✓𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙨 | yoonseok

seventeen

"hello," hoseok said, out of breath. "where can i find the emergency room?" the nurse directed him over to the second floor, where all the commotion was. he looked left and right, starting to get lost and confused, adrenaline pumping.

suddenly, he was greeted by someone grabbing his shoulder. "hey, you're hoseok, right?" he whipped his head around to see a man not much taller than him. he had puffy red eyes and tear stains that dried up on his cheeks.

"yeah. you're taehyung?" the man only nodded in response.

he led hoseok through a long hall full of flashing red lights and nurses who rushed through. hoseok started to become more alarmed. more anxious. the halls were full of nurses and doctors, rushing from one room to another, rolling patients with them. 'right', hoseok thought to himself, 'this is the emergency room'.

after what seemed like a never ending hall, they reached the last room where five other guys were instructed to sit out. they all looked fragile, scared and restless.

one boy specifically was still crying. his hands were shaking and he sobbed uncontrollably. he looked the youngest of them. hoseok softened his look and asked what happened.

there was a sense of uncertainty in the air, the kind that you'd have when you're watching a race, unsure if the runner you're cheering for would make it to the finish line. in the same way, that uncertainty lingered across the boys. no one spoke, yet similar emotions were shared. the only constant thought through all of their minds was:

is yoongi gonna make it?

"well," one of them said hesitantly, "today is jungkook's birthday. we were planning on eating out. i drove with namjoon and we were following yoongi right behind him."

then he paused, just for a few moments. as if any moment he would break down and cry, too. the man took a deep breath and said, almost in an inaudible voice, "that's when it happened. another car slammed into yoongi's car while he was turning left."

they all went silent.

"i-it's all my fault." jungkook cried.

"no, kookie it's not. stop blaming yourself."

"well what if i can't?!" he raised his voice. "this is all my fucking fault and you know that! if it wasn't my stupid fucking birthday today, none of this would've happened!" he stood up and went straight for the restroom.

hoseok followed suit.

[—]

hoseok slowly opened the door to the restroom. he heard soft, muffled sniffing and hiccuping.

"jungkook, you're here, right?" he asked softly. "it's okay, please come back out."

at the very last stall, the door was slowly created open, and out came quite a tall boy. hoseok thought to himself that if they didn't meet like this, he'd be scared of jungkook.

'look at him. wow. a gift from god himself.' hoseok thought to himself. he slapped himself, because this story is supposed to be sad.

right.

hoseok slowly approached jungkook and pat him on the back. "hey, it's not your fault, alright? don't blame yourself for anything. it'll only make things worse."

"i can't stop thinking about it though. out of all people, why did it have to happen to yoongi? i wish it were me instead."

hoseok furrowed his brow. "hey, don't say that. you are equally as important as anyone else here."

"i guess. i just wish it wasn't yoongi. he's been going through tough times ever since january, you know?"

"... he is?"

"yeah. but i think that's when he met you. he seemed a lot happier and i want to thank you for that. he hasn't smiled that much in a while."

hoseok wanted to say something, but no words left his mouth. he felt the dread of his throat tightening, and the need to cough.

"e-excuse me." he said with a hoarse voice. he went into the nearest stall and coughed violently. it was like a replay of when he went to the café with yoongi.

handfuls of blood, then petals, then more blood. it was one big cycle. hoseok cried,  his tears washing with the smeared blood on his chin and cheeks.

he finally sat down, resting against the stall wall. 'how funny. haven't i been here before?' except this time, it wasn't yoongi who bursted through the stall's door.

"h-hey! what happened?!" jungkook said, equally confused and concerned.

"it's nothing much, don't worry about it." hoseok tried to push jungkook away.

"well, this does seem like a lot, and i'm quite frankly worried."

hoseok lightly chuckled. he liked this kid. "can you hand me my pills? they're in the left pocket."

"are you sure you should just be on pills for something like this? what is this, anyways?" jungkook scanned the scene and went closer to pick up a bloody petal. "a... petal?"

"i-it's nothing. can you get the pills?" hoseok asked worriedly.

"they're everywhere! and they're all covered in blood!" jungkook exclaimed. "...you did this?"

hoseok sighed and slowly nodded his head. "it's a disease i contracted. it's called hanahaki, but it'll be gone soon."

"hanahaki... isn't that the one that's caused by unrequited love?"

hoseok didn't answer him. he weakly pushed himself off the ground and wobbled out of the stall. "we should go back. the others must be wondering where we are."