* Tw: violence
“I told you, I’m fine,” Jeongin grumbled.
“No you’re not, you’re literally dying!” Hyunjin exclaimed, shaking his head as he tended to Jeongin’s shoulder.
“Don’t be so dramatic, you were the one filled with bullet holes last time.”
“Well I’m built a bit stronger than you are.”
Jeongin jabbed his partner in the side, making him flinch back. “Built stronger my ass.”
Hyunjin cracked a smile. “Stop, I need to focus on nursing you back to health.”
Jisung watched the two interact with a small smile. They were currently on the management floor of an abandoned warehouse which the two men in front of him had converted into a home for themselves. They were machines from Chimera, once a part of the same program as Minho. They proved that to Jisung by showing the red marks carved into their lower backs. They didn’t really need to prove it, considering the monstrous strength they both demonstrated in the escape, but he appreciated the sentiment.
Watching the scene in front of him, Jisung was reminded of the way Minho took care of him after he was stabbed, and all the times he took care of him after he fainted. It made his heart ache. It took so long to build trust with Minho, and it took even longer for his feelings to grow. Just as he was beginning to explore those feelings in depth, Chimera broke them apart. He hated them for it.
Jisung’s eyes dropped to his bandaged hands and he flinched when Hyeon’s villainous face flashed in his mind. He didn’t know true fear until he laid eyes on that man. His body wanted to shut down just thinking of him.
“So if you don’t know Minho,” Jisung found himself saying, “why did you help me?”
Jeongin glanced over at him, his eyes understanding. “We heard whispers of two machines loving each other, but that was all we heard until ML-32, or Minho, escaped. After we learned more about you two, we made it our goal to escape as well, and we only managed that thanks to Minho’s efforts to slow Chimera down. Jaya contacted us a few days ago, asking us to help you escape. We agreed once we knew you were the other machine we’d heard about.”
Jisung slowly nodded, taking the information in. He was liking Jaya the more he learned about her. She was the only reason their escape tonight was so easy. “Well thank you. Truly. I don’t know if I would have been able to escape ever again. You probably saved my life.”
Hyunjin smiled. “In a way, you helped us escape the first time since your love for Minho inspired us, so it was only right that we helped you. Chimera can burn in hell for all I care, so they can deal with one less machine, I think.”
My love for Minho? We really loved each other. The thought was comforting, and it brought Jisung’s most pressing question to the surface. “When can I go see Minho?”
Hyunjin hesitated, but Jeongin spoke up instead. “We don’t know. Jaya lost contact with him the day you were taken, so we don’t know if he was taken as well, if he was killed, or if he’s just in hiding again. I’m sorry, but you’ll be stuck with us for now.”
Jisung’s gut twisted, and he had to blink away the dizziness that threatened to take over. His mind flashed to Seungmin’s limp body. Was he ever found? “What about Minho’s associates? Do you have contact with any of them?”
“I’m sorry, we don’t know anything, only what Jaya has told us,” Jeongin apologized, his eyes genuinely remorseful.
Did I lose Minho along with Seungmin? He wouldn’t just disappear. Where is he? Going to Nightfield was his only other way of finding Minho, but he didn’t know how Hyunjin and Jeongin would feel about working with someone they knew nothing about.
“We’ll get in contact with Jaya as soon as we can,” Hyunjin said as he finished patching up his partner. “For now, we’re going to have to lay low.”
Jeongin turned to Jisung. “Is there anyone else you can trust? Anyone else that you think might be able to help us? We’re just two guys, we can’t exactly do a lot against Chimera at the moment.”
Jisung smiled slightly. And Minho is one man, yet he’s still standing up to Chimera. “I have people I can trust, but I have to ask in advance… How do you feel about the mafia?”
Hyunjin’s mouth dropped open dramatically. “The what- the mafia?!”
Jeongin gently tapped Hyunjin’s shoulder. “Remember to breathe. You’re a part of the mafia?”
Jisung nodded, trying not to laugh at Hyunjin’s flabbergasted expression. “I have been since I left Chimera. Minho is actually a mafia don as well, so yes, we’re with the mafia. My team Nightfield has been working with us. My leader knows about Chimera- to an extent. I trust them.”
“I really feel like the mafia isn’t a thing in real life,” Hyunjin muttered, releasing a loud breath.
Jeongin raised an eyebrow at him. “Jinnie, you were held captive and made into a machine by a secret organization named after a mythical creature for years, and this is hard to believe?”
