Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jisung couldn’t sleep. His mind was spinning, his head was aching, and his body was longing to go outside. The city streets offered a sense of calm for him; they let him be at peace with himself. The night itself was an oasis for Jisung, and it gave him a break from the stress of the day. From the image he had to put on for his father.

Recently, Jisung hadn’t been able to go outside. He’d been trapped out of his safe place, or more trapped in. It was all his fault. It was all his damn father’s fault. Another threat from an insane political group trying to get him out of office and bam, Jisung’s on house arrest.

The Han family had always been rich and very powerful in Korea, but his father just couldn’t get enough. He wanted more. Always more. More fame, more money. He wanted to be above everyone else in every possible way, shape, and form. His father had worked his way up to be the leader of the whole country. Now, Jisung was expected to act as the proper perfect child and support his ‘oh so great father’. On the outside, he would formally nod and agree with his father. On the inside though, he’d be living in the living hell his father had created for him.

Jisung tossed and turned in his bed to the point in which he heard footsteps coming from the room next to him.

“Jisung?” He heard a faint whisper from the doorway and he turned so he was facing the figure.

“What do you want, Hyunjin?” His bodyguard frowned at his response, crossing his arms.

“Were you having a nightmare?” Jisung shook his head slightly, stood up and slowly walked towards him. As he approached him, Hyunjin skeptically raised his eyebrows.

“Hyunjin,” Jisung clasped his hands together, “can we go outside for a walk?” Hyunjin sputtered at his request, immediately shaking his head furiously.

“No way, Jisung. As your bodyguard-”

“You’re supposed to protect me, yadda yadda. That’s why I asked you. Seungmin’s way too uptight… “‘Oh no Mr. Han, that’s too dangerous.’” Jisung impersonated his other bodyguard, lowering his voice to make it sound goofy. Hyunjin snickered at this, then realized that he shouldn’t, and awkwardly covered it with a cough. The faint smile remained on his face as he just shook his head again.

“Fine. I’ll go by myself then.” Jisung then abruptly shut the door on Hyunjin, locking it and quickly changing into casual clothing, a simple sweatshirt and ripped jeans. As he precariously peered out of the bedroom, he saw Hyunjin standing in all black, his foot tapping impatiently.

“Come on, slowpoke. Let’s get out of here before Seungmin finds out.”

“Before Seungmin finds out what?” The voice made the two of them jump, and their eyes widened in surprise.

“F-Find out nothing! Nothing at all Seungmin…” Hyunjin awkwardly chuckled. Seungmin shook his head, and just pointed to the living room. The two others hung their heads and slowly shuffled into the room, plopping on the couch.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Seungmin inquired, his voice slightly agitated because neither of them would look him in the eyes. Jisung just shrugged, glancing up to see Seungmin’s cold gaze. He quickly put his head back down.

“Because you wouldn’t have let me go outside...” Jisung mumbled. Seungmin just sighed.“I need coffee,” he said, strolling into the kitchen. The younger quickly lifted his head up, looking at Hyunjin. His eyes looked panicked, and he quickly nodded towards the door. Jisung’s eyes widened, and he quickly nodded in agreement, standing up and quietly made his way towards the door. Hyunjin followed behind him.

“I can tell you guys are trying to leave!” Seungmin called from the kitchen. Jisung froze, and Hyunjin just sighed loudly.“Do you want to come with us?!” Hyunjin asked, and motioned for Jisung to keep walking. Jisung quickly picked up the pace, making his way to the door. As he slowly opened it, the door creaked loudly, causing both of them to wince.

Hyunjin suddenly shoved Jisung out of the door, grabbed his hand and broke into a run.

“Hwang Hyunjin, I swear to God-” Seungmin’s yell could be heard from inside the apartment as the two of them raced for the stairs, Jisung stumbling at the sudden movement. Hyunjin just chuckled as he threw the door the staircase, letting go of his hands and taking the steps two at a time. Jisung looked behind his back to see if Seungmin was following them, which he was and quickly followed Hyunjin.

By the time that they had reached the bottom of the stairs, Jisung had a stitch in his side.

“Shoot!” Jisung yelled, Hyunjin turning around and rolling his eyes.

“Hurry up, slowpoke!” he yelled back, then continued to run. Jisung’s side screamed in protest, but he just slowly followed after him. His motivation was restored when he heard footsteps thundering down the stairs from a few flights above.

They quickly made their way outside and as far away from Seungmin as possible. The streets were practically empty apart from a few cars and a person or two walking along the sidewalk, which was good for Hyunjin and Jisung's frantic running. If Seungmin caught them, they were in for a good scolding.

Eventually, they slowed down, Jisung bending over to catch his breath. Hyunjin impatiently tapped his foot as he waited, looking up then back at him every few seconds.

“Hurry up. We don’t want to get caught...” Hyunjin murmured to him through clenched teeth. His warning sped up Jisung’s rest time, the younger standing up again.

“Ready?” Hyunjin asked. Jisung only managed to answer with a meek nod.

Hyunjin began to lead Jisung down some suspicious-looking alleyways to somewhere Jisung didn’t recognize at all. He blinked, looking at the area around him. The area itself seemed rundown and depressed, and a lamppost flickered slightly as they walked by it.

“Hyunjin?” Jisung asked, holding his side as he walked next to him.

“Yes?” Hyunjin rounded another corner as he replied.

“Do you know where we are?” Jisung looked around dubiously as they approached a pedestrian crossing. Hyunjin looked slightly confused as he looked at the street name, but didn’t comment as they briskly walked across the street.

“Of course I know where we are! Why wouldn’t I know where we are?”

“Well... you’re not very good at directions, Hyunjin. Didn’t you almost fail that test? The-"

“Okay, just shut up already! I don’t know where  we are, but I’ll just look up how to get back on my phone.” He reached into his coat pocket and his eyes widened in surprise.

“I left it at the apartment.” He looked at Jisung sheepishly, running a hand through his hair. He calmed down for a second, then reached back into the pocket of his jacket, frowned, then checked the pocket on the inside. He cursed loudly, then looked back at Jisung.

“I forgot my taser. And my gun. We’re screwed if someone recognizes you. Especially where we are. It doesn’t look like a great neighborhood.”

“Don’t worry, just because you forgot your phone doesn’t mean I forgot mine.” Jisung pulled out his phone, tapped the screen, and nothing happened. He frowned, pressing the power button to see if he had turned it off, but a red light showed up to signify that the phone was dead. He looked over at Hyunjin, beginning to panic slightly, and stepped closer to his bodyguard.

“We’re done for. I’m gonna lose my head for this. Your dad is gonna kill me. My boss is gonna kill me!” Hyunjin grabbed Jisung’s wrist, beginning to head back in the direction that they had come from. Jisung flinched away, wrenching his arm out of his grip. His bodyguard looked back at him.

“Jisung, I’m sorry-" Jisung shot a glare at Hyunjin, stopping all apologies that he was about to convey. He turned around slowly, then began to walk, Jisung shuffling behind him. The atmosphere was suddenly very awkward, and neither spoke a word. Hyunjin began to walk down another street neither of them recognized.

“We’re just going to head further away from where we’re trying to go. I say we just find a bus stop or something,” Jisung said.

“but it’s like, 3 o'clock. buses aren’t running this late at night,” Hyunjin commented. Jisung sighed slightly in response.

“What are we going to do then?” Jisung asked, turning around and looking at the few people out and about. They didn’t look friendly, and Jisung probably stuck out like a sore thumb, wearing expensive jeans and a nice sweatshirt.

Hyunjin paused, finally turning around. His eyes widened and he began to run in front of Jisung, kicking something. Jisung whirled around to see Hyunjin in combat with a person dressed in all black, the only color in her outfit was her bright pink and purple hair hanging out of her hat. Hyunjin managed to kick her in the chest, sending her stumbling back, but that only seemed to slow her for a moment. In a flash, she ran forward, pulling out a gun. Hyunjin took a step backward, frowning slightly. before he could even react, the girl had hit him over the head with the butt of the gun. He fell limp onto the ground.

Jisung scrambled backward, turned, and began to run. As he looked back at her, he tripped, falling forward. His hands braced his fall, but the concrete scraped his palms. Jisung cursed when he saw they were bleeding. He looked up to see another one female in all black, and his eyes widened.

“Look who we have here. Han Jisung. What are you doing out here all by yourself with this pathetic excuse for a bodyguard?” Her voice was smooth and warm, but her eyes were dark and cold as she squatted down beside him. Jisung began to scoot away from her, but she firmly grabbed his arm, keeping him in place.

“Hyun. Get your arse over here.” The pink and purple-haired girl strolled over to the one who was grabbing his arm, pulling out a roll of duct tape. Jisung was shaking violently at this point, his mind going blank.

“C’mere, kid.” She began to rip some off. Jisung attempted to break free again, glancing around in a panic. The people who were near him on the street were running, and he assumed that it was from these women.

“I don’t think you’d want to do that, Han Jisung. We have 3? 4?,” she looked around, a distant voice yelling out something Jisung couldn’t decipher,“4 guns trained on you right now.”

Jisung immediately stopped struggling, and the one known as Hyun put his arms behind his back, wrapping the duck tape around his wrists. The other one yanked him up off the ground, grabbing his arm. Jisung felt hot tears beginning to stream down his cheeks. He choked back sobs as he stood there.

