Hi! I was wondering if I could request a reader and Jae Ha fic where the reader accidentally ingests a drug (mayhaps nadai 👀) and Jae Ha has to tend to the outcome.
He beats himself up over not being quick enough and letting her take the blow for him. All he can do now is make sure she gets better. It's agonising watching her in pain, but he'll make sure she gets through this.
A/N: I actually loved this request. Thanks for sending it through!
It happens before he can stop it. He should've seen it coming, he should've sensed something was off, but he didn't think they'd try to get him so quick.
Y/N and him were currently sitting side by side in the town's local brothel, accompanied by women and men. The influence of Nadai had been great on this town, so the team had decided to track down the main distributer.
The man was sitting right in front of them. Jae-ha is sure the man doesn't know who they are, and they'd only been talking for about half an hour.
The fact that he'd try to spike Jae-ha's drink so soon startled even him.
The fact that he's not the one who ends up taking the drink is even worse.
Y/N, the love of his life, grabs the small cup out of her hand and before he can react, she downs it in one go. Jae-ha stares at her questioningly, but she just shakes her head with a smile.
"Quite thirsty, weren't you?" The man says and, eyeing the empty cup.
Y/N smiles, and grips Jae-ha's forearm.
"It's a hot day, after all, and the company makes it stifling." The smile she gives makes even the women in the room pause in amazement. Her charm was one of the things Jae-ha loved about her. She could keep up with him, and getting her flustered was a game he loved to play.
Jae-ha knows something's wrong when the grip on his forearm tightens to an unusual extent. When he glances at her, he can see beads of sweat forming on the back of her neck.
It takes a few glances between the empty cup and her quivering smile for it to click into place.
"As much I enjoy the company, I think it's about time we take our leave." Although they try and stop the two, Jae-ha waves their protests off good naturedly and stands, helping Y/N up. He can't stop the spike of cold fear when she leans against him to stay upright.
The cool air as they exit the building does nothing to make her feel better. s soon as they're at a safe place, in a nearby alley away from the brothel, Jae-ha leans her against the stone wall and talks.
"You knew it was spiked." She's breathing heavily, sweating hard and she can only nod. Jae-ha clenched his jaw in frustration.
"Why would you do that?! You knew it was spiked with Nadai, and you still drank it!?" He can't fathom why on Earth she would do that.
"You-...you would've drank it oth-otherwise." She coughs and doubles over and he quickly grabs her, helping her lean on him.
"Couldn't make you...you go through th-...that again." Is the last thing she chokes out, before passing out, slumping over in her boyfriend's arms. Jae-ha calls out her name, but it's no use. Cursing, he shifts her so she's secure on his back and starts making his way back to the camp they had set up, in the woods surrounding the town.
As he jumps and the air hits him, he can't help but feel helpless. He should've picked it up. He should've known. Maybe if he got her to Yoon quick enough, the boy could help lessen the inevitable symptoms...
He winces and grits his teeth as he recalls the amount of pain he was in. He recalls it as agonising, and just thinking about Y/N going through that makes him angry enough to have trouble supressing the urge to go back to that place and tear that man to shreds.
As he lands, the others come out to greet them, but stop short at the sight of Y/N. From there, Yoon whisks her away into one of the tents and all Jae-ha can do is stand there helplessly and berate himself for letting this happen.
Yoon does not manage to lessen the symptoms.
The next day is horrible, Y/N thrashing around and crying out every so often. She can't think straight. The only thing she's known the moment she woke up is pain, deep and aching and constant. It's horrible and she can't stop crying out and the tears, even if she wanted too. Her shouts make the others wince and struggle to stoml down their frustration. Their friend was in pain and they couldn't do anything.
Hak and Yona had left for the town to go track down the guy who did this the moment they heard her first scream. Hak had gotten up silently and marched towards town, Yona following behind him, emitting a similar air of seriousness. Y/N and Yona were quite close, being the only two women. She was older than her, a year younger than Jae-ha, but they got along smoothly.
Jae-ha was trying his best to keep his cool. He hadn't left her side since the morning. He's been sitting next to her, making sure she has everything she needs and trying to soothe her when she has a particularly bad wave of pain. He finds himself trembling, but he'd rather take a shot of Nadai than care about himself right now.
This was a nightmare. His worst fear. He's been wired to protect. He's always been a protective person, actually. By nature, he's learned to cherish the things he really holds dear.
Y/N was high up on that list.
And she was in pain because of him.
He places a hand on her forehead, brushing her hair away from her face as she breaths harshly. She clenches her eyes shut.
"You're okay." His voice shakes and if the others were to see him like this...
"You'll be okay...I promise."
His breath hitches as her hand reaches up to grab his wrist. The whisper of his name is pained, but carries a sense of relief.
"I'm here, love. I'm here." He mutters, bringing her hand up to kiss the back of her palm. She relaxes, even if a little and it makes his heart ache. It makes him want to yell and break something, seeing her like this. He can't do anything but stay by her side and help her get through this.
It goes on for hours. When her pain finally subsides, she's goes unconscious, clearly exhausted. It's only then when Jae-ha lets go of her hand, gently placing it next to her and tucking a blanket around her. He runs a hand through his hair and sighs, pulling his hand back to look at it. He's still shaking. Bowing his head, he buries his face in his hands and lets out a breath.
He doesn't know when he fell asleep, but he's woken up by the sound of shuffling and gentle coughing.
The second time she woke up, she still ached all over, but the pain had washed away considerably. She still felt horrible, but was able to move. Wincing, she tries to sit up. Jumping as she feels a hand on her back, helping her sit up, she glances beside her.
“Jae-ha?” Her voice is hoarse from crying and it makes him wince. His name barely leaves her lips before he’s holding her in a tight hug.
It’s familiar and warm and she relaxes into it.
“Never again. Never do that again, understand?” When she doesn’t respond, he pulls back a little, enough to meet her eyes with a frown.
“Y/N. I’m serious. I don’t want-”
“I’d do it again to protect you.” She cuts him off. “I’d do it in a heartbeat if...if it means keeping you safe.”
There’s a beat of silence, and she pulled back in, Jae-ha tucking her head into the crook of his neck.
“Unbelievable. You’re insane.” He mumbles, burying his face into the side of her face, placing small kisses into her hair.
She hums, letting her eyes slip shut, a loose hold on the back of his cloak.
Jae-ha doesn’t let her go until Yoon comes back and practically pries him off. It would be a while before he stops staying close to her.