Day6 || Hunt

Chapter IX-Part 2

Your mind blank, almost forgetting to breathe, you follow DoWoon down the hallway, a tumultuous mixture of emotions raging inside your mind: fear, anticipation, happiness.

As you enter the bedroom you see Jae slumped against several pillows. His eyes are open, but exhaustion clouds his features. Approaching him carefully, you're relieved to see him break into a familiar grin.

"Jae?" you ask tentatively, lightly balancing on the edge of the bed. "How are you doing?"

Taking in the bruises and cuts adorning his arms and face, how thin he looks, the dark circles under his eyes, you feel the tears begin to fill your own. Seeing your expression, Jae takes a deep breath before grinning bravely.

"It might seem like I was kidnapped, but, plot twist. It was actually just an elaborate plan to escape finals," he jokes, his laugh coming out as a wheeze.

Even though he's playing it cool, you can tell the broken ribs make it painful for him to speak.

"I'm pretty sure I was going to fail my statistics class anyways, so, I should probably thank those guys for getting me out of it," he adds with a lop-sided grin.

Attempting a smile of your own, you bite your lip and hold back the tears as you take in his face. For so many weeks you thought you'd never see it again.

"So, you gonna hug me or what?" he asks, noticing your struggle. You hesitate, not wanting to injure him further.

"Are you sure it's okay?"

"Jisoo, I just have a couple broken ribs. I'm not dying!" he exclaims. "Seriously, get over here."

Jae opens his arms wide and you finally laugh as you lean forward and gently wrap your arms around your brother's neck. After a brief moment you pull back, the two of you becoming serious as you consider how fortunate you are that things turned out this way. Only a few hours ago it seemed neither of you would be so lucky.

"Are you okay?" Jae asks seriously, his expression somber, his eyes worried.

"We didn't find Grace," you whisper back. "And Wonpil's gone."

For several seconds Jae doesn't say anything before responding solemnly, "I know, DoWoon told me."

You want to ask him questions, but you're afraid to hear the answers.

"Do you think they'll be okay," you ask quietly.

His eyes look sad.

"I don't know," he says, seriously.

The two of you look at the bedspread silently, the heaviness of his words resting between you, when a light knock on the door draws your attention. Young K opens the door slowly, his face tense.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I think you guys need to hear this," he says, eyes coming to rest on yours. You know that look. It's the one he has when he's trying to prepare you for something bad. Steeling yourself for the worst, you're not surprised when DoWoon and Builder follow him into the room holding Grace's cell phone.

Pressing a finger to his lips as a sign to keep quiet, DoWoon hits a button to put the volume on speaker phone.

"I'm listening," DoWoon says solemnly.

"Good, because this may be your only chance."

You stifle a gasp as the familiar voice of Wonpil fills the room. Staring around at the others, you meet four bewildered gazes.