TW: Implied/referenced child abuse, threatened/attempted physical assault of a minor
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The relentless, rhythmic sound of someone tapping the soles of their shoes against the curb hammered its way through Donghyuck's skull like a drum, punctuated only by the overly cheerful chirping of a family of birds that flitted in and out of the evergreen bushes behind him. There was a warm body pressed firmly up against him on either side—Jisung on his left and Chenle to his right—and Jisung's head rested heavily on his bicep as they breathed steadily in unison.
He actually thought the younger of the two might have fallen asleep, based on the deep, even tempo of his breaths, which Donghyuck was currently doing his best to match. Conversely, Chenle's knee bounced rapidly against his thigh on his other side, boredom starting to set in after almost thirty minutes sitting outside in silence, but Donghyuck was too weighed down by Jisung to twist his head and look to see if that was where the tapping was coming from.
A dozen or so paces away, he watched absently as Renjun paced the parking lot, restlessly weaving through the myriad parked cars that lay between Jisung and freedom. Renjun's bag was on the floor at their feet, piled up with the rest of his belongings, save for the phone that the older boy clutched resolutely against his hip as he aimlessly wandered the asphalt.
Donghyuck didn't know what exactly Renjun planned to use it for, since their only lifeline was currently otherwise occupied, breaking an unspeakable number of traffic laws to reach them as fast as humanly possible—and hadn't ever actually properly met Renjun, but that was beside the point—but the cool metal of his own device was a reassuring weight against Donghyuck's fingers, so he didn't begrudge his friend the tactile comfort.
After the call had gone through, Renjun had gone to collect the two freshmen from the main office, while Donghyuck had explained the situation as quickly and simply as possible down the phone. It hadn't taken much to convince the man on the other end—the exchange almost unnervingly effortless, actually—and then it had been over. Help was on its way, with a promise that their ride would arrive within the hour, so they'd all hurried outside to wait for him.
Donghyuck didn't know what Renjun had said to Mrs Yoon, to convince her to let Jisung leave. Chenle had mumbled something about fake brothers and a golden tongue—no part of which Donghyuck had actually followed—and then the three of them had been racing for the exit at a rate of knots, leaving Donghyuck to follow after them in mute bewilderment.
Picking a patch of curb seemingly at random, Renjun had then deposited the two younger boys in Donghyuck's lap and taken off on his endless, listless quest through the vast, polychromatic maze of cars—a quest that Donghyuck suspected wouldn't end until they were all safely off-campus.
"Hyung, is your friend nearly here?" Donghyuck startled a little as Jisung lifted his head to peer up at him, having assumed that he was out for the count. Jisung's eyes were unfocused and a little clouded as he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, making Donghyuck suspect he hadn't been entirely off base with his earlier assessment, so he carefully moulded his features into a small, easy grin.
"Not long now, Sungie," he told the younger boy, patting Jisung's closest knee with the hand that wasn't currently wedged half under Chenle's thigh. His smile widened as Jisung's expression brightened considerably at his words, and he let his fingers slide into Jisung's grip as the boy reached for Donghyuck's hand.
"Thanks again, hyung." The sincerity in Jisung's eyes almost made him want to look away, but Donghyuck forced himself to maintain eye contact. Jisung hadn't been this relaxed around him in days, even with everything else that had already happened today, and he wasn't about to ruin that because he was slightly overwhelmed under the weight of the younger boy's stare. "I did what you told me to, by the way."
"Oh?" Donghyuck wasn't sure what Jisung meant by that, but he didn't have long to wait, as Jisung continued to explain. As he did so, the weary freshman looked away towards the parking lot, starting to track Renjun's movements distractedly, but his voice was strong and resolute.
"I apologised." Jisung's fingers tightened in his, so Donghyuck squeezed back just as tightly. "While you were outside with Renjun-hyung, I was thinking about what you said. I already knew I needed to say sorry, even before you got there, but then it was like—" He trailed off for a second, lips twisting down into a frown. "I just really didn't want to wait until the middle of next week, when I get back from my suspension."