“Well that was from my experience. I’ve only heard about the mafia from books and the internet once in awhile. All used in a fictional context.”
Jeongin chuckled as he glanced back at Jisung. “Well that is insanely cool. So you want to contact this… Nightfield?”
“If you two are comfortable with it, yes. They’re the only ones I have. The only ones that can really help us.”
The other two shared a look, communicating within seconds, before Jeongin looked back at Jisung. “We hate Chimera just as much as you do, so if this Nightfield is going to help take them down, we’ll work with them.”
Relief washed over Jisung, like rainfall after a devastating fire. “Thank you. For everything.”
Jeongin got up, with the help of Hyunjin, and smiled, turning his eyes into adorable crescent moons. “Of course. We’ll set everything in motion, but for now, I say we all get some sleep. We’ll work much better with rested brains.”
“That wasn’t put very smoothly, darling,” Hyunjin teased. “You definitely need to rest your brain.”
“Again, darling isn’t a thing. It’s not going to stick.”
“Too late.” Hyunjin dipped his head at Jisung. “Goodnight.”
Jisung gave a tiny wave. “Goodnight.” His heart felt tight as he watched the pair move up a set of stairs, one supporting the other as they murmured quietly to each other. As they vanished from sight, a cloud rolled over Jisung, choking him with a flurry of emotion. The rain of relief was replaced with the snow of grief.
Seungmin was gone.
Minho was gone.
Nightfield could very well be gone too, and he would only find out tomorrow.
Jisung’s eyes landed on his bandaged hands once again, and he wished he could tear them off and throw them out of his sight. His mind and insides were scarred by Hyeon, and now his once smooth hands were mutilated and horrendous, serving as a constant reminder of the poison that was Chimera. He had to win this fight against them, and he had no idea how to move on from here. He was utterly lost.
He missed Seungmin. He missed Nightfield.
And most of all, he missed Minho.
He cried from joy when Minho gave him the feather earring, but for the first time since he could remember, Jisung curled around himself on the couch, let the grief cover his body, and cried.
⧫⧫⧫
Those damn alarms.
Minho flinched as he came to, annoyed at the blaring alarms in the distance. He always hated the sound of those alarms, but as he slowly woke up, the sound faded away completely, which confused him. He was laying on the cold cement floor of a cell he was far too familiar with. It was nothing more than a five by five room of cement with a heavy steel door with a slot for food and no handle. Those in his program were always kept in rooms like this before starting new tests.
Minho’s body ached as he pushed himself upright against the corner opposite of the door. He wiped at the dried blood on his head, glad to be rid of the itching that had accompanied the mess. “If you’re going to keep me alive, you might as well clean me!” he called out, knowing the guards outside could hear him clearly.
He tried remembering what led him to this room. It wasn’t totally clear. He only recalled Hyeon covered in Jisung’s blood, and a blur of black, red, and white. Just thinking of it made his blood simmer. He needed to know if his love was okay. He needed to heal him of whatever Hyeon had done to him.
But all Minho had right now was the blank wall in front of him and silence. He sat slumped against the wall for a long while, his mind playing memories. Most were memories of Jisung, from before and after he lost his memory. Others were of Seungmin from when he was first promoted to underboss.
Minho closed his eyes, and the first thing that came to his mind was the night he spent with Jisung. He remembered the soft, unsure way Jisung had first kissed him. He remembered the way he’d kissed Minho’s scars as if he could make them fade from memory.
Minho’s lips tilted in a smile as he replayed the soft sounds Jisung made, the way he reacted when Minho touched him in a certain way, and the look in his eyes when he-
A plate of unidentifiable food was shoved through the slot of the door, breaking Minho out of his reverie, and he became painfully aware of himself.
What am I doing? Why am I sitting here like a depressed slug when Jisung is in danger? Why am I sitting here when I should be doing everything in my power to get out and burn this place to ashes? Why am I sitting here when I could spend another amazing night with my love? When I could see and hear that all over again?
Minho sat up slowly, and then he felt something slide against his wrist. The bracelet Jisung had given him was still tied in its place. The metal was a bit scratched, but it was intact. He was suddenly grateful that Chimera hadn’t cleaned him up. Time to move.
“I do like to have some company while I eat,” he said loudly, scraping the plate against the floor to make it sound like he was picking it up. “So I’m going to talk to whoever is outside this door. Did I hear alarms going off earlier?”
