Chapter Text
Soonyoung knew life was full of mystery, wonder, surprises, and even a few dashes of chaos here and there. There’s nothing predictable about life and what it may bring to the table. One can only grab the bull by the horns and just pray they don’t get knocked off. There will be times where their grip loosens, where they don’t think they can hold on anymore, and some let go. Some let themselves fall off. Soonyoung, however, is definitely not like that. When he grabs on to something, he doesn’t let go. He refuses to.
Soonyoung knew that there was a fine line between right and wrong. He knew this, now better than anyone, yet here he is, in the back of some van that he only caught a blurred second of before he was grabbed, tied up, and ordered to shut up.
Soonyoung, of all people, should have known better.
It’s hard to breathe with this sack placed on his head and it smells like copper or something sharp and metallic. He doesn’t pay too much attention to it and instead does his best to try to see out of the fabric, tries his best to get a gist of his surroundings, who his captures were. He tries his best to identify something. However he can barely make anything out other than basic outlines and fuzzy colors. Cursing quietly to himself, Soonyoung thinks back on all the wrongdoings he could’ve possibly done to be stuck in a situation like this.
Who else would get kidnapped by a group of men who seemed to be familiar with him?
“So this is him, huh?” A voice finally breaks the silence.
Soonyoung feels his ears strain in an attempt to recognize the owner to no avail.
“The one and only.” Another voice. He doesn’t recognize either of them but the fact that they know exactly who he is only makes his heart beat even faster.
There’s some movement to his right and Soonyoung can barely react by the time the sack is suddenly yanked off of his head. Squinting his eyes to adjust to the bright lights being aimed at him—seriously, why are they shining flashlights into his face?—he stares up at the group of men huddled in front of him, trying to make out their faces.
A scoff sounds, “This is him? This is Kwon Soonyoung?”
Soonyoung feels his heart leap into his throat. “Y-You know my name?” His voice is more shaky than he intends for it to be.
“We know everything about you,” the flashlights lower, giving Soonyoung’s eyes a break, but then there’s more movement and the men are moving closer. Their eyes are scrutinizing him and he suddenly feels like a specimen being studied under a microscope. “Your name, where you live, your friends and where they live… We even know your parents.”
Soonyoung reels in disbelief, throat clenching around nothing.
How could they know? How could anyone know? He doesn’t ever recall breathing a word about his parents to anyone. Unless...
“You’re like an open book to us.” There’s a hand reaching out towards him, fingertips grazing the flesh of his cheeks. Soonyoung wasn’t even aware that he had begun crying until he duly registered the man wiping his tears away delicately.
“Even when crying he’s beautiful.”
“Goodness, you really are one gorgeous blossom.”
The same hand that was wiping his tears pulls away and Soonyoung exhales shakily, “If it’s money that you want, I don’t have it… I have a shit job and a shit car and a shit apartment.”
“What part of you being an open book do you not grasp, darling?”
The way these men are talking to him makes his stomach curl into itself. It’s sickening. They have barely even touched him and Soonyoung feels disgusting .
“You work as a full time server at the casino, which is definitely not a shit job, you just have poor money management skills.”
“You definitely don't live in a shitty apartment. Anymore, at least.”
“Your car is a piece of shit, though.”
“But don’t worry, we took care of that.”
Soonyoung felt more tears well up in his eyes as he clenched them shut, biting down on his bottom lip hard to try to suppress the sobs threatening to crawl out. There’s fingers against his cheeks once more and he immediately turns his head away however the gentleness of those digits soon turn harsh when they grasp his chin and force him to look up. A face is hovering mere inches above his own; eyes dark and dangerous, lips curled into a sinister Cheshire smirk.
A small sob finally breaks free. “What do you want from me?”
“We want many things,” the man cooed as his eyes flitted all over his features before landing upon his plush tiers. “Originally, we wanted the reign of one man to finally be over with but now?” Soonyoung tries to pull away, really he does, but the man has an iron grip on him and his squirming does no good when a pair of chapped, rough lips cover his own in a chaste, one-sided press.
“There’s been a change of plans.” One of the men grinned.
“Now,” the stranger finally pulled away, looking satisfied with himself despite Soonyoung’s clear disgust, “we wanna keep you to ourselves, just like he did.”
“The only difference is: we won’t be gentle.”
Soonyoung squeezes his eyes shut and let himself quietly sob, drowning out their mocking laughter as he curled into himself, wrists crying out in agony with how tight the zip ties are.
Soonyoung should’ve known better than to go meddling in a place where he knew, deep down, he didn’t belong.
Yet here he is.
Don’t come for me. Soonyoung pleads silently in his thoughts. Please. Do not come for me.
4 weeks earlier
“Soonyoung!” A voice shouts from right outside his bedroom door, adding to the fist angrily pounding upon the frail door. He could hear it groan in irritation, threatening to pry loose from its rusted hinges and pathetically fall to the ground before the other male’s feet.
“Soonyoung, I’m not going to stand here all day! Your shift starts in 20 minutes! We need to head there now! You can’t afford to be late again.”
“Alright, alright!” Soonyoung shouts and the pounding immediately stops. “I’m up! Geez, keep your pants on.”
An annoyed scoff replies followed by the sound of fading footsteps. “You should’ve been up 30 minutes ago. I’m not your personal alarm clock, dumbass.”
Soonyoung tosses his legs over the edge of his bed and exhales deeply, elbows resting on his knees. He takes a good look around his bedroom and with a small churn of his gut, he realizes that the place he lives in is no home. It’s just a building waiting to collapse. Any wrong move and boom. He’s honestly surprised it’s still standing. What a trooper.
Taking a glance over at his phone to check the time, he curses softly to himself and quickly yanks off the shirt he slept in so he could begin putting his uniform on.
Just like the pitiful door barely hanging on to its hinges, serving as a poor form of privacy to separate the hallway and his room, the apartment building was withered and dull. Sure there were people living inside it, but the building didn’t feel alive at all.
The walls either had holes or severe cracks in them that looked like bolts of lightning; wallpaper chipping and peeling away like paper-mache. The floors creaked and groaned with every step you took, no matter how delicate and silent you tried to be. Every door whined, long and profound, whenever opened or closed; like it was painful for someone to even lay their hand on the rotted wood. The electricity barely worked. The plumbing was scarce. The teeny tiny furnace that was responsible for this rickety ol’ four apartment building went out every time the wind blew.
It’s almost like he lives in a haunted house or something. The house felt foreboding and eerie to look at from the outside but imagine living in it for the past two or so years. It was the only thing he and his room-mate could afford—well, if you would even call the guy a room-mate.
He loves the kid, don’t get him wrong, and he completely understands why the guy would rather swim with a pool of sharks than be stuck in this place. But the kid always abandons Soonyoung here in favor of staying at his boyfriend’s place down in the nicer part of town, making it so that Soonyoung is responsible for everything.
Guess who is the one person being yelled and screamed at nearly every day because they’re so far behind in bills that they’re a week away from being evicted? Soonyoung.
Every part of Soonyoung is begging to give up, to just kneel down and admit defeat because there’s no use anymore. But, no. No, he’s not going to let his parent’s prediction come true. He has to continue fighting while there’s still some fight left in him.
“Soonyoung!”
“I’m coming!” Soonyoung spits back with vigor as he grabs his jacket and yanks his door open. It shrieks with the force, though he doesn’t quite care at the moment. He trudged down the hall and fixed his room-mate with a flat look.
