a/n: whoops?
[ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 ]
finale
"Jungkook! Come back!" I shouted, cupping my hands into the shape of a funnel in order to try and project my voice further. It didn't work and the boy gradually flickered in and out of range as he continued to sprint in the opposite direction. This was ridiculous; what sort of person could run this quickly?
After a couple of minutes of running down my energy, I realised that it was pointless. I was never going to catch up with Jungkook and, I might as well go back and get some help. It's not like I'd be able to do anything on my own.
Running back to the spot where we had started, I paused and catched my breath. My breath was wheezy as I pressed my head in my hands, my surroundings turning dizzy. Peering out of one eye, feeling unsteady on my feet, I glanced around. Empty- just as I had left it.
Wait.
I paused, my eyes fluttering around frantically. I hadn't left the opening completely empty; I'd left Jeno's unconscious body... except, now, there was no Jeno left behind.
I let out a stream of profanities as I crouched down, feeling the mud squelch under the pressure of my kneel. I stayed there, contemplating, for a good minute before making up my mind.
It was stupid- the worst plan (if I could even call it that) that I'd ever come up with- but it was the only way that I could ensure that I would get closure. If I couldn't save Jungkook and Jin, I'd at least like to know what was going to happen to them.
Pursing my lips, I took a shaky breath of determination as I peeled my body off the forest floor and faced the direction where the plane engine was singing tauntingly.
I pushed as hard as I could as the soles of my feet slammed against the soil floor. Occasionally I found myself tripping over a stray tree root or a dip in the soil but I kept sprinting, faster than I'd ever done before. I had to find Jungkook.
When I arrived at the large engine noise that signalled MediHeal's primary location, I paused in horror.
They were situated in the large grassy plain, we had used for training, a large military plane plonked in the middle. It was a steel monster with one of those walkways that could be lowered onto the floor. It was at that moment when I saw Jungkook, roughly squirming against the tight grasp of my former best friend.
I rushed forward without thinking, screaming Jungkook's name at the top of my lungs. It was stupid but I couldn't help it. I couldn't stand there whilst they dragged him around like a mere rag doll. Like he had no importance.
At the call of his name, Jungkook locked eyes with me. At that moment, time seemed to slow as he began to shout words that were unintelligible at my distance, his eyes widened in pure shock. He obviously hadn't expected me to follow him so recklessly. I also heard another noise, not words, more like a panicked moan. There he was- the boy Jungkook had risked everything for. Jin.
I had been sorely incorrect when I had made the assumptions that they wouldn't treat Jin roughly or with harm. He was thrashing like a deer in a bear trap as he endlessly tried to escape the hold that was wrapped around his arms. He was so stressed, so much so that the veins on his neck and forehead had appeared but, what was worse about all of this, was the strip or fabric tied around his head, muffling his words and drying his tears.
"Well, well look what we have here," a voice called, as I continued to approach the ship against Jungkook's pleas. The words, that taunting voice- it had to be her.
I found my body turning instinctively towards the voice that had called me, situated only metres behind Jin. It was her, it really was. Dr Choi, quite possibly my worst enemy.
I hadn't expected to see her here- she was always so committed to that damned laboratory and to see her outside, in broad daylight, was a weird shock to the system. Annoyingly, despite the months of stress Jungkook and I must have caused, she looked as immaculate as ever. Her hair was straightened, her coat ironed and, in fact, there wasn't even a slight smudge of that ghastly red lipstick she used.
"Hayeon! Get out of here!" Jungkook cried, his voice raw with an indescribable pain. The scream tore through me like a shard of glass and I felt my pulse raise as I lifted my eyes to face the boy I love. That scream was so guttural, so petrified and the look on his face was...
I felt a solid tug at my arm and my body was hammered to the ground, the air stolen from my winded body. Jungkook went ballistic in that moment, the screams that emitted from his mouth so powerful it could make your blood run cold. I tried to glimpse at him from under the steel grip of this unidentifiable person but all I got was a face full of dirt as I tried to force myself to breathe.
"Let her go Captain, I don't need her dying before the real fun has began," Dr Choi spoke again, the voice increasingly closer this time. Their was a slight delay of reluctance but eventually the tight hold around my neck loosened and I could finally breathe in air, gulping like a fish out of water.
My brief freedom didn't last too long however as the 'Captain' quickly restrained me again, this time with my hands behind my body so that I was in a similar situation to Jin.
