He's carried all sorts of people on his back.
He's carried children of the families he's escorted. Those memories were either his fondest memories of being a mercenary or one of the annoying memories as it depended on the way the kid behaved.
He's carried wounded comrades from the battlefield, their arms slung over his shoulder as they tried to escape with their lives.
His friends when they decided to be a little bit more mischievous and jumped onto his back as if they were children.
Dayeon that one time she twisted her ankle going down the stairs and he took her to the local clinic for a check-up.
But the load on his back was the heaviest one yet.
His legs trembled. His ribs ached as he tried to stay both upright and balanced as he ran over the log. At the same time, he was trying to make sure that they didn't tumble down the hill.
He thought he was in decent shape. He used to run around the wilderness of Grian after all, with at least 30 pounds of gear on his back (It depended on the day or mission). More often than not, he was usually running through the forest with said gear in the middle of a gunfight or a retreat.
Although this was the first time he had been running with 130-pound something human on his back in something of a sprint for the last hour.
In a forest that he didn't know nonetheless.
He was completely and utterly lost in the forest, with precious cargo on his back, and pursuers that were hopefully lost as well behind him.
Good god, he missed his combat boots.
They were heavier than his other shoes, but at least they would have traction on the forest floor rather than the cursed pair of dress shoes he was wearing. More than once, he had barely avoided twisting his ankle by shifting his weight.
His suit was also being a pain in the ass but that was a different problem at the moment.
Kneeling in front of a tree, he carefully set her down, moving even slower when he heard her let out a muffled hiss of pain.
"I'm sorry," the apology slipped out without thinking.
"I-its okay," Ms. Jiyeh stuttered out, no doubt in pain from the way he had been jostling her dislocated knee for the past hour.
He still had no idea what happened.
One second, they were driving down the mountain to get to the meeting location on the other side of the city.
And the next second, Kyong was dragging him out of the upside-down car before hauling him to his feet and screaming at him to take Ms. Jiyeh and run.
Now that he thought about it, he was sure that he had a few cuts on his back after being dragged out of the car over some glass. Along with the cut above his eyebrow.
He was sure that he had more injuries, but he didn't have the time to go over his injuries as he should of.
That was a problem for later.
He looked around the dark forest. The corner of his mouth turned down in the process.
It was damp, dark, and just like he was a few minutes ago, he was completely and utterly lost.
The only bright side was that he couldn't hear anyone chasing them anymore.
A strangled whimper made him focus on his injured boss again," I'm sorry Ma'am," He frowned at her swollen and distended knee. It was too dark to see the color, but he was sure that it was a dark red," I don't know how to relocate knees."
There was a quiet chuckle and then," Yo-ou say that like you know how to relocate o-other things."
He pursed his lips.
He would have preferred that they sat in silence.
But at the same time, he needed to distract her from the pain as well as tell her what he was planning so she could prepare herself.
"I know how to relocate shoulders. Not knees."
His fingertips gently probed her knee, internally wincing at the way the skin was hot.
No doubt the way her knee has popped out had blocked off a few blood vessels. Her knee had to be twice its size.
"Y-you know how to do a little bit of everything. Don't you?"
"That's not true."
He was sure it would be a terrible idea for him to just shove her knee back into place. The knee was surrounded by ligaments and tendons that could easily become pinched if he did such a thing.
The last time he got his shoulder dislocated, was when he was with 007 and 013, and in their panic, they ended up shoving his shoulder back into place. Which ended up pulling a few blood vessels and nerves into his shoulder joint along with the bone, rendering it virtually useless. He needed to go to a local healer for them to dislocate his shoulder again before they properly relocated it for him.
To this day, he still can't extend his right arm completely over his head, a result of the damage from the dislocation as well as other injuries.
He didn't even want to think about the results of improperly relocating a joint as sensitive as a knee.
"I don't know how to multiply fractions." He broke a nearby stick in half and had her hold the sticks on both sides of her knee.
There was a breathy laugh, "Really?" her voice was strained as he used his ripped dress shirt to bind the sticks to her knee," They're so easy to solve."
He tightened the wrapping as tight as he was willing to go," Fractions confuse me," He stopped when he heard another strangled hiss and loosened the wrapping some," I prefer to work with decimals."
