Were it not for Jungkook whispering calmly to him, Taehyung most likely would have had a full-on panic attack in the back of that woman's car. Luckily for them, and for Yoongi's mental stability, the hospital was a mere ten minute drive away.

The arrival was a bit of a hassle, however. Taehyung seemed to have regained some of his strength, regardless of his composure not at all having been recovered, and so desperately he tried to call out to the medical staff, demanding them to bring Jimin back.

The stares they received from both staff and visitors alike urged Yoongi and Jungkook to try restraining the boy. But it wasn't easy - near impossible, they discovered. At least at first. Because Taehyung had gotten lost in his paranoia once again, but there was a twist now, as someone other than himself had somehow entered that maze.

It wasn't something Yoongi and Jungkook could emotionally comprehend and they both knew it. Having knowledge of Taehyung's blood, of the boy's fear of it being a sickness, of people wanting to study him for it - and it was abrupt, painfully abrupt, but they also both now had knowledge that Jimin had odd-colored blood as well.

If anyone could truly understand Taehyung, it would be him.

Realizing this, more than likely, was the cause of the boy's change of heart, they thought. No, they knew this as well.

The three had no choice but to sit in the waiting room. The woman offered to stay as well, but Yoongi insisted it wasn't necessary. She did leave her phone number as well as a business card with him and urged Yoongi to call as soon as possible concerning Jimin's condition. She also swore to handle the hospital bill.

"At least she was kind," Yoongi thought aloud after the woman had left. "Some people out there would've been pissed and put all the blame on us and Jimin for not being more responsible. I mean, it was his fault for running out into the street, but still. Be happy for that at least, okay Tiger?"

"Scared, he's probably so scared, poor Jimin, I shouldn't have yelled at him..."

Evidently, still trapped in that mental maze. His arm around the boy, Yoongi gazed over Taehyung's hunched body at Jungkook, staring sadly, helplessly at the floor, holding Tae's hand.

"Hey."

"I don't really know what's going on."

"That's fine," Yoongi said to him, trying to be encouraging. "We don't really know what's going on, either. But I'm not leaving till we figure it all out, so if that helps lessen your stress at all."

Upon receiving no response, Yoongi put on a soft smile and added:

"I'll be here to help you take care of your boyfriend."

Taehyung didn't react, as he was still much too distracted by his own thoughts. But Jungkook did. He heard that last word loud and clear like a metal pan being dropped on the kitchen floor in the middle of the night. His cheeks turning red, he turned suddenly towards Yoongi with wide eyes, then glanced at Taehyung, relieved somewhat that the boy didn't appear to have heard.

"He's, I mean he never said..."

"Was that not the 'something' Tae planned to tell me?"

Jungkook could only hope that was the case. He had a feeling it was, although Taehyung hadn't directly stated they were boyfriends now. It was implied, however, enough to have made Jungkook comfortable in that moment.

"Don't be shy," Yoongi smiled. "Ask him. Tiger, can you hear me?"

Taehyung shook his head.

"He can. Go ahead, Jungkook."

"Ah, n-no, I shouldn't, he-"

"-needs something to get his mind off all this," Yoongi interrupted. "And so do we."

A wise person, this friend of Taehyung's was. Jungkook understood now why he meant so much to Tae.

He wished he could have gotten to know Yoongi better in high school.

"Hey, uh...Tae...?"

The gentle whisper, shockingly, carried through to Taehyung's brain better than Jungkook had expected. It took a moment, but the boy eventually shifted his fixed gaze away from his feet - covered merely in socks due to his reckless rushing out the door earlier - and up to Jungkook's eyes.

"Is it okay if I ask you something?"

He didn't speak, but nodded in response, sniffling. Jungkook ran his thumb against the back of Taehyung's hand.

"You didn't spell it out, so I just wanted to make sure...and if now isn't the time, I understand, it's just-"

He stopped once he felt Taehyung shift closer to him, attaching himself to his arm. Yoongi took this as his cue to pull back his own arm.

"Kookie, if it's not you it's no one, you can't leave me now, okay?"

Heartbreaking as the boy's voice sounded just then, it was at the same time reassuring to Jungkook. The urge to cry and break out in smiles quarreled with one another.

He didn't want to push Taehyung anymore just because he wanted to hear the words directly. What Tae had said spoke volumes of its own - that, along with the way he now clung to Jungkook, despite his precious best friend being right beside him. For once Jungkook felt he didn't have to compete against Yoongi, rather, from that same person's eyes, he gathered approval. A warm, welcoming approval.

"Tae, I'm not leaving."

"Do you think Jimin's okay?"

"He is. He's gonna be okay, Tae, just relax."

"You ran outside without shoes, your feet probably hurt bad, Kookie."

"You ran out without shoes, too..."

"Does Yoongi have shoes?"

"I'm wearing shoes, Tiger..."

"Did Jimin have shoes?"

"I don't think so, but I doubt that's really something you need to be worrying about."

Even still, Taehyung thought about it. He did worry. And he would until he could see Jimin before his eyes again, hopefully in one piece, hopefully alive. He couldn't bear the thought of that boy dying, before Tae got the answers to his questions, before he could apologize for reacting the way he did before hearing Jimin out.

