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Chapter Text

Taeyong considered himself to be a good criminal. He was always careful. He was good at being inconspicuous and blending in. He was able to get away with a lot because of his visuals. People liked when he gave them the time of day and that ultimately resulted in their downfall and his own personal gain. All in all, being a criminal just worked for him.

Until it didn’t. It was his fault and his fault alone. He had gotten way too cocky and made a crucial mistake. The man had caught on and phoned the police. Taeyong was able to make it out before anyone could detain him but that call put him on the radar. It didn’t take long for people all over the country to make the connection. They all came forward with different but similar stories about the college student that had managed to scam them out of a few thousand by stealing their credit cards or confidential bank information. Someone leaked his name. It didn’t take long for before Lee Taeyong was a wanted criminal all over South Korea.

So, like. That clearly wasn’t good.

Taeyong could flee the country. He had several fake IDs and enough money to travel to every corner of the world and back. That wasn’t the problem. The people who worked at Incheon weren’t exactly the smartest. He could lie and say that his dark mask and baseball cap were to shield him from anyone from press spotting him. They would believe and some would even ask for autograph even though they had no clue who he was and had never heard his name before. It had worked before.

The issue was getting there. Taeyong was in some residential area of Busan and couldn’t very well leave without someone spotting him. The neighborhood was on high alert after some ahjumma had spotted him coming back from a local convenience store and immediately called the police. That had been over a week ago and the force patrolling the area constantly still hadn’t left. They were on the lookout for a young man that was about 172cm with dark hair and a scar underneath his left eye, waiting patiently in their stupid uniforms and cars to find him and detain him.

All of which meant that Taeyong couldn’t simply call up a taxi and ask to be taken to the airport.

But after taking the time to observe the men sent to find him, Taeyong realized this: the night crew consisted of an older man and a younger woman. The older man always fell asleep at around midnight, leaving his partner alone on patrol and bored out of her mind. It never took long for her to pick up a book and get lost in it until their shift was over. She was currently reading Divergent. Neither on them bothered to pay attention. 

Taeyong had bought a flight to Los Angeles under the name of Kim Minwoo. It took off at 3:24AM and didn’t land until 2:58PM. He left the house a little after midnight. She had already picked up her book and her partner had since fallen asleep. It was the perfect time for him to escape. 

Until it wasn’t.

Taeyong hadn’t even made it past the alleyway that split the house he had been staying in secretly from the one right next to it before his body was being slammed against the brick wall of the house in front of him. He opened his mouth to yell but it was quickly intercepted by a large gloved hand shutting him up. Taeyong strained in their grip. There was no way that the policeman or woman had left the vehicle without him noticing. He would have heard it. He glanced over his shoulder to try and catch a glimpse of the familiar car.

The woman was still in there. Her partner was still sleep. They hadn’t moved an inch. Taeyong didn’t understand. Had he missed another car? He couldn’t have. There wasn’t a single other official car in the area. Whoever it was wasn’t going to catch him this easily. Not when he was so close to escaping all of this for good. 

Taeyong didn’t hesitate before sucking one of the person’s fingers into his mouth and biting down as hard as he could. The pained yell that followed let him know that it was a man that was attempting to detain him. He pulled away with a wince and Taeyong immediately took advantage of the vulnerable position, slipping out of his grasp and sprinting off in the opposite direction. It didn’t take long before loud footsteps were following after him. 

This couldn’t have been a cop. A cop would have told him to stop or pulled out a gun or called for backup. This guy was pursuing him quietly. He didn’t want anyone else to overhear. The thought in itself was a little scary. Taeyong had never considered death when he had first gotten himself into this whole thing.

He hadn’t made it very far before a wall stopped him. Taeyong whirled around, desperately seeking another direction for him to run in. There wasn’t one. The only other option was for him to scale the wall in front of him. He wasn’t fucking Spiderman. The man stopped a few feet ahead of him upon realizing that Taeyong had nowhere else to run. The little smirk on his face made Taeyong want to vomit. 

Who the fuck was this guy? He wasn’t anyone that Taeyong had ever encountered before. Nothing about his face looked familiar. He was extremely tall with dark hair that fell over his forehead. His skin was tanned and there was a long scar that cut through his full lower lip. He was big. Taeyong squinted at him through the darkness of the alley.

“You can’t arrest me without a warrant,” Taeyong finally called, his voice echoing in the otherwise silent alleyway.

“I’m not arresting you,” the man said simply. “I’m taking you to the people who will.”

Fuck. This was bad. This was really fucking bad. Taeyong could talk himself out of a lot but doubted that his clever mouth would work against a bounty hunter. The police in Seoul were offering a pretty penny for any information that led to his capture. Bringing him in resulted in an almost disgusting amount of money. All in all, Taeyong was screwed. He was beyond screwed.

Taeyong stared at the man for a moment. He didn’t have any other option beside this. It wasn’t ideal and definitely wasn’t any good but it was better than him being caught without a struggle. The man croaked out a low noise of surprise at how fast Taeyong was but didn’t falter when Taeyong attempted to run back past him. He caught Taeyong by his arm and immediately threw him back up against the wall, forcing his face into the brick that was slick from the previous rain and covered in smelly moss. Taeyong struggled in his grasp but was only shoved further, this time hard enough to cause his nose to collide with the back and immediately start stinging with pain that traveled all the way up to the front of his skull. 

“Fucking let me go!” Taeyong shouted, feeling blood start to dribble out of his nose that could have very well been broken with how aggressively it was throbbing. 

“Shut the fuck up,” the man hissed in response, digging his sharp elbow into the small of Taeyong’s back before clamping a hand back over his mouth. It was almost like he had forgotten about what had happened earlier because within a single second, Taeyong biting down on his finger. He groaned in pain and Taeyong laughed loudly in victory. The moment only lasted a second before Taeyong’s right arm was being hoisted up over his head and bent in a way that felt like it might snap if pulled back any further. 

Taeyong fucking hated this guy. He whined in pain and gritted his teeth together, still struggling underneath the man’s hold. His arm was shrieking at him to stop. Blood was practically pouring down the lower half of his face. This was easily the worst situation that Taeyong could have gotten himself into.

“You have five seconds to stop struggling before I fucking break it,” the man said from behind him and Taeyong didn’t doubt that he would. 

There was no way for him to get out of this. If he yelled any louder, there was no doubt that the police around the corner would catch on and come arrest him. The situation would only become worse with a broken limb. His only option was to stop resisting. He would find some way to get out of this. It just wouldn’t be now. 

So Taeyong went limp. The man hesitated a moment to see if he was only putting on a front before finally lowering his arm and replacing his grip on Taeyong’s thin wrist. He was grabbing onto it way too tight and Taeyong didn’t doubt that it would soon bruise, wincing quietly at the pain that had started to blossom underneath his skin. The familiar sound of handcuffs was soon followed by the loss of the man’s fingers pressing into his wrist and harsh metal pressing into his sore flesh. Taeyong banged his head against the wall in front of him. This was so fucking bad. Why had he never considered the possibility of a bounty hunter?

Soon after the cuffs came, Taeyong was flipped over onto his back. He looked up to the man smiling down at him all smug. The sight of him led to Taeyong not hesitating a single second before sucking up a disgusting mixture of saliva and blood and spitting straight up into his face. Taeyong practically cackled as he went to wipe it off. 

“That’s a little childish, don’t you think?” the man said, sighing.

“I think that you can eat my fucking ass, you ugly piece of shit,” Taeyong hissed in response, still smiling. His situation clearly hadn’t gotten any better but this was still a small win for him. 

“Well, aren’t you feisty?” the man chuckled. Taeyong only snarled up at him. He wanted to punch him square in his stupid fucking face. “Listen,” he continued, stepping a foot or so back to avoid Taeyong spitting up at him again. “I’m Johnny.”

“I don’t give a shit,” Taeyong snapped because he didn’t. Why would he care about the man who was quite literally mapping out his downfall? More blood poured into his mouth. Whoever the fuck this guy was, he had fucked up his nose pretty bad.

“Alright,” Johnny said, putting his hands up in defeat. “Have it your way.” Without saying anything further, he reached out and grabbed Taeyong by his arm, pulling him up from the wall. Taeyong considered struggling again. Ultimately, he decided against it after realizing that it probably wouldn’t work out too good for him in the end. After all, Johnny sounded pretty serious about breaking his arm.

“Aish,” Johnny continued, starting to walk Taeyong in the direction from which they had come from. The strain of his arms behind his back caused Taeyong to wince quietly with almost every step. “You’re thin. Haven’t eaten in awhile?”

“Fuck you,” Taeyong snapped. Johnny only clicked his tongue in response. 

“We’ll get you something to eat on our way back up to Seoul,” Johnny said. Fuck this guy. Fuck how chipper he was. Taeyong was going to kill him.

Within the next couple of minutes, Taeyong was led back to an old truck. On their way past the car that Taeyong had originally tried to avoid, he found himself almost wishing that the man and woman weren’t as dumb as they were and had caught on to the commotion happening less than ten feet away from them. The more vindictive and bitter part of him wanted Johnny to gain nothing from all of this. The more rational part told him to keep calm. He could get away from Johnny. The police were a whole different story.

Johnny pushed him in the backseat. Taeyong had to prop himself up against the seat behind him. His nose had stopped bleeding but the entire lower half of his face was still covered in blood. Johnny doesn’t fail to notice this and reached in the front, fumbling around for a moment or two before producing a box of Kleenex from the glove compartment. 

“Here,” Johnny said, handing him one. Taeyong only glared at him.

“How the fuck am I supposed to clean off my face while I’m handcuffed, asshole?” Taeyong hissed. Johnny faltered a moment before realizing. He laughed a little and nodded. Taeyong hated him. Why was he laughing this off like this was some sort of a simple misunderstanding?

Taeyong remained still as Johnny cleaned off his face the best he could with the single Kleenex. Once it had soaked up a good amount of his blood, Johnny tossed it on the ground. He looked at Taeyong for a moment before sighing. 

“I can see how you had so many men obsessed with you,” Johnny said, raising a brow. Taeyong had half a mind to spit up at him again. “You’re an Omega, right?”

“None of your fucking business, bitch,” Taeyong said quickly.

“You’re definitely not like any Omega I’ve ever met,” Johnny continued. Taeyong couldn’t take it anymore. He didn’t hesitate before spitting directly into Johnny’s face again. Johnny flinched. 

“Okay, man,” Johnny said, furiously wiping off his face with the sleeve of his shirt. “The next time you do that I’m fucking gagging you.”

“Fuck you,” Taeyong repeated angrily. Johnny’s response to that was to shove his legs the rest of the way back into the truck and slam the door behind him. 

Johnny got into the front seat and started up the car with a loud noise. There was no way that the police would let him pass by without inspecting the inside of his truck. They had been doing that with every single person that came and left the neighborhood. It wouldn’t be any different with him.

Taeyong gawked in shock as Johnny drove past the car. The woman didn’t even bother to glance up from her book, much too interested in the drama of her precious story to notice the vehicle carrying the criminal she had been trusted to apprehend drive away. And these were the people that were supposed to keep Korea safe? Bullshit. 

Johnny glanced at Taeyong through the rearview mirror, offering him a small smile. Taeyong only glared back at him.

“Only four more hours to Seoul!” Johnny said happily. 

Taeyong didn’t respond. Ultimately, that meant he had four more hours to get himself out of this mess and on the first flight to LA.

***

Getting away from Johnny was a lot harder than Taeyong originally thought it would be. 

He couldn’t do anything with handcuffs on. Trying to pretend like he was being kidnapped would do no good seeing that it probably wouldn’t take long for his savior to realize who he was. He had tried to roll over and kick the window before Johnny could pull the truck over but that only resulted in Johnny braking in the middle of the street and coming around to bound his feet together. While doing so, he clamped a hand over Taeyong’s mouth to ensure that he couldn’t try and spit up at him again. Naturally, Taeyong just spit into his palm. Johnny, being true to his word, shoved an old shirt into Taeyong’s mouth and sealed it with tape.

At that point, Johnny was seeming a whole lot like a kidnapper and serial killer rather than a bounty hunter.

Johnny talked way too much. During their drive, Taeyong was forced to listen to him ramble on and on about his childhood and growing up in Chicago and most importantly, how much he had to do to find Taeyong. He also made it a point to say that he personally had no hard feelings against Taeyong. It was just that the fight for work in Korea was becoming harder and harder and Johnny needed to support himself somehow.

Taeyong fucking knew that. It was the whole reason why he had started doing what he did in the first place. That and the fact that he couldn’t see himself working at some boring office up until the point where he had to enlist.

He doesn’t know how long it had been but at a certain point, Johnny is pulling the truck over. They definitely aren’t in Seoul. Taeyong looked around. The area was bare save for an old convenience store and a motel. Johnny hopped out from the front. It wasn’t long until he was cracking open Taeyong’s door, causing him to fall over seeing that it had been the only thing keeping him upright.

“Here’s the deal,” Johnny started lowly, reaching over to sit Taeyong back up again. “I’m gonna take this tape off your mouth and you’re not gonna spit on me. If you do, I’m gonna respectfully beat the shit out of you.”

Taeyong only glared at him. He wasn’t going to spit on him. Not because Johnny scared him or anything but more so that he didn’t want to have to continue the rest of this trip in pain. Johnny hesitated a moment before reaching forward and slowly starting to peel the tape off of Taeyong’s mouth. Each time it lifted up away from his skin, Taeyong fought the urge to wince. Once completely off, Johnny crumpled the tape into a ball in the palm of his hand and tossed it somewhere behind him. Taeyong spit out the shirt himself, flinching at the string of drool that unconsciously  slipped out of his mouth right afterward.

“We’ve got to stay here for tonight,” Johnny explained, pointing back at the motel.

Taeyong squirmed around in his seat. He had been feeling an uncomfortable warmth flow throughout his body for the past half an hour and it was only getting worse. He scowled up at Johnny, shaking his head.

“Fuck you,” Taeyong spat. “I’m not staying anywhere with you.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t think you have much of a choice, do you?” Johnny said, emphasizing his point by practically snatching Taeyong out of the car. Taeyong almost immediately collapsed in the dirt due to a lack of balance caused by his hands and feet being bounded. Johnny sighed and helped him back up, propping him up against the side of the truck. “Apparently someone saw you last night so police are searching the area and a hundred miles out for the next couple of hours,” Johnny continued, slipping back inside the truck in search of something. “If we keep driving like this there’s no doubt they’ll stop me and I don’t exactly want to go to prison for harboring a fugitive.”

“You should go to fucking prison for kidnapping me,” Taeyong hissed, causing Johnny to chuckle from the inside of the car.

“It’s not kidnapping if you’re a criminal,” Johnny pointed out before pulling back out. He was holding the black mask and baseball cap Taeyong had in his bag.

“You’re going through my shit now?” Taeyong snorted.

“Again, you’re a criminal,” Johnny said, lifting Taeyong’s head from the truck to slip both the cap on and the mask underneath his chin. “You don’t have any privacy.”

“So, what?” Taeyong started, glancing back at the motel. “You’re gonna march me in there while I’m handcuffed and expect nobody to ask any questions?”

“No,” Johnny said back, flipping Taeyong around so that he was facing the truck. Taeyong heard the familiar sound of the keys from earlier. “We’re gonna walk in there like a happy little couple and rent a room for the night.”

“I’d literally fucking shoot myself before I ever considered screwing you,” Taeyong hissed through his teeth. Another wave of warmth ran through him, causing him to squirm uncomfortably against the car.

“I’ll try not to take that too personally,” Johnny muttered.

Within the next couple of seconds, the handcuffs were being released from around Taeyong’s wrists. Johnny flipped him back around before he could even think about trying anything, bending down to undo the rope that was bounding his feet together. Taeyong considered running for a moment. Bent down like this, Johnny was definitely vulnerable. But they were in the middle of nowhere. If Johnny didn’t catch up to him on foot, he definitely would in his truck.

