Is life sweet as honey
The sterile scent of antiseptic hung heavy in the air of the Seoul hospital room. Inside, bathed in the pale, filtering light of a bleak morning, a young man named Jungkook lay motionless on a rigid hospital bed. He slowly blinked his eyes open, squinting against the harsh glare pouring through the glass window. A heavy, suffocating silence gripped the room, broken only by the faint, distant hum of the bustling city outside.
Weakly, his lips parted. A fragile, trembling voice escaped his throat, barely rising above a whisper as he called out for his parents.
"Mom... Mother... Dad... Mom... Dad..."
Suddenly, the heavy door swung open. A young woman rushed into the quiet room. Her eyes were wide with a painful mixture of overwhelming relief and profound sorrow. Without a word, she sprinted to the bedside and threw her arms around Jungkook, burying her face into his shoulder. She wept silently, her shoulders shaking with agonizing sobs as she held onto him tightly.
Jungkook stirred, his voice raspy and strained under the weight of her embrace. "Sister, what happened? Why are you crying? Where are Mom and Dad?"
His sister pulled back slightly, her face pale, completely unable to find the words to answer him. Tears continued to stream down her cheeks in silent torment.
"Sister, please," Jungkook pleaded, his eyes searching hers for answers. "Why aren't you saying anything? Why are you crying?"
Overcome by a sudden wave of grief and exhaustion from the long hours of waiting, his sister's vision went dark. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the cold floor, completely unconscious.
Panic surged through Jungkook. He frantically tried to move his legs to reach her, but his lower body felt completely numb and frozen. He screamed out in sheer terror, realizing his legs were entirely paralyzed. Refusing to give up, he dragged his upper body forward and tumbled off the edge of the mattress, crashing heavily onto the floor beside his sister.
Tears blurred his vision as he dragged himself across the cold tiles. He reached out with trembling hands, pulling her into a desperate embrace. With his voice cracking, he began to cry out into the empty hallway, begging for someone to save them.
"Help! Someone please help!"
Moments later, the sound of rushing footsteps echoed down the corridor. A team of nurses and doctors burst into the room. Moving with practiced urgency, they immediately took control of the chaotic scene, lifting his sister and checking her vitals. After a tense examination, the lead doctor confirmed that everything was stable; she had simply fainted from extreme emotional distress and physical exhaustion.
Once his sister was safely placed on a regular recovery bed, Jungkook was gently lifted back onto his own mattress. He sat frozen, his gaze fixed entirely on her sleeping form. A kind nurse approached his side, her expression filled with gentle compassion.
Jungkook turned his tear-stained face toward her, his voice trembling. "Is my sister going to be okay?"
The nurse offered a reassuring, warm smile and nodded gently. "Yes, she is perfectly fine. She just suffered a sudden drop in blood pressure from the shock, which is quite normal under these circumstances. She will wake up very soon."
Hearing those words, a profound sense of relief washed over Jungkook. He leaned back, his eyes never leaving his sister's face as he waited for her to open her eyes.
## Chapter 1 (Continued)
The rhythmic, piercing beep of the heart monitor felt like needles pressing into Jungkook’s temples. He kept his eyes locked on his sister's pale face, his chest tightening with every slow breath she took.
"Sister... Sister..." he whispered, his voice cracking from the dry, sterile air.
He was weeping silently, his hands trembling violently as they covered hers. Then, her eyelids fluttered. Slowly, agonizingly, she blinked open her eyes. A rush of pure joy flooded Jungkook's heart. He let out a breathless gasp of relief as she slowly sat up and threw her arms around him, pulling him into a tight, desperate embrace.
But as she held him, she broke down, sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder.
"Sister... what about Mom and Dad?" Jungkook asked, his voice dissolving into frantic cries. "Mom... Dad... Mom... Dad... Why did they leave us? Why did they abandon us like this?"
His sister tightened her grip, her own tears soaking through his hospital gown. "It's going to be okay," she choked out, trying to stay strong for him. "Everything is going to be alright."
While Jungkook battled the suffocating stillness of the hospital, a completely different nightmare was unfolding just across town. In a starkly contrasting corner of the exact same city—miles away from the sterile medical corridors but beneath the very same overcast sky—the dark underbelly of urban life held another soul captive.
In a dimly lit, chaotic house, a young man named Taehyung lay curled up on the cold, hard floor. He was folded into a ball, trying to shield his fragile frame from a brutal, ruthless beating. Standing over him was his own father—a man heavily intoxicated, his eyes bloodshot and filled with a senseless, blind rage. The heavy, sickening sound of blows echoing against the walls and Taehyung's muffled groans of agony were the only noises filling the suffocating room, painting a grim picture of a home turned into a battlefield.
Once his father finally grew tired, the older man stumbled out of the house, slamming the front door shut behind him.
Left alone in the quiet ruins of the living room, Taehyung lay flat on the floor, weeping in absolute despair. His entire body throbbed with unbearable physical pain, but the ache in his heart was far worse. Driven by a sudden, dangerous impulse to escape the misery of his reality, Taehyung forced himself to stand up. His legs shook as he stumbled toward his bedroom.
He grabbed a bottle of medication, his movements frantic and unhinged. Walking into the bathroom, he shut the door behind him with a heavy thud. He twisted the cap off the bottle and poured a massive handful of pills directly into his palm.
Taehyung stared down at his hand. It shook so violently that a few pills slipped through his fingers, clattering into the sink. His mind was spinning, entirely consumed by a toxic mixture of bitter anger and deep resentment toward his life. He brought his hand toward his mouth, ready to swallow them all.
Suddenly, a sharp vibration rattled against his thigh.
His phone was ringing inside his pocket. Taehyung froze. He hesitated for a long moment before reaching down to pull it out. Looking at the glowing screen, he saw the caller ID: it was his closest friend, Namjoon.
Summoning what little strength he had left, Taehyung swiped the screen and brought the phone to his ear, desperately trying to make his voice sound completely normal.
"Speak," Taehyung muttered, his breath hitching.
On the other end of the line, Namjoon’s voice sounded warm but cautious. "Taehyung, are you okay?"
"Yeah," Taehyung lied, staring blankly at the wall. "As far as my voice is concerned, I'm perfectly fine."
Namjoon didn't seem entirely convinced, but he pushed forward anyway. "If you're doing good, can you come over? We're all hanging out at our usual hideout spot."
"Alright," Taehyung replied quietly. "I'll be there."
With a heavy sigh, he hung up the call. The brief interruption felt like a sudden bucket of cold water waking him from a dark trance. He looked down at the pills still cupped in his hand. The anger inside him flared up again, transforming into pure, unadulterated fury. He opened his hand, letting the medication slip through his fingers and scatter across the bathroom floor.
In a sudden outburst of rage, Taehyung spun around and smashed his fist directly into the bathroom mirror. The glass shattered into a web of sharp cracks, and blood began to drip from his bruised knuckles, staining the sink below.
