Chapter Text
As the horrible image played out in front of him, it was as if the world slowed down. Beomgyu tried to run towards his dongsaeng, but it was like his legs couldn’t move properly. A deep abyss sucked him inside and no matter how much he tried he made no progress. Beomgyu ran and ran and ran towards him until his lungs screamed and his legs turned to jelly, but he could never reach him.
A screaching scream pierced the air, and Beomgyu was so horrified that he couldn’t even recognize it was his own voice. He couldn’t do anything, but watch as the sesang got closer and rushed towards the group. The security guards, much like Beomgyu, they were too slow. Heuningkai got scared, his feet backing him away as quickly as he could. He didn’t see the distinct crack in the floorboards, or the pipe jutting a bit far out of the ground.
“HEUNING-AH!!!!” Beomgyu shouted at the tops of his lungs until his voice collapsed. Why couldn't he reach him? Why couldn't Heuning hear him?
Heuning didn’t know. His feet shuffled even quicker back, the security guards finally catching the seasang and stopping her dead in her tracks. It was too little too late. Heuning’s face looked horrified, his foot stumbling and tripping over the cracked floors. His momentum made him fall backwards.
“HHEEEUNNIINNGGG!!!” Beomgyu shrieked and sobbed ,the horror playing out in slow motion. Heuning fell, the accosting piping in the perfect spot. When he hit the ground, the pipe tore through his chest. Heuning lay confused, before blood started pooling to his lips. He noticed the pipe sticking through his ribcage, blood suddenly soaking his clothing as he coughed up blood.
“HEEUNINNG!!! No!” Beomgyu felt his legs collapsing beneath him, the sobs wrecking his body. He still couldn't get any closer. It was as if an invisible wall separated him from his dongsaeng, and there was nothing he could do but watch as Heuningkai bled and cried. His dongsaeng started to grow weak, his hands falling limp and his eyes slowly closing.
“Heuning!! Heuning-ah, no! Keep your eyes open. Stay with me Heuning. Please. Please don’t leave me!” No matter how desperately he begged, it was like Heuning couldn’t hear him. His eyes closed, and his body fell still and lifeless.
“Nooo!! HEUNNIINGG!! Don’t leave me alone, please. HEUNINGG-AHHH!!!”
*GASP*
Beomgyu jolted from the mattress, gasping and shaking as his body scrambled into a sitting position. His chest hurt, his lungs out of breath and only bringing it back to him. His hair stuck to his forehead; it was so soaked in sweat, his body feeling hot beneath his thin cover.
Beomgyu breathed and looked around at his surroundings. There was no more abyss, no more horror. He was in his bedroom, he could hear the water running as one of the members took a shower, hear Yeonjun shouting and Taehyun laughing from the living room.
“It was just a nightmare. Everything’s okay, everyone is safe. It was only another nightmare.” Beomgyu found himself silently whispering to himself, as if it was a mantra. He let the realization really sink in and with time his breathing came back to him.
Despite knowing, his chest still ached and his body still trembled. Beomgyu tried to move forward, and the moment he reached the end of his bed he realized he felt a bit different from the other nightmares. Without the heat of his terror warming him, he actually felt really cold. Beomgyu’s vision got a bit dizzy when he moved.
“Hyunnggg. Gyu hyunnggg, time to wake up.” That was a voice Beomgyu would recognize anywhere. Beomgyu wearily looked towards his bedroom door, noticing his eyes felt heavier than normal. Suddenly the door burst open, and his smiling and tall makane burst into the room.
“Hyuunngg. Wake up, we have schedules today.” Heuning was smiling, and happy. Holding a plushie in his arms. He spoke without really looking, Beomgyu feeling his heart inadvertently beat a bit extra when he saw him standing there. “Oh, you’re already awake.”
Beomgyu hesitated, his brains still swimming in too many conflicting emotions just looking at Heuning. “Huh? Oh yeah. Yeonjun hyungs screaming woke me up.”
