BTS IMAGINES AND SCENARIOS

One liter of tears✿⁠(Kim Seokjin/Jin)

Chapter 3 – Diagnosis

The hospital smelled faintly of antiseptic and rain.
Y/n sat between her parents, watching the second hand on the clock tremble toward twelve. Every tick sounded louder than her own heartbeat.

The doctor’s voice was calm, rehearsed.
“We’ve reviewed the scans and tests,” he said, turning the monitor toward them. “Your coordination issues aren’t from stress. It’s a neurological condition. We’ll start therapy right away to manage it.”

Neurological. The word spun inside her head like a marble in a jar. She nodded, pretending to understand, pretending the word didn’t sound like a sentence.

Her mother’s hands were clasped together, white-knuckled. Her father asked careful questions about treatments and timelines. Y/n just stared at the patterns on the floor tiles. They looked like rivers branching out, endless and unreachable.

Outside, the corridor hummed with footsteps and vending machines. Y/n excused herself, saying she needed some air.

She didn’t cry until she reached the stairwell. Not loud sobs—just quiet, uneven breaths.

That’s where Seokjin found her later that afternoon.
He had come by to return her notes, but the look on her face stopped him.
“Y/n,” he said softly, as if her name itself might break.

She wiped her cheeks quickly. “Guess I really should stop skipping breakfast, huh?”

He didn’t answer. He simply handed her a bottle of water and sat beside her on the step. They sat like that for a long time, not speaking. The silence was heavy but safe, like a blanket thrown over two trembling hearts.

When she finally looked up, she managed a small, crooked smile. “You don’t have to stay.”

“I know,” he said. “That’s why I am.”

That night, she watched raindrops crawl down her window. The city lights blurred into soft halos. For the first time, the future felt like a fog she couldn’t see through.

She opened her notebook again, the same one with Keep moving forward written at the top.
Under it, she added another line:
Even if my steps slow down.