jungkook: 18 yo
jimin: 22 yo
___
jungkook smiles fondly, sitting with hoseok next to him while jimin is standing near the slide, holding aera's hand as she slides down slowly with a giggle plastering her lips and happy cackles emerging out. jimin then stands in front of the slide, catching her once she's halfway down, lifting her in his arms which never fails to make her laugh.
when she's left on her feet again, her tiny feet run to the ladder with the brothers' worried eyes lingering along, scared that she might fall down or what if she gets tired? jimin follows her closely, holding her hand which eventually slows her down, but the excitement to get up at the height and slide back down to jimin never lessens in her shimmering eyes.
as jimin supports her to climb up, aera whines a little, trying wriggle out of his hands and do the job on her own, "oppa, no! riri will go alone," she says, pushing his hands away from her waist, making the brother sigh.
"okay, next time." he hums dismissively, pulling her from the ladders and makes her sit straight at the top, "come," he gestures her to slide and walks over to the side, holding her hand.
aera whines more and yanks her hand back, wanting to do slide down by herself despite the brother's continuous protests. jungkook and hoseok join soon enough on seeing jimin struggling alone and aera on the verge of crying, not minding the other child who's waiting for her turn to come down the slide.
"ri, come here," jungkook says, holding out his arms for her, "we'll go again okay? this time you can climb alone,"
"nooo!" the four-year-old whines, kicking her legs, making the boys gulp with sympathetic eyes staring at her.
"okay, okay, don't cry," jimin says, exchanging a glance with hoseok and jungkook who sigh softly, "come on your own,"
"oppa, go away!" she shakes her hand, gesturing them to step aside and let her slide alone like the other kids in the park.
"hyung, no," jungkook whispers, nudging jimin with his elbow and gestures him to hold her.
"let her do it," the elder sighs, watching aera ready to slide down with a victorious smile while the boys are staring at her cautious and prepared to hold her if anything goes wrong. even the slightest.
"yeah, we don't want her crying," hoseok agrees with jimin, making jungkook sigh, ultimately nodding his head too.
they take a subtle step forward, almost going to lift her up as she comes down, cheering at her little accomplishment and waves at the brothers, making them smile in relief on seeing she's fine. though it doesn't last long as aera lets out a cough, stumbling on her feet when she lands with a turbulence, having the guys springing into action and instantly carry her up.
jimin pats her back gently while hoseok opens the lid of her water bottle, holding it in front of her mouth to let her sip some water. jungkook stands still, staring at the sister with worried eyes, praying for her to be fine when he suddenly hears a faint chuckle from behind. he lets his eyes roam back after making sure aera is fine and finds two ladies standing there, probably some kids' mothers.
"you should loosen up a little," one says, "children need a little rough environment to grow healthier."
"yes, i think you're overdoing in taking care of her."
jungkook frowns at the unwanted advice, following their gazes which are fixated on aera as she's talking to jimin who looks a little less worried than when she coughed. the ladies chuckle in disbelief, shaking their heads which again grabs a part of jungkook's attention, forcing him to react. however one of the ladies is fast to interrupt him, saying, "your over-affectionate attitude makes the rest of the kids want that kind of treatment too, y'know? my five-year-old kept whining for me to join her while playing today. she usually comes alone other times,"
"yeah, i know," the other nods, "you shouldn't do that. bringing those electric cars here isn't great either. other kids often bother their parents to get them that."
jungkook shakes his head, letting out an airy chuckle of disbelief at the ladies, "thank you for letting me know that. we didn't want her to come here either, y'know? see all the kids playing around and having fun, while she can't. she's too young to understand anything. but i guess you guys need more help."
"excuse me?" the first lady frowns, looking certainly offended, "what do you mean? i'm just saying the truth. if you have to show how much you love your child, then do it at home. i don't wanna teach my children to be that dependent on me."
