Over the course of dinner, the conversation isn't too difficult since three of you know English and three of you know Korean. You and Tae are the only ones who don't understand everything but that's okay because by now, you're both used to using your funny little code or having the others translate for you.

Jimin couldn't finish like, half of his food, so he shared with you and Tae. You, Tae, and Joon told Jimin all about your journey to find him.

There wasn't a single moment where you and Jimin weren't touching each other. You both sat crisscross right next to each other, knees pressed together, him on the right side, closest to the stand with his IV bag.

Sometimes he touched your leg and sometimes your hands would brush together and sometimes you'd lean close to each other until your shoulders touched and of course, none of that by accident. After being apart so long, all you want to do is touch him.

And then dinner ended and Namjoon and Taehyung went home. Taehyung was originally going to stay- you talked about it in the car ride to the hospital- but he decided that you and Jimin needed time alone and he would get his time later. He didn't want to third wheel you.

They waited in the hospital with you and Jimin until their cab arrived and then they left.

Leaving you and Jimin alone again.

You lean against the door after closing it behind them, yawning. It's bedtime. Jimin is leaning against the side of his bed.

You watch each other across the room, taking in everything you can about one another that may be different than before.

Jimin is taller. No doubt about it. You frown and walk across the room to him, then, pouting, draw a line from the top of your head to Jimin to compare your height.

The line ends in the middle of his chest. Before, if you stood on your tiptoes, the top of your head reached his nose.

Jimin grins really wide. "I grew," he says. "You haven't grown even a little."

You scowl at his chest. "I'm just cursed," you mutter. "It's not my fault."

Jimin giggles and takes your hands in his. "You're just fun-sized. No wait that's not the smallest one. You're bite-sized."

"You're mocking me."

"No. You're adorable. Plus, this means ultimate cuddles."

Your scowl disappears.

You wrap your arms around Jimin's waist, not letting go of his hands, so they're behind his back, then rest your chin on his chest and look up at him. "We get to have a sleepover tonight," you say, unable to wipe the childish smile off of your face. "Our second one ever."

Jimin squeezes your hands. "I'm in love with you."

You smile up at him. "I know you are," you say. "It's because I'm just so lovable am I right?"

Jimin rolls his eyes, still smiling. "You're supposed to say it back."

"I'm in love with you too."

Jimin leans down and kisses your nose. "You're so precious," he murmurs. Your breath hitches in your throat. You haven't heard that in a long time.

"Say that again," you say, smile gone, a serious look on your face. Jimin raises an eyebrow. "Precious?"

You close your eyes and let yourself breathe. Precious. You haven't heard him say that in so long. You didn't realize how much it meant until he wasn't there to call you precious anymore.

Jimin lets go of your hands and cups your face instead. He kisses your forehead and then your nose again and then whispers it against your lips. "Precious." And he kisses you.

It feels so blissful. After ten months during which you were starved of... this, you finally get to see him again. Feel him. Kiss him. And you won't be leaving. Ever.

When Jimin breaks the kiss, he keeps his forehead on yours. You don't open your eyes. This is him. You can feel the weight of his hands on your face and his skin pressed against yours and the warmth of his body so close. So real.

So skinny.

"God, Jimin," you murmur. "You're so thin. You're literally a stick."

Jimin removes his hands from your face and wraps his arms around you. "I know," he says. "But I'm out now. I can work on that."

"Yeah," you say, backing up to meet his eyes. "Mom will be worried too. There's that and your fever. How do you feel?"

"I've had it for days. It's passing too slow, in my opinion," Jimin says. He chuckles. "Sorry I keep kissing you. I don't want you to get sick too."

"Yeah I don't wanna get sick either but right now, I literally don't care."

"I do," Jimin says. "If you would just stop being so beautiful, it would be easier to stop."

"Oh please," you say, blushing. "I'm really not that-"

"Don't finish that sentence," Jimin interrupts, putting a finger on your lips. The corners of your mouth curl up into a little smile.

"You're beautiful," you say. Jimin removes his finger. "Sometimes I still can't believe that you actually texted my number."

Jimin looks at you curiously. "Of course I did- what did you take me for? Actually, when you first saw me, what did you think about me?"

You look up at the ceiling and take a moment to think about the question. You remember seeing him for the first time in your school. On the first day. In math class. He was sitting at a table not far from you, leaning back comfortably in his chair, arms folded, eyes on the screen ahead.

