This is a long chapter but it is definitely not boring this time so :))))

The lady at the front desk smiles wide and walks around it, then begins walking toward the opening of a long hallway.

You, Taehyung, Namjoon, Minji, and Bongcha all follow the nurse lady up a flight of stairs and down a long, busy hallway. Taehyung's arm is hooked with yours simply because you're both overly anxious.

Every step you take makes you feel lighter and lighter, excitement and anxiety coursing through you because you are about to see Jimin again. The love of your life. After ten whole months.

The nurse lady says something.

"He actually just woke up an hour ago from a nap," Namjoon translates. "He's getting ready for treatment right now."

He's awake. Your heartbeat becomes louder and louder in your chest the closer you get to Jimin. You almost walk faster, even, though not by much since you don't know where you're going.

"He hasn't had many visitors yet. We are the first," Namjoon says after the lady. "They didn't expect he would get all of us today."

You purse your lips. Does he know you're coming?

The nurse stops by a door- room number 237- and rests her hand on the doorknob. Namjoon translates her words for you.

"His doctor is getting ready to treat his back again, so we should wait for them to finish. It shouldn't take more than a half hour." The nurse waits for all of you to agree before she turns the handle and opens the door.

You stop, letting Minji, Bongcha and Taehyung past you to get in first. This is it. You've been ready for this for so long. Everything you went through for the past ten months is about to become a waste. None of it will matter anymore. Jimin is here. He is okay. You will see him.

Namjoon looks at you before going in. "You okay?" He asks. You nod. "I just... I'm worried. Anything could go wrong."

Namjoon shakes his head and reaches for your hand. "Come on," he says softly. "It'll be okay. He's inside, and he's awake."

You nod. He's right. Jimin is okay. He's inside, and...

This is the moment where everything of the past year becomes useless. Most of what happened to you only happened because you missed Jimin, and he's back now. He's okay.

You blink and reach forward to take Namjoon's hand. He pulls you inside and lets the door close behind you.

Inside, Minji and Bongcha stand in front of Jimin's hospital bed, blocking your view of him, and Taehyung stands to his side. It's a little thing, and they'll move, but it frustrates you that you keep preparing yourself over and over and over again and there's always some sort of obstacle.

Just move already. You think inwardly.

But you're frozen on the spot. You can't move. Namjoon stands beside you, hand rubbing your shoulder comfortingly. He understands.

There is a doctor standing off to the side, a little farther away from everyone else, letting them see Jimin. Aside from him, there are two male nurses standing on the other side of Jimin's bed. Maybe they didn't start treatment yet and decided they'd let you all see him beforehand.

Bongcha shifts on her feet, leaning out of the way.

And there he is.

Jimin.

He's there. On the bed. His black hair is down in wet ringlets over his forehead. He's skinny. His eyes are rimmed with red and there are dark circles underneath them- he looks so tired despite just waking up. He's wearing a white and blue button up hospital shirt.

He's sitting up, leaning against a large pillow propped against the wall, all his attention on Minji, who is introducing him to Bongcha.

The rest of him is covered by a blanket. There is an IV strip in his arm and a couple of other machine things just sitting around his bed.

Taehyung spots you, then leans over Jimin and says something.

Jimin's eyes widen and he immediately peeks around Bongcha (who moves completely out of the way). You're frozen. Any moment now, you will wake up and this will have all been a dream. You will wake up in your bed and feel terrible because he isn't there. He's still in a coma or something.

Jimin's eyes fall on you. When your gazes lock, you suddenly can't remember anything. This is all that matters.

Jimin moves the blanket away so he can get up, and tears the IV strip out of his arm. The doctor gasps and reaches for him, but he avoids his grasp and strides swiftly over to you.

It's almost in slow motion. He's there, walking closer and closer to you. Your heart beats fast in your ears. Your breath is shaky and uneven. It just doesn't feel real.

You take a step forward as Jimin reaches you and immediately, he wraps his arms around you tightly and pulls you as close as he can, forehead meeting yours. You wrap your arms around him, but less tight since you don't know the severity of his injuries.