“Why are you always so prissy in the morning?” Hansol sighs, turning away to begin heading out the door. “It’s like I’m babysitting a child.”
“What are you doing here, anyways?” Soonyoung asks calmly as he snags an apple from the little basket sitting atop of the counter. He bites into it and chews once, twice, before continuing, “Surprised you’re not with Seungkwan. Again. Ya’know,” he grabs a bottle of water before walking past Hansol, “I keep telling you to just move in with him. I don’t know why you keep coming back here. You spend more time with him than with me.”
He doesn’t see it but Hansol seems to falter behind him before scrambling to try to catch up with him.
“Soonyoung, I can—”
“Don’t bother.” Soonyoung cuts in. Not in a harsh way, though his disappointment shows. “It doesn’t matter. We’re getting evicted next week, by the way. So you might as well just get it over with.”
Hansol gaps at him, “W-What? How far are we—” At the term ‘we’, Soonyoung turns on his heel and gives him a pointed look, making Vernon stutter in his steps before stuttering, “I...”
Seeing the guilt on his face, in his eyes, Soonyoung feels himself sag. All of the anger and frustration he felt seconds ago seeps out of him. So he takes a second to gather himself before sending Hansol a small smile that he hopes comes off as reassuring and not forced.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll figure it out. So, for now, just…” Taking a deep breath, closing his eyes, Soonyoung lets it all go. “I’ll figure out. Just focus on getting out of here.”
Hansol stays there in silence, watching his friend climb into his barely functioning car and driving off without so much of another glance. He feels the guilt dive deep into his bones, swirl through his rib cage, and make a home burrowed deep somewhere in his heart. Even as Soonyoung is long gone and no longer in view, Hansol so badly wants to reach out to him and pull him back. But it’s like his body won’t let him move so all he really can do is stare at the space Soonyoung had once occupied in vain.
“You know, if you would just talk to him,” Seungkwan whispers to him, careful and delicate, “then I’m sure the two of you can work things out.”
“There isn’t anything to work out.” Soonyoung says, plain and simple.
They’re all at work now. Hansol works the bar while Soonyoung is handing a second bartender the dirty dishes and utensils left on a table that a young couple just departed from. Seungkwan, a fellow waiter like him, hasn’t seen any new guests come to a table yet or any orders slide on the windowsill, ready to be delivered, so he’s by Soonyoung’s side trying to convince him to talk to Vernon for the past 10 minutes.
Seungkwan gives him a look like he doesn’t quite believe him. “Soonyoung, you’re not exactly as subtle as you think you are. You gotta stop bottling things up.”
Soonyoung sighs before turning to him, eyebrows raised. “Seungkwan, I appreciate you being worried about me and all, but I’m fine. Alright? Hansol is whipped for you and I’ve kept nudging him to move in with you for the past five weeks. I don’t know why he’s been refusing to.”
“Maybe he’s been refusing to move in with me because of you.”
“Me? What do I have to do with that?”
Seungkwan exhales deeply and reaches up to place a soothing hand on Soonyoung’s shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. “Just talk to him, you idiot. Talk to him, figure things out, and I’m sure you’ll get the answer you need.”
He leaves not a second later and Soonyoung is only left with more questions than anything. Shaking his head, he tucks it into the back of his head and instead puts his focus back on his job.
Working at a casino can be a difficult job, depending on where you live and the overall environment that surrounds it. Working at a casino that’s known to be a sort of “neutral ground” for gangs is definitely a lot harder to get used to. Sure, where there’s a casino, there’s gangs but Soonyoung came to learn that the gangs here at this casino are not the normal gangs he originally thought of.
When he was told a few months ago upon getting hired that gangs came here as ‘peaceful guests’, Soonyoung kind of laughed to himself. He thought of the kind of gangs that you’ll see in the streets, talking smack and causing trouble; obvious, in plain sight, and noisy. Maybe some robberies here and there, some break-ins and window smashing. Nothing too violent but still leaving their mark to anyone who dared to cross paths with them.
But, oh, how naive he was.
Soonyoung ended up learning the hard way that it wasn’t at all like he thought it was. Gangs came to the casino to play poker, to drink, to have meetings—sure, of course they did. But gangs and mafia are two whole different ball games. The mafia came to the casino but they also owned it, and let’s just say that the memory of Soonyoung figuring that out still sends chills down his spine. He’s honestly lucky he didn’t get fired.
“Can we talk after work?” Hansol carefully requests once he gets a spare moment to approach Soonyoung, who is still left unoccupied also and is just calmly leaning against the bar. Sparing his room-mate a curious glance, he takes in the pleading look and the puppy-eyes with a heavy sigh.
“Fine,” he relents. This seems to appease Hansol enough to stop looking like a kicked puppy, shoulders releasing their previous tension and lips quirking up in a small smile as he mouths ‘thank you’. Something seems to catch his attention, however, for he pauses with a perplexed look.
“Ya’know,” leaning forward and lowering his tone, Hansol begins to delicately murmur to him as if confiding in a secret, “This is about the tenth time I’ve caught this guy staring at you. I think he’s checking you out.”
Soonyoung gives him a flat look. “Now you’re just exaggerating. He could be staring at anyone.”
Hansol’s eyebrow raises as he nods his head in the direction over Soonyoung’s shoulder. “See for yourself then.”
With a confused frown, Soonyoung spins around and immediately begins searching the mess of tables, the crowd of faces—some familiar, some not—in search of the one person being referring to. He’s about to ask when a hand is reaching over his shoulder to point at one particular table.
“Him.” Hansol guides, grin evident in his voice. It takes Soonyoung a few seconds to find the man that’s being pointed at but when he does, it’s like all the oxygen is knocked out of his lungs. Their eyes meet immediately and a spark of electricity surges through his veins, igniting something akin to white heat that bursts throughout his chest in flames.
The man is breath-taking and Soonyoung can’t help but just stare.
His eyes are feline like, dark and sharp; piercing through Soonyoung like blades and he never once imagined he'd enjoy being at the mercy of such a gorgeous knife. His hair, under-cut and carrying the darkness of midnight itself, professionally styled so that his bangs are curled just right and falling over his forehead. The silk white dress shirt he wore had the first two buttons undone to give the tease of his smooth neckline, the sharpness of his collarbone. His jacket, a smooth shade of dark navy blue with black lapels, was hanging off his shoulders perfectly.
The male continues to stare at him, curious and intent like a cat eyeing its potential meal, and doesn’t break the little staring contest they have going on as he reaches for his glass. Whiskey, Soonyoung duly notices in his peripheral.
(This man is gorgeous and can handle whiskey? Soonyoung almost believed he was having some sort of wet dream right now.)
When the corner of the stranger’s mouth quirks up in a lopsided smirk over the rim of his glass and a wink is sent his way, Soonyoung’s cheeks set ablaze and he quickly whips back around and presses his hands against the cool mahogany wood that the bar was carved out of, duly hoping that it would offer him some relief to his sudden, and drastic, rise in body temperature. Hansol notices the little crisis that he’s got going on and can’t help but laugh as he cleans a martini glass.
(Yup, definitely a wet dream.)
“Told you,” he chuckles, “The guy is totally eye-fucking you right now. Has been for the past like 3 hours.”
“Who has?” Seungkwan inquires curiously as he walks over, tray of dirty dishes in tow.
Hansol sends him a wicked grin. “Soonyoung’s got an admirer.”
“I do not!”
