E I G H T

In the distance, Jimin catches sight of his best friend limping while struggling to walk properly at the entrance of the school gate.

She hasn't been attending school for a couple of days and observing her like this makes him feel guilty.

Guilty because he knew the reason why she was in this condition.

The gauzes that were bandaged around her legs hid the bloody scrapes and permanent scars. She constantly pulled the sleeves of her (F/C) jacket down to cover up the large purplish bruises and minor scratches that were visible on her delicate arms.

Occasionally, she would look down at her wrist which was noticeably red and swollen.

Jimin hesitantly walked towards her. Her (E/C) eyes which were dull and bland brightened up as she saw his presence strolling towards her.

The inseparable friends conversed with each other like any other school day but Jimin despised the way she was acting.

Acting as if nothing happened.

She would brush off any topics about why she hasn't been at school. Giving a nervous laugh while breaking off eye contact would always be her answer.

A couple of days ago, Jimin saw his bullies shoving her around at the back of the school building. They thrashed her books to the dirty concrete, they destroyed everything inside her bag, they stole her lunch money from the wallet that Jimin had gifted her during Christmas.

The laughter from his tormentors, the cries of help, the punching, kicking, and unpleasant remarks.

Jimin remembered everything. He had witnessed everything in the distance from beginning to end and all he did was just watch.

He could've called someone nearby to rescue her, he could've gone up to the bullies and protected her, but in the end, he didn't do anything. He remained still in his spot, not moving a single inch while they were literally beating her right in front of him.

"(Y/N)..."

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I'm sorry, for everything."

If he told her the truth, would she feel betrayed? Would she end their friendship?

The girl stared at the boy who had his attention at the concrete ground. She noticed how tense his jaw looked, how his hands were balled up into a tight fist, and how creased his forehead was from overthinking.

"..."

She saw him that day.

She should be furious at him, right?

She should be ignoring him now... but she couldn't.

She just can't bring herself to get angry at him.

"Jimin?"

"..."

"Stop blaming yourself, I'm okay... everything's okay... I'm fine..."

-

"Jimin?"

The youngest furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, yet at the same time in resentment. Why did he have to appear at this time? Stepping towards the older male, he plopped the palms of his hands on top of his shoulders as he peered down at him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, intensively staring into his brown eyes. Jimin swatted Jungkook's arms out of the way and clicked his tongue in annoyance. Carefully taking off his mask and pulling his hood down, he still kept his eyes locked onto Jungkook's brown ones.

"Am I not allowed to be here? You're not my fucking mom, I just wanted to check up on her." Venom laced through his voiced as he shoved passed Jungkook, roughly hitting his shoulder in the process.

Jungkook swiftly snatched hold of Jimin's wrist and yanked him back.

"What the hell-" The man gasped out as he kept squirming his wrist around to try and get himself free from his grasp. However, Jungkook only tightened his hold, making him flinch in discomfort.

"What the fuck are you doing Jungkook? Let go of me!"

There was no use, Jungkook was stronger and taller than he was.

"Why are you here? I thought you didn't care about her." The youngest grumbled out. Jimin, who was struggling to free his wrist abruptly stopped. Bewildered by the sudden gesture, Jungkook loosened his hold but that came out to be a terrible mistake.

A hard impact of Jimin's fist collided with his cheek as Jungkook backed up and hissed in pain.

'That's definitely going to leave a mark.'

Rubbing his cheek to soothe down the injury, the youngest gritted his teeth as his free hand balled up into a fist.

"What makes you think that? I'm not that fucking bad of a person! Are you crazy? Of course, I care about her!" The older yelled out. Jimin was sick and tired of Jungkook thinking of him as someone with no feelings, no emotions. Of course, he cared about her.

'Why did Jungkook have to be here.'

He thought to himself as he glared into his eyes in rage.

"You don't seem to show it though... if you cared about her then why would you make her end up in a fucking coma for 2 weeks!!!" Jungkook's remark bounced off the walls, echoing throughout the empty hallway. Patients could definitely hear their bickering from the inside of their room.

