YOUTH. | JK | COMPLETE

drained

After Seokjin, the least likely person Jeongguk could have imagined to rescue them, did just that, they drove for hours. No distance they could travel was too far from Mrs. Choi or the bouncer, who had each over-proved their dedication to Jeongguk's utter demise—but they got as far away as they could: Busan. Before their journey, however, they needed to get Jeongguk in stable condition. His skin was pale and glossed over in a sheen of cold sweat as his head lolled against Haneul's shoulder in the backseat of the car. His thoughts, already muddled from the sheer blood loss, tangled even more at the sight of Seokjin, driving as fast as he could away from the apartment complex. Why was he here? Why would he care enough to save them? Jeongguk had thought Seokjin's conscience wouldn't be tarnished in the slightest if something bad had happened to him—his former best friend had made it painfully clear that he didn't care about him anymore. None of it made any sense, and the bullet penetrating Jeongguk's abdomen didn't make processing the information any easier.

"Where do I do? Where should I go?" Seokjin had asked, voice full of panic, hands gripping and re-gripping the steering wheel. Jeongguk couldn't find the energy to speak, so he focused on keeping his breath semi-even and keeping himself awake despite the overwhelming fatigue that was beckoning him. He could hear Haneul's cream and honey voice murmuring words to him as her hands pressed firmly into his wound, crimson staining her skin. The sight of his blood on her trembling hands and the searing pain made him queasy. Taehyung, however, made no move to answer Seokjin's question, merely sitting silently in the passenger seat, eyes devoid of emotion as he stared at the gun in his hands. No doubt, he was in shock, horrified of what he had just done in a spur of the moment, life or death decision.

"I-I don't know. I—" Haneul started, as soon as she realized Seokjin's question had been hanging in the balance for too long. "The hospital. My hospital. Seoul National." She cried.

"Are we going to admit him?" Seokjin asked.

"We can't. They'll make him stay for post-op, and the police will get involved since it's a gunshot wound—it's too dangerous. The police treat Wanderers like shit, and my—" Haneul paused momentarily, voice faltering. She wiped furiously at the tears in her eyes, simultaneously smudging Jeongguk's blood across her cheeks and feeling ridiculous for crying at a time like this, but she had just begun to process that her own grandmother not only tried to kill her, but put the one she loves in this situation. No wonder she had told her all of those awful stories about Wanderers when Haneul was young...it all made sense. She internally kicked herself—if she had realized the correlation earlier, this may never have happened. "My grandmother and the bouncer are too close for us to stay long. We need to get as far away from Seoul as we can."

"You think they'll try to come after him again?" Seokjin asked incredulously, and Haneul nodded, eyes still glazed with salty tears.

"I know they will." She said softly, continuing to apply pressure to Jeongguk's stomach. "We can't admit him. I'll just...I'll do it myself." She said softly.

"You'll operate on him yourself?" Seokjin asks, surprised, and worried about the girl in the backseat. "Are you sure you'll be okay to do that?"

"I have to be." She says quietly, stifling a sob that threatens to escape as Jeongguk lets out a groan of pain.

"It hurts." He murmurs, and Haneul presses gentle, comforting kisses to his jaw and cheek.

"I know, Guk. I know, but we're almost there." She says, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

"Can I...can I take a nap?" He asks, blood loss making his lips feel like cotton and his mind full of fog. Any prior thought about keeping himself awake had disappeared into the murky abyss.