Chapter Text
“For god’s sake! Get out of your room, Hyuck!” Renjun yelled while slamming his palms against Donghyuck’s door. It was the middle of the day, and Donghyuck has been locking himself in his room to waste for nearly a week by now.
Anguish settled deep in Donghyuck’s gut as his mind endlessly replayed memories of the same guy he watched from afar for years, the way his front left incisor peeked through his closed-lip smile, his giggles whenever Donghyuck threw a flirtatious joke his way, the way he used to stitch their hands together as if it meant something. Oh god, it was so over. Donghyuck shoved his head between two pillows to hide the blooming redness in his eyes from nobody. He thought he might not ever get over this for years. He’ll be melted into his mattress by then, and they would have to call 911 to get his remains removed. Maybe he should apologize to his roommates in advance.
A muffled whine relays its message from the other side, “No,” making Renjun pinch the bridge of his nose in an attempt to quell his quickly growing frustration. He should just kick the door down.
“Dude, at this point, just kick the door down.” Chenle helpfully chimes in from where he was sitting on the couch, sipping an already emptied juicebox, while watching in amusement.
It’s been days since Donghyuck got rejected, without even having the chance to confess, by his one true – in his words – love of three years. He’s been pining for him for ages ever since they were in high school, and for some reason he couldn’t bring himself to confess. As if to mock the time he allowed to pass by, life did a funny thing and made the man introduce his girlfriend the day Donghyuck decided to grow some balls and tell him how he felt.
So the confession didn’t pull through. And, alas, Donghyuck’s most desired relationship came to an abrupt ending akin to a deflating whoopee cushion.
Sighing, Renjun said in a serious grunt, “I’m kicking the door down.” It’s totally fine, this is a situation that counts for it. A desperate attempt if you must.
Renjun stepped back, he took a deep breath to ready himself. Once he felt ready enough, he went running forward for momentum, building up force in his leg to successfully kick down Donghyuck’s tightly locked door. Chenle braced for the impact. The moment Renjun’s foot hit the door, a soft thud landed instead of a wooden door falling open with a loud bang.
For a few seconds, empty silence filled the room with some embarrassment on Renjun’s part. Chenle stared at him in silence as he stared back as well, still maintaining his position against the locked door. On cue, Jisung walks in with his gaming headset on from his and Chenle’s shared room. And from there, Chenle can’t help himself anymore and bursts out in peals of laughter.
“Dude,” between tears, “Why did you even think you could kick it down?” He was slowly, loosely falling off his spot on the couch.
Renjun’s ears flare pink, “You told me to!” Annoyed, he huffs, and resumes banging against the door. “Donghyuck, seriously, get out! It’s been days! I’ve even tarnished my dignity for you.”
Jisung stood there, confused, “Guys, err, what happened? I’m still lost.”
“We’re trying to get Donghyuck out of his room. This is attempt number twenty-nine of the week.” Chenle explains. “He’s so stubborn it’s almost commendable. But, it’s also concerning because I haven’t seen him go out at all, like, does he shit in there or?”
He bursts out laughing again mid sentence, making Jisung go rigid trying to hold in his own laugh.
A heavy sigh escapes Renjun for the umpteenth time, “You guys really, really, aren’t helping.” His pinched fingers motion at them in emphasis.
With a pondering expression, Chenle considered what to say next. Jisung, on the other hand, prepares himself a sandwich. As he takes his first bite, he says, “But hyung, what if he just needs the space? Like let him take his time with it or something. He really liked that crush of his for a long time.”
“You little shit, any more time and he’s going to die in there at this point.”
“Hyung,” Chenle walks towards the door, wincing at the negative aura exuding off of it, “We’re really worried for you now, I know it’s hard, but could you come out or at least let us in please?” He pleaded while waving a hand in front of his nose to fan off the smell of empty cans of beer and withered cups of ramen. “Just know that whatever…, whatever you need right now, we are all here for you. You can’t help that he popped up with a girlfriend, it’s not worth it to beat yourself up to this extent. So, please…?” Amazed at himself, he looked around for some approval. Wow, his theatre kid past was finally coming in handy after all this time. Shocker that it’s being used in such a situation though.
