chapter forty-one; mothers

“Oh my god.” The words were on endless repeat, like a broken record player. “Oh my god.” His voice trembled with underlying despair as he struggled to keep from breaking down that very moment. “Oh my god.”

“Will you stop saying that?” Jin Young looked up with an annoyed look at the blue-haired boy pacing in front of him. He glanced towards Mark, who was sitting next to him with his head burrowed into his hands, once more.

“Oh my god.” Jaehyun spun on the boys with tears glinting his brown eyes. He snapped his glasses off his face as he pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes. His muffled voice shook with sadness as he muttered, “What the hell did you do to my sister?”

Mark let out a sharp breath at his question. He felt an unbelievable amount of guilt at that moment for the younger boy. Jaehyun had been innocently waiting in the car for them, nursing his aching knuckles when Mark had ran out with an unconscious, bleeding Jae Ah in his arms.

Jaehyun didn’t deserve this sort of despair. And Jae Ah, especially, did not.

“It wasn’t his fault.” Jackson defensively spoke up from the side. The boy had been uncharacteristically quiet for a while now but he wasn’t going to let Mark take the blame for this.

Jaehyun in a breath, “If my sister hadn’t met any of you, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“So, she was safer with Jinwoo?” Jackson shot back, feeling his anger rise at the accusation against them.

Jaehyun’s lips parted to respond but Jin Young cut him off, “It doesn’t matter. Arguing about it isn’t going to help either.”

Before Jackson or Jaehyun could protest his disruption of their argument, the large door beside them opened and a short, middle-aged man in a white coat stepped out. He glanced up from the iPad in his hands to briefly look at each male before his brows furrowed in confusion.

“Uh,” He glanced down to his iPad once more, “family of Park Jae Ah?”

“That’s me.” Jaehyun turned towards him with round eyes. “She’s my sister.”

Mark glanced at him momentarily before his worried gaze went back to the doctor. He felt a sliver of fear that Jaehyun would be angry enough at him that he wouldn’t want Mark and all to know if Jae Ah was okay. If Jaehyun asked to talk privately to the doctor, it would happen.

And then Mark wouldn’t know what happened to her.

“Would you like to come to my office so we can discuss what happens next?” The Doctor asked with a low voice that didn’t betray any sort of emotion.

Jaehyun hesitated before he shook his head, “It’s alright. They’re her friends. Is she okay? Please, tell me my sister is alright.”

The Doctor glanced around to the intimidating boys again before he slowly nodded, “Miss Park is fine. We’ve taken the bullet out of her system and she is in post-operational care. We expect her to have a full recovery given time.”

It was a simultaneous feeling of relief that flood through each of the boys. Mark’s head fell back into his hands as he pressed his palms roughly against his eyes. The sort of pain it caused was a relief from the despair conflicting inside him.

Jaehyun’s eyes shut as he let out a breath of air. He finally felt like he could breathe again. Despite how much everything around them had changed in the last few months, Jae Ah was his twin. She was all he’d known since he was born. He didn’t know how he would keep going knowing she wasn’t going to be with him.

Jin Young’s body relaxed from the stiff position he had been stuck in. He had his reservations about Jae Ah, and the idea of mates, but he still liked the girl. And he knew that if something had happened to her, Mark would never recover.

“Only family will be allowed to see her, however.” The Doctor focused his gaze on Jaehyun. “If you follow me, I can get you the appropriate paperwork.”

“Yeah, okay.” Jaehyun nodded, feeling like a burdensome weight had lifted from his shoulders. “My mom is on her way, too.”

Mark startled at his statement. Jae Ah’s mother was on her way. He was going to be meeting his mate’s mom. And on these circumstances.

Jin Young’s lips almost pulled into a smile at the pale express