Chapter 24 – Wrath of Namjoon

Chapter 24 – Wrath of Namjoon

Seokjin dialed Jungkook's number for a third consecutive time. "Still no answer!" He muttered in frustration.

Hoseok simultaneously dialed Jimin's number for the fourth time. Jimin didn't pick up either. Hoseok threw his phone in anger.

"I don't understand why the police wouldn't allow us to go, it was just a simple drop off," Hoseok complained.

Seokjin sat on the couch, "I'm sure everything is fine. They're probably just talking to the police. It's over now, I'm sure. We'll hear from them soon," Seokjin said reassuringly.

Hoseok's phone rang. He panicked as he looked around the room trying to determine where he had thrown it. He found it partially obscured under the couch.

"Thank God. That's probably them now." Hoseok released a sigh of relief. "Just as we thought, it's Kwang." Hoseok spoke anxiously, "Hey Kwang, please tell me this is over and those two knuckleheads are on their way home? We've been worried sick," Hoseok laughed throughout his last sentence.

Hoseok listened to Kwang's voice on the other line with motionless eyes. His pupils dilated and his heart began to beat fast as he heard the words Kwang was speaking.

Seokjin was immediately alarmed by Hoseok's expression. Something was wrong, something was very wrong. Pressure began to build in his head. His stomach turned, his heart sank and the feeling of dread compressed him. Seokjin continued to watch Hoseok's face. Every word spoken seemed to push him deeper and deeper into despair. He braced himself against the wall preparing to hear the news.

Hoseok dropped the phone without disconnecting.

He spoke calmly at first, "There's been an accident."

"What? What happened?" Seokjin was anxious.

"They've been shot. Kwang says they may not make it. We - we -we have to gather the other members. Oh God Seokjin, we never even told the others what was happening. Tae. How are we going to explain this to Tae?" Hoseok rushed to gather his belongings, fighting through tears. He was tearing through the apartment like a mad man trying to find his keys and his bag.

"Shot? What do you mean may not make it? You're being ridiculous. Of course, they're going to make it." Seokjin's own tears started to flow as his slender hands began to tremble.

Hoseok screamed, "We have to go NOW, we have to get to them. Seokjin, listen to me. It's serious. Jungkook didn't have a pulse when the ambulance arrived. Jimin was breathing but Kwang says as soon as they lost Jungkook's pulse, they lost Jimin's pulse too. We have to get the other members and get to the hospital. We have to go. Oh God, their parents. Someone has to call - their parents." Hoseok sniffled

***

When Hoseok and Seokjin arrived at the hospital, they were directed to the waiting room. No one had any information to give them about Jimin or Jungkook. They sat with clasped hands waiting and praying for good news. Namjoon burst through the doors full of anger, confusion and panic.

"What the hell is going on? Was it a robbery? Stalkers? Who the fuck would shoot them? How are they doing? Do we know anything? They're going to be ok, right?" Namjoon was an emotional wreck.

Yoongi and Tae followed behind him. Neither of them spoke.

"We haven't heard anything. Look, I need to talk to the three of you. We need to tell you how this happened," Seokjin tried to speak calmly.

"What do you mean? What do you know about this?" Namjoon said suspiciously.

"Joon, sit down. Tae, please forgive us for not telling you sooner." Hoseok took a deep breath and began to explain, "Jimin and Jungkook were being blackmailed. Some things happened in Japan and some of their personal property was stolen. The blackmailers threatened to expose them as a gay couple and release "footage" of them if they didn't agree to pay them $2 million dollars."

"What the fuck? What the FUCK? How could something like this go on and you not tell me? I��m their fucking manager for fuck sake! So, these blackmailers, that's who shot them? Why didn't you call the police? Why didn't you get some professional help? Seokjin you know better. How could you keep something like this from me? This affects the entire company. Our careers. What the fuck?" Namjoon spun around and kicked a chair clear across the room.

Seokjin spoke, "Joon, calm down."

