"It pierces me, I'm going crazy, I hate this. Take it all away, I hate you..."
~I Need U-BTS
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Taehyung woke up with a headache. And his body feeling extremely empty, and weak, and like pins were sticking him all over his skin. Dead? Am I dead? The last thing he remembered was blacking out after Jimin went to go answer the door. He felt rough sheets over him, and a very fluffy pillow under his head. Where am I?
He felt a hand grabbing his, gently rubbing his knuckles with their thumb. Taehyung opened his eyes, his head immediately hurting from the bright light. He moaned closing his eyes tightly.
"Taehyung? How do you feel? Are you okay?"
Taehyung opened one eye, looking at the person who spoke--Jimin's mom. She was wearing a blazer and trousers--she'd probably come straight from work. Why did you come? Aren't I just a job too?
She waited for him to answer for a minute, then she reached toward his head and gently ruffled his hair. "I'm sorry. You should be okay now, they pumped your stomach and scrubbed your blood clean, they said there will be a little residual in your system, but it won't hurt you."
Is that why I feel so empty? So drained? They'd done all that? Taehyung opened the other eye, then nodded, glad that Kyung-mi hadn't murdered him with pills. Maybe I would have deserved it, after what I did to Appa.
He looked around the room, taking in the white and grey bland room that reminded him of the mental hospital. It even smelled like it. He was laying on a hospital bed, all the equipment looking ominous after being in that hellhole. Jimin' mom was sitting in a chair she'd pulled up to his bedside, and the room was silent besides the occasional beeps and the intercom playing over speakers outside the door for the doctors.
"How do you feel?" Jimin's mom asked again, putting her hand to his chin and gently making him look at her. Her deep eyes looked at him filled with worry, full of...something. Taehyung didn't know what, he'd never seen that look in anyone's eyes before. It wasn't quite pity, he couldn't place it.
"Ah...I..." His deep voice coming out a little cracked, his tongue felt like sandpaper and his throat felt strangely like something had scratched it on the inside. "I'm...hungry..."
She laughed. "Of course! I'll see if I can ask Jimin to pick something up for you, he went off to find food himself." Then she send Jimin a text before going back to Taehyung, combing though his hair with her fingers.
Taehyung just stared at her. What is she doing? Why is she...? Taehyung liked it to a certain point, but then, he thought of how much he was just a pet, and the action felt demeaning.
"Kyung-mi..." Taehyung said, meaning to ask where she was, but only getting that far.
The psychiatrist sighed. "She's in the car, she didn't want to come in. Taehyung, I'm so sorry." She shook her head, grumbling to herself.
Taehyung bit his lip. Not wanting to upset her. They could still just send him back, after all the trouble he'd caused already, Taehyung wouldn't blame them. But... "She...Hates me..." He said, avoiding the psychiatrist's gaze.
There was a silence. He knew he shouldn't have said it, Kyung-mi was her daughter, he had just insulted her, implied that he thought Kyung-mi was terrible.
"Oh, Taehyung, she doesn't hate you! She just...She's just..." She rubbed a tuft of Taehyung's hair between her thumb and forefinger. "She wanted to meet you so bad before, I don't know what happened..."
Taehyung's eyes widened. She did? Then why does she...? Taehyung couldn't understand it. How could she want to meet him before? She couldn't stand him now, she'd shoved half a dozen pills down his throat and let him lay there choking and begging without even batting an eye. Kyung-mi hated him, he was sure she did.
Taehyung was about to dare to ask why Kyung-mi wanted to meet him when Jimin came in, holding ice cream cones. He handed his mother a vanilla one, then handed Taehyung a strawberry one, keeping the chocolate for himself.
"You okay, Tae?" Jimin asked. "You scared the sh*t out of me when you weren't awake."
"Jimin! Language!" His mom said, frowning.
Tae? What's that? "I'm sorry, Jimin.." Taehyung said, looking down at the ice cream he'd handed him.
"Hey, you don't have to be sorry, I'm just saying, it was scary. I'm glad you're alright. Oh!" Jimin held up a finger, signaling for Taehyung to wait, then went across the room and came back holding something behind his back. "Close your eyes."
He didn't like being treated like a kid who didn't understand, but he closed his eyes anyway. A second later, something was placed in his lap. Taehyung opened his eyes when he felt something soft brush against his chin.
