chapter fifteen

my eyes fluttered open and the first thing that i saw was the white ceiling above. the beeping sounds of the machines beside me were the only ones i could hear. i tried lifting my head yet pain surged throughout my whole body which made me groan.

"hanbyeol?" hyunjun stared at me with widened eyes as he took my hand in his, "you're finally awake, let me just go and call the doctors." he wiped the few tears that had escaped his eyes before rushing out of the room.

my eyes roamed around the place, the accident.

jimin, where's jimin?

my brother and a doctor came rushing into the room. the doctor immediately checked my condition, asking a few questions before having a talk with my brother.

"jimin?" i called out, desperately looking for any signs that he's been here, "are you still here?" i asked, feeling a sudden lump on my throat as my vision started to get blurry with tears.

hyunjun came back inside, a smile tugging on his lips. he took a seat next to me, holding my hand and placing a kiss on my knuckles, "what took you so long to wake up? we waited for so long, hanbyeol." he cried.

"how long was i unconscious?" I asked him.

"three whole months, you were in a deep coma after that car accident." he explained. three months?

"what happened to the others inside the bus? there was a family as well, are they alright?" my brother looked at me with a questioning look on his face.

"what do you mean others? hanbyeol, it was just you and the driver, you were riding a taxi on your way home. don't you remember?" he said which made me more confused as ever.

"what are you talking about? i was riding a bus." i muttered in a low voice. i remember it clearly, everything that happened that night.

"you must be tired, byeol. i already called taehyung and the others, they'll be visiting later. dad and mom are in their business trips but they'll be back soon." he informed me.

taehyung and the others?

"hyunjun, i'm confused." i told him.

he smiled, "do you still remember the last thing that what we talked about?" i shook my head no,

"you were mentioning things about parallel universes and how you would want to experience living as another version of yourself." i furrowed my eyebrows and urged him to continue, "where were you while you were in coma? byeol, where did you go while you were gone here?" he asked.

parallel universes?

"i don't know, everything felt so real. was everything just an illusion? i'm pretty sure it was real, you were there. seojun, our parents, and ji—taehyung." i told him, feeling my tears slowly falling from my eyes.

"hey, don't think about it for now. what's important is your awake and that you're alright." he stood up from his seat, moving closer and hugging me in his arms.

i cried in his arms, memories of jimin stirring up in my mind. does that mean jimin wasn't real? were everything just a fabric of my imagination?

hours passed and i found myself seated silently in my hospital bed. i couldn't accept the fact that everything that i thought happened never really happened.

the door opened and revealed taehyung with his friends. they all came in the room with a smile and immediately rushed towards me. taehyung gave me hug, placing a swift kiss on my head.

what shocked me the most was that the others did the same. since when are we close? even yoongi had a smile on his lips as he came closer to hug me for a few seconds, "it's good to see you back, byeolie." he greeted which made me stare at him.

"why are you looking at us like that? it's not like it's the first time we hugged you." jungkook joked around. since when did he joke around me?

"what do you want to eat? just say it and i'll cook it." jin said, winking at me. "yah, byeol, i know we haven't met in a while but why do you seem so shocked seeing us here?" he complained, his voice lightly raising.

"i'm sorry, my mind's just processing things." i explained.

"do you know how worried we are while you were in coma? we couldn't even write lyrics that wasn't about you." namjoon said, sadness and happiness both visible in his face.

"taehyung was a whole wreck while you were gone." hoseok pointed at the flustered boy next to him with a mischievous look on his face.

"i was just worried, i'm her friend, of course i'll be worried." taehyung defended herself, his ears red as he tried to not stutter. what made it funnier was how deep his voice suddenly got.

"let's go to our special hideout once you get out of here." jungkook suggested and everyone agreed except for me who was wondering what he was talking about, "the place near the cliff, you don't remember that as well? we always go there." he explained.

the cliff? i only remember going there with jimin.

"she might just have trouble remembering things, i'm sure she'll remember it sooner." yoongi said, sitting at the edge of my bed.

we had spent the rest of the day talking among ourselves, the boys would tell stories that i couldn't seem to remember at all. taehyung had told that the seven of us had been friends for years, ever since we were all in middle school.

why don't i remember anything?

after a couple of hours, a nurse came in and said that visiting hours were over. the boys then decided to head back home and i was left alone in my room.

feeling bored, i decided to walk around the hospital. without the permission of my doctor, i went out of room and roamed around the big halls of the hospital. what if my brothers have their shift right now?

i went out to the garden, sitting in one of the benches. "jimin, where are you?" i tilted my head and stared at the sky, it was full of stars and the moon glistened in the dark night sky.

stars. looking at them reminded me of jimin, everything just reminds me of him. i tried to picture his smile in my head, those moon shape eyes of his that formed whenever he smiles and laughs.

unconsciously, tears started to escape my eyes. i kept my gaze on the night sky, trying my best to not forget about him, i can't forget about him.

- flashback of memories -

"i'm tired, jimin. i want to close my eyes, can't i do that? i want to rest." i told him, my voice not louder than a whisper.

"i'll see you there, i promise i'll be there. we'll see each other again, i'll make sure of that. hanbyeol, i love you, don't forget about me." he kissed my forehead, then my nose, before kissing me on my lips.

