[12:55 am] you didn’t really like your birthday. it represented too much trauma with your neglectful parents and you had stopped mentioning it to your friends years ago. so imagine how surprise you were when you came home from work to see your group of friends standing around your living room.
“happy birthday!!” they shouted in unison - though han did make a point to blow his noise maker as hard as he could. you stand in the door way, mouth a gape and elated tears threatening your vision. “wha-“ you ask before you’re cut off by your eight friends tackling you into a group hug in your entry way.
[6:36 pm] you hated moving. it made your back hurt and an old knee injury flare up. you hated it. but, knowing that you’d be moving in with your eight friends into a house you all loved, it made you excited. however, excitement leads to pushing yourself. you’re currently sprawled across the couch in your new living room, pain radiating from your knee in waves. your face is burried into the cushions while you tried to breathe through the pain. “you okay?” minho pipes up above you, startling you. your head shoots up and you knock the back of your head into his jaw, making his teeth clack together. “ah, fuck,” minho hisses, gripping his chin. “nice job,” seungmin quips as he walks by. you glare at seungmin, but choose to ignore him and respond to minho, “yeah, my knee is just acting up.” “old man!” jeongin shouts from where he’s unpacking one of the nearby bathrooms. “why is everyone bullying me today?” you mutter and lay back down, a small smile on your face. “want me to get masseuse felix?” minho chuckles. before you can answer, the aforementioned boy rounds the other side of the couch, snack in hand. “what about a masseuse?” felix inquires as he sits on the floor, popping a few chips into his mouth. “his knee hurts apparently,” minho gestures to you, “almost like he’s been moving all day.” you give minho a playful glare that he chooses to ignore. “mm! i got you,” felix grins, wiping the chip dust from his hands. “no, no, it’s okay,” you protest, but it’s too late. felix’s hands are already massaging the muscles around your knee. minho manuvers yours head, so he can slide down the arm of the couch and place your head in his lap. your muscles contract painfully under felix’s fingers at first before the pain turns into relaxation. it doesn’t take long for your head to become fuzzy, sleep threatening your tired brain. you think you hear the rest of your roommates pile into the living room around you and your sleepy suspicion is confirmed when you hear the tv turn on at a low volume. you’re out like a light not long after that. “is he finally asleep?” chan inquires quietly to the rest of the room when he comes in the front door an hour later. “yeah,” seungmin whispers back, getting up to grab the takeout bags in the eldest’s hands. “good,” chan hums, wandering over to where you lay, “he pushed himself too hard today.” “yeah, i’m surprised his arms didn’t fall off when taking lix’s heavy ass box of games in,” changbin snickers from his spot in one of the recliners. minho looks down at your sleeping face, fingers moving a few stray strands of hair away. “let him sleep and come get food,” chan tells minho, carefully replacing himself to be your pillow. a sleepy whine escapes your lips at the movements, but you don’t wake. chan smiles at you fondly, happy that all of his favorite people are finally under one roof.
[6:37 pm] it’s a hot summer evening and the sun only just now going down did you no favors. especially since you were trying to nap with hyunjin on your couch. sweat clings to your skin as your hand rubs slow, sleepy circles into his chest. hyunjin snores lightly beside you, his limbs tangled with yours despite the blistering heat. you, on the other hand, are not yet asleep. but, you’re not quite awake either. you’re teetering on the edge of joining hyunjin in the dream world and being left alone in the waking one. the sound of a train passing rattles the frame of your windows. a soft smile stretches on your lips. you can’t think of anywhere else you’d rather be than here in your shitty apartment by the train tracks with hyunjin in your arms.
[4:32 am] you sit quietly at your desk, the light from your laptop beginning to burn your eyes from how long you had been sat in front of it. your fingers play haphazardly with your lip piercing as you reread the essay you had been working on for months for your final. you sigh as your glasses slide further down the bridge of your nose, disastisfied with the quality of your work. you only push your glasses up when they hit the metal of your nostril piercing, hands quickly reoccupying themselves with typing out a correction on the already 20 page word document. a buzz from your phone shakes you out of your concentration and you pick it up, feeling a small break necessary. the corners of your lips twitch upwards in a smile when you see the cat meme bestfriend!felix sent you, fingers typing out a quick “lmao” in response. you set your phone back on the cool surface of your desk before your fingers set themselves back into position on your keyboard. the door to your room swings open just as you do, catching you off guard and making you swivel around in your chair. “shouldn’t you be asleep?” roommate!minho chides you with his hands on his hips and a quirked eyebrow. “says the one who has work in six hours,” you reply, turning back to your laptop. “yn,” minho sighs, “i’m sure the essay is perfect, please. it’s time for bed.”
[2:28 am] you were not having a good day. between sleeping in too long and everything being the wrong sensory texture, you were one more bad sensory overload away from having a third absolute meltdown. that’s why you were in your current position of tangled limbs mixing with even more tangled sheets while minho kissed your forehead and jisung nuzzled gently into the crook of your neck. the duo had you in a comfortable, but crushing hug as per your request.
