Chapter Text
Hyuntak could not believe his barely-awake eyes, still half-lidded from the lack of sleep he had gotten from last night. May someone explain to him why the hell was his high school bully waiting for who-knows-what right next to his front door, his back laying against the wall, like he owned the place? Like it was a normal sight to behold first thing in the morning?
If Hyuntak wasn't ready yet, now he fully was. He had finally woken up from his sleepy trance, his eyes widening from the sight in front of him. Then he blinked once, then twice just to make sure he wasn't having hallucinations. Afterwards, the thoughts started to rush in his skull.
What the hell, he thought again.
Why was this fucker at his door? And why did he had to be the first person Hyuntak had the privilege to see, first thing in the morning?
Then the fear slowly started to creep in, his muscles immediately tensing up.
How did he learned where Hyuntak lived? Did he knew which time Hyuntak usually left for school? Did he knew? Or did the man just waited for him thirty minutes in the cold outside his home? While Hyuntak was getting ready for the day, blissfully unaware of Seongje's presence right next to him.
Nausea started to flow in his system. Hyuntak was getting sick, absolutely fucking sick.
Slowly, Seongje lifted his eyes up, like he was waiting for Hyuntak's brain to stop circuiting and slowly coming to realize the situation he was in, exactly where Seongje wanted him.
A small grin started to take place on his face. He pushed onto his hands to lift himself up, not relying on the wall anymore. He put one foot in front of the other and managed to open his mouth a little before Hyuntak's brain finally came to his senses and he growled:
"What the fuck are you doing here?"
Seongje drank in the sight of Hyuntak's breathing starting to rile up, his stare growing sharper with each second that passed. Starting to get more aware of the situation he was in, his brows furrowing and his jaw locking tighter against his skull.
"Man, why can't I greet a dear friend of mine?" he responded lazily, the grin not leaving his face, putting his hands inside his windbreaker's pockets. Like all of this was normal and not fucking up severely Hyuntak's mental state.
"What the fuck do you mean? We're not friends. We never were. How the fuck did you know where I lived? No, forget that, I know how you got your info. You Union fuckers got your eyes and ears everywhere in the neighborhood."
"Ha", Seongje chuckled lazily. "Didn't take you for a big speaker in the morning." he scoffed then narrowed his eyes, absolutely loving shamelessly the sight of Hyuntak becoming furious solely by Seongje's presence, and for the initial shock slowly starting to leave his face.
"You might wanna know why though. It's got something to do with your little boyfriend, Park Humin."
"Baku?" Hyuntak was starting to get agitated, he couldn't believe his eyes nor his ears, not even his brain.
He should have drank that cup of coffee before leaving and not pretended he would be fine by walking in silence to Eunjang, foolishly believing he would not have to care about anything and not talk to anyone for at least fifteen minutes. Only the sound of cars passing by greeting him and the sight of strangers going to work, who would not spare him a single glance nor engage with him in the slightest. One must have one or two coffee's cups before interacting with this fucker, no matter what time of the day it was.
"What do you wanna know about Baku that your little owner doesn't know yet?" he growled, his patience wearing thin as soon as his best friend was brought up in the conversation.
Seongje scoffed. He was genuinely getting amused by Hyuntak's reaction, his eyes darting away from Hyuntak's glare for a second to the ground before drifting his eyes up his face, slowly stretching his neck to one side and then the other, then to the back. Probably to appear more menacing, thought Hyuntak, more Seongje-like.
'Cause this asshole knew exactly how to fuck with people. He knew what fear he instilled in them, knew how much his sole presence was enough to bring out uneasy feelings in people's guts, and how much he needed to speak before his preys started to really consider running away.
But Hyuntak wasn't like most people. He never ran away from a fight, despite how small his chance of winning was. Unless he was protecting someone else, he refused to run away. Not that he was an absolute beast in fighting, he could never meet Baku's level, nor hoping to match Sieun's rage and silent madness. Hyuntak wasn't starting fights solely because he knew he was better than that.
