Jonghyun keeps running away, and Jinki needs to protect him.

Rating ; pg-13 (running away, language, smoking)

Content ; jongyu, loosely based on Lorde’s ‘400 Lux’

 

He sat outside the truck, a cigarette wedged between his fingers.

“You know you can’t keep doing this, right?”

Jonghyun looked up before letting wisps of smoke escape past his lips. Jinki gave him an apologetic stare, folding his arms across his chest.

“You can’t just keep running away. I know it’s hard but-”

“No, you don’t know.”

Jinki’s eyes widened, gazing over at his friend. He knew he was right, of course; Jinki didn’t understand the younger’s situation one bit, yet that wasn’t going to stop him from keeping him safe. Every week, it seemed like Jonghyun was always attempting to get away, only to realize he’d never get that far without a ride. He’d call Jinki up for help, but he only took him back home.

Jonghyun knew the routine at this point. He practically expected it.

“Your parents don’t fight every single day, Jinki. You don’t have to hole up in your room constantly. You don’t need to contemplate running away. You’ll never understand how hard it is.” the younger puffed out another cloud of smoke before discarding the cigarette at his side.

The elder remained silent, not knowing what to say. He wanted to help, desperately, yet it felt that there wasn’t anything he could do.

He cautiously joined his friend on the ground, leaning his back against the steel.

“I just want to help you and make sure you’re safe.”

“I never asked for help.”

Jinki looked up at the dark sky. Last time he checked, it’d been around one in the morning- there were hardly any cars on the road and the rest of the world seemed silent.

“Sometimes silence is the loudest cry for assistance.” Jinki finally muttered, scratching his thigh.

“Not in this situation.” the younger murmured.

The pair sat shoulder to shoulder, letting the night air wrap around them like a blanket. A few crickets chirped here and there, and once in awhile another car sped past. Time felt like it had stopped in these kinds of moments.

“Jinki,” Jonghyun eventually spoke up, “please don’t make me go back home this time.”

“Was it really bad this time?”

Silence.

The elder sighed and rose to his feet. “C’mon, let’s go.”

“What the hell? I just said I didn’t want to go-”

“Are you planning to sit out with my truck all night then?” Jinki raised an eyebrow.

“You’re a , Jinki.” Jonghyun rebutted but begrudgingly stood, sliding into the passenger seat. Jinki soon joined him on the driver’s side, starting the truck back up.

“I’m just getting gas, okay? We can’t go anywhere without a full tank.” the elder clarified, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. However, Jonghyun seemed uninterested as he lazily followed the streetlights outside the window, leaning his head against the glass.

The drive was silent, with only Jonghyun’s soft breaths and the sound of the car’s wheels against the road keeping him alert.

By the time he pulled into the gas station, Jonghyun had fallen asleep. Jinki smiled to himself as he glanced over to find his eyes closed and his chest rising and falling rhythmically- he regarded it as pretty.

Jonghyun was just pretty in general.

“Hey, I have stuff for you.”

The younger was greeted with Jinki only inches away from his face. He yawned sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

“Where are we?” he groaned.

“Gas station,” Jinki chirped, “here.”

He placed a plastic bag in Jonghyun’s lap, and shot him a soft smile.

“Orange juice and licorice,” Jonghyun smirked at the elder while removing the items from the bag, “How’d you know?”

Jinki shrugged, “Friends know those kinds of things, right?”

He climbed back in the car, managing to steal a rope of licorice, much to Jonghyun’s protest. Jinki attempted to give his friend some space, letting him stay alone with his thoughts. He had no idea when he was going to bring the younger back home; he looked too happy right now, too content. He didn’t want to be the one to ruin that.

“What time is it?” Jonghyun asked with a mouth full of candy.

Jinki looked down at his phone. “2:45. Why?”

“We should do something fun before everyone wakes up.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know,” Jonghyun blinked rapidly and shook his head, “Fun things. Breaking into abandoned theme parks, teepeeing people’s houses.”

“That’s not fun, that’s ing illegal.”

The younger rolled his eyes, taking a sip of his orange juice. “That’s how it is in movies.”

“This is real life, Jjong.”

Jonghyun’s eyes shot up to Jinki’s at the use of the nickname. His cheeks were tinted red.

“I just don’t want to go back home, Jinki,” he pleaded, “I can’t.”

They ended up falling asleep together in the back; Jonghyun curled up next to Jinki with his back pressed against Jinki’s chest, Jinki’s arm tentatively slung across the smaller body.

It felt so right.

Jonghyun was soft and comfortable, and Jinki couldn’t help but cling to him. He was so fragile; the elder felt as if he needed to stand up for him a lot of the time.

A buzzing interrupted the serenity, and Jonghyun’s body went rigid.

“It’s just my phone, go back to sleep,” Jinki assured huskily.

“What if it’s my dad trying to get us to come back? He’s gonna be so pissed off, this’ll be the fourth time he’s found out-”

Jinki calmly rubbed the younger’s stomach. “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine. You’ll be fine.”

“Can you at least check who it is?” Jonghyun shakily asked, “Just in case.”

The elder grunted as Jonghyun scooted away from him, scurrying over into the corner. Jinki glanced at the screen of his phone.

“It’s an unknown number.”

“Answer it then.”

Jinki accepted the call, and held the device up to his ear.

“Hello, this is Lee Jinki.”

“Hi Jinki, this is Jonghyun’s mother.”

Jinki glanced at his friend with concern. “Hi, Mrs. Kim.”

“I know it’s awfully late, but would you happen to know where Jonghyun is? You two are close, and Jonghyun’s had a history of trying to run away… his father and I are both extremely concerned.”

Jonghyun was shaking his head furiously.

“I don’t know where he is, Mrs. Kim.” Jinki finally said.

“Really?”

“Really, Mrs. Kim.”

“Well… I’m sorry for disturbing you then. If you see him, please let us know. Have a nice night, Jinki.”

“You too, Mrs. Kim.”

The call ended, and Jonghyun crawled back towards Jinki. He balanced himself in his lap, and Jinki inhaled sharply.

“You know you need to go back, right?” the elder shakily brought his arms around Jonghyun’s waist.

The younger buried himself in Jinki’s shirt. “Just a little longer, okay?”

The sun was beginning to rise as they pulled down Jonghyun’s street. It was four thirty; almost time for the day to start.

Jinki pulled the truck to a stop, sighing. Jonghyun sat stonily beside him, the orange juice and licorice all gone.

“I’m sorry.”

“I know you are.”

“You can come to my house as much as you want, okay?” Jinki spoke quickly, “My parents won’t mind; they’ll even let you stay the night if you really need to.”

The younger nodded slowly.

“Are you ready?”

Another slow nod. Jonghyun’s nose was getting red.

The two slid out of the vehicle, Jonghyun stiffly standing at the curb. Jinki could see that he was crying now, and he picked up his pace.

“You’re gonna be okay.” Jinki cooed, repeating his words from earlier. He enveloped the younger in his arms, rocking them from side to side. Jonghyun only continued crying.

Jinki leaned down, looking into his friend's eyes, tenderly wiping his tears away with his thumbs.

“Y’know, you might be hollow, but you’re brave.” Jinki smiled, “Keep being brave for me.”

Jonghyun sniffed, and nodded. Jinki let him go.

And then, surprisingly, Jonghyun got up on his toes and pecked Jinki on the lips.

“Go. Before they come out.” the younger looked up at Jinki through his lashes, which again, Jinki couldn’t regard as anything else but pretty.

He stiffly made his way back to the driver’s seat, waving at the younger before starting the car up again.