You had only seen his side profile, but you knew at that moment that he was immediately your new crush. The teacher picked a "get to know your classmates" activity but you were too nervous to speak to Jimin and didn't get the chance to before the class was over.

You wonder if things would have been different if you met him then instead of a few weeks later, when you got the guts to give him your number. Would you be stuck as his friend because he didn't know your intentions or would you have gotten together just as easily?

You smile. If that was the case you would definitely still be here like this. If soulmates are a thing, Jimin is yours. No doubt about it.

"I took one look at you and you immediately replaced my old crush."

"Who was your old crush?" Jimin asks curiously.

Uh. Yeah no.

"Not important, anyway-"

Jimin pouts. "Aw but I wanna know."

"I'll tell you later," you say, grinning. Or hopefully never. "Anyway, the moment I first saw you I thought 'oh no' because I already really liked you and figured you were way out of my league."

"I was definitely not way out of your league."

"Yeah uh, I know you don't see yourself the same way as I do- and everyone else does- but I swear you were sculpted by angels," you say. Jimin turns pink and smiles a little, looking down. "That-that's not- that's so cheesy."

"Shut up. You're gorgeous. I love you. Anyway, I thought that since you have a face that no one could resist, you'd be a fuck boy." You giggle a little at that thought.

"I thought you'd be the type to hang out with the football players and smile at girls and tell them they're pretty- and of course they would eat that up- but then as I kept watching you- in a totally non-stalkerish way- I noticed that you weren't like that. You didn't make dick jokes with the jocks or make fun of people or even flirt with the pretty girls."

"I did." Jimin says. "The prettiest girl." He plants a kiss on your forehead. "And look where I am now."

You smile and press your forehead to his gently, eyes closed. You can feel the heat coming from his skin coming off in waves, almost.

"What gave you the guts to give me your number?" Jimin asks.

"Your smile. You have the prettiest smile," you murmur. "I didn't see it that often, because it was in... that period of time, but whenever you did smile, it made me feel really warm inside and I got butterflies."

Jimin kisses you on the mouth. "You gave me butterflies too," he says, "I didn't notice you until you came up to me- I didn't notice anyone, really- but when you did, I felt really warm too."

"You call me precious," you murmur, grinning. "But you're really the precious one here. You're a gem."

Jimin blushes a little and backs up to look you in the eyes. "No," he says. "You're the precious one. You saved my life."

You furrow your eyebrows. "I thought Mikey was the one to pull you out of that," you mumble. You don't like thinking about that.

"He was," Jimin says, lifting his head back up and looking at you. "But I was still planning on trying again later. Until you gave me your number."

You didn't know that.

"You-you were?" You ask, eyes a little wide.

"Don't worry," Jimin says. "It didn't get as bad. And then it went away. Even though I didn't know anything about you, there was... I dunno. There was just something about you. Something that told me to wait. So I did."

Your smile returns. You don't know what to say. So you stand on your tiptoes and kiss him instead. Only for a short moment though. You want to spend more time talking than kissing, obviously, since it's been months.

And, well, he's still sick, so...

You want to tell him everything, yet you also can't. You're still afraid. You understand that he won't judge you- if he was able to tell you about his darkest times, you can tell him yours.

But talking to him about it is the first step to letting it all go. And that's a lot to let go of. A whole year down the drain. Coping mechanisms and therapy appointments and the slow progress you and your friends made together... all worthless. Not to mention the mirror incident and what happened with Gavin.

You were terrible, and all of that is because Jimin was gone. But... he's here now, so what was the whole point?

"What should we do?" Jimin asks, watching your range of conflicted expressions as you think.

"Sleep," you say. "Or at least get ready to, because I've got jet lag and you're still healing."

"As long as you stay with me in my bed, I'm all for it."

"There was never another option. Come on. Did you take the pills the doctor gave you?"

"No not yet. They make me sleepy."

"Yeah. That's good for you. Come on, take them."

Jimin pouts. "But I wanna stay up and talk to you."

"Me too," you say. "But we can still talk. And when you fall asleep, I'll go to sleep too, and we can talk more when you wake up. I'm not going anywhere."

"Okay," Jimin says, walking over to a little table with his medicine. He swallows his pills and then turns to look at you. "There," he says. "Happy?"

"Yeah," you reply, smiling. "Okay now lets go to bed."

"Wait but you don't have jammies."

"I'll be fine for tonight."

Jimin climbs onto his hospital bed and pats the spot next to him. You walk around to the other side and get on next to him.

