[title song: overdose]

chapter 20;

You barely get a chance to speak before the police immediately push aside your front door, five men clad in dark police gear surrounding you, Minhee, and Jessica. The captain had flashed his search warrant and the next thing you know you’re being told that anything you say can and will be used against you and that you were under immediate arrest. Being shoved into the back of a police car had been a surreal, because for one thing, the police barely functioned properly in SM Town, let alone actually ever made arrests.

So now here you are, handcuffed to a bench in SM Town’s Police Station between Jessica and Minhee. The odd thing, however, is that the police officers had just left the three of you in the room and you could see the tip of one of their hats through the window, just outside the door.

“I can’t get arrested.” Minhee mutters, in a distressed tone as she tugs at her bound hands futilely. You remember how she’s studying as computer engineer; how having a clean record was important to land her that secure government job she’s always wanted.

“I don’t understand why the police are actually doing their job.” Jessica says, offhandedly, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. You can feel her tense from beside you and you know she’s a lot more anxious then she’s letting on.

Then the door opens and more people begin to stream in, one by one, arms bound and bewildered looks on their faces. You watch curiously as the police continuously drags in person after person, some of whom you recognize as students from university. What is going on? Jessica nudges your side and you glance at her. She’s looking at the other side of the room and you realize that she’s staring at Amber, Soojung, Jinri, Sunyoung, and Qian. Why would they get arrested? What the hell is going on?

The stream of people being shoved into the room begins to trickle to an end and it’s like everyone in the room is holding their breath, eyes darting between familiar faces, waiting for some kind of explanation.

Then the door swings open and a group of officers come in, hands on their guns and expressions neutral. The taller ones steps away from the group and casually strides to the front of the hushed room. He seems strangely familiar. You watch as he crosses his arms and leans back on the wooden desk, sighing as he pulls off his black-and-white checkered hat and cards his hand through his dark hair. He grins then and you realize who it is.

It’s Bang Yongguk.

What the hell?

Yongguk picks up a clipboard and begins flipping through the pages, eyes moving back and forth, the police captain badge gleaming brightly against his lapel. After a moment he finally looks up, gaze sweeping across the room, dark eyes unreadable.

“I’m guessing no one knows why they’re here?” Yongguk asks. He doesn’t wait for an answer and instead continues speaking, tone light. “My name is Bang Yongguk. I’ve been assigned as the new captain of the town’s police force, straight from Seoul’s Police Department. Someone sent in an anonymous tip regarding each and every one of you and your involvement in several crime groups. They gave us your names and records of multiple crimes that you’ve committed, ranging from petty to completely heinous.”

A dark haired boy speaks from the middle of the room, expression incredulous. “Are you saying that all of us have been arrested because of some anonymous tip?”

Yongguk stares at the boy intently before he grins, holding up the clipboard in his hand. “It wasn’t just an anonymous tip.” He pulls the papers out of the clipboard, flipping through them casually. “They gave us solid evidence. Camera footage, documents, fingerprints, anything and everything you can think of.”

“This is ridiculous.” Soojung says, loudly, rolling her eyes, murmurs of agreement following her statement.

“No, this isn’t ridiculous. What’s ridiculous is the fact that this town has become a national concern. This town is singlehandedly responsible for nearly half of South Korea’s crime statistics. My superiors sent me here to get rid of the problem, to get rid of the mafias swarming this town like cockroaches.” He slams the clipboard on the table and you swear you can see the tension rise in the room. Yongguk points at the clipboard. “This anonymous person gave us plenty of solid evidence and names to go with it. Would you like me to name some of them? Let’s see…BTOB, B.A.P., f(x), LILAC…” You watch as Yongguk lists off pretty much every single mafia you’ve heard of, your eyes widening. Was he an undercover cop the entire time? But that doesn’t make sense. Not when Yongguk seemed to know so much about EXO. Speaking of EXO, they’re not even here, you realize with a jolt. As Yongguk reads off mafia after mafia you realize that he never mentions EXO. How? If he was an undercover cop, EXO would have been the first group to arrest, especially since he knew exactly who they were.

Yongguk’s gaze sweeps across the room, eyes steady. “Someone you all trusted betrayed you and it seems like they know a lot about you. Do you have any idea who it could be? Do you have any idea how much trouble you all are in?”

A long silence falls and you register the panic in everyone’s eyes, the low murmurs, the tense feeling of betrayal. The angry murmurs fill your ears but what catches your eyes is how Yongguk looks at you, almost expectantly. What does that mean?

