STELLA SYNDROME. ✓

IX. neptune

IX.
n e p t u n e

━━

JIMIN felt himself being washed away, lost in his own tears. he couldn't even feel the star burn through his skin, not while he watched him die.

he had no one but himself to blame. he could have saved him. but he was too afraid of rejection to even get close to the boy again. his cowardly actions had caused jungkook more pain than he could imagine, and he had been an idiot to believe that he was only coughing up a few rather than a hundreds.

he loved him, and jungkook had loved him back this whole time. they had had the chance the cure him, but both were fearful and kept their feelings silent. hell, jungkook had no idea what was happening to him and that he had to confess and jimin to return it to be rid of his disease, so really, everything was jimin's fault.

"jimin!" yoongi yelped, ripping the shining orb out of the blonde's hands and gasping as it hurt his own, throwing it across the room onto jungkook's bed. "call the hospital, goddamnit! don't just leave him like this." the rapper's voice cracked.

hoseok fumbled for his phone but could not bring himself to speak, hands trembling violently. namjoon wrenched the device from his grasp and spoke calmly into the receiver, but the slight tremor in his voice didn't escape jimin's ears. seokjin was in hysterics, sobs echoing off the walls as he lay hunched over the maknae's limp body.

taehyung had gone into shock and sat there lifelessly, eyes glazed over. "what... what were those things?"

"stars." the blonde blurted, "those are stars." jimin clutched his hands and tried to stop himself from shaking, tasting his own tears upon his lips as he huffed out an unstable breath. "save him," he pleaded, and to whom he did not know. to the gods or a god, to the doctors and nurses who were on their way, even to the celestial bodies in the sky. "please save him."

but then jimin realized he was the only one who could both hurt and save jeon jungkook.

━━

"I'M afraid we cannot help him," the elderly doctor said thinly, somber curl to his lips. "i haven't seen anything like this in all of my years of treating patients."

seokjin was about to hyperventilate with worry, and yoongi narrowed his eyes. "then why the fuck are you a doctor?! aren't you supposed to help people?!"

"sir—"

"no, don't even start." he snapped, face twisting into a scowl. "you're just going to let him die."

"yoongi!" namjoon hissed, and then turned to the bewildered doctor. "excuse us." much to yoongi's discontent, the leader grabbed his arm and started pulling him away before he could offend anyone else. yoongi fought back, struggling to escape the other's grasp.

then tears glistened in the bluenette's eyes, and he crumbled into namjoon's embrace. "i-i don't want him to die," he choked, "they have to save him, they have—" he cut himself off and tried to wipe away his tears. seokjin began to cry as well, pressing his lips together as tears ran down them. hoseok joined them, and then taehyung. namjoon broke down moments later, and jimin felt his own cries bubbling from his throat.