one week [taekook] ✓

fourty-four: goodbye

"i-i'm looking for mr. j-jeon, he w-was admitted h-here not too long a-ago!" jeongguk stuttered, clearly panicked, to the receptionist, doing his best to hold back his tears.

the receptionist kindly told jeongguk the room his father was in. the boy ran to find the room, excusing himself if he accidentally bumped into anyone. finally, he reached the room, looking through the glass to see his father hooked up to some machines and a doctor and two nurses surrounding him. jeongguk abruptly opened the door, barging in, and was quick to ask question of his health. he was ushered away by a nurse, telling him to be quiet.

after a few minutes, the doctor came out with a clipboard. jeongguk, who was pacing back and forth, rushed to the doctor.

"is my father alright?" he begged for an answer.

"fortunately, he wasn't involved in an accident like we had thought. from what i've observed, he fainted, and the impact to the ground cause the wound on his forehead. we believe he fainted due to a very common disease in the name of stress, but it shouldn't be taken so lightly. it doesn't seem like this is the first time this has occurred, as it's a bit more serious than our normal patients. he will be alright, don't worry. he needs all the rest he can get right now, do not disturb him. i'd like to keep him under observation for a couple more days. after he's discharged, you need to make sure there's never a situation where this occurs again, it might be fatal next time," the doctor informed him.

jeongguk nodded, doing his best to comprehend each and every word, but his heartbeat still wouldn't calm down.

"are you his guardian?" the doctor asked.

"yes," jeongguk answered, breath still shaky.

"how old are you?"

"twenty-one."

"does your father have any other family, your mom, an uncle or aunt?"

jeongguk shook his head, looking down.

"do you know why this may have occurred?"

jeongguk once again shook his head.

"do you two live together?"

jeongguk shook his head for the third time.

the doctor kissed he teeth, and she said in annoyance, "i honestly don't understand kids these days. they have no one else except their family but still want to live alone for their so called privacy just so they can fool around." she let out a loud sigh. "sorry, i might have said a bit too much, but please, stay as close to your father as you can from now on, especially at his age, you never know what will happen."

jeongguk stared at the ground in silence.

the doctor spoke again, "you can pay the bills at the counter now or when you discharge him." with that, the doctor left, one of the nurses following behind as the other stayed in the room, leaving jeongguk all alone in the hallway.

jeongguk couldn't take it anymore, his body too weak to function, as his knees crashed down the floor.

tears started flowing through his eyes, but jeongguk's face remained emotionless. he felt a light buzz through his pocket. slowly, he pulled out his phone. it was a message, one that he sees quite often as it's always being copied and pasted.

landlord
text message
today 11:26 am

still waiting on that rent Jeon
Jeongguk. remember the rule;
if rent isn't payed in twenty-four
hours of agreed time and date,
you must move out, even if
payment is prepared later on.
rent must still be given, and
tenant will still move out.

jeongguk's tears became heavier. how was he going to pay both rent and hospital bill? his phone began vibrating again, but this time, it wasn't a message. it was a call. more specifically, a call from "my one and only taehyung oppa <3".

on the last ring, jeongguk answered the call, bringing it up to his ear.

"hey, where are you? are you even out of bed yet?" the older joked, but jeongguk was in no state to laugh.

jeongguk thought back to what the doctor said. she was right, he was fooling around. if only he had been with his dad, he could've prevented all of this from happening. although the younger knew it wasn't the other's fault, he couldn't help but blame taehyung for all of this in this situation and steer all his anger and pain towards him, as his heart was too weak to make any proper decisions.

"hello? gukkie, you there?"

"yes," he answered coldly, his voice shaking lightly.

"jeongguk, are you okay? is everything all right?" taehyung took notice of the younger's tone immediately.

jeongguk wanted nothing more than to yell out he wasn't okay, let his tears stream down and let everyone hear his cries, let taehyung's voice soothe him to a better star, but he didn't, he wouldn't.

"yes," jeongguk answered, his voice becoming weaker by the second.

"where are you? i'll come see you, your don't sound well. are you sick?" the older inquired.

the younger room a few seconds to think, when a bitter laugh came out. "yes, i am sick. sick, sick of all of this. sick of this stupid drama act we're trying to play."

"jeongguk what are yo—"

"let's end it here, hyung. i've had enough of this."

"jeongguk, where are you? you're voice is shaking, the he—" taehyung kept persisting but was cut off.

"i said i've had enough of this," the boy shouted, "just... just leave me alone, please."

the older sighed as sour as jeongguk. his voice went low as he spoke, "fine, i will. i'm sorry, it was wrong of me to think this was actually going somewhere, but now that i know you thought of this all as an some sort of act, i understand how you feel. i guess this will be the last time we talk. goodbye, jeon jeongguk."

taehyung had ended the call, but the younger still kept his phone to his ear. his tears were still flowing, but there was no sound escaping to prove so.

"goodbye, kim taehyung."

—•
dw, no one's gonna die in this book.
also thank you to all those who've added my story to their reading lists, it means a lot to me!
bye<3