Long beats of silence pass by as Donghyuck genuinely thinks about it this time around, his cute dongsaeng is pleading for him to reenter society as a normal person and stop moping like a dumbass. How pathetic does he look? Just thinking about it made him pause the faucet in his eyes and stare at the door. He could see the shadows of their feet block out slivers of light from the small gap between his door and the floor.
All this attention on him was getting embarrassing. Well, he could use some fresh air. Plus he felt sticky and greasy all over already. And he felt like doing this any longer would make him too pale to face any form of sunlight without disintegrating to ashes. Wiping his tears, he slowly got up. Albeit groggily. Blankets shed themselves off him one by one as he approached the sliver of light going through the gap between his bedroom door and the wall.
Before Renjun could decide to beat on his door again, slowly, he turned the knob and pushed it open. His eyes squinted at the assault of light rushing into his cornea. Three figures disfigured by the light of the living area behind them stood in front of him.
“Oof, bro, you smell like shit.”
“You look like shit.”
“How was the bedrot?”
Such kind, supportive figures.
“I appreciate you all for worrying. Unfortunately, I have come to break the news that I still feel like dying in a ditch somewhere.” Donghyuck croaked out as he clapped his hands together, imitating the demeanor of a zen millennial man who works as a yoga instructor in a rented studio.
Renjun shoved him towards their bathroom, holding a pointed expression without any real heat, “Then die in a ditch, not in our very much shared apartment!”
“Better yet,” Jisung chimed in while chewing on the last remnants of his sandwich, “Die in the showers.” Which prompted Donghyuck to weakly punch his shoulder.
Donghyuck then continued to allow himself to be pushed, he needs this shower anyway. He’ll make it an everything shower. Huh, so this is what the life of a shut-in, NEET, chud, Discord moderator probably feels like? What a life. Except he was not feeling egoistical at all, just very pathetic. He sniffed the sleeves of his five day old shirt to check if it was actually that bad, and Jisung grimaced at the sight.
“Hyung, you don’t have to fact check anything yourself. Just trust us that you stink.”
Chenle had to point and laugh as loud as he could. Okay, now this is just getting too embarrassing.
Donghyuck scoffed in a poor attempt to save face, as if that was not what he was doing at all, “I know Jisung, ugh, don’t you know the theatrics of things?” He said as his hands flew around with wild gestures. “It’s so that the author can write about me doing something, well, okay, I’ll admit, sort of gross. And then you all react to it.”
The force of Renjun’s pushing grew still in confusion for a slight moment, “What are you talking about?”
“I think he’s too out of it, Renjun hyung, and I don’t want to be the one to shower him.” Chenle replied in his stead–although Donghyuck preferred he zipped his mouth shut–while whirling his pointer finger in circles around his ear. Basically, “he’s gone so crazy that he’s acting like an old man stuck in a nursing home who suffers from hallucinations.”
Donghyuck straightens up, they’re just dissing him now, “Okay, shut up. I’m going, I’m going. On my own! Got it?” Which just made them snort at his voice cracking at the end. Damn, that just made his dry throat more noticeable as if croaking while speaking earlier wasn’t enough.
He walks off loosely, slamming the door behind him. The first look in the mirror hits him like whiplash. He was so shiny? How could that be? It is a genuine miracle he hasn’t experienced a severe acne breakout with the oil build-up on his face. The flowery scent of the bathroom spray was fighting against his own…musk? Ew. He noticed stubble growing across his philtrum and under his chin as well. Of course, he hasn’t been able to shave either. That’s when Donghyuck felt a tinge of disappointment crawling up from his abdomen up to his head. Disappointment in himself. That he allowed his state to fall down to a newfound low beneath rock bottom. Donghyuck cared about his hygiene and self-care very much, thank you.
He tensed up his body to let out all the accumulated embarrassment while scrunching up his face into a sulky pout.
The whole desperate, pathetic, and depressed fiasco he showed his friends for days finally hit him as he decided to hurriedly enter the shower.
༺ ⚜ ༻
As the sounds of water gushed faintly in the background, the three housemates that were left alone scrambled to huddle together on the farthest edge of the couch in the room.
A deep sigh permeated the silence between the concerned and worried looks they threw at each other. “I did not expect it to be…that bad.” Chenle admitted.
Wide eyed Jisung had a hand clasped over his mouth, highlighting his shock, “He was barely holding it together…, what can we do, Renjun hyung?”
