Briar Rose - Taekook

Chapter 21

Hey guys!! Thanks so much for 7k!!💖💖💖

Quick announcement: This week, I'm going to attend a summer camp, so I won't be able to update as much as I did previously. I'll try to update every two or three days, but I can't promise anything. Sorry! :(

XXI: Jungkook

"Please, Jin hyung, can't I see him yet?"

I had been sitting outside of the healing center for more than four hours, waiting for Taehyung to come out. The sun was just beginning to set over the trees, making the sky come alive with all the colors of the setting sun.

Jin groans, turning to face me for the seventh time. "As I've said before Jungkook, not until he's properly rested. "

"But it's already sunset," I say. "You said that he can't have any visitors during the afternoon, but it isn't the afternoon anymore. Please, may I see him?"

Lisa, who was sitting next to Jin, laughs. "Let him go in, Jin. I happen to remember this one vampire who wouldn't leave Namjoon alone when he was in the healing center."

Jin's cheeks turn red. "That was different. I'm a healer. It's my job to take care of patients and see how they're doing."

Lisa snorts. "So giving them cuddles and kisses now counts as 'part of your job'?" Jin pushes her lightly, and she giggles.

"So does that mean I can go in?" I look at both of them hopefully.

Jin furrows his brows, and emits a long sigh. "You're not giving up, are you? Fine. But only for an hour. Then you will go to your room and stop bothering me." His expression softens. "The sedative should be wearing off my now, so he may even be awake. Go and see him, but don't excite him."

I nod, easing the door to the healing center open and slipping inside. Taehyung's bed is at the very end of the room, against the far wall. I walk over to him, taking in his sleeping figure. He looks so tired, his dark brown hair splayed across the white pillow. My eyes immediately go to his left hand which is in a cocoon of bandages, resting snugly on the sheets. His lips are slightly parted revealing the tips of his sharp fangs. His large black wings are gone, and so are the small scales on his face.

I sit by his bedside, holding his uninjured hand limply. Taehyung's eyes are closed and his breathing steady, meaning that he is still fast asleep. I look again at the small cuts and scratches on his face and feel a pang of guilt.

"I'm sorry," I murmur, knowing that he couldn't hear me. But that didn't matter. I just needed someone to talk to. "I'm sorry for making you promise to take me to London. I'm sorry that you had to fight all those specters alone. I should have known better. I shouldn't have made you come."

"Don't be."

I swiftly look at Taehyung's face, seeing that his ruby eyes are open. "Don't be, he repeats, fingers curling around mine. "My injury was not your doing." His voice is raspy from hours of sleep, but still firm. He carefully wipes away a stray tear from my cheek with his thumb, eyes soft.

"Ssh..." Taehyung whispers, caressing my face. "Don't cry. I don't like seeing you cry."

"B-but you got hurt because of me!" I burst out. "If I hadn't insisted that we go to London, you wouldn't have had to fight them. You wouldn't have gotten injured like this. It's all my fault." I hang my head.

"No." Taehyung says, tilting my chin up ever so gently so that I was looking at him. His clean scent washes over me. "It was my decision to stay and fight. Not yours. I was doing my duty as your soulmate. You aren't responsible for my actions."