WITH A START, he wakes up, eyes snapping open.
Sitting up, Jeongguk rolls his shoulder, hissing at the pain. He tugs at the thorns that bind his hands although he knows there's no way to remove them.
The sun had been beating down on him while he was passed out. He probably has a few sunburns now, but that's the least of his problems.
He gets up.
And his entire body aches like hell; some part of him just wants to collapse again and never get up— and maybe that'd do everyone a favor.
But if he dies without seeing the boys again, his brothers again, all this suffering would be for nothing.
He limps into a clearing in the forest, exhaling in relief at the sight of a small lake. He walks over and plans to just wash up a little, maybe take a drink because he's so dehydrated, but something catches his attention from under the water.
A conch shell.
Jeongguk frowns. He wades into the water. It comes up to his hips and now he's freezing cold, but he dips his hands into the water, grabbing the shell.
As he does so, his bonds come loose and fall apart, the thorns that were previously stabbing his wrists coming undone.
Jeongguk pulls out the shell and examines it curiously, remembering what he was told.
"Hyung, why does everyone draw conch shells in the sand?"
From where he's chopping down a tree, Seokjin stops and looks over, breathing heavily. He's covered in sweat and his muscles are prominent. He licks his lips and leans his head back, exhaling towards the sky.
"When someone blows a conch shell, it symbolizes the end of a war," says Seokjin. "And that's all we want; an end to this war."
Jeongguk glances down at his tattooed arm; the symbols and mottos from The Other Side engraved in ink on his skin.
"I'll find a conch shell one day, hyung," says Jeongguk. Then, in a whisper Seokjin can't hear, "I'll end what I started."
The memory makes Jeongguk's eyes sting. He brings the shell up to his lips, inhaling and then blowing into it with all his might.
The sound is loud, like a lion's roar, and Jeongguk knows that his brothers heard it. It fills Jeongguk with newfound energy and determination.
Jeongguk will find his way back. And when he returns, his hyungs will be there. He knows they will.
