ʟᴀ ᴄᴏꜱᴛᴀ | ɴᴄᴛ ✔️

Chapter 18: Staying Put

"They don't need you," Jaemin whispered to Taeyong. "I don't need you. You're a fucking dead man..."

"Oh, I'm a dead man?" The older boy raised an eyebrow, chuckling. "How is that? Who's gonna kill me, you? You could barely stomach watching me shoot Hansol-..."

Jaemin wrapped one hand tightly around Taeyong's neck, balling the other into a fist and swinging down onto his face, the blunt impact echoing through the pool. He swung again, grunting from his knuckles colliding with Taeyong's cheekbone and nose bridge.

But Jaemin continued to swing, each punch harder than the last, and nobody bothered to say or do anything to stop him – even you. You just sat back down and watched neutrally, arms crossed on your thighs.

The twenty-two of you were witnessing as Jaemin – slowly but surely – reduced the right side of Taeyong's face into a gory, caved-in mess, blood and brain matter splattered on the concrete, Jaemin's hand and on his face and clothes.

"That's for Hansol, Jaehyun, and Yuta." He growled as he rose to a stand, spitting directly at the remnants of Taeyong's face. He turned to head for the hotel, passing by you and Yuta, who only gave him the faintest head nod.

You wanted to say something to Jaemin, but given the atmosphere and the newfound aura enveloping the boy, you weren't sure what exactly to say. So, you watched him disappear into the hotel lobby, his head hung low the entirety of his walk in a shameful manner.

~The Next Morning...~

You took a seat in an empty booth, breakfast plate containing mostly small fruits, which you rolled around the rim of the plate as you scanned the dining hall.

Other than the occasional hushed greeting from one boy to another, nobody was really speaking. Either some of them were still waking up, or their tongues had been caught since the previous night like yours, but you couldn't hear a peep out of any of them from where you were sitting.

It almost made you wanna ask some of them how they felt about everything that happened.

You could see Yuta and Shotaro sitting at a table together not too far from you and began scooting out of your booth to join them, but as you stood, you felt the presence of someone approaching you from behind and froze.

From the corner of your left eye, you could see Jaemin entering the dining hall, hair a slight bit unkempt, and his hands in his track pants. His eyes were glued to the floor until he felt your hand on his shoulder as he passed you.

"How're you feeling?"

To that, Jaemin didn't respond, but instead shook his head and cleared his throat, making his presence known to everyone else in the dining hall.

You heard him let out a trembly breath. "I...understand if you guys feel different towards me for what I did. He...He was right; I could've told y'all from the jump if I just...wasn't a bitch..."

"It wasn't your fault, Jaemin..." Kun sighed in an attempt to console the boy, but Jaemin held up his hand as a means to stop him from speaking.

"...If only I had spoken up sooner, man..." He halfway chuckled, eyelids fluttering tears away. "If I had just told one of you, something would've changed...Jaehyun would probably still be here...and that...piece of shit would've been gone sooner..."

Jaemin slowly raised his head to look at Yuta as a few tears finally fell from his eyes. "I'm so fucking sorry. I wanted to help Hansol, I swear to God...He wouldn't let me get near him..."

"It's alright, man – I understand." Yuta softly reassured him, wiping his nose.

Jaemin sniveled, breaking eye contact with Yuta. "No, it's not...L-Look, I plan on...leaving East in an hour or so. I know it's not much, but...it's the least I can do to make up for what happened to Hansol and Jaehyun..."

"...No," You stated bluntly, all of the boys' heads turning in your direction, including Jaemin's. "No, you're not leaving. You weren't the one who forced Hansol to turn, and you're not the one who shot Jaehyun either. I'm not about to have you pay for his bullshit."

"She's right, man." Johnny declared in agreeance with you. "You can't blame yourself for everything he did. You did what you had to do, and besides, he threatened to kill you. I would've done the same..."

"Me too," Chenle admitted, followed by a hum from Jisung sitting across from him and a few other boys scattered around the dining hall.

"So yeah," Johnny pulled Jaemin into a bear hug. "You're staying put; you're not going anywhere..."

At first, Jaemin wasn't hugging Johnny back; he just stood there with his arms wrapped around him, eyes in a daze until they veered over to you, and he could've sworn he saw the faintest hint of a smirk fade onto your lips.

Then, he felt your hand on his shoulder again, and you murmured to him, "Especially if I got a say in that shit."

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