Jessica squirms beside you before she speaks, her tone almost bored. “EXO.” She says, loudly. Almost immediately, every eye in the room is on Jessica and by extension, you and Minhee. Jihoon is looking at you curiously, Soojung looks almost surprised to see the three of you, and you’re even startled to catch the curious (almost calculating) eyes of the smart kid you sit beside in Calculus class, Lee Minhyuk. Jessica continues speaking, her eyes on Yongguk. “EXO is the only mafia not on the list. They’re probably the ones who betrayed out identities.”

There’s a moment of silence before the angry murmurs become louder, angrier. With the commotion of anger you notice Yongguk smirk and you know something isn’t right. “You’re a clever one, aren’t you?” Yongguk says, grinning gummily. He then turns to face the crowd as he leans back on the table behind him. “No offense or anything, but EXO is our main priority. So I’ve got a deal for all of you. Help us catch EXO and your prison sentences will be shortened significantly.”

A dark haired boy—Jihoon, of all people—speaks up then, rolling his eyes, his tone mocking. “No offense or anything. But prison sounds a lot better than snitching on EXO.”

There’s a murmur of agreement and Yongguk shakes his head. “Do you know what happens in the kind of prison you all will be sent to? You’re all too young to go to prison. Especially with faces like those.” He says, eyeing the room carefully.

But no one budges. You wonder what EXO had done to them, if everyone would rather go to prison then deal with EXO’s wrath.

Yongguk nods then. “Alright then. Suit yourself.” And then he walks out of the room, doors slamming shut behind him.

~.~.~.~.~

Four armed police officers swing open the doors and the tension in the room is cutting. You can feel some eyes on you and you know that even though they don’t know which mafia you’re in, everybody now knows you’re in a mafia. Your cover is pretty much blown and you’re pretty sure you’re going to get bombarded by questions if you get out of this. You don’t know if you’re going to get out of this. Yongguk trails behind the armed men, a box in his hands.

He points in your direction and you blink, surprised. “You’re first.” Yongguk says and when one of the armed guards unlocks your handcuffs, Yongguk throws an orange jumpsuit at you. “You can either help us capture EXO or you’ll change into that jumpsuit and get transported to the High Security Prison in Seoul immediately. Your choice.”

You don’t say anything because something tells you that you shouldn’t give in. So you just roll your eyes and Yongguk shrugs, nodding at the guards. They grip your arm and immediately haul you out of the room.

When the door swings shut behind you, one of the guards murmurs in your ear. “Cause a scene.”

That’s when you smile, slightly, because you knew there was something awfully weird about the police actually taking action. So you comply, immediately tugging your arm out of is and shouting loudly. “I knew there was something off about this.” You whisper after a moment, frowning at the guard as he bangs the of his gun against the wall, a loud clang reverberating throughout the room.

The guard pulls off his helmet, his dark hair spiked and his eyes shaped into crescent moons. “My name is Himchan and I’ll be taking you to a high security prison.” The guard—Himchan—says, a eating grin plastered across his face and his tone dripping with sarcasm.

You glare at him. “Why didn’t Yongguk-ssi say anything about this? We were on the phone literally a minute before the arrest.” You hiss, annoyed.

Himchan shrugs, “We needed real reactions from all of you. Phase Two was underway the moment he talked to you at the party.” Himchan glances at the door and you quickly step behind the corner, making sure nobody can see you from inside the room.

Jessica is practically dragged into the hallway and as soon as the door clicks shut behind her, she stops struggling and crosses her arms. “I recognized you like five minutes into the meeting.” Jessica says as she glances up at the tall guard holding her arm. When he takes his helmet off, you realize it’s Zelo. The same thing happens with Minhee and she looks genuinely irritated. Then, Himchan tenses, holding his gun up.

“You three better hide just in case I really do have to beat the out of someone.” Himchan suggests.

No one else comes out, however. There’s a low buzzing of voices coming from the room and it goes on for nearly ten minutes, until the door finally opens and Yongguk steps out.

He grins at you and there’s something unsettling yet so enthralling about it. “Phase Two is complete.” He says.

~.~.~.~.~.~

SM University's hallways are unusually crowded, the next day, but you remain pressed against the wall, next to the water fountain. Jihoon is standing just down the hall, his arm around his girlfriend (the one he cheated on you with) and for a moment you feel a tinge of bitterness towards the sight. You wonder, for the billionth time, if he had lied to you the way you had lied to him. You wonder if it’s hypocritical of you to be hurt by this. You wonder if this was always going to be a recurring theme in your life, if everything would be a constant cycle of lie after lie after lie, until one day the truth comes out. Because one way or another it always does. Karma’s a .

You’re jolted out of your thoughts when an arm grazes yours and you look up, startled. It’s Bang Yongguk.