"Look at you," Dr Choi said, almost spitting in my face as she grabbed my chin forcefully, her sharp nails digging brutally into the sensitive skin. "Your little escapee with lover boy has made you flourish. Too bad your fun is over now."
"Do you want me to kill her ma'am?" the Captain spoke, spinning me slightly so that I could get a good glimpse at the menacing smirk on his face.
The unfamiliarity shocked me as I glimpsed at my attacker, scanning him from head to toe. I suppose he had Jeno's hair: long, dark and impossible to control but that was about the only similarity between the father and son. Whereas Jeno made up for his lack of rippling muscles with his incredible flexibility, his father was a pure power machine, brawny and rugged. However, he was certainly noticeable from his large body and the tattoo below his eye, stretched and faded with age but still, quite obviously, a cross.
At his threatening words, I felt myself begin to flail in his arm whipping my head left and right as I tried to find a potential escape route. I quickly realised it was impossible. I had gotten myself into this situation and I wasn't getting out of it any time soon. With every millimetre I moved, the hands around my wrists tightened with the obvious attempt to cut off my blood circulation. However, my panic lessened when Dr Choi spoke again.
"I have much better plans for her," she shot me a look, so simple that for any other observer, it would mean nothing. For me, I knew she was teasing me. Letting me know that my future (whatever it was) was unstoppable. She turned around and shouted out some commands. "You know what to do."
The man holding Jin nodded and kicked the boy's knees from behind, sending him sprawling to the floor. That only seemed to make Jungkook more provoked, his head flying backwards and hitting Jeno's nose head-on. Even from this far away, I could see Jeno curse as he wrestled the boy back into a kneeling position, the blood splattering onto the floor.
When I heard a moan of pain from Jin, all of our eyes seemed to flash towards the older boy in worry. Jammed into his arm, unmercifully, was a large syringe, gradually extracting blood as the guard lifted the plunger. Jin was confused; I could see it in his eyes. He tried to move but he was quickly retributed with a harsh slap to the face, the noise reverberating across the entire field.
When the syringe was finally full, a scientist stepped forward with a silver briefcase and sauntered towards Dr Choi, a gleeful look in his face. Now that I looked more closely, everyone of the enemy's side seemed rather smug as if they knew something we didn't. The only person who shared the confusion I felt, was Jeno.
"Ma'am what's going on?" Jeno asked, shoving Jungkook forward slightly so that he could get a closer look at whatever ministrations they were going to give me.
"Don't worry, she might not be harmed. It's a bit unfortunate that she's over 18 and, therefore her chances of surviving decrease, but she's retained her youth good enough. I would say there's about a 40% chance of survival." She turned towards Jeno, those evil lips of hers curled up in the corners. "Don't worry, they're decent odds."
She then proceeded to take the silver briefcase from the scientist's hands alongside the fresh vial of blood only just extracted from my friend. I tried to get a closer look at what she was doing but my view was too obscured and she was too quick handed. By the time she held up another syringe, it was no longer the red colour of blood. It was at that moment when everyone, but me, seemed to realise what was going on.
"Leave her alone!" I heard Jungkook scream, his chalky face gaunt as he clenched his blanched knuckles. I had never seen him so scared, so petrified.
"Father, what's going on?" Jeno asked, his voice a little unsteady as he eyes flashed back an forth between me and that awaiting needle. It was odd to admit but the boy looked rather alarmed.
Finally my eyes flashed to Jin, the boy's entire body shaking like a leaf as he glared at the ground, not even able to face me. He was a complete mess, he couldn't even wipe the tears and snot from off his face as he continued to let out an onslaught of pitiful whimpers. It was pathetic to see this, albeit small, group of insanely powerful people crushed into nothing.
"Please, I'll do anything!" Jungkook blared, his voice frantic.
Dr Choi paused for a moment, motioning the Captain to loosen the grip he'd placed around my neck. "Anything?"
Jungkook nodded, all sense of doubt wiped from his eyes and I could feel Dr Choi's glee inflating like a balloon. At the last moment, she turned towards me and leaned down to whisper, her lips against my ear. "You think he loves you? Let's see how much he's actually willing to do for you."
My head almost felt like it was on a string as I shook it in a feverish manner. I didn't know what plan she had under her sleeve but I knew that nothing good would come out of it. I should just accept my fate here and now.
"Are you sure you'll do anything?" She jeered, stroking a finger alongside the side of my face. If she came any closer, I'd bite those perfectly manicured fingertips right off.
