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It was another calm night in the city.
Yoshi sat on a park bench, not far from the dorm. It wasn't uncommon for him to come out here and just sit. As much as he loved his members, it was the alone time he so desperately needed. He liked the quietness that the night offered, very much contrasting with the day. The usually bustling streets were empty, save for a few passerby's here and there. It calmed him, gave him time to think, to breathe.
His heard his phone ping, screen lighting up from a text message.
Sukkie-hyung
- You heading back soon?
Yoshi looked at the time. 12:37
"Oh, I've been out here for awhile."
He usually was only gone for less than an hour, but it's pushing an hour and a half since he left. He replies to Hyunsuk's message, letting him know that he's on his way back. Fortunately, the walk back was only a few minutes.
Yoshi gets up from the bench, tucking his phone in his back pocket as he heads in the direction of the dorm. He barely notices a group of 3 men standing on the edge of the walkway until one of them shouts out to him.
"Hey kid!"
Yoshi turns towards the group, voice a little hesitant as he responds. "Yes?"
"You got any spare cash on ya? Me and my buddies are a little short for some beer." One of the men steps forwards a little bit, hands outwards in a seemingly friendly manner.
Yoshi is a little wigged out by the question. He shakes his head. "Sorry, I don't have anything on me." He says apologetically.
The first man looks at his two friends, and all three of them slowly begin to walk towards Yoshi.
"Aw. come on man. Help a brother out. I know you got at least a little bit of money on ya."
Yoshi takes a step backwards as the men get closer, alarm bells ringing in his head. "N-no, I really don't have anything."
The men get closer, surrounding Yoshi on all sides.
"Don't lie to me kid. Give me your money. Now."
Yoshi glances at the men surrounding him, trying to spot an opening to flee. If he can just make it past them, he's pretty certain he can outrun them.
Unfortunately, as he tries to make a break for it, the biggest of the three grabs him by the back of his shirt, yanking him backwards. Yoshi stumbles, barely able to catch his balance before a fist comes flying towards his face.
He doesn't get any time to recover when another fist connects with his stomach, efficiently knocking the air out of him. A foot makes contact with the back of his knee, sending him crashing to the hard ground.
The talker of the group, who seems to be the leader of the trio, comes forwards again, grabbing Yoshi by the collar of his shirt roughly.
"I'm giving you one last chance, boy. Give me your money, or else."
Yoshi can't help but tremble in fear. He knows that he has zero chance of escaping, and there isn't anyone nearby that can help him. He is 100% screwed.
"I told you, I don't have anything. I promise."
The leader clicks his tongue in disapproval. "Wrong answer."
Another punch catches Yoshi on the cheek, sending him crashing to the ground. His head connects with the concrete below him, pain radiating through his skull from the contact.
Someone straddles him, another punch sent flying his way. Then another, and another. Yoshi feels something wet running down his face, not sure if it's blood or tears. Eventually, the punches stop, and the man gets off of him as he searches his pockets. Yoshi doesn't even bother to fight as the men riffle through his pockets, a few kicks and punches every few seconds to keep him from moving. They take his phone, seemingly frustrated as their search doesn't result in anything else.
"He really doesn't have anything." The smallest of the three says, punctuating his sentence with a hard kick to his back.
The leader scoffs, clearly not happy. "Fucking useless."
The man kicks him again, once, twice, three more times. Yoshi wishes they would just leave him alone.
By some stroke of luck, it seems his wish was granted. The three men leave just as quickly as they came, and Yoshi finally takes a second the breathe.
His whole body hurts. He can barely take in any air without a sharp pain running through his chest. Every inch of his face throbs, his left eye completely useless as it's swollen shut. What worries him most is his head, a persistent throbbing making him dizzy.
After a few minutes, Yoshi attempts to push himself off the ground. He doesn't make it very far before he feels his stomach turn, throwing up onto the ground beneath him. He just manages to stop himself from falling into his own vomit, rolling onto his back.
He looks up at the night sky, vacant of stars due to the city lights. His vision starts to go black at the edges, but he fights it.
He has to get back to the dorm, he can't make the others worry.
Yoshi finally manages to push himself off the ground and onto his feet. His leg hurts to stand on, so his pace is unbearably slow as he limps along the sidewalk. He's sure that if anyone were to see him, they would think he was a zombie and run in the other direction.
