winter of orphic love | ot7 poly | ✓

Chapter 17 The End of the World

The midnight adventure had turned into a nightmare in an instant.

Namjoon lurched in the seat and heard the screeching of the van's tires against the pavement. In his half-asleep state, he almost slammed face-first into the back of the driver's seat. Yoongi was jostled by the sudden movement but still barely awake.

Hoba let out a strange scream and opened the car door. A rush of cold air bit at Namjoon's skin. He was about to complain about the cold when he caught the scent of smoke.

He closed his mouth and turned in his seat to look out his window.

For a moment, his mind refused to load the scenery around him. It denied the existence of it all; the monstrous plumes of black smoke, the violent flames consuming the pack houses, and the darting of wolves and their shadows among the chaos.

The alcohol he so irresponsibly drank came up in his throat without warning.

He shoved Yoongi off his lap and jumped out of the car. He fell to his knees and threw up on the pavement, crying from the acid's pain against the tender insides of his throat and mouth.

Hoseok staggered out of the door and stood still. His eyes were trained on the disastrous scene laid before him.

Yoongi remained in the car.

Namjoon coughed out the remains of the puke. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand. He stared out at the burning houses, stunned.

"Oh my God ," Hobi whispered. His voice cracked, "Oh my God! Seokjin hyung, he's--, where's--, everybody is..."

Namjoon forced himself to stand from the ground, swaying on his feet. "Where is everybody?" he croaked.

Among the flames, he caught glimpses of wolves dashing from house to house. The echoes of growls sounded through the midnight air. Somebody screamed. Glass shattered. A body fell from a window with a dull thud.

Hoseok gasped and began moving towards the body.

Namjoon gathered his senses and grabbed Hoseok by the arm. He yanked him backward with eyes wide with fear. "No, Hobi, don't!"

Hoseok's head snapped back and glared at him with bewilderment. "What's wrong with you?!" he shouted, fighting to break free from Namjoon's grip. "We have to help them!"

"We don't even know what's happening!" Namjoon argued.

"People are dying! We're not going to stand here and do nothing! What kind of Alpha are you?"

An arrow struck through Namjoon's heart. He dropped Hoseok's arm as if he had been burned and backed away from the older wolf.

Hoseok's eyes blazed with the same intensity that destroyed his home. The corners of his lips turned down into a dark frown. "I'm going. Take care of Yoongi hyung if you're going to stay." Then he turned and started towards the fires without hesitation.

Hoseok's body turned into a shadow as he entered the wall of smoke before vanishing into the darkness.

Namjoon's mouth hung open, frozen in mid-argument. His arm slowly lowered from the air and hung pathetically at his side. He's gone. He went into the fire.

For all the jokes they made about Hobi being the most cowardly among them, he realized that fear did not extend past trivial things like snakes and large cockroaches. He remained the same self-sacrificing hyung Namjoon came to know and love in the face of disaster.