“What’s supposed to be stopping me from immediately begging for help the second we get inside?” Taeyong questioned, biting his lip into his mouth. Johnny had done a pretty shit job of cleaning up the blood earlier because Taeyong could still taste it.

“Other than the fact that I’ll literally kick your ass right there and then?” Johnny mumbled, chuckling a little. Taeyong didn’t respond. “I guess the fact that I’ll just call the police and tell them that I’ve got Lee Taeyong. I’d lose out on the money but you’d lose out even more.”

Johnny had a point. With everyone’s hero complex as of late, Taeyong didn’t doubt that whoever was behind that counter would leap at the opportunity to help detain a criminal. He swallowed down a groan and pulled the mask over his mouth. Johnny must take it as him being ready because he doesn’t waste another second before grabbing Taeyong by the wrist and starting up towards the motel.

The inside was as worn and shitty as the outside. The old TV in the corner of the room was playing an episode of some American sitcom. A man sat at the counter, one hand balanced on his face as he watched the show. His name tag said TAEIL. Johnny’s grip loosened on Taeyong’s wrist loosened slightly as they approached him.

“Hey,” Johnny chirped. Taeil glanced up and looked at the two of them boredly. He didn’t look too much older than either of them. “Got any space for two?”

“All of the rooms are open,” Taeil said dryly. “So, yeah. We have space.”

“Cool,” Johnny responded, letting go of Taeyong’s arm completely to reach in his back pocket. Taeyong faltered a moment. He could run. He could fucking run right there and then. They might have been in the middle of nowhere but there had to be somewhere he could hide. “How much?”

Taeil looked over at Taeyong, his gaze lingering on him for a moment before turning his attention back to Johnny. “78,000 won,” Taeil mumbled. Johnny hummed and started counting through the stack of bills he had pulled out. Taeyong noticed Taeil staring at him again. Finally, he spoke, “Isn’t it a little warm outside to be wearing a mask?”

Johnny glanced up at the question. For a moment, Taeyong considered calling Johnny out for what he was doing. It didn’t take long for him to remember what Johnny had told him before coming in. He would only be fucking himself over in the end.

“I’m sick,” Taeyong responded dryly, adding a fake cough to the end for emphasis.

“It’s flu season, you know,” Johnny pointed out, handing Taeil the correct amount of money. “You can keep the change.”

“Gee,” Taeil said sarcastically. “Thanks.” He turned around and grabbed a key down from the shelf behind him. He handed it over to Johnny. “Room 204. To the right, upstairs.”

“Thanks, man,” Johnny smiled. Taeil looked over at Taeyong again, forcing him to offer up the same fake smile underneath his mask.

Once back outside, Johnny grabbed Taeyong’s wrist again. His grip remained tight all the way until they made it into the room and the door had been locked behind them. 

“Smells like mildew in here,” Taeyong muttered, frowning.

“Sorry that it’s not up to your standards,” Johnny responded, making it clear that he didn’t really mean that. He pointed down at the bed furthest from the door. “Go ahead and sit down.”

“Dumb bitch,” Taeyong mumbled underneath his breath but followed instructions regardless. Another wave of heat struck him. He swallowed down a noise of discomfort and flopped down on the bed. 

“Put your hand up,” Johnny said, coming around the side of the bed. Taeyong did so by flashing Johnny his middle finger. “Real mature.” Johnny pulled out the handcuffs from earlier, causing Taeyong to deflate as the metal was slipped around his wrist once again.

“Are you fucking serious?” Taeyong asked as Johnny fastened the other cuff around the headboard of the bed.

“You’re crazy if you thought I was gonna let you sleep like a regular person,” Johnny snorted, moving to slip his jacket off. 

“I fucking hate you,” Taeyong grumbled. “How the fuck am I supposed to sleep like this?”

“Innovation,” Johnny chirped, offering Taeyong a bright smile. Taeyong only scowled at him. “I’m a really light sleeper so I’ll hear it if you try anything during the night.” He walked over to the switch by the door. “Night!”

Without a further warning, the entire room went dark. Taeyong resisted the urge to scream.

***

Taeyong jolted awake in the middle of the night. At first, he isn’t sure what had caused it. In fact, he isn’t really sure where he’s at. He tried stretching his arms above his head but was stopped by the feeling of metal cutting into his skin. Taeyong winced in pain. His whole body felt so sensitive.

A low snore caused him to look to the left. The man in the bed next reminded Taeyong of all that had happened. Him attempting to leave in the dead of night. His face being slammed up against that filthy brick wall and the throbbing of his nose that followed. Johnny. Fucking Johnny. Bringing him to this motel, handcuffing him to this bed like a goddamn animal.

He remembered what Johnny had said about being a light sleeper. Part of him wondered if that was true. An even bigger part of him wanted to escape. He reached up with his free hand into his short hair and pulled out a bobby pin slipped in to keep his bangs out of his face. It was a little hard to pry it open with one hand but Taeyong managed, glancing over at Johnny to make sure that he hadn’t stirred before pushing one edge of the pin into the small opening in the cuffs.

The pin wasn’t even fully in when Taeyong was forced to stop due to a sharp pain in the backside. He dropped his hand from the cuff, swallowing down a whine at the feeling. What the fuck? Taeyong looked down, pushing the pin the whole way into the slot before reaching down to pull up his shirt from where it had stuck to his skin from how much he had been sweating. 

“Fuck,” Taeyong hissed under his breath, shaking his head. There was no fucking way that this was happening to him. Not now. Not there. He inhaled slowly before pushing a hand past the waistband of his sweatpants. He came into contact with something familiar and wet almost immediately. Taeyong groaned quietly. He had to have the worst luck in the entire world. “Fuck. Fuck . You’ve gotta be fucking shitting me.”

He was in heat. He had gone into heat in the middle of night while handcuffed to a bed in a motel in the middle of nowhere beside a man who had practically kidnapped him for money. He was wrong earlier. It could get worse.

Taeyong had to get out of there. He couldn’t be in such a vulnerable position in front of Johnny of all people. He reached up and started to wriggle the pin in the small slot as quickly as he possibly could without making too much noise. It only took a moment of rigorous movement for the rubber end of the pin to fall off and clog the slot. Taeyong exhaled shakily, doing all that he could not to focus on the feeling of a disgustingly copious amount of slick leaking out of him. This was so bad.

It wasn’t long until that familiar primal urge overcame him. Taeyong felt like crying. He actually was crying. He was in so much pain and stuck to a bed with some stranger who was planning on turning him in to the police within a matter of mere hours. Taeyong squirmed around on the bed, hoping that some kind of movement would help subdue his discomfort. As expected, it doesn’t do anything. 

Taeyong can’t take it. If Johnny was going to hold him against his will, he had to deal with the consequences. Taeyong didn’t hesitate a moment longer before picking up a pillow from beside him and chucking it over at Johnny at hard as he was able. True to his word of being a light sleeper, Johnny immediately stirred with the sudden collision before sitting up with a low groan.

“What is wrong—?” Johnny started before being interrupted by Taeyong’s breathless voice.

“I’m in heat,” Taeyong said. “I need you to help.”

Johnny faltered. What Taeyong had said seemed to almost instantaneously wake him up. His eyes went wide for a moment before he was crawling to the edge of the bed and leaning up the flick the switch back on. Taeyong squinted against the unexpected brightness, moving his free hand up to shield himself from the light. 

“Holy shit,” Johnny practically gasped, blinking down at the dark pool of slick that surrounded Taeyong on his bed. Taeyong felt his face go dark at Johnny’s surprise. “What do I—What am I supposed to do?”

Taeyong didn’t fucking know. He had never gone through a heat without someone close to him to help him with. This was the first time that Taeyong had to sit in a puddle of his own slick in front of man who he had only known for the past few hours. Another wave of unbearable pain drove through him.

“I don’t—I don’t know,” Taeyong gasped out. The sweat had started to practically pour down his face now. “Uncuff me.”

Johnny hesitated. “Is this some kind of trick to get me to let you loose?” he asked and Taeyong whined loudly through his gritted teeth. He really wished that this was. It would have been a whole lot better than the cruel reality. 

“You wanna come over here and fucking find out?” Taeyong growled, growing more and more frustrated with the fact that Johnny still hadn’t come over and undone him.

Johnny stood there at the switch for a moment longer, considering the risk of letting Taeyong loose. Taeyong personally didn’t have the patience to watch him stand there like an idiot and sort through every single possibility that came with him setting him free. His entire body throbbed again and Taeyong is pretty sure that he was about five seconds from passing out from a fucking heat stroke.

“I could die,” Taeyong lied quickly, breathing heavily through his mouth. “You can’t get any money for me if I’m dead.”

“I know,” Johnny said back. He sounded extremely frustrated. He ran a hand through his hair and groaned, shaking his head. “Jesus Christ , couldn’t  you have fucking waited or something?”

“I’m so fucking sorry that my heat isn’t convenient for your schedule of kidnapping me,” Taeyong hissed through his teeth.

“It isn’t kidnapping!” Johnny exclaimed defensively.

“I swear to fucking God if you don’t come over here and handcuff me right now I’m gonna scream!” Taeyong practically shouted, beyond done with all of Johnny’s antics.

Johnny only stared at him for a moment longer before walking over, mumbling something underneath his breath. It wasn’t until he was right in front of him that Taeyong realized Johnny was repeatedly cursing to himself. It was starting to become abundantly clear that Johnny had no fucking clue how to handle this which only made the entire situation worse for Taeyong. 

As soon as Johnny undid him, Taeyong slipped his hoodie off. It was way too hot in that fucking room. It was getting harder and harder for him to breathe. He couldn’t believe that he had forgotten to take his heat suppressants. He felt almost as big a dumbass as Johnny who was standing back and watching him suspiciously, waiting for him to make a wrong move.

“You need to leave,” Taeyong mumbled, his face heating up.

“There’s no fucking way in Hell I’m leaving,” Johnny snorted, folding his arms across his chest.

“And there’s no fucking way in Hell I’m doing this in front of you,” Taeyong said tightly. It was starting to become harder and harder for him to think about anything other than getting something inside of him.

Johnny blinked down at the puddle of slick Taeyong was sitting in. Then up at his blotchy face practically covered in sweat. He was frowning all the while.

“I–I’ll turn around,” Johnny finally decided with a small nod, as to convince himself. At that point Taeyong no longer cared. He was only focused on getting himself off and not hurting so much anymore. He started to kick out of his sweatpants, moaning a little at how cool the air of the room felt on his bare legs. Johnny coughed at the sight of his small panties pulled high up on his pale hips. “Oh.”

“What?” Taeyong muttered.

“I didn’t know that omegas actually had, like,” Johnny made this awkward little box with his hands around his crotch. “You know.”

“I don’t know,” Taeyong said even though he did. More slick leaked out of him and he had to resist the urge to whine at the feeling. “Can you fucking turn around already?”

Johnny did so without hesitating which Taeyong was beyond grateful for. He slipped his panties the rest of the way off and bunched them up beside him on the bed. The amount of slick he was producing was obscene. It always had been excessive. Taeyong reached down and pushed his fingers through the mess, his entire body involuntarily jerking with even the small stimulation to his cunt.

He didn’t waste any time before pushing two of his fingers into his hole, unable to stop the whine that came with the sudden stretch. His body sagged in relief as he felt along the walls of his slick hole, head falling back with how fucking amazing it felt. In that moment, Taeyong had no concerns about Johnny or the fact that he could very well be going to prison within the next couple of hours. All he was focused on was the feeling of his fingers stretching out his pussy.

“ Fuck ,” Taeyong breathed quietly, pushing another finger inside of himself. “Oh, my God .”

“Are you okay?” Johnny asked hesitantly.

“I’m good,” Taeyong gasped, fucking all three of his fingers up in search of that sensitive little bundle of nerves that would make him go dumb with pleasure. With another thrust or so, he found it and was unable to stop himself from keening out loudly in pleasure. He felt so fucking good . “I’m so fucking good—ah! Oh, my God, I’m so good, Johnny.”

The hand that wasn’t currently buried in his slick pussy found his clit, his back bending as soon as his fingers found the swollen bud. He whined and began to roll it in frantic circles, chasing an orgasm in order to calm himself down a little. The room was filled with the sounds of him fucking his wet cunt, more slick leaking out around his fingers with each thrust. 

“F–Fuck, Johnny, I—I—,” Taeyong cut himself with a shrill whine as his fingers stabbed into that spot again, causing his pussy to clench wildly. “G–Gonna come, Johnny, I’m—unh!—Oh, God, I’m gonna fucking come.”

True to his word, it only took one more thrust of his fingers before his pussy was clamping down around the digits. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he squirted all over the mattress and himself, mewling and cursing as he continued to fuck himself through his first orgasm of the night.

After that, Taeyong collapsed. He felt a little better but his cunt was still throbbing and steadily leaking slick, coating his thin thighs and the sheets underneath him. He panted quietly, hair stuck to his forehead with how hard he was sweating. It only took a moment of silence before Johnny was pointedly coughing.

“Um,” Johnny said softly, his back still to Taeyong. He no longer sounded frustrated or even slightly irritated like he had earlier. If Taeyong had the right state of mind to, he would have laughed. “Are you done?”

The sound of Johnny’s deep voice caused more slick to drip out from Taeyong’s pussy. He wasn’t an alpha or even a beta but there was this feeling of inherent dominance about him that made Taeyong want to immediately submit to him while in his current state.

“No,” Taeyong breathed, shaking his head although Johnny couldn’t see him. “I really need—I really—,” Taeyong stopped to inhale, getting all worked up without even realizing it. “C–Can you fuck me please?”

“ What?” Johnny asked sharply. “I’m not—Dude, I’m not even an alpha.”

“I don’t care,” Taeyong whined desperately. “I’m so wet, Johnny. I’m never gonna get over this with only my fingers.” Johnny still didn’t move after that and Taeyong pushed himself up, crawling through the mess of slick and come on the mattress to crawl to the edge of the bed. “Johnny, please. I’ll die if you don’t fuck me.”

Johnny coughed again. “You’ll really die?” he said, still sounding a bit uncertain with it all. Taeyong was really glad that Johnny was as ignorant as he was.

“Yeah,” Taeyong breathed, feeling his body start to shake again. “I need you so fucking bad, Johnny.”

That seemed to be enough to convince him. Johnny inhaled lowly through his nose before turning around. The first thing Taeyong noticed was the full tent in the front of his pants. He laughed a little, still drowsy but coherent enough to find humor in the fact that he had successfully made Johnny hard.

“Holy fucking shit,” Johnny whispered, drinking in Taeyong in all his glory. He looked a proper mess; hair all stuck to his forehead, his face a bright pink with slick coating almost his entire bottom half. His shirt was falling off his shoulder and a little damp from where he had come. He looked so small like that, all thin and ready for Johnny to use him however he wanted not because he wanted it himself but because he needed it. “You’re a mess.”

“Please,” Taeyong repeated, his voice barely audible in the quiet room. That was all it took for Johnny to come over, pausing a moment to appreciate Taeyong up close before pulling him in for a kiss.

Taeyong immediately let Johnny take control, moaning quietly into his mouth as their tongues moved together. If he knew any better, Taeyong would have thought about how ridiculous it was for them to be frantically making out when Johnny had threatened to break his arm mere hours earlier. It was kind of funny how quickly everything had changed.

Johnny reached a hand down and ran two of his fingers through the mess of slick and come coating Taeyong’s pussy, causing him to whimper loudly at the sensation. He rolled his hips down into Johnny’s hand, gasping when Johnny pushed both of the fingers inside of him. They were so much thicker and longer than his own, reaching deep inside him without even having to move. Johnny is still steadily kissing him while starting to fuck him with his fingers, the squelching of Taeyong’s wet cunt and their lips working together filling the room.

“You’re so fucking wet,” Johnny groaned, pulling away to mouth at Taeyong’s neck wetly. Taeyong only mewled in response, desperately chasing his second orgasm. “God, you’re fucking soaking .”

