"hey." Jungkook whispered as he stared at the love of his life.

"Hey." Taehyung whispered, his voice extremely weak.

It was no longer a secret that Taehyung wasn't getting better. It was obvious and anyone could see it from miles away.

"Baby?" Jungkook called out as he kissed Taehyung's hand.

Taehyung hummed, raising an eyebrow, still staring at Jungkook.

"Youngjae is here to see you and he brought someone."

"Who?" Taehyung asked, trying to sit up. Jungkook gently helped him sit up, putting a pillow in his back.

"Sarah."

Taehyung gasped. His eyes wide with shock and hissing at the pang of headache.

"Is she here to take you away? I'm too weak to fight..." Taehyung trailed as he looked at the ceiling.

His eyes were red and he had dark bags under his eyes. He had lost the weight he had managed to put back on.

But in Jungkook's eyes, Taehyung was still the most gorgeous human on the planet.

"No. Youngjae!" Jungkook called as their classmate walked into the room.

"Hi Taehyung. How are you? That was dumb. You're not... I should probably stop talking." Youngjae said, the shock of seeing the bright boy lying on the hospital bed and looking... How he looked.

Sarah's head peeked out from Youngjae's shoulder.

"Taehyung." She greeted, waving.

"Hi Sarah, Youngjae. To... To what do I owe this visit?"

"We just wanted to say hi and see how you were doing."

Taehyung nodded, looking to their joined hands. He raised an eyebrow.

"Is there..." He trailed, pointing the two of them.

"Yes... We're dating." Sarah said, smiling lovingly at Youngjae who blushed.

Jungkook sat beside Taehyung, a small smile on his face.

"I wanted to tell you but I kept forgetting."

"It's fine. I'm glad I heard it from her. At least she's not taking you from me."

"About that... I'm sorry Taehyung. I shouldn't have. It was immature. Forgive me." Sarah pleaded, an apologetic look on her face.

"It's fine. I'm dying anyway. It's better I forgive anyone while I still can."

"Don't talk like that." Jungkook whispered, kissing his forehead.

"But it's true isn't it?"

"I'm sorry Taehyung. No one should have to go through this."

"But I am going through it. That's by the way! Tell me how you guys started dating."

Sarah blushed, looking down at her feet.

"Jungkook helped. He's really romantic."

"Really? Kookie?" Taehyung asked, looking at Jungkook with a questioning gaze.

"What?" Jungkook said, smiling. He asked for help.

"Youngjae used to write me letters and leave them in my locker. Then he gave me flowers and chocolate. You know..." Sarah trailed.

"Wow. How did you come up with such ideas Kookie?" Taehyung asked his boyfriend, taking his hand.

"I watch movies and sometimes read so I... I got the ideas from there."

"Cool. So I've been out of school that long? I wish I saw all that."

"Poor baby." Jungkook whispered, kissing Taehyung's forehead again and rubbing his nose against his, "aren't you the cutest?"

"You think I'm cute?" Taehyung whispered, his heart drumming in his chest.

The heart monitor began beeping quickly.

"Did I do that?" Jungkook whispered against Taehyung's lips.

Youngjae cleared his throat.

"We should probably head out. We don't want to interrupt you guys."

"Okay. Bye." Jungkook and Taehyung said in unison.

Taehyung turned away from Jungkook, folding his weak arms.

"I want to eat... A burger."

"No Tae. You-"

"Please? This could be the last time. I want to eat it and know what it tastes like before I die."

"Please stop talking about death. You're strong. You'll fight this."

"Yeah... The burger won't wait for me!"

"Fine. I'll call Jin hyung to get a burger on his way."

"Fries too."

Jungkook laughed as he picked up his phone, walking out of the room.

It was still surprising to Taehyung that he was dying. It wasn't how he pictured his life to go.

He had even started seeing himself grow old with Jungkook and here he was, dying on a hospital bed.

Tears filled his eyes like they had been doing recently.

He wondered how Jungkook still thought he was pretty and cute.

Taehyung wasn't blind. He had seen himself in the mirror a couple of times.

He knew he looked like bones joined together with his flesh glued to the bones.

He was hairless now and wore beanies to cover his head.

There was no hope. He was hopeless.

He was tired of fighting and taking all these injections. They weren't doing anything for him anymore.

He was weak.

In every way.

It had to stop.

Soon.

____

man...

I feel bad.

although I also want to eat a burger.

I was supposed to update yesterday and forgot.

imma head out!

'peace out 💟