Chapter 5

Yoongi yawned, wriggling his uninjured foot as he poured syrup over his waffles. The television blared, playing some crime sitcom that he wasn't really interested in but didn't find it boring enough to turn the channel. He had a lot on his mind. Today was the day he'd get the results back from his X-ray and he was hoping everything was healing fine. After all, he was no longer feeling any pain in his ribs and the only thing that really bothered his leg was the weight of the cast and the unbearable itch he couldn't scratch.

Not only was he looking forward to an update on his condition, he was also looking forward to yet another day with Jimin. As he sat up on the bed, shoveling food in his mouth, Yoongi ran over various activities they could do together in his head. He'd play the Piano for Jimin, and maybe even go for strolls outside, or in his current case, wheeled outside. Other than that, card games and conversations there really wasn't much for them to do here.

He forked some of the eggs on his plate into his mouth with a huff. His internal conflict was soon disturbed by the the soft clicking of the door opening reached his ears. Seokjin pokes his head into the room, giving Yoongi a smile.

"Good morning Seokjin!" Yoongi greeted with a smile of his own. "Is something the matter?"

"No no!" Seokjin shook his head. "I just wanted to let you know that you have a lively bunch here to see you!"

Yoongi slowly placed the fork down, blinking curiously. "..Who?"

"They'll be in shortly!" Was Seokjin's only response before he disappeared, leaving the door cracked open.

Yoongi ran his tongue over his teeth in thought as he pushed the table his plate sat on to the side. He gently scooted up on the bed, straitening his back a bit more as he waited. 'It can't be Jimin. Seokjin said they so it's more than one person. Surely it couldn't be-'

His thoughts were interrupted by a series of barking, followed by a tiny ball of black and brownish white fur scurrying into the room.

"Yeontan?!" Yoongi gaped in shock, watching as the tiny dog pawed at the bed rails in his struggle to climb up on the bed. "What are you doing here?!"

"We wanted to come pay you a visit!"

Yoongi's head snapped up landing on the three males that stood at the doorway. "Hoseok..Jungkook..Taehyung..why…?"

"Oh come on!" Jungkook groaned as he strolled over to Yoongi's bedside. "We wanted to come check in on you and see how you were healing up! Is that so hard to believe?!"

"Yes." Yoongi sniffed in feigned annoyance.

"You wound me!" Jungkook pouted, resting his head on Yoongi's shoulder.

Taehyung picked Yeontan up and carried him to the bed. He sat on the edge of the bed and placed the puppy down, letting him trek upwards to Yoongi's stretched out arms. "Yeontan and I wanted to apologize for the accident." Taehyung played with the bed sheets. "If I had kept a closer eye on him you wouldn't have gotten hurt. I'm really sorry."

"Hey, it's alright. Really!" Yoongi scratched behind Yeontan's ears with one hand while flicking the wrist of his other in a dismissive manner. "Yeontan is a big part of our little circle and him getting hit would've been a lot worse since he's so tiny! You didn't make me go after him, don't give yourself so much credit okay?"

A smile soon replaced the crestfallen expression on Taehyung's face, a gleam of relief filling his eyes as he nodded.

"Why are you so forgiving all of a sudden?" Hoseok prodded at Yoongi's knee. "Any other day you'd have given him a good scolding!"

Yoongi shrugged indifferently. "I guess I just don't see him as being at fault in this situation. He isn't the one who hit me after all."

"Hm.." Hoseok stared at Yoongi thoughtfully. "..did you develop amnesia by any chance?"

"I got a few broken ribs, a broken leg, lacerations and bruises, not memory loss you jack ass!" Yoongi puffed out his cheeks in a pout, kicking at Hoseok's thigh with his good leg.

"Yeah he's fine!" Jungkook snickered. "I think we just caught ol' grumpy in a good mood!"

"Anyways!" Yoongi stroked Yeontan's back as the puppy relaxed in his lap. "How has life been treating you guys?"

