Chapter 21 – Exo

We walked side by side for an unknown amount of time until Minhyuk started rummaging around his bag, pulling out a small device with earphones. I furrowed my brows as he stared at the two plugs for a moment before giving me one of them. “You want one as well?”

“What is that?”, I asked while taking the earplug from him and he waved the device in front of my face.

“It's a portable radio. Nothing big, but it's better than having nothing to listen to, don't you think?” I blinked and hesitated for a moment before putting the plug in my ear. “There are only Chinese stations on here”, he explained while switching the radio on and selecting some things until a song started playing.

“Still better than nothing”, I affirmed and we fell quiet, listening to the radio with Minhyuk dropping a comment about how weird and ridiculous Chinese sounded to him every now and then. I on the other hand knew what they were talking about most of the time, it was easy grammar and if I concentrated enough I could understand everything, but I didn't mention it.

I couldn't tell him. Not yet.

________________

The sun kept setting and soon we were getting close to our destination. Hyungwon's little outburst from earlier kept me busy and I neither found the strength nor the right words to keep talking to him after he had copped out. I knew that he wasn't honest with me when saying that he was just there to collect data, but how should I have him tell me the truth? It was intertwined with his past for sure and I couldn't risk triggering a panic attack while we were on the road, so I settled with listening to music with him.

A quiet buzzing sound had me my ears and I could tell that Hyungwon had heard it too since he looked like he was about to run away. “It's just a military vehicle, calm down”, I said but he didn't relax.

“What if they see us?” Was his voice trembling?

“So what? Curfew doesn't start until eight and we're just two boys walking down the street, what should they say?” I tried to cheer him up but his face remained emotionless as the buzzing got closer and he grabbed my arm to pull me into an alley. “Hyungwon, didn't you listen to me-”

“They could conscript us”, he hissed, waiting for the car to pass by and I freed my arm from his grasp.

“They have enough soldiers”, I insisted and rolled my eyes, not believing that blank-faced Hyungwon was such a scaredy-cat. “Why would they stop for two boys, it wouldn't make sense.”

“I don't lie when I tell you that they've done exactly that before”, he said while pushing me behind him and his tone of voice didn't leave any room for discussion, having me frown.

“When? How would you know?”

He acted like he hadn't heard me, but I could feel his arm tremble as he pressed it against my chest to hold me back. First his weird reaction at home when he was sputtering something about the military and now this, I knew something was really fishy about him and his relation to it.

“It's gone”, Hyungwon's voice ripped me out of my thoughts and he glanced back at me. “Let's keep going. How much more?”

I looked at my surroundings and my lips, watching his shivers subside. “About fifteen minutes. It's just around the corner.”

One could tell that we were getting closer to Seoul just by looking at the surrounding houses. They were all at least six levels high whereas the little city we were living at featured five levels at a max. We reached a rather run down house and I stared up at the fourth story. “There we are”, I concluded, coming to a halt in front of the broken door. “There's a rather large backyard where we meet up before I'm let into the apartment.”

Hyungwon examined the house and his eyes landed on a broken window the shards of which were scattered on the ground. He squatted down and tied his shoelaces again before rolling back his shoulders. “Then let's go.”

I heard them before I could see them, tightening the grasp around my bag's straps and walking through the dark corridor with Hyungwon quietly following a few steps behind me.

“Oh, I can hear him!”, someone exclaimed and I stepped out into the dimly lit backyard where they were sitting. It was just four of them, the rest probably still in the apartment upstairs because of the cold.

“Minhyuk!”, a guy I knew as Chanyeol exclaimed with a bright smile on his face and I swallowed at the sight of him. He was taller by more than half a head and I hated his smile so much. It wouldn't fade, not even while throwing punches and it was haunting me. I was scared of him.

