As it turns out, Minseok is at the house with Joonmyeon and the others for six more days until they deem it safe for him to return to work, and they have found another house in another city to relocate to. The whole routine feels just that, routine, as if they’ve had to do it several times before already, well-practiced in the art of just picking up their and disappearing. He’s told that the men from before who tried to arrest them will certainly be back, and sooner rather than later, but for now, he should be safe enough to pack his things up and resign. He makes them promise to stay out of his business while he sorts everything out, wondering just what the he is supposed to do now. 

 

It’s a rainy Tuesday morning, a slight mist lying lazily across the road and footpath, that sees Minseok returning to Cloud 9 for his final shift, shuffling from foot to foot as the chill from the moist air around him settles into his skin; he’s expecting to open up by himself, but Jongdae appears at his side with his own key clutched in his hand, arm already outstretched.

 

“Minseok?” He sounds incredulous, almost as though he hadn’t expected to see him again. 

 

His answering smile is wan and stretched. “Jongdae,” he greets, swinging the door open with the key still in the lock, gesturing for the younger to enter the shop before him. “I’m only back for this last shift,”

 

Jongdae lets out a soft noise of discontent. “I didn’t believe the covering manager until now,” he admits, upset. “When Donghae said that you’d be leaving, I thought he was lying. For real. Why are you going?” he whines as he disables the beeping alarm while Minseok locks the door behind them, getting the lights on their way towards the door to the back office.

 

Minseok considers telling him there and then, just openly admitting that his life has just become a whole lot more dangerous because of six people that he’s just met - and the kicker is that he still doesn’t know how the he even got brought into their crazy situation. Or how they got into their crazy situation. He knows that he’d sound mental, that Jongdae would try and stop him. 

 

It was Minseok and Baekhyun’s job to butter Jongdae up, anyway. Joonmyeon wanted the latter to come with them. He didn’t understand how Jongdae could just tear up his life without even knowing about, well, anything, but he figured that he’d let Baekhyun have his fun. Minseok had nothing to lose anyway, no commitments or family in the area. No significant other. Just a dead-end job, the likes of which he could find anywhere in the country. Maybe this was the impulsive decision that he needed to make so that he wouldn’t constantly be bored with his damn life.

 

“I wanted to talk to you about that,” he answers. “It’s a lot more complicated than it sounds, and I need someone else to help me explain it. Are you free after shift? We could get some food and… Meet up. With this person that is going to explain things.”

 

Jongdae raises a single eyebrow, ticking his name on the clocking in sheet just inside the door. “Hyung, are you sure that you’re okay? You’re being weird. I didn’t even know you had any friends other than Sehun and I, and that’s not even me being a little , I promise you. You’re not in any trouble, are you?”

 

From anyone else, the words would be meant in the most innocent sense, said jokingly maybe. But Jongdae knew what Minseok was, so it gave the question a dark edge. 

 

His hesitation must betray him, as the younger’s eyebrows all but disappear into his hairline. 

 

“, hyung,” Jongdae breathes, dropping the pen into the older’s waiting palm so he can tick his name off the clocking in sheet. “Is it those guys who came in and caused a scene last week? That was the last time I saw you. I know we’ve been texting and you said you were okay, but…”

 

Minseok shakes his head, making his way into the manager’s office to dump his coat, bag and scarf onto the high-backed rolling chair sat proudly at the computer desk. “Really, I’m fine,” he manages to begin before Jongdae scoffs at him as he crouches on the floor in front of the safe, keying in the code so that he can get the till trays to put out for the day.

 

“There were times you fell off the face of the earth and didn’t answer me for hours, hyung,” he reminds the older. “I was getting worried before, but now I’m feeling freaked out. They’re not a band of cannibalistic Satanists who’ve bribed you into their cult, right?” 

 

Minseok lets out a smile, appreciating the attempt to make the mood a little lighter. “No, it’s nothing like that. Really, I’d feel a lot more comfortable if you could wait until five so that we can explain everything then.”

 

The two of them bustle back through the door and onto the shop floor, Minseok unlocking the empty tills so that Jongdae can deposit and declare the cash in the trays before they both start depositing chairs and stools at their corresponding tables.

