Broken | Jaeyong

chapter 23

Police car after police car came rolling into the drive way. An ambulance blaring it's siren into the bleak of the night. Snow settled over the footsteps of those who carried Ten's body out of the house. Johnny waited impatiently in an ambulance for him, a paramedic close by his side assuring his concussion was taken care of. Jaemin was being questioned by a policeman. He was the one who called them, right after he called an ambulance. He went to get a drink of water when he found his father unconscious on the floor in a pool of his own blood. He's never been so afraid in his entire life. It was horrifying. 

Even now, while he's standing in front of the officer answering all his questions, he could still feel the hot, sticky feeling of his own father's blood on his hands. He was moving in a fog. Slow and misty. His mind seemed to be functioning for him as he did as the officer told him. He didn't remember how he got outside or how he was now in the back of a police car with a blanket around him.

He just wanted to know if his dad was okay. If both of them were.

"I will get to see my dads soon, right?" Jaemin asked the officer quietly. There was only one in the car with him and he was the one driving.

The officer coughed before answering after a few seconds, "Yeah, yeah sure, kid. You'll get to see them soon."

"Is my dad okay? Is-Is... Is he..." Jaemin sniffled. His hands pulling the blanket closer in an effort to comfort himself.

"I-I'm not sure."

Jaemin covered his face with the soft fabric of the blanket and just sobbed. The kind that leaves your throat hoarse and your chest swore.

"Hey, hey," The officer called softly from the driver's seat. "What'd you say your name was?"

"Jae-Jae," Jaemin sniffled, "J-Jaemin."

"And what did you say your age was, Jaemin?" He asked.

"Eight-eight-eighteen."

"Right," The officer agreed sternly, "That means you're an adult, Jaemin. Your father wouldn't want you crying while you have other things to focus on, right? Are you still in school, Jaemin?"

"Y-Yeah." Jaemin answered, his cries dying down as he lifted his face from the blanket. His eyes red and nose wet.

"This your last year?" He asked again.

"Y-Ye, Yeah." Jaemin said, wiping his cheeks with the blanket.

"I bet your dad wouldn't want to distract you from school, right? Especially when it's your last year. I bet you have some big exams coming up." The officer told him. He was trying to distract Jaemin from the situation, put his mind on other things and it was working.

"Yeah," Jaemin nodded, readjusting himself in the seat. "I have a Math exam next week."

"You any good at Math?" He questioned.

"I'm not amazing at it but I'm okay." Jaemin shrugged.

"You should probably study." The officer chuckled.

"I do!" Jaemin retorted in offence, "I've been studying all term!"

"And you're getting good grades?" He asked, looking up at the rear-view mirror. Jaemin shrugged.

"They're alright." Jaemin admitted, "They're not the best but they're still pretty good considering."

"Considering what?" The officer frowned.

"I transferred to another school at the beginning of the year."

"And you're settling in okay?" He asked, pulling into the parking lot of the police station that his father works at. It looked so different at night. Somewhat less inviting.