Boss ~Taeten~

Chapter 37

17

-1

A few days later the gang was still pulling themselves together, members that were able went out to stake claims on the territory the rival gang had left behind and medics were still treating the wounded in the med bay.

Jisung was too absorbed in his work, busy preparing the body before him for its burial with only a few fellow medics, to stop and have time for tears. The medics that weren't already treating the wounded acted as morticians for the fallen ones, they had gathered the able bodied members and took them and the bodies to a plot of land outside the city where they had the able bodied members work in teams to dig shallow graves as they prepared the bodies for their burials.

Soon, he and his fellows were lowering bodies into their nearly unmarked graves.

"One year" Taeil murmurs, crouched by Jisung's side as they took a break from burying the bodies of the members they had lost. They had just lowered Johnny's body into his grave, a few apple seeds bundled over the dead man's heart, no coffin to be seen.

Jisung looked at his Hyung with sad eyes, he crouched by his side "One year of what" He mumbles, almost trying to keep the question from reaching Taeil's ears.

"I hadn't seen him for exactly a year" Taeil whispers "the first time I saw him again, the day Tae brought me that cake for my birthday, just a few more seconds and it would have been exactly a year since I was taken."

The young boy couldn't speak, he was truly to be considered young then, he had yet to experience death within the gang the way many of the older members had. This was the first time he had to prepare and bury the waxy bodies of someone he could recognize when looking down into the glassy, unblinking eyes of the dead.

With his throat closed with emotion Jisung straightened up with Taeil, too numb to wipe the dirt from his knees as he kept his eyes trained on Taeil. He knew words wouldn't be able to reach his mentor, a speech or encouragement wouldn't mean a thing to the broken man, he knew this much.

So he hoped his next actions may help alleviate his grief, make it easier to tolerate, if even for a moment.

Jisung pulled Taeil into his arms and rested his chin gently on the older's shoulder as he felt Taeil respond against him, the older holding the youngest tightly, as if he feared having to bury him as well.

Jisung smiled slightly in morbid gratitude and strengthened his hold on Taeil. "I'm here Appa" he murmured quietly.

Taeil stiffened in his hold for a moment before going completely limp, forcing the youngest to readjust his hold on his father figure as he felt Taeil's shoulders shake and his breathing become rough as Jisung's shoulder grew damp.

Back in the gang's home complex Taeyong was lying stiffly on his back, the unnecessary coarse stitches in his wounds had been taken out and replaced, when necessary, with much less painful threads and soft linen bandages, he was still being kept in a room of the med bay with one other occupant, whom he was carefully pulling himself up by the heels of his hands to lean against the wall to look at.

Yuta lay flat with his eyes closed, as he had since he passed out when Lucas and Doyoung had brought him back. Jisung had done all he could upon receiving Yuta as a patient and though the monitors that the techie was hooked up to showed stable vitals those who had seen him seemed to know he wouldn't stay with them much longer.

Even if Yuta managed to survive lead poisoning, the bullet wound itself, and the countless other possible complications, there wasn't much fight left in his grief ridden body.