“Why are you doing this? I haven’t done anything wrong!” Jisung managed as she glared at him. This other woman's eyes were a dark brown, and her hair was brown and about to her shoulders. She was wearing a mask, as was Hyun, so he couldn’t see anything else about them.

“Well, let me think...” The girl who seemed to be the leader paused, tapping her chin to pretend like she was thinking. Jisung calmed down for a few moments, taking a few deep breaths as she inspected him.

“You haven’t,” she shrugged, “well, I mean, you have, but it doesn’t really count.” Jisung blinked in confusion, wondering what he had done to offend them. He tried to use his shoulder to wipe away the tears on his cheeks, but he couldn’t quite reach it. The leader seemed amused with this, chuckling slightly as she turned to Hyun.

“What are we going to do with him, JH?” Hyun said as she stepped forward, leaning down to inspect Jisung like an animal.

“Probably beat him up some, gag him, all the normal stuff.” Jisung audibly gasped, his eyes flitting between the two. Everything was blurred because of his crying, and realizing the weight of the situation, began to sob again.

“Why?” he choked out.

“Isn’t it obvious, Honey?” Another one stepped out from a building, a pistol steadily aimed towards him. He jumped back slightly, ramming into Hyun, who had walked behind him. She kicked him on the back of the knee, and Jisung crumpled to the ground again. As he looked back at her, she rolled her eyes as if to say ‘this kid is so weak’.

“What’s so obvious?” he asked through his tears. He looked down at his knee, wincing as he saw the blood beginning to seep out onto the ground. It looked bad, and his head hung slightly as he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Well, let’s see. He’s a disgusting misogynist, greedy, doesn’t care about anyone but himself, and is currently the president of South Korea. Ring a bell, Sweetheart?” Jisung looked out as she stepped out next to Hyun and JH. Jisung finally realized who they were talking about, looking up at them with a slight frown.

“You’re doing this because of my father?” Jisung questioned. The third girl nodded, lowering the gun to her hip. Jisung decided not to respond, letting his head fall slightly once again and thoughts whirled through his head. He had a feeling of who these girls were, and they were definitely not going act any friendlier than they had been.
He heard one of the girl’s footsteps approach him, then a splitting pain on his left side. He flinched away, rolling over onto his good side.

“C’mon. Get up. 9, get his other arm.” JH hoisted him up onto his feet, and the third girl known as 9 grabbed his other arm. Jisung weakly stood there, eventually looking up to see Hyun’s face less than a foot away from his.

“You’re a cute one, did you know that?” she asked, booping his nose. His expression must’ve been funny because she laughed at that. She then turned and began to walk. Jisung was shoved forward, stumbling along behind her as he stared at the surrounding area.

It was empty, like a ghost town. Everyone was gone, and there was no noise except for a faint siren in the distance. He looked up at some of the buildings, then blinked. He saw something. He wasn’t sure what, but it was something. Maybe someone who could help him.

“Hey, you! Help me!” he suddenly screamed, jumping up and down, and the blob he saw in the distance moved. He yelled again before getting a knee to the groin by JH.
9 cussed, looking up at the building and yelling even louder.

“Is it you, you bastards?!” she screamed, walking over towards the building. Jisung looked up again, but the blob had disappeared.

“Zaki! Bogsung-a! Follow them!” Two girls rushed from who-knows-where, quickly following the blob from where it was last seen. Jisung was surprised. How many more people were going to bust out of the shadows at this point?

Jisung glanced from the three girls, all of them looking irate. They looked at him, then back at the building where the blobs had been. All of them remained silent for a few minutes. Jisung remained still since he did not want to make the three of them more annoyed than they already were at the moment.

Eventually, JH looked down at him, a look of disgust plastered on her face.

“Your father’s a monster, did you know that, Han Jisung?” Jisung didn’t respond, looking at her feet rather than in the eyes. She scoffed, turning and letting go of his arm.

“Who are you?” Jisung asked. JH turned to him with a look of confusion on her face.

“What did you say?” she asked.

Jisung repeated the question louder this time, “Who are you?” Hyun looked over from the building.

9 rolled her eyes as she also looked back towards him. “TWICE.” Jisung’s heart dropped.

Chapter Text

TWICE. The nine girls that so passionately hated Mr. Han, the president of South Korea. They had threatened on multiple occasions to kill Jisung, Han’s son, to hopefully make Han resign. Of course, if that doesn’t work, they had other means to get the president out of office. They would just have to finish him off themselves.

TWICE had been all over the news after Han was elected as the president. They constantly attacked government buildings and major supporters of Han; they were willing to do anything to try and get at him and make him step down. TWICE was hellbent.

Jisung looked back towards Hyunjin, who was still knocked out on the concrete. He turned back to 9, his eyes wide.

“You’re T-TWICE?” he stuttered, taking a step backward. 9 nodded, looking at her gun. “As in the TWICE that has threatened to kill me?”

“Your father needs to learn a lesson. So, we’ll use you to teach him one.” 9 giggled as she responded to him. Jisung gulped, looking at the three of them.

He looked over towards Hyunjin again, except he wasn’t there. Jisung blinked, then looked again. He was gone. The blood that was on the pavement was still there, but his body was gone. Jisung tried not to show too much of a reaction as he turned around to see if he had gotten up and walked away, but Jisung couldn't see him anywhere. Unluckily for him, the three members from TWICE had caught on right away and had also noticed Hyunjin was missing. 

“Where did he go?” JH turned towards Jisung accusingly.

  Jisung shook his head furiously and said “I don’t know where he went! He just disappeared. I swear, he was there a second ago!” 

Hyun began to run over towards where Hyunjin had been and quickly glanced around. She turned back and shrugged towards JH, who looked confused as she began to walk over as well.

9 just looked angry again, “I bet it was them.” JH nodded in agreement, and Jisung was just completely lost at this point. 

“Stray Kids needs to learn to keep their noses out of other people’s business.” 9 crossed her arms, glancing around to see if she could see any of them. Jisung also looked around, but as there was before, no one was in sight. He sighed sadly. Jisung looked at the building where the blob was the first time and leaned forward slightly as he saw it had returned. Was it the same people that were there at first? Or was it the two TWICE members? 

The blob moved, then disappeared from sight. Jisung’s hope blinked out like an old lightbulb. Hyunjin's rescuers must have thought it was too risky to try to come back for Jisung. A gunshot rang out from behind him, and the present members of TWICE pulled their handguns out of their holsters. JH nodded towards 9. After taking a final disdainful glance at Jisung, she was gone.

JH took a few steps towards him, her eyes flitting around from one alleyway to another. Seeming very calm and in control, she aimed her gun towards one open area to the next, slowly making a circle around Jisung. Jisung spun around as he followed JH’s movement. 

  He paused for a moment, spotting something. In the alleyway across the street, he could see the silhouette of a teenage boy. The figure turned back, maybe towards someone with him.

  Another shot ran out from behind them. Jisung whimpered slightly, regretting his decision to run away from Seungmin. JH turned towards the shot, shooting into it blindly. The sound of a body falling to the ground made Jisung gag and close his eyes tightly. He became lightheaded and everything seemed to dull in color. Was that someone who was trying to save him? Did his only chance of hope fall through his fingers? Jisung began to cry, overwhelmed with the sense of death looming around him and toying with his head. Despite the horrid images of what happened across the street playing in his mind, Jisung managed to hear JH run towards who she had shot.

  Suddenly, Jisung felt a hand slap across his mouth from behind him. He started to scream, but after he was quickly turned around, his scream fell silent. A set of light eyes faced him, and the boy had platinum blonde hair sticking out of his black beanie. The blonde looked only a couple years older than Jisung. He slowly lifted his hand off of Jisung's mouth and raised a finger up to his lips. Jisung nodded in response quickly and wiped his cheek on his shoulder again. He looked back to see JH close to reaching the alleyway where the presumably dead boy was. 

The blonde quickly lead him back towards the alley where Jisung had spotted him. Their feet pounded against the asphalt as they ran. The blonde shoved him forward. Another gunshot went off. Jisung looked back in a panic as the boy continued to run behind him, looking straight ahead and with no visual change in emotion.

      “Look forward!” he hissed urgently, and Jisung complied. When they had reached the end of the alleyway, a white van was waiting. The side door was open, and the blonde jumped inside. Jisung hesitated for a moment, looked back, then climbed in after him. The doors were slammed, and the van rushed forward, sending Jisung flying backward.

      “Are you okay?” the boy asked, looking at him with a concerned expression on his face. The blonde had straight white teeth and dimples when he spoke. Jisung nodded, although he was confused as of what was going on. He looked down at his knees, seeing them covered in blood. He assumed it was the same for his hands, but they were still duct-taped behind his back. Jisung looked over at the blonde, trying to motion to his hands. He nodded, turning and reaching for something to cut through the duct tape with, coming up with a pair of scissors. 

“I-I scraped my hands and knees, but I’m okay, I guess...” The boy nodded again as he cut through the duct tape. 

"Don't worry, we have a first aid kit. Looks like it's currently being used, though. Your scrapes don't look too bad." The blonde offered a kind smile as he looked at the back of the van.

Jisung looked back and did a double-take when he saw Hyunjin, who had a bloody bandage tightly wrapped around his head. He was laying there, holding ice packs over the bloodiest spots. Jisung turned and looked back at the blonde who had saved him, and he nodded. 

“You saved him?" Jisung asked frantically, pointing to Hyunjin. “You saved him, and me. W-what about the other one? The boy who got shot?!” Jisung suddenly looked even more panicked. He remembered the gunshot. The boy who fell to the ground and never stood back up.

