Jungkook
*Two days later*
For a moment, everything was muffled, as if I was underwater. I pressed my eyes together before I went to open them. I was greeted by bright eyes which only made me squeeze them for a moment before I opened them again.
My head pounded as if someone had a hammer and was hitting a nail continuously inside my head.
The first thing I could hear was the steady beeping of a monitor which quickly told me I was in a hospital.
The second thing I noticed was the itchy feeling in my throat. It felt as if I had swallowed a bunch of sand or glass. My chest ached and my lungs burned every time I tried to breathe. Breathing seemed to be difficult, even normal breaths.
But…all those meant…they meant I was alive. I didn’t die in the fire that the brothers had set up. I was okay…or was going to be as soon as I managed to get myself up. I groaned slightly and instantly I felt arms holding me up.
‘Easy, let me help you,’ Jimin said as he helped me up. I turned to look at him and nodded. I let him help me sit up.
My nose suddenly started to itch and my hand went to touch my nose, just as Jimin’s hand came to stop me.
‘Don’t,’ he said as he shook his head. ‘You have a tube connected to your nose to help you breathe better. There was some damage to your lungs,’ he said.
I nodded as I looked at him. He was pale, well, paler than usual. His hair was messy and he had bags under his eyes. He looked completely exhausted.
‘Wh—what…’ I paused as I ended up coughing. I realized how hoarse my voice sounded. My eyes went wide but Jimin chuckled slightly.
‘Don’t worry, it’s normal because of the smoke you inhaled. In fact, that’s why you’re here in the first place, smoke inhalation,’ he explained.
‘I see…I guess it explains the itchiness and burning in my throat and chest and lungs,’ I explained and once again he nodded.
‘Here,’ he said as he stood up and went to the nightstand. He opened the bottle of water and put in a glass, before handing it to me. ‘This should help,’ he said.
I took it in my hands and took a sip of the cold water. Instantly I felt relief flush over my throat. ‘Ahh it does. Thank you hyung,’ I said as I took a couple of more sips before I handed the cup back to him.
Jimin sighed as he put the cup on the nightstand and sat back down. He ran his hands through his hair as he looked at me. It was almost as if he was studying me.
‘Hey hyung, what um… what happened back there? I remember being jumped and then being taken to the house. Our perps are brothers,’ I said and he nodded.
‘We know. After…after you were jumped and taken, everyone was in a frenzy, especially Misun,’ he said. I couldn’t help but smile a little even though I felt guilty I had worried her so much. ‘Luckily, Huening Kai and Beomgyu found the connection while Yoongi was trying to figure out what happened to you,’ he explained.
‘Remind me to thank those two then,’ I said and he nodded, before he frowned. ‘What? Something you need to get off your chest hyung?’ I asked.
‘What the hell were you thinking hmm?’ Jimin scolded as he gave me a stern look.
‘I…I just…well I thought I saw something and just followed,’ I said with a shrug.
‘Yeah I know but why didn’t you tell Misun huh?’ he asked. ‘Do you know how worried she was? Or how much she blamed herself?’ he asked.
‘What? No, no it’s not her fault. Aish, I just, I saw her worried about Taemin and I just…I thought I could handle it on my own,’ I said with a frown.
The last thing I wanted was for her to end up going through the self blame game. I’ve been there before and it’s not a nice place to be in. It was already enough I had worried her in the first place, but to have her blame herself was just…wrong.
‘You might have if it weren’t two and if you weren’t blindsided,’ Jimin said more calmly. We paused for a few seconds before I sighed.
‘Don’t get me wrong, I would never justify their actions but I did feel sorry for them,’ I admitted. Their story had me stop and think – their little sister was killed because of a drunken hit and run. To make things worse, they didn’t get justice because the system was flawed.
‘Me too but still, you can’t take the law in your hand. You can’t act as jury, judge and executioner. It’s not the way it works,’ Jimin said.
‘Yeah I know. I tried talking them down but they didn’t listen. They tied us up and then set the place on fire,’ I said.
‘When we arrived, we saw them running away. Misun told us to go after them so Taehyung, Jin-hyung and myself went to catch them,’ he explained.
