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25
Only Thing

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JISOO

February 7th

Although my skin feels like it's on fire, goosebumps perk up on the surface as I slowly open my eyes. I come to, taking a sluggish scan of my surroundings. White. The ceiling is that awful, serene, white again.

"She's up! Do we have to get her something? Look, her eyes! They're opening—"

"Don't panic. She's fine and it'll just take a minute for her to wake up completely."

"So we just sit here and stare at her?"

"You didn't seem to have a problem with doing that for the past twenty hours."

A huff is heard, along with footsteps and a door sliding closed. Somehow, the events of the past few days feel like a dream. Are they a dream? Did I really give up being RC, say goodbye to Jin, and is Taehyung still V? My mind is too cloudy for me to think straight.

Jungkook.

With that single thought, my heart rate quickens, and I make a hasty effort to sit up.

"Woah, slow down." I find Taehyung at my side, helping me up with a hand on my shoulder as his concerned pupils meet mine. "You were out for like, a whole day."

"What time is it?" My voice is buried in a rasp.

He checks his watch. "It's 12am right now."

"12am?!" I'm more surprised than I sound; it's almost like I lack energy to even open my eyes. "Where's Jungkook? How is he?"

Taehyung's expression changes."He's fine. The operation went well." He grabs my hand, looking at me deeply. "You can relax."

He's fine. It worked. My wish worked.

Maybe that's why I was out for a whole day; making wishes takes up a lot of energy. I breathe a humongous sigh of relief and spot Taehyung smiling at me again. Jungkook is going to be okay. The operation went well because I wished it to. I did it.

"Namjoon told me that he had to check up on Jungkook just now, but we can probably go visit him later."

And just like that, my lungs seem to stop working again.

"Namjoon? What did he say?"

Taehyung furrows his brows, likely confused by my sudden panic. "He said that he had to do something before we could visit him. I didn't really pay attention," he explains, scratching his head sheepishly.

If Namjoon is The Sender, he could be trying to do something! After all, he probably was the one who messed with Jungkook's pills in the first place.

I swing my legs down, immediately feeling blood rush to my feet. It throws me off, but I still muster the strength to rush for the door. Taehyung tries to steady me but I shake him off. I can't have anything happening to Jungkook.

Not after I sacrificed being RC.

"Jisoo, don't move so fast," Taehyung warns softly, "The doctors said that you were severely exhausted."

His words go in one ear and out the other. I could care less about myself right now. I slide the door open, running through the halls to Jungkook's room. He should be in it after the operation.

"Wait!" His voice echoes in the halls. "I don't know if we're supposed to visit him right now!"

Too late. I catch the sight of Jungkook in a window, halting at the door. I'm panting, but yank the door open with all of my might anyway.

The sight boils my blood.

Namjoon is crouched behind Jungkook's bed, hands intertwined between the long vessels of IV fluid.

There's no doubt in my mind; he was trying to do something. It makes sense. After I made my wish, he probably realized that I'd be defenseless and exhausted from using all of that energy. He knew that, so he didn't panic when Jungkook's operation went well. Instead, he'd just try to sabotage him again—to ruin me.

"Get off of him!" I bark, not even caring about the spinning of my head when I lunge towards him.

"Jisoo, hold on—" Taehyung's plea is cut off by Namjoon's grunt of pain as I knock him away from Jungkook's bed.

We roll away, and at some point that I don't recognize, I start crying; my sobs overshadow Namjoon's groans of displeasure. "You're The Sender, aren't you?"

Taehyung gasps.

Namjoon, in panic, blinks a few times, opening and closing his mouth as he tries to wrestle me off him. Unfortunately for him, my adrenaline allows me to have him completely pinned to the ground. Although I'm crying, the angry tears do nothing to ease the venom dripping from my words.

"T-The Sender?" is his choked reply after a few moments of strained silence.

I feel a hand guide me away from Namjoon, and upon recognizing it, I relax. Fuck. I just gave myself away to Taehyung. Although my impulsive actions rage a war in my mind, I can't bring myself to feel bad about it.

He crouches down, staring as his brother slowly gets up.

"The bracelet thing..." His eyes almost seem to shiver in disbelief. "And...wait, were you trying to do something to Jungkook?" Taehyung connects the dots, before gasping again and whipping around to me. "And you!"

I smile, a bittersweet smile but one I don't regret. He deserves to know.

"You're... RC?"

I nod.

"You used your wish on Jungkook?"

I nod again.

"And you..." he turns back to Namjoon, before dropping his weight all onto his knees. "You're The freaking Sender."

Rage refills my guts as Namjoon stays eerily silent. He's probably trying to find a way out of this. "He is. He was trying to sabotage Jungkook; I'm sure of it."