 

“Am I at least allowed to ask why you’re not bringing Sehun?” 

 

Minseok pauses. “Sehun doesn’t really have anything to do with the situation, so no,” he answers slowly.

 

Jongdae spins to fix him with a judging frown. “Don’t you think he has a right to know as well? Isn’t he your friend just as much as I am?”

 

“It’s kind of different Jongdae,” Minseok tries. “He’s not a hybrid, so there’s… A whole ing hell of a lot that he wouldn’t understand. And also, I kind of don’t want to get him involved in this.”

 

“But you’re happy to drag me into it. I see.”

 

Sigh. “Kim Jongdae, it isn’t like that. Honestly, if you can hold your curiosity for nine more hours until we’re out of the shop, then you’ll know everything I know. Hell, maybe I can learn some things, too,”

 

“Okay, okay.” Jongdae grumbles as they set down the last of the chairs. 

 

* * *

The next four hours pass uneventfully - they open the shop, greet their customers and serve drinks and food. It’s time for lunch and Minseok is about to let Sehun know that he’s in charge of the shop for an hour when he feels the itch of eyes on the back of his head. He turns to catch Baekhyun lounging against the serving counter, a lazy smile gracing his features. Minseok raises an eyebrow at him and Baekhyun just shrugs, mischief shining in his eyes. He’s about to make his way past Sehun to take the man’s order when Jongdae hip-bumps the youngest out of the way and flashes a small smile at Baekhyun.

 

“Hey, stranger,” he greets, voice friendly if not a little teasing; Minseok rolls his eyes. “Haven’t seen you around in a while. You know, after that whole thing where your friend dragged you out of the shop after you behaved more than a little weirdly and flirted with me shamelessly. What can I get you today?”

 

Baekhyun’s tongue darts out to swipe over his lips. “I’ll get a cappuccino, please,” he tries, risking a glance at Minseok. And the manager would have let him order it, too, if he hadn’t already seen what Baekhyun was like after consuming caffeine two days previously.

 

“Make that a decaf,” he adds on while Baekhyun whines, slumping over the counter. Jongdae’s eyes flicker between the two of them, sharp, alert, and Sehun snorts. Minseok shoots the youngest his best ‘shut-the--up’ look.

 

“Decaf cappuccino, got it,” Jongdae lilts, already moving towards the machinery, pouring milk into a metal jug and heating it up with the steam wand (Sehun throws him a decaf pod from underneath the counter while he rings the order up at the till). Baekhyun pays dutifully after Minseok refuses point blank to give him a discount, and there’s a quiet minute or two while Sehun moves onto the next customer, their Christmas temp (who had started a month or two too early to really class as a legitimate Christmas temp) Johnny emerging from the back to take over from Minseok, who walks around the counter to nudge Baekhyun’s elbows off of the surface.

 

“I thought you were coming over at five?” he questions quietly. He’s acutely aware of Sehun watching them closely from the corner of his eye; Jongdae’s eyes flicker up from where the coffee is slowly tricking into an espresso cup to take a curious glance at them, too.

 

“Well, I was,” Baekhyun begins, turning his whole body so that he faces Minseok, taking in his navy apron with bright eyes, silver eyes falling forward and curling towards his eyelashes. “But then I remembered that you started at eight-thirty and should probably take a break sometime around about now. So I selflessly volunteered myself so that you wouldn’t have to be so lonely while you eat!”

 

“I’m not quite sure that’s one hundred percent what you’ve done,” Minseok tells him while untying his apron, patting down his pockets for his wallet and phone (both present, thankfully). “But okay, sure, I’ll bite.”

 

Baekhyun steps close and peels the fabric from his waist, long fingers delicately holding it out to Sehun, who takes it with a grimace, nose scrunching up. He seems unconcerned with the chill emanating from Minseok’s skin. “There’s a brilliant Japanese place around the corner, let’s go there. Your treat.”

 

“Um,” Jongdae interrupts, placing the coffee cup on the counter next to Baekhyun’s elbow. “I feel like I’m intruding, and I’m not even doing anything,” he complains. “I thought I was supposed to be the one you flirted with, anyway?” Baekhyun barks out a laugh, throwing his head back in pure mirth, silvery hair splaying across his forehead. 