“Does he?” Seungkwan grins and looks over to where Hansol gestures to. He whistles in approval and leans against Soonyoung’s side. “Damn, Soonie. If I were single, I’d be all over that.”
“Except you’re not single.” Hansol flatly reminds. Seungkwan sends him an innocent smile and blows a kiss.
“What’s the harm in window shopping, darling?” He reasons in a sing-song tone. “I’m taken but not blind, after all. Besides, I think it’s time our Soonie got laid.”
Whipping his head around so fast there should be whiplash involved somewhere, Soonyoung gaps at his friend. “Excuse me?”
“Now that I think about it,” Hansol ponders with pursed lips, “You haven’t brought someone to the apartment since I moved in.”
Seungkwan raises an eyebrow. “Darling, Soonyoung has never brought anyone home.”
Hansol seems genuinely surprised at this. “Wait, what? How come?”
With a wide grin, Seungkwan throws an arm around Soonyoung’s shoulders. “That’s because our precious, delicate, little Soonyoungie over here… is a virgin.”
Hansol nearly drops his glass. Soonyoung just wants to get swallowed up by a black hole.
“I’m sorry, what?” He gawks. “How has he—You’re kidding, right? There’s no possible way Soonyoung is a virgin. No way. I don’t believe that for a second.”
“Tell ‘em, Soonie.” Seungkwan lightly nudges. “Tell ‘em.”
Clearing his throat, Soonyoung lowers his gaze to the ground, feeling hot with embarrassment. “I-I’m… It’s true.”
There’s a pause before Hansol is bellowing, “Bullshit!” as he slams his hands down onto the counter. “Soonyoung, my dude, we need to get you laid!”
Panicking, Soonyoung quickly shakes his head with wide-eyes. “No, I don’t need—”
“And I believe we found the perfect candidate.” Seungkwan squeals, clapping his hands together. “Oh my god, Soonie, I’m so happy right now!”
Soonyoung continues shaking his head, flailing his hands in front of him. “N-No, I don’t—there’s no way someone would want me that way!”
Hansol gives him a perplexed look before sharing glances with his boyfriend, who sighs and pulls him into a free stool.
“Listen, dumbass,” Seungkwan grabs his shoulder and forces him to look into the large mirror that’s placed in front of the bar, “I know what I said about the guy undressing you with his eyes, but look at you. If I had to be honest, Hansol and I have had a lot of debates about asking you to have a threesome with us.”
Soonyoung’s eyes can’t go any wider and he’s sure as hell his cheeks can’t get any redder either. “W-What..?”
“It’s true,” Hansol confirms as he joins them in the reflection. “You’re a catch, Soonyoung. You have a spectacular personality and although you can be a handful sometimes, it’s what we like about you.”
“Not to mention you have one hell of an ass.” Seungkwan provides a playful wink.
Soonyoung groans and buries his face into his hands. “Can we not talk about this kind of thing right now?”
“I’m just sayin’!” Seungkwan says defensively, moving away from him. “You need to stop overthinking. You’re beautiful, Soonyoung. Anyone would be lucky to have you.”
Both of them returned to their rightful duties; Hansol getting called over by a guest, Seungkwan taking an order that slid onto the windowsill from the kitchen and began making his way to deliver it. Soonyoung remained in the stool, staring at his reflection in bewilderment.
Sure, he admits he’s good looking. Average, at most. His eyes are small in his opinion and his cheeks are still full, baby-fat never going away no matter how many times he goes to the gym. And when he smiles, his cheeks sort of bunch up and it makes it hard for him to see. He didn’t even style his hair today, so his deep reddish hair was left tousled and hanging over his forehead lamely. His shoulders are broad and his torso is slim, hugged just right by the white uniform shirt he wore, sleeves rolled up to his elbows and tie neatly done around his collar. Simple black slacks held up by a belt with a black apron tied around his waist, large pouch big enough to carry a notepad and a couple pens.
Soonyoung didn’t stand out. Never did and doesn’t really plan on it either. He likes the way he is right now: a wallflower. So he’s kind of having some trouble wrapping his head around this entire situation.
Peering up into the mirror, he notices in the reflection that the male had once again locked gazes with him. This time, something else surges through him when their eyes meet.
Maybe Seungkwan was right.
Maybe he does deserve to stop being such a prude and let loose once in a while.
Taking a deep breath, Soonyoung slowly stands from the stool while also never once breaking their eye contact through the mirror. Only he does a second later when he turns around, eyes easily finding him in the crowd, and offers a small smile. In return, the male raises his glass subtly in greeting, mirroring his soft smile. Giddiness fills Soonyoung’s veins but he doesn’t let it get to his head. He’s not some hormonal teenager anymore. He’s a 22 year old adult male that refuses to be made fun of just because he’s a virgin.
Hearing his being called, he knows it’s time to jump back into work.
The next few hours blow by pretty quickly. There’s a steady flow of guests that will appear at tables, coming and going without giving their waiter’s much of a break but at least they're leaving plenty of tips tonight. It’s not like Soonyoung minded, really. He prefers faster-paced days and days where he’ll come home feeling soreness gnawing at his hamstrings. It’s the slower days that kill him. He’s here because he wants to work, after all, not just stand around like some confused Sim character.
“Oh, god, it’s him.” Seungkwan bemoans, face twisted in disdain.
Soonyoung doesn’t even need to turn around to see who he’s referring to. “How many rounds has he had so far?”
“Well, he’s been coming to the bar nonstop all night.” Hansol replies. “When I refused to serve him more drinks, he plopped himself down at a table and got one of his buddies to order drinks instead.”
“This will be my fourth time going over there.” Seungkwan is looking at the platter containing five glasses of martinis in disdain. He reaches out to take it, reluctantly so, with a deep sigh. “Hansol, after this round, please get a hold of security. Let’s not have a repeat of last time, shall we?”
Soonyoung quickly shoots his hands out and takes the platter away, offering a compromise, “How about I take this time then? I can stall him for as long as I can until security gets here meanwhile you two get a hold of our manager and bring him out in case he decides to cause a scene. Deal?”
Seungkwan looked as if he was about to either cry or kiss him. Cry, he distantly thought to himself. It better be cry.
“Oh, Soonie!” The younger male coos, hands cupping Soonyoung’s round cheeks and pressing them together. “What would I do without you?”
“Shrivel up and die,” Soonyoung muttered, mostly out of sarcasm. Mostly.
After he’s able to pry himself away from Seungkwan’s rather grabby hands, Soonyoung is turning to deliver the drinks when he pauses. He catches the man off at a nearby table surrounded by his entourage of people he’s normally seen with. Even from all the way at the bar, he can visibly see that the guy is absolutely plastered. His friends aren’t that far gone either. Soonyoung knows the laws and he knows the limitations the bar has, so he sets the platter down with a pointed look towards Vernon before he’s making his way over to the table.
“Hyunjoon,” he greets with the most convincing smile he could muster.
“If it isn’t my favorite waiter!”
Soonyoung tries to contain the shudder that rakes down his spine. The way Hyunjoon talks to him always screams red flags and bad touch vibes. The guy creeps him out. He creeps everybody out but despite mainly (and I mean many) complaints to management and security, Hyunjoon is still here so obviously nothing had been done about it. Seungkwan was a crying mess last time and Hansol had to be restrained by security for over an hour before he remotely calmed down enough to not lunge at Hyunjoon’s throat again.
“Good evening,” Soonyoung says to the entire table, dipping his head in a small bow. “I hope this day is treating you well so far, gentlemen.”
