Crime, Betrayal, and Love (A Seventeen Street Racing AU)

LXXXIII | Spiraling

I'm surprised that this building is still standing. Most of the walls are crumbling in on one another, and debris litters the hallway floors. Pieces of the floor above us are missing, gaping holes revealing the upper floors. I wouldn't be surprised if the roof caved in on the three of us at this very moment. Every part of me wants to run and find the quickest exit, but lugging around an injured man much taller than me makes that impossible.

Minghao grunts with each step now. He's growing weak to the pain and is unable to hide it. When I can, I steal stealing glances at his face, quickly observing him in the faint light. He looks much paler than he should, and he's stuck in a constant wince. I'm not sure if me and Jeonghan will be able to even get out of the apartment building before he collapses, let alone get away from the people actively chasing us.

"Think the elevators still work?" JEonghan asks, his voice strained, yet there's a faint smile on his face as he tries to bring something positive to the night.

"We'll be lucky if we can find stairs that are intact.

As we continue to walk through the dark corridor, only lit by mine and Jeonghan's faint phone flashlights, I grow grateful I was always too scared to leave my safe little room. Had I known how dire the state of the building was, I probably would have fled to somewhere else. However, that would depend on whether I could even find somewhere else. As I take another look at Minghao, I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't stayed here. I probably wouldn't have run into him then. How different would my life be if we never ran into each other at that corner store?

"Over there!" Jeonghan flashes his light on a door with an exit sign above it. If there was electricity running through the building still, it would be flashing red.

"Finally," I grumble, trying to gently readjust my hold on Minghao. I'm growing more and more exhausted. We really should have saved this suicide mission until after we've all eaten.

The angry sounds outside have died down a bit; however, I'm not sure if it's because they're calming down or if it's just harder to hear them with more walls in between us. I wish that it's the first option.

Thankfully, the door is on Jeonghan's side, and he pushes it open. When he gets the first look inside, however, he sucks his breath in. "How has this place not collapsed?"

Minghao, likely in too much pain, doesn't react to the stairwell as Jeonghan drags him in, and I push him. As soon as I take one step into the area, I want to drop Minghao and run right back out. I'd rather find a way to use the removed fire escape to get out of here than take this stairwell.

Where there should be a railing to stop anyone from falling down, there's only sparse poles that once held up the fencing. With a shaky foot forward, I peer down, seeing some areas where more of the railing is in place, but barely. Not nearly enough for us to walk down safely. The stairs aren't wide enough for three people. They could barely fit two people side by side. It shares the same problem with the entirety of this building: it's littered with trash, and the walls are falling apart.

"Surely there's a better way out of here," I say, quickly stepping back out into the hallway.

Jeonghan doesn't say a thing, but he locks eyes with me before nodding his head to Minghao. There probably is a better getaway, but we're running out of time, and Minghao is already slowing us down. We can't take the chance to look for another exit.

We file into a line, all of us pushing our backs to the wall, Minghao limply leaning on it. For a shot to the ankle, he looks strangely sick. I bite the inside of my cheek, growing more worried.

As we're rushing down the stairs, it hits me that the whole reason we're stuck in this mess is completely pointless now. We've discovered nothing of use and we're no closer to proving that it was Kun who did it. Even if he alluded to being the person behind Changkyun's death and Mingyu's hospitalization, I have no proof that he admitted it. I feel so helpless.