going, gone | jikook

three

The morning sun shone through Park Haejin's recovery ward. She was getting better, with only a broken arm. It was better than Jimin had expected, seeing that his parents had gotten the short end of the stick. He stayed with her all night, unwilling to leave her side, even if today was Monday and he had school to go to, classes to attend, new information to learn. Jimin was sure the teachers would understand.

"Jiminie? Can we go to the garden?" He looked to his little sister, who was cheerful as always. Haejin held a smiling face as she pouted her lips and pleaded her brother with big brown eyes.

"Alright, baby, let's go." He took her hand in his as she skipped down the hall, heading towards the beautiful garden, located on the east wing of the hospital.

~

"It's time you go out and walk, you know." Jungkook's mother was the only visible source of color in the room as she donned a light blue shirt, white jeans, and navy shoes. Her heart broke seeing Jungkook lying in bed, his heart slowing down day by day, yet her motherly instinct took over. "You're here all day, every day, Jungkook. You need to get up and walk about if you don't want to die."

No answer. "Jeon Jungkook!!" She said sternly.

"Yes, yes, mom, I'm going. I'll haul my lazy ass off this bed and go to the garden if that's what you want."

His mother scoffed. "What I want? You haven't gone over to the west wing this time, and you usually always do to see the sunrise. You haven't even seen light ever since you stepped in here two weeks ago. "

Jungkook shook his head. "Mom, see that over there?" He pointed to a side of his room, stretching his body to emphasize his point. She nodded. "Now you see mom, that's a window. Light comes in through-"

"Young man you better get your ass out off this room before I call the doctor." Jungkook gulped, he was absolutely terrified of the man. He sat up, running his hand through his soft brown hair. Holding the mobile pole with his right hand and his mother's arms with his right, Jungkook struggled to stand up. He leaned most of his weight on the cart that held his oxygen tank. What's your name? He thought in his head. Hazel. No, your full name. Hazel Grace Lancaster. Jungkook shook his head at the idea. His life was all a cliche. Hey, maybe Augustus Waters would show up right now and tell him he was insane.

Jungkook ran his hand through his hair once again. "You're at the hospital," his mother chuckled, "No one really cares, everyone has bed hair, honey." She looked at him with amusement twinkling in her eyes. "I'll wait for you here. You remember how to walk, right?"

"Yes mom, I do." Jungkook put his hands on the cold steel handle of the IV pole and pushed it forward, stepping slowly, one foot, then the other. His mother held the door for him, to which he muttered a quiet "thanks," and continued to the garden. He could already smell and feel the fresh air creeping into his lungs, but it was probably just the oxygen flowing through the cannula. He probably looked horrible, with his white skin, the patches of band-aids all over him (although no one could probably see it), his hair a mess, and his cannula, the goddamned tube that his very existence depended on. If Jungkook didn't have the cannula, he could have died.

He reached the glass door that led to the garden and pressed the button besides it to open the door. Jungkook stepped out into the terrace, the sky was once again pale grey, but the flowers were beautiful as ever. It was April, and the cherry blossoms were finally blooming. The garden was full of pink and white petals, as well as dark maroon colors of the maple tree leaves. There were bursts of purple, blue, pink, and white, but Jungkook's favorite were the white impatiens, or Touch-Me-Nots. They had a splash of red or dark pink in the middle, and they were so pretty, their petals soft with an almost leather feeling. The garden was in full bloom, and Jungkook finally felt that he was at home.

Jungkook sat down on a bench that had been cleaned a week ago, but no one ever really came up to the garden at this time of the year. It was too cold. He wrapped his blanket around his shoulders and looked around him. There were really just flowers everywhere, it was almost like a maze. Jungkook picked up an white Touch-Me-Not and just held it in his hand, admiring the gentleness the flower carried with it.

The glass door suddenly opened, startling Jungkook, causing him to drop the flower on the floor. Damn, he really liked that flower. "Haejin-ah!" a boy's voice called out, running into the garden. Jungkook had heard soft taps of shoes on the pavement, like rain hitting the cement floor.

"Come get me, Jiminie!!" a little girl's voice rang out, causing Jungkook to divert his attention away from the fallen flower and to the voice. A pretty girl, about six or seven, wearing the same grey outfit as Jungkook, but with a cast on her right arm, was looking straight at him. "Jiminie!" She yelled out, "There's a boy over here!!" She skipped towards Jungkook and held her left hand out.

"Hi!! I'm Haejin, Park Haejin! What's your name?"

Jungkook smiled and shook her small hand, "My name is Jungkook, Jeon Jungkook." He looked into her eyes and saw the oddest mixture of colors. Her eyes were grey, with specks of hazel, making them glimmer in the bright grey light of the sky. Another boy ran up towards the two, and Jungkook swore his heart skipped a beat as he looked up to him

If he thought the girl was pretty, the boy was beautiful. He had dark, chocolate brown hair, and small crescent eyes. He was almost like a painting- too good to be true. His face as a whole expressed the word innocent but right now, he looked menacing, evil.

"Haejin! I told you not to run off!" The boy said with a clear, hard voice. It hit Jungkook like a brick of ice. Maybe this boy wasn't as beautiful as he looked. "Apologize to this man, right now."

Haejin faced down to her small pink shoes but her eyes darted nervously to Jungkook. "I-I'm sorry, Jungkook, I didn't mean to bother you."

His heart melted and he smiled slightly. "It's alright, you didn't bother me." Haejin looked up at him, her face with pure joy "Thank you!" she said and leaned in to hug him. Jungkook panicked.

"Hey, Haejin-ah," he said, before she could wrap her arms around him. She stopped and pulled herself back, tilting her head as to question him. Jungkook reached out beside him and plucked a flower. "Do you know what kind of flowers these are?"

The boy standing next to Haejin put a protective hand on her shoulder. He must be her brother, Jungkook thought to himself.

"Nope! What are they? They're so pretty," Haejin's voice became dreamy, as if she was hypnotized.

"They're scientifically called impatiens, but they're also known as Touch-Me-Nots."

Haejin giggled, "That's a funny name."

"Yeah, it is. Sometimes when you get to know a person, you start to get in trouble with them. That's why I like these flowers. They describe me."

"People get in trouble with you?" Haejin asked. She wasn't accusing him of anything, but curiosity twisted through her words.

"Well, not trouble, but sometimes they regret knowing me because it causes them pain. Pain in the heart." Jungkook held out the flower. "So here, Haejin, take this flower, bring to your room, keep it and bring it home. Don't forget about it, don't forget about me, but don't come to meet me anymore, okay? Let's stop any pain before it starts." Jungkook spoke clearly but softly in case Haejin would get hurt.

She nodded with a slight tilt of her lips. She took the flower and thanked him. Then Jungkook looked up to the guy standing by them and apologized. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take your time."

"It's alright," he whispered, and Jungkook realized his cold border had dissolved. The boy looked at Haejin and said, "Why don't you go look and pick so pretty flowers for me, baby?I'll sit over here and wait for you." Haejin nodded and skipped off.

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