"of course," jungkook nods briefly, sparing a brief glance at aera which brings him a subtle, sad smile, "even i wouldn't want your– or in fact, any child to go through what my sister is going through every day. she's a heart condition, asd. heard of it? no? you can google it later, but it requires a bunch of surgeries. aera had one a few days. she's not allowed to play, run, jump, or literally do anything that might tire her or put excess pressure on her heart. that's the reason we always have our breath stuck in our throat. what if our little carelessness results into something extremely serious and painful for her?"
the mothers got their mouths shut tight at jungkook's words and jungkook smiles again, averting his gaze from them and points at his sister, "she doesn't understand all of this, and really wanted to come out, make some friends, play like others her age. trust me we didn't want to bring her here– and i'm sorry if it looks like we're showing things off. we don't intend to, ma'am, it's just we can't afford taking any risks with her. i hope you understand."
"jungkook-ah! come, we're leaving!" jungkook looks back at his brother, nodding at them before giving a brief smile to the ladies as he takes his leave.
"what were you doing?" hoseok asks, glancing back at the women and then at jungkook.
"nothing," he replies with a smile, holding out his arms for aera as she looks a little sleepy now which reminds him she couldn't take a nap today because of the doctor's appointment in the afternoon. and after that they came to the park right away.
aera leans towards him, rubbing her eyes, "hey, look who's sleepy. i thought you wanna play with me," jungkook says removing her hand from her face and smiles, "won't you play with me?"
"we played in the park," she mumbles.
"that's all? you don't wanna play more? uhhh how about... tickle monster?"
"tickle mo'ster wan' play?" aera looks at him, straightening her back to face him directly.
"yeah, tickle monster said he wants to play with riri when we go home,"
aera laughs, shaking her head, the sleepiness slowly fading away, "riri won't go in the room, then no tickle mo'ster will come," she shrugs, telling her master plan, making the brother chuckle as he sits on the backseat of the car.
"tickle monster can come anywhere,"
"no," she shakes her head, "koo is tickle mo'ster."
"no, who told you that? tickle monster is different and koo is different."
"diffe'ent?"
"yes, koo is not tickle monster."
aera gasps, standing on her knees as she's on his lap and jungkook hols her waist to prevent her from falling, "koo is no' tickle mo'ster?"
"no,"
"then who?" the four-year-old asks with a surprised expression, "tickle mo'ster look like koo,"
"really? is he handsome?"
"yeah," aera nods, making the boys laugh.
"then i guess riri likes tickle monster of he looks like me."
"no, he look like you, but he's bad."
"is he?" jungkook grins, getting a nod from the sister, "why?"
"he said he will eat me, and then he catch me and tickle me! then! then! i said no' eating riri, because my oppa will eat you!"
jungkook laughs at that, remembering the scene from yesterday when this actually happened as he was trying to play with her and caught her in the bed with him, tickling her sides or pretending to her cheeks. she had started to whine and threaten him saying that if her oppa gets mad for eating her, he would eat the tickle monster.
"but riri, four-year-old babies are tasty," he claims and aera shakes her head, smacking her hand on his face which ceases his laughter and makes him hiss in pain. "don't hit me or i'm gonna call the tickle monster for real,"
"but you not tickle mo'ster," aera laughs at him, turning around and wriggles out of his hands, climbing over the gear shifter to jimin on the driver's seat.
"go back, aera, oppa's driving and kids can't stay here."
"no," she giggles, sitting on jimin's lap and places her hands on the steering wheel, "i' dwiving with oppa,"
"you can drive when you grow up, princess. sit with kookie for now,"
"noooo! riri wan' dwive!"
"hey, no. what did i tell you earlier?"
"what..." awra tilts her head to look up at the brother's face, not quite recalling the elder's words.
"kids who don't listen to their elders are...?"
"bad..." aera mumbles, withdrawing her hands from the steering and slips down from his thigh, "i'm sowwy,"
"hm, now what will riri do?"
