Chapter Text
Han Jisung, for as long as he could remember, has always wanted to help.
It didn't matter in what way, if there was a manner in which Jisung could assist somebody, make their day just the slightest bit better, he was willing to do it. It wasn't an attribute he'd picked up as a means to garner attention or praise, it was just simply who he was; a kind boy who's heart beat for others, who would put every last person before himself before he even considered worrying about his own well-being.
Han Jisung was a lot of things(loud, rambunctious, shy, funny, to name a few) but above all else, he was kind. A type of compassion that eked out of everything he did and shimmered in his large, chocolate colored eyes on any given day.
Which was why, when it came down to it, no one was surprised that Jisung would be willing to risk his life for a person he truly cared for. It went a little something like this:
December 6, 2020
Jisung watches with a mesmerized gleam as Hyunjin throws himself backwards, gliding eloquently across the 'MAMA 2020' stage as he, San, and Juyeon rehearse for their very much anticipated 'Trianglular Fight' performance for the night's award show. All three males are fantastic, their gazes sharp and dangerous as they twirl around one another, shining in their respective white, red, and black costumes as the stage flickers with an array of different imagery.
It's their second time recording the performance, the hope that they'll get in another 2-3 recordings before the next act has to begin their segment of the show. Jisung thinks the M-Net crew could have settled with the first take; the three main dancers are perfectly in sync, their individual techniques and colors shimmering beautifully. Their first take was also perfect.
All they're doing now, Jisung thinks as Hyunjin winks cheekily at him when he catches the rapper's eye, is showing off.
Still, Jisung can't help but be held in rapture as the trio move into the final part of the choreography, the camera rotating slowly around them to get a peak at each man individually. He can tell those of the other groups who are watching; Changmin, Chanhee, and Sunwoo of THE BOYZ and the entire '99 line sans Mingi and San from ATEEZ share his thoughts, as they watch open mouthed. The others are scattered amongst the backstage.
Minho, Changbin, and Chan are across from Jisung on the other side of the stage conversing with the elder members of THE BOYZ, plus Kevin and Haknyeon while Felix, Jeongin, and Seungmin are whispering excitedly behind him with THE BOYZ maknae, Eric, and ATEEZ's leader, Hongjoong, and eldest, Seonghwa. Even though there are several people backstage(a respective 23) Jisung chose instead to separate himself a little bit, standing like an excited kid just outside of the cameras view as he watches the performance.
However, his focus is broken by a stage light shifting up in the rafters. The bass of the arrangement for the 'Triangular Fight' is loud and can be felt vibrating throughout the entire performance hall, enough to shake the water bottles and accessories littering the backstage as the boys performing had requested the volume be turned up, in order for them to fully soak into their element and story-telling.
Jisung can tell that had been an ill-advised decision as one of the spotlights up above was shaking with each beat of the music, groaning unhappily. Jisung grimaces, a flare of anxiety fluttering in his chest as well as a touch of anger. He really hoped the staff wouldn't have allowed the music to be turned up to a volume that could prove dangerous for their equipment and the performers.
A particularly loud section of the song filters across the stage and Jisung watches as the spotlight quivers alarmingly.
There comes a terrifying noise, a low creaking and popping sound, that makes Jisung cover his ears before the light fixture comes loose, dangling by a single wire as it swings downward, gaining momentum as it careens directly towards the one and only Hwang Hyunjin.
Jisung makes a split second decision.
With his heart in his throat and body pumping with adrenaline, Jisung dashes across the stage, shoving Hyunjin out of the way just as the heavy object reaches them.
There's a short moment of nothing. Jisung feels as if time has been suspended, himself watching as if underwater as Minho yells out loud, his face crumbling into sheer, devastating terror, as San is yanked back by the collar of his jacket into Wooyoung's chest, and Hyunjin crashes into Juyeon, the elder dancer managing to steady the both of them with large, strong hands.
Pain explodes on Jisung's left side, the rapper crying out as his body goes air-born, flying through the air as icy metal penetrates his skin.
The wire snaps and the stage light crashes to the floor.
They hit the ground at the same time, an ear-splitting bang reverberating around the stage, as the spotlight shatters and pieces skid across the polished, black-painted wood flooring; a mess of glass, shards of metal, and wire, Jisung in their midst. The crown too, which had been sitting in all its glory upon the pedestal the dancers had been circling, gets knocked off its post, an eery piece of beauty glimmering amongst the wreckage.