‘I don’t imagine it was easy. They’re both former military,’ I said and he nodded.
‘Definitely. They didn’t make it easy and we exchanged a couple of blows, but we managed to get them arrested,’ he explained.
‘That’s good…how…I was sure I was going to die. How did I end up here?’ I finally asked and Jimin sighed and shook his head.
‘Remember how I told you when we arrived at the scene, we saw the brothers leaving and Misun told us to go after them?’ he asked and I nodded. ‘She told us she had it handled, but we should have known better,’ he said, shaking his head.
‘What do you mean Jimin-hyung? Is Misun okay?’ I asked, suddenly getting a new sense of worry.
‘She…that *, she ran inside without waiting for the firefighters. Two other cops ran in after her. Luckily, they managed to get you and the other two out,’ he explained.
‘Hyung, you didn’t answer my question. Is Misun okay?’ I asked again.
‘She got some injuries,’ he said just as I sat up. I tried to take a deep breath but winced as my lungs burned in response. ‘Jungkook calm down,’ he said but I shook my head.
‘Injuries? What injuries hyung? How bad are her injuries? Where is she now? Is there someone with her?’ I asked, unable to stop the rapid questions from coming out.
‘Jungkook, please calm down. I will tell you everything,’ he said but it did nothing to quell my worries. ‘She ran inside along with those two cops. They did get you out but while doing so, she was inhaling a lot of smoke. To make matters worse, it seems a bit of the ceiling fell on her. As soon as she managed to bring you out, she collapsed. She was admitted to the hospital with you for smoke inhalation and a second degree burn,’ he explained.
‘*. Oh my God,’ I said as I rubbed my face with my hands which were shaking. My heart was racing at the thought that she was injured…especially because she saved me.
‘Don’t worry Jungkook. The doctors said she will make a full recovery. She’s in the room right next to yours and Taehyung is with her. The others have been coming to visit too but you both have been sleeping for the past two days,’ Jimin explained.
‘I want to go see her hyung. I…I need to see her with my own eyes,’ I said. He sighed and nodded as he reached over to a call button. ‘What are you doing?’ I asked.
‘I’m calling Boram. She’s the doctor who has been watching over you and Misun. She asked to be the one since we’re family,’ he said and I nodded.
Just around a minute or two later, the door opened and Boram walked in. She smiled as soon as she saw me up.
‘I’m glad to see you awake Jungkook. How are you feeling and be honest,’ she said. I frowned and tried to clear my throat but winced again.
‘I have a headache. My throat and lungs still burn a little. They’re itchy too and my eyes and nose are a little irritable,’ I admitted while she nodded.
‘Those are all normal Jungkook. For now, you might experience shortness of breath and some other symptoms but we will continue to monitor you,’ she explained.
‘Thanks noona. I… I want to go visit Misun,’ I said while she gave a single nod.
‘I thought you might. I know it’s useless to tell you to wait until you’re both better. I don’t want you exerting yourself so I brought you this,’ she said as she went towards the door.
She opened it further and pushed in a wheelchair. I raised one eyebrow as I looked at Jimin and her. ‘A wheelchair?’ I asked, not fond of the idea. I could walk just fine.
‘That’s the deal. Take it or leave it,’ she said, causing me to smile a bit.
‘Fine, wheelchair it is then,’ I said as I removed the bed covers. Jimin was quick to come and help me while Boram approached me as well.
‘Let’s just remove this for now,’ she said, referring to my nose tube. I nodded as I let her work and then Jimin helped me to get into the wheelchair.
Jimin pushed the wheelchair while Boram followed behind us. We went out of our room and into the one right next to mine. Taehyung stood up as he saw us. He looked as worn out as Jimin and I wondered whether these two have went home at all these past two days.
‘Hey Kooks, I’m so happy to see you awake,’ he said as he approached me and gave me a gentle hug. I couldn’t help but smile as I hugged him back.
‘I’m glad to be awake too. Did she wake up?’ I asked as he let go of the hug.