 

“Honey, you’ll learn soon that I’m very much an equal opportunities kind of person.” It’s directed at Jongdae with a saucy wink, but Minseok’s the one who gets hauled closer with a hand on his waist. 

 

“Okay, and that’s enough of that, you clinger,” Minseok scolds, shaking off the younger. The warmth of his palm lingers for a few seconds. Minseok tells himself that it’s only because he’s so cold. “Let’s get to that restaurant already and get this over and done with.”

 

“See you later, Jongdae.” Baekhyun sings over his shoulder as they leave the store, Baekhyun happily sipping on his decaf cappuccino. “He’s really good at making coffee, even if you did ban me from drinking caffeine,” he comments as they make their way down the street, in the opposite direction that Minseok would usually go if he was taking lunch by himself. 

 

“I trained him to make good coffee,” Minseok lets him know with an accompanying eye roll. “Also, Joonmyeon actually threatened to drown me in my sleep if I let you drink any, so that’s the main reason why…”

 

Baekhyun whines, head lolling to the left so that it could fall safely onto Minseok’s shoulder. He really should’ve brought his coat with him, he muses with a shiver. 

 

They make it to the tiny restaurant in no more than five minutes, and Minseok can understand how he never realised that it was there - it’s utterly minuscule, only wide enough for a small window and a narrow doorway, and although it goes back a way, there’s still only room enough for five tables. The serving hatch doubles as the till, and Baekhyun waves at the lady standing there before he leads the way to the window table. 

 

“Ah, I’ll be sad to leave this place behind when we move,” he informs Minseok, a fond smile on his face as he takes another sip of the cappuccino that Jongdae had made. “It’s my favourite eating establishment in this entire city. Possibly my favourite, ever. Period.”

 

It’s cute how he doesn’t even need a menu to choose his food, suggesting dishes to Minseok with practiced ease, gesturing wildly with his hands, eyes bright and smile wide and somewhat rectangular wow, Minseok hadn’t noticed that before. It’s sort of a weird thing to figure out while in the middle of the man’s favourite restaurant on his lunch break, the day before his life falls to . 

 

They settle on some simple soumen, sharing a platter of fried gyoza that Baekhyun hogs before Minseok flips him away with his chopsticks. 

 

“So. Jongdae.” Baekhyun starts, a clump of rice noodles suspended in midair in his chopsticks, dripping broth into the bowl beneath it. “He’s a character, right? I guess you were right about him after all,”

 

Minseok, focused on his food (he had skipped breakfast that morning in order to catch the earlier train to Cloud 9), hums distractedly. “What do you mean?”

 

Baekhyun fidgets for a second, dipping his noodles into the broth again, the third time he has done so. “Well, the first day that you were at the house, you said that my ‘all-out’ approach worked well because we’re more similar than Joonmyeon thinks. He seems fun, that’s all.”

 

Minseok hums around a mouthful of chicken and cabbage. “It is true, I guess. He’s got an outgoing personality. Maybe not quite as daring as you, or as loud or annoying, but similar enough that you’d get along, I can imagine. Well. Heh. I guess we’ll find out tonight, right?”

 

Baekhyun nods, suddenly quiet. “I guess so, yeah.” 

 

They eat in silence for a few more minutes, the sounds of cooking emanating from the kitchen beyond the serving hatch the only sound in the entire restaurant. 

 

“For what it’s worth,” Minseok ventures, not used to being the first one to speak, never mind how easy it’s been to feel somewhat comfortable around Baekhyun. “He was super curious this morning when we bumped into each other while we got the cafe ready for business.” Baekhyun looks up sharply, intrigued. He has a mouth full of gyoza and noodles, and Minseok really doesn’t want to see that all chewed up, so he holds up a hand before the younger has even had a chance to think about speaking. “He really wants to know what has been going on, honestly. He even had an inkling that it was to do with you guys. Which, before you say anything ing stupid, is completely obvious, seeing as that’s the last time any of them saw me - right after you guys walked in and all hell broke loose,”

 

Baekhyun dutifully swallows his mouthful of food. “Do you really think he’ll come back to the house after we’ve explained the basics to him?” He seems doubtful, and is probably right to be, Minseok thinks. Jongdae can be as much of a wildcard as Baekhyun can, sometimes. 