Johnny found his special spot pretty quickly, not wasting any time before beginning to fuck both of his fingers against it. Taeyong seized up, his body still sensitive from having come earlier. Even so, he chased the feeling, practically riding Johnny’s hand as he continued to rub along his walls. It felt so good. Every single part of Taeyong’s body felt amazing right there in that moment.

“ Johnny ,” Taeyong gasped desperately when Johnny’s other hand found his clit, pinching it and causing him to squeal loudly in surprise. 

“Gonna come?” Johnny asked, his voice low with lust. Taeyong only barely managed to nod in response.

With that, Johnny pushed him down onto his back and hitched both of his legs open, lowering himself down onto his knees. He rolled Taeyong’s clit a few more times before pulling his hand back and replacing it with his mouth, sucking the hard bud in between his lips while continuing to ran into Taeyong with his fingers. Taeyong practically screamed at that, his sight going black for a moment as he came for a second time that night, gushing all over Johnny’s hand and his face.

Even through his orgasm, Johnny doesn’t stop fucking him. Taeyong wants to curl in on himself with how brutally Johnny was still going in on him, almost literally sucking the come from his cunt. Taeyong squeaked, trying to push Johnny’s head from between his thighs. Johnny ignored him completely, continuing to fuck him until Taeyong simply couldn’t take it anymore and came again, squirting weakly around Johnny’s thick fingers.

After that, Johnny pulled back. He no longer looked hesitant and tentative about the situation. His mouth and chin were covered in Taeyong’s slick and Taeyong moaned at te sight of it, his pussy twitching at how depraved it all was. It was almost like he had make Johnny into his own personal alpha in rut, as desperate and needy to fuck as he was.

“Fuck me,” Taeyong growled, pulling Johnny up for another kiss. The taste of his slick overpowered their embrace, filling his senses with his own sweetness. He reached down and palmed Johnny’s cock through his jeans, causing him to moan lowly in his mouth.

Unbuttoning Johnny’s pants proved to be a lot easier than Taeyong had expected it to be with how badly his hands were shaking. He didn’t waste any time before grabbing hold of Johnny’s cock, swiping his thumb across the head through the mess of pre–come that had gathered there. He was so big; big enough for Taeyong’s pheromone–muddled mind to confuse him for an alpha. More slick leaked out of him at the thought of Johnny knotting him, filling his tiny cunt with his come. 

“I’m gonna fuck you so hard,” Johnny growled, his breath hot against Taeyong’s neck. “Ruining all of my fucking plans because you couldn’t help but act like a come–dumb little bitch.”

Taeyong sobbed at that, nodding his head frantically. He loved the fact that Johnny was talking to him so dirtily. He couldn’t stand it anymore. He needed Johnny to fuck the breath straight from his lungs. He wanted to be fucked to the point where he couldn’t form a coherent sentence. Taeyong needed it.

Luckily for him, he only had to wait a moment or two longer before Johnny was flipping him over onto his hands and knees. His mind went blank as Johnny smacked his ass with the heel of his large hand, sending a tremor of pain shooting up his spine. Taeyong whined in protest but was quickly silenced by Johnny’s other hand gripping him by either side of his face, smushing his cheeks together.

“Shut the fuck up or I won’t fuck you,” Johnny warned, his grip so tight that it hurt. Taeyong held in a moan but exhaled a little shakily, resisting the urge to cry. He needed Johnny to fuck him. Johnny laughed darkly at Taeyong’s immediate compliance, giving his cheeks one last squeeze before dropping from his face. “Not so cocky now, huh?”

It was then that Taeyong realized Johnny was probably only taking control because of how difficult he was being earlier. All the spitting and the fighting and the name–calling Taeyong had forced Johnny to endure was finally going to be paid back. The thought of it made him tremble, especially when he felt Johnny’s large hands come to settle on either side of his hips, moving up to push up his shirt and caress the soft skin of his waist.

“Is this how you stole all that money from those men?” Johnny asked, dragging his finger along the length of Taeyong’s spine slowly. It was. His body and overall appearance was the only reason why those lonely men were so ready to give him all the information he needed to bleed them dry. It wouldn’t work without his looks.

More slick leaked out of his cunt and trailed down his thigh, causing goosebumps to pop up along his skin. He whined gently, so impatient but still wanting to be good for Johnny the way his body was telling him to.

“Alpha,” Taeyong mumbled and Johnny almost immediately barked out a laugh from behind him.

“I’m not an alpha, dumb bitch,” Johnny said back, wrapping his hand around his cock. “I’m just some random man that you’re begging to fuck you.”

And with that, Johnny pushed his cock deep inside of Taeyong in a single thrust. Taeyong gasped inwardly with the sudden stretch, making such a violent sound that it almost worried Johnny. His head dropped in between his arms, breathing heavily as his body sped to accommodate Johnny’s thick length inside of him. It felt so good being so full. Taeyong was going to lose his fucking mind.

“Christ, you’re so tight,” Johnny groaned, squeezing down tight on Taeyong’s slim waist. 

“So big, alpha,” Taeyong breathed, smiling drowsily at the feeling of finally being filled up by a cock. Drool leaked out from his mouth onto the pillow underneath him. 

Johnny scoffed quietly before starting to move, dragging his thick cock along Taeyong’s sensitive walls, stretching him so much that Taeyong thought he might rip him straight open. He gasped, fucking back onto Johnny’s cock even with his painfully slow thrusts. For a short moment, being all filled and full was almost enough. His head was so fuzzy. All he could think about was Johnny’s cock.

Johnny carded his fingers into Taeyong’s hair and pulled, fucking into him even harder than before and causing the other to hiccup loudly. The smack of skin against skin and the squelching of his own wet pussy was all Taeyong could hear. The drag of Johnny’s cock in his cunt reshaping his walls made him feel so delirious. More drool slipped out of his mouth as he moaned repeatedly, gasping noisily each time Johnny fucked into him. He loved this so much. It felt like he could get addicted to this.

He accepted it as Johnny shoved three of his fingers into his mouth, practically choking him as he continued to fuck him. Slick was almost pouring out of him and more only came each time that Johnny stabbed into him, costing his thick cock in all of his fluids.

“God, you’re like a fucking faucet,” Johnny mumbled, reaching a hand down to drag his fingers through the mess between Taeyong’s thighs, slapping his pussy on the way back up and causing Taeyong to cry out loudly. “You’re that wet for me?”

“Yeah,” Taeyong whined, fucking himself back onto Johnny’s cock without even realizing it. “I’m so wet for you, alpha. Needed you to fuck me so bad.”

“Slut,” Johnny growled, fucking into Taeyong even harder with the confession, snapping his hips against his ass. “Remember when you said that you’d shoot yourself before you even consider fucking me?”

“‘m sorry,” Taeyong gasped out desperately, shaking his head. “‘m so sorry, alpha. Please keep fucking me, ‘m so sorry I was so mean to you, alpha.”

“And what about all those other men?” Johnny asked, finally finding that sensitive little bundle of nerves inside of Taeyong that made him scream out in pleasure, gasping repeatedly to catch his breath all while begging for Johnny to fuck him harder, desperate after that sharp stab of pleasure that had rolled up his body. Johnny only forced his fingers further down Taeyong’s throat, gagging him and efficiently shutting him up. “Shut the fuck up, you greedy little cunt. You don’t fucking tell me what to do.”

“ Sorr–ee ,” Taeyong slurred around Johnny’s fingers, choking himself more as he spoke. His eyes rolled to the back of his head when Johnny slammed into him again, the head of his cock spearing into that special spot again and again and again until he couldn’t see straight anymore.

He can’t even warn Johnny that it’s happening. He hadn’t even known it was going to happen himself. Either way, with one last thrust, Taeyong was keening loudly and clenching down hard around Johnny’s cock, his entire body trembling as he squirted again, soaking the sheets under him. He was having trouble breathing with Johnny’s fingers in his mouth and his sight blacked out for the second time that night. He doesn’t know for how long, only knew that by the time he had come back, Johnny had flipped him over onto his back and was pushing his cock into his ass, using the copious amounts of his slick as lube.

“Oh, my God,” Taeyong whined, his back arching against the mattress as Johnny bottomed out inside of him, stretching his ass open like never before. It had been so long since anyone had even touched him down there so to have someone as big as Johnny splitting him open had Taeyong’s head spinning. More slick drooled out from his pussy, making Taeyong feel like he could very well pass out at any moment. This was all so much.

“How are you this fucking tight?” Johnny mumbled, holding Taeyong’s leg up high over his head as he continued to fuck his ass. He slipped a hand under Taeyong’s shirt and pushed it up, feeling over his soft, undefined stomach and chest. Taeyong mewled when Johnny started tweaking at his nipples, electrifying his entire body.

Taeyong couldn’t respond, too weak to do anything other than lay there and let Johnny fuck his hole, still stimulating his pussy in a way that made him almost dumb. He was reduced to a mess of moans and slick and come and an overwhelming want for Johnny to fucking ruin him more than he already was. His eyes kept rolling to the back of his head and he was feeling more overstimulated than ever, pussy red and throbbing as more slick continued to leak out with each thrust Johnny gave him.

“J–Johnny, I—unh!—fuck, Johnny, I—!” Taeyong moaned loudly when Johnny slammed into him anything, his ass sore but so, so full. He moved a hand down to his clit, breath hitching the moment that his fingers came in contact with the swollen bud. His greed only led to him pushing three of his fingers into his slick cunt, his entire body twitching at the feeling of being full from both ends.

“You’re so fucking disgusting,” Johnny growled, bending down to kiss Taeyong again, taking control easily seeing that Taeyong could only lie there and breathe heavily into his mouth, fucking himself rapidly with his fingers as Johnny kept slamming into his hole. “Such a whore,” he mumbled into Taeyong’s mouth, swallowing down all of his pretty little noises.

“Your whore,” Taeyong breathed, squealing a bit when Johnny fucked into him hard the same time that he slammed into that swollen bundle of nerves inside of him. Johnny chuckled a little and moved his hand from Taeyong’s chest to his clit, flicking it back and forth. “Fuckfuckfuckfuck—I—J–Johnny, alpha, please , please—Oh, my God—!”

It was all too much. Johnny filling his hole and stimulating him so much Taeyong felt like bleaching out completely. His fingers fucking himself relentlessly, more slick dripping out around them with each thrust. Johnny rubbing at his clit. He couldn’t take it anymore. It seemed like all the breath left his chest as he came again, his cunt squeezing hard around his fingers as more slick gushed out of him. Johnny hadn’t let up at all, fucking him with abandon. 

“Gonna fill up your pretty little ass,” Johnny growled, shoving his fingers back into Taeyong’s mouth as he started to fuck into him harder than before. It wasn’t too long after that until Taeyong felt Johnny coming inside of him, each streak hot and wet inside of him. He came again at the sensation, squirting a pathetic amount on himself. It felt so good being filled and Johnny had so much. Taeyong felt like his stomach would swell with the amount of come inside of him.

It was almost like Johnny knew that Taeyong still wasn’t back to normal, like he could still use a little more to push him over that edge because after pulling out, he didn’t waste any time before bending down and sucking Taeyong’s clit into his mouth. Taeyong tried to push him away, his thighs closing around Johnny’s head but Johnny was stronger, holding his legs open as he licked over his swollen bud, drinking up his slick.

“I–I’m gonna—Oh, my God, Johnny, I—P–Please—I think I’m gonna pass out,” Taeyong moaned, his body trembling uncontrollably. Johnny responded by pushing two of his fingers back inside of him, spitting on his clit before starting to fuck him again.

“Come again,” Johnny mumbled darkly, his breath hot  against Taeyong’s pussy. “Come on.”

It didn’t take too much longer before Taeyong was clenching around Johnny’s fingers and coming for the umpteeth time that night, only able to take one more squeeze of his clit before he was squirting one last time, whining noisily as Johnny sucked most of it up into his mouth. After that, everything went black.

When he came back to, Johnny was standing above him, frowning. Even though he had redressed himself, he still looked debauched, his hair messy across his forehead and his skin covered in a sheen of sweat and marred in bruises that Taeyong didn’t remember creating. He raised an eyebrow when Taeyong’s eyes fluttered open, letting out a small sigh of relief. 

“Jesus,” Johnny mumbled as Taeyong sat up on shaky hands, looking down at himself. He looked an absolute mess. His entire lower half was drenched and his cunt was twinged a soft red. It was disgusting. He sighed and a hand through his hair only to pull away quickly, realizing that his hair had somehow gotten wet, too. 

“You couldn’t have cleaned me up?” Taeyong huffed, frowning. He no longer that overwhelming heat from earlier but knew that there was only about an hour or so left before it would return full–force.

“Sorry,” Johnny said, handing Taeyong a shirt that he must have gotten from his car and a washcloth from the bathroom. Taeyong glared at him for a moment before taking it, rubbing the rag against his pussy. It seemed like way too intimate a thing to do with Johnny right in front of him but he figured that after everything that had happened, this was probably the mildest thing for him. “I’ve never had anyone pass out on me before.” 

Taeyong felt something drip down his neck and raised the washcloth to where it had fallen, wiping it up. He pulled it back and looked at it, frowning upon seeing that it was blood. 

“What the fuck?” Taeyong whispered to himself, dropping the rag to touch the side of his neck. I took him a moment find the spot that was bleeding but once he did, Taeyong’s stomach dropped. He whipped his hand away from his neck, glaring up at Johnny who at least had the decency to look sheepish. “Did you fucking—?”

“Listen,” Johnny said slowly. “I didn’t know until it happened.”

“You’re a fucking alpha ?” Taeyong screeched, throwing the rag at Johnny who barely managed to dodge it. There was no fucking way . The universe didn’t hate him that much.

“ No ,” Johnny defended sharply. He paused. “I mean, I don’t think I am. I didn’t knot you.”

“You still came in me ,” Taeyong pointed out angrily.

“In your ass!” Johnny said. “That, like, doesn’t count!” Taeyong picked up a pillow and chucked it straight at Johnny’s face. This time, he wasn’t quick enough to duck away from it.

“Yes, it fucking does, you stupid piece of shit!” Taeyong yelled because he genuinely couldn’t believe that Johnny had been stupid enough to bond him. 

“I’m not an alpha!” Johnny said which Taeyong genuinely wanted to believe but was having a hard time doing considering the prominent bite on his neck.

“Well, you’re fucking something !” Taeyong snapped, slipping on the shirt Johnny had given him. He pushed himself up from off the bed and huffed angrily, standing on shaky feet and nearly falling. Johnny only watched him as he searched frantically around the room for his bottoms.

“What are you doing?” Johnny asked quietly.

“I’d literally rather get arrested than have to be bonded to whatever the fuck you are for the rest of my life,” Taeyong hissed in response. He spotted his sweatpants underneath the bed and bent down to retrieve them but was interrupted by a sharp pain stabbing him directly in the small of his back, causing him to fall. He felt more slick drip out from his cunt, replacing what he had cleaned up minutes earlier. Irritation flowed through him like hot lava. “Fuck!” Taeyong gritted through his teeth because he hated this fucking situation and he hated Johnny even more.

Johnny started at him from where he was standing beside the bed, looking so obviously clueless and out of his own mind. Taeyong exhaled slowly through his nose and blinked down at the carpet underneath him before looking up at Johnny. The desperation was already coming back.

“Well, are you gonna stand there like a fucking idiot or are you gonna help me?”

Chapter Text

Taeyong needed to escape. This was still a given.

Him and Johnny had been stuck with each other for the past three and a half days and Taeyong couldn’t fucking taking it anymore. The way his neck would throb each time that his heat flared up, leaving him with his undeniable want for Johnny who he still had no fucking clue what he was. How he would ultimately have to give into it because of the pain that felt like it could literally kill him if he didn’t. He had never understood people’s hatred for being an omega up until this point.

