Beautiful Images ::VHope::

Caffeine.

"You're inviting him to dinner?" Jimin asks from behind me. I nod, and continue cutting carrots and onions.

"So its like a date?" He presses. I nod, a mixture of guilt and excitement brewing in my stomach. "It's about time you moved on. What's it been since I died? Seven years?"

"Five" I correct him.

"Oh, big difference." I can practically hear him rolling his eyes. "It's not like it matters."

"It- It do-does matter!" I suddenly shout, slamming the knife in my hand down on the counter. "It-It changed every-everyth-thing."

"TaeHyung, your hand." He speaks low, like he's leaving. I glance down. I slammed the knife through my index finger. I carefully move the knife away from me.

Ow, ow, ow, I repeat in my head as I stare down at the blood pouring from my pointer finger. I was just trying to make dinner for once. I was trying to take a step forward not backward, but here I am: standing in my kitchen with a gash in my finger that will most definitely need stitches.

His neck hangs at an impossible angle. Blood slowly dripping from his nose. From his ears. I moan, every inch of my body screaming in pain. The smell of gas floats around me.

"J-Jimin." I mumble, trying to reach over and touch him.

I groan, I'm such a moron. I stand over the sink, debating what to do. Do I call an ambulance? Seems like a bit much for a finger cut. JungKook? But he's in school right now. HoSeok? Maybe, but that seems like a huge and embarrassing ordeal. Although, how much more embarassing can it be than drunk sleeping on him? I sigh, digging my phone out my pants pocket and call HoSeok. He answers on the first ring, saying something that I don't quite understand, and I'm not even sure was English. I shake my head.

"HoSeok?" I ask. I hear his giggle.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I-I-I cut mys-self." I mumble, staring at the growing puddle of blood.

"J-Jimin." I tap him again. "Baby." I can hear clicking. Sirens. I look down at myself, blood is spilling from a gash in my chest. I scream, connecting the dots together. I scream as blood pours from the both of us and mixes in with spilled gasoline. I scream until my lungs collapse.

"You what?"

"I think I-I need, I need, I need stitches." I continue. I finally grab some paper towels, holding them tightly to my finger. I hiss in pain.

"Okay, okay." Hoseok says, "Uhm, Professor Hunt? My friend just had a bit of an accident. Can you send me the notes? Thanks." I can hear him moving through te phone. "Okay, Tae, meet me outside your apartment. I'll be right there, I'm on the far side of campus. I'll be right there." He hangs up, and I take that as my cue to start walking downstairs.

"Tae, take me on a date." Jimin begs, sitting on his knees in front of me. He looks up at me through thick eyelashes. "I really want to go out and show off. Please?"

I sit in the sidewalk, my finger throbbing in pain. The paper towels I used to stop the bleeding are painted red. I groan. Just what I need, more doctors offices. I mentally curse my stupidity.

Jimin stares at me, his face lighted with red from the stoplight. In this moment, I've never seen him more beautiful. He smiles at me. Declarations of love pass unspoken between us as we lean together for a kiss.

"Tae." Hoseok breathes heavy as he reaches me. I jump out of my daydream. "Jesus, what did you do?" He asks, grabbing my soaked hand.

"I-I was go-go-going to to make dinner." I mumble. "I'm so-so sorry. I'm a meh-meh-mess."

"It's okay." Hoseok is already leading me to the hospital only a few blocks up. "I'm a mess, too."

The ER waiting room is a familiar place to me. Not because of all the trips here, but due to the three months I spent in the hospital following the accident. I used to wonder the halls during the last month of my stay, and often I would find myself sitting in these seats. I watched hundreds of college students like myself come in and out. I envied the ones that went out. I say hello to the nurses that walk past, all of which I know. Hoseok sits impatiently beside me. His feet tap the floor in a hurried manner. Every fee seconds he shifts in the seat.

"Don't you think that they would come out faster?" He huffs. Under his breath he mutters things I don't understand. I look over at him.

"Was-was-was that Eng-glish?" I ask him. He shakes his head.

"Korean. I thought you knew that?" His face shows complete and utter confusion. "Aren't you Korean?"

"I'm-I'm named af-ter my gr-r-andpa." I shake my head. His mouth hangs open.

"You don't know Korean?" He still looks stunned. I shake my head. "Huh. I really thought... You look so authentic, too. Damn."

"I'm still-still Korean. Just not-not-not born th-there." I defend myself. I keep looking down at my finger, wondering when they will take me back.

"Yeah. Why didn't you tell me that when I said I was born in Korea when we first started talking?" He asks; I shrug. "Whatever, just don't be a koreaboo like NamJoon."

Jimin sings in the shower. His voice carries soft words to me. Words that make complete sense to him, but are utter gibberish to me. I still love hearing him sing. I recognize a tune that has an english version I know. I join in with him from the living room. He pauses for a moment before continuing. I decide to learn Korean after our date.

"TaeHyung, are you okay?"

I wake up in the hospital. My body aches pathetically. I habitually turn my head to left to see Jimin. I only see white wall. I remember that Jimin is gone. I can feel my insides ripping apart, my heart shattering into pieces that will never fit together again. A wail of pain releases from my body as every vivid memory comes back to me. A million things I forgot due to the accident. I forget how to speak, how to brush my teeth. I don't forget Jimin and the way blood dripped down his ears onto his neck. I scream until doctors sedate me.

"TaeHyung?" Hoseok repeats. I feel him tap my shoulder. I blink the tears away from my eyes. I turn to my left, Hoseok's brown eyes locking me into place. "What's wrong?"

"It-It just hurt-hurt-hurts."