UNIVERSE / BTS.

22: we need to talk / namseok

WE NEED TO TALK
( part 2 )

WORD COUNT 2K
OVERVIEW namjoon just wants to help hoseok ( tw: homophobic slurs & anorexia - it's a major theme, please don't read if you could get triggered, i love you )

PLAYLIST neverland / holland, serendipity / pjm, love / kendrick lamar

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THE NURSE'S ROOM was horrible. the smell of bleach and medicine made namjoon want to hurl as he sat with his head in his hands, his knee bouncing with anxiety. the nurse and chanyeol were talking inside her office, namjoon able to hear the nurse's soft voice, while hoseok lay on a bed a few feet away from namjoon, still unconscious.

namjoon was worried, namjoon was so worried, he just wanted hoseok to be okay. from the one side of the conversation he could hear, the nurse was concerned about how much food hoseok was getting. when the door from her office opened, namjoon knew she was going to question him about it too. he looked up, eyes stinging with tears, and the nurse crouched down to his level.

"mr. kim?" she asked, gentle. "you're friends with mr. jung, right?"

"yes," namjoon nodded, hands grabbing at his hair and pulling, just wanting to know if hoseok was alright. "is he gonna be alright?"

the nurse pursed her lips, looking solemn. "he's underweight, malnourished, and dangerously skinny. he's under two hundred pounds, mr. kim. has he been eating a lot?"

namjoon shook his head, biting hard at his lip. "he-he ate last night, with me, but it was just snack things. i haven't seen him eat anything in ages. and he dances a lot."

the nurse sighed. "i'm going to send chanyeol to get some food for him, when he wakes up. i want you to try and tell him, gently, that he isn't healthy, and that he needs to eat. can you do that?"

namjoon nodded. "i can try, i-i think." his voice was shaky, cracking as he tried to hold back tears. the nurse nodded and said something to chanyeol, namjoon not being able to hear past the static noise in his brain. everything seemed to be too much; the lights were too bright, the nurse's voice too loud but not loud enough, namjoon's heartbeat too fast and his breathing too heavy. the nurse passed him a glass of water and he gulped it down gratefully, wiping away the sweat that had formed on his forehead.

"i'm going to go eat lunch, okay mr. kim? i'll leave you and mr. jung alone." the nurse told namjoon. he nodded, and then watched as chanyeol and the nurse left the room. once he was left alone, he stood up and walked over to where hoseok lay, tears pooling in his eyes, his chest physically aching with anxiety.

"h-hyung," he said, his voice shaky, completely aware that hoseok couldn't hear him. "hoseokie-hyung, i know you can't h-hear me, and that t-this is probably p-pointless, but i-i... please wake up, hyung," namjoon choked on an unwanted sob, a tear falling from his eye. "i w-want to help y-you, i want to m-make sure you eat and h-help you recover. i k-know it's gonna b-be hard, but you ne-need to do it, hyung. please."

hoseok stirred a little, groaning, and namjoon felt a brief flutter of relief in his tight chest. the older boy's sunken eyes opened slowly, gazing blankly up at namjoon, his dry, chapped lips opening in confusion.

"n-namjoon?" his voice was so frail, just like the rest of him, and namjoon's chest tightened again, a lump in his throat. "w-what happened, why are we in the nurse's office?"