isn't she beautiful?

21 - the hard part is supposed to be over

"sometimes i wonder, are you real?' he asked. "or a figment of my imagination?"

we were practicing our lines for the play, we were sitting in chairs on the stage, but we were facing away from each other.

hope is supposed to represent a person online talking to hero, the main character.

"i'm real." i exhaled.

hailey and cameron were sitting in the chairs, monitoring us.

"i wish i could touch you," seokjin said. i stood up from my seat and walked over to seokjin, putting my hand on his shoulder. "a-and kiss you." he stammered.

i slowly leaned in to kiss him, but he pulled away. "s-sorry, sorry. can we stop for a second?" seokjin stuttered. cameron sighed, "what is it now seokjin?"

"everything!" he shouted. "look, hope's the one that comes on to hero. it's not the other way around. she seduces him."

i narrowed my eyes, "oh really? is that what happened?"

he turned to me, "and if she would've just minded her own business, hero wouldn't have fallen for any of her tricks!"

i felt my heart tear, how is he going to turn everything that happened on to me? he had no right!

"what tricks?" i questioned.

"maybe we can try it a different way?" hailey suggested.

seokjin sighed heavily. "no. you can't just rewrite the story whenever it suits you." i said.

"well, he is the playwright so..." cameron scoffed, he was obviously annoyed by how many times we've tried to do these scenes.

i walked up seokjin, grabbing onto his arm, "what's wrong with you?"

"n-nothing," he exhaled. "i-i can't do this. i have to get to the hospital."

he jumped off the stage and quickly grabbed his things, it hurt me by how he just left me on the stage. hailey and cameron were just as confused as i were.

---

i picked up the card that rested beside his bed, "get well soon, so i can make fun of you again. love zoe." i chuckled. he laid there, motionless.

he didn't move at all. i sighed, "jimin i made a mistake...i cheated...once-"

it sounded like a gurgling coming from his throat. "j-jimin? help! please!"

his mom rushed into the room, "i-i think his airway is blocked or something."

she bent down to hear from his mouth, "no. he's breathing. that gurgle is a sign of progress towards speaking."

i grabbed onto his hand, "jimin are you upset? are you mad? can you squeeze my hand if it's a yes?" i asked.

he didn't move, he laid there emotionless, like he was brain dead. his mom sighed, "he's still at square one. he doesn't understand the world around him.

i shook my head feeling defeated, "no, but i need him to, um...the hard part is supposed to be over."

she grabbed onto my hand, "i know. it's a lot to digest. but what we have to do right now is keep praying, and hoping that he will get better quicker."

i sighed while looking back at him. i missed seeing his smile, his smile always made my day better. his hugs, his cuddles, i missed everything i used to do with him.

i need him to come back. i need him to know how sorry i am.

•••

[sorry for any grammatical errors]