Stronger || NCT mafia au

Chapter 57 | "i promise"

"Okay, Jaemin, I'll come get you after I speak to the doctor. She's in there." Taeyong said, smiling at the younger boy and pointing towards a door as he walked away. Jamin took a deep breath, slowly opening the door and stepping in.

His heart broke when he saw Jihyun lying there, his entire body freezing up. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before forcing himself to walk over. He looked around the room, examining everything to avoid looking at her.

He noticed a clipboard on the desk next to her with what looked like a long checklist on it. Curiously, he picked it up and began reading over it.

"Doctor's evaluation?" he whispered to himself, looking at the title of the form. "7 broken ribs, fractured wrist, dislocated ankle..." he scanned through the list, mumbling to himself as he did so. "muscle damage, blood loss, head trauma." he put the form down, finally looking at her with tears in his eyes.

"they got you good, didn't they?" he whispered bitterly. he stared at her in silence, the tears slowly falling down his cheeks. After a few minutes, he abruptly sat up, wiping the tears from his face.

"Well, it's not like you're dead yet, so I don't know why we're acting like you are. You're probably wondering how everyone is doing, right?" He laughed out awkwardly, forcing a small smile onto his face.

"Well, Taeyong is doing a great job, so you don't need to worry one bit. He's taking care of everyone and keeping everything under control while you're resting." He said with a nod, reassuring himself more than anything.

"Yuta and Kun have been helping a lot too, and Lucas and Jungwoo have been trying their best to lift the mood. Everyone's a bit down right now...." he trailed off, his smile faltering as he shook his head, clearing the thought away.

"Donghyuck and Yangyang have been chasing everyone around the house with spoons for some reason. Well, they started with knives but Kun scolded them so they changed to spoons. Hendery and Xiaojun tried to stop them but gave up and ended up joining them. Jisung, Shotaro, and Ten locked themselves in their office for safety reasons so they decided to torment Mark and Sicheng instead. " he laughed slightly.

"Jaehyun has been feeling pretty guilty and spent a lot of time training but I know you wouldn't be mad at him. He knows it too deep down. We're just giving him some time to work it out. Jeno's been doing good too, he's gotten close with Jaehyun as they've started training together." He paused for a moment. "it seems like he's found a new mentor." Jaemin lets out a laugh, the tears returning to his eyes before he quickly blinks them away.

"Sungchan's been taking this whole thing pretty hard, it's been hard to get him to talk much...but you trained him well. He's still working hard and helping out Taeyong a lot." he continued to stare at the girl in front of him with a sad smile on his face.

"So see? We're doing okay. We miss you a lot, but I know you'll come back to us soon. There's no rush, alright? Just take all the time you need to get better, and we'll be here when you get back!"

"Oh! You're probably wondering about what happened to the others, right? Well, Johnny and them got taken care of. Yuta and Chenle caught them trying to sneak out of the back of the building and then they, well, you know. Stray Kids and Day6 found Bangtan and forced a surrender, none of them will be bothering us anymore. There were no casualties on our side, thankfully, and all of them send their best wishes to you." Jaemin stares at her, painfully aware of the silence in the room.

"Jaemin? You ready to go?" he turns to see Taeyong walking into the room.

"What did the doctor say?" he asked nervously.

"She's doing okay, her condition is stable, which is basically all we can ask for right now."

"Do they know when she might wake up?" Taeyong lets out a sigh, shaking his head.

"They said her body is going to need time. They don't know how much, but she took a lot of damage and it's going to take a while to heal. We just have to be patient." Jaemin nods slowly, a frown on his face as they turn to look at Jihyun.

"Thanks for bringing me." Jaemin whispers, turning to Taeyong with a small smile.

"Of course. Ready to go home?" he asks, walking towards the door.

"Actually, do you think I could stay with her for a bit?"

"Sure, Jaemin, just text one of us when you want to get picked up." Taeyong answers with a smile before walking out and shutting the door.

"That was Taeyong," Jaemin says, turning back to look at Jihyun. "You chose the perfect person to be your second in command. He's doing a real good job of managing things while you rest up."

He sits in the silence, taking a deep breath as he stares at her, the only sound being the steady beeping of the machine attached to her.

"I probably sound like a crazy person, don't I? Talking to you and you can't even hear me." He laughs out, silently willing to get some kind of response from her.

"I guess um...what else is there...oh. I'm doing fine too. Just laying low and waiting for you." He said, a forced smile on his face.

He stares at her for a bit before letting out a deep sigh, dropping his head in defeat.

"You know, even though you can't talk to me, it's like I can hear you in my head. You'd probably be rolling your eyes right now and telling me to stop lying to you...." he trailed off, gazing at her with tears brimming his eyes.

"You want me to be real with you? Well...I don't even know what to do with my self right now, Ji. I miss you. I miss my best friend." He lets the tears fall as he continues to gaze at her.

"I don't know how it's possible that over the course of a year, you became such an important part of my life. You literally went from the most terrifying person I'd ever met to my most precious friend. I just- I can't imagine living without you with me." He sniffles, unable to stop the tears pouring down his face.

"I know you're not dead, but it feels like there's a hole in me, a missing piece, without you walking around and talking. You mean so much to me. Probably more than you'll ever know or realize." He took a deep breath.

"At some point I'll need to toughen up and tell you how I really feel, won't I?" He lets out a small laugh,

"I've been wondering if you feel the same for me as I do for you...but that's for another time. Just work on resting and healing for now. Come back when you're ready, Hyunnie, and I promise that I'll be waiting to give you a hug."

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I'm in class right now and bored out of my mind so enjoy this chapter!