Work Text:
Woonhak was late.
He'd promised Jaehyun that he'd be at the company in time for the meeting with the What?Door! team. He'd made sure to leave on time. He was sure he'd reach on time.
Until he saw the Lotte Giants poster outside Yongsan station.
Woonhak's hand shot into his pocket, fishing out his phone. Sure, he had to be at HYBE in the next five minutes. But a quick Weverse selfie and update wouldn't hurt, right?
He quickly positioned himself with the poster, and clicked a selfie. No, the angle isn't right. He tried again. Aish…The lighting sucks. He kept trying until he nailed it. Having gotten a satisfying shot, he quickly opened Weverse and started typing.
ONEDOOR! I saw this poster outside Yongsan station today! What a great start to the morning! Saranghae ONEDOOR!
A smile crept onto Woonhak's face as he clicked on the Post button. He quickly glanced up at the time. 2:37 PM.
He was late.
"Oh no," he whined to himself, knowing he was going to get lectured by Jaehyun after the meeting. He started jogging towards the building, stopping only at the zebra-crossing. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long to cross the road and enter HYBE.
Woonhak pressed the elevator button, foot tapping impatiently against the floor as if it would magically open up faster. His phone hadn't rung yet, which meant he was safe. For now, at least.
"Ya, Woonhak-ah!" He turned at the call of his name, silently hoping it would be one of his group members who was also late. He wouldn't be alone while getting lectured by Jaehyun.
His face lit up in surprise as his eyes landed on Beomgyu, who was casually walking in, his hair bouncing with each stride. Was he late too? It wasn't uncommon to meet members of the other groups; they worked in the same building anyways.
"Ah, hyung! Annyeonghaseyo!" Woonhak bowed quickly to his senior. Beomgyu returned the greeting, stopping a few feet away from him. He'd met Beomgyu before, mainly for filming challenges together, but rarely outside of work.
"You're late, aren't you?" Beomgyu asked, deducing it from the way Woonhak went back to tapping his foot again while staring at the number display.
"Slightly?" Woonhak winced. "I made it to Yongsan station on time. But then I saw the new Lotte Giants poster, and I had to post it on Weverse. I couldn't get the selfie correctly, and I kept clicking…" He trailed off, feeling like he'd embarrassed himself enough by being late in the first place.
Beomgyu giggled at the junior, clearly amused by his dedication to supporting the baseball team. "It's okay, Woonhak-ah. Soobin hyung told me how much you love the team—"
The elevator opened with a ding, and the duo quickly turned to face it. It wasn't empty, though.
"Ah—Maki?" Woonhak's eyes went wide with surprise yet again, as did Maki's. Seeing Beomgyu outside of work felt like a coincidence already. Now Woonhak wondered who else he was going to see today.
The awkward bows returned, Maki and Beomgyu exchanging pleasantries as they boarded the elevator. Woonhak didn't mind meeting other idols, but right now, he just wanted to get to the meeting. He spammed the close button on the panel, willing the doors to close faster.
The doors had almost closed before a foot shot between them, stopping them. The doors reopened, and Woonhak found himself face-to-face with The8.
"Ah—Mianhae. I hope I didn't kick you," The8 quickly checked Woonhak's pants for shoe imprints.
"No, no, sunbaenim! It's okay. I'm fine," Woonhak bowed and stepped aside, letting the man in. Greetings were exchanged for a third time, and the doors finally closed.
"Sunbaenim, that was… that was very nonchalant," Maki told The8. "Like… immense aura points."
The8 looked at Maki as if he was talking in Latin. "Aura—What?"
"He means what you did was pretty cool, sunbaenim," Woonhak offered, hoping his impatience wasn't tainting his tone. He knew Maki was chronically online. Heck, he was most likely HYBE's most chronically online idol. He was the same age as Maki, but he never felt inclined to use such lingo in daily conversations.
"You kids use such new words," The8 said calmly, a small smile lighting up his face. "Sometimes, it makes me feel old—"
The8 was cut off when the elevator suddenly lurched and came to an abrupt stop. The lights flickered on and off. Woonhak stole a glimpse at the floor display before it powered off. He'd been one floor away from his destination.
