three days later, xinlong agreed to join their gang. surprisingly, to xinlong, the boys were ecstatic. it seemed they had just been waiting for carson to throw the offer to xinlong, and now that he finally did they could celebrate their newest member. they spent a couple hours discussing an alias and a role for xinlong in the gang. it was decided the boy would be in charge of controling and difusing physical altercations. a fighter, of sorts. along with that, they'd decided he'd play a similar role to zephyr as another confidant of carson. another deciding voice in the groups affairs. with xinlongs addition to the group, the boys were a group to be feared (as if they werent already).
as for a false name for xinlong, they hadnt gotten far enough in their conversation to discuss the matter before xinlong was rambling worriedly about his best friend. xinlong hadnt had contact with shuyang for however long he'd been there, lord knows the boy was worrying himself to death, if he hadnt already. even with the other boys attempts to calm him down, xinlong insisted he at least had a chance to talk to shuyang. he couldnt just leave him, after everything he and shuyang had gone through together, it wasnt fair to the younger. which left him in the situation he was currently in, past 3:30 in the morning and waiting for shuyang to meet him behind an old building after sending him an ominous text of 'come meet me. we'll talk.'. he stood behind the building, after having arrived with mark and and zephyr in tow (the boys refused to send him alone) for maybe 15 minutes before the sound of footsteps crunching against the gravel could be heard. he watched as a face timidly peeked around the corner, eyes widening as they fell onto xinlong. while the elder would have loved to keep some kind of composure, act all tough, watching shuyang run to him with open arms was enough to melt his heart like ice to fire. he pulled the shorter boy into his arms, holding the boy close to his chest as shuyang began babbling about something xinlong couldnt understand.
"oh my god shuyang, i missed you so much." he breathed, finding comfort in finally having the boy in his arms again. he pulled away, shuyang still talking quickly, panic coating every word that came out if his mouth. somewhere between the boys rambles, xinlong watched as tears dripped down his cheeks. if they were tears of relief or those of a panic attack, xinlong wasnt sure, though he only embraced the boy once again. finally, after minutes of going on and on, shuyang said something xinlong could understand through his tears.
"where the fuck were you?!" shuyang questioned, and xinlong could almost feel the anger in shuyangs voice. the boy looked nothing short of betrayed, very clearly distraught after xinlongs disappearence. xinlong stuttered, questioning silently what he was and wasnt allowed to reveal about what hes been up to for the past while. soon, xinlong could only give shuyang a defeated look, only shrugging. shuyang let out a scoff in disbelief, looking around himself. "thats it? you left for a fucking month xinlong! and all you said was you 'ran away'?! this is bullshit!" shuyang cursed, lightly shoving xinlongs chest. xinlong could only sigh, before he turned to look behind himself. mark and zephyr stuck close behind the boy, covered in the darkness of the night to hide themselves. he met zephyrs eyes, giving the boy a look pleading for help. zephyr only nodded, lightly tapping marks arm and motioning for them to approach the two boys. as the two walked closer, shuyang began backing up. he grabbed xinlongs arm, clearly preparing for the two of them to take off in a run, but xinlong didnt move. he pulled the younger closer, placing his arm over the boys shoulders.
"its okay, i know them. dont worry." he tried to comfort, though he could see how it was a lost effort. two masked men walk towards you and your friend late into the night, it'd be surprising to xinlong if shuyang wasnt at least a bit frightened. zephyr tilted his head at the boy, and though shuyang likely couldnt see it, xinlong noticed the way the tall boys eyes crinkled up slightly. he was smiling at shuyang. the action was small, but for some reason it comforted xinlong.
"xinlongs decided to help us, we didnt hurt him and we wont." zephyr started, voice surprisingly soft at the sight of the terrified boy. xinlong was slightly envious, he didnt remember zephyr being this nice to him when they first met. shuyang stood close to xinlong, still holding onto the olders arm as he fearfully looked towards the two boys before them.
"that doesnt explain where he'd been. i dont like all this mysterious shit." shuyang muttered, eyes flicking between mark and zephyr. xinlong sighed, questioning how to slyly admit he'd joined a gang last week. mark only hummed, dropping the backpack he carried with him and opening it. he shoved his hand inside for a moment, before looking at shuyang casually.
"you really wanna know?" he offered, still rummaging around in the bag by his feet. shuyang gulped, before frantically nodding. his grip tightened on xinlongs arm as mark smiled. finally, he pulled something out of the bag and walked toward xinlong and shuyang. shuyang shuffled back slightly, though he clearly made an attempt to stand his ground. he stopped around 2 or 3 feet in front of shuyang, and xinlongs eyes widened at what mark was now holding out towards the boy. "alright, we'll explain. but calm down first. here, have some water."
less than 3 hours later, the boys stood in the same warehouse xinlong woke up in over a month ago, this time staring at shuyang who was unconsious in a chair. xinlong bit his nail anxiously, turning to look at mark who stood beside him.
