Chapter Text
“Shut up, Lee Jihoon, or I swear on every bone in my body that all of yours will be broken in the next two minutes,” came the whispered hiss from the long-haired male, blond hair already falling out of its ponytail as he helped the other up the stairs, an arm wrapped tightly around his waist.
“Wow, two minutes, Jeonghan? You’re loosening up,” came the grunted response as the shorter, pink-haired male clutched onto the older one, fingers slipping from the other’s blood stained skin.
“I’m your damn hyung, show me some respect,” Jeonghan muttered as he finally hauled Jihoon up to the top of the staircase, fingers digging into the younger’s waist, fumbling for his key.
“Didn’t I tell Seungcheol to leave this fu-” Jeonghan’s gripes were cut off as Jihoon turned the knob and lightly kicked the door open, groaning softly in pain.
“Really, Han-ie, that blow to your head must’ve done something, seeing as you forgot we were the only ones awake when we left, leaving the door unlocked,” Jihoon quipped, breathlessly laughing before wincing again.
“Now get me to the bathroom before I bleed out on the doorstep.”
Jeonghan sighed as he washed his hands in the bathroom sink, watching as the blood ran down the white sides and into the drain. He looked up into the mirror, only to see a pale face with eye-bags the size of Jupiter and blond hair matted with sweat, dirt and caked blood. A small tear drop tattoo was showing under his left eye, stark against his skin.
Jihoon was currently asleep in the bathtub, the shower on a gentle, warm spray to wash the majority of the blood and dirt off of him. He’d had a rough time that night – thrown around like a punching bag between three meat-heads during his mission to expose some corrupt, rich assholes. It was a good thing that Jihoon had a high pain tolerance, and that Jeonghan found him fast enough, or he might’ve ended up in a worse condition.
The blond slowly dragged his way over to the bathtub, sliding in next to Jihoon, allowing the warm water to encompass him as well. Jihoon mumbled something softly, moving to rest his head on Jeonghan’s shoulder, the elder not batting an eyelid.
When you’ve seen your partner in much worse situations – strung up, almost dead – you tend to get pretty close.
Jihoon woke up to new clothes, clean skin and an asleep Jeonghan on the closed toilet lid, also changed and clean himself; the teardrop tattoo - only seen on Jeonghan, seeing as Jihoon was free from the mark - now hidden under a coat of makeup. Raising his arms above his head to stretch, he couldn’t help but wince as pain flared in his lower stomach.
“Shit,” he muttered, one hand resting on the sore spot as he looked up to the clock that was in the bathroom.
6:33, it read, causing a soft groan to escape the pink-haired male. It was almost 7am, the time when Seungcheol would probably wake up and look for Jeonghan to wake the others up (“kids,” as Jeonghan and Seungcheol would state). Jihoon crawled over to Jeonghan, lightly tapping his hyung on the knee.
“Jeonghan hyung, Jeonghaaaaan hyuuuuung, Han-iiiieeee,” Jihoon called softly, lightly shaking the other but to no avail – Jeonghan was out like a light. Jihoon inwardly cursed as he stood up, bracing himself for the, no doubt, violent reaction he would receive.
One…
Two…
Three…
A yelp escaped Jihoon as he was suddenly pinned against the opposite wall, a very awake Jeonghan holding him down.
“Wh- Jihoon! Next time you do that, I’m leaving you to Dongjae’s clutches!” Jeonghan hissed, rubbing his sore cheek as Jihoon visibly paled, stepping back from the long-haired male.
“Sorry hyung, but you were out like a light and it’s almost 7.” In the space it had taken Jihoon to wake Jeonghan, there was enough time for the clock to reach 6:45, indicating another fifteen minutes until Jeonghan’s alarm, left beside his and Seungcheol’s bunk bed, would go off.
Jeonghan muttered a few curses under his breath before grasping Jihoon’s arm, pulling him up and out of the bathroom.
“Go get the coffee and juice ready – I’m going to wake the others up in a minute,” the blond stated, absentmindedly patting Jihoon’s arm.
“Good luck, hyung.”
“Thanks.”