His taekwondo career had taught him to never back down, to never be scared of whatever was going your way. You either stood your ground and took every punch, then retaliated, or you either accepted your gate and backed down in respect for your opponent.
But running away? That wasn't something he was ever planning to do, especially not in front of this motherfucker, who after fucking up his knee, decided to fuck up the rest of his mental stability.
"Tch." Seongje scoffed. "Such bad manners. You need a bit of discipline to be taught to you."
He began again to slowly approach him, his hands still stuck inside his pockets, and a bored look on his face.
Hyuntak refused the urge to retreat and instead, leveled his face for his eyes to be at the same level as Seongje.
"Answer me. What's your deal?"
Seongje said nothing, still approaching him.
Hyuntak felt it first. The punch. A punch to his face, his lips more precisely. If he wasn't enough awake, now he surely was. Every one of his neurons died down, only to reconnect a second later.
More effective than any cup of coffee, he thought.
Before he could manage to retaliate, Seongje had already taken advantage of the situation and fired two quick punches to his forehead, like he was trying to mark something in Hyuntak's brain.
When Hyuntak's fist collided with the corner of Seongje's mouth, not even managing to make him back down on his stance, Seongje's grin had started to feel alive again, now showing gums.
If Hyuntak needed to take a punch or two for his brain to fully wake, Seongje needed a good fight to start his day in a good mood.
"Now, we're talking" he murmured.
Hyuntak put up his fists in front of his face. He knew how this fucker put up a fight, he was all about cornering someone and get up all in their faces just to destabilize them. He would not be Seongje's toy. Not today at least.
Perhaps it was because the reality of it had not fully dawned onto him, anyone would have broken a sweat or two after knowing your arch nemesis knew where you lived. But Hyuntak was still riding the high of the punch to fully take in the absolute real-life realization awaiting him afterward.
He glared at him, through his fists.
"Say what you want."
Seongje lowered his hands and just grinned at him.
Hyuntak narrowed his eyes, a crease forming between his eyebrows.
This wasn't like the fucker to back down from a fight. He was always about provoking, then never stopping unless the one he was fighting with was bleeding on the ground, eyes closed and breath ragged.
"Easy, easy princess."
Hyuntak scoffed in disbelief. What the fuck was with that nickname?
"Only wanted a small info."
Then Seongje's smile faded dangerously before he brought a small pout to his lips.
"But you looked at me with those eyes and I just couldn't resist you."
"What the fuck are you saying?" Hyuntak growled, making the mistake of closing his eyes again, in pure disbelief, and rapidly shaking his face to each side, like he was trying to make his head clearer.
Of course, he should have known better than to do this. Especially when next thing you know, his stomach was getting punched, right in the guts.
His empty stomach took the impact and he leaned on his closed door, a useless hand coming up to protect his aching stomach and the other to rest on the door behind him, to support his body. One of his eyes closed with the pain, but he still managed to glare at the other, his chin rising up to look at Seongje.
"Say it" he spat out. "What's your deal, huh?"
Unexpectedly, Seongje didn't throw another punch right after. Instead, his hand went back inside his pocket, searching for something inside of it, only to come out with a small lighter and a cigarette pack.
He dragged one out, put the package back in his pocket then started fighting with the low-cost lighter and the cold wind of the morning to raise a little flame out of it, then approached his cigarette to it. When it was lit, and a small smoke escaped from his mouth, he threw the small black lighter back in his pocket, and raised a hand to drag the cig away from his lips, drawing out though his teeth a long sigh of smoke. He smiled.
"Always so enthusiastic to see me, I see."
His eyes then narrowed suspiciously, like he just thought of a joke he was eager to share.
"Do you always get like that because you want me to punch you until you can't stand, or is it something else?"
Hyuntak closed his eyes again, this time he was sure the other would not take advantage of it, not when he had just lit up a cigarette.
"I have no time to deal with your ass, Seongje."
He rested his back on his door, to stand straighter against it.
"Punch me again and leave, or finish this conversation."
"Why? Because your little Humin-nie is waiting for you at the school's entrance?"
