{Seven}

Month 00, Day 10

"B-Baekhyun?" Chanyeol's eyes widened to the size of saucers once he saw the beat up boy standing next to Kyungsoo.

"Hey," The boy raised up a hand to greet awkwardly, feeling embarrassed that he had to ask Chanyeol for a place to stay, from the look on his face.

"I- I- " Baekhyun tried to tell him his reason, but the words just seemed to be caught up in his throat.

Sighing, Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and pushed past him, "He needs a place to stay, and I didn't have any other options in mind." He ascended up the steps without another word, leaving the both of them there speechless to sort the issue out.

Once he got to his room, he slammed the door behind him, pressing his back against it. He wondered if Baekhyun really meant what he said, that he'd join his gang. Because he couldn't predict it himself, if the boy's mind would change the next day. 

Everything was just so complicated, Kyungsoo had so many things to think about. Like how he would ask the others when the feeling of nervousness was slowly taking over him the more he thought about it. Truthfully, he wasn't even sure if he would have the courage to do things that he needed to do. He didn't even know what gangs did, for heaven's sake! Did they just fight other people and get the money after that? Or did they have to beat people up? All this thinking wasn't doing any good for his head, especially since he was too exhausted for anything.

Kyungsoo lifted himself off the door and dumped himself on the bed without second thoughts. His body was sprawled on the mattress, but his mind was lingering somewhere else. He wondered why it had to be him, out of all people- why did it have to be him that owed this humungous debt, when he trying so hard to make a living for himself. His stupid father should've taken all his debt with him.

"Why me..." He sat up before he landed a fist on the sheets, "Coward, you're just like mom... who didn't want to deal with the debt, and fled to start a new life while pushing all your debt to me. To me... who can't even have a proper future because of this." Kyungsoo wondered if he would make it to college, he wondered if he would have the chance to have a family of his own, once he cleared all his problems that his father had passed to him. He was wondering too much for his own good, and for the first time, he wondered if he would be able to fall in love.

Tears had started to roll down from the corners of his sullen eyes. He didn't remember the last time he cried, was it 10 years ago? It must've been, he told himself he would never cry ever again, because from that sudden day, he was a grown up. He wasn't ever going to see his father as the adult of the house, he wanted it to be himself.

"God, I'm crying," Kyungsoo finally noticed and sat up straight to wipe the tears off his face, "Just great, Do Kyungsoo." He sighed.

A knock on the door suddenly almost made him jump off the bed in panic. Chanyeol's voice came after that, filled with glee, "Hey, Kyungsoo, do you wanna go out for some ramen? You know... since there's nothing at home, and Baekhyun's been starving, because he said it himself."

"I'll be right there," Kyungsoo replied. He really needed to do some grocery shopping soon for their own sakes.

"Ah, it's cold tonight," Chanyeol frowned as the cold spring breeze blew past the three boys who were shivering slightly. The giant rubbed his hands together while looking at the two boys walking on both of his sides, looking elsewhere, not saying a word to each other. He didn't look satisfied with this atmosphere. Suddenly, he slung both of his arms around the both of them, almost headlocking them for a more comfortable atmosphere although he knew they would hit him, "Why is it so quiet, huh? Come on, the least you guys can do is just talk for like 10 seconds!"

"Let go!" Baekhyun squirmed whilst being headlocked, but Chanyeol wasn't intent on letting go of him and neither was he on Kyungsoo.

"Look, we're here already," Chanyeol beamed and let go of the two of them.

Kyungsoo sweared he wanted to strangle that giant right on the spot if he pulled off something like that again. Actually, he would just bite him without warning. That headlock almost suffocated him.

The three of them hurried inside the convenience store because of the freezing cold, rubbing their hands together in the process. They figured that soon enough, if they stayed out fighting for too long, the cold would freeze them to death because they weren't wearing any thick clothing right now. Kyungsoo cursed himself for deciding to wear a simple t-shirt out.

