Chapter Text
“Out of the pool, Minho.”
Minho freezes, breath quickening, staring at Taeju’s chest area, unable to meet the older man’s eyes.
“I don’t have all day.”
Jisung’s hands tighten on his shoulders. “Do not get out,” he whispers. “He’s still on the other side of the pool-”
“SHUT UP!”
Jisung gasps at Taeju’s scream, then slips his hand down into the water, searching for Minho’s. He finds it and threads their fingers together, squeezing his hand in what he hopes to be a reassuring manner. “You shouldn’t be here, Taeju. There’s staff and teachers here, someone is going to hear you. You should go before you get into trouble.”
Taeju flashes a grin, and the glint of the moonlight on his white teeth sends a shiver down Jisung’s spine. “Oh I don’t think that will be a problem. Minho’s always been good at evading the teachers he doesn’t like and… getting close with the ones he does.”
Minho stiffens.
“Go on, Minho,” Taeju taunts, leaning against the pool fence. “Tell him what a good teacher’s pet you were.”
Jisung knits his brows. “Min, what’s he talking about?”
“Well, back when Minho was still high school-”
“NO!” Minho yells. “Not Jisung, don’t-”
“Min, it’s okay-”
“NO, IT ISN’T”!
He turns around, eyes flashing in fear. “Things happened and they’re not- they’re not good- not HIM,” Minho becomes more hysterical with every word spoken, spinning from Jisung to face Taeju again, finding the man now rifling through his bag. “I’ll come with you, just leave Jisung out of this, please, please-”
“NO!”
Jisung and Taeju shout the word at the same time, Jisung trying to grab Minho’s shoulders again while Taeju flings the bag away. The boys’ eyes zero in on the silver, shining object now resting in his hand.
“You’ve messed me around long enough. Now we’re doing things my way.”
“I can’t get hold of either of them,” Bambam says, phone pressed to his ear on the ninth ring. “Why aren’t they picking up?”
Chan frowns. “Maybe there’s no service. It’s pretty far out.”
“I can’t get hold of Felix or Changbin either,” Hyunjin calls from the backseat. “I think they said they were drinking tonight, so they might be out at this point.”
“Fuck,” Bambam hisses.
Chan reaches over to place his palm on Bambam’s thigh. “There’s enough of us here,” he says quietly. “Besides, they might be fine. We might be freaking out over nothing.”
“I’m texting Seungmin too,” Jeongin says. “It’s late and he sleeps early, but if I keep texting it might annoy him into waking up.”
Bambam gives a half-choked laugh. “I hope.” His breath hitches and he tries to calm down. “I think we should call the police. If nothing’s happening, I can take responsibility-”
“I saw Taeju’s eyes this morning.” Hyunjin reaches over the seat to squeeze Bambam’s shoulder. “There’s something there… not right. We know he’s not a good person. If you think we should call the police, go ahead.”
“I’m taking as many shortcuts as I can,” Chan says, focused on the road. “If the police need to come, we might make it there first. We don’t want to deal with something alone.”
Bambam swallows. “I’m gonna call.”
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Seungmin stirs under his single sheet. It’s too hot for anything really, but he can’t sleep without something covering him. Even if he doesn’t have any roommate to hide from, like he normally does. Old habits die hard, I guess, he thinks sleepily, flipping onto his stomach.
Buzz, buzz. Buzz, buzz.
Buzz-
“For fuck’s sake!”
He isn’t even meant to have service in this stupid resort, but the cleaner had informed him that “you’re in the end cabin that usually gets service!” And so despite being on holiday, Seungmin still is not safe from Jeongin’s late night harassment.
He snatches his phone, the screen predictably lighting up with the caller ID “twerp roomie”. He accepts the call with a sigh. “Jeongin, I am on HOLIDAY-”
“Have you seen Minho and Jisung?”
Seungmin catches onto the panic in Jeongin’s tone and bounces straight up. “Why? What’s going on?”
“Maybe nothing,” Hyunjin’s voice floats through, “but neither of them are responding to messages-”
“They wouldn’t have service here, I’m in, like, the only cabin that does.”
“Thank god you do,” Jeongin says. “Seungmin, Taeju is Minho’s high school teacher- we think he might go to Minho.”