And, sure, getting fucked stupid every single day multiple times a day wasn’t really the worst thing in the world but still. It was the principle of it. Taeyong should have been in this situation in the first place. He wouldn’t wake up in the middle of the night covered in sweat fucking aching for Johnny’s cock if the two of them had never crossed paths. When he wasn’t busy getting his ass railed until drool dripped down his chin like a dog, Taeyong was trying his best to figure out a feasible way for him to get the fuck out and as far away from Johnny as humanly possible.

Which was what Taeyong was going to do now. Usually Johnny would keep him handcuffed to the bed at night but Taeyong had managed to talk him down, saying that he still needed to be able to get off during the night and wouldn’t be able to with his wrist stuck to the bed. Johnny hesitated a moment before sighing and unlocking the cuff, stuffing it into the pocket of his shorts. Taeyong had been all incoherent and barely able to speak clearly for the past couple of days. What would change about it now? He wasn’t planning anything malicious. He wasn’t in the right mindset to.

That was true up until that afternoon. Ever since his last orgasm right after Johnny had walked in cradling food from the diner across the street and saw Taeyong rubbing his cunt against the pillow Johnny had last slept on, whining senseless as he chased some kind of release, Taeyong felt fine. He didn’t feel completely normal—that probably wouldn’t come for a few more days or so—but for the first time in a long time, Taeyong felt like he could function for more than ten minutes without knotknotknot constantly assaulting his brain and the second he realized that, Taeyong started formulating his plan.

Johnny was asleep on the bed across from him, an arm thrown over his face as he snored loudly. He hadn’t bothered to cover himself up. Taeyong stared at him carefully as he pushed up and off of the bed, standing as quietly as possible. This was his only chance to get away from Johnny for good. He would still be physically attached to him because of the bondmark but that was something that could be worried about later. After all, Taeyong still had no fucking idea what exactly Johnny was.

His bag was still in Johnny’s car but his phone wasn’t. Johnny had brought that about a day ago and scrolled through it much to Taeyong’s disapproval. He scoffed and shook his head at all of the conversations Taeyong had going with men all over the world, promising them each something different. Taeyong had cursed at Johnny and called his mother some colorful names before slick started leaking out of his pussy again. In that moment, Taeyong felt like he could have cried. Instead, he let Johnny fuck his ass against the TV stand.

Johnny hadn’t hidden his phone, making it easy for Taeyong to find and slip into the pocket of his sweatpants. He glanced back at Johnny’s sleeping frame once again before walking slowly over to the front of his bed, bending down to grab hold of the bag sitting at the foot. Looking inside, Taeyong saw that it held many of Johnny’s personal items along with a thick wad of money secured with a rubber band and a gun. He couldn’t help but snort at the sight of it. What kind of an idiot left all of his shit out in the open like that? 

Taeyong slipped the bag over his shoulder, pulling the mask from earlier up over his mouth before going to stand. The first thing he saw was the bed that was now empty. It didn’t take too long for his eyes to land on Johnny who was now standing about a foot away from him all cocky and dumb–looking. 

Taeyong cursed under his breath. Either he wasn’t as good at being quiet as he thought he was or Johnny was elusive as hell. He looked at the door. He looked back at Johnny.

Then, he ran.

Johnny is on him before his hand could even close around the doorknob, picking him up by the waist and throwing him to the ground. The breath is knocked straight out of Taeyong’s chest with how hard Johnny had tossed him. He clutched his shoulder in pain, wincing through his teeth right as Johnny started to walk over to restrain him again. Taeyong didn’t hesitate before sticking his foot out, causing Johnny to stumble and fall to the ground with a loud groan. With Johnny now on the floor, Taeyong scrambled up and ran for the door again, only to be stopped by a sharp kick right in the back of his knee.

Taeyong cried out loudly in pain and fell back to the floor where Johnny took advantage of his vulnerability to straddle him, forcing his arms above his head. It wasn’t until Johnny reached in his pocket for the handcuffs that Taeyong sat up and headbutted him as hard as he physically could. Johnny practically shrieked, his hands flying up to cover his nose that had started to bleed. Taeyong used this as an opportunity to flip him over onto his back, trapping him there with his knees on either side of his body. Johnny tried to fight against it but Taeyong was quicker, snatching the cuffs from out his pocket and fastening one end to Johnny’s wrist and the other to the leg of the bed. 

Johnny tried his hardest to set himself free, struggling noisily as he pulled at his cuffs so hard that Taeyong could start to see it dig into the flesh of his wrist. Once sure that Johnny couldn’t go anywhere, he climbed off of his lap and sat down on the floor next to him, panting quietly. He felt something drip down his lip and lifted up a hand only to find out that his nose was bleeding as violently as Johnny’s.

“Let me go!” Johnny demanded through gritted teeth. Taeyong ignored him and grabbed his bag that had gotten knocked off from his shoulder during their struggle, rummaging through it until he found the key to the handcuffs. Johnny only started to fight harder once Taeyong had pulled them out from the bag, causing Taeyong to laugh breathlessly at the sight of him. 

“Or what?” Taeyong asked, dangling the keys in front of Johnny’s face. “What are you gonna do if I don’t, bitch?”

“Dude, you’ve really got to come up with another insult,” Johnny snapped, kicking his leg out. Taeyong moved away before it could connect with him. 

“Fuck you,” Taeyong said back, pushing some of his hair off of his face. This definitely hadn’t been the way he wanted it to go but this almost seemed better than his previous plan. Johnny couldn’t come chasing after him if he was bounded a bed by steel. He started to go through Johnny’s bag again, tossing out various things in his search. “Where are your car keys?”

“Up my fucking ass,” Johnny seethed, using his free hand to try and fiddle with the handcuffs. Taeyong scooted over and smacked it away, sitting down on it before Johnny could do anything further. He doubted that Johnny could do anything to get out of the cuffs but still didn’t want to risk it—not when he was this close to getting away from him for good. 

When Taeyong grew tired of searching through the mess in Johnny’s bag, he turned it over on the floor and started sorting through the clutter there. It didn’t take long for him to figure out that the keys weren’t in there and Taeyong cursed to himself, wiping his face again as more blood dripped out from his nose. He looked back at Johnny still struggling to get free with both of his hands now trapped. His eyes shifted down.

“Get the fuck off of me!” Johnny shouted as Taeyong started to pat him down, feeling along the entire length of his body until he came in contact with a hard lump in Johnny’s left pocket. He smiled brightly and reached inside, snatching the keys out despite all of Johnny’s flailing. “Hel—!”

Taeyong was quick to jump back on top of Johnny, pushing both hands over his mouth. Johnny’s shouting is muffled by his palms but Taeyong’s heart was still racing wildly. What if someone had overheard? How long until they started to actively search for whoever had cried out for help? He felt Johnny’s mouth flex against his palms and was quick to fit one of his hand’s on the bottom of Johnny’s chin, sealing his mouth shut. He wasn’t stupid enough to not recognize when someone was gearing up to bite him. 

Unfortunately, Taeyong hadn’t realized that he had dropped the keys in his fight to keep Johnny quiet. He noticed Johnny reaching out for them when it was too late, leaping to try and stop him from getting them but ultimately failing as Johnny took advantage of the fact that Taeyong’s hands weren’t covering his mouth and stuffed the loop of metal inside. Taeyong’s eyes went wide at the sight of it.

“Are you fucking—?” Taeyong breathed, climbing back on top of Johnny and slapping his cheek to try and get him to open up. Johnny wouldn’t budge. He went dizzy with frustration. “You can’t fucking swallow them without killing yourself, dumbass!”

Johnny tried to say something back but only choked wetly on the metal in his mouth. Taeyong fit both hands on his chin and his upper lip, attempting to push it open that way. Johnny kept his mouth sealed shut.

“You are such a stupid piece of shit!” Taeyong shrieked, smacking Johnny’s cheek again. The sound echoed loudly throughout the room. He didn’t care anymore. He couldn’t go anywhere without Johnny’s car. Trying to make it all the way to Seoul on foot was basically suicide. He sat back down on Johnny’s lap frustratedly to try and think of something else to get Johnny to spit up the keys but quickly sat back up upon feeling a familiar hardness against his ass. He whipped around at the sensation before looking back at Johnny. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Johnny only blinked up at him. He didn’t even have the decency to look sheepish. Taeyong scoffed and shook his head. He went to sit back down on Johnny’s lap but was stopped again by the feeling of his hole leaking. Taeyong wanted to scream. Fuck being an omega. Fuck Johnny. Fuck him getting weirdly hard and triggering his heat again. He bent down and buried his face into Johnny’s chest, muffling a scream into the fabric of his shirt. It was like there was some force working against him. Maybe all the shit he did to all those people was starting to get back to him. Wasn’t that how karma worked?

Taeyong sat there for a moment, contemplating what to do. He couldn’t leave without fixing this somehow. He wouldn’t survive. He huffed and blinked down at Johnny, his cheeks all puffed out from the metal stuffed in his mouth. Taeyong wanted to smack him. 

“Fine,” Taeyong mumbled to himself before pulling his sweatpants down past his hips. This was strictly business. No begging and crying. Johnny didn’t even bat an eye as Taeyong went to undo the zipper of his shorts. Taeyong literally wanted to punch him. 

Johnny groaned lowly the moment that Taeyong pushed his panties to his side and immediately speared himself on his cock, his head falling back at the feeling of Johnny’s thick length stretching him open. It never got old. A shaky breath left Taeyong as Johnny bottomed out inside of him, filling him to the brim.

He didn’t waste any time before building up a rhythm fucking himself on Johnny’s cock, bracing both hands on his chest to help him move easier. His could feel his pussy start to throb as Johnny’s cock dragged along his wet walls, reshaping his cunt like he had done so many times before. For some that was such an idiot, Johnny had the dick of a God. If Taeyong didn’t hate him so much, he didn’t think he would mind dying with Johnny’s cock buried deep in his cunt.

He isn’t sure what Johnny had spit out the keys but he had and they were lying all wet and covered in saliva next to his head. Even in his heat–induced haze, Taeyong knew enough to at least try and reach for them. Unfortunately for him, Johnny was much faster and balled them up in his fist, causing Taeyong to whine in frustration, still steadily bouncing up and down on Johnny’s cock. He could deal with it later. Right now, coming was his only objective.

Johnny chuckled lowly, hands coming up to hold onto Taeyong’s slim waist as he lifted up off of his length until the tip was barely inside of him before slamming back down, gasping at the sharp stab of pleasure that rolled through his body immediately afterward. He hated the fact that Johnny was holding him but couldn’t deny the fact that Johnny’s touch was welcomed. The feeling of his calloused palms sent shocks of electricity through Taeyong’s body. He didn’t know why.

“Is this the only reason why you wanted to get me like this?” Johnny asked darkly, hands moving down to slip underneath the elastic of Taeyong’s soft panties, feeling along his small ass. “So that you could get your pussy fucked?” Taeyong gasped as the head of Johnny’s cock brushed past that little bundle of nerves inside of him, his heart racing. He started bouncing faster, eager to feel that shockwave of pleasure again. He needed it. “All you had to do was ask, sweetheart.”

“Shut up,” Taeyong breathed, shaking his head. He didn’t want Johnny to talk to him, didn’t like the way that his cunt would leak around Johnny’s cock with each dirty thing that left his mouth. His eyes rolled back a little as Johnny’s cock slammed into that spot again, letting out a soft moan. That was what he needed. He started to roll his hips against Johnny’s lap, his pussy practically drooling as the small bundle of nerves was continuously stimulated.

“Come on, baby,” Johnny tried again, panting quietly as Taeyong continued to work his cock, whimpering and mewling with each bounce. “I could make you feel so much better. Just unlock me.”

Taeyong shook his head again. He was starting to lose his grip on coherency but knew that didn’t sound right. Johnny needed to stay handcuffed. He knew that in a different position, Johnny could rail into him repeatedly and make him cry but now wasn’t the time. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

But, Johnny is pulling him down with his one free hand and kissing him. The taste of blood in both of their mouths should have been disgusting but Taeyong couldn’t stop himself from immediately licking into Johnny’s mouth, moaning softly as Johnny started to fuck his hips up to meet his short bounces. It soon became too much for him to handle and Taeyong was sobbing softly, letting Johnny hold him by his waist and fuck into his wet hole. He felt Johnny’s tongue drag up the side of his neck, soothing the bite that still hadn’t healed.

“Be good for alpha, yeah?” Johnny tried again, relishing in the way that Taeyong gasped after a particularly hard thrust. “Give him the key.”

Johnny was teasing him. Fucking him hard but not giving him enough to where he could come. Taeyong couldn’t stand it anymore. His mind was too muddled with his heat. He nodded obediently before reaching behind him to pick up the key from the floor, handing it over to Johnny without hesitating. Johnny mumbled something to him that Taeyong couldn’t comprehend, moaning as Johnny thrusted up into him again.

As soon as he had uncuffed himself, Johnny stuffed both the cuffs and the key under the bed where Taeyong wasn’t able to reach. He fucked up into him a couple more times before pulling out completely, flipping Taeyong back onto his back. He pulled Taeyong’s panties the rest of the way off and tossed them somewhere across the room, not wasting a moment before dragging two of his long fingers through the mess of slick on Taeyong’s cunt. Taeyong hissed sharply when Johnny’s fingers came in contact with his clit, sucking in a huge amount of air as Johnny pushed both of his fingers inside of him suddenly before pulling out. Taeyong whined, hips wriggling in a silent plea for Johnny to fill him back up—with either his fingers, his cock or both.

Johnny decided to move those two fingers up, pressing them into Taeyong’s willing mouth and pushing until Taeyong choked and gagged, his throat working to spit Johnny’s fingers back up. Johnny ignored it, using his other hand to aim his cock against Taeyong’s slick hole, pushing inside.

Taeyong garbled something around his fingers at the pressure of his cock slipping back inside of him, his back arching against the ground. Johnny smiled a little as Taeyong’s eyes went somewhat crossed with the first thrust he gave. It was so cute that he was able to control him with his cock.

Johnny felt so good inside of him. In this position, Taeyong couldn’t control how much of Johnny he got and how fast he got him. It was whatever Johnny decided to give him and that almost made it better for him. He squealed noisily around Johnny’s fingers as Johnny slammed into him, keeping a firm hold on his hips to ensure that he couldn’t try to escape the feeling of his cock spearing him open.

Drool had started to drip down Johnny’s fingers and Taeyong’s chin as he really gave into Johnny’s cock, lying back and letting Johnny screw him absolutely stupid. His cunt was throbbing, leaking messily around Johnny’s length and squelching all filthy and noisy each time that Johnny thrusted into him. He swallowed around Johnny’s fingers, almost choking on the spit that slipped down his throat. It felt like he couldn’t breathe with Johnny’s fingers as deep inside of him as they were.

The pleasure only intensified when Johnny turned him over to his side, pushing one of his legs up before continuint to fuck into him. It was almost like Taeyong could feel Johnny’s cock literally moving around inside of him, fucking into places he probably shouldn’t have been in. His eyes rolled back at the thought of Johnny reshaping his cunt, leaving it all wrecked for the next person who got to fuck him. Johnny pushed his fingers down even further into his throat and Taeyong gagged loudly, his throat working hard to push Johnny’s digits out. More spit dribbled down his chin as he whined, rolling his hips down to meet Johnny’s hard thrusts, undoubtedly bruising his sensitive little cunt.

Johnny pulled his fingers out finally and Taeyong couldn’t stop the string of drool that slipped out of his mouth afterward. He gasped a little as Johnny wiped his wet fingers against his cheek, smearing his own saliva into his skin while violating his hole. He couldn’t help but flinch when Johnny grabbed his face from either side, forcing him to look up.

“Stop trying to get away from me,” Johnny growled, tightening his grip on his face as Taeyong blinked up at him with blown pupils, mouth open and constantly letting out little moans and sharp, desperate intake of air. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“I’m sorry,” Taeyong breathed, all delirious and dizzy and completely unaware of what was coming out of his mouth.