That was the best she was going to get at the moment.
Unless she was some sort of fairytale princess and had magical healing powers.
…he's been watching too many Disney movies with Yeongchan and Dayeon.
A shiver went down his spine, and he wasn't sure if he was cold because of the weather, or if it was due to the cooling sweat on his back.
He gave his suit jacket to Ms. Jiyeh.
Although it left him in his undershirt, it would warm up Ms. Jiyeh and help hide her white blouse. A color that stuck out like a sore thumb in the dark green and brown forest.
Besides, out of the two of them, he would rather that he was the one that stuck out.
Chewing on his lip, he went over his options.
To be quite honest, he only had three basic options, each of them having at least two different ways to go about it.
He could pick her back up and either continue to run down the mountain, he would get to the city eventually, he just wasn't sure when. While it was a 45-minute drive up the mountain, it easily took an hour (As he's noticed) to get back down due to the terrain and lack of light. Or he could pick her back up and start heading back to the crash site. It would no doubt take longer to get back up, but at least he would be close to a road he knew once he got back up there.
He could wait for their pursuers to find them, in which he could take them down. Or he could go find them himself and take them down before doubling back to get Ms. Jiyeh.
Lastly, he could leave her hidden before taking off to get them off their tail or leave her hidden to go take out their pursuers, before taking off to find the others and then coming back to retrieve Ms. Jiyeh.
Now to pick which one to go with.
Shit.
It's been a while since he's been in a rough position like this.
He didn't know the mountain well. Meaning that he had no idea if it would continue to be a steep slope the rest of the way down, or if he would run into some natural barriers such as a crevasse or a cliff. He also didn't know how much longer it would take before they ran into the main road at the base of the mountain.
So that was out of the question.
It would be best if he went back up the way they came since at the very least, he had a general idea of where he was going and what to expect.
It would be exceedingly difficult to get back up with Ms. Jiyeh on his back. Not that she was heavy, just that he was starting to get tired, and it would be difficult to avoid their pursuers with her on his back while going uphill, in an area he could barely see.
He was going to have to leave her behind and take out their pursuers.
Shit.
On the bright side.
He knew based on the earlier confrontation, that at least one of their enemies had a gun on them.
Meaning the only thing he needed to do was get his hands onto a gun, and then take everyone out from there.
Without getting injured further, he still needed to find the others and lead them back to Ms. Jiyeh.
Well, this is a shit show and a half.
Fuck him.
He almost forgot how stressful it was to be in the field.
The fact that he has someone to protect with nothing but the barely protective clothing on his back and his bare fists does not make it any better.
Oh well.
Such is life.
"I'm sorry ma'am," He said cordially," I'm going to have to leave you behind in order to take care of our pursuers." He was also going to have to figure out a way to carry at least one of his combat knives while on the job. Because this whole shit of being stranded without a single weapon on him got old after about five minutes.
There was a sharp breath and then a shaky whisper," That's a terrible idea Ijin…"
He told her to get back onto his back," It's the best way for me to protect you Ms. Jiyeh," he whispered back. He used his belt to bind their torsos together before he started climbing the tree," It'll be difficult trying to fight back while carrying you," He let out a grunt as he pulled himself higher into the tree, using both his upper body and lower body strength to help him climb into the tree.
Thank god pine trees naturally grew straight up.
"Likewise," He grunted out as he undid the belt, depositing his boss onto a thick tree branch about halfway up the tree," They know that you can't walk," he dared to be a little bit louder as he used his belt once again to tie her thighs to the branch, decreasing the chance of her sliding off and falling out of the tree," They'll think that you're hiding somewhere in the brush rather than in one of the trees." That was something he would do.
He wouldn't assume someone with a hurt leg, a noncombatant nonetheless, to be hiding in a tree when it would be much easier to climb under a log or a tree.
Honestly, the only reason Ijin didn't hide her away under such places, was because he knew that those hollows were also popular for other animals to use. Most of the time, those same animals were not ones that would take an intruder lightly.
At least in a tree, the worst thing she would run into would be bugs, some birds, the occasional squirrel, and the like.
It was going to be a pain to get her out of the tree, but it was going to keep her safe.
