[Double update bc why not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

Opening my heavy lids, I adjusted my vision to the hospital ceiling above before blinking repeatedly.

Breathing slowly, I looked around the empty room and then my body. All the cuts and wounds were bandaged beneath the hospital gown.

I was suddenly reminded by the accident.

With a sigh followed by a grunt, I sat up on the bed, still light headed. My limbs felt heavy when I lifted my hand to rub my forehead.

The door opened and the nurse walked in with a notepad.

"You're awake? How do you feel?"

I cleared my throat before muttering, "A little hazy, but okay. How long have I been out?"

She nodded while checking the monitor. "Three hours. Your cut wounds were not that deep, but your body was bruised quite badly. You can get discharged tomorrow, though. Is there anyone we can contact? Your boyfriend didn't know your guardians' phone numbers."

"Boyfriend? Jimin?"

She nodded. "He went to the toilet, but it's been hours already, I'm starting to become worried for him," she whispered.

I cocked an eyebrow. He doesn't have to defecate or anything...

"I see... You don't have to worry about him. He's fine." I forced a smile, fluttering my eyelashes.

"And your guardians?"

"Um... You don't have to call them. They're currently abroad anyway and won't be coming back until next month. I'll pay for the hospital bills."

"Oh, but you don't have to," she chimed. "Your boyfriend already did."

My eyebrows jumped.

He did?

"O-Oh, I see."

She left the room after nodding, and I laid back down, feeling tired.

"Lyn!"

I squeaked, jolting up when Jimin appeared right next to me out of thin air and kneeled down to grab my hand.

"What the actual- Jimin! Don't do that! You almost gave me a heart attack," I yelled at him, shoving his hand away.

He blinked. "I'm sorry... I just..."

"Gosh," I huffed out, rubbing my chest to calm down my beating heart. "There's this thing called a door. Why would you teleport here from the toilet anyway? It's only a few meters far from here."

"I went to ferry some souls as quick as I could," he said in a low voice. "It took longer than I expected."

My stomach dropped.

What if he went to get those people's souls...?

His eyes met mine when he lifted his face up. I gasped when I realized he did.

"Nobody s-survived?" My voice was trembling.

He pursed his lips and looked away from me.

No...

"I'm sorry, Lyn. I couldn't do anything..."

"No... You could have done something. You could have called an ambulance. You could have prevented the accident. You could have at least told me... You have that power, don't you?"

"I don't have the rights to interfere with humans' deaths," he raised his voice, but his expression stayed soft. "Even if I do know how they'll die, I can't prevent their deaths. It's not right!"

I opened my mouth but closed it after a while when I had nothing.

I was in the wrong.

I shouldn't be forcing him to do something so unnatural...

...But I still felt beyond disgruntled that we let all those people's lives slip away between our fingers, unable to hold onto them.

Life was priceless.

But theirs were extinguished so easily.

Life was, in truth, fragile.

It was something I never wanted to come to terms with. The fact that it could be ended so fast, so unexpectedly... makes cold sweat run down my spine.

"You should rest now... Don't think about anything unnecessary and just focus on healing. I'll visit you tomorrow," he said before walking to the door.

"You don't have to do that," I said harshly. "I can get out on my own."

He momentarily stopped on his tracks before whispering, "Okay then..." and proceeded to walk out.

My mind was torn between 'Why did you do that?' and 'You did right'.

But one thing I knew was that I shouldn't be mad at him for something so illogical.

🌹🌹🌹

After resting for the weekends, I fully recovered and was healthy enough to go to school.

For a whole week, Jimin didn't come to see me and neither did I go to him...

There was an invisible barrier between us that held me back from approaching him every time we locked eyes in the hallways. We would stay there, eyes on each other, until he looks away first and hurriedly shuffles away from me.

I just let him be.

No matter how much I wanted run from his behind and grab his shoulder, I had to respect his decision to leave him be.

But why was he still being in this school?

The bell rang and it was lunchtime, but I didn't feel hungry at all.

I felt stressed.

"Rena, I'm gonna go and get some fresh air. I'll be back before the break ends."

She nodded and stayed in class, still doing her lessons.

Hoping to find some solace, I walked to the abandoned practice room. There wouldn't be anyone there to bother me. Plus, the place was comforting.

I soon regretted my decision when I heard music flowing out of the room behind the half-closed door.

Trying to get a look, I peeked inside through the crack and saw Jimin dancing vigorously, exerting all his energy into his dance moves. Buckets of sweat was beading his face and body, and I was somehow relieved when he was wearing a hoodie and sweatpants. His uniform would have been ruined.

He suddenly stopped before dropping on the floor on his back, panting heavily, his hand covering his face as he closed his eyes.

When he flicked his other hand, the music stopped. The only thing that was now filling the room was his pants and sharp breaths.

With no thoughts, I walked up to him and sat down beside him before bringing my hand up to touch his face.

He slapped it away without looking at me and spat, "Don't touch me."

I gulped. "Are you okay?"

Dropping his hand, he looked at me with wide eyes. "Lyn?"

"What are you doing here?"

He pursed his lips, looking away from me. "I wanted to destress."

I felt guilty. "Is it because of what I said to you? Because of what happened?"

He stayed silent.

"I'm sorry for taking it out on you. It was wrong for me to blame you for their death. It's not your fault at all," I whispered, my voice becoming strained and wobbly. I couldn't take it anymore. "Don't act like we're strangers... Please come back to my world."

He finally turned his head to gaze at me. His hand gently caressed my face as he said, "You should have just let me go like this... Hate me, ignore me, and finally be free of my existence."

I shook my head, holding his warm hand. "I don't want that. I don't want you to poof far away from me."

He chuckled and sat up. "You're so bipolar."

"By the way, are you clubbing again? You told me you used to do that when you're stressed, right?"

He shook his head, smiling. "Not anymore."

"Why?"

"You don't like it when I do that."

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A/N: UWU He stopped his bad habits, drinking, clubbing and hanging out with girls ಥ_ಥ

Thank you for reading this chapter and please don't forget to vote if you liked it 🌹