“i just need 5 minutes of deep pressure,” you had hiccuped through your teeth as your hands flapped with too much built up kinetic energy, “please…” you knew jisung would agree instantly to your skinship request, minho, on the otherhand, was always a toss up.
his dark eyes met yours after your inquiry, flickering gently while he weighed the pros and cons in his head. minutes passed by before minho nodded in agreement and placed his hand in front of you, his palm beckoning your own into his grasp. minho helped you onto your shakey legs when you took it while jisung smiled fondly at the two of you from off to the side somewhere.
5 minutes had been over 2 hours ago. and yet, here you were still sandwiched between your best friends. best friends who didn’t maliciously judge the days you couldn’t bother to put on a mask in front of others on your worst days. you wondered if this is what it truly feels like to be loved.
[9:08 pm] “has anybody seen yn?” felix inquires to large group of friends, “my texts aren’t going through to his phone.”
hyunjin shrugs, “last i saw him was this morning on his way to his history class.”
“his car wasn’t here when i came home from the gym though,” changbin supplies, arms crossing over his chest the way they did when he was thinking hard about something.
“did anybody see him on campus?” chan asks, his attention now drifting from his laptop to your whereabouts. his brows are knit together in worry, everyone knew you had been struggling lately. they saw it in the way you had started politely declining hang outs months ago and making yourself scarce in the apartment when you got home in the weeks that followed.
the chorus of ‘no’s that followed the eldest’s question worried them all and it showed on most of their faces. without a word, seungmin stood and wandered to the closed door of your bedroom. his knuckles rapped on the door three times like it always did, a whisper of your name being greeted by silence on the other side. seungmin looked back anxiously at the group before the doorknob was twisted, revealing your empty room. the rest of your friends entered your space, some more cautiously than others.
jeongin was the first to find your phone beneath your pillow, the screen stayed dark without a charge. “guys,” the youngest squeaked out, a sense of dread washing over his body though he tried not to show it, “he left his phone.”
“fuck,” one of the eight boys cursed, before charging for their shoes.
let me be, ‘cause i’ve been at it for so long.
[3:25 am] you loved the ocean - the sound of waves crashing gently on warm sandy shores while the breeze gently ruffled your clothes. unfortunately for you, the han river would have to do. you sat under one of the smaller bridges that crossed the usually lively banks of the river. but at 3 am, there was nobody. just you, your dark thoughts, and the even darker river currents.
the water in front of you beckoned you like a siren, whispering soothing words of oblivion and a break from your swirling thoughts. but you had no energy to follow through.
so, you sat on its grassy shores and stared, your hoodie doing nothing to ease the wintery wind seeping into your skin. you didn’t know what time it was, nor did you really care since looking at the time in moments when you needed to clear your head only seemed to clutter it more. the longer you sat, the better you’d feel when you got back to your friends.
your eyelids shut and you breathed in the cold air around you, the scent of petrichor from the sky above blocking out the enchanting smell of the river. you decided to focus on that instead of the thoughts in your head.
and it worked.
it worked so well that you didn’t hear the slapping of converse on the pavement behind you as they slowed. you didn’t feel the pair of eyes on your shivering figure. the soft glow of fingers typing across a phone screen goes undetected. the sound of crunching grass and leaves wandering up to you didn’t register either. nothing registered to you until you felt a pair of legs settle into the grass beside yours, minho’s arms wrapping around your waist from behind you as he burried his face into the crook of your neck while his chest heaved with spent energy.
your eyelids flickered open when the reality of your quiet disappearance replaced the empty feeling in your chest. your lips part to say something, but minho shushes you before you can. “it’s okay,” he comforts you in a whisper, “we know.”
those four words break you. hot tears warm the skin of your cheeks and sobs rattle through your ribs, your calloused palms are quick to cover your leaking eyes. minho calmly rocks you gently back and forth, moving you into his lap more so the call of the river takes less of your attention. the two of you stay like that for a while - him ignoring the frantic vibrations in his pocket and you getting out your emotions in a healthy way - before your sobs transform into half hearted hiccups. minho’s thumbs wipe away the remaining rivers on your cheeks.
“c’mon,” he whispers to you, voice low in a way that makes you feel safe, “it’s late.” there’s no breaks in his words, but minho is choosing his words very carefully in this moment. the fear of making you feel at fault in any way gripping his thoughts in an iron hold. your weak nod eases his mind for moment, hands helping one another off the river bank and back onto the pavement to start your long journey home. your pinkies are linked as the two of you walk, swaying gently to the rhythm of an unheard tune.
chan and jisung are standing anxiously beside your car. chan is pacing back and forth while jisung’s head is lowered between his thighs, hands wringing together to get some of his anxieties out above his head. hyunjin’s call has the two’s heads shooting up at break neck speed, the sun rise sillohetting yours and minho’s figures while you approach. jisung is the first to scramble towards you, body colliding hard with yours, broken whispers and sobs gently hitting your ears, “oh, thank god you’re okay…”
hyunjin is the next one to embrace the two of you, hands trying to get as much of you into his arms as he can. “you’re freezing,” he comments, voice breaking while he pulls his jacket around your sides. he’s unsure of what else to say without causing more damage to your already imbalanced brain. he knows your depressive episodes aren’t your choice and he’s trying his best to be understanding, but it’s hard for him to wrap his head around how someone so dazzling like you could listen to the evil impulses your mind supplies you.
chan approaches your small group next, fists clenched tight at his sides while dark eyes scan your figure for any signs of harm. he finds none when hyunjin pulls away and jisung’s grip moves from you to minho. your eyes meet chan’s and the aussie moves before he can even think. strong arms wrap around your waist, soft words of warning slipping past his plush lips, “don’t you ever pull a han jisung disappearance again… please.”