“Ahh, okay. Well we have to head to the studio soon.”
“Okay.” Beomgyu nodded. He still felt a bit dizzy. His head was groggy. Heuningkai acted like he was going to leave, but stopped midway through the door frame.
“Are you okay hyung? You seem a bit off.” Heuning sounded worried for him, Beomgyu’s heart panging in his chest.
“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. I just slept really deeply is all.”
“Okay.” Heuning didn’t sound convinced by his words, but he didn’t pry any further. He gave Beomgyu his time and closed the bedroom door behind him, but Beomgyu was certain he was going to go to the living room and tell the others about how strange he seemed.
He knew he needed to get up, but still Beomgyu hung off the side of his bed. He felt like he hated himself a little bit. He had just lied to his dongsaeng. He always preached about how he hates lies, but here he was lying to his members. He just…he couldn’t let them know. Beomgyu wished he could have been sleeping deeply, but really he hasn’t slept well in ages. Last night was the first 2 hours he has gotten in a couple days. He’s been having that same nightmare for the past week…over and over and over and over again. He hates closing his eyes, because he knows he’s going to see it happen again. He hasn’t told anyone though. They already have so much pressure on their shoulders. He didn’t want them to worry about him, especially not Heuningkai.
Seeing Heuningkai there partially made him feel better. It was extra reassurance that he’s okay, that the nightmare is just a stupid silly nightmare. But it’s also a reminder that it’s not. Whenever Beomgyu sees him his heart stops a bit, and he feels guilty as hell. He loves his maknae, but everytime he can’t help but see the thick thick bandages covering his forearm. The gauze was always too heavy and large for his long sleeves to cover, so the injury glared at Beomgyu’s eyes every second.
It reminded him that it wasn’t just a nightmare. A week ago, after returning from a small trip, that had really happened. The only difference was the pipe had gone through Heuning’s forearm instead. He’s been seen by multiple doctors and had to have surgery to repair the damage, but they were assured that the pipe had missed anything vital and he wouldn’t lose that much motion. After a long recovery period he will be back to 100% again, with only a nasty looking scar to remember it by.
They had all been there when it happened. The other members seemed fine now, perfectly comforted and restored to normal by the news that Heuning was going to be perfectly fine. Beomgyu couldn’ help himself though. Every time he saw Heuning he could see his arm, and he couldn’t help but think about the what if’s. What if the pipe had been just several centimeters to the left, and Heuning would never be able to use his arm again. What if Heuning had been farther over, and it really had pierced his chest or something vital. Less than a meter. Less than a meter had kept Beomgyu from losing one of his best friends forever.
“Beomgyu-ah! Come on!” Yeonjun was shouting again,this time sounding more pensive and annoying. Beomgyu hadn’t really realized how long he’d been sitting there. Taking one last deep breath, Beomgyu wiped some of the sweat from his brow. He tried to put a smile on his face, trying to look normal despite feeling like death and exhaustion had hit him like a freight train.
As Beomgyu stood and walked out of the room he remained lightheaded, his stomach churning a bit as well. It was probably from not sleeping and seeing Kai again. Just lingering thoughts from the nightmare. That’s it. He was certain he’d get better soon.
Beomgyu carefully walked out to the living room, discreetly leaning against the wall as he did so. He knew they would notice, but tried to just make it look like he was still half asleep and just dragging around from being tired.
He walked out to see everyone gathered in the living room, talking and chatting around the coffee table as Yeonjun drank some coffee.
“Hyung.” Heuning was smiling again. His grin was so wide and bright, but Beomgyu couldn’t help but see his wrapped arm resting on the chair’s side.
“Morning.” Beomgyu bowed slightly. He hoped they didn’t see him stumble.
“Dude, why aren’t you ready? The managers are going to be waiting for us.” It was only at Yeonjun’s words that Beomgyu noticed, he really was the only one still in pajamas. Everyone else was already dressed.
“Ah, sorry. I just need to change and I’ll be done.”
