This is legit the only instance where I feel so uneasy about posting a fic! ¬.¬

Be warned that the next chapter is gonna be really screwed up!

Thank you for reading and commenting. ^^

PS: I have not yet recovered from the 40 secs leak of Vixx's chained up! The lyrics too! Gawd!

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A couple of days later…

“Hey!! Over here!!!” A flustered Hongbin runs around the different rooms of the derelict building, from one mat to another, dragging the heavy supply bag with him.

Sliding the door open to see another room full of dying enemy soldiers, Hongbin got down to tending to every one of them, one by one. He knows they are the enemy, but they are no longer soldiers, just another human being which he is obliged to help.

An escorting soldier lackey would be constantly watching him and helping him around with the different errands but there were just too many casualties. It is becoming painfully obvious that the enemies are in an equally sad state as his own. Yet they refuse to stop and that is beyond him.

“Hey you! Come here!” Just as Hongbin is done tidying up his last patient after those long gruelling hours, he had to tend to an injured officer who had apparently just returned from the battle field. Every soldier available are now concentrated on tending to the high ranking soldier as the man growls in pain, slapping away the hands that are trying render assistance.

The young medic does not know who that officer is, or where he hails from, but his badge is clearly different from the rest, earning him a great amount of respect and fear from his subordinates.

Approaching the man gingerly after being shoved along, Hongbin cuts a bigger slit at the sleeves of the man’s uniform with a pair of shears. The young medic then hurriedly cleansed the laceration with some antiseptic solution and started to stitch up the gaping gash on the man’s thick endless bicep. Without looking his newest patient in the eye, the young medic focused only on the torn flesh while the rest of the enemy soldiers waited in awkward silence.

“Who is this?” The man finally asked in an unusually quiet voice but with a scowl on his face so a few of his subordinates immediately rushed forward to offer their explanation.

“He is the medic we kidnapped from the enemy troops.” “Our wounded are in severe lack of medical attention so…” one of them replied quietly and Hongbin tried not to shiver even though the aura the man exuded is sending chills down his spine. Even the leader of the pack that had captured him is standing dormant in one corner.

A few months of non-stop stitching and wound dressing since his internship days have made Hongbin’s fingers so expert that he is now able to work efficiently and painlessly, plus, the latter is dying to get this particular job done and over with. “T-There is no bullet in this wound… it will heal right away…” Hongbin did not know how else to explain that he is finished thus the half-whisper in a tiny voice.

The officer simply remained silent but nodded his head once. He can feel the big man’s intense gaze on his slightly exposed nape but chose to remain as composed as possible. With full pinkish lips quivering, the young medic lowered his head further, resisting the urge to reach up and wipe off the droplets of cold sweat lingering on his forehead while he packs up his kit.

A muscular hand reaches over from out of the blue and grabs him by his chin just as he is about to stand up and excuse himself. Squeaking pathetically, the terrified medic dropped his bag and backed away dramatically. The man only grunted in response to Hongbin’s rude reaction while the rest of the soldiers glared at him disapprovingly.

That officer seemed to have noticed him in the worst possible way and might have even taken an immediate interest in him. He is making Hongbin feel like an extinct species of animal caught in the spotlight and that is making him feel incredibly uncomfortable. There is no way to tell through that expressionless face. Hongbin did not know he ought to feel glad that the man had simply let this incident slide.

“How was the raid at the headquarters?” The officer then asked as Hongbin was about to close the door behind him, leaving the stifling atmosphere at last. This stunned him into stopping in his tracks. Had Wonshik’s camp been destroyed? Is Wonshik alright? Hongbin needed to know.

“We weren’t able to locate it.” Hongbin’s captor spoke up and he ended up heaving sign of relief. The sharp officer did not miss his soft exhalation.

“Stop right there.” The hulking man stopped Hongbin in his track this time and appeared behind him within a blink of an eye. Grabbing Hongbin by his skinny wrist, the person spun the young medic around and does not miss the momentary look of relief on the latter’s exquisite face.

“Where is he from again?” The officer questioned with such malice in his voice Hongbin could not but tremble.

“Sir. We caught him after raiding the hidden camp further down south.” Hongbin’s primary captor finally came forward and gave his piece since everyone else is shying away. Scrutinising Hongbin, the officer encircled the stiffening young man, watching him with hawk-like eyes, pursing his lips with suspicion.

“You would know where your headquarter is.” The officer concluded with the same quiet but chilling voice, tone serious yet somewhat amused. It is becoming painfully clear that this officer does not talk much, which also meant that he is one to get his point across very quickly.  Shaking his head continuously, Hongbin willed the person not to probe. The man does not stop.

Running his long fingers along Hongbin’s armband, the person tugged it upwards and examined it closely. Gulping down saliva, the young medic simply kept his eyes trained on the person’s Adam’s apple instead, finding himself very much shrunken in front of those broad endless shoulders. “You don’t?” The officer asked after a long suffocating moment. Hongbin shook and bobbled his head at the same time, desperately picturing how he would answer his grandmother’s questions honestly but failing.

He is really not exceptionally good at lying. The man can tell since he is a lot keener and more shrewd compared to the rest of the soldiers present. That innocent face and those huge guileless eyes aren't going to fool him.