"go back," she grumbles, climbing on the gear shifter and goes back to jungkook, sitting quietly next to him, staring at jimin driving the car. hoseok laughs at her innocence, cooing at how cute she looked like that while jimin just chuckled, shaking his head at the child.
just the thought of how easily aera listened to the boys sometimes only wanting to be a good girl, was fascinating for them. but rather depended on her mood, she might not be interested in being a good girl at times and just want to get her way done, which usually imposed problems for the elders, especially with her medications and the little wish to go to the park. even a slightest fit could cost a life in her case and her brothers knew it, having their concerned eyes and protective arms always around her to make sure they're present with aera 24/7 without missing a single second that had the ability to have them regretting their carelessness for the rest of their lives.
atrial septal defect; when the it was first diagnosed, aera was just two, could barely get out full-clear sentences and that made it hard for them to know what was wrong with her or where she was hurting. the doctors had first said it was pneumonia, then followed a bunch of tests to find the cause and ended up hearing a heart-murmur, scaring the life out of the brothers.
they said it was a congenital condition and needed an immediate treatment if the hole on the septum was too big. for jimin's dismay when he wanted to talk it out with the doctor, the man had given a gentle squeeze to his shoulder, sent a sympathetic smile at him and at his sister, with words that he still remembers: we need to get done with a few surgeries as she grows up to cover that hole up completely or she might not survive more than a few years.
the treatment started within the very next three months and aera underwent her first surgery. things weren't the same anymore, she would be hospitalized half of the time– for the resusitation care, recovery, monitoring, or just to get her lungs drained for those had already tried to give up three times— be on medications with major long term side effects, having no friends at the age when socializing is essential and not going to school either.
out of all the boys jungkook had the least attachment with his sister's disorder. the rest had taken time and eventually at the end got used to it– used to being careful with aera and take proper care of her, feeding her on time, making sure she's taking the meds, fulfill her wishes because she wasn't supposed to be stressed or throwing a fit in this condition. but with jungkook everything was a bit different, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get used to this daily struggle.
every time of the day aera would cry and try to skip the medicine part of the routine, he found his eyes having a layer of tears too. chewing on his lower lip, holding himself on the verge of breaking just with the thought of losing his sister made him cry several times a day. he wanted to be strong and handle everything like his hyung, however it occured to him that it's actually so hard that every times he puts on smile for aera, his heart aches and he ends up hugging her so she won't see him cry and also console himself that he has his baby sister right in his arms.
since a week before aera's latest surgery, he didn't go to school, claiming that he would stay by her all the time, every second of the day and keep the child in front of his eyes. thankfully his vacation started soon and he didn't got into much loss. it's been almost three weeks now, and he still sticks to his words– from morning routines, bath times, breakfast, playing, drawing, watching movies, lunch, dinner, everything about aera included jungkook. no matter what. no matter where.
he didn't ask much, and the hyungs knew it. jimin would often cry when he would catch a glimpse of the younger brother sitting by aera while she slept or sneaking glances from across the room wherever she's playing. jin would comfort him, saying jungkook's just as worried as him, he just doesn't know how to show it.
of course
even now as the car pulls in front of the house, jungkook helps her down, holding her hand while she's talking about something excitedly jumping once in a while with her head tilted up to look at the brother. jimin and hoseok follow the two inside as jungkook lifts aera up making her sit on his shoulder, laughing and swinging her legs slowly so that she's not hitting his chest too hard.
"that side!" aera says, pointing at the back and jungkook hums, turning her to make her face the other way, holding her hands. she cackles loudly, waving at jimin and hoseok who smile in response. "oppa riri will eat now,"
"you're hungry, hm?" jimin says, holding his arms for her which makes aera laugh and squirm in her place, hugging jungkook's head tightly so jimin wouldn't take her.
"ah stop! you're scratching my ear!" jungkook hisses, pulling the kid down and shakes his head. "hyung," he murmers, handing her over to jimin who chuckles, carrying her with one arm and pats the side of jungkook's head.
"ah look, you made him bleed," jimin sighs, glancing at the little girl and holds her hand, "show me your nails,"
aera balls her hands into fists, shoving them in the pocket of her shirt, grinning at jimin mischievously, "show me," jimin says again, pulling her hand out and opens her hands slowly, scrunching his face on seeing her nails have grown a lot as he forgot to cut them last week.
"no, oppa. i wan' big nails like big girls," aera says, hiding her hands in her pockets again.
"for that you have to be a big girl." jimin says, "but riri is a little girl,"
"no, i'm b– jinnie!" aera chirps, wriggling to get out of jimin's arms and go to the eldest who instantly breaks into a smile, putting the magazine aside and stands up from the couch.
