There was a knock on the door after two minutes of silence. San had already called Seungcheol and the man was driving to Seonghwa's apartment with Jeonghan — his fiancé — Mingyu, Minghao and Jihoon. It was a no brainer to bring Mingyu along because Jungkook had shouted a 'say hello to Gyu for me' which Mingyu had heard and had suddenly volunteered to come along. 

Since Seventeen had thirteen members, Jimin thought that it'd be too suspicious for all thirteen members to pile into Seonghwa's apartment, so they had decided to meet someplace else. This place that they were all meeting at was somewhere anonymous and somewhere you'd only find if you were actually looking. Seonghwa was surprised that San's brother could even know about a place like that, but then he realised the Seungcheol was in a gang and almost face palmed; of course, Seungcheol would know about a shady place in town. Seonghwa was just happy that San seemed to have no idea about where the place was.

"Alright, so as you were previously informed moments ago, two people named Jung Wooyoung and Kang Yeosang have gotten kidnapped and it seems to be because of our dearest Seonghwa over here." Jimin pointed Seonghwa out from inside his apartment and the addressed male squirmed slightly at all the attention he was receiving. As he was home schooled and didn't go out often, he hadn't gotten a taste on what the stares of others could actually feel like. And with one shudder, he decided that he hated it - it made him feel itchy all over like bugs were crawling over his silky smooth skin. It was very unpleasant. 

“This means that these men that have kidnapped Kang Yeosang and Jung Wooyoung are not to be underestimated; they will use any force necessary to deal with things and get their slimy hands on what they want. Beaten a kid to death is no something they'd shudder away from, so we need a medical member on the scene immediately.” Jungkook explained, reaching forward and laying down the lines on what was going on. Seonghwa thought that all of what the duo was saying was simply going in one ear and out the other. “Seungcheol, did you get the two files I asked for?” Jungkook asked and Seungcheol nodded, reaching into a bag and pulling out two burgundy files, handing them to Jungkook. 

“The two normally went to Illusion parlour often, which is most likely where they got kidnapped seeing as it was a frequent place they visited. I think it’s highly likely that Jung Wooyoung was just simply at the wrong place at the wrong time — their target was Kang Yeosang from the beginning.” Jimin realised, reading from the file Jungkook handed him, eyebrows raising further up his smooth forehead. “Kang Yeosang was the target of this whole kidnapping, but Jung Wooyoung just happened to be unnecessary baggage they had to take along with them; they had no choice.” Jimin said, slapping the file onto the table in front of them, eyes filled with anger: Jimin loved kids and even though he had never personally gotten to know the duo, they were still like long lost friends Jimin had never had the pleasure to meet. He was just so angry, wondering why on earth someone would do such a thing to anyone, let alone a child.

“Jung Wooyoung was unnecessary baggage.” Jungkook murmured, face twisting into a thoughtful look before he dug through Wooyoung's file. “Jung Wooyoung wasn’t supposed to be kidnapped along with Kang Yeosang, so what if they used that to their advantage? His parents own a farm land just East of Seoul, not very far from where Illusion parlour is, so what if that is where they’re keeping them? In Jung Wooyoung's hidden residency?” Jungkook suggested and Jimin bit his lower lip in thought. Seungcheol seemed to agree with Jungkook, nodding to himself. 

“That’s plausible. Where else would they hide them and ensure they can inflict whatever damage they wanted?” Seungcheol pointed out and Jimin seemed to finally come to an agreement with the others, nodding. 

“Fine, but Seonghwa's staying right here.” Jimin said and turned to stare intensely at Seonghwa, but it seemed as though the latter wasn’t going to let up that easily for he glared right back. 

“I’m coming with you, hyung, because in the end, this is completely my fault. You’re right that I should’ve never moved out of Appa's house and you’re right to think that I cannot make my own decisions without harming at least one poor innocent soul.” Seonghwa gushed, fists clenching so hard his knuckles began to throb with a dull ache. “But, you know what, I’m taking responsibility for s sake: I want to help get Wooyoung and Yeosang back and have them see my face to show that I didn’t abandon them when I was the one who got them into this goddamn mess in the first place!” Seonghwa exclaimed and Jimin's face softened. 