“Yes or no?” “I don’t think you are as clueless as you claim to be.” The officer half cooed and Hongbin ended up chewing aggressively at the inside of his cheeks. The officer’s expression is becoming even more unreadable. Amused? Having evil thoughts? Hongbin couldn’t really tell.

“I wasn’t from there.” Hongbin stammered.

“You don’t lie very well.” The officer immediately reached for a portion of his hair and yanked his head backwards with it. Now, Hongbin is staring into the eyes of his perpetrator. The man is devilishly handsome. If not, insanely handsome. But Hongbin finds him the least bit charming or appealing considering their situation. The young medic’s own beguiling dark brown pupils intrigues the officer and the man is undoubtedly bewitched by Hongbin.

Every one present in the room can tell that the man never behaves so amiably around a suspect. EVER. He would either shoot them then stamp on their wound to make them talk, or cut off their body parts chunks by chunks. Hongbin is the only one who is ever engaged in such a ‘warm’ conversation with him. The young medic does not know that though. To him, the officer is almost satan himself, though he is yet to witness the full extent of the man’s ‘prowess’.

“I-I don’t know anything about the other platoons! I am just a medic…” The young man finally mentioned his identity, suggesting that the officer to go lenient on him.

“So what if you are a medic?” The man almost smirked and Hongbin can sense a mental breakdown nearing, luscious pink lips quaking as his dainty nose redden too adorably. Prettily. The man made a weird sound, amounting to a chuckle but his expression is already darkening. This is bad news.

Ripping the armband off Hongbin’s bicep, the officer threw it on the ground and stood over it casually. “Search him.” The officer ordered and a swarm of enemy soldiers are on Hongbin in a brief moment, pawing him all over, groping him everywhere. “Don’t let me find anything linking you to your headquarter.” The man whispered threateningly into Hongbin’s ear before taking a step back.

Supervising his soldiers as they go about their job clumsily for a long moment, the officer finally stepped forward and shoved them aside. Spotting a sodden scrap of paper sticking out from the edges of Hongbin’s clenched fist, the man glowered fiercely and reached for it, prying the item from the young man’s palms. Straightening out the crumpled piece of brownish note containing some neat scribblings, the man eyed it briefly before taking out his lighter and setting it ablaze.

A tsunami of mixed feelings quickly sets in as Hongbin watches him bewilderedly. That was his latest letter to Wonshik and he is starting to regret ever writing it. “Ravi. Interesting. I happen to know him personally. Do you?” The man spoke with his back facing the young medic and Hongbin could not help but hold his breath as the officer draws his pistol from the waist band. Once again, his life flashes past his eyes.

“BAM!” Shooting the leader of the pack in the right temporal, the officer slid the gun back into the holster before Hongbin could blink once more. “Unbelievable. Bringing back a spy.” The officer spoke again and that got the surrounding soldiers moving, as they carry the man’s corpse out of the room.

Wailing in shock even before he could register the fact that the oddly high pitch voice belonged to himself, Hongbin staggered back clumsily as some blood droplets and brains slip down the pale skin at his cheek. Rubbing the human tissues off his face and smearing them all over his neck instead, Hongbin felt like he might go crazy any minute. The trauma scared him more than if he did been shot.

Socking him in the face mercilessly, causing his nose to drip epistaxis and his upper lip to bleed, Hongbin fell onto the ground into a heap and sat in a daze, seeing stars. “Lock him up.” “Information. By nightfall.” The officer spoke with the straightest face Hongbin had ever seen on anyone’s face and the medic knew he is on the path to a long painful death.

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Meanwhile...

Back in the South Korean army’s headquarters, seated on his hammock with his arms wrapped around his head, a despondent officer does not respond even though the rest are bustling around him. “Sir. We can go out and scour the area again...” “Sir! They will not hurt him if he is a medic...” “Sir! Let’s attack their headquarters! I am sure he is there!”

“JUST KEEP QUIET AND LET ME THINK!!!” Wonshik finally looks up and hollers at the group. The news of Hongbin’s camp being seized was like a punch in the gut. Not just because a good amount of firearms and ammo were plundered, but mostly because Hongbin is taken. His best friend is missing and presumably dead.

Hongbin had joined the army in order to take care of him, on behalf of his sister and ailing mother. Wonshik was badly injured when his tanker blew up with him in it, his sister had looked up Hongbin probably out of desperation and begged the latter to help him to which Hongbin had obliged. Seeing Hongbin at the headquarter in that medic uniform nearly caused him to out and no matter how he tried to persuade his best friend to return home, his advices had fallen on deaf ears.

Even after his stitches were removed, and his scars were no longer bleeding, Hongbin was adamant on staying. Wonshik had subsequently transferred him to the outskirts in hopes of keeping him safe. That camp was concealed deep within the woods and the enemies would not have thought to look there since it was the least accessible.

“Where is the surveillance report? Find me Jung’s bases! Every single one of them!” Wonshik ordered through clenched teeth. “We need a proper plan... how much time would we need?” Wonshik asked.

“A day. Or two.” His subordinate answers and Wonshik nodded. “We still have time.” The commander replied lowly before getting down to business. Wonshik is wrong. What Hongbin does not have is time.