𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 & 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐡𝐞𝐦 || 𝐉𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐥 (𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐈𝐈)

11.2 - Jeonghan

I nod, shaking out my legs and the numbness that's setting in. I have no idea if he plans to stop along the way or just keep walking, but I hope the temperature doesn't drop at all, because I don't know how much more cold my body can take. At least walking reduces the stiffness.

We slip back into silence, the only sounds are our feet crunching in the freshly fallen snow. The sun has started to rise, peeking through the thick trees.

Seungcheol turns to me after a while, his hand rising to my nose. "Your nose is cold."

I bring my palm to my nose, cupping my fingers around it. "I can't even feel it anymore."

His brow furrows, and he stops for a second.

"Put your hands in the air! You're surrounded!" a voice shouts in the distance.

My eyes go wide, my mouth falling open as I look in the distance.

Seungcheol freezes to stone beside me, his hand falling from my face. "Shit," he whispers.

"Get on your knees!" the officer shouts.

Seungcheol looks directly at me. "Jeonghan, I'm going to distract them, and I'm going to need you to run."

I reach out, gripping his hand. "Seungcheol, no. Fuck no. I'm not leaving you again. We are not getting separated again. If you're going down, I'm going down with you."

He pulls his hands from my grip. "This isn't your choice, Jeonghan. Run south. Go anywhere. Fucking hide."

I narrow my eyes at him. "No, Seungcheol. I won't do it."

He narrows his eyes back at me. "You don't have a choice."

He shoves me away from him, shouting as he starts running toward the police.

"Get on your knees! Get on your knees!"

I watch him, frozen in place.

"Jeonghan, go!" Seungcheol roars, falling to his knees, putting his hands behind his head.

I let out a sob, choking on air as I start sprinting away from him.

"Run, Jeonghan! Fucking run!" he roars, and I let out another cry as I run for my life. I book it through the woods, hearing officers follow me, but I weave in and out of the trees, quickly getting away from them. I don't stop, though, don't even slow down as I make my way through the forest.

"Yoon Jeonghan, turn yourself in. You are under arrest." The voice is spoken through some megaphone, echoing through the trees.

My breath wheezes out of me as I continue running, until my legs have grown numb and I no longer have feeling in my face. My tears on my cheeks have frozen against my skin, and my lips are cracked, bleeding.

Where the hell am I going to go?

There's only one place I know where I can go.

I rush through the woods and make my way back into town. I weave in and out of neighborhoods and stay out of sight. The police are frequent, rolling down the streets and parking at the edges of the streets. But I steer clear of all of them, making sure I'm never noticed.

I'm so close.

I move from suburban neighborhoods to the other end of town, my entire body numb to the point I can't even tell I'm running anymore. It just feels like I'm floating above the ground. The houses thin out and the trees grow thick as I make my way to the one person I know will always help, even if he hates me.