“Oh, it definitely is now.” One of the men closest to him purrs, eyes trailing his figure up and down. “When does your shift end?”
“Yeah, tell us!” Another chorused. “You should come join us. We can take you out, treat you to some actual food instead of whatever slab they make in the kitchen.”
“We also have a better selection of drinks back at our place.” Hyunjoon leans forward with a wink. “What do you say, Soonyoung?”
“While I am flattered by the offer, I’m sad to say that I’ll have to decline.” Soonyoung refuses as politely as he could.
Hyunjoon was unpredictable. When he’s consumed so much alcohol, his mood shifts are drastic and spastic. He can be smiling one second then angry the next, throwing sexual remarks at you if you say something he doesn’t particularly like, no matter how small it may be. The last incident he had at the casino was with Seungkwan and Soonyoung, fiercely protective over his loved ones, has absolutely refused to let the other male tend to Hyunjoon. Since they’ve been switched, Hyunjoon’s little ‘freak-outs’ have slowly began to dwindle down. Although Soonyoung doesn’t like getting hit on and touched, he’d much rather prefer it was him if it meant he didn’t have to watch his best friend have an anxiety attack in the darkest corner of the employee lounge.
Hyunjoon, although visibly displeased, only leaned back in his seat with a loud whine, “Aw come on, Soonyoung! You always say no to us. Isn’t it company policy to never turn your guests down?”
His words are followed by a chorus of voices, agreeing with him and trying to convince Soonyoung to come home with them. Nervously, he turns and looks over at the bar. Hansol is busily tending to some customers and occasionally flicking his gaze over to where he is but other than that, he’s unable to do much. Seungkwan must have dipped into the back to try to find their manager or grab a member of security. He doesn’t see him around.
A sudden hand touching the inside of his wrist has Soonyoung snapped his head around so quick he feels subtle tinge of pain run down his neck. He pulls back quicker than he intended as a spark of fear coils in his gut. The male scowls at this and definitely looks like he’s about to start yelling at him any second now.
“Why’d you pull away?” There’s an arm reaching towards him, wrapping an arm around his waist and tugging him close. He ends up bumping into the table with the pull, nearly toppling over on top of it if he hadn’t caught himself.
“You look like you have such nice skin.” Another comments. Then there’s a hand reaching out to his face and Soonyoung turns his head away, squirming out of their hold and taking a few steps back.
“Hyunjoon,” Soonyoung lets out a breath as he straightens his apron, “I do believe I reminded your friends of the ‘no touch’ policy, correct?”
There’s a flicker of both anger and amusement in the male’s eyes as he calmly affirms, “Correct.”
“Then I would appreciate it if your friends followed said policy.” Keep calm, Soonyoung. You’ve got to keep calm. “I do thoroughly enjoy tending to your requests as far as bringing food or drinks to your table, however that’s as far as I will go.”
“Speaking of drinks,” the one closest to his right ponders aloud, looking behind Soonyoung’s shoulder towards the bar, “where are the ones we requested?”
Dread washes over him like a bucket of cold water. The mention of their request not being fulfilled grabs Hyunjoon’s attention and that hungry, almost predatory look in his eye vanishes in an instant. He’s sitting up, straight and taunt, as his eyes find Hansol working diligently behind the bar.
“Why do you not have our drinks?” He barks in anger while moving his attention back to Soonyoung. “Where are our drinks?”
“I’m sorry for the delay,” Soonyoung dips his head once again, trying his best to look apologetic, “but as you can see, the bartender is very busy. He is going to get to your drink as quickly as—”
“Do you take me as a fool?!” Hyunjoon raged, eyes wide with fury. “Do you honestly think I didn’t see you with a tray of drinks before you came over here?!”
“You purposely refused to serve us!”
“We’ve been nothing but loyal guests and this is how you treat us?!”
He’s being hit with more and more accusations left and right. Soon, they’re all shouting at him and it’s gaining the attention of other guests at the nearby tables. Soonyoung feels the crippling anxiety wrap itself around his lungs, talons stretching around his throat and squeezing. He looks around for help—members of security, their manager, anybody. He spots Seungkwan and Hansol waving fervently at him from the bar, beckoning him to get the hell out of there now. They’re clearly in distress as they mouth words at him, however Soonyoung’s never been good with reading lips. The hint is clear, however, and he quickly snatches it.
Just as he’s walking away, just as his body is pivoting around to make a quick getaway back over to the bar where the sanctuary of his two friends are—and his manager finally stepping out from the employee entrance door behind them—there’s a hand on his wrist. And suddenly his world tips as he’s reeled back. His back slams against the table, knocking all of the contents off with the harsh jostle. There’s glasses falling to the ground and breaking, poker chips sliding across the wood and digging painfully into his back. There’s pain everywhere. He can feel it radiating through his back, seeping deep into his spine. His shoulders from slamming into the wood first and the back of his head from bouncing off of it. The pain in his wrist is worse; searing hot and shooting springs of agony up his arm. It’s fractured, at least, and the hand that’s still enclosed around it is so tight and refusing to let go.
“Where are our drinks?!” Hyunjoon shouts in his face, leaning over him and squeezing his wrist every second Soonyoung doesn’t answer. He can hear other shouts behind the noise above him, he can hear rushing footsteps gaining on them and he can hear crying. It’s only when he tastes the salt on his lips that he realizes he’s the one that’s crying.
“You’re hurting me!” Soonyoung cries out, trying to break free and squirm away.
Without warning, just as quickly as his world had tipped, the pressure on his wrist is gone and Hyunjoon no longer above him. There’s panic still flooding through his system when Soonyoung scrambles on the table, sweat slicked trembling hand flailing about for a few seconds before he’s pushing himself up. His heart hammers against his chest in fear but his face twists subtly in confusion.
What he expected to see when he sat up was security, finally deciding to show up and pull Hyunjoon off of him. Or maybe even Seungkwan, Hansol, or their manager—to their credit, it did look like they were about to make a run for them but had suddenly stopped.
What Soonyoung saw instead was something that he caught him severely off-guard. The stranger from earlier, the one who Hansol had pointed out, was standing between him and Hyunjoon. Though the male was considerably shorter than Hyunjoon, it seemed that his presence was enough to make the other male take some apprehensive steps back.
“It’s casino policy to not touch any of the workers,” the stranger reminds. His voice sends goosebumps along Soonyoung’s skin. If it wasn’t for his wrist and the fat tears pouring down his cheeks, he’s sure he would’ve swooned. His voice is so smooth and calm, holding so much authority and command to it. It strikes Soonyoung but at the same time, he can’t help but be confused.
Hyunjoon is known to be loud and competitive when he doesn’t get what he wants. Because of him, many waitresses and waiters have quit. It’s why they’re such understaffed right now. His bad attitude and behavior, and the way he talks to everyone, drove all of them out. So Hyunjoon, seeing as he’s never been properly reprimanded for his actions, has continuously come back. His attitude hasn’t changed, only gotten worse. So to see him immediately silence and take careful measures to create distance between himself and the smaller male seemed quite curious.
“But he—”
The stranger takes a step forward and Hyunjoon is swallowing all the other words he was about to utter, flinching and scrambling backwards.
“I suggest you start following the policies.” His voice is eerily serene as he speaks slowly, enunciating every syllable to get his point across. “Or should I contact the owner?”
“No!” Hyunjoon interjects, desperately, as he holds his hands out in front of him. “N-No, that won’t be needed!”
