Jaebeom goes back to his mother's room feeling exhausted and trying not to think of Jinyoung at the rooftop, definitely not imagining him standing at the edge again, the tip of his shoes against nothing but the thin air as he opens his eyes again, this time his body eerily tilting forward, and then suddenly—

No, Jaebeom doesn't think about a boy he doesn't really know killing himself. What he wants to hear the least is more death or anything gloomy like that. He needs positive energy and people, not weird ones fascinated with death.

Seriously though? What kind of persons is fascinated with death? Death is an unknown and scary thing, something that takes your loved ones and leaves you to wither without them. Death is a horrid thing, not something to admire or even seek.

Evidently, Jaebeom will never understand people like Park Jinyoung, if there are others like him.

Pushing everything related with Jinyoung to the farthest corner of his mind, Jaebeom slides the door to his mother's room and steps inside, wearing a smile that doesn't really make a difference except for himself.

"Eomma, I'm back," he calls cheerfully. "You won't believe me what happened to me. Again!" He starts, walking up to the chair by her bed where he always sit to make her company. "I went to the rooftop and there was this guy there and I swear he looked like he was going to jump but actually he wasn't and he got angry at me for trying to save him because, apparently, he was just appreciating the view. And it's the second time I meet him in a disturbingly similar situation. Are there people who truly love heights?"

Jaebeom isn't the chatty type, neither is he the quiet type, those are his friends Jackson and Mark, respectively. Jaebeom is the type that speaks sufficiently, he isn't the funny or amicable type, but he's eloquent and likes having deep conversations, he feels really uncomfortable with small talk and prefers not talking at all with strangers if there isn't anyone to work as buffer in those situations. Talking so much to this mother, about everything and nothing is one of the most exhausting things to do for him because he just doesn't have much to tell, that's why reading works so well for him.

"He's a really weird lad and very reckless. People like him get in or cause accidents," Jaebeom continues, shaking his head. "I hope I don't run into him ever again. Just talking to him gave me headache."

"Did I hear right? Are you making new friends while totally ignoring us?" Someone else asks, loud and outraged as the door slides open dramatically.

Jaebeom jumps on his seat, hand flying to his chest in shock while at the door someone he knows too well stands, glaring at him.

"Jackson, God, you startled me," he accuses, relaxing and taking a deep breath.

"Don't avoid the question, hyung. You said you don't have time to come and see us but you are hanging out with other headache-inducing people? I thought that honour was reserved for me."

From behind Jackson, Jaebeom's best friend for the last ten years, comes another man, laughing happily and brightly at Jackson's offended reaction.

"Don't make him feel like you're replacing him, Jaebeom-ah," Mark, their sunbae in university warns him as he pokes his head over Jackson's shoulder. "Hi there."

"Hi, hyung," Jaebeom smiles waving joyful to see them visiting.

"You're still not answering!" Jackson insists, causing Mark to laugh some more before just pushing him to walk inside the room. He's carrying flowers for Jaebeom's mother that the son receives to put in somewhere.

"I just ran into someone crazy, I didn't make friends," Jaebeom finally replies. "And don't worry, you'll always be my worst headache."

"But also your medicine!" Jackson adds over-sweetly, his expression changing completely to one of exaggerated affection and charms he doesn't really have.

"Just my headache," his tone is deadpan and his eyes serious, so Jackson literally pouts like a kicked puppy.

Jackson is a bright and overly excited boy he met in middle school and that clung to Jaebeom after transferring from Hong Kong due to their parents' new position. His father works for the same company Jaebeom's father does, so they've lived relatively close since they were barely teenagers.

While Jaebeom was the grumpy teen with an attitude problem always looking for a fight, Jackson overcame his cultural shock and showed his extremely social personality, making friends with everyone, but always claiming Jaebeom was his one and only best friend. Somehow, he also managed to do his magic to become dear to Jaebeom until he reciprocated the feeling and that was how he got stuck with Jackson forever.

Mark came into the picture much later, when they met in university. While Jaebeom went for photography, Jackson decided he would follow his father and study business. They took one class together that was supposed to be an A plus for certain, without effort or anything whatsoever about media communication, and there they met Mark. A year older than them and Jackson's complete opposite. But just as most people, he fell under Jackson's charms faster than anyone, laughing so bright and happy that he seemed to glow. Even if they were in different majors, they kept hanging out for the rest of their years. Now Mark is graduated from communications and is an intern for MBC while Jackson and Jaebeom struggle to graduate this year.

They are Jaebeom's dearest friends and they are a very welcome sight any moment, especially today.

"How's your mother doing?" Mark asks, his voice concerned and sympathetic.