"Y-y/n," he says, in what sounds like a sob and a sigh at the same time.

Your eyes are closed, foreheads together, breathing each other's air for a long, starved moment. You don't know what to do or say. You just... breathe. And almost cry.

And then it hits you and you push him away. Jimin furrows his eyebrows, confused, but you ignore that as you fix him with a stern look, grab his shoulders (delicately), and steer him back to his bed.

"Put that shit back in your arm right now," you order, pointing at the cord hanging uselessly from a bag. "You can't just go around yanking IVs out."

With your words, everything goes back to normal and the dream-like feeling is gone. This is real. It's all real. Real. Real. Right?

The doctor lets out a relieved sigh and puts the IV back in Jimin's arm.

Jimin also looks relieved, and even lets out a breathy giggle.

"We haven't seen each other in forever and your first words are 'put that shit back?'" He asks, smiling a little.

You touch his face and let out a strained sigh of rejoice and relief. He's real. He's awake. He's alive. He's safe. After that moment of realization, Jimin can't seem to take it anymore. He reaches an arm around your neck and brings your face to his and only gives you a second to comprehend what's happening before his lips are on yours.

It's so abrupt and fast and it makes your heart pound in your chest anxiously. Though you love the feeling of being able to kiss him again, you want to look at him and never look away, or else he might disappear.

Your hands fall to his shoulders and grasp the fabric of his shirt. Without even realizing it, you squeeze it so tight that your knuckles turn white. Because if you let go, he'll disappear. You'll wake up.

Jimin pulls away, but only a little. His forehead remains on yours, noses side by side, mouths only a pinky-width apart. You notice your grip on his shirt and let go, but only to let your hands trail down and hold onto his arms- without disturbing the IV of course.

"Y/n," Jimin breathes, eyebrows furrowed. His fingers in your hair tense and he kisses you again.

Someone clears their throat awkwardly and the moment ends. You pull away from Jimin to look at him- really look at him.

He's the same, but different. He's so skinny. It might just be your imagination but he feels taller. No, that can't be your imagination, he's definitely taller. And a little weaker- of course, since he just came back from his parents. He's pale. His breathing is shallow. His skin is shiny and wet, and so is his hair.

You brush Jimin's hair back and place a hand on his forehead. "Are you still sick?" You ask. He nods. "Yeah, sorry for kissing you-"

"I don't care. It's been ten whole months. I'll kiss you anyway."

Someone speaks in Korean. You turn your head around. It's the doctor in the lab coat. You look back at Jimin, who's looking at the doctor too.

"He says this is heartwarming and all, but they were about to take a look at my back and they need to do it quickly now."

Doctors have busy schedules. You won't be the one to hold them back. "Right," you say awkwardly, taking a step back.

Your hands slide away from Jimin's arms. The moment he loses contact with you, his eyes widen in panic and he reaches for your hand and pulls you back, shaking his head. "Mm-mm," he hums. "Please-please don't go."

"It's okay, the doctor needs to treat you."

Jimin shakes his head again. His eyebrows are furrowed. He looks a little scared, almost.

You get it. You haven't seen each other in forever and this still doesn't quite feel real.

"Hey," you murmur. "I'm not leaving. I'm still going to be in here. If you want, I'll sit where you can see me."

Jimin purses his lips and examines your face for a moment, then nods slowly, his grip loosening on your hand. You pull it free and lean forward to kiss his forehead, then back away again.

Jimin pouts, but doesn't say anything. You turn around. Namjoon and Taehyung are sitting on a couch against the wall next to the door, and Minji and Bongcha are standing near the door, talking quietly.

Namjoon says something in Korean, to which Jimin nods excitedly, but then the doctor says something that completely deflates his eagerness. Namjoon stands up, answering them and then looking at you.

"Minji only wanted to introduce Jimin to Bongcha and now she says they can go home so that we can catch up with him," Namjoon says. "So I think I'm gonna go with them and get food to bring back. I'm assuming you want to stay here?"

