"i'd do anything—"

2160 HOURS BEFORE

the 20 year old clears his throat and knocks lightly before grabbing the metal handle and sliding the door open. his gaze roams over the tidy room, the scent of fresh lavendar wafting over to him. tracing the smell, he spots thin tendrils of steam rising from a diffuser that seats on a wooden cabinet. 

a lady who was busy with some documents noticed the young man standing awkwardly at the doorway. standing up with a serene smile, she gestures to the black leather couch, inviting him to have a seat. 

once settled, he reaches out for a handshake. "good morning, doctor. i'm jeongguk. jeon jeongguk."

"good morning, jeongguk." she returns the handshake, together with a small bow. "by the way, there's no need to call me doctor. i want to be comfortable with people who choose to confide in me, so just call me hazel."

he gives a slight nod before pursing his lips, not knowing what to say next. a veil of silence hangs over them and he can feel her gaze on him as she waits for him to speak.

"jeongguk? what's troubling you?" 

might as well spill everything out, now that he's already here.

"these days i feel like... i'm not being myself." as the words leave his mouth, jeongguk feels extremely self-conscious. afraid that she might judge him. but a glance at hazel tells him that she has handled numerous of such cases before. so he continues.

"it's like my mind doesn't feel like my mind. my body doesn't feel like my body. everything is weird and there's a strong sense of deja vu but i don't know why. sometimes i wake up and realized i did something that i didn't want to do, but i did it anyway."

"and are those things lies?"

"... yeah."

she takes in a deep breath and exhales slowly. "you are, what we call, a compulsive liar. compulsive liars usually find comfort in lying— they lie because they are scared and insecure. their lies often favour themselves and most of them are so used to it that they don't even realize they're lying."

"... oh. is it... is it something bad then?"

"absolutely not, jeongguk. it's good that you discovered this early because at least you know that you're lying. is something troubling you that leads you to lying? if yes, then resolve that problem first."

he racks his brain for a reason. what's troubling him? to be honest, there is nothing really—

"yoongi hyung." jeongguk blurts. "i.. i've been really worried about him lately."

"why? is he an important friend of yours?"

"yes." he replies without hesitation. "and i think he's overworking himself. it's like... we don't even spend time together anymore."

"then try talking to him more often. get him to come out for a breather. go for outings— catch a movie, exercise together, and so on."

he smiles and feels like a heavy burden has been removed. "i will try my best to. thank you, doc— hazel, i mean."

a chuckle escapes from her lips at his blunder. "is there anything else, jeongguk?"

"i don't think so..." he trails off. "oh, hazel? please don't tell anyone about this visit. i don't want anyone to worry about me... especially yoongi."

"of course, jeongguk."

END.

a/n; the chapter title is not a mistake!! do link the words at the start of this chapter with the ones in chapter 'ONE' (: 

here's a tiny breakdown of the characters!

YOONGI — cares for jeongguk a hell lot. willing to go to the ends of the world for him, but doesn't see the pain jeongguk is suffering in. constantly caught up in work and neglects jeongguk, even though he didn't mean to. 

JEONGGUK — ahh i think this chapter basically described who he is. a person with the compulsive lying disorder (it is a legit mental disorder) and realizes it as time passes by, but can't control himself in the end. he loves yoongi as much as yoongi loves him, and that's the reason why he lies to yoongi (to get his attention), but also the reason why he decided to end everything in the end (because he knows lying is unhealthy and he didn't know how to stop it)

HAZEL — she's just a psychiatrist! please don't take what she said about the disorder to heart okay, i don't have much knowledge in that area HAHA. also, she did keep to her promise by not telling yoongi about jeongguk. sooo she actually does play an important role because events at the end could've been prevented if she spilled the beans to yoongi oops. bUT SHE'S A NICE PERSON!! 

the ending is actually open for you guys to decide!! for me, jeongguk died in a car accident (chapter eighteen) and yoongi probably ended his life too soon after because time stops with jeongguk. if jeongguk is gone, there's no purpose in life for him as well.

 but then again, he could've just left yoongi? went for a trip somewhere far away to settle his thoughts because after all, yoongi is the one who caused him to develop this disorder. so it's really up to you!!!

i wanted to add in more of jeongguk's lies but i felt like i would be dragging the story?? oops. i hope this wasn't too confusing aHHH. because confused writer = confused story skdhauhwuiq. idek if this a/n makes sense bc it's 1am and i didn't proofread and i need to sleep omf. can't believe i wrote... more than 10 chapters in a day smh

thank you for reading!! ily