“WHAT?” Seungmin leaps out of bed, setting his phone to speaker and hastily pulling his shoes on. “What the hell is going on?”
“It’s all my fault,” Bambam cries hysterically in the background. “If I’d known-”
“It’s not your fault!” Chan’s voice is fainter, and Seungmin realises they’re in a car.
“Are you on your way here? Do you know he’s here?”
“We are,” Jeongin confirms. “We called the police too… just in case.”
Seungmin swipes his phone off the bed and leaves the cabin, simultaneously grateful that this isn’t a school camp and he doesn’t have anyone to answer to, while realising this puts him more in harm’s way. “I’m going to their cabin,” he whispers, jogging down the path to the other cabins.
“Okay.”
He arrives at their cabin, and pushes the door open. Unlocked. He flicks the light on, and the double bed is empty, sheets only disturbed on one side. On the left beside table is a phone, lit up with notifications.
“Minho’s,” Seungmin says aloud. The texts are from Bambam mostly, and Hyunjin, Jeongin and Chan. One from his mother, wishing him goodnight. He keeps scrolling. “Shit.”
“What is it?”
“They’re not in their room,” Seungmin whispers, closing the door as quietly as he can behind him.
“Why are you whispering now?”
“Because I don’t know where they are,” Seungmin says urgently, “and Taeju texted close to two hours ago that he was coming to get Minho.”
“You’re a lying, cheating slut, Lee Minho. Jisung deserves to know that, surely, if he’s going to help you cheat?”
Taeju kicks back off the fence and walks lazily toward the pool, brandishing the knife in his grasp.
“Maybe you wanna spare him the truth, huh? Come with me. We can leave now and I won’t hurt him.”
But I will hurt you, is what Taeju omits from the promise, and Jisung latches onto it. “Minho isn’t going anywhere.”
Minho speaks as if Jisung didn’t. “You won’t hurt him at all?”
Taeju’s lip curls into a sly grin. “Pinky swear.”
“No, Minho, that’s not how this works and you know it,” Jisung hisses by Minho’s ear.
“You’ll be safe.”
“The likelihood of him being able to fatally injure us with a knife isn’t high as long as we fight, Min,” Jisung whispers as silently as possible, eyes trained on Taeju’s. “Don’t go with him, he’ll kill you.”
“You seem to like secrets, Han Jisung.”
“Only good ones.”
Taeju barks out a laugh. “Oh I have a good one. I’ll share it with you, because secrets aren’t fun if you don’t have anyone to tell them to.”
Minho shakes his head. “Stop it.”
“Don’t think you can tell me what to do!” Taeju snarls, baring his teeth like a wolf. He relaxes ever so slightly as Minho lowers his eyes once more. “I’m going to talk how I want to, when I want to and you will shut the fuck up.”
Jisung bites his tongue, torn between defending Minho and rational thought telling him to keep his cool.
“I’ve known Minho for a very long time.” Taeju sits down at the edge of the pool, directly opposite to the two boys. He places his legs in the water, not bothering to take his shoes off or roll his pants up. “Since he was in high school, actually.”
He waits for Jisung to respond.
“That’s a long time,” Jisung manages, horribly aware of the way Minho’s entire body begins to shudder minutely against him.
“It is. You see, we met when I came to his school, when Minho was in his second last year. I knew Minho wasn’t like the other kids straight away. He’s not just a pretty boy, is he? There’s a unique aura about him. Sets him apart. Makes him special.”
When he came to school…
“You weren’t a student.”
Minho lets out a harsh cry and Taeju howls, some kind of frightening laughter that Jisung has never heard in his life.
“I was his English teacher. You’re terrible at English, aren’t you? Not your… forte. But Minho… Minho was promising. With extra private tutoring, he topped the class.”
The word choice is not lost on Jisung, and he feels bile rising in his throat. He forces it down just as Minho spins around and throws himself at the poolside, hauling himself out in a panic.
“NO!”
Taeju dives into the pool, and Jisung yells, leaping up beside Minho, but the pool isn’t very wide, and Taeju swipes out against Jisung’s ankle with the blunt end of the knife.
