Taekwoon was tired. He did not know if it had been a century, a decade, a year, or simply an hour. He was so annoyed. Hakyeon was babbling nonsense about a cockroach named Leo and how much Taekwoon reminded the talkative guy of the dead cockroach. Taekwoon’s head was already aching. He knew that he was not going to hear the end of Hakyeon’s babbling. Someone needed to put a tape on that guy’s mouth. To make things worse, Taekwoon could not even kick Hakyeon off of his bed because of the handcuff that linked the two of them. Taekwoon knew better than to hurt himself.  “Where are those idiots?” Taekwoon finally asked the question that was bothering him. He certainly hoped that the four kids would come back right away and how he hoped that they were not distracted.

“You should not call them idiots, Taekwoon. That’s not very nice.” Hakyeon lectured Taekwoon. “Anyway, to answer your question, the four kids are probably looking for the keys diligently with all their might. They’re probably thinking of ways how to save us.” He dreamily replied to Taekwoon’s question.

Taekwoon scoffed. He highly doubted Hakyeon’s reply. “Then, where are they now?”

Hakyeon shook his head, clicking his tongue in the process. “Taekwoon, with so many things inside the storage room, it’s not so easy to look for a key. Stop worrying too much now and relax. They’re still looking for the keys, doing everything to help the two of us.”

Taekwoon glared at Hakyeon but he did not utter anything else. He actually wanted to ask Hakyeon how he could relax when the said trot singer was talking endlessly about a cockroach. Plus, Taekwoon did not believe that the others were actually looking for a key. It would be very nice of the four to do that but Taekwoon knew that the four boys were not nice, let alone ‘very nice’. Also, though he barely knew the four boys, he knew enough to say that they’d be distracted even by a small fly.

“Let’s catch the mouse! Let’s catch the mouse! Jjik, jjik, jjik!” Sanghyuk, Hongbin, Jaehwan, and Wonshik sang out loud doing some hand gestures. The four of them were sprawled on the floor playing the ‘Catch the Mouse’ game*. They seemed to have forgotten that they were in a mental hospital, not in a kindergarten.

[*Explanation in chapter 5.]

Taekwoon was not exactly wrong. The four boy were indeed distracted but it was not because of a fly or another insect. They really did distract themselves because they did not want to set Taekwoon free from Hakyeon just yet. Whatever they were thinking, it was hard to predict.

“This game is boring.” Sanghyuk commented. “Wonshik hyung always loses.” He added because Wonshik already lost for six times in a row which was pretty impressive since they only played six games. Sanghyuk did not know that a certified blackhole in a game could exist.

“It’s not boring. It’s painful.” Wonshik said, pointing at his already-red forehead. “I don’t want to play that game any longer. I might lose my precious forehead in the process.” He informed the other three boys with a finality in his tone, his voice was as deep as usual. It was as if he would not give in no matter what.

“But I wanna play more!” Jaehwan insisted in a high-pitched voice, subtly yet very effectively acting cute.

Wonshik chuckled, Jaehwan’s chin. “Ah, so cute.” He cooed. “Okay, let’s play again.” He grinned towards Jaehwan. It was, indeed, very easy to change Wonshik’s mind.

“Okay, okay.” Jaehwan said in English, sitting up properly. “Let’s do it like this, let’s have a different version.” He suggested. “Let’s do a cute version first. We’ll just do it cutely. What should we do to the loser?” He asked, looking very excited. At times like those, it was really hard to say ‘no’ to him.

“Let’s just hit the loser. It’s just Wonshik anyway.” Hongbin answered, snickering with Sanghyuk. It was not hard to tell that they got close because of their evil mentality.

“Okay!” Jaehwan exclaimed, completely agreeing with Hongbin while Wonshik did not seem a bit pleased but he did not protest anyway. If only Wonshik was not lazy, he’d be a very, very good person. He’s patient and he never really complained – except if it was about Hakyeon or nurse Park, that was a different story.

“Let’s catch the mou—” The four started playing again only to be interrupted with the door opening. It was Nurse Park, looking at them indifferently as if they had done something wrong – which was not very new to them at all. But they did not seem very happy to have their playtime interrupted.

Hongbin groaned. “Why are you here again?” He asked, his sassiness coming out.

“I’m just checking if you’re doing something funny, and I suppose you are. Han Sanghyuk, why are you here alone? Where are your roommates?” Nurse Park asked. “I can understand Taekwoon but where on Earth is Cha Hakyeon? What is he up to now?”

“Grandma, why are you so obsessed with Hakyeon?” Jaehwan asked in a childish boy’s voice. Then, he gasped. “Perhaps, are you secretly his mom?” He sounded so surprised.

