Forever Young 영원히 젊은 Park Jimin

Chapter 54: (BTS Cam) I Need You

Time had become a blur to Jimin. He hasn't left the hospital ever since he came there, only leaving Gale's side to take showers in her private room's bathroom and, when forced, to eat in the hospital's cafeteria.

He didn't know why Gale wasn't waking up. He once asked the doctor who was monitoring her, but even he didn't know the reason.

"Concussion...bleeding...trauma...uncertain..."

The doctor's words seemed foreign to Jimin's ear, the boy not being able to understand his explanation aside from a few words. It didn't matter to him. What he needed was for Gale to wake up.

BTS asked BigHit to clear their schedule for a few weeks while Gale was still unconscious. They visited her every day, bringing her fresh flowers every time they came over. Jin and Hoseok would tell her jokes. Yoongi would sing badly to her, knowing that it always made her laugh. Namjoon would read books to her. Taehyung would put on scary movies on the TV and watch with her like she was awake, and Jungkook sang English songs to her.

But still, she didn't wake up.

BLACKPINK's activities have halted completely. The girls just mostly stayed in Gale's room. They went home every night, but every morning, when Jimin would wake up, they would already be there. The news had finally gone out that Gale was hit by a car and was currently in a coma, sending the media into a frenzy. People blamed YG Entertainment and BLACKPINK's managers for not taking care of their idol and letting the accident happen, which was absurd. Some people were angry at the police because they still had no idea who had hit Gale, while some Knetz had taken to blaming Gale for holding back her group, saying that they should just kick her out instead of waiting for her to recover.

Jisoo had also started watching over Jimin. Even though she was only a few months older than him and was technically not his noona, she felt responsible for him. She was happy that Jimin loved Gale so much, but was getting concerned over the fact that he had not slept in a proper bed ever since Gale's accident. She offered to switch with him, saying that she will stay up the entire night and call him as soon as something happened, but the boy still insisted on staying. Knowing that there was nothing else she could do, she instead made sure that Jimin was taken care of, convincing him to sleep whenever they were there, and reminding him to eat every once in a while. During some occasions wherein Jimin would refuse, she would buy him food from the hospital's cafeteria and bring it to him. Once, she even had to feed him herself.

She had voiced her concerns to Jin and Namjoon, but the two just sighed. They themselves had tried to get Jimin to go home and get some proper rest, but it was pointless. Jimin would not leave the hospital until Gale opened her eyes.

Cheon Jeongcheol arrived a few days after Gale's accident. As soon as he was contacted by Yang Hyunsuk, he canceled all of his meetings. It took a while, but once his affairs were in order, he got on his private plane and flew straight to Korea. He burst into her room just as Jimin was falling asleep on the couch.

"S-Sir." Jimin stuttered as he stood up, trying to shake off his drowsiness. Jeongcheol didn't even look at him as he walked over to his daughter.

"Call the doctor. Now."

Jimin was about to rush out of the room, but then he realized that he wasn't talking to him but rather to his assistant, who nodded before leaving. Jimin watched as Jeongcheol slowly moved his hand to tuck Gale's hair behind her ear. He could only imagine what the older man was feeling. He loved Gale more than anything in the world, so seeing her in a coma was unbearable for him, but the pain felt by a parent whenever they see their child suffering, that's something else.

A few minutes later, the assistant returned, followed by the doctor in charge of Gale.

"Tell me everything." Jeoncheol said impatiently. The doctor proceeded to relay everything that had happened ever since Gale was rushed into the hospital. The entire time, Jeongcheol was stoic, his face not betraying a single emotion.