There's a moment of tense silence, the stage eerily quiet as all eyes land on the fallen rapper, before the silence is shattered by a cacophony of shouts, yells, and cries from all three groups present. Hyunjin pushes himself out of Juyeon's arms, scrambling as he runs over to Jisung, tears already streaking down his face.
"Sungie?" Hyunjin murmurs, his voice cracking as he hovers over the younger's body, scared to touch him. There's blood, a lot of blood coming from different places. Hyunjin's hands start to shake.
Chan reaches them then, skidding to a halt on his knees next to Jisung's shoulder. He moves Hyunjin out of the way, his movements growing more forceful when the dancer resists. "Hyunjin" Chan rasps, getting right in the boy's face. There's blood on his hands. Hyunjin meets Chan's eyes, his own drowning in fear. "I know this is really scary but I can't properly help Jisung if you don't move and let me see him."
It's evident the leader is using up every last reserve he has to keep his voice even, to prevent his panic from overwhelming his tone. Hyunjin nods blankly and somehow stumbles into Felix's waiting arms. He has no recollection of standing up and leaving Jisung, or how he got to the shorter dancer. He only knows that Felix is there, brushing nimble fingers through his hair, and muttering soft reassurances in his ear.
Abruptly, Hyunjin wraps Felix in a bone-crushing hug, burying his head into the younger's shoulder. "He pushed me out of the way." Hyunjin says, his voice detached. Then again, louder, his grip tightening, if possible, on Felix. "He pushed me out of the way!"
Hyunjin cranes his neck, catches a glimpse of Chan gingerly and ever so slowly, rolling the rapper onto his back as tears blanket his irises, and breaks. "That should be me! Not Sungie! He's too good, too pure. Why'd he push me out of the way, Felix? Couldn't he have chose, for once in his life, not to try to help. It should have been me." Hyunjin finishes, small and fragile. His heart hurts and guilt churns in his stomach painfully.
Jisung(the idiot, in Hyunjin's opinion, who decided to push him out of the way of a falling stage light) with a heart too large for his body, large brown eyes that have never given up on the wonder of the world, a laugh that could brighten even the worst of days, and an undeniable need to help and learn, looked far too unlike himself, prone and limp under the harsh stage lights, surrounded by more people than Hyunjin remembers being there before. The sight is heart-breaking and Hyunjin buries his head back into Felix's shoulder, unable to bare the burden of remorse.
Felix leads him off the stage, gathering Seungmin and Jeongin along the way, not once relenting in his whispers of quiet comfort.
~・✧・~
Chan's heart is thundering in his chest.
It's the only reason he believes he isn't dreaming as he drags his eyes over Jisung, rolls him gently onto his back.
There's a number of cuts and scrapes littering the rapper's body, tiny lacerations from the shattered glass that decorates the stage floor. Chan's own hands have probably racked up their own small-injuries in his haste to reach the younger but Chan can neither feel them, nor cares if they're there.
Jisung is his only priority.
He flutters about frantically; there's a rather large gash on Jisung's forehead, stretching from the tip of his eyebrow to his hairline in a jagged diagonal line, and another along his left forearm. His left was the side that had been directly hit by the stage light so Chan tries to tell himself that that's a bit of positive news; aside from the left, Jisung's right side is relatively unscathed.
There's another pair of hands brushing Jisung's hair away from his forehead and Chan startles, glancing up to find Changbin staring down at the final member of 3Racha, his face stricken by terror. Chan stutters out a breath, his ears ringing as panic starts to set in. Seeing Changbin's face, the raw worry and agony decorating his features, causes the true gravity of the situation to rush over Chan in a wave of cold, unforgiving truth.
This is real.
"Changbin, we need to call an ambulance immediately. These two gashes and the small cuts are the only visible injuries but I don't - there could be more internally. We should check his ribs-"
Chan lays one of his palms on Jisung's upper chest, feels dread well in his heart as Jisung let's out an unconscious cry, wiggling away from leaders's hands.
