The police were called not long afterwards and I explained everything to them, and they promised they would catch him. They promised he wouldn't get away with it.
It's been a few days of Jungkook being on the run, and they keep me updated, but I almost wish they wouldn't.
I know he wouldn't come back here to hurt me again. I honestly believe what he told me that day.
But it doesn't make it hurt any less.
It doesn't make me any more alive knowing he didn't mean for it to end up like this.
I lay on my side in my bed, both my hands intertwined with Taehyung's as he sits in his usual spot next to me. They switched out the oxygen mask for a nasal cannula so I could speak without needing to move the mask away.
Even with the oxygen, I feel like I can't breathe.
It's not only the physical ailment of being poisoned that is inhibiting me from breathing properly.
It's the heartache too.
"Violet," Taehyung says in a gentle tone. "Can we talk?"
I move my gaze from our hands to his face, sorrow etched onto his every feature as he watches me suffering, physically and mentally.
"There is so much I want to say to you," he says, keeping his eyes locked onto mine.
"Say it then," I say in a raspy voice and he smiles.
"I was 23 years old when I died," he says. "It was sudden - I hadn't expected to go so soon. Suddenly, I was in this place that felt like nowhere. It was just... dark. A man came to me and told me it was time to move on - that he was there for me."
"Like you're here for me," I say and he nods.
"But I didn't go; I couldn't," he says, shaking his head and glancing down at his lap. "I was scared. I was terrified and I told him no."
"Then what happened?" I ask in a quiet voice.
"There was a price to pay for not moving on," he explains. "I had to become this thing - this person who helped people do what I was too scared to do myself."
"You help people move on," I say.
"I do," he says. "I come to someone when I feel their death nearing, and I help them transition into the afterlife. It's the job I was tasked with for choosing to stay in this in-between life."
"Isn't that lonely?" I ask, frowning as I squeeze his hands gently.
"I've done this job for nearly a century," he says, staring down at our hands. "But I'd accepted that this was the price I had to pay for the choice I made. It was simple: I go to people and help them accept their fate and lead them to their next destination. I couldn't change their fates; I couldn't warn them. I could only be there. It was incredibly lonely for a really long time. I was always surrounded by people who needed me to help them, but I'd lost my sense of self for a long time. I forgot who I was outside of this."
I nod, rubbing my thumbs on his hands as he continues.
"Until I met you," he says, smiling down at me. "I came to you when I felt the pull of death in your soul, and I watched you from afar - slowly coming closer and closer to you as you neared death. I got to see your struggles and your pain. I saw you being the strongest person I have ever seen, making decisions I would have been too afraid to make myself. It reminded me of who I wished I was; it reminded me of my humanity that I'd lost."
He sighs. "You were so different. You weren't just another lost, dying soul I needed to guide to the other side. You became so much more for me, and to see you withering away like you were made me feel something I'd not felt in a century. I wanted to break every rule given to me to save you from this fate."
"Why me?" I ask, tears glistening in my eyes.
"You make me feel human again," he says, smiling gently at me. "You remind me of why I couldn't move on in the first place. I was someone who took every curveball and turned it into something good and positive until I died. When I lost my life, I lost my very being in a way. I became something not human, and in turn, I lost my humanity. Just seeing you overcoming every single obstacle thrown at you made me remember what it was like to be human. You don't realize just how strong you are, Violet. Look at everything you've been through. Look at the loss and the pain in your heart and then realize something: you're still here and you're still fighting for every breath you have."
I manage a smile, and I reach up to place a hand on Taehyung's cheek.
"What do I do now?" I ask, searching his eyes for the answers that I desperately need.
"I can't do much," he says, placing his hand over mine. "But I can give you a choice. You can come with me right now to end the pain you're in and let me help you move on, or you can keep fighting and try to beat the odds. You can fight to survive this, and there is a small chance you could survive with the doctor's intervention."
I sigh, my heart breaking once again when I realize I'm going to lose someone else I care about.
"You said you admire me for my strength," I say and he nods, his lips stretching into a small smile.
"Then I would just be letting you down if I gave up now, right?" I ask, tears falling onto my cheeks as I smile up at him.
"I'm going to miss you, Violet," he says, closing his eyes as if he's trying to memorize the feeling of my hand on his face.
"Will you come back for me?" I ask, looking up at him. "Whenever it's my time... will you be there?"
"Even if I have to fight fate itself so that I'm the one who gets to kiss your lips as you're led to death," he whispers. "Death will be our first kiss."
"Promise me," I whisper back, closing my eyes as I let the tears fall freely.
I feel him lean forward and then I feel his slow breaths against the shell of my ear. "I promise."
I nod, a sob forcing its way out of my throat.
"Violet, I need to tell you something else before I go," he whispers into my ear, and then he leans his forehead against my temple. "There is someone I have to go visit after this... someone who you love. I wish I didn't have to take him, but it's my job and I have no choice. I just couldn't bear the thought of not warning you. I don't care if they punish me for telling you. I'm so sorry, Violet."
The sobs continue uncontrollably as my entire body begins to shake, and I hear Taehyung whisper my name one last time before I don't feel him holding me any longer.