“Fine,” Jimin finally snapped. “Fine, you can come along, but if you even think about leaving mine nor Jungkook's sight, I am shoving my gun so far up your , you’ll be coughing bullets up for weeks.” Jimin growled, snatching his knife off the table from where San had placed it down and stalking out of the room. Jungkook smiled at him, watching the others file out after Jimin and then he turned to Seonghwa, who was standing in front of San, almost protectively. 

“See? He cares for you.” Jungkook said and Seonghwa felt himself nod before he followed after Jungkook as he left the room, letting San cling to his arm and grasp his hand in his own. He quickly locked the door and they rushed after the group of males all clad in black, like it was in the movies, but somehow, eerily so, it was so much more hopeless and scary than anything his mind could conjure up. 

“San isn’t coming along.” Seungcheol said, starting up the car as soon as everyone was safety seated inside the van, doors closed and everything. Just because they were in gangs, didn’t mean they didn’t do up their seat belts. San’s head snapped to Seungcheol, eyes widening, but before he could answer, Seungcheol began to explain. “I have a feeling that Wooyoung is worse for wear right now and you seeing him isn’t going to be something pleasant. Instead, of you going through that, I asked Soonyoung, Seokmin and Seungkwan to call your friends and get them to meet up in that special location. You, Sannie, are going to explain everything that is happening and keep them calm.” Seungcheol told the younger, who seemed to relax against Seonghwa’s side, nodding silently to himself. 

“Alright.” San whispered and closed his eyes; Seonghwa thought that San should get some rest, but seeing as they were close to their destination already, Seonghwa figured that sleep was pretty much useless anyways. 

When they pulled into a building, the gates opened already, Seungcheol stopped the car and San's eyes slid open. “We’re going to get Wooyoung and Yeosang back to you guys, safely and whatever wounds Wooyoung or Yeosang have will heal and we’ll make sure of it.” Seungcheol said and turned around just slightly in his seat to stare at San's face, which looked like a helpless cat. 

“Okay, hyung, just ... bring them back to us please.” San said, which seemed like a cue for him to leave as he clambered out of the car and made his way to where Seonghwa could see a group of people huddled together, a bright blue head of hair sticking out. When they saw San, they rushed forward to give him a hug, bundling him up in their arms. Seungcheol smiled a little and started the car up again, driving them out of the building and towards Wooyoung’s farm land, another black van following after them. 

“We go straight in, no holding back. They’ll either see or hear us coming and I guarantee after that, we won’t have much time to help Wooyoung and Yeosang from the worst happening.” Seungcheol said. Jimin twirled a knife around his fingers, humming to himself as the buildings parted into long plains of grassy land and nature seemed to bloom everywhere your eyes looked. Seonghwa leaned backwards and stared out the window, only half listening to what they were saying because Seonghwa was sure Jimin would kick his if he didn’t. 

“Wooyoung’s probably got the worse of the damage.” Jimin stated, making Seonghwa glance at him out of the corner of his eye, Jimin was frowning to himself, staring down at the spinning knife in his hands. “Yeosang was the target, so they would’ve ensured that little to none of the harm came to him in case they wanted to use him as a bargain or negotiation, but Wooyoung wasn’t planned which means that they probably think that they can do whatever they want to him.” Jimin pointed out and Jungkook pursed his lips. 

“That kids going to be scarred for life.” Jungkook said, making Jimin nod and Seonghwa to release a tiny pained noise of acknowledgement at the fact that Wooyoung was going to be scarred because of him; all because he hadn’t thought before he acted and now people were in danger because of him. It was vastly tiring; it felt like they were going around in circles. 

