—First life. St. Vincent's Hospital, year 2027—

It happened so fast.

One minute, I was lost in Jimin's tender kiss. His warmth was the only thing I could feel and I was close to falling asleep in the comfort of his embrace. Then suddenly, he was yanked away from me. It was so rough and abrupt that I was pulled along with him. Even the air inside my chest was pulled away until everything around me started spinning.

It took me a few seconds to realise what was happening, before I finally recognised the voice yelling out with pure anger and noticed him.

"Who the fuck are you? What are you doing to my wife?"

I was frozen stiff, still in shock and in fear of what I was seeing. Jungkook's face held so much rage which I had never once seen before as he came face to face with Jimin, glaring with hatred and pain in his eyes. He had his hand clutched at the front of Jimin's shirt, pulling my best friend and lover's body up to his chest as he kept yelling to his face.

Once I recovered from my shock, I looked down on his other hand and found it clenching at his side, as if he was trying so hard to hold back from pounding at Jimin's face.

"Jungkook, don't!" I screamed at him. My heartbeat was racing, and I tried to push myself off of the bed to stop him from hurting Jimin. But there was nothing I could do when my body failed me. All I could do was move an inch before my body fell sideways, too weak to rush to his side and tear them apart. "Jungkook, please—you'll hurt him!"

Jungkook seemed surprised when he heard my voice. Either his rage had him nearly forgetting that I was there, or that he had never expected to have me defending someone else but him, he just fell silent. The rage in his eyes instantly turned into an icy glare to whatever he was seeing on my face when he looked at me.

Yet what caught us both by surprise was Jimin, when his eyes showed no fear even as he met Jungkook's gaze, nor was he trembling as Jungkook held him in arm's reach, with his fist ready to blow a punch to his face.

"So you're the ex-husband?" Jimin asked him, chuckling softly while his eyes held a weird, gloomy mood as he gave a look of perusal at Jungkook. "Didn't think you would be back so soon. Or so late."

There was a glint of shock and insecurities in Jungkook's eyes for a moment to what Jimin had said to him, and I could easily tell what his word implied. As if Jimin was having a blast at taunting my ex-husband, he only continued by saying, "Visiting hours are over. You shouldn't be here, you know. Don't want the security to catch you and kick you out of the hospital now, do we? Because unlike me, you are not allowed to be here and you are definitely not wanted."

Jungkook's hands tightened even further as the fire in his eyes rose to the surface and I instantly screamed, "Jungkook, please!"

But it was too late. Especially when the only thing Jungkook could hear was Jimin's voice when he taunted my ex-husband once again with, "Why don't you go run along and go back to where you came from so I can tuck her to sleep? That's what I've been doing anyway, tucking her to bed while you're out there fucking up your marriage."

Nothing could stop what happened right after, when Jungkook finally threw a punch right at Jimin's face before shoving him against the wall where Jungkook kept a chokehold around Jimin's neck with his strong arm.

The only thing I could do was watch the scene unraveling through my tears and screamed for him to stop while crying for help. Thankfully, that was when help came, right before Jungkook could do any further damage. Hoseok came bursting through the door along with a couple of nurses following right behind, all with clear shock on their faces.

"What is going on?"

"Oh my God—call the security!"

"Sir, you need to stop!"

"Jungkook, what the fuck? Let him go!"

I heard my brother's voice coming at last and I felt relieved for having him here. He saw the distress on my face and rushed to Jungkook while the nurses kept yelling at Jungkook and another rushed out to call the security.

As if he just snapped out of it, Jungkook finally released Jimin and his eyebrows furrowed deep when his eyes found me, shaking with fear on the edge of my bed while tears came running down my face. But I never bothered to look at him. I kept my eyes on Jimin as he toppled over, wrapping his palm around his neck and had one of his arms around his abdomen while he was coughing out blood.

"Jimin, no—" I cried for him, reaching out to grab him and hating myself for not being able to reach him or touch him. I felt completely powerless when I could not move and even more so when I could see that Jimin was in pain and I could do nothing about it when I was the reason why he was hurting.