A freckled orange-haired boy in the back piped up, “Present!” He seemed surprisingly cheery for the weight of the situation. Jisung leaned towards him, almost in shock as he stared at him. 

“But you got shot and you fell over and didn’t move-" The redhead laughed, interrupting Jisung.

He lifted up his shirt, revealing a black pad underneath. He patted it and said, “Bulletproof vest, can’t be too prepared! It comes in handy when you have to get shot. Y'know, as a distraction of sorts. The falling over part was just my great acting skills,” he paused to take a breath, Jisung simply blinking in confusion as he continued, “It was only me because Minho isn't too keen on getting shot. It usually is him though if one of us does get shot.” The boy named Minho frowned slightly as he looked at the redhead.

Jisung was drawn to this Minho kid. He light, shiny auburn hair and dark eyes. Something about him just kept Jisung staring. He looked away when he noticed the redhead lifting up Hyunjin's head to give him some water. He gently laid his head back on the fluffy pillow and adjusted it to make sure Hyunjin's head was elevated enough. 

"Hey, Minho. Will you take care of Han Jisung while I alert base?" The blonde pulled out a walkie talkie and showed it to Minho. Minho stood up and started to refill the first aid bin.

The blonde put the walkie next to his mouth and said, “CB97 to base, walkie check."

A bright cheerful voice on the other end responded "Good check!"

"Copy. We have Han Jisung, and whoever else was with him. I am not aware of his name at the moment. We're on our way back. We’ll take a detour just to make sure we aren’t getting followed, then loop around back. Over."

The response was loud and clear, “10-4, base hears you loud and clear, CB97! Over.” The blonde cleared his throat, trying to make his voice sound more serious.

"Base report: SpearB went out to get bagels? I don’t really know. Maybe he’s just craving them? Over."

The young voice on the other end clearly got a kick out of that; he was still giggling when he responded to the blonde. "Copy. Out."

As the blonde known as CB97 put his walkie away, Minho had sat down in front of Jisung with a large plastic first aid bin.

"Lemme see." Jisung pointed to his knees and held out his hands. Minho gently nodded his head and wrapped his palm around one of Jisung's, which surprised him. Minho's hand felt soft and warm, which comforted Jisung.

"Trust me, you're gonna want something to squeeze." He pulled out a disinfectant wipe, and when it touched Jisung's non-occupied hand, he instantly agreed with Minho. The alcohol stung, and Jisung clenched his teeth and squeezed Minho's hand. Minho gently rubbed his thumb on Jisung's and offered him a slight smile. Jisung felt his cheeks heat and was happy Minho was looking back at his hand.

Minho then used a different wipe to clean the blood that had gotten on his hand from Jisung's tight grip. He rummaged through the bin and pulled out Neosporin, two sheets of gauze, and a large rolled-up bandage. It looked like the same kind on Hyunjin's head. He put some Neosporin on his pinky and gently rubbed it into the scrapes on Jisung's palm. Jisung was relieved as all previous pain faded away. Minho opened a gauze pad, gently set on Jisung's palm, and wrapped his hand in a bandage, and trimmed the rest off.

Minho took Jisung's wrapped hand in his and did the same thing to Jisung's other hand. He put bandaids on his knees and gave him a smile, and Jisung immediately looked down.

"What's the matter? Can't handle my good looks?" Minho teased. Jisung blushed at that.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Take it easy." Minho raised his hands up to his shoulders. He gave him another slight smile and headed towards the back of the van again with the bin, leaving Jisung dumbfounded.

Base was not what Jisung had expected. He had expected some rundown place in the middle of a bad neighborhood, like where TWICE had found him and Hyunjin. So when they pulled up to a nice set of apartments, he pressed his nose against the window to see clearly. Jisung was surprised and amazed when they were in the parking garage; it was filled with fancy sports cars with sleek designs. The van pulled into a parking space.

                CB97 looked back at Hyunjin, Minho, and the freckled boy then frowned. Jisung also looked back to see if something was wrong, then it hit him. There was a very bloody, injured guy with a bunch of sketchy people who needed to get inside a fancy apartment building. Surely someone would notice them and call the police. Minho was looking down at Hyunjin, who was breathing lightly in the back seat. He also seemed concerned, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to think of a solution. On the other hand, the freckled boy’s eyes lit up as if he had an idea. 

He looked over at CB97, reached his hand out, and said, “Give me the walkie, Chan.” Chan complied, handing the walkie over to him. The freckled boy fumbled with it for a moment, then held the button down to speak. 

“FLX to base, walkie check.” He paused, waiting for a response.

Shortly after, the same cheerful voice from earlier responded, “Good check!” 

“We are waiting to get in the building. Han Jisung’s friend has a head injury and his clothes are pretty bloody. Over.” 

“Roger that, FLX. Over.” The voice sounded slightly confused as he spoke.

The freckled boy sighed as he spoke again, “Can you kill the building’s power? Over.” 

“Wilco, going off walkie.” After about a minute, the lights in the parking garage flickered out, and it was completely dark for a moment. After a few seconds, the emergency lights slowly lit up, giving off a faint light. 

CB97 climbed into the back, helping the freckled boy lift Hyunjin out of the door. Minho ushered Jisung out of the door before him. As Jisung hopped out of the van, he saw another person, presumably the driver, running over to help with Hyunjin. They moved surprisingly fast for carrying another human being. Minho had run ahead to get the door to the stairs, and Jisung was left to trail behind the group alone.  

Jisung wasn’t sure what else to do except follow the group, so he quickly caught up to the three who were holding Hyunjin. His head was being jerked around so much that he groaned and tried to move.

The driver cursed loudly then said, “Don’t wriggle around or we’ll just drop you, got it?” Hyunjin seemed to get the message because he went still again and they continued to walk towards the door of the stairway which Minho was holding open for them. 

As soon as they went through the door to the stairs, Hyunjin was handed over to CB97, who threw him over his shoulder like a potato sack. He then proceeded to climb up the stairs two or three at a time. Jisung stood there gawking at his incredibly fast pace until the freckled boy who went by FLX tapped his shoulder. 

“C’ mon, Jeongin’s not going to be able to keep the power off for too long.” He motioned for Jisung to go first. Jisung ran up the stairs, closely followed by Minho. When all 6 people reached the top, CB97 opened the door and ran through the halls. Thankfully, it was still very early in the morning, so no one was walking in the halls. 

FLX pulled out the walkie. "FLX to base. IN, you can turn the power back on. Over." 

"Roger! Going off walkie." The second the lights came on, FLX quickly opened the door and shoved everyone inside.

The apartment was the nicest one Jisung had ever seen. The walls were a bright white, and the flooring was dark brown wood. Bright LEDs flooded Jisung's eyes, which were harsh after being outside at night. There were fuzzy white faux fur rugs and large leather sofas; the whole place looked very modern. FLX led them to the kitchen, which had marble countertops and the same dark brown colored cabinets above them. CB97 had carried Hyunjin over to the sofa and laid out a blanket before setting Hyunjin down so he wouldn't ruin the couch. He set a water bottle next to him on the floor, and let him sleep. 

CB97 walked into the kitchen, and the 7 of them sat down at the glass table. As if cued, the boy known as SpearB walked through the door with bagels. 

"I got your breakfast bagels! Let's see, cinnamon for me and Chan, blueberry for Minho, everything for Woojin and Felix, and plain for Jeongin." SpearB sat down and immediately looked at Jisung, then at the empty, sad paper bag, then back at Jisung.

"Crap! I knew I forgot something," SpearB apologized for an unnecessary amount of time before Minho piped up.

" It's fine, Changbin. He can have half of mine. Is blueberry okay?" It didn't really matter what Jisung said since Minho had already separated his bagel and held out half to Jisung, who was sitting across the table. Jisung looked down slightly as he awkwardly took the bagel. 

He looked back at Minho and smiled as he said, "Thanks," and then he turned to Felix. "Do you have any cream cheese?" 

"Oh, yeah. I'll go get it." He brought back a tub of cream cheese and a butter knife, and Jisung went ham. 

"Why in the actual HECK are you putting so much cream cheese on that poor, innocent bagel?!" SpearB was glaring at Jisung, but it was almost comical. 

"It is his bagel," Felix calmly replied. Jisung ducked his head slightly as he took a giant chomp out of his bagel. 

Minho looked forward towards Jisung. "Hey, Jisung. You have a little something on your cheek." Jisung took his napkin in response and wiped his cheek off. "No, no. Your other cheek." He proceeded to wipe his other cheek. "Here. It's right here." Minho had stood up and poked Jisung's cheek next to where the cream cheese was. Jisung made eye contact with Minho, and quickly looked down, blushing. Jisung was surprised at how close Minho's face was to his own. Minho sat down as if nothing had happened, and Jisung awkwardly wiped the cream cheese off of his cheek. What was up with this Minho guy?

The freckled redhead Jisung had noticed was named Felix tried to break the awkward silence. "Hey, Jisung. Did you ever notice that you stuff your cheeks when you eat? Like a squirrel." 

Minho looked over at Jisung and said, "It's kinda cute." Jisung almost choked on his bagel. Cute?! 

Minho leaned over towards him. “Are you okay?” Jisung sheepishly covered his mouth as he chewed, his face turning red. He nodded as he focused on eating the rest of his bagel. He took another bite, looking at the 6 boys sitting around the table. 