“Of course, but time heals all, plus, Sannie will help him recover; he’s been in love with him longer than he’s been able to walk.” Seungcheol chuckled, pulling into a long stretch of land, with the farm house just a few feet away. Seonghwa had to scramble after everyone when they all unbuckled their belts and hopped out of the car, immediately rushing towards the farm to find Wooyoung and Yeosang. Jimin was the first one to enter the farm, kicking the door open and the rusty bolt shattered, the door slamming open. Immediately Seonghwa noticed two figures tied to separate chairs, legs and feet bound.

“Oh, thank god, help us please!” Yeosang cried, thrashing around in his chair and Seonghwa was about to rush towards him when Jimin held out an arm and stopped him from advancing onto Yeosang and helping him. Jimin sniffed the air and inclined his head to the side, eyes flickering around the limited space. 

“There’s no one here.” Jimin suddenly said, straightening upwards and Seonghwa ran to Yeosang and threw himself onto the floor, undoing the restraints around Yeosang's ankles and then moving onto his wrists that were bound. As soon as Yeosang was free, he rushed to get upwards and run to Wooyoung, but his legs gave up halfway through, Seonghwa just managing to catch him before he could smash his face into the ground.

“Careful. You’re going to hurt yourself.” Seonghwa murmured, but Yeosang ignored him, shoving him away lightly and Seonghwa stumbled backwards, catching himself and watching as Yeosang made his way to the other male tied to the chair. Yeosang stumbled and hit the floor with his body, crawling to Wooyoung and his hands made quick work of untying Wooyoung from the chair, Wooyoung's slumped form stirring from unconsciousness. 

“S-Sannie?” Wooyoung croaked and Yeosang tried to pull himself upwards, just managing to get into a crouch position. He stared at Wooyoung, tears streaming down his cheeks in streams. 

“No, Woo, it’s Yeosang. San’s coming, Woo, he’ll be with you soon.” Yeosang assured and Wooyoung smiled dazedly to himself, head lilting to the side, until it was lying on his shoulder, eyes closed.

“He is? Hmm, Sannie's always been kind to me. Do you think he'd give me cuddles?” Wooyoung hiccupped in pain and Yeosang nodded, reaching for Wooyoung's hand and squeezing it gently to reassure Wooyoung that he was still there. “Sangie? I can’t feel anything. I can’t feel my arms or my legs. I ... I can’t feel anything.” Wooyoung breathed and Yeosang barely contained the sob rising from his throat and Wooyoung exhaled loudly, tears falling from the corners of his brown orbs. 

“It's ... you’re going to be alright, Wooyoung.” Yeosang said and scrambled back, catching himself on his elbows when Seungcheol took steps forward and gently scooped Wooyoung into his strong arms. “Hey, wait!” Yeosang snapped, reaching forward and trying to grab onto Seungcheol's ankles, clawing at the males’ flesh, but he was too far away. 

“Wooyoung? Can you hear me?” Wooyoung made a sound of acknowledgement, a croaky hissed sound that had Seonghwa wincing in sympathy. Seungcheol glanced down at Wooyoung's battered, bloody face. “I’m San's older brother, I think you know me as Cheol?” Seungcheol said and Wooyoung giggled, as if he was on a high, one that continued happening despite millions of little distractions. 

“You’re Sannie's hyung.” Wooyoung said quietly before his eyes shut and Seungcheol started speeding up, heading towards the black van that had been following them from behind before, the doors immediately slamming open. Seonghwa took note of all the medical supplies and he calmed down, walking to where Yeosang was frozen on the floor, eyes flashing dangerously.

“Yeosang.” Seonghwa whispered, before gently grabbing him by the arms and helping him towards the same medical van. It seemed like Yeosang had nothing on him except some bruises on his face and wrist and ankles; it seemed as though Jimin had been right in his assumption of Wooyoung getting all the force. Seonghwa helped Yeosang to the edge of the van and watched as Yeosang stared at Wooyoung's form, half delirious with pain and half delirious with exhaustion. It seemed like it was only the strength in Yeosang’s knees that was failing him at the current time. 

“He's not okay, is he?” Yeosang asked, quietly and looked to Seonghwa, searching for an answer to his questions. When Seonghwa stared down at him, finally shaking his head, Yeosang breathed out a deep exhale of oxygen before burying his face in Seonghwa’s shoulder. 

