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“I've never looked forward before. I've always looked back.
I think about the past way too much and I think about what I should have done
and everything I did wrong and I've never once looked forward in my life.”
― Colleen Hoover, Losing Hope

At first, he tried opening his eyes but the stinging pain of the dirt and dust made him shut them again. It felt as if someone had taken a sharp needle and placed it again his eyes and if he were to open them again, it would pierce through.

There was a constant drone ringing in his ears and his head felt dizzy when a headache began to form in ten folds. His head felt like it would explode and he was having trouble staying awake.

He attempted to reach his arm up to rub at his eyes but he felt nothing move. He frowned, moving his arm again but there was no movement. He tried moving the other arm, but once again, nothing happened. His heart pounded in panic and he forced his eyes open, blinking furiously to wash away the stuff in his eyes.

To no surprise, it was dark and he was unable to see a thing. He tried moving his legs but when he felt the weighing pain on his knees, he winced and stopped immediately. Something must have collapsed ontop of him.

He lay there, letting in and out short breaths. He tried moving his arm again only to feel the sharp pain of what felt like a thousand tiny needles piercing into his veins. He gasped and seized all movement.

He waited out the numbness in his arm before he tried moving it again and at last, he was able to pick it up. Although the confined space under all the rubble didn’t allow for much arm room.

He used his arm and felt around and he knew there were rocks surrounding him on all sides. His mind raced as he tried to figure out how he could possibly remove himself from the rocks but all his ideas required his legs to be free.

That was when he noticed the dry and uncomfortable feeling in his throat. He felt a cough bubbling up and he had no control when his throat began to burn. Every single time he felt as if the coughing had stopped, the itching began again and he could feel the tears form in his eyes because of it.

He had no sense of time so he had no real estimation as to when his coughing died down but by the time it did, he was even more exhausted than he was before.

He sighed, dropping his arm and closing his eyes again. His mind grew hazy and before he knew it, his world went black once again.

Taehyung stopped the truck and turned off the engine. He stared at the gaping hole in the middle of the road.

“We can’t take the truck any further and this is the quickest way into the city.”

She nodded, grabbing her bag and hopping out of the truck. He followed suit and together they walked forwards, assessing the damage around them.

Vehicles were thrown everywhere, with some rammed into the sides of the buildings. The roofs of many of the buildings were blown off with the pieces of material scattered along the roads. The roads were upturned, but it was barely visible with all the debris and cement blocks covering it.

Nari shook her head. “A tornado hasn’t hit this island in decades.” Taehyung looked around. “This is my first time seeing the damage and holy, it looks intense. I just hope the others made it out without getting hurt.”

She walked closer to stare down at the hole and all she saw at the bottom were broken vehicles and parts of debris in layers. Her eyes followed the giant crack that ran along the ground and extended farther than her eyes could see in the distance.

“Is he far from here?” she asked, turning to Taehyung. He looked down at his device where a red dot was pulsing on the screen. He shook his head.

“He’s not too far but it’ll take us longer to get through this rubble,” he said, pointing to what was in front of him.

He watched as Nari took a step first and he followed closely behind her. He stepped back when she crouched down slightly, preparing herself for the jump. Once she made it over, she turned back and held out a hand.

She chuckled at his confused expression and pointed to his leg which still had the bandage over it. “I don’t want you losing balance and falling back in.” He shook his head in amusement but nonetheless, he reached for her hand.

They walked together deeper down the road. They were careful climbing over vehicles and made sure that the other person was still close behind.

The extra stuff laying across the roads made the journey extra difficult and after a while, Taehyung began lagging behind. Nari noticed he wasn’t beside her and she turned around.

“Are you doing okay?” she asked. He held a thumbs up but he was panting. She could see the sheen layer of sweat lining his face and she frowned. Her eyes went down to his leg which he was evidently avoiding putting pressure upon.

“We can take a break if you need one,” she said, walking back to throw one of his arms over her shoulder. He shook his head. “Let’s find him first.”

She frowned but said nothing else. Instead, she held a firmer grip on his arm and helped to support his weight.

“A lot of things have been going wrong lately, don’t you think?” Soohyuk stood up from his seat and walked over to Namjoon who had his head hung low. Soohyuk stopped right in front of him and with his fingers, he lifted his chin up so he could stare at his eyes.

“And as the leader of your crew, why is it that you couldn’t keep them in check? Will you lose another member when you go out to retrieve Jungkook today?” Soohyuk asked. Namjoon looked away. “I’m sorry. It was my own incompetence that we lost two members.”

Soohyuk tightened his fingers and Namjoon winced. He leaned in. “And do you know how many extra soldiers and resources I’m wasting to save their asses?”

