TIME ─ JAEYONG

028⸰

"please don't. i'm sorry! i didn't know that was your son!" he pleaded. the stocky man growled in annoyance at his pleading.

"kill him dad. he deserves to die." doyoung crumpled to the ground, his lip freshly seeping blood from the blow he received.

kick after kick, punch after punch. he took it all in, his body aching from the pain. his ribs hurt with each ragged breath he took. his hand clutched into a fist as he tried to find the strength to rise when the attacks stopped.

his vision swirled, the strength he barely had vanished when he needed it the most. if only he could crawl or drag himself a few more inches, the homeless people he resided with would notice him.

"heh, next time don't fuck with someone's kid."

the man's dirty boot smashed into doyoung's face, sending him onto his back. he choked on his own blood, struggling to stay conscious.

it seemed as if time slowed for him as he laid on the floor, bruised, beaten and bloody. he thought of his family and friends in his last dying moments. his brother, his parents, taeyong... there were so many words left unspoken to them.

he pleaded to the gods to let him live through this but his wish went unheard as he caught sight of his lifetime ticking to its last seconds. with the last ten seconds, he let his tears fall.

if only he hadn't tried to rob the child... if only he had stayed with his family...

all at once his struggling came to a stop. he was no longer in pain but at rest. his eyes glossed over, the last vision he saw was his timer hitting zero. the single tear slid from the corner of his eye onto the concrete where he laid until baggers came to do their daily sweep.

...

he couldn't move. couldn't blink. couldn't hear jaehyun and yuta begging for him to stand up from the dirt ground. he felt empty. so much regret, he blamed himself, blamed jaehyun, blamed the world for the death of doyoung.

"it's not your fault." yuta repeated as taeyong remained on the floor, eyes strained on the dried up blood from his now deceased friend.

"tae please—" jaehyun set his hand on taeyong's shoulder only for it to get violently shaken off.

"don't. don't touch me." he needed to see his body before it was burned like the other unfortunate bodies that were found dead. "i need time alone."

jaehyun tried to reach out for him but got pulled back by yuta. it pained them both to watch taeyong run off down the street, so defeated and broken. this was the worst way to start fresh.

"he's lost so many people yuta. i don't know what to do to help."

for the first time ever, yuta didn't have a solution. nothing came to him that could help the situation. he wasn't even sure there was a solution other than giving him space and time to get over it.

"just go home jae. wait for him to come back."

"what if he doesn't come back? there's so many dangerous situations he can run into or get himself into while in his state of mind."

"he's a grown man. if he's lived this long he'll be fine." jaehyun still couldn't calm the storm going on in his brain. every bad outcome crossed his mind as he and yuta walked back to taeil's.