"What—NOOOOOO!" Woonhak yelled loudly. "I was literally supposed to get off on the next floor!"
"It might be a temporary issue," Beomgyu tried to sound reassuring. "They should get this fixed in no time."
"Try the alarm button," The8 said, pushing past Woonhak to press it. It made no sound, to everyone's dismay.
"I'm gonna die here!" Woonhak wailed.
"If you die here… you turn… into Ligma…" Maki said ominously.
"Ligma what?" Woonhak asked, completely unaware.
"LIGMA BALLS!" Maki cackled, his laughter slowly dying as he realised there were seniors in the elevator too.
The8 pinched the bridge of his nose. "Maki, with all due respect, what in the goddamn vanilla banana nut fuck?"
Maki grimaced at the sudden cuss. "Sunbaenim, I was just trying to lighten the mood…" He sounded dejected, like a puppy who'd been kicked. He stuck out his lower lip in a pout.
"Aww," Beomgyu held out his arms, inviting Maki into a consoling hug. He turned to The8. "Sunbaenim, that was harsh," he accused.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." The8 held up his hands in defeat. "I was just finnicky from the elevator breaking down. Why would the stupid alarm button not work?"
"Isn't that, like, basic elevator safety protocol?" Beomgyu asked, slowly patting Maki on the back, still consoling him. He was silent for a while before Maki spoke up.
"Does somebody have a phone that has network?"
The8 checked his phone. "Nope, mine's dead." He shrugged.
"Hyung, you?" Woonhak asked Beomgyu.
"My phone's battery died," Beomgyu said, pressing his lips into a thin line of frustration.
Woonhak frantically opened his phone, checking for network. He could see only one bar. Well, something was better than nothing.
Immediately, Woonhak rang Jaehyun. No sooner had the line connected and he could hear Jaehyun whining from the other end.
"Ya, Woonhak-ah, don't you have a sense of time?" Jaehyun complained. "We've been waiting for you for so long. And that Weverse post? You were at Yongsan station. You could at least text me that you'd be late—"
"Hyung, listen!" Woonhak cut him off impatiently. "The elevator broke down and I'm stuck on the floor below you."
The line was silent for a while, and Woonhak got scared that the network got cut off. A while later, he heard Jaehyun again.
"What?"
"Hyung, please!" Woonhak pleaded. "I'm being honest! The elevator really is stuck! We've been here for like ten minutes now!"
"It hasn't really been that long," Maki muttered under his breath.
"What's he saying?" Woonhak heard Riwoo over the line.
"Woonhak's bowling ball weight broke the elevator," he heard Taesan answer.
"HYUNG!" Woonhak wailed, closing his eyes out of embarrassment. "Hyung, don't say stuff like that! I'm with The8 sunbaenim—"
"Oh—Oh, an—annyeonghaseyo sunbaenim," Jaehyun immediately said. Woonhak could almost see him bowing through the phone.
"Beomgyu hyung and Maki are stuck with me too," Woonhak continued.
"Ya, Woonhak-ah, your bowling bowl weight is bothering our seniors. And poor Maki… Aish…" This time it was Sungho. Maki brought up a hand to cover his mouth, trying his best not to laugh at Woonhak's plight.
"Ah, hyuuuuunng," Woonhak whined again, shaking his arms and legs. Jaehyun burst out laughing, his voice emanating from the phone and echoing in the elevator.
Woonhak tried to ignore their teasing. "Hyung, there's five of you, and it feels worthless. Can't you at least try to do something and get us out?"
"Sounds like something Dino would say," The8 mumbled.
"Yeah, okay, okay," Riwoo said. At least he was trying to be helpful. "We'll inform somebody here and call you back soon."
"And don't bother the others by throwing a tantrum," Leehan spoke over the line.
And the call ended.
Woonhak sank to the floor, exhausted from his members' teasing. He was stuck in the elevator, and they were mocking him?
He flailed his limbs around, like a baby whose toy had been snatched. His legs kicked against the door, and his hands hit somebody's feet.
"Hey, watch it!" He heard Maki, exasperation filling his tone. "Stop crashing out. It's not giving main character energy." Maki rolled his eyes.
