Obviously, the rest of them hadn't taken the news well. Donghyuck had been gone for about a month now, each day getting worse rather than easier without him. Chenle had been missing for a couple days, all their hearts freezing over with fear and worry. They hadn't known where he was, and they had no way of finding out.
Jane blamed this incident on herself too, as she always had. In all honesty, Jaemin felt like he should blame himself as well. He feels he should take the blame for every bad thing in life, his body only holding other people's fingerprints and every negative energy that has ever been passed to him. Chenle was innocent, to the extent he could be. He was still a kid, a dumb stupid kid who couldn't be a kid, for he was forced into being some sort of prostitute.
They all felt like they were going insane, they had so much they needed to do but nothing they actually could do. They all felt useless and they all felt scared, one of their brothers was gone, and what were they supposed to do about it?
The apartment felt twice as quiet now, already feeling so since Donghyuck had left, and now they were missing two people. Jaemin felt more empty, somehow being able to. His brain was filled with a million thoughts per minute, but also nothing at the same time. He felt frozen in time, but he had also felt like time had been moving way too quickly for his liking.
He just wanted his brothers back.
Jaemin's head hurt. He sat at the kitchen table with his head against the cool wood, his cheek smushed against it. His brain was fuzzy, his thoughts dripping from his ear against the table. He didn't want to think right now, he just wanted to leave and never come back. He wouldn't mind being ran over by a car right about now.
Some of the others sat at the table as well, or just stood in the kitchen. They were speaking but Jaemin couldn't be bothered to listen, his head swarmed with too many feelings he couldn't bare to handle right now. The press of the wood against his cheek was beginning to tighten his jaw, but he sat there not moving even if he tried to get up.
"Let's just fucking kill them." Jane spoke, her voice harsh.
"Shut up, Jane. How the hell are we supposed to do that?" Renjun spoke up, a couple footsteps shuffling around the kitchen and around Jaemin.
"I don't know? A gun? An axe? Anything? We could take them on, there's a dozen of us." The girl continued, beginning to argue with the boy.
"We aren't going to find him at all if you guys continue being stupid." He heard Xiaojun's voice, Jaemin could almost hear the boy rolling his eyes as well.
"Well we have to do something, at least I'm fucking trying. You guys are just sitting here crying." Jane spat.
"Stop it! There's no reason to be fighting right now." Ten shouted a bit, his voice raising above everyone else's.
"Maybe if people would actually step up with me then there really wouldn't be a reason for fighting. I'm sick of this, let's just go!" Jane yelled again.
More footsteps were sounded, Jaemin shutting his eyes tightly. He could barely handle his own thoughts, let alone everyone else shouting around him. The boy tried to tune them out again, wanting some peace and quiet for a bit, he needed to get out of here.
It was nearing night time, the small amount of windows they had in the apartment, aka like two, holding no light anymore as the sun set. Jaemin liked night a bit more than the day at this point, it used to be the opposite, as he enjoyed the bright skies; but now everything was quieter and more personal at night, so he found himself enjoying it more.
"Can you guys stop being so fucking selfish?" Mark yelled.
"Okay, please-" Ten started.
Jaemin harshly got up, the chair underneath him making a scratching noise against the tile. Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at him in a bit of shock, Jaemin never really got angry, but he looked a bit pissed.
His eyes were harsh, and he was ready to just leave the apartment. The boy hadn't really made eye contact with any of them, but they got the point of him being upset with them. Jaemin walked towards the front door, opening it and letting a gust of wind in.
"I'm going out." Jaemin said, bluntly.
Ten furrowed his brows, trying to step closer to the boy.
"Jaem, please don't go out alone-"
Jaemin shut the door behind him, still holding his breath as he quickly walked down the stairs, just waiting nothing but to get out and be by himself for now. He needed something, something to calm his mind. He needed some sort of distraction.
The boy was off the walls, his head filling with every image possible, every voice possible. His hands reached up to pull at his hair as he walked, finally letting the air out of his lungs as he had walked out of the alleyway and down the street.
