Holding On To You | k.th + j.hs

Cut It Short

Somewhere in the distance, a boy cries. It's muffled sobs mixed with screams calling for help. Taehyung runs around aimlessly, trying to find the boy who's voice sounds so familiar.

So far away.

He doesn't stop running until he can't breathe. Until he can't catch his breath. He sighs as the cries become more distant. But he doesn't give up.

      After what seems like years of running, worrying, anticipation, and overall fear, Taehyung finally reaches the crying boy with a sigh of relief.

Though, he's still so far away.

Too far from Taehyung's grasp. He can't reach out to him. He can't even hold on to him to be able to let him go...

      The boy has a cord wrapped around his neck. It's strangling him, yet, it's giving him life. Caught in between the midst of life and death, the boy continues to struggle. He can't breathe, yet his eyes are full of life. A smile spreads across his face at the sight of Taehyung, his hero.

      The boy reaches an arm out to him. Out to Taehyung. It's as if he's asking for a handshake. But as Taehyung gets a closer look, he realizes the boy is holding something out to him. He holds it out to Taehyung, wanting him to take it from him.

A knife.

      He points at the knife with his empty hand, then at the cord around his neck. He wants Taehyung to cut it. He wants to be set free.

Taehyung feels the ground move beneath him, shifting so he's right next to the boy. He locks eyes with him and they tell him a million things at once.

       Without hesitation, Taehyung grabs the weapon from the boy who is gasping for air, yet breathing fine. He grabs the tight cord in his hand and begins sawing away at it with the knife. His surroundings are dark, so he doesn't know if he's hurting the boy or not. By the time he finishes, he realizes he's left many cuts on the boy's neck, as well as his own hand.

Blood drips down his pale skin.

      The cord falls to the ground. The boy gasps for air, but it doesn't come. He begins to choke. He can't breath. He's dying. Right in front of Taehyung's eyes.

And it's all Taehyung's fault.

All because he cut the cord.

Though, is it really Taehyung's fault?

      The boy was suffering. He wanted to be cut free. Taehyung had done what he had wished for. He cut the cord. He set him free. But freedom requires a little suffering.

      Taehyung watches as the boy falls to the ground, eyes distant and teary, hands cold and stiff.

He's dead,

But he's free.

       Free from the cords and machines. Free from the medicines and treatments. All because Taehyung cut the cord.

      He ended the boy's suffering. This was his way of letting him go.

     
Taehyung shot up in bed. Awake. His eyes slowly adjust to the darkness of his bedroom as he wipes the sweat off his forehead. It was all a nightmare. That's all it's ever been in the first place. It was simply just a bad dream. He rubs his eyes as he climbs out of bed.

      Ever since Hoseok's first major trip to the hospital, Taehyung has been worried about the boy's death. He often wonders how long he has to live. How long they have together...

How many years.

Months.

Weeks.

Days.

Hours.

Minutes.

Seconds.

How long before he has to say goodbye.

It saddens Taehyung to think about, so he tries to clear his mind. That isn't possible. At least, not for him.

      The rest of the night, Taehyung lay awake, thinking about the day in which he will have to let Hoseok go. The day he'll have to "cut the cord."

He hopes that day is far away.

       He dreads the day in which it will come. So until then, he'll hold onto Hoseok. Tighter and tighter with each day, holding on until one of them will have to let go.