SHADOWS OF DECEIT

Chapter 24

Seungcheol paced back and forth like a caged predator, the sharp click of his shoes on the tiled floor the only sound aside from Baekhyun rustling into his scrubs. His jaw clenched so tightly it looked as though it might snap. 

The dark circles under his eyes betrayed the hours he'd spent awake, fighting his own helplessness while the person who mattered most lay on the brink in a sterile room just down the hall.

"Cheol," Baekhyun finally broke the silence, pulling on his gloves with swift efficiency, his voice calm but edged with warning. "You need to keep it together."

Seungcheol's head snapped up, his dark eyes glinting with frustration. "Keep it together?" he echoed, his voice low and venomous, as though holding back a roar. 

"Hyung, I've kept it together for ten years. Ten. Fucking. Years." He stopped pacing, his broad shoulders rigid as he turned to face Baekhyun. 

"Do you have any idea what it's like to spend every waking second ensuring someone is untouchable, unbreakable, only to find them—" His voice cracked, just slightly, before he swallowed it down. "Only to find them like this?"

Baekhyun's expression softened, though his hands never stopped moving as he sorted through Jeonghan's charts. "Cheol," he said evenly, "this isn't on you. You know that. Shit happens—"

"Not to him!" Seungcheol barked, his fist slamming into the wall beside him. Baekhyun flinched but kept his composure, glancing at the slightly cracked plaster with a raised brow.

"Feel better?" he asked dryly.

Seungcheol let out a bitter laugh, running both hands through his hair. He looked like a man unraveling at the seams but too proud to let the threads fall loose. 

"No," he muttered, slumping onto the couch and burying his face in his hands. His voice was muffled when he added, "I can't lose him, hyung. Not him. Anyone but him."

Baekhyun sighed, closing the file and tucking it under his arm. He moved closer, crouching slightly to rest a hand on Seungcheol's shoulder. 

"You're not going to lose him. I'm here now. And you know me—I don't let my patients go anywhere unless I say so." His lips quirked into a small, reassuring smile.

 "Give me a few hours. He'll be awake and calling for his 'Cheollie' in no time."

Seungcheol's laugh was hoarse and humorless, but it was a laugh nonetheless. He straightened, his dark facade sliding back into place as though it had never slipped. 

His mask of control was back, though the cracks were still visible to anyone who dared to look closely. "Let's go," he said gruffly, standing and gesturing for Baekhyun to lead the way.

The ICU was eerily quiet, the kind of quiet that seemed to mock the chaos in Seungcheol's mind. Baekhyun's steady footsteps were a sharp contrast to Seungcheol's heavy, determined strides as they entered. 

The room was dimly lit, casting long shadows that flickered with every movement of the medical equipment.

"Hey, guys," Baekhyun greeted, his voice light but carrying authority. The Shadows looked up, their faces pale and drawn. These were men who commanded fear and respect in equal measure, yet now they looked like lost boys on the brink of collapse.

A chorus of subdued acknowledgments greeted him, though no one moved from their spots. Baekhyun scanned the room, his sharp eyes catching every detail—the dark circles, the clenched fists, the unspoken fear that lingered in the air like a storm cloud.

"You all look like shit," he said bluntly, his tone almost playful. "Go wash up, grab some coffee, and come back when you're not about to pass out on the floor."