“i won’t,” you whisper weakly, voice scratchy from crying, “i promise…”
[1:47 am] you glare at the wolf latched onto one of your pack member’s arm, supressing the growl bubbling up in your throat. you need out of this crowded club, you decide when you see werewolf!lee know politely smile at her. the flashing lights becoming too much. finishing off the last of your beer, you quickly pay the bartender for it before disappearing into the crowd and slip out the front door, hands busying themselves in the pockets of your leather jacket after securing your hood atop your dark hair. your nose deduces that the rain that started while you were inside the sinful establishment had only recently disappated, allowing you to light a cigarette. you’re quick to start heading back towards the apartment you and your pack reside in. the rolled tobacco between your lips does nothing to calm the stormy rage within you, but you like to think the bad habit helps tremendously. bang chan steps out of the club moments after you turn the corner, sighing when he’s realized he lost sight of you. the lingering scent of rain and cigarette smoke in the air does little to help his keen nose locate you. you’re gone and chan just hopes for his own sanity and yours that you haven’t fallen back into any old habits. it’s been months since any of the pack members smelled any trace of fighting on your person, but your anger has been a little more out of control than normal lately. he sighs and heads back into the club to rejoin the rest of his stray kids, figuring he’d deal with you later.
its hours before the rest of your pack gets back to the apartment and you stand on the balcony, another lit cigarette held haphazardly between your fingers while you stare down at the city below. you hear the click of keys unlocking the front door and take another drag on the bad habit between your nimble fingers. your cut lips wrap around its filter and you stuff your bruised and bloodied hands in your pockets as the front door swings open, giggles and hushed words being exchanged between the eight members of your pack. you can tell by the different lilts in tone of your roommates that hyunjin, felix, jisung, and changbin are very drunk while jeongin and seungmin are tip toeing a line of tipsy and drunk. chan and minho are the only sober ones it seems - other than yourself. chan lets minho and seungmin aid the drunk ones and jeongin to bed, sighing when he notices you standing on the balcony with the screen door just barely preventing cigarette smoke from lazily drifting into your apartment and away from the rain that had restarted on their way up from the building’s lobby. thunder rumbles faintly above you and the austraillian pads across the room to join you outside.
“you okay?“ chan inquires, watching you carefully for a moment.
“yeah,” you respond quickly, but make no effort to move your face in his direction. you’re upset, chan deduces.
“you don’t have to lie to me, yn,” chan tells you, “whats wrong?”
“nothing,” you borderling growl at the man, his wolf growling at the tone you’re using with him. chan’s quick to ignore his wolf and places a hand on your shoulder. he doesn’t miss the grimace you let through when his calloused hand make contact with you, eyebrows knitting together in worry.
“yn… look at me,” he instructs you, his tone coming out more stern than he intended it to. you let him turn you to face him and he can now see the cut lip and black eye on your face. he sighs disappointedly at you when your bloodied hand comes to remove the dying cigarette from your mouth.
“yn,” chan sighs, “baby, we talked about this.”
“i know!” you instantly snap at him before looking down at your shoes, “i know, i just-.” you groan slightly and put out your cigarette on iron bars of the balcony railing, fingers deftly flicking the butt of it into the rain below. chan notices you clam up and steel yourself, a wave of panic surging through him. you’ve made so much progress about your past trauma, he refuses to let you undo all of that now.
“yn, you can talk to me,” chan insists, “please…”
you sigh and lay your head on his shoulder, “i just… couldn’t take it anymore. i saw some shewolf trying to flirt with minho and it pissed me off more than it should have and i didn’t want to take it out on anybody; especially not one of you and - and- i’m sorry okay?! i’m sorry for being angry all the time…”
“baby,” chan sighs, fingers resting on your chin in a way that doesn’t bump any bruises, “yn, you’re not alone anymore, yeah?” he closes the distance between the two of you, embracing you as if you would disappear at any moment. he feels like you just might.
“we’re your pack,” chan’s voice breaks, “your burdens are our burdens. i know that shewolf isn’t all that’s bugging you, so how about we go inside, clean you up with a nice warm shower, and you and i can sit and talk about what’s running through that head of yours, okay?”
you stare at chan for a moment as if to verify he was real before you nod in response, your fingers wrapping gently into his palm when he starts to tug you inside. the two of you pass minho on the way to the bathroom and you look away shamefully when the dancer’s eyes knit together, a frown now etched on his face.
“you want to join?” chan breaks the tension with a joke, giving minho a playful grin.
“sure, if only so i can make sure yn doesn’t smell like wet dog and cigarettes anymore,” minho quips back, choosing not to say anything about your black eye or split lip.
“you like the smell of cigarettes though,” you tease quietly.
