Hidden Marks || BTS || COMPLETED

15: Smiles

A smile made its way on her lips, "Dad," her voice was shaky and parched as if she hasn't used it in awhile. They heard one of the nurses, who was in Sera's room, let out a relieved sigh as she silently dismissed herself, "You're here.

"Of course I'm here, you had me worried sick!" Jun instantly fussed as he walked over to Sera's bed and gently sat on the side of it, "Besides the bandages and cast...well you look fine! Are you feeling fine?"

"I'm sorry that I worried you," there was a smile that inched its way onto her face, a serene one that almost looked too calm to be real. There was a storm brewing inside the calm facade she played so well, that her father didn't notice, "I was clumsy when walking down the stairs and tripped," she didn't mention how her vision was blurred from tears and it felt like her heart felt like it was going to stop beating.

"S-Sera?" Confusion was written clearly on Baekhyun's face, attempting to process the Sera that was before him.

Amber eyes shifted to meet with desperate brown ones. For once, in years, their eyes clash with conflicting understanding from one another. The two sets of eyes, different but yet so familiar, no longer saw eye to eye as Baekhyun knew there was a wall built up around her, as her smile never slipped as she took in Baekhyun's defeated appearance. Even her eyes, beautiful amber eyes that spoke volume, seemed to be muted.

There was a moment of silence before Sera spoke, "I've heard you barely gotten any sleep Hyunnie and that you've been skipping class. Thank you for worrying about me but you should prioritize yourself. I'm fine."

Those two words nearly broke him, because Baekhyun knew Sera wasn't fine and that everything was a lie. She was trying to paint an image that wasn't real, to mask the true ugliness and darkness of the situation with bright colors that were untrue. Even if she wanted to push Baekhyun away and pretend she was alright, the pink-haired boy already knew her too well; knew that she wasn't fine. Even as she began to calmly talk to her dad, catching up on things, with that smile never slipping off her face; Baekhyun knew it was all a lie.

A lie he desperately wanted to reveal but didn't know how.

His friend, who he expected would be an empty husk of the person she once was, was sitting on the hospital bed, reassuring her father. Something in him wished she was an empty shell instead of this fake smiling girl.

After a few minutes of talking, Jun's phone went off; and when he checked the caller ID, he gave Sera an apologetic smile, "It's my boss, I left without a notice. It'll be a quick call," with Sera's understanding smile, Jun stood up and left the room.

Leaving Sera with three boys, who didn't know what to say.

Once again, it was Sera to break the silence, as she addressed Jin and Taehyung, "The things I said that night...was unnecessary and I apologize," her voice was light and airy, "I do hope we can be good friends."

"Friends?" Taehyung asked slowly, taking a cautious step towards Sera. He always liked to imagine Sera smiling, her amber eyes sparkling as she looked at him. Yet the person before him was like a stranger, and he couldn't grasp exactly what Sera was saying; his heart pounding painfully hard, "What do you mean?"

"This bond...we never asked for it. I remember my dream was to always find my soulmates and just...be with them. Now that I think back, it was kind of pitiful that it was my only dream. I'm about to graduate college, and then go to a medical school; my dream is to be the best cardio surgeon there is. I also want all of you to be happy, and being with Lilia makes you all happy."

Jin stepped up, opening his mouth but only closing it as he tried to read the situation. Desperately, he tried to fix this mess and clear up any misunderstanding. "Sera, we're soulmates," his voice pleaded, trying to get his point across, "We're meant for each other, to be with each other and to love each other."

A chuckle escaped Sera's chapped lips, an amused one, no hint of bitterness, "We don't have to be lovers, I'm fully content with being just friends. I value my friendship with Lilia as well, and I want her to be happy. There is no love between us, but we can learn to love each other as friends."

Refusing to listen to this nonsense, Taehyung walked over to Sera and kneeled beside her. He was desperate as he gently grabbed Sera's good hand, warm brown eyes staring pleadingly into amber ones, "No, ignore what Lilia said that day. We messed up, we all messed up. We can fix this together, we're supposed to be so much more than just friends. Please, we can do this," tears were forming at the edge of his eyes. He was never good with words, never knew how to verbally express his emotions; he could only ever do that through his drawings. So he was desperately trying to tell Sera his feelings, to make her see that this is not what he wanted.

Taehyung wanted to just go back to the night he got drunk with Sera, to feel that beautiful feeling he felt when she was in his arms; to gaze at her beautiful appearance and take in her sweet scent. Just a few days ago, he remembered sitting in her apartment with Jimin, all of them laughing and chatting together through the photo shoot for Kimie. How Taehyung felt so complete in that moment.

He just wanted to go back to that moment.

"We can learn to love each other, so please don't give up on this. It's so beautiful what we can have, don't throw it away."

[2156]

*****

Preview for chapter 16:

"There's nothing wrong with that arm," Jun pointed to Sera's arm where her soulmate marks were, wrapped with bandages. A rather unreadable expression on his face as he leaned against his chair in Sera's hospital room, "Why are you still hiding your marks?"

Like I'm sorry for being a fan girl right now, but I really love Baekhyun❣️
Can like anyone guess who's my bias in BTS lol?? Y'all be pretty surprised on who's my bias and bias wrecker.