He has to stop every few steps, catching his breath as he leans against cars and buildings. He isn't entirely sure where he is or how long it's been since he's been gone, but he keeps going in the direction of the dorm.
He just wants to go home.
It was safe to say that Hyunsuk was worried. Beyond worried.
Whenever Yoshi went out walking during the night, he was usually back home within 5 minutes. But 5 minutes had passed, and no sign of Yoshi.
Once it had gotten past 10 minutes, Hyunsuk got a little annoyed. It was incredibly unlike Yoshi to be late, typically letting his dormmates know if he would be out later than expected. He sends him a passive aggressive text, urging him to get home quickly if he didn't want an ear full of scolding from the leader later.
After 20 minutes, the annoyance started to turn into concern. Yoshi definitely should've been back by now. He tries to call him, but he doesn't answer. What the hell was he doing?
30 minutes went by. Still no Yoshi. He calls and texts him over and over, but the messages aren't delivering and the calls get sent straight to voicemail.
Hyunsuk sends a quick text to the members group chat, asking if Yoshi had stopped by the other dorms on his way back. Of course, they all say no.
He calls Jihoon, his co-leader, pleading under his breath for the other to pick up. He does almost immediately.
Hyunsuk quickly explains the situation, and Jihoon doesn't waste a second to be on his way, bringing Doyoung and Mashiho with him.
45 minutes after, and half of the members are standing in the dorm living room. They aren't really sure what to do at this point. Do they go out and search for him? Should they call someone, a manager, the police?
Hyunsuk glances at his phone again for the millionth time.
1:43
It has officially been 1 hour and 6 minutes since Yoshi texted him that he was on the way home.
Worry has morphed into panic. What if something bad happened to him?
Suddenly, the door to the dorm swings open. They all look up, hoping to see Yoshi walking in. Instead, it's Jaehyuk and Asahi.
"Is he back yet?" Jaehyuk asks. They tell him no, and he sighs.
"We had Yedam and Junghwan stay behind in case he goes by there instead." Asahi tells the group.
Jihoon gasps lightly in realization. "Crap, we should've woken Jeongwoo up before we left so he could keep a look out."
"I'll go wake him up. I'll be right back." Doyoung says as he gets up, hurriedly making his way out the door.
Hyunsuk sighs loudly, burying his face in his hands. "I should've never let him go out on his own."
"He's not a child, hyung. He's old enough to take care of himself." Junkyu remarks.
"Clearly not if he's been missing for over an hour. His phone isn't even on anymore. He always has his phone on."
Jihoon runs his hand soothingly over Hyunsuk's back. "It's gonna be okay. The manager is on his way, and we will find him soon. Just relax a little bit."
Hyunsuk opens his mouth to respond, but the sound of the door creaking open stops him. They all expect it to be Doyoung coming back from alerting Jeongwoo. Instead, they see an incredibly weak and battered Yoshi stumbling through the doorway.
"Holy shit." Jaehyuk says quietly as he rushes over to Yoshi, being the closest to the door.
Yoshi practically falls onto Jaehyuk, hardily able to keep himself on his feet anymore. Jihoon pushes past everyone to reach the two, quickly grabbing onto Yoshi.
A string of "Oh my God's" and "What happened?" come from the group, shocked at the appearance of their friend.
Yoshi's face is a swollen mess of blood and bruises. His breathing is shallow, and his left knee looks double the size it should be. Jihoon puts Yoshi's arm over his shoulder, causing the other one to groan in pain. He practically drags him over to the couch with Jaehyuk's help, the others moving out of the way in a hurry.
Hyunsuk kneels down next to Yoshi's position on the couch. He grabs one of his hands gently, not wanting to hurt or startle the other.
"Yoshi, can you hear me?" He asks firmly. The other nods, head resting against the couch with his eyes closed.
"Good. Can you tell me what happened?"
Yoshi murmurs something in Japanese, wincing as he adjusts his sitting position.
"He said he got mugged." Mashiho translates.
Hyunsuk curses under his breath. How could he let something like this happen?
"Can you keep talking to him, make sure he stays awake please?" Hyunsuk asks, and Mashiho quickly slides next to Yoshi.
Yoshi cracks an eye open as he feels a weight shift next to him on the couch. He sees Mashiho watching him with a worried expression. His lips are moving, but he doesn't register what the other is saying.