“He's not doing okay now, but he’ll be fine soon, Yeosang. He’ll heal like everyone does and we’ll be here for him. He has you and Sannie and the others; he’ll be alright.” Seonghwa assured and grabbed Yeosang around the waist before lifting him up into the van and letting a male with almost white hair take him in his arms carefully. Yeosang turned to look at him and Seonghwa smiled warmly before taking a step back and then turning, walking towards where Jungkook and Jimin was standing, Seungcheol having left Wooyoung to the care of the medics. 

“There was no one here when we got here as if they knew we were coming which makes no sense, unless ...” Jimin trailed off and Seonghwa joined the circle, eyebrows raising up his forehead. 

“Unless this is what they planned in the first place?” Seonghwa inquired and Jungkook shook his head, glancing at Seungcheol. 

“Jimin means that he thinks there’s an inside job.” Jungkook said and looked to see Seungcheol's reaction, who just stared into the distance with a thoughtful look on his face, wind brushing his hair back. 

“I think I know who the mole is, but I want to analyse him more closely. If there is a mole in my gang, then I want to find out who he is and how much information he's got and why he did it; you have to remember that it’s not just your friend that’s in danger, it’s my whole gang and family too.” Seungcheol told them, finally averting his gaze to Jimin and Jungkook, staring them down, watching them stare right back, eyes understanding.

“Alright. But if you don’t have that mole figured out by the end of the month, then you need to confront your gang about it.” Jimin said, fingers flexing against his side and Jungkook reached for his hand, squeezing them in his own ones, the size difference palpable. Seonghwa watched them before glancing back at Yeosang, who was now sitting on the edge of the van, staring right at him, an unreadable look on his face, a part of his wrist bandaged up. 

“We better go back to Sannie and his friends. They’d be worried about their friends and well, San's filling them in on everything except who Seonghwa is because he doesn’t actually know himself and he knows what secrets to share and what to conceal.” Seungcheol stated and turned around, strutting to the van that wasn’t an almost medical bay and climbing inside, kissing his fiancé, Jeonghan, on the cheek as a simple greeting. 

“Alright, well, Seonghwa, you can go along with Wooyoung and Yeosang if you wish.” Jimin said and Seonghwa pulled Jimin into a hug, hands shaking and Jimin seemed to notice this, embracing him tighter and rocking them back and forward. After a moment of each other’s warmth, Jimin pulled backwards and smoothed Seonghwa's hair back, staring fondly at the younger. “No matter what you think, Hwa, this isn’t your fault.” Jimin murmured and Seonghwa nodded, letting himself be babies for a minute before being sent off his own way. 

“Thank you, hyung.” Seonghwa smiled and Jimin made sure to do the same, nudging him with his elbow towards the path of the medical van. Seonghwa made a show of walking back to the van and shaking head, waving his fists at Jimin's figure and watching as Jimin giggled to himself, delirious with happiness and adrenaline from getting Wooyoung and Yeosang back alive. Seonghwa walked to Yeosang and sat down next to the male, glancing at him to see Yeosang already watching him closely. 

“You seem close.” Yeosang stated, dryly and Seonghwa nodded. With a hum, Yeosang used his arms to push himself upwards and walked further into the van, to the place where the seats were residing and crossed his arms, averting his gaze to watching Wooyoung get bandaged up instead of staring at Seonghwa and his stupidly perfect face. Seonghwa sighed and picked himself up off the edge of the van and instead inside the van, in the very corner and curling upwards, knees to his chest. 

“Hello, you must be Seonghwa!” A cheery voice said and Seonghwa looked up to see a male who had been previously watching Wooyoung get bandaged up, standing in front of him and holding out a hand. Seonghwa reached forward and shook his head, fully well knowing that Yeosang and the others in the van could hear their conversation. 

“How do you know me?” Seonghwa asked and the tall male giggled and sat down next to Seonghwa with much difficulty, folding his long legs underneath him in a messy pile of limbs, or at least that’s what it looked like to Seonghwa.

