3AM

Episode 9

hii 👋 im eating a cookie :D

㊦ ㊧

5 years ago when Taehyung was twelve, his adoptive siblings Tzuyu and Jackson were fourteen and sixteen.

It wasn't so long after Yukhei and Yuqi were born and were also discovered by the Zhangs. Though both infants were originated from Liangshan and born on the same year, they were not from the same mother.

Unlike Yuqi, who had no guardian to take care of her, Yukhei had a massive family of three blood-related sisters, a father and three grandparents. But Zhang Zidong was reluctant to take anyone but their youngest son and Taehyung had no idea why. All he knew was that among the five siblings, Yukhei's biological family was the only one who sold him off while the others were put up for adoption.

He remembered his foster parents standing on their grand doorway, both holding bundles of blankets in their arms, "Children, come and meet your new siblings." Zhang Xuan smiled.

As soon as their mother said that, Jackson, Tzuyu and Taehyung broke into a sprint, with Taehyung ended up as first because he managed to tackle Jackson and Tzuyu was naturally slower.

"I wanna hold the boy first!" Taehyung demanded, jumping in attempt to see which parent was carrying his baby brother. But all Zidong and Xuan did was to glance down at their second son emotionlessly.

The man turned to the other boy standing at the far end, "Jackson, do you want to carry the boy?" The eldest child nodded frantically. Zidong smiled and walked pass young Taehyung, not bothering to spare a glimpse at the Korean boy.

One night, when Taehyung entered Jackson's chambers he asked, "Brother, why do the doctors visit us everyday?"

"They're not doctors, Tae. They're the Kim scientists." Jackson replied before resuming back to his drawing.

Little Taehyung tilted his head as he stared at the picture his older brother was sketching. They were tall figures in a fancy hats. Jackson did not use any colour pencils therefore the whole drawing was as dark as the pencil lead.

"Mrs. Kim, one of the scientists wanted me to draw more of what I've been seeing in my dreams nowadays. Pass me the chalk, would you?"

Taehyung ran to fetch him a white chalk. Jackson smiled and took it. Using the sharpest tip, he drew two giant eyes and a smile on their faces. "Brother, what you're drawing is scary. Aren't you afraid to fall asleep and see them again?"

Jackson straightened his back and flashed a manly smile. "I always tell myself this; dreams are just dreams. Lucid or not, they're never real,"

"I mean- who would create such horrendous monsters?"

Taehyung's eyes burst open, sweat dripping down his forehead after having one of those flashback dreams again.

He squinted his eyes and raised a hand above his face. The room was so bright and he couldn't figure out where the light was coming from.

Then, the door was kicked open. Lisa stared at Taehyung for a moment, slightly startled at the sight of the captain at his sudden awakened state.

In her hands held a silver tray of food; a perfect balance of rich protein and vegetables. The ravenette placed it on his lap before passing a glass of water to him.

"How long did I slept?" Taehyung softly asked. Lisa held out three fingers.

"Three days??"

Lisa shook her head.

"Hours?"

Lisa nodded.

After a while later, she stood up and went pass him. Taehyung didn't even noticed the hanging vines beside him until Lisa pushed them open. Only then he realized it was like a curtain to cover another patient in a hospital room.