“Have people been asking you questions?” Yongguk asks, quietly, his eyes locked on to yours.

You shrug, casually. “I’ve been getting weird looks from a lot of people. Who knew there were so many mafia members who wanted a higher education?” You say, in a joking tone because if you don’t find the humor in this you’re pretty sure you’d be terrified. There was an unprecedented amount of people giving you weird looks today and you figure it’s because you’ve set up your image to be so unsuspecting and it’s unraveled so quickly. Nobody really knows you’re in LILAC, specifically, but they’re awfully close to finding out.

Yongguk snorts, “We’ll discuss Phase Three later. I need to get some things done. I’ll see you soon.” He pats your shoulder, a little awkwardly, and you smile at him, watching him go. When you turn you head away, you catch Baekhyun’s eyes as he walks alongside Sehun, in your direction. You blink and you hate the way your heart races a little, your cheeks turning pink because you can’t help but think of the last time you saw him.

The look in Baekhyun’s eyes is unreadable and you shiver a little, when the random eye contact becomes almost deliberate. Then he walks right past you and you slump against the wall, frowning.

~.~.~.~.~

“We’ve got their allies on tight security. If they try to inform EXO in any way, we’ll know.” Yongguk says, his hands folded beneath his chin as he leans forward on the table. The two of you are in a group study room in the university library, the white walls and single table reminding your of a police interrogation room.

“What if someone does tell EXO? What will you do to them? You’re not going to be able to send them to an actual prison if you're not really from the Seoul Police Department.” You point out as you cross your arms, watching as Yongguk leans back on his chair.

Yongguk smirks, his lips stretching and grin almost unnerving. “Don’t worry about it, Sooyong-ah.” Yongguk’s eyes darken and you rein back the uncomfortable feeling his expression breeds. “Besides, if they do have the guts to betray us, they won’t exactly live for very long.” You don’t like his tone, the way he says it so easily. You don’t like the fact that the people he’s talking about are your classmates, your friends. But, at the same time, they’re dangerous and maybe Yongguk has the right idea.

You stare at Yongguk, completely aware that he’s gauging your reaction to his words, his dark eyes searching, and you force your expression to remain as neutral as possible. You place your hands on the table, casually, and decide you want to change the subject. “So if that was Phase Two, then what’s Phase Three?” You ask, eyeing him.

He raises an eyebrow and leans forwards, as well. “It’s a transition phase. Phase Four is the most important phase, but Phase Three will bring us to that point. It’s just a couple of weeks of gathering information and keeping EXO as unaware as possible.” Yongguk informs you, pursing his lips.

You stare at him as he watches you almost thoughtfully. “What do you want us to do?” You ask, slowly, cautiously.

Yongguk’s lips curl upwards, voraciously, as he leans across the table. “Play with them a bit. Keep them occupied.”

You furrow your eyebrows in confusion. “What do you mean ‘play with them’? You want us to distract them?”

You know what Yongguk means. But you also know that distracting EXO means you have to see Baekhyun again, you have to talk to him, but more importantly you have to see him. You don’t think you’re ready for that. You don’t think you can keep your emotions out of this and you know that always jeopardizes the mission. A silence falls over the study room as you stare at Yongguk, eyebrows still furrowed. Then he leans a little bit closer, over the tiny study table, and you suddenly note just how close he actually is. There are barely a couple of centimeters of space between his nose and yours. You continue to stare at him, however, because suddenly the air becomes thick with tension and Yongguk’s eyes are dark with something almost calculating.

Before you can scoot back or even process what’s happening, he leans even closer and presses his lips against yours. Your eyes widen in shock but you instantly relax when Yongguk places an almost gentle hand against your neck, your eyes drifting shut. His lips are soft and you can’t help but compare them to Baekhyun’s. Yongguk isn’t exactly gentle and your brain won’t stop reminding you that this isn’t the same. Your thoughts won’t stop flipping back to Baekhyun. As Yongguk’s fingers brush back your hair, you can’t help but think how different his rough, calloused hands are compared to Baekhyun’s soft, slender ones. You respond to Yongguk, then, only because you want your thoughts to stop.

But they don’t go away, the comparisons only become louder and more obnoxious, until you realize that you have your fingers threaded through Bang Yongguk’s dark hair and you’ve got your lips smashed against Bang Yongguk’s lips, your tongue intertwined with his.

That’s when your eyes fly open and you immediately pull back, eyes wide with shock and horror. You can’t believe you just did that. You’re blushing up a storm and stuttering out an apology while Yongguk just grins, a little awkwardly and a little playfully. His lips are a swollen pink and his hair is a mess and it makes you flustered so you look away, eyes fixed on the ceiling, your face on fire. “That’s how you play with them.” Yongguk says, voice huskier than usual.