Woonhak lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling. The lights kept flickering slowly without any rhythm. He just hoped his members had found help, and they'd all be saved.
"Hey." Beomgyu looked down at him. "Get up. Let me try something," he said, holding out a hand to pull up Woonhak. Woonhak relented and complied, taking Beomgyu's hand.
The8 had slumped down against the back wall of the elevator. He sat in silence, staring up at the flickering lights. Maki sat down beside him, and he motioned Woonhak to join them. Woonhak stared skeptically at the floor beside Maki, before sighing and sitting down.
The trio watched as Beomgyu fidgeted with the buttons, almost like he was trying to find a secret combination that could jumpstart the elevator.
"Beomgyu-ya, what are you doing?" The8 questioned him, his eyes following every movement of Beomgyu. "I don't think it's safe to be spamming all those buttons—"
"Sunbaenim, I wasn't born yesterday!" Beomgyu retorted, not even turning back to look at them. He kept pressing button after button, but the panel didn't light up. The alarm. The intercom. Nothing seemed to work.
Dread started settling in Woonhak's gut. "Hyung, I agree with sunbaenim. I don't think it's safe—"
Beomgyu finally turned around, hands levitating over the panel. He looked Woonhak dead in the eye. "I told you, I wasn't born yesterday!" He smiled creepily before going back to pressing random buttons on the panel.
Woonhak had never seen Beomgyu like this, and it was scaring him. "At least your not stuck with Hoshi hyung," The8 said grimly. "Or Dokyeom. Although that is a spectacle I'd want to watch." And he huffed at the thought.
The8's words were supposed to be reassuring, but Beomgyu's next action really made his hair stand on end.
Beomgyu had left the panel, and was now trying to pry the doors open.
"Hyung! Hyung! Can you please stop with the big dick energy? It's not giving!" Maki complained. "The elevator isn't gonna open."
"Beomgyu, please stop trying to kill us," The8's tone was tight, like he was trying to not lose his calm. "Please, please, can you sit down with us?"
"I WASN'T BORN YESTERDAY!" Beomgyu bellowed, while straining to forcefully heave the doors open. But the doors were sealed shut, and Beomgyu's efforts were clearly in vain. Yet, he wasn't ready to budge.
"I'm lowkenuinely convinced we're gonna die here," Maki leaned his head back to the wall, bumping into it. "Oh mighty rizzlords of the Universe, please elevate us from this out of pocket situation."
"Oh my god, Maki, please SHUT UP!" Woonhak groaned, stomping his feet.
"Okay, that's it!" The8 sat up straight, eyeing all three juniors. "I haven't done my morning meditation. And I really, really, really need it right now."
With that, he shut his eyes and assumed a meditative pose. He furrowed his eyebrows, trying to ignore everything going on around him.
"I wasn't born yesterday!" Beomgyu kept repeating.
"Oh rizzlords, save us!" Maki droned.
"Jaehyun hyung, please! Do something!" Woonhak whined.
"Inner peace… Inner… peace…" The8 chanted.
This continued for what seemed like an eternity. And then—
The doors cracked open, light flooding the dim elevator.
Beomgyu gasped and stepped back, pulling his hands to himself. "I—I did it! I did it! I knew I didn't do that excercise variety show for nothing!" He turned around, flexing his arms. "I. WASN'T. BORN. YESTERDAY." He bellowed one last time.
"Are these the gates of Heaven?" Woonhak wailed.
"If these are the gates of Heaven, can we please send him back down, hyung?" Woonhak heard Taesan through the gap in the door.
"It's alright, Woonhak-ah," he heard Jaehyun's reassuring voice from above. "They're going to pull you guys out. Just wait till they force the doors open some more—What happened to The8 sunbaenim?"
"He's… meditating. I think," Woonhak answered back, standing up and offering a hand to Maki.
"Ah… Inner peace…" The8 said softly, inhaling the cold AC air coming through the gap between the doors.
"The rizzlords have saved us!" Maki rejoiced, as he gripped Woonhak's hand and pulled himself up.
"Maki, shut up!" Everyone yelled.