— Chained to the man you have loved for a long while, he keeps you conscious while attempting an escape.
pairing: jaehyo x gender-neutral! reader
genre: spy! au, partners2lovers, romance, angst, fluff if you squint
word count: 1k
[warnings]: blood, losing consciousness, restraints (handcuffs), jaehyo being a caring partner, this is too cliché yikes
block b m.list | navi
Dragged along the tiles, your blood smeared against the white flooring. Each crack and crevice pulled at your body until the cold feeling of metal caressed your skin, a bench pushed and screwed into the wall as you laid against it. The air stale and crisp, the man beside you fully conscious and sending daggers into the enemies eyes made you take in a sharp breath.
“Keep your eyes open.” Jaehyo sounded from beside you.
The person that had pulled you into the room clicked something onto your arm, matching it with Jaehyo’s. Pulling at the limb, steel cuffs enveloped around each of your wrists, the arm of the bench holding you both captive.
This was where you had been led to, the deep growl of the man that once trusted the two of you emitting some curse before he slammed the door shut behind him. The rickety building rattled, the sound of his boots creaking up the steps from within the basement echoing over the adjacent man’s voice as he called out your name.
“Hey.” Jaehyo called out, slipping his hand beneath the chair’s arm to raise your chin to his eye level.
His eyes met your bloodshot ones, tears still drying into the skin of your cheeks as his teeth gritted. “This wasn’t meant to happen. How did they find out our alias!”
The blood dripping down your temple was thin, drying in the cold air of the bottom floor. Your head rested against his palm, the comforting heat from his body lulling your eyes closed.
“No, don’t do that.” he hissed, curling his fingers to pull at your exhausted state. “You probably have a concussion from the sound of what they were doing to you in there. Stay awake, okay?”
You could hardly speak, the hours of interrogation taxing, more so that you had to keep your guard up and not give away the case.
“How did they know?” He asked himself again.
Your light chuckle made his head twist to the side, peering down at you under swollen eyes from his own session of pain hours prior.
“We were too obvious.” you said softly, voice just above a whisper as he learned over the hard seat to listen. “The way you kissed me yesterday. It wasn’t right.”
“You asked for a light peck? What was I supposed to do, tilt you back and kiss the breath out of you?” he asked with a scoff, head moving straight forward to send you a side-ways glance.
“Sure.” you laughed, biting at your bottom lip.
“We’re on the clock.” he shook his head, top lip sinking in between his teeth in thought.
“Never stopped us before.”
Your quiet shrill of pain made his feet stomp against the floor, sitting up to bend over the arm of the bench and offer you aid. You had become foxes to the enemies the moment you tried to act as a couple, following suit with the task and wound into the characters. Had you known that you could have played it naturally, use feelings already statured, it could have saved the pain. You were only meant to get intel on the group from within, not have your cover blown a few hours into the case by playing out a fake kiss. Their team did a number on you trying to know what department or company you worked for, nearly breaking you moments before they rushed you out of the room and back with your partner.
“You’re hurt bad.”
Jaehyo’s voice was a whine. His body could only reach so far from the cuffs holding you together, the metal bench bound to the wall not heaving even at his full force. His eyes were wide when he looked down at you, your spent form unable to offer any source of an escape.
His eyes shut as he took in a deep breath, fingers of his free hand running along the handcuffs in search of a skinny spot. The space between where the cuffs linked together with the chain was a simple bolt holding the two pieces together, naturally withstanding in most circumstances, but not to the metal of the bench. The skinny arm fit perfectly between the area, his sigh making you glance up at him.
“This is going to hurt.” he said gently, your nod reassuring him that you could take it.
His free hand and cuffed hand worked in sync, sliding the restraint against the sharp edge of the chair’s arm. Metal on metal, one was bound to scuff, and his bet was on the bolt of the cuffs. A sharp pain ran up your arm at his hard, quick movements, the cuffs on his end slowly breaking loose from every veering blow. Using the arm to his advantage, the skinny piece was wedged perfectly into the curve of the cuffs, scrapping at them enough times for the bolt to become thinner and snap.
“Their choices on handcuffs are terrible these days.” he chuckled.
His laugh halted when he noticed your eyes were shut again, head resting on the corner of the bench, he fell to his knees. His cold hand pressed into the back of your neck, your eyes peeling open to see his concerned form blinking away tears. Other hand tracing the faint tears on your face, his side of the cuffs was still latched around his wrist, digging into his skin as he tried to keep you conscious.
“Hey, stay with me. Y-You have to keep your eyes open.” he stuttered out. “Keep your eyes open. Do it for me.”
“I’ll always do it for you.” you spoke softly, watching a tear slip down his cheek as his teeth shined between his lips. “Always. You’re my partner.”
“You’re mine, too.” he sniffled out, dark brown eyes glistening with a pain and adoration you had never seen from him before. “That’s why we have to get you out of here.” he said quickly, pulling your arm around his neck and lifting you up from the ground.
“Why’s that?” you asked, smile curving at your lips.
“So I can make you my official partner by marrying you.”