“Hurry-ouch!” Yeonjun’s arm gently rubbed the back of his head, Soobin having lightly smacked him and was now grinning about it a bit.
“Ignore him. He’s crabby this morning. You still have some time Beomgyu.” Soobin reassured his dongsaeng that there was no need to rush too much. Beomgyu still felt like he should be fast though. He didn’t want to anger anybody. He felt gross and slimy, but he supposed for now there was no time to shower.
“Right. I’ll get ready then.” Beomgyu went to turn around, but halted real quick. He couldn’t just leave and not ask. “By the way, how’s your arm feeling Kai?”
The members smiled in a knowing way, having been waiting for it to happen. Ever since it happened, every morning without fail Beomgyu always asks Heuningkai about his arm. He always checks on him the most throughout the day, making sure he’s extra careful with the wound. The injury has turned him into a dotting hyung it seems. They knew he wouldn’t be able to leave without asking at least once.
“Eh, it’s sore. They said it looks good though. Taehyun already helped me clean it and redress it this morning.” Heuning still looked so happy and comfortable. Beomgyu was sure it probably hurt a bit more than just being a little sore though. He got stabbed clean through with a metal pipe. How could it not hurt like a bitch?
“Was it still seeping?” This time Taehyun answered his question. He knew better, since Heuningkai always avoided looking at it when they were cleaning the wound. Gore has always grossed him out quite a bit.
“A bit, but it’s really minimal now. The stitches are holding well. It’s healing just like the doctor said hyung.” Beomgyu nodded. He could at least find reassurance in that, right? The surgeon had said the wound could still leak up to two weeks after surgery, and that it’s perfectly normal and necessary for healing. He also said the pain would probably last a while, maybe even longer than two weeks. So Heuningkai is still on track then.
“Good. Make sure you take your pills before the pain gets worse.”
“I will hyung. Promise.” Heuning made a pinky swear and cutely winked towards his hyung. He was so glad when it made Beomgyu giggle. He hadn’t seen his hyung smile yet that morning.
“We know Beomgyu-ah. He’ll be fine. We already said that he’ll take them when we eat breakfast.
Which will be at the studio.
Which we will go to once you are OUT-OF-YOUR-PAJAMAS-Ouch!” Soobin smacked Yeonjun again, the eldest once again rubbing his head.
“Alright, alright. I’m going. Jeez, drink another americano. Or maybe six.” Beomgyu scoffed as he shuffled himself away, irritation still seeping through the foggy cloud that festered through his head.
He
was the one that hasn’t slept in days and keeps repeatedly watching his friend die, and yet somehow Yeonjun is the worst today. What the fuck is up with that?
As Beomgyu went back to his bedroom and grabbed clothes, he honestly felt super dismayed. Two hours had done nothing to keep his limbs from feeling like lead. Just lifting his feet and moving was so difficult. His head aches. He couldn’t think straight. His vision danced with every small shuffle of motion. His stomach still flipped and twisted inside of his gut. Today was going to be a long day.
~~~
The air around the practice room felt clammy and suffocating, Beomgyu having melted against the wall with his eyes closed tightly. This morning he had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be a good day, but he had no small inclining of just how incredibly horrible it truly was. Truthfully, Beomgyu felt like being hit by a freight train may be less painful at this moment in time.
Unlike what he had hoped, his symptoms from this morning had only worsened as time continued. They were supposed to have a dance practice for the next 4 hours, but just taking small baby steps took every ounce of Beomgyu’s concentration and energy. He could hardly lift his feet at all. His body felt like he was dragging around tons of lead. He ached from bruises and missteps, which only made sense since he had been running into doors and tripping over nothing all day. His members thought he was absolutely bonkers because he was wearing a long sleeve and jacket in 80 degree weather, but his body still felt so incredibly cold. It was a struggle to keep his eyelids from closing, and every moment he succeeded was also a punishment against his body as the room spun and the lights burned into his retinas. His ears rang a constant, high pitched drone that made his headache pound even more intensely. It was as if someone was taking a hammer and pounding it into his brain repeatedly.
