"that's the bathroom, you can get cleaned. i'll tell the maid to put the clothes on the bed yeah?"

aera nods slowly, looking around the room, the same one where she woke up and panicked on not having charley beside her. now that she's much relaxed and in her senses, her eyes notice the little details including some toys in a glass shelf and childish drawings on one side of the wall that makes her question if a kid used to live here. or maybe it was one of the boys room when they were younger?

jimin smiles following her gaze to a drawing of a seven boys and a little girl, all ranging in various heights. he clears his throat and aera comes back to reality, looking up at him.

"oh and there's a first aid box in the lower cabinet," he says, "y'know if you feel like there's a need or so."

aera nods at him, "thank you..."

"no problem. take your time, i'll be leaving you alone now. call me, if you need something."

she sighs hearing the door being closed. her hand pushes the bathroom door open. the tiles are white, the walls are white and the translucent window near the bathtub is glowing in white too, being the second source of light other than the artificial ones on the ceiling. she looks at the mirror, a huge one right up with the sink that reflects the image of her torn and dirty self. mixtures of blood and dirt smudged on her cheek and neck, the hoodie hangs loose on her bony flesh, that she pulls over her head slowly, revealing a tank top which is half torn near the waist, stained with large patches of blood.

she winces softly, facing difficulty taking off the tank top that is stuck to her skin at places with the dried blood. placing the fabric on the side, she glances back in the mirror, turning her body to look at the cut on her waist that is scraped dry now, but looking dark red in color and still a bit fresh in the centre.

her mind goes back to the moment she escaped from the mansion, three days on counting now, even after landing pretty much safely on the ground and running for miles with charley, there was this moment where her father's men had grabbed her and before charley leaped on them to get her free, the sharp weapon was already marking it's cut on her skin, creating an open wound for her to struggle with.

she lowers herself, crouching in front of the cabinet where jimin had said the first aid box was kept. she searches through the stuff which is rolls of toilet papers, some towels and paper towels, more tissues and oh, a box. she pulls it out, opening and finds some clinical cotton, a small bottle of disinfectant and some bandages. keeping it on the counter beside the sink, she decides it's better to take a shower first.

in the next five minutes, her eyes were shut tight, standing under the cold water that stung falling on her skin like thorns on the bruises and cuts, especially on her waist. her eyes open in a span, glancing down as she gently tries to wash away the blood without hurting much of her wound which seems like a constant failure for her fingertips now have blood on them and there's blood on the floor too.

wincing and struggling against the pain that only grew each second, the shower part was finally done, thankfully leaving no blood behind on the white floor. she takes a towel and wraps it around her body, grabbing the first aid box with her and opens the door to the room.

just as jimin had said, there are clothes on the bed, a grey cotton shorts and a white baby tee; also there's a white pair of socks, cute briefs and a short thin undershirt. aera hisses in pain, looking at the blood on the white towel and sighs, taking the underwear and the undershirt, putting it on before starting to treat her wounds as she folds the latter fabric up till her wound.

the disinfectant stings on her open cut, making her flinch with a sharp hiss, eyes burning wth tears as she forces herself to apply the cotton laden with the disinfectant again. with a familiar panting noise, the door is pushed open and charley comes in, quickly going near her. he climbs on the bed, licking her face and shoulder while she pushes him away, trying to keep him and herself from hurting her wound.

"ouch! charley stay away! it hurts!" she whines, hitting his back, throwing a glare at the dog which makes him stop instantly. he sits quietly like a scolded puppy and watches her wincing with tears flowing down from her face.

aera doesn't mind when the canine exits the room, but freaks out when he's bringing jimin the next moment, with the fabric of the man's pants stuck between his teeth, pulling him inside the room and barks at the girl.

jimin gasps at the deadly cut spreading on the right side of the girl's body, just below the rib cage which is prominent due to the probable starvation. he steps near her, holding her hand as he's crouched down in front of her, eyes fixed on the blood slowly coming up from the middle of the cut.

"doesn't that hurt?" he says, taking the cotton from aera's hand.

"no," she shakes her head, pushing his hand back, "i'm okay."

"don't start that right now. the cut looks bad, you need to take care of it, or else be ready for an infection or maybe a surgery." he says.

"...surgery?"

jimin looks at her face, nodding for her to beleive that she might indeed need a surgery if she doesn't accept his help, "yeah, jungkook left a wound open like that for around three-four days, and it just got worse."

he presses his lips into a thin line, as his muscles try to keep him from breaking into a smile. no matter what happened with this girl, no matter how much she hates this world, she's still just a child. the fear in her eyes in the name of surgery gives it off for jimin to nod in assurance, holding her hand in his.

"but it'll be fine if you let me help you with that." he lets out softly, smiling at aera.

"okay..." she mumbles, gulping her saliva down as jimin pats her cheek, giving a gentle squeeze on her hand that says, you'll be fine, just trust me.

so aera stares at him quietly, letting him guide her to lay on the bed while he called for jin who showed up with a medics bag, gasping at the sight of the hurt kid. it did hurt, a lot actually, full with winces and whimpers, but the fact that jimin never left her hand and frequently engaged her in a conversation was a relief.

from the door jungkook watches his hyungs growing so attached with this stranger, who might impose a threat to them later. but they're too blinded to see past her name and the locket. he sighs, shaking off any soft feeling for the girl, despite hearing her cries that intensified just now as the eldest started stitching the cut together.

it hurts him.

it hurts him to see such a young girl being in so much pain. it hurts him to see his hyungs being so empathetic with her. and it hurts him to think that this kid might become the reason for some of their deaths. cruel but possible.

so he shakes his head, shutting the door like he never saw aera's wound that he knew would hurt if it were on anyone else. he rolls his eyes, walking away, pretending that there's no aching cry echoing through the corridor that sends a wave of chills down his spine, raising goosebumps all the way.

that must be hurting;

but not enough to have jeon jungkook's attention, because he has seen more. he has lost more. and he has gone through a living hell more than this fourteen-year-old girl did. living with a guilt that he could've saved his sister that day, haunts him, still.

only if he had taken notice of the gun taehyung slid near his feet and used it in defense to shoot that man who was trying to take his sister from him, ignoring the heartbreaking cries from the four-year-old. he wishes to have known how to aim a gun properly back then, maybe then he wouldn't have missed the shot, and the man would be laying dead. and aera, his aera, would be with him, instead of getting lost with those cruel beasts in a world where there were no angels, just a lot of demons and monsters.

then maybe these seven boys would be living a normal life instead of surviving each day in a dreadful nightmare which they all knew was making them a part of this world too. they were becoming one of the demons and monsters they wanted to save their sister from.

only if the fifteen-year-old jungkook from ten years back, had seen the gun earlier and aimed properly, it would've been different, right?

___________

a/n- do have a lucky number?