time. ― ????x

― fifteen.

"o-okay." izumi nodded her head, knowing that he couldn't see it. "thank you."

"what are friends for?" he smiled, the six of them exiting the house. "i'll see you in a bit." hyunjin hung up after izumi mumbled a quiet goodbye.

"how are we getting there?" changbin questioned, realising they had no transport. 

"i'll call my driver." hyunjin mumbled, dialling his driver's number.

"ugh, rich people." changbin mumbled, kicking away a pebble. despite the lame joke changbin pulled, no one could even bring themselves to get annoyed at him for pulling it.

they were all worried for felix.

-

"we were able to stop the bleeding and stitched up his wound. it seemed to be a stab wound from a kitchen knife by the looks of it. a few of his ribs were also found to be broken and there was broken glass found dug into his skin. we'll need to know the actual cause for these injuries and report it to the police." the doctor explained.

"yes doctor, can we discuss that in private please." the doctor nodded, motioning towards his office. the doctor turned to izumi, the young girl was dishevelled, her clothes and hair were a mess, her eyes were swollen and bloodshot from all the crying and a fresh wound was on her cheek.

"your boyfriend will be okay, don't worry too much." the doctor reassured, patting her shoulder in comfort. "for now, the nurse will clean up your wounds, so freshen up. mr felix lee is currently on sedatives so he'll be out cold for a while."

izumi simply nodded, following the nurse in silence. the doctor sighed, entering the office.

"ouch." izumi hissed in pain, wincing back as the nurse quietly apologised. izumi's pain tolerance was low, especially when it came to using antiseptic on her cuts. she preferred it when felix did it for her, he was more gentle than the nurse.

"izumi-ssi, please stop moving away." the nurse instructed. the young girl pouted, sitting still as the nurse finished up, finally placing a plaster on the girl's face. "finished, you can-" however the nurse wasn't able to finish her sentence as izumi was already up and gone.

she headed back to felix's room, peering her head through the door to find him still sleeping. her eyes glanced over his head where she could just about make out his timer. with a sigh, she left the room and waited outside. just in time, the others arrived, stopping at the waiting area and panting for breath. 

"izumi." seungmin walked over to the girl first, pulling her into a tight hug. "his timer?" he whispered, as izumi wrapped her arms around his torso. 

"it's going up." she mumbled. seungmin pulled back, surprised at her answer.

"will he be okay? is that normal?" he questioned. izumi blinked back her tears, avoiding his hopeful gaze.

"for now, he'll be fine." she mumbled, nodding her head. 

"okay that's good then." seungmin sighed in relief, nodding his head. "let's sit down, have you eaten?" he questioned. the other boys crowded round the girl who was sat down on a chair. 

"i'm not-" izumi was cut off by the growling of her stomach. the boys chuckled as izumi's face flushed red in embarrassment. she had been so distracted by all the events that had happened in the past three hours, that she had forgotten to take care of herself.

"me and the boys will go out and get food for everyone. jeongin, you stay here with izumi." seungmin ordered, standing up. izumi was grateful for seungmin's calm and organised personality. he always knew the right things to say and could comfort her when she needed it most, even if she didn't know it herself.

"noona, what happened to your face? did you get hurt?" izumi snapped out of her daze, turning to jeongin who had sat down next to her.

"hm? oh, it's nothing." she waved it off, giving him a reassuring smile.

"liar." he stated, frowning at the older girl. "if you're hurt then tell us. you're so busy taking care of everyone else that you hide your emotions away from us. sometimes it feels like i don't even know you." jeongin sighed, sitting back in his seat. he leaned his head back, staring at the ceiling.

"i'm sorry." she mumbled, fiddling with her thumbs as she stared at her lap.

"don't be sorry, just talk to me. tell me your feelings. tell us when you're having a hard time, tell us when it hurts so much that you just want to cry. tell us and we'll be the support you need. we'll listen to you, give you advice or just sit there and hug you, whatever you need. because you'd do- no you have done the exact same for us."

a sob escaped izumi's lips as her tears landed in her lap. jeongin sat up in surprise, turning to the girl who had her head hung low, her eyes shut tight as she cried her heart out. he immediately pulled the girl into his arms, allowing her to cry into his shoulder. 

"i-it was s-so scary." she stuttered, her lips quivering as she spoke.

"first let it all out and calm down, then tell me what happened." jeongin softly spoke, rubbing her back in comfort. 

and so jeongin allowed izumi to cry everything out, waiting patiently for her to calm down, knowing that she needed only his comfort in that moment.

but instead of receiving an explanation, izumi had fallen asleep instead.