❝ B̶͒͜ĕ̶̩̣̜ ̶̘̦̙̿̒̑̀c̸̠̘͒ǎ̵͎̗͜ṟ̶̡͓̋̏̾͘ë̶̩́̉ḟ̶͈̂ù̵̫̅͆l̷̤̈̑̑ ̸̩̊̉͌͜ͅw̷̦̔̈́ḥ̸̨̞̈́̎ö̸̞̟̝ ̵̱̽y̵̟͋̈̌̂o̸̻̲̪̥͛͊̀͋ṵ̴̯̠͎͋̐͑ ̶͓̼̯̺̔̋f̸̲̬̉͌͜a̶̠͆̍̾͠l̷͙̝͖̩̈̊͠l̷̝̼͗̉̆ ̴͓̪̽ĩ̴̦̌̀͛ǹ̸̜̟̱ ̶͈͚̄͌ḷ̴̻͇̐̐o̴̱͑͂͂̂v̸̨͙͚͖͛͗̒e̴̦̬̪͕͋͐͆̄ ̵̘̲͖̀̄ẃ̸͈͓̉̉i̴̧̜͂͝ṱ̷̜̓͐̚h̸͍̖̐͜͝.̸͈͚͔͋̄͋ ❞
——

Park Soomi

A steady beating echoed in the distance of this pitch-black void. With my vision completely compromised, I slowly walked forward, guided only by the rhythmic sound. As the drumming gradually rose in volume, it became much more recognizable.

A heartbeat.

I continued moving, though I couldn't tell if I was progressing forward with the darkness enveloping me. That was, until a dim, red light emerged in the distance, faintly illuminating an eerie path.

But with nothing else in sight, I settled for this destination. The closer I got, the brighter the shimmering light glowed, and the louder the heart beat. When I finally reached the source of light, I feverishly rubbed my eyes, wondering if they were deceiving me. Because here before me, emanating the red rays, was a heart.

A human heart.

It merely floated in the air with no body attached. I was so engrossed, captivated by the vision before me, that I didn't notice the emanation of whispers engulfing me until they grew too loud to ignore.

My own heart began beating faster as the haunting whispers advanced towards me from every direction.

And as I placed a hand against my chest, a realization struck me, a realization so uncanny that it left cold shivers snaking down my arms.

The floating heart beat perfectly in time with mine.

As the heart's thumping swelled in tempo to match mine, a rapid, high-pitched beeping joined the concoction of sounds. It emerged like a warning, resembling a heart monitor as the world flashed between black and red.

"Be careful who you fall in love with."

The echoing words managed to break through the impenetrable wall of sounds right before the beeping accelerated to an intolerable pace.

Then there was silence, everything replaced by one, simple sound: a flatline, ringing softly in the distance.

But that haunting ring still echoed in my ears as everything faded into a blinding brightness.

Little by little, the patches of white clouding my vision dissipated, replaced by the less daunting darkness of my fully enclosed room. I blinked a few times, whisking away the few white dots that still lingered. Strange. Other than my heart, which continued drumming loudly against my chest, everything was oddly calm, a quiet stillness blanketing over me.

Maybe I have just gotten used to all of this. I sighed as the thought came to me. The possibility of that being true might even be more terrifying than the nightmare itself. But then the memory of recent events came rushing back, and I realized now how all of it had truly affected my state of mind.

He's dead. He's really dead.

The moment would forever be scorched into my mind.

That man is really dead. He'll never be able to lay another hand on Jimin again, or anyone for that matter.

The relief and comfort I felt at the time came second only to the news I heard mere moments later. Jimin was alive, and there was no reason to believe he wouldn't fully recover.

I hated to admit it, but I was happy he was dead. Sure, Yoongi and Hoseok weren't too pleased by the turn of events, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't muster even an ounce of remorse or pity for him. But does that make me a bad person?

No, Soomi, he got what he deserved.

A small smile crept onto my face as I got out of bed. But it wavered slightly as unnecessary doubts planted themselves into my brain, reminding me that we weren't out of the woods yet.

Because Jimin still had yet to wake up.

⋆⋅✯⋅⋆

"I'll be outside with Jungkook. Call me if you need anything."

I nodded towards Yoongi before hesitantly entering the hospital room, eyes immediately landing on Jimin.

"Hey there, Chim," I said, a smile gracing my lips while approaching his bedside. "You look good. Maybe a little pale, though." I chuckled lightly to myself as I urged the smile to remain on my face. But I couldn't help the sharp pang in my heart, seeing him unable to respond and tell me to shut up, unable to laugh alongside me.

"You know," I quickly continued, ignoring the growing weight on my chest, "I still remember the last time we were in the hospital together. My clumsy ass tripped over something and fell hard into the coffee table. Thing totally collapsed. I'll never forget the look on your face when you ran over. You tried so hard to look disappointed in me." I let out a painful laugh, biting down on my lip to keep myself together. "But I knew you were just trying to hide how worried you were."