[unknown time] the oddinary. it was normal cafe down to its concrete walls and retro furniture. that’s what you convinced yourself. you sit at the bus stop like you do every morning; you’re waiting for the public bus to whisk you away to your college courses for the day, headphones blasting a cocophany of melodies from your favorite artists into your eardrums. it was another half hour before your bus pulled up, so you did what every bored college student did. you people watched, but with no one on the street, the cafe’s occupants became your target today.
there’s five people total in the cafe; three employees and two customers. the two girls sat across from each other in the cafe, both on their phones. they’re probably gossiping about the latest drama going on in their friend group. one of the cafe’s employees wanders over, a shy, puppy like smile adorning his soft features while he places their drinks in front of them. his mouth moves and the girls blush slightly, smiling back up at him in thanks. clearly, they’re too shy to say anything to the cute guy, you chuckle to yourself.
the second employee is somewhere half behind the counter and half in the walk way between customer and workers, moping the floors with precise motions. he wears a barrette that never seems to faulter from his head, even with his vigorous movements when he comes across a particularly dirty spot on the lenolium. it must be pinned to his hair somehow. the male looks young - you think - late high school aged at the earliest, but probably more like a freshman in college aged. though he looks fairly ordinary, something seems vaguely off with one of his eyes. it’s probably a colored contact; they’re all the rage these days.
finally, you move to the last employee. he’s the manager, no doubt. his uniform bears a difference to the other two; some ribbons hang down from his suspenders with some lettering on it. it’s most likely the cafe’s name on them. he looks significantly older than the two others currently working and seems to have an air about him that screams “i’m in charge”. though you suppose the resting bitch face he has as he stares down at his phone while he stands at the registers doesn’t help his case either. you notice how pretty his purple hair is and how beautifully it compliments his sun kissed complextion.
your bus whizzes past you then, stopping to cover your line of sight. you’re up and out of your seat quickly to board the vehicle. your people watching pass time is now long forgotten as you scan your student id and go sit in your usual seat at the back of the bus. you miss the knowing stare from the purple haired manager as your bus drives away. the oddinary was an ordinary cafe, you tell yourself.
[5:53 pm] a heavy sigh slips past lee know’s lips as he borderline glares at your bedroom door. you haven’t left your bed in days despite your mutual friends’ pleas. despite his pleas. he really didn’t want to have to do this, but you were making this difficult. minho’s long legs moved towards your bedroom door. nimble fingers wrapped around the doorknob and began turning it while minho mentally prepared himself for the state you and your room would be in.
you had clothes everywhere along the floor. beside those was a graveyard of forgotten projects and hyperfixations. your desk had half eaten bowls of food from days ago that minho was certain had mold growing in them. but those were trivial compared to how you were curled up beneath the two weighted blankets you owned, back to the door in an attempt to look asleep so he wouldn’t bother you. but minho didn’t buy it. he knew you and, even with your erratic sleep schedule, he knew you were always awake around this time. with a final sigh, minho made his way across your room with careful footsteps, eyebrows knit together in determination.
once he reached your side, he called out to you in a soft voice, “c’mon, bub, lets get you something to eat.” you gave no response. the panicked thought that you had finally decided enough was enough crossed minho’s mind before he heard a heavy sigh make its way from where you lay.
“alright,” minho shook his head, “you leave me no choice then.”
you let out a gasp when cold air suddenly hit your bare skin. a yelp followed when you were suddenly being lifted in the air and thrown over your roommate’s shoudler.
“minho!” you gasped as once again traversed the graveyard of old clothes and hobbies on your floor with you still over his shoulder. despite the fact that you knew minho would never drop you, your fingers dug into his shirt on instinct and a whimper escaped your throat. once out of your room, minho quickly made his way to the couch with you. he gingerly set you in your spot on the couch, quick to cover you in one of your favorite blankets. he moved over to the cat tree in the corner and retrieved his three feline children, bringing an armful of cat floof for you to cuddle. though doongie was the only one to stay in your lap for cuddles since you were his favorite human.
“wait here,” minho told you, voice barely above a whisper. he was acting as if you were a wild animal, ready to fight or flee at too loud of a sound or too sketchy of movement. a voice at the back of your head hissed at you while minho darted off into the kitchen, whispering in your ear about how your roommate was probably sick of you already and how he probably thought you were a waste of space.
minho ploppped down a variety of various bowls on the coffee table in front of you, the smells of them making your stomach twist with hunger. “i’m-,” you began only for minho to shove a spoonful of kimchi soup into your mouth. you stared at your roommate wide eyed for a moment and he began to worry he’d crossed a line. but once he saw you chewing, tears beginning to fall from the corners of your eyes while you shakily asked for another bite of food, he knew this was a good decision.
[6:23 am] you can’t sleep. despite the melatonin capsuls and countless numbers of sheep, you can’t sleep. you put your phone away hours ago and let yourself stare up at your ceiling. you even let your mind wander to creative ideas that you’d hoped to flesh out fully one day. but nothing. nothing could get you to fall asleep. until lee know came along. the brunette huffed as he stared at your half covered figure, chocolate irises tiredly staring at the collection of bags under your eyes.
“how long have you been awake?” he sighs, laying beside you once you’ve moved to make room for him on your bed.
“uh, 2 days,” you tell him, honestly, the sleep deprivation making your brain unable to sound convincing if you were to utter a lie.
“jesus,” lee know hisses sharply, as if you had just insulted his entire bloodline, “you’re worse than chan.”