Nurse Park glared at Jaehwan. That weird guy was one of the reasons why Nurse Park felt like she aged 25 years over a few days. If only she was not in a mental hospital, she’s so going to hit Jaehwan. But she held in the big urge to do so. She knew better than to hit patients.

“Hakyeon hyung is still pooping.” Sanghyuk decided to speak up even though he knew that his excuse was old and just plain disgusting. He had an evil plan in progress and he would not let the nurse ruin it.

“Really? Are you sure that he’s not randomly breaking locks and that he’s not kidnapping some cockroaches?” Nurse Park asked.

Sanghyuk’s eyes widened upon the realization. What if Hakyeon and Taekwoon break the room’s door to murder him and the others? That would be scary and that would definitely be horrible. “He’s not doing anything wrong, don’t worry. Please take care of your wrinkles.” He told the old nurse.

Nurse Park was about to respond in protest but someone called her so she gave the boys a one last glare before turning her heels to leave. “I’m watching you.” She muttered but loud enough for the four boys to hear. For some reasons, it sounded like a death sentence rather than a warning.

“Hurry, hyungs!” Sanghyuk hissed, standing up when the nurse left. The other three guys looked at him weirdly as if he was the weirdest among the four of them. “We need to hurry up. We need a chain or a padlock or anything that would keep them locked up inside the room. If we don’t do it, Hakyeon hyung and Taekwoon hyung might escape. We don’t want to die now, do we? And we especially don’t want to die in Taekwoon hyung’s hands, right?”

The three others gulped at the thought. Hongbin stood up. “I’ll go grab the padlocks.” He muttered.

The four boys did not come back for Taekwoon and Hakyeon even after two hours. Taekwoon was nearly losing his mind due to Hakyeon’s constant babbling. That guy could never shut his mouth. But later on, he suddenly became serious. Taekwoon almost celebrated, thinking that Hakyeon finally took the hint that he was not listening – not one bit. But Taekwoon’s prediction was wrong and he knew it after he heard Hakyeon sobbing. “What?” Taekwoon asked, his eyebrows were furrowed in confusion.

“I-I’m sorry. I did not mean to be emotional.” Hakyeon sniffed, wiping his tears with his free hand which was his left hand. “I… I just miss Leo. When I had many haters, when I had no one, Leo was the only one there for me. He does not listen to me too, just like you. But he’s an amazing cockroach.”

Taekwoon’s stomach churned. He was feeling guilty for some reasons even though he knew that he had no faults at all. Judging the way that Hakyeon was sobbing, the coach was sure that the trot singer considered Leo more than a friend. For Hakyeon, Leo was a family. Taekwoon understood Hakyeon’s pain a little. Even he would cry if all the lattes in the world were to disappear. That would be a very painful reality. Maybe, Hakyeon’s feelings for Leo was just like Taekwoon’s feelings for latte. Because of that thought, Taekwoon felt very bad. He reached for Hakyeon’s shoulder with his right hand and patted Hakyeon’s shoulder to comfort the said guy. “It’s okay.” Taekwoon awkwardly mumbled.

Hakyeon nodded his head but continued to sob. Taekwoon did not stop patting Hakyeon’s back. The soccer coach obviously did not know how to comfort people but at least he was doing his best, right? For some strange reasons, it did comfort Hakyeon. It seemed like an unsaid ‘You’ll be fine’ or ‘I’ll protect you’. “Uh, Taekwoon…” Hakyeon trailed off, finally speaking coherently after a few minutes of sobbing.

“What?” Taekwoon asked in his usual soft voice. Though, that time, it was not the low warning tone, it was just a soft concerned one – a friend’s question. It was touching to hear but it was only going to last for a few minutes – seconds, even.

“I have to pee.” Hakyeon said, not even bothering to beat around the bush. He wiped his tears.

Taekwoon frowned. “Now?” His question was a whisper but an icy cold one at that. Hakyeon was brave enough to ignore that tone and nod. “We’re locked together.” Taekwoon pointed out the obvious, raising his cuffed left hand to prove his point as if it was not yet obvious enough to Hakyeon.

Hakyeon nodded his head again. “I know.” He stated it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “We’re both guys, anyway. Just accompany me to the toilet then don’t look. Problem solved.” He told Taekwoon, smiling widely. Taekwoon looked reluctant and he did not look pleased at all. Who would want to accompany someone to the toilet especially with your hands tied together? Hakyeon, apparently, did not get that. Taekwoon could confirm that the boy was not very bright – at least not when it’s not about breaking in and scamming someone because if we base it on that, Hakyeon was a genius.

“No.” Taekwoon refused using his icy cold tone. He was not going to accompany someone in the restroom. That would be plain awkward and disgusting. He could not imagine himself doing such thing.

