SANCTUARY

chapter 25

"Fucking cat," Dan roared in pain as the cat had scratched him on the face. He didn't know where it came from, it utterly jumped out of nowhere. It left a deep scratch on his face which made him collect his rage and ready to unleash it on the cat. "Should I kill you first?"

"How about I fucking kill you!"

The group of friends had arrived home just on time before anything severe happened to their pets. Jaemin and Renjun protected Ahyoung, knowing that Dan wanted to snatch her away this night. On the other hand, Haechan and Jeno approached the intruder.

"Do you have a death wish? Do you want me to make it come true?" Haechan stormed towards the taller guy. His hands were on Dan's collar and he pushed him to the wall, making Dan hit the wall intensely. "Should I kill you right now?"

"Are you really going to say that in front of Ahyoung?" Dan unpretentiously snickered, gazing at Haechan. "What distinction do you and I have then? We're both scumbags."

"Haechan, let's just report him to the police station and file another restraining order," Jeno advised, thinking before he gets exasperated to the point he may knock out Dan.

Haechan had let go of Dan's collar and shot him a death glare.

"Just so you know, I didn't come here to take Ahyoung away from you," Dan smirked and patted Haechan's shoulder which infuriated him. Dan peered over to Ahyoung. "Ahyoung, your parents are coming back to Korea. They said they'll meet you at your family house in Incheon. Anyways, I'll be off."

Dan walked off towards the door and Jaemin and Renjun protected Ahyoung. Despite that, Ahyoung brushed off the two and approached Dan.

"Hey dimwit, you forgot something," Ahyoung spoke up, which made Dan look back. She took out an alcohol spray and sprayed the area where he was scratched. He reacted greatly to the alcohol as it throbbed. "Suffer you asshole."

Jeno rushed out to see the chaos in-person. He decided to lead the guy outside the apartment and held back his desire to toss him in the dumpster. He came back home to see Ahyoung and Haechan rushing outside with Star in their hands.

"Wait, did Star actually get injured?" Jeno questioned but the two left without saying a word. He looked over at Jaemin and Renjun who slowly nodded. "How?"

"The glass shards in the room. Star must've stepped on them while getting away from Dan."

⌨

Ahyoung's point of view

"Stop blaming yourself, Haechan," I consoled him, petting his hair. We went straight to the pet shop and Taeyong was currently trying to save Star. She had lost a lot of blood and wasn't responding to us. "It's not your fault."

"Ahyoung, you don't understand what I saw. I saw Star hiding behind my desk, anxious and fearful. I acted first on getting payback that I didn't notice that she gave out," Haechan sniveled. He could barely look at me in the eye. "The moment we came, it was like she was so relieved to see us. When we came, she thought that she was safe so she gave up enduring the pain but I didn't notice it."

"Haechan, Taeyong's doing his best for Star, please don't blame it on yourself," I responded, wiping the tears from his face. "You were the one who drove her all the way here and even ran inside to get her treated."

"Ahyoung, I told you I was bad luck. I bullied Mark, I was the reason why my dog died and now I'm going to be the reason why Star is in this state," the tears didn't stop streaming down his cheeks. "What if I inadvertently hurt you? What if something critical happens to you because of me? You would hate me and break—"

I didn't say anything and plainly pulled him into a tight hug.

"Ahyoung, do I even deserve you?"

He started to cry on my shoulder, hugging me tighter than ever. It felt like my heart was crumbling into pieces as I've never seen Haechan this disconcerted and discouraged. It was like the sun in him hid while he cried hard like a rainy day.

"We both deserve each other, Haechan," I softly spoke and broke the hug. I wiped his tears and his eyes didn't leave my face as I did so. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I need to recharge," Haechan's voice cracked as he said it, showing a small smile. "I get my strength from you."

Taeyong walked out of the room where he was treating Star with a face that couldn't be read.

"I'm sorry," Taeyong apologized.

Haechan glanced at him and his hands began to shake. The two of us were in total shock by Taeyong's words. I held Haechan's shaking hand which helped him stay still.

"Don't tell me that Star...," Haechan couldn't continue his sentence as he was in doubt. "Please don't tell me..."

"Taeyong, what's wrong? Star is okay, right? Can we see her?", I panicked, my heart felt like it was going to drop any moment. It was racing because it was sensing something unfortunate that I won't be able to handle. "Why aren't you saying anything? Taeyong, she's okay right?"

Taeyong stood there speechless. The sight of the two of us breaking down had hurt him. It was like he was watching a drama and the second lead didn't end up with the main lead.

"Why did you apologize?!" Haechan was breaking down at this point. He didn't want to believe that the puppy he bought for me had died. "It can't be. It's impossible. She can't die. Not now."

Taeyong cleared his throat, ready to talk with us.

"I apologized because I interrupted the two of you. Star is in a better condition, she just needs to stay here for a while to gain strength. I was ultimately shocked that the two of you thought she had died."

[a/n: hiii it's been almost a month wtf. school got really busy :(( good news, i have honors again! expect a shotaro mafia au after this 🙇‍♀️ also, did i say that sanctuary ends at chapter 30? five chapters to go :)) ]