Beauty Next Door (vsoo)

[22]

Taehyung couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened. Everything Jisoo said, every revelation, was beyond anything he ever imagined. He was caught in a whirlwind of emotions, unsure of what to do, lost in the dilemma of how to help her. His mind was a jumbled mess, but nothing compared to the way she had collapsed in his arms earlier.

Now, Taehyung found himself at the hospital, sitting beside her bed, watching her petite form as she peacefully slept, her eyes closed like a sleeping beauty. He never imagined that she, too, would become a mystery he would be drawn to more and more. Each new thing he learned about her only left him more speechless and even more fascinated.

The door opened, and Hoseok stepped out, his gaze full of concern. He raised an eyebrow as he looked at Taehyung, sensing something had happened, but he didn't say anything immediately.

"How is she?" Taehyung asked, his voice betraying the worry that had been gnawing at him.

"She's fine... she's sleeping now," Hoseok replied, his tone calm, though his eyes were questioning Taehyung's obvious distress. He was about to ask more when one of the nurses called him for another patient.

"Stay beside her. When she wakes up, call me," Hoseok instructed before rushing off.

Taehyung walked slowly toward her bed, sitting on the stool beside it. He gently took her hand, his fingers brushing her soft skin as he stroked her hair with his other hand.

"What have you gone through... what kind of mystery are you?" Taehyung muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. "The more I get to know you, the more I'm drawn to you. You think telling me you killed your fiancé will stop me from loving you? No... I will never leave you, not when you need me."

He continued stroking her hair, his fingers soothingly creasing the strands. She looked so calm now, as if she were in a peaceful slumber, the calm before the storm. She seemed fragile, as if one wrong move could break her, but deep down, he knew she was strong. She had always been strong.

"Now when I think about it, I believe you were a victim. You did it to protect yourself. Why didn't you tell anyone? Were you that strong to handle everything on your own? Why did you keep it all inside?" Taehyung continued speaking to her sleeping form, unaware that she couldn't hear him.

She had only revealed half of her story. Everything else was still up to her to tell.

Suddenly, Jisoo jerked in her sleep, her body trembling as though she had experienced a nightmare. Taehyung's heart raced. He quickly held both of her hands down onto the bed, caging her between him and the mattress, trying to calm her.

"Dr. Hoseok! Doctor! Nurse! Someone, help!" Taehyung shouted in a panic, his voice sharp with worry.

Within moments, Dr. Hoseok and a nurse rushed into the room, working quickly to calm Jisoo down. It took an injection to sedate her and stop the trembling. As the nurse left them alone, Hoseok turned to Taehyung, bombarding him with questions.

"What happened? What triggered it?" Hoseok asked, concern written all over his face as he checked Jisoo's pulse.

Taehyung sighed, unsure how to answer. He knew exactly what had triggered her, but he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud.

Before Taehyung could respond, the door opened, and Jimin walked in, his wife beside him and Rowoon in tow. They had all arrived just in time to witness the chaos.

"What happened all of a sudden?" Jimin asked, his gaze flicking between Taehyung and Hoseok, trying to understand what was going on.

"She collapsed after an episode of trauma," Hoseok replied, continuing to check Jisoo's vitals as Jimin's wife held Rowoon close.