"Changbin, I need you to hold him steady." Chan urges, already reaching to check Jisung's ribs for any breaks again. But he stops a moment later when Changbin doesn't do anything, only sits frozen, his fingers gripping his knees. Chan looks up, meeting Changbin's eyes as the younger stares back with unshed tears and confusion. "Changbin, I need you to hold him-"
"I can't understand you, hyung." Changbin blurts, a single tear leaking down his cheek. He's overwhelmed, clearly. His words are desperate and frantic, scared. "You're speaking too fast, I can't understand. I don't know what to do, hyung, I'm sorry."
Chan blanks as Changbin rattles on, the younger's words flying over his head. Had he been talking in English? Chan can't be sure. His brain is a relentless loop of 'get help, get Jisung help', there isn't much room for concern over what language he's speaking. So, the duo stay, locked in limbo, both lost to worry and shock, unable to comprehend anything other than basic concepts.
Chan opens his mouth to request of Changbin again when Jisung lets out a small whine but he's interrupted before the words can come tumbling out of his mouth. A member of THE BOYZ, Haknyeon, steps up to the pair, flanked by two other members. The boy lays a hand on Changbin's shoulder, ushering his same-aged friend away as he gestures for the others to attend to Chan.
It's Kevin who kneels in front of Chan next, Jacob hot on his heels, as he rests his palm over Chan's trembling one, tenderness and empathy shimmering in his glassy eyes. "I know you're panicked right now," The Canadian starts in English, already guiding Jacob to gently hold Jisung still so that he and Chan can check for any broken bones. "But you've gotta breath. Tell us what you need us to do, in whatever language you can. Seonghwa is on the phone with an ambulance now and the rest of your members were taken backstage with ours and ATEEZ."
"He'll be alright, Chan" Jacob finishes, his never-ending kindness and comfort a welcome to Chan's frazzled mind. "Only about fifteen minutes until the ambulance will be here. Let's take care of Jisung-ah until then, ok?"
Chan nods, a bit of clarity reaching him as Jisung wraps his fingers around the leader's wrist, searching even in the depths of unconsciousness for comfort from his eldest hyung. The purple-haired male glances down at him, tears beginning to slip down his cheeks as Jacob and Kevin tend to the younger.
Chan threads their fingers together, gripping tightly, as he murmurs. "You'll be ok. Don't you dare leave me, Han Jisung."
~・✧・~
The hospital waiting room is a mess.
Even if the members of Stray Kids, THE BOYZ, and ATEEZ were not all entirely familiar with one another or knew each other well, Jisung had managed to wrap all of them around his pinky finger, as each group flounders into the sterile white waiting room in turn. They are met with Kevin, Jacob, and Chan when they arrive, the trio having accompanied the injured rapper on the ride to the hospital; Chan, for obvious reasons, and the Canadian duo in case the Australian began speaking in English once more.
They fall into uncomfortable, blue plastic chairs like dominos, one by one, some ending up on top of one another while others struggle to find a chair and choose the floor instead. However, there are no complaints, only a steady sullen silence broken occasionally by the small sniffles or muffled whispers.
Hyunjin is tucked tightly underneath Felix's arm, the younger refusing to let go of the taller male for more than a minute after he'd broken down crying. He wasn't crying anymore, merely staring unseeing at the pristine tiling, his eyes haunted and red-rimmed. Jeongin had marched directly to Chan upon arriving at the hospital and deposited himself in the eldest's lap, hiding his face in the leader's neck where he could cry unbidden, while Seungmin had sandwiched himself between Changbin and Minho, one of their hands gripped tightly in his own, each.
Chan, himself, has no idea how long exactly he's been sitting in the waiting room, the hours having blurred together and his ears ringing with the paramedics ramble of Jisung's easily identifiable injuries, 'Multitude of lacerations, at least one broken rib, possible concussion, no immediately recognizable internal bleeding but will watch' . It's terrifying, mind-numbingly so, and Chan finds he can only stroke Jeongin's hair with one hand while he grips Minho's with the other, praying that their hyper, lovable little squirrel will be ok.
It seems like an infinite amount of time has passed before a doctor struts through the swinging double doors, his stethoscope swaying with each step.
It's been long enough that the sky has fallen dark and Chan's legs have gone numb from Jeongin's weight, but the boy had finally drifted off to sleep an hour ago and Chan didn't have the heart to wake him.
"Han Jisung?" The doctor calls, his eyes roaming over the litany of young men decorating the waiting room as if he could pin-point exactly which one was the closest to Jisung.