"God knows there is nothing that can drag me out of this room," you mutter, nodding. Namjoon gives you a comforting smile and then gestures to the couch. "Taehyung's staying too. I'll be back soon. I'm thinking I'll just go to McDonald's since it's close. Anything you want?"

"Just fries. Thank you."

Namjoon nods and then leans closer to you, lowering his voice. "The doctor said Jimin isn't allowed to eat junk food, but he's been deprived of it for like, a year, I'm just gonna get him something. Text me when the doctors are gone so I can sneak it in, yeah?"

You give Namjoon a sneaky smile and nod. "Will do."

Namjoon smiles, winks, then leaves with Bongcha and Minji, each calling out a "see ya," to Jimin, who waves back at them as they file out.

You plop down on the couch next to Taehyung and look at Jimin. He's watching you with an unreadable expression. You catch his eye and give him a small smile, which he returns a little warily. Then the doctor asks him a question, taking his attention away from you.

Taehyung taps your shoulder.

You turn to him. He's holding up his phone. "Play game?" Ah yes. The translation game.

You're going to be here awhile depending on how long it takes the doctor to check and treat Jimin's wounds.

You nod.

You and Taehyung face each other on the couch, criss cross applesauce, and begin naming different items around the room like usual. You wish you could say full sentences instead of, "Uh, wall... bed... door..." and whatever you draw, but Taehyung makes the game enjoyable.

Through the game, you've learned and are learning enough words to the point that you and Taehyung already have some sort of code and can communicate well enough with the snippets of each language that you've learned.

After thirty minutes, Namjoon still isn't back, but the doctor and nurses are cleaning up their stuff and Jimin is buttoning his shirt back up. There is a little bit of quiet talking between them while you and Tae continue to play the game.

You send a text to Namjoon to let him know.

Taehyung puts his phone away and the two of you get up and head over to Jimin's bed.

"That took forever," Jimin sighs, his posture slumping. "And it hurts so much." His eyes tear up. "It didn't sting this much while I was in the attic."

"You were drugged."

"Yeah and now I want more drugs, if it'll make the pain go away." He says another thing in Korean that makes Tae laugh. You can't help but smile.

This feeling in the air, this... peace. Reunion. What's the word... bliss. This feels good.

Jimin wraps an arm around your waist, grabs Tae's wrist, and pulls the two of you in for a hug. You wrap your hand around his shoulder to avoid touching his back.

"I missed you guys so much," he says, then repeats it in Korean. You close your eyes. You missed him too. More than he knows.

Taehyung's phone rings out loud and he pulls away to answer it. You almost step away as well, but Jimin doesn't let you. In fact, he only pulls you closer.

Which to be honest, you don't mind. You move your hand from his shoulder to his hair, which is still damp.

Taehyung answers the phone. Jimin looks up at you.

"You owe me," he says.

You raise an eyebrow. "Owe you?"

"Yeah. You promised me kisses."

You did. Days ago.

"You remember that?"

"Yes." Jimin points to his lips, giving you puppy eyes. "Of course I do. Now can I have kisses?"

You smile and lean forward to peck his lips. "I did promise," you say. "But if anyone, you owe me."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Ten whole months. You were in a coma for all of it."

Jimin nods, a serious look settling on his face. "Right," he says. "But first, I wanna hear about what happened during those months."

Your smile falters, and before you can cover it up, Jimin notices and something in his eyes changes.

"You... you were okay, right? Did anything bad happen while I was gone?"

Oh honey.

Jimin being gone was one of the many bad things that happened and was the cause of all of it.

You open your mouth, but nothing comes out. How do you tell him any of it? He'll be disappointed. You loved him so much that when he was gone, you were reduced to nothing. You were useless.

Luckily, you don't have to say anything, because Tae hangs up and comes back over to the bed. Jimin looks at you. "We'll talk about this later," he murmurs.

