golden vein

ever since she met jongin, all she's felt has been a mixture of serenity, cheeriness and, on top of it all, sleepiness —  but that was probably because he was sleep. she'd find herself with texts from him explaining that he fell asleep somewhere once again or she'd even come across him on her way to class, hidden in plain sight, completely passed out. she'd done the typical 'drag jongin to his room so he doesn't get stepped on or worse' routine a million times and it had become normal behavior for her by the tenth time. it wasn't like she minded, however. besides the fact that she got to oogle over his cutie face whenever he slept, he'd stuck with her ever since her years of sandbox drama and was one of the few people who actually was able to put up with her — and she did the same for him, considering he had experienced a slightly (okay, kidding, a lot) more of a dramatic life than she had.  it was three am when she gets the text from jongin and it's two minutes later when she finds herself walking into the campus gardens, pulling her portable blanket firmly around her as she prays that no one comes out and sees her kiddish pajamas. kim jongin, the things i do for you. she finds him strewn on the path, dangerously close to one of the rose thorn bushes and she feels the panic in her chest spike up as she imagines one more lazy roll over and he's face planted into the bush (oh no, there goes his smooth skin and perfect complexion—). she huffs, her food nudging his side before she bends down, hands lightly shaking his shoulders. "yah, jongin, please wake up."

< text > then take one by a window!! < text > not with all the bugs and spiky plants and everything :c < text > aigoo, you silly boy ; ;

< text > !! < text > you’re not supposed to sleep there, dummy ㅋㅋ< text > i feel like i need to walk around campus every night to make sure you aren’t asleep in a place where you’ll get hurt ╥_╥

chorong never thought she’d feel pain.she was perfect, they said, she wouldn’t ever die, her cells won’t allow it. but there comes a point in time when she is vulnerable, no one ever says to her, and she doesn’t discover this until she can sense the pain and exhaustion seeping into her as she feels the stake of wood puncturing her chest — it was an invasion. one that no one saw coming; government officials had invaded the institution and half of it was in absolute ruin. chorong is woken up and greeted by the sound of explosions resonating from the other side of the institution at three am, and she’s too frightened to get out of her bed until she hears a knock at the door and a shy, quiet voice calling out for her: "noona —” it’s jeongguk, she registers, and it only takes her a few seconds to hop up and shuffle to the door. and once she opens it, she mirrors the same terror in his expression with her own, and she doesn’t know what to do. so they run. down the halls, footsteps echoing and perhaps they were being a little too clumsy and ignorant, but they dodge past terrified students and chorong can feel a pang of guilt hit her heart when she doesn’t even think to help them.she’s not even sure if they’re heading in the right direction for the exit.her heart locks, however, when they step into a ruined section of the institution; there’s fire decorating the shattered interior and she can only stand and look at it in shock when she realizes that she’s not dreaming, this is actually happening and they really, really need to get out before they’re captured or kidnapped or taken to be tortured or abused or worse — but that’s when the two teenagers are greeted by three men in thick uniforms, with helmets and guns and chorong tries to grab jeongguk’s hand, trying to turn them to metal before one of the intruders shoot —  but suddenly she’s pushed. propelled to the side, and it takes her a split millisecond to register that jeongguk had just shoved her, perhaps to protect her from the gunfire or ambush or something, but instead she collides with something solid. the last thing she coherently registers is the younger boy’s horrified expression —  ( eyes glazed over and on the brink of tears, unable to cope with the reality that he had just forced her to even more danger ) —  before he disappears, and then she only hears gunshots ring out as more students rush into the room in hopes of escaping. but then she feels her body going into overdrive, everything rushing to her chest as her cells desperately try to mend the wound piercing through her — but they can’t.