Okay, now Soonyoung is really confused. Hyunjoon was pissed, in both ways to be frank, but be quickly sobered up the second this man right there decided to intervene. It was clear that they knew each other and it was clear that the smaller male had the upper hand.
“Good,” the shorter hums softly, pleased. “Know your place, Hyunjoon. Now get out.”
Hyunjoon's eyes take a fleeting glance at Soonyoung though he’s quick to push his way through his posse when the shorter male blocks the waiter from view; a warning, if he didn’t know any better. Once Hyunjoon is gone, and once all of those who accompanied him follow suit, the stranger slowly turns toward Soonyoung. His gaze is sharp but his eyes are soft once they land on his form. When he makes a move to come closer, Soonyoung flinches and pushes himself further back on the table, injured wrist cradled to his chest.
“Easy,” the male coaxes softly. His hands are held in the air, showing he’s not a threat and doesn’t have any sort of trick up his sleeve. “I know you’re frightened but I’m not going to hurt you, alright? I just want to make sure you’re alright.”
Soonyoung watches him draw closer slowly, very slowly. The stranger maintains eye contact the entire time and once he’s in arm-length distance, he slowly reaches a hand out towards him. His palm is open, welcoming and patient. He can see that Soonyoung is still very apprehensive so he continues to stand there, not saying and not moving unless it’s clear that he isn’t wanted or needed any further. Just when he was beginning to think just that, Soonyoung shifts. A small movement before pausing, as if testing the stranger in front of him, then moving again. He’s moving forward instead of backward this time and once he’s on the edge of the table, a shaking hand is reaching out slowly. Tentative fingertips brush together like one would dip their toes into the water to test the temperature. Then, in a rush to feel some sort of comfort and warmth, the hand is moving more confidently as it slides into his open palm. In reward to his trust, Soonyoung is given a small but warm smile just before he’s being pulled to his feet. His thighs are like jello, Soonyoung soon figures out, and his knees are giving out before he could properly react. Thankfully, the stranger seems to have fast reflexes. With one hand still gingerly holding his, Soonyoung registers another palm steady and firm on his waist, catching him and pulling him close.
“I got you,” the words are a soft, comforting whisper close to his ear. “I got you.”
He’s only a few inches taller than him so it’s not like there was much of a height difference between the two of them. Regardless, Soonyoung can’t help but feel small in this man’s hands and he can’t figure out why he likes that so much.
“How are you feeling?”
Soonyoung barely registers the question aimed at him and he definitely doesn’t trust his voice right now so all he can really do is dumbly bob his head in a quick nod. The male’s soft smile stretches into a full blown grin, eyes crinkling slightly due to his bunched cheeks. They’re not as full as Soonyoung’s but it’s still a smile that has his heart skipping multiple beats.
“Cute,” the smaller male comments softly, “Though it doesn’t quite answer my question, I’ll take it.”
“Soonyoung?”
Their spell is broken when Seungkwan appears a few feet away from them, face filled with concern. He’s looking between him and the stranger holding him, who appears to get the hint that he should probably let go of him.
“Apologies.” He says. “He’s all yours.”
Soonyoung barely suppresses the whine when those hands begin to pull away. “Wait!” He exclaims, turning to try to catch him before he could leave. “I-I… thank you. Thank you.”
The male smiles at him once more and gingerly cradles Soonyoung’s injured wrist in his hands. It oddly feels like he’s in some sort of Disney movie or walking down the red carpet in a kdrama and everything is slow motion and, oh look, rose petals are slowly flowing to the ground. Because with the way this man, this breath-taking stranger that just saved him, is holding his wrist so carefully in his palms, raising it to his mouth and pressing a kiss to the hills of his knuckles, Soonyoung suffices he definitely saved a country in his past life.
“Good luck charm,” the man clarifies, adding a wink to the gist of it before he’s releasing his wrist and walking away.
As Soonyoung sits in the hospital bed, waiting for the doctor to return with the results of his x-rays as Seungkwan and Hansol anxiously sit in the chairs in front of him, he realizes he never got the man’s name.
He’s excused from the hospital after an unnecessarily long three hour wait. His wrist was fractured and his thumb had been sprained in the process so he was in one hell of a cast until his follow-up appointment. Which was scheduled to be two weeks from now. Until then, he was put on heavy restrictions. There was even ‘give less hours if possible for the next week’ on the doctor’s note he was handed.
His friends were fretting over him the entire time. Seungkwan refused to let Soonyoung return back to their dilapidated apartment so he allowed him to crash on the pull-out couch in the living-room. Hansol was oddly quiet during the ordeal, however that’s usually how he suppresses his anger or frustration. He was usually the one cackling loudly at Soonyoung's dumb jokes but when he’s upset, his silence carries the weight of it.
By the time they reached Seungkwan’s apartment, it was nearly midnight. Thankfully, there was a 24/7 pizzeria down the street since he lived on the busier side of the city. The food had just arrived a few minutes ago and Soonyoung was wrapped up in a rather comfy duvet, sitting cross-legged on the pull-out, and chewing slowly on some plain cheese pizza.
He was considered the odd ball for rarely ever wanting toppings on his pizza. He considered himself simple and easy to please, though he will occasionally want bacon or pepperoni if he was feeling frisky.
“I’m scared.” Soonyoung suddenly spoke up, interrupting the couple’s rather pathetic quarrel about what movie they should watch.
“Well, of course you’re scared, Soonie.” Seungkwan coos softly as he moves to his side, hand lifting to thread through his hair. “After what just happened to you? I don’t blame you.”
“Boss gave you the entire week off,” Hansol adds further, “You should take the time off to recoup.”
“It’s not that.” Soonyoung shakes his head and puts the slice of pizza back in the box. “I’m scared, Hansol. Of what’s going to happen next.”
Sharing confused looks with his boyfriend, Hansol stands to his feet and begins making his way over to them before asking, “What do you mean? What’s wrong?”
“What I mean is that I can barely even gather enough money to put some decent food in the cupboards! The apartment building is falling apart, nothing really works there anymore.” Soonyoung sniffles, tears pouring down his cheeks. “The furnace blows out every time the wind hits it just right so we’re left with no heat during the colder seasons, which means more money wasted on medicine because I get sick too easily. There’s no basic ventilation at all throughout the building so it overheats so quick during the summer. The last time I tried to put an air-conditioner in, the window shattered and glass went everywhere and Hansol had to be rushed to the hospital to get five stitches into his palm. And because we have no way to keep cool during the summer, I keep having heat-strokes and collapsing in the middle of the living-room. Most of the time I spend the night in the dance studio to avoid even going back there in the first place. The water doesn’t work either so we can barely take showers. I’m lucky the studio has one or else I’d be screwed. The plumbing rarely decides to work too so it smells so bad in the apartment most of the time. It’s humiliating. And because I’ve been so focused on trying to catch up on bills and rent, which we’re severely behind on by the way, I can’t even bring my car back to the repair shop! It’s broken down seven times this week alone ! The times where I actually am home, I’m sitting at the table crying my eyes out because I don’t know what to do and I’m terrified. I live in a slum because that’s the only thing I thought I could afford but I guess it turns out I can’t afford that either because we’re being evicted in the matter of days! Because our landlord has had enough of screaming in my face and demanding money that he doesn’t want us there anymore! He blames me for the apartment being so beat up! Me! We’re being evicted and it’s my fault because I have no idea what I’m doing and I have nowhere to go and—”
“—Okay, okay, that’s enough.” Seungkwan cuts in, gathering the blabbering boy in his arms and holding him tightly to his chest.
