My eyes fly open at the sound of strangled breathing, and I immediately slide off the bed the moment I see V hyperventilating on the ground.

"V!" I exclaim in terror as his face tightens in agony. His breaths are fast— rushed.

It had to be another attack.

Blood roars in my ears as I hurry out of his room and start screaming as loudly as I can possibly can. It was the only way to get people up as soon as possible. V needed help right now.

Panic drowns out everything else as a door crashes open on the far side of the hallway, revealing a disoriented Jungkook. His eyes frantically scan his surroundings before he sees me on the verge of tears.

"Noona! What's wrong?"

"V's having an attack— Jungkook—"

His lips purse together in a tight line as he motions for me to a direction of the room on the other side of the corridor, telling me it was where Hoseok would be. Then he speaks quickly, gaze continuously darting to the silhouette of V trembling uncontrollably on the floor.

"Tell him I'll have V hyung down in the infirmary and I might need a bit of help with the straps."

I can hear my heart shattering as I nod numbly, dashing into Hoseok's room the second Jungkook breaks eye contact with me to take care of V.

This was horrible.

When I rush in, I nearly crash into Hoseok— who had apparently been about to exit the room himself due to my unexpected screams. His eyes are wide as I hurry to detail the message that Jungkook had told me to pass on.

It couldn't have only been a second or two, but Jungkook has somehow transported V down to the first floor infirmary. Distantly, I hear the crashing and the sound of quickened footsteps as the others come nearer.

The attack is the worst I've ever seen.

V is shaking so violently from the seizures the illness brings, only the straps over his entire body keeping him down on the mattress. My heart rate starts to fluctuate dangerously when I see his chest rise and fall in terrifyingly uneven rhythm.

Hoseok doesn't question the situation— he immediately gets to work, his face pale but determined. I've never felt so helpless before, standing idle while he was like this.

When he needed help, I couldn't be there to provide it.

A sob breaks through my lips as I watch Hoseok set up multiple injections to his skin, each one a different medicine, a different chemical.

V had always hated to take medicine.

One of the injections must have been a powerful sedative, because V falls immobile almost instantly. The room descends into a complete silence, except for the rapid beeping of the monitor— showing mountains and valleys of green lines.

His heart beat.

The surroundings seem to fade away with my tears and the rest of my body as I helplessly watch. I had to do something— or I might just go insane.

Thankfully, Hoseok notices my uncontrollable fidgeting and waves at the blue cabinets on the far end of the room.

"Tzuyu— could you get me the black device that's shaped like an oversized watch? It's the first thing you see, first cabinet from the top.

When I hand it to him with clammy fingers, he slides the device over V's head, completely obscuring his eyes. The dark screen on the front comes alive with a flatline of red, and I pray— pray that it's not a bad sign.

During the operation, I hear Yoongi curse darkly under his breath as he leaves the room. The door slams behind him in a sharp meaning— that this was as painful as him as it was for me.

Maybe even more. They'd been with V forever— had seen all his sides and flaws. I'd only had the privilege to know him for just a couple of months, while they had been with him for years longer.

My fading gets so violent that I feel Jin's hand on my shoulder, warning me to take control of my body. Letting myself get to this point could lead to tremendous damage on my nerves, and he knew that.

Everyone here did.

And staring at one of them, the one I loved, immobilized and forced asleep on the piece of furniture he probably hated the most— it was hard to keep the emotions thundering through me in control. Control wasn't something that I could possibly do in this situation.

"Is he okay?"

Jin is the first one brave enough to break the suffocating silence, his voice solemn and grave. When Hoseok nods, I can feel the air in the room expand with pure relief.

"He's stabilized. But the attacks will get more frequent— more severe. The next might be just a few days. And when that happens, it'll be more than this. Much worse than this."

A shiver runs up my body as my gaze fixes on the beeping monitor, trying to will my tears back inside. I couldn't cry now. I just couldn't— not now. Not in front of everyone.

"Hyung, we need to move." Jungkook exclaims, his face strained with seriousness. "We need to get the cure— even if it means risking everything. At this rate, V hyung is going to—"

Jin holds up a finger, quieting the maknae in an instant. Jungkook looks angry that the action had been so involuntary— but he remains silent when Jin shakes his head.

"We need a plan. It's stupid to just barge in the most highly guarded compound in the entire land of Korea without a foolproof strategy, Jungkook."

I have a sudden urge to chew on my fingernails— an old habit that I had used to do when I was overly nervous— when Jungkook doesn't back down.

"That'll take too much time. Even if Namjoon hyung was in charge of it, it would be a straight death path for V hyung to wait and make plans. It'll take months to consider everything— make sure it's foolproof. And by then, V hyung is going to be dead."

"Don't talk to me like that, Jungkook." Jin says sternly, his features freezing up at the maknae's harsh, angry tone. "I know V's close to you. We all are. But that doesn't mean—"

"He's more than close. Planning is going to be a waste of precious time— we'll barely come up with anything in a time of few days. All of our strategies take at least a month, max. We have a few days until hyung's next attack."

Jin's lips purse with anger, and I see Jimin place a hand on Jungkook's shoulder, sending a silent signal for him to calm down. It wouldn't do any good to fight like this— and Jimin knew that, clearer than anyone.

"No, Jungkook." Yoongi cuts in, his eyes dark and firm as it meets the maknae's ferocious gaze. "It's going to be a suicide mission without any planning. Tae won't have any chance of survival if we all end up uselessly dead."

Jungkook's eyes slit with an emotion I can relate only too well— a feeling of pure fury that he was being defied, and the fact that he knew that he was wrong and the others were right. The feeling of helplessness— and anger. Frustration. Violence.

Rage.

Without another word, Jungkook spins on his heel and storms out the door, slamming it loudly behind him. In the distance, I hear the front door slam shut as Jungkook leaves the house itself.

The air in the infirmary stays tense and filled with silent anger.

"I'll bring him back." I say quickly, opening the door and escaping the suffocating silence. I didn't know how I would calm down the boy, but everyone, including myself, knew that if he was going to be convinced to return, the best person to do that was me.

Even though my heart was racing and blood roared in my ears, I had to try.