COME BACK HOME ➤ KIM TAEHYUNG

ROOM 447 | page 14

I was breathing heavily by the time I reached the fourth floor and room 447. Taehyung failed to tell me that they only allowed family and close friends to visit him. I wasn't either of those and they seemed to know it, so I had to be sneaky. Avoiding nurses wasn't as easy as it was in the movies.

My hands gripped the door handle, before I knew it I was entering his room and shutting the door behind me. A body lay on the single bed in the room. Taehyung's body.

I felt a familiar feeling run through me. It felt like the dreams I had with him. I pinched myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I stared at my hands and made sure I had ten fingers for confirmation.

This was real. He was real. Fuck.

With a deep breath and a ever increasing heartbeat, I stepped closer to him. I placed the box of strawberries and chocolate on his side-table. I stared at his face for a bit.
Handsome.

I scanned the room, searching for a chair I could pull over to the bed, I sighed in relief when I found one. At least I would be comfortable.

"Okay, Taehyung. You better be listening to me," I started off, feeling a bit awkward, I was used to him being awake and answering me, "I fulfilled my task. I came to visit you. I brought strawberries and chocolate as well, which were a waste of money since Hoseok isn't even here."

I gasped as I remembered a fact I forgot to tell him: "Oh! Did you know I'm friends with him too? He tutors students at my university often. Did you study there too? I'll have to ask you later."

I sighed, placing my arms on the side-table and resting my head on them, I stared at his side profile.
"My cover story was supposed to be that I was in love with you but I don't even know your academic status. At least I know your deepest darkest secrets."

"Hey, we're like, best friends basically, right?" I began to rant confidently, he wasn't answering anyway and usually I was the one that had to listen to him, so I felt good about myself, "We've been hanging out every day for for almost two years straight. Not by choice, of course, but still. I think I know a lot about you. You definitely know a lot about me. It took me a bit to realise how important you actually were to me, I was a worse person than you think years ago. Thank God the twins appeared, it would be quite sad if my only friend was a guy I only saw in my dreams."

I couldn't help but laugh out loud. "It feels so nice to be the one to talk for once. I think your 'mentor' act has had a long run, take a rest."

I felt at ease all of a sudden. I smiled unconsciously, reaching out to tuck strands of hair behind his ear. "I recall saying I'd be your guardian."

The door opened. I stiffened. My eyes widened and I turned my head to see the person.

It wasn't who I expected.

At all.

"Boram?"

"Riza?"

"What are you doing here?" I asked, a wave of suspicion and panic hitting me.

"I'm a volunteer. Part-time nurse here basically. I'm here to change his position. Today's my second day. I never told you?" my friend frowned, speaking slowly, her confused state seemed to match mine. I noticed her nurse-attire and cart, feeling the suspicion leaving my body.

"No, you didn't. How do you have time to be a volunteer, Ram?"

She entered the room fully, ignoring my (hated and terrible) nickname for her. "I, unlike you and Jimin, am organised and have a time-table I follow that keeps my studies and volunteer work in check. I'm also a genius."

I frowned at her truthful words.

"What are you doing here?" She questioned me with narrowed eyes.

I froze. The plan was to tell Hoseok that I was in love with him, not my friends.

"Well- uh, it's a long story," I hesitated. My brain went into panic mode, I couldn't come up with anything. This was frustrating.

"Spill. Or I'll ask his actual nurse about your visits-"

"No! I'll tell you!" I stopped her, I knew her intention was to ask the nurse about how much I visited but unfortunately, that would give me away instantly and I'd probably be kicked out and never allowed to visit again.

"I know him." I decided to say, leaning back in my seat.

"How come we've never heard of him?" she referred to herself and Jimin. I cursed the girl out in my head, why was she asking so many questions? We were just friends, not The Golden Trio!

"Because, I never spoke of him-"

"But you speak about everything," I could tell she was beginning to become confused. Did you know I never speak of my dreams, Mae Boram? I wish the twins knew me better.

"I liked him. Before he... this happened to him," I ended up just going with whatever Taehyung made up. The white lie wouldn't affect me much anyway.

"Oh..." her eyes widened in realisation and a hand raised to cover her mouth in shock, "that explains a lot."

What?
It explained what?
"Huh?"

She only smiled at me with a knowing look. "I wish you would have told us, Riza. We'd understand. I can't believe you kept so much to yourself..."

Mae Boram was a genius. She was brilliant, fit to become a doctor or work at NASA. So you can imagine my shock when I heard her speak those words. I've always known she was more book-smart and less life-smart but I didn't expect this.

I only wish I had the slightest idea what she was talking about.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Whatever assumption she was making was something I could let her believe.

"Please don't tell anyone. That would just make it harder, I've been coping with it my own way," I tried to give a sad smile, hoping the desperation was clear in my tone. I hated lying but it felt necessary right now.
It wasn't like I was in the right state of mind to come up with anything that wouldn't sound insane and be truthful at the same time.

"Of course. I'll let you talk to him a bit and then I'll be back to move him," she smiled softly at me, as if I was fragile and had just lost my husband on the battlefield. I nodded at my friend.

I dragged my hand across my face when Boram left. The tension left my body and I felt at ease again.
"Not a word about this when we meet."

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04.07.2020
i'm trying to immerse myself into this fic and distract myself from the bad feelings as much as possible but my brain just refuses to do anything but mope around what a complete asshole