“Haa, well, we’ve determined that giving him space is definitely not going to work…” Renjun folded and unfolded his arms while slowly leaning forward in thought about what the next step could be for the Donghyuck-recuperation-plan. “I want to believe that he can bounce back on his own after this first step forward…, but…”
Chenle shook his fingers in a ‘got it!” moment, “We have to make him touch grass. Bring him outside.” His insight was met with nodding heads of approval this time.
Nudging forward, Jisung expressed his concerns in a whisper, “Not looking like that! He looked like he was one word away from tears pouring out of his eyes! Did you see how red they were?” His hands were doing exaggerated motions of water pouring out of his eyeballs.
“This is honestly crazy. I don’t see what he liked so much about that guy,” Renjun let out in an exasperated tone.
“His type is kind of…, I mean, not to be rude but-”
“Yes. Chenle. We know the guy was sort of ugly.”
“If we want to bring him out, why not bring him clubbing? He used to enjoy that. Although it was just his excuse to see-”
Renjun turned his entire body to fully face him, both of his hands grabbing him by the shoulders. “Fucking genius. Jisung your brain is working and I love it.”
He shied at the compliment, slowly rubbing down the red creeping up his neck with his hand. “Aw, I mean I was just thi-”
“We need to call Irene noona!” Chenle chirped, suddenly standing up from the couch. With no further explanation, both Renjun and Chenle sprint outside the door with barely contained silence, leaving Jisung wondering for a few seconds. “Eh? Why?” Before he decides to follow them up towards the floor above them.
༺ ⚜ ༻
“You have to be the one that knocks!”
“No way, you knock! You know her better, hyung!” Chenle was quick to shove him off.
“Well, I don’t want her to think that I’m the one asking for favors! It’s just knocking anyway.”
“You said it, it’s just knocking-”
Chenle and Renjun were engrossed in a whispery argument when Jisung arrived. So he decided to step up and knock on the door himself, making Renjun gasp in relieved surprise that he did not need to be the one that knocked instead after all. He suddenly felt all grown up and mature.
He had to put his word in to establish such growth, “Let’s just…, just do it.” Boom. Nike tagline to save the day. Fuck, Jisung, that was smooth.
Renjun patted his back with a smile, all while eyeing Chenle as if to say “look at what you should have done.”
The doorknob clicked and all three of them flinched, Irene opened the door with a half-empty mug of iced tea in her hand, “Renjunnie? Do you guys need something?” Her brows furrowed a bit, craning her neck inside to check the calendar hanging off the wall for a quick moment, wondering if she missed something important.
A smug look graced the younger one whom he was arguing with earlier, all catlike, “You’re still going to ask, lol.”
“Sorry if we disturbed you, uh, Chenle wanted to ask you something.” Renjun said, not risking asking for favors in the least bit, and pushing Chenle forward.
Put in the spot, Chenle shot him a quick glare before facing the woman in front of them, “Well, we all wanted to ask something of you, if it weren’t to take up your precious time…”
Irene nodded with a confused smile, “Sure, I’m free for the day.”
The three meddlingteers looked at each other with a small smile of success. “Well, the thing is…”
Donghyuck, unaware, was wiping himself down in the bathroom. “Ugh, I still have to shave!” He yelled out in feigned inconvenience.
༺ ⚜ ༻
One minute he looked like he lived in the mountains for his entire life and in the next he was a pampered prince from the North. Irene and her girlfriend Seulgi were over at their apartment unit doing, in Renjun’s words, urgent repairs on him.
Thank the heavens above that he decided to go through with the everything shower in the bathroom earlier or else he would continue doing irreparable damage to his reputation in front of other people.
“Guys, seriously, why do we need to do this today?” He barely let out before Seulgi clicked her tongue and told him to stop talking.
Chenle snickered as he was holding racks of clothes to help Jisung pick out his own outfit for the spontaneous outing they had planned, “We’re taking you clubbing, dude!”
His mouth gaped open in a lopsided ‘O’ shape. Why were they taking him clubbing when he just built the courage to step out of his bedroom. “Did you guys…pull me out of the comfort of my room for free drinks because my desperate crush morphed me into a regular there?” He fake gasped in disbelief.
Irene hit his nose with the brush, making him jerk a bit in surprise, “Stay still, pretty boy! You’re creasing your makeup.”
He silently mouthed small apologies before closing his eyes as they fixed up his eye makeup.
