When I Close My Eyes • Kim Seokjin

xxi.

all right, it seems that most of you crave that tragic ending so here you go ;)

something was different this time, and jin knew what it was.

it took him a few moments to realize it, but then it made sense.

it was a dream.

he knew it was a dream.

and still, he chose to stay.

***

"He's not waking up," Yoongi said, frustrated. "Medication my ass. It's been twelve hours. Something's wrong."

"But that's the thing," the doctor said, ignoring Yoongi's frustration because he dealt with that on a daily basis. "His vitals all look good. He's healthy. He's just...asleep."

"But he woke up," Jungkook said desperately, his eyes wide. "I saw him, I talked to him- ask Tae! He was there!"

Tae frowned. "Maybe we were the ones dreaming, Jungkook."

Jungkook shook his head, his eyes wet. "No! We talked with hyung! I remember it!"

Truth was, so did Taehyung. But he was scared to admit it, because that meant that Jin had chosen this...this state of unconsciousness...over living with them, awake and in the real world.

"We already tried bringing him back," Tae said, his voice soft. "What more can we do if he doesn't want to come?"

The doctor opened his mouth but closed it. "Never mind."

Namjoon narrowed his eyes. "Say it. Whatever you were going to say."

The doctor frowned before nodding. "The testing has proved inconclusive, but...there's one last thing that we can try."

"We'll do it."

"But it hasn't been approved or properly-"

"What do we have to do?" Namjoon asked, crossing his arms.

The doctor just sighed, having expected this response. "It's a new type of dream therapy. We would hook you all up to machines - Jin included - and match the wavelengths from your sleep pattern to induce a similar dream state. Then...ideally...you would be able to..." He hesitated. "I don't know quite how to describe it. Dream hop? If that makes sense?"

"Are you saying...we'd be able to get into Jin's dreams?"

The doctor exhaled slowly. "Ideally. I'm not saying that it's guaranteed. But, yes, that's the goal. To convince Jin to return at the subconscious level. But like I said, the tests haven't come back with proven success rates, and there are risks involved for both you and the patient."

"What risks?"

The doctor looked down before meeting Namjoon's eyes, hesitant but not regretful. "There is, of course, the chance that it wouldn't work and Jin would remain as is - comatose. But there's the additional risk that you'll all join him."

"What?"

"When you're in that realm, you may forget that it's all a dream. You could start to believe that that place - however it appears in Jin's mind - is the reality. You all could become trapped in a coma as well."

"Cool, so do we have to sign somewhere?" Yoongi asked, scanning the doctor's hands for a clipboard with a dotted line. "Or can we just say yes and move this thing along? Hook us up already."

***

The doctor looked down.

All seven members - the unconscious Jin included - were each hooked up to their own machine.