“I can’t believe TWICE tried to kidnap you.” CB97, who SpearB had referred to as Chan, frowned deeply as he munched on his cinnamon bagel. “Day are a bunk of berks.” 

“Huh?” Felix said, looking as confused as Jisung felt.

“He said they are a bunch of jerks,” Jeongin translated as reached for the cream cheese. SpearB looked upset for a moment, then just shook his head slightly. 

“Why were you and… whoever that guy is out so late anyway?” Woojin, the scary-looking one, asked as he frowned slightly.

“We were running away from my bodyguard,” Jisung answered. 

“You were eloping?!” SpearB yelled.

“Uh, no. We aren’t eloping. He’s actually my other bodyguard. But he forgot everything.” 

“What do you mean, ‘forgot everything?’” Chan looked over at Hyunjin, who was asleep on the couch.

“His taser, his gun, his clothes. He’s a bit lacking when it comes to preparation. He’s a good fighter and has good instincts, most of the time... The other one is a helicopter dad, but actually smart, so when put together they make a pretty good team. They got swapped from my other bodyguards awhile back after TWICE started getting more serious with their threats.” 

“So, why were you running away from your other bodyguard?” Chan asked. 

“Just to get out. He wanted to keep me inside. But I just wanted to get outside and be away from him and my dad, but then I got attacked by insane people and almost had Hyunjin killed!” He doesn’t deserve to die! My other bodyguard doesn’t either. They didn't do anything wrong! When my dad hears about this, they are going to get fired- Oh god, they are gonna get fired! Because of me!” Jisung’s voice was getting more and more frantic as he spoke, everything rushing out in a blob of hardly decipherable words. Eventually, he just burst into tears, causing them all to stare in shock. 

Chan was the first to come to his senses, looking panicked. He eventually just tried putting a hand on Jisung’s back. Jisung sobbed harder, pushing Chan’s hand off of him. He looked around frantically, down at Chan’s concerned face, then to the hallway. 

Jisung made a mad dash for the closest door and slamming it shut. 

After a moment, he heard a loud bang on the door. He flinched away, scooting across the floor and continuing to sob loudly.

“Open the door, Jisung!” Chan knocked on the door again. He sounded like he was concerned, but Jisung didn’t respond. He decided to curl up into a ball instead, covering his ears to try and block the noise.

He continued to bang on the door, bringing Jisung to a breaking point, and he snapped. “Stop!”

Chan fell silent, and the knocking stopped. Jisung sighed in relief, trying to calm himself down. He squeezed his eyes shut, sniffling. Why was he such a crybaby?  

After a moment, he opened his eyes and examined the room that he had run into. It was obviously a bedroom, a bunk bed pushed against the walls. Each of the beds was decorated with different tastes, one of them being covered in pastels, the other bed was decorated with black. The desk seemed to be decorated similarly, half of it covered in small charms and scented candles, while the other was almost completely bare. Jisung stood and made his way over to the dresser, looking at some of the trinkets. The first thing he noticed was a photo of the 6 boys, all smiling widely for the camera. He instantly recognized Minho, who was practically choking Chan as he grinned evilly. 

Jisung laughed aloud, picking the photo frame up and inspecting it more closely. They all unmistakably looked younger, maybe a year or so had passed since it was taken. As he looked at Woojin, who was standing on the end, someone's hand was around his shoulder. Who was that, and why were they ripped out of the photo?

In Jisung's absolute focus of examining the photo, he didn't notice the lock click. Jisung also didn't notice the door being creaked ajar.

"Jisung?" Changbin asked quietly. Changbin's soft tone didn't stop Jisung from jumping, screeching, and dropping the photo frame simultaneously.

He looked back at Changbin like a deer in headlights, guiltily placing the photo back on the dresser. Changbin looked at Jisung, then the photo frame. He shrugged, walking over to him.

"Felix won't be mad. He isn't the type." Changbin awkwardly held his hands in front of him as Jisung loosened up slightly.

They stood in silence for a moment, before Jisung asked, "Who's the other guy in the photo? The one that Felix ripped out?"

"A traitor who doesn't deserve to be named," Changbin responded nonchalantly. Jisung nodded slowly, curious as to why they had sent him instead of one of the others. Changbin frowned for a moment, trying to think of something to say.

"So, uh.." Changbin stuttered, then nodded to himself. He motioned to sit on the bottom bunk, which Jisung assumed was his. Jisung complied, walking over and sitting on the bed. Changbin sat down next to him.

"Why did you go out?" Changbin asked, most likely out of curiosity.

"We actually tried to sneak out, but we got caught," Jisung said quietly, looking at the ground. He seemed like he was going to stay quiet, but he added, "Then we went out anyway."

Changbin stood abruptly, climbing the ladder to the other bed and grabbing something. He climbed back down, presenting Jisung with a Munchlax plush.

"This is Gyu. You can hold him. Only while we are talking." Changbin said gruffly. Jisung looked up at the plush, then at Changbin. He reached out but paused before he grabbed it.

"Isn't that Felix's?" Jisung asked, clearly confused as to why he was giving him a plushie off of someone else's bed.

"No, it's mine." Changbin's ears turned pink as he held Gyu out. Jisung laughed.

"Does your 'Gyu' embarrass you?" Jisung laughed, taking the Munchlax and hugging it tightly.

"N-no! Of course not! It's just that Felix likes him, so he stays up there during the day." Changbin avoided Jisung's gaze.

"Forget it. I'll just put him back," Changbin muttered while reaching for the toy.

"No! I want to hold him." Jisung held his hand out to stop him, "He's so cute!"

"Gyu is the cutest." Changbin nodded in approval, then sat down next to him. Jisung was smiling broadly at this point, looking at Changbin as he awkwardly stared at the floor.

"So, Jisung, how old are you?" Changbin managed.

"I'm 19. What about you?"

"20." Jisung nodded. Changbin took a deep breath before looking up

"I'm sorry that TWICE got to you. We should've been out there tonight, all of us," Changbin's gaze fell on Jisung's knees and frowned deeply before continuing, "You got hurt."

"Yeah, but it's not a huge deal. I only scraped my hands and knees." Jisung shrugged it off.

"No. You don't get it, Jisung." Changbin sighed loudly.

After a moment, Jisung's calmed down and asked, "What do you mean I don't get it?"

"I mean, stopping TWICE is our only goal, so if they manage to y' know..." Changbin drew a line across his throat, "Kill you... that would basically be an absolute failure on our part."

"Wait, what? Who are you guys?"

"Stray Kids. Our goal is to stop TWI-" Changbin paused when he saw Jisung's expression.

"S-Stray Kids? As in the Stray Kids that perpetrated the mass shooting a few months ago Stray Kids?" Changbin's lips curled into a scowl.

"Are you scared of us, Han Jisung?" Changbin said, and the lack of emotion in his voice made Jisung flinch. "After all that we risked for you, you think we'd just kill you off like that?!" Changbin screamed at him, and Jisung furiously shook his head no.

"No! I mean... uhm..." Jisung stammered. Changbin reached under the bed, pulling something out. Jisung gasped when he saw a knife with a blade as long as his forearm pointed at him. He scrambled backward, dropping Gyu. Jisung was saved only to get killed in Stray Kids' possession. He squeezed his eyes shut, beginning to feel dizzy. He wished Seungmin were there to protect him, to fight the rest of Stray Kids off. They were murderers, as was TWICE. How did Jisung manage to get kidnapped by not one, but two gangs in one night? He was screwed.

Jisung waited for Changbin to rush at him, but nothing happened.

"You shouldn't assume everything you hear on the news is accurate." Jisung opened his eyes to see Changbin stomping out of the room. He sighed in relief, hugging himself tightly.

Jisung heard yelling outside of the room. Suddenly, Felix came barreling in so fast he nearly tripped over Gyu, who had been abandoned on the floor.

"Are you okay?! Jisung?"

"I don't want to die," he whimpered, "I just want to go home. Please don't hurt me, Felix. I don't want to die like the other ones..." Felix's eyes widened in surprise.

"Did Changbin pull a knife on you?" Felix asked tentatively. Jisung nodded slowly, and Felix shook his head.

"He gets worked up sometimes, and when he gets worked up there's no talking him out of it. He just has to cool down on his own. I promise we aren't going to harm you, okay?" Felix's words were reassuring, but Jisung didn't move. Felix seemed a lot nicer than Changbin. With his desk adorned with Hello Kitty accessories and pink candles, he doubted he could be that much of a threat.

"Are you tired? You can sleep in my bed, Jisung." Felix suggested, and Jisung suddenly felt exhausted. He nodded numbly.

"By the way, we didn't kill those people. I'll swear on it. They were innocent, and none of us would do something to someone who doesn't deserve it."

"Who did it if you guys didn't?"

"Someone who was too focused on himself, rather than the people around him. He assumed the worst of a situation, exploded at all of us, and immediately went out and murdered some people. In the end, he just went back to his job and blamed it on us, saying all of this crap about how we are mentally ill."

"Oh," Jisung murmured. Felix nodded and led him to the ladder of the bed.

"Up you go," Felix ushered Jisung up. Jisung climbed into the bed, laying his head on the pillow.

"G'Night." Felix smiled softly, then walked to the door.

“Hey, Felix? Can you make sure that Changbin doesn’t come in here?” Jisung asked, sitting up. Felix looked back, nodding. Jisung yawned, and Felix turned off the lights as he closed the door behind him. Jisung was out within the minute.

