chasing lights

20 | back to you

The pain is everywhere when he wakes up, shoots through his veins, to every limb, making it fairly evident that he was in fact fast asleep on the cold, hard, stone ground of his prison cell. Not that the sad excuse of a bed, which is the thinnest mattress known to man, shoved into a corner of the cell for prisoners to sleep on, would have been any better though. Jisung still tries his best to stretch, groans out lightly from the pain, then rolls to his back with an audible thud. His eyes are fixed on the ceiling, still burning, a lump in his chest making it very hard for him to breathe painlessly either. How come he failed to protect the one person, the one thing in his life that was actually worth holding on to? What a useless guy he is. About to die sometime today without even having told Minho properly how head over heels he is for him.

Even just seeing him would be enough though. Just one glance, knowing he is safe and Jisung would go easier. Aching limbs would not be a single issue anymore either, simply a forgotten side effect of having fallen asleep on this very floor, without the arms of the most amazing man holding him. Oh how he wishes Minho had been there to hold him last night, dried his tears, kissed the pain away, the fear.

"I'm sorry.", He whispers up at the ceiling, eyes filling with tears again that are never falling. "I'm sorry I failed you."

Quiet steps near his cell, have him twitching, sitting up immediately. Jisung is quick to rub his eyes, sits up on his knees and stretches out that slightest bit more to now fully gather himself, glare fixed on the metal bars. But the moment he notices the two slim, hooded figures walking right up to his cell, he decides to be careful, observe them first. They have to be women, judging by their shape and Jisung immediately recognizes them as such when one of them, the one standing in front of the other, takes off her hood to look at him properly, carefully looking him up and down while the thief is still very much trying to get behind just why two women would randomly come here now. Two women who are most certainly not guards of any kind either.

"Channie was right, you are certainly more handsome than your wanted poster lets on.", she says with the smallest hint of a teasing smile. But to Jisung, nothing could have been more hope inducing than the mention of a certain someone in such a familiar way. His eyes shoot up, lock with hers as he gasps, gets up on his feet in no time and hurries closer, close enough to hold onto the metal bars with both hands, standing face to face with the two women, merely a meter separating them now. She does not even flinch when he comes close. "Chan? Is he- oh my god, is he alright? Where is he? I need to talk to him immediately. He has to go and find-"

"Easy, boy. One step at a time. Try not to be too loud as we do not need any unnecessary attention drawn to these parts of the prison ward now do we?", she calmly tells him, smile properly soft when she calms him down with just that, has her seeming like someone Jisung can trust and judging by her looks and the way she speaks, he figures she must be Chan's mother. He nods, quiet. "Okay, good. Now, I brought my friend along with me and I want you to behave, okay? Can you be good and answer some questions of hers?"

He nods again and that is almost enough to satisfy her, has her raise her brow expectantly in the most mother type of way Jisung has ever had the pleasure to be faced with.

"I promise.", he says, gulps afterwards as she steps aside to stand closer to the door, guard it slightly while allowing her friend to take her previous position. The other woman lifts her hood off her hair and the moment Jisung's eyes catch a proper glimpse of her face, he bows on instinct, then looks right back up to meet her curious gaze. "Your majesty."

His voice is merely a stunned whisper and he has absolutely never seen the woman before today. But she simply has to be none other than the queen herself. The very woman who never leaves her hiding places within the palace because of her grief, the woman the whole kingdom loves so dearly they are all hurting along with her to this day. She is stunning, still, her face so familiar, yet so different, tired, weakened from years and years of just barely holding on. Jisung does not even notice he is staring at her, lips parted in full on awe and surprise, until she chuckles, endeared, clearly and very much amused.