“don’t tell me that,” you sigh, letting minho wrap himself around you like the roots of a tree. a comfortable silence falls over the two of you, your legs tangled together while the beginnings of a new day start to peer through your curtains. minho can’t help, but nearly fall back asleep, your warmth guiding him back to his dreams.
the silence doesn’t last long. when you speak up, your voice is so fragile. like you’d shatter at any given moment.
“am i… a burden?” you inquire, only pausing to lick your dry lips before you continue, “am i a good person?“
minho’s lips part without a second to spare, ready to tell you how important you are to so many people. but he doesn’t. because your next words truly break him by the way you say it with so much familiarity.
[2:58 am] it was a common occurance for you to slip out on your balcony in the wee hours of the morning, sometime after midnight. with a craving for the white tobacco encased stick currently lit up between your fingers and the moon and stars as your only companions. the rest of the world slept blissfully, completely unaware of your illicit activity. you enjoyed the magic that came with your late night excursions; the wind gently whipping around your features and tossling your hair like an older sibling while an eerie calm settled over the bustling city of seoul. you bitterly took comfort in the night’s arms, lonely and depressed.
“are you ever gonna quit smoking?” asks the soft voice of your neighbor, breaking apart the hollowness that had settled into the cavity of your chest where your heart should be.
“you ever gonna sleep at a decent hour?” you tease bang chan back, shifting your weight so you could observe him properly. he’s lit up by the soft light slipping through the sliding glass door behind him, making the man before you look more like a faerie than some kid from australia looking to make his musical mark in the world. a dry chuckle falls from his heart shaped lips.
“cmon,” he teases you, “you know the answer to that.”
“and you know my answer to your question,” you smile at him. the silence is back after the moment of banter with your insomniac neighbor, though its different from before. the silence is a little less…
[1:42 am] seungmin can tell you’re not focused on your assignment. you keep scrolling through social media periodically and sighing deeply with undertones of being unsatisfied despite your favorite 3racha album playing quietly in the background.
“maybe you should take a break,” seungmin finally comments after you sigh for the umpteenth time in the past half hour.
“i’ve been taking breaks,” you tell him matter-of-factly. the brunette boy watches as your fingers gently grip the frames of the circular glasses that slid to the tip of your nose, slipping them back up to their rightful place nestled at the bridge of your nose. truthfully, even though you hate them, seungmin loves it when you wear them. they’re cute on you, even if you don’t think so.
“i know,” seungmin deadpans at you, “maybe take a longer one and get some water. you’re struggling to focus and it’ll help you clear your head.”
you chuckle slightly, “you’re probably right as usual, minnie seungminnie. come with me to the convivence store, though, i want ice cream.”
“that’s not what i meant by take a break,” seungmin rolls his eyes, “and i suppose you want me to pay for your ice cream?”
“well, if you say so,” you joke. a sunny smile spreading across your stunning features and seungmin finds that despite his disinterested behavior, he doesn’t mind paying for ice cream when you look at him like that.
[1:45 am] you sigh as you walk down the steps of the science building your quantum physics class was held in. you peer up at the stary night sky before checking the time on your watch. 10:34 pm. your class got out 20 minutes later than normal.
“i hate it here,” you mumble to yourself before moving on your merry way home. you were fortunate enough to have found an apartment close enough to campus that you didn’t have to take a bus.
shoving your hands into your pockets, you turn down a back alley to avoid the crowds at the bars that surround your seoul based campus. you wander around a few corners before you pause. hushed voices and strong energies are what caught your attention, coming from just around the corner ahead of you. normally, you would shrug, keep your eyes down and continue walking, but something was telling you not to ignore what was happening. you pull your hood up and stand beside the corner, eavesdropping in on the conversation.
“-ow spit it out!” one of the voices hisses out between gritted teeth.
the other chuckles almost maniacaly, “chill out. there’s a price for this kind of information.”
the first boy’s clicks his tongue in annoyance and the moonlight shifts so you can make out their figures better. the hot headed one has dark brown hair that is slicked back away from his face. his irritated expression allows him to sport a pair of dimples on either side of his cheeks. you can feel the strength dripping off the man. the other one was a shorter boy with purple hair, the tacky cheeta print jacket he was wearing making him even more crazy than he already looked. the heat from his pyrokinetic abilities makes your skin crawl.
“whats your price, wooyoung?” the irritated boy hisses again. you don’t get to hear the rest of the conversation when a hand and a cloth clamps down over your mouth and an arm holds you around the waist in a tight, menacing grip. it only takes a few moments of quiet struggling before you lose consciousness.
“-up.”
“-ake up.”
“wake up.”
“wake up!!!”
you gasp awake, head laying on top of a metal chair as you sit tied to its chair. you gently raise your head a bit, coming face to face with your kidnappers.
“finally!” one of the four boys before you sighs dramatically, “was that so hard, hyung?”
“shut it, donghyuck,” the one the comment was directed at hisses at the younger, sun kissed boy, “i’d like to see you do better.”
“oho! is that a challenge?” donghyuck laughs, clearly trying to antagonize his elder while bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet as if he were in a street fighter game. putting his fists in front of him, donghyuck jabs at the air playfully a few times and you can see the little bits of electricity crackling off the skin, “knock ‘im out again and i’ll gladly wake him up in half the time it took you.”