"That's very brave of you..."
"Not really," Jisung muttered, before Donghyuck could say anything else. Jisung met his gaze again and smiled, this time more genuinely than the last. "I know you're going to try to make me feel better, hyung, but it's not necessary. I made a mistake, and you were right. I needed to own up to it, sooner rather than later."
"Fair enough." Donghyuck couldn't help the proud smirk that lifted his lips as he pried his spare hand free from under Chenle and reached across to ruffle Jisung's hair. "I am proud of you though." He paused when Jisung looked like he wanted to protest, but then continued when it became clear that the younger boy had nothing left to say. "So how did Dongin take it?"
"He accepted my apology." Jisung sighed. "He didn't look like he wanted to, but he did. I guess I can try again next time I see him, but I don't think he realises why what he said was wrong, so it just looks like I punched him for no reason."
"There's not much you can do about that, Jisung-ah," Donghyuck said softly, jostling Chenle gently as he shrugged. "That's a him problem, not a you problem. Next time, I'd perhaps suggest a different approach to trying to educate him, but some people just want to believe whatever bigotted thing they believe. He's not alone in that opinion, and it's never easy to change people's minds when they're like that."
"I wish it wasn't so hard," Chenle piped up, peering owlishly at his best friend from over Donghyuck's shoulder. He scooted forward towards the edge of the curb, until he was almost squatting over the parking lot, and then twisted to meet Donghyuck's gaze. "I wish everyone was as open-minded as us, hyung."
"I know." Releasing Jisung's hand, Donghyuck looped an arm around each of their shoulders, pulling both boys in for what he hoped was a bolstering embrace. "It won't always be this way though. They'll learn through others, through people like you two, and things will get better one conversation at a time."
"I—"
"Hyuck!"
Whatever Chenle had been about to say next was interrupted by Renjun, who suddenly appeared from behind a hulking SUV with a worried furrow to his brow. One look at his friend had Donghyuck pushing to his feet, crossing the void between them in an instant. "What's wrong?"
"What kind of car does his dad drive?"
"Huh?"
"You heard me." Pushing past Donghyuck, Renjun hurried towards Jisung until he was close enough to fold into a neat crouch, fingers pressed lightly to the concrete curb on either side of Jisung's legs. "Jisungie, what car does your dad drive?"
"I—" For several long moments, Jisung simply gaped at him, Renjun's face so close that he couldn't look away even if he wanted to. His mouth opened and closed rapidly, like he was auditioning to become some never-before-seen aquatic creature, before his brain finally managed to catch up with Renjun's question. "I—it's an old green Hyundai... why?"
Renjun sighed in a way that sounded utterly defeated, letting his chin drop towards his chin as he huffed out the breath, and then he was abruptly pushing to his feet again, so fast that Donghyuck almost couldn't follow the motion. He turned on his heel and shifted until he stood directly in front of Jisung—not unlike a human shield—staring out across the parking lot towards something Donghyuck couldn't yet see. "In that case, we may have a problem."
"Hyung?" Jisung sounded panicked as he and Chenle both scrambled to their feet behind Renjun, but the older boy ignored him for the time being. Instead, he met Donghyuck's confused stare with a resigned one of his own, and one of the muscles in his jaw flexed as his teeth ground together.
"I almost didn't think anything of it," he said quickly, addressing Donghyuck but speaking loudly enough for the others to hear clearly. After all, anything that was about to happen concerned them too, Jisung especially, even if they both wished it didn't have to. "I thought it was just passing by, but a car just pulled off the highway. No passengers, middle-aged man behind the wheel, and he looks pissed as hell."
"Shit."