Johnny chuckled a little at his response before letting go of his face, placing one hand on his hip and the other on his thigh to hold his leg up as he continued to fuck him absolutely senseless. He moved to kiss him again right as Taeyong reached down to start rubbing at his clit, gasping sharply at how good it felt to have Johnny fucking him and his clit being stimulated at the same time.

He wasn’t going to be able to make it much longer. His cunt had started to clench around Johnny’s cock, body attempting to suck in his non–existent knot. His chest went tight as he started to rub at his clit faster, desperately chasing his orgasm.

“A–Alpha,” Taeyong breathed, his hips stuttering. Another thrust from Johnny had him mewling aloud, shuddering with how sharply that spot inside of his wet cunt had been rammed into. “I–I’m gonna—!”

That was all Taeyong was able to make out before he was coming all over himself, shaking through his entire orgasm as Johnny fucked the gush of slick that had squirted out right back into his pussy. He whined noisily, his back arching with how overwhelming it all felt.

Soon after, Johnny was pulling out and coming all over his stomach. It seemed to go on for forever, leaking off of the flat plane of Taeyong’s stomach and onto the floor as Johnny continued to fist himself. At a certain point, still in his heat daze, Taeyong repositioned himself and stuck his tongue out for Johnny to come over, moaning at the taste of him as thick strings of his come filled his mouth.

Once Johnny finally stopped coming, Taeyong fell back on the carpeted floor. He wasn’t even thinking about the fact that him and Johnny had fought no less than a half an hour ago until a familiar clicking sound rang in his ears. Taeyong sat up to see that Johnny had handcuffed him back to the bed. He glared up at him, trying his best to look intimidating while covered in come and slick and spit with his cunt still on display. Johnny smiled back at him, little lines appearing on both of his cheeks.

“Shit,” Taeyong mumbled, realizing what had happened. His fucking heat had fucked him over. If it weren’t for that striking out of nowhere, Taeyong would have still had the upper hand.

“You’re good,” Johnny said, sitting down on the floor next to Taeyong. “I’ll give you that.” He pressed a finger against his nose and wiggled it around a little, wincing in pain. “Was this payback for the alleyway or something?”

“Stop fucking talking to me,” Taeyong hissed, using one of Johnny’s shirts that had fallen out of his bag earlier to mop off some of the come on his face. He frowned at the amount, looking down at how Johnny had basically covered his stomach, too. “Jesus, what kind of a human comes this much?”

“I think we’ve determined I’m not a human,” Johnny practically boasted and Taeyong glared at him. Part of him wished that he was still heat–dumb so he couldn’t comprehend what was coming out of Johnny’s stupid fucking mouth anymore. “I think I’m an alpha.”

“You don’t have a knot,” Taeyong mumbled in response, tossing the shirt somewhere across the room after he was finished. “Or a scent. And you didn’t go into rut after smelling me in heat.”

“So?” Johnny asked.

“So,” Taeyong started sharply, irritated with Johnny’s ignorance, “if you were an alpha, you’d be a pretty fucked up, inadequate one.”

“You called me alpha,” Johnny pointed out, raising a brow.

“Yeah, well, I say a lot of things when I wanna come,” Taeyong muttered, looking up at his cuffed wrist. He couldn’t believe that he was in this situation again. It almost felt like some type of a sick joke.

Johnny opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the door. Taeyong immediately went to scream but was stopped by Johnny stuffing three fingers down his throat, gagging him in a way that definitely wasn’t as sexy as it had been earlier. He spit them out and flared up at Johnny but was ignored as Johnny moved over to the door.

“What’s up?” Johnny asked, his voice noticeably shaky.

“Can you open the door?”

Taeyong recognized that voice. It was Taeil. Johnny whirled around to look at Taeyong who only smirked. How was he going to explain the fact that he had another human being locked up with a pair of handcuffs? Taeyong doubted that Johnny was going to unlock him again, definitely not so soon after his attempt to escape that had almost been successful. He stood there for a moment, clearly struggling to figure out what to do.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Taeyong hissed through his teeth and Johnny went to unlock him, keeping a firm grip on his wrist as he led him back up to the bed. He struggled as Johnny placed him down on top of the mattress, attaching the other end of the handcuffs to the headboard.

“Shut up,” Johnny said back, moving away to look in the mirror above Taeyong’s head and start to comb messily through his hair. Taeyong didn’t understand what he was doing. Taeil knocked on the door again, this time a little harder than the last. “One second!”

Taeyong quite literally panicked when Johnny actually walked over to the door again, unlocking it with a swift flick of his fingers. The strangled sound  he made was what has ultimately caused Johnny to look back.

“I don’t have any fucking pants on,” Taeyong hissed because he would be damned if some random motel receptionist saw him half–naked with come still on his chin and stomach.

“I know,” Johnny said simply before opening the door and Taeyong was literally going to kill him. The second he got out of this, he was going to kill him dead.

Taeil’s eyes landed on him first. He looked the same as he did the night they had first checked in, all unimpressed and stoic and exuding this I–Don’t–Want–To–Be–Here aura constantly. Despite seeing Taeyong handcuffed to the bed with dried drool and come on his face, Taeil didn’t seem too phased. If anything, he seemed irritated with the fact that he even had to come up there. 

“Wow,” Taeil said dryly. “You guys didn’t even try to hide.”

Taeyong couldn’t stop himself from blushing. Johnny didn’t seem to mind, glancing back at Taeyong with a small smile before returning his focus on Taeil. 

“We have a really colorful sex life,” Johnny explained easily. Taeyong wanted to melt into the mattress. This was so fucking humilitating.

“I can hear that,” Taeil muttered. “I’ve been hearing that for past three days.”

That only made everything about three times more embarrassing. Not only had Johnny forced him to sit in front of some stranger all vulnerable and filthy, but Taeil had overheard everything they had done together over the past couple of days. He went to pull his knees up against his chest before flattening them against the bed the moment he realized that it would only expose him more.

“Sorry about that, man,” Johnny responded. He didn’t really sound all that apologetic.

Taeil glanced back over at Taeyong. His gaze lingered for so long that Taeyong had half a mind to snap at him. Ultimately, he decided to keep his mouth shut. Finally, Taeil looked back at Johnny and sighed.

“Why are you two all bloody?” Taeil asked.

“You have a lot of questions,” Johnny pointed out, his voice surprisingly chipper. Taeil blinked at him.

“Okay, well, you two have to leave,” Taeil said. “Like, right now.”

“What?” Johnny said. “Why?”

“Noise complaint,” Taeil responded simply and Johnny scoffed.

“You said that we were the only people here,” Johnny said.

“Yeah, the noise complaint is from me,” Taeil snapped, clearly having had enough of Johnny’s constant back talk. “So, can you both do me a favor and gather up all of your weird BDSM shit, put on some fucking clothes and leave so that I can do my job in peace?”

There was a pause. Johnny started at Taeil for a long moment. Taeyong considered asking for help but realized that it would probably only land him in even more trouble than he already was currently in. Finally, Johnny sighed and nodded.

“Cool,” Johnny said, strangely calm. “Got it, man.”

Taeil blinked over at Taeyong. “Leave the key on the table next to you,” he said, addressing him for the first time since he came in. 

Then, Taeil was gone. Johnny watched him walk away for a short moment before shutting the door behind him. He started to walk around the room, gathering both his and Taeyong’s things from off the floor. Taeyong stared at him while he did, his arm starting to ache from being held up against the headboard.

It doesn’t take long for something important to occur to Taeyong. If they were being kicked out of the motel, that meant that their trip to Seoul was being continued. That meant Johnny was still going to turn him in. The whole thing with his heat, while infuriating and beyond frustrated, had been a good distraction from the reason why the two of them were actually together. The search for him had ended over a day ago. Johnny literally had no reason to stop doing what he had snatched him up from that neighborhood in rural Busan to do.

Johnny came over and started to redress him in his sweatpants, not bothering with his panties. Taeyong didn’t fight against it but did swallow his pride before opening his mouth to speak for the first time since Taeil had come.

“W–Wait,” Taeyong said as Johnny unlocked the handcuffs from the headboard, closing it around his other wrist with hesitation. 

“For what?” Johnny asked, raising a brow. 

“You’re not seriously still going to turn me in, right?” Taeyong questioned, letting Johnny help him up from off the bed. Johnny blinked at him in confusion.

“Why wouldn’t I?” he said, bending down to pick up Taeyong’s hat from off the floor and placing it on his head.

“Because we’re fucking bonded,” Taeyong snapped, shaking the hat from off his head. Johnny only sighed and moved to pick it up again, putting it on Taeyong more securely than the last so he couldn’t slip it back off.

“You didn’t care about the fact that we’re bonded when you tried to escape,” Johnny pointed out, pushing Taeyong back down onto the bed. Taeyong really fucking hated the fact that he could control him so easily.

“Well, I care now!” Taeyong protested. Johnny snorted in response.

“You’re only saying that because you don’t want me to turn you in,” Johnny muttered, bending down to start gathering all of the things Taeyong had dumped out earlier on the floor. 

And, like. Obviously Taeyong didn’t want Johnny to turn him in but he couldn’t deny that them being bonded was still a very huge issue that probably shouldn’t have been brushed off that easily. They didn’t even know what exactly Johnny was, nor what the bite had done to him and what it meant for them. After all, Johnny could have literally bonded him for life. It wasn’t like they could just separate after that something like that.

Plus, Taeyong really, really didn’t want to go to prison. Figuring this out would be a distraction for him until he could figure out what the fuck to do. 

“I’m saying that because you bonded me and if you turn me into the police in Seoul I’ll go to prison and we’ll be separated,” Taeyong explained, his voice sharp. Johnny looked up and scoffed a little.

“Oh, boo hoo,” Johnny started sarcastically, stuffing everything back in his bag. “I’ll be separated from the kid that broke my fucking nose and spit in my face multiple times.”

That wasn’t fair. Taeyong had only spit in Johnny’s face because he had taken him against his will and had only struck him because he had almost kicked his knee right out of place. He didn’t like how Johnny was saying it like he had attacked him completely unprovoked. If Johnny wasn’t so much of a big, dumb, stupid, cocky idiot that had kidnapped him, Taeyong wouldn’t have been forced to do all the things that he did. 

It also didn’t really seem fair that Johnny had spent the past couple of days fucking him silly and was still deducing him into something like a nuisance. It wasn’t like Taeyong had expected him to develop some kind of emotional attachment to him because he had put his dick in him but to throw him aside that easily seemed a little cruel.

“Even if you’re not an alpha, you’ve got to be a beta,” Taeyong continued as Johnny slung his bag over his shoulder. The room was basically all cleaned up if you didn’t count the mess the two of them had made together. “You wouldn’t have been able to bond me if you weren’t one of the two.” Johnny started tidying up the bed that Taeyong had been sleeping in. “Or a human,” Taeyong finished.

“Just get bonded to someone else in prison so it’ll go away,” Johnny shrugged, walking back over to where Taeyong was sitting, helping him back onto his feet again. Taeyong looked up at him, wrists locked together in front of him.

“It doesn’t work like that,” Taeyong said steadily. “You bit me. Now I’m yours.”

“Expect you’re not,” Johnny muttered, reaching behind Taeyong to grab the keycard he had been keeping underneath the pillow furthest from him. He waved it in front of Taeyong’s face before sitting it down on the table on the opposite side of him. “We fucked a couple of times and now I’m turning you in. Simple as that.”

Taeyong wanted to scream. He literally wanted to scream. Johnny had to be the dumbest person he had ever met in his entire life. He had never met someone who was so ignorant. Taeyong didn’t like the fact that the two of them were bonded but they were and it was important and couldn’t just be blown off like it didn’t matter.

“You,” Taeyong started slowly, hoping that Johnny would understand if he said it that way, “marked me. It isn’t as simple as you fucking me and moving on with your life, you stupid piece of shit.” Johnny made a face at his insult. Taeyong knew that talking to him like that probably wouldn’t help anything but he couldn’t help himself. “So, you know what’ll happen if you turn me into the police, Johnny?” Taeyong continued. “You’ll be in excruciating pain 24/7 becuase your body can’t fucking function without me around now that we’re bonded. You’ll never be able to be in a relationship because everyone is gonna smell fucking disgusting to you because your body physically isn’t gonna let you be with anyone that isn’t me. That’s what you did, Johnny. That’s what’s your life is gonna be without me.”

Once he was finished, Johnny stared at him for a long moment. Taeyong could tell that he was at a loss for words. Taeyong didn’t care. Everything that he had said was true. The effects would be the exact same for him. He needed Johnny to stop being such a hard–headed asshole for one minute and realize what he had done. 

“Can’t we, like,” Johnny interrupted himself with a small cough, “un–bond?”

“We can,” Taeyong nodded. “Not here.”

“Where?” Johnny asked, frowning. 

“I have a friend in Gwangju,” Taeyong said and Johnny’s reaction was immediate. He groaned and shook his head. 

“Gwangju?” Johnny asked, completely stunned by Taeyong’s answer. 

“Well, do you have a better idea, genius?” Taeyong snapped. “Remember that I’m not the one who decided to do this in the first place!”

“I didn’t mean to!” Johnny defended.

“Well, you did!” Taeyong shouted, frustrated with almost everything in that moment. The conversation. The fact that Johnny had bonded him. Johnny as a whole. “And you need to fucking fix it before you ruin our lives for good!”

Johnny went quiet. Taeyong’s words had definitely gotten to him. He blinked down at the floor for a long moment and sighed. Taeyong didn’t stop glaring at him. His wrists throbbed from how harshly the metal of the handcuffs were digging into them. 

“Fine,” Johnny finally breathed, shaking his head. “Fucking fine! But if this is some kind of scheme to get away from me then I’m calling the police. Fuck the bounty. This whole thing always ends with you going to prison.”

“What the fuck ever,” Taeyong grumbled, pushing past Johnny to make his way towards the door. “As long as I can get away from you.”

Johnny muttered something under his breath that Taeyong couldn’t understand. He didn’t care enough to ask. He let Johnny move in front of him to open the door, flinching at how cold the outside air was against his skin. 

As Johnny started to lead him towards his truck, Taeyong couldn’t help but smirk. Over the past couple of days, Johnny being a massive idiot only frustrated Taeyong but now that they were now on their way to Gwangju, Taeyong realized that he could use Johnny’s stupidity to his advantage. 

Chapter Text

The conversation between them went a little something like this:

Johnny, glancing back at Taeyong through the rearview mirror, “I think you’ve got to dye your hair.”

Taeyong, immediately scoffing with a frown, “Fuck you.”

“That’s all fine and good,” Johnny continued, still eyeing Taeyong’s very prominent black and white hair. “But I’ve still got to dye it.”

“Why the fuck do I have to dye my hair?” Taeyong asked sharply.

“Because we’re literally going back through the city where you were last seen at and I’m sure there’s about a million cops swarming the area looking for you,” Johnny explained calmly. “And I don’t really think it’s the best idea for you to be strolling around town looking the exact same as your mugshot.”

Taeyong huffed and looked out the window at all the passing greenery. They were literally in the middle of nowhere and had been for the past hour and a half. He was practically dying of boredom.

“Aren’t you supposed to be turning me into the cops?” Taeyong finally asked, his voice low. “What’s it matter if they find me with you?”

Johnny didn’t respond to that. There was a long pause after Taeyong’s question as Johnny continued to stare at him through the mirror. Taeyong had half a mind to say something smart to get him to stop but before he could, Johnny was shaking his head and returning his eyes back onto the road ahead of him.

“You’re dying your hair,” he said, his words dripping with a sense of finality. Taeyong rolled his eyes in response.

Which, of course, is why the two of them ended up in the bathroom of some convenience store with Taeyong fighting off Johnny who was currently trying to bleach his fucking hair with $15 dye that Taeyong was sure would break all of his hair off in an instant.