He says the first thing that comes to his head. "They took my phone." Mashiho nods. "It's okay, we can get you a new one."
The adrenaline must have worn off by now, because Yoshi feels way worse than he did before. He's so exhausted, all he wants to do is curl up into a ball and sleep forever.
"So tired. Hurts." He mutters out. Mashiho wants to pat his head, it usually soothes him, but he's afraid of hurting him more. "I know, but you can't yet. Soon, but not yet."
Yoshi whines in protest. Why can't they just let him sleep?
Jihoon moves into view, saying something to him. His head hurts too much for him to understand. The confusion must've been evident, as Mashiho translates in Japanese what Jihoon said to him. "We have to move you now. The manager is here, and he's taking you to the hospital." Yoshi hums in response.
"I don't think he can understand Korean right now." Mashiho tells Jihoon. He sighs. "That is not a good sign." Mashiho shakes his head. "No, it isn't."
Jihoon looks over his shoulder. "Jaehyuk, can you help me get him on my back. I don't think he can walk very far." Jaehyuk nods as his comes forwards. They get on both sides of him, lifting him under the arms to get him slowly off the couch. Yoshi groans loudly in protest, Jihoon muttering a quick apology as they maneuver him onto his back.
Yoshi rests his head on Jihoon's back, using the last of his energy to hold on. They make their way out of the dorm, every step causing pain to radiate through his chest, uncomfortably pressed up against Jihoon. He feels the world tilt as his vision goes black, going completely limp as he slips out of consciousness.
Jihoon feels the other go limp, clutching onto him harder as he begins to slide off of his back, shouting out for someone to help. Jaehyuk catches him, holding him up as they continue walking.
The other follow right behind, utterly silent as they make their way outside. The manager is waiting outside, swinging the back door to the car open as he sees the boys approaching. They manage to get Yoshi laying down in the back seat, still unconscious.
Hyunsuk makes a move towards the passenger seat, but the manager stops him.
"No. You need to stay here. We can't risk having anyone seeing you."
"But-" The manager raises a hand up. "No buts. You stay. I will update you all later." And with that, the manager gets into the driver seat and speeds away.
The group all stand outside the dorm, watching as the car rides out of sight.
Haruto speaks up for the first time that night. "He's gonna be okay, right?"
No one responds. They only stand there, shock and worry keeping them in place.
All they could do now was wait.
By the time they had reached the hospital, Yoshi had regained consciousness. Everything was a blur as he was taken out of the car and rushed into a room, doctors and nurses surrounding him. There were lots of questions, lots of hands touching him, poking and prodding at his various injuries. Everything hurts, and the bright fluorescent lights are making his head throb even more than it was before. He just wants to go home and sleep.
He's goes through a bunch of tests, each one more exhausting than the last. Apparently, he has a pretty decent concussion, which would explain why his head hurt so bad. He also has a couple of cracked ribs, and a sprained knee to top it all off. The doctor tells him that he was lucky to get away with relatively minor injuries, and no internal bleeding. Yoshi doesn't care. He just wants to go home.
Finally, by late morning, Yoshi is released from the hospital. He's given a bunch of instructions on how to care for his injuries and what to expect with the recovery period, but he is too tired to internalize the information.
When they finally get back home, all of the members are there waiting for him. The manager fills them in on everything they need to know before leaving, saying something about "sorting out this whole mess" at the company.
They all turn their attention back to Yoshi, who was currently laid down on the couch, his head in Yedam's lap. He's halfway between being asleep and awake, a hand gently stroking his hair bringing him closer and closer to the slumber he so desperately desires. There's hushed voices around him, but he doesn't have it in him to care to try and listen.
Someone grabs his shoulder gently, shaking him lightly. "Yoshi, let's get you into bed, okay?" Yoshi whines lowly, "Don't wanna move."
Jihoon sighs, patting the other's shoulder. "I know, but you can't sleep here. We have to keep your leg elevated, and you can't use Yedam as a pillow all day."
Yoshi whines again, rolling over slightly in an attempt to get up. Jihoon helps him sit up slowly as to not aggravate his broken ribs too much. They walk slowly to Yoshi's bedroom, careful not to put too much pressure on his knee.
