| Antidote | Poison 2nd Book |

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟚𝟘

[A/N: since a few of you wanted me to add more to Mingi's roll in this book I'm gonna be starting that in this chapter. enjoy :)))]

The scenery from the car window passed by quickly like a film reel unraveling. With his forehead pressed against the cool glass, Hongjoong just watched the blur of trees and grass zoom by, seeming to be stuck inside his head. His gaze turned to the side mirror of the car, finally catching a glimpse of his reflection for the first time since everything that had happened.

Hongjoong's top lip was busted, as well as his bottom lip in two places. Remnants of black and blue tinted his cheeks and peeked out from the collar of his shirt, his right eye still swollen, and the white of his eye tainted with red from blood vessels that burst. A gash upon his jawline, which had long been cleaned and stitched up, was in the process of healing. That was only his face, beneath his clothes, his side had a large, black bruise the size of a football and his ribs were badly bruised. Every breath that he took sent a zing of pain throughout his body, but the painkillers he was on helped take most of the edge off.

Needless to say, the doctor that treated him was surprised that his body didn't give out from the severe trauma he sustained, the shock should've killed him, but he had managed to pull through. The word on his mental state was undetermined, but it didn't take rocket science to figure out that Hongjoong would need extensive therapy after everything he had gone through.

Next to him in the driver's seat sat Yohan, who had remained silent for a majority of the long drive back home. Seonghwa said he needed to take care of some business before he returned home, so he left Hongjoong in the hands of his brother.

Other than the sound of the tires running against the pavement, they both listened to the sound of their own breathing. It was almost maddening.

Yohan took his eyes off of the road for a brief moment to glance over at the smaller male in the passenger's seat. "Hongjoong?"

Hongjoong didn't even respond, he just glanced over at Yohan for a second before his gaze returned back to his reflection in the mirror.

It was silent for a while before Yohan made another attempt.

"I know I'm not the one you want to talk to, you don't know me very well at all, I can understand if you don't trust me," Yohan said in a soft voice as he adjusted his grip on the steering wheel a bit.

The smaller male uncomfortably shifted himself in the car seat and turned more toward the window. He took the soft flesh of his bottom lip between his teeth, tenderly running the tip of his tongue over the busted wounds.

Yohan let out a subtle sigh. "I'm sorry. I won't force you to talk if you don't want to. I just... I want you to know I understand how you could be feeling right now."

"You don't know anything." Hongjoong was quick to respond in a low tone of voice.

"I know more than you think I do."

The blonde-haired male snapped his head to look over at Yohan. "Oh yeah? And how exactly do YOU think I feel?"

"You feel alone, drifting through each second on autopilot. You feel like you're no longer in control of your body, you're ashamed of the things that happened to you, and you feel as if every bit of it is your fault. Every feeling, every emotion, it all feels numb to you. You feel as if you're trapped in a box, and no matter how loud you scream and claw at the walls until your fingers bleed, you can't escape it." Yohan took another glance at Hongjoong. "That's how you feel because that's how I felt."

Hongjoong just blinked once, staring at Yohan for the longest time. He drew a deep breath, his gaze drifting toward the floor of the car. A small part of him wanted to deny that's how he felt, but Yohan had hit it right on the nail, down to every last detail.