“It’s my fault.” Soonyoung sobbed. “It’s all my fault.”
“No, it’s not.” Hansol frowns and reaches forward to grip his uninjured hand. “If anyone is to blame, it’s me. I haven’t been there, Soonyoung. I haven’t been there at all to help you. With anything. Groceries, bills, rent—it’s sad to say that I honestly can’t remember the last time I gave you my half of the rent. You’ve been taking care of things on your own for over a year because of me, because I refused to help you shoulder the responsibility. I should’ve helped, not just as your room-mate but as your friend. And I wasn’t there for you as either of them. I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry.”
Soonyoung doesn’t say anything. He just continues to cry in Seungkwan’s chest until he’s managed to fall asleep. Movie and food long forgotten, the pair decide to call it a night instead. After carefully situating Soonyoung into the bed and covering him with the blanket, Hansol gazes down at his friend and the dried up tears on his flush cheeks. There’s a twist of guilt in his stomach that has him turning away with the sting of tears in his eyes.
“I didn’t know it was that bad,” Hansol whispers to him as he stands in the doorway of their bedroom, watching the boy sleep from across the apartment. “I should’ve been there.”
“Yeah, you should have.” Seungkwan says, not unkindly. “But it’s Soonyoung we’re talking about. Yes, he’s disappointed. Yes, he’s hurt and yes he’s upset. He has every right to be. But I’m sure he doesn’t hate you, babe.”
“He should.” Hansol snips, turning his head to look at him with a furrowed brow. “He should hate me. I abandoned him, Seungkwan. I left him to deal with everything on his own for too long because I simply just didn’t want to deal with it. I was being selfish. He should be screaming his head off at me and yet he just…”
Seungkwan smiles softly and reaches over to brush their fingers together. “Told you he missed you before falling asleep,” he finishes. “He doesn’t hate you, Hansol. He’s bitter and wondering why you weren’t there but Soonyoung is always filled with love. Have you ever known him to actually hate someone?”
Hansol exhales and looks back over to the living room. “I’ve never even heard say he disliked someone.”
“Exactly.” Seungkwan reaches to gently grip his chin, turning his back so their eyes could lock. “He doesn’t hate you. Your friendship has been strained, of course it has. His trust for you has dwindled but that doesn’t mean you can’t bounce back from this. Him saying that he missed you is your chance to make up for everything. I’m sure you can do it, Hansol. You two have been attached to the hip before we met.”
“What would I do without you?” Hansol grumbles, covering his lover’s hands with his own and closes his eyes. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow about it but,” a small pause and his eyes are opening, “what are we going to do about the eviction? Seungkwan, he has nowhere to go.”
“And it’s not like he can go back to his parents. I won’t let him.” Seungkwan declares firmly. He turns his head to look back at the pull-out couch and the bundled up lump that occupies it. “He can crash here. It’ll be a bit cramped but I’ve been meaning to expand to a bigger apartment anyways.”
“We both can talk to him tomorrow then.” Hansol agrees and kisses his cheek before heading towards their bed. “For now, let’s just get some sleep.”
Even as Hansol was busying himself with pulling the blankets back and climbing onto the bed, Seungkwan remained in the doorway, fond gazes lingering on his friend’s sleeping form. He smiles softly to himself before he reaches for the light-switch panel right beside the door. The lights in the living-room go out the second he flips the switch. The only light was the soft glow from above the stove, proving enough light in the kitchen in case someone needed a late night glass of water. There was also a faint glow down the hall, leading them towards the bathroom.
“I won’t let anything bad happen to you,” Seungkwan whispers. “I promise, Soonyoung.”
“Good morning, sleepyhead.” teased Hansol. Soonyoung shuffled into the kitchen, one eye barely open and the other squinted shut. His hair was a mess. Half of it was down and the other half stuck up in different directions. One hand was raised to sleepily try to tame the mess while the other had lifted to flip the bird in reply to his friend’s taunt.
“You have good timing, actually. Breakfast is done.” Seungkwan grins as he places the last dish on the table. “Scrambled eggs with your choice of bacon or sausage and toast or bagels. Do you want milk or coffee, Soonie?”
“Coffee,” he replies, still very groggy and trying to wake up. “I’ll add my own cream and sugar in it, though.”
“Hansol?”
“Oh, just milk, please.”
“So when’s the wedding?” Soonyoung remarks as he spreads some butter onto a slice of toast. Seungkwan lets out a noise and nearly drops the mug into the sink while Hansol gawks at him from the other end of the table. “What? Don’t give me that look. You guys are awfully domestic and I can’t tell if I wanna barf or be jealous.”
“What—we’re not even engaged!” Seungkwan squawks.
“Should be, though.” Soonyoung snorts, taking a large bite out of the crisp bread. “I call dibs on being the best man, though.”
“Whose best man?” Hansol asks, genuinely curious. “Like if we actually got engaged, whose best man would you choose to be?”
Soonyoung gives him an offended look. “Both of yours, you idiot. Do you honestly think I’d sit here and choose between you two like a moron?”
“Is that even possible?” Seungkwan wonders aloud, looking perplexed yet thoughtful. Hansol shrugs in reply. “Well, we sure as hell will make it happen so they’ll have to deal with it.”
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Soonyoung grins as he reaches to grab the cup of coffee. “Oh, thank you. What kind of creamer do you have?”
“French Vanilla, Chocolate Caramel, and Sea Salt Caramel.” Hansol lists off.
“Please tell me you have the liquid creamer and none of that powder shit—”
Seungkwan whips, face twisted in a disgusted grimace. “Do you take me for a mongrel, Soonyoung? Powdered creamer is horrendous!”
Soonyoung laughs. “I’ll take the sea salt one then.”
“So, Soonyoung, I wanted to talk to you about something.” Hansol leans his elbows onto the table and watches him intently for a few seconds. Once Soonyoung glanced up at him with a curious expression, signifying that he was paying attention, Hansol continues, “About last night… I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just continuously abandoned you like that. It wasn’t fair to you. I should’ve helped with the bills and everything else, but I didn’t. I turned my back on you because I was too busy being selfish. And I know it’s not okay so don’t you dare try to interrupt me with some martyr speech about how much I deserve to be happy with Seungkwan and that you don’t blame me for not being there all the time. That’s no excuse. My name is on the lease, therefore I have legal obligations to help you out. I chose not to and because of that, I put you in a tough spot. You didn’t deserve any of that.”
“I don’t hate you or anything.” Soonyoung assures in a quiet voice, looking down into his mug as he swirls some sugar in. “I understand why you don’t want to be there, truly I do. I don’t want to be there either and if I had an excuse not to be, you know damn well I would snatch that up real quick. I understand some things here and there, but you’re right. It doesn’t excuse anything. I’m really disappointed, Hansol. I really am.”
“I know.” Hansol reaches across the table and places his palm over the hand holding the mug. “I know and I’m sorry for disappointing you. I’m sorry for hurting you and for every ounce of stress I caused. You’ve been nothing but good to me and I should’ve done more for you. I’m just hoping you’ll give me the chance to repent.”
Raising his eyes to meet the pair staring back at him, full of remorse and hope, Soonyoung offers a faint smile. “You have some homework to do then.”
“Now that we got that settled,” Seungkwan chimes as he plops himself down into a chair set between them. “I was wondering if you’d like to move in.”