“Wow.” Renjun jeered at him with sarcasm. “That room is very comfortable! According to the fifteen cockroaches living the life in there with you, yes!”
Jisung blanched at the visual given by the remark. “Ugh, no, we’re bringing you outside so you can socialize and stop acting like a bedridden widow whose husband, who she was not actually married to by the way, left her.”
“Yeah, dude, we’re actually taking some effort to do this for you. We even brought in the special forces to fix you up,” added Chenle while fixing the crooked collar of Jisung’s chosen dress shirt.
He suddenly felt guilty for suddenly suspecting his friends were using him for free drinks. They wouldn’t go this far if that were the case.
Renjun then hummed in a low voice, interrupting his thoughts, “But we could really use the free drinks so…”
Or maybe they would.
“Okay. You’re done, Hyuck.” Irene lightly tapped his shoulder with her fingers, making him open his eyes.
Seulgi grabbed the sides of his head and turned it towards their small square mirror, “You better come home with someone tonight,” she said with pride.
He wasn’t all that surprised with what he saw, even barefaced after doing his morning routine after days earlier he looked good, so he knew he would come out prettier than ever. He was impressed, however, of the girls’ joint slay all over his face. He looked good good, like crazy good. Scrumptious even.
He let out a small ‘ooh’ while examining every angle of his face, “You both could go pro with this much talent.”
Seulgi giggled at the compliment, “You’re so silly.”
“No! I’m serious. Call it the handy fanny.”
A whack was then delivered to his back, a spine breaking one at that, it might leave a handprint on there. Irene was laughing with one hand coming up to cover how wide her mouth was opened. Seulgi, on his other side, pinched his side with a small chuckle. Both of them were physically harming him with joy? Maybe he was getting too funny? Was it even that funny or are they merely hiding the fact that it pissed them off?
He stood up, with both girls bidding good bye and good luck, Renjun draped a sensually casual outfit in his arms. “Get dressed, we’re all set to go already.” He said with a small smile.
So he did. And off they went.
“Let’s all ride in Chenle’s new car~” Donghyuck singsonged as they crowded in the apartment complex’s elevator and headed towards the parking area down below.
“Okay. But no one’s getting drunk to the point of puking, alright? This baby is fresh out of the factory.” The younger replied with a smirk, flicking his car keys up into the air to catch it. Very cool.
༺ ⚜ ༻
Bass boosted music blasted in his ears as they entered the club. Although instead of remixing EDMs, this new DJ that Donghyuck was unfamiliar with was apparently just queueing up songs on spotify. He must be new…eh?
Wait.
Renjun yelled while looking in the direction Donghyuck was staring at, “Is that Johnny hyung?!” He huffed out a laugh as he leaned in to hear Donghyuck’s response, not taking his eyes off of their hyung bobbing his head like a pigeon over the DJ set.
“Yes?” Donghyuck was confused and slightly cringing. “I knew he said he was exploring new career options, but DJing? For real?”
It was still warm even with the loud whirring of air conditioners, sweat quickly accumulating at Donghyuck’s nape. The soles of their shoes stuck slightly on the sticky residue, making him cringe slightly wondering if it can only be cleaned with a pressure washer. He hasn’t gone back here in a while or in any club for that matter, this would take some getting used to again.
As they walked towards the bar, people bumped into them left and right. Sooner or later it would be up and down. But regardless, how was the club so busy with this kind of showcase?
Johnny bobbed his head and people on the dance floor fucking cheered loudly as he raised both of his arms with rock n’ roll hand signs. Was he playing bass boosted Ed Sheeran?
“Donghyuck!” The bartender called as they found themselves seats. “Been a while, man. You look good.”
“Thanks, Jaehyun. I just had the worst week of my life. Two highballs and two tito’s if you will,” Donghyuck replied passively as if the worst week of his life was a casual event.
Jaehyun curtly nodded, dimples popping up on both cheeks, “It’s obvious. You’re acting less snobbier than usual.” The comment made Donghyuck raise an eyebrow, he was about to respond when Jisung tapped the table surface in front of him.
“I’m going to go to the bathroom real quick,” he yelled out.
“What?”
“Bathroom!”
“Jisung, you gotta yell louder, dude.”
“What?!”