“2 minutes left!” Yeonjun’s loud announcement shrieked into his head, Beomgyu trying to hide how painful it had been for him. Beneath all of the pain and ache, he felt horribly guilty. He’s been avoiding almost everyone all day, but he just didn’t know any other way. He thought the only way to not reveal how miserable he felt was to not see them all together. After he saw Heuningkai take his pain meds this morning he left the room, because he didn’t want them to notice that he wasn’t going to eat. Even just drinking water made him dry heave. He had found various reasons to do something else or ditch his members all day long. He knew they were still worried about him, the makanes wondering if they had angered him somehow, and he felt like utter shit for it. He hated himself for making them feel that way, but he would do so even more if they found out and babied him and canceled schedules just because he’s a bit under the weather. The longest he had spoken to them really was their conversation in the dorm this morning. But now it was dance practice. 4 hours of constant workouts and movements, with no way to easily escape without a good explanation. God, he was so fucked.
“Come on, let’s go.” Beomgyu groaned. Could he really even stand up? At this point his body has become one with the sweaty freezing floor. Struggling he slowly pushed himself into a standing position, hiding his stumbling and stiff body movements the best that he could manage. The other three members were already ready to go, Heuningkai smiling as he watched from the side.
They had all told him he was more than welcome to go back to the dorm, but the maknae had insisted that he stay and watch everyone practice. His arm was still too fragile from the surgery for Heuning to dance, and he probably wouldn’t be able to for a few more weeks. In the meantime they were just practicing old routines and doing individual work, but their makane still didn’t want to feel left out. Beomgyu could understand where he was coming from.
“Let’s start with Cat and Dog. On 3.” Beomgyu wanted to whine and complain. Could they have picked a harder song? God, he just wanted to die at this point.
“And 1-2-3-”
Somehow Beomgyu managed to stumble through the first hour of dance practice without vomiting all over the floor. He definitely felt like he needed to, but he didn’t. It was clear as day that he totally sucked though. Beomgyu was always a step behind, making mistakes and tripping over his own feet. He never did this badly in practice, especially on choreography they already know, but today he couldn’t get a single move right.
“Beomgyu, stop. We’re already on the second verse.” Yeonjun halted practice yet again, sighing as he turned towards his dongsaeng, yet again. Somehow Beomgyu was an entire chorus behind. How does that even happen?
“Oh ,really? Sorry.” He really hadn't any idea where they were at in the song at all. Where did the first verse go then? Beomgyu tried to bow in apology, his foot slipping beneath him. His heart beat rapidly as he struggled to catch himself, his impending fall abruptly halted as Soobin caught him.
“I got you.” Soobin sounded steady and calm, but in reality he couldn’t have been more concerned.
“Thanks. Sorry hyung.” Beomgyu stood himself back up. He can’t believe he just let that happen. His head was still spinning. “I’ll do better this time. Let’s try again.”
“Maybe we should take a break.” No matter how Beomgyu felt personally, nothing made him panic faster than hearing the eldest speak those words. They couldn’t stop practicing because of him. He can’t hold them back like that, it’s the only reason that he’s barely managed this far. What would be the point of all of his painstaking effort if they gave up now?
“No! No, I can do it! I swear.”
“Hyung, are you sure you feel okay?” Taehyun himself looked worried too. He wasn’t sure if Beomgyu was aware of how pale and lifeless he looks, but taking a good look at his hyung Taehyun certainly saw it. Sweat poured from his forehead like he had been running a marathon, and they hadn’t even worked that hard today.
“I’m fine.”
“Hyung, maybe you should sit here with me. Just for a few songs.” To Heuningkai sitting on the ground and watching this travesty unfold felt painful to him. He felt bad enough that he couldn’t participate and had halted the team, but somehow Beomgyu seemed even worse. It was like Beomgyu was a leaf in the wind, being tossed and thrown about in the choreography. He felt guilty that he couldn’t be up there and help in a more direct way, but at least he could try.