Tae says something in his language and Jimin says something back, and then Tae smiles and looks at you. "Food," he says, then walks away and leaves the room before you can make up some excuse for him to stay.

When the door closes behind him, you look back at Jimin. He pats the mattress in front of him calmly. "Sit."

You pull your phone out of your pocket. "I-I should call mom. She wanted me to call her when I found you and-"

Jimin takes your phone and turns it off, then sets it on the bed behind him, out of your reach. "I said sit."

You meet his eyes. There is no escape.

"I-I need to use the bathroom-"

"What is it you don't want to tell me?"

"All of it," you blurt out. Jimin's expression doesn't change. He pats the bed again. You reluctantly climb onto the bed, which is tall enough to reach your waist when you're only standing- and situate yourself in front of him. He takes your hands in his, which are so warm.

"Why is that?" He asks.

You purse your lips.

"Did you move on? You know... get over me? It was ten whole months. I can't expect you to wait for me for that long."

You shake your head. "I didn't. Why, did you want me to?"

"Yes. No. I-I dunno. I can't... I can't explain it. I want you all to myself, but... again, that was ten whole months. I can't imagine being alone that long."

You swallow. "I didn't move on."

Jimin nods. "Then... what happened?"

"Well... um... I graduated. And... I managed to get a job at Starbucks. That's about it."

"There's no way that that's it."

"Well..."

"What else happened? You're withholding something." Jimin rubs his thumbs along the back of your hand.

"Um... Lily moved out. And Mikey lives with his girlfriend. He keeps in touch with me. And Nathan and Cassandra got engaged."

Jimin's eyebrows raise. "Really? Already? When did they even start dating?"

"December. Around the time when... well you know. But they dated once before we knew them. And they've been close friends since kindergarten, so I guess it's not too fast."

Jimin nods. "Huh. Well that's really great. What else? Nothing you've told me is necessarily bad."

"Why do you assume it was bad?"

Jimin sighs and glances down at your hands before meeting your eyes again. "Because if it was only good news, you wouldn't be hiding anything."

"Um, I mean... a bad thing... Coronavirus broke out-"

"Y/n." Jimin shakes his head. "Come on. Please."

"I-" you sigh. You shouldn't be worried. There's nothing to worry about. Jimin would never think, "wow she got depressed? what a loser." He won't. But...

"I... I don't..." you try to squeeze out some ounce of truth but you don't know what to say. You're empty of words. Jimin leans forward and presses his forehead to yours.

"What are you afraid of?" He asks.

"That you'll think I'm weak."

Jimin shakes his head and plants a kiss at the corner of your mouth. "I won't think that," he says. "Regardless of anything that happened, nothing could ever change my view of you. Unless it makes me love you more, which is entirely possible." He brings his hand up to your face and rubs his thumb along your cheekbone. "Just tell me the worst part. Or something. A hint, even."

"I got depressed."

Jimin backs up and looks at you, eyebrows furrowed, and returns his hand to yours to continue rubbing the back of it. "You thought I'd judge you for that?" He asks. You shake your head.

"No. It was- it was bad. Really bad."

"How bad?" Jimin asks. His voice is quieter now. Soft and gentle and concerned. His eyes widen a little. "Did you hurt yourself?" He turns your hands and looks at your wrists.

"No."

"That's good," Jimin says, nodding a little and looking back up at you. "Then how... how bad? What happened?"

You purse your lips and avert your eyes to your hands. His hands are soft and warm. They still fit perfectly with yours, as if he hasn't grown much- even though he has.

"I don't... want to be the one to tell you the answer to that," you murmur. "I'm not... I'm not ready to let it all... let it go I guess."

"Let it go?"

"A lot of things happened," you murmur, abounding his gaze. "And now none of it matters, because I'm... because I'm here. With you. So I don't... it doesn't... feel real. It feels weird to just... press resume and let everything else go to waste. Honestly, I feel like I'm in a dream, and I'm scared that I will wake up back in America without you."

Jimin wraps your arms around his neck. Then he cups your face. "I'm here," he murmurs, bringing your face closer to his. He presses his forehead to yours again. "You're not dreaming."