"It's cold as hell," Baekhyun complained before digging his hands in his pockets, walking elsewhere to choose his cup ramen.

A few seconds later, Kyungsoo decided to follow since he wasn't familiar where the cup ramen section was, and Chanyeol was left standing there alone. He heard him calling out to them, "Hey guys, let's go together!" He was always so joyful inside, Kyungsoo wished he could be like him, just once. 

"Which one should I get..." Kyungsoo saw Baekhyun tapping his finger on his chin as he looked at the variety of cupped ramen. He never got to eat this in the North, this was probably his first time. He was hungry, and Baekhyun was just hogging up all the space at the small aisle pacing back and forth. Not being able to hold his patience any longer, Kyungsoo pushed past the boy again, carelessly taking whatever cup he first saw. When he was done, he looked at Baekhyun, "Just pick one already."

When he left, Baekhyun's mouth was agape at him, but he quickly closed it shut. In return, he decided to give a mischievious grin instead, eventhough the other boy wouldn't be able to notice it, "Alright boss!"

The ramen cup was carefully held in between Kyungsoo's palms, but he didn't think he could hold the cup for longer if he couldn't find somewhere to place it. It felt like the hotness was starting to burn his palms as puffs of steam drifted out from the cup. With a pair of wooden chopsticks bit in his mouth, Kyungsoo scrambled to find a seat.

"Kyungsoo, here!" Chanyeol waved his hands frantically in the air, the cashier even gave him a weird look. 

Kyungsoo ignored Chanyeol's shouts in the quiet convenience store, and seated himself between him and Baekhyun. Once the three of them had settled down on their seats, they ate in silence. The hot steam drifted in the air, followed by the savory taste of the cup ramen, although it was plain. It was enjoyable when Kyungsoo could eat in peace, with no bickering as he'd seperated the two chatterboxes.

"This is refreshing," Baekhyun murmured to himself before he continued to slurp his noodles, but he looked over at Kyungsoo next, "Right, boss?" 

Almost immediately, Kyungsoo snapped his head at the smirking boy. He knew that he was mocking him secretly inside, and when had he started calling him boss? It was one of those moments when he wanted to hit Byun Baekhyun so hard on the head...

"Boss?" Chanyeol faced the two of them, head tilted in confusion, but he broke out in to an amused smile afterwards, "Are we playing some type of game where we have titles or something?"

"No, we're not playing any games," The boy sighed in irritation before resuming to enjoy the ramen.

"But this looks like a pretty fun game to me boss, why don't you let Chanyeol join in too?" Baekhyun snickered.

Kyungsoo's anger levels were rising.

[- -]

Baekhyun didn't know why, why he was suddenly looking at Kyungsoo's whole gang issue as a total joke. Maybe it was because of how impossible he thought it would be, how impossible it was for a newbie high schooler like him wanting to start a gang. But he wasn't entirely sure, because of what had happened earlier, that dead serious look in his eyes didn't look like he was joking, Baekhyun didn't need to remember it so many times. 

Playing with Chanyeol did seem fun though, he thought. That giant was clueless on so many things, and cheerful in any situation nonetheless, Baekhyun wondered if he was ever sad. The silence was starting to envelope them once Baekhyun had suggested Chanyeol to join their so called 'game'. Personally, he thought two people for a gang wasn't really an ideal amount of people someone would have, so he decided to take it up a notch. Shouldn't Kyungsoo have been thankful for him recommending Chanyeol? After all, he thought it saved him the hassle.

"Baekhyun..." Chanyeol swallowed nervously as he his two friends next to him, sensing the atmosphere get more tenser each second, "It's okay, I don't really want to join this game anyway." He gave an uneasy laugh.

Kyungsoo was still silent, which only made Baekhyun push it even further, although he had no idea why he was so drawn in to doing this.

"No, Kyungsoo, tell him," He gave a smirk, "Come on, don't we need more members anyway? What's the use of having only two--"

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