"Don't you dare tell me to fucking calm down. Our brothers are in there dying because of some bullshit that could have been avoided." Namjoon was trembling with a combination of anger, fear and anguish. Too many emotions for him to contain. He picked up another chair and began to bang it repeatedly into the wall. The chair splintered apart in his hands. Security was summoned by a frightened janitor who was mopping the common area. Their arrival seemed to prompt Namjoon to calm down. He took several deep breaths and apologized to the officers and then to the frightened hospital employees that witnesses his outburst.

"You can't act like this Namjoon. You're causing a scene. I know you're upset but causing thousands of dollars of damage to the hospital isn't going to help matters." Hoseok was stern with Namjoon, yet his calming voice seemed to lower the volume on Namjoon's temper.

Seokjin overlooked Namjoon's little interruption and continued telling the story where Hoseok left off, "The police were involved. We called the police and hired a private investigator. The drop off was tonight. Everything was covered. They even got the stolen property back but... something went wrong," Seokjin said sadly.

Just as if he were deliberately queued up, Kwang walked through the emergency room doors holding Jungkook's camera covered in blood. Hoseok ran to him and they embraced as Hoseok cried in his arms. "What happened? You have to tell us what happened," Hoseok blubbered.

Namjoon stared at Kwang and Hoseok as they embraced. He leaned into Seokjin and whispered, "What's Hobi's ex doing here? Is this who you hired to help?"

"Yes, I told you, we were in good hands. It wasn't enough just to get the memory cards back, we also needed 100% assurance that there were no copies. Kwang gave us that," Seokjin affirmed.

"Kwang, what happened? Give us some answers please. How did this go so fucking wrong?" Namjoon's voice had turned from anger to pure bewilderment.

Kwang began to tell the story, "Jackson and his Aunt Min-Seo came up with a plan to blackmail them. She broke into their hotel room in Tokyo and stole a memory card that showed them in compromised positions. We had a sting planned for the drop off. Jimin and Jungkook did everything right. They were on their way out of there. Once the police moved in for the arrest, Min ran. She stole Jungkook's SUV and fled with the entire group of Officers chasing behind her. They left one rookie cop behind to take Jackson into custody and the kid was woefully unprepared to deal with the situation. Couple that with the fact that nobody anticipated that Jackson might be armed and it was a recipe for disaster. Jackson was high out of his fucking mind. He got the jump on the officer and killed him, then he turned the gun on Jimin and Jungkook. He got one shot off before his sister –"

Namjooon interrupted Kwang urgently. "His sister! Soujin? Soujin was a part of this mess?" Namjoon looked back and Yoongi. The two shared a shocked glance.

Kwang continued, "No, she wasn't part of this at all. She was just trying to protect her brother, but she ended up having to kill him. After Jackson shot the police officer, she shot him. She's downtown in lock up. She's being arraigned in the morning. I have a feeling that she shot her brother to save Jimin and Jungkook, but she's not able to speak right now, not even to save her own skin. She's too distraught over her brother's death. She's being charged with murder. To make matters worse, Min was killed during the high-speed chase. She was speeding, lost control of the car and broke the barrier on the south street bridge and plunged into the water. We haven't been able to break the news to Soujin yet.

Jimin and Jungkook were the only witnesses to their shooting. They are the only two who can tell us what happened. I was running toward the scene and didn't see anything unfold after Jackson shot the officer. We know it was Jackson who shot Jimin and Jungkook because a .45 caliber gun was recovered next to his body with his prints. It matched the .45 caliber bullet that tore through the two of them..."

And with that, Tae doubled over in tears. Hoseok ran to his side and hugged him. Namjoon burst into tears. Yoongi sat expressionless trying to understand everything he was hearing.

Kwang spoke again, he realized that the casual nature with which he spoke of Jimin and Jungkook's shooting had greatly upset the members. He spoke again more apologetically, "I'm going to leave and let you have some privacy. I need to get back to the scene to see if there is anything I can do to help. This is Jungkook's camara. He was able to get the memory card back. The money is still in police custody, but it'll be released back to them within a day or two. Good luck, I'm pulling for them. Ok?" He looked at Hoseok still embracing Tae. He gave him a kiss on the top of his head and walked out of the emergency room exit doors."

