Beyond Repair (Min Yoongi)

38. Follow The Leader

Namjoon didn't know what to do.

He was the leader, damn it, and it was his job to make things right. As much as the others tried to help, the burden of piecing broken hearts back together, repairing fractured relationships, and maintaining the group's collective sanity was—and always had been—Namjoon's to bear. It was a responsibility he had gladly accepted all those years ago when he became the band leader, even before their debut, and one he had proudly upheld throughout the years.

But right now, for the first time that he could remember, Namjoon had no idea what to do. There was nothing he could do, really—Yoongi was undergoing a surgery that he may not survive and Namjoon and the others were just sitting around Yoongi's room, waiting desperately for good news that may never come. No one had said a word in well over an hour—but then again, Namjoon thought, there was nothing to say. What could anyone say to make the unknown less terrifying?

A long time after Yoongi had been rushed to the operating room—no one bothered to check how long it had been—Namjoon's phone rang. It was on vibrate, but even that small sound seemed to echo through the silent room, making nearly everyone jump. When Namjoon looked to see who was calling, his stomach dropped.

It was Yoongi's father.

Namjoon was tempted to reject the call or just let it ring to voicemail, but he couldn't do that to Yoongi's family. He closed his eyes. "Hello?" he answered, his voice raspy from disuse.

"Namjoon," the man said, "we're at the train station. Which hospital are you at?"

"Oh. Um, I don't..." Namjoon opened his eyes and looked around at the others. "One minute, I have to check," he told Yoongi's father. Namjoon stood from his seat, swaying a little. He wondered for half a second why he was so lightheaded before remembering that he hadn't had anything to eat in almost two days now.

He decided his own needs could wait. He made his way out of Yoongi's room and towards a reception desk.

"May I help you?" the secretary asked.

"I have a really stupid question," Namjoon admitted.

"Okay...?" the woman said, sounding concerned, but Namjoon couldn't really care that she was judging him.

"What's the name of this hospital? And the address?"

The secretary gave Namjoon a weird look before eventually telling him where they were. Namjoon thanked her before repeating the address to Yoongi's father.

"Thank you," the man said. There was a pause over the phone while he relayed the information to a cab driver. "Okay. Adjusting for traffic, the driver says we should be there in a little under two hours."

"Okay. But, um, listen," Namjoon said before Yoongi's father could hang up, "there's something you need to know before you get here."

"...Yes?"

"Yoongi..." Namjoon closed his eyes again, willing himself to maintain his composure, at least until the phone call was over, "Yoongi is in surgery."

"Again?" Yoongi's father asked, shock and worry already evident in his voice. "What happened?"

Namjoon sighed and scrubbed at his eyes with his fingertips in an attempt to physically prevent his tears from falling past his eyelashes. "He's...he got an infection. Went into septic shock."

"He's going to be okay, right?" Namjoon faintly heard Yoongi's mother and he couldn't bring himself to answer. "Namjoon," the woman said, louder now. He must be on speakerphone.

"Yes?" Namjoon weakly answered.

"Tell me what's going on. What's happening to my son?" she demanded.