Jihoon sets him on the bed before helping him change out of his blood-stained clothes from the night before. He sucks in a breath when they get his shirt off, shocked at the amount of bruises covering his skin. Jihoon expected it to be bad, but it looks much worse than anticipated. Hardly any part of his torso is left unmarked, some of the bruises so dark they are almost black in color.
He manages to get a shirt on him without causing him too much discomfort, not bothering with pants right now. Yoshi lays down on his back, and Jihoon tucks him in, making sure his leg is raised onto a pillow.
"Are you okay to be alone? Do you need anything?" Jihoon asks. Yoshi just hums in response, which the other takes as a no.
"Alright, I'll leave the door cracked, just shout out if you need anything."
Yoshi hums again, slowly floating into a peaceful sleep.
Yoshi wakes up in confusion. It's dark, save for the light coming from the cracked door. He knows he's in his bed, but he doesn't remember how he got there. He also has no idea where his phone is. Or what time it is. Or why everything hurts so much.
He grunts loudly as he swings his legs over the side of the bed. He feels like he got hit by a bus. Did he get hit by a bus?
He pushes himself off the bed and begins to hobble towards the door. Someone must've heard him struggling, because the door swings open, a shadow casted on the person from the bright lights in the hallway.
"Why didn't you call for help? You shouldn't be trying to walk on your own right now." It's Junkyu, ever the scolder. He grabs onto Yoshi's arm to support him.
"Sorry." Yoshi apologizes meekly. "It's alright," Junkyu reassures him, "where are you trying to go?"
Yoshi thinks for a second. Where was he trying to go?
"I don't remember." He says finally.
"That's okay. Do you need to go to the bathroom maybe?"
Yoshi doesn't think that's it, but nods anyways. Junkyu leads him into the bathroom slowly, turning the light on as they enter. Yoshi stops at the mirror, shocked at what he sees. His face is swollen beyond recognition. It looks like someone used him as a personal punching bag.
"What the hell happened to my face?"
Junkyu looks at him with an odd expression on his face. "You don't remember?"
Yoshi tries to think about what could've possibly caused this. He thinks he sort of remembers someone hitting him, but he can't recall much else. "Someone hit me?"
"Kind of. You got mugged in the park you always go to."
Oh yeah. He remembers now, mostly.
"They beat me up?"
Junkyu nods. "Yeah, they did. Pretty badly."
Yoshi frowns. "That's not cool."
Junkyu chuckles. "You are right about that one."
Yoshi turns away from the mirror, sick of looking at himself. He realizes belatedly he needs to pee, like, really bad. He voices that to Junkyu, who helps him over to the toilet.
"You don't need me to, like... help you, right?" Yoshi gives him a judging look. "My hands work fine, Kyu."
Junkyu nods. "Right, right. I'll, uh, just wait outside. Yell when you're done." He leaves in a hurry, clearly embarrassed.
Yoshi does his business, hobbling over to the sink to wash his hands. He exits the bathroom, Junkyu waiting for him on the other side.
"Do you want to go back to your room?" He asks. Yoshi shakes his head. "The couch is fine."
They head over to the couch, Junkyu setting Yoshi down as gently as possible, propping his knee up on one of the throw pillows. He walks away for a moment, heading into the kitchen to grab the ice packs out of the freezer. He places one over his swollen knee, handing the other two to him.
"For your ribs and face, it'll help with the swelling."
Yoshi puts the ice pack on the side of his chest that hurts the most, bringing the other one up to hold against his eye.
"They took my phone." He tells Junkyu, who nods. "We know, you've said that already. Don't worry about it, you'll get a new one soon. Do you want anything to eat? I can make you some ramen."
Yoshi nods. He didn't realize until Junkyu mentioned it how hungry he was. He can't remember the last time he ate anything. Granted, he couldn't remember a lot of things right now.
After a few minutes, Junkyu brings him a bowl full of steaming ramen, the smell making his stomach growl. He doesn't hesitate to devour the bowl, not caring that it burns his mouth a little. Junkyu takes the bowl when he finishes, placing it in the kitchen sink.
"Where is everyone?" Yoshi asks him. "Hyunsuk is at the company. Haruto should be in his room."
"Oh, okay. I think I'm gonna take a nap now." Yoshi announces. He knows he just woke up, but he can't seem to shake the exhaustion off. Junkyu takes the ice packs off of him, throwing a blanket over him, and Yoshi drifts off into sleep again.
