Beastly Beauty ✓

34. The Sip of Poison

34 | THE SIP OF POISON

Hoseok was still passed out ten minutes later, and I was panicking. His pulse was fine, but his breaths were shallow and no amount of calling his name or trying to shake him awake succeeded. So I texted Jungkook, and he was hopping down the ladder not five minutes later.

"What happened?" he asked while rushing over to us. His voice was tight, and when he knelt beside me and found my eyes, I could see just how worried he was. "Jangmi. What. Happened."

My breath wavered as I tightened my hold around Hoseok's limp body. "He came. He was here—he... he used his power and Hoseok used his too."

Jungkook's face lost its color. "Which power?" he questioned as he started assessing Hoseok, placing a hand on his forehead.

Which? How many did he have?

"Jangmi," he snapped, "which power? How much?"

I was blinking too fast, like I couldn't keep up with my own thoughts. Crimson and gold kept flashing behind my eyelids.

"Fire," I managed to say. "Enough to protect me."

Jungkook hissed, brows drawing downward, "Shit."

"Is he going to be okay?"

He avoided my gaze, and it looked like he kept grinding his teeth. "He hasn't used his abilities in years. Not since he wiped your memory. It's like... like letting a muscle waste away to nothing but bone, then trying to lift weight heavier than you ever lifted when that muscle was strong."

My chest was about to cave in.

"How do we help him?"

He shook his head. "I don't think we can. We just have to wait."

So we waited. And even though I was sick to my stomach, Jungkook made the waiting bearable. Despite his own nerves, he talked to me about the dance project, told me about the nearing winter showcase and the masquerade. He talked about whatever came to mind, whatever might distract me. And it did help. Just not completely.

Every second that he paused, the silence allowed just enough time for those flashes to slam down on my mind again. I could still feel the suffocating heat, still smell the fire. When Jungkook struggled to continue his rambling, I would start to picture those red flames engulfing Jimin, then Hoseok.

Jungkook knew. Maybe he didn't know exactly, but he could tell that I wasn't fully there. I was grateful for how hard he kept trying to reel me back in, but I just couldn't believe that I was right back where I'd started—about to fall apart from fear. As hard as I'd worked to battle it, to stay busy and keep ahead of my tormentor, I was still just a girl who was laughably outmatched. A girl who kept seeing those she cared about get hurt.

I was jolted from my thoughts when a warm hand found my shoulder. His eyes were warm too, once I saw beyond the worry. Everything about him was comforting to me just like when we were young.

His mouth twitched in the faintest, sympathetic smile. "Things aren't okay right now. I know that. But they will be. I won't stop until I make sure that they are."

"Thank you," I whispered as my eyes welled with tears. They never fell, and he seemed to relax when he realized they wouldn't.

Without a word, Jungkook stood and walked past me and Hoseok, moving farther down the stage. I heard a light sliding sound against the floor, then he returned with Hoseok's white mask. He took a deep breath and handed it to me before sitting down again.

"So he feels as safe as possible when he wakes up."

The thought hadn't even crossed my mind. I latched to Jungkook's gaze, eyes softening at what I saw. In spite of every fight, in spite of all the tense history and unresolved conflict, he still cared about his brother more than he wanted anyone to know. He fastened his stare on me, knowing what I could see but asking me to pretend I didn't.