13 chapter thirteen: is

hyerin watched the lines on her monitor as it beeped, i'm still alive, she thought to herself, she was still breathing and she still has time left.

she looked around the room, it was empty, the couches were empty and complete silence has drowned the whole room, "the boys." she mumbled, standing out from her bed, she headed out to her room where she was greeted by seven sleepy boys.

"wanna come in?" she said, all the boys then perked their heads up, "it's quite lonely inside, i actually need some company." she faintly smiled.

the boys immediately stood up, rushing to her side, "noona, you alright?" jungkook asked as soon as she reached her side, hyerin nodded and ruffled his hair.

they went in, grabbing some chairs to seat on next to her bed as the others just stood and the some sat at her bed, "are you feeling fine, rin?" jin asked, concern filling his face.

"of course i am, the doctor said i'm just not physically stable, that's all." she lied, well not exactly since the doctor didn't really specifically say what her diagnosis was.

they all doubted for a minute before nodding their heads and smiling, "as long as you're not dying, we're good." taehyung laughed off, not exactly know the irony of what he said.

jimin stayed quiet as he seated at the end of her bed next to taehyung, he hadn't said a  word ever since they entered the room which bothered hyerin, was he mad at me? hyerin asked.

all continued to talk until taehyung suddenly raised is voice out of nowhere, "let's buy food!" he yelled that echoed within the whole room.

the others looked at each other before nodding to themselves and walked out of the room, "jimin, you're staying." taehyung stated, pointing at the guy.

jimin furrowed his eyebrows, confused, "why?"

"she can't be here alone?" taehyung said in a duh tone, he pushed jimin back down to his seat and went to the other guys who were waiting at the door.

"why can't i be the one who stay?" jungkook protested, looking at hyerin at jimin who were both seating at the bed, "i want to take care of noona." he complained.

the others just dragged him out of the room, closing the door shut, "talk to each other." taehyung lastly said before following the boys outside.

-

hyerin and jimin stayed quiet for a while, both thinking of what to say for starters, "are you—" both looked at each other with widened eyes, surprised that they were in chorus, "you go first." they said in chorus again, making them both crack a smile.

"are you sure you're alright?" jimin sincerely asked, smile fading away from his face.

hyerin froze but got herself back together again, "of course, you? are you alright? you can take a rest, take a nap or even go home."

home, she needed to go home.

"you can go, and don't worry i won't wait anymore."

her cousin's words echoed in her head, how could she forget about it.

"i need to go home." she mumbled.

"you can't, you fainted." jimin said, his face showing evident concern.

hyerin continued to shook her head, "my cousin, he can't be left alone at home." she stated, getting off from her bed and went to her belongings that were on the couch, grabbing it she went to the toilet and quickly changed.

"hyerin, stop. stay here, even for just another day." jimin was already desperate, he has to make her stay, to make sure that hyerin's really alright.

"i'm sorry, but my cousin." hyerin faintly smiled before grabbing the rest of her belongings and dashing to the nearest counter to pay whatever she needed to.

"someone already paid for your bills, here are the medication you have to take." the nurse gave her a plastic, inside full of bottles of pill she had to take. not minding what the nurse had said, she just nodded and exited the hospital, going straight to the bus stop.

"hyerin? where are you going?" yoongi asked as they bumped with hyerin on the street, "shouldn't you be in bed? yah! rin!" he yelled as the girl ran away, disappearing from their sight as she entered the bus.

the boys yelled her name, telling her to come out from the bus, desperate to stop the girl, they immediately ran to their car at the parking, surprised to see a panicking jimin next to it, "guys, we have to go to her house." jimin raised his voice as he saw them.

they all nodded, getting inside as fast as they can and driving to follow the bus, "this is the bus, right?" jin asked his members who were all trying to dial hyerin's number.

no one answered him which frustrated him as he needed their cooperation which they weren't giving, "can we all just calm down! hyerin isn't committing suicide, she's just going home, unless you don't want to see her, then help me here and tell me if were following the right bus!" he frustratingly yelled, hands gripping the steering wheel a bit hard and his face quite red from everything he had let out.

the boys stayed quiet, "yes hyung, we are following the right one." namjoon answered, afraid to hear another outburst of jin if no one answers him.

all were quiet as their car followed the bus in front, reaching the bus stop, they saw a girl step out, hyerin, it was her, with all of them sighing in relief, they continued on following the girl as she walked to her house.

"we're here." jin announced, "don't let her see us yet." he warned, looking at the boys before unbuckling his seatbelt and stepping out of the car, the others following him.

-

"jaehyun?" she opened the door to her house, only to be greeted by silence, just silence and darkness, "i'm home." she stated, heading upstairs, she went to her cousin's bedroom only to see that jaehyun was already fast asleep on his bed.

"i'm sorry, i just keep on letting you down." she whispered as she reached his bed, seating next to him, she brushed away the younger kid's bangs that were covering his eyes, "when did you last have a haircut?" she lightly laughed to herself.

at night, that was the only time she could talk and look at her cousin without him running away and flinching from her touch, "i'm sorry." she mumbled again.

"sleep tight, let's spend more time together, yeah?" she kissed her cousin's forehead, silently walking away to not wake him up.

as she closed the door, she never knew that the young boy has been awake all this time, he was silently waiting for his favorite cousin to come home and kiss him goodnight as he believes it drives the monsters away and helps him avoid nightmares.

"i'm not mad, noona. we'll hang out, i promise." he whispered, sitting on his bed as he help up a small box that he has been hiding under his covers all this time, "i've been a bad boy, aren't i cookie?" he hugged his bunny stuffed toy.

he had bought a gift for his noona awhile ago as he remembered how rude he had been to her.

"i know, i didn't mean what i said." he was close to crying, hugging his stuffed toy so tight, "this is your fault, you didn't give me courage to give it her. yah, why didn't you give me a power booster? i always give you one when you feel scared to talk to grass?" he scolded his toy, pointing to grass, the turtle stuffed toy he owned, "you want me to let you sleep with him every night?" he threatened cookie.

he plopped in his bed, staring at the ceiling before turning around from cookie, "i'm not hugging you tonight, cookie. we're on timeout, i'll spend some time with grass tonight." he hugged his turtle stuffed toy, but being the kind boy he is, he grabbed cookie and hugged him as well, letting one of his hand go in between both the toys as he was afraid that they might fight.