Stay With Me (SWM #1) | A Taekook Series

18) catching up

"Gguk," I call out softly, pushing open the hospital room door. Jeongguk is lying on the bed, his right foot is rested on a stool beside his bed, wrapped in a black splint. Pilon fracture, I recognize.

"Taehyung?" Jeongguk asks in a low, tired voice. He lifts his head a bit as I walk inside, closing the door behind me.

"Jeongguk-ah," I sit beside him, biting my lower lip. Thousands of questions and emotions run through my head but I don't say a word.

"You met Ji-Woo?" He asks. There are a couple of cuts on his face. I nod, and at that, his doe eyes light up and he smiles. "Mission successful!" He squeals. A lump forms in my throat and I clutch the bedcover with my hand. I can't meet his eyes.

"I'm so s-sorry. This all happened cause of me and, a-and I just sat there and let y-you do everything-"

Jeongguk grabs my hand. Tears roll down my cheek.

"Tae, look at me." He runs his thumb over the back of my hand. "It's not your fault. I know it's really easy to say this but still. You don't need to feel guilty for all this." When I still don't look at him, his hand connected to the IV drip comes forward. He tucks his finger under my chin and lifts my face.

"Don't cry- Ugh Taehyung-ah! I went there, got Ji-Woo back, and even got fractured. Are you gonna welcome me back like this?" He juts his lower lip out, pouting like a baby.

"No..."

"Good boy," He laughs. This time when he touches me, to wipe my tears, I don't stiffen. I let his thumb gently stroke off my tears and my pain. There's a short pause of silence before I speak.

"So...what happened to Changmin?"

"Oh yes! I'll tell you exactly what happened there," He tries to sit up properly but ends up flinching in pain.

"Careful Gguk," I set up a pillow behind him and help him lean on it, and then he starts.

"So I reached there with two other people with me. Seungmin and Hyunjin. Those two snuck inside the building into the records room while I kept Changmin busy. The guy hadn't touched Ji-Woo and looked pretty scared himself. It was like he was following someone's orders and doing wrong stuff for the first, if that makes sense." Jeongguk takes a sip of water and continues, but all I can think of is his hand sitting on top of mine.

"Before I could even read the contract he had, their security system started beeping. Hyunjin and Seungmin got caught. Then we had a fight. I untied Ji-Woo and we somehow managed to escape." He finished.

"Vague. This is so vague." I say, deep in thought. "But...Dae-Hyun's gonna get mad-"

"Those two found proof in the record room, Tae." Jeongguk gives me a bright smile, squeezing my hand.

"Really!? What is it?"

"They found a contract between Gyeong Supplies and a terrorist group," Jeongguk explains. "I can't tell you the name though," He adds.

"Yeah, it's fine." I let out a sigh, shutting my eyes in relief.

"We're gonna expose them bad, mwahaha!" Jeongguk smirks like a mean teenager, making me laugh.

"How's your foot?" I ask suddenly, averting my gaze to his leg with the splint.

"It fucking hurts so much Taehyung, I thought I was gonna die." Jeongguk breathes out.

"Hmm?" I say, concern lacing my words. I observe the splint. It's gonna take six to seven weeks until he can even walk properly. I don't say anything out loud. But when I return my gaze towards Jeongguk, he's smiling. Smiling mischievously.