“No, I can do it. Let me try just one more time.” Beomgyu wasn’t certain why he was insisting so much. Sitting on the floor with Heuning for a few songs sounded like a blessing from the heavens. Maybe it was his pride that wouldn’t let him accept defeat, or his guilt and embarrassment at holding back his team members. He wasn’t actually certain he could do even one more song. He was practically swallowing vomit already. Black spots danced in front of his vision, which he just tried to ignore the best he could. The ringing was so loud in his head that he struggled to hear the music.
Uncomfortable silence hung through the air for a few moments. Just from looking in each other's eyes, the four members could confirm that no one wanted him to do this. Heuning had already told them about this morning, how something seemed wrong. Then they hadn’t seen him most of the day, and now this. It was incredibly clear by now that something was up, but Beomgyu was still so stubborn and determined. He trusted them. He would have told them if something was really serious right?
“One more. After that we’re taking a break.” Yeonjun spoke seriously, getting into his position with uncertain nerves bubbling in his veins. He had made the decision, and yet somewhere in his gut it still didn’t feel right. Beomgyu wasn’t certain if he was glad to hear it or hating himself even more now for prolonging his own suffering.
Beomgyu stumbled to his spot, Yeonjun restarting the song and the practice beginning again. He had said he would do better, but even at the first beat Beomgyu entered too late. It was too difficult to move his limbs this quickly. The ringing was so loud, he couldn’t hear what section they were on. Time seemed to be slowly ticking on and on and on at agonizing speed. The room was spinning. He felt nauseous inside of it; like he was being bounced around a tumbling washing machine. At some point the black spots grew bigger, further obscuring his vision. Was his vision that spotty or were his eyes closing? He wasn’t sure anymore. God, when did the lights get so bright? What were they even doing? Is he even dancing anymore, or did he just suddenly stop and give up. He couldn’t hear the music at all, or anything for that matter. It was all being drowned by this painful shrieking that just wouldn’t stop. Why wouldn't it just stop?
Beomgyu had no idea what was going on, but he felt as if the world was crumbling around him. All of a sudden he couldn't’ force his limbs to move even a single step more. It was as if the darkness from his nightmares was coming to swallow him. The lights grew to a blinding light, his breathing hitching in fear. His terror was fleeting, because soon the darkness came and swallowed him whole.
The scene was like something from a horror film, but Yeonjun personally felt like it was so much worse than any movie scene could be. They had barely been into the song and Beomgyu was already falling behind again. Yeonjun wanted to sigh, wondering if he should just stop the music and call for a break right then. Beomgyu wasn’t making any progress, in fact he seemed to be doing worse this performance. Sometimes not working is actually the best work that you can do.
They reached the first chorus, and abruptly Beomgyu just stopped. In the middle of a movement directly in the center, Beomgyu completely froze and his body went still.
“Beomgyu, what is it?” Everyone was stunned, Soobin being the first to speak up. He had a bad feeling about this. He should have told Yeonjun not to try again.
“-----” Beomgyu wasn’t responding. He just stood there, breathing heavily and staring into the distance. His eyes were clouded, slowly drooping closed before abruptly opening again, then repeating the process.
“Beomgyu-ah? Are you okay?” Yeonjun stepped closer slowly, Soobin doing the same beside him. They were confused, uncertain of what was going on. It’s not like Beomgyu to just ignore people, but he has to be able to hear them right? They were worried Beomgyu might suddenly panic and fall if they touched him abruptly.
“------”
“Hyung?” Heuningkai was starting to lean up, Taehyun starting to back up towards him in case he needed help. Despite his motions, his eyes never left Beomgyu.
There was never any reply. Just suddenly Beomgyu started swaying on his feet, his breathing hiccuping and snagging inside of his lungs. A low moan escaped from his lips, and before anybody could realize what was happening his body was crashing limply to the floor.
Almost everyone in the room stopped breathing for a few moments.
