A/N: Sorry for the late update!
Without further ado...
Chul-soo had invited them out with the promise of getting them into a club. Min-sik had caved after being unable to make up an excuse, and he, Chul-soo, Min-gyu, and Sung-hoon found themselves waiting in a line outside a backdoor in Itaewon.
"Listen to me," said Chul-soo, chomping away at a corndog. "Itaewon is the lifeblood of the Korean youth."
"Nobody asked," said Min-gyu.
"Nobody doubted you, either," said Min-sik.
Chul-soo finished off his corndog and waved the stick around to emphasize his words. "Itaewon is where young people with ideas and dreams gather to express their emotions in the only way they know how—by drinking and dancing. And tonight, I promise you, we will do both, and we will do them well."
Sung-hoon clapped. "Great speech. Have you been pre-gaming?"
"Yes."
"Hey, Min-sik," said Min-gyu. "You watching Stray Kids?"
"What kind of question is that?" Sung-hoon demanded. "Everyone is!"
"I have been," said Min-sik. "I hate it." He hated it more because he knew a good few of the trainees taking part in the show—Bang Chan, especially. The two of them had worked on a monthly evaluation together in early 2016, back when Min-sik actually cared.
"Man, we all do," said Min-gyu. "Whenever these group formation shows happen, they're always so depressing."
"Oh, hold on, now," said Chul-soo. "You guys need to shut up."
The four of them stopped short in front of the bouncer. "ID?" asked the man roughly.
Chul-soo pulled out his fake. "I think Angle might have put my name on the list," he said.
"They did," said the bouncer. "How many of you?"
"Four."
The bouncer handed his ID back. "Head on in. And don't try anything funny."
"Of course." Chul-soo led the four of them past the bouncer and through the door shrouded in black curtain.
"Is it just me, or does he totally know we're underage?" Sung-hoon questioned.
"Don't say underage like that," Chul-soo chided.
"You know what I mean."
"I need a drink," said Min-sik quietly, moving away to the others and heading to the bar. He'd been in a club exactly twice, all thanks to Chul-soo, and he'd gotten around to figuring out how to get a drink without seeming conspicuous. He got the bartender's attention. "Double tall gin with cranberry juice, please."
"Sure," said the bartender.
Sung-hoon walked over to MIn-sik's side. "I can't keep up with those two." He gestured to Chul-soo and Min-gyu, who were already migrating out onto the floor.
"Me neither," said Min-sik, accepting his drink from the bartender. "You want a drink?"
"I'll take a beer, please," said Sung-hoon to the bartender.
"Anything, and you go for beer?" Min-sik asked.
Sung-hoon shrugged as he pulled out his wallet. "It's cheap."
Min-sik, realizing he hadn't paid, did the same. "True."
The bartender came over with the beer. "Thanks," said Sung-hoon, placing some cash on the bar. Min-sik followed his lead, and the bartender took the money without another word.
"Cheers," said Min-sik. The two raised their glasses and took long drinks.
Three hours later, the four boys were exiting the club entirely smashed. Min-sik felt incredibly light-headed, and he swayed down the street to an invisible rhythm in his head. "Where are we going?" he asked to no one in particular. He felt like he needed something to do with his fingers, so he was tapping out beats on the outside of his pockets.
"Somewhere," said Chul-soo. "I'm gonna find us a bar that's still open."
"That way," Min-gyu offered, pointing down the road. "There's bound to be some there."
"Oh yeah," said Chul-soo. "Definitely."
Sung-hoon was half asleep. "Do you think bars should make beds?" he asked. "Like, for people to sleep in when they're sleepy."
"That's a surefire business model," slurred Min-sik. "Cover your bar in beds so no one can get to it."
"Look," said Min-gyu, tugging on Min-sik's shoulder. "There's... there's one right there."
"Tell, Chul-soo," said Min-sik. He started mumbling along to a song in his head as Min-gyu directed Chul-soo to the bar he'd seen. "Hit my line yuh... 눈더미같이 쌓인 일들은 himalaya..."
Sung-hoon followed his lead. "난 얼마나 더 많이 또 일을 해야..."
"사람들은 잊지 않을까 내 이름 세 글자를..."
"덕분에 우린 하루 두 번의 아침 해를 봐 늘."
Loudly from up front came Chul-soo's voice: "다 집어 쳐 오늘 밤, we party!"
Sung-hoon broke into a fit of giggles, and Min-sik suddenly lost the desire to continue the song.
The four boys stumbled into the bar. Chul-soo took the lead, and left the other three at a table to go get drinks. Min-sik watched him flash his ID at the bartender and order before coming back to sit down.
"He said they're gonna give us the food first," said Chul-soo.
"What did you order?" Sung-hoon asked.
"Some corn thing with cheese."
"Sounds cool."
The four of them waited on their order for five minutes, after which a woman brought out a plate of corn covered in cheese and some sort of spicy sauce. "The drinks'll be out in a moment," she said quickly, before running back to behind the bar.
Min-sik frowned. "That's weird."
"I don't know," said Chul-soo, who already had a cob of corn held up to his mouth. "But this is good."
