war of love, jeno

chapter fifty-five

Four more gunshots echoed in the room.

Both of the adults standing at the entrances of the basement fell to the ground, blood trickling out of their bullet wounds.

Donghyuck and Yuna were closest to them and walked over, taking their guns and checking their pulses to make sure they were dead.

"No, no, no, fuck," Jeno whispered, looking down at Eunjin, Jaemin, and Jihan's bodies- each one of them with their own bullet wounds.

"Jaemin, why the hell would you jump in front of me, you idiot," he yelled, holding onto his best friend's body as he leaned against him.

Jaemin leaned upward and winced, "it's only a shot in the leg. We need to get these two out of here and soon as possible or they could-"

"Don't say it."

No one wasted any time helping the three. Jisung came over to help Jaemin limp upstairs while Mark carried Jihan and Jeno carried Eunjin.

Mark's breath got caught in his throat as they finally got outside, realizing how quickly her pulse was declining. "She's not going to make it if we stay here to fix her. She needs to get to the ER."

"Both of them do. I'll be fine. You all take them to the hospital. Chenle and Jisung can help me patch up my leg," Jaemin authorized.

No one made any remarks or questions, doing as he said and speeding off to the nearest hospital.

"So are we just going to leave their bodies in the basement?" Chenle asked, crawling into the van's driver seat while Jisung handed Jaemin some of his supplies.

"Someone will come to get their bodies later. They aren't our priorities right now. Jihan and Eunjin are."

Jisung was quiet for a second, staring down at Jaemin's bloody leg. "Do you think they'll make it?"

Jaemin sighed, grabbing his scissors and cutting the bottom of his pants that were now soaked in his blood. "I don't know. But I hope so."

"Did you know about Jeno and Eunjin being in contact as well?" Chenle asked quietly. He still hadn't told anyone about Jaemin's request from earlier in the school year.

Jaemin chuckled, cleaning up his leg. "He's my best friend and can't keep secrets. I found out like a month and a half ago. Wasn't surprised in the slightest."

Time was passing by slower than ever before.

Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Donghyuck, Chaeyoung, Jisoo, and Yuna all stayed seated outside of their rooms in the waiting hall.

Jaemin had returned home with Chenle and Jisung taking care of him. As much as the three wanted to make sure the two girls were alive, Jaemin was in too much pain to be moving around a lot. He needed as much care as he could get and the two other young members were there to provide him with it.

Everyone's hearts were beating so quickly they thought their organs would pop out of their chests. Each time a nurse went into one of their rooms they had to prepare to have them walk over and say one or two of the girls had died.

None of them cared about the dirty looks or nasty remarks from passing by newly released patients or visitors. It was clear none of them could think about anything except Jihan and Eunjin.

Renjun was the only one not particularly close to any of the girls but he knew both of them deserved to live. He may not have the same social skills as Mark, Jeno, or Donghyuck to make friends with them but he had the same sized heart.

He was there for everyone. He could see the way Mark, Jeno, and each of the girls were trying to hold back tears and did anything he could to keep them hopeful.

He and Donghyuck were the only ones managing to keep the other spirits high. Although Donghyuck mainly focused on making sure Mark and Yuna weren't crying or upset, Renjun still appreciated it. Having to make sure Jeno, Chaeyoung, and Jisoo didn't start crying or get extremely upset was more draining than he thought.

Especially Jeno. Although the girls were very concerned about the two and so was Jeno, he could tell that the thought of Eunjin not surviving was the only thing Jeno could think about.

Renjun and the others knew about the two's past but he never would've guessed that Jeno was so attached to her if it hadn't been for Jeno's reaction to her incident a few years ago and today.

He even remembered when the two got into a car accident- that Jeno later explained wasn't actually an accident, instead an awful plan of her fathers.

He remembered the way Jeno would walk up and down their hallways and offices saying that if anything had happened to her, he wouldn't know what he'd do with himself.

But seeing the two together really helped Renjun understand. The way the two looked at each other was enough for him to feel their love. He could see the way Eunjin's eyes glistened when Jeno was trying to keep her awake earlier. And the way she would always go to Jeno when she needed something. Even when they were working, he could see Jeno get distracted at times just thinking or texting her.

They were soulmates in Renjun's eyes.
Destined to spend the rest of their lives together.
Eunjin needed to live.

The sun had already begun to set outside before they got any news. Mark, Chaeyoung, and Yuna were all having trouble staying awake but the others assured them that if there was any news that they'd fill them in immediately.

The doctors and nurses never asked for them to leave either. Although NCT had malicious rumors spread about them on a daily basis- just one look at the bunch would disprove more than half of them.

By two in the morning, Mark, Renjun, Donghyuck, Chaeyoung, and Yuna had passed out in their chairs.

They were awoken when a nurse came over to them, her face unreadable.

"So," she began. The group swallowed the lumps in their throats, nervous. "We were able to help Eunjin and she is currently resting but she will be better soon. She wasn't shot in any important organs but did lose a lot of blood."

"Unfortunately, we were not able to save Jihan. But we did find this paper in her pocket, addressed to Eunjin."

remember when i said jaemin was protective in one of the chapters from a while ago? yeah well, you all have finally found out what i meant. he shielded jeno from the gunshot. without him getting in the way, jeno would prob be dead as well

so why do you guys think eunjin's parents shot at jihan, jeno, and eunjin? shouldn't they only care abt eunjin... or even eunjin and jeno?? why shoot at jihan 👀
share your thoughts~

you'll understand a bit more with the next chapter and the code will finally be explained!!
hope y'all enjoyed