Together With You | pjm

23. Adverse Effects

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"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Pursing his lips, Hoseok nodded his head firmly. He surprised his friends when he removed his mask willingly, revealing the lower half of his face which he had been hiding for the past few years.

Gingerly, he lifted his fingers to touch the burnt scars on the left side of his face; the scar extending all the way to the right side of his lips. He was ashamed of how he looked, but to convince them, he knew he had to do this.

Hoseok smiled gratefully when Jimin placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him moral support.

"When I was still working in the military as a doctor-in-training, a colleague of ours crept up on me when I was unaware of his presence." Hoseok began his story, a pained look etching on his face as he recalled the horrible memory. "He splashed a boiling soup right onto my face."

They remained silent as they registered the shock. Hoseok took it as a cue to continue his story.

"The soup was so piping hot and this is the aftermath after the incident no matter how much I tried to heal it with the utmost care." Hoseok pointed at his face.

"The dude was jealous of how well-loved Hoseok hyung was." Jimin added with a snarl.

"He got what he intended though." Hoseok bit his lip, his eyes glistening with a film of tears. "My face is damaged forever, while the only punishment he got was getting expelled from the army.

After that, my insecurities began overwhelming me, and that was when I decided to leave and hid myself in the house ever since. Jimin would occasionally stop by to make sure that I don't go insane all by myself."

"You're a beautiful human being, Hobi. In and out." Nari reminded him again.

Hoseok smiled. "You never fail to tell me that from the time we've met till now. Thank you, really."

"I understand your point of view, but how is this related to you volunteering to get vaccinated?" Namjoon questioned.

"That's because I don't have anything to lose." Hoseok shrugged.

"Then count me in too." Yoongi spoke up. "I'm just like you. I don't have anything to lose as well."

"But—"

"From what I know, the vaccine you guys have created is enough for two right?" Hoseok interjected.

"Yes but... what if it goes wrong?" Taehyung piped in worriedly. "We still don't know whether there would be any adverse effects. The vaccine contains the mutated viral strain of the zombies, hyung. It's extremely risky to do this."