"We-we were in high school Chim, and now we're supposed to be grownups and I-I- what are we supposed to do? Things are different now."

"We'll figure something out," Jimin says. "It is a little scary but I... I think it'll be okay. Because we're together again."

You smile a little. "I love you."

Jimin presses a kiss to your mouth. "I love you too."

For another moment, you sit in silence until you can't hold it in anymore and burst into tears. "I missed you so much," you sob. "I-I didn't know if you were o-okay, I didn't know if-if you would wake up, and-and then when you told me you-you were back at your parents house, I-I lost it. I'm so glad that you're here now, and you're safe, and you're okay, and just-" you can't finish your sentence. You can hardly breathe between sobs.

Jimin sniffles and holds your hands tight. "Come here," he says. He pats his lap. You crawl forward and sit in his lap sideways, and he wraps his arms around you and pulls your head up to his.

"I-I missed you so much too," he says. His voice cracks. "I didn't know what to do when they came to get me. I didn't know how to tell anyone that I couldn't go with them and then when we got to the car, I passed out and woke up again in the attic in the dark and it was too late."

Jimin has tears running down his face now too, but he wipes them away and manages to prevent his voice from quivering.

"I know I only had to go through that for a couple of weeks, which is nothing compared to ten months, but if I never met you, if-if I thought I'd never see you again, I-I don't think I would have let myself survive."

You shut your eyes tight and turn your face into his shoulder.

"Last year, in December, on the night before I left your house," Jimin says, breathing deeply to keep his voice level. "You told me you were in love with me."

"I'm still in love with you," you say, muffled.

"I can't believe I let myself leave without telling you that I'm in love with you too." Jimin rubs your back and rocks side to side a little. "And nothing else has ever made me feel the way you do."

You fist your hands in Jimin's shirt tightly. You feel like a mess. This conversation feels like a mess. First calm then sad then crying then happy and you don't know which to feel.

You don't have to, because someone knocks on the door and then opens it. You turn your tear stained face toward the door and watch as Taehyung and Namjoon file in, holding food and drinks from McDonald's.

They both obviously notice the fact that you and Jimin are crying, but choose not to say anything about it. Instead, Taehyung sets the drinks down on the little table in front of the couch. Namjoon closes the door and brings the bag of food to the table.

"Food!" He says cheerfully. "We brought some for you too, Jimin, but you have to promise not to tell the doctor."

"Pfft, I won't," Jimin says, wiping his tears away. "If I say anything, he'll probably forbid you from coming back here while I'm healing."

Namjoon chuckles. "Yeah." He says something to Tae and they both push the table closer to the bed.

You push your legs off of the mattress and slide off of the bed, out of Jimin's lap. He follows suit and soon, all four of you are sitting on the floor together around food.

You dry your tears, thankful that Taehyung and Namjoon aren't the type to judge you for it- and of course Jimin won't either.

Once all of the food is pulled out of the bag and divided amongst everyone, you start eating.

"Be careful Chim," you say. "You're still sick and your parents have reduced your diet by a lot. Don't overeat okay?"

Jimin nods. "I won't," he says. "It's fine. You don't need to worry."

"Well anyway it's nice that you at least have an appetite. Means it won't be too hard readjusting your diet."

Jimin scrunches his nose. "I don't like that word," he says. "Diet. Just doesn't sound right to me. Anyway why are you worrying about me? You've only got fries."

"I'm not that hungry. I'm more tired, actually."

Jimin shakes his head, leaning in to nuzzle your nose, humming in disapproval. "Hungry or not, you should eat more food."

"Yeah whatever. I love you."

"I love you too." Jimin pecks your lips and then turns back to his meal and the two boys sitting across from him, completely unbothered.

You smile and dig into your fries.

Oadksjfjjsjs FINALLY I've been waiting SO long to post this chapter and having to write all of the stuff leading up to this was difficult bc I just wanted to skip ahead.

Have a good day/night!<3

-L