"Exactly." Renjun nodded, lips pressing into a grim, razor-thin line that seemed to slash savagely across his otherwise handsome face. "I was hoping it was just a coincidence, but the description matches." He craned his neck, peering with suspicion at their surroundings like he was expecting to see a private investigator hanging from one of the branches of a nearby tree. "I don't know how or why he's here, but I'm guessing Mrs Yoon must have somehow figured out we're all still out here and called him."
"What do we do?" Chenle's voice was higher than usual, and he sounded like something heavy was constricting his airway as he spoke. "We can't let him take Sungie. Please don't let him take him!"
"Breathe, LeLe," Donghyuck told the hyperventilating freshman, moving to wrap a hand around each of Chenle's upper arms. Squeezing as tightly as he dared, and ignoring the fact that his own hands were starting to shake a little more than he cared to admit, he frantically racked his brain for some way to deal with the situation without causing any more trouble. "He's not taking Jisung anywhere."
The worried look Renjun flashed him over Jisung's head told him that his friend wasn't any more convinced of that statement than he was himself, but neither of them spoke the words aloud. They didn't need to, as Renjun tucked Jisung protectively under his outstretched arm and pulled him in as close as the atoms that made up their bodies would allow. They all knew that, if Jisung's father demanded to take Jisung home with him, there was likely very little that either he or Renjun could do about it.
The unwelcome new arrival must have spotted them immediately, because he didn't bother to head for the visitor parking on the other side of the lot, closest to the main school building, instead maneuvering his vehicle into the nearest empty spot, just three cars down from where the quartet huddled together a few paces back from the edge of the curb.
Donghyuck watched silently as the tall man folded himself out of the car, flinching as the large metal door slammed shut with enough force for the sound to echo off the nearby walls cacophonously. Then he was marching towards them, face like thunder and aura the same suffocating onyx as the thick car key clutched in his meaty fist.
"A fight?!" His voice was far weaker than Donghyuck had expected, was the only thought that crossed his mind as they faced down the rampaging bull that was Jisung's father. It sounded like he was trying way too hard to sound tough and missing the mark entirely, but the visceral anger that flashed in his eyes was more than enough to make up for it. "Really? How stupid can you be, Jisung?"
"It was an accident!" Out of the corner of his eye, Donghyuck saw Renjun shift a little more in front of Jisung, like he could somehow make the irate man forget he was there through subtle sleight of hand and misdirection, but Jisung's father just continued stalking towards them menacingly.
"I don't give a damn why it happened," he spat, generously showering Donghyuck and Chenle with a fine mist of spittle as he moved past them and towards Jisung. As he passed, Chenle shuddered so violently that Donghyuck worried he might collapse, but then all of the man's ire was focused squarely onto Jisung—and, by virtue of the fact that he was shielding him with his entire being, Renjun. "Get out of my way, boy, or else."
"Or else, what?" Renjun sounded for all the world like he was conducting polite small talk with a stranger at a garden party, calm and poised like only Renjun could be in the face of adversity, but the pinched skin at the corners of his eyes said otherwise. By contrast, behind him, Jisung was shaking like a leaf, and Donghyuck wasn't foolish enough to hope that his father hadn't noticed.
"Or I'll make you, you little shit." There was no doubt in the man's voice that he would follow through on exactly what he promised. Likewise, there was no hint of hesitation in the set of Renjun's jaw as he faced down the much taller adult, having already resolved to protect Jisung for as long as he had to. "This has got nothing to do with you, kid. This is between me and my son."
Renjun bristled at being called a child, and opened his mouth to snap back, but Jisung chose that moment to step out from behind him and into his father's eye line. He was still shaky and pale, but there was a newfound determination there that had been missing just moments ago. "Leave him alone, dad."
"Don't you dare tell me what to do, you pathetic waste of space." Donghyuck's eyes widened at the unadulterated vitriol in the man's voice, shocked despite everything just how much hatred bled through in every word he spoke to his youngest son, but he wasn't done. "I always knew you and your brother were fuck ups, but I expected he'd be the one to finally muster up the guts to actually punch someone. Not you."
