Work Text:
Yuta takes a sip of his lukewarm beer and grimaces, leaning back against a wall and making a mental note to put a leash on Johnny when they go out to parties.
Johnny has dragged him to one of Jaehyun’s Halloween parties. Somewhere in the house, Johnny is dressed as a Robin, from Teen Titans. Yuta has elected something a bit simpler: a full black outfit with a mask from The Purge movie franchise. It’s not entirely unique, but he didn’t want to come to this thing anyway.
The guy he’s currently trying to ignore, someone Jaehyun—Yuta’s childhood best friend and fraternity president—introduced him to, is making a valiant effort to get Yuta upstairs. Max is the typical frat boy: a cocky smile that looks more like Pennywise, which matches his clown costume to a T; a permed mullet with dead ends; short stubble that resembles sandpaper; his red wig shoved down the front of his costume after attempting to do a keg stand; posture slouched like he’s trying to appeal to Yuta’s demure nature.
Ah, yes. Because all the queers in college are attracted to...whatever the fuck this is.
If one thing’s for certain, it’s that Yuta is neither interested in ‘pick-me’ frat boys, nor is he any kind of demure. His body is lean, yes, but he can bring a man to his knees with his thighs, and not in a sexy way.
There’s a clock on the wall in the living room telling Yuta it’s almost 2 a.m. It’s been over an hour of dealing with Max’s failed advances, and Yuta has met his limit.
“So, what’s your major?” Max questions, slouching even further into Yuta’s space. He's asked this question three times.
Yuta rolls his eyes and doesn’t answer. “Have you ever been to Poughkeepsie?” he asks instead, raising his voice just a bit. To anyone else, it might just seem like he’s trying to talk over the music. But if Johnny were in the vicinity, he’d know the real reason.
(Poughkeepsie is a city in New York, but it’s also an SOS code word when Johnny and Yuta come to these kinds of parties—or any party in general. Too many glasses of wine, not enough sleep, and a weekend spent gagging for Dean Winchester were to blame.
But it’s nice having a fail-safe in case they need to get out of a situation.)
Max furrows his brow and shakes his head. Aw. Poor, confused, little douchebag. “Is that some kind of code word for sex?”
Christ. Horny frat boys are the absolute bottom of the barrel in terms of humanity.
Yuta repeats the question emphasizing Poughkeepsie, but still, there’s no sign of Johnny anywhere.
Drats. He must be outside.
Max shrugs and leans forward, stepping right into Yuta’s space and acting like he’s trying to lose an appendage. “I’m sure we can find Poughkeepsie upstairs—”
“Don’t touch me,” Yuta grits, almost gagging at the alcohol smell on his breath. “I’ll cut off your balls and shove them so far up your ass, you’ll be scrubbing them with a toothbrush,” Yuta hisses through clenched teeth. He shoves the guy back with a grunt and scours the room to locate an exit. If he can find a way outside, he can call Johnny and get leave.
Before the asshole can open his mouth, and give Yuta a reason to make good on his threat, there’s a hand at Yuta’s elbow and a new body, hunched over and breathless like he’s just run a mile.
He looks up at Yuta and winks with his right eye, the side that’s not facing the walking dickhead.
“Hey, your mom just called me. She wants you to call her—it’s an emergency,” he says, glancing at Max and looking only slightly guilty. When Yuta doesn’t reply immediately, he adds, “They’re going to the hospital in Poughkeepsie.”
Oh, thank the heavens and the gods.
Yuta immediately turns to him and scrunches his face like he’s confused, standing straight and angling his body away from Max. “Did she say anything?” he asks, grabbing the stranger’s wrist. He squeezes twice in some semblance of a thank you. “Is Dad okay?”
The guy coughs, seemingly out of breath—Yuta will have to compliment his acting later—and shakes his head. Still heaving, he replies, “He’s the emergency.”
“Fuck, okay, when was this? Do you think they’re already at the hospital?” Yuta asks next.
He nods and yanks his keys out of his pocket, “I haven’t been drinking. I’ll drive you,” only hesitating just a moment before he pulls on Yuta’s sleeve.
Max scoffs and tries to reach out for Yuta’s shirt. “Seriously?”
Yuta snaps his gaze at Max. “Family emergency,” he says sweetly. “Lose my number and I’ll consider not telling Jaehyun, your president, about this.” Max rolls his eyes and doesn’t seem to get it, so Yuta puts on his best menacing smile and adds, “He’d hate for anything to happen to his family.”
For a split second, it looks like he’s ready to argue, but then he digests Yuta’s comment and pales.
Yuta pats his cheek and grabs the stranger’s hand, all but running for the front door.
Later, once they’ve made it a comfortable distance down the street, Yuta collapses against a light post and laughs, harder than he has in a while. He glances over at the stranger, who’s in a similar state, and grins. “Holy fuck, that was awesome.”
He returns Yuta’s smile and coughs, for real this time. “Glad I could be of service.”
“How did you know I needed help?”
He looks down bashfully, almost embarrassed. “Um, I watch Supernatural, so I knew Poughkeepsie is their code word for shit hitting the fan.” He shrugs helplessly. “Plus, it’s not like you hear anyone talking about Poughkeepsie in the Texas sticks.”
Yuta stares at him for a moment before reaching up to wipe away a fake tear, clutching his heart and sniffling dramatically. No one, in the years that Yuta and Johnny have been friends, has ever had any idea as to what Poughkeepsie could mean, in any context unless they’ve been to the city.
“Beautiful,” Yuta gasps, throwing in a wobbly lip for funsies. “I’m Yuta,” he offers, holding out his hand.
“Sicheng,” the stranger replies.
“Thank you for saving me, Sicheng,” Yuta tells him. “My very own Dean Winchester.”
Sicheng’s smile is blinding.