The shock took his breath away, and the pain was so sharp that for a moment, Jin forgot about the fingers lacerating his throat. But when he tried to move away from the electrified fence, the hand held him there firmly, pulling him back as if trying to push him through it, and he couldn't ignore it anymore. 

    He himself tried to cling to it so that it detaches and finally frees his throat, but it was as if it was now welded there and his attempts remained in vain.

    A few seconds of electrocution and suffocation were enough to knock him out partially and he felt his strength was already leaving him. Like a bad retro movie, he saw his life suddenly flash before his glazed eyes, as if his mind was trying to tell him that he would not survive this night. 

   As his vision blurred, the memory of his younger members of BTS came flooding back to him. He had left them for so long but he would never see them again, that was his certainty. Then the face of his little Jungkook, so sad to see him go, appeared to him. And he realized he didn't want to die now. That he shouldn't die now. Jungkook was waiting for him. He promised him he would be back soon...

    A burst of life shook him. Unable to utter a single cry, Jin widened his eyes, trying to send a silent message of distress to his two comrades who hadn't moved in what seemed like an eternity, frozen like statues. Then, finally, Eunkwang woke up from his torpor and yelled:

    "OH MY GOD, JIN!!"

    With Shownu following him after having thrown down the helmets he was still holding, he rushed to help him and try to free him from the grip of this hand which was attached to a body for the moment still invisible in the darkness. Eunkwang grabbed Jin's outstretched arms which were flailing in despair and tried to pull the poor singer who was threatening to pass out any second. Above all, it was urgent to get him away from this electrified fence.

     For his part, Shownu grabbed the mighty hand and tried with all his might to loosen his grip from Jin's throat, even going so far as to dig his nails into the flesh. But instead of detaching the hand, he only managed to tear off a part of the flesh which detached as easily if he had peeled the skin of a fruit.

      Carried away in his momentum, he recoiled and stumbled against the abandoned helmets on the ground. He fell backwards and felt something hit the ground hard behind him. His rifle. He was still hanging from the strap slung across his shoulders but as he had not used it since his posting in this area, he had almost forgotten the usefulness and even the existence of this weapon which he nevertheless carried on him constantly.

    "Shit, what an idiot!" he cursed at his own stupidity before quickly grabbing his weapon with both hands and straightening up to aim it at the figure who was standing behind Jin.

    This figure was still trying to either choke Jin or push him across the fence by he did not know what enchantment because there was no chance of a man getting through. In one piece at least he realized with horror.

    "Hyung, Jin, don't move!" he yelled.

    Eunkwang who was then pulling both arms of Jin and whose body was stretched back froze because Shownu had never shot anything other than a unmoving target and he was not going to take the time to position himself well this time. He would have preferred him to test his skill on someone other than Jin and himself but obviously, he had no say now, especially if he wanted Jin to survive that night.

    But if Shownu could ask Eunkwang to stay still, on the other hand he could not ask Jin who, still struggling against his assailant and above all, continuously electrocuted, was shaking uncontrollably.

    BANG! 

    The sudden sound of gunfire was deafening. Jin, who was still unable to scream, gasped in pain and with the same head movement, he and Eunkwang glared indignantly at the shooter who had just hit Jin in the shoulder.

    "YOUR LAMP SHOWNU! TURN ON YOUR LAMP!!" Eunkwang yelled with lucidity, while going back to pulling Jin with all his might to allow his back to come off the electrified fence that was torturing him.

    But with or without light, close as his target was, Shownu had the conviction that he had not missed it, even if the bullet fired had grazed Jin and even if he had not heard any scream, except that of his friends.

    As if to prove him right, the hand that was clutching Jin's throat finally loosened its grip and disappear into the darkness. The singers of BTS and BtoB fell backwards, carried away by their momentum, but that was the only sound of falling that Shownu heard.

    He lit the torch that was attached to his rifle to check but he knew that the person, had not fallen because it did not illuminate anything but the dense vegetation. What struck him was the absence of any trace of blood. And why hadn't he heard a cry of pain, even muffled? Maybe he was wrong in the end? Maybe he hadn't reached the person?

    He remained facing the fence for a long time, his weapon pointed at the void, waiting for the enemy soldier to reappear, which he did not do.

    Kneeling and panting, Jin was shaking in terror, his body still shaking from the electricity, one hand clasped to his profusely bleeding throat and the other to his chest which hurt him badly.  He seemed to be having trouble breathing properly and this worried his two friends.