"hey, riri's back," he chuckles fondly, seeing the girl running towards him once jimin lets her down.
"riri's back!" she grins, "i miss you, jinnie,"
"aw did you? but you just left for a few hours," he says, sitting with her on his lap.
"yes, but- but i miss you!"
"i missed you too," he kisses her cheek, "did you behave like a good girl?"
"mm-hmm, and the doctor uncle give riri candy! then we going to the park and play with e'ryone!"
"ah really? that's great, did you make some friends?"
"fwends? hm, no," she frowns, "no fwends, i' playing with chiminie oppa,"
"that's good too, oppa's riri's best friend right?"
"yes, oppa love you," she says out of nowhere, smiling at jimin, making him smile back with much fondness in his eyes for his sister.
"oppa loves you more, my baby,"
"riri love you more!"
"is that so?" aera nods to confirm and jimin hums, pretending to think, "then come let's see if riri can finish drinking her milk and then take the medicine easily."
"no..." aera shifts back, clinging onto jin who sighs, standing up with her and follows jimin to the kitchen, making the child whine loudly. "noooo! koo!"
"ah yes?" jungkook jogs after the elders, scrunching his nose as he sits bringing one chair in front of jin and nods at the little girl who is on the verge of crying. "hey, what's wrong?" he leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees and holds her hands.
"no, medicine..."
"okay, no medicine for riri," jungkook says glancing at jimin who's staring at her with a soft gaze as he holds a cup of milk in his hand. jin sighs softly and makes aera sit on the dining table as he takes the cup and brings it closer to her mouth.
the girl scrunches her face, turning her head away and pushes his hand back as she shifts between jungkook's arms and climbs down from the table to his lap, hugging him tightly with her face buried in the crook of his neck. jungkook sits properly, holding her in his embrace and pats her back gently, "hey aera, i have an idea. how about we finish the milk together?"
"together?" she looks up at his face with visible confusion as jungkook nods quickly, smiling at her, "how?"
"kookie will drink milk too," jimin says, pouring another cup of milk and hands it to the brother with a soft smile.
"but whyyyy?" aera squirms in her place, staring at the elders with a frown. "koo don't d'ink milk, he is stwong!"
"he'll drink more milk and become more strong." jin says, "so riri has to drink milk too and become strong like her brother right?"
"oh no," she pouts, making the elders chuckle at her dismay as she touches forehead and sighs deeply showing her discontentment with life, "okay, no– i will d'ink milk when i become big like koo okay?"
"okay, but you've to drink it now too." jimin says, taking the cup from jin and sits next to him, turning aera to face him, "now be a good girl and finish this. i want the glass empty till i count till ten okay?"
"noooo!"
"one," jimin starts, bringing the cup closer as jungkook does the same taking a sip and gestures aera to start drinking as well. but the girl just looks more panicked as jimin counts to two and three, making her whine and kick her legs. "four... five,"
"be quick princess, ten is not that far now." jungkook whispers to her and aera's eyes pools with tears on seeing jimin is not stopping.
"six..."
"nooo! no' six!"
"seven,"
"ahhhh! oppa..." she breaks into a sob and jimin nibbles on her lip, staring at her with a pained expression as she finally holds the cup above his hands and takes a small sip.
"eight," he says softly, wiping the drop that slid down from her chin and smiles as she's hurriedly trying to drink the milk at once before he reaches ten, "nine... and... ten," he says and aera pulls away, carrying on with her crying once she's done with the milk.
"ah it's done, look? riri's such a good girl, she finished the milk so fast." jimin says, keeping the cup away and carries her in his arms, patting her back gently, "look, kookie couldn't finish it yet. my baby won and kookie lost," he makes her sit on his lap and wipes her tears, smiling at her face.
"oppa... icky..." the child cries, coughing a little.
"it'll be fine, stop crying first," he assures, rubbing her back and sighs as she stands on her knees, leaning on him with her head resting on his shoulder. even as the minutes pass, aera never stops crying and her coughing just gets more intense. jimin pats her back, standing up from the chair, deciding to take a little walk to the backyard to divert her mind.