“or you’ll roast him alive,” a tall, lanky male with a lazy smile on his face points out, “you still don’t have a good grip on controlling your powers, hyuck.”
a dejected whine comes from donghyuck at his elders words, “you said the other day i was getting better, johnny hyung.”
“yeah,” the fourth male laughs, “but he never said you mastered them.”
“not you too, taeil hyung,” donghyuck whines.
“enough,” the first boy hisses, “he’s awake now. now taeyong just has to hurry up and get here to interrogate him.”
“he’s awfully quiet,” taeil points out and now all attention is on you again. you can sense this one has a strong mind when you look at him, no doubt a telekinetic user. you peer at the other two boys who showed you their powers so willingly, only giving them a moment of your attention before turning to the tall one - johnny. you feel calm looking at him, like you didn’t have a care in the world - something only those with empathic abilities can do.
doyoung’s face suddenly twists in a grimace, “ugh. no good. he blocked me out.”
“so he’s telepathic, too,” donghyuck sing songs.
“seems like it,” doyoung sighs. his sharp eyes narrowing at you scrutinizingly as he mutters under his breath, “something seems off about it though...”
“you know what else seems off, doyoung hyung?” donghyuck pipes up, much to the aforementioned boy’s displeasure, “why this guy isn’t talking. usually, they’re already pleading that they know nothing or are giving us attitude. but he’s not doing either, he’s just... sitting there.”
“so you kidnap people often then,” you comment, putting your head back down on the table, “great. good to know.”
“ah, there’s the attitude,” donghyuck giggles.
“hyuck, chill,” a new voice comments from the doorway and you look up to see a boy with a strong jawline in the doorway, hair colored a dark blue, “taeyong’s on his way.”
your eyes narrow at the new boy who turns to you, blinks with his big doe eyes, and then shrugs and leaves. you sit back in your chair after his departure, staring quietly at the four boys in the room.
donghyuck seems to be particularly interested in having a staring contest with you and you both break eye contact a few minutes later when the door to the metal room open to reveal a skinny man with half red, half white hair.
“taeyong,” johnny smiles, bowing slightly to his leader who waves and sits in the chair in front of you.
“so,” taeyong begins, sizing you up, “whats your name?” the icy air about him just screams what he can do to you if you answer in a way he deems unfit.
“careful, taeyong,” doyoung interjects for a moment, “he’s a telepathy user like me.”
taeyong nods in understanding, but says nothing as he stares expectantly at you.
“my name is yn yln,” you tell him, hesitantly.
“yn,” taeyong hums, letting your name roll of his tongue so eloquently, “do you know why you’re here, yn?”
“no, but i’m sure you’ll tell me,” you answer.
“you’re here to make a deal with us,” taeyong smiles at you, though you can tell he doesn’t mean the expression he wears, “tell us what you know and we’ll set you free.”
you’re suddenly irritated and you glance at the empath, knowing its his doing, but keep calm, “i don’t know anything.”
“then why were you loitering around jaehyun and wooyoung’s meeting?” taeyong hums.
“i was passing through on my way home.”
“through the back alleys? where were you coming from?”
“i’m not a fan of crowds...” you admit sheepishly, “i’m a college student.”
taeyong hums a moment, narrowing his eyes slightly at you, “...fact check that.”
the two of you have a stare off for a moment before taeyong sighs and drops his smile immediately. you know his lack of smile means that things were about to take a turn.
“y’know, yn, i was really hoping it wouldn’t come to this,” he says almost disappointedly, “but you leave me no choice.”
the temperature in the room suddenly drops and you can feel frost begin to creep up the soles of your shoes. you narrow your eyes slightly at taeyong before you finally decide you’ve had enough.
you stand suddenly and flip the table in front of you, the ropes that once bound your wrists together singed off thanks to borrowing the earlier boy’s powers.
“watch it!” taeil shouts, stopping the table in midair before it can hit taeyong.
“i thought you said he was a telekinetic user!” donghyuck snaps as he helps taeyong up.
“he blocked me out! i thought he was!” doyoung growls back at donghyuck.
“johnny! cool him down,” taeyong barks.
the male shakes his head, “i can’t. he’s blocked me out, too.”
“no fucking way,” donghyuck growls in irritation.
the six of you have a mini stand off for a while before the door to the room swings open with too much force.
“stop! he’s telling the truth!” a young man shouts, out of breath and in distress, “his name is yn yln and he’s a student at the college up the street! he has no ties to the underworld, much less to kq!”
“i’m sorry again, yn,” taeyong says apologetically as you two sit in a less metal and more casual plush living room.
you shrug, sipping at the tea you had been served a moment ago quietly. you’re still a little bitter about the accusations having been thrown your way earlier.
“its fine,” you tell him curtly.
“clearly,” taeyong laughs sheepishly.
“if you’ll just send me on my way, i’ll gladly accept your apology,” you push.
taeyong’s eyes close as he sets his tea cup on the table, “i apologize, yn, but i can’t do that.”
“what?! why not?!” you protest.
“you’ve seen our faces, you know are names, you know who we are.”
“and... you are?”