Jisung couldn’t hear ‘louder’ but Johnny surely did because now he was – finally – playing some Tiffany Day tracks at full blast. A little louder and the speakers might vibrate off of the walls where they will fall and kill Donghyuck upon impact.
Chenle just grabbed Jisung by the collar of his top and pushed him closer to where Donghyuck was sitting beside Renjun, which he did not seem to mind as he continued to try to get his message across. “Me! Bathroom! Go!”
Donghyuck couldn’t help but put on a quizzical look. “Go then?! Why are you asking for permission, what, are you in preschool?” Donghyuck yelled back as loud as he could this time while slightly tilting his head sideways, slightly bumping it into Renjun’s head.
A finger digs itself into his shoulder, with a yelp, he turns to see Renjun handing him out their drinks with a sly smirk. “Wanna rate dudes before we get on the dancefloor?”
“You know me, Renjunnie, I should have pined for you instead.” He replied as he gulped down half of his drink in one go.
“It’s better to start now than never,” the other replied while doing the same. “What do you think about that one with the unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt next to the DJ set?”
Donghyuck hummed in contemplation, he looked older than them and sported a full beard. He seemed to be bopping his head the most over the music. “He looks like the type to crack dad jokes while flirting.”
“You’re right. He would probably write his wedding vows on the palm of his hand and read off of it. Rating? He’s pretty jacked, though, 5.5/10.”
“Ehh, just for that, 4.5/10.”
Renjun’s laugh rang in his ears like a bell, “Ohh, someone is strict now.”
Donghyuck parted his lips with defiance at what Renjun was insinuating. He has always been strict.
“Not to ruin ya’ll ladies fun,” Chenle interrupted, “but I see a booth of hot babes and hard muscles across the room in desperate need for my presence.” He clapped a hand over both of their backs before he went off on his own journey for the night. He adjusted his eyebrows to transform his resting bitch face into a sexy resting bitch face. One that lured you in and made you drool.
Renjun cupped a hand over his mouth, creating a makeshift megaphone, “Don’t get too drunk Chenle, unless you want me to crash your new car tonight!”
He cooly raised a thumbs up as he rocked through the crowd, dancing a bit with strangers as he went.
Donghyuck and Renjun sat there and talked about anything that distracted the former from his emotional turmoil, Jaehyun occasionally pitching in his own two cents in their aimless conversation. They talked about Renjun’s job training new hires, about old Met Gala looks, about Donghyuck’s questionable purchases on Taobao.
“...and that’s why I think Chenle should stop ragebaiting Jisung online with an alt account.”
He was three drinks in and ready. Renjun was passionately expressing his concern on Chenle’s antics, Jaehyun was listening attentively and asked something along the lines of what an alt account is and how do you make one.
“Girl?” Renjun asked back. “What do you even mean how to make one?”
Donghyuck pushed his hair up and stood, nudging Renjun, “Junnie, wanna dance?”
Renjun smiled at his friend, this was a great idea, he looked like he felt much better now. He internally promised to treat Jisung to a meal within the week. He grabbed Donghyuck’s hand and rushed to the mass of bodies mixing hot breaths and sweat together. They joined in, awkwardly at first, before finding the rhythm. Surprisingly, Johnny’s DJ skills were evolving right there and then. Donghyuck felt like he could finally breathe, ironically, pressed against so many people at once. Dancing like no one cared. Like the outside world didn’t exist.
From afar Chenle had people hanging off his arms, his blush flared red, they couldn’t discern if it was from heavy alcohol intake or from pure bliss as he groped a bicep on his left with a smirk.
Hours had passed and Donghyuck’s high was dying down. Shaking ass to club music wears you down, crazy right? He looked around and immediately found Renjun looking around, stressed pinching his brows together. His friendships do that to him way too often.
He tapped Renjun’s shoulder and asked what was wrong amidst color changing lights, deafening music, and loud chatter.
“Hyuck! Have you seen Jisung? I haven’t seen him since he went to the bathroom!”
Ohh. No, strangely, he has not seen Jisung at all. Not that they were babying an adult man, but Jisung leaned more to the awkward side and was less likely to find strangers to hang with on his own. He looked around, but saw nobody in the sea of people that even remotely resembled his figure. His lips parted in worry as he whipped his head side to side, trying to help look for him in the moment with Renjun. He glanced at his phone, checking the time. It read 2:57 AM.