"Pretty good! I've only got one more semester before I get my degree in videography!" Jungkook announced proudly!

"I've gotten an influx of new students at the studio!" Hoseok grinned. "Not king from now I'll be able to put on a showcase with them!"

"And I've got an upcoming gig at the local art fair! I'm so excited about getting my photo's out there, maybe I can hit it big!" Taehyung reported happily.

"That's amazing! I'm really proud of you guys!" Yoongi beamed. "Once I'm out of here I hope I can make it to all of your big events! I feel like I've missed too much already!"

"Do you have any idea how much longer you'll have to be in here?" Hoseok asked.

Yoongi shook his head. "No. Namjoon is supposed to give me an update today so based on that, I'll see where I go from there. I hope it isn't too much longer though!"

"Speaking of hospital stays…" Jungkook tapped at Yoongi's arm as he peered up at Yoongi through his lashes. "We hear you've made a friend."

Yoongi tensed, eyes darting from one friend to the other. "…So that's what you guys really came here for!"

Frustration ebbed into Yoongi's frame, making him scowl. He didn't get why everyone was so interested in Jimin. Why did they even care to always ask about him?

"Well that's not exactly-"

"Yes it is! First I have to deal with Namjoon and Seokjin's creepy ass behavior whenever he's mentioned now I have to get that shit from you all too?!" He didn't mean to get so angry with his friends, but he just couldn't stand the constant nagging. "I get it okay?! I know something's wrong with him and he's probably got one foot in the grave already! Do you guys want me to tell you what he's dealing with?! Too bad! Cause I don't know!"

"We..Yoongi that's not what we meant." Hoseok's tone was gentle, eyes wide from Yoongi's sudden outburst. "Namjoon shot us a group text and told us you made a new friend here. You're such a shy person and you normally don't approach people first. We just wanted to know more about the guy who got you out of your shell so quickly. That's all."

"Honestly we didn't know anything like that about Jimin." Taehyung added.

"We didn't mean to upset you Yoongi." Jungkook gave his arms a comforting squeeze. "Sorry.."

Yoongi sighed, relaxing only when the puppy in his arms nuzzled close to his chest upon sensing his distress. "No, I shouldn't have snapped like that. It's just…everyone seems to know about what's up with him but me. I don't even know what it is they know! I'm just going off of assumptions right now and..I'm just trying to give him some good memories while I have the chance."

"God I feel like an ass now." Jungkook whined.

"What you're doing for him is so sweet Yoongi!" A mischievous gleam danced its way into Taehyung's eyes. "You must really like this Jimin huh?"

Yoongi pursed his lips, forming the most believable 'are you serious?' face he could muster. "What a way to shift the conversation."

"You haven't denied it!"

Yoongi gave an exaggerated sigh. "Considering that I even bother to talk to him, I think it's safe to say I do like him." Yoongi lifted a hand to silence Taehyung as his lips formulated a reply. "Just like I like you guys."

"Yeah, okay." Hoseok mumbled under his breath, eliciting a giggle from his two companions.

Yoongi gave an almost childish whine as he leaned back into the bed. "Why are you guys so irritating?!"

*****

"Knock knock!"

Yoongi turned his head towards the doorway, straightening up when he was met with Namjoon's dimpled smile.

"Hey Namjoon! Hoseok, Jungkook and Taehyung just left to go grab something to eat not too long ago!" Yoongi informed his old friend while repositioning the puppy on his lap. "They left Yeontan here with me."

"So I see!" Namjoon gave a chuckle as he entered the room with two files clutched firmly in his hands. "As much as I would've loved to catch them I need to speak to you alone."

Yoongi frowned, body tensing anxiously. "What? Why?! Is everything okay?! Did you find something wrong with my X-ray?!" The dog in his arms whined uncomfortably in response to Yoongi's tightening grip. He leaned down, nuzzling Yeontan's cheek with his own as he murmured an apology.