You tear your eyes away from the ceiling and stare at him, eyes wide. “No.” You say, quickly. Because you won’t do that. Not when you’re sure it’ll hurt you more than it’ll hurt anyone else.

Yongguk smirks then, eyes unreadable, and you suddenly feel apprehensive. “Well, you don’t have to kiss him like that.” Yongguk says, making you blush. “But it wouldn’t be that bad, if you did, would it? Considering what he’s done to you.”

“What does that mean?” You glare at him, frowning.

“You both left the party around the same time.” Yongguk says, rather casually, although his eyes tell you that he knows. Somehow he knows and that makes your skin crawl for some inexplicable reason.

“That doesn’t mean—”

“Look.” He interrupts, cutting you off completely. “I don’t care what you do as long as you distract EXO.  I just think you deserve to ruin him as much as he’s ruined you. You deserve better.”

You stare at him as he pushes back his chair and gets to his feet. He gives you a genuine smile and leaves without another word, the door clicking shut behind him.

Only later do you realize that his smile had been just a tiny bit lopsided, that it never really reached his eyes.

~.~.~.~.~

The very next morning you throw the covers off of you, feeling sweaty and cold at the same time. A pounding headache and an aching throat makes it difficult to sit up let alone get out of bed and you curse loudly when you’re sick. Of course, you’re sick.

“Unnie, do you need me to stay and take care of you?” Jessica asks, hesitantly, eyeing you as you curl up on your bed, practically coughing your lungs out.

You roll your eyes at her, “I’m not five, Jessica. Go to class. I can take care of myself.”

Jessica frowns before she slowly turns away. Then she stops. “Okay, fine. But Minhee unnie made some tea. It’s on the stove. And there’s medicine on the counter and some soup in the fridge and if you need anything just—”

“You’re going to be late, Jessie.” You interrupt, rolling your eyes for the billionth time. She’s been trying to leave the apartment for a whole thirty minutes now. Who knew Jessica was the motherly type? Jessica makes a face at you that you’re too exhausted to respond to and turns to (finally) leave. “And thanks!” You call after her, voice hoarse.

When the door slams shut, you immediately curl up and fall asleep, completely exhausted.

What feels like barely five minutes later, the doorbell starts to ring obnoxiously and you yelp as you roll off the bed, completely startled by the shrill sound. You have half a mind to just ignore the person and sleep on the floor, but the ringing doesn’t stop. You grimace as you struggle to get to your feet, swaying a bit. You feel like you’ve gotten worse. Your face feels hot, your whole body feels hot and your throat is dry and stings a bit, the ringing of the doorbell making your headache act up. You stop by the mirror and sigh because you look like a mess, dressed in pajama shorts and a wrinkled tank top, your hair completely out of control and your face red and extremely tired looking.

You jerk the door open, glaring and ready to yell at the ing who doesn’t know how to stop ringing the doorbell, when your words catch in your throat, speechless at the sight of Byun Baekhyun standing at the door, hair windswept, snapback a little lopsided, and bags in his hands. There’s even a terrible sense of déjà vu at the sight, which makes your frown deepen. He stares at you for a moment and you stare back, wondering if you’re hallucinating or something. The awkward tension would have been hilarious at any other time, but right now you’re confused.

He’s the first to speak, his eyes fixed on you. “Wow, you look like .”

You glare at that and reach for the door, “Goodbye.” You say, your voice hoarse as you attempt to slam the door in his face.

Except he sticks one of his arms out, catching the door just before it clicks shut. “Hold on. Don’t slam the door in my face. Where are your manners?”

You push against the door, but, in your state, the door doesn’t even budge, even when you press your whole body against the door. “Don’t make me break you arm.” You say as threateningly as possible.

The just laughs, mockingly. “Yeah, okay.” Then he easily pushes open the door and you slide back with it, pursing your lips in annoyance. “I brought soup.” He says, showing you the bags, and you frown, your mind a little hazy.

“Why are you here?” You ask, softly, hugging your arms to your chest as you frown at the ground. You don’t look at him. You can’t look at him.

“You’re sick.” Baekhyun murmurs, as if that’s explanation enough and before you can snap at him he steps around you and towards your living room. He places the bags on the coffee table and busies himself with the food even though you’re sure he knows you’re waiting for him to respond with something…more. After a long silence filled with the rustling of bags, he continues speaking, his tone almost uncaring. Almost. “We can’t have you dying on us because of a cold. That’s lame.”

