“Hey, what're you doing here?” Jinyoung looks to the voice. A boy, shorter than him. “I've never seen you around here before.”

 

Jinyoung stares, amazed at the boy's hair. The sun shining through it, the red crimson flame burning in the daylight. “I'm looking for my mom and dad.”

 

“What do they look like? Let's look together!” The boy smiles, his cheeks puffing up like a chipmunk.

 

“Okay!” Jinyoung smiles, waddling his little feet over to his new friend.

 

“Oh… you're not afraid of me?” The little boy backs away, his foot kicking the dirt floor. His face down, his small lips puckered together in a pout.

 

Jinyoung is taken aback. “What would I be afraid of?”

 

“My hair… isn't it odd?” The little boy looks up at Jinyoung, his fingers fiddling with his hoodie strings.

 

“No, I like it!” Jinyoung holds the other boys’ hands, his red hair reflecting in Jinyoung's brown eyes.

 

“Wha…” The boy's eyes are wide open, shocked at Jinyoung's outburst. He bows his head, feeling his face grow hot.

 

Jinyoung smiles at the boy's shyness. “What's your name?” The boy's head flips up.

 

“Ah… ah… Mark. My name's Mark.” Jinyoung notices the boy's hot pink cheeks. The boy smiles.

 

“Nice to meet you Mark. I'm Jinyoung!” Jinyoung smiles, bringing his hand up to ruffle Mark's hair. The boy simply amazed by it's red colour.

 

I like your red hair.

---

 

“Mark!” Jinyoung pushes past Yugyeom and Youngjae, surprising the both of them.

 

“Jinyoung…” Jaebum whispers. The situation didn't look good. Both Jackson's and Bambam’s wounds looked simple enough to care for, but Mark's…

 

“Jinyoung, Jackson, bring him to the couch, we have to treat him immediately.” Youngjae yells, running to the corner of the room, reaching for a black bag.

 

“Mark hang in there!” Jinyoung cries as he slings Mark's limps hand over his shoulder; borrowing Jackson's power to help carry him to the couch.

 

He's bleeding so much. Jinyoung's practically screaming inside, his eyes running back and forth over Mark's body, unable to grasp his sanity.

 

“Bambam, Jackson, what happened?” Youngjae bends down, ping the black bag on the floor.

 

“We defeated them with minimal injuries, but one more showed up, with a gun.” Jinyoung's heart stops.

 

A gun? His already fixed eyes on Mark scan his body. But he can't see anything. Mark's shirt is torn in several places, what once was a white shirt, is stained by red marks which Jinyoung can only accept, is blood.

 

“He out on shot, his time was already running short.” Bambam mumbles as he rests himself on the chair Jaebum had been sitting on earlier.

 

“if thats it, I'm going to wake him up.” Youngjae mumbles as he reaches for a strange syringe filled with blue liquid; making Jinyoung's blood run cold.

 

“Wake him up? How…” Jaebum who had had no say in what was happening suddenly speaks up.

 

Youngjae doesn't answer Jaebum's question, instead he leans forward, the blue syringe resting in his right hand. No… Jinyoung's head screams, unable to grasp what is happening. Don't hurt him!

 

The needle pricks Mark's ash covered skin and Jinyoung feels faint as he watches Youngjae push the blue liquid into Mark's arm.

 

For seconds, nothing, and all Jinyoung can hear is his own laboured breath, an eerie silence filling the room. Then Jinyoung notices, Mark’s eyelashes twitch, his eyes slowly flutter open; his  eyes dull without life.

 

“Nghh…” Mark groans as he ruffles his hands through his hair. Jinyoung can barely believe his eyes, Mark is fine.

 

“Mark!” The elder looks to the sudden yell of his name and before he can focus, a body wraps around him- warmth coursing through him, besides the warmth of his own blood soaking his clothes.

 

“Jinyoung…” Mark sighs, a weary smile on his face as he gently pats the younger’s back. Jinyoung lets out a sob, what little effort that was left to hold back his tears breaks. Mark unsure of what to do, can only soothe the younger’s back. “It’s okay Jinyoung ah…”

 

“Mark, we still have you fix you up, at the rate you’re losing blood, I’ve only got a good two hours.” Youngjae mumbles, placing down the empty syringe and emptying out the contents of the black bag.

 

“W-what?” Jinyoung splutters as he lifts his head from it’s nestled position on Mark’s chest.

 

“Just because he’s awake Jinyoung, doesn’t mean he’s okay. He just can’t feel it, remember?” Jackson places his hand on Jinyoung’s shoulder. “Let’s let Youngjae do his job okay?”

 

Wha...what…

 

“Y-yeah…” Jinyoung reluctantly let's go of his grasp on Mark's hand. The elder smiles wearily, a hint of worry hidden behind his eyes.

 

Youngjae walks forward to replace Jinyoung's spot. “Okay Mark, you're going to have to tell me where your injuries are.”  Youngjae, picks up a metal scalpel as well as a bottle from the pile of unidentifiable objects.

 

“A bullet wound on my lower left abdomen, it’s still in there.” Mark mumbles. “Lacerations… and a stab wound on my left calf. My wounds aren’t clotting… you know the rest.”

 

Jinyoung bites down on the side of his cheek to prevent a whimper from escaping his mouth. “Yeah, let’s start.” Youngjae dips the scalpel into the bottle of liquid, wiping it dry with gauze.

 

“Hey Jinyoung.” Jaebum places his hand on the younger's shoulder, the boy's frame trembling.

 

Jinyoung nods, knowing that watching Youngjae work any further would be unbearable for him. But Jinyoung doesn't move, his eyes still locked with Mark.

 

“I'm fine Jinyoung.” Please don't watch. Jinyoung's heart aches as Mark smiles at him, the edges of his eyes crinkled.

 

Finally calm enough, Jinyoung gets up from his seat but with nowhere else to go in the room, he sits down on a foldable chair by the door.

 

Minutes fly by and Jinyoung's head nods up and down, his body completely exhausted of energy.

---

 

“Thanks Youngjae.” Jinyoung’s opens his closed eyes and within the blurriness he notices Youngjae stand up from his seat.

Mark.

 

Jinyoung wobbles up from the foldable chair and hovers over towards Mark. “Hey…”

 

Mark smiles when he sees Jinyoung, and he beckons the younger to bend down. “How was your nap princess?” Mark chuckles slightly.

 

Jinyoung is taken aback by Mark’s easiness. “Mark… how can you be so calm!” Jinyoung’s voice is loud and rings out through the room. Thankfully, most of the others have fallen asleep, their heads nodding back and forth against the stone walls.