    Eunkwang instinctively placed his hand on his back but quickly removed it when he felt an electric shock running up his arm. He knew he had to wait but if Jin could still move and was still conscious then he hoped that meant his electrification wasn't too bad.

    "Are you okay Jin?" Shownu asked as he knelt down in front of him and pulled his hand back to assess the severity of the throat injury before Eunkwang could stop him. But this time there was no electric shock.

    They both grimaced as they examined Jin's lacerated throat.

    "Y-you seems okay," Shownu he stammered in a falsely encouraging way.

    In reality, was nonetheless worried to see so much blood flowing from his throat. The wound must have been deep and would certainly leave unwanted marks on the once-perfect skin of the idol.

    "Noo, I'm noot okaay..." Jin whined, in a slurred and inarticulate voice that didn't resemble him."I ache all over," I think I'm going to die... besides you shot me, I won't forgive you for that."

      "Don't be so dramatic, princess," replied Shownu, smiling weakly, understanding that Jin was trying to be humorous despite the situation. The wound on the shoulder, unlike the one on his throat, did not seem deep and looked like a simple scratch, as if the bullet had only grazed him. He was reassured."We need to go back to the outpost to get you treated and also to warn the hyungs. Can you get up?"

    Too weak, Seokjin tried to get up but couldn't. 

    "Give me two minutes please," he whispered, out of breath from the simple movement.

     Shownu nodded and kept his gaze fixed on Jin to be sure to react immediately if he seemed to pass out.

    "What the hell! what is this thing?" exclaimed Eunkwan who had moved away from them. He was holding something between his two fingers.

     "It's a piece of skin, I accidentally ripped it off, trying to free Jin earlier," Shownu replied as if it was perfectly normal to tear off strips of skin with your bare hands from someone.

     His friend looked at what he was holding in his hands with disgust.

    "Eerk... I swear it doesn't look like human skin. And by the way, how could you tear off so much skin?! Looks like an apple peel made by the peeler!"

    On closer inspection, Jin agreed with Eunkwang : it didn't seem like human skin. It was more like tree bark in texture than tender flesh or even fruit.

    "A gray fruit?" was the only question that came to his mouth in front of Eunkwang who was waiting for a reaction from him. Because indeed, in the light of the torch, the skin seemed to be gray in color.

    "I suggest you to think before you speak and take a closer look at the color of your feet," Shownu scoffed, pointing at Jin's earthy feet his which were almost the same color as this dry piece of skin that Eunkwang was holding.

     Jin suddenly realized that his feet were earthy and that because of the cold, he absolutely did not feel them anymore.

    He let out a faint cry, whining:

    "M-my toes don't move anymore... they're frozen, they're going to break and fall off now, that's for sure!"

    His two friends looked at him with pity.

    "I don't think he realized that was the last of his problems," Shownu whispered to Eungkwang who shrugged. 

    "Let him, at least he doesn't realize the seriousness of what just happened to him."

    While Jin was focused on his feet, he tried to get up to ensure they were still working properly. However, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest and fell flat on the ground, his chin in the mud.

    "Drama queen is already back," Shownu exasperated, "your face will be the same color as your dirty feet, are you happy? Now get up."

    In response, Jin groaned painfully but didn't straighten up.

    "It hurts..."

    "Hey! Get up we have to go now!"

    "I... can't... I... swear..."

    Breathing had become really painful for Jin. He felt like his heart was threatening to stop with every breath he took and that scared him. What also scared him was that his friends would think he was joking when he might be dying.

    "Shownu, I think he's really not well," Eunkwang interjected in concern as Shownu rolled his eyes. He stuffed the piece of skin into one of the pockets of his uniform and bent down to Jin again to help him up but he froze when Jin squeezed his arm and pleaded with him in a desperate voice which had nothing to do with a joke:

    "If...if I die, please, tell my dongsaengs I love them and tell them..." He paused, then continued, his throat tight: "tell them I love them."

    Shownu who had heard it refrained from laughing this time. Silent and suddenly aware of the seriousness of Jin's condition, he let his elder manage the situation: 

     "Don't say that Jin, you're not going to die and you're going to see them again. Come on, we'll support you and take you back to the barracks." 

    Seokjin nodded weakly and Eunkwang was about to pick him up but he didn't have time to do so. Indeed, at that moment, five flashlights came on aimed at them at the same time as five guns and five menacing faces. 

    On the other side of the fence, where the person whom Shownu had shot and who was probably a North Korean citizen had previously stood, were five North Korean soldiers.

    The horror of the situation imposed itself on the three South Koreans young men: they had officially just attacked North Korea.