The beeping of machines, followed by the scent of the phenyl, was the first thing Taehyung caught after regaining consciousness. "Where am I?" He thought and tried to call for someone, but no voice came out of his mouth. His neck pains even with the slightest movement, and he slowly tries to move it, hissing at the prickles of pain he feels.
Slowly, he tried to move his arms and opened his eyes, accompanied by a throbbing head, when he heard rustling sounds from somewhere in the room. The male's first thought was of Yoongi, who might be coming to wake him up, but his room wasn't white like a hospital room, and he wondered if the male had again pointed his torch at his face.
It wouldn't be the first time the male would've taken such an unhinged method to wake him up.
Taehyung felt the heat of another arm on his cold hand. He knew the person holding his hand was trying to say something, but his head couldn't make any words other than the beeping of a machine. Taehyung wanted to tell Yoongi to shut that damned thing up so he could hear him clearly, but his voice wasn't coming, and his eyes couldn't focus on anything.
A slight pinch of a needle pressing against his skin made him shudder, and he kept blinking under the white lights as slowly his head and eyes got used to his surroundings, and he was finally able to see the white ceiling and two masked faces staring down at him, wearing white coats.
Taehyung notices a girl standing next to his bed dressed in white and cardboard in her hand, writing something on it, and another man standing on the other side. He was dictating things to her while his eyes were focused on the monitor and his hand moving in circles on Taehyung's chest.
However, he still couldn't comprehend the doctor's words because he was confused about how he ended up in a hospital room.
Taehyung remembers returning from college on Saturday evening and going to the library to watch his crush study there while doing his work.
He remembered playing with Jimin and Yoongi, eating till they couldn't move. They fall asleep on the bed with Jimin clinging to his side and his hyung muttering a small good night as he passes through Taehyung's door at night, not realizing he was still awake to listen to him.
It was all fine till last night, and now he's here in the hospital out of the blue. It doesn't make any sense.
"How do you feel now, Mr. Kim?" The doctor's voice made Taehyung come out of his inner turmoil.
"Fine. " Taehyung's voice came out so deep and hoarse that even he couldn't recognize it for a second. Seriously, what's wrong with him?
Before he could ask the doctor how he ended up in a hospital, the door opened, and two very familiar faces entered the room with teary eyes and dark eye bags, showing that none had slept in days.
"Oh, Tae, we were so scared for you. " Jimin cried, rushing to hug his best friend. Taehyung was surprised and slightly confused to see the new hair color of his best friend.
It looked pretty good on him, but Taehyung wondered if he was sleeping for this long that Jimin dyed his hair from orange to blond. "I'm fine, Jimin, don't worry. " Taehyung smiled.
'Did someone try to kill him in his sleep or something?' Taehyung wandered because that was the only thing that could explain why he was here, but then he wondered how long he were asleep there and what happened to his roommate Yoongi.
Did Yoongi also would've gotten hurt while saving him from any possible threat, or did it go unnoticed because of being in another room? Taehyung really hopes for the latter because he won't be able to see his hyung on the hospital bed or worse.
But Jimin was sleeping next to him last night, and he looks fine without any scratches, which means someone decided to kill him only.
It was good because he wouldn't have liked the thought of his hyungs getting hurt because of him.
In his thoughts, he completely discarded that Jimin was still bawling his eyes out on his white gown with mumbling incoherent words that Taehyung's tired and unfocused brain found hard to understand, and Jin was talking about something to the doctor.
Jin finally stepped closer and grabbed Jimin's hand to take him off Taehyung. "Jimin, please leave him. They still have to interrogate something. " Jin whispered and gently pulled the blonde from Taehyung. But Jimin held his hand tightly, teeth sinking into his plush lips.
In any other circumstance, Taehyung would probably have pinched his cheeks and called him cute because his cheeks and nose flushes red while crying, but he doesn't have the strength to do it right now, and neither the situation was ideal.
"Will you mind if I ask you something, Mr. Kim?" The doctor asked, and Taehyung nodded without hesitation, eyes not leaving Jimin's face.
Was it just him, or does Jimin really look a bit different? He looks thinner, and his jaw sharper than the last time he remembered. Did he lose his weight worrying over him? Taehyung wouldn't even be surprised to hear that, but he would nurse his best friend back to his weight once he left this place.
"What are the last things that you remember?" The doctor asked, which made Taehyung frown slightly. Now he knew that he had slept for a while, or this doctor wouldn't have asked this. He might not be a medical student, but staying with Jin had given him enough knowledge.
"Um, I returned from studying and went back to the dorm. " Taehyung replied, to which he saw the man looking at him with an eyebrow raised.
"So, why were you driving at midnight? Were you drinking at night?" The doctor asked, making Taehyung look at him with a confused face.
"I don't know how to drive yet, and I don't drink either. " Taehyung said when he felt Jimin's hand squeezing his palm tightly. It felt painful.