No response. No surprise.
“I just want to know if I’m hallucinating or not. Care to clarify?”
“You didn’t hallucinate,” a tired female voice finally came.
Minho smiled crookedly. “Oh good. I’ve already dealt with enough today, I don’t need to add hallucinations to the list.” As he talked, he began messing with the hinges of the door. They were reinforced and heavy duty, but hinges were still hinges, and since the door opened into the room, they were on the inside.
“I’m sure you’ll have plenty more to add to the list,” the guard responded. She sounded strangely young.
“Why were the alarms going off?”
“There was an escape.”
“Was it successful?”
“Yeah, everyone is pissed about it. They’ve been sending a lot of guys out to find them.”
Minho raised an eyebrow, still working at the door hinges. “So you’re not pissed about it?”
“Eh,” the guard muttered carelessly, “it’s not my problem. Besides, I’m not emotionally attached to this job, so if I ever get upset it’s because my paycheck is being threatened.”
“So… if I were to escape right now, you wouldn’t care?”
“As long as I don’t get blamed for it, no, I wouldn’t care.”
Minho grinned. “You’re awesome, do you want to be friends?”
The slot on the door suddenly opened, and a pair of deep, honey eyes appeared in the opening. The guard gasped slightly. “You?!”
Confused, Minho slid over to get a closer look at her, and surprise flickered through him as he recognized her. He saved her from a group of men trying to rob her of her possessions and her body about a year ago. She was only eighteen then, so to say he was shocked to see her here was an understatement.
“When I told you to be careful, I didn’t mean you should become a guard at a secret facility,” he joked, strangely glad to see here here healthy and in one piece.
She gave a wry smile in return. “Hey, I can’t help being drawn to a big paycheck.”
“I can make that paycheck bigger.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, I just so happen to be one of the most powerful mafia dons out there. Meaning I have a lot of extra money just laying around waiting to be used.”
Her eyes sparkled as her smile changed into a smirk. “Are you trying to bribe me into letting you out?”
Minho twisted one of the hinges apart. “Well, you don’t want to be blamed for an escape, so I think we can help each other.”
“How so?”
“I’m just about to break this door down, so if you make yourself scarce and put someone else here, I’ll escape then. That way I get out, and you still get paid.” Minho watched her closely, awaiting her answer. He’d learned how to be persuasive when it came to negotiations of every kind, so he let her run with the idea before speaking again. “Once I get out, I can hire you onto my team. You’ll make more, you’ll be able to live where you want and how you want.”
After a moment of thinking, she rocked back on her heels. “First, I want your name. You didn’t give it to me when you saved my ass.”
Minho stuck his fingers through the slot since he couldn’t fit his hand all the way. “Lee Minho.”
With a small smile, she took his fingertips into her and shook his hand. “Eui. Yes, it’s just Eui.”
“Well it’s lovely to see you again, Eui. You look great.”
Eui snorted. “I can’t say the same for you, Mr. Lee.” She got to her feet. “Sit back like you’re a good prisoner, and I’ll give you some room.”
“Thank you.” Minho pulled away from the slot and continued loosening the hinges of the door. If Chimera hadn’t built him like a monster, he wouldn’t even be able to dream of pulling this door apart. Talk about something backfiring.
“Hey, I’ve gotta use the restroom,” Eui suddenly called out to someone. “Could you take my place for a minute while I’m answering nature’s call?”
Minho shook his head with a small smile. Yes, he definitely remembered the spice that came with her personality. I can’t believe my luck. This meeting can’t be a coincidence.
“What, you can’t hold it?” a gruff voice grumbled in response.
“First of all,” Eui started, “my shift doesn’t end for another four hours, second, I’m a woman, and this thing happens every month where I bleed for days on end, have you heard of it? Yeah, so either you stand here for two minutes, or I bleed all over this lovely building.”
Minho had to bite his knuckles to keep himself from laughing. He evidently made a brilliant ally.
“Disgusting. Fine, go and be quick.” Heavy feet shuffled in front of Minho’s cell.
“Just because you said that, I’m going to take my time. Bye now.” Eui’s voice quickly faded down the hall.
“Bitch,” the man hissed.
Minho smiled sadistically. All the more reason to bash this guy’s brains out. With a few more twists and jerks, the last two hinges came apart, making plenty of noise.