"Boys," said a voice form behind them. All four of them turned to find a uniformed policeman with his hands folded across his chest.
Min-sik almost shat himself. "Officer," he said weakly.
"Step outside, please," he said. "Now," he added as Chul-soo took another bite of corn.
The officer led the four of them to the side of the building, where another policeman was waiting. "Turn out your pockets," he said.
Each of the four of them did. The second officer took each of their wallets and flipped through them. He grunted when he got to Chul-soo's. "This is him," he said, passing the fake over to the other officer.
"You've got a fake?" the first officer questioned, looking at Chul-soo.
"No?" Chul-soo said, asking it like a question.
"Yeah, right," said the second officer. "You showed the wrong ID at the bar, kid."
"Do you know how serious of an offense this is?"
"I'm sure it's fine."
- - - - - -
The holding cell door rattled open in front of the four boys. "You've been bailed out," said the officer. "We won't press charges, this time. But watch yourself."
"See?" said Chul-soo, moving to walk out of the cell. "I told you guys it's fine." But as he turned to face the officer, he stopped just short of walking into Park Jin-young. "PD-nim?" he asked.
"Let's go," he said shortly. Min-sik looked down as JYP led the four boys out of the station.
They stopped a block away from the station, where a bodyguard was waiting next to a black car. JYP faced them and crossed his arms. "What were you four thinking?"
Chul-soo grinned. "PD-nim—"
"That wasn't an invitation to talk," said JYP.
Chul-soo gulped and closed his mouth.
JYP pinched the bridge of his nose. "You should thank god you weren't caught by anyone else. We'd be pressing legal charges."
"We?" Min-sik asked nervously.
"You boys have violated your contracts as trainees, and have violated the law as a representative of JYPE. You should consider yourselves lucky that this is the only punishment you're receiving." JYP nodded to the bodyguard. "Take them back." He spared the boys one last look of disdain before getting in the car.
"What was that all about?" Chul-soo asked as the car rolled away.
"Your four," said the bodyguard, "let's go."
"Do you know what that was about?" Chul-soo asked.
"Without talking," said the bodyguard shortly.
Min-sik was glad for the silence. It let him think the frightening thoughts going through his head. JYP hadn't specified the punishment they'd be receiving. Were they going to get put on probation? That meant risk of being kicked out of the program. And suspension, that was worse. It would mean Min-sik would have nowhere to go for at least a week.
The bodyguard didn't leave until the four boys retreated to their rooms. Min-sik sunk into the bed, ignoring the loud typing coming from Chul-soo's phone, and the lulls of sleep eventually overtook the worry of what would come the next day.
Min-sik woke to a pounding on his door. Chul-soo's bed was empty, with an impression of him left in the sheets. Min-sik stumbled out of bed and opened the door. "Fine," he muttered. "I'm awake—Mr. Choi?" Min-sik asked groggily.
"Han Min-sik," said the man. "I've been trying to wake you up."
"I-I'm sorry. I'm not feeling so well."
"Oh, I know." Mr. Choi crossed his arms. "I just wanted to let you and your friends know that you have an hour to pack your things."
"Pack our things?"
Choi pulled a form out of his inner coat pocket. "You four have been rusticated from the JYPE trainee program as of this morning."
Min-sik felt as though he were being submerged into a giant vat of boiling water. "What did you say?" he asked numbly.
"It's in the trainee contract," said Choi, handing over the letter. "I'm sorry, you violated the rules."
"Oh, my god." Min-sik's legs felt weak, and he resisted the intense urge to fall to his knees. "Please, Mr. Choi, you can't do this to me."
"I'm not the one doing it to you."
"Please," Min-sik begged, wondering if dropping to his knees would actually help him. "There's got to be something you can do—"
"The decision is final. PD-nim already signed off on it. I'm sorry, Min-sik," said Choi, not sounding sorry in the slightest.
The edges of the paper crinkled as Min-sik clenched his hands into fists. "Please," he said weakly. "I don't have anywhere to go."
"I need my form, please," said Choi. He had to forcibly take it out of Min-sik's hands. "Have you seen your roommate?"
"No," said Min-sik numbly.
Choi nodded and headed back down the hall.
Min-sik stood there at the door for what felt like an hour, but Choi didn't return to get him so it must not have been. He found something within himself to go put his things away. He'd need everything he could get. His clothes, his laptop, his chargers...
While clearing out the ledge above the closet rack, Min-sik came across a pocket book. It was an old, beaten up copy of The Fellowship of the Ring, so old that the pages were yellowed and frayed. A piece of paper fell out from between the pages, and Min-sik picked it up off the floor.
"Go where you must go, and hope"
Min-sik stared at the note. He hadn't known it had been tucked in the book the entire time. "That old man wrote this?" he muttered. "Why?"
Min-sik seriously considered it for a moment. But he quickly dismissed that thought—he had no right to go back there.
Min-sik looked past the note, to his packed suitcase and backpack. He'd just have to try and rough it out.
A/N: At least this cliffhanger only lasts a week :)
with love,
jolofjester