“I haven’t seen him since he excused himself to piss…or shit or something! I don’t know!”
“Do you think something happened? Why hasn’t he come out yet! God! I’m worried.”
“Calm down, mama bear! Jesus, he’s probably fine…”
They both wordlessly shifted their priority from having fun to searching for their Jisung. Donghyuck checked the bathrooms, even though Renjun said he already did. No Jisung to be seen except for people making out and puking. Renjun went off and began asking some people around, which was all for nothing since apparently no one had seen him.
They regrouped near the bar, breathless and a little panicked now. Renjun was spamming his number with calls, only going to voicemail.
“Oh god. He’s dead.” He grabbed a fistful of his hair and stared at Donghyuck.
“Maybe he’s outside, chill. Let’s grab Chenle and leave once we find him.”
Chenle felt a little guilty as he sat in that booth, drink in hand, baddies in his arms. A man cooed at him with mock laughter as he caressed his waist. A girl laughed unabashedly at the smugness he gave off. He could bet Jisung’s left kidney that he was having the most fun out of all of them.
“Chenle! Chenle! Dolphin head!” Donghyuck’s voice reached him just as his arm did. He grabbed Chenle’s arm and pulled him out of his mini paradise.
“What the fuck man? If you wanna leave, I’m still not ready! I’m drunk as hell, can’t drive, sorry!” He wasn’t. But he needed a minute more before reentering the harsh outside world.
Donghyuck didn’t double-down. He began to drag him towards where Renjun was standing near the entrance, “We can’t find Jisung, you have to help.”
“He’s unc! He’s grown! He can take care of himself!” Chenle complained, though he allowed Donghyuck to drag him away regardless.
They exited the glowing insides of the club. The cold air of the night bit at their noses. Feeling chilly, they all clung together as they circled to the back of the establishment, especially Chenle, who wound his arm around his Renjun hyung.
“Where is he? Do you guys think he’d even go-”
A loud thud was heard around the corner. It sounded like someone hit a heavy fist against the hard brick wall at the back of the building. Under the bright white glow of a street lamp, two tall figures clad in black attire towered over a very scared looking hamster of a man. It was Jisung, shaking as he looked down as they both talked to him. One had him under a kabedon, and the other stared at them sternly with his arms held behind his back. Like a disciplined soldier in position for morning roll calls.
How were they towering over Jisung, who was obviously taller than both of them? Renjun grabbed both of them backwards where they could hide from being sighted. “Guys,” he whisper-yelled, “they look shady as hell!” He was losing a year off his life everyday.
“Yo…,” Chenle lowered his voice with growing concern. “He got himself tangled into some serious shit. What the fuck do we do?!”
Donghyuck’s eyes were wide as saucers, his brain was spamming what the fuck over and over again. He peeked back against Renjun’s stuttering advice not to as he made grabby hands at his hair.
He leaned closer, breath hitching as he made sure their presence couldn’t be sensed. He put a finger in front of his pursued lips as a gesture to be absolutely, completely, utterly quiet. The conversation came in parts, all three of them focusing on eavesdropping.
The kabedon man asked in a playfully, threatening voice, “So…, how much did you hear, kid?”
“I suggest you come clean. Quickly. We won’t hurt you too bad, you were just unlucky tonight.” The stern one said.
Jisung was shaking like a withered leaf where he stood. His hands were fidgeting behind him as his back hit the pole of the street lamp. He mumbled a bit, causing the kabedon man to flick his chin up. A demand came from him to talk louder, a glint from his hand in his pocket came with it. “N-nothing! Really! I…I just walked in on accident…I heard nothing!”
“See? Very easy to speak. Sadly, I find it hard to believe you witnessed nothing in that room. You stood there shocked for quite a while, you see.” The man smiled. Correction, the devil smiled. Chills poked through all three of their spines. “So…here’s what we have to do, young man.” The stern one approached Jisung, and Donghyuck whipped back and pushed them away urgently but quietly.
They crouched down behind a stairway near the building, hushed voices of panic filled the air between them.
Donghyuck fiddled with the hem of his top in stress. “We need a plan. Quick, before Jisung comes back to us as a picture.”
“Do you think we can throw something at their heads, a brick maybe, while they’re distracted?! Then we just grab Jisung and go!” Chenle hastily said. He was fidgeting like Jisung, but much more all over the place.
