Autumnal Equinox (JinJi)

Eleven

Here I Am

Pandemonium ensued.

People started to stampede toward the door or duck behind and under tables or fall to their hands and knees. Yoshiki dropped Jisoo's hands and immediately ran to Boyoung and pulled her away from the center of the floor. Jisoo jumped into action.

"No! Stop! Everyone, calm down!" she shouted, but her voice was drowned out by all the hysterical screaming. "It's not a real gun! Everyone, just stay calm!"

Random guests crashed into her. Her ear started ringing when she hit the dance floor, her rib cage hitting another guest's high-heeled shoe. Her vision was a rush of color and the screaming only got louder. She shook her head, trying to come back to her senses and stop her grandfather before he could ruin the evening further.

Jinyoung had dragged Minji away from the dance floor and pulled them to crouch beside their table. Jinyoung pulled her so that she was closer to the table and then shielded her with his body. Minji was hysterical, as was everyone else. Everyone was running and screaming and taking cover. He looked above everyone's heads and tried to spot his sisters and his parents and Yoshiki to make sure they were safe.

"Harabeoji!" Jisoo shouted as she finally made it back onto her feet. She shoved people aside as she tried to make it over to him. But another guest ran into her, and she lost sight of the old man.

Next thing she knew, Harabeoji was pointing the shotgun at Yoshiki, who was still shielding Boyoung.

"Boyoung! Stand aside!" the old man shouted. "This man is a Japanese spy!"

"No!" Jisoo sprinted at him. "Harabeoji, put that down! Stop this!"

Jinyoung spotted Jisoo as soon as she stood. The rest of the scene unfolded as if in slow motion. She ran to where her grandfather was wielding the shotgun and point it at Yoshiki and his sister. His heart stopped when Jisoo placed herself between Yoshiki and the barrel of the shotgun.

He bolted toward her. Jinyoung dodged all the panicked guests. Their screaming dulled to a sharp ringing. Jinyoung threw himself between Jisoo and her grandfather. She didn't even register who it was who flew in front of her. Her grandfather was still shouting angry curses at Yoshiki, and she was still screaming at him to calm down over this stranger's shoulder.

Everything else happened to so fast. Security guards barged into the room. When the old man was distracted, Jinyoung pulled Jisoo to the ground and covered her. Jisoo's back hit the floor and she watched, helpless, as one of the security guards brandished a taser.

"No!" she screamed, tears in her eyes.

Jinyoung turned his head just in time to witness one of the guards taser the old man. The shotgun fell from his hands, and he hit the ground hard with a painful grunt. Jisoo shoved Jinyoung away and immediately ran to her grandfather. She knelt beside him and tried to shake him awake.

"Harabeoji? Harabeoji?" she said.

His frail form remained still. Jisoo held her breath as she waited for some kind of movement, anything to tell her that he was okay. Jinyoung, Yoshiki, and Boyoung all watched from the sidelines.

Jinyoung was fidgeting with his shirtsleeve again when he realized that one of his cufflinks must have come undone in the wild rumpus at the reception. He undid the button on his tuxedo jacket and slouched down in his chair in the hospital waiting room. After the panic that ensued, someone had called both the police and an ambulance.