HUNTERS || ENHA/LSFM || - A K-pop Ghost Hunting Story

34. Shattered

With one last glance at their distraught faces, he gave them a quick but solemn salute and disappeared out the alleyway.
And neither of them knew whether they'd see the other again.

...

Time: 21:34, October 22

"I'm really glad, Jungwon."
Niki huffed as he trudged forwards, leading the way in front of them. Jungwon was following behind him, supporting Kazuha on his back as they made their way down the alleyway.

"Glad? About what?" Jungwon replied.

"That you came in time, you know? If you weren't here, who knows how this could've turned out?"

Jungwon gave a small nod.
"I'm glad too. That you're... okay and all."

A small remark came from behind Jungwon.
"I... guess you can't say the... same... for me." said Kazuha.

Niki took a small glance at her, who was barely able to stay awake. Her arm was resting upon Jungwon's shoulder, unmoving, and he could see why; a large patch of skin near her collarbone was bruised black, where the bone was clearly broken. Her face was still grimy and teary, and her uniform was in ruins.
But what made him cringe was the state of Kazuha's wrist. It was mangled, and had a red ring around it, like it had been burnt.

"Kazuha- I'm really sorry... I didn't know we'd cross tracks. At one moment, Eunchae was chasing me, but then, she was gone. If I knew that you both would run into each other, I would've stayed and fought. It should've been me, not you." Niki said to her in a very apologetic tone.

"It's not your fault... " she mumbled.

Niki nodded apologetically.
Even with what Kazuha said, he still felt a pang of guilt.

Kazuha winced as her wrist began to throb in waves of pain as her adrenaline wore off. It felt worse and worse by the second. Before, it had already felt terrible, but now it was starting to really get to her.
And Niki noticed.

"Is... is it hurting?" He asked, concerned.

She nodded at him, her eyes shut tight. Kazuha pursed her lips together as she tried to cope.

"We're nearly there... just around here. Hang in there just for a little longer." said Jungwon, his pace slightly hasting.

Just as he said, once they turned the corner, the trapdoor sat just yards away in front from them.
Niki rushed forwards first, pulling open the trapdoor with both hands.
However, something about Niki caught Jungwon's attention; one of his arms was bleeding from a cut, where there were large scratch marks dug into it. They carried on until the length of nearly his entire forearm.
He didn't know how he hadn't spotted it earlier.

"There's it's open. Do you want me to go first?" Niki asked, pulling the heavy metal door open all the way.

"Your arm. It's bleeding. Are you okay?" Jungwon asked, eyeing the wound.

"Hm? Oh- Yeah, I'm fine. Just... I'll go get Sunoo. For Kazuha." he replied, quickly changing the subject so that Jungwon wouldn't worry.

He descended first down the ladder, and Jungwon soon followed, always checking behind his back for Kazuha's sake.
Niki ran down to the dorms, calling out for Sunoo. Soon enough, Sunoo came into the room, and distinctively ran to grab his kit from the nearby drawer.

"Where is she?" Sunoo called.

"Here-" said Jungwon.
Sunoo nodded, and ran over to the couch, clearing it for her. He threw everything off it, including something that looked undeniably like a blood-soaked towel.
Jungwon sat Kazuha down, and asked, "Whose blood is that?", referring to the towel he had just thrown aside.