"Don't talk to him like that!" Donghyuck had to physically restrain himself from taking an instinctual step backward, as the man's angry gaze snapped over to meet his own before the last syllable had even left his lips. Jisung's father didn't otherwise react, and quickly disregarded him entirely, but a shudder of fear and repulsion rippled down Donghyuck's spine at the astounding emptiness he'd seen reflected in those eyes.
Whoever this man had been before Jisung and Taeyong's mother died, whatever moral compass he had once had, that person had died a long time ago. In their place was this monster, a hollow shell filled only with hatred and venom—no more a father to his sons than the chunk of concrete he was currently standing on.
"Come on, Jisung." The man jerked his head towards the car he'd just vacated. "Get in the car. I've been far too lenient on you and your brother over the last few years, letting him play at being the big man in charge, but I think it's about time that changed."
"I don't want to." Despite his soft protest, Jisung was already stepping towards his father, the remaining fight draining from him as the man turned his back and started to walk away. It was like he'd already resigned himself to whatever would befall him next, and like his father already knew he'd follow without having to tell him a second time.
"You're not going anywhere, Jisung-ah." Renjun caught hold of Jisung's wrist before he could move more than two steps away, tugging him securely back into his embrace. He wrapped an arm around Jisung's chest from behind, fingers spread possessively across the younger boy's ribs, and squared his shoulders with a defiant scowl.
"He's not, huh?" The older man froze, head cocked to one side like a ruthless predator contemplating the precise method he was going to use to fell his prey, and then turned back to face the pair of trembling high schoolers. "And what exactly are you going to do about it?"
"Dad, please don't..."
The man ignored Jisung's plea, stalking back towards Renjun until he was close enough to almost crush Jisung between the pair of them. Renjun rocked back on his heels, trying to put some scant distance between them without conceding a single step, but it didn't look like it was working. Jisung's father leaned down so that he was right in Renjun's eye-line, so close that his hot breath actually fluttered a lock of hair on Renjun's forehead as he spoke. "I asked you a question, kid."
"I said, he's not going anywhere with you." To his credit, Renjun didn't even hesitate, despite the virtual stranger invading his personal space in the most aggressive way possible. He simply blinked once and hugged Jisung closer to his chest, never taking his eyes off the middle-aged man in front of them. "We're going to take him home—to his family—and you need to leave."
"You disrespectful little—"
He moved faster than Donghyuck could react, arm darting forward and palm outstretched. Renjun must have seen the blow coming a fraction of a second before anyone else, because his eyes widened and then slammed closed as though he could protect himself by not watching it land.
It felt like the world was moving in slow motion as gravity took its course, the man's flat palm a doomed satellite plummeting horrifyingly out of orbit, destined to impact with enough force to utterly devastate all four entities that made up their own tiny solar system.
Donghyuck was still lunging forward, too far away to stop him, when another hand snaked in from the side without warning. Seizing hold of Jisung's father's wrist, it yanked his arm away and down towards the ground, lightning-fast reflexes working to propel pale, exposed forearms that bunched with powerful, lean muscles.
Renjun and Jisung stumbled backwards like they'd been struck anyway, the older boy already moving with the blow that had never landed, and then a new body was stepping between them and Jisung's father, eyes blazing with a familiar, righteous anger that Donghyuck had never been so happy to see.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
"Ten-hyung..." The words punched their way out of Donghyuck's chest like a prayer, a gasping sigh following as his shoulders slumped in relief. The new arrival was at least a head shorter than the middle-aged man he now squared off against, but he more than made up for it in presence and purpose. Ten fingers still gripped the older man's wrist like a vice, and the grimace on his shell-shocked face made it look like it hurt.
"You can't do—" Jisung's father started to bluster, pain and anger warring for dominance in his expression, but Ten shut him down before he could get more than a few words out. He grinned, lips curling up and exposing his teeth in a way that Donghyuck never ever wanted to see directed at him, and then let out an ugly chuckle.