The bed is smaller than your own bed back home, but with how closely you'll be sleeping with Jimin all night long, that doesn't matter. Together, you both fit well enough.

Jimin lays sideways on the side of the bed closest to his IV bag, holding you close to him. Your legs are intertwined, arms around each other, hands grasping onto anything that's near, faces close but not too close so you can see each other.

"I like talking to you at night. It feels like we're the only ones left on the planet even though there are tons of people in this building."

You understand what he means. He's right. You're in a hospital. There are people dying on one floor, giving birth on another, there are people with injuries from stupid accidents, and people who may be asleep the way Jimin was not that long ago. People awake and alone, thinking about life or whatever. Depressed people, happy people, doctors...

They all have problems. They're all here. Yet it feels like there's no one there. It probably feels the same for them too. They're alone. You can't see them. They're nonexistent. You and Jimin are the only people for miles. And it feels kind of nice.

"I know what you mean," you murmur. "When we were back in America, it didn't feel quite like this because in the back of my mind, I always knew you would have to go back to Sharon's house."

Jimin tangles his hand in your hair and examines your entire face. "Even on thanksgiving," he mutters. "When I got to stay later."

"That was the best Thanksgiving I've ever had."

"Mine too," Jimin says. "I'm sad we couldn't spend Christmas together though."

"We did, sort of," you mumble. "It's just that... I was the only one awake."

Jimin kisses your forehead. "It won't be like that this year," he says. "I'm awake now."

You frown. "Chim?"

"Hm?"

"Why didn't you call the police when you got your phone working?"

"I..." Jimin purses his lips. "I didn't... um, half the time, I was drugged."

"During that first call we had, you were definitely not drugged."

Jimin averts his eyes. "I was scared," he mumbles.

"Why? You were closer to freedom than you've ever been. It would have been so easy."

Jimin looks back at you and shakes his head. "Because I didn't want my mother to find out. I was scared that she would find out about it before they could get to me and she would punish me for it and hide me somewhere they would never find me."

"But you still called me."

Jimin is quiet for a moment, biting his lip.

"It... felt like escape was impossible," he mumbles. "I... I don't know how to explain it. I've always been locked up and... beaten like that. It was the only permanent thing in my life, so it felt like no matter what, escape would always be impossible. So... calling the cops was pointless- even if it really wasn't. It... it still feels like that now. I feel likeI will have to go back to that, even if that's irrational."

You still don't get it. It's one easy phone call. But you also kind of understand. He never got the chance to believe he'd get out. So... so that kind of makes sense. It's just a psychological thing.

"When we last saw each other," you say quietly. "When we fought... you said something like that." You turn and yawn into your arm. "You said that you didn't think you would let yourself out after you went back home. I didn't get it back then. I thought that was you telling me that we wouldn't last."

"It came out like that, didn't it?" Jimin murmurs. "I didn't mean it that way. I just didn't know how to justify my reason for staying at home."

"Well you weren't wrong. You did go back. But you're free now. You won't ever have to go back to that again."

"It doesn't feel real."

"None of this does. I still can't believe you're awake."

Jimin tightens his arms around you and kisses your cheek. "It'll pass," he murmurs. "I'm not going anywhere." He kisses you once, then twice, then again, and again, each one lasting longer and longer, until there's no separation and you're just kissing like there will always be time. Slow and gentle and oh so sweet.

This is what you've been needing for so long. You've been deprived of any connection with him for forever and now you're with him. If you aren't touching him at every given second, you might explode.

So that's how it is, for the next twenty minutes before Jimin falls asleep. And you fall asleep with him, pressed completely together, breaths mixing, filled with feelings of relief and happiness and... again, bliss.

•••

The next time you open your eyes, you're on the couch. How did I get-

There are several nurses surrounding Jimin's bed, speaking urgently in what sounds like gibberish to you. A heart monitor you don't remember seeing before is now beeping at a terrifyingly fast pace.

"Jimin!" You spring off of the couch and try to hurry to the bedside, but a man in a nurse uniform shoves you away. "Let me through! Let me through!"

You try to get in a different way, but you are pushed back again. Tears spill from your eyes as you hit the floor. "N-no!" You cry. "Let-let me see him! Let me through- Jimin!"

You are again, shoved out of the way by some woman so that the other nurses can rush Jimin's hospital bed out of the room.

"No!" You screech. You get up off of the floor and start toward the door to follow them. As soon as you make it to the hallway- which is dark- they are already gone. There are many directions in which they could have taken him.