“Hansol, if you are not out of this bed in FIVE seconds, your privileged kidneys will NOT be functioning!” Jeonghan yelled, yanking the blanket off the whining teenager, ignoring the snickers from his roommates, Chan and Seungkwan.
“Hyung! I thought we all agreed to never talk about that!” came Hansol’s response, tone too whiney for 7:15am. Jeonghan snapped one end of the blanket at the young rapper, gaining a yelp from him and a body sliding to the floor in defeat. A smile spread across Jeonghan’s face as he dropped the blanket on the floor, turning to the door.
“Make your bed too – Seungkwan, Chan! Breakfast should be ready soon, so head out now,” Jeonghan called over his shoulder before leaving the room, turning to enter the main living space.
On the couch was Junhui and Minghao, the latter’s head resting in Jun’s lap. Jun was slowly carding his fingers through his hair, drinking his coffee out of the Hello Kitty mug that Soonyoung had found and brought home a few weeks ago. At their feet, leaning against the couch, was Mingyu, Wonwoo, Soonyoung and Seokmin – Wonwoo and Soonyoung nursing warm cups of coffee, whilst Seokmin and Mingyu enjoyed the orange juice that Jihoon had put out. Finally, Jisoo and Seungcheol were leaning against the kitchen counter, trying to engage a silent and tired Jihoon in conversation.
Jeonghan made his way through the room, ignoring how Chan, Seungkwan and Hansol finally joined the rest of the group with yells and complains. He slotted in between Seungcheol and Jihoon, turning to rest his back against the counter.
“Morning,” Jeonghan stated, reaching for a cup of coffee that rested in front of Jihoon, taking a sip before his face scrunched up in distaste.
“Why must you take coffee so bitter?” he complained, setting the coffee back down. Jihoon levelled a look at Jeonghan whilst Seungcheol and Jisoo laughed softly on either side of the two.
“It’s to cancel out his soul,” Seungcheol piped up, hand resting on Jeonghan’s shoulder as he peered over at the shorter man, retreating slightly when said man turned his glare on him.
“Leave me and my coffee alone – besides, hyung, I made a coffee for you. It’s over by the machine,” Jihoon pointed over to the black coffee machine, where a white coffee mug decorated with black stripes awaited Jeonghan, steam slowly rising.
“Ah, thank you Jihoon-ie,” the elder’s tone expressed immense gratitude, ruffling the pink locks before moving over to where his drink awaited him.
“Aish, you disrespectful dongsaeng, where’s our coffees?” Seungcheol complained, Jisoo making a point to ignore their leader’s immature tone and grab a mug, moving over to where Jeonghan was.
“Over by the machine, with the cups, as you can make your own,” Jihoon stated bluntly, taking another sip of his coffee before walking off, claiming the single armchair in the corner as his and his alone. He settled against the soft cushions, biting back the pained groan as his bruised muscles protested.
“But Jihooooon-” Seungcheol’s complains were cut off as Jeonghan shoved some toast in his face as he passed by, hair already gathered up in a loose ponytail.
“Cheol-ah, you’re hurting our ears,” he stated innocently, sitting down next to Jun, legs tucking underneath himself. Jisoo didn’t bother stifling his giggles at Seungcheol’s offended face.
“Fine, be that way, Jeonghan,” he pouted, leaning his head against the cool counter, before straightening up again.
“Everyone, make sure you eat your breakfast to get your strength for today – we have two performances today and that’s all!” he called out loudly, his voice changing from whiney and complaining to one of a leader’s. Various answers of ‘okay!’, ‘sure, hyung,’ and a grunt from Jihoon sounded throughout the room, indicating their understanding of their schedule and, thus, the beginning of their day.
Jeonghan bit his lip as he tugged at his collar, feeling the area around his neck heating up. It was boiling where he was right now, and his outfit was mainly black, so he felt the heat more than the others. A grateful smile tugged at his lips as Mingyu handed him a refilled cold water bottle, opening it to down almost a quarter of its content.
“Ah, hyung, slow down – you don’t want to throw up on stage, do you?” Soonyoung called from his spot ahead, Jeonghan waving his statement off.