Chapter Text

Minho was going insane. Who the heck thought sending Changbin into comfort Han Jisung would ever be a good idea? Now Changbin is throwing a fit and Jisung was probably terrified. Felix had immediately rushed in after Changbin had stormed out, but Minho doubted he was in time to help him from being scarred emotionally. 

It had been a few hours, and Minho was bored. He was on ‘Hyunjin duty,' as Jeongin had nicknamed it. They changed every half hour, switching from one member to another to make sure Jisung’s bodyguard was okay. He sure seemed like he was doing just fine to Minho, snoring softly as he took over the whole couch.

Changbin was pacing the other side of the room, cursing under his breath. Minho rolled his eyes. Changbin took no notice of him and continued to say long strings of curse words.

“Can you stop, Changbin? It’s getting really annoying,” Minho finally interjected. Changbin gave him the stink eye, crossing his arms. His glare would have been enough to shut up Felix or maybe Jeongin, but it didn’t faze Minho. 

“He’s an ungrateful son of a-”

“Shut it, Changbin! He’s scared. Don’t you have any empathy for the guy?” Minho stood up, walking up to Changbin.

“At first, but-” 

“What do you mean, but?! You threatened to stab him!” Minho threw his arms up into the air as the volume of his voice increased.

“He didn’t even have the guts to trust us enough! When I said we were Stray Kids, he flinched away and looked disgusted! After we saved him, I don’t think that’s very appropriate.” Changbin pushed Minho back, starting to turn away. Minho was flabbergasted. 

“What kind of an excuse is that, Changbin?” Minho’s voice was laced with such venom that Changbin turned back with a look of surprise on his face, “You weren’t even there! You went out, to go get some bagels! What kind of we are you talking about?! You didn’t see Jisung break down in front of TWICE, who was going to murder him. You, Seo Changbin, didn’t see how this kid has suffered in the past few hours. You didn’t see his bodyguard trying his best to protect him! He was crying and bleeding and didn’t know if he was going to live to see the next day. You didn’t even try and participate with us on this! You never even help out on most missions, you’re stuck up there on rooftops with-” 

“SHUT UP!” Changbin shoved Minho, causing him to fall backward and trip over the chair he had been sitting in. Minho looked back to the kitchen, where Chan, Felix, and Jeongin were staring at the two of them. He shook his head, turning back to Changbin.

“Stray. Kids. Saved. His. Life. He should be grateful, not disgusted at the sight of us!” Changbin yelled. Minho just laughed. Changbin looked confused, not realizing how flawed his argument was. 

“What you aren’t getting, Changbin is that we are also a gang. We are a gang ; we are wanted . In the public eye, we are criminals, just as much as TWICE. Just because we didn’t do it, doesn’t mean anyone’s going to believe us. If I walked into the police station and cried and insisted Stray Kids didn’t do it, do you think they’ll believe me?” Changbin opened his mouth to say something else, but no sound came out of his mouth. Minho just smiled at him from on the floor. Changbin seemed to compose himself and was ready to fire another argument when Chan finally intervened, “Changbin. Minho. Stop.” Changbin huffed, then quietly left the room. Minho rolled his eyes.

Chan gave Minho a pointed look, Minho offering a shrug in return.

"You shouldn't have done that, Minho. He was already mad." Chan sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"He threatened Han Jisung with a knife! He needs to know that he did something way out of line."

"But still, maybe you should've waited-"

"He wouldn't have listened after he calmed down. I know you are the leader, but sometimes people can't get something through their narrow-minded brains and someone has to get them straight. I know none of you would do it." Minho said then got up off of the floor. Chan said nothing. When Minho looked back at Jeongin’s bodyguard, he saw that his eyes were wide open. 

“Hyunjin? Hwang Hyunjin.” Minho leaned down, and Hyunjin blinked in response. Minho asked, “You are Hwang Hyunjin, correct?” Hyunjin nodded meekly, and Felix quickly made his way over to him. 

“How old are you, Hyunjin?” Felix asked calmly as he adjusted him on the couch.

“19...” Hyunjin murmured. Minho frowned slightly as he studied him. Why is he so young? He's the same age as the guy he's protecting? What was the government trying to do?

“W-where’s Jisung?” Hyunjin asked.

Felix responded, “He’s sleeping in another room. He’s perfectly safe, and wasn’t injured nearly as much as you.” Hyunjin exhaled in relief. 

“I can’t believe I let him go out like that. I can’t believe I came with him .” He shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut. 

“Hyunjin... how are you feeling?” Felix tried to change the subject as quickly as possible, and Hyunjin gingerly placed a hand on his head, feeling where it had been bandaged.

“My head is pounding. I hurt all over. I’ll get better though, my mom always said I have a strong skull.” He attempted a smile, but it quickly faded. He brushed his bangs out of his face, feeling the crusted blood that had dried in his hair. Cringing, he eventually muttered, “I really banged myself up, didn’t I?” 

“Yeah, you really did,” Minho answered bluntly, sitting in the chair next to the couch. He paused for a moment, then asked, “How the heck are you Han Jisung’s bodyguard?”

Hyunjin focused his attention to Minho, his expression something between surprise and anger. Felix’s jaw dropped, and he gave Minho a ‘don’t you dare’ look. 

“Jisung happens to be the same age as you. And you also happen to be 19. I’ve never a bodyguard so young. What did you do to get such a good job?”

“What do you mean, what did I do? ” Hyunjin was definitely irritated, and Felix stepped in between the two, stopping any conflict that was about to take place.

“ Minho , how about you go get Jisung?” Felix said through clenched teeth. Minho rolled his eyes, casually standing up and strolling into Felix’s and Changbin’s room. 

He flipped the lights on, and walked up to the bed, quickly climbing the ladder. Minho reached out to shake Jisung awake but paused as he finally got a good look at the younger boy. His hair was dyed a lighter blonde, and his bangs were swept over his eyes. Jisung’s face was rather delicate in itself, but he looked so vulnerable, laying there. He looked too innocent, too pure to be thrown into all of this. Minho would’ve thought that he lived a protected comfortable life, but the dark rings of purple under his eyes suggested otherwise. Minho sighed, reaching out and softly tapping him on the shoulder. 

“Jisung... ” Minho whispered, and the boy let out a soft groan of protest. Minho opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He decided to tap him again, but before he could, Jisung’s breath became uneven and he started to mumble panicked words.

“St-stop. Please...” Jisung mumbled, gripping one of Felix’s stuffed animals tightly. Minho tapped him again, and Jisung flinched away.

“Dad... please .” His words sounded so desperate that Minho’s hand retracted quickly. Dad? What had Han done to his son? Jisung began to cry softly, causing Minho to panic internally. Should he wake him up? Or leave him? Let him sleep? Let him talk to Hyunjin? Minho wiped a fresh tear with his thumb, then jumped back when Jisung flinched. Minho then decided to wake him up, and gently shook him. Jisung gasped, turning towards Minho. His cheeks were wet with tears, and he looked terrified. When he saw Minho, he immediately turned away, obviously wiping the tears off of his face. 

“Were you having a bad dream?” Minho asked tentatively. 

“No! I wasn’t. I was having a really happy dream, actually. So much that it brought me to tears. Happy tears. It was amazing. Sunshine and rainbows everywhere.” Jisung’s voice was slightly shaky. Minho didn’t push any further, even though the curiosity was going to eat him alive.

“Well... Hyunjin’s awake, and he’s anxious to talk to you.” Jisung’s head turned and he quickly began to scoot towards the ladder. Minho climbed down and got out of the way as Jisung rushed down the ladder and sprinted out of the room.

“Hyunjin!” Minho could hear Jisung’s yell from inside of the room. Minho smiled slightly, walking back into the other room. Jisung was trying to hug Hyunjin, but being warned but Felix. Jisung ignored him, giving his bodyguard a big hug instead. Hyunjin hugged back.

They began to chatter excitedly, speaking so fast that Minho could hardly decipher what they were saying. 

“I’m so glad you’re not dead. I was so scared-”

“I was too! Your body literally vanished out of thin air!”

“Really?” 

The conversation continued on for a while. Minho looked at them in near shock. They sounded so… happy… just to be near each other. After what had happened, Minho wouldn’t have been in a good mood for weeks. But these two, these two , they seemed content that they survived and just moved on in an instant. Minho was boggled. 

The excited chattering eventually died down, and Jisung was gripping Hyunjin’s hand tightly so he wouldn’t disappear again. 

“Sorry to interrupt your… reunion? But I think this is a good time to explain some things.” Chan stepped up next to them, and they both nodded obediently. Chan smiled gratefully, sitting next to Hyunjin on the couch.  

“So, as Jisung knows, we are Stray Kids.” Jisung nodded. Hyujin on the other had turned sheet white, his eyes widened with terror. Minho grimaced as he saw the bodyguard’s reaction. He wondered if everyone was like Hyunjin when they thought of the gang. He did realize that they were wanted for murdering 12 people and injuring god-knows how many. Minho internally gagged at the thought of a dead body.

Minho finally snapped out of his thoughts, and Chan was speaking to Hyunjin and Jisung, "So basically, we are here to stop TWICE. Because even though Han may not have the best policies, scaring someone out of office is not the way to go about it. On that topic, Jeongin!" As Chan turned around, Jeongin came bounding in, a computer tucked neatly under his arm. He smiled pleasantly, sitting next to Chan and opening the laptop.

