IMPERFECT • JIKOOK

not

And then came the time

---

His eyes trailed on the beeping monitor at the side, to the little girl's small frame that was rising and falling as she breathed through the oxygen mask that covered her tiny pale lips.

Jungkook couldn't help but stifle a sob as he watched his youngest cousin struggle to breathe. But what poked his heart even more was the fact that underneath the hospital gown the girl was wearing, was his birthday gift for her. The Frozen dress's pink frills were poking out from the pale blue hospital gown's edges.

"O-oh... m-my God," he uttered, his voice almost a whisper, tears already falling from his eyes.

He scooted his legs to get closer to the bed and roamed his hands on the girl's frail arms. His breath hitched as he felt her pulse pumping in her wrists.

He felt a hand on his back.

"Oh, hyung!" he couldn't help but to cry out loud, biting a hand to keep himself from making embarrassing noises.

But his sobbing paused when he felt arms wrap around him from behind. All he could hear was his heart beating thumping fast.

This was Jimin, his cousin.

His hyung had hugged him from the back.

Jimin was hugging him!

And, boy, that made him continue to cry a bit more.

"S-shh... it's okay," he heard Jimin whisper, breath tickling his ears.

He didn't know why, but being surrounded by the elder's arms made him feel safe.

And he didn't want this moment to stop.

He thought that this maybe was the closest moment he could ever have with Jimin so he might as well savor it while it lasted.

For what seemed like hours, the elder hugged him silently.

No words.

No sobbing sounds.

But it was enough to shut him up and make him feel that he was not alone in what he was feeling.

The opening of the door was the only thing that stopped them, Jimin quickly letting him go as a nurse came into view.

"I'm sorry. I have to check her for a bit. If you'll excuse me," she said with a polite bow, clutching a tablet between an arm to her side.

His hyung immediately grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the room.

--

It was 11:30 p.m. and Jungkook found them back at the garden where it was just the two of them there.

He sat on a nearby bench that was almost covered by the protruding bushes from the side.

The place was dark, considering it was late now, but it was moonlit nonetheless which had him able to see his hyung's frowning face.

"Hyung, why are we here?" he asked him, hunching his back on the backrest.

"You have to know something like what I've told you earlier," the elder mumbled while sighing.

"Oh, that. What is it, hyung?"

Somehow, he hoped that it was good news his hyung was gonna tell him. But from the look on Jimin's face, it was not.

"Seulgi..."

He just stared at Jimin, the moonlight reflecting on his hyung's eyes.

"She's dying, Jungkook."