Jungkook: The Friendly Ghost

18. Skin & Bones

Well, here goes nothing.

This time around, I'm not playing. I'm not making the same mistakes. I did not bring Jungkook with me and if my phone rings, I am not answering it.

I spare a glance at the wall to my side, remembering how my fist slammed onto it and how even now, days later, I can feel a bit of pain from the collision.

Nope, I am not thinking about that today. Absolutely not.

I literally let out a sigh of relief as I walk into the hospital and see that the lady helping people find where they need to go is not the same one that was here last time; the bitchy one, who judged me about not knowing which ward Jungkook is at. This one is actually smiling as I approach her. "Hello. I came to visit a patient."

"Which ward?"

"I'm not sure," I admit. "I know that he is in... um, in a coma."

"Can you give me a name sweetheart?" she smiles at me.

"Yes, Jeon Jeongguk," I tell her.

"Please wait a moment," she smiles at me before focusing on her keyboard.

"Excuse me, did you say Jeon Jeongguk?"

Taken aback, I turn around to look at the man who asked me the question; at first glance, I wouldn't say he's much older than I am, if he's older at all. Good looking and confused, that's what he is. I can tell in the way he's looking at me, trying to figure out if he knows me, if he remembers me.

Please let it be his brother and not his friend. Please let it be his brother and not his friend.

"Yes," I say because what can I do, lie? "I came to visit him," I elaborate and I wait for him to decide just how unusual this is on a scale from 1 to 10. I wait, silently cursing my luck. Really, universe? I couldn't just visit Jungkook without running into someone who will wonder who the hell I am?!

"I'm going to visit him as well," he finally speaks up. "I will take you there."

"Thank you," I nod and wobble my way after him, smiling awkwardly at the receptionist lady before following him to the elevators. He presses the button before turning around and looking at me again.

"Um... who exactly are you?"

Yeah, I really should have seen this one coming. "I'm JJ," I introduce myself; it's only when he raises his eyebrows do I realize that doesn't count as a formal introduction. "Jang Jihyun. J as in Jang, J as in Jihyun."

"How do you know Jungkook?"

"I'm sorry but I think I should know who you are as well," I sound a whole lot braver than I actually am, seeing as I can't really lie for the life of me.

Hmm, is that true? Because I've been sharing a room with a ghost for like... two months now and no one has noticed a thing. I'm a damn good liar but right now, I'm not in my comfort zone. Every second, I am one sentence away from having my cover blown and how the hell am I going to explain myself then?!

"Oh, sorry, I'm Taehyung," he smiles at me; wait, wasn't he suspicious one second ago? "Kim Taehyung. I'm Jungkook's friend."

Shit, shit, shit!

A brother is different than a friend. Jungkook even told me he and his brother weren't as close before his accident like they once were; I could have easily passed as Jungkook's friend, a friend he simply did not mention. A friend? Possible best friend? Yeah, this guy probably knows 99.9% of Jungkook's friends.