SKY | txt

SEVEN

taehyun fell sick. very sick.

he wandered into the forest one sleepless night, and returned clutched his chest. he couldn't breathe. 

the freezing night air was suffocating. like a soft piece of fabric over the surface of his skin.

it was gentle, but fatal.

"screw you. all of you." he sits cross-legged on the edge of the hospital bed, tugging on the blue-and-white striped shirt. "bringing me to the worst place in the world, huh?"

"we care about you, okay?" yeonjun huffs, opening a pack of chips with a small poof. "friendship goals, tae."

"my ass." the brown-haired boy takes a chip swiftly, rolling his eyes. "it's boring as hell."

"hey ! you still have us." beomgyu chimes in, slipping a bright-colored deck of cards from his hoodie pocket. "i bought monopoly !"

"how many card games did you bring?" soobin laughs. "if it's not the game that ruins most friendships."

chuckling softly, hueningkai distributes the cards, the bright colors with contracts to the dull white of the bed sheets.

"we're spending our last day in the hospital." taehyun places a beige card in the center. "five million, yeonjun !"

"why me?" reluctantly, the yellow-haired boy removes several cards from his deck, shoving it into the younger boy's hands.

"this is revenge." he grinned, a mischievous glint sparkling in his orbs. 

-

"i won !" beomgyu waves his card in the air, earning stares from the rest of the group.

"we're no longer friends." taehyun sighs.

"you said we'd be friends forever !" the latter turns around suddenly, as if the small joke frustrated him. "you promised !"

"i..." stunned, the shorter boy places his hand on his shoulder, a sign of comfort. "i was joking, gyu."

lowering his head, the black-haired boy bit his lip, which seemed like he was trying to oppress something. 

"gyu..." taehyun looks at him, like he could read his mind. "i won't die. not so soon."

the sudden turn in his tone kept the boys silent. soon, the frown on his face turned into a bright smile. "if i do, i'll buy a house in heaven ! i could open a housing business, you know. i won't tax you if you'd rent it, i promise."

bursting into laughter, the boys panted to catch their breath. 

"shut up ! don't jinx yourself." soobin slapped his shoulder playfully, picking up the settled pile of cards and reshaping it into a deck.

-

into deep night, taehyun stirred awake from a deep slumber to find a black-haired boy by his bed, eyes deeply focused on his phone screen as the white light of the phone screen illuminated his face. 

"beomgyu?" he calls out in a daze, still half asleep with a blurred vision.

"taehyun? go back to sleep." the boy looks up, smiling.

"you first." taehyun insists, rubbing his eyes.

"i...i'm taking care of you ! the rest went back to sleep, so..." beomgyu explained, a tinge of unexplainable nervousness edging his voice.

"why are you so nervous?" the brunette laughs, sitting back down and throwing the covers over his head. "good night, gyu."

"good night." he hears the boy mumbles, the sentence cutting off so fast that it gives an illusion that he has so, so much more to say.

but taehyun wasn't much of a listener, really. he fell right back asleep.

-

"code blue. all available personnel to room 925." the alarm blares, making the boy dizzy at the intense sound waves. 

"god, who's-" beomgyu stops mid-sentence as he stands up abruptly from the hospital bench. 

room 925.

a wave of nurses rush past him, pushing different charts that were making him dazzled. too much. too much. 

"jihae !" the boy exclaims, running as fast as his legs could take him.

the people clothed in white were gathering in a small circle. some were tapping on the clipboard uneasily, while most worked on the body in the middle of them. tubes covered his body, and it was almost difficult to see his face.

jihae. no, it can't be. it wouldn't be.

he finally makes his way to the boy. his face was pale, so pale it was close to a shade of blue. too much, too much.

"doctor, how is he?" anxiety was eating him up, gobbling down the little hope that he waters himself with everyday.

and the man shakes his head.

choi jihae, brother of choi beomgyu, died on august 2012.

reason of death : congenital heart disease. 

-

"taehyun?" he said in almost a whisper, checking if the boy is asleep. 

"hmm?" the boy turns around, facing him.

"we will be friends forever, right?" somehow, he was anticipating his response.

chuckling, the brown-haired boy sticks out his pinky, hooking his with beomgyu's.

"forever. i promised you."

-

thoughts?