THE8 | Junhao | *EDITING*

TWENTY - SEVEN

| CHAPTER TWENTY - SEVEN |

When Minghao regains consciousness, it takes his eyelids a while to creep open.

He feels hungover, the air around him was stiff, almost sucking him in like he touched an octopus's tentacle.

He scrunches his brows together, blinking.

His vision was blurry, a bit fogged as he looked around. He spotted a silhouette next to him, the person was sat on his right, their head hung low, the clasped hands resting on the bed Minghao lied in.

Minghao was sweating. The blankets covering him were heavy. He was practically having heat flashes. He lets out a soft moan of discomfort, the person snapping their head upwards at the sound.

"8?" He hears someone call, and he forces his eyes open at the familiar voice.

He blinks, parting his lips, whining when nothing comes out.

"It's okay, it's okay," The person shakes their head quickly, "Don't rush anything. Go slow, go slow." They sound frantic, and Minghao frowns at the clear worry.

"Who?" He tries to blink the blur away.

A sigh, "Officer Moon."

Minghao raises his brows, vision subsiding clear at the mere mention of the name. He looks up to find the said boy, eyes squinted at the brightness of the room.

He sees Jun fold his lips together, looking down.

"What's wrong?" Minghao asks, something coming to mind, "Hey, is Dino okay?" He asks, trying not to groan at the frustrating pounding in his skull.

Jun looks at him, stifling a laugh, "You got drugged without your consent then passed out on the floor of a building that belongs to the one and only S.Coups... and you're worried about someone else?"

Minghao just looks at him, shrugging.

Jun sighs, "He's alright. He's healing."

"What even happened to him?"

"Shot to the arm." Jun looks down, "Wonwoo was freaking out... He sounded so scared. That's why we ran and didn't look back." Minghao watches Jun take a breath, meeting his eyes, "I'm so sorry we left you behind, 8."

Minghao's quick to shake his head, "It's alright." He tells him, "Don't worry about it—"

"But it's not though." Jun shudders, shaking his head, "I-If I would've just turned around to make sure you were still behind us, you wouldn't be in this situation—"

"Don't." Minghao closes his eyes, shaking his head, "Don't do that. That stupid mission was my idea in the first place."

"It's not your fault, either. We should've been more prepared." Jun takes his lip between his teeth, letting out a breath, "It was way too early to go. It's funny.... you think after all these years we should know how he thinks, how many people he has by his side."

Minghao looks away.

He closes his eyes, an unwanted wave of guilt flooding throughout his system.

"Where is everyone?" Minghao asks, in hopes to change the subject.

Jun looks at him, "Dino's just down the hall," he motions towards the door, "Mingyu and Wonwoo have stayed with him since he got there... and chief is at the station trying to figure out what the hell went wrong last night."

"It's only been a day?" Minghao raises his brows, astonished, "It felt like I was out for a whole week." He chuckles, shaking his head in disbelief.

"It felt like that for me too." Jun's voice was small as he said this, and his head was hung low, but Minghao heard it.

"Um," Minghao smacks his lips, looking around the room, "When will I be able to leave?" He asks.

Jun meets his eyes, "You that ready to get outta here?" He laughs, but answers nonetheless, "They said you could leave whenever you woke up."

"So I can leave?" Minghao's already throwing the covers off his body, swinging his legs over.

Jun stands up, "Hey, be careful." He tells him, one hand gripping his shoulder, "You just woke up, it might be painful to walk for a while," Minghao looks at him, "That drug contained a crazy amount of chemicals, I'm surprised you aren't paralyzed."

"I'm fine." Minghao just ignores that entire speech. His fingers wrap around Jun's forearm, and he uses his weight to rise to his feet. He pulls himself up, feeling Jun's other arm snake around his back, helping him to stand.

Getting a little too close in proximity, their eyes meet, faces just inches away from one another and Minghao's skin suddenly matches his hair.

He looks at Jun for a moment, before pulling away with a clear of his throat.

He doesn't get far though, feeling his knees buckle. Jun widens his eyes, throwing his arms under Minghao's, catching him just in time before he hits the floor.

Minghao blinks, attempting to get up.

"You alright?" Jun loosens his hold on Minghao just enough to look over his shoulder.

Minghao nods, standing straight.

"I'm fine."