Hansol gives him a wide-eyed look while Soonyoung spits his coffee out.
“What? There’s no point in sugar-coating it, Hansol.”
“You could’ve eased him into it, though!”
Seungkwan scoffs, waving a hand dismissively. “Oh, please. When have you ever known me to be something else other than blunt?”
“Okay, rewind,” Soonyoung holds up his hand in a mock surrender motion, “repeat that?”
“I want you to move in.” Seungkwan says, casual and simple. “Both of you. Do you want me to spell it out for you, or what?”
“How is that even gonna work?” Soonyoung sputtered. “I mean, yeah, your place is bigger than ours but will it hold three people?”
“It seems to be doing just fine right now.” Hansol pointed out with a shrug.
“Hansol will obviously share the bedroom with me. You can claim the living-room as your little area. We can even rearrange it so the couch is in the corner, the TV stand right in front of it so you can watch something easily and we can hang some curtains or something to give you some privacy and seclusion so when we come back from our late shifts, we don’t disturb you.” Seungkwan was really painting a vivid picture in Soonyoung’s head, he’ll give him that. “There’s a closet down the hall that only has a vacuum in it so you can just put your clothes in it. Simple as that, really.”
Hansol takes a glance over at Soonyoung and laughs. “I think he’s sold, babe.”
“I mean—yeah, well—I would love to, Kwannie, but I—”
“So it’s settled then.” Seungkwan beams. Soonyoung knows better to clamp his mouth shut than to try to argue against him. “You’re moving in then!”
“It’s not as simple as that, though.” Hansol sighs. “We gotta have a long chat with the landlord and he’ll probably demand to be paid his debt before we break the contract. There’s a lot of talking we gotta do.”
“Then you call your landlord and you talk to him.” Seungkwan pointedly stares at Hansol as he speaks. “Soonyoung can focus on bringing your guys’ stuff here and I’ll handle the back payments.”
Soonyoung choked on his eggs and starts hacking out a lung, fist pounding against his chest as he rasps out, “Y-You ca—Kwannie, that’s like, well over two thousand—”
“Soonyoung, did you forget that I drive a Mercedes?” Seungkwan deadpans. “You don’t even want to know how much I have in the back. I’m sure I can handle it.”
“I’m not about to let you just—”
“Soonyoung,” Seungkwan cuts in. The tone he uses has Soonyoung shutting up quickly. It sounds as if he was a mother scolding her two year old for smearing peanut butter all over the walls. “You helped me land this job. The least I can do is help you out of that place.”
Letting out a sigh of defeat, Soonyoung leans back in his chair and tips his head back with a loud groan. Seungkwan grins over at him then turns back to his plate to finish up the remaining food.
It wasn’t that much longer that Soonyoung was bidding them goodbye as the couple left for their shifts. It was nearly noon by now and while Seungkwan’s shift starts an hour after Hansol’s begins, it was just better to save on gas and time if they traveled together. Deciding to lounge around for a little while longer to let the two cups of coffee settle in, Soonyoung wanders around the apartment just for the sake of familiarizing himself with it.
The first thing he noticed when he stood at the front door was the entrance hallway. It was short but long enough to give a sort of ‘grand entrance’ to the rest of the apartment. Lining both sides of the walls were a few framed pictures of either Seungkwan and his family or candid photos of him and Hansol together—give or take one or two being pictures of family pets. There was a small rug at the door followed by a shoe-rack to the right and a coat-hanger on the wall to the left.
As Soonyoung walked down the hallway and stopped once it ended, he was presented with the rest of the apartment. It was spacious and open, a sort of medium size small apartment. To the right was the kitchen and dining room. The kitchen had plenty of cupboard space for Seungkwan’s spices and herbs (he had a habit of baking as well so there was more than enough flour and sugar in those bad boys). Teamed up with a very nice electric stove, dishwasher, a very modern sink and strainer was a two-door steel refrigerator with an ice maker. There was even an island with a secondary, but significantly smaller, electric stove and some basic counter top. The dining room attached to it consisted of a decently sized table with a decorative vase filled with some roses and three chairs neatly tucked in.
The living-room was to the left. It was the only part that was carpeted except for the bedroom. Before they had left for their shift, they took the time to rearrange the space to what Seungkwan had spoken about during breakfast. Now the couch was against the same wall where the large glass sliding doors lead out to a balcony. The TV stand was moved to be a good distance from the couch so they could pull the futon out without any trouble. There was also a coffee table that was light and easily moveable. All of the movies were encased in the TV stand along with both a PS4 and an XBox One, courtesy of Hansol. There were also a few games but none of them were the type Soonyoung played often. Just like the entrance hallway, there were plenty more pictures hanging on the walls along with a mirror that was placed directly above the couch.
Straight ahead would lead someone to three doors. Door on the left was the closet that Soonyoung would be using to keep his clothes in. Thankfully, it was spacious enough to put a dresser in. Though he’ll definitely buy a new one and not risk hauling his old own over.
The door on the right led to the bathroom, which consisted of everything one would need. A sink, a toilet, and a walk-in glass enclosed shower with a small closet for towels and basic remedies. There was also a window right beside the toilet and thankfully the bottom half of it was tinted to make it look foggy so no one could peer through.
The final door was obviously the master bedroom and Soonyoung respected Seungkwan enough to not go snooping around in his space.
The walls in the living-room, dining room, and kitchen were all one color. A smooth shade of royal hunter green. The carpet in the living-room with a very soft color of beige that fit in with the green perfectly. And in the kitchen and dining room, there was vintage grey wooden plank flooring that definitely looked as if Soonyoung could easily ice-skate across in his softest socks.
The bathroom was a completely different situation color oriented and flooring wise. With walls a shade of chalky blue and floors a faux marble tile, Soonyoung definitely concluded this apartment made him feel more poor than he'd ever felt in his entire life. It wasn’t overly fancy but it’s definitely on the ‘I’m more financially stable than you’ kind of level.
Having enough of exploring, he decides it’s time to head back to the apartment and start gathering some of his belongings. For now, just to start everything off, he would only bring his wardrobe and the smaller easier things. The bigger items can wait until Hansol has a day off in upcoming days.
Driving out of this part of town and into the part where the apartment building was a vast difference and oddly enough, Soonyoung would kind of miss living down here. Sure, the place was a dump but the people living around him were super friendly. The elderly woman across the street baked some really good oatmeal raisin cookies. She would occasionally come over with enough food to feed an army because she knew damn well that Soonyoung was young and struggling. God bless her heart.
“Well, that’s all my clothes,” he mumbles to himself, tossing the last duffel bag into the trunk. Just as he closes it, he ponders if he should just go and grab Hansol’s clothes so the other doesn’t have to worry about it later. Double checking the space in the back seat, he decided to just shove the bag into the passenger seat. However, when he went back inside and searched around Hansol’s room for some sort of duffel bag or even a suitcase, he didn’t find any.
“How the hell does he not have any suitcases?” Soonyoung gawks in bewilderment before pausing. Hansol had already packed half of his wardrobe in the only suitcase he had to bring it over to Seungkwan’s apartment, just so it would be easier for him in case he had an ‘extended stay’.
Shaking his head in mild annoyance, he sets out of the apartment and starts walking down the street towards the nearest thrift shop. He’s been there frequently. They always have the things he’s looking for and as far as he knows, there was a nice looking set of suitcases for a really good price. Thankfully, the set is still there and, even better, the price dropped since no one was seemingly interested in it. He buys it, waits patiently for the worker to stuff the other two smaller suitcases into the larger one before thanking them and walks out the door, hearing the bell ring above his head.
