[EN] LIFELINE (Jilix)

V.

It was about 2:30 in the morning when they got home. Felix was hanging on him, barely able to stand on his feet, mumbling nonsense while smiling brightly. He wasn't used to drinking, so a few glasses of wine had taken quite a toll on him.

"Thanks, Hanji," he smiled gratefully as he helped him out of his coat and then his boots.

"You're welcome," Jisung replied as he shed his own winter layers. "Come on, let me help you to bed."

The sanguine carefully picked up his friend in his arms and made his way with him to the bedroom. He didn't walk too fast, not wanting Felix to start feeling sick.

"Thanks," the taller man muttered as he rested his head on his shoulder.

"Of course," Jisung smiled, turning his head towards him. He was so beautiful. He couldn't help but admire the soft heart-shaped face where the doe eyes stood out. His small nose was dotted with freckles that spread out onto his cheeks. And his smiling lips...

He shook his head and rested Felix on the bed. "Are you alright?"

The person addressed nodded slightly and reached out to pull him into a hug. Jisung didn't resist and rested his head on his chest. He let him stroke his hair as he listened to his steady heartbeat. He closed his eyes and took in his warm scent. He loved him so much...

"I don't know how to thank you for taking care of me," Felix murmured.

Jisung lifted himself up to see his face. "You don't have to thank me at all, Felix. I like doing this."

His blood partner pouted his lips disapprovingly and placed his palm on his cheek, which he then began to stroke. The sanguine exhaled softly through his nose and brushed his bangs out of his eyes, whereupon he returned the gentle gesture. "You were the first person I started to feel human with. When I walked past the hospital room and saw that woman dying in childbirth, I felt like a monster... Before she bled out, she looked into my eyes. It was as if that look was to ask me why she had to die so that the sanguine she carried could live..."

His voice broke and tears came to his eyes, just like Felix's. He took a shaky breath and continued. "It wasn't until we met when we were sixteen that the feeling passed."

"I didn't know that, I'm sorry, Hanji," freckles whispered, stroking his lips with his thumb.

"Never mind, Lixie," he smiled fondly and kissed the fingertip in question. Then he leaned closer and closer to him...

Felix connected the gap between their lips. He kissed him slowly while stroking his hair. Jisung didn't resist his kisses, on the contrary, he returned them very willingly. When the other needed to breathe, he moved his kisses from his mouth to his forehead, nose and cheeks, even daring to press a few on the soft skin of his neck. He spoiled him like this until he fell asleep.

*

He was pulled from his memories of last New Year's Eve by voices outside his cell door. On all fours, he moved closer to hear them better. He almost didn't breathe, should he overhear something important. Soon he began to make out individual words from the mutterings.

"What if he gets out of these restrains?" a woman's voice said.

"So what if he gets out of them. The important thing is that he doesn't get out completely," the older man reassured her.

"Well, he almost won against you when you went to get him. The fact that you almost got your ass kicked by someone a head shorter than you is hilarious." There was a noticeable smirk in her voice.

"Just almost," the man defended himself. "Look, we got him, that's the main thing, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Do you want to go check on him?"

"And why would I do that? I feel sick just thinking about him."

"Maybe you'll release that pent-up aggression if you kick him a few times."

"This time I'll admit you're right," the man grumbled.

Jisung started backing away from the door as the footsteps began to approach. He didn't know if it was even worth trying to get back into the restraints.

He didn't have much time to think anyway, because the next second two black silhouettes, one shorter and one taller, were standing in the doorway. He was sure it was the woman and man he had heard talking just a moment ago. Just like in the flat, he couldn't see the face of either of them this time.

"Look, the bird has gotten out of its bonds after all. Too bad it won't do you any good," the man spoke to him and pulled him to his feet by his hair, then let him go.

Jisung staggered but didn't fall. He wasn't going to make a peep the whole time he had to spend with them. He won't give them that kind of pleasure.

He tried to avoid the fists as much as he could, but he still took more blows than he would have liked. He tried to punch and kick back, but his strength and coordination were leaving him very quickly. Out of several attempts, he hit less than five times. The woman laughed, clapping and shouting as she was cheering on her colleague.

It wasn't long before he ended up on the ground. His head was spinning and he was breathing heavily.

"What are you doing? You have a job to do," a new male voice said. He could only guess that it was the shorter guy he had the misfortune to meet in his flat.

"We're done anyway, he's no fun anymore," the woman laughed, then he heard her leave.

"Fucking mutants," the man growled under his beard and kicked him in the ribs. As promised, Jisung didn't make a sound, though it hurt like hell.

As soon as the door slammed closed again and the footsteps were no longer audible, he slowly sat up. He didn't try to get up completely, he was sure he would pass out if he did. While he waited for his dizziness to stop, his thoughts returned to Felix again.

He remembered helping him with his physical training when he was getting ready for the police academy, how Felix had bruised his knees when he tripped the first time they'd gone running together, how happy they'd been when they'd moved into the flat they'd been in to this day, and how the taller man had comforted him when he'd had nightmares, even when he'd had to wake up at an ungodly hour... He'd have given anything to go back to that time.

When he had gathered enough strength, he turned on all fours. He was about to go to the wall, so that he could at least rest against it, but he was stopped by something rubbery that he felt next to him. He was sure it hadn't been there before. He sat back on his heels and picked the object up. Could it be...?

With a pounding heart, he turned the object over and stroked the opposite side with his thumb. His face spread into a smile. When he pressed the side button, the cracked display lit up. The phone had one line of signal and six percent battery. He had a hard time not laughing out loud. Neither of the jerks had noticed in the noise that one of them had dropped their cell phone, plus the rubber cover cushioned the impact.

The phone required a PIN, but it didn't matter. He could use the emergency call even without the number combination.

While waiting for a reply, he checked the time and date. It was still Tuesday, almost eight o'clock in the evening. Felix would need a drink soon...

"Police, what's your emergency?" Seungmin said after one ring. Jisung started tearing up when he heard his voice.

"Are you there?" the operator questioned.

"Seungmin, it's Jisung," he said softly. He felt his tongue begin to stick to the roof of his mouth and his mouth fill with saliva.

"Can you say that again? I can't hear you very well," the young man on the other end of the line urged.

"Jisung Han," he introduced himself a little louder as he swallowed.

"Holy shit! Stay on the line, I'll locate you by signal. Chris and Felix are on their way, don't worry."

"Tell them to get a move on," he laughed softly, leaning his back against the wall behind him.