“Hey, what are you-” the guard was abruptly cut off as Minho stepped back and kicked the door out of its place, causing the wall around the lock to crack and the door to crash into the man.
Minho briefly lifted the door to see if the guard was still alive. Considering his head was smacked into a brick wall by a heavy metal door, he wasn’t, which was only slightly disappointing. At least he’s out of the way. Now to get out of here.
Minho snatched the guard’s key-card and small machine gun and moved down the hall swiftly, not daring to run just yet. He had to be stealthy while he had the chance.
At the sound of approaching footsteps, he ducked into a smaller hall that branched off to the right and pressed into the wall, his gun at the ready.
“Oh, he’s awake alright, and I’m sure he’s looking for someone to torture to channel his anger,” a hushed voice came.
“It’ll probably be the guys standing over JH-47. They were the ones that failed to keep their prisoner here.”
Minho nearly collapsed in relief. Jisung got out. He escaped.
That changed Minho’s plans. He’d gotten out of here before, he could again. That is, if he could remember the layout of this maze.
“How did he even get out? It looked like Hyeon made his hands useless,” the first voice said, bringing Minho crashing back down.
What did Hyeon do to you, Jisung? Are you okay? Who’s going to take care of you?
“They said he had help getting out.”
Minho wanted to jump out and question the guards as they passed, but he remained where he was. He would have to get answers from Jisung himself.
As soon as the men moved on, Minho continued down the corridor, listening for any threat that might come his way. His body was a bit wobbly from lack of food and the fact he’d been knocked unconscious a few times in the last… however long he’d been back here, but he pressed on.
Was it right or left here?
Several voices were approaching from the left. Right it is.
Minho rounded the corner without checking to make sure it was clear, and he nearly barreled right into a tank of a man.
“Oi!” the man exclaimed, reaching for his gun.
Minho was faster, and he shot the guy down, cursing as the loud shots of the firearm echoed through the facility. Now it was time to run. He took off as the sounds of pursuit developed behind him.
Gunshots rang out, and Minho dropped, sliding himself around a corner and into a crouch in one smooth motion. He took aim down the hall and opened fire, taking down as many bodies as he could. A door opened behind him and he whirled around, sending another two bodies to the ground.
He sprinted for an unmarked door, remembering going through one just like this to get to the armory. But this wasn’t the armory. Minho realized his error one second too late.
A baton of crackling electricity flew at his face, and he ducked and rolled to the side, narrowly dodging it. He didn’t have the time to raise his gun before his body flew into the wall as a net slammed into him.
Minho tore at the net, ripping past the tightly bound cords easily.
Heavy hands grabbed at him, trying to restrain him as he broke free. Minho twisted, snapping one man’s arm, and then slammed another man’s head into the wall, sending blood splattering. He whirled on the other man that was there. A net sent Minho crashing.
He ripped at it. Another net wrapped around his body, restraining him even further as he continued fighting and thrashing like a wild animal.
“Keep it awake!” Hyeon’s voice was shrill, piercing through the air. The crazed man shoved past his men. “I will not let you off so easy this time, ML-32!”
The other brutes managed to wrestle Minho down, crackling batons drawn and held to each side of his head to keep him from struggling against the nets further.
Minho smirked when he noticed the bandage tightly wound around Hyeon’s head. “Nice crown,” he panted, pulling against the restraints slightly. “You look good mutilated, Hyeon. I can help you further your fashion statement if you tell these brutes to get off me.”
Hyeon’s rage colored his pale face red. “Your little pet already escaped, and I will not stand for another escape,” he growled, pointing at his prisoner with the large knife he carried.
“Since Jisung is free, I won’t be here for much longer. Get used to the idea of another escape.”
“Oh,” Hyeon laughed bitterly, “you really think that little thing will come for you? You think it can rescue you? How sickeningly adorable.”
“He will tear you apart.”
“Good luck to it since I destroyed its hands.”
Minho smiled, but it was full of venom. “My offer to mutilate you further still stands.”
Hyeon went stiff. “You really know how to ask for it, don’t you, ML-32? Take it to my office. I’ll break you until you no longer have the strength or the will to even beg for death.”
Minho fought against the brutes as they dragged him away, but it was no use. He closed his eyes. Don’t worry about me, Jisung. Just fight your way to freedom. You deserve it far more than I do.
——————— Another one down. We’re slowly nearing the end. Aaah. It’s okay, it’s fine. Thanks for reading. ‘v’
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