July 1 | DAY 7
09 : 13 pm

Hoseok was gone. Even though their minds couldn't accept it, he was gone. They sat against the cold tiled wall of the bathroom, staring blankly into the air, breathing rhythmically. A small flashlight lit up the room, fighting against the darkness that prevailed.

Their eyes had run out of tears. They didn't have the energy to even cry a little, to ease their heavy hearts, to be able to think clearly.

Seokjin wished to go back to the time when his heart used to beat at a normal pace, him safe and warm in his house, in his mother's embrace. He couldn't do this anymore.

"What are we supposed to do now?", Yoongi said as he slowly looked at Seokjin who was sitting in the same position since he had got back from the kitchen.

The question ringed in Seokjin's mind repeatedly. His breathing hitched as he gritted his teeth. He closed his eyes tightly as he sucked in a deep breath.

"How am I supposed to know?", Seokjin mumbled under his breath.

"Seokjin...", Yoongi started but he was abruptly cut off.

"How the fuck am I supposed to know?!", Seokjin yelled, startling Yoongi.

Seokjin's sudden outburst drew all the attention in the room towards him. Taehyung peered at him from a corner, but Jungkook still had his head hung low.

"Tell me! How am I supposed to know?!"

Seokjin stood up. He was done. He couldn't take it anymore. The little glimmer of hope that he had was long gone and he knew that they were going to die, one way or the other.

Yoongi stared at Seokjin. For some reason, he felt scared. He wanted to somehow calm Seokjin down before he would do something dangerous. A normal human mind could only persevere so much and Seokjin was on the edge.

Yoongi tried to stand up, his leg was still hurting, but he wanted to talk to Seokjin.

"Seokjin... I was just...", Yoongi started speaking, but Seokjin suddenly cut him off.

"Why do you always ask me what to do?", Seokjin shouted.

"When somebody dies...", he paused to breathe. "Why is it my fault?!"

He broke down into a sob, but he still stood.

"Nobody said that."

Yoongi tried to hold his hand, but Seokjin pushed him away. Yoongi lost balance, but Taehyung suddenly caught him.

"Hyung! Calm down...", Taehyung retorted.

"Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down?!", he locked his red eyes on Taehyung's sleep-deprived ones.

"How the fuck am I supposed to calm down when I know that you and I are gonna turn into those things someday? Huh?!"

Taehyung gulped, he was afraid of what was happening here. The fear was getting to their heads and they had to snap out of it as fast as they could or else, what Seokjin said could become true.

"Hyung... You got us till here. You can get us out of here.", Taehyung spoke and he shut his eyes tightly, not knowing how Seokjin will react.

"I didn't bring anybody till here. I'm not going to save you all and this is never gonna have a happy ending like those dumb movies. I'm not a fricking superhero!"

Seokjin lashed out at Taehyung. Taehyung bit his lips and clenched his fists, but he didn't have anything to say. He slowly backed off and walked back to sit down in the furthest corner of the bathroom.

Nobody said anything after that for a while. Seokjin stood in the middle of the room, with his hands covering his face, regret slowly seeping in while Taehyung sniffed and snivelled softly in the corner. Yoongi just stared at Seokjin as if he wanted to say something, but he was afraid.

"Superhero huh?", a raspy voice banished the silence.

Yoongi suddenly shifted his eyes to Jungkook who was sitting quietly all this time, but now he was looking at Seokjin, his eyes burning with fury.

"Nobody said you were one.", Jungkook glared into Seokjin's eyes.

Jungkook slowly stood up. He walked close to Seokjin, their eyes still locked on each other's. He never blinked once.

"I could have saved him...", Jungkook breathed.

"I could have saved Hoseok!"

Tears started streaming down Jungkook's eyes.

"He was standing right there! I could have saved him!", Jungkook's tightly gripped on Seokjin's collar.

"If you hadn't pulled me back, I could have saved him...", Jungkook growled.

Seokjin gulped.

"Jungkook... I... I saved you... I was trying to...", Seokjin stuttered, trying to avoid Jungkook's piercing gaze.

"You are not a superhero...", Jungkook cut him off. "You just save yourselves. You don't care for anybody else, but yourself."

Jungkook's grip on Seokjin's collar was getting tighter and tighter, that Seokjin started to feel suffocated. He tried to free himself from his grip, but it was too strong.

"Jungkook... I..."

Taehyung suddenly interrupted. He tried to free Seokjin from Jungkook's grip, but Jungkook accidentally jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow and Taehyung staggered back.

Jungkook's gaze never left Seokjin's eyes, he was acting like a mad man.

Seokjin gasped for breath as the grip got tighter, but suddenly Jungkook loosened his clutch and pulled himself back from Seokjin, breathing heavily. He looked lost. He looked at Taehyung, then at Yoongi and then turned his head towards the mirror hung on the wall.

He saw himself in the mirror, what he had turned into and the reflection stared back at him. He clenched his fists and punched the mirror on a sudden impulse, shattering the glass into a million pieces.

He immediately pulled his hand back, like he had been hit with a sudden bolt of realisation. He slowly backed up from the broken glass pieces on the floor and sat down, hugging his knees, slightly trembling.

He was truly acting like a mad man.

Taehyung crept closer to Jungkook, slowly and hesitantly, and tried to take a closer look at his hand, which was now bloody due to a small piece of glass piercing into his knuckles.

Taehyung slowly pulled the glass piece out, Jungkook hissed but didn't say anything.

Seokjin had sat down near Yoongi by this time, holding onto his neck, trying to catch his breath. He looked at Jungkook to see him sitting in a very disturbed state, his whole body shaking.

July 1 | DAY 7
11 : 24 pm

Nobody said a word after that. They didn't want to start a conversation, because they knew that it could possibly end in a murder, considering the mental state they were in right now.

Seokjin stared at the tiny flashlight which lit up the room, it's light slightly flickering, indicating that it was about to run out of battery.

He turned his head to see Yoongi fast asleep on his side. Seokjin wanted to apologize for his actions earlier. He knew the amount of pain Yoongi was bearing and he had lashed out at him like that, he felt guilty. Seokjin couldn't bring himself to sleep as his head hurt like somebody had poured a litre of acid in his brain and his heart, like somebody was crushing it from the inside.

Seokjin slowly looked at Jungkook, who was still sitting in the same position. Taehyung was asleep by his side. He noticed Taehyung's head lolling from side to side, which finally ended up on Jungkook's shoulder.

Jungkook flinched a bit and lifted his head up. He slowly looked at Taehyung's head on his shoulder and sighed softly.

Seokjin didn't want Jungkook to notice him being awake, so he pretended like he was sleeping, but he saw that Jungkook had a soft smile on his face.

Jungkook lowered his shoulder a little bit so that Taehyung could sleep better. He slowly placed his head on Taehyung's and closed his eyes.

Seokjin could feel his heartbeat slowing down, his breathing becoming calmer. His mind felt at ease and his head didn't hurt anymore. He felt warm. The little glimmer of hope that he thought to be lost was not indeed lost, it was right there, in between them, in the little gestures.

He looked at Taehyung and Jungkook and then at Yoongi and sighed softly.

"Don't worry... We are getting out of here."

~~~

Hey guys, how you doin? This was sort of a filler chapter but I hope it was not boring. We're almost at the end now and I know this is a very depressing book buttttt the climax is... Ummm... kinda different... you'll know in the last chapter GAHAHAHA.

And I got into a college btw, I am now officially an engineering student. YAY!

Anyhoo, next chapter on 15 October, 2020.

Love,
PAPRIKA 💜