It was a bit busy, not overly but there had been people out at bars and clubs. This side of town was full of them, as well as liquor stores and sex stores. Jaemin hated this place, he wanted to move away to a quiet place, out in the country. He wanted peace and quiet and he wanted a calm life, a little life.
His feet moved before his body, dragging him to a popular bar. Jaemin knew he was an attractive boy, pretty more to say. He had no money obviously, but he's sure he could get someone to get him a drink. He had no room in his body to feel bad about it right now, just needing something.
There was quite a bit of people here, string lights strung from the building down to the other side of the street, illuminating everyone beneath them. There were tables outside, a bar on the inside as well as the outside. It was a warm night, not the usual, so there happened to be more people out here rather than inside the building.
He took a deep breath, lifting a hand to run it through his pink hair. The boy had wore a white fitted shirt with a denim jacket, tight jeans clung to his legs as well, it was simple but he knew it was fine.
A hand wrapped itself around his bicep, and he cringed a bit but turned around to make contact with a girl shorter than him. She was pretty. She had dark eyes and blonde hair, seemingly dyed as she was Asian, most likely Korean as they were.. in Korea. Her nose was sloped and her lips were full, she wore a low cut shirt with a skirt; and Jaemin would've looked down if he had felt the attraction, but like always, he didn't.
She smiled up at him, letting go of him a bit.
"Hey, handsome."
The boy smiled back at her, or tried his best. He bowed a bit.
"Hi."
The girl giggled, reaching up to twirl a finger through her hair.
"Want to come join me and my friends? You can sit next to me."
She was flirting and it was so obvious, hence her first words to him. Jaemin was bad at flirting, or more so flirting with girls. It was easy to jokingly flirt with his friends, all of them being guys, but he never really meant it and that was probably why. He just hasn't found the right girl where he has felt the need to flirt with her.
But he smiled a bit more, nodding as she already dragged him over.
"Yeah, okay."
Their table was filled with just girls, probably about five of them but Jaemin really didn't care enough to count properly. They giggled, almost sounding fake, and they spoke too much for Jaemin to bare right now. But they let him have a drink, and he contently, or tried to contently listen to them as they spilled stories to the boy.
The girl that had dragged him over there had kept pressing her hand against Jaemin's thigh, continuously leaning forward to press her cleavage together in front of the boys face. He kept smiling awkwardly, taking almost chugs of the drink as he tried his best to not get up and just bail on these girls.
Jaemin turned his head to take in his surroundings, the girl next to him still babbling about something, hun humming every so often so he seemed a bit interested. The people around them were loud, his head still swarming a bit but he already felt a bit better from his thoughts as the random girls next to him spoke about nonsense, their annoying voices flooding out his brain.
He squinted his eyes when they fell on a certain figure, familiarity drowning out his attention. The boy had a mop of brown hair on his head, the familiar leather jacket and tight blue jeans combo making his heart rush. He felt his own eyes widen as he turned fully in his chair, ready to get up.
A hand was on his thigh still, trying to crawl up further into his lap.
"Are you even listening to me?" The girls voice was heard.
Jaemin didn't look at her, still looking at the boy. He swatted her hand away.
"Mhm, yeah." He said, now standing up fully.
He turned to the table, smiling awkwardly.
"Thanks for the drink, have a good night." Scratching the back of his neck, he quickly turned and jogged over to the spot he was looking at, the girls all shouting out words of protest.
The pink haired boy hadn't really care in all honesty, the boy his eyes were set on spiking a feeling through his stomach. He had to see if his eyes were deceiving him.
Someone bumped into the brown haired boy, mumbling a small 'sorry' before walking away again. When the boy had looked up, Jaemin let out a sigh, as if he had been holding this breath in since the boy had left their apartment.
"Donghyuck?" He said timidly.
The boy turned his head quickly to look at him, his eyes widening as he took in the sight of Jaemin. Jaemin felt his hand slip from his pocket, the drink he was holding quickly slipping out of his hand as well.
Jaemin rushed forward to pull the boy into a hug, his chest blooming with a soft feeling. Donghyuck didn't seem to question a thing before he was hugging Jaemin back, the pink haired boy burrowing his face into the other boys neck.