It feels like only a few minutes pass by when he feels his stomach turn. He opens his eyes and sits up quickly, yelping loudly as he does. He needs to get up, his stomach hurts so bad and he doesn't want to get sick on the living room floor.
He hears footsteps rapidly approaching from the hallway. "Yoshi, are you okay?" Hyunsuk asks. He must've gotten home while he was napping.
Yoshi shakes his head. "Gonna be sick." He gags harshly, trying to hold off the nausea that crept up his throat. Hyunsuk shouts out, "Haruto! Bring a trashcan, now!" The yelling makes his ears ring and his head throb. Suddenly, there's a small trashcan being thrusted under his chin, and as if on que, he throws up into it. The retching makes his ribs hurt, and by the time he stops, his whole chest feels like it's on fire. Tears roll down his cheeks as he whimpers pathetically.
Hyunsuk rubs soothing circles into his back, muttering apologies and comforting words as he cries. It breaks Hyunsuk's heart to see him in so much pain, he wishes he could do something to take it all away.
"Don't worry, this is normal." Junkyu said from behind him. Hyunsuk looked at him quizzingly. "Since when were you a doctor?"
"I'm not," he replied, "but clearly I am the only one that read the information pamphlets his doctor gave us."
Yoshi groans loudly, cutting off the conversation. His stomach still hurt, but not nearly as much as his head and chest. He just wanted all of the pain to stop already.
"This sucks." He mumbles. Hyunsuk gives him a sympathetic look. "I know it does. Can we do anything to make you feel better?"
Yoshi shakes his head. "I don't think so. I just want to go back to sleep." He doesn't wait for a response, simply laying back down and shutting his eyes. He knows he should probably go back to his room, but he doesn't have the energy to walk right now. He can feel some rustling around him, a blanket being lightly placed over him. He mumbles a small "Thank you" before nodding off into sleep again.
A week later, Yoshi was feeling much better. The first couple of days of recovering were rough, in a state of constant pain, nausea and exhaustion. Eventually, the nausea and exhaustion wore off, and the pain in his head and the soreness in his body had mostly disappeared. The pain from his broken ribs was still very much there, but that would take a few more weeks to heal. His knee still hurt, but he could stand on it and walk around without too much discomfort. He was mostly happy about his face looking almost back to normal (it was his money maker, after all). The swelling had gone away, and the bruises were much smaller and fainter in color, a more greenish-yellowish than dark purple.
He was also happy to finally get a new phone. The other boys had started keeping a tally of how many times he mentioned his phone was stolen, totaling to 34 times over the week (Yoshi only remembers saying it a couple of times max, but the whole week was hard to remember anyways, so he took their word for it.)
They never caught the guys who did it. Yoshi had a hard time remembering exactly what happened and what they looked like, and there was no security cameras in the area that caught the assault. Yoshi was kind of relieved to just drop it.
Now that his head wasn't hurting as much anymore and he was able to look at a screen without giving him a headache, they all decided to have a movie night together. It was nice to have all of them in the same room for a good reason as opposed to the last time they were all together.
All of the boys piled onto the couch, some sitting on the floor. Yoshi took his position on the end so he could keep his knee up and iced.
"How much longer do you have to use the ice packs for?" Junghwan asked him.
"Probably not much longer. It wasn't a bad sprain anyways." Yoshi tells him. "Don't worry, I should be good as new in a couple of weeks."
"I'm just glad your concussion is better. I know you don't really remember it much, but man was that rough." Jeongwoo says.
"And the whole time he was more upset about his phone than anything else." Yedam laughs.
Yoshi groans. "How many times are you guys going to keep bringing that up?"
"As many times as you did. So 34." Jihoon teases. Yoshi sighs. "I was concussed, cut me some slack."
"In all seriousness, I'm glad you're feeling better." Hyunsuk says. "But just so you know I am never letting you go anywhere alone ever again."
Yoshi chuckles. "Whatever you say mom."
The conversation dies then as the movie starts, and Yoshi relishes in the feeling of comfort and safety his members give him. He was usually the one looking after and taking care of the others, so it was nice to have everyone caring for him for a change. Of course, he could've done without the whole "getting beaten up" thing, but it was a comforting feeling to know that they had his back.
He was just happy to know his brothers were there for him like he was for them.