"look there's riri's birdie on the tree." he cooes, pulling away slowly but she doesn't budge as her voice sounds tired now and he assumes she's about to fall asleep.
"hyung!" jungkook approaches them, pulling aera straight with horror filling his eyes and voice when instead of getting a cranky whine in response from the girl, they get nothing. she stays still in jimin's arms, "aera, get up baby," he pats her cheek, shaking her lightly, but gets no response from her.
"hey, princess, get up," jimin calls this time, holding her properly and checks the pulse, which feels weak enough to make him panic more as his eyes widen with realisation and snaps towards jin, "get the car! we need to go to the hospital right now!"
jin nods, leaving the siblings there and calls out for the others before rushing out. jimin holds aera close to his chest, jogging out of the house with the rest of the boys following after and gets in the first car with jungkook. the younger brother stares at aera with scared eyes, never letting of her tiny hand as though he feared never getting to hold it again.
for the half an hour till they reached the hospital and got aera in as an emergency, he couldn't control his thoughts that were running wild, making him hate himself for even thinking of those worst possibilities for his own sister just four-years-old. he sits near jimin, tears not dropping from his eyes, but collecting there until he couldn't see clearly. he didn't even want to see clearly until and unless it was his sister calling his name and running into his arms.
"hyung..." his voice cracks but the elder stays quiet, not uttering a single word, just wraps his arm around the boy and rubs his arm gently. "ri will be fine r-right? she's so young... i- i don't want anything to happen to our babysister..."
"i know," jimin hushes out, patting the boy's head as he snuggles closer, hugging the elder brother tightly and sobbing on his shoulder.
jimin rubs his eyes, hoping to get rid of the tears in his eyes too but he realises it's of no use. no matter how much he tried not to cry the situation kept hitting him harder than the last second, as if the universe was enjoying seeing him and his little brother breaking as they pray for their sister to be fine. his eyes glance at the elder boys who nod assuringly, holding themselves on the edge too, just like jimin. taehyung sits next to jungkook, patting his back as he tries to pull him away from jimin so that the latter won't end up crying seeing him like that.
although jungkook pushes his hands away, staying near jimin, "jungkook-ah, she'll be fine. our aera's such a strong child. she'll be fine, you trust her right." taehyung says.
"no," jungkook looks up with bloodshot eyes, "i don't trust her at all... i don't even know when she'll leave me! every day- every second i'm always scared that i might not be able to see her ever again! why did this have to be her?! out of the people in the world, why my sister..."
"jun–"
"no, no, no, don't- don't say anything. i don't wanna hear anything, i just want my sister back please..." he mutters, sobbing in his hands as he leans forward. his breath hitching and choking on his tears, "y'know i- i don't go anywhere, i don't leave her alone even for a second... because- because... because i'm- i'm scared what if i leave her and then she's not there anymore?" jungkook cries out, shaking his head as breathes deeply, "i wish i could i could change e-everything and take all her pain away..."
"hey shh," jimin hugs him tightly, stroking the boys hair while wiping his own tears, "it's okay, take a deep breath,"
"i don–"
"listen to me, bunny, please. stay still," he hushes out, rubbing jungkook's back and gradually feels him calming down as his breathing falls quieter and the sobs lessen, "very good..." jimin bites his lips, staring at the ceiling, afraid to even blink for he might end up dropping a tear and the younger would break away from his calm again. "aera will be okay,"
jungkook hums softly, nodding his head as he pulls away and stares at his feet, "thanks hyungie... you're so strong," he mumbles. jimin forces a smile, standing up slowly and ruffles his hair.
"i- i'll come in a minute hm?" he hears own voice, unsure if anyone else can hear it too. but when jungkook nods he sighs softly, walking a little away from the boys and turns into another hallway which leads to the restroom.
as soon as his hand closes the door behind him his groan doesn't stay hidden any longer and surfaces up with a stream of tears flowing from his eyes uncontrollably. he stares at the mirror with a blurred gaze, clutching on the counter edge tightly for support, hoping for some miracle to happen and his princess would hug him tightly, smiling at him the way she smiles when he agrees to let her have an ice cream at night.
