~<*>~ Pain in me ~<*>~

Chapter 42

Dino looks at Mingyu while Scoups is repeating the important rules for robbery. Why is he staring at Scoups like that? Is he angry? Dino hopes he's not because he doesn't want an angry partner.
"Okay, is everyone ready?" Scoups asks and everyone hums confirming.
"Good luck and merry Christmas", Seungkwan says through the walkie talkie and only a second later, Scoups signs the group to go. Dino runs towards the door with Mingyu right behind him and when they enter, Scoups and Wonwoo run right past them to go upstairs.
"He's absolutely nuts" Mingyu mumbles and Dino turns around frustrated.
"What's wrong!?" he asks while Mingyu keeps staring at the stairs, as if he expects to see Wonwoo or Scoups coming back.
"Your roommate is killing mine", Mingyu states and he finally looks Dino in the eye. The younger blinks startled.
"What? That's not true!" Dino objects, but Mingyu turns around and starts going through the first closet he sees.
"Mingyu!" Dino tries to get his attention. The taller stops for a second and turns towards Dino.
"Well, why was he visiting him every night, keeping him from sleeping? You saw how miserable Wonwoo looked, and he still does!" Mingyu exclaims in anger and Dino can't deny that Wonwoo and Scoups look like they really need some sleep. 
"Scoups never meant to kill Wonwoo", Dino tries to assure Mingyu, but he continues searching through the closet and doesn't say a word. Dino sighs, walks over to a chest and opens it. There is a lot of antique stuff in here and Dino goes through them to look how valuable they might be. After a few minutes of silence, Mingyu speaks up.
"Do you even realize how important sleep is for your health?" he asks.
"I know, but Wonwoo is doing better, right?" Dino answers and Mingyu exhales defeated.
"That's exactly the problem. Wonwoo is doing better, but he still needs his sleep. If he would sleep, he would really be better. Now he's just... not in pain", Mingyu mumbles and Dino never realized it was like this. He always thought Wonwoo was better and that was good, but he never realized that Wonwoo only seemed better. 
"Why was he even coming over at night?" Dino asks curiously while he picks up another antique compass to look at it.
"Apparently they were planning this", Mingyu says and you can hear in his voice how stupid he thinks it is. 
"Why wouldn't he do that with me? Or like... when the sun is shining?" Dino asks confused and Mingyu scoffs.
"I was thinking exactly the same", he says and Dino wants to ask another question, but Vernon suddenly cuts them off.
"Uhm, guys? I would run if I were you. We got company", he says and Dino immediatly drops his stuff and looks at Mingyu, who did the same.
"Shit", they curse before they start running.