Taehyung smiled. It was that stuffed lion. He hugged it toward himself.
"Wait, gotta fix it's mane." Jimin said, then started fluffing out the lion's golden mane, slightly twisting the ends of tufts with his thumb and forefinger. "There." Jimin said, smiling.
"Thank you..." Taehyung said, hugging the lion with one arm while he licked the strawberry ice cream.
Jimin moved from the lion to Taehyung, ruffling his hair. "I didn't do anything, dude, not anything I wouldn't' have done anyway."
Really? Why? Why are you doing any of this? I don't trust you. Taehyung watched Jimin as he sat on the edge of the hospital bed by Taehyung's feet, licking his ice cream cone.
"Taehyung, we can go back home whenever you feel strong enough, okay?" Jimin's mom said, looking at Taehyung and catching his attention. Her eyes were filled with worry and that other thing again, and he still couldn't place it. "Just let me know, the doctor already said it was okay."
He chewed his lip, thinking it over. He was just hungry, really, he wanted food. Glancing out the window, it was already nighttime, it'd probably be around dinner time, wouldn't it? It made him think of what it must be like to have a mom who would cook every night. What it might have been like if his family hadn't left him at an orphanage. Maybe someone would have loved me then...
"Ah...Mrs. Psychia--."
She interrupted him, "Just call me Mrs. Park, or M--." She stopped, a frown crossing her features for a second, "Nevermind, Mrs. Park is fine."
"M-Mrs Park..." Taehyung licked his lips. "I-I want to go back to your house..."
She smiled. "Okay, Taehyung."
~~~
Even if they weren't forcing him to stay, he was glad to be out of the hospital. After they had gotten together anything they had brought, and signed him out, Taehyung felt a sense of relief as they walked away from the hospital. He didn't like doctors. He never had, but now it was that they made him feel trapped, and them 'helping' him was just another way of saying they wanted to hurt him.
He was glad to be out until he had to sit in the car with Kyung-mi. As soon as he got in the backseat, any smile he had before disappeared.
Kyung-mi was sitting in the backseat too, arms crossed over her chest, and staring at the back of the driver's seat in front of her with absolute fury. Taehyung sat a seat away from her, still holding the lion, he'd finished the ice cream before they'd left.
Jimin decided to sit in the backseat too, climbing over Taehyung to sit in the middle between him and Kyung-mi. Jimin rolled his eyes at Kyung-mi's behavior. "You'd think someone made you overdose and have to be rushed to the hospital or something, Jesus--Oh, wait, that's exactly what you did to Taehyung." Jimin said, making a fake surprised look on his face.
"Shut up. Just shut up." Kyung-mi said.
Their mom hadn't gotten in the car yet, so they were currently free to say what they wanted without getting yelled at, but Taehyung didn't like that they acted like he wasn't there too.
"For all those books you read, you'd think you'd read a f*cking label." Jimin said, giving Kyung-mi a push.
"Stop it! I forgot, okay?!" Kyung-mi said, covering her face.
"Did you also forget that mom said not to give him those until he absolutely needed them? What did he even do? He was in his own room when you got me, what the hell could he have possibly been doing?"
"I...He was...He..." Kyung-mi's voice was breaking. "Shut up, Jimin!"
Taehyung looked over at Kyung-mi, she hid her face in her hands, her body shaking and quiet little sniffles and sobs came out muffled as she moved from hiding her face with her hands to pulling the collar of her white hoodie up over her mouth and nose.
Jimin seemed to be satisfied with that and sighed, leaning back in the seat. Taehyung kept looking at her. She's sorry, isn't she? He watched her cry silently as her mother got in the car and started it. Taehyung bit his lip, thinking it over. She's just as bad as the doctors. He hadn't done anything wrong, he'd maybe just embarrassed her by listening to her play, what was crazy about that? She didn't have to get those pills, she didn't have to, but she did, they were her first thought.
Taehyung looked for another second, then looked away. She hates me anyway, what does it matter if she's crying? She could have killed me.
But what did Mrs. Park mean when she said Kyung-mi had been excited? How could she have been excited? Why? She sure didn't seem excited now. What had changed?
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A/N: Kyung-mi's got secrets Y'all, though, I wouldn't forgive her anyway, tbh :P