Book 3 - RUN

Dream

Jimin woke up and glanced around the room. He rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"I had such a weird dream last night," Jimin mumbled as sat up. He felt a tugging at his hand and looked down to see a wire running in his hand. It seemed he was hooked up to a machine that appeared to be monitoring his pulse. He glanced up at the machine and laughed.

The monitor showed a straight flat line. A nurse walked into the room and helped the patient laying in the bed besides him.

"Nurse, I think this machine's broken," Jimin called out. He reached out and touched the nurse's shoulder but his hand just passed through.

"What...?" Jimin mouthed, glancing at his hands. He looked back up at the nurse who was now talking to the patient.

"It's such a shame what happened to him," the patient sighed, glancing over in Jimin's direction.

"To be honest, I wasn't sure why that boy's parent were so insistent on saving their son," the nurse sighed, looking in Jimin's direction as well.

Jimin watched, curious if they could see him. He pulled the machine out and took a step closer towards the nurse and patient. Neither of them flinched and resumed talking.

"He was already dead when he arrived," the nurse sighed. The patient looked up at her with a curious look.

"How did he die?" The patient asked, struggling to sit up straight.

"He drowned himself."

Jimin took a step backwards and looked at the around. He instantly recognized his surroundings.

He was in the hospital. The nurse quietly got up and left while Jimin stood still taking everything in.

"Everything was real...?" Jimin asked, looking at his hands. The patient continued to stare at Jimin's empty bed and sighed.

"Kids these days... they don't know how much their lives are worth..." The patient reached over and grabbed a book off the table and opened it up.

"First was that drugged up kid and now a kid who drowned himself," the patient muttered before immersing himself in his book.

Jimin peeked up at the patient's words.

"Drugged up kid... he doesn't mean Hoseok does he?" Jimin asked aloud. Jimin stumbled outside the room and watched as the nurses and doctors hurried through him.

"I'll never get used to that," Jimin mumbled before running down the hall. He quickly glanced in each room in search of Hoseok but he was nowhere to be found.

"It'll be impossible to find him," Jimin sighed, leaned back on a nearby wall. Jimin trudged down the last hall and groaned in frustration.

"How much did he take doctor?"

Jimin peeked up from a nurse's words.

"It's hard to say, but I'm guessing he took about half of one bottle," the doctor responded.

"I wasn't sure why they brought him to the hospital even though he's already gone," the nurse's sighed. "It's pointless."

The doctor nodded and scribbled some more notes on his clipboard.

Jimin crept into the room and found Hoseok laying in the white bed. The doctor and nurse quickly left, passing through Jimin.

"Oh right, I'm invisible," Jimin laughed. He walked up to the sleeping Hoseok and smiled. Hoseok groaned and twisted over, opening his eyes.

"Morning hyung," Jimin smiled, waving a small hello.

"Jimin...? You're here?" Hoseok asked, sitting up slowly. Jimin nodded and scratched the back of his head.

"I had the strangest dream," Hoseok mumbled. Jimin laughed and looked at Hoseok.

"That's funny, I had a strange dream too," Jimin said. Hoseok glanced around the room and yawned.

"What happened?" Hoseok asked, looking up at Jimin.

"You won't believe this hyung, but we're ghosts now!" Jimin exclaimed. Hoseok's eyes widen.

"Really?" Hoseok asked. He reached over and grabbed the pillow he was laying on and swing it at Jimin but it just passed though.

"Woah, I can hold things but I can't..." Hoseok trailed on, confused by what just happened. He glanced up at Jimin again and laughed.

"Where are the others?" Hoseok asked. Jimin shrugged his shoulders and looked around. Hoseok stood up and dusted himself before walking towards the door.

He stuck his head out and glanced up and down the halls. They were completely empty except for a few doctors rushing down the hall, holding paperwork in their hands.

The two of them walked out of the room and made their way down the hall, unsure of where to go.

They wandered around in the building, getting lost. They eventually found themselves at the information desk, utterly lost.

"We got to get out of here," Jimin mumbled, walking up to a map on the wall. He traced the trail to the exit and sighed.

"Why is it so hard to read a simple map?"

Hoseok laughed and stood by Jimin, memorizing the path.

"So we need to head down this hallway, take a left, then another left before taking a right and then we should find ourselves at the exit," Jimin mumbled. Hoseok laughed and began walking down the hallway Jimin pointed out before.

"So hyung, was this what you expected the afterlife to be like?" Jimin asked as the boys walked down the halls.

"Hm, I really had no expectations. I just thought I would wake up with everyone who went before me," Hoseok responded, scratching the back of his head.

"Hm, the afterlife doesn't seem exciting without our friends," Jimin sighed.

"Here's an idea," Hoseok suggested. "Why don't we find them?" Jimin stopped and thought about Hoseok's idea.

"That's a good idea actually, but where are they?" Jimin asked. Hoseok laughed and slapped Jimin in the back.

"Don't worry about how, just focus on finding them," Hoseok replied. Jimin tilted his head in confusion and smiled.

"Right," Jimin laughed.

The two boys approached the exit, a bright white light waited from the other side.

"Well, after you," Jimin said, gesturing for Hoseok to go ahead. Hoseok shook his head and grabbed Jimin's hand.

"Whatever's waiting on the other side, we'll face it together."

The two boys approached the door, each taking one side. They pushed against the heavy door, the white light reaching in and embracing them in warmth.

They could feel themselves falling backwards. They closed their eyes as they landed in a pile of soft feathers.

"I'm glad you're here hyung," Jimin whispered. "I miss the others."

"We'll find them," Hoseok responded.

They both laid in silence as the white light continued to consume them, leaving nothing behind but a simple card in the feathers.

****

A man opened up the door and glanced at the feathers lying everywhere. He bent down and sorted through the mess and smiled seeing a card.

It was similar to an ace but instead of one of the four playing suits, it was a butterfly. He flipped the card over and smiled.

He slipped the card in his pocket and sighed before leaving the area.

"I'm going to find you guys, I promise."