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

Chapter 48

Dino feels really confused while he follows Scoups into Seungkwan's apartment. He knows his roommate is furious, but he didn't really catch about what. Vernon and Seungkwan both look at Scoups with confidence in their eyes, which scares Dino a little bit.
"You can't just do this! After all we've been through together?" Scoups asks desperate and Vernon shakes his head.
"We won't change our minds, Scoups. We've had enough, we're quitting", he says firmly and Dino can't believe his ears.
"You're what!?" he blurts out, but no one is really paying attention to him.
"But it's dangerous! Woojin could still be somewhere, what if he attacks you?" Scoups continues, almost begging them to stay.
"Woojin won't attack us anymore", Seungkwan reasons with him.
"And besides, we're in more danger in this team than we are if we quit", Vernon adds. Scoups stares at them in shock, he's breathing heavily and Dino is scared that he might explode. He knows his leader hasn't slept and this makes him more vulnerable. But Dino also feels sorry for him, Scoups has watched his whole team fall apart and now there's again another piece breaking.
"But..., But...", Scoups stutters, but he can't get the words out of his mouth.
"Are you sure?" Dino asks the two roommates and they both nod their heads.
"We're not the same team as we used to be. We're cursed. Everyone in this team dies", Vernon says and the words echo through the room while everyone stares at each other in silence.
"What are you going to do then?" Dino asks, trying to ask the questions Scoups would have wanted to ask.
"We want to go on a trip, see the world. We love you all, we really do. But we can't do this anymore", Seungkwan says and Dino slowly nods. In the meantime, Scoups seems to have calmed down a bit.
"Okay, if you want to quit then I won't stop you," he says, "but please give me some time to know if you're going to be safe." Seungkwan and Vernon look at each other and after a few seconds, they give in.
"Fine," Vernon says, "you have until january 22nd. That's enough time, isn't it?" Scoups seems to doubt, but eventually he gives in as well.
"Fine", he says and he turns around to leave. Dino looks at the two roommates in pity, he knows they respect Scoups.
"Thanks for telling us", he says. "And sorry for his behavior, he has a lot on his mind." 
"Take good care of him", Seungkwan states and Dino nods.
"I will", he says before he leaves as well. He doesn't know if he should be sad or proud that someone is actually brave enough to get out of this danger. Dino can't help but think back about Vernon's words: We're not the same team as we used to be. We're cursed. Dino can't deny it, they're really cursed. But as much as he wants to leave to save himself, he can't leave Scoups behind. Or Mingyu. Now it's just the three of them.

~<*>~

Mingyu exhales relieved while he looks at his phone. Today is january 6th, today he can leave the hospital. Scoups is going to pick him up at any moment now and honestly he can't wait. The hospital is boring, depressing and it reminds him of Wonwoo. Mingyu turns around in his bed when someone knocks on the door. With hope, he turns around again, but he soon faces disappointment when he realizes it's not Scoups, but a nurse. She has a plate with food in her hands and she hands it over to him. Mingyu stares at it, but can't bring himself to eat.
"It's your last meal here", the nurse states and Mingyu nods his head without looking away from the food. 
"You're not going to eat?" she asks a few seconds later and Mingyu finally looks her in the eye.
"I'm not hungry", he says and it's the truth. He hasn't felt hungry in a while and the hospital food is nasty, so that doesn't help. The nurse places her hands on her hips and tilts her head.
"You should eat, even if you're not hungry. Otherwise you'll end up here again", she reasons with him and Mingyu sighs deeply before he takes a bite out of a carrot. The nurse smiles satisfied and ruffles his hair.
"Good," she says, "make sure that I don't see you again." Mingyu blinks surprised, but slowly nods his head anyway. The nurse hums in approval and leaves. When Mingyu is finally done eating, he spots Scoups in the hallway and he immediatly starts to smile. He can finally leave this place, he can go back to where he likes to be. Scoups sees him as well and his smile fills the room when he enters.
"You have no idea how happy I am to leave", Mingyu states happy and Scoups answers with a hug.
"Let's get out of here then", he says and Mingyu is quick to get up and grab his bag. Meanwhile, Scoups grabs his picture that is laying on the table and he looks at it for a while. When Mingyu notices this, his heart skips a beat. This picture is holy to him, nothing may happen to it. So he quickly runs towards his leader and snatches it out of his hands. Scoups looks up startled and confused, but Mingyu doesn't respond.
"Should we put it in a frame? Since you broke the last one", Scoups asks but Mingyu quickly shakes his head.
"No, it's perfect like this", he says and without another word, he puts it in his pocket and walks out of the room with Scoups following him. The car ride home is silent at first, but then Scoups tells him about Seungkwan and Vernon and he widens his eyes shocked. 
"They really want to leave?" he asks in disbelief and Scoups exhales deeply.
"They made up their minds, I tried to talk them out of it but it didn't work", he informs him and Mingyu can see that his leader is hurt and desperate. 
"I convinced them to stay until january 22nd, so I still have a little bit of time", Scoups continues and Mingyu frowns confused.
"Time for what?" Mingyu asks puzzled and Scoups glances at him in disbelief.
"To find Woojin, of course. I'm not going to rest before I know for sure that all of you are safe. We have lost enough people already", he says and Mingyu looks at his hands. He totally forgot about Woojin, is he really still a treath? But Mingyu doesn't get much time to think about it because they arrive at his apartment. Scoups follows him inside and Mingyu gasps surprised when he sees how clean his home is.
"You should thank Dino for that", Scoups mumbles proud and Mingyu feels the warmth of friendship.
"Thank you so much", he mutters and Scoups chuckles while he places Mingyu's bag on the couch. Mingyu himself walks towards his bedroom and puts the photo on his bedside table. When he walks out of his room, Scoups is still inside. 
"Do you want something to drink?" Mingyu asks but Scoups shakes his head.
"Do you want someone to stay here with you?" Scoups asks.
"No, I'll be fine. I won't hurt myself again, don't worry", Mingyu says and he means it. Wonwoo told him to live, so he will live. 
"Okay, then I'll be going home", Scoups says, but before he leaves, he changes his mind.
"By the way, the fact that Vernon and Seungkwan are quitting means that I'm going to disband the whole group. Which means that you'll have to look for a real job to get money", Scoups informs him and Mingyu feels a little sad because the team will be gone, but he also gets it.
"What will you do?" he asks curiously and Scoups smiles.
"I asked if I could work in that coffee shop nearby, but they haven't answered yet", he says shyly and Mingyu gives him a thumbs up.
"You'll get in, don't worry. And I'll find something too. Maybe we can work together", he says and Scoups' smile grows wider.
"I would like that." With those words, Scoups waves him goodbye and leaves. Immediatly, Mingyu makes a file to get a job too. He will make something of his life, he will find a prupose. He will make Wonwoo proud.