"Okay. Hi, I'm Jeongin by the way." Jeongin briefly introduced himself to Hyunjin, who acknowledged him with a nod. Jeongin continued, "So Minho and Felix actually managed to get some footage of you guys being... like kidnapped? They really didn't realize it was you at first, they just knew it was TWICE up to no good."

Jisung's appalled glance towards Minho quickly made Jeongin reassure him, "Minho and Felix would've saved anyone, they just wanted to get some things so the news would be informed on TWICE's activities."

Jisung huffed, looking at Minho again. Minho didn't know what to say with Jisung's judging eyes boring into him, so he didn't say anything at all.

"Anyways..." Jeongin coughed, and Jisung returned his attention to the younger. Minho took an unsteady breath. Why would he be so concerned about what Jisung thought of him? Probably because he's Han's son. He could turn them in any time he wanted and be treated like a national hero. Was he scared of Jisung? Minho frowned, That couldn't be it.

"Here's a thumb drive of the footage. You can watch it when you get home to decide if you want to send it to the news. If not, you can do whatever. Destroy it, I don't care. We don't have another copy, so this is it. If you destroy it, then it's gone. Forever. Kay?" Jisung nodded, accepting the hard drive the younger was handing to him.

"T-Thank you..." Jisung bowed his head politely, and Jeongin laughed, surprised at the elder's formality. He waved his hands in front of him in an embarrassed manner, giggling a bit.

"It's really no problem at all, don't worry about it." Jeongin smiled sweetly, and Jisung returned it. Minho saw it and rolled his eyes, walking over to the kitchen and sitting on a barstool. Felix had found his way back to the kitchen and was sitting on the other seat.

Minho stared blankly over at Jisung and Jeongin for a while. Eventually, Felix decided that making a mosquito noise and having it come to its unfortunate end on Minho's neck was a good idea.

As soon as Felix's palm collided with the back of Minho's neck, he lurched forward, causing the chair to tip. In a panic, he grabbed the edge of the countertop and pulled himself back up, shooting a glare towards Felix.

"What the- dude? Why did you do that?!" Minho exclaimed.

"You seemed too focused on nothing," Felix's excuse made Minho huff in annoyance, "or were you staring at something? Or someone in particular?" Felix teased. Minho glowered at him.

"I was not staring at anyone, Felix."

"Well... it looked like you were staring at Jisung over there-"

"I wasn't!" Minho interrupted hastily. Felix laughed, giving him a pointed look.

"Well... I was just hoping that he wouldn't stab us in the back. Like, tell the government where we are... and stuff." Minho's face heated up and he looked away from Felix.

"What kind of stuff ?" Felix said, wiggling his eyebrows at him. Minho recoiled in disgust.

"Not that kind of stuff! We literally met him yesterday!"

"So you are implying that in the future that you would think of that kind of stuff."

"No!" Minho screeched loudly enough that it got the attention of the three sitting on the couch. Minho awkwardly chuckled.

"Sorry..." he muttered, and the three went back to talking without a second glance. When Minho was sure that they weren't paying attention, he punched Felix in the arm.

"Wow, I've never seen you like this, Minho." Felix rubbed his arm, "Do you at least think he's cute? I think he is."

"I-  Don't you like Changbin?" Felix shrugged.

"I mean, I do. He's hot. But I don't think I've got a chance with him, so I have to consider my options." Felix smiled, but it didn't seem to reach his eyes. Minho didn't respond, looking over at Jisung instead.

"What if he's straight? And you know, you're also a gang member." Minho finally asked. Felix sighed.

"You don't know what you are talking about, Lee Minho. He practically oozes gay vibes. I can feel the gay from here. And once we get you-know-who behind bars, we won't be gang members anymore."

"You-know-who? Who are they, Voldemort?"

"Shut up."

"Okay."

Chapter Text

Jisung didn’t want to leave Stray Kids' base. He liked the warm, friendly atmosphere and how no one was left out (except for Changbin when he threw the occasional temper tantrum.) But there he was, Hyunjin and him, sitting in the back of the van again. Minho and Felix had accompanied them again, and Chan was driving this time. The awkward silence was palpable as they sat; none of them saying a word. Jisung was seated next to Hyunjin, and he offered a small smile. His head had a bandage wrapped around it, and Jisung felt sick just looking at it. It was his fault that Hyunjin got hurt. He smiled back, but it was too fake. Hyunjin sighed, suddenly looking tired. He put a hand on Jisung’s shoulder, leaning forward to whisper something.

“I think I’m gonna resign. Get someone older and stronger. Not someone who would mess everything up.” Hyunjin’s whisper was loud enough for everyone in the van to hear, and Jisung immediately looked to the back seat. Minho was looking at the back of the seat guiltily, while Felix was staring out of the window.

Jisung jumped to a conclusion almost instantly,

“Did you do that? Did you criticize him?” Minho’s head shot up, and his eyes widened. When he offered no response, Jisung scoffed, “Of course you did.” Hyunjin grabbed his arm and pulled him towards him.

“He did not. He made me reconsider my options. Why did we get hired? We are your age, Jisung. They should hire better bodyguards for you.” Jisung felt furious and overwhelmed at the same time, his mind whirling with thoughts.

“I don’t want another bodyguard," Jisung blurted out, "I’ll run away, get myself into all sorts of trouble until you come back.” Hyunjin’s mouth gaped open and closed like a fish.

“TWICE literally almost killed you last night and you already are going to get yourself into more trouble? We barely saved you.” Minho stated, leaning forward. Jisung didn't even spare him a glance and took Hyunjin’s hand.

“Everyone makes mistakes. And we didn’t die. Someone’s giving you another chance. You gotta take it, make sure I don’t die, yeah?” Jisung looked at Hyunjin in the eyes, and he nodded slowly.

“Yeah..." 

“And you gotta make sure that in the future, that you remember to bring all your gear so you can protect me. Because that’s how we get better. Trial and Error. And when we mess up, we fix our mistakes so we can be better people in the future.” Jisung managed a real smile this time, squeezing Hyunjin’s hand comfortingly. Hyunjin’s lips curled into a small smile, making Jisung content. He let go of his hand, turning back to face Minho.

“Why would you say that?” Jisung’s tone changed so drastically and suddenly that Minho winced. 

 “He’s 19. That’s really young if you didn’t know.” Minho had built up his composure again, and his voice was as smooth and cold and Jisung. 

“I am aware, thank you so much for reminding me. But sadly, It’s none of your business. Never has, never will be.” Jisung replied, starting to sound like a mad parent.

“Actually, it is our business. As we have established in the past hours, we are also sort of trying to help you out. And with an insufficient bodyguard, it’s not really keeping you alive, is it?” Jisung blinked a few times, looking at Minho. Minho’s cold gaze seemed to soften a bit as Jisung tried to form a decent sentence.

 “Sorry. I’m...I...um... ” Jisung stumbled over his words, “That was rude of me. Please forgive me.” Jisung bowed his head in apology. Minho didn’t respond, and Jisung raised his head slightly to look at Minho. He was dumbfounded, almost frozen. Minho's eyes were the exception, blinking rapidly as he tried to comprehend why Jisung was apologizing. 

Jisung's face flooded with red as he caught Minho's gaze, "I'm sorry!" He repeated.

"No- it's okay," Minho mumbled quietly, shaking his head, "Why are you even apologizing?" Jisung looked up. "You didn't even do anything wrong, you just assume you did. You blame yourself automatically." Minho stated mindlessly. Jisung's face, which had just cooled down, flushed with color once again. But was it not Jisung’s fault Minho was mad in the first place?

"Weren't you mad?"

"Irritated, maybe . But mad? That's over-dramatizing it." Jisung sighed in relief.

Their conversation screeched to an abrupt halt as Chan called out from the front seat, "We're here!" Jisung turned and looked out the window and sure enough, they were right in front of Jisung's apartment building. He looked at Minho, then at Felix.

"Bye..." Jisung didn't want to leave the two boys after all the kindness they had shown him. Their expressions told Jisung that they also didn't want him to leave, but Jisung had to go back. If he didn't, it would probably be reported nationally and the whole country would be in chaos. Hyunjin turned back to them, bowing politely.

"Thank you for saving us," Hyunjin said. Jisung followed suit, dipping his head to show his gratefulness to the boys. Hyunjin adjusted the hat he had borrowed from Chan to cover the bandages on his head, then climbed out of the car.

 Jisung raised his head, looking at Minho and Felix before hesitating.

"Can I have your guy's phone numbers?" Jisung squeaked, pulling out his phone. Minho exchanged a hesitant glance with Felix, shrugged, then took his phone. He tapped the phone's screen, only to be met with black. Shoot .

"Uh... my phone's actually dead. Oops. Can I give you my phone number?" Jisung's face flushed red as he awkwardly took his phone back, wondering why he didn't ask for a charger why he was over at their place. Minho quickly nodded, taking his phone out of his pocket.

After a moment, he handed the phone over to Jisung. Jisung smiled gratefully. He typed his information in leaving his contact as 'Jisungie' and then promptly adding about 50 emojis as his last name.

Satisfied, he handed the phone back to Minho, whose eyes widened with surprise as he saw the name. He giggled slightly, then immediately coughed to cover up the small string of laughter that escaped his lips.

"Thanks! Text me so I can get your number." Jisung waved one last time then hopped out of the van. Hyunjin was waiting outside while looking horrified. Jisung, being curious, was about to ask what was freaking him out when he realized Seungmin was rushing towards them. Seungmin . Boy, were they screwed.

