his shield

013

by the time i get back to jaehyun's place, taeyong has already left.

hongbin is just leaning against as he watches over his sobbing person.

"did it go well?" i ask as i walk over and place a hand on his shoulder.

"yeah. as well as it can go when someone speaks to their dead boyfriend just to be reminded that the one they love isn't coming back" he explains quietly, as though jaehyun may hear us.

"should we head back to the institute?"

hongbin takes a deep breath before smiling sadly at me and he walks away.

i raise my brow in confusion and follow him out of the apartment.

as soon as we get outside i realise something is wrong. hongbin has paused.

he stares at the ground and i can see tears forming in his eyes.

"what's happened?" i question him but then it hits. the pain.

it suddenly feels as though someone is ripping out my spine through my stomach.

i scream as i fall to my knees. hongbin doesn't look at me as this happens.

"i'm sorry" i hear him mutter before i fall unconscious.

•

i wake in the same room which i was tortured in a few weeks ago.

my shirt is gone, the mark from my death and the mark from my mistake are both clearly visible.

i am not restrained at all. i'm just laying on the damp floor. there is no one in the room.

i look at my arm to read the digits and i am surprised by what i see.

00:00:10:02

i only have ten minutes when i'm supposed to have over a month left.

what the hell happened?

"there is a reason for the missing time" jeonghan's voice echoes in the empty room.

i should have known that he was in here. and that he did this.

he slowly steps into the dim lighting and he looks down on me.

"what happened to you wonshik? you never used to break the rules. yet now your breaking all of them."

"i've only broken one" my voice is hoarse. how long have i been unconscious for?

"10 days. i kept you on that floor for 10 days. this is the day that i decided it would be best to wake you up again" he says almost as though he were reading my thoughts.

he probably can. he has never spoken to me of being able to see into people's heads but i have always felt that he can do it.

"you have managed to get another shield to break the same rule which you did."

"you didn't touch taeyong did you? i told you i would take all of his punishment" i slowly sit up and my back aches as i move.

"what a hero you are. but why would i punish you twice? it's no fun carving a mark over one which is already there. it's less painful the second time."

i feel tense by that.
if he has hurt taeyong or hongbin i will murder him. screw the hierarchy.

"why am i here? and where did my time go?" i look to see 7 minutes remaining.

"you are here because we need to make a deal" jeonghan takes a deep breath and walks over to me.

he slowly crouches onto one knee and gently grabs my wrist.

"you need to stop showing yourself to jaehwan. you can't keep just showing yourself whoever you feel like it. you are dead wonshik. he is living. i saw you when you were in love with taekwoon-"

"don't you dare bring him into this" i snap harshly at him and he clears his throat, daring me to threaten him again.

"as i was saying, i saw what you were like when you were in love the first time. i can see it in your eyes when your with that kid, your falling in love again wonshik. i can't let that happen."

i promised myself and taekwoon that i would never fall in love again. i could never bring myself to do so.

i'm not falling for jaehwan. i would never fall for a mortal. especially not my own person.

"i don't feel anything for him. your wrong" i state firmly. he just laughs softly.

"are you really going to spend your last 4 minutes arguing with me?"

"are you killing me then? is that my punishment?"

"that would be too nice. i'm not letting you off that easy. i'm going to give you two weeks. in those two weeks you need to prove to me that you can still be a shield without breaking the rules" he explains.

"and without falling in love."

"i'm not falling in love with anyone. i'm not stupid enough to make the same mistake twice." i try to convince him but he is already convinced otherwise.

"2 weeks" is all he says before giving me the time.

•

it's two days since i was given two weeks. i have managed to save jaehwan three times without revealing myself.

he has asked for me to show myself but i have ignored him.

it isn't as hard as i thought it may have been. this is how normal shields work.

today, jaehwan is moving into his new address which is two blocks away from his old one.

he is going to trip with the box and almost crush himself. i have to stop him from lifting that box.

it shouldn't too be hard. it's one of the easier to protect him from.

it's always harder to stop things like car accidents and attempted murders.

this one will require minimum magic use.

i make sure that i'm at the right address by watching jaehwan's moving truck pull into the driveway.

i head inside and wait beside the staircase where everything is going to go wrong.

jaehwan rushes outside and grabs the first box. the first five make it safely.

then i see him carrying the box which is meant to crush him. as he goes to take his first step up the stairs, i notice his foot is going to just miss the second stair.

instead of freezing time, i just gently grab his ankle and guide his foot onto the right step.

he pauses briefly, noticing the sensation. he places the box upstairs safely and runs back.

"are you there?" he calls out. "my shield, i haven't seen you in a while. have you been ignoring me? were you hurt again?"

my heart hurts slightly to hear him calling for me. there is something that sounds so desperate in his tone.

"why won't you show yourself? please, even if it's only briefly. please."

it takes all of my strength to keep the glamour from falling. all i want to do is drop it but i can't.

he soon gives up and the frown which plasters itself on his face makes my heart shatter slightly.

he just goes to grab the next box and i remain seated on the railing.

A/N - what do you think of the one way deal that jeonghan made with wonshik? will wonshik be able to do it?

thanks for reading!!