{ Minhyuk POV }

I awoke with my face pressed against the cold concrete of the stair landing, sticky with my blood. I groaned and felt my stomach for and punctures but it was too tender to lay a finger on. Eunkwang had certainly done a number on me. The surrounding apartments were silent so it had to be early morning; but I didn’t have much time until the old man next door left for work. I had to get up and clean up this mess before anyone sees. Luckily the building owner left the small supply cupboard open for people to use so I slowly, and painfully, dragged myself to the cupboard and searched through the boxes and shelves for some towels and disinfectant spray.

I found a few dusty towels that had been shoved to the back of the cupboard and some hospital grade cleaner. Ha, you’d probably need acid to get the stains of the concrete now. I should go to the hospital but how am I supposed to explain this? I’ll just take it slow and try not to stress. Too much. Throwing the towels on the ground I used my foot to wipe up the blood but there was just too much to soak up into two towels. I took out a near empty roll of paper towels and spread the rough sheets on the ground, their off white surfaces blooming red. Sighing inwardly, it hurt enough to breathe anyway, I used whatever strength I had to pull my t-shirt over my head and drop that on the ground along with the towels and paper. After almost ten minutes the blood had been soaked up into the various fabrics, and left only a faint pink stain on the gray concrete. No one would notice from afar so I grabbed a garbage bag from the cupboard and shoved the towels and whatnot in there, tying to tightly and dragging it down the stairs to the dumpster out the back of the building.

Throwing the garbage bag next to the large dumpster I pulled out the lighter I kept hidden in my pocket. I always had a lighter on me, just in case I happened to need one. I flicked the top open and ran my thumb along the ignite wheel. Holding the flame on the black plastic I watched as the flame spread slowly over the bag and caught on the fabric inside. The bag melted slowly and a foul stench of burning rubber wafted through the air. The towels and t-shirt went up in flames and turned to ashes before my eyes. Soon there was nothing left but a smouldering pile of ashes and black residue. The sky was turning pink and the roads were slowly coming to life. I looked up to the apartment’s window but the curtains were still drawn. Sighing properly this time, I ignored the pain and limped towards the small water tap near the fire exit. Who knows why you would put a tap there but it would be useful for once. The tap was stiff and took some banging before it would turn; the water was icy cold. I cringed as the water seeped into my wounds and spread over my raw skin. It felt like a bunch of needles being twirled around under my skin as I hastily rubbed the water over myself, trying to erase and dirt and blood. My eyes stung when I splashed the water on my face so I quickly turned off the tap and stood shirtless, shivering in the damp alley.

Sometimes you would find bags of old clothes people just threw out their windows and today I was in luck. Several plastic bags were stacked against the dumpster which I dug through for anything suitable. I found a jumper, plain black that fit perfectly; thankfully it didn’t smell. My pants were torn and a little dirty but there were no signs of a brawl on them so I left them be. Shoving my hands in my pockets I made for the small convenience store that ran all day and night. I had left my wallet in my car the day before so I had no problems with that. I parked the car and headed straight for the aisle where the antiseptics and band-aids were and filled a basket full of them. It felt weird to do something so normal as shop for things considering what happened only a matter of hours ago. My face ached and my legs felt like jelly, and I was positive the cashier had their hand on a phone just in case I happened to be some thug. I sure as hell looked like one at the time.

I dumped the contents of the basket on the counter and pulled out my credit card while the cashier hurriedly shoved the various boxes and tubes into a plastic bag. I punched in my pin number and took the bag from the woman. She seemed relieved when I left the store. People were finally coming out of their homes and leaving for work, while stored opened their doors for yet another busy day. I didn’t have to worry about getting up early for once. I headed down the street to the city centre where it was already packed with professionals and the rich. I looked out of place in my black hoodie and ripped tracksuit pants but did I give a damn? No. I was here for one reason.

Department of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

I strode through the large glass doors at the front of the building and up to the machine that spat out tickets according to your reason for visiting. I pressed a button and took the ticket before taking a seat near the window, dumping the plastic bag next to me. There were only a few other people in there so my number was called out by the automated TV screen quickly. The young woman behind the glass looked taken aback by me but recomposed herself quickly.

“Good morning, how can I help you?” She asked cheerily.

“I would like to apply for a marriage license.” I said blankly and waited as she prepared the necessary forms.

{ Eunjin POV }

The images of Minhyuk beating the life out of Eunkwang kept flashing through my mind as I lay on the hard floor of the lounge room. I didn’t dare try and open the front door or yell for help; Minhyuk would probably be waiting outside the door. My phone lay broken on the floor from the night before so I couldn’t call anyone. The home phone had been disconnected. It was all my fault, everything, Eunkwang being beaten, Minhyuk having to suffer so much because of me. I felt like I should just crawl under a rock and die.

Who knows what’s going to happen now. Eunkwang could be dead for all I know. Dead and gone. For some reason tears wouldn’t come so I started shuddering and drew gasps like my stomach was convulsing. The pain was unbearable. But it couldn’t be anywhere near the pain those two men felt.

{ Eunkwang POV }
 

“Hey! Wake up! Crap, call an ambulance!” A voice said from far away as a shaking sensation went through me. The fog in my mind cleared but as soon as I moved I let out a yell and clutched at my side. It felt like someone had stabbed me repeatedly in the gut.

“Hey, are you awake?” The voice asked and I cracked an eye open to see a man, dressed in an expensive suit kneeling over me. A woman dressed just as extravagantly as he was talking shrilly on a phone.

“What happened to you? How long have you been out here? There’s blood everywhere…” The man asked me question after question but I just didn’t have the strength to answer.

“They said they’d be here in five minutes.” The woman said shakily while gazing upon my mangled body.

The ambulance came and the paramedic lifted me onto a stretcher and carried me to the back of ambulance where they administered pain killers and put me on oxygen. I felt my mind drifting as the medics spoke to each other with medical vocabulary that I didn’t understand. I soon out as the ambulance’s siren faded to nothing in my head.

{ Minhyuk POV }

By the time I had crawled up the stairs of the apartment building, I was ready to die. My whole body felt like it was falling apart and I was mentally exhausted. I collapsed outside my front door and rummages through the plastic bag for anything of use. Burn gel, bandages, heat packs, cotton balls and a variety of other medical products tumbled out of the bag as I tipped it upside down on the concrete. I wasn’t a doctor so I had no idea what to do about something like this so I just took some antiseptic and splashed it onto a few cotton balls before rubbing them on my cuts. The alcohol smell burned my nose and stung like fire in my cuts. I quickly wrapped myself in bandages and slapped a few band-aids onto my face. I could do nothing about the bruises.

Shoving everything back into the bag I stood up and grabbed the folder with the papers, and stood in front of the door. I turned the key and slowly opened the door. The apartment was dark and silent, Eunjin was nowhere in sight. I dumped the bag at the door, locked it again, and walked into the lounge room spotting a figure curled up on the floor. Eunjin lay quaking on the floor. I stepped towards her and cleared my throat, causing her to whip her head around and scramble away from me. I held out the folder and waited for her to take it. She hesitated before cautiously taking the folder from my hands and opening it. Her eyes scanned over the papers before she gasped and dropped the folder like it had burnt her.

She covered and stared at me in disbelief. I walked away into the bedroom and flopped down on the bed. Now I only had to organise a few more things and Eunjin would be mine forever.

Another update! YAY! Because I love my subscribers and I was bored.

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