Broken (MinSung 18+)

Chapter 46

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Jisung took a deep breath, trying to ignore his legs, which were beginning to tremble, and the itching that had begun burning in his fingertips. He was confident he'd made the right choice, and he'd worked so hard to make sure everyone would be fine. But he was terrified at the myriad of reactions he had meticulously concocted as anxious scenes played out in his head.

Will they hate me?

Should I not have separated us... them... from the President's security?

Fuck, I shouldn't have made the decision for everyone on my own.

But it was to keep them safe.

No. They can be mad. It's okay if they're mad. At least they'll be alive and well, while they're angry.

Seungmin won't be mad as long as I bake muffins, right? Right?

He did his best to shake off the budding feelings. He had gotten so much better at not letting his consistently exhausting, warring thoughts take over. He didn't want to lose all that progress over something that should be a good thing.

Before he could wrap his fingertips around the extravagant door handle, it swung open in front him. He watched, in what felt like slow motion, as he heard loud voices banging through the air like drums.

"Boss, you don't even know where he went."

"That's the point of the word 'finding,' Seungmin."

"I'll go out, too. We can cover more ground."

"Minnie, check town feeds, supermarkets, highways, anything."

"Guys, he's fine. He literally texted us to let us know he was going out. If he's not fine, I'll kill him, myself."

"Hyunjin, he was fucking KIDNAPPED less than two months ago-"

"I'M TRYING MY BEST TO HAVE FAITH IN HIM, OKAY?!"

All voices stopped as they saw Jisung standing at the front door, his mouth turned into both a wide grimace and a frown.

"What's uh... What's going on, guys?" He said, statue-like as he stilled in the doorway, the van keys hanging from his finger.

"Where the FUCK have you been?" Minho yelled through his clenched jaw as he held the other side of the door, his trembling bottom lip betraying his façade of pure anger.

"Bunny, I'm good. I'm here." Jisung scrambled to reassure him. "I'm not hurt. I just needed to go out for a bit, which is why I texted you all. And look! I'm back, standing here looking fine as hell, so you can all calm down and we can-"

He was cut off by Minho's arms being thrown around his shoulder, pulling him in for a much-needed embrace for both of them. As necessary as the hug was, it was short-lived due to Felix barging through the hallway as if he were a track star, pushing Minho aside as if he weighed absolutely nothing, to bury his face in Jisung's shoulder while wrapping his arms around his best friend's waist.

"I swear to god if you go all elusively vague on us again, I'll fucking kill you, myself."

"But... that would defeat the purpose of-" Jisung started, his frown showing his sarcastic confusion.

"I said what I said."

Minho stood to the side, watching as each member came up to hug the boy, still seething with a mixture of frustration and anxiety, but ultimately happy that he was home.