𝘗𝘺𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘊𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 | 𝘺.𝘫𝘸 𝘹 𝘬.𝘴𝘯

💌 47 - helpless

The night was chaos.
Everyone had crowded at the front of the house, a sea of terrified faces illuminated by the flashing red and blue emergency lights. Phones were out, recording the smoke and fire

Sunoo stood in the crowd, heart hammering painfully in his chest. He scanned the chaos desperately, looking for any sign of Jay or Jake. Jungwon, on the side holds onto Sunoo firmly in  fear he might jump into the fire to find his friends.

Then he heard it — a shout, raw and panicked.

"Jake!"

Sunoo's head snapped toward the sound just in time to see firefighters dragging someone away from the side of the house, away from the raging fire.

Sunoo's stomach dropped. Jake's face was twisted in pain, his arm hanging limply at his side, his shirt scorched and torn. Black soot smeared his skin, and he coughed violently as he tried to sit up.

Without thinking, Sunoo sprinted toward him, dodging around panicked guests and emergency workers.

"Jake! Jake!" Sunoo cried, dropping to his knees beside him.

One of the firefighters blocked him with a hand. "Don't touch him, kid! He's badly injured."

"What happened to him?" Sunoo gasped, frantic.

The firefighter glanced back at the wreckage, his expression grim. "Patio roof collapsed from the heat. Fell on him before we could pull him out."

Sunoo's heart clenched painfully. Jake winced as he tried to move, only to groan and sink back down, his face pale beneath the soot.

"It's gonna be okay Jake," Sunoo whispered shakily, reaching out to squeeze Jake's uninjured hand. "You're gonna be okay ."

An ambulance screeched to a halt nearby. Paramedics jumped out, rushing toward them with a stretcher and medical kits.

"Careful with him! He might have fractures!" the firefighter barked.

The paramedics moved quickly, assessing Jake's injuries, stabilizing him. Jake barely seemed conscious now, his eyelids fluttering, his breathing shallow.

"He's going to the hospital," one of the paramedics told Sunoo firmly. "Are you family?"

"I'm his friend," he choked out.

"Then stay back. We'll take it from here."

Sunoo watched helplessly as they lifted Jake onto the stretcher, securing him and rushing him toward the ambulance. The doors slammed shut, and the vehicle roared away, sirens wailing into the night.

Sunoo stood frozen in place.

He barely registered the noise around him anymore. The wailing sirens, the murmurs of the crowd, the sharp commands of the firefighters. Everything was a blur, a ringing in his ears.

Until a firm hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.

It was Jay.

His face was a mess — a split lip, a darkening bruise along his cheekbone, blood smeared across his knuckles from his fight with Hyunwoo. His chest heaved as he stared at Sunoo, eyes wide, frantic.

"Sunoo," Jay rasped, gripping both his shoulders now, "where's Jake?!"

Sunoo's throat tightened. He struggled to get the words out.

"They took him," he said hoarsely. "He—he got hurt. The patio collapsed... They put him in an ambulance and took him away."

Jay's hands dropped to his sides. His whole body seemed to sag, like the fight had finally drained out of him. For a moment, he just stood there, staring past Sunoo, as if trying to piece everything together.

Then, without a word, Jay pulled Sunoo into a hug.

Sunoo froze in surprise — and then sank into it, grabbing onto Jay's jacket like a lifeline.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Sunoo whispered, voice trembling.

Jay tightened his arms around him, burying his face in Sunoo's shoulder. "You too," he mumbled.

For a moment, everything else fell away — the burning house, the flashing lights, the screaming. It was just the two of them, breathing hard, clinging to each other in the middle of the wreckage.

They were bruised. Shaken. Terrified. But alive.

From a few feet away, hidden in the edge of the crowd, Jungwon watched them.

His arms were crossed tightly over his chest, his fingers digging into his sleeves. The way Sunoo clung to Jay, the way Jay held him like he couldn't bear to let go.

He clicked his tongue quietly, his brows furrowing deep in thought.

Jungwon's gaze lingered for a moment longer before he tore his eyes away.