Taehyung’s smile faltered as he shook his head. I frowned as I rolled myself closer to the bed. My heart ached as I saw her on the bed, sleeping. She was pale as well and had a nose tube just like mine to help aid her breathing. I reached for her hand and took it in mine before I turned towards Boram.
‘Is she going to be okay noona?’ I asked and she nodded. ‘What about her burn? Jimin hyung said that a piece of the ceiling fell on her,’ I said. I wanted to know more, even if it was breaking my heart to do so.
‘Yes, on her back. She…um, well, I won’t lie. She has a bit of a burn. We classified it as a second-degree burn,’ she said.
‘Isn’t that like a very bad one?’ I asked while my heart continued to hammer against my chest.
‘Kind of. We identify burns as either first, second or third. Hers is a bit spread, her skin is red, swollen and has blisters but we’re trying to treat it as best as possible,’ she explained calmly, knowing we had a lot of questions.
‘Is she going to be in pain? Be honest with me noona,’ I said. I saw her gulp and then she sighed.
‘I’ll be honest. Yes, it can be quite painful, but we will try to handle it with medication. We’ve already administered pain relief medication through the drip,’ Boram explained.
‘Can there be complications with it? The burn I mean,’ Jimin asked and she sighed.
‘Unfortunately, yes. Her body right now would be somewhat weak and vulnerable to infections. The worst is if she gets a bacterial infection that could lead to a bloodstream infection. However, we’re trying to do everything to prevent that,’ she explained.
‘Is…it is going to leave a scar?’ I asked and once again she sighed and nodded.
‘Most likely but hopefully it won’t be too big,’ she said with a sad sigh.
I hummed in response as I turned to look at Misun. I squeezed her hand just as I felt a tear rolling down my cheek. I heard the door opening and closing and I realized the others left us to have some privacy. I felt more tears roll down before I could stop them. I sniffed as I wiped at my face using the sleeve of my hospital gown.
‘Misun-ah, princess, what have you done hmm?’ I asked as I brought myself even closer to her. I brought her hand to my mouth as I landed a kiss on it. ‘I’m so sorry Misun-ah,’ I said.
An hour must have passed when I suddenly heard a groan. I looked up and saw Misun opening her eyes and I inched closer. I tried to move quietly so as not to startle her.
‘Misun-ah, can you hear me?’ I asked as she tilted her head towards me. Her eyes opened and seemed to connect to mine. She stared at me for a few seconds before her bottom lip trembled. She smiled as tears sprang in her eyes.
‘You…you’re okay,’ she said as she let out a deep breath but ended up coughing. I recalled my waking moments and how much that had hurt.
‘Easy, easy. Calm down,’ I said as I reached for the glass of water on the nightstand. ‘Slowly,’ I said as I helped her to drink. She seemed to instantly relax as the water soothed her throat and lungs.
‘Thanks,’ she said as I put the glass on the nightstand once more. ‘God, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you’re okay. I was so scared,’ she said, sounding truly relieved.
‘You’re not the only one,’ I said with a sigh. I frowned frustratedly and took my hand from hers. I ran my hand over my face. All the feelings seemed to come crashing down all over again. All the fear and the worry I felt when Jimin told me about what happened.
‘You stupid girl! Do you have any idea how worried you made me huh? What the hell were you thinking rushing inside that burning place?’ I asked.
She scoffed in surprise as her eyes widened. She blinked, once and then scowled at me. ‘Yah! What was I supposed to do huh? I knew you were there and I wasn’t about to…’ she paused as she looked away.
‘About to what huh?’ I asked, my voice slightly raised.
‘Lose you,’ she said which instantly made me shut up. I licked my lips as I looked at her why she tried to take a deep breath. ‘I…I had already failed you once, I wasn’t going to do it again,’ she said.
‘What the hell are you talking about pabo? When did you ever fail me?’ I asked in disbelief that she could ever think that.
‘Let’s not act like you being taken there wasn’t partly my fault! I should have paid more attention to you and had your back,’ she said but I shook my head.
‘Yah I was the one who walked away without letting you know. I…I saw you worried about Taemin and thought I could handle it by myself,’ I said but she shook her head even more than I did just seconds ago.