Namjoon nodded fervently, his eyes wide in fear.

Soohyuk dropped his hand, roughly throwing Namjoon off to the side. He pointed a finger at him. “I want you to go out there and get Jungkook back. If you’re unable to do this much, you can expect punishment.”

Namjoon looked up. “Sir, there’s been something I was meaning to tell you.” Soohyuk, without turning around, waved his hand so Namjoon continued. “There’s a strange feeling whenever I think about that girl.”

At that, Soohyuk turned around and tilted his head. “Who?”

“The girl that was seen with Byun Baekhyun. There’s an uneasy feeling that everything that’s gone wrong so far has something to do with her.”

Soohyuk raised an eyebrow. “Is this your way of pushing the blame onto someone else?” Namjoon brought his hands up and waved them. “Of course not, sir.”

“Then what is your purpose for reporting this to me?”

Namjoon bit his lip. “I- I don’t know.”

Soohyuk ran his fingers over his desk, his hand stopping at the bottle of Bliss pills. He was about to grab them when a thought ran through his head and he stopped.

“What exactly do you feel when she comes into mind?” he asked. Namjoon shook his head. “Anger? I’ve been feeling hatred ever since Jungkook went missing.”

Soohyuk stood there. A malicious glint gleamed in his eyes and his lips tugged up into a smirk. He turned around to stare at Namjoon’s clouded eyes.

“Then I want you to remember that feeling. There’s no need to take your Bliss pills.”

Namjoon stared back at him blankly. “Understood, sir.”

Soohyuk walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder with a smile.

“Good luck on your mission today. I hope with all my heart you are able to find Jungkook.”

Nari and Taehyung stared up at science museum, or whatever was left of it, with horrified expressions. She turned to him. “This is it, right?” He nodded, staring down at the device where the pulsing red dot had grown increasingly close.

“How are we supposed to even get in? The front is completely caved in,” he said, pointing towards the fallen blocks. Nari looked around and bit her lip. “I doubt the back of the building is in any better condition.”

Taehyung looked up. “The others must have gotten out before the rest of the building collapsed.” Nari clucked her tongue. “That means the inside of the building is going to be more of a wreck than the outside is if they couldn’t get him out.”

He sighed at her comment. “This isn’t going to be easy.” Taehyung turned to her only to see that she staring blankly ahead. He blinked. “What’s the matter?”

She turned to him and stared into his eyes. “There is one way we can get in.” He frowned at the wary tone in her voice and that’s when it hit him. His eyes landed on the ring around her finger and he grabbed her hand.

“I am not letting you do that to yourself,” he hissed. She tried to pull away but he kept a firm grip on her arm. She glared up at him. “There’s no other way, Tae.”

“We’ll figure it out,” he replied. She shook her head. “If the others couldn’t get Jungkook out, how do you think we will do it with only two people?”

He stared down at her. “But you injecting yourself doesn’t mean we’ll get in either. You’re risking your life here, Nari. You’re not even fully recovered.”

With one last jerk, she freed her hand from his fingers and she stepped back. He stepped forward but she held up her hand.

“Please just let me do this. I don’t know how else I can help. This is all happening because of me and I need to do something for him.”

Taehyung opened his mouth to say something but when he saw her eyes begin to water, he stopped himself. He sighed, walking up to her. He placed his palms on either side of her face and tilted her face up. He looked at her downcast expression and let out a sigh.

“Fine, but at least let me be there for you if anything happens. You don’t have to take all the blame and do this all on your own, Nari.”

“How are you doing?”

Jin looked up from the bench to see Yoongi walking over. He placed his rifle against the bench and took a seat beside Jin. He absentmindedly watched as Jin tightened the straps on his boots.

“Terrible. What else am I supposed to feel?” Jin mumbled. Yoongi’s face fell and he reached out to put a hand on Jin’s shoulder. Jin looked up at him. “We have to get him out of there.”

Yoongi nodded. “And we will. Don’t worry. We’re bringing out the heavy vehicles.”

“You think he’ll still be alright? He’ll still be there, right?” Jin asked. There was a lingering question left behind that he didn’t have the guts to ask. Yoongi looked down.

“We haven’t come in contact with him but his tracker has been in the same spot. He’s most likely stuck or unconscious.”

Jin sighed. “You’re right.”

The two of them looked up when Namjoon walked back into the room. He motioned for the others to follow him with a small jerk of his head.

Once they were at the gate to the way up to the Surface, Namjoon turned around to double-check that everyone had their gear on. He turned his head back to the guard at the gate and flashed his badge attached to his necklace.

