Blue Butterflies

chapter six

06 - Distant Lights

Namjoon tried his best to get Jungkook to see him but to no avail. Namjoon patiently waited while repeatedly tapping his foot, anxiously waiting for the green light to turn on. And once it did, he dashed to the other side and tried to catch up to Jungkook who was already far away.

...

Jungkook's mood was somber as he wandered through the alley, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts. The convenience store, where he left Lisa with a promise to return—a promise he knew he wouldn't keep—loomed in his memory. The weight of his decision pressed heavily on him, the reason for his departure as elusive as the comfort he sought.

He thought about his family. He remembered how he'd ever see his father for he had left him and his mother when he was young. No more birthday cards...

His distraction was visible, causing him to collide with passersby, their faces blurring into the background of his troubled thoughts. The image of Lisa, confined to the hospital for days, played on repeat in his mind, a haunting reminder of the reality he was trying to escape.

The two were playing basketball in the park outside her house. Then Lisa fell after making a goal and scraped her knee, bleeding a lot. Lisa's aunt and Hoseok rushed to her to help out. Lisa's aunt screamed at Jungkook saying it was his fault as Lisa and Hoseok told him not to listen to that.

However, Jungkook listened. 'It was my fault. Only my fault.' He thought. His fault that he couldn't protect her after promising he would when they had first met.

"Yah! Watch where you're going! Are you blind?!"

"Tch. That b**stard just walked past us!"

The sudden grip of the strangers halted Jungkook's retreat, dragging him into the area of a shadowed corner. Their displeasure was evident, a silent threat hanging in the air as they confronted him, an unspoken demand for an explanation or perhaps an apology for his earlier inattention. Jungkook, still lost in his own thoughts, now faced the immediate reality of their discontent.

{Flashback}

Years back. Jungkook's days in the hospital, confined by a fractured left leg, had become a dull blur until his third day, when curiosity led him to the girl in the neighboring ward. Her beauty was not what captivated him most, but the mystery of her condition—Hemophilia, a rare disorder where even a minor injury could lead to excessive bleeding.

It was Lisa who bridged the gap between them, approaching Jungkook as he navigated the hallways in his wheelchair. With her IV drip bar in hand, carrying the vital medication to manage her condition, she extended a hand in greeting. Jungkook, seizing the opportunity for connection, accepted her handshake warmly. From that moment, their bond deepened, forged in the shared silence of the hospital's sterile corridors.

Their friendship blossomed amidst the beeping monitors and the rhythmic drip of IVs, a testament to the unexpected relationships that can emerge in the face of adversity.

{End of Flashback}

Despite the harshness of the attack by the two strangers, Jungkook remained apathetic. Each impact resonated with a muted sound, yet his consciousness was adrift, seemingly unbound by the pain that one would expect to hit his senses.

Namjoon, in his search, found himself at the scene of the earlier confrontation, his voice echoing through the empty alley as he called for Jungkook. No answer came, only the distant sound of a crash to the west that drew him away, further from where Jungkook actually was.

To the north, Jungkook, now alone, mustered the remaining energy within him. Each groan marked his struggle as he pushed himself up, step by step, towards the rooftop of the abandoned building that towered above him—a silent witness to his solitary battle.