“Omg. Beomgyu!” Yeonjun immediately shouted out, he and Soobin rushing towards the younger’s side within a matter of seconds. It was too late. Beomgyu had already collided with the floor. Taehyun was frozen, his breath still not having quite returned to him as his head filled with shock. Heuningkai was shocked too. He wanted to stand but his left arm was shaking too badly to lift him, and he couldn’t lean against his right.
“Beomgyu. Beomgyu-ah!” Soobin was shouting closely to Beomgyu’s head, kneeled on his knees beside him. His hands lightly shook his shoulders, but Beomgyu was unresponsive. He seemed to be breathing a bit slowly, but nothing too bad. His eyes were closed tightly though, and he wasn’t moving. As Soobin continued shaking his shoulders and trying to get him to wake up, Yeonjun started checking Beomgyu’s body and head. He had some bruises on his arms and legs, but they were probably unrelated. Yeonjun still couldn’t remember him having those before though. He checked through his head and didn’t see any bleeding or bumps. He didn’t have any obvious injuries from the fall.
Soobin could see that Beomgyu wasn’t waking by just that, so he moved to the next thing. Beomgyu was incredibly pale and sweaty, so he checked the first thing that he could think of and put his hand against his forehead.
“Omg. He’s burning up.” Soobin immediately felt horrible. He felt like the shittiest leader ever. How could he not have noticed this? Why did he ever let him dance at all today?
Situations like this were part of the reason they declared Soobin as the leader. Yeonjun was freaking out, hyperventilating himself a little bit and shouting at Beomgyu that he needs to wake up. Taehyun was still frozen in shock, small tears starting to drip from his eyes. Heuningkai was a sobbing, crumpled mess on the floor by now. Soobin took the lead though. He knew that he needed to stay rational, and he knew what they needed to do for those moments.
“Yeonjun, hold his feet up.”
“Right, yeah.” Yeonjun immediately did as he said, grateful that Soobin could still keep a somewhat level head. Following orders he could definitely do.
“We need to cool him down. Taehyun, can you bring some ice packs and cooling pads?”
Taehyun hesitated, his brain slow to process the words behind the thoughts of ‘Oh my god. My Hyung.’ “Huh?”
“I-I can.” Heuningkai's voice sounded heartbreaking, his words breaking behind the tears, but he was eager to help. He always is.
“No Kai. We can’t risk your bandaging getting wet. I need you to go get the managers and tell them what happened.
Carefully!
” Soobin accentuated the final statement very cautiously, making his intentions 100% clear. No matter what condition Beomgyu is in, it would be no help if another one of them were to get hurt too. He didn’t want the maknae running or tripping from being rushed and making his injury worse. Heuningkai nodded, using his left sleeve to attempt to wipe away some of the tears, but they were still falling too quickly for him to keep up with. “Taehyun.” Soobin repeated his name calmly again. He needed Taehyun to do this.
“Oh, uh right. I’ll be back with it.” Thankfully, having a goal seemed to help snap his back into motion. His limbs shook, but he sniffled back his tears and helped Kai stand. Together the two rushed out of the room.
Once the door had swung open and the two youngest disappeared, Soobin's eyes went back to their younger. He could see that his body was trembling a bit. He had been acting like he was cold all of practice, but he still knew that they couldn’t keep all these layers on him. Not with his body temperature as hot as it was. Carefully Soobin started taking his jacket off, opening up his long sleeve shirt and removing it as well. Yeonjun saw what he was doing, removing Beomgyu’s socks as he rested his feet on his shoulder. Nice and high, hoping that Beomgyu would wake up before the maknaes were even able to get back.
“Beomgyu-ah, come on you gotta wake up buddy.” Yeonjun almost couldn’t stand looking at his face anymore, distracting himself by talking and pushing his long sweatpants up his leg a bit. How long had Beomgyu been feeling bad? Had it been since Heuning mentioned something this morning. And he had still been so mean to him. If something was really wrong with him….how was Yeonjun going to forgive himself for that?