“Safe journeys ahead,” the guard said, dipping his head into a bow.

Jungkook winced when he felt dust and rocks fall onto his face. He let out a cough when the dust entered his nose and he turned his head to the side to avoid the onslaught of more rocks. He peeked an eye open but it was still pitch dark.

He was unable to hear anything but from the dust falling onto his face, he realized something was going on above him.

His eyes widened when he figured that it might be the others and that they were able to come back and get him. His heart hammered in his chest at the thought. That would mean he suffered through these injuries for nothing. He would not even be able to contact Taehyung.

He used his one arm to try and push anything around him but nothing was moveable. He let out a frustrated grunt and tried again but to no avail.

“Jungkook!”

He stopped all movement when he heard the faint call of his name. He lay there, unmoving, and listened because he couldn’t quite make out the voice.

“Can you hear me?”

He frowned, finding the voice becoming clearer.

“Jungkook, if you can hear me, don’t worry. We’re getting you out.”

His eyes rounded when he recognized the voice as Taehyung’s. He let out a sigh of relief and although he was confused as to how they knew he was stuck here, he was tired from his earlier attempts at moving his body.

He opened his eyes again when the stream of light coming from Taehyung’s flashlight slipped through the cracks in the rocks. He squinted his eyes and winced at the blinding light.

“Are you okay?” Taehyung asked. Jungkook could barely keep his eyes open but he managed a quick nod. He felt someone jump down beside him and begin to ease the pressure of the rocks resting on his legs.

He looked down to see Taehyung pushing the rocks off with someone and he blinked in confusion. However, when the person turned around, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open.

“I told you he recognized you,” Taehyung whispered with a chuckle. Nari let out a tired smile and crouched down. She pulled Jungkook up and using her arm, she supported his back so that he was in a sitting position.

She was about to help lift him up when arms wrapped around her body and she froze. She turned her head to the side to see Jungkook silently sobbing into her shoulder and her heart clenched at the uncomfortable feeling.

Images and memories of all the times Jungkook ran to her for comfort when they were still training together flooded through her mind. 

She reached out to ruffle his hair and rub soothing circles on his back until he calmed down. Taehyung stood beside her and a warm smile graced his lips as he watched the reunion unfold in front of him.

“You must be thirsty. Here, drink some water,” she said, pushing herself back and placing the flask into Jungkook’s hand. He drank until he felt that his throat was no longer parched. He opened his mouth and when he was able to make a noise, he let out a sob.

“I was so scared,” he whispered out brokenly. Nari softened and Taehyung bent down to wrap an arm around the boy.

“I’m sorry I asked you to do this,” Taehyung said. Jungkook shook his head. “It wasn't your fault. I made the decision myself.” Nari smiled and wiped some of the dirt off his face. “And we’re glad we got to you.”

Jungkook reached his hand up to rub his eyes but Nari stopped him. She shook her head and stared at him. "Your hands are dirty right now. You're going to irritate your eyes even more. Here," she said, pouring some water onto the sleeve of her sweater and dabbed at his eyelids. Jungkook let out a raspy chuckle. "My whole body is in pain but I'm so happy because I have Nari to take care of me now."

Nari and Taehyung locked eyes after hearing Jungkook's little comment. Taehyung shook his head in amusement. "Are you saying we didn't treat you well?" Jungkook ducked behind Nari and she laughed.

Taehyung stood up. “Hold on, we’re going to pull you out."

He climbed up from the hole first and then turned back and held out his hands. Nari struggled to lift Jungkook up and off the ground but she bit her lip, fighting off the dizziness and fever she felt forming.

She was able to held Jungkook stand and Taehyung reached down for his arms. Together, they were able to get him out of the hole. Taehyung let Jungkook down onto one of the rocks before he turned back around to help Nari get out.

“How are you doing?” Taehyung asked, seeing Jungkook wince every time he applied pressure onto his legs. Jungkook nodded weakly. “I’m okay.”

“Our medical kit is in the truck so we’ll clean out the wounds when we get to the truck. Hang in there,” Nari said.

With Nari supporting Jungkook from the other side, Taehyung led the way out of the museum.

a u t h o r ' s    n o t e 

Hi friends! I'm sorry for the late update (it's been over two weeks, I know) but I just got back to Canada from a 6 week vacation and the jet lag really tired me out. I also had to catch up in two of my university courses that I took onine so I didn't have much energy to write.

Yay, they got Jungkook. Now how will the others react when they find out Jungkook isn't there anymore?

Anywhoo, thank you guys for reading and commenting! (I'll hopefully update another chapter real soon!)