Darker Blood

Chapter forty-two

Jungkook pov~

I sighed to myself in sadness, picking up the flower bunch I'd gotten just for her, even though they were severely dead-looking from the cold weather. A blank tear fell down my face and I avoided Hoseok's gaze as he fixed the front of my hair.

"You look so tired, Jungkook.."

I blinked away the sleepiness, willing the bags under my eyes to vanish. It was unnatural for them to be bruised purple with lack of sleep, yet it didn't matter how much I tried, I couldn't sleep. Hoseok gave my hair one final flick before nodding at me, indicating he was done.

"Thanks, hyung.."

He nodded mindlessly and passed a jumper to me. "Make sure you wear this."

"Why?"

He frowned, brushing a strand of dust off the side of my cheek. "You have to look normal around everyone remember?"

"What's honestly normal about standing on a frozen lake?"

"I think it'll help you." He spoke mindlessly, ushering me towards the door.

"Wait, the flowers-"

"You don't need them."

I nodded to myself, tugging the jacket on, enjoying the feel of its softness against my cold skin. The stabbing pains of hunger and fatigue no longer bothered me, and now it was easy to act like I wasn't feeling anything at all. It's been almost a week since I've slept or eaten. Almost a week since she stabbed herself. Almost a week of pure hell and torment.

I walked out of the house, not bothering to close the door, keeping my head down. I reached the bridge where she jumped off and cursed when I saw there were no stairs of any kind nearby that would allow me to climb down. I backtracked through an old warehouse on the side of the lake, ignoring the whimpers most likely belonging to a wounded animal on the way.

My breathing hitched in my throat at the sight of the river. The entire front was crackled over with a thick layer of pale ice and I stumbled down the sharp rocks over the edge, placing a single foot on the surface to test it. The ice didn't even crack and I breathed in relief, brushing off the blood slowly seeping from my hand as a result of one of the rocks. I didn't even feel the pain when the skin tore.

Slowly, I inched towards the middle, just beside the side of the bride, no longer bothering to step lightly. I reached exactly where I was sure I'd seen her fall, dropping to my hands and knees. I wiped over the ice, the water beneath it becoming clearer and clearer. Then I saw a tinge of gentle brown hair.

A new sensation filled me. I'd never known someone could feel as desperate as I did right now, frantically washing over the ice to see more of her. I uncovered her face and as far down as I could with numb fingers, all the way down to how her arms were frozen casually by her sides, a dark stain reaching out from her chest, staining the ice a few inches above it with a deep red swirl. Her hair swayed gently by her sides and my mouth fell in shock.

She's not frozen in the ice, she's frozen under it.

I observed her closed eyes for a minute, my chest pressed against the ice, whispering her name. "Inori?"

She did not stir, she did not give any indication that she'd heard me. I cursed to myself. What was I honestly expecting? Her to jump up at the sound of my voice and magically come back to life?

No. I don't believe she's dead. Maybe she's still there, somewhere, and the cold is just leeching off her until she becomes too weak to carry on.

I hit against the ice, sobs rocking my body as I begged her to wake up, to twitch, anything. I stopped, afraid that the ice might crack and hurt her even more. I sat beside her, hugging my knees while the most childish sobs flowed from my mouth without restraint.

Why did it have to be you?

I don't regret loving her. There was no one else good enough, no one else I could have fallen for. I'm glad I loved her. But, yet again, I regret what I am. If I was human I wouldn't have dragged her into any of this mess. She would be living a happy peaceful life still, if I was human.

I don't care what the Guardians do, what they think. I can't let her stay under that ice when I'm so sure there's still hope for her.

Leaning over, I gave her face through the ice a single loving stroke before I scrambled to my feet, running home to tell Hoseok.

Taehyung pov~

I watched with a pointlessly agape mouth as Jungkook ran in, panting a little, dusting off the snow from the shoulders of his jacket.

"What's gotten into you?"

He glanced at me, quickly turning away with a shrug as his eyes darted everywhere around the room in desperation. "Where's Hoseok?"

"Sleeping." I hopped off the kitchen counter, discarding the boring magazine in my hand without a second thought. "What's wrong?"

He fidgeted where he stood, avoiding my gaze. "Nothing, I just need to talk to him."

"You can talk to me?"

He paused for a minute as if pondering over my offer, deciding if it was good or not. Finally, he spoke, so softly as his bright green eyes met mine. "She's not gone."

I sighed, slamming my hand down on the countertop as I walked towards him, mustering a sympathetic expression. "Jungkook, we've been over this."

His face snarled in anger. "Don't talk to me like that."

"Like what?"

"I'm not a child." He buried his hands in his pockets, still not pulling his eyes from mine. "I know it, she's there somewhere."

I turned away from him angrily, pulling out a packet filled with red liquid in an attempt to calm the rage slowly building inside me. "Stop being delusional."

"She's not gone!"

"How can you honestly believe that? You saw what she did!" I snapped back at him, dropping the packet onto the floor.

"She's just lying there, under the ice. What's not to say that she's there somewhere, she just needs something to help her come back?"

"Life, Jungkook, the rules of life are what's against you."

"Fuck the rules." He closed his eyes, already backtracking to the door effortlessly. "There's a way and I will figure it out."

Without another word, he ran out, leaving me screaming his name pointlessly to his ear that would not listen.

Idiot..

I closed the front door, glancing around the street for him, but of course he was already long gone. I sighed to myself, letting the anger go as I bent down to pick up the packet, already opening my mouth in want.