“You’re doing this because of EXO?” You clarify, a strange sense of irritation bubbling up in your chest.

“Yes.” He responds, but he won’t look you in the eye. You don’t want him to.

~.~.~.~.~

“Eat.” Baekhyun says, pushing the bowl of soup in your direction.

“No.” You respond, pushing it away, not caring how childish you seem.

Baekhyun actually has the audacity to glare at you. “Eat before I make you.” He threatens, his tone dropping an octave.

“Like you did to get me in the car?” You ask, bluntly, crossing your arms.

He smirks then, “Exactly.”

“No.” You repeat, staring at him steadily.

He throws his hands in the air, completely exasperated, “You’re so annoying.” He exclaims and you can’t help but snicker at the way he looks so utterly put out. “Stop laughing. Damn it, Sooyong. I’m going to kill you.” Baekhyun snaps, eyeing you disdainfully.

You shrug, “Go ahead.” Then you tap your chin, exaggeratedly, voice mockingly cheery. “Oh wait. I forgot. You’re all talk but you don’t ever actually do anything. And you never finish what you start.” Then you roll your eyes and mutter, “Definition of an .”

Baekhyun narrows his eyes at you. “Are you still pissed off about that? I told you to ask your upgrade to finish it, didn’t I?”

Then you smirk at him, condescendingly. “Oh, I did. Don’t worry about that.” You say, suggestively, relishing in the way his eyes flash. Maybe Bang Yongguk was right about earlier.

For a moment, Byun Baekhyun is actually speechless. Your smirk widens as you push away from the table and head to the kitchen, completely ignoring his existence. You stumble a little, your body practically radiating heat and decide you really need a glass of cold water. That’s when you’re tugged back by the back of your shirt and you yelp, completely caught off guard.

“You’re going to eat the damn—holy , you’re hot.” Baekhyun’s voice starts off stern but quickly morphs into surprise. You blink as he presses soft fingers against your arm, touch gentle. You shiver because his fingers are freezing.

“Thanks, I know I’m hot, but compliments won’t get you anywhere.” You respond as you step away from him. You’re surprised to see his expression morphed into one of concern and worry (although for a moment he does roll his eyes at your comment).

Baekhyun just grabs your wrist and gently pulls you closer to him, cold hands pressed against your hot forehead almost tenderly. The contrast of his cold hands against your hot skin makes you sigh, involuntarily closing your eyes. It’s soothing and it makes you feel so much better. “Come on.” He murmurs, softly. “You have to eat something, okay? You’re burning up. Please eat something. Please.”

You squeeze your eyes shut, frowning at the way your heart flutters at his soft whine, at how caring he sounds. You try to tell yourself that he cares strictly because of mafia reasons, but at the same time you know that’s not true. You nod, stiffly, and he sighs in relief as he tugs you along with him, an arm winding its way around your waist.

After you eat (you refuse to let him feed you) and Baekhyun gives you enough medicine to knock out a horse, Baekhyun puts in a movie. You’re not entirely sure what it is or what it’s even about because you begin to feel drowsy. You’re curled up on the couch, purposely leaving a good ten centimeters of space between you and Baekhyun. You shiver every time his fingers brush along your bare arm because they really are freezing. You hope he doesn’t notice.

But a good hour into the movie, you begin to drift off; curled beneath four different blankets Baekhyun had unceremoniously dumped on your head before the movie started, laughing as you thrashed beneath them for a good two minutes. As your eyes begin to get heavy and the words from the move jumbles together, a cold hand finds its way around your waist, nudging you into a more comfortable position. You sigh when your neck isn’t bent at a weird angle anymore, snuggling into the warmth pressed into your side. It takes you a lot longer than it should for you to realize that Baekhyun has you bundled up his arms, head resting on top of yours as he watches the movie.

“You’re going to get sick.” You say, groggily, not really attempting to pull away.

“Oh, well.” Baekhyun says, dismissively, shrugging, as he pulls one of your blankets over his own body and twirls strands of your hair in his fingers, touch feather light.

You can’t really argue with that logic so you let it go, letting yourself indulge in whatever-this-is for a little bit longer, ignoring the fact that you know you shouldn’t let yourself indulge in this at all.

---

a/n: MORE RIDICULOUS ANGSTY FLUFF UWU AND PLOTTY THINGS.

ps yongguk is weird and i think i wrote the police station scene weird bc idk what the inside of police station is like. at least now you know i've never been to the police station!!

ok so about the ? are you guys ok with it or should i just not have that anymore. idk i'm feeling self conscious all of a sudden and if i do have one there might be just one more ;;

so

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xoxo I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH BYE <3