Jungkook nodded without hesitation and I felt myself groan internally. How had he not figured out what she would ask him? How had he not figured out that, no matter how hard he loves me, he'll always love someone else more?
Dr Choi sinister grin at that paticular moment would scar me for life. "Fine," she paused, dragging the tension on for a little longer. I hated this woman; she deserved to rot in hell. "I'll let your little girlfriend go if you tell me the location of your other little friends."
Jungkook paused, just for a second but long enough for Dr Choi to catch onto. "Don't think about lying or I'll kill Test Subject 311 over there and then all your efforts will be over for nothing."
So, she knew. She'd managed to figure out that if you caught Jin in a trap, Jungkook would come sniffing around later. I cursed her intelligence.
Even from this far, I could see the grimace on Jungkook's face. He looked as though he was deep in thought but we all knew that his answer was set in stone. Jin tried to speak through the gag but ended up choking on his own saliva, opting instead to send Jungkook a pleading look. It didn't matter though, he'd made his choice.
Dr Choi laughed, an ugly and menacing giggle, as she patted my head. "So, lover boy doesn't really love you after all. Well, I guess now we'll have to go through with our plans as stated."
She reached for that dreaded syringe and the whole field went tense as she held it to my neck, the cold metal of the needle already pressed against my skin. No one spoke up, not even Jungkook. It was too late now. My fate was sealed. Just as the needle began to slide in, a voice rang out.
"Stop! Please stop," Jeno cried, throwing Jungkook into the arms of a couple guards and collapsing onto the group in a prostate position. Even from the distance, I could see the trickle of tears falling from his eyes as they hit the floor below him. "Father, please stop this."
He looked up from his position and the pure anguish in his face made me pause. I even felt the tight grip of the Captain loosen slightly for a second. However, the moment was quickly broken when the aforementioned man scoffed. "Get up Son, stop making a fool of yourself." He turned pointedly to Dr Choi. "Let's get this over with."
I didn't have a chance to even attempt an escape as the needle launched into my neck, the unknown substance shooting through my veins. It was like a switched had been flipped and all energy from my body evaporated within a second.
When the Captain finally allowed me to walk freely, my whole world tilted on an axis and, without anything to grasp in order to keep me upright, I fell to the ground in a pathetic pile. My eyes had already begun to feel heavy and leaden and, when a shadow was cast over my face, I only had the slightest bit of energy to look up. It was the face of the woman I hated most. She seemed to laugh, my vision and hearing was so distorted that it could have been otherwise, and I felt a painful kick in my side.
Then, they left.
There was no dragging of my body into the large ship. No one to help me regain my footing. Instead, I was left on the grass to make friends with the worms and ants as I tried to move even an inch.
I glanced upwards for the last time, knowing that my strength was so depleted that, in mere minutes, I would be cast into a deep slumber. The sight that lay before me ripped my heart into two.
The huge industrial door of the ship had begun to lift and close. From this distance, I could see the defensive stance of Jeno as he faced down his father, a bruise already blossoming on his face of anger. Only metres away, Jin remained restrained, screaming murder into the gag, that bound him, as he flashed me a pleading look. To anyone else, they would have read it as a request to save him but I knew the real reality behind the pained glance. He was telling me to 'look after the others', I just knew it.
And, finally. Jungkook.
He was still struggling against the hold of the guards but his gaze hadn't left mine. He couldn't smile, he couldn't frown, he couldn't do anything but look emotionless as the door began to close. In a few seconds, I would no longer be able to see his face.
I tried to do anything: wave, blow a kiss, tell him that I would find him but nothing happened. My body was so weak that the thought of even moving an inch was painful. All I could do was watch the love of my life grow smaller and smaller as the distance between us multiplied.
At the last second, he seemed to regain some legibility and surged forwards, his lips moving rapidly. He was calling out to me, trying to tell me something important but I couldn't hear it. The ringing in my ear was so loud that no noise could penetrate it. I managed to let out a feeble sob as I tried to move my head and shake the pounding noise but nothing happened.
Instead, the door had finally risen completely, snapping shut, ready to transport Jungkook away. As the plane began to lift, I couldn't help but release one last tear before my eyes shut.
My last thought was a flashback to the kiss on the rooftop. That night, Jungkook had told me to never leave. I had promised him I wouldn't but, in the end, I guess it didn't even matter. I wasn't the one who left.
He was.
This was it. I was never getting Jungkook back.
He was gone and it was all my fault.
THE END