 

“Maybe,” he admits. “If we go about it the right way. He gets really suspicious about hybrid stuff, sometimes.”

 

Baekhyun sits in rare silence for a few more minutes, the two of them enjoying the atmosphere of the little restaurant as they slowly work their way through their soup. It isn’t until they’re finished and paying that Baekhyun speaks up again.

 

“I know I’m always kind of flip,” he begins, voice low as they make their way down the road towards the cafe. “But I’m not stupid. I can do subtle if I need to, so you don’t have to worry about it being weird tonight, if that’s what you’re thinking about.”

 

Minseok his head to the side as he considers the younger’s words. “I mean, I guess that I don’t have to worry about how Jongdae will react, anyway. He’s much more responsive to conversation than me; I feel like you two will fit right in together. And besides, we already spoke about what we’re going to be doing, right?” He feels like he has to ask, purely because with Baekhyun, a plan is never set in stone. “Because if we stick to that, we can get him to understand what’s going on, I feel.”

 

Baekhyun nods, rounding the corner and spotting the doorway to Cloud 9 a few metres ahead. “I can stick to the plan, don’t worry. I can do plans if they’re important ones.”

 

* * *

 

The rest of Minseok’s shift moves sluggishly, almost hellishly slowly, dragging by. Every glance at the clock is stressful. At half past four, Baekhyun shows back up, bag of snacks in hand and phone pressed to his ear. Minseok raises a hand from behind the counter in greeting and Baekhyun flashes him a wide, square grin, the picture of confidence, not at all insecure like he had been at lunchtime. 

 

“Joonmyeon,” he mouths towards the older man, pointing to his phone with his spare hand. Then he rolls his eyes good-naturedly, showing that he isn’t really too against the phonecall after all. Joonmyeon is a worrier.

 

Jongdae flashes a curious glance over towards Baekhyun’s table, while Minseok gets a sweet tea ready.

 

“Are you two, like, dating or something?” 

 

Minseok sputters, choking on air. 

 

“I’ve known him for a week, Dae,” he mutters, disbelief colouring his tone. “I’d hope that you wouldn’t think I’d start dating somebody that I’ve only known for a week.” Jongdae shrugs impishly. 

 

“He’s been here a lot today, and you went on lunch with him,” he reasons. “You’ve stopped hanging out with us after shift. What am I supposed to think, Min?”

 

Minseok rolls his eyes at Jongdae. “You’re supposed to know me better than to jump into something like that, you giant idiot.”

 

Jongdae throws back his head and laughs, high and strong; it distracts Baekhyun enough that he almost drops his phone as he looks over to the counter. 

 

“Okay, buddy,” he brays. “I gotcha.”

 

The close-up of the shop is weird when there’s somebody else sitting there with them, watching them over the lip of his cup as he sips his tea. Jongdae waves him out of his chair as they go to stack them onto the top of the tables, Minseok wiping down the counter with a wet cloth and some bleach. Baekhyun wrinkles his nose at the smell. When they’re done, Minseok waves him over; he follows obediently like a puppy. 

 

“Let’s go get some food!” he announces happily, attaching himself to Minseok’s side as they move towards the back of the cafe, opening the door to the office so that Minseok and Jongdae can grab their coats and bags. 

 

“You just sat there and ate a bag full of chips and snacks,” Jongdae states, sending him a weird look from the corner of his eye, throwing on his coat. “How can you still be hungry?”

 

“Baekhyun is always hungry,” Minseok answers before Baekhyun can even open his mouth. 

 

“Rule number one: always keep Baekhyun fed.” Baekhyun confirms. 

 

Jongdae snorts, but says nothing else. They turn the lights off and set the alarm on their way out, and Minseok locks the door. The umbriferous potted plants that the owner of the apartment rooms above the cafe have put out sway in the winter-chilled air. Minseok hadn’t even noticed them that morning when they had opened up the cafe.

