THE HOSPITAL machines beeping is the only thing jeongguk can hear in the room. taehyung had fallen asleep a long time ago after the doctor had assured them that the blonde was fine, but that only eased the raven's conscious slightly. he can't get the scene out of his head. he had held in his tears long enough until the blonde's breathing steadied while jeongguk kept whispering that he loved him, and then the younger fell apart.
jeongguk clung to taehyung's hand tightly with no intention of letting go; he hates himself for not pulling an all-nighter after that conversation with taehyung. he has had time to think about it a lot over the course of the last few hours and all he wants to know is what dragged taehyung to go back to jihun after everything. was it something jeongguk said or something he didn't do? he is so sorry for disappointing him. maybe being with him romantically wasn't what taehyung thought it would be?
it's like the universe sensed he needed a distraction because police officers enter the room as well as taehyung's doctor. the police give him a guarded stare as they take in their clasped hands and one looks to be already on the way to arrest jeongguk, but the doctor stops him before he gets any closer. "that's not the boyfriend, officer. he is just a friend."
yeah, jeongguk's eyes guide him back to the injured boy, just a friend.
"you are going to arrest him?" jeongguk asks and it's almost scary how emotionless he sounds. his eyes never leave his boy and his hands refuse to let go. "for abusing tae?"
one of the officers—a tall, broad shouldered male with beach blonde hair—speaks up, "we were told that he is a danger to him so all we can do is keep him in a holding cell and ask him a few questions."
"you don't know who he is?" jeongguk assumes. "i am only asking since you tried arresting me."
"no," the officer admits. "we have very little information."
"i'm gathering that he kept it a secret that he was gay otherwise i'm sure you'd know exactly who taehyung is," he says as he finally looks over to the doctor, but swiftly directs his attention to the officers. "the asshole works in this hospital. i'm going to take a guess and say he is not here since he saw us drive off with tae, so he's probably going to avoid this place for a while. he's probably at his house or anywhere that has alcohol. he loves to drink."
he catches a glimpse of one of the officers writing down in a small notepad before the main one coughs to guide jeongguk's eyes back to him, since they were drifting off to taehyung again. "what's his name?"
"park jihun," he says and the surprise on the doctors face is almost comedic. "if you don't take care of it then i will. he has hurt this boy more than any of you can imagine, and he made him feel bad for finding comfort in someone who actually gives a shit about him. i was there and he wasn't; that is what drove them apart, as well as the cruel words he always said to him, and that's nobody's fault but jihuns."
they all look mildly confused since they said they don't know much about this case, but he doesn't care to elaborate because he feels taehyung start to squirm. his eyes bolt to the boy who is still clinging to his arm. taehyung's hands start to feel up and down the arm, his eyebrows furrowed as his lips start to wobble. "gukkie? is that you?"
"yeah," jeongguk breathes a sigh of relief. "it's me, tae. can you still not open your eyes?"
taehyung's lips tremble when he flutters his eyes open and the younger immediately takes that as a good sign, and peppers taehyung's hands with tiny kisses. although, the blonde doesn't seem happy yet which confuses jeongguk so he pulls back to regard him.
taehyung's eyes are open but they are looking in his direction blankly; his eyes are glossy, and glazed. it doesn't even look like he's all there and it scares the hell out of jeongguk, "baby?"