“Oh, come on!” Hakyeon whined in an annoying high tone. Then, he stopped all of a sudden. Taekwoon almost let out a sigh of relief, thinking that Hakyeon finally decided that giving up was much better than annoying someone who could not care less about you. However, sad to say, Taekwoon was definitely wrong when Hakyeon opened his mouth again. “If Leo were here, he’d accompany me to the toilet. He’d do his best to make me feel relieved. He would be worried about my bladder and about my well-being.”

Taekwoon did not know how and/or why but he felt guilty. It was a mystery as to why a cockroach could make him feel guilty. He let out a frustrated sigh, ruffling his hair with his free hand. “Fine, let’s go.” He muttered, standing up almost at the same time as Hakyeon and headed to the door. After all, they just needed to go to the toilet and Taekwoon just had to wait for Hakyeon to finish peeing, right? But it wasn’t that. Life was not easy and it was obviously not full of unicorns and rainbows, Taekwoon had known that since he entered the mental hospital. He twisted the doorknob then he froze on the spot. “It’s locked.”

“Oh, I can just break the lock.” Hakyeon said, using a pin to open the doorknob which he successfully did. Taekwoon would have sighed in relief but when Hakyeon tried to open the door, it wouldn’t budge. “There’s something else. The doorknob is open but something is keeping the door locked.” He informed Taekwoon.

Taekwoon did not know if he was supposed to be relieved or be frustrated because of it. Then, he decided that the former was a much better option. He had no reason to be frustrated, anyway. Hakyeon was the one who needed to use the toilet, not him. It had no effect on him or whatsoever. “It cannot be helped then.” Taekwoon said, turning around to go back to his beloved bed but only to be stopped by Hakyeon.

“But I really need to pee.” Hakyeon reasoned out, sounding like a stubborn kid. He looked around the room and his eyes spotted a certain water bottle. “Can I just pee there?” He asked, earning himself a glare. “Yeah, that’s what I said. I said that I cannot pee there.” He mumbled to himself.

Taekwoon heaved a sigh. It was probably the millionth time he sighed since the day he met Hakyeon and the others. “We should figure out who locked the freakin’ door.” He said through gritted teeth and clenched jaw. He actually had an idea who the mastermind was. He knew just exactly who decided to let him suffer. He definitely knew that it was the same person who stole his Batman boxers (it was expensive and had a sentimental value, all right?). “Han Sanghyuk…” Taekwoon hissed.

Sanghyuk, Hongbin, Jaehwan, and Wonshik were gathered in the other room. Wonshik fell asleep after losing the 64 out of 64 rounds of ‘Catch the Mouse’ game. His forehead was red and so were his arms. He decided to sleep when he finally stopped giving into Jaehwan’s requests. Jaehwan, on the other hand, was inside the rooms closet, eating a cereal that he snuck into the mental hospital few days ago. He realized that it would expire the next day so he was ‘panic eating’.

“Jaehwan hyung, when are you going to come out?” Hongbin asked, finding Jaehwan ridiculous.

“Later when I finish my Special K cereal!” Jaehwan replied in a high tone of a grandma.

“He’s weird.” Sanghyuk commented, chuckling with Hongbin. The two of them were sprawled on the floor just chatting. Sanghyuk decided to stay in that room for as long as they had Hakyeon and Taekwoon trapped. It was the only way to protect his well-being. All of a sudden, a shiver went down Sanghyuk’s spine so he shivered for some reasons.

“What’s wrong?” Hongbin asked in concern.

“Nothing.” Sanghyuk replied. “It’s just that it feels like someone is plotting to kill me. It’s creepy.” He explained. He shivered once again. He rubbed his arms so that he would stop shivering. “It kinda feels like he’s near, waiting for the time to strike. I think I’ll die young if I were to bump into him today.” He added. He did not know that he was right. He also did not know the fact that the one plotting to kill him was just in the other room, just waiting to be free from the locked room and the locked handcuff.

“It’s definitely not Taekwoon hyung or Hakyeon hyung, right? But if it is one of them, let’s keep them locked up for a few more hours.” Hongbin suggested, even smiling widely as if it was not a very bad thing to do. That’s how Hongbin became not just Sanghyuk’s favorite hyung but also the best supporter of the evil kid. 

Author's Note: 

So... I might update again next week if I receive 5 comments. Also, I realized that I've been making some jokes that some might not understand since I based them on variety shows and reality shows of VIXX... I apologize for that. I should refrain myself from making those haha...

Thanks for reading and commenting! ^^

Special thanks to all those who commented. And to those who upvoted, marlia91, LeeJi98, Karenkitty1092, Taotic, Sweatervest_Suho, and hongbeann, thank you so much! It means a lot to me.