"There are at least four witnesses who can attest to the fact that you," Ten scoffed and eyed the man up and down dismissively, "just attempted to physically assault a minor on the grounds of a school."
Donghyuck was momentarily confused by his math, until he saw Ten cast a furtive glance at a security camera nestled high on a lamppost just four car lengths away, and then he understood. That must have been how Mrs Yoon had seen them to call Jisung's dad, but it might also now be their salvation. He didn't think the school would take very kindly to a parent assaulting another child in the parking lot, and neither, as it turned out, did the middle-aged man now trying frantically to wrestle his arm free from Ten's grasp.
"You can't do that," he spat, this time spraying Ten with nasty globules of phlegm as he raged. He fixed Jisung with a viciously hateful stare and would have taken a step towards him, if Ten hadn't moved to block his path. "All I have to do is tell the school board that you ran away from home, and you'll never see your brother again."
"Oh, bullshit. You wouldn't have a leg to stand on..." Ten smirked impishly then, and he looked so completely carefree that Donghyuck almost believed that he was entirely unaffected by the entire situation. "You know, fear really isn't a good look on you."
"How dare you!" Jisung's father lunged for Ten this time, but the lithe dancer was more than ready for him. He deftly sidestepped the blow, somehow managing to knock the man off balance as he moved, so that his combatant stumbled to one side and only narrowly avoided tripping over the curb as he went. The insolent grin on Ten's face didn't falter even for a moment, as he once again relocated to place himself directly between the group of teenagers and the threat.
"Haechan-ah?" He might as well have been asking about the weather, for all the inflection that was missing from his tone as he spoke. Without glancing back, Ten tossed something brightly coloured over his shoulder, and Donghyuck reached out to catch it. A thick set of keys, dangling from a bright orange fuzzy keychain, clinked loudly as they settled heavily onto his palm, and he wrapped his fingers tightly around them.
"Yeah?"
"Take your friends and your bags and go get in the car." He jerked his head towards a compact red Kia that was parked up across three spaces nearby, the driver's side front wheel half on the curb and the door wide open like he'd vacated it in a hurry. Donghyuck wasn't sure how not one of them had noticed it arrive, but he wasn't about to ask about that right now. Right now, he needed to get his youngest brother out of reach of his completely psychotic father, and quickly.
Bending down and scooping up the first few bags he laid his hands on—he thought one of them was his, but he couldn't bring himself to care—he felt a tiny twinge of pride as Chenle and Jisung quickly copied him without hesitation. Within seconds, they had all their belongings gathered together and were halfway to Ten's car, only pausing for a brief moment along the way as Chenle readjusted the coats in his grasp to stop one falling to the ground.
Renjun didn't follow them, but Donghyuck dismissed that knowledge for the time being, focusing instead on his other two young friends. Renjun could handle himself, he knew; especially side by side with Ten, so he didn't allow himself to worry. Besides, the Renjun he'd come to know like a brother—on both sides of the universe—wasn't one to back down from protecting his family, even if it meant being prepared to take a blow meant for Jisung without a second thought.
"Back seat," he told the maknaes quietly, locating the correct button among the keys in his hand and watching as the lights on the tiny crimson car flashed in welcome. Chenle scrambled in first, almost tripping in his haste to clear the metal chassis, and then the bags were being piled onto his lap to make room for Jisung to follow.
It didn't look particularly comfortable back there, and Jisung's legs were definitely far too long for the space available in front of him, but neither of them complained. Donghyuck flashed them both a tight smile, which he hoped was somewhat reassuring. "Okay. Hang tight, and try not to drown in backpacks. Hopefully, we can leave in a few minutes."
Once he was sure that they weren't about to fall apart or suffocate in front of him, Donghyuck turned his attention back to the confrontation happening a short distance down the concrete sidewalk. Ten no longer looked like he wanted to murder Jisung's father in cold blood, but there was still a distinct tension in his upper torso that didn't bode well for the other man.
