iris

[39] white

Sirens resounded all around, it was almost impossible to count how many vehicles the disarray of shrill noise belonged to. Jungkook curled up tighter under the rubble, fingers clutching onto the phone in his right hand, whilst his left hand stayed glued to Taehyung's chest. When he first found the boy, he had felt every piece of his body tremble as he searched desperately for a sign that Taehyung was alive.

Then he had found it, that heartbeat, the one that sounded louder than the sirens even though it was barely there. It was enough to bring hope to his heart as his hand stayed holding that hope tight.

"They are here now, I ... I'm okay," he spoke into his phone, fingers brushing across his friends sternum, unable to wake him.

"Stay on the phone until they find you. Are you still able to breathe okay, your pain hasn't gotten worse?" He smiled at his brother's concern, he had been doing a good job at hiding the immense panic he felt when Jungkook had called him to say that he had not only found Taehyung but he was also alive; albeit barely. "Make sure you stay still, don't move too much until they tell you it's safe, and if they say that they can only take one of you first, you have to promise me you'll let them take you. Promise m-"

"Hoseokie, it's okay, I will be okay, your breathing is worse than mine. Look, I need to get their attention, so I'm going to put the phone down." He didn't wait for his brother's reply, placing the phone on the ground before shouting up the hole he had fallen down, "We are down here! Second story section, three metres in!" He screamed as loud as his lungs could possibly let him, flipping his phone over to turn the torch on, beginning to wave it as high as he could.

There was no reply for several minutes, and his arm grew sore as he dropped his torch and laid back beside the boy beside him. He rolled over, laying his palm flat and shutting his eyes so he could focus on the heartbeat. Still there.

It had been two weeks, how was he still alive? At this moment, the logical side could matter less to the astute boy, his smile pulling tight as he embraced the boy tightly. "Just hang on a little longer, Tae."

"Hello?" A voice called from above, a light flashing through the hole before a person appeared above, head lamp flashing down upon the two of them "Stay still! We can have a harness down to you in five minutes. Do you need urgent first-aid?" Jungkook hesitated, bringing his fingers up to caress Taehyung's hair that was completely matted to his forehead, blood seemed to cake his mouth.

"Um ..." he thought about what Hoseok had said. But if he left Taehyung any longer ... "Yes! He's barely breathing!" He screamed up to the man now speaking distantly to another person as they began attaching a harness to one of them.

"We'll get someone down there as soon as we can." They responded, leaving Jungkook to pick his phone back up.

"Hoseokie, they are coming down. We're going to be okay."

"Oh Kookie! I have never felt so incredibly infuriated and grateful toward you in my life. If you ever do something like this again I will ground you for life! Please, come home soon." He giggled, the first tears of joy finally falling as he nodded credulously at his brother's words.

_________

"You idiot!" Hoseok shrieked, barrelling towards his brother the moment he came into sight. He tackled the boy as gently as he could, wrapping him in a deep embrace as he buried his nose to the boy's hair, breathing in deeply as he shuddered.

"I'm fine!" Jungkook complained, but did not hesitate to hug his brother just as tightly. They pulled away slowly, letting Jungkook sit back against the pillows of the hospital bed. "They said I just have a broken rib and needed some stitches in my hands, but other than that I'm okay."