A/N: possible trigger warning: slight gore/torture

Jungsoo was only a high school student, returning home from his part-time job.

Heechul was only a high school dropout, roaming the streets for something to steal.

How did they end up in the same cellar again? Oh right, a homeless man asked each of them for help. One agreed, one did not, but the homeless man ended up being a psycho and kidnapped both of them anyway, dragging them into his basement.

"So, uh, what's the deal?" Heechul whispers to Jungsoo as they're being bound back to back. "Should I try to take him out and die in a blaze of glory?"

"Then do you expect me to avenge you? I don't even know you," Jungsoo retorts. Unfortunately, he was a bit loud, and their kidnapper deals him a hard slap, snapping his neck to the side.

Heechul bites back a cough and stays silent. Jungsoo swallows his rage, blindly groping for the hem of his shirt to release some anger. In his haste, he ends up grabbing Heechul's hand. To his surprise and utter embarrassment, Heechul holds on and refuses to let go.

In the meantime, their kidnapper has left and, judging by the clanking outside the door, probably padlocked it with a chain.

"What the are you doing?" Jungsoo whispers fiercely as soon as the noise quiets down. Heechul lets out a short breath that sounds derisive.

"I'm ing terrified, man," he responds, nails digging crescents into Jungsoo's hand. "I don't want to die just yet. If we ever get out of this place, I'm going back to school."

"You dropped out?" Jungsoo asks, saying the most ridiculous things out of fear.

"Thought school was ing useless," Heechul scoffs. "It's not easy living on the streets, as I soon found out, but it was already too late. If we ever get out, I'm going back to school no matter what."

"Where were you supposed to go?" Jungsoo continues babbling. "I'm a second year at the District School."

"Oh, we could have been classmates," Heechul murmurs softly. Jungsoo thinks that he may be smiling. "Oh wait, I don't even know your name."

"Park Jungsoo, and you are?"

"Kim Heechul the Great. By the way, I have a pocketknife if you can reach it."

Jungsoo's eyes nearly pop out. "You could have said so!" he hisses, letting go of Heechul's hand to desperately twist his arm. "The rope's too tight!"

"Ugh, you're useless," Heechul mutters, working his own body around. "Just a tip, when you're being tied up, it's important to make yourself as big as possible so that you can have a bit of slack once the rope's tied. Aha, I got it."

Jungsoo can only wait as Heechul tries to saw through the thick ropes with his tiny penknife.

An eternity later, Heechul curses quietly. "Jungsoo, can you take it? I'm sorry, but I cut myself."

"Give it to me." Jungsoo works as quickly as he can with restrained wrists. By his side, Heechul makes small sounds of pain.

Finally, Jungsoo lets out a breath as the ropes fall away. "Heechul, let me see your finger."

"I cut my leg, you idiot, not my finger," Heechul grumbles, holding out his leg. Blood pumps out of a cut on his thigh, where the fabric of his jeans has already been soaked through.

"O-oh my god, oh m-my g-god," Jungsoo whimpers, covering his mouth with his hand. "It hurts just looking at it."

"It hurts more when you're the one who's actually hurt," Heechul snaps, struggling into a crouching position. "Help me stand."

Jungsoo throws his arm around Heechul's waist, and they stagger up. Blood drips onto the dirty concrete floor, splattering in an ominous pattern.

"I don't think we can pick a lock that's on the outside," Heechul whispers dryly. Jungsoo doesn't smile.

"No, we can't do anything. He made sure of that." Jungsoo sweeps his gaze around the entire cellar.

"Jungsoo, wait, there's an air vent," Heechul points out. "Here, let me borrow your shirt."

Without warning, Heechul reaches down and tears off a piece of Jungsoo's shirt. Jungsoo nearly yells out loud.

"What the , why did you do that?" he complains. "I happened to like that shirt."

Heechul is too busy wrapping up his leg to reply. Jungsoo falls quiet and decides to investigate the vent, finding that it's much too high for them to access.

"I know," Heechul says, limping up to join Jungsoo. "Let me stand on your shoulders."

Like that, Heechul manages to unscrew the vent cover with his knife. "Ugh, I liked this knife. It's helped me out of a lot of sticky situations."

"Same with my shirt," Jungsoo wheezes. "Hurry up, Chul."

"Oh, are we on nickname terms now?" Heechul snickers, squeezing into the vent with a wince. "I like you, you're a special kid. I'm going to call you Leeteuk, Teuk for short."

"Shh, sound travels through metal," Jungsoo whispers. "Oh wait, I said the wrong thing. I meant that it echoes."

