Chapter Text
"Hyuuuung-“
“Stop whining, Mingyu, or I’m not getting you anything,” Jihoon bit out, balancing a phone between his ear and his shoulder as he scoured the shelves of the convenience store. Jeonghan, Seungcheol and Jisoo were on the other side, arguing softly over what snacks to get the younger members. Jihoon ignored Mingyu’s puppy-whining through the phone as he grabbed a few packets of chocolate that he knew would shut the taller male up later.
The only reason that Jihoon had accompanied the eldest trio on their trip was because Jun was sleeping off a light injury, Wonwoo refused to leave the dorm and Soonyoung couldn’t be trusted with shopping.
(Jeonghan also gave Jihoon a ‘look’ – the look he gives when Jihoon absolutely had to listen to him)
“I’m hanging up now, bye Mingyu.”
“W-Wait, hyu-!”
Jihoon quickly slid his phone into his pocket, before finally turning back to the assortment of chocolate and sweets in front of him. He was reaching for a few packets of sweets to slide under Chan’s pillow when another hand (an all-too familiar hand) shot out before his, grabbing it before he could even think to react.
“Ah, Jihoon-ie, what are you doing so open in the day?” Chills ran down Jihoon’s spine, and he felt Yoonjun crowd him from behind, trapping him with his imposing frame. Seo Yoonjun was one of the trusted right-hand men in the gang, in charge of training recruits and maintaining other member’s skills, and was one of the few who knew both Jeonghan and Jihoon without their disguises.
But Jihoon hated Yoonjun ever since he witnessed one of his training sessions with Jeonghan, and he could never forget the sickening crack of pipe on arm, or the glint in Yoonjun’s eye and the tears in eighteen-year-old Jeonghan’s. (It was one of the few times he’d ever been close to tears, ever since Jihoon joined the gang) Yoonjun was dangerous, and Jihoon refused to ever be alone near him.
And now, Jihoon couldn’t even hear his hyungs anymore, and the only thought running through his head was get away get away get away where’s Jeonghan hyung where is he-
“Jihoon!” Jihoon’s head shot up to see Jeonghan himself at the end of the aisle, smiling widely and arms full of ramyun packets. “Come on! We have to hurry back!” Jihoon nodded, managing to push himself out of Yoonjun’s grip. He left the sweets in his hand – Jihoon would just give Chan his share – and hurried to Jeonghan’s side.
When Jihoon looked closer at Jeonghan’s expression, more chills ran down his spine, and for good reason. There was something different about Jeonghan – his posture was straighter, and Jihoon could feel power exuding from him. He stared down Yoonjun for a few seconds, before completely reverting back to SEVENTEEN’s Jeonghan and dumping his ramyun into Jihoon’s basket and wrapping an arm around his shoulder.
When Jihoon looked over his shoulder, Yoonjun was gone.
(“Hyung, about the convenience sto-“
“Don’t worry about it, Jihoon.”)
Watching Jeonghan continuously move throughout the interview almost killed Jihoon (figuratively – he’d almost died enough times to know the difference).
Jihoon could see the concealed discomfort in the twitch of Jeonghan’s fingers, or the constant droning of pain in his coiled shoulders. Jihoon knew that Jeonghan was in pain – he was also still suffering from last night. But Jihoon, whilst he was known for being cranky and standoffish with the members, welcomed the soothing touch of Jun’s hand on his lower back, or the subtle strokes of Wonwoo’s fingers on his legs, or even the soft smiles Soonyoung would give him during the quick breaks in the interviews.
Jeonghan, however, never let anyone try and give him comfort during these times, and always placed himself as far away from Jisoo and Seungcheol as he could. It angered and hurt Jihoon to see Jeonghan willingly doing this to himself, but the elder never listened to Jihoon (or anyone really) when it came to his own health.
Jihoon noticed the worried looks Seungcheol would give Jisoo, and the almost-scary determination in Jisoo’s when he’d notice Jeonghan’s continuous shifting. Jihoon knew that where he and Jeonghan were close, the eldest three has a bond that rivalled theirs – despite only having a few years together, compared to Jihoon and Seungcheol’s many years spent training, the three immediately clicked into that ‘eldest hyungs’ role, and really cemented their friendship over the years.