“AH-”
Minho turns just in time to see Jisung fall backwards, the force of Taeju’s hit causing him to slip on the wet ledge and sending him flying backwards. Jisung lands with a loud smack on the pavement, unmoving.
“What did you do,” Minho screams, tears streaming down his face. He rushes to Jisung’s side, only for Taeju to leap out of the water and drag Minho in.
“You ungrateful WHORE,” Taeju yells, slamming Minho up against the ledge, “I’ve done everything for you! You don’t just get to throw me away!”
“Let me GO! You’re hurting me!”
“Nothing else is working,” Taeju hisses. “I’ve given you chance after chance, I came back for you- I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you in line!”
“I didn’t want you to come back to me! I never messaged you after I graduated, I never told you where I was. That was me leaving you!”
Taeju slaps him, hard, and Minho’s hand flies to his cheek, reeling in shock. “Nobody,” Taeju leans in close, eyes glowing with hellfire. “Nobody leaves me. Especially not you.”
“You’ll never see me after this,” Minho spits. “I’m leaving you forever-”
Wrapping a hand round Minho’s neck, Taeju wrenches him off the pool wall and slams him against his chest. “Oh. No, baby. You won’t be doing anything of the sort.”
He shoves Minho’s head underwater, holding him fast as Minho begins to kick and scratch violently against him, bubbles rising upwards. Taeju yanks him above the surface, revelling in the sheer terror in the young boy’s eyes. “You’re not,” he dunks Minho once and pulls him back up, “going anywhere.”
“MINHO!”
The two both turn at the sound- Seungmin’s voice- and the brown haired boy appears at the pool gate.
“Seungmin,” Minho gasps, coughing up water, “please, help!”
“It’s locked!” Seungmin’s yells seem very far away to Minho now. “Get something to cut this!”
Minho launches himself at Taeju, weakened but driven by fear and adrenaline. They grapple with each other, Taeju’s larger frame at an unexpected match with Minho’s light but fit, determined self. Suddenly Minho’s punch misses falls short and the older man grabs his arm and forces him under the water again, twisting Minho’s arm painfully backwards. Feeling himself losing air, Minho opens his eyes, looking for anything to help him.
In Taeju’s waistband, his knife winks at Minho in the dark water.
He grabs it with his free arm and kicks into Taeju’s stomach with all the power he has left, shooting to the surface. He gasps for air as he breaks the surface, ears deafened by overwhelmingly loud shouts and sirens, then is immediately pushed down again by Taeju, who notices the weapon in his hands.
“You won’t hurt me,” Taeju pants, eyes wild, “I’m your everything.”
“You were,” Minho replies, fighting to stay above water. “Not anymore.”
He plunges the knife into Taeju, not drawing back until the hilt can’t go any further.
“Never again.”
Jisung sits in the back of an ambulance, a nurse checking him over for further injuries accompanying concussion while a police officer talks to him. Felix and Changbin stand to his right, Changbin keeping a firm arm around Felix, who keeps looking at Jisung as if he might burst into tears at any moment. Seungmin stands a few metres away, talking to one of the professors from their university and another two officers.
Minho watches him for a moment, then turns back to the police officer interviewing him and Bambam, Chan and Jeongin who sit in some fold out chairs, and Hyunjin, who sits beside him, their legs dangling off the back of an ambulance. The nurse is pleased to inform Minho that his only injuries are a few minor scratches and some bruising, as well as possible psychological trauma from Taeju’s attempt to drown him.
“I’d strongly advise some form of counselling after this experience,” the nurse says.
“I consider myself quite practiced at drowning now,” Minho says wryly.
“What do you mean?” The nurse asks in astonishment.
“Nothing,” Hyunjin hastily intervenes, “he’s joking.”
“Well, we all cope in different ways,” the nurse says, still eyeing him. “Nevertheless, please consider counselling. Not just for the near-drowning, but all of it.”
She waits for an affirmation from Minho, who merely grunts in reply. Seeming satisfied, she turns to the officer waiting. “You can keep on now.”
“Thank you,” the officer nods. She smiles at Minho sympathetically. “I’m actually pretty much done. But Minho, you do know that you just missed hitting anything vital with your strike?”
“I couldn’t kill him.”