Renjun’s hands were in his head, thinking with grave focus, “We can’t do that, they look like gangsters, maybe even legit mafia members. It’s no question that they’re skilled.”
“Who cares! We outnumber them!” Chenle frantically replied.
“Yeah! Three hamsters and one scared-to-death hamster versus two highly-skilled looking thugs!”
Chenle backed away a bit, irked, as Renjun’s point settled in his head. Slowly, Donghyuck suddenly huddled them closer again. Adrenaline surged in his veins as he put himself together. His mind kept racing! He had to calm down!
“Chenle. We need your car.”
“What?!” The younger looked offended at the unexpected mention of his car.
“I came up with this crazy plan. We have to hit the one that looks deadass on whatever they’re plotting with your car then grab Jisung and go.”
“Hit him?!” Renjun nearly yelled, but he contained himself in fear.
“Yes, hit him! He’s in the way, and kabedon man won’t be quick enough to respond to a fast driving vehicle. That’s why Renjun will drive, while you and I stand by the car door and grab him! We’re larping as kidnappers! Except we’re saving him.”
Chenle and Renjun gaped at him in disbelief, but they were panicking by now as footsteps were heard a bit in Jisung direction. Fuck it, let’s go. They all spring into action and scurry off. Once they were far enough to not be heard, they broke out into a sprint towards the parking lot. “Fuck! My baby is brand new!” Chenle cried as he took out his car keys and threw them towards Renjun, who was already next to where the driver’s seat was.
“No time to waste, let’s hurry!” Donghyuck yelled.
“Wait…” Chenle muttered. “They’ll know my car then…I’ll be a target!”
Renjun taciturnly grabbed a wrench sitting snug with a few other tools in the back of the car, and pried the car’s plate number off with no effort.
The other two stared dumbly in shock for a second, but snapped back to reality as Renjun wildly gestured for them to hop in already.
He stepped on it and rushed towards Jisung’s location, running over a curb as he sped out of the parking lot. “I’m so going to kill him once we’re out of this…this hell of a situation!”
“Be careful!” Chenle screamed as they were sent careening backwards into their seats.
They nearly hit a garbage can before Renjun swerved like he was born and raised in Grand Theft Auto five. Donghyuck wondered how he even got to have his driver’s license. But, to be honest, their situation called for this action movie level driving.
“Fuck! Why did we go to the club!” He voiced out his frustrations while gripping at his rapidly beating heart. Renjun’s face scrunched into an angered frown, clearly just as, if not more, frustrated. His knuckles were white with his grip on the steering wheel. In their hurry, he forgot to put on his seatbelt. “Well, fuck us in the ass for wanting you to touch some grass!”
“Seriously? The only grass I’d end up touching tonight is weed, what a plan you guys! Couldn’t have waited to bring me out for brunch?” Donghyuck whined back, obviously, this wasn’t how their night was supposed to go at all. The turn towards the back of the building was so sharp, it screeched and they lurched sideways then forward. Donghyuck’s legs shook with anxiety, could they do this? He hoped so. Was this plan impulsive? Yes. Will they live to see the day tomorrow? He’s about to find out.
Chenle pushed his hairline so far back out of pure distress, “Goddamnit! Can we not argue right now?!”
Donghyuck grabbed the car’s door handle and slid it wide open. “Chenle! Be ready!”
The two figures could be seen now, somehow Jisung wasn’t being backed into the pole anymore, however the kabedon man had a grip on his arm. Lucky them, they didn’t need to be hit with a car. It looked like he attempted to run away in desperation before getting caught. The other one was cracking his knuckles, making the trio’s hearts jump right out of their anuses in shock. Let them make it in time, they hoped as Renjun sped up. One of the figures turned to look in their direction, making Jisung whip his head towards them. A large smile overtook his face.
The car was about to pass by them, Donghyuck held his arm out as Chenle sat beside him for support, “Jisung, grab me!”
Jisung forced the hand off, his shirt ripped with the sheer force of it, but he got free. He ran towards them and extended his hands toward his hyungs. Tears were already falling out of his eyes. He grabbed Donghyuck’s arm and leaped off of the road. A man yelled behind them as Donghyuck and Chenle tried to pull his much larger stature into the car for safety. Jisung somehow felt twelve tons heavier. “Hello, there!” A cheery voice greeted them as they tried to pull in half of Jisung’s body into safety.
