I rushed out of the elevator in a black shirt and sweats. Jimin called me in the middle of the night and told me that Nanhee was about to deliver. I found him seated outside the operating room with his elbows propped on his knees, hands clasped together. He looked restless. Who wouldn't when his first child is on his way out?
"Jimin." I approached him and he stood up immediately. "I came as fast I could. What's going on?"
"They took her in for C-section. She was having prolonged labor." Jimin said and glanced back at the doors again with hopes that the baby and Nanhee are both okay.
I placed a hand on his back and told him, "They're going to be fine."
We sat down together and waited. The silence was ear breaking as I watched my friend pace back and forth. My phone rang a couple of times. Jungkook, Namjoon and Taehyung called simultaneously since Jimin was in a hurry to leave his place that he forgot his phone. I told Jimin that I will talk to them while he waited outside of the operating room.
Jimin lifted his head when I came back to join him, handing him a cup of coffee from the vending machine, "Thank you for being here, Hoseok. I really wouldn't know what to do if you weren't here."
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"Yeah, right. I was always second to you and Nanhee in med school." I chuckled and he finally smiled.
"Third. Namjoon is always first." Jimin corrected. "A genius who always push on a door that says pull."
We both laughed imagining the countless times Namjoon did that. "Who knows that the three of us we'll be in this situation right now?"
Jimin looked down on his hands and spoke again, "You know I hated Namjoon too because I didn't understand how he could effortlessly be at the top while I did everything I could and still lose to him."
"And then Nanhee, I hated her too for the same reasons. They were rich and they had everything. They don't need to work for anything in their life." Jimin added, holding the cup of coffee warmly. "She was always kind and always being praised.. I hated how people always favored her so I made it my goal to ruin her. I wanted to destroy her reputation.. but I fell in love with her."
I listened quietly beside him. "Her family hates me and they won't allow her to marry me."
Jimin smiled sadly to himself, "I even kneeled and begged them. The words they said were hurtful but I wasn't bothered by it. I know someone like me could never ask for her. What hurts is the part that I made Nanhee cry by doing that. She held my hand in front of her parents and told me never to do that again."
"Nanhee cares for you, Jimin. She loves you more than you think." I showed him a smile. "It doesn't always come in the way you expect it to. Sometimes, it's straightforward and, sometimes, you just walk past it without even realizing it. Maybe she knew it was you from the get go?"