GRAVE TALKS | JJK

n

november thirty first.

solbin sighed, blowing the wisps of her black hair that escaped her bun out of her face. she pulled the heavy cart full of cleaning supplies down the hotel corridor to the next room. it was her last room of the day, and she particularly liked this room. normally, the inhabitant would politely tell her the room didn't need to be cleaned without even opening the door, and she definitely didn't have a problem with not cleaning another room.

she raised her hand to the door and knocked, hopefully anticipating the man on the other side to decline her service. when silence was heard, she groaned to herself. solbin opened the door nevertheless, pulling her cart in. oh, the joy of being a hotel maid.

when she looked up, she furrowed her eyebrows at the surprisingly clean sight before her. had the inhabitant cleaned the room and checked out? she didn't know, but she didn't mind it in the slightest. after inspecting the room a little further, she deemed it acceptable. the bed was neatly made, the desktop and little kitchen area spotless. solbin grinned to herself. looks like she wouldn't have to clean the room after all.

she turned to leave, but stopped when her foot landed in something wet. she wrinkled her nose, looking down at the puddle that seeped from the crack of the bathroom door. haneul sighed, toweling off her shoe before grabbing a few rags and kneeling down to clean up the puddle. the water kept coming, and she sighed, assuming the man had left his sink or bathtub faucet dripping, causing one to overflow.

at least, that's what she thought until she saw the white towels come away a pink-ish red color.

"ew." she mumbled, tossing the towels back into the cart. of course she found something nasty the moment she thought the inhabitant was clean. she sighed, opening the bathroom door.

solbin screamed.

the bath was on, overflowing with bloody water. in the bath was a man, his wrists slit open, his red blood staining his white button up and black pants he wore. solbin was frozen in terror, her hands trembling as the bloody water pooled around her feet.

at the sound of her scream, his eyes hazily opened. they were glazed and his vision wouldn't focus, everything was blurry. when his dark, dark eyes met her own, solbin snapped out of it. she rushed forwards, kneeling down and grabbing the man by his shoulders. she struggled to pull him out of the bathtub, splashing water and blood everywhere.

"sir? sir, can you hear me?" she asked. she knew the only reason why she wasn't panicking was the sudden rush of adrenaline that would be gone any minute. she needed to get the man help. when the man only stared at her blankly, his body limp in her grasp, she groaned in frustration. "help! help, someone! call the police! get an ambulance!" she shouted, praying someone would hear.

solbin faltered when she felt the man's cold fingers on her wrist. she looked down at him in confusion, his expressionless face pale. the only emotion he showed was in his eyes. she could see the desperation and sorrow and pain. the man shook his head, continuing to weakly push her away.

"no. i'm sorry for whatever you've been through, sir, but you are not dying today." solbin said. she firmly gripped his shirt before hauling the man to his feet. he let out a strangled moan of protest, his knees buckling beneath him due to blood loss. solbin supported his weight, struggling with the effort.

"oh, my god." a masculine voice choked out behind solbin.

a man stood in the doorway, holding a casserole pan of food. "jungkookie." he murmured, his wide eyes immediately pooling with tears. the tall, pink-haired man quickly discarded the food, rushing forward to help the struggling maid. the man took the weight of the dying man, jungkook, she guessed, with ease. solbin hummed in thanks, rushing to the hotel phone and dialing the emergency number with trembling fingers.

"jungkook, what have you done?" the man asked, holding the younger man up. "kookie, why didn't you tell us?" tears escaped the man's eyes as jungkook's head lolled onto his shoulder. his lips struggled to form words, but the man knew what he was trying to say. "it's jin, kookie. stay with me, okay? don't you dare die on me." jin choked out, gripping jungkook tightly. "if you die, i'm gonna kill you. yoongi and i will beat the shit out of you, oh my god."

~

"...and i opened the bathroom door and—there he was." a feminine voice sounded. the sound hurt jungkook's head. she sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

"and how did you come into the picture, sir?" an unfamiliar, masculine voice asked.

"i came to bring him some food...he always liked my cooking. his door was wide open, and i heard screaming—and i don't really remember what happened after that. it's all a mess." this voice jungkook knew he recognized. the sound of it made jungkook's eyes open. he squinted, the bright lights of the room hurting his eyes and his head. he grimaced, adjusting to the light. the pastel color of the sheets and the abrasive scent of disinfectant immediately notified him that he was in the hospital. he felt too weak to move, to breathe, to think. all he wanted to do was sleep and sleep and never wake up, but the sight of kim seokjin sitting in front of him was enough to keep him awake.

"i'm so sorry." a man in a white lab coat said. jin nodded, running his hands through his pink hair. he had dyed it since the last time jungkook saw him. jin's face was stained with tears, and it sent a hollow feeling to the pit of jungkook's stomach to see him like this. "is there anything that raised red flags to you? any warning at all?"

"his girlfriend died a few months ago, right in front of him. he was so torn up about it. he left the band, hasn't spoken to any of us since. i just thought he wanted to be left alone. jungkook's never been like this, he's always so happy. he's made all of us so happy that we never even wondered if he was happy at all. we should have known. god— i should have known." jin said. his voice broke, and he leaned his head in his hands, fresh tears springing to his eyes. the girl in the maid's uniform rested her hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"no." jungkook croaked. the three pairs of eyes snapped to him instantly. a collective sigh of relief sounded, and in the blink of an eye, jin was up, embracing him tightly. jungkook could feel his tears soaking through the hospital gown he wore.

"thankgodthankgodthankgod— i hate you, you little shit! what were you thinking? you scared the shit out of me, oh my god, i hate you! never do anything like that again, i swear to god, i'll whip your ass! i love you, you idiot." jin rushed out all in one breath, his hold on jungkook never loosening. a ghost of a smile graced jungkook's chapped lips.

"jin hyung—you're hurting me." he choked out.

"good." jin replied, ruffling the younger boy's hair affectionately. jungkook let him, trying to focus on his hyung rather than the deep, vertical cuts he sliced into the flesh of both wrists. they were covered by bandages and sewn shut with stitches.

too bad bandages and stitches wouldn't heal everything.