“Yes, you could have,” she says. “It was self-defence. You’re perfectly within your rights to do so.”
Minho shakes his head. “It isn’t that. I know I could have. But I purposefully stabbed him where I did, because I didn’t need to inflict a fatal wound. I heard the shouts surrounding me and just did enough to get free so I didn’t drown.”
The officer nods, while the boys look confused.
“But he was going to kill you,” Jeongin says.
“I know.” Minho stands up and pulls his blanket tighter round his shoulders. “But I’m not a monster. And now he knows I’ll never be like him, no matter what.”
Taeju, wrangled into handcuffs, stares unflinchingly at Minho through the window as the police car carrying him passes them, heading for the main road. Minho makes eye contact for only a second: long enough to show Taeju that he survived, and he’s safe. And short enough to be the one to look away first. To leave him.
He turns away and looks past the police cars and ambulances parked haphazardly on the grass and spies Chan’s and Changbin’s cars behind them. “If Jisung is okay, I would really like to go home.”
They elect to all stay at Minho and Hyunjin’s apartment for the night, none of them feeling like they want to be apart at this time. Changbin arrives first, with Chan’s car being the designated food-pickup. While they wait for the others to arrive, Changbin and Felix settle onto the couch in the living room while Jisung wordlessly follows Minho to his bedroom.
Jisung closes the door behind him, waiting for Minho to speak.
Instead, Minho spins round and hurls himself into Jisung’s arms, sobbing silently. In turn, Jisung lets himself cry too, tears streaming down his face as Minho nuzzles into the space between his neck and shoulder.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Jisung mumbles into his blonde, chlorine-scented hair. He vaguely realises they probably both reek of chlorine and should have a shower at some point. “We’re okay. You’re okay-”
“It’s not okay,” Minho mumbles against Jisung’s hoodie. “You could have died- if someone hadn’t got to you in time who knows what could have happened-”
“But someone did get to me. And you saved yourself.”
Minho raises his head, meeting Jisung’s eyes with some mix of fear and love, and Jisung feels he might burn under the intensity of it. He backs up against his bed and falls onto it, pulling Jisung onto his lap and hugging him with all his might.
“Careful,” Jisung says, giggling softly. “Don’t break me.”
“Hyunjin keeps telling me I’ll do that to H- T- to the- to the hamster,” Minho finally gets out, trying to ignore Jisung’s curious gaze. He perks up at the sound of the front door opening and more voices filling the apartment. “They’re back.” He holds out his hand to Jisung. “Let’s go.”
Bambam and Chan pass around bowls of rice and ramen to the group, everyone seated along the couches or on the floor around the living room table.
“You guys could really improve this place with some bean bags,” Felix says. “Then everyone could sit on something.”
“Why are you complaining?” Bambam questions. “You’re sitting comfortable on the couch, young man.”
Felix flushes, snuggling closer to Changbin. “It’s a suggestion. Jisung and I have cool ones.”
“Get on our level,” Jisung agrees, digging into his ramen.
Bambam rolls his eyes good-naturedly. “If you say so.”
After a few moments of eating quietly, Jeongin speaks up.
“Minho, why didn’t you just tell this group you weren’t really dating Jisung?”
Minho snaps up in surprise, and beside him, Jisung’s eyes go wide but he continues to shove food in his cheeks.
“I don’t mean to be annoying,” Jeongin says sheepishly. “We just didn’t get it. Was it really all for the free holiday?”
Minho swallows his mouthful and takes a deep breath, then exhales slowly. “Well, when I saw Jisung on the spot, yes. I needed a partner for the holiday and Jisung was there and,” he says, evading Jisung’s eye, “he is very might type. My real type,” he says for emphasis, stressing that Taeju was anything but that. “But I’m not used to dating, aside from him. I liked Jisung instantly and didn’t know how to deal with it. It was confusing. And when I’m confused I can be… difficult.”
“Tell me about it,” Hyunjin mutters. Seungmin snorts next to him.
Minho glares.
“All part of the charm,” Hyunjin quickly adds, sending everyone into a fit of laughter.
“When Taeju came back, it was so sudden. I got wrapped up in a fantasy as a kid and I was… terribly naïve… I didn’t know what I was doing. And I thought everything was over. I hadn’t seen him in such a long time. Then he came back and…”
He trails off, and Jisung takes his hand, threading their fingers together.
