"well, hello," donghyuck drawled as the window wound down, a smirk on his face.
"shut up, hyuck," jaemin remarked.
"hey, daehwi," mark said, leaning forward to throw daehwi a smile from behind donghyuck.
"hi, daehwi!" renjun said cheerfully, his demeanour much contradicting his all-black attire. jeno grinned and gave a wave, dressed in a black hoodie and black denim jacket from what daehwi could see.
"hey, guys," he replied, smiling.
"alright, get in the car, losers, we're on a mission here," said donghyuck, rolling the window back up.
jeno reached over to open the back passenger door and jaemin went to get in, but glanced back at daehwi.
"it's fine, you get in first," he told him, so jaemin did.
"who's sitting in whose lap?" renjun asked, ready to shift onto jeno's lap to free up another seat, but daehwi climbed in and sat on jaemin. "oh, well, that's sorted, then," he said with a grin.
"are you guys comfy back there?" donghyuck asked, twisting round in his seat to raise an eyebrow at them.
jaemin reached forward and tugged donghyuck's black beanie down over his eyes to shut him up. daehwi stifled a giggle as he reached to pull the seatbelt across him, jaemin clicking it into place. jaemin didn't know what to do with his hands when he had a warm daehwi sitting on his lap but the honey-haired boy just took his hands and held onto them, jaemin's arms around his waist.
donghyuck was complaining to mark as the older started the car (he had parked at the end of the street and jaemin and daehwi had been lucky to only run into jaemin's dad on the way out of the house, who had let them go without a problem) and renjun was cuddled into jeno's side, talking his ear off about a certain type of paint. jeno was smiling contentedly however, happy to listen to renjun's chatter. jaemin rested his chin on daehwi's shoulder and prepared to spend the rest of the car ride in comfortably silence.
but daehwi felt the need to ask, "are you okay?"
jaemin stiffened. "what do you mean?" he asked in a tiny voice.
"i mean, with your mom," daehwi replied in a hushed tone, shifting around a little to meet jaemin's gaze. "and, like, everything at home. you don't have to answer," he added quickly, not wanting to pressure him.
jaemin shook his head. "it's alright, daehwi. mom and dad got back from the business trip and it was like nothing had changed. except for mom screaming at jaehyun-hyung more than usual."
"because he came out?" daehwi asked quietly.
"yeah, she thinks lecturing him will make him change," jaemin scoffed. "and i overheard her talking to some woman about setting hyung up with her daughter. jaehyun-hyung is gonna flip shit when he hears that."
"is your hyung okay?"
jaemin sighed. "he's unpredictable."
"he seemed okay earlier," he suggested, but jaemin shook his head, hiding his face in daehwi's shoulder.
"that was him on a good day," he said. "he's so moody... he's not himself."
"pretty sure your hyung only survives by practically living at my house," donghyuck remarked, twisting around in his seat to look at his friend. he grinned, adding, "you two are so cute." he shrugged. "hope jaehyun-hyung is okay."
"yeah, me, too," jaemin mumbled, and daehwi gave his hand a squeeze.
"doyoung-hyung will make sure he's okay," donghyuck said, "don't worry, jae."
"thanks, hyuck."
"guys, we're here," said mark, slowing to a stop in the carpark behind the school. it was dark already, and the others fell silent (even renjun had stopped talking about his art to jeno).
"okay, the plan is fool-proof, there's no way it can go wrong," donghyuck said, unbuckling his seatbelt to twist around to face his friends. "if mr lee is working out here late, he'll leave at around seven pm and we'll either be out by then, or have appropriate measures in place."
"what are these measures, exactly?" jaemin questioned.
"hiding, duh," said the redhead. "anyway, sanha said he and chani are in position, and we can move out."
"stop talking like you're in a spy movie," renjun tutted.
"but spy movies are cool, ren-ren," jeno pointed out.
"yeah, but hyuck isn't," renjun replied.
"bitch," donghyuck complained. "ugh, alright. you four go ahead to the main block, then. kinda feels like the number of lookouts is a bit overkill..."
"you can't send people home now," daehwi told him. "anyway, the more eyes, the safer we are, right? we'll know in advance if anyone's coming."
"good point," donghyuck said, snapping his fingers. "renjun, got the supplies?"
"yep," the chinese boy replied, patting the small bag that was strapped across his body.
"i've got the key for when you guys need to get out through the theatre," said donghyuck. "i'll unlock it when you're done. markie's our getaway driver, and sanha and chani will be walking back afterwards."
