling drowsy from both her medications and the meal, which her body was trying to digest. It was getting harder now, making her more and more exhausted.

"Is it that I've got a week to live?" Y/n made this joke often; but only she found it amusing..

"Hush, don't be so negative-minded." Yu-jin shakes her head, moving to the foot of her bed. "I got permission for you to go outside."

"Wait- seriously?" Y/n nearly bolted upright at the words. She had literally dreamed of being in the garden again, just being able to surround herself with calming nature. "When? Yu-jin, when?"

"Calm down; don't get too excited or they'll change their minds." Yu-jin checked her monitors, her lips screwed into a twist on the side of her mouth. "You have to wear a surgical mask, be on oxygen, and you'll be in a wheelchair, of course. But, it's supposed to be a beautiful day, so the doctors thought some fresh air and sunlight might do you some good for once."

At the end of her sentence, a well-timed patient care assistant entered the room with a folded-up wheelchair. Another man just behind him brought in a portable tank of oxygen for Y/n, the tubes for her nose in his other hand. Y/n grinned at her favorite nurse as excitement seeped from her face. Yu-jin happily gathered the hospital robe and helped y/n to put it on. After it was secured, y/n was aided by the patient care assistant and Yu-jin into the wheelchair to be hooked up to the oxygen. A surgical mask was placed over her face once everything was ready. Even though her face was covered, her eyes showed how brightly she was smiling.

The patient care assistants allowed Yu-jin to wheel y/n outside of the hospital, saying one of them would wait in the lobby for their return. Y/n was just about to lose it when they started down the pathway towards the blooming garden scenery. She could smell the roses and cherry blossoms around her nostril tubes and see the flapping butterflies. Yu-jin explained that the grass had just been mowed, but it was obvious from the smell surrounding them. Y/n didn't mind; she loved it because it completely overrode the hospital scent to which she'd become accustomed.

"Go into the garden, please? I want to see the flowers." Y/n indicated exactly where she wanted to go with a pale finger. It was a shaded area near the hedges and one large oak tree. Next to the oak tree, there was a line of cherry blossoms on both sides of the footpath, which was made of stone and about two meters wide. Yu-jin gladly brought her over, parking y/n in front of some rose bushes, under cherry blossom trees. At that moment, Yu-jin's phone rang, so she excused herself for a moment from y/n. She was all too happy to steal a moment alone.
Y/n delicately touched the petals of the rose bushes; they were a lovely pink. She pulled back to study the tulips growing near the ground, nicked her thumb on the thorns of the pesky roses. A few beads of blood dripped from her thumb and onto the grass, but she didn't mind at all. Behind her, Yu-jin was chatting with someone—probably her husband—so y/n took the brakes off her wheelchair and continued on the path. Nobody said she wasn't allowed to wheel herself, even though she suspected she wasn't supposed to. So she wheeled her wheelchair along the stone pathway, which had cherry blossoms on both sides of it, while looking around.