ENG - Fractured Fates ʰʸᵘⁿˡᶦˣ

32

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Jisung POV

After the bleeding had finally stopped completely and I had carefully stitched up the wound, I sighed with relief and wiped the sweat from my forehead with my sleeve. My hands were shaking slightly as I put the bloody cloth aside and took a look at my work. The wound was deep and looked bad, but I was pretty sure I had avoided the worst of it. It definitely wasn't boring with Minho and Hyunjin, even if they were absolute idiots to risk their lives like that.

I turned to Felix, whose face was lined with concern and guilt, and then to Minho, who was sitting next to me and had helped me. "Fortunately, no organs were damaged and it's 'only' a flesh wound," I said with a mixture of relief and concern in my voice, "but I'm very worried about the blood loss. He desperately needs a blood transfusion," I added, looking again at Hyunjin, who was still unconscious on the ground, his face pale and drenched in sweat.
"That idiot," Minho suddenly cursed and banged his fist against the wall next to him. "We really should take him to the hospital. I'm not 100% sure I did everything right either. I only worked as a paramedic for two years and haven't seen the inside of an operating theater since then," I confessed, looking at him worriedly.
Minho said nothing in response and stared at Hyunjin, his eyes full of fear and worry. On the way here, I could already feel how incredibly worried he was about him and how he was driving the car like a wild man. It was my luck, or rather the luck of the others, that it was the middle of the night and the roads were clear.

Suddenly he lifted his gaze, grabbed my shoulders and looked at me with wide, pleading eyes. "You have the same blood type as him, give him some," he said and I blinked a few times in surprise. "How do you know my blood type?" I asked, confused, as he let go of me again and was already looking for something suitable in the huge suitcase.
"Do you think I'm staying with someone I don't know about? I did some research," he explained as he held out a transfusion kit that was indeed in the suitcase. "About both of you, after all, I needed to know where I was leaving this idiot too," he added.

I hesitantly took the kit and looked at it skeptically. My heart beat faster and uncertainty spread through me. "Please," Minho begged me, his voice rough and brittle, as if it could break at any moment. His dark eyes, which were usually so lively, now shone with desperation as he noticed my hesitation. His gaze was so full of pain that it almost physically hurt me.
I turned my gaze away from Minho and looked over at Felix, who was still standing there motionless. His arms were crossed tightly in front of his chest, as if he was trying to protect himself. "What are you saying?" I asked him quietly, trying not to let my voice tremble. Felix's gaze was lost in thought and he just shrugged his shoulders. But after a moment of silence that seemed like an eternity, his voice broke, barely audible: "Please save him, I don't want him to die." His words were so quiet that they sounded like a breath, but the pain behind them was unmistakable.

A heavy sigh escaped my lips and I nodded slowly. "All right," I mumbled, trying to suppress my nervousness. My hands trembled slightly as I took out my phone and unlocked the screen.
With trembling fingers, I started typing, trying to remember the formula I had seen in a medical textbook about drawing blood. It was complicated and based on body weight and blood volume or something like that. But no matter how hard I tried my memory, I just couldn't remember it. So I had to take the blood by feel.
"Okay," I finally whispered, more to myself than to the others. I could feel my heart beating against my ribs, but I was ready. "It's going to be okay," I tried to reassure myself as I turned my gaze to Minho. His eyes were full of hope now and I knew I had no other choice.

I stood up, my legs trembling slightly with the tension as I washed all the blood off my hands and arms. I took a deep breath to calm myself down before kneeling back down on the floor and unwrapping and connecting the transfusion set.
My hands shook as I stuck the needle first into Hyunjin's arm and then into my own. I had tied my arm with a bandage, but my nervousness made me miss and I sighed in frustration.
What was I actually doing here?
"I'll help you," Minho said, taking the needle out of my hand. Although he seemed much more agitated than me, his hands weren't shaking a bit. He had a calmness about him that perhaps came from the experience he had. During the month that he had been living with me, we had often talked and I had learned, among other things, that he had learned how to stitch and dress wounds himself.

When he was finished, I turned the little wheel on the tube and my blood flowed directly into Hyunjin's body. I watched as the tube slowly filled up and hoped that I could judge correctly when to stop after one liter.
While I sat here on the floor and waited, Minho was already cleaning up most of it. He also wiped away the trail of blood that ran through the stairwell and ended right in front of Felix's front door before the neighbors noticed anything.
Felix slowly caught himself again and began to help with dragging movements. It was a wonder he hadn't thrown up all over anything, because I knew only too well that he couldn't see blood. He had always been very sensitive about such things.