“You’re going to be okay, Beomgyu. Don’t worry about a thing, okay?” Soobin could speculate about Yeonjun’s thought process, the guilt practically written across his forehead. At the moment his thoughts could only be filled with concerns about Beomgyu. He tried to speak like he was still awake, denying the fact that he wasn’t.
“O-okay. I got everything that I could find.” Taehyun returned incredibly fast, sweat dripping down his brow as the door to the practice room clambered open. He had probably run across the building looking, but he had come back with bags of ice and a cooling pad.
“Those are great Taehyun-ah. Bring them here.” Soobin motioned him over, Taehyun rapidly arriving with all of them and kneeling just beside Beomgyu’s head. Despite being so close, he didn’t quite look at him either. He worried one more look and he would freeze again. He wanted to stay helpful to them.
“Alright. We’ll put the cooling pad beneath his feet. Let’s put this one on his chest, and Taehyun could you hold this against his forehead please?”
“Y-yeah.” Taehyun took the bag of ice and held it there, never once looking at his hyungs face.
Everyone took part in holding Beomgyu’s legs or ice,the time impassionately ticking seconds by. The manager hadn’t come yet. They hoped that Heuningkai had made it okay. And really, Soobin knew there wasn’t a whole bunch else they could do for him here. What Beomgyu needs is a hospital.
-------
“Come on, what’s taking so long?” Yeonjun’s snark was coming back, an unconscious reaction to the stress. No one took it personally.
“The managers weren’t nearby, Heuning had to go around the building a bit.”
“It’s good Yeonjun. He shouldn’t be running around like crazy.” Soobin’s words weren’t comforting in the least. It was just more reminders, that just a week ago they were rushing Heunginkai to the hospital in an ambulance. And now they’re going to do the same thing with Beomgyu? What did the world have against them?
Beomgyu still wasn’t waking, his eyes furling inside of his head. They couldn’t tell if the ice was helping to cool him down yet or not.
-----
-----
-----
-----
-----
“I came as fast as I could.” There’s never been a bigger collective sigh than the moment they heard their manager's voice rushing through the door. Several moments later Heuningkai came stumbling in, a few tears still dripping past his cheeks. There's no way that all of this stress was any good for his recovery.
“I’m sorry. They were all in a meeting across the building.”
“Don’t be sorry Heuning.” Soobin was partially just glad that he didn’t act recklessly with the state that his arm was in. Heuningkai stood anxiously against the wall, not wanting to have too many people crowding Beomgyu at the moment.
The moment the manager came he started trying to take over, assuring them that the ambulance had already been called and were on their way. Soobin knew that it was the best thing, so he allowed them to get closer and he backed off a bit. Taehyun stood in shock, shaking a bit as he backed up to join Heuningkai as soon as the manager took the ice bag from him. For Yeonjun it was a lot harder to leave. The manager let him stay as long as he could, but as soon as extra help started to come into the room the manager started insisting more.
“We’ll take care of him. I promise.”
“No, I can’t. I can’t just leave him-”
“Hyung, come on. Let them help. We’ll be just behind them.” Soobin had to step up to help to pull Yeonjun away, the eldest reluctant to really leave. Eventually they were able to pull him back towards them, and the four stood crowded together.
This whole scene just felt far too familiar. It was too similar a picture. The eldest tried to comfort the younger’s the best they could, tears filling all their eyes as they watched Beomgyu be taken care of by someone else. It was a different kind of scary. There was no blood or screaming or sobbing. This time they had no idea what happened at all. Maybe it was worse to see their friend just completely out of it. They watched Beomgyu get carried away to the ambulance, rushed to the same hospital that they were at just a week ago. The group hobbled together behind them, a different manager driving the van as they followed the ambulance over.
Authors Note:
Thank you so much for reading! This story is prewritten, so part 2 will be a bit longer and up very soon. I love hearing what you thought, so let me know what you think down below.