Empire | ATEEZ

037

Chan and I both turned to face Hongjoong as he closed the door behind him, trapping all three of us on the rooftop as the rain began to fall even harder, the drops hitting me hard enough to the point where they hurt the bare skin on my arms.

I could see directly into the black hole of the barrel in Hongjoong's gun as he, like the man opposite him, aimed the weapon at his rival's head.

One wrong move, one shaky breath, could place a bullet right between the eyes of either of them.

My hands were shaking as I grasped my own weapon a little tighter and made a move to aim it at Chan's back, the one he had turned to me as he deemed Hongjoong the bigger threat.

A big mistake.

And it wasn't the only one he made.

Because before I as much as got the chance to even make a move, in what seemed to be nothing more than the span of a single second, Chan lowered his gun and pressed the trigger.

And then, time froze. Everything, from the ice-cold droplets plunging from the dark skies to the look of barely contained anger on Hongjoong's face which changed into one of surprise and then pain, seemed to move in slow-motion as I watched the bullet pierce the air, traveling, traveling, before lodging itself into the leader's suit, disappearing in his chest.

I saw his finger press down on the trigger again as Hongjoong dropped his own gun and staggered backward, but before I heard the second shot go off, before I watched another bullet fly, I was running, barely thinking twice before placing myself between the two.

The sound of Hongjoong's voice, of him yelling, "No!" followed by Chan's eyes widening were blurry, unfocused, and drowned out by the adrenaline pumping through my veins as yet another loud bang cut through the air as the gun went off again, and then again.

I felt my heartbeat pick up for a moment as pain exploded in my chest, instinctively raising my hands to touch the source of it all, feeling blood coating my fingers, dripping, dripping, dripping like the rain from overhead.

My knees buckled as I dropped to the ground, realizing, when I didn't hit the rough surface of the rooftop with full force, that Hongjoong had caught me, holding my head in his lap as he too pressed his hands to the bleeding wound.

I barely registered the fact that he seemed fine, unfazed by the fact that he had been shot, as clenched my eyes shut through the pain, the warm feeling of the blood coating my skin and hands making me sick to my stomach as I struggled to breathe, gasping for air and grabbing one of his wrists as he pressed a little too hard.

I clung to him as if, if I just held on tightly enough, it would keep me awake, but the pouring rain made it hard to keep my eyes open, and the look on Hongjoong's face, twisted with pain, made it almost unbearable to look him in the eyes.

I cried, the sound barely audible over the roar that erupted from Hongjoong's throat, like that of a wounded animal blinded by rage, and he whipped his head back around to face Chan who had staggered backwards as if shocked by his actions, immediately raising his gun and firing a shot at the leader.

And then someone else was holding me, someone familiar, someone safe, as Hongjoong got back to his feet and prowled over to the wounded leader.

"Nari, look at me," Seonghwa croaked. The tears that trailed down his cheeks were so much like the rain as he shakily cupped my cheek, eyes scanning my face, "Help!" he yelled, and I flinched a little before spotting the Bluetooth device in his ear, "Help!"

"It hurts," I breathed, and it was a stupid thing to say in the middle of it all, but it was all I could think about as my gaze started to become unfocused, my grip on his arm slipping as I mumbled something else, but the words came out incoherent.