 

They let Baekhyun lead the way past the little Japanese place where they had eaten lunch, down onto the high street, down towards the row of much fancier restaurants; Minseok curses inwardly and hopes that Joonmyeon had provided Baekhyun with some cash, or his wallet will be crying by the end of the night. He gestures towards an Italian place, questioning them with his eyes, and Jongdae nods, so that’s where they eat. 

 

They’re silent as the waitress seats them in a secluded booth near the windows and when she gives them the menu, Minseok thanks her quietly, politely. 

 

“When are we getting to the part where you two explain what’s been going on for the last week and why Minseok has quit his job?” Jongdae asks suddenly, one eyebrow raised, tone flat and unwavering. Baekhyun leans towards him across the table. 

 

“When are you going to tell me what type of power you have?” he shoots back. Minseok snorts and avoids eye contact with them both. Jongdae looks taken aback for all of three seconds before recovering in an admirably short amount of time. 

 

“I think you probably already know, if you’ve been hanging around the cafe for as long as I think you have been,” he ventures, smiling warmly when he spots Baekhyun’s shock. “What, you thought that you guys were slick? Nope, maybe Minseok didn’t spot you, but I caught you guys always coming in. Sure, we have returning customers, regulars, even, but you guys were way too curious to just be regular customers. I knew you were either hybrids yourselves, or police. And there was that one time that your tall friend with the crazy ears warmed up your toasted sandwich for you with just his hands, so that answered my question for me.”

 

“So you’re… Much more observant than Minseok is, right, got it,” Baekhyun nods. “I mean, yeah, we’d been into Cloud 9 a lot before we actually spoke to you. Well, before I spoke to you, anyway. The others are idiots.

 

“We felt your power levels during that massive thunderstorm about two months ago, honestly. Chanyeol and Joonmyeon were shocked to feel it so close, so we decided that we’d try and find out who it was, maybe this person could help us, maybe they needed help themselves. Well, Chanyeol and I kind of tracked the traces back to the cafe, and then we noticed they came from you a few weeks after that.”

 

Minseok sits back and lets Baekhyun explain, hands folded in his lap, watching the two leaning onto the surface of the table opposite each other. 

 

“So you stalked me. Nice. And then you, what, kidnapped my boss?”

 

“Yep!”

 

“Baekhyun,” Minseok cuts in warningly; the younger flashes a toothy smile in his direction. He turns to Jongdae. “To start with, it was- okay, so maybe to begin with, it was a little bit of kidnapping. But it turned out that they possibly saved my life? So it was kidnapping for my own good?”

 

Jongdae stares. “How, in any sense of the word, can kidnapping be for your own good.”

 

“First of all, you forgot your question mark. Second of all, of course kidnapping can be in someone’s best interests! What if, for some reason, we were about to be arrested by the scariest and most corrupt team of s that the government can spare, and at the last second, we managed to save poor Minseok? Is that not for his wellbeing?”

 

“Um,” Jongdae answers. “Please tell me that didn’t actually happen. Because that sounds insane. Is that what actually happened?”

 

Minseok considers his words carefully and shoots a look across towards Baekhyun as if to tell him ‘shut-the--up-I’ll-answer-this-one’. 

 

He is ultimately ignored. “Maybe?”

 

“You’re ing insane!”

 

Before either Minseok or Baekhyun can respond to that, the waitress returns and takes their order (they decide on a traditional pizza between the three of them and some Cokes), cutting the discussion short for a few minutes. 

 

“So. That’s basically why I’ve been missing in action for the last week, anyway. Some went down, we managed to get away, and then we decided it wasn’t safe for any of us to be seen outside of where we were staying. So I stayed with Baekhyun and his household of weirdos.”

 

“We’re not that bad, Min,” Baekhyun puts in, ignoring the glare he is sent for the nickname. “The basics are these: my brothers and I currently have a safe house not far outside the city, we used to be under the charge of a certain part of the government and we managed to get out. They’ve been looking for us ever since, because each of us are more powerful than your average hybrid, but things have gotten so much worse since those idiot hybrids decided to stage the tiest apocalypse that I’ve ever seen.”