Donghyuck shrieked at the sight, the kabedon man had a vice grip on Jisung’s waist. One hand held him up by holding on the edge of the car’s roof, while a foot steadied himself into the platform inside the car. This prompted all of them to shriek. In sheer shock, Donghyuck hit his fist onto the top kabedon man’s head as hard as he could, knocking his head backwards. This made him let go of Jisung’s waist to hold his head in pain, the sudden loss of force sending Jisung forward into the car.
Jisung was draped over their laps, crying, “I almost d…ied!”
“You’re not…,” a voice muffled by the wind yelled at them, causing Donghyuck to whip his head towards the car door. “...Getting rid of me that easily!”
He rushed to close it, but the man clad in black reacted much faster. He pulled himself into the car, smashing into Donghyuck. He was taken aback in surprise, please, just let him go home! Maybe sleeping with fifteen cockroaches like Renjun said would be much better than whatever hit n’ run situation they were in.
The mystery man’s reflexes were quick and slid an arm around Donghyuck before he smashes his head into Chenle’s. All while his other arm forcefully shut the car door, putting an end to the cold gusts of wind blowing into their faces.
“How the fuck?!” Renjun yelled loudly, with the ‘fuck’ drawn out. The intensity of his voice redirected his friends’ surprise to him. They were not aware he had the vocal capacity to yell that high. The momentary release of tension was short-lived as the car was sent careening left and right, shaking them all up. Donghyuck was so tired, his throat was getting sore.
Chenle’s worried face was so evident, it might cast permanent wrinkles on his smooth face. “Just kill us all in a group suicide!”
The mystery man began to laugh, teeth bared wide open.
“Fuck no- my rank-” Jisung started, eyes squeezed shut, hands gripping around Chenle’s shoulders for the illusion of protection.
They all wanted to hit him. This was all because of him, after all!
Renjun, somehow, thankfully, settled the car back on the road, nearly hitting a crossing pedestrian in the process. It screeched to an abrupt stop, the loss of acceleration making them all lurch forwards.
All of them looked towards the weirdly strong thug, with Renjun peering through the rearview mirror in shock. He settled into the seat, now sporting a calmer smile that reached across both sides of his face. Silence overtook them, the car slowing down a tad bit as their amazing driver looked for a place to park that’s well-populated.
He pulled over near a brightly lit gas station, next to an equally bright mini-mart.
Their mouths gaped at a man fixing up the lapels of his pure black suit. It looked expensive and tailored to his figure, fitting snugly as he dusted off his shoulders. The ill-fated – as Renjun would love to call them at the moment – couldn’t catch their breath. The man gave out a low whistle at the looks he was being given. With a small shrug, he said “Room for one more?”
That signaled all of the normal…well, law-abiding citizens to scream. Especially Jisung, who thoughtlessly attempted to get behind Chenle. He was practically on his lap, anything would do as long as he was as far away as possible from the man. The thug who let himself into their car somehow.
“What the…,” Donghyuck stared in confusion. Probably not even until the end of the week. And the week after that. This all seemed too unreal, who was this guy, evil James Bond? Surprises seemed to never leave him tonight. The arm snaking around his waist begged to agree.
The hold on him tightened as the man met his gaze. “Hi, pretty boy! Care to tell me who you are exactly, and why you’re kidnapping my unfortunate witness?” The man leaned in terribly close. Their noses brushed, and a thread snapped in Donghyuck. The last one, probably.
“Get off me!” Donghyuck shrieked. He swung his weapon like a wand, wishing it could just make everything disappear along with him. He hit the other exorbitantly hard twice with something. Something hard apparently because it knocked the guy out.
The man fell limp and collapsed over Donghyuck’s lap. Silence fell with him. Donghyuck scanned everyone’s faces, bewildered and traumatized stapled on their faces. In his shock, he instinctively grabbed the abandoned wrench he sat on a while ago for defense. It was self-defense!
“I didn’t kill him!” He frantically said. He had a finger positioned under the man’s nose to check for breathing. He was breathing, thankfully, Donghyuck did not become a kidnapper (somewhat) and a murderer all in one night. They exchanged looks.
“Now…, what do we do with it?” Chenle pointed out.
Fuck it, he was about to tell Renjun to find a cliff to drive off of at this point. How on earth did they get here?!