Where did he go? Where did he-

"Y/n..." a strangled moan sounds from behind you. You whirl around to face Jimin limping toward you. How did he get there!?

"Jim-"

Jimin collapses to the floor and reaches for you. You gasp and hurry to him, then wrap your arms around him and hold him close. "J-Jimin what's happening? What's going on?"

Jimin pushes your arms away weakly and shifts in your embrace so he's sitting up, leaning against you. He looks down and begins to fiddle with the buttons on his shirt, which is bleeding through right in the middle.

"Oh-oh my god you're bleeding. Where-where are all the doctors? How did this happen? Where-"

"Park Jimin!"

The enraged scream cuts through the air and you both turn to look at the other end of the hallway where a large woman is now barreling toward you. It's Sharon.

"What-What is she doing here!?"

Jimin springs to his feet. "Y/n help me!" He cries. You get up and grab his hand, and together the two of you run away- but not fast enough, because Sharon's loud footfalls only get louder and louder the closer she gets to you.

Suddenly, whatever lights are working in the hallway shut off, leaving you in the pitch dark. The windows seem to have disappeared, since there is no moonlight either.

All is quiet. Even Sharon seems to have ceased in her chase. Jimin's hand isn't in yours anymore.

"J-Jimin?" You stutter. "Where-where are you?"

"Over here."

His voice comes from behind you, so you turn around and suddenly all the lights are on, revealing Jimin with a knife held to his neck by Sharon. She has an evil gleam in her eyes as she presses it so dangerously close to his skin and he gulps, stretching his neck upward to try and move away from the knife.

He stares at you, right in the eyes, and seems to be begging you silently to help him.

His shirt is now drenched in red.

"N-no! Jimin!"

You lunge toward the two, and at the same time, the walls and floors of the hospital fall away far behind them, disappearing into blackness, getting closer and closer to you. Soon, the ground beneath you will disappear.

Sharon is distracted by the hallway falling away and ends up letting go of Jimin and running away from it, past you.

Jimin falls to the floor the moment he doesn't have her to hold him up. You shriek and reach for him just as the falling floor reaches you. You grab his arm and yank him close to you. When he collides with you is when the disappearing hall finally stops.

It's just you and him, right up close to the edge of the abyss where the floor once was. Jimin's heels are on the edge.

That was a close one.

A heavy force slams into you from behind, pushing both you and Jimin into the blackness. Jimin gets a head start while falling, and his hands are ripped out of yours. You scream as you fall, trying your hardest to fall faster and grab a hold of him, but it's no use.

The look in Jimin's eyes is wild and terrified. His hand reaches up for you, but he only falls faster. The distance between you grows and grows until suddenly, he is plunged into black waters and he disappears from view.

"Jimin!" You scream. You fall and fall and fall, but you don't hit the water like he did. Instead, you keep falling and falling and falling, tears and screams ripping out of you until you are an empty shell.

You sit bolt upright.

Where are you? You can't see through the tears in your eyes. You can't breathe. You can't think. You take deep, fast, gasping breaths, trying to remember where you are, but you can't think straight.

Jimin.

You feel around the bed you're on for any sign of Jimin, but he's gone. He isn't there. You're all alone.

It was all a dream. Finding him again was just a dream.

"N-no- Jimin!" You wail, hugging your knees. "No no no no- Jimin!"

"Y/n!"

That's-that's his voice. That's Jimin's voice. But where is he? You can't see through the tears.

"J-Jimin," you sob. "Where are you?"

"I'm right here." You hear the sound of squeaky wheels rolling closer to you over the sound of your sobbing and gasping. A hand touches your shoulder. You reach for it immediately.

It's there. His hand. It's there. It's real.

"Y/n? Hey it's okay, what happened?"

The bed dips under his weight as he climbs into bed. You rub your eyes with one hand to wipe your tears off and see. He's still there, sitting beside you. He places his free hand on your cheek and rubs your tears away with his thumb.

"Hey, hey, Y/n, it's okay, I'm here," he says. His voice is soft and velvety and gentle and golden and wraps around your ears like a hug. "Breathe, it's okay." He brings your hand to his chest. "Breathe with me."

You listen to him and feel as his chest rises and falls steadily.

Breathe, Y/n. Breathe. In, out. In, out.

You grasp Jimin's hand really tight, as if he will fall away again if you let go. He brushes your hair out of your face and scoots forward a little closer, then pulls your head onto his shoulder and wraps his arm around you. His hand rubs your back soothingly as you focus on breathing. Your hands are still held together over his chest.