"You asshole... I've already apologized so many times! I know it's my fault, you don't have to keep bringing it up every fucking day!"

Both of them huffed heavily as they both glared daggers into each other. Jungkook had lied to (Y/N).

He did know what occurred between her and Jimin.

That day when he brought her into the hospital, he had phoned Jimin to tell him about her condition but like every other day, he didn't pick up. Although he felt bad for leaving (Y/N) in the care of the medical staff, he needed to notify Jimin about it.

When he arrived at the apartment, he saw Jimin staring out of the window. He looked dead inside.

When Jungkook snapped Jimin out of his daydream, he told him about what happened back at (Y/N)'s house. He told him how she laid down on the floor unconscious and was unable to wake up.

Seconds after that, Jimin completely broke down.

Tears cascaded down his eyes as he kept repeating to himself that it was all his fault. Jungkook stood entirely still as he observed his friend in silence.

He didn't feel bad, not even an ounce.

Everything was Jimin's fault.

If he had realized sooner, he wouldn't have wasted his time trying to help him. But he knew he couldn't. As much as he hated Jimin's behavior right now, there was still a slim chance of him returning back to the way he was.

Jimin then revealed to him what happened before (Y/N) lost consciousness. A stupid phone call.

"Jeon Jungkook! Aren't you going to say something?"

The booming voice of Jimin broke Jungkook out of his trance.

"You're wasting my time, I don't want to fucking argue with you anymore. I'll go check up on (Y/N) now." Jimin began walking towards the door.

Suddenly, the youngest blocked him from going any further. The older man shifted to his left but Jungkook's quick reaction made his move to prevent his way.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Shifting from left to the right, Jimin kept trying to pass through but Jungkook kept barricading. He uttered profanity under his breath for his short height.

"You don't need to check up on her. She's still asleep."

"Even if she's still asleep I could still check up on her wellbeing. Anyways when did you get so defensive?" Jimin inquired, shoving passed him with all the strength he could muster. But to no avail, Jungkook slipped right in front of him again.

"Why do you keep blocking me?" He glared up at the man. "I'm literally just going to see if she's doing well, why are you making it such a big deal?"

Jungkook felt his heart clench as he scowled back at the man.

He also didn't know why.

"..."

Jimin tilted his head at the man in curiosity.

'What the fuck is his problem...'

Jimin thought, crossing his arms over his chest.

"How long have you been here?" He asked, occasionally glancing at the door.

"... I've been here for a couple of hours."

'A couple of hours...'

Jimin looked up at Jungkook's bed hair.

In reality, Jungkook had stayed inside her hospital room for the whole day. On other days, he would stay inside her room until visiting hours were over.

That's how much he was worried about her.

"Can you let me pass now?" Jimin asked with an annoyed tone of voice.

Before the maknae could answer, the sound of the door opening caught both of their attention. The doctor with the nurses by his side walked out as they looked for Jungkook. Jimin watched at them in silence. His gaze eventually went down towards the equipment the nurses were holding.

"Jungkook." He whispered. "What happened to (Y/N)?" He looked up at Jungkook's face. The look on the youngest face showed irritation as his jaw was clenched tightly.

"Oh, Mr. Jeon." The deep voice of the doctor called out as he walked towards him. The nurses were chatting amongst themselves, probably fangirling about two celebrities being at a hospital.

"Would you- oh, Mr. Park is here as well! You must've told him the news!" The doctor exclaimed as he took occasional glances back down on his clipboard.

Jimin eyed Jungkook in confusion as he furrowed his eyebrows. "What news?" He asked, sounding harshly than intended.

The doctor perked his eyebrow up, "Mr. Jeon didn't tell you?" Jimin shook his head.

"Ms. (L/N) is awake."

A smile appeared on the doctor's face to express his happiness but it soon faltered as the aura around both idols seemed unsettling.

