TARGET

열

"I don't understand why you didn't tell us-"

"I have no reason to fully trust you-"

"Its not a matter of trust its a matter of safety-"

"WELL I DIDN'T FUCKING KNOW EITHER HOW ABOUT THAT!"

All 12 of the sat in complete and utter silence and watching the boy covered in frost from head to toe cry uncontrollably.

A few days ago

The six trainees sprawled out on the futons straggled across on the hard living room floor in no particular order. It was nearing 2 am and Renjun still lay awake, eyes dancing across the blank wall above him, as if he was looking for something in the utter nothingness of the beige sky.

He couldn't sleep, no matter how hard he tried. He hasn't been remotely tired in days, resulting in his energy being sapped out of him during practice and mind numbing migraines.

Yet he still refused, absolutely refused, to admit his pain to anyone. He already made that mistake with Minghao, opening himself up to him. While Renjun didn't regret it exactly, its still a vulnerability he revealed to a possible enemy.

He hated Ursula Minor, he hated the fact he slept under their roof, wore their clothes on his back. He hated that they were his only choice.

He turned his head to face the slumbering face of Jeno beside him. His bold features were softened by his slumber, his chapped, creamy pink lips slightly parted- slipping out a deep breath every so often in sync with his chest softly rising and falling. Renjun envied him, being able to stay in that state of tranquility for a prolonged period of time, mind and body at ease.

On the other hand, Renjun's mind was always either swarming, in acute pain, or both. His body sore from not being able to get proper rest, the dark circles under his eyes growing day by day.

Renjun adjusted himself to his previous position where he lay staring at the ceiling then-

he couldn't breathe.

Renjun tried to find his breath, grabbing at his chest as if he could pull his breath back into his lungs.

An unfathomable amount of pain washed over his body, the paramount residing in his arms, underneath this skin- pulsating in his veins.

It took him by surprise and was so unimaginably painful he felt like crying out, but the breath was stuck in his throat.

So this is it, huh?

This is how I die.

...

The boy paralyzed in unequivocal pain sobbed as much as the dying breath in his lungs could allow him to. The agonizing feeling made his body feel extremely cold, at this point his breath slightly returned but the pain only multiplied by minute.