About Time | BTS Series (Jungkook, Jimin)

Log.32: Loop

I was taking a break from watching over my mom at the public sitting outside of the hospital, where most of the nurses and EMTs would be lounging on their break. None of these people concerned me, however, when I had my full attention on the sandwich in my hands that I was hungrily munching over. The strong scent of mustard and pickles which would have been distasteful to some had become a salivating meal to me, a good change after having my senses and taste buds assaulted by the strong scents of disinfectants and antibiotics for the past twelve hours.

That was where Taehyung found me when he came. And I did not even have to lift my face to see him wince at the sight of me taking a giant bite of my pickled sandwich.

"What the hell are you eating?" he scolded me with an incredulous look on his face.

His facial expression nearly made me laugh, but I opted to hold it back and looked up with a feigned innocence instead and said, "Beef brisket sandwich with extra pickles and mustard. Want some? I also have a tuna sandwich if you want that one."

Taehyung merely scrunched his nose in disgust. "No, and no. I thought you hated pickles."

"Cue the past tense," I told him with a chuckle and then nodded at him so he could take a seat next to me. "That was before I remember how bland hospital food tastes like."

"Hospital food?" He frowned. "What are you doing eating hospital food?"

I shrugged and waited until I swallowed the last bit of food I had just eaten before I spoke, "Mom refuses to finish her daily meal, so I always have to eat her leftovers. That's actually why I got these sandwiches. Kara must have known that Mom would do that and what kind of suffering our taste buds are going through, so she came in with a huge container box filled with these sandwiches for us. She gave some for me and kicked me out of the room so she could take over nursing Mom while making sure she eats."

Taehyung leaned back while I finished my late lunch, and we both ended up sitting back on that bench looking up the sky. The commotion around us kept going as we fell silent. Until Taehyung spoke, "How are things with Kara around?"

"Okay, I guess—" I lingered, knowing that technically, things were going as they were in the past that I remembered, and everything that was supposed to happen had not yet started to appear. "She's still my Mom's best friend and my favourite, loving aunt. She has never met up with my Dad whether it was at the house or the hospital since they are never at the same place at the same time. It's mostly impossible for them to since Kara would never have any reason to step foot in our house when Mom is not around."

"And you made sure of that," he said, more like giving a statement, a conviction at best. And I merely answer with a quick nod. "That's good."

He looked away, not bothering to look over to me when he asked me, "Do you think you can salvage your parents' marriage this way?"

"I don't think so," I answered him grimly. "If there is one thing in this life I could never change, it would be my Dad," I said, stopping to exhale a deep breath. "But at least—this way, neither of us would lose Kara. And neither Kara or I would lose Mom."

Taehyung looped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close, gently kissing my temple as he saw me nearly tearing up at the thought of salvaging my mother's old friendship and making sure that she would never be lonely. No matter what would happen to us in the future.

"Everybody deserves a second chance. And you did all you could to make sure of that," he muttered softly. "Now, let me have a taste of that tuna sandwich."