“nct.”
you sigh as you sit in the passenger seat of johnny’s car, headed towards the direction of your apartment. your eyes travel to the three boys in the back making a small ruckus. two of them are bantering back and forth in manderin while fighting over a book in one of their hands. the third one sits quietly beside the black haired boy, looking somewhat anxious and antsy. only two of them have powers, it seems - the one who was originally reading his book seems to be able to control plants while the one who keeps fidgeting in his seat has super speed. the last one doesn’t seem to have any abilities and you can’t help but wonder why he’s with this group of trouble.
you glance over at johnny for a moment, noticing a small smile on his face as he peers into the rear view mirror at the boys. he’s clearly openly fond of the trio, much to your surprise. not many empaths have their own visible emotions when they’re with others. you look away before johnny can notice you staring at him. an amused smirk appears on your face for a moment - taeyong really gave you a speedster and expected you not to escape using his power. he put too much faith in you despite not knowing you.
minutes pass by and the bickering from the back is endless. you almost snap at them. almost. instead, your attention is brought to the quiet voice from the back,
“uh, excuse me. if you don’t mind me asking. erm. nevermind...”
you turn to look at the speedster, eyebrow raised for him to continue.
“o-oh, um, you were listening... okay,” he stutters out to himself, “uh, w-who are you?”
the bickering from beside him dies down at the boys question, their curiousity just as strong as his.
“depends on who you ask,” you tell him after a moment, eyes flitting to johnny for a moment before you face forward again.
“what do you mean?” the speedster inquires.
“well, according to our chauffeur, he would call me ‘dangerous’,” you hum. johnny glances over at you for a moment, “how do you know that?”
“i didn’t need to use your powers,” you explain, “its written in the way your hand grips the steering wheel a little tighter than normal and the way your other hand is defensively placed near your hip - likely where some sort of defense weapon is.”
the car is silent now, the air tense as johnny speeds down the empty highway.
“yn,” you say to break the tension, “my name is yn.”
“oh, uh, jisung,” the speedster in the back nods to you in greeting.
“nice to meet you, jisung,” you smile at him a bit, “i’m sure we’ll get along just fine.” you point to one of the exits on the highway, “take this turn.”
[11:38 pm] you gasp for air, brain barely registering the pain in your torso with the adrenalin running through your veins. the crimson of your life essense spills further onto the asphalt beneath your limp body.
“go! go! go!” your assailents yell to one another as they scatter, leaving you to bleed out on the pavement of the alley. you wonder how you were led to this moment, recalling how people whispered of johnny suh’s notorious contracts. deals with johnny suh were often compared to deals made with the devil. you’d agree to a certain extent - johnny suh was indeed a ruthless man, but not cold hearted like satan. johnny suh was more like lucifer, looking to better his life only to be cast out and demonized by those around him. you suppose you were one of very few to see it this way as he usually was not so lenient with individuals in his deals.
your vision was starting to blur when you heard footsteps approach, making you focus on them while you fought to stay alive. they were light, no rush in their step even as a man lay dying before them. someone made their way into your line of sight, though you couldn’t make them out with how darkness threatened the edges of your vision. you thought you heard them click their tongue at you, but not in a pitying way as you would assume an enemy would do. it was more of a noise of observance as they peered upon your body, peeking your curiousity. you watched a shift in their blurry facial features like they were speaking to you, but the darkness drowned out what they told you.
“rest well.”
your body ached as you stirred, eyes peeking open slightly only to close shut at the harsh white walls. upon opening your eyes again, you blinked away the harshness of the white around you to make out a hospital room. your brain began to register the steady beeping of the heart monitor beside your bed, tracking your heartbeat. you were alive. you didn’t know how, but you were.
“oh, you’re awake,” a soft, cheery voice pipes up from the doorway to the room. you look over at him - the white lab coat draped over his white button up and pastel pink sweater combo indicating he was your doctor, “i’m jungwoo, if you couldn’t tell, i’m your doctor this visit. its nice to meet you.”
the name rang a bell to you - kim jungwoo was a high ranking member of nct’s mafia. he did various odd jobs and was nct’s resident doctor while kun was away.
“uh, yeah, nice to meet you,” you replied, timidly, obviously hesitant about this whole endevor so far. jungwoo smiles at your introduction before moving to where your vitals sit beside you. he begins to check the iv embedded in your vein as he talks at you.
“yknow, i was quite surprised when ten brought you in. we all thought for sure you were dead,” jungwoo rambles, “can’t believe he wouldn’t tells us why he brought some runner half dead to us, but i guess that’s ten for ya - gotta keep up that assassin facade.”
“ten hyung brought me here?” you inquire incredulously. you know ten from when you were a mediator - he’s a high ranking member of wayv, nct’s sister group based out of china. he’s been present for some discussions between wayv’s leader and exo-m’s when it was still a surviving unit. you find it sort of unnerving any of wayv would be in korea with how successful the group is in their country - something big must be happening.
jungwoo turns to you, eyes sparkling with mischief and curiousity, and you have a feeling you shouldn’t have said anything to the unassuming boy.
“‘hyung?’” he pushes you, making you wish you had kept your mouth shut. before the hazel haired boy can get anymore information out of you, his phone chimes from the pocket of his doctor’s coat. he checks it and a frown replaces his cheery smile though it returns after he pockets the device again, turning to you.