"Like always, hanging in there." Jaebeom shrugs, his shoulders rounding in defeat. "The doctors aren't hopeful that she'll wake up."

"Bullshit," Jackson exclaims and immediately covers his mouth, bowing to Jaebeom's mother. "I'm sorry, Eomeoni." He turns to look at Jaebeom, careful of his speech now. "She'll wake up and I'm sure she won't even have that many complications. She'll wake up like her usual self and everything will go back to normal. You'll see," Jackson promises as if it was something that was actually in his hands.

Jaebeom smiles gratefully because even when he knows it won't be exactly like that because there's no way things will be the way they were before, he truly appreciates Jackson's optimism and positive energy. That's exactly what he needs when everything is so foggy for his family.

"Yeah," Mark supports, moving Jaebeom even more. "I'm sure she'll wake up, so don't lose hope, okay?"

Jaebeom nods his head, thankful for his friends surprising him with their visit and giving him what he needed.

"Yeah, she'll wake up. Hopefully, it'll be soon," wishes Jaebeom, looking at his mother resting so peacefully by his side. She looks beautiful, despite the tubes and cables she has connected to her body, but those are the things keeping her alive so it's okay.

Jackson smiles encouragingly until it seems he remembers something and his expression changes completely, growing curious.

"So what's this about the weird guy you met? Who is he? How did you meet? Why weird? How weird?"

Jaebeom blinks at the many questions, not even remembering half of what Jackson asked.

"Uh... just a guy I thought was trying to kill himself when actually he wasn't, he was just appreciating the view."

"Ooohhh, did you try to save him like in films?" Jackson probes, getting more interested when Jaebeom doesn't think the story deserves such reaction.

"Uhhh, I guess? I just pulled him back to safety but he yelled at me. And it's not the first time, a month ago I also ran into him when he was sitting on the bridge rail."

Jaebeom turns to watch Mark's reaction because Jackson looks like someone watching a very exciting episode of a drama. The older look fairly surprised and slightly confused, like a normal person. That's why Jaebeom declares time and time again that Mark is the only normal one of his friends.

"What a coincidence! Saving a person who didn't want to be saved twice!" Jackson dramatises. "I mean, what are the odds?"

"I don't know, but I hope the odds don't make me deal with anyone like him again. I don't need people with mild suicidal tendencies when I'm praying every day my eomma will wake up."

"True. That's kinda insensitive from his part," Jackson muses and Jaebeom doesn't know whether to laugh or snort.

"It's not like he knows my situation or anything, Jackson," he opts for laughing, just like Mark does.

"Anyhow, I hope you don't run into him again because then you'd try to save him again and it would be another argument and if you save him a third time it would be too dramatic and we would have to consider you might be fated or something worthy of a drama, you know."

"I wouldn't try to save him again. I got it already, he doesn't want to be stopped," Jaebeom declares, not believing he's speaking about it like it could actually happen.

"I don't think so," Mark comments, continuing Jackson's argument. "If you saw him again in a situation similar, even if you recognised it was him and knew he didn't want to be saved, you would still step forward. It's not in you to turn your back on situations like that one."

Jaebeom doesn't answer, not wanting to think of getting involved in another situation like that again, but accepting Mark's right. Just like today he hurried to save Jinyoung without even considering the option he wasn't trying to jump, he'd do it again, maybe not even recognising if it were Jinyoung. That's why for everyone's sake it's better if they don't meet again, moreover he doesn't want to deal with Jackson teasing him about a fated encounter and whatever stupidity he can come up with.

Seriously, Jackson should be studying to be a drama writer instead of a business major.

"I'm not gonna run into him again so it doesn't matter and I'm gonna keep my distance from heights to avoid potential or not potential suicidal people," Jaebeom declares, tired of the topic of conversation and wanting to talk about something else. "Anyhow, just tell me how did you decide to come visit us?"

"Because we missed you!" Jackson immediately bites the bait and starts talking slash nagging about missing Jaebeom because now he's barely in uni, he's here in the hospital all the time and even if that's super kind of him and it shows what amazing son he is, it's not good for him because he needs to breathe and relax a bit.

That leads them to talk about how if it's not Jaebeom then it's no one by his mother side so he doesn't have another option, which is so sad, in Jackson's words. Jaebeom shrugs, already having accepted the situation and just wanting for his mother to wake up more than for someone else to share the burden with. That would be ideal.

But that's not something Jaebeom is gonna have anytime soon.

∞

Thank you for reading! Slowly, the rest of GOT7 will start showing up in the story, some more than others, though. Let me know what you think on the comments!

Bel, xx