Louder than Bombs

Chapter 7

"On the count of three. 1, 2, ... 3!"

At '3' the members used all their strength to lift the big box. Yoongi and Taehyung where on the left side, the same side where Namjoon and Jin were as well. The rapper grimaced in pain but didn't less his grip and continued to pull hard. Taehyung could only use one hand, but he could probably lift more weight since it didn't hurt him as much.
On the other side were Jimin and Hoseok. Both boys could lift with both hands thankfully, but not with their usual strength though. The older one stood unsteady on his feet due to the leg injury and the younger one was too dizzy to stand steady.

But with all efforts combined, they managed to lift the equipment box higher than their previous tries. Namjoon grabbed Jungkook's waistband with his uninjured hand when he could reach it and then pulled the youngest towards him and Seokjin. Jungkook coughed and moaned from the pain, tears were falling from his eyes.

"He's out, you can let go" the oldest member yelled when Jungkook was finally completely freed.

Hoseok, Yoongi, Jimin and Taehyung signed with relief and carefully placed the box back on the ground. They were panting and leaning on the equipment box while they regained their breaths. Yoongi looked at Jungkook who was lying next to Seokjin, the oldest one fussing over him, but then he felt a weight leaning against him. He looked sideways to see where the weight was coming from, and his eyes went wide when he noticed it was Taehyung. The second youngest was slumped into his side, and he was sure that the boy would he fallen to the ground if he wasn't there.

"Tae! Namjoon help me! Lay him down on the ground" Together with Namjoon he lied the boy on the ground and placed both hands on the younger one's face. The boy wasn't unconscious but he was also not fully awake.

"Tae look at me!" Yoongi gently slapped on of the boys cheeks. The skin felt clammy and cold underneath his touch.

After a few seconds Taehyung was finally becoming more alert and looked around to see Yoongi and Namjoon hovering above him. Jimin was standing behind them, looking over his hyung's shoulders.

"Hey Tae, are you with me?" Yoongi asked, pulling a strand of hair behind the boy's ear. Taehyung nodded slowly while looking confused at the other two "Why am I lying down?"

"You passed out Tae" the older one said. "How do you feel?"

"Bit dizzy but I'm fine though" the second youngest replied and made an attempt to get into a sitting position. But Yoongi stopped him by putting a hand on his chest, gently pushing him down.

"Easy Tae, wait for the dizziness to pass before you move. I don't want you to faint again" Taehyung signed with frustration. He wasn't frustrated at Yoongi, but at his own body failing to cooperate.

Yoongi turned around and saw that Hoseok had joined Jin and Jungkook. The youngest was still lying on his stomach. His breathing had improved a little bit since he wasn't pinned down anymore but it still looked painful. Yoongi gasped when Hoseok was carefully lifting Jungkook's shirt. His whole back was covered with blue and purple bruises and at some place there were abrasions where the equipment box had digged into his skin. When the maknae coughed again, Hoseok pulled the shirt back in place and gently moved the boy so he was more sitting than lying down. Jungkook rested his right side against Hoseok's chest and let his head fall on the older one's shoulder. He coughed again, but this time he could breathe better afterwards due to the change of position.

The dancer's arms were hovering over the boy's body, trying to find a location to hold him without hurting him. Eventually he moved his left arm around the boy's shoulder and his right one around Jungkook's legs to keep him steady. Hoseok had turned his injured leg so the maknae didn't touch it. Seokjin had moved a little closer to the two boys and rubbed his hand on the maknae's left arm, whispering encouraging words to him.

Glad that that the youngest was doing slightly better, Yoongi focused back on Taehyung again. The boy was still pale, but he looked more alert. Jimin had sat down next to him, taking the second youngest uninjured hand in his own. The rapper looked down at the injured arm and saw that the bleeding had finally stopped due to the tourniquet. He then ripped a piece of cloth from his own shirt again, and bandaged the wound tight. He released the belt carefully, since he didn't want the arm to be cut off from blood for too long.

Yoongi turned his head, expecting to see Namjoon there but he was met with an empty spot. He looked around and found Namjoon sitting a few meters away from Seokjin. The leader was staring into the darkness, clearly lost in his own thoughts again. Yoongi frowned, something was definitely wrong.

"Jiminie, could you watch over Tae for a moment? I want to check on Namjoon" The rapper asked the younger one. Jimin looked at Namjoon as well and then turned back to Yoongi, nodding his head. The rapper squeezed the small boy's shoulder and stood up.

"Namjoon?" Yoongi asked when he sat down next to the leader. Like before, he didn't receive a reaction. So he placed his hand on the boy's neck and gave it a squeeze. "Hey look at me"

Namjoon finally noticed his presence at turned his head to look at him, but his gaze was unfocused.

"What's troubling you Joonie? You have not been yourself, and I'm really worried" Yoongi whispered so the others couldn't hear them.

"It's all my fault" Namjoon said after a few seconds, his voice so small that Yoongi almost didn't hear him.

"What? Why would you say that Joonie?" the older one asked confused.

"It's my fault hyung" the leader said again, looking away from Yoongi when tears where forming in his eyes. "Yesterday the hotel receptionist had received a call from somebody. The person on the phone had said that if we didn't cancel the tour and went back to Korea, that he would stop us personally"

Tears were now falling down his cheeks. Namjoon swallowed down the lump in his throat before he continued. "The managers had told me about it, and reassured me that the threat didn't seem real though. I agreed hyung..." He finally looked at Yoongi "If I hadn't agreed, then none of this had happened. You're all injured, and shit, look at Jungkook, he could have died. Seokjin probably can't dance for the next few months, Hoseok will have a scar for the rest of his life. Tae –" But Yoongi stopped him there.

"Stop it Namjoon. This is none of your fault. You couldn't have known that this would happen. We have talked about this before remember" Yoongi said, staring into Namjoon's eyes. The leader sniffed and then nodded, remembering the first months of BTS when it was just him and Yoongi. They got threats and dead threats on daily basis. They had agreed to not be stopped by them, since they didn't want to disappoint the fans.

"You shouldn't burden yourself so much, it's eating you alive. Please let us help you, let us know when these things happen. You shouldn't carry this on your own" Yoongi continued, grabbing Namjoon's hands. "Heavy is the head that wears the crown"

The leader didn't say anything since he was still crying, so Yoongi pulled him into a hug.

After a few minutes Namjoon had finally stopped crying. The older one released his hold him and looked him in the eyes. "Do you want to go back to the others?" he asked. But the leader shook his head "Not yet, I need a minute"

Yoongi nodded. Over the years he heard learned about Namjoon's pride and he knew that the younger one wanted to dry his tears before returning to the rest of the boys.

"Okay, but don't get lost in your thoughts okay?" Yoongi said and stood up. When Namjoon nodded, he left the leader alone and walked back to the others.