The instant the bullet exits the muzzle of the gun, Jeongguk realizes that he does not want to kill Taehyung. He's killed men for lesser transgressions, but playing God is suddenly no longer appealing. If Taehyung dies, Jeongguk can't bring him back. And as deep as their sea of bad blood is, as much of a monster as he's become, Jeongguk still cares.
Taehyung lets out a chilling guttural scream and Jeongguk drops the pistol. He darts forward to wrap Taehyung up in his arms, cradling him while he writhes and groans.
"Where, where—"
"Leg," Taehyung grunts. "Fuck."
Relief floods Jeongguk's body because a leg shot isn't immediately fatal. It can be, however, if Taehyung loses too much blood. Jeongguk hastily shucks off his jacket, leaving himself nearly naked in the rain, but he would much rather catch pneumonia than have Taehyung bleed out.
"Th-The hole, where is it—"
"Here, here—"
Jeongguk pushes Taehyung to lie flat on the ground and yanks his leg into his lap. Taehyung lets out an agonized scream, but Jeongguk pays him no mind. He seeks out the spot Taehyung's hand is covering, where his pant leg is rapidly soaking with blood, and wraps his jacket tightly around it. It will do for the moment, but they need to get out of the woods, quickly.
"Do you have your phone?" Jeongguk asks sharply.
For several moments, Taehyung's ragged breaths are his only response. Then, "Y-Yeah. Yeah."
"Where—I need it."
Taehyung fumbles around until he can shakily pull it out of his jacket pocket. As soon as he hands it over, Jeongguk unlocks it and opens the GPS to quickly find their location. Much to his surprise, they aren't too far into the woods. Lake Street is just a little bit south of them, which means they'll be able to get to the house fairly quickly. He stuffs the phone back into Taehyung's pocket and hauls him to his feet. Taehyung leans on him heavily, struggling to keep his breathing steady.
"I'm sorry," Jeongguk murmurs while they catch their breath. And he really, truly is. "I'm sorry this is what it's come to."
"Wanna go home," Taehyung says though his teeth. "I just... wanna go home."
Jeongguk does too.
They limp through the woods as quickly as Taehyung's leg will allow them. Jeongguk is so cold that his teeth are chattering uncontrollably and his jaw is beginning to hurt, but he doesn't allow himself to stop moving. The trees never seem to end, and Jeongguk checks Taehyung's phone several more times to make sure they're still heading in the right direction. An eternity passes, but the woods finally begin to lighten, and Jeongguk can see grass peeking through the undergrowth.
Their victory, however, is short-lived.
Dragunov and Kalkaska are waiting for them in the backyard. Jeongguk freezes as Dragunov raises a double-barreled shotgun, cocking it without any preamble.
"Welly welly welly well," Dragunov drawls, thoroughly bemused. "Looks like a two-for-one special tonight, huh, Misha?"
So this is how it goes. Zodiac never had any intention of allowing either of them to survive the night. Jeongguk swallows thickly, staring at the long metal barrel of the shotgun. This isn't Haneul with his threats or Taehyung with his mania—this is a trained killer.
His own trained killer.
Turned on him like a rabid dog.
"I haven't been on the other end of this many firearms in the span of a week since Zodiac and I were dealing," Jeongguk jokes dryly.