For all he knew, it could be the same situation as Jungkook - it could turn out to be something innocent, something that would turn around just to slap Taehyung in the face with guilt for having acted so cold.

But he didn't know. He couldn't know, until he spoke with Jimin again.

And so he was forced to wait out the agonizing stretch of time that lay before one of the hospital's nurses came to greet them in the waiting room.

"You three are here for the boy who was hit by a car this morning, correct?" She asked, almost shamefully. "No one provided a name-"

"It's Jimin," Taehyung blurted and stood up. "Where is he?? He's okay, right? Tell me he's okay."

"The injuries aren't life-threatening, you don't need to worry about that, sir," she said in as calm a manner as she could. But still anyone could hear the unsettled tone of her voice. "He got away with a fractured rib and a sprained arm, and some cuts and scrapes but those'll heal in no time, however the doctors do want to keep him for a bit longer for further examination for other reasons."

Other reasons. Taehyung didn't have to ask to know what that meant.

His fear. He didn't want to be right.

"No, no, he doesn't need further examination, he doesn't need it, he's fine-!"

"Sir, we just want to make sure nothing's wrong," the nurse quickly assured him. "They're concerned it could be an illness that needs to be treated-"

"No! Tell them to leave him alone!!"

"Tae, don't shout," Yoongi grabbed his friend's hand and stood up as well. "Listen, Tiger-"

"He's not a freak!! He's fine, just give him back to us-!"

"Ma'am, I'm sorry," Yoongi said, facing the nurse, "he's just really upset."

"Completely understandable, no apology necessary," she said. "You'll be notified as soon as they're through with the examination. Do you plan on staying here at the hospital? Or would you like to leave a phone number at the desk?"

"That's alright," Yoongi replied. He gave Taehyung's hand a tug which caused the boy to fall back to his chair. "We'll be here."

With that, the nurse gave a nod and left the waiting room, most likely to return to her station prior to meeting them. And Taehyung was soon back to clinging to Jungkook's arm, wanting to hold his head in his hands and cry but he needed someone to hold onto.

"Jungkook."

It took a moment for Jungkook to push aside the sounds of Taehyung's whimpering and register his name being mentioned. He glanced at Yoongi.

"Call a taxi or catch a bus back to the apartment and take Tae with you."

"Yoongi-"

"Tae, don't argue with me," he cut him off. "Being here isn't helping you, it's not only making you feel worse. If you get yourself sick from stress and worrying, they'll examine you, too. I'll wait here for Jimin until his examination's done. After they've confirmed it's nothing contagious, he can't legally be kept here against his will."

Taehyung had nothing more to say. He didn't want to leave. But he was too tired to raise his voice anymore. Besides, as he always did, Yoongi had a point.

Taehyung shut his mouth and allowed Jungkook to lead him away, but not before Yoongi placed in the latter's hand some money for fare.

And Yoongi stayed.

Alone in the waiting room - that is, without anyone he knew around, and that was lonelier than having no one around at all.

His second day in Busan, on his vacation, which he had hoped to spend carefree with Taehyung, was being spent in the waiting room of a hospital.

Not what he had expected. Certainly not ideal. But he cared enough about Taehyung to hold out.

Except this wasn't even all about Taehyung anymore. Yoongi had been in one of those pictures. He wanted to know just as much as Tae did.

Who exactly Jimin was.

Where those pictures had come from.

Anxiously, Yoongi sat with his back hunched over, elbows resting on his thighs and his fingers intertwined. He had no idea how long the examination would take. What the outcome would be. The nurse hadn't given him any sort of estimate, but then again it was impossible for her to have known.

Yoongi didn't know anything about it, either. He wished he did. Though he felt mostly certain it was nothing contagious, there was no telling anything else. For all he knew it could be a sickness.

He hoped with all his being it wasn't. Especially if it shared the same properties with Taehyung's blood as he assumed it did.

He didn't need that hanging over his head. Knowing his best friend, his only friend outside his family, was sick.

He was starting to feel sick.

Yoongi lost track of how long he had been sitting in that waiting room. With negative thoughts and feelings swirling about in his mind, the concept of time escaped him. However he snapped back into focus at the sight of the nurse who had spoken to them earlier approaching again.

"Is it over? Is he okay?"

"It's hard to say," the nurse said, visibly perplexed even though she tried to speak with confidence. "They found out it's nothing contagious, but..."

"...but?"

"That's it. That's all they were able to figure out. It's bizarre, they said nothing's checking out, our technology doesn't seem to be recognizing any similar patterns in his blood. Nothing's showing up at all, in fact. So now it's a matter of deciding whether or not to continue with examination-"

"No, it's fine," Yoongi answered quickly. "If it's not necessary, we don't want it."

"Are you a family member?"

"No, does that matter?"

"No," the nurse said. "The decision is up to the patient so long as he's of age."

"Is he allowed visitors?"

"Yes, I came to inform you of that as well. The doctors wouldn't allow it until they figured out if it were contagious. But if you'd like to visit him now, that's perfectly fine. Did the other two who were with you leave? Did you want to call them?"

"No, just show me to Jimin's hospital room, please."

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end of chapter twenty-four.