Feathers and Carnations

Chapter Two

Jisung hated waking up after passing out. It was always so disorienting. He groaned as he rubbed his face and flinched at the pinch of pain in his arms. White bandages covered both of his arms from his elbows to his wrists, and he could feel the uncomfortable itch of a bandage on his left temple. He let his arms fall on either side of him as he let his eyes adjust to the low lighting of his room.

"Three hours. That's a new record."

Jisung glanced over to see Chan leaning in the doorway. "I couldn't have been out for three hours, my injuries weren't that bad."

"They were. Lack of nutrition and a good amount of blood loss can do that." Chan slowly approached him and motioned to the nightstand at the side of the bed. "There's water there. You need to hydrate."

Knowing there was no room for argument, Jisung sat up and took the cool glass. "So what the hell happened back there? Did Changbin make it out?"

Chan sat on the edge of the bed. "Binnie is fine. As for what happened, we still don't really know. One moment you were going after Lee Minho, and the next we lost all connection to each other. Felix lost eyes and everything. He had to come get us. I went looking for you when I sent them to grab the car." Chan carefully studied him up and down. "What happened on you end?"

Jisung didn't want to tell him. It was honestly a bit embarrassing that he was caught so easily. He was the informant of Nightfield, and yet he was in the palm of the enemy's hand. "Is that... important? Right now?"

His leader crossed his arms and raised a dark eyebrow, telling him to continue. He needed every detail when it came to failed missions.

"I guess it is," Jisung muttered, setting his glass of water to the side. "I was... tied down. Questioned by Minho. As soon as I broke free the first explosion happened."

Chan's dark eyes turned calculating. "Did he get anything out of you?"

"Only blood." Jisung held his arms up in emphasis. That simple movement sent tight flashes of pain through his muscles.

"Good." Chan pushed to his feet. "It's late, get rest. We'll assess everything in the morning. I'll send out a time. Do your best not to be late, okay?"

"Is it just you here or are the doctors still here?"

"They left an hour ago. You're lucky those cuts are so shallow, so there are no pain meds today, just water."

Jisung nodded. He never liked taking pain medication, it made parts of his brain numb and he was always nauseous. Being stuck with only water was for the best. "Thank you, Chan."

"I'll see you tomorrow." Chan dipped his head in farewell, and then left.

Jisung didn't move until he heard his front door shut. His skin prickled oddly as he turned his gaze back to the ceiling. He absently trailed his fingers over the bandage on his left arm. Everything about tonight felt off center from the moment the mission began. He wasn't sure what about it was off, but as he sat there staring at his bedroom ceiling, he felt as if there was much more to this than anyone thought.

Minho's face flashed in his vision, tilting his head and smiling as he brandished a knife.

Jisung shook the image away and slowly got to his feet. The room swayed a little once he was up, and he used the wall as support as he moved across his apartment to the front door. He slid four locks into place and left the fifth one unlocked. If someone tried picking the locks, they would quickly become frustrated when they failed over and over to unlock them all.

The other members of Nightfield questioned Jisung on why he chose to live in a small apartment rather than on the estate with the rest of them, but they wouldn't understand why he did. Having something separate from the life of bullets and smoke was something he needed. His job was thrilling and exciting, but it weighed on his shoulders.