"Why are you doing this for me?" she whispered back. He couldn't see her face in the slightest, but he could tell by the tone of her voice that she was rather uncomfortable with his actions," You're just a teenager. You're not a official bodyguard either."
He answered honestly," You're the major's fiancé," her breath hitched for just a second," I consider the Major to be family," And that was the honest truth," You, by extension, are part of my family," As weird as it sounded," Though even if we had no ties, I would still protect you either way. This is my job."
It was completely silent.
The only thing he could hear was their breathing, and the quiet sounds of the forest as the rest of the world carried on.
"What…how did you two meet?"
He didn't miss a beat.
"I saved his life," along with the rest of the squad. "And he gave me my family in return."
The forest became abnormally quiet.
The bugs stopped chirping, the nocturnal animals stopped moving. Every single sound that should have been going on in a remote location in a forest stopped.
That was a sign for him to go.
"I'll be back."
Without waiting for a response, he climbed back down the tree.
He could hear that voice inside his head that sounded a little bit too much like Ji-Hoon telling him to return the 'be safe' Ms. Jiyeh whispered to him.
His ribs ached as he set foot onto the forest floor.
That was a later problem.
He had bigger problems.
They were about five miles away from Ms. Jireh's location when they heard the gunshots. They sounded close, maybe in the next 100 meters or so.
Kyong instinctively tugged whoever was next to him down to the ground. The small group quickly taking cover behind the nearby trees and rocks," Fuck!" He cursed smoothly, feeling Seokju stiffen up next to him," What the hell is going on here?!"
Seokju and Sung-Ho stayed silent, stewing in anxiety as they heard the multiple gunshots.
They didn't dare move forward until whatever was going on stopped. It would be suicide to run into a gunfight blindly, even more so due to their lack of protective equipment and weapons.
"Do…"Sung-Ho started quietly, biting an unseen lip as he asked," Do you think they'll be okay?"
Kyong pursed his lips.
Ijin was certainly a very skilled bodyguard.
It was almost insane how talented and skilled the young man was. His skill set was large enough and refined enough to put even the most experienced of bodyguards to shame.
But Ijin was still a teenager. And even if he wasn't. he was fighting in the dark, with no weapon, in a forest that was pitch black due to the new moon, along with the fact that he has to protect the madam.
It would be a miracle if either one of them returned alive in the first place.
He didn't dare say that out loud. They were not stupid and they knew the chances of finding their teammate and madam completely uninjured were low.
"Only time will tell."
They stayed hunkered down. They may have been bodyguards, but they were not like police officers in the slightest. And to make things even worse, whoever had ambushed them had also blocked the roads with trees and other debris.
Meaning that it was going to be a while until they managed to get some sort of help from the authorities.
Until they arrived, they were on their own.
It took another ten minutes for the gunshots to completely stop, and they waited for about five minutes before they quietly turned on their dim flashlights to continue tracking their madam.
It was tense, the quiet was completely silent save for the sounds they were making as they trekked through the underbrush.
Kyong was damn impressed that Ijin had managed to get this far. Five miles in an hour didn't sound too impressive to the average person. But five miles in a dark forest with an entire human being on your back while being chased almost sounded impossible.
Ijin was truly something else.
He didn't sense the presence until it was too late.
One second, he was walking past a tree. And the next second, he found himself trying to protect himself from the incoming blow.
"Oh," the blow never came," I'm sorry sir," he blinked in surprise.
"I didn't realize it was you."
He couldn't stop staring," A-are…are you okay?"
Ijin shrugged a shoulder," I can still move."
He was covered in dirt and blood. His white undershirt was a blotchy mess of brown, green, and red. His hand holding onto his side, and they couldn't tell if he was hurt from a flesh wound, or if it was his ribs that were hurt.
There was blood running down the side of his face, the blood trail going over his eye and forced him to keep it shut if he didn't want to get blood into his eye. They could already see bruises forming on his arms and shoulders.
He looked like he had been through hell and back.
Seokju went over to his side, and they knew that he had to be tired if he let Seokju pull his arm over his shoulder," It looks like you shouldn't be moving at all Ijin."
