Hostage {ℍ𝕐𝕌ℕ𝕊𝕌ℕ𝔾} -- DISCONTINUED

Chapter Thirteen

His arms hurt, dried blood clinging to his skin. His head hung from where he dangled along a wall, the musty smell of the room filling his lungs. He spluttered out a weak breath, eyes half lidded as he struggled to look up, to at least notice something about the room.

It didn't take long for him to sag right back into the wall, body trembling from the lack of energy, his stomach a never-ending pit of hunger. Tears welled in his eyes; surely it had been long enough for his dad to have found him. He couldn't possibly have been here for less time than he'd thought.

Already the days drew on at a snail's pace, filled with nothing but torture and pain... he wasn't sure how much more of this he could bear. Unless his perception of time wasn't nearly as skewed as he thought; unless... unless his father wasn't coming for him at all.

The tears he'd desperately been trying to hold back dripped down his face, then, and he let out a broken whimper. He'd known his father didn't care about him or little Jeongin, but this... "Mama," he cried, his voice echoing along the empty chamber. "Mama!"

A loud bang came from just the other side of the door. "SHUT UP OR I'LL MAKE YOU!" He sank back into the wall, the rough edges digging into his back, biting his lip to keep his sobs at bay.

Sweat clung to Jisung's brow as his eyes snapped open to a familiar scene. His chest rose and fell erratically as he remained where he was, frozen, for several long moments. Forcing himself to sit up he closed his eyes, sucking in a deep breath.

His dreams were only getting worse, each one more realistic than the last. He pressed a hand to his face as he bit his lip angrily; he just wanted to stop having these damned nightmares every single night. He couldn't just have a good night's sleep, could he?

Running a hand through his hair he swung his feet over the side of the bed, peering over at the digital clock on the nightstand. 5:08 AM. At least he'd gotten four hours of sleep this time. He reached over and grabbed a shirt that had been laying around on the ground, slipping it over his head as he stood, muscles stiff and stretching.

It had been a handful of weeks since he'd first come here; his life now consisted of irritating Hyunjin, digging up information, and lounging around like a lazy housecat. He wasn't used to being this idle – maybe that's what was making his dreams worse and worse with every passing day.

So far, neither the Han family nor the Hwang family had had any luck in finding out who had launched that attack on them, or figuring out how they'd known about the rendezvous point in the first place.

Security, of course, had gotten a lot stricter as a result; the tension between the gangs – and within the members of those gangs – was palpable, and he was stuck right in the middle of it.

Great.

At least now his shoulder had healed enough that he could start working out again; he had too much energy to dispense, and now seemed like the perfect time to get rid of it. He slipped out of his room, rolling his eyes at the guard stationed there.

"Where are you going?" he asked, his voice low and threatening. Jisung scoffed as he quirked a brow at him, lips tilting into a smirk.

"Why? Wanna come with?" The man seemed taken aback for a second before taking a step forward, hand straying to the gun at his belt.

"I'm under strict orders not to allow you to leave the premises—"

He snorted this time, shaking his hands as he continued to walk down the hallway, turning to peer at him over his shoulder. "Boohoo, cry me a river while you're at it. Don't worry, I'm not leaving the premises." He laughed sharply and continued on his way, knowing exactly where he was going.