"Look, I don't know who this letter-sending person is, but I promise it's not me," he laughs, scratching his head as he gets up.

I yank Namjoon back by the collar, trying to subdue him so that we can interrogate him; how did he get the leaves? Why did he get the leaves? What is he trying to accomplish? I almost let out an animalistic growl, facing Taehyung again.

"We can't let him get away!"

Taehyung snaps up, not even acknowledging that Namjoon and I are practically wrestling each other while standing up. "Wait, didn't you say that you were in love with m—"

His epiphany is interrupted by the door sliding open.

Dr. Jung scans the scene. We all freeze up. My hands are tangled in Namjoon's short brown locks. Namjoon is bending backwards like he's in a limbo contest while panting heavily. And Taehyung is behind us, simply kneeling on the ground.

"What."

Namjoon is the first to speak up, "Sorry, Doc. I was refilling Jungkook's IVs like you told me to, and then, uh...I'm not really sure how to explain the rest."

Dr. Jung nods slowly. "Okay..."

My mouth dries up as I search for an explanation. Taehyung somehow appears behind me. "Could we have a moment?" he asks, his deep voice calmer than I'd expect.

Meanwhile, my mind is going crazy. Why would a surgeon, Dr. Jung, ask another doctor, Namjoon, to do something as trivial as refilling IV fluid? That's something that nurses do.

"Of course," he says, "Dr. Kim, you can come with me." He motions to Namjoon, the latter scurrying away when I loosen my hold on his hair.

"Wait!" My next words are not of conscious thought. "Are you guys working together?"

But after I say it, everything makes more sense. They'd be great working together. Namjoon would be the decoy, while Dr. Jung, who had more direct access to Jungkook's medical record and medications, could do the dirty work while in surgery.

"Yes, we are," Dr. Jung answers softly, "After all, we were pretty close in medical school. Don't tell anyone else, but Dr. Kim is actually my favorite colleague—"

"No," Taehyung interrupts. "Are you guys both The Sender?"

It's my first time looking at Taehyung properly since I lunged at Namjoon earlier. His face is hardened, and there's a glint of hurt in his usually lively eyes. He's probably comprehended it now. His brother is The Sender.

They both shake their heads.

"I'm sorry, you two, but what the heck are you talking about?" Namjoon asks, exasperated.

"Don't play dumb!" Taehyung barks before I can. "You asked about my bracelet earlier because you found out that I was V, right?"

"No...?" Namjoon furrows his brows. "I asked that because I thought you and Jisoo had matching bracelets. I thought it was cute."

I let out a sarcastic chuckle, about to retort though Dr. Jung beats me to it.

"I think they both need rest; it's been a long day," he whispers to Namjoon, though Taehyung and I hear all of it.

"Just admit it already! You guys are The Sender!" I screech, my patience at its end.

Pin drop silence is my answer.

A raspy cough, barely audible, cuts through the thick tension. We all turn to the soft noise.

"It's me." Jungkook's chocolate pupils peek from his drooping eyelids. "I'm The Sender."

TAEHYUNG

There's too much going on in my mind despite the absolute lack of movement or noise from everyone in the room.

Dr. Jung snaps out of the hazy trance that somehow blanketed the room first. "You're already awake?" He speed walks to Jungkook, checking his monitor and a few other things that I can't recognize. "Kim, call the nurse to check if the anesthesia we gave him was appropriate; he shouldn't be waking up this early."

"Roger."

The two doctors walk out of the room, but not before glancing back one more time. "If you guys need anything, we're just a call away, but for now, we'll give you some... what appears to be much needed space," Dr. Jung says.

Then, their monotonous, professional footsteps pitter-patter away.

"Y-you said what now?" Jisoo's shaky voice inquires, with equally shaky steps toward him. "This isn't something to joke around about, Jungkook."

"Yeah man," I add, "Do you know what we're even talking about?"

His tired eyes droop again, but still peer up at us. "I'm The Sender. The leaves. I did it."

I swallow hard, letting his words sink into the depths of my gut. He's responsible for the guy who almost killed RC—I mean, Jisoo—Joy getting tainted, and for that abusive mother.

He did it all.

"Why?"

I turn around, finding Jisoo's face scrunched up into one of pure defeat. Her whimper hangs in the air.

"Why did you do that?" Her breaking voice hardens with each word, undeniable fury shooting up her veins.

"Because I could," is his short, but effective response. "I'm tired of being the only person suffering in this world."

"What the heck?" I let out, "Just because you're going through shit doesn't mean everyone else has to!"

This little bastard is someone I used to call a friend. Stupid stupid stupid. Ruthless. He's ruthless. I don't care that he just got out of surgery; the look of utter betrayal on Jisoo's face is enough to send my hands to his hospital gown collar, yanking him up to my face.

