Adrift ~Book 1 || •PJM• (Rewritten Edition) ✔️

Remedy

"Would that work?" Baekhyun asks.

"Knowing the Belt, probably. When they want something, they're willing to do anything to get it."

"Well then, what do we do?" Baekhyun asks, although deep down he feels his heart ache. He likes the Executive Officer. He can't help but feel that the broadcast was a massive mistake. Baekhyun just wants to go back to Earth and finally face himself, forgetting about this whole journey. Every time he closes his eyes, he still hears gunshots. He still sees Joon's body in the medbay. His skin crawls every time, and his sleep is plagued with nightmares. No one can help him. No one. He feels like an outsider in his own crew.

"I don't know," Jungkook whispers back, his voice shaking. "We should still go to Ganymede, we need to stop the war. The longer this goes on, the more likely no one will survive, and obviously, that's the worst case scenario."

"I guess that's the only thing we can do. We're practically barred from every planet. The places that might offer us sanctuary were all destroyed by those creatures," Baekhyun replies, averting his gaze to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Jungkook asks.

Baekhyun's eyes fill with moisture. "How much more do we have to go through? How much more can we take? As if losing the Hep wasn't bad enough. I feel like we're just... constantly taking punches."

"I wish I could tell you it can get better, but..."

"I wouldn't want you to lie to me." He peeks up, meeting the Executive Officer's eyes. "Jungkook?" Jungkook nods, and Baekhyun takes it as permission to continue speaking. "Thank you for being my friend."

~13:44~

"Hey Jimin, I'm sorry it's been a few days, but I'm sure you saw the news. Earth is getting attacked by Mars now. We're okay... mom, dad, and me. We're being evacuated soon, so I don't know how many more messages I can send, but there's something I have to show you," Jihyun says with a frown on his face.

Jimin's heart beat goes erratic. He just got Jihyun back, he can't lose him already. Y/N sits next to him, watching the screen as closely as him. He's so glad she's here. They haven't talked too much these past few days, but when Jimin said he needed her, she came.

After a few seconds, Jihyun takes a deep breath and stands, giving the screen a reassuring smile before walking out of frame. "Jihyun?" Jimin whisper-asks, leaning forward. Two figures stroll into frame and sit down, clearing their throats. Jimin's eyes bulge at the sight of his parents.

"Jimin, it's been a while," his father starts, which his mother nods to. "We're sorry we didn't get on camera sooner, but after everything... we were scared," he continues. Jimin already has tears forming in his eyes, about to fall out.

"We wish we could take it all back," his mother says, her voice an octave lower than he remembers.

Seeing his parents so distraught only makes Jimin's tears fall. Meanwhile, Y/N's stiff, letting out shallow breaths with her eyes glued to the screen.

"I'm so sorry, son. Everything we did to you and Jihyun, there's no excuse for it. We were disgusting toward the both of you and I don't even know how we can begin to make it up to you," his father says.

"I'm glad you reached out to us. Hearing your voice again really helped us. Knowing you're holding up okay..." his mother adds, then trails off for a moment before speaking again. "We're so proud of you. Coming out of your shell and becoming Executive Officer, Captain now. The solar system needs more people like you. Commander Clementine? L/N? You and your crew are the real heroes, and I'm not only saying that because you're my son. If Mars pinned everything on Earth, we probably wouldn't be sitting here today."