"______," Jungkook called my name before I felt his hands on me, trying to help me up while he was begging for me to look at him and look away from Jimin who was now on the floor. I could not see where Jimin was hurting or how much in pain he was by being too far, and I grew even more restless on every second of not knowing if he was okay.

"No!" I pushed Jungkook away as he grabbed my upper arms and pulled me to him. I finally turned to him. But the only thing I did was to scream at his face, "What have you done? You hurt him!"

Jungkook fell back a step and let me go when Hoseok pulled him away. With Jungkook out of the way, one of the nurses came rushing to Jimin, helping him up while the other went to help me to sit straight up on the bed. As I was settling down on my pillows, Jimin refused the nurse's help and rushed to my side. I was a complete sobbing mess at this point, and it became worse when I finally saw the damage — his bruising cheek that may turn blue or black in the morning, the small cut at the corner of his lips, the drying blood on the back of his hand which he had gotten when he wiped his lips and the bloodstain which he had coughed up on his shirt.

"No, no, no—Jimin," I cried and cried as I clutched my hands on his shirt. I felt powerless and angry at myself for letting him get hurt.

"Hey—" Jimin whispered to me as he cupped my face with his trembling hands. His eyes were misty and I could sense how badly he was trying to mask his pain when he forced a smile, hiding them away from me when he gently whispered, "Sshh, baby—I'm okay, love. Look at me, I'm fine." He caught my chin, forcing me to look up before he leaned to me, completely disregarding the other people around us as he kissed my tears away.

I sensed people moving and heard some shuffling as I closed my eyes, enjoying the way Jimin was calming me down before I reached and wrapped my arms around him, holding him close to me. The nurses started to leave, stopping briefly at Hoseok's side to whisper something to him. I didn't bother to look. All I could hear was his calm voice reassuring them, "I got this," before the nurses walked out the door.

Another movement was made, and I could tell that it was possibly Jungkook trying to reach for me without even looking. But Hoseok must have stopped him when I heard him speak, "You need to leave. They're calling security."

"I just—" Jungkook's voice came out deflated, as if his rage and all of his spirit were gone. "I just wanted to see her."

"I know," Hoseok told him. "But you're only giving her stress and she needs to rest. Come back tomorrow. Just—leave before she decides she doesn't want to see you."

Nobody made another move for a brief moment, until I heard him call my name.

"_______?" Jungkook called me, sounding unsure about it before stopping himself when I tightened my arms around Jimin, shaking my head against his chest as I refused to look at my ex-husband or my brother. I could feel Jimin moving in my arms, turning us around a little to hide me away from Jungkook's eyes.

I could vaguely guess that he might have looked over to Jungkook, challenging him somehow, because the next thing I heard was Jungkook's voice, turning ice-cold and determined when he spoke, "Alright, I'll come back tomorrow."

Hard footsteps were heard leaving the room which I recognised as Jungkook's, but I still kept my eyes closed, still kept my face buried in Jimin's chest where I could hear his heartbeat slowly settling down to a steady pace. For some reason, I could feel my world and my hope crumbling to pieces, and Jimin was the last thread that was holding everything together, even if I could already feel it coming close to snapping apart.

After years of having him breaking his promises, Jungkook did return the next day as promised, right when the morning visitation hours had just started.

Hoseok had stayed for the night and he had just finished cleaning up what was remained of my breakfast. It was still early for Jimin to be here. And though I resented the fact that he would need the extra hours of resting in his room this morning that I would not be able to see him until the end of today, especially after what had happened last night, I was relieved that he was not present when Jungkook arrived. Even Jungkook had taken a brief moment to look around when he came into the room, as if he was searching for him, and was visibly relieved to see that Hoseok was the only person there.

"Can we talk?" Jungkook asked me, looking nervous when he spoke. The bags under his eyes were dark and deep, and it made me wonder if he also had trouble resting last night after the chaos he had created. I dreaded the thought of smelling any scent of liquor if he had gotten too close, since I knew he would always reserve to drinking whenever he got restless.

