LIGHTHOUSE ° you . kth

ten

ʽ AWAKE ʼ ˑ ₁₀
━━━━━ 〈 十 〉 ━
「 reality ▴ rainy 」

MECHANICAL beeping echoed through the darkness and your eyes slowly fluttered open. White ceiling, white walls and white lights filled your sight and for a moment, you felt like you had been blinded as your eyes slowly adjusted to your foreign surroundings.

Where were you?

A woman's familiar voice pulled your attention to the side and you met the stunned eyes of your mother. Disbelief, gratitude and guilt contorted against her tired features and she immediately wrapped you in a tight embrace, squeezing out all the air trapped in your lungs.

"Seonhwa! Y-you're awake!" She stammered between tears and you felt your energy leaving your body as she locked you in her arms, afraid of letting go, afraid that she would lose you again if she ever loosened her hold on you.

Your breathed in the comforting scent of lilacs - a familiar perfume that reminded you of home -as you returned her hug. Your eyes slowly fell closed as if everything had just been a nightmare and you had finally awoken from your lengthy slumber. Pulling your mother closer to you, you snuggled into her chest, trying to find that much needed sense of equilibrium. However, no matter how much you bathed in her warmth, it was a uneasy stirring in your gut that told you something wasn't quite right.

Weren't you supposed to be dead?

As you withdrew from your parent's embrace, it was a crumpled newspaper resting on her lap that caught your attention. Flimsy sheets of grayscaled parchment - the solitary puzzle piece that eluded your dreams. The missing fragment concealing an unknown truth that constantly slipped past outstretched fingers.

"Why..." Fully breaking away from your mother, you shifted back in the bed - gravity weighing like lead against your shoulders as you stared at the paper, absolutely dazed. Only questions filled your thoughts, and your fingers dug into the blankets swathed around your frail body as you tried to prevent vomit from escaping your lips.

You were the one that was supposed to have died.

So why did the newspaper article say that there were still thirty students missing?

The mental lock that barred your memories fractured into silver confetti, and images of that fateful night began to rush through your cognition. The bus, the cliff, the ocean. Everything came back to you, and you felt like a weak child attempting to stave off a flood with nothing more than a bucket. No matter how much water you bailed from your sinking ship, you only fell deeper and deeper into the depths.

Finally, you realized.

Taehyung hadn't been trying to rid you from the world of the living.

He had been trying to get you to return to it.

Dizzied, confused, and unable to hold back your tears, you collapsed into your sheets and only the sounds of your wails filled the air.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES

one more ch to go!
if yall are still confused,
i'll explain it all in the last ch!

♡