After most of the bathroom and obviously the kitchen was halfway clean again, I turned the wheel again to stop the flow of blood. What he had gotten should be enough, I hoped.
As I was slowly getting up, I felt a little dizzy and staggered. Apparently I had given off more blood than I had thought. Before I could sink to the ground, however, I felt two arms at my waist holding me down. A quick glance over my shoulder told me that it was Minho who was supporting me.
"Thank you," I said with difficulty as I tried to regain my sense of balance. But Minho didn't seem to waste any time and lifted me up without further ado, as if I were as light as a feather. He carried me into Felix's living room and gently sat me down on the couch.
"Blondie, give him something to drink and something to eat. He needs to get his circulation back under control," he ordered in a firm voice in Felix's direction, who was in the middle of clearing something away in the kitchen. "I'll take care of Hyunjin and get this idiot cleaned up and changed," he grumbled and disappeared into the bathroom with a bag that was in the living room.

Shortly afterwards, Felix came to me with a bottle of water and some snacks. In the meantime, he had also changed and was now wearing clothes that weren't stained with blood. "Shall I make you some ramen? I should have some left," he asked me and sat down next to me. His voice sounded gentle and concerned, as if he wanted to make sure I was okay.
I shook my head and reached for the water. "No, I'm fine, it wasn't that much blood," I replied and took a big gulp. Then I opened the snacks and started to eat them.
"It really doesn't get boring with these two, does it?" I asked quietly, glancing out of the corner of my eye at my best friend, who was just looking at the floor with his hands between his legs. "Maybe," he mumbled and shrugged his shoulders. "We haven't spoken to each other once," he added.
I finished chewing my bite and swallowed it before I started to speak, "Why not? Just give it a try, maybe he's nicer than you think," I suggested, a hint of hope in my voice. "I talk to Minho a lot too and he's actually really funny and not as much of an asshole as I first thought," I continued and a faint smile flitted across my lips as I looked at Felix.

His eyes were fixed on the floor, his fingers nervously playing with the hem of his pants. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, as if he was trying to understand the situation. He shrugged again, a hint of confusion and skepticism in his gesture. I could imagine exactly what he was thinking and before I could visualize the scenario, he spoke it. "He wanted to kill me. Why would I talk to him?" he asked me, his voice low, almost a whisper. "And yet you didn't want him to die and you helped him," I replied softly and took another sip from the bottle I was holding.
He didn't answer me again, but continued to look at the floor. In the meantime, Minho carried Hyunjin, freshly changed and free of blood, into Felix's bedroom and carefully laid him down on the bed.

Holding his head as if he had a headache, Minho came out of the room again and looked at both of us. "I'm going to stay here tonight, you can go home, I'll manage the rest if anything should happen," he said to me and sighed.
I smiled slightly and shook my head. "I'm staying too," I replied firmly and looked at Felix. "It's all right, isn't it?" I asked him and he only replied with another shrug.
"Anyway, I need some fresh air," Minho said and was already walking towards the front door. "Can you manage on your own for a minute? I want to check on him," I asked my best friend next to me, who only gave me a silent nod in response, his eyes still fixed on the floor.

With a soft sigh, I stood up, scratched my head and hesitantly followed Minho outside. My legs felt like rubber and the world around me swayed slightly, but I made an effort to stay upright and not fall down. The cool night air hit me and made me shiver as I followed Minho to his car, which he had parked a few meters away.
When he noticed me, he frowned and leaned against the car with his arms crossed. His expression was a mixture of frustration and stress and his eyes sparkled with annoyance. "Why are you following me?" he growled at me. "Go back inside and get some rest." But I ignored his words and leaned next to him against the cold metal of the car.
"Are you all right?" I asked quietly and looked up at him. My eyes searched his, hoping to find an answer, but he avoided my gaze and just sighed deeply. His breath formed small clouds in the cold air, lost in the echo of the empty street.

His hands clenched into fists and he ran his right hand through his black hair, which was sticking to his temples with sweat. "This idiot is going to put me in my grave," he said in a voice that shook with exhaustion and anger. "My nerves are really starting to get to me," he added, running a hand over his face.
I felt my own anger rising inside me and I pushed myself away from the car to stand directly in front of him. My finger pointed at him as I shouted at him. "Now you know how I feel about you!" I scolded, my voice almost cracking with anger. "You're not a bit better than him!" I continued, my words cutting through the cold night air. "The only difference is that you're not half bleeding to death when you get home, you 'only' have minor injuries. And lots and lots of them!" My voice almost broke as I thought of all the times I'd had to tend to his wounds. "Not to mention a bloody bullet in the shoulder," I added, tapping my finger on his chest, my gaze boring into his.

Now I was the one holding his head, as the excitement made me dizzy again and I staggered a little to the side. I immediately felt his hands on my waist again, pulling me towards him and making me lean against him.
"Maybe," he answered me with a wry grin on his face. "Not just maybe, it is," I continued to mumble a little angrily, looking up at him. He smiled at me and put his left hand on my head to tousle through my hair while his right hand was still firmly on my waist.
His hand gently slid from my tousled hair down to my cheek, where he briefly stroked my skin with his thumb. That little touch was like an electric shock that sent goose bumps all over my body. His deep eyes pierced me the whole time, while he didn't say a word. His silence made my heart race and made me nervous, because he wasn't normally so taciturn.

