"Soobin, I love you. But you need to get your head out of your ass." Yeonjun said casually as picked a few ramen packs.
"I'm sorry I don't want to get killed." soobin rolled his eyes "what happened back there on the road will happen again if we keep him with us, this is a big risk to take." he calmly explained.
"He needs someone to protect him, bin-ah.." Yeonjun stopped stocking on his favorite gummies to look at the younger "Taehyunnie needed help too, do you regret that we took him under our wings? He would've died if we ditched him back then." Yeonjun looked at Soobin, his eyes showing the many emotions overwhelming him as he thought of the first time he's met the big eyed kid.
"That's different and you know it" Soobin felt defensive at the mention of Taehyun, the person he thinks of as his young brother.
"How is that any different, Bin?" Yeonjun reached the register with a cart full of food, ready to pay in all cash.
Soobin kept quiet, not knowing how to explain himself, it was just different. When they found Taehyun, Soobin was still gullible, he trusted everyone, giving every person the benefit of the doubt. Some say it's a good quality, for Soobin it was the reason of their biggest downfall.
"It's not different binnie." Yeonjun said his nickname with fondness, seemingly trying to soften the younger. "If anything, he's in even worse condition then when we found Taehyun. It means we can't let him out of our sight."
..................
"Can you believe they went pyo pyo, bang bang on us? Such a waste of nice bullets." Beomgyu aimed his hand in a gun gesture at Taehyun. "Bang bang bang!" he sang big bang's hit song for all the town to hear.
"Beom Hyung are you aware that we're on the run right now? Usually wanted criminals try to stay under the radar." Taehyun said is his usual sarcastic tone.
"I ain't no normal criminal Hyun-ah."
"Yeah, I can tell." Taehyun rolled his eyes at his Hyung's shenanigans.
"Kai, are you okay?" he said after noticing the younger can barely keep his eyes open, digging into his palm to stay awake. a habit he developed over the years.
He can't fall asleep, he can't. He'll die if he'll fall asleep, they'll punish him.
Kai nodded, his head feeling heavier than ever. His exhausted body screaming at him to get some rest.
His hands hugged his stomach, trying to relieve some of the pain he was feeling.
"Kai...?" Beomgyu said, worry grow in his voice when he saw the younger wasn't responsive.
"Don't fall asleep, Don't fall asleep.." the younger muttered to himself.
"Hyung.." Taehyun turned over to Beomgyu who was just as confused.
Kai dug his nails deeper into his palm, nearly breaking his skin.
"hey, stop that! You're hurting yourself.." Taehyun looked at the younger, trying to figure out what he's thinking.
"Talk to us.." Taehyun said, the desperation in his voice catching the younger's attention who was now looking at him with tired, tearing eyes.
"I'm so tired..." the younger said, his voice small and quiet, a broken expression on his face as he accepted his fatigue, knowing that he'll fall asleep no matter how hard he tried not to. He didn't want to die, he tried to fight the exhaustion, he really did.
"You're tired..?" Beomgyu asked, his voice comforting and understanding "that's okay... you can rest your head on Taehyun, I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Beomgyu said, still confused on why the younger was so scared to tell them he needed sleep. Despite not understanding the younger, he kept his voice calm and warm.
"I can't.. I can't fall asleep." the younger shook his head, tears falling down his face.
Taehyun put his hand on Kai's shoulder, feeling more comfortable with the younger than before.
he patted him in relaxing motion, hoping to snap the younger out of his mild meltdown.
"If you're tired you should rest, you can sleep until we reach GwanJu... we really don't mind. Beomgyu sleeps in the car all the time. right, Hyung?" He turned to Beomgyu again, looking for additional support.
"Sure!" Beomgyu smiled brightly "it's really fine. just go to sleep, we'll wake you up when we're there."
Kai looked at the two, hesitant to make any moves. his eyes met Taehyun's, not being able to read the expression on the older's face. he couldn't tell whether the latter had malicious intent. However all of that didn't matter when Kai's eyes closed against his will, immediately dropping on the older's shoulder as if it was pulled by a strong magnet.
Kai's mind screamed at him to wake up, but he felt so comfortable, so warm on Taehyun's shoulder. His guards faded down as he drifted into deep sleep.
"Get up!" The boss yelled at the crouched boy beside his legs.
"I can't...." the boy whispered in agony, choking on his dry throat.
"What was rule number 3 001?" The boss said with a strained voice, trying to tone down his anger.
"Don't fall asleep.." the boy said quietly, sobbing as he realized what he did. He contemplated whether to try and beg for forgiveness, knowing in advance that begging never worked for him.
"You blew off a week of work, 40 hours of experiments down the trash, for what? FOR WHAT!?" The boss snapped, screaming into the boy's ear. Making him crawl into himself even more.
"Two days in discipline." the boss said, kicking the boy on his way out.
"No!" Kai screamed in devastation "please!" He sobbed loudly but no one would listen "I'm sorry.. I'm sorry.. I'm sorry" he repeated, dragged down the hall by the two guards. He kicked his feet frantically, trying to escape his reality.
"Let me go!" His agonized screams echoed through the walls.
His wrists were pulled above his hand, chaining him to the wall, making his body slightly suspended the air as his feet half reached the floor.
He leaned his back against the wall, trying to find somewhat of an comfortable position.
hours have passed without food nor water, the pressure on his shoulders increased when he heard a pop.
his shoulder dislocating from its place.
"Just kill me..."
"Kai-ah..." he heard a soft, sweet voice. "Wake up, we're here"