 

“Well,” Jongdae concedes. “It was pretty ty. Did anything even happen after that first news report? Everyone was scared for nothing,”

 

“We weren’t invited to the party, it seems. The lack of organisation is shocking, honestly.”

 

“Alright, you two, time to put away the sarcasm now, I think,” Minseok tells them both. “Enough about the disappointing apocalypse. Can we get back on track, Baekhyun?”

 

The younger sits back into his seat and places his hands palm down onto the glossy tablecloth. “Yes, back to the matter at hand: why are we here discussing this with you, Jongdae?”

 

Jongdae chuckles. “I’ve been wondering that myself.”

 

“We’ve already established that you’re super powerful. I’ll drop the act and say right now that we all know about your fun with lightning. So, we’re on the same page. The first and last of it is that Joonmyeon, one of the hybrids I live with, has been telling us that we need to move away from where we are at the moment. And because we’re too nice for our own good, we’ve asked Minseok to come with us because he’s been seen now by the people that are after us, and his power is super useful. We would feel supremely uncomfortable with leaving you behind here on your own when we know now that they’ll be sweeping through the area. They’re not good people, Jongdae, they do awful things to hybrids. It wouldn’t be fair to leave you here without giving you a heads up and an invite to come with us.”

 

There’s a minute of silence that follows Baekhyun’s unusually sombre words, in which the pizza comes over along with their drinks. 

 

“So you’re moving how far away, exactly?” Jongdae questions calmly.

 

Baekhyun shrugs. “Joon’s been doing some research and we think New York sounds like a good place - a fair amount of hybrids, no trouble that they’ve seen so far with said ty apocalypse. It sounds like it would be perfect, at least for the time being - we could blend in completely if we play our cards right. So we should be moving over there within the next few days.”

 

“New-ing-York?!” Jongdae exclaims. “Are you ing joking? That’s hundreds of miles away! You just spoke about moving away as if you were going to be moving to the next town over, not the other side of the ing country!”

 

“Don’t be dramatic-“

 

“Baek,” Minseok puts in. Seriously, he thinks, it was a great idea for him to sit in with thus meeting as a moderator, otherwise the two would have probably killed each other by now. They’re both way too excitable. Too alike.

 

“Okay, so maybe you are not being too dramatic, but we’ve still got some time to make some other last minute decisions and plans, so it’s not like you have to tell us right now. Just within the next two days. The place that we’ll be moving to will have more than enough room for you, anyway!”

 

“And what abut our families, our jobs, our friends?”

 

“That’s what I’m here for,” Baekhyun tells him with a feral grin. “Illusions are my specialty. I can help with getting us all into new jobs. And family can always contact you! We won’t be living in radio silence, you know. Just… Quietly?”

 

Jongdae slumps into his seat, sinking into the padded leather backrest, processing the offer. Baekhyun takes this opportunity to sneak a slice of pizza, pointing to the gap and jabbing a thumb towards Minseok. The command for him to eat is obvious, so he helps himself to a slice as well. 

 

“So,” Jongdae begins. “You’re saying that you’ve got some bad guys after you so you’re moving away, but Minseok is going with you because they’ve seen him, and you want me to come too because they know I’m friends with hyung and you don’t want me to get caught by them either? And you’re moving in a few days’ time and you’ll be helping us to get new jobs and we can just start afresh in New York City.”

 

Baekhyun nods and grins around a mouthful of pizza; Minseok grimaces. “Basically, yeah!”

 

“That’s a ty plan.”

 

“At least we’ve got a plan, dude, come on,” Baekhyun points out.

 

“Like Baekhyun said, you don’t have to answer us now,” Minseok butts in. “Just - think about it? Think it over. Get back to them within the next few days so they know how many are going.”

 

Jongdae nods, finally reaching out for a slice of pizza. 