"Oh no." Jisung stood behind his bodyguard, watching as the Seungmin sprinted towards them. He turned to see if Chan was still there, but the white van was already pulling out of the parking lot. Seungmin reached them within moments, looking relieved.

"Where did you guys go?! I've been worried sick. I almost called the authorities on you. I just called your Dad, and he's probably going to call-" Seungmin cursed, then whipped out his phone. Placing the phone to his ear, he soon was involved in a conversation, presumably with Jisung's dad.

"Hello? Sir?" Seungmin meekly asked. Yelling was heard on the other end, but Jisung couldn't make out what.

"Sir! Sir, they are here . They just showed up," Jisung's father yelled something else, and all the color drained from Seungmin's face. He took a deep breath, then answered, "Uh... yes sir. We'll be there as soon as possible." Jisung felt like puking.

⑅

"Han Jisung." Han looked at his son. Jisung knew what was coming. It's happened so many times that he isn't scared of what's to come. When it first started, Jisung would cry for hours while wondering why he would do such a thing. Now he merely felt numb standing in front of him. He knows he should stand up to him, maybe even fight back, he just can't . As he saw his father raise his hand, Jisung simply closed his eyes.

Jisung felt a sharp pain on the side of his face. Why was the president of South Korea allowed to do this to his son? Shouldn't someone see and report this?

Maybe they just don't care enough.

 Jisung laughed at that thought, opening his eyes to receive a glare from his father.

"Jisung. I'm very disappointed in you." Han frowned. Jisung remained silent, knowing that his father would continue.

"You ran away with your bodyguard, your bodyguard! " Jisung looked back at Hyunjin, who was staring at the ground. He was all dressed up, wearing the assigned suit and tie like he was supposed to. His hair was still messy though, brown strands of hair sticking out in every direction under the hat that Chan had given him.

"That was my idea. Leave him out of it."

“What is he even wearing? He shouldn’t be wearing a hat with a suit on. Take it off.” Hyunjin looked up, his eyes widening in surprise. Jisung’s father repeated, “I said, take the hat off.”

Hyunjin looked at Jisung, who nonchalantly nodded towards his bodyguard. He hesitantly pulled the hat off, revealing the bandages that hadn’t been properly treated for a few hours. Han’s expression flickered to one of a surprise but was back to his neutral face in an instant. Jisung noticed this and decided to explain.

“It was TWICE,” Jisung commented, motioning to similar bandages which had been wrapped around the scrapes on his palms.

“That’s impossible. TWICE wouldn’t have gotten to you. How gullible do you think I am? You just ran away, and wrapped some bandages around to make it seem like you got attacked.” Han scoffed. Jisung stuffed his hand into his pocket, reaching for the thumb drive Jeongin had given him.

“I have evidence. Someone happened to be there at the time and recorded it.”

“You’ve obviously staged the whole thing. How would someone be there and miraculously decided to record it?”

“I bet if I handed this over to the news, they’d sure eat it up.” Jisung pulled the thumb drive out of his pocket, inspecting it. Han rolled his eyes.

“Very threatening, son.” Han paused. He stared at the thumb drive in his hand before tentatively continuing. “So, say that this is real evidence. How did you get it to suddenly prove it?”

Jisung faltered, not really wanting to say he got saved by Stray Kids. That would lead to an investigation where Jisung would be interrogated and Stray Kids would end up in jail. 

“I- I don’t know exactly. We, me and Hyunjin I mean, we woke up with the thumb drive and a note explaining that they recorded it and somehow saved us.” It was a half-truth, but Jisung wasn’t exactly concerned by lying to his dad. He looked over and Hyunjin, and he nodded, going along with what he said. 

“Where’s the note?” Han asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I...well, I-” Jisung tried to think of an excuse, “I spilled coffee on it.”

“That doesn’t really help us, does it Jisung?” Jisung’s dad neatly folded his hands together, rolling his eyes. “You’re dismissed. I don’t want to look at you anymore today.”

Jisung flinched but still managed a nod. Hyunjin and Seungmin left first, Jisung pausing before turning back to his father.

“Didn’t you want to see the video?” Jisung asked. His father merely shook his head, waving his hand to shoo him out of the room. Jisung complied, walking out of the room and slamming the door behind him. 

Seungmin and Hyunjin waited outside, both of standing up straight. Hyunjin had shoved his hat back on, causing Jisung’s lips to curl into a small smile. Hyunjin had immediately disobeyed the president when he got out of his sight. Jisung looked down at the nice dress shirt and slacks he had put on, sighing and running a hand through his hair. He had to look perfect in public, ordered by his father. He had to wear a tie . He actually had to do his hair and make sure his clothes didn’t have wrinkles. Gross. That’s why he made Seungmin do all the ironing. 

 “C’ mon.” Jisung straightened his tie, ew , and began to walk towards the exit of the building. His expression settled into a neutral one as he briskly strolled down the hallway of the capitol building. Officials and workers would occasionally nod, and he would smile politely as he walked by. He probably looked like a hot mess being flanked by his bodyguards. Hyunjin seemed like he could collapse at any moment and Seungmin’s face was bright red. 

“Mr. Han.” Jisung stopped, to see one of his father’s toys. The Prime Minister of South Korea, Park Jin-young, basically did whatever his father wanted. He occasionally requested an increase in salary from his father. It usually came from his father’s account rather than the government, but they both chose to overlook that minor detail.

“Mr. Park,” Jisung dipped his head in acknowledgment. The Prime Minister looked at Hyunjin’s disheveled state with disdain, then returned his focus to Jisung.

“Is your father in his office?” he asked. Jisung nodded simply. He gave a half-smile to Jisung before continuing on. As soon as he was out of sight, Hyunjin sighed.

“He’s a real pain in the-” 

“Hyunjin.” Jisung turned back to his bodyguard. Hyunjin instantly shut up, looking embarrassed.

“This isn’t the place to diss the Prime Minister of South Korea. If someone else happened to overhear, my father would eventually find out. His opinion of you is already...well, not what I hoped it would be. Okay?” Hyunjin meekly nodded in response. Jisung’s head was hurting. He’d probably just take some medicine when he got the apartment. As they began to move again, his mind turned on autopilot, going down the same route he always did to get out of the building. It was relatively normal until they stepped outside. He blinked, registering the clicks and flashes from cameras and microphones being held up to his mouth.

“Han Jisung, what’s your opinion on your father’s recent proposal to the National Assembly?” He managed to catch one reporter’s question, widening his eyes in surprise. When did he do that?  His head began to spin.

Before Jisung was forced to answer, Seungmin and Hyunjin managed to step in front of him and guide him away from the reporters. Jisung felt overwhelmed, and he wasn’t sure why. He had been doing this for the past year and a half, why should he suddenly feel light-headed at the sight of reporters? 

“You okay?” Seungmin whispered. Jisung nodded mutely, not really processing what was going on. Seungmin took note of this, then continued to lead him to his car, where he opened the door and helped Jisung inside. 

Jisung didn’t take any notice of when Hyunjin plopped into the car beside him, or when Seungmin began to drive towards Jisung’s apartment. Jisung was completely out of it. He suddenly felt hot, then cold. Because it cooler out, he assumed it was nothing. He heard something faintly, then looked to his side. Hyunjin was there. When did Hyunjin get there?  

His lips were moving, but Jisung registered just blobs of sounds and pitches. Selective Hearing , his father called it, but that was just another reason to punish him. 

Hyunjin reached his hand out, and Jisung flinched away before he could touch him. Hyunjin’s hand didn’t stop, but it wasn’t a slap like Jisung was expecting. His bodyguard pressed his hand gently onto Jisung’s forehead, his eyes widening.

“Holy- He’s burning up, Seungmin.” Jisung heard. He blinked slowly, looking down at himself. He was pretty sure he wasn’t on fire.

Jisung said, “I’m pretty sure I’m not on fire, Hyunjinnie. There would be smoke if I was burning up.” Hyunjin shook his head at the joke.

“You have a fever, Jisung,” Hyunjin answered.

Jisung smiled, then frowned, “I don’t think I have a fever.” Jisung pressed his own hand to his forehead, then shrugged.

“I feel normal.” Jisung pressed his hand to his forehead again, not feeling a huge difference in temperature. Hyunjin sighed, placing his own hand on Jisung’s forehead. Jisung felt the cool touch, and gasped quietly, “Your hand is so cold!” Jisung realized why Hyunjin’s hand was so cold, letting out a soft ‘oh’. 

Seungmin pulled up to the apartment building, getting out of the car and running over to Jisung’s side. He opened the door, unbuckling Jisung. Hyunjin scooped Jisung up bridal style, getting out of the car and beginning to walk inside. Jisung tried to push Hyunjin so he could walk himself, but it was so weak that Hyunjin just looked down at him.

“I can walk myself, Hyunjin!” Jisung protested. Hyunjin raised an eyebrow, continuing to walk and blatantly ignoring Jisung. Jisung huffed, crossing his arms as Hyunjin walked to the elevator. Hyunjin awkwardly tried to press the elevator button, but he couldn’t because he was holding Jisung. 

“Here. Get down for a minute.” Hyunjin gently placed Jisung down and pressed the button. Jisung felt fine. Except for the fact that he felt like the air was about a million degrees in the building, but then he suddenly felt cold. And then hot again. It was almost like someone was toying with him, messing with the hot water while he was in the shower. He shivered, grabbing onto Hyunjin’s arms. Jisung looked up when he heard a ding and gratefully sighed when the door to the elevator opened. Letting go of Hyunjin, he rushed inside and grabbed onto the little handlebars on the sides. The elevator had mirrors, and Jisung got a good look at himself. His cheeks were flushed, and beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He looked exhausted. 

