16: Awake

   The days seemed to blur together recently. Baekhyun couldn’t remember exactly how many hours he’d spent being in this bleak hospital room. It wasn’t as though he could work and take his mind off things. The Chief Commander wouldn’t assign him onto any new missions until Baekhyun had finalised the paperwork for his medical release and everyone knew what a bureaucratic nightmare paperwork was.

   While Baekhyun hated being stuck indoors, at least it meant that he could spend his spare time watching over Chanyeol’s recovery. He kept imagining the scene where Chanyeol would open his eyes, and he would cry out in joy like the scenes in those sappy movies that he pretended he didn’t like. There were even some nights when Baekhyun didn’t even go home. There was no point. Without Chanyeol, there was nothing to go back to. At least here, he could get the latest news on current events from passing colleagues.

   On Chanyeol’s bedside table was a fresh vase of flowers. Baekhyun didn’t know the name of them, but they were white with long petals that fanned out. A small card accompanied the flowers. He picked up the card, his fingers tracing across the black ink on the linen textured background. It was a message from Kim Minseok, an old friend from the orphanage and the current Summoner’s Division leader. It was a cheery message, mirroring the sender’s jovial personality, wishing Chanyeol would get well soon and that he was sorry he hadn’t had time to visit more. Baekhyun smiled as he reread the message. Knowing how busy Minseok usually was, it was surprising that he’d even had time to stop by.

   Baekhyun yawned, stretching his arms before laying his head down on the mattress of Chanyeol’s bed. The combination of the constant fluorescent yellow lights and blackout blinds meant it was easy to lose track of time. Just then, there was a knock on the door. Baekhyun turned around to see a colleague from the Mage Division at the door. He gestured for her to come in, welcoming the break in monotony. She had a short black bob to match her short stature and sharp features. In her arms, she held several files and folders.

   “Good afternoon Mori,” greeted Baekhyun.

   He reached over and pulled another chair so that she could sit down, but Mori politely declined.

   “It’s evening, Baekhyun,” she said, pushing on the rim of her glasses and rolling her eyes, “How long have you been here today?”

   Baekhyun shrugged, “Well, if it’s evening now, then I suppose I’m going to have to say all day?”

   He grinned at her, but she wasn’t having any of his nonsense today. Mori looked as though she wanted to say something but was biting her tongue. Instead, she shook her head and handed over some files to Baekhyun.

   “Here’s the debriefing from the CC on today’s mission,” she said.

   CC was short for Chief Commander, the head of the Human Liberation Vanguard organisation. Baekhyun sat up and started flicking through the papers, his grin fading away.

   “Did you find her?” he asked, scouring the pages for information.

   Mori shook her head, “No. There was nothing left in Argendale Park except for three sets of empty chains nailed to the rock face of the central plinth. We assume Jeongri was sent to exile with two accompanying figures. There was copious amounts of blood but no intact bodies. Several unknown species of beasts in the surrounding area were neutralised.”

   “Blood?” Baekhyun asked, looking up. A hint of worry spread on his face only for a moment before he changed it back to a more neutral expression. It appeared to have gone unnoticed.

   “Yes. Several bones and body parts littered the scene,” Mori said, finger on her chin as she pulled from her memory in almost a clinical fashion, “Samples were collected for DNA testing. Whatever happened was pretty violent. Ha! Well whatever, that’s what you get for trying to end the world.”

   Mori laughed out loud, making Baekhyun cringe. She rechecked her notes without noticing his reaction, trailing down the sheet with the tip of her pen.

   “However of the three sets of chains, one set had been manually unlocked,” she said.

   Baekhyun felt his eyebrows rise in surprise.

   Mori continued, “Therefore, there is a possibility that she escaped which thus means the mission is still incomplete. According to the CC, there will be another mission briefing soon as to where we go from here.”

   “I see,” Baekhyun replied quietly, deep in his thoughts again, “What’s going on with the demon king? Any updates?”

   “Not at the moment. However, the rumour on the streets is that he wants to perform the ceremony again, this time without his daughter, but we have no hard evidence. The intelligence squads are working on it currently,” she replied.

   Again, Baekhyun fell silent, riffling through the notes one sheet at a time. There was a lot of information but most of it was useless to him.

   Mori looked at Baekhyun pitifully, her hand on the door, “If there is nothing else, I will be leaving.”

   Baekhyun nodded and waved her off, “Goodbye Mori. I will see you tomorrow, good work for today.”

   “Thank you,” she replied, before leaving and closing the door with a click behind her.

   Baekhyun sat quietly, staring at the floor with unfocused eyes. He wondered what happened. Did someone find Jeongri? The image of her bones littered across the ground brought only more imaginative scenes of gore. Did she have to fight? Was she hurt? Baekhyun shook his head, one burning macabre question lingering in his mind. Was she even the one who escaped? He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the twitch of fingertips under Chanyeol’s blanket.

   With a deep disgruntled groan, Chanyeol opened one eye only to scrunch it back up at the brightness of the light above his bed. He tried to lift his arm, but everything felt weighted down. Again, another groan escaped his dry mouth, this time managing to catch Baekhyun’s attention.

   Baekhyun looked up abruptly, inhaling sharply in shock.

   “Chanyeol! You’re awake! I ing knew it! I knew you would make it!” Baekhyun cried out, dropping the files to the floor.

   The latter only groaned again. Quickly, Baekhyun moved to support Chanyeol, helping the latter sit up. The blanket slid down, revealing the many tubes and wir