To love and to Hate

28: In the end

Jisung rolled his shoulders out and rubbed his wrists a little as the officer with the chains stepped back.

"Just stay out of trouble, I don't want to have to arrest you for a fourth time," the officer said, his lips tipping up in a crooked smile.

The fire mage nodded, though his small smile was a little sardonic. "I can't promise anything."

"Just don't let me be the one catching you again." The officer patted him on the shoulder and then headed back through the gate of the small prison Jisung had just been released from.

 Nearly a year had passed since Minho was shipped off to the Isle, and Jisung had kept himself... busy. The first thing he did was hunt down those associated with the water mage and pick up every detail of his story that he could possibly pick up. He then spent several weeks cleaning up Minho's loose ends with the criminals and lowlifes he'd gotten himself involved with.

But once everything seemed put together and life moved on, Jisung did not move on. He began searching for a way to get to Minho, to somehow rescue him from an island meant to kill anyone that stepped foot on its shores. Whether Minho was alive or not, no one would know, but Jisung was going to believe that he was alive, no matter how delusional that made him sound.

At first, he tried getting back into the swing of normal life, and he managed just fine for the most part as he took jobs as usual and visited Jeongin and the others every once in awhile. 'Normal life', however, quickly made Jisung feel claustrophobic; stuck in a dull square with a door that felt just a little too heavy to open.

 Without Minho, Jisung's spark began to dwindle. He slowly became quieter. Every job slowly became more dull than solving arithmetic in an empty room. He had less playful, sassy arguments with Changbin, he started falling asleep during his visits with Seungmin. He even found it difficult to find enjoyment in joining the Cold Devils on a few jobs. It became difficult to sleep, and that insomnia shifted into Jisung living in the bars and taverns drinking his existence away if only to put himself to sleep.

One night, when Jisung was throttled from a drunken sleep by a bucket of water falling over his head, he had a wake up call literally and figuratively. Jeongin had been worried about him, and he'd made the brilliant decision to involve Chan, who was able to pull Jisung back into shape. At least enough for the fire mage to get back on his feet.

Since then, Jisung had attempted to make his way to the Isle of Cruel Atonement on his own. His first four attempts had fallen flat due to weather and a few fishermen bailing out with the money he'd bribed them with. He asked the Cold Devils how they'd survived the island and made their way back to the mainland, but they didn't offer him any help. They seemed to sense that he was trying something stupidly insane, and they were right.

In all, Jisung had now tried finding his way to the isle seventy-six times, three of which got him arrested, and fourteen of which had him severely fined. All the other attempts ended with getting lost, getting caught in nasty storms, being chased by pirates, sinking and getting stranded until someone happened by, getting sick, and everything else that could possibly happen. His little boat had even been attacked by a massive shark once.

With the little prison behind him, Jisung trudged forward until he found a little bench facing the sea where the sun was just rising. He slumped onto the bench and simply stared at the water, his heart squeezing and beginning to ache. No matter how many times he tried, he could never get even close to Minho.

Jisung did not want to give up, but his spirit was growing tired. And somewhere, deep within a jagged hole, dwelled the overwhelming feeling that Minho was really gone. Was he trying to reach... no one? Were his attempts to get to the island useless? Hundreds of criminals were sent to the Isle, and only sixteen had ever made it back. If they did not drown from trying to swim to freedom, they died from the elements, starvation, or the many beasts that roamed the jagged hills and deep forests.