As You Can See|tk

14| friend. yeah. we're friends

Taehyung—

The nurse gasped when we entered the infirmary. "Oh my, what happened to him?" She asked, voice slightly breathy; probably rushing from wherever she was situated. I heard the sound of rustling sheets, and assumed that she was setting up a bed for me. True to my guess, Jungkook lowered me down onto something soft, and brushed a hand through my hair. "He got a little beat up," the younger murmured, fingers fluttering lightly over my skin. Nurse Kim sighed, "you boys and your pride. I can't help you if I don't know the whole story." Jungkook released a tight chuckle. "It really wasn't too bad. He just needs something to treat the bruises is all."

The elder woman sighed again, but I heard her move to get whatever was needed to help me. Slowly, I raised my arm up, fingers splayed out. "Hold my hand, Kookie," I ordered softly. I felt his cold palm make contact with mine, and felt the back of my hand brush against thin cotton. "Is that your chest?" I whispered. "I can feel your heart beating." The younger sniffed a laugh, "yeah, it is." A grin made its way up on my lips. "You're cute." Jungkook didn't answer me, making my smile to slowly slip off of my face. "Why so quiet, Kookie?"

The aforementioned sighed heavily, "it's just...I feel like I've failed you. I couldn't protect you when you most needed it. I failed to keep you safe. You were assigned to me so you wouldn't be in harm's way, and I couldn't even meet the task." I smiled, softly, "you're beating yourself up too hard. I'm fine, see? You got to me at the perfect time, otherwise I would've have to..." I trailed off, shivering at the thought of what I was almost forced to do. "I...was so close to being dragged into that dark hole again, Jungkook," I whispered. "If you didn't come find me at the time you did, the situation would've been way worse." The grip on my hand tightened. "That fucking Lee Taeyong. When I get my hands on him, he's going to be dead meat." A light chuckle escaped from my lips. "I can't be friends with a murderer, now can I?"

There was a long pause of silence that came after those words left my lips. I frowned, slightly, wondering if I had said something wrong.

"Friend. Yeah. We're friends."

I quirked up an eyebrow, "yeah...what else would we be?" It seemed like Jungkook snapped out of his thoughts, as he responded with a cheerier voice. "Oh, nothing! Yeah, of course we're friends." Nurse Kim came back, breaking the oncoming awkward silence, that was sure to follow. She started dabbing something cold and smooth on the bruises on my arms. I shivered, and winced when she touched an especially sensitive bruise, causing me to squeeze Jungkook's hand. "Oh dear, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, concerned. I shook my head, and smiled. "It's alright. I can handle it." I've had to experience way worse before, anyway.

"Alright, your arms are covered. Can you take off your shirt? I'm pretty sure that you got more bruises underneath." I nodded, slowly pulling my hand away from Jungkook's. I ran my fingers down the front of my shirt, checking to make sure that it wasn't a button down, before grasping the collar, and yanking the cloth over my head, wincing when pain shot through my arms and upper body. Nurse Kim was quick to apply the cream to the several bruises that littered my chest and abdomen. "You don't have too many bruises on your front, but they're sure not something to laugh at," she informed me, aware that I couldn't see them myself. "Now let's see your back—oh my." I raised my eyebrows at the reaction. "What? What's wrong?" My thoughts immediately went back to the time when Taeyong kicked me against the bathroom stall. Did I really hit my back that hard?

"I'll tell you what's wrong," Jungkook spoke, voice laced in anger. "There's a huge fucking purple bruise on your back with green and yellow spots in it, and a long gash cutting across your spine. I swear, I'm going to rip Taeyong's head off of his fucking neck." Nurse Kim clicked her tongue, "language, Jeon." The younger replied a curt apology, voice dripping with venom. "And now I have a grasp of the situation, as well," the elder woman continued, gently rubbing the cream into my skin. I gritted my teeth together, enduring the pain. "Does it hurt? I'm sorry, just hold on for one second," Nurse Kim murmured. I nodded, not trusting in my voice if I spoke.