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10

mun knew he was this close to getting hyeok back. all he had to do was scare her off, or, hold her there long enough for the others to get inside. but either way, he had her. he had hyeok.

or, at least, he thought he did.

he soon felt a strong impact from his side, sending him to the ground as a pain surged through his entire body. he landed directly on his back, his breath immediately becoming hitched in his throat, begging to come out, banging against a barrier.

he could barely hear hyeok's muffled screams, which seemed so far away by now.

mun lay there, on the cold floor, for a moment, shocked. but soon enough he opened his eyes, taking in deep, ragged breaths as he watched a man walk up to him. he had a wicked smile on his face.

"we need to go!" the woman yelled, drawing the man's attention to her. this seemed to have caused the man realization as he looked back to the door, seeing it was almost open, mo-tak being barely visible through the crack in the door.

he blew air through his teeth, looking back to mun on the floor.

and then, in just a second, there was a gun in his hand and a bullet in mun's chest.

the gunshot ricocheted off of the factory walls, making it seem as if they were in a small box. but soon enough, for mun, everything seemed to go quiet. hyeok's shouts had stopped, the echo had faded, and mun was in his own serene world.

and then his eyes shut.

just then, mo-tak pushed through the metal door, stumbling a bit. he regained his balance quickly and looked around the room. the first thing he saw was hyeok, bound to a chair, facing away from him and panting wildly. he followed hyeok's gaze.

and soon enough, he found himself looking at mun, his unwavering body lying still on the ground, surrounded by a pool of his own blood. a man stood above him.

without a moments thought, he ran at the man. his mind seemed to go blank at the sight of mun, his actions controlling him rather than his mind, or even his heart.

"get hyeok!" ms. chu yelled and she began to go in the same direction as mo-tak, though her only thought was to get to the boy.

ha-na stared at mun a moment longer, tears stinging at her eyes, before weakly wiping them away and running to hyeok.

ms. chu studied the boy upon reaching him, shakily bringing a finger just below his nose, ha-na quickly working at untying hyeok. ha-na moved as quickly and efficiently as she could, though her hands shook and her mind stayed on mun. the quicker she got him untied, she thought, the sooner she could get to mun.

"he's alive!" ms. chu shouted as she sunk back into herself, letting out a deep breath.

this calmed ha-na a bit, giving her the ability to completely free hyeok.

the moment hyeok was untied, he was next to mun, a hand resting on his cheek as he studied the boy.

ha-na followed. the three of them surrounded mun's body, their hands and knees a bloody mess and their minds burned out and weak.

hyeok looked to ms. chu, his body shaking with ragged breaths and his eyes pleading, filled with tears. "help him," he said, though his chest was constricted and his throat burned and his entire body shook. "please!"

but ms. chu was already working on the boy, an energy emitting from her hands. tears ran from her eyes as she shut them, focusing all of her energy into healing the young boy.

"should-" ha-na started, wiping her sleeve under her nose and over her eyes "-should we bring him to a... hospital? they- they can help"

ms. chu didn't answer, though, as all of her energy was focused on mun. but suddenly it wasn't, and she was gasping as she fell to her back. mun still lay unconscious, seemingly unaffected by ms. chu's attempts at helping him.

hyeok watched ms. chu and she gasped for breath on the floor. "do- do something!" he screamed, his eyes lingering on her a moment longer before he moved closer to mun's face.

his hands were slick with blood, yet he held mun's face between them, his own tears falling onto his face. "mun, please!" he yelled again, his cries turning into sobs as he connected his forehead with mun's.

hyeok could barely hear ha-na on the phone, calling for help, as he continued to hold mun between his hands. he was afraid that, if he let go, mun would be gone.

and it would be all his fault.

so they stayed like this, covered in blood, mun unconscious, ms. chu lying in the floor, and ha-na weakly calling for help. mo-tak was still gone.

soon enough, the sound of sirens filled their ears and ha-na was on her feet, pulling the door open just as paramedics came through.

though hyeok knew they were there to help, he couldn't seem to let him go. he had barely even acknowledged their presence, even after one had placed a hand on his back as they lifted mun. "son, we'll take care of him," he said.

as they lifted mun, hyeok reached for his hand, but ha-na stopped him. she gently lay a hand on his arm and guided it away.

ha-na didn't expect it, but hyeok quickly sunk into her, and ha-na reluctantly wrapped her arms around him. she wouldn't usually have embraced a stranger like this, but it was mun. and she knew what it was like to lose family.

but by now, ha-na knew that mun wasn't just family to hyeok.

he was the boy he loved.