In, out. In, out.

In, out.

In. Out.

In.

Out.

You take one last big inhale and let it out through a shaky exhale, then hiccup. Your eyes are puffy and still watery. Your nose is runny. Your hair is a frizzy halo around your head.

"There," Jimin murmurs. "That's it, breathe."

You hiccup again.

"Nightmare?"

You nod into Jimin's shoulder.

"Do you wanna tell me about it?"

You shake your head. "Where-where did you go?" Hiccup.

"I just went to get water from the faucet over there," Jimin says. "I was only out of bed for like, a minute and a half."

Oh.

Well then that must have been what triggered the nightmare.

You hiccup. Jimin pats your back and then pushes you away from his shoulder to look at your face. He's so calm and quiet. His gaze is fixed on you, eyes flitting around your face. He isn't frowning or smiling or pouting or anything. He is calm and expressionless.

It comforts you. He probably understands how this feels. Waking up from a bad nightmare and needing... well, reassurance.

Hiccup.

His eyes finally land on yours. They're such a pretty color. Like soft melted chocolate.

After he was sent home at the beginning of this year, you watched videos of him on your phone to try your best to replicate the feeling of him being there and talking to you. You tried looking at pictures to mimic the feeling of staring into his eyes. It never worked. It just wasn't the same.

Here though, now, his magic eyes have that same enchanting effect they had before he was nearly killed. They seem to draw you in and encapsulate you in a warm place, where all of your worries dissolve and fall away. They seem to tell you things without words, letting you know that you will be okay. They seem to dull your senses and take control over your mind, urging you to feel drowsy and calm.

Your eyelids hang low over your eyes. Your grip on Jimin's hand loosens. Your head feels so heavy, filled to the brim with a dense mist that clouds your thoughts and fogs your eyes. Your head ever so slightly teeters forward, ready to rest on Jimin's shoulder so you can go back to sleep.

Hiccup.

Your chest spasms and the fog clears up a little and your eyelids open back up. Jimin lets out a giggle that sounds like a hum, released through closed lips. It's a soft sound you missed so, so much.

"I-I dreamed that-" hiccup- "that you were-were dying again."

Hiccup.

"I'm okay now," Jimin murmurs. "I'm not dying."

"Sh-Sharon was-" hiccup- "there and she tried to kill- kill you again."

"Hm," Jimin hums, rubbing your back. "She's gone now. She can't get me."

"And- and then you fell in- in water."

"Your brain must really enjoy killing me off in your dreams," Jimin chuckles. "I'm here though. I did get water, but I don't think I'll drown any time soon."

"Enjoy it?" You ask, tone suddenly serious. Hiccup. "Not even close. I-I was terrible after you left."

"It- I was kidding. Sorry."

You let your head return to his shoulder and turn it into his neck. "Let-let's-" hiccup- "let's go back to sleep."

Jimin stretches his legs out and slowly lays the both of you down. "Okay," he says. He lets go of you and sits up, then pulls the stand that his IV bag hangs from closer to the bed.

"Can I ask a question about... what happened while I was gone?" Jimin asks, pulling the blankets up to cover you both when he lays down again. He wraps an arm around you and rests his head on the pillow a couple of inches away from yours.

You meet his eyes.

"I can't guarantee that I'll answer it," you murmur back, leaning closer to him. "But go ahead."

"The last time I saw anyone other than you and Sharon before it happened... was at school."

"Mmhmm?" Your eyelids hang low over your eyes. You want to go back to sleep. You let them close while you listen to Jimin.

"That was the day I got into a fight with Gavin... again. That's why Sharon really had it out for me," Jimin says.

Your eyes open. Gavin.

"After the first fight, he came back to bother you again, up until that day. Did he... after I fought him again... did he ever come back to bother you? Since I was gone?"

Out of all the things he had to ask you...

You sink into the bed and move your face forward, underneath Jimin's chin so he can't see your face. You bite your lip. That's not a question you want to answer. Gavin did come back, and he came back bad.

"Is that a yes?" Jimin asks softly.

"I don't want to talk about that."

"He did, didn't he..."

"Jimin, please. Can-can we just go back to sleep?"

Jimin raises his hand to hold your head. You feel his throat bob as he swallows. "Yeah," he says. "O-Okay."

And with that, you fall back asleep again.

Have a good day/night!<3

-L