his shield

005

i wake beneath the comfort of my blankets in my room. jeonghan must have returned me here once he was done with me.

that's an added bonus i guess.

i kick off the blankets and cringe as they scrape against the new wound on my stomach.

i look at the wound which has only just begun to scab over. i will have this scar for the rest of my life.

a constant reminder that i broke the rules.
a constant reminder that i failed.

i take a deep breath and get off the bed. all my other wounds which were inflicted on me have been healed.

i can't be in too bad of a condition if i am to still protect jaehwan.

jeonghan would have assigned someone else to him whilst i was ill.

i just slip a dressing gown over my shoulders before leaving the room. i only wear pyjama pants beneath, leaving the wound out in the open for everyone to see.

the whispers start up straight away as i walk past the other shields.

most are amazed by the fact that the all and mighty wonshik made a mistake. surprisingly a lot of them are shocked that i'm still alive.

apparently most normal shields die after that kind of treatment. but normal shields have not been in this institution for as long as i have.

"w-wonshik ah" i hear a familiar voice. i stop in my tracks and look to see hongbin standing beside me.

i see that there is a look of concern in his gaze as he looks at the new addition to my stomach.

"do you reckon this would pass as a tattoo in the mortal world?" i ask him with a smirk and he can't help but chuckle softly.

"if you say so then i guess it would."

"how is jaehyun going?" i ask him and his expression immediately changes to one with causes a smile to cover his face.

"really well. he has a boyfriend and they are so cute together. it's actually really helpful when it comes to trying and making things look natural. i can just manipulate his boyfriend so he catches the falling plate or sometimes he even catches jaehyun."

"that's good. just be careful with that" i am reminded of a person whom i was assigned to 70 years ago.

elizabeth was her name. she was married to man called william. she thought he was the love of her life.

of course i used the relationship to my advantage just as hongbin is now. i was stupid back then.

it turned out that william has been cheating on elizabeth with her older sister. he ended up divorcing her and ran away with her sister.

she was heartbroken. so much so that she became suicidal. it is hell for a shield when their person becomes suicidal.
but that is a different story for a different day.

"heartbreak can cause people to become suicidal. that is absolute hell for a shield. you need to be careful."

"i don't think they will ever break up. they are so happy together. they are a perfect match" hongbin states confidently.

"what's his partners name?" i ask him. if i know who the persons shield is then i'll know if he should remain alive for a while or not.

"taeyong. why?"

"interesting. don't mind me. i should go and check in with jeonghan, alert him that i'm awake again."

i bid goodbye to him and walk away from him before he can say anything else.

that kids shield is jae chan. he has been a shield for 40 years but he has no idea what he is doing. he is very lazy and always arrives at the scene just as it is happening.

i don't think taeyong will be alive for much longer. i can sense a dark cloud coming in his direction and jae chan is not going to stop it.

hongbin needs to get ready to deal with heartbreak a lot sooner than he hopes.

•

"how are you feeling?" jeonghan asks and looks genuinely concerned as i enter his office.

"fine. as fine as anyone who cares this symbol can be" i say honestly.

"you were out of it for three weeks. that's impressive. most shields die" he states.

"i'm not a normal shield remember. i've been in this business for nearly 700 years. i've been here for longer than anyone else here except you of course."

"no one has been here longer than me that is correct. although i only took over the lead role three years before you joined. you were always my favourite" he smiles and clasps his hands together on the desk. "yet i've had to punish you twice now. you aren't possibly losing your skill are you?"

"of course not" i smile tightly at the memory of my first punishment. it took 500 years for it to happen but it did happen.

what was the crime?
i fell in love in the early 1900s.

jeonghan had him dead before the titanic had a chance to sink.

"poor taekwoon. i liked that kid. but you had to fall in love with him and ruin everything in that poor boys life" jeonghan frowns.

"that was not my fault" i say softly and he tilts his head slightly. "i wasn't the monster who ripped his throat out in front of his family. in front of his 16 year old sister and his mother."

my voice raises slightly and jeonghan shakes his head. "i think you should go and check on jaehwan."

i don't say anything else before standing from my chair and storming out of the office.

A/N - more of wonshik's past is going to slowly be revealed now.

do you think jeonghan is a bad guy or not?

thanks for reading!!