But Jihoon knew that Jeonghan infuriated them sometimes, and that the secrets he was building up would end badly with the three. (did they really have a choice, though?)
After the interview, Jihoon found himself making his way to where Jeonghan had disappeared into the bathroom, intent on giving him a few (soft) words of his own, when he heard voices from inside.
Voices that belonged to Hong Jisoo and Choi Seungcheol.
“… can’t keep doing this to yourself, Han-ie …”
“… what am I doing, Cheol?”
“Jeonghan-ah, please … you’re hurting yourself, and we don’t even know why!”
Jihoon flinched when he heard Jisoo’s voice – the anger and desperation in his tone slapped the younger harshly, and he slowly made his way back to where the others were. He sunk down into the space between Wonwoo and Jun, letting Wonwoo tug him against his body and Jun rub calming circles into his thighs. No matter what, however, all Jihoon could think of was the three eldest members in the bathroom, their friendship precariously dangling in the wind, and Jihoon would absolutely hate to be around when the string finally cut.
The next day found Jihoon in a horrible mood, annoyed at everything – Seungkwan’s louder-than-normal chewing, Hansol’s humming, even Seokmin’s face had Jihoon’s blood boiling.
He knew why, though – Jeonghan was out that day, under the ruse that he “had really important errands, but it’s just a day off and he’ll be fine!”.
Jihoon knew he wouldn’t be fine – he probably would not be back until late, and he would probably not come back unscathed. Jeonghan had been called in a hurry that morning – his father knew that he had a day off for once, and whilst he didn’t want to unnecessarily summon his son, it was also imperative that Jeonghan be present for this event, an event that Jihoon needed not attend.
The Den had finally caught a rival’s leader, one notorious for harassment and being downright disgusting.
(They were all disgusting in this lifestyle, but at least the Den had standards, and some semblance of morals)
The gang members were interrogating him throughout the entire time he’d been held captive – almost two weeks now – but they couldn’t get through, so Jeonghan’s father called in Jeonghan.
Because Jeonghan had never walked into an interrogation and left without information.
(Jihoon had heard stories about what Jeonghan’s done to his victims. He’s too scared to ask Jeonghan himself)
“…-hoon? Jihoon?” Jihoon looked up to see Seungcheol standing in front of him, concern painted across his face. Seconds passed before Jihoon scowled at the older male, standing up and grabbing his bag.
“I’m going to the studio. I’ll be there all day,” was all he managed to bite out, between the roiling anger and drowning concern, as he shut the door behind him.
12:04am, and Jihoon is actively ignoring all Seungcheol and Jisoo’s calls.
He’s also ignoring Wonwoo, Jun and Soonyoung’s texts and calls, and the younger members’ frantic texts.
What he isn’t ignoring, however, is the bloodied blond propped up in front of him, wincing whenever Jihoon swiped the damp cloth over his wounds. Jihoon bit back any noise of disappointment he might’ve made as he cleaned Jeonghan’s cuts, tapping his hip every now and then to keep the other awake.
“C’mon, hyung – don’t go to sleep now. I need to get you back to the dorms,” Jihoon muttered, prompting a tired mumble from Jeonghan and a bitten curse when he accidentally prodded too deep at a knife wound. What did they do to you, hyung?
“He was … fighting back,” Jeonghan had said earlier, in between his grunts of pain and laboured breathing. “I got the-the information we n-needed, but not without … without pain.”
“But where did everything else come from?” Jihoon had asked, because no way could a hostage of two weeks inflict knife gashes on Jeonghan’s upper thighs.
Said male smirked, though it appeared as more of a grimace.
“Father felt that I was getting … complacent, bec-because I let myself get injured … so he made Yoonjun go at me in a ba-battle.”
An hour later, Jihoon had finally gotten Jeonghan up to the dorms. He made sure to check that everyone was asleep before he helped shuffle Jeonghan in, leaving him in the bathroom and ducking into his room to grab his ‘care kit’ from under his bed – a big box full of makeup to cover wounds, first-aid supplies and various bandages and plasters.
When he arrived back in the bathroom, however, Jihoon did not expect to see a fully-awake Chan gaping at a half-asleep, wounded Jeonghan.