oneirataxia | vkook

열 (yeol)

Narrator's POV

all taehyung can hear is a glass shattering.

taehyung blinked, coming out of his stupor. he looked down on the cold white floor, seeing many tiny pieces of glass. he lost his grip on the fragile cup causing it to shatter on the ground.

the honey brown haired boy looked around, studying his surroundings. the floor, ceiling, and wall are all white. the quiet hum of the air conditioner and his panting is the only thing he is hearing. it's driving him insane.

taehyung held his white blanket tighter, hurling it over his head, almost suffocating himself. he wrapped his blanket around his face before pulling at the edges of it causing him to have difficulty in breathing. it doesn't stop him from screaming though.

almost immediately, the room's white door opens quickly. a person clad in lab coat rushes in and attempted to calm him down. the woman disentangled the blanket around him before telling him to breathe.

"okay, taehyung. i need you to calm down. follow me. inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale, "

taehyung followed the instruction given to him, effectively calming down his nerves and regulating his breathing. the woman smiled at him before sitting in front of him.

"doctor lee, " taehyung kept tugging at the doctor's coat for her attention. she immediately gave her attention to the boy who's sitting on the edge of his bed.

"yes, taehyung? did something happened? " dr. lee asked with her soft and soothing voice. taehyung immediately nodded excitedly, leaning forward as if he's telling a top secret.

"i met my soulmate earlier, " and then, taehyung suddenly started to wail. the doctor panicked but calmed herself down immediately. she sat beside taehyung and started to gently pat his head for comfort.

"and? what happened? " taehyung looked up at her with sad eyes, lips trembling as he reminisces his failed relationship.

"h-he died, dr. lee! he have this sickness called coronary artery disease. he never told me about it! i could've helped him but no! he chose to keep it away from me! "

dr. lee is still patting his head softly. she's thinking hard if anyone visited the poor, crying boy when she's gone for an hour. she cupped the boy's face lightly, afraid to hurt the fragile boy.

"what's his name? did i met him already? " taehyung shook his head.

"jeon jeongguk! i met him last year on the campus. we became friends after a basketball match and dr. lee! guess what? my team won against his team! " taehyung proudly informed her as he rambled on and on about their dates and jeongguk's funny life stories.

dr. lee stared straight ahead but she still nodded so the boy wouldn't throw a tantrum. taehyung has been stuck at this room for ten consecutive years now. he's not allowed to go outside. no one visited him after he got admitted at the hospital.

"oh! and i brought him to my house and met my parents! and they said—" dr. lee drones out the rest of the boy's stories.

his parents are already dead. it's the reason on why he's here, at the hospital.

min yoongi, jung hoseok, park jimin, kim namjoon, kim seokjin, and jeon jeongguk doesn't exist.

it's not the first time that taehyung told her a story that included them. the first time that it happened, she immediately asked around if anyone knows any of them and even goes as far to dig taehyung's background.

none, no one knew about them. taehyung's family or even acquaintances are all gone.

misfortunes followed taehyung around, the boy never tasted happiness in his life. his parents are always fighting and broke off, having their own families. they abandoned him.

taehyung was left to live into his grandmother's house. a few months passed and his beloved grandma told him that both of his parent's families went to a vacation. unfortunately, they didn't come back alive.

the young boy teared up at that. but it's still okay. he still have his grandma, right?

after the heartbreaking news, his grandma passed away the day after because of old age.

no one wanted to take care of him so he was sent to an orphanage where the other orphans ignored him, teasing him for his misfortunes in life.

a couple adopted him when they saw that he's the only one in the orphanage. taehyung is 10years old that time. the couple enrolled him into a public school because they can't afford a private one.

he doesn't have any friends. even in school, the boy is an outcast. no one ever tried to talk to him, as if he's invisible. but it's fine for him. he still have his foster parents anyways.

that is until a month after they adopted him. the couple got involved into a car accident and lost their lives. that's the breaking point for the already broken boy.

dr. lee felt bad for the boy. taehyung never deserved to have a life as tragic as this, no one deserved to have a life like this.

the boy got admitted into the hospital because of his constant daydreaming. he claimed that he feels a tinge of happiness in his fantasies.

he does it regularly that he's unable to distinguish the fantasy and reality. he believed that his imaginations are real, that it happened.

dr. lee smiled at him sadly. taehyung is still telling her what happened with wide, bright eyes. tears cascaded down on her face without her realizing it.

"dr. lee, why are you crying? " taehyung wiped her tears away for her, giving her a sweet smile. the woman returned his smile, holding back her tears.

the doctor stood up after ruffling the boy's hair fondly. taehyung grabbed her wrist in a weak attempt to stop her from leaving. she turned to him, gently removing his hold.

"don't worry, taehyung. i'll come back, okay? " taehyung nodded sadly. he followed the woman's petite figure until she disappeared from his sight.

taehyung flopped back down on his bed, staring blankly at the white ceiling. he lets the continuous noises that the air conditioner is letting out to lull him back to sleep. his now soulless eyes slowly closed, breathing softly until he finally fell asleep.

-

taehyung opened his eyes, stretching his stiff muscles. he looked beside him and saw jeon jeongguk, his husband. taehyung lets out a bright smile as he placed a kiss on the latter's cheeks, forehead, nose and finally, lips.

the action made the younger man groan and roll away from him in annoyance. taehyung giggled and draped his whole body on top of jeongguk. the latter finally woke up, glaring at him but softened up when he saw taehyung's warm and bright eyes.

"good morning, jeongguk,"

taehyung greeted him lovingly, happiness can be seen in his eyes. jeongguk smiled at him, eyes full of love directed only at the man in front of him. jeongguk kissed him on the lips, pouring all of his emotions into the kiss and making sure taehyung felt it.

"good morning, taehyung, "

-

"kim taehyung, born in 1995 december 30, died in 2019 september 1. cause of death; body can't handle the stress anymore thus leading the brain to permanently shutdown, "

the end

"because an illusion is an illusion. reality always exists despite the facade."