exotic | k.th

5 ‣ easily

Now, Taehyung surfaces a whole new need. A need so far off from embarrassment, you can't even identify it yet. All you know is that you don't want him to know. He'd hate you. You can't really blame him. You'd hate yourself, too.

A few minutes into your slightly fearful thinking, Joni gives you a call. It's a little strange, considering she doesn't call you on the phone very often. She doesn't like to. She's not very fond of phone calls. It isn't until she tells you the absolute last thing you want to hear at this moment that you understand why this time is an exception.

"Wh-What?!" You slam on the breaks abruptly at a red light as you try and process Joni's words through the phone. Thankfully, the intersection is lonely and you couldn't put yourself or others in danger. "JONI!"

"I-I'm at the hospital right now, th-they just took her in—Aru, I tried to call you, I did!" Joni's panicky voice makes you a thousand times more uneasy, making the pit of your stomach start to physically hurt.

"Wh-How?! How?! What happened?!" You ask, growing more and more frantic as you hear the familiar busy, chaotic background noise of the emergency room. Nurses yelling out medical terms, wheels rolling, machines beeping, doctors ordering, people screaming—pain.

"I don't know—She was taking a nap a-and I went to check on her," Joni tries to explain, her voice growing shaky with some more panicked tears. "Sh-She seemed fine, but then I noticed her nose was bleeding and I went to wake her up. She wasn't responding—"

"Oh my God.." You exhale, feeling as your first desperate tear slips down your flushed face. Immediately, you step on the gas and test the speed limits to get to Aria as fast as you possibly can. "Wh-What are the doctors saying?!"

"No one's come to tell me how she is," Joni answers. You can hear the frustration in her voice, as if she's tried to get information, but had no luck. "They took her on a gurney a few minutes ago—I have no idea where and for what."

"What hospital?" You ask, trying to keep a cool head while you drive. You quickly realize the last thing Aria and Joni need is for you to join them all bloody in a damn gurney right now. "I'm on my way, as fast as I can."

"The same hospital as always, Aru.." Joni answers, shakily. You can hear her sniffling and the quiet ruffle of air brushing up against the microphone as she continuously wipes her tears. "Please, just hurry."

"I-I'm trying," You answer, feeling a strong wave of tears threatening to come over you. This is the third time Aria goes critical out of nowhere in the past six months even with all the harsh medications and therapies. You all know very well, every time this happens, she's that much close to never opening her eyes again. It's just not fair.

"Song Joni?" You hear a faint male voice stick out of the background chaos on the speaker, causing your ears to immediately focus on it.

"Yes?" Joni's voice gets cut off by the ending of the phone call, making you look down at your plain lock screen in completely frustration.

"Hello? Hello?! Goddammit, Joni!" You pick up your phone, fumbling and dropping it back down on the seat by accident as you can't focus on anything besides your sister at the moment. You watch as it slips down to the passenger foot leg space and exhale even more frustratedly.

That's when that wave of tears comes washing over you. It finally caught up, and all you can do right now is try to calm down enough to not crash.

"Haru,"

"Yeah?"

"How was she? My mom."

"Um.."

"Tell me the truth."

"She was the best. She was the sweetest, strongest, nicest, most beautiful woman I knew."

"And yours?"

"I don't know."

"Did she die, too?"

"No.. She left me—us."

"You and dad?"

"Mm-hm."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not. If she hadn't left, I wouldn't have you."

Sandeok Hospital.
— Twenty minutes later.

"Where is she?! Where is Aria?! WHERE IS MY SISTER?!" You run into the small medical facility, demanding answers from the young lady up front while looking around for Joni, who hadn't answered your last twenty calls.

"Ma'am, I'm gonna need you to—" The nurse starts.

"No! Don't tell me to calm down, my sister could be dying and I need to know where she is. I have the right to know where she is, so goddamnit tell me where she is!" You slam your hands on the counter, looking her straight in the eyes as she flinches and scoots back a little. "Lee Aria. Tell me all you know, right now."

"Haru!" Joni's voice calls from behind you, approaching you very quickly. You feel her hand take your arm and pull you back. The young lady behind the counter lets out a subtle sigh of relief as you're no longer in range to hurt her. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Where's Aria?!" You pull your arm free of her grip, feeling yourself grow more and more upset as nobody is giving you the answers you need. "Is she okay?! Why is no one telling me anything?!"

"You're making a fucking scene. Shut. Up." Joni mutters through clenched teeth, quickly glancing around, making you do so as well. Many of the people around begin to stare. You could care less.

"Aria. Where is she?!" You repeat, looking Joni dead in the face. You know she knows, and you're gonna make her tell you.

"You must be the sister," A voice says from a few feet behind you, causing you to immediately swivel around. To your relief, you see a man in a lab coat and scrubs.

He'll tell me.

"Yes," You nod, walking up to him. "Lee Haru. Lee Aria's older sister. I-Is she okay?!"

"Follow me." The unfamiliar doctor slowly turns and begins walking back in the direction he came from. He must be new to Aria's case. His serious expression doesn't change at all.

"O-Okay," You follow, feeling uneasiness start to pool in your chest again. Joni follows close behind you, also looking too pale for her own good.

"I'm sorry to tell you that Aria is not getting any better, Miss Lee." The doctor tells you as you slowly walk down the gloomy hall towards the room in which your sister lays on a hospital bed and sleeps. "In fact, we think her condition is worsening very quickly."