“Well, I’m Kim Mingyu; I’m friends with Jeon Jungkook, who’s utterly head over heels for your brother. Jungkook talks about you a lot, most of it whining to me about how if he had met Jimin earlier, he would’ve helped raise you because of the way you were brought up. I heard you never left the house once because of your parents.” Mingyu explained and tilted his head to the side in question and Seonghwa shifted uneasily before staring at the opposite wall. 

“The first time I left my parents in my teenage years was the time I moved here and even then, I was constantly watched over. This is the only freedom I’ve ever gotten in my whole entire life.” Seonghwa explained and Mingyu nodded sadly, eyes filled with sympathy.

“Jungkook said that you were the only one that ever got treated like that. They were so protective to the point that you couldn’t even go to a normal school — wait, did you go to a school ever, I can’t remember.” Mingyu interrupted himself, scratching the back of his head, lost. Seonghwa sighed and pursed his lips together. 

“I never went to school, we were so rich my tutors were higher in IQ than everyone in the whole entire school, so there were no worries. I admit, it was ... so ing lonely. I was always the only one in the house and my ... my Appa was the only one that came to see me and sing to me for my ...” Seonghwa trailed off and Mingyu chuckled.

“Insomnia?” Mingyu asked and Seonghwa forced a jerky nod in response, seeing Mingyu flash a toothy smile as though he was a canine. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Jihoon and Seungcheol have insomnia too.” Mingyu said and Seonghwa opened his mouth to speak. 

“But my Eomma ~” Suddenly Jimin was materialising next to him, glaring at Seonghwa, who jumped in surprise. 

“Oh, seriously, Hwa, what that woman says. Appa was two parents in one whilst that woman was off ing any man, she could get her hands on, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the reason all her expenses were declining.” Jimin spat. “She never came to your birthdays, never came home and when she did, she was passed out drunk or bat crazy, shouting at me and Jimin or trying to make a hit on you ~”

“You didn’t tell me this.” Seonghwa breathed and Jimin stilled. 

“You weren’t supposed to find out. Appa thought that you should see Eomma the way you saw her, because you’re the youngest and will take it the hardest. Appa loves you so much, Hwa, he’s willing to hide his hurt and hide the marks on himself Eomma inflicts damage upon when drunk because he doesn’t want you in the way of danger. Just because we’re rich, doesn’t mean we’re perfect.” Jimin told Seonghwa, who felt himself nod against his better self. 

“I know.” Seonghwa said and then Jungkook was beside Jimin, leaning forward to kiss Seonghwa on the temple.

“Love you, Hwa.” Jungkook murmured and then he was dragging Jimin away, who was blowing flying kisses at him, and they disappeared into the other van. The whitish haired male Seonghwa had entrusted Yeosang with got up and closed the door, glancing around the empty space for extra message before slamming the metal door shut. Wooyoung looked so much healthier, being hooked up to an IV, liquid being pumped into him slowly and it seemed as though he was slowly regaining his normal colour once again. He stirred once more, blinking at the ceiling, Yeosang by his side in seconds and squeezing his hand gently, kneeling next to the compactable bed folded into the wall.

“We’re setting off.” Mingyu said, clapping excitedly to himself and Seonghwa barely glanced his way, stomach gnawing a dark pit in his stomach. Maybe it was the anxiety about what was to come, or maybe it was the empty feeling he got when thinking about his Eomma: he had no idea which one it was though.

~/~/~

It's been almost six months since I updated this, aaahh 😪

Anyways, for that, I'm sorry, but my artistic juices weren't flowing, now however, I could create a huge water fall with them. That actually kind of sounds gross now that I think about it, lmao.

Also, so sorry for any grammatical/spelling mistakes that you may — definitely — see, I tried to locate them and edit this to the best of my ability, but my brains mushy right now from online school, since that's actually a permantent thing in my life rn 🥲

Stay happy, healthy and safe! ♡

Eummie