Exception

XIX. Exception (1)

At this time of the night, even the widest roads were empty. Minhyuk flew past red lights and made sharp turns at random places, seemingly travelling towards no place in particular. He only had one goal—to go as far as he could.

When Jooheon managed to catch his breath and stop his mind from spinning, he turned to look at the man next to him... and instantly regretted it. "Hyung! I- Is that blood?" Sure enough, a trickle flowed down the corner of Minhyuk's mouth. "Hyung, it's not a wound on your lip, is it?"

Minhyuk breathed heavily, but did not answer. Jooheon grew desperate. "Hyung! Answer me..." Of course, he knew it wasn't as simple as a scratch. Minhyuk's over exertion when using his powers must had dealt serious internal injury, causing him to spit blood. Anytime now, he would collapse into a coma.

"Stop the car. Let me drive." Jooheon was already unbuckling his seatbelt.

"No, there's no time." In a weak, barely audible voice, Minhyuk said. "I know what you're going to say next. You will convince me to give up, and say that no matter how far we run, we're still criminals and will be caught in just a matter of time. But you know I can't. Even if the outcome won't change, I'll try until the very very end."

Jooheon opened his mouth, wanting to say many things at once yet no words came out. Defeated, he leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes. Not knowing whether Minhyuk could see or hear, he nodded and whispered, "Fine."

They drove in silence for a while, the only sound being the soft rumble of the engine. It wasn't long before the police sirens caught up, though. At first, Jooheon grew nervous, and constantly looked behind them to check. But soon he remembered that there was no point, because either way, he was going to end up in jail. Minhyuk, on the other hand, seemed to have recovered slightly and was no longer looking so pale. He glanced at the rearview-mirror once and pressed harder onto the gas pedal.

As they neared the bridge, Minhyuk's iris turned ink black once again. Jooheon, who never really bothered to pay attention to small details, had grown more alert during this car ride. This allowed him to observe the change, too. Outside the window, Jooheon saw the flat surface of the river they were driving across. Soon, it occurred to him what Minhyuk was trying to do.

Fully freeing himself from the seatbelt and climbing to the backseat, Jooheon confirmed his suspicions: large cracks began to appear on the floor of the bridge, smaller fissures meeting a wider gap in the middle, like tributaries joining the main river. The police was gaining speed in hopes to narrowing the distance between them—just what Minhyuk had planned. Due to their constant acceleration, they never reacted fast enough to stop their cars before a section of the bridge collapsed, the debris falling into the river along with the red and blue sirens of a few police cars that were at the front.

Meanwhile, Minhyuk had already exited the bridge, leaving the rest of the police stranded on the other side.

Jooheon couldn't bear to continue this, and wanted to strangle Minhyuk and stop the car so no more innocent people would die because of him. But when he turned to look at his hyung, he realized there was no need. Minhyuk swerved to the left into a cul-de-sac and they crashed into a brick wall. The impact almost caused Jooheon to fall out of the seat, but he pulled himself up and leaned forwards.

Minhyuk's ashen face was stark against the dark surroundings of the car, blood totally drained from his pale lips. For a second, Jooheon feared that Minhyuk had died or at least fainted after causing a structure as firm as a bridge to collapse, but a groan coming from the back of his throat proved otherwise.

"What... happened...?" He put his hands to his head, trying to soothe his headache. When he saw the wreckage through the cracked windshield, he cursed. "Did I do that?"

"You just veered left suddenly-" Jooheon started explaining, but couldn't continue. There was a hardness in his throat, and he practically flung his body onto Minhyuk's, embracing him. "I thought you died, Minhyuk-hyung!"

Stunned, Minhyuk laid limp for a moment. Then, he returned the hug by squeezing Jooheon tighter, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head. "Don't cry... Jooheony, I'll never die. Not before you, anyway." When Jooheon didn't release him like he expected, he resolved to patting his back, like a mother trying to put a baby to sleep.

"Do you know what's the worst?" In a muffled voice, Jooheon said.

Minhyuk shook his head. "No."

"My brain is telling me that I should hate you and run away from you, because you might've just killed two cars full of innocent detectives and broke one of the most important bridges in Seoul..." He paused, and sniffed. "But all my other organs and limbs aren't listening, and now I'm hugging you, not wanting to leave you... it's like no matter what happens, my heart will always make an exception for you."

Once again, Minhyuk was stunned by the words. Now, even someone as talkative as him couldn't think of what to say. Instead, he replied by pulling away from the hug so that he could look at Jooheon's face, and used his thumb to wipe the tears that flowed down Jooheon's cheek. Then, without warning, he planted a light kiss on the dried tear stain, right where Jooheon's dimples would show if he smiled.

Despite being under the dark, Minhyuk felt Jooheon blushing. Flustered, Jooheon sat back onto his own seat and softly caressed the spot that Minhyuk's lips had just brushed, wanting to preserve the sensation as long as possible. The sudden affection shouldn't be a surprise, but it nonetheless warmed Jooheon's heart.

"Good, now that I recharged from your hug, I have the strength to continue." Minhyuk winked.

Jooheon whipped his head towards Minhyuk. "Continue? We're not done?"

This time, Minhyuk hesitated to answer. "You trust me, right? Before the police finds us, I have to do one last thing." Jooheon kept quiet, neither expressing assent or disapproval. Minhyuk sighed, and then looked away.

Not knowing if Jooheon heard, he mumbled a "sorry" under his breath before his eyes changed again. In the next second, they were flying in the air—car and all—and just as quickly they fell back down, this time with an impact that knocked them both out.