“your vitals look good considering you were shot three times in the chest,” jungwoo tells you, “you’re lucky the bullets exited your body and didn’t hit any vital organs. we’re gonna keep you for another day to monitor you. in the mean time, i’ll let taeyong know you’re awake now - he’ll want to see you since you failed a super important task.” you frown at the mention of nct’s head honcho as well as jungwoo’s singsong voice about your impending doom. with a wave and a smile, the boy dismisses himself back out into the hallway from wence he came.
you heave a sigh of relief you didn’t realize you had been holding in in jungwoo’s presence, relaxing against the itchy hospital blankets. your eyes flutter over to the windows only for you to realize there weren’t any. huffing slightly, you lay your head against your pillow.
“what kind of hospital doesn’t have windows?” you pout to yourself. it isn’t more then twenty minutes later that you’re startled awake slightly by the door to your room shutting. you turn to your new visitor and relax when you see the lengthy figure of johnny standing in the doorway.
“welcome back to the land of the living,” he tells you, his carefree smile etched across his face as per usual, “i hope jungwoo left your ear drums intact from all his chatting.”
“uh, yeah,” you nod, “i didn’t mind it.”
“you say that now, but eventually his voice will be like nails on a chalk board,” johnny chuckles.
“you say that like i’m going to be around him a while,” you point out, grip tightening nervously on the blankets at your waist. johnny frowns at you, a rare sight for the forever faux happy male.
“c’mon,” johnny changes the subject, pulling out a wheelchair from the corner of the room for you. his nimble fingers latch onto your elbow while he carefully removes the iv from your bloodstream.
“where are we going?” you inquire, hesitant to go with him given the circumstances. pushing a few buttons on your heart monitor, johnny tugs off the patches hooking you up to the machine, residue from the adhesive staying behind. he helps you into the wheelchair before he responds, already beginning to push you down the hall, “to see taeyong.”
[4:17 am] han knew you were someone who likes crafts; you were always making something new for someone. but coming home at 4 am to you sitting on the floor of your shared apartment, uncomfortably hunched over a new project, dillegently working away with some music playing quietly on the tv? that was new.
“yn?” he calls to you, increducously, “why the fuck are still awake? don’t you have work tomorrow?”
“i quit that shit hole a week ago,” you quip at your roommate, borderline snapping at him, “and you’re one to talk since you’ve been in the studio since seven this morning.”
“you mean yesterday morning,” he jokes a moment before getting a bit more serious, “but seriously, are you okay, love?”
your busy hands still for a bit too long while you debate your answer to his inquiry. you sigh heavily, head falling into your palms, “i don’t know. i’m feeling guilty for quitting and being unemployed. i know i just had that interview and they were offering me the position and this is just captialistic guilt, but i can’t get it to go away, so-.”
“so, you’re stress crafting,” han sums up, plopping next to you.
“yeah,” you chuckle, bitterly, “i guess i am.”
“baby, it’s okay,” han comforts you, wrapping an arm around you, “how about you finish up your craft while i make myself some food? then we can go cuddle in your room and watch kdramas until we fall asleep. sound good?”
you smile a little at him and nod, half heartedly returning his side hug; you didn’t like being touched much. han grins at you before scrambling up to make his aforementioned late night snack.
“jisung! can you make me some, too? i haven’t eaten much today…” you sheepishly admit to your roommate. the male stops and stares at you from his position in the doorway of the kitchen, eye twitching slightly.
“we’re talking about that later, but yes. yes i can.”
[9:23 pm] you and lee know were opposites in every aspect. he was the college’s resident bad boy complete with leather jacket, motorcycle, and an attitude to match. you were the quiet nerd who liked books and sweaters with nice button down shirts. opposites attract, as they say. but, that’s not why you fell for lee minho. no, you fell for the soft, kind personality that hid behind a waterfall of resting bitch face and nasty words. and he fell for your wit and sharp tongue veiled behind soft pastels and cottage core aesthetic.
[12:31 pm] he remembered your first meeting like it was yesterday. how could he forget how he saw the love of his life for the first time?
lee know had decided to take a shortcut through one of campus’ less populated courtyards. immediately, he took note of a shorter figure pressed up between a wall and a bully who often took pleasure in making people cry. lee know had assumed the bully had made this poor kid his next target and really wasn’t in the mood to deal with this. but, unfortunately for him, his reputation as a bad boy and moral compass wouldn’t let him continue on.
lee know began to approach the two figures, putting on his best glare while he flexed his left hand into a tight fist. he noted the way your sweaterpaws gripped the archeology books in your grasp tighter. lee know opened his mouth to say something.
“oh, fuck off, dick weed. nobody wants to watch you get off on some poor idiot’s tears because your parents couldn’t afford to give your dumbass up to someone who would actually give a shit about your pathetic existance. now leave, before i do your parents a favor and beat you senseless.”
lee know stopped in his tracks, shock shining through his hard expression. he didn’t expect such a soft looking thing like you to have such a firey quip. and neither did the bully who sputtered something about “his father hearing about this”, leaving with his metaphorical tail between his legs. ebony irises gaped at you when you huffed, smoothing out the massive baby blue sweater you wore over your neatly pressed button up. you looked only lightly miffed despite your violent words. your eyes caught lee know’s and he swore he felt his heart stop.
you glared lightly at lee know, not at all phased by his presence, before you moved on with your day. when you locked eyes for that half a second, you felt your heart skip a beat. though you wouldn’t admit that to lee know until much later on in life.
