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

Birthday

"-Happy birthday to you!" The room sang as everyone cheered.

      Hoseok just sat there awkwardly with a small smile. In the blink of an eye, there was cake being smashed onto the boy's face as everyone laughed and smiled. So far, everything was going great. Then again, it was only 9:37AM. The day had just begun.

      The room only consisted of seven people. Seven boys to be exact. There was Hoseok and Taehyung, and then their five other friends; Namjoon, Jin, Yoongi, Jimin, and Jungkook. They all showered Hoseok with gifts as everyone took a seat around the hospital bed. Hoseok grabbed a napkin and wiped the cake off his face.

"How have you been? We haven't seen you in a while," the boy named Jin asked.

"I've been okay. Sick here and there, but I'm still alive," Hoseok said with a shrug and a smile.

"We heard that you got into a fight," Jungkook whispered, wanting to hear all about it.

"Not me. Taehyung and some older kid. But in my opinion, Taehyung won," Hoseok grinned. Taehyung smiled and stared down at his lap. He hadn't been so happy in such a long time.

"How's the new medicine?" Yoongi asked. There was a pause.

"I don't know. I don't know if it's working. I don't know what it's doing. But hopefully it's making me better," Hoseok smiled.

"Well it doesn't hurt does it? Does it taste bad?" Jungkook asked. Namjoon chuckled at the question.

"It's worse than the chemo," Hoseok said jokingly.

      Ah, the chemo. That was so long ago. A few years, maybe? Taehyung remembered Hoseok telling him that nothing was worse than the chemotherapy. And it wasn't because it hurt. No, he didn't feel a thing, apparently. He was injected with a ton of drugs, which made him groggy and sleepy. Overall, he forgot pretty much everything. It was as if his brain got shut down.

And that was supposedly the worst part.

Taehyung remembered Hoseok saying to him afterwards, "The worst part of the whole thing was forgetting. Forgetting about you, it hurt so much. It still does. It was like I was leaving you. It was like I was dying."

Taehyung snapped back to reality.

Though, no one seemed to notice that he had dozed off for a few minutes.

No one except for Hoseok.

"Why don't we go to the cafeteria? I'm hungry," Hoseok suggested as he slowly got out of the bed. Everyone murmured in agreement as Hoseok opened the door and wheeled the oxygen tank behind him.

"Why don't you guys go ahead? I'll meet you there in a second," Hoseok said as everyone stepped out of the room. He let everyone pass him before walking back in and facing Taehyung, who remained sitting.

"You should sleep."

"I'm not tired," Taehyung said.

"Yes you are. Sleep. You can even sleep in the hospital bed if you want. It's pretty comfy," Hoseok said as he pointed to the bed that was pushed up against the wall. Taehyung didn't say anything. He just nodded as Hoseok left the room, closing the door behind him.

      Slowly, he got up from the chair and sat on the bed. It felt wrong, for some reason, but Hoseok had suggested it. He had also suggested that Taehyung should get some sleep, but he didn't do that. He just stayed awake and thought about the chemo.

"The worst part was forgetting. Forgetting about you."