PASSAGE ( J. JUNGKOOK )

23:50

09. ALL TOO GONE

you're asleep again. you woke up for a few minutes, calling for me the best that you could with what little strength you have.

you asked for a glass of water, and even though all i could notice was how you were just a crumbling skeleton clad in chapped lips and damp skin, i returned promptly with what you asked for.

and then you asked me to stay. i sat down. you held onto my arm with bony fingers, clenching on for dear life, as if you'd suddenly become aware of how fleeting it was. you were soon to be a ghost, just a memory haunting the minds of those who you swore didn't care, and maybe it began to petrify you.

i wasn't even the one withering away, yet i felt all too gone. i'd accepted my death, just as you had loosened your grip on your own sufferance.

a hand wrapped around your shoulder and another brushing the hair from your face, i whispered you to sleep. i spoke of our plans for tomorrow. i proposed finally leaving the house, but you mustered enough strength to shake your head. i suggested merely leaving the bed, migrating down to the couch to watch those movies you used to ramble about.

you didn't respond. for a single second, for what felt like an hour, i became terrified that those were your last moments.

i was frantic. you were still, breathing too slightly for me to notice until i'd calmed myself down enough to actually check.

i'm still beside you. you're snoring, mumbling about things i could never understand. the clock atop your veins only gets closer and closer to 00:00:00 with each passing second.

i can't even imagine what it'll be like for you in the morning, seeing my two years where there should be a timeless counter.

you'll be okay, though.

TEN MINUTES REMAINING