Faltering Steps • J-Hope

i.

"That was so good!" Jimin said excitedly. They had just finished a big performance and were still riding on the high of having an audience cheer for them. Namjoon was driving; he and Jin switched off sometimes, but Jin was busy eating in the back. Yoongi had already fallen asleep, leaving the next oldest member, Hobi, in the passenger seat next to Namjoon.

"But I almost fell," Jungkook said, laughing. "My foot tipped the cord for the speakers and I almost tripped! Aish! That would have been a disaster!"

Tae laughed, putting an arm around Jungkook's shoulders. "We've all done something stupid on stage before. It happens!"

Jungkook groaned. "But it'll be on Instagram forever, haunting me."

"Aw, 'golden maknae screws up,'" Hobi air-quoted, laughing with V. "It would be so funny though, right, Joonie?"

"Shut up and let me drive," Namjoon said, but his lips quirked up in a smile.

"Sure, sure, you just focus on getting us home safely," Hobi said, tapping him on the shoulder with a smile.

Maybe Hobi jinxed it. That's the thought that would haunt him later.

Because "getting home safely" just wasn't in the cards that night.

***

"What do we have?"

"Car accident. They were driving at night and a car without its headlights on T-boned them."

"Any casualties?"

"No DOAs." The nurse nodded to the boy on the gurney that they were pushing towards Surgery. "This one got it pretty bad."

"Driver?"

She shook her head. "Passenger. That was the side they were T-boned on."

"What about the driver of the car without headlights?"

She smiled without humor. "He's suffering heavily from a few scratches. He's fine." She looked down at the bloody boy they were pushing. "Poor kid."

Another nurse held the door open, and they wheeled him into Surgery.

"We'll do our best," the doctor said.

The doors swung shut.

***

"Are you okay?" Namjoon asked, putting his hand on Jungkook's head and scanning him for injuries.

Jungkook nodded. "They said I sprained my wrist and there's a few cuts on my arm, but they wrapped them."

Namjoon nodded with relief and turned to Tae. "And you?" he asked, grabbing Tae's face and lifting it to check his neck.

Tae stuck out his tongue. "I'm fine."

"He has a big cut on his leg," Jungkook said, glaring at Tae, who glared back.

"I'm fine," Taehyung repeated, pushing Namjoon away gently. "It's nothing. A scratch."

"Yeah, tell that to the nurse who had to tie you down to clean off the blood and wrap it," Jungkook said sourly.

"SHE RUBBED IT WITH ALCOHOL! IT HURT!" Taehyung protested.

Namjoon just shook his head. "Jimin?"

Jimin smiled up at him sweetly. "All good here, Joonie. Are you okay?"

Namjoon nodded but added, "Don't worry about me." He turned to his left. "Jin?"

Jin looked up with tears in his eyes.