chanina!

Chapter 9: Never enough

TW// Gun violence, blood, mentions of death

Chan's POV:

I got out of the car behind ITZY's car. The crowds were wild today as it was Stray Kids and ITZY's first appearance after our hiatus. I noticed one person pointing a weapon towards Nina. The eyes of the person were so similar. Daisy. That's Daisy. I ran towards Nina, engulfing her in a hug to protect her. I felt the bullet hit my left shoulder. I screamed. Even if I don't survive, I can die in peace knowing I protected her.

Nina's POV:

"CHAN!" I screamed as Chan bled out. Immediately, staff came running out, arresting Daisy. "What happened?!" Yeji yelled. "Yeji.. Daisy... she shot Chan," I cried, "Chan! Hold on please love." I could tell he was going to pass out from bleeding. I placed my sweater on his wound, trying to create a clot to stop the bleeding. I felt the cold blood go through my sweater. I removed my sweater to place it on Chan's wound. "SOMEONE PLEASE CALL 199!" I choked. "Nina.." I heard Chan mumble. "Chan love you're going to be okay. Please hold on for me, okay," I whispered.

"Nina, I don't think I'll make it."
"You will! I won't allow it."

"Tell my members, your members, and my friends and family that I love them."

"Chan stop talking, you'll waste your energy."

"I love you so much Nina, so much."
"I love you more Chan."

He pulled me in for a kiss, thinking it might be our last. We couldn't hear the screams around us or see the flashing lights, we could only hear and see each other. Then, the ambulance came, ringing through my ears just as Chan almost passed out. "Two people can ride with us," the first responder declared. "Nina and Jisung, go. We will follow you guys," Hyunjin decided. We rushed into the ambulance with Chan on a stretcher. They were already working on him, I reached out for his hand. "You'll be okay Chan," I assured myself more than Chan. "He'll be okay Nina," Jisung hugged me. I'll never let him go. If he goes, I'll go.

Chan was rushed into an operating room, his blood smearing the floor. We were told to wait outside, the light saying "Operating" was on. Jisung gave me his sweater to wear. About 30 minutes later, the other members came running in. "Are you okay Nina and Jisung?" Minho asked worriedly. I shook my head, tears running down my face. "What-what if he doesn't make it," I hiccuped, my voice cracking. "Nina, Chan will make it. We all know Chan, he's strong, he will make it," Felix sniffled. "Why was it him? Why couldn't it be me? There are so many things we haven't done, so many unspoken words. He didn't deserve this," I ranted. I never understood why loved ones would stay by the side of their suffering loved one in medical dramas. Why do they stay? Now I understand it the most, you have no choice. You love the person too much that you can't let them be alone. You would hurt even more. I was too young, too immature to understand how much Chan means to me. If we are able to see each other again, I will never let you go.

After 1 hour, the operating light went off. The door opened, "Did he survive?" I pleaded. "Chan is alive. He is currently unconscious right now. He should wake up in a day or 2," the doctor informed me, "We will take him to room C10 for the time being." Following the doctor, we all went to the room. "Can I get your name doctor?" I asked as he was leaving. "Kim Namjoon," he answered. "Thank you Doctor Kim and all your staff for helping," I thanked. He gave me a nod and went off. We threw the TV in the room to watch some TV. I tuned it out, focusing on the unconscious boy in front of me. Someone who's been hurt by the world, who the world has tried to tear down. It amazes me how he's still so kind to everyone, even those who have hurt him. What did I deserve to get an angel like him in my life? I had to have saved someone important to have him. It hurts me to step away from him just to use the washroom. It's almost as if a magnet is pulling me to him. "Nina you need to eat," Chaeryeong warned. "Not until Chan wakes up," I mumbled. I couldn't fall asleep that night. I wanted to be there when he woke up.

Glancing at the clock, it was 12pm. It's been a day since Chan was shot and he still wasn't awake. "He'll wake up, right?" I gulped. "He will, Nina," Jeongin rubbed my back. "You need to eat," Changbin repeated. I rolled my eyes and made myself some instant ramen. I never took my eyes off of Chan, even when I was cooking. Slurping my noodles, I felt movement beside me. "Where am I?" Chan was puzzled. "CHAN!" I squealed. Pressing the call nurse button, I hugged him. "Why are you crying Nina?" Chan asked. "I thought you left," I whispered. Chan looked confused, then remembered what happened.

"Are you okay Nina?"

"Why are you asking if I'm okay!? You were the one hurt."

"But I thought you got hurt."

"I didn't because... because you saved me. You took the bullet for me. Thank you, Channie."

"Why are you thanking me? You saved me. Are our members okay?

"Yes we are," Hyunjin smiled. "We didn't get hurt," Yuna acknowledged.

Our conversation was cut off by Doctor Kim coming in. He did a few check ups on Chan and gave him food. Chan was hesitant to touch his food, so I fed him.

Other JYPE artists came to visit us. It was no surprise that the JYP Family concert was cancelled. A week later, Chan was let out of the hospital. We were escorted out of the hospital to prevent any cameras from seeing us. I was feeling a little worried, but that grew when I remembered what happened. "Chan? What happens next?" I asked worried. "What do you mean?" He questioned.

"We... kissed in front of the cameras."
"We did?"
"It was when you were losing consciousness."

"What?"

It took Chan a while to remember. He pulled out his phone and saw videos of us on Twitter.

"I guess we have nothing to hide, Nina."

"Let's talk to Jinyoung about it."

Getting into a car, ITZY's manager drove us to the JYP Entertainment building. Jinyoung was in the lobby, his eyes turned soft when he saw us. "How are you?" He hugged us. "We are okay, but we wanted to talk about Chan and mine's kiss before the concert," I muttered.

"Let's head to my office."
We nodded.

Getting to the office, Jinyoung informed us, "So, Choi Daisy has been arrested for attempted murder, possession of a fire arm, and invasion of privacy. She could be charged for more, but it is uncertain," I took a deep breath. "If I told you about this, Chan wouldn't have gotten hurt. I'm sorry," I apologized. "Nina, it's okay," Jinyoung assured me. "You had all rights to be scared," Chan smiled. "I guess we can't really deny the rumors of you dating. As you know, there are no dating bans in JYPE, so I'm okay with it. I'm happy for you two. It is your decision to announce your relationship or not," Jinyoung gently smiled. I looked at Chan, suddenly realizing that the world around us didn't matter. What the public thought was useless. What was important was our happiness. I didn't care if everyone hated it, I am happy because of this exquisite boy beside me. "Let's do it," I approved. "I don't care what they think," Chan beamed. "Okay lovebirds! Stop flirting in front of me, a single man," Jinyoung laughed. We worked together to create the announcement. It read:

Hello, this is JYP Entertainment.

We are happy to announce that ITZY's leader Nina and Stray Kids' leader Bang Chan are dating. We are all so happy for them and we hope all fans can support them.

Thank you.

Almost everyone was so happy for us.

@flrtnina: I FUCKINF KNEW IT CONGRATS BEST LEADERS!

@chanbestb0i: CONGRATS!!!!

@flwrhantwins: HELLO THEY ARE BOTH SO CUTE

@skzitzyluv: SKZITZY INTERACTIONS!

@mystarjeongin: BEST LEADERS ME THINKS

@bangchanism_: I LOVE THESE 2

@sunoosideup: JYPE is so good, no dating bans!

A few hate messages were posted, but they didn't matter. What mattered was us. What mattered was that Daisy could no longer hurt us, even though no number of apologies would be enough. It would be never enough.