Far Cry | JJK x OC

Chapter 77 // Muddy waters

Jungkook saw the first rays of morning shining through the window in silence. His weary eyes didn't squint as he adjusted from the dark to the light easily. He hadn't slept a second and the new day gave him hope that with the passage of time, maybe things would get better.

A muffled whine brought his gaze down; he was in bed with Leah, holding her asleep. She had exhausted herself crying on his chest and he hadn't moved since, trying to veil over her troubled sleep.

She calmed again, breathing softly, and he closed his eyes. That whole night reminded him of the first time she had heard Noah's voice on the phone. She had screamed and cried and been haunted by nightmares the whole night, and he had tried to hold her and keep her steady, much like now. Then, none of them knew what that was about and why it disturbed her so greatly. Now, they did, and it didn't make things any better.

Right after she finished telling her story, he could see her shutting down and away. Ella and Aaden started debating the details, while Hoseok stared at everything in a mix of shock and aversion. Jungkook knew it had nothing to do with Leah, but with the situation and the darkness on that side of the world that was so unlike anything they had ever seen. But Jungkook wasn't paying attention to any of that, he was looking at her. At her shaking shoulders, at the white paste dripping down her face from the sweat and tears, at the traces of the abuse she suffered at the hands of that bastard.

He just couldn't stand it anymore.

"I need to get you out of here."

He moved to put an arm under her knees and lower back and only Ella questioned him, but let them go easily once their eyes met. Leah didn't have to be in that room in the clinic anymore. He wanted to take her home and protect her from everything and everyone. To him, that meant his apartment back in Seoul, but given the circumstances, their house, which was a few streets down, would have to do.

She didn't fight him in the beginning, and so he carried her all the way there. On the way, he thought of how it seemed that ever since he found her, she hadn't been breathing. Ever since Noah took her, she had either literally stopped breathing or had been holding her breath, as if wary of going too far and disturbing things. He should have realized the physical toll those last days had taken on her and fought her harder not to do this right now, but there was nothing to do now.

Once he settled her on the bed and tried talking to her, she had started screaming and crying and his stance hardened; not out of anger or frustration, but out of understanding. She was aching so much. Of course, she needed it out, and he only wished he could help.

"Don't touch me!"

He raised his hands and pulled away, cautious of triggering her or hurting her in any way. He was calm despite everything, and he knew why. His heart was steady — he said he'd be there, and he wanted to be there. That was the only place he wanted to be — by her side — regardless if that meant leaping into heaven or staying in that hell.

He was ready to go through it all with her, and his conviction only grew when she insisted for him to get away. "You need to get away from me! I'm a monster, I— I shouldn't be allowed to— How can I even breathe? No! Don't, you need to get away!"

"Leah," he called, steadily. He wanted to help her out of that spiral.

"No!" She crawled further away over the bed, and he stayed put. "I— I've done things and— Let all that hell happen and—" Tears streamed down her face from her squinted eyes. "I can't be forgiven and I can't escape! I can't escape myself, I'll never get away from what I've done. Nothing will ever erase it, I'll— I can't—"

Her breathing deepened and dragged as her dazed eyes glanced around, and he got up and circled the bed to get to her. Her mind must have been muddled because she reacted only when he touched her, flinching and trying to jump away.