roses | yoonmin

05

two hours passed and jimin was still asleep. the four other boys were drinking their coffee and talking, occasionally glancing at jimin to check if he was awake. however, he still slept soundly.

suddenly a groan was heard and everyone turned their heads to the now awake boy. "jimin! are you alright?" they all asked.

"i-i'm okay," he said through the oxygen mask. he tried sitting up but winced and taehyung helped him adjust the hospital bed so he was in a comfortable position. jeongguk placed the tray of food on jimin's foldable table and helped him eat. when he finished, dr. song came in and checked up on him.

"alright mr. park, you're free to go. if something happens again please come back immediately," he said. he handed taehyung the discharge papers which he signed. then, a nurse helped him get rid of all the needles in his arms. he left and jimin went to change in the bathroom. when he came back he put his hospital gown in the hamper, and the five boys left all together.

"how did i end up here?" jimin asked as they all got into namjoon's car.

"i brought you here. you were coughing full flowers and you blacked out," taehyung said. jimin nodded.

"i'm sorry for worrying you guys..." jimin said.

"no, it's okay. don't blame yourself for this, it's not your fault. but jimin," namjoon said. "you really don't want to get the surgery?"

the said boy shook his head. "i don't want to get it. he said he has songs planned for me right? i just need to take my medicine before meeting him—"

"hyung, your condition is getting worse. what if something like this happens again? what if you end up confined in the hospital because the roots are taking up so much space in your lungs? hyung, look at yourself! you're paler and skinnier than before, you can barely eat because if not you'll cough it out along with the petals, you've changed a lot hyung and i noticed every detail. and it hurts me to see you suffer like this! i can't even mess around with you anymore because i'm afraid i'll hurt you or do something bad! hyung please," jeongguk said for the first time ever since they got in the car. he was so close to tears it hurt everyone just by looking at him. they never knew jeongguk was affected this much by jimin's condition.

the youngest took a deep breath. "i'm sorry," he whispered. the car was silent for the rest of the ride home. they dropped off jeongguk at his apartment and made sure to check on him later tonight. jimin was dropped off at his apartment and the kims were the only ones remaining. they drove off to seokjin's house and stayed together for a while.

"what are we going to do..." namjoon sighed.

"i don't know. we should check on jeongguk once in a while and give him some space... but i'm not so sure with jimin..." seokjin said.

"honestly, i stand with jeongguk. i'm the one who's taken care of him the most and i've seen how bad his condition has gotten in the past two years... and i'm scared. this was the first time he coughed out full flowers and the doctor said his lungs are halfway filled with roots. jimin keeps saying he'd rather die loving yoongi hyung than live and forget he ever did but he's practically putting his life on the line for someone who doesn't love him back. jimin's getting weaker and weaker everyday, and if i tell him to take the surgery he says he'll try to stay strong and hold on a little longer, and as much as i don't want to say it, we all know that that might not last long. he's relying on his medications now, saying that he'll just take them when he meets hyung but what if it doesn't work? what if something goes wrong and the meds don't work?" taehyung said. he was right, jimin is risking his life by relying on pills that aren't as effective as they used to be anymore.

"you're right, but what if he gets better?" namjoon asked. "like, what if his coughing reduces and he doesn't feel sick all the time?"

taehyung shook his head. "hyung, it's been two years. after two years the hanahaki starts to settle in more and the patient's lungs are either halfway or 75% filled with roots, so the lung capacity is reduced to 50% or 25%. right now, jimin's lungs are halfway filled with roots. and it's getting worse."

the room was silent except for the ticking of the clock on the wall. everyone was thinking of what they should do, to at least lighten the situation even if it was already worse than it was.

—•—

meanwhile, jeongguk decided to go to jimin's apartment to apologize for lashing out at him.

when he entered, the apartment was quiet. jeongguk suddenly heard faint pants and he knew something was wrong. he followed the sound and his ears led him to the bathroom. when he opened the door with a shaky hand, he saw jimin lying down on the floor, surrounded by blood and flowers.

"hyung! hyung no, please, no, no, no..." he pleaded as he knelt beside jimin's body and lifted him up, not caring if there was blood on his jean jacket. quickly, he dialed taehyung's number hoping he would answer quickly.