Work Text:
If there was one thing SEVENTEEN hated with all their hearts, it was Sasaeng fans.
Over the years, there had been a few Sasaeng incidents in SEVENTEEN, including Seungcheol being followed for a few months, Wonwoo and Minghao almost being pushed off the roof of their apartment block by a Junhui-biased Sasaeng, Mingyu almost being kidnapped by a Sasaeng and their most recent incident, a Wonwoo-biased Sasaeng sending Junhui an envelope full of razors simply because Junhui was close friends with Wonwoo.
Seungcheol had refused to go anywhere without a guard for a while, Wonwoo and Minghao had been too scared to take some time out on the roof ever since, Mingyu suffered nightmares for weeks and Junhui had refused to open any mail for a few months, bandaged fingers a reminder of the dark side of being a celebrity.
Most Sasaeng cases had been resolved with temporarily tightened security, like staff members with proper equipment checking envelopes and parcels for anything sharp and any food being thrown out, or the members being targeted getting assigned a bodyguard to protect them outside of the dorms. Once the Sasaeng was caught, restraining orders and fines often kept them away, but sometimes, the Sasaengs were harder to catch.
Their next Sasaeng case started with another mail opening. It was Minghao who screamed, dropping the envelope to the floor and backing away.
Junhui and Mingyu were instantly on their feet, trying to get through to Minghao, who was babbling in a mix of distressed Mandarin and Korean.
Wonwoo picked up the envelope, carefully tipping it out onto a table.
There was a picture of Minghao hugging Chan, but Minghao’s face had been decorated with blood-red ink, eyes crossed out. There were also three razor blades and a sinister letter with a picture of Minghao alone, heading back into the apartment building.
‘Tread lightly Myungho.
Don’t you dare touch my Channie.’
Chan sighed, glancing over to where Junhui and Mingyu were still trying to comfort the distressed boy who was having some sort of panic attack, hyperventilating and sobbing in Mingyu’s arms while Junhui was mopping up the blood from Minghao’s hands with a towel Jeonghan had thrown over.
As soon as Chan tried to walk over, Minghao cried louder. “No, Channie. I don’t wanna get hurt.” Minghao’s voice was so broken and pleading that Chan stepped back.
“I’m so sorry, Hyung. I didn’t know.” Chan attempted to apologise but was only met by more cries.
Minghao was genuinely terrified that Chan’s Sasaeng was going to hurt him if he got too close.
As Minghao slowly started to calm down, Junhui picked him up bridal style and carried him from the lounge to their bedroom to give him some space to calm down and get his hands bandaged up.
Chan wanted to cry looking at those pictures. Chan had never been the prime target of a Sasaeng, and it was almost impossible to think that a fan of his would scare a part of his family away in a vain attempt to get his affection.
Chan would never let that happen.
———————
The next morning, Minghao still wouldn’t let Chan near him. It made Chan feel terrible, knowing it was one of his fans that had found a way to force Minghao into this mindset.
All the members were getting paranoid, Seungcheol occasionally checking through the peephole on their door to make sure no one was lurking outside.
Their management had implemented a rule that stated the group must stay in groups no smaller than four if they left the dorms.
A few members decided they needed to go for a walk, Chan, Mingyu, Wonwoo, Vernon and Jeonghan decided to head out to the park, heads and faces almost completely covered.
The group had been given two days off as Minghao refused to leave the safe confines of his and Junhui’s bedroom other than when Seungcheol finally convinced him that a bit of food would make him feel better.
Chan felt his heart break when he saw Minghao’s bandaged hand and pale, tear-stained face. Chan tried his best to apologise but Minghao wouldn’t let Chan within five meters of him. The upset Maknae had to remind himself that this mindset was something Minghao was forced into, not his choice.
Once Minghao returned to his room, having eaten only a few spoonfuls of cereal, Jeonghan reassured everyone that Junhui was the same when he received the razor blades in his post, but Minghao would be back to normal once his hand healed and the Sasaeng was dealt with.
The five members soon left to go to the park, pulling on masks and caps to avoid being spotted. Mingyu brought a camera with them to take pictures of everyone, a welcome distraction from the situation until Vernon and Chan heard the sound of a camera shutter.
They both immediately turned to Mingyu, expecting him to be holding the camera towards them. Instead, Mingyu was holding hands with Wonwoo, the camera hanging from its strap around his neck.
“Mingyu, was that you taking a picture?” Chan asked, looking around the park for another camera.
Mingyu shook his head. “No. Not me. Why?”
Vernon gasped and pointed over to a bush, where Chan caught sight of a camera just before it disappeared behind the leaves.