The elevator began to rise, catching Jisung by surprise. He stumbled a bit, finding Hyunjin’s and holding on tightly. He didn’t want to walk anymore. The few steps he took completely wiped him out. 

“Carry me,” he murmured. Hyunjin looked back like he wanted to reply with a snarky comment, but when he saw Jisung his expression softened. He turned around, crouching down a little. 

“Here, hop on,” Hyunjin ushered with his hands behind his back. Jisung managed to get somewhat onto his back. He was beginning to slide off when he decided grabbing Hyunjin’s neck would be a good idea. He began to choke, coughing as he grabbed a hold on his legs and jumping so Jisung would be lifted up higher. Jisung’s tight hold on Hyunjin’s neck loosened, and he let out a small sigh in relief, coughing. 

“Sorry...” Jisung said quietly. Hyunjin just shook his head. The elevator door dinged and Hyunjin walked out. The rest of the way to his apartment was silent. 

As they reached the door, Hyunjin put Jisung down again and fished the key out of his pocket. He quickly opened the door and led Jisung inside. As soon as the couch was in sight, Jisung ran towards it. 

Jisung was freezing like someone had just dunked him in a barrel of ice-cold water. He grabbed the large blanket that was on the couch and threw it over himself. He adjusted himself and seemed when Hyunjin walked over.

 “I’ll go grab you some medicine and some water, okay?” Jisung nodded, snuggling into the blanket, then realizing that he was still wearing fancy shoes and a tie . He uncovered his legs, kicking hard enough that his right shoe flew off of his foot and slammed against the wall. He cringed, deciding that removing his other shoe with his hands would be a better option. He slid the shoe off, tossing it beside the couch.

 He was undoing his tie when Hyunjin returned with a bottle of water and a pill, “Here. Take the pill.” Jisung paused, holding his hand out obediently. Hyunjin placed the pill in his hand, then unscrewed the lid of the water bottle. He handed it to Jisung, who popped the pill into his mouth and took a sip of the water, swallowing it. 

“Thanks,” Jisung said appreciatively while snuggling back under the blanket. Hyunjin nodded, walking over to the TV that was against the wall and tossing Jisung the remote. 

“So you can watch your dramas.” Jisung beamed at Hyunjin, calling out another ‘thanks’ as his bodyguard went into the other room.

 He took another drink of water, then grabbed the remote to turn the TV on, but was interrupted when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Who could that be? Jisung pulled his phone out, seeing that it was an unknown number. 

---

***-***-****

***-***-****: Hi. It’s minho.

received 15:27

---

  Jisung smiled, looking down at the phone. He quickly filled in Minho’s contact, then responded.

---

MinHo

MinHo: Hi. It’s minho.

received 15:27

hi 

sent 15:28

How is u?

sent 15:28

MinHo: okay? I mean yeah, im good but yk..

received 15:30

MinHo: what about you? You holding up

With mr. good fighter and mr. helicopter 

Dad?

received 15:30

Ehhh im okay im sick though

sent 15:31

MinHo: you’re already sick? Its been 

Literally like... 2 hours? 3 hours? 

Since we dropped you off? What did you 

even get from that?

received 15:31

a fever? Idk we didn’t take my 

temperature so maybe i dont? 

I felt real woozy and heckin bad

and everything was spinning.

I feel hot and cold. oop

sent 15:33

MinHo: you should get ur bodyguard

to take ur temp. you could do it yourself 

too ig

received 15:34

I'll be fine lol its just a little temp.

sent 15:32

MinHo: uh no, take ur temp rn mister

received 15:32

But hyunjin already walked

away and I wanna watch a

new drama on  Netflix :((

sent 15:32

MinHo: :| take ur temperature

what if u have like a 41 degree

fever and could like...die  or

something. maybe you should go

to the hospital

received 15:33

---

Jisung’s text conversation with Minho was interrupted by Seungmin opening the door. Jisung’s eyes widened, and he shoved his phone in his pocket as Seungmin walked over towards him. 

“Are you okay? Did Hyunjin give you medicine?” Seungmin asked. Jisung nodded.

“Mhm. He did. I’ll be okay though, you don’t need to worry.” Jisung smiled reassuringly, and Seungmin slowly nodded. He sat down next to Jisung on the couch, sighing. They sat in comfortable silence, Jisung finally undoing his tie and pulling it over his head. Seungmin shrugged off his suit jacket, draping it on the couch before leaning over to Jisung.

“Did TWICE really abduct you and Hyunjin?” Seungmin asked quietly. 

“Do you want to see the footage?” Jisung countered. 

Seungmin slowly nodded, and stood up, “I’ll go grab the laptop.” As soon as Seungmin was out of sight, he quickly sent Minho a text that he had to go and shut off his phone. He then pulled the thumb drive out of his pocket, inspecting it closely. He was lost in thought about what had happened the night before when Seungmin returned with Jisung’s laptop in tow. 

“Here, plug it in.” Seungmin opened the silver laptop, handing it over to Jisung. Jisung took it and placed it onto his lap, jamming the thumb drive into his computer before he let himself overthink it. The video popped up, the resolution fairly blurry. He clicked it, and it began to play.

Jisung noticed that they didn’t show up until after Hyunjin was knocked out. It made him sick to see the blood beginning to pool around Hyunjin’s head.

The whole scene played out from above, making Jisung cringe.  As soon as Jisung had noticed them and screamed out for help, the video shut off.

Seungmin’s expression morphed to one of horror as his eyes flickered from the computer to Jisung. 

“There’s more,” Jisung added lamely. Seungmin held a finger up, taking a deep breath. Jisung remained silent as Seungmin took off his glasses and massaged his temples.

“Okay. Continue.” Seungmin put his glasses back on.

“We got rescued, by Stray Kids.” Seungmin’s face darkened. He opened his mouth, but Jisung quickly slapped his hand over it.

“Before you say anything, I just want to say, they did not hurt me. They saved me, and Hyunjin. Hyunjin probably would’ve died if it wasn’t for them.” Seungmin lifted Jisung’s hand off of his mouth calmly, but he looked about ready to go and murder someone.

“They killed twelve people, Jisung. They ended people’s lives, and injured who-knows how many.”

“This stuff happens in the U.S all of the time, how do you know for sure it wasn’t them?” Jisung raised an eyebrow. Seungmin, surprised by Jisung’s words, sputtered as he tried to speak.

“They are a gang. They do illegal stuff all the time. The police here are smart enough to know that Stray Kids committed it. Did they try and convince you otherwise?”

Jisung paused, pondering what Seungmin said. He got threatened with a knife, who knows if the others had a weapon at an arm’s reach? 

“Believe me, I know them. I’ve done enough research.” Seungmin looked at Jisung sympathetically. 

“Well, who are they?”

“Stray Kids. They all used to work in the government. After your Dad was elected president and TWICE started doing stuff, all six of them just vanished. The next we hear of them, they are actually fighting against TWICE but also disobeying the law. It doesn’t make any sense. Why would they leave the government to try and pursue them on their own? And then, they committed the mass shooting in Incheon.” Jisung opened his mouth to speak, but Seungmin continued to talk, “There are 6 members, led by Bang Chan. The rest are Kim Woojin, Seo Changbin, Lee Minho, Lee Felix, and Yang Jeongin.”

Jisung paused as he heard there were 6 members, and he recognized all of their names. Who was the seventh?

He voiced his thoughts to Seungmin, “But there’s another member.” Seungmin’s eyes widened in surprise.

“There’s another one? But only six of them left the government. Did someone else join them afterward?” 

“I don’t know, really. They didn’t want to talk about him.” Seungmin hummed in response.

“Well, I think that’s enough for now. I’ll go put your computer away, and you can watch TV, kay?” Jisung nodded, and Seungmin grabbed the computer. 

As soon as Seungmin was out of the room, Jisung pulled his phone out again.

---

MinHo: yeet

sent 15:54

MinHo: yeet. did u take ur temp?

received 15:54

uh... no

sent 15:55

MinHo: okay then make sure you don’t die okay?

received 15:55 

kay i won’t pinky promise cross

my heart swear to die stick a 

cupcake in my eye ;)

sent 15:55

MinHo: sure 

received 15:56

gasp, do you not believe me?!

sent 15:56

MinHo: i don’t think sticking a cupcake 

in your eye would be very pleasant imo

received 15:56

Eh its better than a needle ;p

Sent 15:57

MinHo: dear lord dont you stick a needle

In ur eye

received 15:57

I won’t die so I won't need to

sent 15:57

MinHo: okay then?

received 15:57

---

Their text conversation continued for who knows how long until Hyunjin came back into the living room. Jisung shoved his phone back into his pocket.

“Did Seungmin see the clip?” Hyunjin asked, flopping onto the couch next to Jisung.

“Mhm. Yeah. He seemed sort of freaked out.”
“I would be too, if I wasn’t there. Was it bad, watching it from a camera?” Hyunjin grabbed the remote, turning on the TV. Jisung shrugged, then looked to the TV as well.

“Can we watch that new show?”

“Ew the soap opera you were talking about?”

“It’s not a soap opera! It is a piece of art, Hyunjin, and you need to appreciate it.”

“Ugh… fine.”