"What's your age?" The doctor asked.
"22 years. " Taehyung replied and heard his two friends gasping, eyes blown wide.
"Tae, what are you-" Jin immediately pressed his palm on Jimin's mouth because of the look he got from the doctor.
"Can you tell you're last memory in detail?"
Taehyung thought for a while as he started remembering everything that had happened. "I returned from the college and went to the library, where I sat for a few hours to complete my homework before returning to the dorm room. " Taehyung replied, getting more confused at how his two friends looked at him as if he was talking about something irrational.
"I'm sorry to say that, but according to your records, you're a 25-year-old man with a driving license. " The doctor said, making Taehyung look at his friends for answers, but instead, they just avoided his gaze.
"Is this some sick joke? How can I be 25 years old? Am I really waking up after 4 years of coma?" Taehyung asked, looking for answers from anyone present, but none of them said anything, just stared at him with pity. He hated being looked at like that.
"You slept just for a week, Mr. Kim. You have been in an accident. A fatal one, and you bleed much, but thankfully, the people brought you here before something could happen. However, you have lost a few years of your memories and been diagnosed with retrograde amnesia. " The doctor replied. "For now, I'll suggest some rest, and then you can take him back home till tomorrow. I have to give these reports to the police as well. " The doctor said and excused himself from the room.
Taehyung saw Jimin already sniffing in Jin's arms. "How did this happen? Please tell me, hyung. I want to know. " He asked desperately.
"You live in your own apartment, so I don't know what you were doing, but the footage on CCTV shows that you left your apartment in a rush. I got a call around 10:30 that you got into an accident and were rushed to emergency. The doctors asked me to come there quickly. " Jin's voice croaked, and with shaking hands, Jimin held his cold ones.
"You were so out of your mood these days that when we heard about you getting into an accident, we almost thought you were suicidal. " Jimin said, making Taehyung a little surprised about it.
"You don't have to worry about anything. We'll take care of you, and you should focus on healing yourself for now. " Jin whispered, pecking Taehyung's cheeks.
"But why was I off mood? Did something bad happen to me?" Taehyung asked, surprised at their words.
"We don't know. You refused to tell us anything and started to cut off from every group activity. We were scared about you too. " Jimin sniffled, caressing the back of his palm.
Taehyung, however, couldn't bring himself to enjoy those touches. It was strange to know that he was suddenly waking up after a week of coma and realizing that he had come to the future, where he was a depressed, suicidal adult.
It was all too much.
"Does Yoongi hyung knows?" Taehyung asked, and both Jin and Jimin nodded their heads.
"We all took turns to stay with you, but you haven't woken up for a week, and we almost thought you never would. " Jin mumbled.
"I'm sorry, I guess. " Taehyung muttered, making the older man look at him with a small smile.
"Don't worry, it's going to be alright. Once you are discharged from this hospital, we'll take good care of you and help you remember everything. If you didn't, still, it's alright, but always remember that we are here for you, yeah?" Jin smiled, pulling the male into a side hug, while Jimin also hugged him from the top, not entirely crushing him but still strong enough.
"Thank you so much, hyungs. I don't know what I would do without you guys. " Taehyung said, his voice still very hoarse from using it after so long, which he guessed was a week.
"Is there something I need to know? A little heads up of what I am doing?" Taehyung asked, looking at his hyung. He doesn't know why, but suddenly, the male feels anxious about the reply.
"You've graduated with an Arts degree and work in a cafe part-time. Other times, you draw and sell your paintings, which are in demand. " Jimin says, making Taehyung's face fall in disappointment.
He doesn't know what he was expecting. There was nothing much special in his life. Taehyung concluded.
He wanted to ask about his crush. The one person on whom he was crushing since his first year of college, but maybe he would've gone in his separate way and was now living a happy life.
Maybe he should give up on him. It's not like Taehyung tried to be bold about his feelings for anyone.
"I see. It's nice. I did want to be an artist. " Taehyung smiled, not wanting to sound rude to his hyungs, but they wouldn't be his hyungs if they fell for his acts.
"If you want to know about you're non-existent dating life, then let me tell you that since you came out of college, we tried setting you up with so many people, but you never accepted anyone. We don't know why. " Jimin said, making Jin chuckle.
"We brought every kind of person for you. Good-looking pet lovers, artists, models, males, females, younger than you, or slightly older, but none of them caught your eye. I had always wondered the reason for it. " Taehyung only smiled with a nod.
Maybe his future self isn't over his crush yet, and he's dying single at this point, but seeing his hyungs still here makes him happy and content. "It's nice to be alone, I guess. No boyfriends, no expectations, just me. " Taehyung whispered.
"You used to say the same after every failed date. " Jimin smiles, still not leaving the male, until a nurse enters the room and shoves them away.