“I’m not putting that in my fucking hair!” Taeyong seethed through his teeth, kicking Johnny away from on top of the sink.

“Yes, you are!” Johnny hissed back, pushing Taeyong’s legs down with one hand. The bottle came dangerously close to Taeyong’s wet scalp again and Taeyong screeched.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Both Taeyong’s and Johnny’s head snapped in the direction it had come from. The bathroom was filled with the sounds of their panting for a long moment.

Then, “Is everything okay in there?”

Taeyong opened his mouth to scream that no, it was not okay but Johnny was quick to muffle his cries for help with his hand. He did it in a way where it would be hard for Taeyong to actually bite him which Taeyong was impressed by. Johnny clearly had learned his lesson from earlier.

“It’s fine!” Johnny shouted back. “Thank you!”

There was a pause. Whoever was on the other side of the door was clearly lingering. When they finally walked away, Taeyong continued to stare at the door. What the fuck kind of employee left what had clearly sounded like—and, to be frank, was —a hostage situation?

Unfortunately, Johnny took advantage of him being distracted and it wasn’t long until Taeyong felt something cold and wet drip into his scalp. He squealed and went to fight Johnny off again but Johnny was stronger, pulling him down and off of the sink and flipping him around. Taeyong struggled as more of the cheap bleach went into his hair, coughing as some went into his mouth due to Johnny’s trouble with getting it all in neatly.

“I am going to fucking kill you!” Taeyong shouted angrily, uncaring of the attendant on the other side of the door.

“Stop moving,” Johnny said back. “You’re only making it worse for yourself.”

As it turned out, what Johnny said was true. Him fighting and struggling the entire time that Johnny tried dying his hair had resulted in it coming out in two different colors of blonde. The top had turned a platinum blonde because of how light his hair had already been there and the back was barely a soft brown. Taeyong stared at himself in the mirror for a long moment, ignoring Johnny standing behind him, smiling and so very clearly proud of himself and his work. This was too much. Taeyong could handle being humiliated and forced around but this? This was the last straw.

Taeyong started crying. It was dumb and embarrassing and the last thing he wanted was for Johnny to think he was weak but he couldn’t fucking do it anymore. Over the past couple of days, he had been kidnapped, held against his will and forced to spend every waking moment with some clumsy idiot from Chicago who had mated him without once considering the consequences. Taeyong was fucking stressed. Even if he hadn’t shown it, he was. And as if somebody was looking over him and making his life even harder than it already was, Johnny had made him look like an asshole with $15 convenience store dye.

“Holy shit,” Johnny said, noticing the tears falling down Taeyong’s cheeks almost immediately. “Dude, are you crying?”

Johnny came around his front to get a good look at his face and Taeyong whined, quickly pushing him away. It was already embarrassing enough for him. He didn’t need Johnny to be right in his face while it was happening.

“Why are you crying?” Johnny asked, the uncertainty clear in the way he spoke.

“Because you fucked up my hair!” Taeyong shouted back, voice thick through his tears. 

“It’s not,” Johnny cut himself off to go around Taeyong’s front again. “It’s not that bad.”

“Yes, it is!” Taeyong seethed. “You kidnapped me, you bonded me and now I look like a Golden fucking Retreiver because of you!”

Johnny went quiet after that. Taeyong didn’t care. He sat there for awhile trying to calm himself down, wiping furiously at his eyes. He didn’t dare look at himself in the mirror knowing that the sight of his stupid hair and blotchy face caused by his crying would only set him off even more.

“Hey,” Johnny said softly, lifting up a hand to scratch at the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t think you’d get this upset.”

“Fuck you,” Taeyong mumbled, sniffling. He had started to settle down a little. 

Before Johnny could say anything else, another knock was sounding off at the door. Taeyong moved away from the mirror in order to avoid his reflection as Johnny stared at him a moment longer before finally turning towards the door.

“Yeah?” Johnny called.

“You both have to get out,” a different voice from earlier said. “I’m all for the LGBT community but we kind of have a rule against fucking in our bathrooms.”

Taeyong wished they were fucking. Not because he wanted to, but because if they had been doing that, Johnny wouldn’t have had the time to ruin his hair.

“We—Dude, we’re not fucking in here,” Johnny responded, scoffing a bit.

There was a pause. Then, “Still. Get out.”

Taeyong wanted to leave. He didn’t want to see himself and being as far away from a mirror sounded like the best possible way to avoid that. He wiped at his pink nose and sniffled once more before, standing up a little straighter, shaking his head.

Johnny blinked over at him. He sighed. Taeyong only stared down at the beanie that was offered over to him. Johnny shook it impatiently when Taeyong didn’t make a move to take it.

“I can’t fix it right now but I can at least help you cover it,” Johnny explained, shaking the hat again. “Take it.” 

Taeyong hesitated a moment longer. Then, he gave in and accepted the hat from Johnny. He pulled it over his head, huffing quietly at the little pieces that stuck out from underneath the beanie. Figuring that wasn’t enough, Taeyong snatched his hood over his head too, pulling the strings into a messy bow right under his chin. 

“I still don’t like you,” Taeyong muttered, walking over to the door.

“That’s just as fascinating as the other eighty–four times you’ve said it,” Johnny said back. “Try to escape and I’ll make you regret it.” Taeyong only scoffed at his reminder and pushed the door open.

There were two people sitting at the counter when Taeyong walked out. One was clearly younger with a full face and shaggy hair. The other was about Johnny’s height with straight eyebrows and an unimpressed look on his face. Johnny went to walk past them without saying anything but Taeyong stopped, grabbing a pack of gum and sitting it on the counter that separated him from the two employees. All three men looked at him for a moment. The smaller one whose nametag read DONGHYUCK spoke first.

“I personally didn’t think you were having sex in there,” he blurted suddenly, almost like he couldn’t stop himself.

“We weren’t,” Taeyong said back dryly, eyeing the taller one whose tag said YOONOH. “Do you mind ringing this up so we can go?”

Yoonoh looked at Taeyong for what felt like forever but probably was only a couple of seconds. His gaze lingered on Johnny too but it didn’t last as long as it did with Taeyong. He picked up the gum and scanned it.

“If you weren’t fucking then why were you yelling?” the clerk asked, handing the gum back over to Taeyong. “It’s 23,000 won.”

“Because I got really excited thinking about this gum that I’m currently buying,” Taeyong said sharply, tired of all the questions this kid had. “Give him the money, Johnny.”

“I didn’t say you could get anything,” Johnny grumbled under his breath, pulling out his wallet nonetheless.

“You look kind of familiar,” Donghyuck spoke up, frowning a little as he looked at Taeyong. Taeyong could feel Johnny stiffen up while handing Yoonoh the money. “Are you an idol?”

Taeyong looked back at Johnny. He genuinely considered telling the truth. After all, Johnny had been nothing but a nuisance since the moment they met up. He deserved to get in as much trouble as him. But, Taeyong knew they were still bonded. He needed to get this all sorted out before he tried to do anything drastic.

“Yep,” Taeyong lied through a tight mouth. Johnny let out a quiet sigh of relief from behind him.

“Oh, my God,” Donghyuck gasped, perking up. “What group are you in? Is it BTS? I bet you’re in BTS.”

This kid was an idiot. Taeyong looked nothing like any member of BTS. Still, he forced himself to smile. He went to respond but Yoonoh cut him off before he could.

“He’s not in BTS,” he said it so lowly and sure of himself that for a moment, Taeyong wondered if he actually recognized him. Before he could get too worked up, though, Yoonoh was continuing. “He’s in that one rookie group.” He stopped to think about it, snapping his fingers. “Stray Kids! You’re in Stray Kids, right?”

“Sure,” Taeyong responded, nodding. Donghyuck looked so excited Taeyong was sure the kid might puke.

“My sister loves them!” Donghyuck exclaimed, reaching in his pocket to pull out his phone. “Can we take a picture—?”

“No!” Taeyong and Johnny said in unison, startling and confusing both Donghyuck and Yoonoh. Johnny stepped forward a bit, offering an apologetic smile for his outburst. “I mean, it’s just that he’s kind of on vacation and if you upload a picture of him it’ll be ruined,” he explained coolly. “Crazy fans, you know?”

Donghyuck immediately nodded and pushed his phone back into his pocket, sighing like he could relate. “I get it,” he said, shaking his head. “Aish, why can’t they never let people have their privacy?” Yoonoh made a small noise of agreement, therefore solidifying their place as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum in Taeyong’s head.

“Yeah, it, um,” Taeyong stopped to clear his throat, glancing back at Johnny again. “It sucks.”

“We’re gonna go, okay?” Johnny cut in, wrapping an arm around Taeyong’s shoulder. Taeyong did his best not to flinch away from him. “Thank you both for being so understanding.”

“I’ll keep quiet about your little thing you had going on here!” Yoonoh promised and Taeyong literally almost vomited.

“Give me a shoutout on MCountdown!” Donghyuck called.

“Will do!” Taeyong lied. He heard Donghyuck squeal in excitement right before him and Johnny made left the shop. As soon as they were outside, Taeyong slipped out from under Johnny’s arm with a disgusted scoff. “What a bunch of fucking idiots,” Taeyong mumbled.

“I thought they were nice,” Johnny said happily, fishing the handcuffs from out of the pocket of his hoodie again. “Wrists out.”

“Asshole,” Taeyong muttered underneath his breath, following Johnny’s instructions nonetheless. They only had a couple more hours until Gwangju. He only had to make it until then.

He allowed Johnny to push him into the backseat of his truck again, reaching over him to pull the seatbelt across his chest. In their close proximity, Taeyong couldn’t help but notice how much Johnny smelled like a fir. It was nice. Soothing, almost.

Then, Taeyong realized who the fuck he was smelling and pulled back sharply. Johnny blinked at him in confusion at the sudden moment, his hands poised and ready to fight if necessary. Once he realized that Taeyong wasn’t an active threat, Johnny settled a little.

Taeyong was waiting for him to return back to the front but it never came. Johnny lingered in front of him for a moment before finally opening his mouth to speak, interrupting the smart comment that was most definitely going to be coming from Taeyong within the next couple of seconds.

“I’m really sorry about your hair,” Johnny said quietly, giving Taeyong a small, sheepish smile. “I can fix it after we’re done with this whole mess in Gwangju, yeah?”

Taeyong was surprised. This was the first time that Johnny had said anything that was even remotely helpful for him. He stared at Johnny for a couple of seconds, considering an ulterior motives the other could have had. In the end, Taeyong isn’t able to think of any.

But, this was Johnny. Johnny who had taken him against his will and kept him cuffed like an animal. Johnny who had carelessly bonded him without even asking. It didn’t matter if he was being nice this one time because he was still actively fucking Taeyong over. Even if he did fix his hair, Johnny was still planning on turning him in and throwing him to the wolves.

So, Taeyong snarled up at him and said, “I don’t need any fucking help from you.”

Johnny looked startled by his response. In the end, he shrugged and put his hands up in defense, shaking his head. Like Taeyong was being the irrational one here.

“I tried,” Johnny said, sighing. “Just don’t cry again, okay?”

Taeyong knew that he shouldn’t. He also knew that as dumb as Johnny was, he probably didn’t mean anything more than what his comment actually was. Still, Taeyong couldn’t think of enough of a reason to not spit up into Johnny’s face.

“I swear to God!” Johnny cursed, hands coming up to wipe at his face furiously. “You know what? I was gonna get us both some chicken once we got a little further but you just talked yourself out of it, you little shit!”

“Suck my dick,” Taeyong hissed back, ignoring the way that Johnny was seething at him, face an almost worrying shade of red from how hard he had been rubbing at it.

“You don’t even fucking have one!” Johnny snapped in response before slamming the door, Taeyong having to pull his foot back at the last moment to stop it from getting crushed.

“Asshole!” Taeyong shouted when Johnny got back in the car.

Johnny responded by switching on the car and turning up the radio as loud as he possibly could to drown out any and everything Taeyong could have thought to say to him next.

***

Taeyong woke up to the feeling of the car suddenly stopping. He opened his eyes, squinting against the darkness that seemed to engulf him. At first, he didn’t see Johnny. For a moment, Taeyong wondered if Johnny had left him in the middle of nowhere to fend for himself. 

Before he could think too much on it, though, Taeyong heard a familiar groan. He sat up from where he had been leaning against the window to see Johnny with his face planted into the wheel in front of him. Taeyong stared at him for a long moment, confused as to what he might be doing. He looked around again. It looked like there was nothing but greenland and mountains for the next few hundred miles.

“What the fuck?” Taeyong finally spoke up, his voice still scratchy from sleep. “Why aren’t you driving?”

Johnny didn’t lift his head up from the wheel. Taeyong felt a wave of irritation roll through him at the possibility that Johnny might have been ignoring him. 

“Can you not fucking hear—?” Johnny interrupted him before he could finish.

“We ran out of gas,” he muttered, his words muffled so much that Taeyong could barely make out what he had said. For a moment, Taeyong sat there and wondered if Johnny’s voice had been so muted by the wheel that he had misunderstood. Then, he saw the flashing E on the console right above the wheel.

“Are you fucking—?” Taeyong cut himself off to blink back at the console, considering the fact that he may have seen it wrong. He hadn’t. “Dude!”

“I know,” Johnny said pitifully.

At this point, there was absolutely no doubt about it. Johnny was easily the biggest idiot on the entire planet. What kind of a bounty hunter didn’t fill up on gas before picking up a criminal? Taeyong was seriously considering the possibility that Johnny had only recently gotten into this line of work and was doing a really, really shitty job at it. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t considering it. He knew it.

“We were just at a fucking gas station!” Taeyong exclaimed, still dumbstruck with how completely stupid Johnny was.

“You know, you don’t have to curse as much as you do,” Johnny pointed out, finally lifting his head from the wheel. If Taeyong wasn’t currently handcuffed, he would have thrown something at him. Instead, he kicked the back of Johnny’s seat as hard as he was physically able. 

“We’re stuck in the middle of nowhere and you’re worried about how much I fucking curse?” Taeyong practically screeched. Johnny only blinked at him, still surprised with how hard Taeyong had kicked him. 

At this point, Taeyong kind of wanted to be in prison. At least in there he wouldn’t have to be in the company of someone this idiotic. Sure, he would be in excruciating pain seeing that Johnny had mated him and would probably either be the victim of constant torment inside because of who and what he was but in all honesty, that didn’t seem too much worse than the situation he was in now. How the fuck had Johnny functioned as a human being for as long as he had when he clearly didn’t have a lick of common sense in him? It was a genuine question that Taeyong had. 

“We’re gonna have to walk,” Johnny said after a moment and Taeyong almost immediately scoffed in response.

“Oh, fuck that,” Taeyong snorted, shaking his head. “You’re out of your fucking mind if you think I’m walking anywhere out there.”

It wasn’t that Taeyong was scared. It was more that he had the sense that Johnny lacked. Venturing outside in the middle of the night in a rural area that neither of them were familiar with was clearly not the smartest idea. It wasn’t even the threat of being possibly kidnapped—again— and murdered but the very real possibility that there were animals out there that could easily harm and kill them without breaking a sweat. 

“I didn’t ask,” Johnny snapped. Taeyong could tell that he was stressed. Good. Taeyong was tired of him walking around all unaffected and nonchalant while his life was literally crashing down around him. 

True to his word, Johnny climbed out of the front and walked to where Taeyong was sitting, opening the door. He stared down at him expectantly, waiting for him to get out of the car like he had asked. Taeyong couldn’t help but scoff again. This guy was going to get him killed. He was going to get the both of them killed. 

“You’re literally the worst bounty hunter I’ve ever met,” Taeyong seethed angrily. “A fucking goldfish could do a better job than you’re doing right now.”

“Just get out of the car,” Johnny mumbled before pulling Taeyong up by his arms. Once he was out, Johnny propped Taeyong up on the side of the car and went to grab his bag from the front. 