"my child..." he mumble between uneven breathings and muffled sobs, leaning on the counter with his eyes closed.
the clicking of the door makes him flinch as he looks up quickly seeing yoongi in the mirror which only makes him sob louder as he pulls himself straight, shaking his head subtly, hand gesturing outside the restroom. no words come out of his mouth even though he tries to speak, and yoongi hushes him down, giving him a tight, warm hug, providing a shoulder to cry on.
"hyung... what if- what if something happens to aera?" jimin mumbles on his shoulder, clutching on the elder's arm tightly, "what am i gonna do? and... w-what about kook? you saw him right... he'll break hyung, how will i–"
"nothing bad will happen," yoongi assures, wiping his own tears and then jimin's, "don't let that thought in your head. your sister loves you too much to leave you, and you know that too right?"
"today is different hyung... no matter how much she loves me or jungkook, this time it scares me hyung..."
yoongi says nothing, nodding his head subtly for he agrees and understands the brother's concern. jimin pulls himself straight, wiping his tears when yoongi's phone buzzes with a message from jin, telling him to come back with jimin for the doctors are done and want to see jimin. jimin washes his face quickly, rubbing his eyes and heads out of the restroom with yoongi, catching up with a light jog on seeing the doctor standing with the boys.
jungkook hugs the elder brother tightly, tears flowing from his eyes again, but this time he looks more relaxed as he lowers his head on jimin's shoulder, "you were right... riri's okay, hyung. i'm so happy, our sister is fine. y'know they said she's so strong and brave and- and she loves us a lot."
jimin glances at the rest of the boys and then at the doctor who smiles, nodding his head, allowing jimin to take a breath of relief. his lips stretch into a smile, patting jungkook's back, then pulls away and shakes hands with the doctor, "thank you so much, doctor... it's like you saved my life," he breathes out, dropping a tear and smiles, "thanks a lot,"
"it's my job, mr jeon. i'm glad we could help aera." the man smiles back, giving a gentle squeeze to jimin's shoulder, "her heart was having an irregular rhythm, probably due to the previous surgery. did she do some exercising or something?"
"uh no, we just took her to the park today that's all. she really wanted to go out and play..."
"ah i see, i understand she's still very young for all this. but sir, i would suggest keeping her inside would be better for a few days at least until the stitches from the surgery heals. we don't want any infection right? little movements are fine but don't let anything get excess. she'll be hospitalized for a while, we'll keep her under observation, but don't worry she's fine."
jimin nods, promising himself to be extra attentive from now, "can i see her?"
"sure, she should be up in a few hours." the doctor says before leaving the boys alone. jimin sighs in relief, smiling through the tears that lines his cheeks. he hugs the boys one by one as they all look much relieved and happy with the news of aera being fine.
jimin wipes his tears, taking a deep breath as he steps ahead to open the door and looks inside, finding the four-year-old sister laying on the bed, looking so peaceful as if she was having a good nap after a long time. the oxygen mask helps her breath and an iv drip is attached to the back of her hand, the pipe going up to the stand which has a transparent plastic bottle hanging upside down having a liquid dropping gradually. a monitor is placed by the bed mimicking the activity of her little heart that jimin always loved no matter how many problems it imposed for his princess. but yeah, it would've been better if it was just as normal and healthy like any other person's.
he sits on the stool, caressing the soft skin of her free hand and smiles softly, rubbing his eyes, "you scared me death today," his voice comes out as a whisper, holding her tiny hand in his and presses his lips on the palm, "do you know how worried oppa was? anyway, just- just rest well and get better soon, we'll go for a long drive hm? and you can get as much ice cream as you want, i won't say anything... just please don't put me in a position like this again... i can't see my little girl like this,"
the door opens, gaining jimin's attention after a while of sitting alone and staring at the child's sleeping face. jungkook comes in first followed by the rest who smile softly at jimin and then at aera.
"ri..." jungkook hushes out, smiling instantly as his eyes land on the sister. he leans over, kissing her forehead carefully and wipes his tears, "i'm so happy you're okay. they said you're so strong, i was like yeah... she's my sister, of course she's strong."