"i really dont think you needed to do the whole 'give him sketchy water then drag his unconsious body to a scary warehouse' thing." he mumbled, wiping his hand on his jeans and sighing. "i think he would have came if i asked him too, he trusts me you know?" he tried to explain, only being met with a nonchalant shrug from the shorter boy.
"we dont abduct people often. we dont know many other methods." mark said back, looking down at his phone. the time read early in the morning, just past 6 o' clock. the boys were all standing in the room, awaiting the boy to regain consiousness. mark hummed before looking over at joey, the only one with any medical knowledge at all. "hey, how long does this stuff last? its been, what, two hours? three?" the boy questioned impatiently, who would much rather be back at their base and doing anything but this. joey thought for a moment, before opening his mouth to speak. he was cut off by a groaning coming from the chair. everyone in the room seemed to freeze, as the boys eyes cracked open, taking in his surroundings slowly. xinlong watched the fear wash over shuyangs face, and he quickly surged to kneel before the boy.
"shuyang its okay! i promise im right here, your okay-" but xinlongs words were useless, as shuyang was already shouting at the top of his lungs. he pulled at his tied hands, struggling to move as tears once again welled in his eyes. xinlongs hands stilled in the air, he felt hopeless. how could he pull shuyang into this? he'd been through enough in his life, and now he did this to him? he didnt notice, but carson had already gotten zephyr to take mark and joey out of the room. to leave the three of them instead, maybe to slightly ease the situation. he hadnt realize they'd left until he heard mark give a casual 'seeya shuyang', and only he, carson, and shuyang remained in the room. shuyangs words got chopping, heaving breathes cutting through his words, before the boy suddenly fell unconsious again. xinlong stared at the boy limp body in shock, before looking at carson in worry.
"he fainted from the panic, he'll wake up soon." carson attempted to comfort xinlong, gently patting his shoulder as the boy stared at his friend. he felt like shit for putting shuyang through this. he should have just left him out of it, maybe he'd be better off. but he was no better if he just left him with no explaination, xinlong couldnt wrap his head around a 'correct' answer. it only took around 5 minutes for shuyangs eyes to once again flutter open, eyes meeting xinlongs. the boy was quick to gently hold shuyangs shoulders.
"hey, its me. please dont freak out, i swear your safe. its just me and you-" xinlong cut himself off, glancing over at carson who was leaning on the wall a few feet away. "okay well him too but dont worry about that." he excused, watching shuyang slowly take in his surroundings. he watched the boys breathing speed up, though he thankfully kept more of his composure and didnt immediately begin screaming. "look.. dont hate me okay?" xinlong started, watching confusion flash over shuyangs face before being replaced by worry. xinlong took in a deep breath, before finally spitting out the explaination he'd been holding in for hours. "i.. sort of joined a gang. its a long story, i swear ill explain it all eventually." he let out a breath, watching shuyangs face go blank. the room was again filled with yelling, though it wasnt in panic and was instead scolding xinlong.
"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?! HE XINLONG WHEN I UNTIE MY HANDS IM GOING TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU!" xinlong look down in shame, shuyangs (empty) threats filling the air, as well as the sound of carson trying to stifle his laugh. xinlong stayed silent for another while, before shuyang finally seemed to run out of things to say, and was instead looking away from xinlong. "and this doesnt explain why the fuck im here! i didnt ask for this!" the boy pointed out, and xinlong felt dread fill him.
"oh yeah, haha...." he chuckled uneasily, playing with his fingers. "we uh.. we kind of need to keep you here until we know you wont tell anyone. you know, safety. i think." shuyang kicked xinlong in the thigh (as best he could, at least), giving him a look of disbelief. the boys went back and forth for a few minutes, bickering as they normally would before shuyang accepted his fate. the boy pouted as xinlong gave him a hug. he scoffed, turning to look away from him dramatically, and xinlong could already tell this would be a good few weeks of a silent treatment from the younger boy. carson finally walked towards them, standing next to xinlong, though eyes stayed on shuyang.
"this doesnt have to suck though, you know anything about crime?" carson asked shuyang, being met with the boy quickly shaking his head. "blackmailing? framing? spying? document forgery? cle-"
"forging documents?" the words seemed to pique shuyangs interest, earning a small smirk from carson and a confused look from xinlong.
"the hell do you know about forging documents?"
"more than you'd think."
// sorry for the slow updates lately i dont have a lot of time to be writing😭😭😭 i hope this was okay for now byeeee