/\/\/\
When Daechul regained his consciousness, his left side of the chest was aggressively flaring in white hot pain.
His memory was slowly getting back, informing him about the attack that he and his men had encountered. The need to jump into action and take revenge was quickly silenced, when the shift of the aching muscles jostled the wound and the pain got more pronounced.
The man groaned, regained to his fate, and slowly opened his eyes.
White walls, ceilings and shiny tiles gave away his location. It was the infirmary, located in the same building that the headquarters were. The room was spacious enough to hold at least a few patients at the same time. Despite knowing this place by heart, the man was never on the receiving end of the treatment. Whoever that was, his shoot was well-aimed.
On Daechul's left, a big window was the telltale sign of what time it was. If he had to guess, he would say it was an early morning.
Just as he was pondering over that, the door suddenly opened, and in stepped the gang's most trusted and skilled doctor, Yoon Seojun. He was tall and broad shouldered. The man possessed raven black hair, with carefully styled bangs. A pair of round glasses sat up on his nose.
Seojun was focused on reading something from the charts he was carrying, so the man did not notice his patient being awake.
Daechul took that as his que to finally speak up. He cleared his throat and the sound alone was enough to alert the doctor. His throat was dry as a sandpaper.
"Daechul, good morning," Seojun greeted while pouring some water into the paper cup, set on a small bedside table. "Here, slow sips."
After he was done drinking, Daechul tried to sit up, but the wound protested, and he lamented, falling back into the sheets.
"Careful, don't open it back up."
The man nodded.
"How long was I out?"
"Almost twenty four hours. Your injury was serious and took a lot of energy out of you. "
Daechul was irritated. So much valuable time was lost. He didn't even know what happened to his men after he lost consciousness.
"What happened?"
Seojun shook his head, while coming to check Daechul's wound.
"I know just as much as you. The wound isn't infected, and it's healing nicely. You'll be up and running in no time, Daechul," doctor promised.
"Can you get a hold of Kimoon or Eunsang for me? I really need to talk to someone about this."
Seojun disapprovingly clicked his tongue, but nodded in agreement.
"Alright. But you have to rest and be very careful not to jostle the injury."
Daechul agreed, and the doctor left the room.
/\/\/\
He only found out that he fell asleep, when Daechul opened his eyes and saw the room looking much brighter than before. The man took in his surroundings once more, slowly coming face to face with Eunsang and Kimoon. Both men looked worried and tired. Kimoon was pacing the room, seemingly deep in thought.
"Hi, Daechul", greeted Eunsang, with a relieved smile on his face.
"Tell me everything", Daechul went straight into business.
Kimoon stopped his movements and came closer to his friend.
"I was with Minsoo when I got the call from Jongil. He told me that he decided to meet you earlier than was planned because of something urgent, and headed straight here. But when he and his men were nearing the building, they picked up on the shooting sounds. Jongil told me that he stopped the car a bit further away to be unseen, and went to investigate. He found you out cold and five of our men dead. Only one of us was still holding on, but he got injured too. Jongil was quick to fire his gun. Unfortunately, the perpetrator still got away. His men went chasing after, while he brought you inside and found a doctor. We got there as soon as we could but you were still asleep, so me, Eunsang and Jongil met up to discuss our further plans. Eunsang also contacted Sunmi."
Daechul was quiet for a while, trying to piece what he heard and pondered on what to do next. This was going on way too long. Chungee knew that he had the higher ground, and was clearly taking advantage of that.
"Do we know who those bastards were? Was it Kim's gang?"
Eunsang shook his head.
"Technically, we don't, but given the situation, most of us believe that it was Chungee and his minions."
Daechul cursed.
"I can't be stuck in here while that coward is hiding somewhere, I need to do something."
Kimoon was quick to disagree.
"You're injured, Chul. The wound was so serious, that if Jongil and his men weren't there when they did, it was likely that you would have bled to death."
Daechul took a deep breath.
" I'm still here, and ready to fight. If I take it easy, I'm sure everything will be just fine. "
Eunsang and Kimoon glanced at each other, until Kimoon sighed.
"Well, you're the boss, Daechul. Besides, you would still be doing as you please even with our disapproval, so."
All three of the men laughed.
"Okay. I want you to drive me to Wons'. Their bed is way more comfortable than this. I will sleep there for a bit, and then we can start taking action."
Both men nodded.
/\/\/\
When Daechul, Kimoon and Eunsang reached Won house, the sun was high in the sky, with a few stray clouds swimming through the blue.
Daechul carefully exited the car. The wound was still blazing with pain, but Seojun promised that it would pass, as he injected some painkillers just as the men were ready to go.
Maya was the first one to meet all three of them in the lobby.
"Oh my God, what happened?!"
"I'm alright, mom."
"No you're not, Daechul!"
Eunsang stepped forward and shook his head.
"He's exhausted right now, Maya. We should let him rest. I will tell you everything we know later, okay?"
Maya slowly nodded.
"Do you need anything, baby?"
Daechul smiled.
"I just need to sleep, mom. I will be alright, it wasn't that bad."
Maya shakily sighed, obviously very affected by her son's well being.
"Okay. Rest well. I love you."
" I love you too, mom."
Then the men were on the way, with Kimoon supporting Daechul's left side and Eunsang looking over his right one.
Just as they were done climbing the stairs, Minsoo emerged from his room down the corridor.
When he saw the state Daechul was in, limping and sweating because of the strain his body was experiencing, the boy was quick to close their distance.
"Oh god, what happened Daechul?"
"I got shot."
Minsoo's face turned into that of horror.
"What?!"
His hands were uselessly hovering over Daechul's toned body, as if trying to find a purpose for his worry.
"Calm down, Min. He's doing alright. Some sleep and Daechul will be good as new", Kimoon assured his brother.
Daechul nodded.
"There's no need to worry, Minsoo."
Minsoo stubbornly shook his head, and opened the door to Daechul's room, while his brother and friend were busy helping their boss walk.
When he sat down in his bed, Minsoo fetched a cup of cold water for the man.
"Here, drink this. You look like you could pass out right at this second."
Daechul gratefully smilled, and chugged the water down. The way it went down his dry throat and soothed it felt almost euphoric.
"Thank you."
Minsoo just nodded, instead going for the man's forehead, seemingly checking his temperature. Daechul sat still as a statue during that, clearly flustered because of Minsoo's bold actions.
"Your temperature is normal."
Daechul nodded.
"Are you a doctor?", jokingly asked to lighten the tense and intimate atmosphere.
"A nurse in training. Well, actually not yet. I start school this september. "
Daechul furrowed his eyebrows.
"How old are you?"
"Eighteen."
Daechul was left speechless. He thought that the boy in front of him was no older than sixteen.
"Wow, could have fooled me."
Minsoo chuckled.
"I get that a lot."
Daechul laughed, suddenly feeling relaxed.
When it got quiet, both of them suddenly realised that Kimoon and Eunsang were nowhere to be seen, as if trying to grant them some privacy. And that realisation seemed to fluster Minsoo, who got red in the face very quickly.
"Well, I'll be going then. Get some rest, Daechul."
Daechul nodded, grateful for the distraction that Minsoo had given him, but the fatigue was catching up to him, and the man carefully laid down after taking off his shoes.
Minsoo said his farewells, and quietly left the room, softly closing the door after himself.
Then it was Daechul and his thoughts once again.
The man got comfortable and closed his eyes, eager to rest some more.
But when he wakes up, Daechul and his men will have a very important job to do. To find Kim Chungee and kill him.
/\/\/\