"Then talk," was all I said to him, keeping my back resting against the pillows and my hands crossed on my lap.

Jungkook looked over between me and Hoseok who was now sitting next to the bed. "I was hoping that we can talk alone," Jungkook added, yet he kept his eyes on Hoseok, as if he intended to say those words to my brother so he could leave.

"I don't think—" Hoseok started to refuse, but I stopped him from finishing his sentence.

"That's alright," I told my brother, to which he turned to me with a concerned look on his face.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "I should listen to what he has to say. Besides, you have to return those to the nurses, don't you?" I pointed at the tray and the half-empty plates he had set down on the bedside table and smiled to him. "And you haven't had your breakfast and coffee yet. You should take a break for a few minutes. It'll be fine."

I could tell that my brother was not completely sure about leaving me alone with Jungkook, but I reached out to grab his hand and squeezed.

"Fine," he finally said, sighing in defeat before his eyes glared at my ex-husband. "Don't stress her out," he said to Jungkook, then turned to me. "Call if you need anything. I'm leaving your cellphone beside the bed."

Neither of us spoke a word after Hoseok left me and Jungkook alone in the room.

Jungkook had taken the empty chair Hoseok left behind and sat down on it. He had come in bearing gifts — a bouquet of flowers which was now resting on the bedside table, a small polar bear plushie which was now resting on my lap, and a small basket of fruits.

"This is—really nice of you," I finally spoke once the silence and the tension around us became unbearable. My fingers were nervously pulling the soft fur on the polar bear's tummy just so I could stop myself from feeling so tense around him. "Thank you. For the gifts, I mean."

Jungkook nodded but kept his eyes on the bear. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry—" he started to speak, clearing his throat a little when his voice came out shaky, "—about last night. I, uh—perhaps I overreacted. I only came to see you, but then I saw you with—"

He stopped and clenched his jaw. I could not say a word and chose to wait until he continued to speak. I did promise to listen, after all. But then he only exhaled a deep breath and pointed at the bear in my hands. "I heard it can be lonely at night here. I know Hoseok stays the night with you but I figured the bear would be nice for you to keep, just in case you need something to hold on to."

I chose not to correct him and tell him that either Yoongi or Jimin would take my brother's place once in a while to keep me from feeling lonely, but I kept my mouth shut and gave him a smile instead. His words had also snapped something inside me that brought me back to the past, to remind me how often he would do this to me when we were still together, how he would come to me with small gifts just to surprise me and make me smile whenever he would notice me having a bad day.

That time in the past now seemed so long ago. For he had ruined those small, beautiful moments with all the painful ones. I looked down, shaking my head just to clear my mind out of it.

"Thank you. He's really cute," I told him while waving the polar bear's hand at him. That had brought Jungkook's lips to curl up into a smile and I could feel the tension between us slowly breaking down.

"I'm glad you like him," he said, sighing in relief and smiling to me before asking, "How are you doing?"

Shrugging, I looked down on my lap as I answered, "I'm fine, but that's only because you caught me on one of my good days. I got my bad days just as much as my good ones, so consider yourself lucky."

Jungkook furrowed his brows. "What—what are your bad days like?"

Licking my dry lips, I began to answer cautiously, "Waking up with nauseous, drowsiness, or oftentimes, fever. Sometimes my skin will feel sensitive to any kind of touches while my tongue can barely taste anything and my throat will be in too much pain for me to swallow any food or water. Pain happening everywhere that I won't even know where they begin and where they end. I'd sleep more than I am awake, then I'd wake up with my pillow filled with hair—" I stopped then and reached the top of my head, suddenly feeling self-conscious about myself and the fact that my hair had been thinning drastically after my last treatment.

Jungkook had placed his hands on the edge of my bed and he clenched them tightly. In fact, every single inch of his body was tense. His jaw ticked as his eyes followed the movement of my hand as I ran it up and down my thin hair. "Was that the reason why you cut your hair short?"

