Hanahaki - BTS Fanfic #Wattys2017

The Runaways

I woke up in the middle of the night, my phone blowing and buzzing wildly on my nightstand table. I drowsily stretched over, grabbing the mobile device and sliding over to answer the call.

"Hello?" I ask, my voice raspy and rather husky from the early morning.

"Gihan," a hushed voice whispers. "Runaway with me."

"What? Yoongi, is that you?" I ask, puzzled. "Wait, what are you going on about?"

"I'm leaving," Yoongi says. "I... I need to get away from things. Hoseok hasn't answered my calls or texts, and everyone just feels, seems... acts, so different around me now that they know."

"So you think running away is going to change all of that?" I deadpan. "Running from your problems."

"Of course not," Yoongi sighs. "I just... I need to get away from things. I need to think. Maybe hop through a few towns or cities, travel back to Daegu, maybe. I don't know, I just need to clear my head, and I can't with all of the stares I'm receiving. Even Jimin acts particularly tense around me."

My stomach flips at Jimin's name, and I twist the ring around my finger, recalling how I threw up a few petals once I got back home after the breakup. "Oh, I see."

"So will you come?" Yoongi asks. "I've just finished packing. You just need to bring a backpack and pack some essentials."

"I don't know, Yoongi, I mean... Why me?"

"Who else would I ask? You've helped me so much through this fiasco, you're the only one I can relate to. You're the only one who understands me, Gi. You've been through the same position of humiliation, especially with Taehyung."

I wince at how blunt he is. "I... You have a point."

"It's summer break, so it's not like you have any classes. Besides, Daegu is beautiful this time of year, and we can stop by a few other places. We can even go all the way to Busan if you'd like!"

"It's certainly tempting," I admit warily.

"So are you coming?" I practically hear the relieved smile as he says those words.

"I'll be packed by the time you get here," I cave. "Are you sure you'll be well enough for this trip? You were practically dying."

"I'm feeling the best I have in months, Gi. Maybe it's from getting it off my chest or from the fact that I'm getting away from everything, but I feel like it's doing some good for me," Yoongi confesses. "I'll recover. Maybe it's still the shock in my system that kept me from collapsing or throwing up more petals than I already have. Or hey! Maybe I've simply thrown up the last of the petals. I ran out." He laughs at that last part.

"You sound crazy," I shake my head, heading to my dresser to drag out certain articles of clothing I knew I'd need for this God-knows-how-long trip. "Like, actually crazy. Your laugh is demented, you know that?"

"Maybe, but it's been so long since I've laughed that I don't care how it sounds now," Yoongi laughs again.

"You know, I don't think we ever run out. Maybe the illness simply reproduces it over and over for us," I ponder aloud.

"Hm, maybe," Yoongi hums. "Maybe we're also secretly trees."

"I would've never thought you'd act like this in a state of heartbreak," I murmur into the phone.

"What? The first stage of grief: denial. I guess I'm full of surprises."

"And flowers," I snort. "Well, your high isn't going to last forever, so appreciate it while you can."

"I'm not stupid. I know it'll end soon. What doesn't? Relationships end, love ends, friendships end, lives end. Soon enough the Earth will end, and nothing our pathetic, puny lives can do will make a difference in the end. We'll be forgotten, and there will be no trace that we've so much as existed. We're pointless, and our actions are meaningless." Yoongi laughs bitterly at that.

"Alright, so that's depressing as fuck," I shake my head. "Just... Just get on your way already, okay? Jeez."

"I'm already opening my car door." I hear a beep on the other line, and I take it as Yoongi unlocking his car. "I'll be there in half an hour."

"I'll be waiting," I say, reaching under the bed to drag out a backpack I kept for just-in-case purposes.

After I finished packing I waited outside, spotting Yoongi's car roll up. He parks in front of me, and I hop in quickly, and we drive off into the dead of night. I stare at him for a little while, feeling alerted and awake. His hand is lazily draped over the steering wheel, and the engine rumbles with us, the quiet hum being the only thing we could really hear.

I rolled down one of the windows, unbuckling my seat belt to stick half of my body out of the window, my hands pressing against the window sill of the car. My hair flies and Yoongi doesn't object to the reckless action I take. I feel alive. I don't feel like some pathetic girl who's hopelessly sick. I raise my hands to the sky, pumping them into the air as I let out a warrior's scream of delight before heading onto the battlefield. I laugh into the night, the crisp, cool breeze hitting my face along with the warm summer air.

I get back inside, and Yoongi laughs. "I knew you were the one to take on this trip," he says, giving me a gummy smile whilst shaking his head. "You're something else."

I grin, tapping my fingers against the window sill. I look down at the ring on my finger still, and images flash through my mind.

"I won't take this off until the day I stop loving you," he says softly, leaning in slowly to kiss me. My eyes flutter shut, and his lips were so soft against mine it could've been butterfly wings. Too soon he pulls back, one of his small sweater-paw hands coming up to brush my cheek. "And that won't be until I'm six feet under."

I frown, glancing down at the piece of jewelry. Slipping it off, I throw it out of the window, letting it be forgotten, just as Jimin forgot his love for me.

Hours drag on into the night.

I simply remember the city lights beginning to glow and blur as we drive by, and the quiet, though boppy tune that was playing on the radio before my eyes started to droop ever so slowly. I didn't want to sleep, but I was sure that even the dead of night was trying to lull me into sleep at this point. I yawn, blinking slowly and shifting in my seat to look over at Yoongi, admiring his profile.

"Sleep," he murmurs. "I'll wake you when we get to a hotel or something."

I hum in response, smiling weakly at him. My eyes flutter shut, and I let the comforting darkness envelope me, swallowing me and the rising feelings into a black void. I dreamed a dreamless sleep.