- end of flashbacks -

why does our memories seem more vague now? why does it seem like i'm slowly forgetting about him?

i repeated to say his name in my head, forcing myself to remember everything but then... "park jimin, jimin-ah. park—" i stopped, feeling the cold breeze which made me instinctively wrap my arms around my body.

"what was the name i was saying just a while ago?" i asked myself, the memories of what happened a while ago seemed to slowly disappear from my thoughts.

"hanbyeol, why are you crying?" i asked myself, wiping my tears. maybe i'm just emotional because of everything that happened. i stood up from my seat, deciding that i should go back to my room before someone catches me roaming around.

i passed by the room next to mine and saw that the door was opened. i couldn't help but to take a peek and saw a guy about my age laid on the bed, a lot of machines connected to him.

for some reason, my heart felt heavy. i suddenly felt like crying and the next thing i know was tears were already falling out of my eyes.

i was about to step in the room when a hand pulled me and turned me around, "hanbyeol, why are you out of your room? and why are you crying?" seojun wiped my tears and looked at me with concern in his eyes, "do you know him? do you remember seeing him? he was in the same accident you were in." he looked at where i was looking.

"what's his name?" i asked him.

"jimin, park jimin. he fell in coma weeks after you did." my brother told me. have i heard that name before? it sounded too familiar.

"i don't think i know him." i tried to get a better look of him yet one of the doctors already closed the door. seojun then told me to go back to my room, i nodded and went back.

park jimin? where have i heard that name?

i decided to visit park jimin, maybe i can remember something if i see him. it was a good thing he had no visitors at the time i went to his room.

i walked closer, getting a better view of the pale boy. "have we met before?" i asked, my hand reaching out to brush some of his hair out of his face. "my brother said we were involved in the same car accident, i wish you could wake up soon." i smiled to myself, a bit weirded out that i actually feel comfortable being around someone i'm not close with.

the door to his room suddenly opened, revealing a lady who seemed to be jimin's mom who didn't seem shocked to see me and instead flashed me a smile.

"i'm happy that you finally woke up, my son always visited you when you were in coma." she told me, coming closer and replacing the flowers in the vase.

"he visited me? do we know each other, by any chance?" i asked, my gaze going back to the boy who was in deep sleep.

"he always visits you after visiting hours are over to accompany you. he would always get some of these flowers to place in your vase, saying that a girl like you would like to wake up seeing fresh flowers by your side." jimin's mom told me.

"i'm pretty sure he'll wake up soon. don't worry, mrs. park, i'll make sure to visit him everyday just like how he did to me." i smiled, letting out a small laugh.

"jimin had told me before he fell into coma was that he had been seeing you in his dreams, he kept saying that if felt so real. have he visited you in your dreams while you were in coma? did he accompany you as well?" she asked.

he was seeing me in his dreams?

"i don't really remember." my heart felt heavy once more just by looking at his sleeping figure, "maybe i should ask him what he dreamt about when he wakes up." tears were suddenly threatening to fall any minute now.

"jimin would be delighted to see you when he wakes up." she muttered, her hand reaching out to caress the hand of her son, "i wish he wakes up soon just like you." her gaze went from jimin to me, flashing me a smile.

we had talked a little more before she had to go, saying that she had work to do. i stayed behind, my eyes not leaving jimin.

"can you hear me? they said people under coma can still hear what people are saying to them." i started off, clearing my throat before speaking again, "i can't wait for you to wake up. i feel like we'll get along well, i'll introduce you to taehyung, i'm sure you guys would get along too."

"why does it feel like this isn't the first time we saw each other? why does it feel like i have already met you? who are you, jimin?" i asked, my voice kept lowering as i speak.

my hand reached out to grab his, wrapping it around his hand. "your hand's small, it's cute." i smiles.

i looked at jimin and saw that he was suddenly crying, tears falling from his eyes even if he was in coma. why is he suddenly crying?

"i finally escaped that place so you should be able to get out of there as well. wake up, jimin." i wiped his tears, feeling teary as well just by looking at him.

i stayed with him all night, only returning back to my room the next morning. my doctor had said that i could go back home.

"slowly, hanbyeol. you just got discharged, don't be too jumpy." hyunjun warned me, we were getting ready to go home.

"can i visit someone first?" i asked and he nodded.

i went to jimin's room, taking a seat on the chair next to his bad and grabbing his hand. "hey, i'll be going back home but don't worry, i'll visit you every single day. i'll wait till you wake up, jimin." i smiled at him.

after saying my farewell to him, i headed back to my room to see both of my brothers waiting for me. the three of us went back home and saw our parents waiting for us.

"our little princess is home, i missed you so much." my mom came rushing to me, hugging me tightly as she showered kisses all over my cheeks.

why does this feel so unfamiliar?

"i'm glad you're finally awake, don't even dare scaring us like that again." dad hugged me as well, placing a swift kiss on my head.

have they always been this sweet to me?

we all spent the rest of day as a family. they kept on telling me stories that happened while i was away, dad and mom would casually bring out a present for me.

as the day ended, i went to my room and laid down on my bed. "why does everything feels so different?" i asked myself, tossing around my bed as i tried to find the right spot for me.

"just sleep, hanbyeol." i told myself, closing my eyes as i waited to fall asleep.