“It was like my mind clouded over and I was like a puppet. I just… did whatever he wanted. Again. But it was different this time because back then I really thought I- well I thought I loved him. In the midst of this I just tried to distance myself from all of you- especially Jisung- because I hoped you’d grow to resent me and not come near him.” He looks at Bambam. “I tried to do the same to you at the end of high school too. But you didn’t leave me no matter how shit I was to you. That means the world to me.”
Bambam’s eyes well up with tears. “I could never leave you. You’re my oldest friend.”
“And you’re mine.”
After a moment, Minho clears his throat. “But mostly…”
The boys all look at him expectantly.
“Mostly I didn’t want to say I was dating Jisung because I felt like if I didn’t do anything to tempt fate… maybe we’d really be together after the holiday. That’s all I really wanted.”
Jisung looks up at him. “You got me.”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Changbin says from the couch. “You’re all sappy.”
“No, it’s cute!” Chan protests.
Felix hits Changbin’s bicep. “What are you saying? You told me you want to marry me last night?”
Jeongin gasps. “You did not!”
Changbin blushes. “I was drunk.”
“Are you saying you didn’t mean it?”
“No, no,” Changbin tries to hug Felix, who pretends to wriggle away from him, giggling. “Of course I meant it!”
Seungmin claps and sits up straight, almost knocking Hyunjin’s head off his shoulder. Hyunjin pouts, but Seungmin doesn’t even notice and carefully places his bowl on the floor beside him. “Minho, Jisung, I meant to sort something out with you two.”
The two in question glance over in surprise.
“That quiz you did, where neither of you got the same answers,” Seungmin begins.
“Not that,” Minho groans. “I was so shitty that day.”
Jisung purses his lips. “You were.”
“Hey!”
“Not the time, guys,” Hyunjin interjects, and Seungmin shoots him a little smile before continuing.
“The first question, the one asking what the other person was wearing when you first met… the answers are always different,” Seungmin announces, smirking at Minho’s shocked expression. “The test is based entirely on perspective, and those different answers reflect the reality of relationships. I’m studying how different personalities work together and the ways they can become similar or bounce off each other after forming a relationship.”
“They become equally clowns,” Jeongin says.
Bambam snorts.
“I couldn’t remember what you were wearing because my ADHD causes me to hyper fixate on things which makes me miss other details,” Jisung tells Minho earnestly. “It was so long ago and it wasn’t important to me. I just know I couldn’t keep my eyes off your face.”
“Rightfully so,” Minho says, but an apple red dusts his cheeks.
Felix shakes his head. “That’s the real reason Jisung said yes to your dumb ass, Minho. He would’ve done anything you asked, I guarantee it.”
“Yep.” Jisung looks Minho right in the eye. “Because he’s pretty,” he grins. “So, so pretty.”
“I’m not pretty, I’m handsome,” Minho pouts.
“That too.”
“I feel like now is a good time to introduce Minho’s hamster,” Hyunjin calls from behind them, exiting Minho’s bedroom with the orange ball in his hands.
“Taro!” Jisung claps his hands happily, causing the others to laugh again, save Minho, who glares daggers at his roommate yet again.
“Don’t you dare.”
Hyunjin ignores him and steps in front of Jisung, squatting next to him. He passes the hamster to Jisung, and everyone coos, secretly at the way Jisung’s eyes light up when he takes the similar-looking creature into his hands.
“Jisung,” Hyunjin grins, “this is Hantaro. Minho named him.”
“Hantaro?” Jisung blinks. “Isn’t it hamt- oh. Oh.”
A smirk crosses Jisung’s face, and the room dissolves into laughter as Minho tries to look anywhere but him. He shifts onto his knees and with his spare hand cups Minho’s cheek and pulls him close, still cradling Hantaro in his other hand. “You love me that much, huh?”
Minho rolls his eyes. “You’re so desperate.”
“Shut up,” Jisung seals his lips against Minho’s amidst the shouts of the other boys, and when Minho pulls him closer he knows there’s nothing in the world they can’t handle.
And they don’t squash Hantaro.