‘No! You shouldn't have to. Yes, I was worried about him because he’s my friend but he was doing his job. You should have been my priority,’ she said.
‘Yah, stop blaming yourself princess,’ I said but she just sighed. She looked down and played with her fingers nervously.
‘I was so scared. When I couldn’t find you, I just…I had this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, but then, then we saw what happened and it just seemed to open a sort of abyss in my stomach,’ she said.
‘I’m sorry I put you through that princess,’ I said but it was like she didn’t hear me.
‘When I saw the house on fire, it felt like my heart stopped Jungkook. I never felt so afraid, not even when I almost died with the poison,’ she said and I sighed once more while I reached for her hand.
‘I’m really sorry princess,’ I said as I squeezed her hand which made her look at me. Her eyes were glossed over as she fought her tears. ‘I’m sorry you had to go through that and I’m sorry you had to risk your life to save mine,’ I said.
‘You never have to thank me for saving your life. Besides, you would have done the same thing,’ she said and I smiled.
‘Without a doubt, although running into a fire sounds scary,’ I said with half a smile.
‘It was. It was terrifying and honestly, after this experience, I just realize how hard firefighters constantly work,’ she said and I nodded.
‘I was told you rushed in like a firefighter yourself,’ I joked and she shrugged. ‘Seriously though, I appreciate it a lot, but please, don’t risk your life like that,’ I said but she just rolled her eyes. She went to sit up when she winced loudly while shutting her eyes tightly, clearly in a lot of pain. ‘*, what’s wrong?’ I asked as I stood up from my wheelchair and helped her.
‘Hmm m—my back,’ she murmured as she took a trembling breath as she seemed to calm down. ‘I’m o—okay now,’ she said.
‘Liar,’ I said which made her look at me. ‘I know you have a burn there because a piece of ceiling fell on you. See, this is why I told you not to take risks,’ I said with a frown.
‘Was I supposed to let it fall on you?’ she replied quickly before her eyes went wide and her hand went to her mouth before she could say more. I blinked at her as I tilted my head. My brain rushed ahead as it seemed to make the connections.
‘Wa…wait are you saying?’ I paused as I gulped. ‘Did you get that because you protected me with your body?’ I asked. She shrugged and looked down. ‘YAH YANG MISUN ARE YOU CRAZY?’ I screamed, unable to help myself.
‘Yah stop shouting *. You sound like a banshee and need I remind you we’re in a hospital,’ she said with a frown. I lowered my head down as I stared at her and shook my head.
‘You’re unbelievable. Not only did you risk your life by entering that inferno, you even protected me from getting burnt while you took that for me,’ I said.
‘I…I didn’t think much of it. It was instinct really. Jungkook, maybe I don’t say this enough, but,’ she paused, took a deep breath and looked at me, ‘you’re someone very important to me. I would do anything to keep you safe,’ she said.
‘Aish, how am I supposed to be mad at you for being reckless when you did it to save me?’ I asked. ‘You’re always worrying me,’ I mumbled.
‘Just part of my charm I guess,’ she said. ‘By the way, were the brothers caught?’ she asked and I nodded. ‘Good…’ she said as she yawned.
‘You’re tired. You should rest,’ I said and she frowned.
‘I just woke up,’ she mumbled but I shook my head.
‘It might be because of the medicine, especially the pain relief. That can make you sleepy. Go ahead, sleep. I’ll be right here,’ I said.
‘No way. If I’m going to sleep, so are you. I know it’s useless to tell you to go to your room so climb up here and sleep next to me,’ she said.
‘I don’t want to accidentally hurt you Misun-ah,’ I said.
‘If you do, I’ll hit you so don’t worry,’ she said with a cheeky grin. I shook my head and nodded as I took off my bed slippers. She moved slowly but enough for me to have space to climb in.
‘Let’s sleep Misun,’ I said just as she moved closer and put her head on my chest, surprising me. I wrapped my arm around her carefully so not to hurt her.
‘I’m really happy you’re okay and safe Jungkook,’ she mumbled sleepily.
‘I’m happy you’re safe too princess,’ I said as I kissed her forehead.