"You asshole..." Jimin muttered. Not towards the doctor, he meant it towards Jungkook.

"Fuck."

Was Jungkook's last word before he received a punch on the face. The nurses who were bubbly chatting with each other gasped out loud in shock. The doctor seemed to be taken aback as well.

"You fucking told me that she was still asleep!" He punched him again but not on the face this time, he jabbed him on the stomach.

Jungkook groaned out in agony as he clutched his stomach and bent down.

"Fuck..." He whimpered, followed by a fit of coughs. Some droplets of blood trickled down his mouth as he glared back at him.

The nurses dropped their materials as they pulled both idols away from each other.

"Are you crazy?" Jungkook moved away from the nurse as he coughed into the palm of his hand. "The first thing I don't want (Y/N) to see is you when she wakes up! How can I let someone who made her like this and treated her so horribly see her!?" Balling his hand into a fist, he punched Jimin on his cheek as well as knee him on the stomach.

'Interesting...'

The doctor thought, inspecting the scene as he repetitively tapped his pen against the clipboard.

More shouts and punches erupted from them as the nurses tried to calm the situation down.

'Very interesting...'

His gaze dropped to the floor as a small blush formed on his cheeks.

'After watching so many K-dramas, I can't believe this is happening right in front of me! Both Mr. Jeon and Mr. Park fighting for the female lead... oh god am I fanboying? Is this being filmed? Am I in a K-drama? I hope so...'

"Doctor!" One of the nurses yelled out, causing the doctor to get out of his k-drama fantasy world.

"Oh- yes, yes." The doctor responded, stepping towards the two males who were grabbing onto each other's collars.

Pulling both of them apart, the idols seemed to stop their quarreling.

"Boys, if you continue this any further I'm afraid I'll have to kick you out."

A large bruise began to appear on Jimin's face, Jungkook's lips we're busted and smeared with blood, both of their knuckles turned white due to lack of blood circulation, and minor scrapes with small droplets of blood were noticeable on their cheeks.

"Now that you guys have stopped, would you guys like to go see (Y/N)? I bet she's waiting for you, Mr. Jeon. You've been by her side ever since she's been admitted to the hospital."

A light pink shade came on the surface of his cheeks as the youngest broke eye contact. Jimin on the other hand had a scowl on his face as he clicked his tongue and looked to the side.

The doctor observed the scene as an unexpected blush appeared on his cheeks as well.

'Oh ho ho, Mr. Park is jealous!!!'

The nurses gaped at the doctor in disgust. They knew exactly what he was thinking about. During their breaks, he would never shut up about the new k-dramas he had watched.

Before he could go insane, one of the nurses cleared her throat.

"You guys can go in now..."

"Right..."

Both of them bowed their heads as they walked towards the door. However, Jungkook grabbed onto Jimin's wrist once again.

"Jimin-"

"Fuck off..."

Shoving Jungkook away, Jimin entered the room. The youngest just stood there in silence, staring at the door.

"Not going in?" The doctor questioned, standing right beside him.

"No..." Jungkook replied, turning around to sit down on the bench.

"She most likely wants to see Jimin more than me anyway..."

Jimin closed the door behind him as he proceeded to walk towards his childhood friend. The first thing he noticed about her was her exposed arms. Since she always wore long sleeves, jackets, sweaters, and coats, he never really had the time to inspect it.

He recalled back to the time during his high school days.

In the past, her arms were always bruised and swollen.

Now, her arms weren't showing any injuries.

However, there were still tiny scars on her wrists.

"Jimin?" The girl widened her eyes in shock as she stared at the male walking towards her. He didn't answer back, but instead wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer towards him.

They both could feel the speed of their heart racing against each other.

"What's wrong?" She asked, wrapping her arms around him as well.

"I'm sorry..."

"Sorry for what?"

"I'm sorry, for everything..."

This conversation felt familiar to her.

"No need to be! I'm awake now... I'm okay, everything's okay... I'm fine..."

-