peach blossom; 桃花 || jung wheein x kim taehyung

full bloom; 盛开

"Kill me," Chaeyoung begs, staring up at Seokjin with a pained and resigned expression.

"I won't let you!" Jimin is finally pulled away from his girlfriend by Namjoon and Yoongi, thrashing and kicking against their hold as he bawls. "Chaeyoung, we can find a cure!! Chaeyoung!!!"

"Take him back inside, he shouldn't have to see this." Seokjin looks back down at Chaeyoung, the agony evident in his eyes. "I- I'm so sorry, Chaeyoung-ah."

"Not... your fault, oppa." Chaeyoung's body convulses. The virus is starting to take hold, it won't be long before she turns and she knows it. If they wait any longer, if Seokjin doesn't do it now he won't be able to follow through. "You have to... please..."

"We love you so much, Chaeyoung-ah."

The sound of the gunshot echoes through the woods and fades into a forlorn silence, its melancholic aftermath settling a dark mood upon the others at the base. That night, Taehyung crawls into Wheein's bed, shaking with quiet sobs until Wheein is able to rock him back and forth into a dreamless sleep.

Both their pillowcases are stained wet with tears the next morning.

❀

The frozen dirt beneath Wheein's feet crunches with every step she takes. Her breath comes out in small clouds, the morning sun peeking through the cracks of all the tall tree branches. The chill of the blistering winter morning stings as the wind blows into Wheein's face and she rewraps her scarf so that it protects the lower half of her face from the biting cold.

Taehyung is already waiting for her at her destination, kicking around some scrap rubble littered across the forest floor to pass the time and clear the area around it. Wheein walks up and places the cluster of flowers she was able to pick on her way here onto the two makeshift tombstones.

Following Chaeyoung's death, it wasn't long before they found Jimin in a similar state, his lifeless body slumped over Chaeyoung's makeshift grave just outside of their headquarter's grounds. There had been a gun in his hand, a bullet through his head, and a note in his pocket.

Forgive me, I can't live another day without her.

He hadn't been the same after Chaeyoung had left them, almost like a shell of a human being that wouldn't leave his room for the first few days. Wheein had had to deliver him meals, forcing herself into the room just to ensure that he ate. She remembers the way his haunted and empty eyes bored into her face every time, almost as though pleading for her to end it all for him. Perhaps it was better this way, but that didn't make their losses hurt any less for the rest of their tight knit community.

It had taken months before Taehyung was able to fall asleep by himself again, spending countless nights curled up against Wheein and the comfort she brought. She didn't mind it despite the occasional nights she would be torn awake by Taehyung's sobs from his nightmares. Chaeyoung had been like Taehyung's sister, the one to bring him around base and the one to give him a new family with them. Wheein only wishes she had gotten the chance to thank Chaeyoung for everything she did for him, for all of them.

It hadn't been until Wheein read Jimin's final words that the truth really hit her. It was too late to push Taehyung away, because no matter how hard she tries, no matter how hard she resists, she's powerless against the world and its unpredictability. She's already fallen in love with him, and in a world falling apart at the seams, without the people she loves, what more was there to really live for at that point?

Wheein's hands are gloved, but Taehyung is quick to remove the one on Wheein's hand closer to him, slipping his own cold hand into Wheein's and putting them into his pocket. He slots his icy fingers between the warmth of her own, sending a cold chill up Wheein's arm at the feeling.