Danger. A Closed Forest | Stray Kids

34. IT HURTS

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/~*~\\ IT HURTS //~*~\

- H-hurts ... - Hwanwoong curled up on the couch, his fingers gripping the fabric of the cushions. His face was twisted in an uneasy, painful grimace, his lids glued tightly together, and shallow, choppy breaths and groans filled the room. Felix stroked his back, occasionally wiping sweat from his temples with his wrist, his whites covered with a glassy coating from fear of the older omega's condition. Minho, in turn, bit his lip hard, worry running through his furrowed forehead and trembling body. Changbin took Hyunjin and Jeongin to the room to avoid stressing Yeo. Lee decided that two people would be enough, thus avoiding chaos.

A sudden screech, mingled with a howl, pierced their ears as the elder's hand slapped against his neck; on the mark he shared with Chan. Minho feared the worst and feverishly went to check it out. He pulled his hand away forcibly, whispering soothing words straight into Hwanwoong's ear, and sighed dramatically, eyes widening in horror. The scar was fading. Minho furrowed his eyebrows, embracing Yeo's shaky, writhing body and pressed it against his torso, biting his cheek from the inside, when he felt the sharp burning sensation of the torn skin on his back from claws being driven into it.

- It'll be alright, Woong. It'll be alright... - he whispered, fighting the tears threatening to flow. He couldn't cry in front of an older man who was just losing his partner. It would only break him down more. Every onay knew that the death of the other half was equal to colossal pain and even death. Mostly death. He did not know anyone who survived such a loss...

- M-M-Min-Minho - Felix stammered out, showing him the red-smeared fingertips. His pupils narrowed and widened alternatively in the span of milliseconds as distinct fear was heard from his ajar mouth. Minho immediately focused his gaze on the place where the younger omega's gaze was fixed, and a sudden wave of realization hit him like a bolt from the blue, paralysing his body, which apparently affected the elder.

- H-Hurts... Chan - Hwanwoong moaned, biting hard on Lee's shoulder, who only tightened his grip around Yeo as he slowly slipped out of his embrace, as well as out of his consciousness.

„Felix... Hwanwoong was pregnant"

"So that blood-" Felix whimpered, immediately pressing his hand to his trembling lips. A single tear run slowly down his spotted faces. Minho just nodded his head barely noticeably, he himself didn't want it to happen, but Hwanwoong...

Hwanwoong was losing them both.

He felt light-headed. He could see the blurry silhouettes of people moving around him as his head swayed limply in all directions like Newtonian balls, bouncing off the sides as if hitting an adjacent silver ball. The strange buzzing in his ears drowned out any sounds that seemed so distant, as if he was underwater and unable to breathe. He couldn't breathe. The crushing pain in his chest was squeezing tears from his eyes, the state of dullness he was in was effectively forcing him to ignore the cramps and piercing pain in his belly even worse than not being able to catch a full breath. Or maybe one was combined with the other and was in some ways an incendiary force that started the entire chain reaction. Hwanwoong only remembered that Chan was suffering, then there was darkness, and now... Now he couldn't tell what was going on. Everything swirled around him, and he could only catch panicked screams. He had no idea who they belonged to, his brain pushed any people out of his memory. At the moment, they were just people's profiles. The pack, friendship and consciousness of mind faded into the background, and all that remained was the desire to return the stomach contents because of the feeling of numbing pain and Chan.

- Ch-Chan... - another grunt and a tight squeezing of his eyelids, from under which more tears spilled out - W-whe-where is Chan... I-Ah! Hu-It hurts!

"Bam, bring him here!" Minho combed Hwanwoong's sweat-sticky brown curls, his body twisting like a snake in pain. Hissing replaced drum-bursting screams and groans. Both Lees were horrified by the amount of blood that had leaked out of him. None of them had experience with miscarriage, none knew what to do to ease the elder omega's torment, and their wet cheeks and shaky limbs were proof of this.

"Do not give me orders! Yugie is weak, Minho!" Bam snarled, Felix dropped to his knees by the domination of both olders. It only increased his fear and despair. He could feel Changbin's anger growing in the other room, where he was probably hugging the scared Jeongin. He was grateful that he didn't complicate anything and listened to Minho not to leave, even as his omega exposed his neck through Minho's and Bam's argument.

"A-alright, I'm coming". Yugyeom's weak voice lit fires of hope and the heart of a panicked beta. Minho was aware of his condition and guilt lurked in every corner of his body, but in this situation Kim was their only lifeline and only Lee seemed to know it. Their late-night conversations resulted in many shared secrets that Yugyeom did not even think of telling Bambam. As if he was afraid that his alpha would abandon him and find him disgusting and worthless rubbish that was in Gochan's pack. Lee showed him the understanding and respect he needed by melting the last ice wall between them.

It wasn't long before the beta saw Yugyeom leaning his weight against Bam, who held him securely around his waist, keeping his watchful, caring gaze on the omega. Only now, Minho was able to notice how tragically the older looked.

Pale, glistening in the light of the makeshift lamps skin adorned with drops of sweat, hollowed cheeks and an overly thin body, his ribs sticking out, hurting the beta's eyes, bags under his eyes as big as plums and not much different in colour, and his legs slowly shuffling along the cold floor. A soft whimper escaped from Felix's mouth as he bit his lip to hold back tears at the sight of him, and Minho understood it perfectly well. It was hard for him to watch, too.

- Hey, Woongie - the omega knelt next to his head and, with a weak, sad smile, stroked his friend's damp cheek. Hwanwoong grunted as he felt his cool hand against his skin that was like salvation to him. It soothed the hot surface, giving him a little relief. - Just a moment, Woongie, you got this. I-I'm here, okay? I am with you.

- Yugie - Bam whispered, rubbing his eyes frantically to wipe away any traces of tears lurking at their corners.

- We have to wait for everything to flow out - Yugyeom whispered, catching intense eye contact with his alpha, which caught Bam off guard a bit. Kim took his hand for a second and rubbed the top of it, smiling slightly, then returned to the suffering omega, glancing briefly at the pool of blood surrounding him and tsk-ed worried to see that there were still a good few hours ahead of them. - Breathe, Woong. I know how it hurts. I know perfectly well - Hwanwoong grabbed his hand, closing it in a crushing grip, and doubled over, when a broken scream left his mouth as air stuck in his throat from a sudden rush of pain. - Csii, Woong, you can do it. If I made it, so can you. You're a strong omega, you can handle it.

Yugyeom didn't even have to look back to see how shocked Bambam and Felix were at hearing these words. He just hoped they wouldn't hate him for it.

Kim flinched as Bam put a hand on his shoulder, silently letting him know he was there for him and that he had his support. Their bond told him his alpha was sorry. Sorry that such things happened to him, and he wasn't able to help him then...

A good few hours passed before Hwanwoong felt something leak out of him. Most of the blood flowed out of him, as if through a broken dam, creating a large river beyond his body.

- It's all over, Woong. It's all over... - Minho hugged shaky Felix to him, pressing his face into the crook of his neck to spare him from looking at it for a second longer. Beta watched with heartache as Yugyeom wrapped his arms around the barely conscious Hwanwoong body and sobbed into his matted hair. The weak omega knew what it was like to lose a pup. Bam saw how devastated he was over Hwanwoong, and he couldn't bear it. The whole grotto was plunged into mourning.

Chan left together with his descendant...