His Boxy Smiles

Chapter 8

The boys practically burst through the door in toe of their manager.

"Taehyung. Kim Taehyung?" the man had immediately asked once he reached the counter.

"Oh, the zero patient?" the nurse behind it had said before she could even register her insensitiveness.

"What do you mean by zero patient?" the manager asked, extremely offended. "What exactly are you implying, Miss?"

"No- uhm. I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to-"

"He's in the ER," another nurse came to the rescue. "We're very deeply sorry for the offensive comment," she glared at the other then smiled at the group.

"As if that could do anything!" the manager was angry, furious even.

The boys didn't stay to see the manager voice out his anger and complaint towards the nurse. They immediately ran to the ER, hearts pounding hard on their ribcage.

They've been told by the manager that a truck had collided with Taehyung's car and that he suffered a lot of external injuries. The paramedics who had extracted him from the vehicle said that they weren't sure if there were as much internal injuries since Taehyung had directly absorbed the impact of the crash. Hooshik -nim thankfully only injured a leg and suffered from numerous cuts and bruises and a concussion. Taehyung, however, lost too much blood. How? Why? They didn't know. There weren't any details. All they knew was that Taehyung was severely injured enough to be sent to the operating table upon his arrival in the hospital.

What made Taehyung's condition sound even worse was that they had mentioned losing him when they finally got him out of the car. It happened on their way to the hospital in the ambulance as well. Taehyung had practically died twice then came back.

Everytime a nurse passed by, they would try to ask about Taehyung. But they would always be told that the doctors are trying their very best to save their friend.

An hour after their arrival, there were still no news of Taehyung. None at all. By the time the third hour struck, their manager had been too frustrated to talk calmly, without snapping, to anyone in the hospital. He was on to his phone the whole time, keeping the company updated as they went on to control the media. They needed a statement to give to the press soon and clearly, they have no good news to share just yet. Or bad news for that matter.

The manager was shouting at someone through his phone again and the man finally decided to give the boys some peace and quiet by walking further down the corridor.

The entirety of the accident was unknown to them and it didn't make them feel any better. In fact, not knowing anything at all was suffocating. But they would rather know about Taehyung's present condition than stranggle the driver that put their member at such a battle with his life in the first place.

They felt empty. And they were in denial. They were supposed to be back at the dorm with the boy, having their usual chat and maybe even watching movies together. But no, they were in the hospital.

They kept asking themselves questions. Some much more morbid than others but they couldn't help it.

What if Taehyung dies tonight? They wished they could have spent more time with the boy or treated him better. This was what Taehyung must have felt like when they rejected him all those times; lonely, scared and a strong sense of longing, excluding the fear of losing someone to a stupid car accident.

Please let him live. Please give them more time to be with the boy. But how dare they plead like that when they have been waving the boy off for weeks? Wouldn't they deserve to be rub off of the boy's presence? They do. But at least let Taehyung live. It doesn't matter that they aren't granted more time with him. Just let him live because he deserves to live. He's way too young.