chapter VIII 거리 [distance]

a deal is a deal

        "Daehyun! Daehyun, c'mon, baby, open your eyes!" Yongguk begged as he gently shook the said boy in his arms - like he had been doing for the past 5 minutes. But like all of his other attempts, Daehyun didn't move. "Daehyun!" Yongguk paused shortly and swallowed slowly, his voice becoming softer as tears began to form in his eyes. "Dae...please. Don't--Don't do this to me." After a moment of silence, Yongguk reached up to begin feeling for a pulse. "Come on...Come on, come on." Yongguk's fingers stopped as he felt slow, barely-there pulse against his finger tips. He was alive. He was still alive. But barely. The poor soul was clinging to life.

"You need a hospital. And fast." Yongguk muttered to himself and scooped Daehyun in his arms before rushing out of the building. He ran to one of the ambulances and got on to it, placing Daehyun on the the stretcher before moving back a little to allow the paramedics to do their work. His dark, tearful eyes stared at Daehyun's still expression, watching in case his eyes ended up opening after all. Slowly, with a shaking hand, he reached out and took one of Daehyun's slightly cold hands. He pulled Daehyun's hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles, squeezed his hand tightly, then lowered his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

"I love you." He whispered softly. "Come back...so I can say it to your face."

---

Jimin raised his gun, which was held firmly in both of his hands, as he cautiously made his way down the empty, silent corridor. He made his way around the corner quickly, as if to surprise anyone that was hiding behind there but there was no one. His eyes narrowed and he continued walking through the corridor before pausing, hearing a noise to his right. His ear perked up and he spun around on his heels, facing the direction the noise came from. It lead him to an empty room with the door completely open. At first, Jimin remained in the door way with his gun still aimed, and instead his keen eyes searched every square inch in front of him before he cautiously began moving into the room.

"If you give yourself up," He started. "I promise I won't put a bullet in your head." His thumb reached up and he slowly took the safety off of the gun before quickly spinning around as someone walked out in his peripheral view.

"Jimin." Jungkook spoke, his voice calm but his expression speaking otherwise. His eyes were wide in shock, mimicking one of a doe caught in headlights. Jimin knew he was the one Jungkook least expected to see, and he couldn't help but feel the same way. But that didn't cause him to lower his gun. Despire the tug at his heart, he still felt pure anger towards the younger - and kept the gun aimed high and steady.

Jungkook seemed to noticed this and visibly became anxious. "Look, I--"

"Put your hands up." Jimin instructed, his voice stone cold. Jungkook's eyes widened, if possible. "I said put your hands up!" Jungkook's hands quickly shot up. "Turn around slowly. Put your hands behind your back." The younger did as he was told and Jimin slowly approached him before grabbing his handcuffs.

"Jimin, I--"

"Shut up." Jimin hissed as he began hand-cuffing Jungkook's wrists. "That's Detective Park to you. Jeon Jungkook, you are underarrest."

Jungkook turned around and looked at him, blinking. "Aren't you--Aren't you gonna give me my rights?"

"Right?" Jimin's eyebrows raised as he scoffed. "After what you ing did and what you're currently involved with? Hell no. Now walk." He grabbed Jungkook's bicep and began pulling him out of the room.

"Jimin-" Jungkook cleared his throat as the other shot him a look. "I mean...I-I mean Detective Park, is this--are you still mad at me?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing to a point. The silence was a given answer, but it only made him frown more. "Look, I just want to say that I'm--" A sudden gun shot going off cut him off and he flinched, raising his hand-cuffed wrists up to cover his head and he cowered down. But there was only one gun shot, and Jungkook was expecting more but was only met with silence. As he slowly raised his head, he felt that Jimin's hand was no longer on his arm. Jungkook looked down at the ground and gasped, his eyes widening as he saw Jimin on the floor. He was in physical and evident pain as he clutched at his to