"Taehyung, stop—" Jisoo begs but I don't comply.

"Do you know what type of shit people had to go through because of you? Do you know how horrible you're making Jisoo, your precious older sister, feel? Huh?" With each inquiry, I tug his collar harder.

"I know." He looks down, not a hint of remorse on his face. Maybe it's because he just woke up from a major surgery, or maybe it's because he's an asshole.

"Please, stop." She softly tugs my arm.

This time, I listen to Jisoo's broken pleas.

"Sorry," I mumble, retracting my hands and bringing them over hers instead. I hold them as tight as I can.

"I...I'm sorry," he finally says, words still sluggish from the anesthesia. "But I know what I have to do to make you happy."

It becomes evident that he's only talking to Jisoo when eye contact with me is completely terminated.

"I-I can't do this."

I squeeze her hand tighter.

"Join me," he says.

A dark energy—something akin to rising smoke—engulfs his figure, followed by a gust of cool wind. I subconsciously move closer to her as he lifts a hand. When his index finger points to the sky, a single black leaf zaps into midair, floating around tauntingly.

"What the fuck," I breathe out, only to be, again, ignored.

"I did this because we're always suffering. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone else suffered too? If everyone else went through shit, then maybe our lives wouldn't be as bad. Right?"

It hits me. He's trying to taint her.

"Don't listen to him, Jisoo. Please." I grab her shoulders, making her face away from him. "Let's get out of this room and think of something else, c'mon."

I try to drag her away but her body is as still as a statue.

"You've been with me through everything," he continues, "You're the only person that I've ever loved and because of that, I want you to join me. Don't you want to? Isn't this your worst desire?"

That's right. Tainting someone will make them do whatever their worst desire is. I snarl at his seemingly nonchalant expression. He seems so solemnly confident that Jisoo will agree.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," Jisoo whispers, looking desperately back and forth between me and Jungkook. "Stop this, Jungkook."

He smiles, that same stupid bittersweet smile that I felt so pitiful towards when I came to visit him the other day. "It's okay if you don't want to yet. You will eventually."

The black floating leaf suddenly charges like a spear, penetrating straight through Jisoo's chest.

I don't even have time to scream or do anything when she drops to the ground.

"What the fuck?" I bend down to shake her shoulders, glaring at Jungkook any chance I get. "What did you do to her?"

He ignores me as I continue to search her face for any sign of consciousness. Her body is flimsy in my arms, like she has no control.

"Do you want to join me now?"

Her body suddenly stiffens.

"Shut up!" I snap, panicking.

No no no. I can't fight her. I can't do this. If she wants to join Jungkook then I'm done for—doomed. When she opens her eyes, they look empty. Dull. Lifeless.

"So...? What'ya say, Jis—"

Cutting him off, she races out of the room. There's no time to ponder why, but all I know is that she's running away and I need to catch up to her. Jungkook says something like, "wait up" but I'd be a fool to ever listen to him again.

"Jisoo, where are you going?" I yell, trying to stay calm as she doges all of the nurses and obstructions in the hall.

I don't receive a response, but instead she sharply turns the corner, making her way to the stairs. Is she trying to tire me out by making me run up the stairs a bunch? We've been running wordlessly for the past few minutes.

My legs and lungs burn, but she doesn't seem to be struggling at all. It only fuels my adrenaline even more.

Finally, we make it to the top of the stairs, where she shoves a door open and leads us to the roof. Cool air greets us as we dash across.

She steps into the elevated ledge of the roof, a gesture so strikingly clear and reminiscent of RC. But she's not RC right now. She doesn't have powers but here she is on the edge of a rooftop, kilometers away from the ground.

Then I realize why she's here. I know what her worst desire is.

And I wish that I don't.

"Fuck, get off of there!"

She's so far away from me, but somehow I manage to make it just in time to pull her back, landing on my back with her on top of me. My spine takes the brunt of the impact, but I have no time to grovel over the sharp sensation because she immediately gets back up, and places one foot over the ledge again.

"Stop it! This isn't you! Fight it, Jisoo. Fight it," I beg, holding her back by the ankle.

She kicks my hand away, but I muster the strength to climb onto the ledge with her, grabbing her close to me despite her trying to squirm out of my hold.

I don't want to fight her. I don't want to hurt her.

So instead, I do the only thing I know how to do—I do the only thing I want to do.

I kiss her.

Author's Note:

why is that my update schedule.
anyways, i wanted to sincerely thank you all for sticking around for so long, and despite the lack of updates, please know that i'm always thinking of you. i hope you liked this chapter hehe. love u so so so much!

<3 adoremei-