“Fucking idiot,” Taeyong said underneath his breath, looking around the area. There was no sign of civilization anywhere. They might as well have been in the middle of nowhere. As a matter of fact, it might have been worse than nowhere. Nowhere was the motel. This was like the fucking hinterlands of Korea. Jesus Christ. 

After gathering up everything, Johnny slammed his door and sighed. Taeyong watched him look around, undoubtedly realizing what he had. Walking wasn’t an option. One direction could have taken them even further into the nothingness and the other would take hours upon hours to get back to where the people were. The last time they had even come in contact with other people was at the convenience store and that had to have been over a two or three hours ago.

“So, what’s the plan?” Taeyong asked snarkily.

Johnny opened his mouth to respond but was ultimately interrupted by the sound of something crunching on the gravel on the road they were standing on not to far ahead. His head snapped in the direction of where the noise had come from. Taeyong looked too. 

A car was approaching them. A fucking car in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. Taeyong couldn’t believe it. 

“Wave down the car,” Johnny commanded, turning back to look at Taeyong.

“I’m handcuffed, asshole,” Taeyong responded. 

“Right,” Johnny said, blinking down at Taeyong’s bounded wrists for a moment before turning his attention back towards the car that was only growing closer. He inhaled sharply and stepped a little past where his own car was parked, beginning to wave his arms back and forth.

Taeyong watched him while he did. He had have to have the best luck on the fucking planet  for this car to stop for him. Who in their right mind would pull over and see what the man stuck on the side of the ride at 3AM had to say? Even more so once they saw Taeyong standing there handcuffed. 

Which is exactly why Taeyong couldn’t believe his fucking eyes when the car slowed to a stop right in front of Johnny. It was then that he realized how Johnny had been able to make it so far in life while being such an idiot—he was lucky as hell. He had been lucky that those two people working right in front of where he had picked him up at weren’t paying attention and didn’t notice him leave. He had been lucky that Taeil didn’t call the police on them for disturbing the peace for three days straight. He had been lucky that those two fools at the convenience store both didn’t know what idols actually looked like and who Taeyong was. Johnny succeeded off of luck and luck alone.

The driver rolled down his window the second that Johnny approached. Taeyong could barely make out his face but he didn’t look too much older than either of them. That was good. At least whoever this was wasn’t some greasy old man. He might have been a weirdo which probably would have explained why he was driving down this road in complete darkness but Taeyong decided to cross that bridge when the time came. 

“Hi,” Johnny chirped. Taeyong could hear the smile in his voice. He rolled his eyes. “Our car broke down. You have any gas on you?”

“Who fucking carries gas with them?” Taeyong piped up from behind him. Johnny turned and the driver peeked his head out the window. Taeyong raised an eyebrow at him. His hair was short and dark and he had sharp, angled eyes. He was definitely attractive. Probably a creep but an attractive one. 

The man only stared at him for a moment longer before he turned back to Johnny and smiled sympathetically. “I actually don’t,” he said in an accented voice. “Where do you guys need to go? I might be able to take you.”

“Gwangju,” Johnny said, letting out a little huff. It was clear that he was expecting to be rejected. Fortunately for him (and unfortunately for Taeyong) the man behind the driver’s wheel only made a happy little noise of recognition.

“I’m going to Changwon,” he grinned. “I know that it’s still a long way from Gwangju but it’ll put you in a better position than the one you’re in now.”

Johnny turned and looked at Taeyong again. Taeyong shook his head. It would probably take them over two hours to get to Changwon. He didn’t want to spend that long in a car with a man who he didn’t know. He had already done enough of that the past couple of days. 

He was foolish to think that Johnny actually cared about what he wanted. “Sure!” Johnny said, walking back over to gather up Taeyong. Why wasn’t he questioning the fact that Taeyong was handcuffed? He was a weirdo for sure.

“Don’t try anything,” Johnny muttered quietly as he unlocked Taeyong’s cuffs. Taeyong only stared at him. 

Johnny got into the backseat of the man’s car along with him. Taeyong is sure that it was to make sure that he didn’t go anywhere without keeping him all locked up like an animal in front of the man. Either way, he was thankful to not have metal engulfing his thin wrists for a couple hours. As Johnny shut the door behind him, Taeyong noticed the man staring at him through the rearview mirror.

“What?” Taeyong questioned sharply. 

“You seem a little on edge,” the man pointed out, offering him a soft grin. 

Taeyong was on edge. He was in a car with a man that he didn’t know and his captor. Plus, he was still pretty upset about his hair. And the thought that he could have literally been in Los Angeles by now. There was a lot going on with him at the moment. 

Johnny spoke up before Taeyong could respond. “He’s just really irritable,” Johnny explained, sighing. “I’m Johnny, by the way. This is Kwangmin.” Taeyong blinked up at Johnny at the fact that he had lied about his name. This was the first thing that he had done that made sense. He was impressed. He didn’t think Johnny had the capability to think rationally. 

“Hi, Johnny and Kwangmin,” the man chirped, turning around in his seat to look at the both of them. “I’m Ten.”

It was then that Taeyong realized the man—or Ten—was an omega. He could smell the soft, flowery scent of an omega wafting off of him. By the way Ten was looking at him, Taeyong figured that he had smelled he was an omega, too. 

“Hi, Ten,” Taeyong responded dryly. “You mind driving?”

Johnny went stiff beside him. He glanced over at Taeyong for a moment before flattening his lips in a line. 

“Yo, Ten,” Johnny called and Ten hummed softly in response. “Could you put on the child lock? Minnie has a habit of falling asleep on the door and accidentally opening it.”

What a dumb fucking excuse. Taeyong scoffed quietly underneath his breath. Much to his chagrin, Ten only nodded again before pressing a button in the front. Johnny grinned happily and went to unbuckle his seatbelt, causing Taeyong to look over at him in confusion. 

“Hey,” Taeyong said, speaking informally despite Johnny being older than him. “Where are you going?”

“To sit in the front,” Johnny muttered back. “You can’t get out and there won’t be another person around for miles.”

Without another word, Johnny climbed over the middle console that separated the two front seats from each other. Ten scooted aside so that Johnny’s foot didn’t collide with his face, giggling quietly as Johnny finally sat down with a small grunt. Taeyong huffed from his spot in the backseat. He didn’t like Ten. He didn’t like Johnny.

“Lead the way, Ten,” Johnny grinned, slipping his seatbelt over his chest. Ten laughed quietly again. Taeyong really didn’t like him.

In the end, Taeyong figured whatever. At least he would have some time to himself. Ten and Johnny would talk themselves to death and leave him out of it and he would ignore the burning feeling in his chest he couldn’t control at the sight of the two of them all animated and happy in the front.

***

Ten and Johnny were fucking infuriating.

For the past hour and a half, they had bonded like two idiots. Ten said something about being from Thailand and Johnny said something about being from Chicago which only resulted in them launching into a whole new conversation in English that Taeyong definitely had a hard time understanding but did his hardest in trying, not wanting to miss a word of what they were saying in case it was about him.

Ten was touchy. He would laugh and pull his hand away from the wheel to hold Johnny’s arm. He was also ditzy as all fuck. He kept giggling and tittering like a little schoolgirl. If Taeyong had thought Johnny was an asshole, Ten was easily three times as worse. 

Neither of them had spoken to him. As a matter of fact, neither of them had acknowledged his existence since the moment they pulled off. Taeyong was starting to get bored. At least in Johnny’s car, Johnny would talk him mad about shit Taeyong didn’t care about. It was even harder for him because of the fact that there was literally nothing outside for him to look at. Counting trees had gotten old about a half an hour ago.

“Johnny,” Taeyong called, interrupting Johnny’s story about a run–in he had with a popular MC the previous year. Johnny hummed and turned a little in his seat to look at him. “I want gum.”

Johnny blinked at him for a moment, confused as to why Taeyong had cut him off in the middle of his story to ask about something as insignificant as gum.

“It’s in my bag,” Johnny said shortly before turning back around.

“I’m hot,” Taeyong started up before Ten could open his mouth and ask Johnny to finish his story. “Can you turn the air up a little?”

“Can’t you take off your hoodie?” Ten asked and Taeyong scowled. How come he couldn’t just do it? 

“No,” Taeyong responded curtly. It wasn’t only that he didn’t want anyone to see his hair but also that he wanted Ten to listen to him. He didn’t know why. It probably had something to do with his pride. He always got like this around other omegas.

Ten stared at him for a moment through the rear view mirror before sighing, reaching forward to crank the air up a little. It wasn’t as high as Taeyong would have liked but he would take it.

“He’s a little bossy, isn’t he?” Ten said to Johnny in English and Taeyong almost immediately squawked angrily in response.

“I speak English,” Taeyong hissed through a thick accent.

“You’ve got an accent,” Johnny pointed out, smiling up at him through the mirror. Taeyong blanked on what to say next. English was really hard for him. He knew a lot but had some trouble with conversation. Still, he felt this need to prove himself.

“No accent,” Taeyong finally said. “I’m good speaker.”

“That’s so cute,” Johnny cooed, causing Taeyong to scowl in disgust.

“Fuck you,” Taeyong snapped. Johnny rolled his eyes.

“Of course he knows that,” Johnny muttered under his breath. Taeyong considered kicking his seat but didn’t want to risk seeming even more childish than he already did. 

The car went quiet again. Taeyong was kind of glad. He didn’t want Johnny and Ten to talk to each other anymore. It wasn’t like he was jealous or anything. He was just tired of hearing both of their voices.

“So, Kwangmin,” Ten started. So much for sitting in silence. “What brings you to Ulsan?”

Other than the fact that he was being brought there against his will to undo a bond that he didn’t want in the first place? Taeyong glanced at Johnny for a second before speaking.

“Probably the same reason why Johnny’s here considering that we came together,” Taeyong muttered quietly. Ten laughed in response, only deepening the  scowl on Taeyong’s face.

“You’re funny,” Ten said lightly. “I like you.”

Taeyong didn’t respond to that. He really didn’t like Ten. Fortunately, Johnny was breaking the silence by pointing up at the road ahead of them.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“Probably somewhere in Gimhae by now,” Ten answered easily. “It won’t be long until we’re in Changwon.”

“Your car smells like feet,” Taeyong piped up. There was a pause. He heard Johnny sigh.

“Hey, love?” Ten asked. Taeyong only continued to stare out the window. “I’m not your enemy, yeah? You don’t have to act like that with me.”

The tone of his voice was so condescending that Taeyong couldn’t stand it. He decided not to respond, only folding his arms across his chest. If what Ten had said was true, then he wouldn’t have to endure his big fucking mouth and his stupid, perfect nose for much longer.

“He’s post–heat,” Johnny explained to Ten quietly, clearly not thinking that Taeyong would hear. “That’s why he’s so angry.”

“Hey!” Taeyong shouted. “Do you wanna die?”

“See?” Johnny said and Ten laughed, shaking his head. Taeyong could strangle them both.

“I get it,” Ten said, turning the wheel to propel the car around a sharp corner. “I’m always a little irritable after my heat.”

“Do you have someone that helps you out with it?” Johnny asked, raising a brow. Taeyong snorted which ultimately went ignored. Johnny wasn’t even trying to be discreet with it and by the look at the little smile that formed on his face afterward, neither did Ten. Taeyong could vomit.

“Not yet,” Ten responded softly. “I’m still looking.”

And what the fuck? There was no way that him and Johnny didn’t smell like each other with both the amount of time they had spent together and how often they had been laid up. Yet, Ten was speaking to Johnny like he didn’t notice a thing. What happened to Johnny being revolted by other people that weren’t Taeyong? Taeyong knew of the concept—his parents had taught him well enough about that with their own relationship—but had no clue of the specifics.

Either way,Taeyong can’t help himself. He isn’t sure if it’s because of his status or the fact that whether he liked it or not, Johnny was his mate but something is propelling him to open his mouth and stop whatever the fuck was going on.

“Hey, Johnny,” Taeyong spoke up, interrupting Johnny before he could open his mouth to respond to what Ten had said. Johnny hummed. “Remember when you bonded me?”

Both Johnny and Ten went stiff at that. Johnny laughed nervously and turned in his seat to look at Taeyong who only glared back at him.

“Um,” Johnny said.

“You guys are mates?” Ten asked, glancing up at Taeyong through the rearview mirror for the umpteenth time that ride.

“I mean, that would explain why we smell like each other,” Taeyong responded dryly.

“I lost my sense of smell in accident two years back,” Ten revealed. Taeyong watched Johnny visibly deflate. He could admit that this was a little shitty of him. He wasn’t going to apologize but Taeyong did feel a strike of guilt roll through him.

“I’m sorry, man,” Johnny mumbled, his face burning in embarrassment. Taeyong didn’t know if it was because of him exposing their relationship or the fact that he had basically forced Ten to explain something intimate about him.

“It’s alright,” Ten chirped, smiling. “At least I’m still pretty.”

“I can agree with that,” Johnny chuckled and Taeyong went hot again.

“The spot where you bonded me actually still kind of hurts,” Taeyong seethed through gritted teeth. Johnny turned again. He was visibly confused.

“So, he’s your alpha?” Ten asked.

“No,” came from Johnny the same time as “Yes,” came from Taeyong. Ten squinted.

“We’re not mated,” Johnny lied, laughing nervously again.

Taeyong slid over to the middle of the backseat and undid the strings of his hoodie, pulling the hood off of his head. He turned and bared his neck at Ten, the skin where Johnny had sunk his teeth into still raw. Ten looked at it quickly before turning his gaze back to the road in front of him. Taeyong caught Johnny’s eye right before he sat back down, unable to stop himself from smirking a little.

“Kind of looks like you’re mated,” Ten pointed out. He didn’t sound upset. It seemed like shit like this could have very well happened often.

“That’s because we are,” Taeyong cut in before Johnny could defend himself. Johnny frowned deeply at him, mouthing, “What the fuck is your problem?” Taeyong ignored him.

“It was an accident,” Johnny explained pitifully.

“Still mated,” Taeyong snapped in response. Ten looked between the two of them. He seemed amused by it all.

“Well, whatever you are, I hope you both can work it out,” Ten said, chuckling a little under his breath. 

Johnny stared at Taeyong for a moment longer before turning back in his seat with a quiet huff. Taeyong had half a mind to laugh. He had mated him and now he didn’t even want to claim him? What an asshole.

The rest of the ride went by quietly. It was clear that Taeyong ruined any and all chance of conversation between Ten and Johnny. Taeyong didn’t care. He did, however, care about the fact that being mated made him act all possessive and anxious. He had never cared all that much about anyone he had never been with—serious or not—and the fact that Johnny of all people was making him act like this made Taeyong a little sick to his stomach.

It wasn’t even only that. Taeyong couldn’t deny that the way that Johnny had almost immediately lied about them being mated had hurt his feelings. It wasn’t like he cared about Johnny’s opinion or anything but he wasn’t a horrible person. Sure, he had fucked over a couple of people here and then but he wasn’t insufferable. Or, at least he didn’t think that he was. Whatever. Fuck Johnny. Fuck them being mated. The only reason why Taeyong felt this way was because of the fact that they were mated and he couldn’t help it because it was simply his body reacting naturally.

Soon, they were in Changwon. Ten asked where they wanted to be dropped off at and Johnny asked to be sent as far as Ten was going. Taeyong kept his mouth shut. He didn’t know how Johnny was going to pull off getting all the way to Gwangju from Changwon without a car but also didn’t care. Though he wanted to be un–mated as soon as possible, the time it was taking for them to get there was also time for him to completely flesh out what he was going to do. 

Ten let them out at a little convenience store right on the edge of Changwon. Taeyong scoffed when Johnny hopped out from the front and walked around to his side to let him out. It looked like something a gentleman would do but Taeyong knew that Johnny had only done it to ensure that he wouldn’t try anything. He snatched his arm away when Johnny took it to help pull him out of the car, muttering something under his breath about being able to get out of a car by himself. Ten was watching the entire time, prompting Taeyong to finally call him out about it. 

