“Jaemin?” Groaning and opening his eyes, Jaemin screamed when he saw a pair of eyes staring into his own and slapping the person in reflex as he sat up abruptly on the bed, ignoring the slight pain from his wound. “Ow! Is this how you treat your hyung?!”

“Mark-hyung?!” He exclaimed, eyes and brain finally working as he was able to recognise Mark’s lean figure and face that was contorted in pain right now. “What the ?!”

“I just wanted to see how you were doing! That bullet hit you pretty hard,” Mark said, sitting on the edge of the bed and ruffling Jaemin’s hair like the older brother he practically is. “I’m really sorry we couldn’t tell you.”

“Funny thing is, I’m not even mad since it’s all for safety,” He replied, genuinely feeling happy that they wanted to tell him. “But what’s going to happen now? Hyuck and Jisung are…”

“Yeah, I don’t know. Whatever we do, I have no influence over deciding it since I’m just a lone sniper,” Mark said bitterly, sighing dejectedly before looking at Jaemin. “We are not handing you over, though. No way are we handing you over.”

“But isn’t that the easiest thing to get them back? I mean, if it’s to make sure that Hyuck and Jisung are alright-“

“Jaemin, they’ll turn you into a ing slave. They’ll burn a print on your left hip and show you off to potential buyers,” Mark explained, making Jaemin’s eyes go wide with horror at the new and brutal information. “They’ll torture you and starve you enough to just keep you alive so that they can you. I am not going to hand you over to that, you hear me?” Gulping at the intensity of the older’s words and gaze, Jaemin cast his eyes down in his lap as he nodded.

“Then what do we do?” He asked timidly, not wanting to anger Mark any more than necessary. He heard Mark let out a groan in frustration due to the lack of options that were available for them at the moment. 

“Our only other option is to give Taeseon something that he wants more than you,” Mark said carefully, tiptoeing around the lines of what he could tell and what he couldn’t. Curious, Jaemin didn’t stop himself from pressing further. 

“Is there anything that Taeseon wants more than me?” 

“Huang Renjun.”

Taeson wants Renjun? I mean…it’s obvious that something went down between them but…

“You’re going to hand Renjun over, aren’t you?” Jaemin asked, Mark shrugging in response. 

“Renjun suggested it but I don’t want to do it. If he goes back to