[CONTENTID1]run[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]Chapter Thirty Three[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

Things around Jakyung were moving in slow motion. She fell to her knees, holding Chen’s limp body to her own, cling on to dear life for the both of them. She didn’t notice Yixing and the others arrive, she didn’t hear the sounds of the fight fall away around her, she didn’t hear the instructions being yelled at her. All she could feel was numb.

And then hands were trying to take her precious Jongdae away and everything came rushing back with a fury and she lashed out, hissing at the person trying to separate them.

Xiumin backed away as if he had seen a wild animal. He hadn’t expected her to react so violently at his touch, hadn’t expected her to jerk away and glare at him so fiercely. But he knew Jakyung, he knew she was hurting, and that she would benefit in the long run. Besides, they still had time to save Chen. He tried again, this time enduring screams and protests as Yixing and Suho lifted Chen between them, and Xiumin himself gathered Jakyung into his arms. Her limbs flailed wildly as she reached for Chen, but was held back by Xiumin, who pleaded with her to listen, to know that Chen wasn’t going to die that he was in good hands.

Baekhyun watched this exchange, and something within him snapped and he walked slowly to Jakyung. She glared at him, daring to do challenge her. He slapped her clear across the face, surprising everyone, including himself.

“Get a hold of yourself!” He shouted, using her momentary shock to make his case. His gaze softened somewhat as he realized she was too stunned to do anything in return. “Jakyung, please. You’re hurting yourself more by struggling.”

“Okay,” Jakyung finally whispered, giving Baekhyun that most vulnerable look he both hated and loved. She turned that gaze to Xiumin, who was just happy she was struggling no longer.

Jakyung let a huff of air through her nose and it was like all the energy inside of her drained along with it. Xiumin’s hold on her tightened as she her body went slack in his arms. She was still conscious, but the shock was setting in and he and Baekhyun both knew that that could be worse than any of the other injuries she had sustained.

All around them members of their own gang and those loyal to Taekyung were at work, some disposing of the already dead bodies of their enemies, some making quick work of the ones that still had a little life left in them. Others were attending to the injured, and had Jakyung been about her wits, she would have noticed the insane amount of police and medical personnel that were both at Taekyung’s and EXO’s disposal. Their influence stretched far and wide.

Xiumin hoisted Jakyung into his arms bridal style and rushed over to the first medic he saw, urging him to help Jakyung. She was growing even more pale and her skin became clammy and her lips beginning to blue. It scared Xiumin to his core to know that he could lose her. Beside him, Baekhyun was feeling much the same.

They watched as the medic whisked her away to a waiting ambulance. As much as they wanted to go with her, they had their own injuries to take care of and much more having to do with the logistics of covering up what went down here. There was still the matter of the escaped Yang Hyunsuk and missing Mark Tuan to deal with.

“She will be fine,” Baekhyun said, but Xiumin wasn’t sure if it was directed at him, or supposed to be a private reassurance. “She will be fine because she’s Park Jakyung and god damn it if the girl isn’t a ing lunatic, she’d be too pissed to not be alright. She’ll be fine.” For the first time, Xiumin could see it on his friends face. He could see the worry and the determination and the pride and the confusion and awe.

But most of all, he could see that like himself, Byun Baekhyun loved Park Jakyung.

++++

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Jakyung’s eyes snapped open. A muted sepia ceiling was all she could see from this position, but that didn’t matter. She didn’t plan on staying that way for long.

She protested against the groaning in her joints and the pain that seemed to bloom in her entire body as she stumbled out of the bed. The IV drip was too securely attached to her, so she just dragged it along with her. She didn’t notice the absence of feeling in her left hand, she didn’t notice how her sudden movements send the monitors whirring and beeping and whining loudly as she limped to the door. She ignored the nurses running down the hall shouting at her to return to bed, that she was in no state to be walking around. With as much strength as she could muster, she made it to the end of the long corridor and slammed open the door to the hospital room.

There he was, all pale and drawn and looking like death. He was too still, to lifeless to her and the machine beeping steadily next to the bed did nothing to alleviate the overwhelming feeling in her heart. A loud, anguished cry escaped her lips as she made her way over to him. She held his hand in her good one, and even the nurses and doctors that had coming rushing in paused for a moment at the intensity of the scene. They had never seen someone look so broken and small before. They were all under the employ of her brother and knew of her wild, uninhibited personality, so to see her look like a broken doll made them momentarily forget their duties and just watch, souls aching for the heartbroken woman in front of them.

Bravely, a nurse walked over to her, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked up at the man, eyes still swimming with tears. He guided her to her feet and she was suddenly too tired to argue as he brought her from Kim Jongdae’s room back to her own. She didn’t protest as he laid her back down and reattached all the monitors and checked to make sure that nothing was out of place.

“Next time, please just press the button,” the nurse said, trying to lighten the mood. But it fell on deaf ears, as Jakyung was now staring blankly at the ceiling.

That was how the Kai found her just three hours later, staring blankly at the ceiling, her dinner untouched on the table beside her. He had never seen her look so removed from herself and everything around her. It was scary to say the least, and he held her right hand in his own until Baekhyun arrived.

At first, Baekhyun said nothing to her. All he could do was stare. Both of his best friends were in the hospital, suffering from their injuries, but all he could selfishly think about was how much he wanted to pull Jakyung close to him and kiss away her pain and take her away from everything and protect her. It was an entirely foreign feeling and before he knew what was happening, he was talking to her.

He told her that she had been unconscious for two days, and that Jongdae had been stabilized during that time and the doctors assured them he would be fine. He told her that Taekyung had spent both mornings here with her before he had to leave to organize things at the company. He told her that everyone had sustained injuries, but nothing like what she and Chen had. He told her that the hospital she was in was a completely private medical center that was owned by Yixing’s family, a subsidiary of the one they ran in China.

And then Baekhyun began to tell her about him. He told her about when he was four and had an imaginary friend named Allan who he used to play dinosaurs with. He told her about the time when he was seven and accidentally w