The Hidden Card || NCT MAFIA

Chapter sixty-nine: Awakening

Two days.

Well, forty-nine hours, precisely.

That's how long Taeyong had to wait for Iseul to finally wake up.

Her eyes fluttered open, the dim sunlight in the room making her blink a few times. The first thing she felt was the light blow of fresh air gently hitting her face, soothing the drilling pain in her head.

The second thing was the unusual weight at her hip.

Iseul took a deep breath in when a sharp pain in her ribs made her stop any movement. She let out a gasp, putting her left hand on her side out of instinct.

"Iseul!"

The voice distracted her from the pain for a second, and the girl turned her head to the side.

Taeyong's hair was a mess, and he looked as if he hadn't slept in days. There were dark circles under his bloodshot eyes.

His hand instantly found her face, his worried gaze analyzing every inch of Iseul's face, looking for any injury.

"You're awake," he whispered. His voice was hoarse, almost as though he had been crying.

Iseul gladly welcomed the coldness of his fingers on her skin, but noticed how they were shaking a little.

"I-" she opened her mouth to speak, but the pain was too strong.

"Shhh," Taeyong gently shushed, his fingers slowly tracing circles on her cheeks. "Doyoung said you shouldn't move around much."

He readjusted the pillow under her neck with one hand, his other one never leaving her face, as though he needed to touch her somehow.

"You might pull your stitches if you move, so stay still, alright?"

His voice was calm, but Iseul wasn't fooled. There was more than worry in his tone. Something darker, something stronger. Taeyong was angry.

Before she could ask anything, Taeyong bent down to reach something above her head.

He pushed a green button, then said, "Doyoung, get your ass in here, Iseul's awake."

Not even ten seconds later, Doyoung walked through the door of what Iseul recognized to be the infirmary, a white coat covering his clothes.

"Well," he said with a small smile on his face, "look who's back."

"See to her wound," Taeyong demanded. Any kindness had left his tone, and he was back to being the cold gang leader.

Doyoung swallowed but didn't seem to be surprised by his friend's behavior. 

"Can I lift up you gown a little?" he asked Iseul. "So that I can see the wound."

Iseul tried to nod, but her whole body was sore, and it hurt to just to breathe.

"Yes," she whispered.

Doyoung gently grabbed the hem of the cloth, revealing a blood-soaked bandage around Iseul's ribcage.

"Shit," she heard Doyoung curse under his breath.

"What?" Taeyong got up. "What is it?"

"I think the stitches ripped open."

Before Taeyong could speak, Doyoung turned around to grab a bottle of anesthetic and a needle.

"I'm gonna have to do put you to sleep again, Iseul," he said with an apologetic smile.

"Is that really necessary?" Taeyong asked. "It can't be good for her body to have too much anesthetic through her veins within such a short amount of time, right?"

Doyoung pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Would you rather have me stitch her up while she can feel everything?" he said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

No, Taeyong thought. Of course not. He had been stitched up while being fully awake before, and he wouldn't want Iseul to go through that too. Especially not after being shot.

He kept quiet, and Doyoung went back to work.

"I hope you're not scared of needles," he smiled.

Iseul smiled back, but hers was weak and showed her nervousness.

"It's alright," Doyoung tried to reassure her. "I'll be quick and you won't feel a thing."

He was right, Iseul didn't have time to worry that Doyoung was already putting away the needle.

"It'll take a few minutes before it starts to kick in."

He turned to Taeyong, "Perhaps you can use this time to go get some rest."

"I'm fine."

The reply was short and cold. Taeyong didn't seem to appreciate the suggestion.

Doyoung sighed, as though this wasn't the first time they had this conversation.

"Listen," he said, "Iseul is fine now, all I'm going to do is put some new stitches, nothing risky. Your presence here won't be of any help and you look like hell. So got get some rest, and I'll come get you when I'm done, alright?"

Iseul could see how Taeyong's presence seemed to distract Doyoung. She couldn't blame him. Taeyong was observing his every move with such insistence that anyone would feel uncomfortable doing anything in this situation.

"Doyoung's right," she spoke. Her voice came out raspy, but she didn't care. She had gotten Taeyong's attention. "You look like you haven't slept in days, and I'll be fine."

Taeyong's eyes darkened, a sign that he didn't like the idea. If anything, that seemed to make him angrier.

But it still seemed to convince him as he grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair next to Iseul's bed, and left the room without another word.

As soon as he was out, Doyoung let out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry," he said. "But he's been on my back for the last couple of days."

Iseul frowned.

"What do you mean?"

He looked at her with a questioning look, "You don't remember, do you?"

"I remember Park," she said with a shiver. "But that's all."

"You were shot, Iseul."

His voice was soft, but the word weren't and she gave him a confused look.

"We'll tell you everything later, right now, I need you to calm down and relax, or else the anesthetic won't work."

Iseul silently agreed and let herself relax in the bed.

"You said he looked like he hasn't slept in days," Doyoung quietly said after a while.

She didn't say anything and let him continue.

"That's because he hasn't."

Iseul wanted to ask why, but when she tried to, she realized she couldn't. The anesthetic was starting to kick in.

Doyoung didn't wait for her to say anything, and carried on.

"He stayed by your side at all times. Day and night. Wouldn't even leave when I stitched you up, and that wasn't pretty. He wouldn't let people get too close to you, either."

Iseul didn't know if Doyoung was being honest, or if he was simply trying to make her feel better after Taeyong's behavior.
Maybe he was just trying to help her relax as well.

Whatever it was, the words warmed her heart, and she closed her eyes, letting herself fall asleep.