CHERRY || yeonbin [ch.2]

chapter forty - three

| 43 |

"you should.... rest," soobin frowns, standing next to the chair yeonjun occupied, sighing at the sight of yeonjun gripping taehyun's hand in his own.

it'd been a few hours since they arrived, and yeonjun was still glued on the chair, not bothering to move.

he felt as if he were to leave, taehyun would leave him too, just as he had done all those years ago. and as he looked at the heart monitor, his gut feeling told him it would abruptly stop.

maybe it was his nerves acting up, as here taehyun was, his brother, lying unconscious in a hospital bed, the realization that taehyun hadn't woken up since his surgery nipping at yeonjun's conscious.

"i'm fine," yeonjun insists, shaking his head as he leans closer, lip taken between his teeth as he looks at taehyun.

soobin sighs softly, "you're not," he frowns, rubbing yeonjun's shoulder comfortingly, "baby, you're not,"

yeonjun just stays silent, his lips folded into one another before he gulps, sniffling softly as he looks at taehyun.

he didn't care if he had to stay awake for the rest of his life.... he wanted to be here when taehyun opened his eyes.... he wanted to be the first person taehyun would see when he woke.

the sound of something falling to the floor knocks yeonjun out of his thoughts, "w-when did you guys get here?"

it's beomgyu, standing there in surprise, his eyes wide as he looks at them both, his lips parted in a bit of shock.

soobin looks down, "you dropped your snack-"

"you little shit!" yeonjun shoots up from his spot, speed walking over in a state of anger, his chest puffing as he clenches his teeth.

beomgyu furrows his brows, a bit scared.

"oh no, you don't," soobin shakes his head, pulling yeonjun back, caging his arms, rolling his eyes at the older's squirming.

"yeonjun stop," soobin groans, sighing softly when the boy's arms slump, the feeling of defeat sinking in yeonjun's chest.

beomgyu furrows his brows, "why?"

"why didn't you call us immediately?" is the first thing yeonjun says, his face twisted in an expression beomgyu can only point out as hurt, "you didn't tell us one thing,"

beomgyu slumps his shoulders, "i'm sorry," he's frowning, "i-i was just so caught up in t-the moment," he shivers, "s-so scared,"

yeonjun sighs softly, and it's then when he notices beomgyu's bruised, and flushed face, "woah," yeonjun takes a step forward, shrugging soobin's grip away, "what happened to you?"

beomgyu looks up at yeonjun, and he sighs shakily, "i don't even know," he shrugs, a broken chuckle falling past his lips, eyes flickering to land on taehyun.

yeonjun furrows his brows, "what do you mean?"

beomgyu looks back, "we were just walking and having a conversation..." he shakes his head, looking distraught, "and all of a sudden... these... these guys just started dragging us away,"

yeonjun furrows his brows, "dragging you away?"

beomgyu nods, "a-and then they practically beat me until i was purple... and they held taehyun back as if he were a prisoner... he was forced to watch,"

yeonjun feels his eyes water, and soobin holds a hand to his mouth, eyelids fluttering as he tries to control his emotions.

"they pulled out a gun before we could think.... and forced taehyun to choose who would die,"

tears finally slip from yeonjun's eyes, and he feels his heart beat in pain, his own hand coming up to scrunch the material of his shirt, his heart hurting.

"taehyun chose to save me," beomgyu bites his lip, sniffling, "he chose me without even hesitating, hyung," beomgyu looks up with teary eyes.

yeonjun's lips quivers as he looks at his best friend, feeling all the pain in the world swirl in his heart. the simple words beomgyu was spewing hurt, and each sentence felt like a stab.

"i pushed him out of the way," beomgyu sniffles, sobbing softly as his eyes trail to taehyun again, "i p-pushed him o-out of the f-fucking way and look where that got him,"

yeonjun breaks out a cry, pulling beomgyu into a tight hug, shaking his head. he strokes the boy's hair, letting him cry into the crook of his neck.

"it's not your fault," yeonjun sniffles, shaking his head quicker, as if to assure beomgyu even more, "none of this was your fault-"

"b-but i-"

"you tried to help, gyu," yeonjun pulls back, shaking his head with a small smile. he grips beomgyu's hands in his, "you tried to help my brother... so thank you,"

beomgyu nods, smiling softly.

... but then he widens his eyes.

he does a double take. 

"brother?!"