~<*>~

When they reach the second floor, Wonwoo is already panting. Scoups throws him a worried look, but Wonwoo signs him that he's okay. Scoups wants to make sure that they're safe, so he scans the house for an escape plan while Wonwoo already went to the bedroom to transfer the database. When Scoups reaches the bedroom as well, he notices that the window is right above the front door. This could be a good escape, since the distance isn't deadly. 
"I'll be on the look-out, tell me when you're done transfering", Scoups tells his team mate and Wonwoo hums, letting Scoups know that he understood the assignment. 
"Don't you find it weird that we could break in this easy? I mean, it's the Park family", Scoups asks after a few seconds of silence. Wonwoo shrugs unbothered.
"They probably didn't expect that someone would be stupid enough to break into their house", Wonwoo responds. 
"What are we going to do when we know where Woojin is?" Wonwoo asks, changing the subject.
"It depends," Scoups answers, "if he's far enough, I'll let him be, but I'll still keep an eye on him."
"And if he's close?" Wonwoo asks careful.
"Then I'm going to search him and make sure that he goes away. But let's hope that's not the case", Scoups answers and worry suddenly starts to take over again. The sudden disapearence of Woojin makes him scared, terrified even. What if he's secretly working on a master plan? What if Scoups is too late and fails to save his team? Scoups' thoughts suddenly get interupted by the noise of a car and when he looks out the window, he gasps shocked. He slowly realizes what's happening over here and his heart shrinks scared.
"They have a silent alarm", Scoups breaths out and Wonwoo curses frustrated. How could they not have thought about that? Of course they set the alarm off and now the Park family is right here, while everyone is still inside.
"We have to leave", Scoups states as he watches in relief while his team runs out the door before the family is even out of their car. Scoups watches as his team hides in the bushes, but the Parks luckily didn't notice and they run off towards the street, leaving their house to find the robbers. 
"We can run downstairs and leave the house, but we need to run now", Scoups suggests, but Wonwoo shakes his head. 
"What? Why not?" Scoups asks baffled. Meanwhile, he sees Mingyu storming out of the bushes into the house.
"Guys, why aren't you leaving?" Seungkwan asks through the walkie talkie. 
"I don't know!" Scoups yells as his heart is racing in his chest.
"Wonwoo, we need to leave!" he adds but his team mate doesn't move an inch.
"The transfer isn't complete yet", Wonwoo mumbles, his eyes fixed on the screen. Loud footsteps on the stairs tell Scoups that Mingyu is on his way and the leader has no clue what to do now.
"How far is it?" Scoups asks.
"99%", Wonwoo answers and Scoups pulls his hair frustrated.
"Fuck!" he yells and Mingyu storms into the room with anger in his eyes.
"Why the hell aren't you leaving!?" he exclaims and luckily, he isn't looking at the computer.
"Done!" Wonwoo screams before Scoups could answer. 
"Let's get the fuck out of here!" Mingyu yells and he grabs Wonwoo's arm to pull him towards the stairs. Scoups runs towards the computer and takes the USB-stick out, but right when he wants to leave, he hears voices behind him.
"Wait!" he yells and both Mingyu and Wonwoo freeze in place. He rushes to the window and his doubts are confirmed: the Parks are back.
"Shit," Scoups mumbles, "get down!" They all drop to the floor and Wonwoo crawls towards Scoups with Mingyu right behind him. Scoups holds his breath while he hears the family enter the house. His heart drops, it will only take seconds before they find them. Then, Scoups glances at the window right above him. Should they jump out? He's about to accept his fate, when suddenly, the front door slams shut. Scoups gets up and looks down from the window, only to see Dino who puts his whole weight against the door, trapping the family inside the house. Vernon rushes out the bushes as well to come and help him and Scoups understands what's happening. With a kick, he forces the window open and makes himself ready to jump.
"If we jump on the car, we can make it", Scoups tells his team and Wonwoo looks down scared.
"But that's way too far!" he objects and Scoups tries his best to sound confident while answering.
"It's the only way." With those words, he launches himself and jumps down from the window. For a few seconds, his stomach feels like it's turning itself, but then he lands down on the car and he breaths out relieved. 
"Come on! It's fine!" he yells and Mingyu is the next one to jump. When he lands next to Scoups, the Parks seem to be realizing that the intruders are upstairs.
"Hurry!" Mingyu yells as he notices that Wonwoo is hesitating.
"What if I don't reach the car?" he asks scared.
"I'll catch you!" Scoups yells back and Wonwoo nods his head.
"Fuck!" he yells before he jumps out of the window. But Scoups sees that Wonwoo isn't going to make the car, so he jumps forward and catches Wonwoo before they crash down on the ground, causing Scoups to bruise his arm.
"Wonwoo!" Mingyu yells scared before he jumps down from the car.
"I told you", Scoups states with a grin, but he can't hide his pain when Wonwoo rolls off of him.
"Are you okay?" he asks worried, but Scoups waves it off.
"I'm fine", he grunts. Mingyu grabs his hand and pulls him up.
"Thanks," he says, "and I'm sorry for what I said yesterday, I was just worried about Wonwoo."
"It's okay," Scoups answers, "I always look out for my team." Mingyu smiles grateful, but the moment gets interupted by the banging sound of the Park family against the door.
"Guys, we seriously have to leave", Dino says and they all nod before they run off to a street nearby. Of course the family follows them, so it takes a while before they can finally stop because they lost the family. Scoups puts his hand in his pocket and relief washes over him when he feels the stick in his pocket. 
"Merry Christmas", he says and the whole team laughs in relief. They did it, they robbed the Park family. Scoups feels proud and happy, until he looks at Mingyu, who isn't laughing at all. He notices that Mingyu is staring at Wonwoo, his eyes filled with worry. When Scoups looks at Wonwoo too, he gets startled badly. His friend looks pale, really pale. He doesn't look good at all. Before Scoups can say anything, Wonwoo bursts out coughing, causing the group to fall silent.
"I'm..., I'm fine", Wonwoo whispers when he stops coughing, but nobody believes him.
"No, you're not," Mingyu objects, "you look way too pale!" Wonwoo bends  over and grabs Mingyu's arm to keep himself steady and his other arm grabs his own chest.
"I just feel like I..., I'm going to..." Before Wonwoo can finish his sentence, he collapses and Mingyu is just in time to grab him, but it's clear that there's something seriously wrong.
"Call an ambulance!" Mingyu screams and the whole team watches shocked while Dino calls the ambulance.

~<*>~ 

They have been in the hospital for an hour and Wonwoo still looks terrible. The sun is already setting and Dino wants to go home, but he's too worried about is friend. Watching him laying down in that bed, with all those tubes, is killing him. Everyone thought that Wonwoo was doing better, but the doctors said that that's mostly the sign that it's about to go downhill pretty bad. 
"It's already a miracle he could still run like that", he had said as well and Dino had only sighed deeply. He doesn't want his friend to die, he needs him. So many people have died already, Dino really can't have another one. Mingyu and Scoups are also in the room and they look really tired. Dino glances at Scoups' bruised arm, it looks painful. But Scoups refuses to give attention to it as long as Wonwoo is in this condition. Dino wants to get some coffee, but right when he's about to leave, Wonwoo opens his eyes again. Before anyone could react, Mingyu rushes to his bed and grabs his hand. Dino can see the tears in his eyes, so he decides to give them some space.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Mingyu asks, his voice shaking.
"I'm sorry, I really tried my best", Wonwoo whispers, but it seems like every word is hurting him.
"You were supposed to fight the world with me, hold my hand", Mingyu whispers back, now tears streaming down his face. Then, Wonwoo looks at Dino and smiles weakly.
"Thanks for being my friend", he whispers.
"Don't say that, your not dying", Dino objects, now he also has tears in his eyes.
"I wish I could agree with you on that", Wonwoo whipsers before he turns his head towards Mingyu again. Dino feels very overwhelmed and he can't handle it anymore, so he walks out of the room to get some coffee. 
"I made it to Christmas", he still hears Wonwoo say before he grabs a cup right around the corner and pours the coffee in. Dino takes a deep breath, he has to stay strong, for Wonwoo. But just when the coffee is done, he hears Mingyu scream. Immediatly, Dino rushes over with his cup in his hand and when he arrives in the room, he sees a doctor shaking his head. Mingyu is screaming, trying to reach Wonwoo, but Scoups is holding him tight, although his face tells Dino that he's in fysical pain. In shock, Dino drops his cup and the coffee spills all over the floor. Wonwoo is dead. Wonwoo is really dead.  The cancer has won.