Kihyun dreams so clearly of a time when things were simpler, easier. He and his love, and their friends, were the kings of crime in Seoul. No one would dare cross them.

They had everything until it was all taken away…

It was those damn new recruits, Kihyun knows now. They had been the ones to sell them out that night. It’d been a normal pickup routine. Some weaponry was coming in through the western port, and Kihyun had let Hyungwon go with Minhyuk and Hyunwoo to oversee things while the others remained at HQ to hold the fort down and make sure everything was categorized and put away properly. The away team had been running late getting back, but Kihyun hadn’t thought too much of it at the time.

For all he’d known, Minhyuk could’ve made them stop for food on the way back with billions of dollars of illegal tech in the back of the truck.

But, in reality, they’d already been caught by the cops and were refusing to sell out the others. A refusal that, sadly, was in vain, for the traitors had already given the police their HQ location. Kihyun and the others were carted off to jail, processed. They were all tried together as one big group and sentenced to the same prison. Luckily, Kihyun was able to pull a few strings to get them all to be roommates with each other in one way or another, since their only crimes were obstructing justice, grand theft, etc… But, they’d never killed anyone, so all was well.

Now, Kihyun knows better. He can only trust the six men who he’d grown up with, the six men he knows every in and out of. They’re working hard to get each other out of this mess and get back to their city. They’ll beat down the traitors, take some contraband to sell for quick cash on the black market, and make their lives somewhere else. They don’t need their old stomping grounds, not really.

Their families are all gone, having abandoned them when they got caught, and that city will be cop central once they escape. No, it’ll be better if they just move on.

And move on is just what they’ll do after they take their revenge.

Two days pass of the same monotonous routine, with the same vague nods and passing the same people through the same sections of the facility every day. Hyungwon gets the guards to look the other way when Changkyun’s next package comes in, guaranteeing yet another sect to help with their cause. They now have the majority of all inmates on their plan, which means they have a sure way out.

“We need to give it a few days,” Kihyun tells Changkyun as the younger passes an order to one of his best clients. Changkyun shoots him a confused glance, taking the cash and passing it to Kihyun automatically. Kihyun tucks it against his waistband to give to Hyungwon later, to pay off the guards.

“You’re gonna work Hoseok to death before we get out of here, if you make us wait too much longer,” Changkyun only somewhat jokes, speaking low enough to keep the nearby guards from hearing. Kihyun snickers under his breath, having to quickly wipe the smile off his face to ensure no suspicious looks are thrown his way. After all, there isn’t much to be happy about around here.

“We just need to make sure they think everything’s fine,” Kihyun reminds the younger quietly. “Not all the money in the world could get these pricks to look the other way when we run for it.”

“Sadly…” Changkyun mutters in reply, glancing down to the floor. Kihyun sighs, clapping the younger on the shoulders. He quickens his pace, leaving his dongsaeng behind to go hand the green over to his boyfriend and cellmate. He nods to Minhyuk on his brisk walk to the prison library, having to fight off another smirk as he catches his same-age friend pulling the guard he’s blatantly flirting with into a closet.

Kihyun rolls his eyes… typical.

He finds Hyungwon where he thought he would, in the far corner of the library, with his nose in a book, asleep. Kihyun has to fight back a coo, glancing around quickly to make sure no one’s around before kneeling in front of his boyfriend. He plucks the paperback off Hyungwon’s face, exposing the angelic expression underneath. Hyungwon doesn’t move in the slightest, lost to his dreams.

Kihyun smiles softly, gently touching Hyungwon’s cheek. The younger hums in his throat, tilting his head towards the touch, and Kihyun has to push out a sigh.

“Love,” he calls softly, his fingers shifting up from Hyungwon’s cheek to his hair to brush it back behind his ear. “Wonnie, come on… Kkungie got the last of the cash we needed. You need to pass it along.” Hyungwon shifts again, his eyes finally opening ever so slightly. His eyelashes brush the tops of his cheekbones as he slowly blinks, his big doe eyes clearing themselves of sleep and honing in on the man staring at him.

His thick lips quirk up into the faintest of smiles, and he shifts about to readjust his position.

“W… What… were you saying?” Hyungwon asks, his voice dripping with fatigue. Kihyun’s heart pangs with affection, adoration… and guilt. Hyungwon has always been one to tire out easily, sure, but he’s never been more tired than he is here, in this place. Kihyun blames the betrayal on himself, of course. If his suspicions are correct, he’d been the one to bring in the rats. He’d brought this hell upon his family… and he’ll be the one to get them out of it.

“Just got the green, babe,” Kihyun repeats, keeping his voice low. Hyungwon seems to take a moment to process, the cobwebs of sleep still entrapping the cogs of his mind. Kihyun can practically see when everything clicks into place and Hyungwon realizes what he’s being told. He moves around, getting onto his knees to stand. Kihyun grips his forearm and helps him stand, not feeling much weight as the younger leans on him.

“Just a little longer,” Kihyun can’t help but assure him, petting at his arm to try and warm the cool skin there. “I promise, just a little longer and I’ll get you out.”

“Get us out, all of us,” Hyungwon murmurs softly in reply. He nuzzles his cheek against Kihyun’s hair affectionately, his soft sight loud in the quiet room. Kihyun hums in a noncommittal reply, leaning against him with the same amount of adoration and love that he feels in Hyungwon’s actions.

He won’t say it aloud, not where any of the others can hear, but he knows their plan isn’t full-proof. They’re relying on a lot of people to not betray them, and he’s learned the hard way to trust people only as far as he can throw them. He won’t be caught off guard again, and he already has a plan that will get Hyungwon out if Plan A goes south.

One way or another, he’s making sure Hyungwon is getting out of here by the end of the week.