The smell of tobacco filled Hyuntak's lungs for a brief moment, the bitter taste making his mouth twist in disgust.
"I knew your boss was absolutely obsessed with him, but it's a new one to know that you are too."
"Wouldn't dream of it. I could never like a stupid ass like him."
"Well that makes the two of us wondering why the hell Baekjin keeps on acting like a discarded dog who doesn't know when to let go of his past owner?" smiled Hyuntak, regaining some of his confidence back.
Seongje's grin disappeared from his face for less than a second, before coming back in full bloom.
"Don't badmouth him like that, unless you want me to add another bruise to your collection. Haven't you realized yet that I already made a number on you?"
Hyuntak glared at him again, getting annoyed by this never ending conversation, starting to think of Baku who will probably wonder why Hyuntak was so late for school today.
"Why is the conversation always getting back to me, huh? Are you that obsessed?"
His eyes started to flare, a new found rage gaining place in his chest, his patience narrowing thin the more he had to deal with the man in front of him.
Seongje only drew out a long sigh of smoke from his nose in answer, before opening his mouth.
"I would really love to continue talking with you, my dear playmate, trust me on that, but I actually have another place to go, and a much more deserving person of a rightful beating right now, so I'll try to make it quick."
He walked towards him, his smile fading, his face becoming more serious than earlier.
"I want you to leave Baku alone this afternoon. No basketball plans, no walk-home, no nothing. Let him go back home to his stupid dad's restaurant that reeks of grease and oil. Don't follow him, don't warn him."
"And why the fuck would I do that, you stupid motherfucker?" spat Hyuntak out, with all the venom he could manage to find in himself.
Seongje chuckled, like he was waiting for this exact answer to come.
"Because otherwise..." he lowered his face to Hyuntak's. "The next time you get dismissed from the hospital, you won't be leaving with just scrunches, you'll need a whole damn wheelchair."
Hyuntak wanted to swallow down the threat, acting like it wasn't doing anything to him, but made no move, not wanting to give that man any satisfaction of the sort.
He covered up his year-old fear and tried to ignore the resentment rising in of him with a glare.
"You fucking psycho. You're a dumb bitch if you think I'm gonna listen to you. I'm not scared of you, and your little team filled with low-life thugs. I'd rather die than leave Baku's side."
"Oh, I'm sure of it. I also know you don't want anything bad happening to your mom either."
What?
His eyes widened a bit with his response. He really should've known better than to not expect anything else from this manic ass-eating bitch.
"Hm. What a thoughtful son you are. Thinking about your mom's well-being right after waking up."
Seongje mocked, clearly very happy with how things were turning out.
"What could she be doing right now? Going to her workplace right?"
"Don't you dare touch her", snapped Hyuntak, his teeth gnashing.
"Not a chance, if you listen to me like a well-behaved dog. If I see you walking alongside Baku after school, I'll only need to send a text to whoever's waiting by your mom's workplace to not jump her right away after she finishes her shift."
His breath fanned over Hyuntak's cheek, when he lowered his face to the side of Hyuntak's neck, closer to Hyuntak's collarbone more than ever before. He murmured softly, like a madman, to Hyuntak's ear, who was still fighting murder-thoughts, absolutely frozen in place.
"Be a good boy for me, and stay in your place."
He finished his speech with a last exhale of smoke, dangerously close to Hyuntak's mouth, before backing away. He looked absolutely delighted by the sight of Hyuntak trying his best to regulate his breathing and his need to strangle to death the man in front of him.
He chuckled to himself silently again, before turning away, leaving Hyuntak alone with the remaining smell of smoke, and his thoughts dangerously spiraling.
Everything was too much. Too much for a man who only wanted to go to class, paying little to no attention in it, then getting lunch with his friends. But, of course, because of the living-hell reality of the Union and its manic obsessed boss with his best friend, Hyuntak could never dream of living a normal life again. Free from back-end street fights and threats whispered to him in a low voice next to his ear.
Seongje was more than just a troubled boy who was seeking fun in people's fear, he was Hyuntak's personal living nightmare.