"Everything's fine with you Yoongi!" As if to reassure the patient, Namjoon opened one of the files and lifted up an X-ray scan that was focused on the rib cage area. "As you can see, your ribs are completely healed! Not long from now, maybe a day or so, we'll have you put on crutches so you can get into the swing of being up on your feet again. By the time you've gotten ahold of walking on crutches, it'll be time for you to have that cast removed! From there we'll start you on physical therapy. Your recovery had gone smoothly Yoongi! Soon enough you'll be free to go!"

"I'm happy to hear that!" Yoongi flashed a gummy smile, relieved that his fear of something being wrong with him was nothing to worry about. "So it should be smooth sailing from here on out now that the hard part of healing is pretty much over and done yeah?"

"Not quite." Namjoon moves to sit on the edge of the bed. "Most people experience a great deal of fear of breaking their leg again or hurting it in some way once they start having to put pressure on that particular limb again. But you're a resilient fellow." Namjoon tapped Yoongi's knee in assurance. "You'll do just fine."

"Thank you, I hope I live up to your expectations when I have to cross that bridge." Although Yoongi was eager to walk again, he didn't have nearly as much confidence in himself as Namjoon had in him. Just the image of himself stepping down on his healed leg only to have it give way beneath him was enough to make him wince inwardly and his stomach turn.

"You will." Namjoon affirmed with a nod. He shifted his body on the bed and cleared his throat. "There's…something else I wanted to talk to you about."

Just like that, the air had been sucked from Yoongi's lungs and a thick cloud of tension hung over them. "..What is it?" He ran his fingers through Yeontan's fur, more so to ease his own rising internal panic than anything else.

Namjoon said nothing for a while as he stared at Yoongi, seemingly contemplating how to articulate what he needed to share. Alas, he sat the file that contained Yoongi's X-ray in the space between his two feet before raising the Manila folder up. "This…this is Jimin's file."

Oh… oh.

"…Jimin?" Yoongi's eyes were wide, his nerves vibrating as his fingertips trembled in the confines of Yeontan's fur.

Namjoon nodded. "Everything you need to know about him is right here. I think you should read it, Yoongi."

"Are you even allowed to show me that?!" Yoongi rasped in a whisper.

"No, I'm not supposed to. But I'm offering you this file not as a doctor to a patient, but one friend to another." Namjoon's eyes were pleading as he extended the folder out to Yoongi. "Please, read it."

Shock didn't even begin to describe what Yoongi felt. His heart hammered in his chest, his throat stung with every swallow and his mouth felt dry. His gaze remained locked on the folder, the name Park Jimin written in black ink on the tab of it. All of his questions, all of his worries and doubts, the answers to them all were right in front of him. A mere extend of his arm away. All he had to do was take it.

"No."

But he just couldn't do that.

"No?" Namjoon echoed in surprise.

"I just can't do that, Namjoon." Yoongi's shoulders sagged and his gaze lowered to the bed. "Jimin trusts me, we've become pretty close! I can't betray his trust by invading his privacy, I just can't. He'll tell me…whatever it is…he'll tell me when he's ready." He offered his friend a sad smile. "It's tempting to look, but I can't hurt him like that. I…" Yoongi hesitated. "I care about him too much." He glanced up at Namjoon, praying that he understood what Yoongi struggled to put into words.

Namjoon looked conflicted as he took in Yoongi's declaration, but it soon gave way to a soft, understanding smile. "I understand Yoongi. But if you ever change your mind, just tell me okay?"

"I don't think I will, but sure, I'll tell you if I change my mind." Yoongi promised, relieved that Namjoon didn't push the subject any further.

In that moment, he felt confident that what he was doing was the right thing, that turning down Namjoon's offer would save Jimin the heartbreak of betrayal. And in some way it would, however it wouldn't spare him any heartbreak. Maybe, if he'd known that mere weeks from now, he'd experience the very pain he'd never wanted to, he'd have opened the folder.

Perhaps then the blow that fate would soon deal wouldn't hurt so bad.