This little part of town is something Soonyoung will definitely miss. It reminds him of Busan, with how all businesses and barber shops lined both streets. There was a laundromat, a grocery store, and a rather dull arcade but he still saw kids flocking the place on hot summer evenings. There wasn’t much to do in this place and the parents never wanted them to be cooped up indoors all the time.
While Soonyoung admires the quiet and finds peace within it, it also makes him uncomfortable as well. Knowing that they were in a bad place where frequent robberies and break ins were reported, the silence would sometimes cause the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up straight. There’s always something happening here and that’s definitely something Soonyoung will never miss. Soonyoung was always paranoid that someone would break into the apartment when he was asleep and he'd either wake up to a knife at his throat or to see his belongings gone. At least the neighborhood Seungkwan lives in is crime free and peaceful.
Soonyoung barely notices it when he enters the parking lot leading to the apartment building. He barely notices it even as he’s walking right along to it, passing his car in the process. He still doesn’t notice it when he’s walking away and heading back into the building, door falling shut behind him.
Puddles. Little puddles of a dark liquid leading up to his car.
Turns out, Hansol has a lot more clothes than Soonyoung anticipated. Seungkwan must be rubbing off on him because he definitely can’t fit all of that in one lousy suitcase.
“Okay, he’ll just have to figure it out on his own.” Soonyoung scoffs, setting the suitcase on to the bed. “I’m not about to stand here for another ten minutes to figure out his wardrobe malfunction. He’s lucky I even bought him this. You’re welcome, bud.”
Grabbing some of the shoes he often used for dancing, Soonyoung takes one last look around the apartment. He wants to be able to tell himself that he’ll miss this place, but then he’s out the door in one second with a giddy grin plastered on his face. There’s no way in hell he’ll ever miss that apartment. He’ll miss the lady across the street although that would be as far as he’d go.
“Speaking of her,” Soonyoung pauses and looks across the roof of his car to the worn down, dull yellow house beyond the parking lot. “Maybe I should go say goodbye.”
Only when he was about to make his way around the car did he end up noticing the puddles. When he heard a faint splash, he looked down at the ground with a confused scowl on his lips. As far as he could tell, it hadn’t rained yet in several days. The grass was beginning to look like hay now that he thought about it. So his first instinct was a gas leak and that’s definitely not something his poor dry as the Sahara desert wallet can handle. However, he didn’t smell gas in the air.
Slowly bending down to the ground, he dips a fingertip into the liquid then turns his hand over to examine it. Red. Whatever the liquid was, it was red.
“Kind of looks like,” Soonyoung muses thoughtfully, “blood, actually. It looks like blood.”
The fact it’s blood doesn’t entirely bother him as much as it should. It’s just the fact that it’s fresh that has his stomach turning in knots.
Looking back down at the ground, he notices the small trail of little puddles coming from behind him. So he follows the trail with his eyes, watching how it leads around the back of his car towards the passenger side. Swallowing thickly, Soonyoung gathers whatever courage he could muster and secretly sends a prayer to whatever God there is up there. He adjusts his body so it’s leaning against the bumper and takes a deep breath.
“I swear to god, if there’s a dead body…” He trails off through gritted teeth. Soonyoung closes his eyes and takes a few more deep breaths before he’s then easing himself to peer around the vehicle. The trail of blood continues on the ground and his eyes remain glued to it the entire time. Eventually, the trail ends and Soonyoung is barely breathing when he noticed that there was, indeed, someone laying beside his car. He’s frozen in his spot as he stares at the fallen figure. Thankfully, he can tell they’re breathing even from this distance however he can definitely tell the guy is unconscious from how still he was.
It only clicks that he’s looking at a bloodied victim a minute into staring before Soonyoung is scrambling towards the driver’s side, hands fumbling with his keys. There’s raw fear and adrenaline pumping through his veins, making it a lot harder for him to be able to unlock the car, get in, and turn the key in the ignition. The tires squeal against the pavement as he peels away and pulls up to the stop sign leading out of the parking lot.
“Oh my god, what the fuck.” Soonyoung pants heavily, waiting for the truck to pass by. The second he looks into the mirror and sees the figure still laying there, it’s the second he just sits there idly as the truck passes by, either ignorant to the current situation or just generally not paying much attention.
Are you really just going to leave them there? A voice resonates in the back of his head. That person right there is someone’s something and you’re just going to leave them there to die?
The next thing he knows, he’s slowly backing up to help shield the body from the road. Whoever it was, it definitely seemed like they were deliberately trying to hide from traffic by taking shelter behind his car. They must’ve shown up when Soonyoung had left to go to the thrift shop.
“Oh god,” Soonyoung flips the visor down and looks at himself in the teeny tiny mirror on it. “Are you really gonna do this? Are you? Yeah. Yeah, you’re gonna do this. You’re gonna make sure that person is okay and then you’re gonna call an ambulance and then you’re gonna wait until they show up and then you’re gonna go back to Seungkwan’s apartment and drink yourself to sleep.” He closes his eyes and sighs deeply. “Sounds like a plan.”
Climbing out of the car and shutting the door behind him, he stares over at the unconscious figure for a moment, as if trying to talk himself out of it. Shaking his head and slapping his cheeks, Soonyoung dashes over to them and presses his knees into the rough pavement.
“Hey. Hey. Can you hear me?” He calls out, offering the shoulder a small shake. “Hey! Hey, are you alright? Hello?”
There was nothing at first. No reply, no reaction to Soonyoung’s nudges. But then there’s a faint groan that has him yanking his hand back like he had been burned. The person is moving then, slowly with a few sharp intakes and pained grunts.
“H-Hey, maybe you shouldn’t move too much,” Soonyoung stutters out, shifting closer and steadying his hands on their shoulders. “I’ll call and ambulance and you can go to th—”
“No,” the stranger rasped. “No hospital… No ambulance.”
“But you’re badly injured!”
“No hospital!” The guy is sitting up by now, back at him and struggling to try to stand. Soonyoung emits a small shout as he dives forward to catch them just as they're staggering backwards. At first, the guy struggles weakly against the hold before eventually falling limp with a faint groan. He just sags into Soonyoung’s hands, head lolling against his shoulder.
Soonyoung feels as if he just got punched in the gut. There’s something painful wrenching in his stomach and he feels like he’s about to vomit. The oxygen gets ripped out of his lungs and he feels his heart palpitate in his chest.
There in arms was the same stranger from the other day. The same stranger who winked at him over the brim of his whiskey. The same stranger with sharp eyes and a smooth voice that could put Soonyoung to sleep. The same stranger that stood between him and Hyunjoon. The same stranger that smiled at him like he was the most charming thing to ever stumble into his life. The same stranger that kissed his knuckles as ‘good luck charm’ as if it would help heal his fractured wrist.
There he was, torn clothes stained with blood and dirt. There he was with a trickle of blood rolling down the side of his face. There he was, limp in his arms and barely conscious, clearly not aware of who is holding him.
“Oh god” Soonyoung croaked, squeezing his eyes shut. “Oh god, shoot me. Just shoot me.”
“No hospitals…” Just as the male grunts quietly and closes his eyes, letting himself fall into darkness, Soonyoung begins to think of titles for the drama show he’s definitely staring in because there’s absolutely no way this wasn’t scripted.