“Good evening”, I replied, seemingly calm and composed while the other three guys lined up in front of me as well. They all looked harmless but I knew better than that. Lay, Minseok and Kyungsoo – viciously inconspicuous. Lay wore a sleeveless shirt though it must have been around zero degrees and I felt cold just by looking at him, but I wouldn't judge the way he dressed. Maybe he didn't have anything else. “I brought you some flowers-”

“Some?”, Kyungsoo interfered and exchanged a short glance with Chanyeol who immediately dashed forward and had me pinned against the wall in the blink of an eye. “Didn't we tell you to bring us more?”

I looked the giant in the eye while his breath my skin like a raging bull's. “I told you thrice already: If I bring you more you'll overdose”, I explained calmly. “Your aggressions are a side-effect and you'll have to scale your consumption down if you don't want them to get wor-”

“I told you to stop your doctor talk last week, didn't I?”, Chanyeol growled as he slammed me against the brick wall. “Maybe you still don't understand, but we'll get what we want eventually. Once you comply you won't be beaten up anymore. It's so easy and fair on top.”

“I don't think you understand what me being your dealer means”, I insisted without showing him my fear. It had always been like that but maybe they'd get it someday. I wouldn't even let them overdose if they threatened to break my bones. I had to make sure they'd survive somehow.

Chanyeol glanced back at his three friends and Lay nodded, having the former turn towards me with a cheshire cat-like smile. “Then let's get this over with, shall we?” He raised his fist and I clenched my teeth to brace myself for the impact.

But it didn't come.

“I wouldn't do that if I was you.”

Hyungwon. I had forgotten he was there the moment I had faced Exo, but now that I was reminded of him I was wondering why nobody had noticed my company either. Had he hidden in the shadows of the corridor to observe without being discovered? Probably.

I opened my eyes with my teeth still clenched and saw Hyungwon holding back Chanyeol's fist with his left hand while staring at him and I'm not even exaggerating when I say that his gaze could have killed. “I don't know who you are but this is none of your business”, Chanyeol snorted and sent the trespasser a fiery glare but he remained unmoved.

“Oh, I think it is. You're about to beat up a housemate of mine, why shouldn't it concern me?” I wanted to say something but Chanyeol slammed me against the wall once more leaving me breathless and the remaining Exo members made moves towards us as well but my friend just grinned – damn right: he grinned. And it was an evil one. “You'll regret that”, he stated and twisted Chanyeol's arm until he let out a quiet yelp. Hyungwon then leaned towards the giant's ear. “And now would you be so kind and let Minhyuk go? He looks a little uncomfortable.”

Was this guy even Hyungwon? Did he have some kind of evil twin, I really couldn't tell where the socially awkward and quiet person had gone to. It was just the same as when Wonho had threatened me, he was like replaced. Chanyeol grunted and I felt his grip loosen, making it possible for me to escape him and Hyungwon pushed me into the corridor behind him without a word.

“Minhyuk, you brought another guest? Why don't you introduce him to us?”, Minseok asked and I was about to open my mouth when Hyungwon interfered yet again by driving his knee into Chanyeol's stomach, sending him to the ground.

“That's not important.” I put a hand on his back but he shook it off without hesitation. “I want you to be grateful that he even comes all the way here for you bastards. If I was him I wouldn't be as kind and let you starve instead.”

Kyungsoo stared at the wheezing Chanyeol with big eyes and clenched his fist, running towards Hyungwon, but the latter easily dodged and threw him over his shoulder, having him join his gang mate on the ground in a matter of seconds. I was stunned. Where had he learned this, he made it look as though the guys weren't any more dangerous than a bag of rice.

Minseok stood there frozen in shock and Lay took a slow step towards us while Hyungwon examined his new opponent carefully. “Nice shirt you got there”, he mentioned just before scrunching up his nose. “A little bit cold for this time of the year, don't you think?”

Lay his lips with narrowed eyes. “I like it. Why did you do that to my friends?”

“Why?” Hyungwon let out an ironic laugh. “You were the ones to beat him up every other week, I thought I'd turn t