Chapter Text
After they finished their group hug, the police arrived in Sunoo’s private room to interview him about what happened. The team wondered if they should stick around, respecting Sunoo’s right to privacy. All of them started to leave, Sunoo looking at all of them with wide eyes.
“Where are you going, guys?” He said with a slight pout, making everyone smile fondly.
“It’s okay, Sunoo-yah. We’ll give you some privacy.” Heeseung smiled slightly at the younger.
“No…no it’s okay, hyung. You guys can stay. Please. ” Sunoo looked pleadingly at all of them, almost begging them to stay.
The team smiled to themselves, Jungwon going to sit next to Sunoo’s bedside as he held his hand silently.
“It…it was… Doyoon from ZQ5. We used to train in the same company, and he did some pretty bad stuff to me even then. He was mad because I left without saying anything.”
Sunoo looked hesitantly at the police lieutenant, who recorded what Sunoo said on a notepad. He nodded to himself before turning the notepad over to the other police officer accompanying him.
“I understand. Thank you for your testimony, Sunoo-ssi. We’re currently retrieving the security camera footage from the venue, so we should be able to arrest him by tomorrow. And based on your testimony, he won’t win in court either, so I doubt he’ll get away with anything.”
Sunoo’s tensed body relaxed greatly, smiling as he looked down at his lap.
That’s great. Hopefully I’ll never have to see him again.
Jungwon rubbed his thumb thoughtfully over Sunoo’s hand before looking at him.
Sunoo slightly smiled at the younger boy, reassuring him that he was okay. Jungwon smiled silently before yawning softly. Sunoo looked at his teammates around the room, most of them were on their phones, but he didn’t fail to notice how tired they all looked. His smile widened; quickly realizing they were not going to leave even if they were exhausted. They were all a little too concerned for Sunoo’s safety if you asked Sunoo.
“Guys, I’ll be okay. Go back to the dorm, get some rest. I can take care of myself, I promise.”
“It’s fine, Sunoo-hyung. We don’t mind taking care of you.” Jungwon said to Sunoo with tired eyes, slightly smiling.
“Okay, well, I mind. We’ve had a long night. Go back home and get some rest. I doubt the hospital is going to let you stay all night anyway.”
“But––” Jay said, trying to refute the younger.
“No buts. Go home. I’ll call you if I need anything.”
They all sighed collectively. They looked at each other silently before nodding. They each bid farewell to Sunoo, the boy smiling brightly to each of them before also bidding them goodbye. Once the boys nervously clambered out of the hospital room, Sunoo sighed a sigh of relief before sinking back into his bed. He soon fell asleep peacefully, exhaustion overtaking him.
When Sunoo awoke once more, he felt suffocated. His eyes burst open as he immediately noticed Doyoon with a sadistic smile on his face. Tears fell from Sunoo’s eyes as he tried pushing Doyoon off of him, but it was no use. He patted the table beside his bed desperately trying to find something to hit Doyoon with. When his hand wrapped around something hard he immediately gripped it and hit Doyoon on the back of the head with it. He coughed loudly as he held his hand lightly on his neck. He quickly crawled out of bed, running out of the room before he could even think. He ran down the private hall of the hospital with his bare feet, tears in his eyes as he looked around. His eyes landed on the entrance to a staircase and he quickly ran down, desperate to find anyone. He ran down a couple of flights of stairs before opening one of the doors to a lower floor, running as he breathed heavily. Finally, he reached the receptionist's desk and caught his breath.
“Please call the police! Someone just attacked me in my room!” He said frantically, voice shaking as he looked to both sides of him.
“Yes 911? Someone just attacked a patient at Seoul General Hospital.” The receptionist said as she held the phone up to her ear before handing it to Sunoo.
“My perpetrator is Lee Doyoon, sir. This is Sunoo, he attacked me earlier today. He tried to strangle me. I–-I knocked him unconscious but I think he’s going to wake up soon. Please hurry, sir.” Sunoo said emotionally, tears falling on his cheek.
“KIM SUNOO!! I’LL KILL YOU!” A loud voice came from the other side of the hospital, and Sunoo quickly faced the voice, immediately recognizing it as Doyoon’s. More tears slipped out of Sunoo’s eyes as he tried running, but he slipped on the floor before he could. Doyoon came running at Sunoo quickly, immediately grabbing him by the hair as Sunoo tried backing away on the floor. Tears fell on Sunoo’s cheeks as he closed his eyes, head throbbing in pain. His body shook as he brought his hands up to his face, curling in on himself as he tried to completely disappear from Doyoon’s gaze.