He might not be the tallest or broadest of his brothers, but Donghyuck was willing to bet that no one who had ever met Ten more than once would bet against him in a fair fight. To do so would be the height of foolishness. Even now, the older man was backing away from him slowly, defeat radiating off him as his posture became increasingly more defensive, until he turned and started walking back to his car without another word.
"See," Donghyuck said aloud, not sure if he was telling himself or the two boys in the cramped backseat of Ten's car, "he's leaving. Everything is going to be fine." He knew that it wasn't quite as simple as that, and the last threat Jisung's father had spoken still rattled around in his head like a grenade poised to explode, but he tried to sound positive. "We're all going to be fine."
It took another five minutes, during which time Jisung's father sped out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell—nearly taking out several other parked cars in his path—before Ten and Renjun finally made their way over to join him. Ten hooked an arm over the still ajar driver's side door, appearing to allow some of his bravado seep from his pores as he leaned it for support, and sighed heavily.
"Looks like I got here just in time, huh?"
"You can say that again," Donghyuck muttered in a low voice, conscious that the two freshman boys in the backseat were listening intently to every word. Ten must have come to the same conclusion, because he spared them a quick, kind smile, before pushing the door shut with an audible click.
"You two okay?" Ten began again, eyeing both him and Renjun carefully. Renjun nodded and Donghyuck flashed him an exhausted grin, which the older man took to mean the same thing. "Good. What about the babies?"
It took Donghyuck a few seconds to realise who Ten was referring to, but then he let out a half-crazed bark of laughter. "The babies are fine too. Just a bit shaken up."
He glanced back at them through the windshield, watching for a moment as Chenle appeared to tickle Jisung under his armpit. He suspected the older of the two boys was doing it to distract his friend, but it looked to be working as Donghyuck watched Jisung burst into inaudible giggles at Chenle's ministrations. Something heavy lifted itself off his chest, as he turned his attention back to Renjun and Ten.
"What now?" He posed the question equally to both of them, hoping that one of them would pick up on the extra, unspoken question that hung in the fleeting spaces between his words. Ten was the one who answered, sighing again and then holding his hand out for the keys still clutched in Donghyuck's fist like a stress ball.
"Now, we get them to your brother's frat house." Ten's fingers brushed gently against his own, as the precious bundle of metal, plastic and orange fluff was returned to its rightful owner, and Donghyuck was tempted to hold fast and never let them go. "I'm guessing at least one of you four left Taeyong a message of some kind, so he'll already know what's going on when he gets out of the exam hall. We can leave another one on the way, telling them to meet us at Alpha Beta Eta, and then we just...wait, I guess."
"I guess..." Donghyuck wasn't sure why he was so disappointed by the utter mundanity of that answer, but he didn't have long to ponder it because Ten wasn't finished.
"As for the rest of what was said, I think that's a conversation that Jisung needs to have with his brothers. I could make a few pointed suggestions, like reminding Lee Taeyong that he's not eighteen years old anymore and is, therefore, entirely old enough to adopt a child, but that's not my decision to make." He paused, reaching out with his free hand to pat Donghyuck affectionately on the cheek. "No more so than it is yours."
"I know." As much as he wanted to protest that statement, Donghyuck knew that Ten was right. There was nothing he could do in this situation, other than help deliver Jisung and Chenle safely to Jisung's brothers. He wasn't an adult in this reality and, as such, would have very little sway over how things would play out, despite the majority of the people involved knowing that he wasn't all that he seemed.
No, this was between Taeyong and Jisung, and no one else, Donghyuck told himself soberly—except, perhaps, Sicheng. He'd be there to support them all, in so much as he was able and was wanted, but he couldn't make that kind of choice for them. He could just hope—and pray—that the universe saw fit to let this small part of his family stay together—how they were meant to be.
