Just A Few Numbers Away

Chapter 18

The Truth in the Silence

Things really had become awkward after Angel left.

Yoongi sat on the sofa and tried distracting himself with his phone by scrolling Twitter to pass the time or replying to the members' messages.

He tried to focus on the screen, but his thumb just hovered over the glass.

His eyes kept drifting back to the bed.

He could feel the weight of the silence in the private room.

He felt restless because he can feel that she's staring at him, and he suddenly felt too shy to look up.

The air in the room was thick with unspoken words, and even the hum of the hospital monitor felt too loud.

The distance between the sofa and the bed felt like an ocean he wasn't sure he was allowed to cross.

So, he just thought back to the events that happened today.

[FLASHBACK]

A few seconds before Jung Kook called him, he suddenly felt uneasy, and then his wrist started hurting.

Although the pain was bearable, he knew something was wrong... especially to her...

And he was right.

When he answered Jung Kook's call, he could hear the anxiety etched in his voice as he explained what had happened.

Yoongi became pale and, without a second thought, went to the office of the department head to ask permission to leave.

His heart was hammering against his ribs, a frantic rhythm that didn't slow down even when he got the paperwork signed.

Since his soulmate had been in an accident, he was granted leave immediately under the Soulmate System Act.

It was the one time he was actually grateful for the laws that tied them together; it gave him the right to be by her side without the fear of being reported for abandoning his post.

Before he left the office, Jun came running after him and handed him a hat and a face mask.

"So you won't attract too much attention," Jun had said.

Yoongi thanked him.

He really thought Jun was a good friend and that he needed to treat him later.

He then rushed to the hospital as fast as he could.

It was a really good idea that he had decided to bring his car everyday to work.

Otherwise, he would have had to commute or tell the guys to pick him up, and that might have stirred a commotion.

He gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white, his mind racing faster than the engine.

When he arrived, the boys were waiting for him already outside the hospital, inside Namjoon's car.

They decided that not all of them would go inside, so as not to attract attention.

Namjoon, Hoseok, and Jimin decided to go home and wait for the news, while Taehyung and Jeongguk went with Yoongi inside to support him.

They looked for her at the help desk and found her in the public ward, which was crowded and loud.

The chaos of the ward made Yoongi’s stomach churn.

She looked so small and misplaced in the middle of all that noise—a sharp contrast to the quiet strength he’d seen in her at the cafe.

The sight of her lying there, vulnerable amongst strangers, made a protective instinct flare up in him that he didn't know he possessed.