Not For Long

.18

"I'll come back later, okay?"

Chaeyoung nodded softly, but her eyes didn't leave the figure lying on the bed when Jennie spoke to her. Her eyes only shifted from the face of the unconscious lady down to her feet covered in a blanket.

Chaeyoung felt a firm squeeze on her shoulder, and she knew it was from Namjoon. He said something to Taehyung who was sitting beside her and just like her, Taehyung gave no words as a response. The sound of the pair's footsteps walking away from them, out of the private room were suddenly loud in her ears and only ended by the sound of the door sliding close.

All Chaeyoung could hear then was the sound of the slow beating of Taehyung's mother's heart coming from the heart monitor. Beep... Beep... Beep...

It was too loud that it pained not only her ears but also her heart and mind and every bit of her body from the inside. She inhaled as much air as she could, her sniffing sound to follow suit and a few tears rolled off her cheeks. Her hands immediately rose to wipe at her eyes.

"You should go get some food," Taehyung said after a long time. Chaeyoung turned her head towards him, gazed at his side profile for a few seconds before she looked down at her lap.

"I'm fine," she managed, voice was too soft but a little louder than a whisper.

"I don't wish to see you fall sick as well, Chaeng."

"I'm not going to fall sick, Tae. I'll be fine."

There was a deep sigh next as he slowly held his mother's hand delicately. Chaeyoung watched his thumb rubbing softly against the almost colorless skin of the woman and she suddenly craved the warmness that had always radiated off of his mother. Seeing the woman in this situation literally broke Chaeyoung's heart to pieces, her eyes hadn't stopped releasing tears and her shattered heart hadn't stopped praying for miracle to take place.

"Just go, Chaeyoung," Taehyung said, his voice weary. "Don't argue with me, please. Not here, not now."

She threw a brief glare at him though he wasn't looking at her direction. "What about you? You hadn't even drink."

"Don't mind me," he said simply and fell quiet next as he placed his head onto the bed, facing his mother while his hand continued on caressing the woman's hand. Chaeyoung really wanted to argue more, because Taehyung was putting his own health aside just to be there for his mother yet insisted to tell her to not let her stomach be empty. But then, Chaeyoung took that as a cue for her to leave him alone with his mother for some time. She hesitated as she stood up, glancing at the poor lady on the bed a few seconds before she went out of the room.

Instead of going to the cafeteria, Chaeyoung sat on one of the seats at the waiting area where it was totally empty. She leaned her head back against the wall behind her and closed her eyes. After a few moments, she dropped her head and stayed in that position for the next minutes. Her eyes were shut tightly for a long time, she cried silently with her fingers fisting the strap of her bag.

She wished she knew what to do, she wished she knew how to make things right, she wished she knew how to cure the lovely lady. Mrs. Kim did not deserve to be tested this way.

Chaeyoung cried for a long time. It was to the point that breathing became something difficult to do when she needed air because she was holding it, not trying to let any sound out even when she was alone in the waiting area.

The hallway was empty except when the nurses and doctors walked by. Every footstep that she heard was reflecting how quick the people were walking.

When people walk so fast like those nurses and doctors, it means only one thing; they are chasing the time. And when people chase for time, it means that at that moment, time decides to show them how fast it can go. It does not wait.