Heechul waggles his foot in response. Then he all but disappears.

Jungsoo, tense and worried, continues to stare into the vent, trying to glimpse something, anything at all.

Trying to look after Heechul.

After what seems like an eternity, a huge crashing sounds outside the door. Jungsoo jumps and scurries into a corner, curling up to try to make himself smaller.

"I can't die I won't die I won't I can't," he repeats to himself, hands over his ears. A hand drags him up roughly by the hair.

"WHERE IS THE OTHER ONE?" the kidnapper screams into his left ear. "WHAT DID HE DO??"

"I-I don't know," Jungsoo lies desperately. "He knocked me out a-and I just came to."

"LIAR! WHY IS THE VENT OPEN? IT'S WAY TOO HIGH FOR HIM TO REACH UNLESS HE'S ING SUPERMAN!!"

Jungsoo tries to protect his head with his arms, but that doesn't stop it from hurting. It doesn't stop his kidnapper from kicking his back, stomach, and chest. It doesn't stop him from dragging Jungsoo's hands away, pulling him up by his hair, and smashing his face.

But then there's no more, and Jungsoo collapses to the cold concrete floor, trying to breathe.

"Jungsoo, Jungsoo, Teuk!" he hears a voice call. "Teukie, Jungsoo, open your eyes, answer me, look at me!"

Soft hands pat his face, gentle fingers comb through his hair, and something hot drips onto his neck. Someone is shaking him, tense with the effort of trying not to add more pressure.

With immense effort, fighting the urge to fall asleep, Jungsoo opens his eyes.

"Don't cry," he murmurs thickly. "Heechul, don't cry."

"Park Jungsoo, you idiot," Heechul sobs, clutching Jungsoo's hand, brushing his hand over his wounds, clenching his fist. "You absolute ing idiot."

"You're the idiot," Jungsoo replies softly, smiling. "You're the idiot for leaving me."

And then, abruptly, it's over, and Heechul fades away to black.

---

"Jungsoo, wait up!"

"You hurry, I'm not stopping!"

"Aish, you're so mean."

Jungsoo laughs, turning around to meet Heechul, who twines their fingers together.

"Start exercising and stop smoking," Jungsoo lectures, leaning his weight against Heechul. "And join a study group or something instead of relying on me."

"I'm your boyfriend, you can't just push me away like that!" Heechul complains, pouting. "I thought we were supposed to like each other."

"I do like you," Jungsoo chuckles. Indeed, after the cellar incident, Jungsoo woke up to bright florescent lights in the hospital. Heechul had been with him the entire three days it had taken, refusing to leave for even one instance.

It turns out that Heechul had escaped the cellar via air vent, landing in the mercifully-empty bathroom. A nervous wreck, he jumped out the tiny window and sprinted to the next house. The people in the house were concerned about his state of being and called the police. It was around then that the kidnapper entered the cellar to discover Heechul missing.

When the police arrived, Heechul spent quite a while convincing them that there really was a kidnapper, and that his friend was still in there. The police eventually believed him, and they entered the house by force. The kidnapper never closed the door to the cellar, so the police found all the evidence laid out before them. They sent Jungsoo to the emergency room, and the kidnapper is now serving time in prison.

Jungsoo and Heechul became great friends. Their personalities didn't exactly match, but things managed to work out. When his injuries healed, Jungsoo managed to convince the principal of District School to give Heechul another chance at school.

It only took a week for Heechul to give up and resort to clinging to Jungsoo. They grew ever closer, and one day, Heechul casually suggested that they date.

Jungsoo accepted.

"Your turn to buy food!" Heechul cackles, taking off down the road. "I want Chinese!"

"I paid last time!" Jungsoo yells, chasing after him. "Hey, I said I paid last time! Did you even hear me??"

---

'Soon after they graduated, Jungsoo chose to write, and Heechul became a surgeon. They got married, and to them, life is always good,' Jungsoo types with a smile. He saves, closes the document, and stretches, sighing.

"Teukie, go to bed soon, okay?" Heechul says softly, peeking into the room. "You have a fan signing tomorrow."

"You're one to talk," Jungsoo replies, standing up to kiss his partner. "You had two surgeries today."

"Then let's both go to bed," Heechul whispers seductively, his finger with a wink.

Jungsoo laughs, taking Heechul's face in his hands. "You know that we won't be able to get any sleep at all like that."

Heechul smiles and kisses Jungsoo. "Our love is much more important than sleep."

They didn't end up sleeping that night after all.