My hand stopped and I clutched the polar bear plushie on my lap with my hands. "I already started chemotherapy when I came by the house last time." I closed my eyes as the memory from that day came back to me — the last time I lied on our bed with him, side by side, before he finally let me walk out the door. The reason why he came back and started acting this way was completely lost to me, when he had vowed to let me go and allow me to move on.

When I opened my eyes again, Jungkook still had his eyes closed shut. "What was it yesterday?"

I looked up to him and tried to read his expression just as he opened my eyes to me. But he showed me nothing as he waited for my answer.

"A little bit of both, I guess?" I finally answered him. "I just had a few test runs and 12-hours chemo the day before which gave me terrible exhaustion and pain. I was grateful I escaped the fever coming to me the next morning, but the pain was so surreal that I had to rest for the entire day. You came just as I had returned from a little tour Jimin gave me to get my mind out of the pain," I explained to him, leaving out the fact that his first visit to my room was the first thing which had led me into that long, painful day.

A sudden change of mood trickled in the air and his expression hardened. His eyes turned ice cold all of a sudden, which threw me completely off guard. But before I could even question it, I quickly realised that I had mentioned his name.

"Jimin, hmm?" Jungkook questioned me with his hands clutched tighter. I could feel his rage coming while my anxiety rose up high. "Is he your new boyfriend? Was he the reason why you asked for a divorce? So you can be free to make out with him while you're here in the hospital?"

How dare he, I cursed silently. I could not believe that he would think so low of me, or to accuse Jimin of anything so low. He knew exactly the reason why I wanted a divorce. I should have known that he would always turn the table and put the blame on me.

"You know the reason why I asked for the divorce, Jungkook. You knew and you agreed," I said to him. I was seething with anger but I held myself back the best I could. I would not let him ruin my good day. Not again. "You can't come here, asking for a chance to see me only to talk to me this way. What I do or don't do while I'm in this hospital really is none of your business, Jungkook. Not anymore!"

"It is my business. It still is!" He suddenly burst into anger and pushed himself off the chair. He leaned over me to intimidate me with his dark gaze. He opened his mouth to speak but quickly snapped out of it. As if he just remembered Hoseok's warning earlier, his eyes snapped wide open and he pulled back.

Yet the anger in his eyes remained.

With his hands clenched on his side, Jungkook stood by the window and spoke to me with a low voice, "I made my mistakes and I admit every single one of them. I will spend the rest of my life making things right for you, to tell you—no, to show you that I am sorry, that I truly, deeply regretted everything I have done to hurt you and all the things I did to ruin us. But my biggest mistake was to let you walk away, to let you leave. I am not going to make that mistake again, ______. I am not going to just sit down and do nothing as you fall into another man's arms."

As Jungkook kept talking, the intensity in his voice grew just as fast as his anger was rising. His whole body was shaking as he held back from reaching out to me, while his chest kept heaving, as he kept breathing quick and shallow to hold back that rage and jealousy he had even if I could see everything through his eyes.

He kept his eyes on me, locking me in place with his penetrating gaze when he continued without giving me a chance to speak, "I will spend the rest of my life begging for your forgiveness, for breaking your heart and for violating our marriage. But I really think you should know by now that if you carry on whatever it is you have with him, then you'll be no different than me."

I had been completely speechless and in shock to his rants, but his final statement was the one that surprised me the most. My heartbeat kept pacing rapidly inside my chest as my anxiety refused to settle, as if everything in me was letting me know that I would not be happy to hear whatever he was trying to say to me.

"What—" I tried to speak, but stopped myself when my voice got caught in my throat. My whole body was shaking, wariness came building inside my chest, but I clenched my fists around the plushie doll he gave me and forced myself to speak, "What on earth are you talking about?"

Jungkook straightened his back and looked straight into my eyes with full determination on his face. And then my suspicion was confirmed the moment he spoke, the moment he ripped apart every hope I ever had of having my last chance of happiness by saying,

"I never signed the papers. Do you know what that means? It means you are still my wife. You are still legally mine."