If You Love Me

Chapter 26: The Thorn

"Who are you...?"

The drawled question makes you blink; what happened to his voice? This tone, it's uncomfortable and scratchy unlike his usual affection laced call.

Observing your immobility, Yoongi sighs and sets down his book on the nearby cart in a flap — then he removes his glasses and places them atop the pile.

He offers a thin-lipped smile, rephrasing, "Do I know you?"

All you can muster is a whimper from your parched throat. The glow of adoration in his eyes... Where has it gone? Where is the Yoongi you know?

Yoongi's gaze shifts over to your sister, beaming in reconnaissance. "Bora," He winces slightly when waving, the particular motion still hurting, "It's been a while hasn't it? When was the last time we saw each other? Graduation right?"

The brief relief as well as the cotton-candy hue of her complexion washes away with each posited inquiry. Her grip on your wheelchair handles tightens and the subtle grinding of her teeth fills your ears.

"Yoongi," she addresses almost in a whisper, "We didn't go to school together."

Yoongi's posture stiffens a little when taking in this new information and the usual lift of his lips flattens. His brows straighten out then scrunch in confusion and recalculation. He inhales slowly, releasing through a sheepish smile, "Is that so? I think I got you confused with an underclassman. I must've seen you at the gym then."

Bora reflects a stern stare.

"I don't work out."

Again, shock shadows his features. You notice a small section of the bed sheet ball as he makes a fist, the minimalist action still inflicting a deal of pain as evident from the twitching of his immobilized shoulder.

"Sorry," he says, "The doctor told me my memory has been a little off since waking up."

"I see." Bora acknowledges his statement with a slow nod, sliding a soft paw of reassurance down your shoulder though it trembles with the same level of fear. Her almond eyes refocus on Yoongi, and she smiles wearily, "Do you really not know who she is?"

You gulp as his dull gaze embraces your frame, absorbing the array of each wrapped injury your body presents. He pauses, albeit briefly, when spotting the cut wound on your neck and ultimately suppresses his instinctual urge to wince at the wound's diameter.

Yoongi turns back to Bora. "No...? Is she someone I should know?"

It is now that the surprise fades and the front you've put up comes crashing down in instantaneous disintegration. The nail marks of your defeat and grief emerge on the arm of your wheelchair; spotted crescents nearly tearing through the leather. From the tightness of her grip on your shoulder, it seems Bora is equally as dumbfounded from this development, her eyes are wide and laced with a mixture of empathy and mourning.

For the first time, you gather your courage to speak. "I'm Y/N." you croak, framing his crippled and bandage swaddled figure within the circumference of your pupils.

He scrunches his nose and scoffs.

"No. That's impossible. Y/N is in Seoul."

"Yoongi..."

"You are not Y/N." This time he fires back in firm assertion, the faint warmth of his eyes fading back to the cold lilt you are accustomed to, much like a candle fading in the winter wind. The edges of his beautiful mouth strain with a frown.

He cradles his head in his hands, whimpering, "You can't be her... Because she left me."

Bora approaches the corner of his bed and takes a seat, placing her hand on his knee with melancholic eyes. "Yoongi, I know what I'm about to say might be difficult to process, but that is my sister. I know the face I grew up with." She sucks in a sharp breath and smiles weakly, "I know the face of your lover."