“I’ll be fine, Soonyoung-ie, don’t worry about me,” he said, his words coming out in breathless gasps however. His hair was tied up, yet he still felt sweat gathering at the back of his neck.
I’ve been through worse situations, I’ve had harder things happen to me. I can survive this heat, Jeonghan thought, desperately trying to gather the willpower to not give into the heat, drinking more of the water. He was about to finish the damn thing until he felt two hands cover his, gently prying it from his hands.
“Hyung, you’ll get sick,” Jihoon muttered, handing the object to Mingyu before he turned back to Jeonghan. He reached up to press his hand to Jeonghan’s forehead, feeling the sweat-slicked skin under his cool hand. Jihoon ignored the soft sound that came from Jeonghan – obviously, the cold touch from the perpetually freezing Jihoon was helping him – and pulled back after a minute, frowning.
“You should head up to the front with Cheol hyung – he has a small fan you could use,” Jihoon stated, tugging Jeonghan forward.
“If you don’t, I’ll personally make sure you’re sick on stage.”
Jeonghan rolled his eyes at the younger’s statement, ignoring the gasps around him, and lightly flicked him on the forehead.
“Be more respectful, dongsaeng, and I’ll head up now,” he finished, already shrugging his jacket off and moving past the other members, murmuring apologies and ‘excuse me’s’.
Jihoon just hoped he could cool down before he sweated so much, you could see his teardrop tattoo.
The performances went by smoothly – no one fell, they all sounded good and Jeonghan wasn’t sick on stage (to the surprise of Soonyoung). Jihoon swiped the back of his neck with a small towel, one of the small ones that had been passed out earlier to all of the members. He silently tolerated Soonyoung and Seokmin’s jostling and loud chattering behind him, focusing on the thought of the dorm and sweet, sweet relief in the form of sleeping. Closing his eyes for a brief second, Jihoon savoured the cool wind, chilling his sweat-slicked skin and relaxing him, giving him enough strength so he wouldn’t collapse before he reached the cars.
Jeonghan was up the front, Seungcheol’s arm around his shoulders, his towel strewn across the leader’s head. Jisoo was on the other side of Jeonghan, hands in his pockets and towel folded and on his shoulder.
“So, Jeonghan-ah, you feel better now?” Jisoo asked, lifting his hand to shield his eyes from the glaring sun. Jeonghan nodded, his head turning to face the younger male.
“I’m feeling much better, Jisoo. It was just really hot earlier,” Jeonghan responded softly, his lips twisting into a genuine smile, hands copying Jisoo’s position and finding their way into Jeonghan’s pockets.
“Ah, Han-ah, you got to take more care of yourself! Can’t have our angel collapsing on us!” The comfortable silence was disturbed by Seungcheol’s words, cutting into the conversation with a grin and a look given to the other ’95 liners.
“Yah, Choi Seungcheol, I’m not that weak! I can handle heat!” Jeonghan protested, which prompted the two eldest members to start bickering like children, Jisoo watching on with a fond smile.
As the members were ushered into the waiting cars, Jihoon found himself in the first car with Jeonghan, Seungcheol, Jisoo, Seungkwan and Minghao, pushed to the window seat at the back. Minghao and Seungkwan filled up the back as well, the ’95 liners taking the three seats in front of them.
As they drove through the streets, the car filled with Seungkwan’s energetic singing and the occasional “Shut up, Seungkwan” from Seungcheol’, Jihoon managed to rest; head leaning against the window and hands in his lap. He didn’t close his eyes, though, staring at the blond in front of him.
At first glance, Jeonghan would appear as a young man, at age 21, singing as a career with 12 other boys. But he was so much more – Yoon Jeonghan was the tough, cold-hearted and feared heir apparent to the Angel’s Den – a well-known gang that had taken Jihoon in 3 years ago.
The gangs brought out another side to Jeonghan – a calculative, harsh Jeonghan. One who made difficult decisions and knew how to get information from someone. One who could wield knives with the talent of an expert and how best to use them. A Jeonghan who bore the teardrop tattoo, a mark Jihoon had hoped none of them would ever achieve.
It was hard to believe an angel like Yoon Jeonghan could be so devilish.