Wick | 민윤기

Thirty-six

2 March 2018

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

The noise was steady and consistent, but she was too afraid to open her eyes. As soon as she became conscious, she remembered that she has been stabbed. It all came rushing back. Hoseok, Jimin—Seokjin. A dull pain throbbed in her abdomen, but it wasn't nearly as bad as how it felt with the knife still in there.

Something warm was encasing her hand. There was another warm feeling on her ankle. Still, she was afraid. She didn't know what would await her once she opened her eyes. Part of her knew that it wasn't anything bad, but she could still feel the blade in her stomach.

She willed herself back to sleep.

"Hi, baby." His voice was deep, as normal, but the tone was much happier than the last time she had heard it. He smiled slightly, eyes squinting into crescent moons that were slightly obscured by a few strands of his dark hair.

Victoria was too shocked to move. All she could do was stand there in wonder, eyes widening at the man before her. Before she could say anything, he moved into her, pulling her into a tight hug and guiding her head to his chest with one hand.

She held onto him and began to cry, letting her tears soak his shirt. "I did what you wanted," she sobbed, comforted by the way his large hand moved up and down her back soothingly. "I found someone." She tried to regain her composure but didn't move away. "I—I fell in love again."

"About time," he joked as a laugh rumbled deep in his throat. He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her away to look into her eyes. "You have to let me go."

Victoria nodded vigorously, tears streaming down her face. "I know."

She woke with a start, her eyes flying open. Jimin and Hoseok perked up from where they sat next to her bed. Jimin's hand tightened around hers and Hoseok didn't move his hand from her ankle. A few feet away, Jin was leaning on the wall with his friend.

"Noona—"

"I saw Taehyung!" she said quickly, sitting up. Then the pain in her abdomen hit and she winced, hunching over. "Fuck—"

Jimin placed one hand on her back to gently guide her to lay down. "Careful! The doctor said you shouldn't move."

"The wound is about six inches deep," Hoseok added quietly, watching her with concerned eyes. "They said you have to stay here for at least two days so the beginning stages of the healing process aren't disrupted."

Victoria scoffed, staring up at the white tiles on the ceiling. "Bullshit! I have to get to Yoongi! You expect me to just lay here while he dies?"

"We discussed trying to get you out," Jin said suddenly, stepping forward. "But your wound would just slow you down. Slow us down."

Her eyes narrowed at the man. He was still tall and handsome. If she hadn't known him in high school, he would have just looked like a typical good-looking guy. "Why are you here?" she muttered.

"How ungrateful," he replied with a sneer. He began to pace beside Jimin and Hoseok. "I saved your life twice and this is thanks I get?"

The lights in the small room seemed to get brighter as if at any moment they would burst. "Twice?" she questioned. Then it came back to her. "You were the one that stopped him from killing me that night..."

"In your shop," he finished. "At first, I was all for killing this 'Sam' guy's little girlfriend and crushing his will to live, but when I saw that it was you, I couldn't go through with it."

Victoria didn't know what to feel besides the pain in her stomach. "So you're in H.S.S."

"Yes, and so is the other man who saved you." Jin turned around to beckon the other man forward. He was taller than Jin and had dimples pushing in on his cheeks when he smiled. He wore a dark hoodie much like the ones Yoongi used to wear.

He dipped his head. "I'm Kim Namjoon. A friend of Sam's. Or—Yoongi, I guess."

"Wait—how are you his friend if you're in that gang?" she asked with a grain, bringing both hands to her head that was starting to pound.

Namjoon's smile dissipated. "I was a double-agent of sorts. When everyone found out, Jin-hyung helped me fake my death. Now that we saved you, we're going to save Yoongi."

"I know exactly what's going to happen and when," Jin cut in with his venomous voice. "They plan to take Yoongi to the docks and throw him into the ocean with weights attached to his ankles."

Victoria's heart rate increased and the monitor began beeping like crazy. "What?!"

"Nice going, asshole," Hoseok hissed.

Jimin reached up to stroke her face and smiled. "We're going to stop them, noona. Yoongi will be okay."

"We have the plan in place, but we just need some muscle. I know the exact people to help," Jin mumbled before pressing the button to call the nurses.

Victoria's monitor didn't calm down one bit and she began to cry. "You can't just leave me here! What if something happens?"

Just then, two nurses came rushing in and went straight for the monitor. "Sedate her," one of them said.

"No!" she screamed, trying to move away. "I have to get to Yoongi!" She struggled in the nurse's grip, but they managed to inject her with the sedative. In only moments, her speech, as well as breathing, slowed and she closed her eyes. The monitor went back to beeping normally.

The others could only watch sadly. "I'm sorry, noona," Jimin said quietly and let go of her hand to stand up. "When are we going to tell her that she's pregnant?" Hoseok only sighed, squeezing her ankle as a goodbye before turning to Jin.

"I think I know who you want to gather," Hoseok said, staring at him levelly. "Let's just get it over with so we can stop this Joongi guy."

Jin's lips turned up into his signature twisted smile and he stared back at his old friend. "Oh, worry not, Hobi. This is going to be fun..."