Notorious ⊷ Haechan

20 ⊷ Bubble

"Did you expect me to keep it a secret from him forever?" she asked almost mockingly. 

Jungwoo's eyes widened right away. "Are you so eager to get arrested?" 

She pushed her bottom lip out a bit, hummed as she thought about it. She couldn't say yes to that, of course. But saying no...

No, that didn't sound right either. 

"If he feels like arresting me," she shrugged, grinned. "I'll just go with it. New experiences." 

Jungwoo frowned, flicked his finger against her forehead at which she moved away from him, her smile not faltering. 

He sighed. "Sometimes I think you might be a little insane." 

Although not part of the conversation, Haechan was quick to nod. 
"Same." 

Ignoring Haechan at first, she fluttered her eyelashes at Jungwoo. 

"But you love me for it," Ji-yoon said with flawless confidence. A confidence that neither of the boys could match. 

"I also hate you for it." 

"That's okay," she reassured, tousled his hair. "As long as you have me in your heart, I am fine with anything." 

There was a wall. It was see-through and everything but soundproof. Like a bubble, that separated them from him. Their smiles were direct at each other only while Haechan was left alone outside. 

It annoyed him. So he cleared his throat rather loudly, pushed his hands in the pockets of his trousers. 

"Ji-yoon, since Jungwoo has already eaten how about we go get lunch together?" Haechan asked, successfully bursting the bubble. It fell down with a quick snap of her head as her eyes met his. 

"Really?" she asked, eyes sparkling in excitement. 

He nodded. "Yeah, let's go now," he said and grabbed her hand, leading her out of the office. 

Jeno laughed. "I thought you didn't like her," he mumbled under his breath. Haechan nodded. 

"I mean," he began, desperately reaching for words. "I don't exactly dislike her either." 

Renjun hummed, looked at him from the corner of his eyes.
"You got jealous because of someone you 'don't exactly dislike', hm?" he asked, teasing the younger with his clear sarcasm. 

Pushing out a huff, looking at the oldest with a frown, Haechan was quick to deny the allegations. He laughed in disbelief, shook his head. 

"Why would I be jealous?" 

"You tell me," Renjun said, looked his friend up and down. "You don't just normally buy someone a meal you don't like." 

"She almost died be--"

"Because of you," Jaemin completed his sentence. "How long do you want to milk that as an excuse to stay by her side? She likes you anyway, you don't need excuses to keep her around." 

While Haechan quickly had his eyes on the younger, Jaemin was too immersed in whoever he was texting on his phone to look at the older one. 

So he decided to not even react because it really wasn't worth the effort. 

Instead, he let himself fall down onto the sofa in their living room before he looked at Renjun. He gave himself and the others a moment to let the former topic fade away before he went ahead and started a new one. 

A different one that came with a bitter taste and a heavy feeling. 

"San is back?" Haechan questioned, still looking at the oldest who quickly met his eyes. 

He hesitated. "Actually, I am not completely certain," Renjun said. "I checked the security footage of the ATM opposite the JYP building to see if LTM's employees actually went there to sign the contracts."  

Jaemin looked up, intrigued. Whether or not LTM's former employees ever stepped foot inside JYP's headquarters before they were killed was a mystery. Because even though there were witnesses inside that claimed to have seen them, there was no security footage to back that up since the cameras very conveniently broke for a day. 

And then for another day a week later. 

And then once again. 

While that was more than suspicious, having shitty equipment is not a crime and so the Dream boys couldn't do much about it. 

"Did they?" Jaemin asked. 

Renjun shook his head. "The video quality isn't the best, admittedly. But I didn't see any of them ever enter the building." 

Which, in a way, was good to hear because it meant that JYP's original claim could be proven to have been a lie. 

"While I was at it, however, I saw a familiar face," Renjun then said. "Again, the quality is not that good but I am pretty sure it was him. I am pretty sure it was San." 

It had been years. Years since they had seen him or spoken about him. 

He vanished, yet the gap he left behind left a strong impression on the boys - Haechan in particular. So even if years had passed, how could they not recognize him? 

"He was at JYP?" Haechan questioned. 

"Not inside the building, no," Renjun said. "It looked like he was just lurking around outside." 

Haechan let his head fall back, his neck bending uncomfortably far before the back of his head eventually touched the sofa's backrest. He stared at the ceiling. 

Void, tired gaze. 

"I don't know where he went after that," Renjun added. 

It turned out that old memories get heavier the longer you keep them locked away. 

It turned out that Haechan was quite exhausted. Exhaustion that pushed from the inside out. It wasn't his body per se. It was his heavy heart that made him feel like that. 

He sighed, closed his eyes and then, under his breath, mumbled, 

"Where are you?" 

Renjun, Jeno and Jaemin all looked at him. Eyes filled with sympathy, hearts with sorrow. They didn't quite know what he was feeling but they understood what this meant to him. 

So, actually, they were happy when his phone started ringing and pulled him out of his thoughts. He answered the call without looking who it was. 

"Hyung," Jisung spoke into the phone urgently. 

"Hm?" 

"I found something weird about Ji-yoon."

 Bubble ⊶

I really want Kingdom but with NCT because I feel like, if given the opportunity, the boys could come up with so many cool concepts and ideas. Especially Ten and Taeyong would thrive 

I mean ik it's never gonna happen but I can dream