Seokjin seemed to be the only one capable of functioning. He remembered that Hoseok hadn't called either Jungkook's or Jimin's parents. He stepped into the adjacent waiting room and phoned both of them. He pleaded with them to get there as soon as possible but he them the details of the event. Once he concluded his phone calls, Seokjin walked down the hall to the nurse's station and asked for an update on Jimin and Jungkook's condition.

"The Doctor will come to see you shortly. He has important information to share with you," The Nurse assured Seokjin that someone would be there soon.

The five of them sat and waited for another three hours before the Doctor finally came out to speak to them. The Surgeon assigned to Jimin and Jungkook was an older man. He had a seasoned air of Professionalism and seemed much too familiar with addressing loved ones with situations similar to this one. His tired eyes seemed glossy and fatigued. As he approached, Tae rushed to the front to be closest to him when he spoke./p>

The Doctor began, "They've been in surgery for four hours. Jimin should be out soon. Jungkook..." He took a deep breath, "Jungkook coded in the ambulance but we were able to get him breathing and get him stable. He's lost a tremendous amount of blood. His pulse was so weak that we had to do a transfusion before we could even open him up. He's a rare AB negative. We used every drop of blood that we had on hand to stabilize him, but he's still in grave danger. If we don't get him more blood soon, he isn't going to make it. We have orders placed, but, it's a long process. The bullet entered his upper left shoulder and hit an artery. That's what caused the devastating blood loss. Lucky for him, the bullet went straight through without hitting any bone or significant muscle. If the bullet had entered just a few inches lower, it would have gone straight through his heart and he wouldn't be here.

As for Jimin. The bullet that traveled through Jungkook, is the same bullet that lodged into him. We were able to extract it. Jungkook took the brundt of the force of the bullet. By the time it exited him, it had lost most of its force, but it was still enough to cause some musculature damage in Jimin's upper shoulder. Again, a few inches lower and we'd be planning both of their funerals. But other than a little stiffness and a little soreness, Jimin's injuries really aren't that significant. It's why we're so perplexed as to why he won't wake up. He coded shortly after Jungkook. His heart just stopped beating. We had to work to stabilize both of them at the same time. As soon as one came back online, so did the other. There's no physical explanation for it." The Doctor scratched his head and looked around bewildered.

Seokjin asked what everyone was too afraid to say, "Will they be ok?"

"Regarding Jimin, we hope so. He just needs to wake up. He went into shock and we believe that his body is still recovering. But his injuries should heal within a few weeks."

When the topic turned to Jungkook, the Doctor looked alot less certain, "Jungkook's condition... we need to wait. Only time will tell. Our first concern right now is to get him some blood. He lost over half of his total blood volume. He's in bad shape," The Doctor informed them.

Tae screamed, "They have to be ok. They have to be. Please God, they have to be ok." Tae put his head down and cried. His body shook as the tears violently erupted from his eyes.

Seokjin probed the Doctor a bit further, "When can we see them?"

The Doctor responded, "I'm afraid Jungkook is still in surgery. We've got to mend all of the structures that were damaged by the bullet. The good news is that if we can get him through this, he'll heal very quickly with a little Physical Therapy. I know you guys are performers. With a little hard work, we can get him right back to normal. Jimin is out of surgery now, but he's still unconscious. Let's give him a few hours and then we can let you see you him. He's got next of kin listed as Jungkook. That can't be right, does he have a wife or parents?"

Seokjin spoke, "They're parents are on the way. They're out of the Country traveling and should be here within the next 7-8 hours. Jungkook's parents are on their way as well. They're abroad and won't be able to get here until late tomorrow."

"Let the nurse know when they arrive and I'll update them on their son's condition." The Doctor gave them a comforting smile and walked out of the waiting room.

The members spread throughout the waiting room and prepared for a long night of waiting. No one spoke. No one dared.