His Scarf | taekook ✔️

t h r e e

If it weren't for the aseptic smell of disinfectant or the overwhelming scent of flowers, Jeongguk would've taken the all-white furniture as a rich mansion, not a sick room.

With soft knuckles against the door, he caught the boy's attention.

"I'm sorry," Jeongguk whispered as the familiar stranger turned around in surprise. "Am I intruding?"

The boy blinked away his confusion. "You're the guy from the bus stop," He realized as he stood from his seat. A quick glance was stolen towards the old woman in bed. "You're not intruding. Just be quiet, will you? My grandmother's asleep."

"Okay." Jeongguk pulled out the scarf and held it in the boy's direction. "I came to return this."

The skin near the stranger's eyes crinkled as he smiled. God, that smile.

"I told you to keep it," He said, reaching out to take it, "You really came all the way here just to give me back my scarf? Are you that obsessed with me?"

"Well, it is yours."

"Thank you." The stranger stared at him for a moment before stretching out a hand for Jeongguk to shake. "My name's Taehyung, but everyone likes to call me Tae."

"I'm Jeongguk."

"Jeongguk," Taehyung repeated slowly, dragging out every syllable as if tasting the name. "It's nice to meet you-"

Just then, a male nurse popped his head in, surveying the room before his eyes fell on Taehyung. "Tae, we had another spill. Do you mind?"

"I'm on it," He said cheerily, letting go of Jeongguk's hand as he turned back towards him. "Can you stay here for a minute? I feel better when someone's in the room with her. There's a buzzer next to the bed if anything happens but that's only for emergencies."

"Sure." Jeongguk shrugged.

"Thanks I owe you one!"

Jeongguk felt extremely out of place, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. He strolled past the bed, not wanting to aim any disrespectful stares at the old woman and fixed his gaze out the window.

Snowfall seemed to have gotten heavier, the array of frozen blooms tipping the balance between adventure and caution. Worry started to stir in Jeongguk, fingertips against the cold glass.

He wasn't too far from home, but he wasn't close either-

"You."

The word was spoken so softly that Jeongguk could've sworn he was hearing things. But no. It was Taehyung's grandmother who had awoken, pointing a boney finger his way.

"I've never seen you before," She murmured, her voice shaky and brittle.

Jeongguk approached the bed carefully. "Oh I'm-"

She lit up. "You're him, the guy my grandson wouldn't stop nattering on about."

Jeongguk paused, his previous words dying on his lips. "What?"

"Oh dear... dear... I need you to promise me something before you go."

"I think you have the wrong person-"

But she seemed too far gone to notice, grasping Jeongguk's hand in hers. "My Tae spends too much time here with me. I need you to take him places. He has to see Christmas while he still has the chance!"

"While he... has the chance...?"

"He's throwing his time away- his youth away, staying in this madhouse..."

There was determination in her eyes. In a sense, she smiled like her grandson. But no longer than a few seconds later, her features slackened, eyes fluttering with exhaustion as she spoke.

"Thank you, Min Yoongi."

And she fell back into slumber.

Who? Min Yoongi who?

Jeongguk pursed his lips, not knowing what to do with this information. And his train of thought was halted when Taehyung came back into the room.

"Hey."

Jeongguk cleared his throat. "She woke up for... a moment."

The older nodded. "She does that a lot, waking up and rambling," He chuckled, "Hope she didn't give too much of herself away."

"Yeah..." The younger cleared his throat. "I'll be going then."

"Thanks for this." Taehyung beamed, patting the scarf that rested on the armrest of a nearby chair. "It was nice meeting you, Jeongguk." There was something almost flirtatious about his grin.

Jeongguk shot back a fleeting smile, the grandmother's words echoing in his mind. Technically he didn't agree to that promise. Surely tagging along with a complete stranger wouldn't bring any good.

Leaving was easy. There was nothing in the way of his departure as Jeongguk pushed open the front door and tolerated the cold.

With trembling fingers, Jeongguk fished out his phone to check the weather.

It was only getting worse.