“Sir, you can’t do this here! We’ve already called the police and they're on their way!” The receptionist called out, trying to help.
“Shut up!” He punched her in the face and she passed out.
“You little bitch! You thought you could escape me! You’ll never escape me, even in your wildest dreams!” Doyoon put his large hands around Sunoo’s neck tightly.
Sunoo’s air was immediately cut off as he closed his eyes painfully, feeling lightheaded. A squeak came from the back of his throat, one last plea to live. Tears fell from his eye as he started losing feeling in in his body.
Is this it? Am I going to die like this? Ah…I wish I could’ve seen the others again. Hugged them one last time. I’m sorry everyone…goodbye.
Sunoo sunk further into unconsciousness, numbness flowing through his body. Suddenly, he started to feel again. First his legs, then his arms. He clenched his fist tightly and opened his eyes. Doyoon’s grip on his neck loosened as he started convulsing, before his hands fell off Sunoo’s neck and he collapsed onto Sunoo. Sunoo took deep, greedy breaths for air, oxygen quickly filling his throat and lungs once more. He coughed harshly, pushing Doyoon off of him before getting up. His vision lightly swam, but he chose to ignore it and turn behind him, ready to thank his savior. He turned around to see the police lieutenant who interviewed him earlier and bowed to him slightly.
“Are you okay, Sunoo-ssi?” A nurse said as she helped him up, Sunoo a little unstable on his feet. He breathed deeply and nodded, exhaustion overtaking him.
“I’m just really tired. I’ll…go up to my room now, thank you very much.”
The nurse helped Sunoo back up to his room, the younger boy appreciating it greatly. Once in his private room once more, he fell asleep, exhausted from the night he had. When he awoke, he immediately locked eyes with someone and smiled upon realizing it was Jungwon.
“How are you feeling, hyung?” The younger boy said lightly, comfortingly rubbing Sunoo’s hand.
“Tired…” Sunoo said a little sarcastingly, trying to lift the boy’s attitude. It succeeded, only a little, as Jungwon exhaled through his nose and smiled warmly at Sunoo.
“They told us what happened last night. Are you okay, hyung?”
Sunoo looked at Jungwon seriously before sighing.
“I guess I haven’t really…had a moment to process it. But, I think for right now, I’m okay. I’m just glad I’m safe.”
“Of course, hyung. We’re glad you’re safe too. I know the others aren’t here…but we all love you. And we want to protect you. So…don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you ever need it. We’ll always be here for you, hyung.”
Jungwon smiled warmly at Sunoo, which made the older smile widely as well. A couple of days later, Sunoo was discharged from the hospital and back to spending his small Christmas break with his members. About a week after Sunoo was attacked, news spread that Doyoon was arrested for multiple charges and would serve a life sentence in prison. The group was greatly relieved at that, and Sunoo found support in communities of Engene online after it was revealed that Sunoo was attacked by Doyoon.
Life was pretty hard for Sunoo after the incident. While he was recovering from his injuries back at home, he started having nightmares about the hospital. Luckily, a member was always there to comfort him and hold him as he panted and cried on his bed. He started to close himself off, rarely contacting his friends outside of their group and almost never going out with them outside of his schedules. The group knew it was bad, that’s how Sunoo functioned after all, he loved to be surrounded by people. But, it’s not like they had any idea how to help him. They could only be there for him when he needed it. But one day, the group became extremely worried, as Sunoo almost had a panic attack when Jeongin of Stray Kids tried to call him.
So, they held an intervention for Sunoo. They all spoke their true feelings about how they were extremely worried about Sunoo, how he wasn’t smiling brightly like he used to. Sunoo knew they were right, he needed professional help at this rate. So, he finally decided to get himself a therapist, once he talked to his company. A while after Sunoo started therapy, the group saw remnants of the Sunoo they used to know before the incident, and everyone was overjoyed. They celebrated even the small wins in Sunoo’s mental health journey, and he felt how loved he was by his group. Finally, he was truly happy again and couldn’t feel better.
Fin