old cigarettes | min yoongi

lxvi.

"miss jung? you have a call. would you like to talk to them? they say it's urgent." your nurse said, holding a cordless receiver in one hand as she poked her head around the door to your room. you pulled yourself up in your bed to sit up. you'd regained some movement in your leg, but it still hurt no matter what you did, even on pain killers. it was badly broken, considering that was the leg that got hit.

you winced slightly as you settled into a sitting position. "yes. did they give a name?"

"they said their name is hyeon." the nurse said with a small smile, crossing the room in quick strides to hand you the receiver.

"hello?" you asked innocently, waiting for the nurse to leave before continuing. "did the police take the case?"

hyeon laughed tiredly on the other line. "yeah, i'm doing great, thanks for asking. how're you?" there was a pause, and you could clearly picture him shaking his head. "they took majority of the case, but they wouldn't accept my claim of your recent hospitalization being a planned attack."

your face scrunched up. "what? why?"

"apparently, the driver was identified, and according to him, he blacked out behind the wheel, causing him to hit you. he came to when the car impacted, and he got out to see if you were okay. that's what the police told me, anyway. don't believe a word of it, myself. no doubt he's apart of the gang."

you chewed your bottom lip in thought. "oh well, there's only so much you can do. so, they took the rest of the case?"

hyeon sighed. "yeah, they did. thank fuck. we still have to wait for it to be approved by a couple of people, but after that we should be good. i just hope they get it over with quick. i don't know how long i'm going to be safe for."

an uncomfortable silence enveloped the two of you. you still weren't completely sure of how to feel about hyeon, after all, he had just left you with a handful of abandonment issues when he disappeared, and it's not like they can just be erased and disappear into thin air just like he had.

"so... what happened with the competition? y'know, since i didn't turn up and all."

"oh, that." hyeon said, pausing to take a long breath in. "yeah, it was quite awkward when you didn't turn up. it was kinda funny, actually. yuki had to tell the arena of people that you weren't going to perform, and that it was pretty much a forfeit on your part. they weren't happy, but i ended up performing anyway. i heard that they had a fair few people asking for refunds."

"yikes. you don't think they'll reconsider, do you?" you had only blind hope at this point. besides, there was no harm in asking, was there?

hyeon let out a short laugh. "not a chance. i'm not giving up this YG contract easily. as in, over my dead body."

your eyes widened. "you got a contract with YG? holy shit, hyeon, that's so cool. are they going to debut you as a soloist or in a group or are you going to properly train for a while?"

"jesus, slow down, firecracker. YG's slow as fuck. i'm having a meeting with him next week to discuss the contract details before i officially sign on with them. i'm pretty sure i'm going to take it though. i might end up having a shorter training period and then debut. who knows."  you could almost hear the smile fading from his face. "if i'm still alive by then, of course."

"hyeon." he hummed, prompting you to go on. "you're going to live through this. trust me, the only one who is allowed to kill you is me, which i'm still not fully convinced i shouldn't. the police will track down dohyon and make sure he never sees the light of day ever again, okay? you'll be fine."

"but-"

"no buts, bitch."

"yes, ma'am. but can i ask a question...?"

you frowned, fiddling with the edge of your sheets again. "uh, sure, i guess. what is it?"

hyeon let out a long sigh. "why are you trusting me with this? i could just turn double traitor and do something horrible to you, so why are you taking that risk? especially after all you've been through?"

"oh." now it was your turn to sigh. "because i can't do anything else but stay here and watch things. for example, there's only so much day-time tv you can watch before you lose your mind, and i think i've more than passed that point. so, now that my leg's well and truly fucked, i have to leave the walking and dirty work to someone else. and what better person to do that with than with someone who owes me something!"

"but i don't owe you anything." hyeon said, a bit of guilt seeping into his voice. "okay, maybe something like twenty dollars from five years ago, but that's about it."

"okay, first of all, i'd forgotten about the twenty dollars, but you'd better pay up." hyeon muttered a small curse on the other line. "but you broke my heart, hyeon. i think you owe me something, now that you're not actually the bad guy my mind painted you out to be for the past year or so."

"i'm sorry. i know that no matter how many times i say it, it won't erase the problem, but i hope it can somehow ease your pain. i'm very, truly sorry. i don't hope for your forgiveness, only your understanding. but for now, please stay safe, okay? i wouldn't put it past dohyon to bust into the hospital where you're staying at. see you later, alligator."

you rolled your eyes at his stupid little joke. "... in a while, crocodile."