"chani, walking?" daehwi remarked.
"he's fine, hwi," the redhead chuckled. "he just wanted to be left out of any running situations so he doesn't fuck up his leg again. that's why i put him and sanha on lookout outside where they won't be seen."
"okay, shall we go?" renjun asked, raising his eyebrows. "we're running out of time."
"yes, go!" donghyuck said, shooing them out of the car. the four climbed out, the redhead adding, "don't get caught, motherfuckers."
"of course we won't," jeno hissed, grabbing renjun's hand and pulling him towards the school. jaemin and daehwi followed behind, quickly and quietly.
jeno gestured for the other three to wait at the side of the building, opening the door as silently as possible and peering inside.
"clear," he whispered, and the four of them snuck into the school.
"the janitor should be in the science block, before he comes back through and leaves out the back door of the main building," jeno said in a hushed voice as he lead the way.
"nancy's locker... located," jaemin murmured as they slipped through the double doors at the end of a corridor, and headed towards the lockers.
"ren-ren, you ready?" jeno asked. the chinese boy nodded, grabbing a paint-brush and tube of white paint from his little bag.
"watch the doors on that side," he whispered, before reaching up on his tiptoes to press a kiss to jeno's lips.
"hurry," jaemin hissed, and renjun shot him a glare before darting to the locker that jaemin had identified as nancy's.
"here's the list," daehwi muttered, bringing up a note on his phone. jaemin turned on the torchlight on his own phone and illuminated the locker, and renjun started painting.
"i can't believe i'm doing this," jaemin commented as he watched renjun painting the letters on the locker door.
"same," daehwi agreed, glancing at the taller boy, "i didn't think i'd get involved in something like this again."
"was it fun, last time? when you guys humiliated me in front of the whole team?" he asked, his voice starting to sound rather bitter.
"you kind of humiliated yourself, jaem," renjun remarked, earning a light shove from jaemin. "hey!" he hissed, "be careful or i'll mess this up."
"it's legible," daehwi mused, adjusting the phone in his hand so renjun could read the words better. he looked back at jaemin again, who was starting to look a bit pissed. "jaemin," he said, catching the brown-haired boy's attention, "i'm sorry i got involved with the prank. it was supposed to be a bit of harmless fun, but i'm sorry it upset you."
jaemin gave a smile. "don't feel the need to apologise on behalf of everyone else," he said softly, "it was probably hyuck's idea, anyway."
"i didn't know anything about it," renjun pointed out. "it was kind of genius, though."
"calling me a square and making a pride flag out of post-it notes? yeah, real genius," jaemin said sarcastically, though he was smiling. daehwi shot him a smile, slipping his hand into jaemin's, the brown-haired boy giving it a squeeze.
"well, it's not like they were wrong, is it?" renjun said, giving the pair of them the side-eye.
"what do you mean?" jaemin asked.
daehwi gave him a meaningful look, holding up their joined hands.
"oh," jaemin whispered.
"yeah," daehwi replied, rolling his eyes.
"not like i could resist you, anyway," the brown-haired boy said, narrowing his eyes.
"oh, so it's my fault?" daehwi asked, eyebrows raised.
"yeah, it's the reason i had a crush on you in the first place," jaemin mumbled. daehwi's eyes widened.
"how is it my fault you had a crush on me?"
"if you two could stop flirting and point the light at the fucking locker so i can see!?" renjun hissed.
"sorry," the two mumbled sheepishly, jaemin turning his torchlight back to the locker.
"guys, hide!" jeno suddenly whisper-shouted, and the three of them scattered, killing the lights on their phones, renjun dropping his paintbrush in his hurry to squeeze into one of the small spaces between two locker blocks.
jaemin grabbed daehwi and pulled him down onto the floor, hiding them behind a big fire extinguisher. jeno ducked below the window in the door at the end of the corridor, and the four of them barely breathed for at least ten seconds. daehwi looked up at jaemin, who had curled protectively around him, realising how close they were. the honey-haired boy's gaze went from jaemin's eyes to his lips, wondering what it would be like to kiss him again. jaemin was wondering the same thing but jeno spoke again.
"false alarm," he said softly. "sorry, guys."
"no-no!" renjun hissed, glaring at him as he extracted himself from the small space. "i thought we were dead meat!" he hurried to pick up his brush and put it back in his bag, along with the white paint.
