Feathers and Carnations

Chapter Fifteen

Jisung couldn't lie, he was loving being in the middle of nowhere. They parked the Porsche in a seemingly random little shed nestled in the trees on the side of the road, and proceeded to walk up the mountain for fifteen minutes in order to reach this little cabin. There was no path leading to the place, not even a trail marker. This was a secret location if he'd ever seen one.

The cabin itself was tiny with a small kitchen nestled in the corner of a cozy little living room, and a single bedroom and bathroom. It was snug, but Jisung could definitely think of worse people to be stuck with than Minho. And for the most part, it wasn't bad.

Three days passed by this point, and the pair had a routine down. Jisung would eat breakfast and encourage Minho to have some before the don would disappear in the bedroom to coordinate things with Seungmin via radio. By lunch time, Jisung would be restless, and he would take a walk over to a creek he found running behind the house and train for a time. Minho only joined him once. Dinner consisted of simple conversation and discussions of what was going on within the mafia.

Today wasn't much different, but as Jisung was cooling off by the creek, Minho came striding up the hill, ruffling his hair in a frustrated way.

Jisung shook the water off his hands, getting up from his crouched position. "What's up?"

"Working with a ton of criminals is a pain in the ass, believe it or not," Minho joked, joining him by the water.

"Oh, I believe it. What's happening this time?"

"We're still trying to figure out how the house was compromised, and our trail ended at Solswor. Turns out their don left the country over a month ago and they've only received a few letters containing instructions. Direct communication with him has been completely cut otherwise."

"So Chimera could have gotten to him, and we have no idea," Jisung filled in.

Minho nodded. "Pretty much. The underboss isn't being helpful either. He's stubbornly sticking to the letters without investigating them further to make sure they're really from his boss."

"What an idiot."

"Tell me about it."

Jisung nodded. "How's Seungmin holding up? He always hates when you give him extra work."

Minho laughed lightly. "I think he's actually enjoying it. He's basically acting as don right now, so I'm sure he's enjoying having all the power."

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

"You best believe he's getting the raise of a lifetime once this blows over."

A thought suddenly popped into Jisung's head. "Wait, back at the Assembly, Solswor made an alliance with Iregray. Have you tried that handle?"

Minho's eyes brightened up, and he let out a relieved laugh. "Jisung, you little genius. I'm going to run that by Seungmin and we'll see how it turns out." He ruffled Jisung's hair before jogging back down to the cabin.

Jisung fixed his hair, smiling as he watched Minho leave. How cute. He immediately shook the thought out of the way. He was still in conflict when it came to the enigma that was Lee Minho. His feelings were growing deeper, which was scary and confusing at the same time, so he avoided thinking about that altogether.

Instead of dwelling on his swirling thoughts and hopeful heart, Jisung got back to training, wincing at the soreness in his recently healed shoulder. The wound had mostly healed while he was in that coma, but it was still a bit tender at times.

After working out for another hour, Jisung finally went inside to take a shower. Minho was in the bedroom, but the door was ajar.

"I think I might have you come up here for a few days to keep an eye on things while I come down to take care of that."