Jihan did not look up. He could not.
His entire world had narrowed to the blood pulsing hot against his palms and Tae-hyun's shallow, rattling breaths. Beside him, Jae-min pressed harder, whispering please, please, please like a prayer.
Min-woo knelt too, phone pressed to his ear, his free hand gripping Tae-hyun's cold fingers, tears finally breaking through his shock.
Behind them, Dong-hyun remained motionless, collapsed in the chair, deaf to everything. The air felt too thick to breathe.
Then the world began to fracture, edges blurring, sounds detaching from their sources. Nothing felt solid anymore, only Jihan's trembling shoulders, only the red spreading, only sirens far away approaching and time losing all meaning entirely inside that terrible dining room tonight.