•••
around four in the morning, between the faint breathings of the brothers and little snoring from the younger one, the otherwise present silence is broken slowly with a laboured breath which goes unnoticed by the sleeping boys until it grows into a whimper, jolting jimin awake at once. he looks around, springing on his feet, quick to approach the bed on which aera was laying.
a smile tugs his lips upwards seeing her slowly opening her eyes as he sits on the stool, holding her free hand and kisses it gently, "don't cry, oppa's here," he whispers softly, leaning closer to her face do she can see him without the oxygen mask blocking her view.
the girl stares at him quietly, probably too weak to do anything more than blinking her eyes. jimin never lets go of her hand and pats on her tummy gently, humming to one of the songs that help her sleep, and soon aera's eyes start to close along with jimin's as he gently rests his head on the edge of the bed, keeping her hand close, just in case she wakes up.
when morning came and everyone was up, jimin and aera were still sleeping. jungkook shakes the brother's arm lightly as taehyung and jin brought some coffee for everyone and banana milk for jungkook from the hospital cafeteria. jimin groans faintly, stretching his body, his movements hastening as he looks at aera with worried eyes, still holding her hand from four in the morning.
"ri, wake up baby, it's morning."
"jimin..." namjoon pats his shoulder, smiling sadly, "she'll wake up soon, don't worry."
"yeah– oh no! you guys were sleeping, she woke up around four or something." he says, glancing at the rest who stare at him in confusion, "yeah, really. then i sat here and i don't know when we fell asleep."
"uh okay?" namjoon looks at jin who shrugs, handing the last plastic cup to jimin and pours the coffee into it from the flask. as jimin strokes aera's hand, she stirs in her place slowly before opening her eyes, looking at them with a sleepy gaze until she realises jimin is not seen and panics, letting out a little whine– barely audible.
"i'm here," jimin hums, holding her hand and stands up to show his smiling face, "all the oppa's are here with riri."
"mm..." she looks around, moving her hand slightly as she tries to reach out for jimin so he would carry her instead of letting her lay in this big single bed which doesn't even have her micky mouse blanket.
"aera..." jungkook steps forward nibbling on his lower lip as he leans down quickly, kissing her forehead several times and then her hand, "i missed you so much, baby."
aera blinks a few times staring at him and soon breaks into a smile, "koo... i miss you," she mumbles under the oxygen mask making the brother chuckle lightly.
"i was so scared y'know? i thought- i thought you'd die..."
"i die?" aera stares at her and then at jimin, "oppa no..." she pouts, "riri no' die..."
"you didn't die, my love," he smiles softly, stroking her hair, "riri's a strong girl, right?"
"yes, i was d'inking milk,"
"yeah, see? and milk makes us strong,"
the door opens and the doctor comes in followed by a nurse and smiles at jimin and the rest, going to check aera. he nods with a smile, telling jimin she's fine but needs to rest a lot. when he leaves and the nurse inclines the bed to let the child sit for a while, jungkook instantly joins next to her, offering her some of his banana milk.
"i have a bad heart," aera huffs with a pout, "i don't wike this heart. oppa's heart- nice,"
"you can take mine," jungkook says gasping at the idea and turns to jimin, "can we do that?"
jimin sighs, shaking his head and pats the boy's hair, "finish that," he says, standing with jin while jungkook sighs, going back to talking to aera about something else now.
"about what jungkook said, do you–"
"no, tae," jimin sighs, "i've seen aera like this, now not jungkook. even if we can donate her a healthy heart, i would do that before jungkook even thinks of it. he's still young– younger than me and has a lot of dreams to fulfill in his life. there's no way i'm letting him leave all that. i'll be the one to go through anything first if it means aera and jungkook can live happily."
taehyung hugs jimin tightly and jin pats his back, staring at aera giggling as she points at the screen of jungkook's phone in which they're watching tom and jerry.
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a/n- everything is so hard these days. my school is about to get over and now i'm so worried about applying into good universities and figure out the best course for me. and the most stressing part is the drama at home 💀 i literally couldn't sleep because i kept thinking what to do after school, what if my parents don't agree with what i wanna do...
pls omg, anyway i hope u liked the chapter. if u did make sure to vote and comment and share and whatever u wanna do bye idk what i'm saying 💀
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