He sniffled quickly, his eyes watering.
"I'm so sorry, Donghyuck. I'm so so sorry."
Jaemin felt Donghyuck rubbing his back, only making it harder for Jaemin to hold back his cries.
"What for?" Donghyuck questioned.
He pulled back from the hug, his brows furrowed as he looked at the brown haired boy.
"We got you beat up! And we kicked you to the streets!" He hushed out, his eyes growing wide.
Grabbing onto Donghyuck's arm, as if to inspect him, he continued.
"Are you okay? Where have you been staying? Has anyone hurt you? Are you a-"
Donghyuck cut him off, grabbing onto Jaemin's face.
"None of this is your fault, Jaemin. Or anyone else's in that apartment."
Jaemin felt his lips tighten together, his chest rising in a slow breath. He felt so guilty as he looked at the boy in front of him, but so relieved at the same time. He reached up to rub a hand along Donghyuck's head.
"I really missed you, Hyuck." Jaemin spoke, trying not to cry again.
Donghyuck opened his mouth to speak, before a voice was sounded from behind him.
"Donghyuck! What the fuck are you doing-"
A boy had walked up to them, yelling at his brother.
He froze when he looked at Jaemin, his feet stumbling a bit. The boy had dark raven hair, styled almost in a quiff. His features were sharp, all of them. His nose, his eyes, his lips, his jaw. He was probably about the same height as Jaemin, pretty tall. He was built and he looked strong, but he was lean. The boy wore a tight black shirt with black jeans, the fabric fitting around his muscles. Jaemin tried not to gulp a bit.
The boy caught his steps as he stumbled, still staring at Jaemin.
"Well fuck, you're pretty." He admitted in Jaemin's direction.
Jaemin's eyes widened, he felt his face immediately flush in a red hue, the tips of his ears burning as well. He looked over at Donghyuck quickly, as if to ask for help. He was already looking at the boy with a fondness, before he rolled his eyes.
Donghyuck punched the boy in his arm.
"Ignore him, please." He pleaded.
The said boy pouted out his bottom lip, Jaemin's eyes falling to glance at it. He crossed his arms over his chest, Jaemin's eyes once again falling to look at the muscles bulging through his shirt. But as he pouted, he kept sneakily taking glances at Jaemin, the pink haired boy trying so desperately to stop blushing.
Jaemin shook his head a bit, looking back at Donghyuck.
"You weren't alone this whole time?"
Donghyuck shrugged.
"Would've rather been."
The boy punched Donghyuck in the arm, the brown haired boy shoving him back.
Jaemin felt a small smile fit onto his face at the relief he felt flooding through his body. He watched the unfamiliar boy, his heart warming at the thought of his brother having someone with him the whole time, his nerves settling at his bones.
He stepped forward towards the boy, reaching a hand out in hopes of a handshake.
"I'm Jaemin, thank you for taking care of my brother."
The boy made a noise, his jaw dropping a bit as he looked at Donghyuck.
"Brother?! You said you were an only child!"
Donghyuck rolled his eyes again, walking forward to grab onto Jaemin. The pink haired boy furrowed his brows as he drew his hand back to himself, letting himself be dragged by the brown haired boy.
The other boys footsteps were heard behind them, following them.
"Wait! Are you guys actually brothers?"
Jaemin turned to answer the boy, before Donghyuck pulled him to him again.
"What are you doing here?" He asked Jaemin.
He immediately frowned at the boys question, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. He knew he was going to tell Donghyuck, and that would result in the boy coming back home. Ten would be angry, but at this point he didn't care, he needed at least one of his brothers back home right now.
"Things are bad at home." Jaemin whispered.
Donghyuck frowned as well, standing up a bit straighter at the boys words.
"What's wrong?"
Jaemin took a breath, his eyes welling up with tears once again. He felt so weak lately, sensitive. Crying over everything that had happened, but who could blame him with the life he had lived.
Donghyuck's eyes widened a bit at the reaction from Jaemin, his hand reaching up to grab onto Jaemin's arm. The pink haired boy had to let out his breath before continuing, his heart beating from his chest.
"They took Chenle."
___