"I'll see you later, Hyuck," Renjun said, jolting Donghyuck from the thought spiral he'd been well on his way down. His eyes flicked up to meet Renjun's warm, intelligent gaze, boring a hole deep into his soul like he knew exactly what Donghyuck was thinking.
It was uncanny how often he did that, but that was just the way their friendship was. Donghyuck expected nothing less from the older boy at this point, and he even had occasional moments of inspiration where he felt like he could perhaps do the same, which is why he spotted the unspoken request in Renjun's eyes almost immediately.
"Huh?"
"I'll get someone to give me a ride over there later, but I'm staying here for now." Renjun pointed a thumb back over his shoulder towards the main school building, and then let his arm drop heavily back down to his side. "There's not much space in that car, and I may still need to run interference with Mrs Yoon, if she happens to have been watching any of the CCTV cameras.
"Not to mention," he added, "someone will need to explain to Jeno why I abandoned him in the middle of class." Renjun smirked, and Donghyuck couldn't help but begin to mirror his expression. "Wounded puppy dog comes to mind, for absolutely no reason at all."
"None," Donghyuck agreed, then focused back in on the not-so-subtle cues that Renjun was offering up. He wanted to speak to Donghyuck alone before they went their separate ways because, for some reason, whatever he had to say couldn't be said in front of Ten. "Hey, hyung. Could you convince one of the two tickle-fiends in your backseat to return Junnie's bag and coat to him, please?"
Ten glanced sharply at him, then at Renjun, like he wasn't entirely convinced that Donghyuck wasn't going to bolt as soon as he turned his back. Heavy suspicion swam in his gaze, as he examined each of their faces in turn, but then he nodded. "Sure."
"Thanks, hyung. I just need to give Renjun my keys, so he can give them to Mark." Donghyuck was aware that he didn't need to be offering up any more useless exposition, especially since Ten had already opened the rear passenger door and bent to peer inside, but he'd never been good at lying to Ten. The older man saw through him like wet tissue paper. "Mark will need to get home after school and..."
"Shut up, idiot!" Renjun seized the front of his shirt and tugged him bodily away from the car, not stopping until they were a good few feet away. Donghyuck let out a whine in protest at being manhandled, but Renjun ignored him. "Are you done now, being the least subtle human on the planet?"
"Shut up." There was no weight to his words, and Renjun couldn't stop the tiny smirk that flickered across his face as he stared at Donghyuck.
"Give me your keys."
"What?" He frowned down at Renjun's outstretched hand, hesitating for a few brief moments, before he eventually did as he was told. "Fine."
"I know you were trying hard to come up with a convincing lie," Renjun whispered imperiously. "You were about as successful as a man building a house out of soggy noodles, by the way, but you actually made a decent point in the middle there by accident."
"I did?"
"For fuck's sake, why do I even bother?" Renjun rolled his eyes and pocketed Donghyuck's keys. He made a point to jingle them loudly as he did so, although Ten wasn't paying attention to them at all anymore, and then placed a firm hand on each of Donghyuck's shoulders. "Your keys are completely useless staying with you, and this way Mark can drive himself and me over to the Annex later this afternoon—or he can drive himself home, whichever he prefers. Either way, now the keys will at least stay within fifty miles of the car."
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh." Renjun patted his arm, like he was talking to a toddler, then gripped him tighter. Donghyuck met his stoic gaze, which had been roaming his face intently, and Renjun's expression softened into one that was unmistakably fond. "As for the real reason you just made a fool out of yourself, don't think I didn't notice what he called you earlier."
"Who, Ten?" Donghyuck's brows furrowed, as he thought back through everything that had just transpired. He didn't think Ten had called him anything strange, or no stranger than normal. He'd used his name. He'd called him Haech—
"Ah." Renjun looked slightly mollified as realisation dawned on Donghyuck's face, but there was still an ocean of curiosity and confusion awash in the older boy's eyes as he held his gaze. "About that." He still wasn't sure what any of this strange game with Ten meant, the two of them dancing around each other and the secrets they held close to their chests, but that wasn't the point right now. The point was that he'd completely forgotten to mention it to Renjun—to basically anyone, in fact.