 

The rest of the meal flows by in near silence, Minseok asking a few questions about the cafe and how they’ve done while he was away, Baekhyun watching the two friends with growing interest, curiosity shining in his eyes. They decide to not order any dessert, finishing their drinks and splitting the check between the three of them, thankfully, though Minseok is more than a little surprised that Baekhyun actually did bring his own money (most likely from Joonmyeon, so he supposes that it doesn’t really count). They stand outside the front of the restaurant five minutes later, shivering in the frigid wind that greets them.

 

“I guess I’ll think about it,” Jongdae sighs, pulling the strap of his bag a little higher from where it slips from his shoulder. “And I’ll get in touch with Minseok hyung before you guys go.”

 

Baekhyun shrugs, tilting his head from side to side. “Okay, that sounds fair. If you do decide to not come, I guess I’ll say it was nice to finally meet you and talk to you properly.”

 

Jongdae accepts this and smiles politely at him. “Yeah, it was,” he replies with a polite smile. Baekhyun turns to Minseok, placing a warm hand on his forearm as he focuses his attention on the older. 

 

“I’ll be at the bus stop,” is all he says and shoots a last smile at Jongdae before walking away. As soon as he is out of earshot, Jongdae turns to face Minseok. 

 

“So, what was that about you and him not dating?” he asks, one eyebrow raised. “You seem to be on the same page.”

 

Minseok groans. “Will you shut up about that? We are not dating! This is about our safety, Jesus ing christ, Dae!”

 

“Well, I mean, that too,” he concedes. “But the thing is, I don’t understand how he’s managed to convince you of all people to just up and leave everything behind to move to New York City. It feels really weird, hyung, you have to understand - you just disappear one day, and when you come back, you quit your job and you’re getting ready to uproot your entire life and move away with some people that you’ve just met.”

 

Minseok thinks it’s crazy, too, but he doesn’t want to admit that out loud. It feels like if he did that, it would undermine all of his and Baekhyun’s efforts from the last few hours.

 

“I know it seems crazy,” he begins. “But Joonmyeon explained a lot to me while I was at their house. And I did nearly get arrested by crazy armed dudes that just ninja’d out of nowhere and followed us all. It was mental, a really crazy situation, but they helped me. They didn’t have to - they could’ve just left me there on the street with them. But Baekhyun threw himself onto Joonmyeon, and then they grabbed me and took me with them to safety. They didn’t even know I was a hybrid at the time, so for all they knew, I could’ve been one of those crazy, racist humans.”

 

Jongdae tips his head to one side, the action reminding him of Baekhyun (the two really are more alike than he had originally thought), as he thinks it through. 

 

“And then you appeared in a house full of hybrids, whose intentions you don’t know and they weave you this story about escaping from oppressive governmental sects and being hunted down like wild animals, and you just… Believe them? You trust them?”

 

“It’s not like I haven’t thought about all this, Jongdae, don’t take me the wrong way.” Minseok speaks slowly, thinking his words through carefully before he says them. “I’ve thought about it more than I’ve thought about anything else. But there’s a lot of truth to what they say, honestly, and when you meet them, you’ll understand.”

 

There’s a deep sigh. “Well, I suppose I should look forward to seeing them a lot more at the cafe, right?” Minseok hums and Jongdae sighs again, lapsing into silence. Then he squints his eyes at Baekhyun, standing by himself in the bus stop a little down the road from them, arms wrapped protectively around himself in an attempt to keep himself warm against the freezing fog that’s descending around them. Minseok can feel the ice in his veins rising to the surface of his skin, hair standing on end, goosebumps forming. Too cold.

 

“So you’re going home with him?”

 

Minseok shakes his head, letting out a breath that shows up stark against the darkness that is surrounding them. “He’s coming to mine. We’re getting started on some packing, and putting my apartment up for letting again. Then, in the morning, we’ll probably swing by for some coffee and get some more things organised with Joonmyeon.”

 

Jongdae places his hands on top of Minseok’s shoulders, palms so warm even through the fluffy down coat. “Just be careful, hyung. Okay? And call me if you need anything - I’m only doing a half day tomorrow.”

 

Minseok nods solemnly, patting Jongdae’s waist with a cold hand. 

 

They bid each other a goodnight and Minseok joins Baekhyun at the bus stop. The whole journey home, he wonders whether he’s made the right decision after all.