YOU BEFORE I KNEW | JIKOOK ✔

30. SAFE AND SOUND

It has been a few weeks since the accident and Jimin is finally discharged, a little bit later than Taehyung is. He's helped out of the truck and lowered onto the driveway pavement beneath him with Jeongguk's hand secured over his side.

"Be careful," Jeongguk says, closing the truck door behind them.

"That's what I've been doing the past few weeks," Jimin replies, keep his arm wrapped around Jeongguk's torso. "I'm okay."

Jeongguk shakes his head and starts walking. "You can never be too careful. You're still healing. You need to be gentle with yourself, Min."

"I promise I'm okay," Jimin replies, knowing all too well that Jeongguk is right.

His arm is held firmly while they walk up the front steps and into the house. He tries to forget about the fact that Jin hasn't contacted him but he remains in a peaceful state of mind knowing that he has for sure gotten every letter. So his older brother knows that him and Taehyung are okay and that's all that matters, as long as Jin is also getting better in the process. It's a sixty day program taking into consideration that everything goes smoothly. Jimin just hopes that he'll be back for their graduation which happens to be right around the corner.

"Are you hungry? You're probably tired of the hospital food." As soon as Jimin is seated on the sofa safely, Jeongguk wanders into the kitchen, popping the fridge open.

"A little." Jimin is watching Jeongguk potter about in the room to his left when he sees Taehyung coming down the stairs, slowly like a sloth.

He looks a little disheveled and Jimin assumes that it's because he has mostly like just woken up or rolled out of bed. His blue hair is quite the mess, sticking out in a few different directions and his otherwise lively eyes look a little droopy. There's a sling around his arm, the one that had been performed on surgically. His sock donned feet glide against the hardwood floor until he's next to Jimin, resting his head on the blond's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Taehyung starts, staring blankly at the wall.

Immediately, Jimin's eyebrows come to a furrow. "Sorry for what? Taehyung, you did nothing wrong," he replies immediately.

The boy shrugs, a small grimace following. "I just feel like there was something that I could have done differently. Something that would have stopped the accident from happening⎯"

"Taehyung, listen to me." Jimin looks at Taehyung, who is now meeting his eyes discouragingly. "He was drunk behind the wheel. He ran a red light. You had absolutely no control over either of those variables. It was his fault. It was all his fault."

Taehyung lets out a shaky breath, nodding his head. He looks back down at his lap and it's clear that he's trying to stop himself from crying but even so, Jimin sees a tear clear as day sliding down the apple of his red cheek, down his neck. He's quick to sweep his hand in and wipe it away.

"Nobody blames you. For anything. We made it out alive and we have our entire lives ahead of us after graduation. Don't dwell on this. Okay, Tae?" Jimin lifts his hand to run it through the disheartened boy's blue hair, hoping that it will give him some kind of comfort and clarity. "We're gonna go to University together and we're gonna meet new people and explore so many new things."

Taehyung looks up, finally breaking into a soft smile. He places his hand on top of Jimin's thigh and squeezes lightly, leaning his head against the boy's shoulder.

"You're right," he replies, in an obvious state of thought as his eyes wander to the wall aimlessly.

If Jimin were to guess, it's that he's thinking about Jin. To be fair, all of them are in one way or another. He's been gone for almost all of his sixty day program and although a couple of months maybe doesn't feel that long, it definitely does for the three boys currently sitting in the same area of the house. Especially considering the fact that he's in the United States.