Hostage {ℍ𝕐𝕌ℕ𝕊𝕌ℕ𝔾} -- DISCONTINUED

Chapter Twelve

Jisung's fingers curled around the phone he held to his ear, leg bouncing. He cast a look at the few guards sitting around him, all of them stony and tense. If it had been up to him, he wouldn't even be on this call, a weekly check-up to make sure he was still alive.

Not that his father cared much; it was more so for appearances' sake than anything. Couldn't have the Hwangs figure out that he couldn't give a rat's ass about his own son, now could they? It would be bad for business, as his father liked to say.

His lips pressed into a thin line as the tone rang, tension building up in his limbs; would Jeongin speak to him today? Probably not. He sighed softly as the ringing finally stopped, his father's cold, deep voice echoing out through the phone.

"Hello?"

Jisung's jaw clenched as he forced a tight smile, hoping it would be convincing enough for the guards observing him with their trained eyes. "Hi." He didn't know what to say; what was one supposed to say to their gang-leader parent? He closed his eyes for a moment, imagining he were speaking to his mother instead.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking." The words sounded a lot easier than they felt, his tone light and airy despite the growing dread curling in his stomach. "My shoulder's healed, now." If you even remember I was shot. There was silence on the other end of the line and Jisung struggled to keep his smile up on his face.

The line went dead.

He pulled the phone away from his ear and handed it over to the guard standing closest to him, a big, burly man he saw hanging around Hyunjin quite often. "Can I go now?" he asked through gritted teeth, barely waiting for a response before he breezed out of the room.

~#~#~#~#~#~

Hyunjin stayed on the line with his mother as long as he could, grilling her for every single detail of what was going on in that house. So far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary; they were treating her with respect – that reassured him somewhat – and although she said it was almost the same as being home, he couldn't help but worry.

He sighed softly; he knew there was something strange about the Han family, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "How's your housemate?" she asked, her voice tinged with humour. He grimaced for a moment, turning his stare up towards the ceiling.

"Aggravating, to say the least."

His mother laughed over the line, and a small smile grew on his face at the sound; his mother's laugh always comforted him, warmth spreading through him. As long as his mother was safe and happy, so was he. "I've heard great things about him. His brother spoke very highly of him."

At that, Hyunjin's eyebrows raised; that didn't sound like the obnoxious, cunning Jisung he knew at all. "What do you mean?"

His mother was silent for a moment, and he could imagine her tilting her head as she always did when she was confused about something. "Hm? His brother might be a little biased, but he sounds like an amazing person, always protecting his friends and family. And we all know you could use more friends like that, my love."

So that was what this was about. He rolled his eyes and sighed, a small smile quirking up on his lips. "Mom, I don't need friends. I'm not five anymore." Although the words were a bit snarky, his tone was warm. "Besides, that doesn't sound like the guy I know." Besides, he certainly didn't need friends belonging to rival gangs.

"That's odd." His face turned serious; it was. It was very, very odd. Another voice said some muffled words on his mother's side of the line, and she hummed quietly. "Well, my love, I need to go now."

A pang of sadness echoed through his chest. "Yeah... Talk to you later, Mom. I love you."

She giggled. "I love you too."

She hung up, and he pulled the phone away from his ear, frowning down at it. It wouldn't get any easier to say goodbye to her, would it? He ran a hand through his hair, leaning back in his chair, staring out his office's window.

Jisung was growing to be more and more of an enigma with each passing day. He hated the fact that he was intrigued; he wanted to figure him out. Who are you, Han Jisung?

~#~#~#~#~#~

The hallway was dark, the heavy doors at the very end of it growing closer with every step. His hands shook, his breath coming out in short pants, his chest constricting more and more as his panic rose.

He swallowed thickly, balling his hands into tight fists as he bit down on his bottom lip, eyes welling with tears he desperately tried to blink away. He couldn't let them think he was weak – Jisung would never allow them to see him in this state.

Forcing a deep breath, he squeezed his eyes shut, the presences of the two men walking behind him almost suffocating in his narrow hall. You can do this, he thought, clenching his hands around the hem of his sweater. You can do it. Do it for Jisung.

He would help him, this time; he would protect his brother, this time, instead of being nothing but dead weight that held him down from doing great things. I can do this.

Jeongin reached out a trembling hand and pushed open the doors to the predator that hid behind them.

A/N: Happy September!!! My store has already busted out the Halloween books and decorations, Starbucks has busted out the pumpkin spice and I'm living for it. Fall is the superior season and no one can tell me otherwise.

I know this chapter was pretty short but I really wanted to update today uUUUUUU 

Lots of love,

~Emilie