✔ || Save Me [[SEQUEL to DISTRACT ME]]

Chapter 48

He was on fire. The flames scorched his skin, licking his cheeks, cooking his brain. Threatening to turn his form into ash. He couldn't move, couldn't think. All that he could focus on was the pain.

He was on fire.

And then, he wasn't.

Jeongguk gasped, eyes popping open. "Wha -"

He found Lucifer beside him scowling. "I'll never understand you."

"Who?" Jeongguk asked, still trying to grasp his bearings.

And then he realized that he was back in his bedroom. And Raphael and Taehyung were standing together, the former's arms wrapped comfortably around the latter's torso.

Jeongguk didn't even realize what was happening before he was lunging at the archangel with animalistic resolve. "I'll kill you!"

And he would have, too, had it not been for a gentle but firm hand coming down on his arm.

"Jagi," Taehyung said, his eyes shining with fear and sadness.

And suddenly Jeongguk understood what was happening, and bile burned in his throat.

"No, Tae -"

"This isn't you, jagi," Taehyung said softly. "This is not your world."

Jeongguk gripped the sides of the elder's face fiercely, tangling his fingers in his soft hair. "It is," he insisted. "It is because it's your world."

Those swirling dark eyes that Jeongguk had gotten lost in more times than he could count were gleaming with unfathomable gloom. Where was their light? Would it ever return? Would the two boys be together if it did?

Taehyung smiled forlornly and pulled the maknae's hands away from his face. Jeongguk couldn't quite remember how to breathe. A boa constrictor was twisting around his chest, hissing in his ear, so he couldn't hear much except his blood pulsing in his eardrums.

He was drowning. He was dying.

Lucifer whined behind him, "Can we go now? I'm bored."

Raphael smiled in victory, "Yes, brother. Come, little one. Let's go home."

Taehyung's hands fell away from Jeongguk's. The maknae was choking on every shallow breath.

Don't forget.

That's what Taehyung had asked of him. It was his last request.

"I won't," Jeongguk croaked, looking up to meet Taehyung's startled eyes. He grappled for the elder's hands, holding them tightly against his chest. "I won't forget."

Taehyung's expression softened, and then a bright light flashed, blinding the maknae, and the three Fallen were gone. Lucifer and Raphael's laughter was all that was left in the room, echoing in Jeongguk's ears. His empty hands dropped to his sides.

The bones in his legs dissolved, and he collapsed.

And that's how the other members found him hours later: curled in a ball on his floor. Unblinking. Hardly breathing.

They sensed something was off. The creature lying on the floor was not their maknae. It was something else entirely - something inhuman. Barely alive. Jimin was the only one brave enough to get close to him at first. He helped the maknae sit up, whispering, "Where is he?"

Jeongguk slowly met the boy's shining eyes. "Dead."

It wasn't true. But it might as well have been.

And then there were five pairs of arms around him, and five different voices crying in quiet confusion, but Jeongguk felt like it was he who had died, so it didn't really make sense to shed any tears.

Come to find out in the next few weeks, he'd wish he could cry. But he couldn't do it. Not at the funeral - yes, they had a funeral, even though Jeongguk was eventually able to explain what had happened. It made more sense for the public that the boy had died.

Every time he had to hear his name, another piece of Jeongguk's husk of a heart chipped away.

He learned the hard way just how much the boy had meant to him.

The 4th Muster in Japan was canceled. ARMY wasn't too disappointed. Most of them understood. All of them were sad. The band's managers cleared the rest of their schedules for the time being. Everyone in the group was numb.

But Jeongguk was something else on top of that. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Couldn't feel anything.

Not without him.

It didn't help matters any that he was alone in his dreams. And slowly, ever so slowly, he stopped dreaming entirely. His subconscious was blank once more, just like it was before him. It was like he really had died. Even worse, like he hadn't existed at all.

But he had existed. He had. Jeongguk was haunted by memories of him.

He wanted to cry. But his emotions were somewhere far away from him, leaving him hollow and absent. It wasn't just happiness he couldn't feel, it was everything. Anger. Sadness. Even hunger. His stomach would roar in agony, his tongue would lay thick and useless in his mouth, but he couldn't feel himself wasting away, so why should he care?

The members forced him to care for himself. And if he refused, they'd do it for him. They'd take care of their useless maknae, the light gone from their eyes. They'd go to the studio in pairs and triplets, never as a full group, because someone always had to stay with Jeongguk. They were probably afraid that if he was left alone, he'd kill himself.

It was a valid concern.

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{A/N: I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there are only 3 chapters left in this story! Also, if you are in need of a bit of fluff after this chapter, Grumpy was updated a little while ago!}