~<*>~

"Fuck!" Scoups yells frustrated as he slams the laptop on the bed. He feels time ticking away and he's desperate to find at least something of Woojin. He can't have disappeared from this earth, right? He has watched every camera footage he could find, still nothing. He is nowhere to be seen, does that mean Woojin really fled? Is he really gone? Are they really safe? Scoups can't believe it, he can't trust it. Why would he suddenly go away? Doesn't he want revenge? Or finish what he started? Why did he do so much, just to run away? Tired, Scoups lets his head rest in his hands. He hasn't slept properly in days, so his focus is lacking. Right when he's about to continue, Dino walks in. He looks worried, but Scoups ignores the look.
"We should probably leave, if we want to be the first to arrive", he says softly. Today is january 22nd. The day that the Titans will no longer excist. The day they have to say goodbye to some of their friends. The day Scoups wanted to find Woojin, but obviously he failed to do so. 
"Can't we wait just a little longer?" Scoups asks desperately, he needs to find Woojin. He needs to know that they're safe. Dino sighs deeply and massages his temples.
"Scoups, you're not going to find him. Otherwise you would have already found him by now. Just give up, he's not going to return anymore", Dino tries to talk some sense into him, but Scoups doesn't want to listen.
"Please", he begs and eventually Dino gives in.
"Okay, I'll go to the store first, but when I'm back, we're leaving." Scoups smiles thankful and Dino turns around to leave. And then suddenly it hits him. The store. He hasn't checked the camera footage of the stores yet. Scoups' fingers type with the speed of light while his eyes watch the footage. The first few stores are useless, nothing to see there. But then, in only a glance, Scoups notices the blonde hair of a very familiar person. For one second, he looks at the camera and Scoups looks right into his eyes. Those murderous, betraying, heartless eyes. Woojin's eyes. Scoups gasps as he realizes he has been holding his breath for the past few seconds. With shaking hands, Scoups checks other footage from that store and he realizes Woojin has been there every single day to buy something. Scoups grabs a paper and writes down every single thing he buys and when he puts them all together, he gasps again. Woojin has bought all the ingredients for a bomb. Scoups' heart skips a beat as he searches the location of the store. In terror, he sees that the location is only a few streets from their dance room. Scoups switches the camera footage to the live footage in that store and tries to control his breathing. Woojin hasn't been gone. He has been planning a major attack on them, and if he doesn't do anything about it, he will succeed. Scoups tries to think of a plan when he sees Woojin walking into the store. Without thinking, Scoups gets up, runs to his drawer and grabs his gun. He has to take action now, to save his team. Scoups puts on his shoes, hides the gun in his jacket and runs outside to get to Woojin. Today isn't only the day that the Titans will end, but also the day that he will murder Woojin. Even if it takes his own life to do so.