When Shadows Fall | BTS Kim Namjoon

Chapter 28: Lead Poison of Panic

A/N: I know I apologize every time for how long it takes me to update, but I also mean it every time, so... Anyways, I fought with this chapter for ages and then a few days ago decided to just start over from scratch and finished it all in a day :))))) Two lessons from that: 1, my brain hates me; 2, never be afraid to start back from the beginning. Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate every single person who reads my stories ❤️

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Namjoon walked into the dorm, troublesome duffel bag dropping from his hand as soon as he'd closed the door behind himself. There was a light on in the kitchen, and he walked toward it as he shed his hat and mask - hopefully no one had waited up for him.

No, a note sat on the counter in a strip of light - Namjoon, the manager wants you to call as soon as you see this.

He looked at the clock and winced - almost three a.m. Should he really call their manager this late? The taxi ride from the hospital had taken far longer than he'd thought it would. As he debated the call, he pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket. Waking it up, he blinked at the long list of notifications scrolling all the way down the screen: missed calls and panicked texts galore.

Rubbing his neck, he sighed. He definitely should've thought to check his phone, but his mind had been wiped clean of everything else when he'd seen Chunhwa laid out unconscious on that stretcher. He remembered feeling his hands shake as he stood there, wondering whether any of the gunshots fired had been into her. Sure, she'd been talking about her suspicions of some creepy guy following her for months, but for him to actually exist? To have been in her apartment, to have hurt her? That was insane.

Namjoon looked at the note. If he was going to obey it and call the manager, he needed to do that now. He dialed, wincing at the loudness of the ringtone against his ear.

A groggy voice answered with one word. "Namjoon?"

"Yes, sir." A scolding felt imminent.

"It's 2:37 a.m.!"

"I know. I'm sorry."

"What on earth happened to you? Why didn't you answer our calls and messages?"

Namjoon squirmed out of his jacket, struggling to keep the phone to his ear at the same time. "I'm sorry. I'm sure the members told you that when I got back from that trip, I found out I'd taken Chunhwa's bag. Chunhwa was the girl who gave me a ride, did I tell you that? So I had to go get my own bag back."

"And then you were gone for hours."

The words left unspoken had a bite to them, and Namjoon hurried to explain. "Chunhwa was attacked in her apartment, and I had to call the police. She was hurt, so I went with her in the ambulance to the hospital. I'm sorry, I should have checked my phone."

"Attacked?!"

"I still don't know the details, but there were actual gunshots. She wasn't hit, I don't think, but hurt." He rubbed the bridge of his nose, images of her splinter-filled, gashed face flashing across his brain.

"Gunshots? You mean an actual murderer attacked your friend?"

"I guess so." Namjoon's stomach turned - he always liked to think that he was ready to deal with anything that came his way, but this was so out of his depth. "Like I said, I don't know what exactly happened."

"You're not hurt, are you?!" the manager cut in.

Namjoon had to smile. "No, not at all. Just my friend and her roommate. And they're at the hospital, doing okay I think."