As he slowly leaned down towards me, I felt his warm breath on my skin. When I then felt his lips on mine, I knew why he had been so quiet. My eyes widened in surprise because I hadn't expected it. But instead of resisting, I returned the kiss.
I slowly closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his lips on mine. His lips were soft and warm and I couldn't help but lose myself in them and sigh with pleasure.
An incredible tingling sensation ran through my body, as if a thousand butterflies were dancing in my stomach and my heart was beating so wildly that I thought he must be able to hear it.
His tongue begged impatiently for entrance, which I was only too happy to grant him. As our tongues danced together, I clung to his jacket, afraid that my legs might give way beneath me.

His hand on my waist pulled me even closer to him, as if he didn't want to let me go either. I couldn't deny that I had perhaps fallen a little in love with him over the last few weeks. The better I had gotten to know him, the more I had fallen under his spell.
His manner, his laugh, his voice - all of it had completely enchanted me.
Maybe it was just my imagination, maybe I was developing some kind of Stockholm syndrome. But at that moment, none of that mattered to me. I had been longing for more ever since our first kiss, which he had simply given me after I had helped him. I wanted more of him, more of us, more of those moments that made me happy.

When he finally broke away from me, I took a deep breath and looked at him with half-closed eyes. My heart was beating wildly in my chest and I could still feel the taste of his kiss on my lips. "Was that your payment again?" I asked softly, my voice barely more than a whisper as I tried to calm my breathing. He smiled slightly, his eyes twinkling in the dim light of the streetlamp, and shook his head. "No, Jisung, this time it was a thank you," he said just as softly, his voice sounding rough and gentle at the same time.

My eyes widened at his words and I looked at him in surprise. A feeling of joy spread through me, as if the sun was rising inside me. "You do know my name," I said a little louder and happier, while my heart leapt a little. "And you know what a thank you is."
He started to laugh, a warm, honest laugh that made me smile too. He nodded as he stroked my cheek with his thumb again. "As many times as you've said your name to me now, it must have stuck somewhere," he replied.
His words made my heart beat even faster and I averted my eyes to hide the blush that was spreading across my face. Never in my life would I have thought that someone saying my name would make me so happy.

He broke away from me and opened the back door of his worn out car, which was a miracle it hadn't fallen apart yet, let alone still had a license. The metal was rusty and the paint was peeling, but it had a certain charm.
With a barely perceptible nod, he motioned for me to get in. Without thinking twice, I dropped into the old, tattered seat, which squeaked under my weight. By now I trusted him enough to know that he wouldn't hurt me, even if it was perhaps stupid of me to put my trust in him.
He sat down next to me after closing the door behind him and just as I was about to ask him why I should get in, I felt his soft, warm lips on mine again. I flinched a little, but returned his kiss as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

While our tongues played with each other, he gently but firmly pushed me further and further back into the back seat until I was finally lying down and he was bent over me. My breathing quickened and a tingling sensation spread through my whole body.
His hands wandered over my body, tender and rough at the same time. His fingers slid over my arms, my stomach and my hips, leaving a trail of goose bumps and awakening a tingling sensation inside me. My heart was beating so fast that it felt like it was going to jump out of my chest.
His lips broke away from mine and slowly traced their way from my mouth to my neck, leaving hot kisses on my skin. It felt like every kiss lit a fire inside me, making me shiver with desire. My fingers buried themselves in his dark, slightly tousled hair and pulled him closer to me.

When he sucked on a sensitive spot, I gasped briefly and turned my head to the side to give him more room. At the same time, he pulled down the waistband of my jogging bottoms a little, which I had kept on in my haste to get going. I could feel his fingers touching the hem of my boxers and I suppressed a moan. His touch made my skin burn and I wished I was wearing something seductive.
"What are you doing?" I asked quietly anyway, even though I didn't want him to stop. "Shut up," he breathed harshly into my ear. "I'll say thank you." His words made my heart beat even faster and I felt my blush spread to my ears. I couldn't help but obey his command and let my head sink back onto the back seat. I bit my lip to stifle another gasp as his hands continued to feel their way along me.

His rough fingers slowly pushed my top up, sliding over the skin of my chest, stomach and hips. A shiver ran through me as his touch left a trail of goose bumps and a tingling sensation inside me that left me wanting more.
He leaned towards me again, his breath brushing my cheek as he claimed my lips once more. The kiss was demanding as his arms gripped my hips and pulled me even closer to him, as if he wanted to close the last distance between us.
I broke the kiss as a soft moan that I couldn't suppress escaped my lips. I could feel his body nestling against mine. Every touch was like an electric shock that ran through my body and made my heart race. "Please," I whispered, not sure what I was actually asking for - just that he shouldn't stop touching me like this.

He moved his mouth lower, leaving wet kisses on my chest and stomach. Every touch of his lips intensified the tingling inside me, an intense sensation that almost drove me insane. When he finally moved further down, he pushed my jogging bottoms and boxer shorts all the way down, exposing my middle.
I felt the cool air on my skin before I felt his warm lips around my member. I groaned, my fingers gripping the old, tattered seat for support while my thoughts were all about him.

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