withered || jikook [discontinued]

fourteen.

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"Jimin, you okay there?"

I nodded as Yoongi hyung tapped my shoulder, "yeah, just tired, hyung."

It was the Monday after Namjoon hyung's birthday surprise which meant Jungkook had started working at the cafe. And as agreement, I'd be the one to train him.

"Jungkook's a fast learner thankfully and he's doing a good job."

I spent my day at work tutoring and monitoring Jungkook while doing my job and it wasn't exactly easy. And as much as Jungkook was doing things well, it was still very awkward and it drained me emotionally.

During the party, I avoided Jungkook as much as I could and just hung around Hoseok hyung most of the time. I ended up going back earlier than everyone else with the reason that I wasn't feeling too well.

It wasn't exactly a lie considering this terrible cough got worse.

I took some medicine since then, hoping it would make me better but the pills were useless. I felt worse. And now it hurts just to talk, which was why I was quite silent today.

"You should get some rest and go to the doctor to treat that cough. It seems to be getting worse," Yoongi hyung crossed his arm, "working yourself out won't cure anything. Get some rest."

"Hyung, trust me, I'll be fine. I've taken some pills and it should work just fine."

"And you're getting better, how wonderful."

I pursed my lips at how sarcastic the grumpy man was getting, but in a way he was right that I wasn't getting better. I'd coughed so many times today that I was pretty sure I'd get half of the customers sick.

"I will get better, hyung. I'm sure. Besides, I'm having my break currently, right? Stop worrying about me, hyung I'll be fine. Now go back to the counter, I think there's a customer," I smiled at him as the chime of the bell rang through the cafe. Reluctantly, he walked back to the counter to serve the customer.

I sighed as I ran my hand through my hair, my eyes focusing on the new employee who was bringing orders to the tables. It was obvious that he was still struggling with bringing the orders to the right tables.

I chuckled to myself as I watched him stutter an apology to a customer for bringing the wrong order to the wrong table. He was still very innocent and shy like before.

I started coughing again and my head started spinning badly. I shut my eyes tightly as I covered my mouth, hoping that this torture would stop soon.

I felt light-headed after the coughing fit and every breath I took hurt. I winced as I gulped down some water. When I looked down to my hand that covered my mouth, I froze when I saw some blood on my palm.

I got up and walked to the bathroom as calmly as I can to avoid any suspicions. Things got worse very quickly and I was already considering going to the doctor by the end of my shift.

Locking the bathroom door, I washed my hand and rinsed my mouth. I looked and the mirror and grimaced at how sick I look. My face was so pale and my teary eyes seemed dead, my hair a mess and my usually smiling self was frowning slightly.

I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead towards the mirror, the cold surface coming in contact with my skin. Everything's getting worse but I'm convincing myself that it'll all be okay.

I stayed in that position for a couple of minutes until I heard a knock on the door, "hyung, are you done yet? I need to use the bathroom."

I sighed and ruffled my hair, "yeah, give me a moment, Jungkook." I winced slightly as his name rolled out of my tongue, my hand gripping my chest a bit hoping to ease the pain.

"Hyung, c'mon, I really need to go now! Hurry up!"

And with one last glance at the mirror, I turned around and exited the bathroom, putting on a fake smile.

"Sorry I took a long time. The bathroom's all yours now, Jungkook."

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//Oh God I'm so sorry for not updating this story for months :" school is keeping me busy and I guess I did had a major writer's block bc of school. Thank you for all who wait for an update and I'm very sorry that I'm not consistent in updating;;;; I'll try my best to update in the midst of school tho I won't be able to make long chapters like I used to. But I hope you'll still enjoy this story and support it until it's done. Heads up, I might make a prequel to this story once I'm done with this one. Anyways, sorry for this short update, I'll try to update more frequently in the future. Have a nice day uwu