Of Peaches and Blues

Peach Buns

The endless beeping sound of the heart monitor woke Park Jimin up. No, it's not the sun directly shining onto his closed eyelids. Nor is it the usual wake up call he got every morning. Park Jimin. A 21 year old young man with smiles brighter than the sun itself, and heart as soft as freshly fallen snow. Park Jimin is a softie. He's also born blind. Never has he seen the different hues of oranges on sunset. Nor the beautiful baby blue adorning the bright summer sky. Park Jimin is born blind and he learned to deal with it.

"Morning darling." A voice said.

This erratic breathing pattern, the soft rubber shoes colliding with the wooden floor, the clinking of metal and glass.

"Good morning to you too, Nurse Kim," Jimin greeted cheerfully as he smiled towards the elderly woman. "Who is the person with me right now?" He asked. How'd he knew? The breathing, the scent, and of course, the heart monitor gave it all up. It was beeping pretty loudly.

"Oh, he will be your new room mate. His name is Min Yoongi, age 23, a pretty successful writer, I might say." She said as she gave Jimin a glass of warm milk. Jimin thanked her and she smiled at him.

"Why is he here?" He asked as he sipped on the warm milk.

"The poor young man fainted. Probably from exhaustion and malnutrition." She said. "Maybe you could make friends with him. It's been a pretty long time since you're rooming with someone else,dear." She said. "I'll be putting your change of clothes here." She said as she took Jimin's right hand and guides it to a pile of freshly washed tshirt and shorts.

"Thank you so much I'll wash up soon." Jimin said as he reached out to the table beside him. Placing the empty cup soundly.

"As usual, call me when you need me okay, dear." She said lovingly as she ruffled Jimin's hair.

"Will do, will do." Jimin said as he flashed her a smile.

Jimin stood up and he took a deep breath. He lightly tapped his cheeks and he smiled. There's no use on mourning over his fate. He's born this way. There's a big chance that he's going to die this way as well. The only thing he could do was just trying to be as positive as he could be.

Jimin took 10 steps to the right. Then he turned left and walked straight for precisely 15 steps. He reached out and he felt the familiar chill from the cold metal door handle. He opened it and washed himself up.

Being blind from the very first day he was born, Jimin has done an extremely good job in maintaining himself. He learned on how to differentiate conditioner from shampoo according to their texture. He learned to make sure that he's not wearing his shirt the other way around. On a familiar environment, Jimin is pretty sure he could take care of himself well.

Jimin took a short bath, he washed his face and he brushed his teeth. He checked his shirt and shorts, putting it on slowly and carefully. He made sure to look presentable, at least, before he stepped out of the bathroom. Jimin opened the door slowly, trying to minimize the creaking sound of the door, careful not to wake his room mate.

He took a step outside and realized there was something wrong. His new room mate was awake. He could hear the rustling sound of the blankets, his room mate seemed to be breathing louder too. He turned his head towards the source of the sound.

"What are you looking at, kid." A gruff voice said. Jimin was pretty sure at that time that nurse Kim had lied to him. There's no way that that voice belonged to a 23 year old.

"Um, hi," Jimin smiled. "My name is Park Jimin. I will be your room mate during your stay in this hospital." Jimin smiled.

"I don't need to know. I won't be here for long anyway." Yoongi said. His voice was rough. Jimin noticed that the man sounded irritated. Yoongi dragged his IV drip along with him as he walked towards the bathroom. Jimin stayed still. With Yoongi walking around, he wasn't sure where to go to not bump onto the other.