Stifling the sound of his tears is far from easy. Jungkook still feels clumsy, his arms not having the same level of strength that they used to; occasionally he finds that they shake, as they are now as he tries to lift his hand to cover his mouth, to wipe away his tears. There's still a latent fear that a nurse might swing by at any minute and berate him for not sleeping, or confiscate the phone that's been so generously lent to him. The last thing he wants to do is let Heejin down when she's been nothing but kind and accommodating.

"I'm sorry for scaring you," Jungkook murmurs miserably, pulling in a deep breath. "I never — I'd never leave you by choice. Since I woke up... I've thought so much about how hard it must be. That I was gone and didn't — didn't say anything, couldn't — couldn't call you."

He takes another couple of deep breaths, sniffling and brushing at his eyes.

"Thank you for waiting, Min-ah," he whispers.