"Yeah." There was that little smirk from his friend again, but it was almost immediately eclipsed by concern. "I thought you hadn't told him anything yet."
"I haven't." Donghyuck glanced back over his shoulder as Ten shut the rear door on Chenle's side, a bag and black jacket in hand, and lowered his voice a little more. "He's called me that before too. At the time, he said he'd spoken about me a bit with Yuta-hyung, but Yuta didn't know anything then either. I guess I let it go at the time, because I thought I'd maybe misheard, but I didn't."
"I heard it too," Renjun agreed. "He definitely didn't call you Hyuck."
"I know." Donghyuck had subconsciously decided to give himself—and Ten—the benefit of the doubt that first time, all those weeks ago, but he wasn't alone this time. Renjun had heard it too, had heard Ten use a name he shouldn't know, and that raised a whole heap of questions that he wasn't sure he was ready to ask. Questions, Donghyuck knew, that he would eventually have to face head-on.
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm not sure." Behind Donghyuck, Ten cleared his throat loudly and conspicuously, and both boys jumped. Flushing, Renjun took an exaggerated step away from the younger boy and grinned innocently at Ten, who just raised an unimpressed eyebrow.
"Well, good luck," Renjun mumbled half-heartedly, patting Donghyuck on the arm and nudging him towards the car that Ten now sat perched on. "I have your keys, so I'll, uh—I'll make sure Mark-hyung gets them safe and sound." He swallowed hard, glancing over Donghyuck's shoulder at the older man still watching them both intently, and then cleared his throat awkwardly. "Okay, bye..."
"Very subtle," Ten mused, pushing up off the shiny metal hood and glancing down at the small pile of belongings that were nestled at his feet. "When do you suppose he'll realise he left without his bag?"
"Um—"
Ten chuckled as he took in the sheepish, bewildered look on Donghyuck's face, then gestured towards the passenger side of the small vehicle. "Get in, Haechan-ah. Right now, I'd say there's an entire universe of things we need to discuss, but I think that can all wait until we get Jisung home safe. Wouldn't you agree?"
In that moment, it felt like a million thoughts swarmed Donghyuck's mind in unison, coiling and wrapping around one another until he was no longer able to distinguish the coherent from the absurd. He knew that there were multiple layers of meaning to Ten's words, more even perhaps than he was able to comprehend right then, but words escaped him.
Instead, he simply nodded and hurried around to the passenger side of the car, pulling open the door and sliding into the plush seat. The interior of the car was warm, in contrast to the slight chill of the air outside, and he found himself sinking down into the fabric, eyes closing tight against the barrage of jumbled thoughts that still bombarded his consciousness.
"Everybody make yourselves comfortable." Donghyuck felt the gentlest pressure against his knee as Ten reached over and squeezed, just for a moment before the car started. He didn't bother to open his eyes, reveling in the odd sense of peace and safety that had suddenly washed over him. "You can sleep for the whole journey if you want."
Donghyuck wasn't sure what it was exactly, but this car somehow felt like a sanctuary. Like security.
Like home.
He was already drifting by the time they started to move, thoughts fogging up and starting to shift towards things he usually tried to suppress. Something about being in this space with Ten manifested an almost primal sense of belonging in him, which a more awake Donghyuck would tell himself made no sense, but he didn't care. Right now, he'd take what he could get.
"They miss you so much, Haechannie." Ten's voice was so faint—so distant, as he drifted further and further away—that he knew he had to be dreaming already. Still, it was a nice dream, even if that subtle sense of loss that never truly went away still lingered, cocooned as he was deep within his subconscious. "You have no idea."