"sorry," jeno repeated, sheepish. but renjun hugged him tightly, saying, "let's get out of here, quick."
"let's go," daehwi whispered, grabbing jaemin's hand again as they followed after renjun and jeno.
"arts block is clear," he told them, and they entered through another corridor, until they reached the art rooms. "i've texted hyuck to unlock the doors for us."
"great," said jaemin, daehwi leading him through the darkness as the younger knew the art rooms and interconnecting back corridor to the theatre like the back of his hand.
"stage doors," renjun breathed as they reached the black doors. he reached for the handle, but it didn't move. "jeno, i think it's still locked."
"what? let me try," jeno said with a frown, "hyuck said he'd come and unlock the doors as soon as i texted him." he tried the handles, but the doors wouldn't open.
daehwi's heart-rate quickened as he stepped forward to try for himself. jaemin even tried turning the handle, throwing his weight against the door, but nothing worked.
"maybe he's still on his way?" renjun suggested, clinging tightly to jeno.
there was a clang in the distance that startled them all, but they were silent as they listened, identifying the sound as the doors to the arts block being locked. so the janitor had locked the only other way out of there.
"we're stuck in here," daehwi breathed, eyes wide with increasing panic as he clung to jaemin's hand. jaemin reached for daehwi's other hand and squeezed it, trying to reassure him, but daehwi let go, wrapping his arms around jaemin's waist. the brown-haired boy hugged him tightly, exchanging a look with jeno. neither of them had any idea what to do.
in the car park...
"i hope they're alright in there," donghyuck muttered as he and mark sat in the car, in the darkness of the car park.
mark reached for his hand and took it, rubbing circles with his thumb as donghyuck chewed on his lip.
"they'll be fine," he murmured, "you guys were fine the last time."
"that's because you came," donghyuck said, turning to look at mark with big eyes. "i don't even know why you did that. but i was only okay because you turned up."
mark smiled, brushing his boyfriend's red bangs out of his eyes. "i didn't want to risk you getting in trouble," he told him, "that's why i came to find you."
"how did you even know?"
"chenle told me," mark explained. "he was worried you guys would get caught, and when he told me what you idiots were doing, i had to come and get you."
donghyuck rolled his eyes. "we weren't idiots, thank you," he scoffed. but he caught mark's grin and couldn't help smiling, too. "well, i don't remember ever thanking you properly. so, thank you, markie."
"you know, i couldn't stand yeri calling me that before, but," mark remarked, wrinkling his nose, "i think i can tolerate it coming from you."
donghyuck smirked. "i can call you anything i want," he challenged.
"oh?"
the redhead giggled. "oppa~" he said cutely, and mark went bright red.
"stop," he grumbled, wincing.
"i'm just teasing you, markie," he said. "anyway, i can think of a way i could thank you for helping me that night..."
"and what is that?" mark questioned.
"a kiss," he said simply.
"just one?"
"are you getting all dominant, mr lee?" donghyuck asked teasingly.
he leaned forward and placed a hand on mark's cheek. mark leaned in and they kissed, the older wrapping his arms around donghyuck's neck. every time they kissed, the feeling was new again and they were lost in each other. the redhead leaned over him, kissing him harder as mark tangled his fingers in his red hair.
"i love you, mark lee," he mumbled as he kissed mark's lips, his cheek, his jaw.
"love you, too, hyuckie," mark answered as donghyuck pressed a kiss to his neck.
donghyuck's phone fell but he ignored it as mark grabbed his face to kiss his lips again.
"i'll get it later," he mumbled, but mark opened his eyes and noticed a van leaving the car park.
"the janitor just left," he said. "wait," he uttered, pressing his hands to donghyuck's chest, "wasn't jeno going to text you when you should unlock the door?"
"oh, shit," donghyuck hissed, fumbling for his phone. "oh, shit- shit! where's the fucking key?"
"in your pocket," mark said, and the redhead found it immediately.
"i love you," he said, pecking his lips before tugging open the door and sprinting out into the night. he got to the stage door, his appearance disheveled and cheeks pink, unlocking the door with shaking hands.
"oh my god, hyuck," jeno exhaled, "what took you so long?"
donghyuck just hurried the four of them back to mark's car and they clambered in, daehwi on jaemin's lap and renjun and jeno squished in beside them in the back. renjun demanded answers and donghyuck tried to brush him off, asking how the plan had gone. but as mark drove them back, eventually the chinese boy got an answer. but he wasn't impressed.
"what do you mean you were making out?"