“Hyung, there’s a Sasaeng over there. We need to go home.” Wonwoo whispered to Jeonghan.
The eldest shook his head. “No. We’ll lead them to our dorms. I’m just going to assume it’s Chan’s Sasaeng so nobody gets too close to him, alright?”
Chan subtly pushed Vernon away when the American refused to move, not wanting any of his friends to get hurt just because someone was obsessed with him.
Chan couldn’t stop thinking back to Minghao. Their youngest Chinese member had obviously been followed by the Sasaeng to get the picture of him, and it was unfair that Minghao and Chan were being punished because Minghao was a member who showed his love through affection.
“We can call our manager and he can drive us away from here. Or we can just try and lose them.” Mingyu suggested, hands shaking in Wonwoo’s grip.
The Sasaeng was stressing everyone out, especially now that she had moved into the open and was following the group of five non-too subtly.
“Channie-Oppa.” The Sasaeng yelled, suddenly running to catch up to the group.
All five of them immediately took off running towards their apartment block, hoping to reach the apartment and lock themselves in so their security could deal with the Sasaeng.
Chan was panicking, knowing that if the Sasaeng reached them, she would be after him.
The Sasaeng was only a few meters behind by the time they reached the apartment block, practically falling through the doors and sprinting up the stairs as quickly as they could.
As soon as they reached the right apartment, they threw open the door and locked themselves in.
Minghao, Junhui, Seungcheol and Seokmin were watching a movie with the lights off, Minghao fast asleep and a bowl of popcorn between them.
“Hyung, turn the movie off,” Jeonghan said to Seungcheol.
The sound of the door slamming shut had woken Minghao, and Junhui and Seokmin were turned towards the door to see what was going on.
“We think Chan’s Sasaeng found us. She was taking pictures of us at the park. Turn off the TV so she doesn’t know we came in here. And call the security.”
“What’s happening?” Minghao muttered, looking up at Junhui with wide eyes. He looked so scared.
Junhui sighed. “Chan’s Sasaeng is outside. We need to stay quiet so they don’t know this is our room.”
Minghao gasped, choking on a sob and trying to get up to run back to his room.
Chan felt just how Minghao was acting. All he wanted to do was run back to his room, but much like Minghao was pinned to the couch by Junhui and Seungcheol’s arms, Chan was frozen with fear.
Everyone froze when they heard footsteps outside. “Channie-Oppa? Are you in there?” Came a female voice, soft but slightly menacing to the men inside.
Chan covered his mouth with both hands when his eyes started watering, making sure he didn’t make a single noise. The maknae was completely frozen, unable to move even if he wanted to. There was someone standing outside who desperately wanted to see him, even if he didn’t want to see her at all.
The lady hung outside for around ten minutes, waiting for someone to leave or make a noise, but eventually, she gave up.
Chan felt an overwhelming sense of relief as Jeonghan finally whispered “She’s gone,” and let out a loud sob.
Jeonghan pulled Chan into a hug and Junhui and Seungcheol let Minghao climb into Junhui’s lap.
“She’s gone. She’s gone, Channie. No more panic. We’ll have her face on the CCTV. You can get a restraining order against her. We’ll never have to see her again, yeah?”
Chan nodded, sobbing gently into Jeonghan’s chest.
It took a few minutes of hugs and gentle reassurances for Chan to calm down enough for his hands to stop shaking. Once they did, Jeonghan led Chan back to his room, tucking him in bed and pressing a kiss to his forehead.
“We’ll get that restraining order tomorrow. I’ll send the CCTV video to our security. Just go to sleep and I’m sure there will be a small meeting in the morning to sort everything out.”
Chan sighed, closing his eyes and feeling Jeonghan brush his hair back before he fell asleep.
———————
The next morning, Chan and Jeonghan filed a restraining order against the Carat, whom they got the name of from their security. Apparently, she was a repeat offender in terms of trying to visit Chan at the HYBE Building.
Minghao was a little less anxious and agreed to eat breakfast with the group which was a quick improvement and something Chan was very thankful for.
All the members were still being cautious, Seungcheol occasionally glancing out the window or Jeonghan looking through the peephole whenever he walked past the door. Junhui and Mingyu were still keeping a very close eye on Minghao. Seokmin and Seungkwan were being especially close to Chan, pulling him in for hugs and cuddles constantly.
Chan liked the attention he was getting, especially when Minghao approached him a few days after the incident and gave him a big hug, apologising for being so paranoid.
Chan simply whispered that it was okay and made sense in the situation.
Everyone, especially Chan, was just glad the whole thing was over and everything was back to normal.