Ijin grunted, jerking his head forward as he led them somewhere else," I am fine," They knew that he was everything but fine," Ms. Jiyeh is over here," just the sound of his voice made them feel tired," I threw her tracker somewhere else. I didn't know if the enemy would use it against us."
That was a valid point.
It was silent, the occasional mutter between the teenagers as the injured boy led them to their client.
"Um-" Seokju stopped suddenly, stumbling as he tried to accommodate for the way Ijin hadn't stopped," That's a lot of blood Ijin." Seokju pulled away the hand that he had wrapped around Ijin's waist. They could see the blood gleaming in the darkness, the blood dripping off of Seokju's fingers.
"I'm fine," Ijin muttered quietly, noticeably quieter," They got me with a knife. Its shallow."
Kyong rushed over, depending on Seokju to support his teammate as he tugged up the hem of Ijin's shirt.
It was most definitely not a shallow wound. He was going to need stitches and at the rate, it was bleeding. Ijin was going to pass out from blood loss before anything.
He pressed his handkerchief against the wound, his heart aching at the small groan that came out of Ijin in the process," Where is Ms. Jiyeh?"
"We're here," Ijin tiredly muttered out, leaning heavily onto Seokju," she's in the tree. Her knee is dislocated."
They looked up into the tree.
They could just barely see her peeking through the branches.
They looked back at Ijin, who was starting to get more and more sluggish as the minutes went by.
How the fuck did he get her up there?
Kyong grunted as he stood up.
Ijin's head lolled against the back of his shoulder.
The crude first aid Seokju and Sung-Ho had given the teenager was enough to stop the wound from bleeding momentarily, but it was clear that Ijin had already lost too much blood to be able to function normally.
Shit the kid was heavy.
"Is Ijin okay?" Ms. Jiyeh asked timidly, her face scrunched up in pain as Seokju carried her through the forest.
"His wound stopped bleeding. But he lost a lot of blood." He looked at the teenager he was carrying. Ijin's eyes were open and it took a few seconds for Ijin to make eye contact with him," How are you feeling?"
Ijin grunted," tired," that sounded about right," Cold." As much as he hated it, that also sounded about right.
He held on tighter onto Ijin's thighs, trying to make sure the teenager was secure as possible before he motioned for Sung-Ho to start moving.
With Sung-Ho leading the way, Seokju and Kyong carried their injured companions through the forest. It was impossible to go as fast as they would have liked. It was still pitch blackout in the forest and the terrain was dangerous to run through recklessly. Especially since they were carrying people on their back.
They still had no idea how Ijin managed to do it in the first place.
Kyong grunted as Sung-Ho helped him over the small rocky ledge they had jumped off earlier, his arms and legs burning as he supported both him and Ijin as they went up the rocky ledge.
The movement made a rush of liquid drip down his back. The arm that had been draped over his shoulder fell listlessly to his side.
Ijin made no move to reposition himself.
"Ijin?" the breaths on the back of his neck felt weak and shallower than he would have liked," Kid."
Nothing.
Sung-ho came over to look at Ijin himself. Sweat dripped down Kyong's face both out of exertion and anxiety as he waited for his teammate to check on the teenager. The longer he stood still, the more it felt like it was going to be even harder to start moving again.
There was a nudge at his side, the sensation of something dripping again, and then a curse," He passed out," Sung-Ho wasn't the only one who cursed under his breath at that point," We still have some time but we need to hurry up and get out of here before he gets worse."
It was one of the few times they were collectively cursing Ijin's speed.
It was silent as he read over the report.
He didn't know if he should be horrified, impressed, or surprised.
20 men.
That was how many people Ijin managed to take down by himself.
In the dark forest, with nothing but his hands, and a gun he took from one of the men.
How the fuck.
Most of the men, like Ijin, had already lost a significant amount of blood by the time the police found them. Granted, the injuries Ijin had caused had not helped the cause. However, Ijin also hadn't hit any vital points. it was the duration they were forced to wait that caused them to lose blood.
Nonetheless.
It was insane.
He knew that Ijin grew up in Grian.
But just what did he do there to be so skilled?
Kyong groaned as he threw the report onto the table, his fingers massaging his forehead as he let out a heavy sigh.
Whatever he did.
It was clear that Ijin was not a simple guide as he said.