Twenty-six hands rise into the air.
The doctor blew out a breath, his eyes softening. "I can't take all of you back at once. Are the boy's parents here or the leader of his group?" The doctor inquires, having recognized Jisung's name as a member of one of JYP's boy groups.
This time, it's only Chan who puts his hand up. "I'm the leader of Stray Kids, Bang Chan, sir. Jisung's parents are currently in Malaysia but our company has notified them and they'll be on the next flight out."
The doctor quirks a brow, motioning for Chan to come with him, which the younger does quickly, as he gently lifts Jeongin and lays him in Minho's lap instead. "Bang Chan, you say?" The doctor asks when Chan steps up to him, a small smile gracing his lips. "You're listed as Jisung's emergency contact. Lemme take you back, we can discuss his injuries on the way."
"Is he awake?" Chan asks, ignoring the slight flutter of butterflies at the knowledge that Jisung trusts him enough to name him as an emergency contact.
The doctor nods. "He is. He woke up about 30 minutes ago. He was a little disoriented but once we reminded him of what happened, he remembered everything and has been asking for each of your member's in turn, which is good."
Chan glances up at the taller male, confused. The doctor sighs. "Mr. Han suffered a mild concussion, multiple lacerations and lesions to his body, including a large gash to the head and left arm, two broken ribs, a broken collar bone, and his left shoulder was dislocated when they brought him in. Thankfully, there was no internal bleeding and we've stitched up both his head and arm. We've put his left arm in a sling to limit movement to his collar bone and to help with the pain in his shoulder. We also removed any shards of glass that had penetrated the skin and cleansed and bandaged those cuts. The only remaining injury we were worried about was the concussion but seeing as he remembers everything perfectly, we believe it to be only a minor concussion but we'd like to keep him for the next few days just to monitor his injuries and make sure nothing else pops up." The doctor recounts Jisung's patient information, ending with a kind smile directed at Chan.
"Your friend is very lucky. Those spotlights weigh a substantial amount, if it had been anything other than a graze of the light fixture, I'm not so sure Mr. Han would be awake and talking right now. He's quite the remarkable kid." The doctor chuckles fondly. A special gift of the one and only Han Jisung(everyone is smitten with him). "Ah~ Here we are, Room 325! I'll let you two have some privacy, I just ask you not be too loud. I'll send the rest of your party down in the waiting room up in a little bit, we've agreed to extend visiting hours since Mr. Han seems to have such a large group of people here supporting him." The doctor grips Chan's shoulder, his next words spoken from a place of comfort. "Mr. Han will be just fine. Don't worry too much."
And with that, the doctor turns and traipses down the hallway, humming a cheerful little tune under his breath.
For the first time in hours, Chan smiles.
Jisung was going to be ok.
~・✧・~
And he was.
Weeks later when Jisung's collarbone had healed enough to take his arm out of the sling and his ribs had mended, the youngest 3Racha member sat surrounded by a dorm-room full of Stray Kids, ATEEZ, and THE BOYZ. They had all decided to come over to the Stray Kids' dorm to celebrate Jisung's happy healing and getting his stitches removed.
It was a happy night, full of laughs, bright smiles, and a healthy level of competitive video-gaming.
"Thanks guys." Jisung says, once they've all settled down, their bellies full and minds content, enjoying the newfound friendship between the three groups.
"For what?" Hyunjin murmurs from where he's koala-hugging Jisung from the back, his gratitude for the younger and fear towards losing him resulting in a very attached and clingy Hyunjin who demanded cuddles 24/7.
Jisung sighs, snuggling further into Hyunjin's arms, enjoying his warmth and sturdy presence. "Just for being here." The rapper relents. "For helping me when I got hurt and waiting for so long in the hospital the night of. I really appreciate it and I'm really glad we've all gotten to be such good friends."
There's a number of coos around the room and Minho even leans over to pinch Jisung's cheeks.
"Don't mention it, Jisungie" San says, affectionately squeezing Jisung's knee. "We're just happy you're ok."
Jisung beams, feeling warm and loved all over.
"Oh! And a special thanks to Hyunjae-hyung for sneaking me chicken at the hospital! You're now my most favorite hyung ever!"
"Hyunjae!" a number of THE BOYZ members cry, "Not again!"