The Scent of Miracles [ Jikook ]

Chapter 16

"Oh, dear forest spirits…"

"I doubt that spirits will be much help in this situation." Jungkook hissed through gritted teeth.
Jimin felt his stomach turn. He felt incredibly sick just from looking at the deep gashes parting Jungkook's skin and imagining the horrific pain he must've been in this whole time.
It's no wonder that he was sinking like a stone when they jumped into the water, the fox himself wouldn't be able to swim like that either.

"I'm serious...I can't get up. You have to find a place to hide by yourself. I would only slow you down."

As he was thinking, Jimin nervously nibbled on his already raw bottom lip.
It's true that it would be hard to move Jungkook around in his current state, but even so, Jimin couldn't possibly leave him here all by himself.
No. This wasn't an option.

"I'll help you." He said with that voice that didn't accept any rejection. "You can use me as your crutch. Even if you put all your weight on me, I don't mind."

Despite his bold claims, they didn't make it very far.
As soon as they reached a huge lake not far away from the ocean shores, Jimin barely managed to help Jungkook lay back down before he himself collapsed from exhaustion.
Thankfully, it didn't seem like it would rain anytime soon, so sleeping under the starry sky wasn't actually as bad as they thought and being able to drink the lake water certainly gave them some strength.

Jimin was the first to wake up during the early morning hours of the next day.
While Jungkook was still catching up on some much needed rest, the fox decided to make himself useful by catching some fish and trying to think about how they should go about creating themselves a home.
He's never done it before, building a home that is. It seemed like a rather difficult task with no tools at hand and only one healthy person around.

Still, it might be possible if they just build a tent. He could use long sticks and branches together with furs if he managed to catch some small prey.
Later, when Jungkook was feeling better, it would be much easier to hunt some of the bigger animals to use their stronger bones and bigger furs instead. They might even be able to create some leather.
But whatever plans they have, they should make sure to execute them before winter. Otherwise they will, most definitely, be fucked.

When Jimin returned to the place where he left Jungkook earlier, he was shocked to see the wolf trying to get up by himself, his face being as pale as the moon. He swayed and wobbled before finally falling back down with a scream.

"Jungkook-ah!"
Instantly, Jimin was by his side, a panicked expression on his face.
"What are you doing?!" He scolded helplessly. "You have to stay still and rest."

"I can't rest. If I do, we're going to freeze to death."

"We won't! I'll take care of it, Jungkookie. I promise!"

"What can you do, though?! You're just an Omega!

He regretted the words as soon as he saw Jimin's expression turn distraught.
Brokenly, he whispered a weak, "Sorry…" and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and pointer finger as if he was still trying his hardest to regain control over his temper but failed.
"I'm used to taking care of Omegas and being reliable. These days, it feels like I'm doing none of those things and I'm failing in every single way possible."

In an attempt to make peace, he asked Jimin to give him some space so he could calm down, only for a few minutes. Jimin nodded without saying a word before turning around and disappearing into the thickets of the woods.

I guess you just don't know, the fox thought while throwing one last glance over his shoulder to where Jungkook sunk deeper into himself, body shaken by sobs as he hit the tree he was leaning on only for his own hand to be covered in cuts and bruises over time.