Still nothing. A part of me hoped he'd magically wake up, eyes crinkling into crescents with his signature eye smile. It hurt more knowing exactly how he'd respond.

He'd start chuckling lightly, lifting a hand to ruffle my hair. "Of course, I was worried, but I was mostly disappointed, you doofus," he'd say to me.

"You're always there for me, Jimin, but when you needed me, I-I screwed up. So you gotta wake up, okay? So that I could be there for you for once." I held one of his hands. "I know the doctors said you'll be fine, but you can't blame me for still being worried, right? So, just...give me a sign. Squeeze my hand. Heck, you can just wiggle that tiny little pinky of yours. Please?"

But there was nothing.

I knew I was overly hopeful. It hasn't been long. He just needs time to recover. But I still couldn't help the tears welling up.

"Um, excuse me?"

I jumped slightly from the voice, unaware that the door had clicked open. I hastily wiped away the tears before turning around.

"Taehyung?"

"Hi, sorry if I'm interrupting. Jimin's bodyguard, umm, Jungkook, was it? He told me I could just come in since I didn't have much time to drop this off."

I glanced down, seeing a get-well-soon card in his hand.

"It's from everyone at my company," he explained before placing it down on the table. As he did so, I noticed another box in his hands.

"You got him chocolates too?"

"Actually...these are for you." My eyes widened in surprise as he handed me the sweets. "I know things are tough right now. I thought chocolates wouldn't hurt to get through it."

Speechless, I stared down at the box, the whole situation feeling oddly surreal.

"You got me white chocolate..."

"Yeah, umm." He bit his lip nervously before continuing. "I can't possibly forget they're your favorite, not after you wouldn't let me live it down for getting you the wrong kind that day. You kept reminding me how I had one job, and I still messed it up." He cracked the faintest of smiles recounting the moment. But for me, the memory was tainted by the series of events that followed.

"So you do remember that day..." His smile instantly faltered at my words. I could read the regret and heartache in his expression. Somehow, seeing those emotions in his eyes scared me, leaving me anxious about where this was going.

"Taehyung—"

"Soomi—"

We spoke at the same time before awkwardly growing silent once more.

"S-sorry. You could go first. There's a lot to talk about—"

"Yeah, there is." I nervously laughed. "Like, um, how about that time you pulled up with a gun, am I right? Seriously, like, why do you even have one?" I started rambling, attempting to steer the conversation away. He gave me a puzzled look.

"What? I keep it in the house for protection—but that's not what I wanted to talk about."

I gulped, feeling my heart begin to beat faster as he stepped closer.

"I'm sorry. I was too obnoxiously full of myself to say it before, but...I made a mistake. I-I don't know what came over me. I could feel us getting distant, a-and I was so scared of losing you and getting hurt that I somehow self-sabotaged everything myself. Maybe, on some level, I thought that would protect me...but I was just stupid."

His eyes were sincere, but I didn't know what to make of his apology.

"The girl that I was with, she left me not too long after. Said it was because I was still hung up on you, and I realized she was right. I was jealous of you and Yoongi. Even at the party, when I saw you two together, all those feelings came back." He paused for a second, thankfully giving me a minute to let everything sink you. "You have no idea the effect you have on me, Soomi. You make me do the craziest, stupidest things. I even had my secretary pretend to be my date to try convincing myself that I could be happy without you. But I can't."

For such a long time, I had longed to hear these words from him. I had been that hopeless romantic, wishfully thinking that we'd still find our happy movie ending. But now, it all just felt like a confusing dream or a bizarre illusion.

"Why now, Tae? After all this time, why'd you have to say all this now?"

"It's just, after what happened at the party, the thought of you out of my life for good... It brought me back to my senses."

"Tae—"

"And I know. I know you have Yoongi—"

"We're not actually together," I blurted out. I didn't know why I felt the need to correct him, but the words slipped out, and with them, a sliver of hope seemingly glistened in his eyes. He slowly got closer, his hand lightly brushing against mine.

"Then, please. Please give me a second chance," he whispered before leaning in. I closed my eyes, keeping myself composed to hide that my head was spinning from how fast everything was moving. I stood there frozen, focused only on his shallow breaths and my rapid heartbeat.

But then, feeling my heart drumming against my chest, I found some sort of clarity. Be careful who you fall in love with. It was like a reminder that everything had changed. My heart was racing, but it wasn't the same flutter I once felt. I didn't want this anymore, and I couldn't go down this path again. But it wasn't because I was afraid of being with Taehyung.

It was because a completely different name came to mind at the thought of being scared to fall in love again.

I pulled back, about to say something when someone loudly cleared their throat. Startled, the two of us turned towards the door.

"Yoongi."

——
{a/n}
New chapter for the new year! Here's to 2021, everyone! What are some of your New Year's resolutions? My goals are to do well in school, land a summer internship, continue putting out stories for all of you, and most importantly stay happy and healthy :)