“You’re staring,” Taeyong snapped, causing Johnny to turn. He clearly hadn’t noticed Ten’s lingering gaze. Ten only smiled and shook his head. Taeyong kind of hated how happy–go–lucky and carefree he seemed to be about everything. 

“I was just thinking that you guys are really cute together is all,” Ten explained. Johnny and Taeyong looked at one another for a moment before jumping away from each other quickly. Ten laughed. “I guess opposites really do attract.”

“We’re not—,” Johnny tried, only to be interrupted by Ten’s soft voice.

“I’m gonna head inside, okay?” Ten said, still grinning at the both of them. “I was nice meeting you, Johnny. You too, Kwangmin.” Taeyong only glared at him. If he didn’t have any sense, he would have snapped and said that that wasn’t his name. He ultimately decided to keep quiet. “Good luck with whatever you have going on in Gwangju.” 

And with that, Ten was gone. Johnny watched him go. Taeyong took that as an opportunity to start walking away, the sound of his feet retreating on the gravel enough to cause Johnny’s head to immediately snap in his direction. He ran after him, latching a tight hand around his wrist. Taeyong whirled around and scowled up at him at the feeling of his fingers digging into his thin arm. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Johnny asked, raising both brows in question.

“To Gwangju, dumbass,” Taeyong hissed, snatching his wrist out of Johnny’s grip. Even Johnny could have very easily grabbed him again, he didn’t. “Trust me,” Taeyong continued, starting to walk away again. “If I wanted to get away from you, I would.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” Johnny snorted. Taeyong responded by holding his middle up back at him. 

Chapter Text

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Taeyong said, blinking up at Johnny while the both of them stood in the stall of some old thrift store. Johnny only looked back at him which told Taeyong that no, he wasn’t kidding and that yes, he expected him to put on a fucking wedding dress with what looked like kimchi paste spilled down the back.

“I am not,” Johnny answered happily, pushing the dress into Taeyong’s chest so that he had to take it.

The shop wasn’t too far away from where Ten had dropped them off at. Taeyong had been walking ahead of Johnny when the sound of Johnny’s heavy footsteps crunching against the gravel suddenly stopped. Taeyong turned around to see him standing in front of an old store that looked like it hadn’t had a customer within the past fifteen years. He sighed before walking back over to where Johnny was still staring curiously up at the desolate building, observing the structure before pulling his mask down over his chin.

“What?” Taeyong asked.

“We need disguises,” Johnny said simply.

“Are you—?” Taeyong cut himself off with a small sigh. He had decided about a half an hour back that he wasn’t going to let Johnny get him all worked up anymore. “No. We need to keep walking.”

“Think about it, man,” Johnny continued, staying still even when Taeyong had started to walk. At the sound of Johnny’s voice, Taeyong exhaled sharply through his nose and stopped again. “You’re in the same clothes that all those people in Busan last saw you in. Plus, you smell like your heat which was nice at first but I’m really starting to get tired of it.”

Taeyong could have commented on the fact that he didn’t give a single fuck whether or not Johnny liked the way he smelled but ultimiately decided not to. After all, what Johnny was saying was true. Sure, his hair was a different color and his face was almost always covered by both his mask and Johnny’s beanie but if someone was really looking for him—which, apparently, they were—it wouldn’t be hard for them to spot him. And, to be completely honest, Taeyong did feel pretty disgusting. He had tried washing his pants in the sink after the first break of his heat but it didn’t do much. A change of clothes sounded nice.

He just didn’t like the way Johnny had worded it. A disguise. Him and Johnny weren’t super spies—they were two idiots on the run from the law. They were barely a clumsy Bonnie and Clyde.

“Have you ever considered that if the police caught me with you it would save you a whole lot of trouble?” Taeyong muttered as he walked back over to Johnny. It was a legitimate question that he had been thinking about for the past couple of days. How come Johnny hadn’t simply turned him in to those cops sitting no less than a yard away from them? It didn’t made any sense.

Johnny only looked at him. His gaze lingered for a moment. Then, “You want new clothes or not?”

Taeyong did. He only shook his head before pulling his mask back up over his mouth and starting into the store. Johnny followed closely behind him. There was an attendant sitting at the front of the store with a pair of AirPods pushed into her ears watching something on her phone. She barely acknowledged them with a lazy wave of her hand as the two of them walked in. 

“Listen,” Johnny said, checking himself out in the mirror in front of them. He had slipped on some suit that Taeyong was almost certain hadn’t seen the light of day in the past decade and it had become obvious that he thought he was the suit in the dusty black thing. “It’s either the dress or you keep what you have on.”

Taeyong glanced at himself in the mirror. For a lack of a better word, he looked like shit. There were dark circles underneath his eyes and small blonde tufts stuck out from underneath Johnny’s beanie. Every single article of clothing he had on was stained mysteriously. He looked down at the dress in his arms. It was sleeveless and the bottom was made up of a soft cream–colored tulle. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

But it was still a dress. 

“How come I can’t wear a suit?” Taeyong asked Johnny who looked at him for a moment in the mirror before his gaze returned back to himself.

“There was only one suit,” Johnny answered easily.

“Okay,” Taeyong said, scoffing a little under his breath. “Is there any reason why you can’t wear a dress?”

At that, Johnny turned to face him. The look on his face made it seem like Taeyong had asked the most ridiculous question in the world. Taeyong didn’t think that it was. There was no reason why Johnny would go prancing around in some ancient suit and not the dress Taeyong was holding. 

“I can’t wear a dress,” Johnny snorted, shaking his head. 

“Why not?” Taeyong questioned sharply. 

“I don’t have the body for it,” Johnny said simply.

Taeyong blinked at Johnny for a long moment. It seemed like every single day Johnny managed to show him how much of an idiot he really could be. Taeyong kept thinking that he couldn’t be any stupider and Johnny would always prove him wrong. He sighed loudly through his nose again, forcing himself to deflate a little. 

“Why do we even have to dress up like this?” Taeyong asked slowly. “Isn’t a man being in a wedding dress gonna bring more attention to us than it would if I were to stay in what I have on now?”

“Exactly,” Johnny chirped, moving back around to look at himself in the mirror again. “We’re hiding in plain sight.”

“I’m a fucking man!” Taeyong shouted, causing Johnny to flinch with how sudden it was. He had promised himself that he wouldn’t let Johnny work him up but he couldn’t do it anymore. He only had so much patience to give. “I can’t wear a fucking wedding dress, asshole!”

Johnny hesitated a moment in the mirror before turning back around. He didn’t look frustrated or irritated with how Taeyong had yelled at him. He stared at Taeyong for what felt like forever but was probably only a couple of seconds before giving in with a sigh.

“Look, this store is ancient, okay?” Johnny said, speaking to Taeyong softly. “There literally was only one thing in the men’s section and this was it. Everything else in the women’s section is super skimpy and I know you don’t want to dress like that so this is the only option we’ve got.”

“And why exactly do you have to change?” Taeyong spat.

“Because, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we literally reek of each other,” Johnny explained. “The police already have your scent in their database so if I were to have any sort of interaction with them between here and Gwangju in the same clothes that we fucked in they’ll immediately know that I was with you.”

Taeyong was left stuck after Johnny had said that. He had never once considered the fact that Johnny probably smelled as much like him as he did Johnny. It was surprising that Johnny had been the one to think of that. It was probably the first precaution Johnny had taken that had made sense. Taeyong was impressed.

“You don’t have to change,” Johnny continued quietly. “I’m not, like, saying that to be an asshole. If you don’t think you’ll be comfortable in that we can try to think of something different.”

Taeyong really didn’t want to wear that dress. It was too long and too formal and was a dress. But he knew that the two of them didn’t have time to go searching for an alternative. They were already risking it by being inside of that store rather than continuing on their way to Gwangju. Plus, Johnny was right. He couldn’t stay in that outfit and Johnny couldn’t stay in his.

The girl at the register blinked at the both of them as they approached—Johnny first and Taeyong second, arms folded across his exposed chest and his face burning. Johnny had given him a veil to slip into his hair that would cover his face when needed which Taeyong had taken advantage of but he still couldn’t stop the hot wave of humiliation that was continuously rolling through his body. This fucking sucked. 

“Hi,” Johnny said, smiling. “How much?”

“Um,” the girl muttered, glancing at Taeyong again before looking back to Johnny. “I don’t—I don’t know.”

“How about we say that it was about 76,000 won and call it even?” Johnny proposed. The girl was starting to get on Taeyong’s nerves. He wished she would stop looking at him. 

“I guess,” she said, putting her phone to sleep with a click of a button on the side. She looked over at Taeyong one last time before he finally decided that enough was enough.

“Is there something that I can fucking help you with?” Taeyong seethed, scowling. The girl seemed visibly surprised that he had addressed her so rudely. Taeyong didn’t care. 

“I’m sorry,” she apologized, bowing a little. Her hair fell over her face with the simple motion, flipping back down her back when she sat up again. “It’s just that, like—I mean—You’re, like, really pretty.”

Taeyong immediately felt his face grow hot at the girl’s comment. He felt Johnny look down at him and could see the small grin on his lips in his peripheral vision. He folded his arms closer to his chest and looked away from the girl. To think that he thought that this couldn’t get more embarrassing.

Johnny and the girl finished off their interaction without any issue. Taeyong couldn’t help but eye the huge wad of cash that Johnny pulled out of his pocket to pay her with. He wondered how Johnny had acquired that much money. Maybe he wasn’t as bad of a hunter than Taeyong thought. Then again, there was no way Johnny had pulled something like this off more than once. He was way too clueless. Taeyong realized that there was a lot he didn’t know about Johnny. 

As soon as they left the shop, Taeyong pulled the tiara out of his hair and crumpled it up in his hand. It was a lot colder outside than he had expected, goosebumps sprouting up immediately on the skin of his arms. It didn’t take too long for Johnny to notice his discomfort. Taeyong hadn’t noticed that he had slipped off his blazer until Johnny was nudging him, causing him to look up and at the article of clothing being outstretched towards him.

Taeyong squinted at the blazer. “Why are you being nice to me?” he asked, hesitantly taking the blazer from Johnny. 

“You’re in a dress,” Johnny shrugged, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his pants while Taeyong pushed his arms into the loose sleeves of the blazer. “Figured it was the least I could do.” He stared at Taeyong for a long moment after he was finished speaking. The look on his face was unreadable.

“What?” Taeyong finally said, frowning.

“She was right,” Johnny responded, clicking his tongue a little. “You are pretty.” 

Taeyong’s face went dark again. “Oh, shut up,” he muttered before pushing past Johnny, walking haughtily in the direction they had been traveling in before stopping at the store. He heard Johnny laugh loudly from behind him and start to follow after him, catching up to him in only a couple of strides. 

***

“I can’t fucking do this anymore,” Taeyong complained in a whiny voice, flopping down on the dirt road he and Johnny had been walking on for the past two and a half hours. He could feel dirt crawl up his skin at the motion but couldn’t bring himself to care.

They hadn’t stopped walking since the thrift shop. It had been fine at first. Johnny didn’t talk much which Taeyong appreciated and Changwon happened to be quite beautiful. Taeyong liked looking around at the mountains beyond and behind him. He had never been to the countryside before this. His family had raised him right in the middle of Seoul and never once had taken him anywhere. When he traveled by himself—or with other people, mostly with other people—Taeyong had only ever gone to the city. Cities were nice and lively but didn’t have that charming and natural feel that the country had. He appreciated that. 

Appreciated it until walking had started to hurt and the sound of his feet kicking up dirt had began to drive him insane. His body hurt. He was tired. The bottom of his dress had turned brown from all of the muck that had gotten on it. They couldn’t walk all the way to Gwangju. Taeyong would die before they were able.

Johnny turned at the sound of his voice, frowning upon seeing him all spread out on the ground like a child. Still, Taeyong could tell that Johnny was as tired as him. How could he not be? The two of them had to have been walking for a little over four hours.

“We can’t just stop here,” Johnny said, sighing.

“I need a break,” Taeyong only responded before laying back against the Earth. The sky looked really pretty out in the country too. There was so many stars. He hadn’t ever seen many in Seoul. All of the pollution there kept them all hidden underneath a thick cloud of smog.

He heard Johnny sigh again before walking over. Taeyong blinked up at Johnny when he crouched beside him, still frowning. He didn’t care. There wasn’t a single thing that could make him get up in that moment.

“You’re gonna risk us getting caught to stargaze?” Johnny asked, raising a brow.

“Isn’t really stargazing if your ugly face is blocking my view,” Taeyong mumbled, sitting up on his elbows. Johnny stared at him impatiently. “Look, man, I’m not walking for at least another half an hour.”

“You’re pretty demanding for a criminal,” Johnny said, running a hand through his hair. Nevertheless, he hesitated for only a moment before sitting down next to Taeyong.

“You’re an asshole,” Taeyong muttered, laying back down again.

There was a pause. Taeyong could tell that Johnny was thinking about what he had said. He didn’t know why. It wasn’t like it was the first time he had called him that and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

“Do you really think that?” Taeyong heard Johnny say from above him. He made a face at the question.

“Do I really think what?” Taeyong asked, slipping his veil back into his hair and covering his face with the light tulle. 

“That I’m an asshole,” Johnny reiterated. 

Was Johnny an asshole? Was the same Johnny that had bonded him, left him all handcuffed and exposed in front of total stranger, ruined his hair, put him in a situation that could have easily gotten him killed and kidnapped him an asshole? Taeyong didn’t even have to think about it. Johnny was definitely the biggest asshole he had ever met in his entire life. He had earned that title for himself after turning Taeyong platinum against his will.

“If you have to ask that then I think you already know the answer,” Taeyong mumbled in response. Johnny chuckled softly from beside him.

“You’re kind of an asshole too,” he pointed out, pulling his knees up to his chest. “Doing that to all of those men. Spitting in my face—,”

“The only reason why I’m even able to spit in your face is because you’re holding me hostage,” Taeyong cut in quickly. He was not going to let Johnny flip this on him.

“Can’t hold you hostage if you’re a criminal,” Johnny  responded. That was his fucking go–to line. Taeyong rolled his eyes and moved an arm over his face.

“I know I’m an asshole,” Taeyong said after a moment, shrugging. “I don’t have to ask about it.”

He did. He had to be one in his line of work. Scamming men by developing relationships with them only to screw them over in the end required a special kind of carefreeness. Taeyong knew he was an asshole from that night the first CEO texted him begging him not to tell his wife what the two of them had been doing and he had accepted the man’s bribe of half a million won before going and shooting a call to his wife about what had been going on with him and her husband. He didn’t care about people. He never had.

“You shouldn’t be proud to be a bad person,” Johnny chastised. Taeyong could hear the frown in his voice.

“That’s a little rich coming from you,” Taeyong mumbled, laughing a little. “Plus, who said I was proud? I’m just aware of who I am.”

There was a pause. Johnny lay down beside him in the dirt. Taeyong almost immediately scooted over.

“I think you’re the meanest omega I’ve ever met,” Johnny stopped to rethink that. “Actually, I think you’re just the meanest person I’ve ever met.”

“That’s cool,” Taeyong murmured quietly, closing his eyes underneath the veil. “Now shut the fuck up and let me rest.”

It went quiet between the two of them for awhile. The road they were on was just as uninhabited and abandoned as the last. Taeyong didn’t go to sleep. He sat there and wondered about a lot of things. What would he do if his plan in Gwangju didn’t work? What was prison like? Was it really like all of those American TV shows and films? And more importantly—why would Johnny hand him over to the police?

He had been thinking about that for some time. It just didn’t make any sense. If Johnny was a bounty hunter, didn’t that mean that he was working for the police? And if that was true, how come he was so determined to avoid them? Taeyong could understand why he didn’t want to run into them now—an arrest would stop them from getting un–mated which was the last thing either of them wanted—but before? He didn’t get that. There were so many opportunities for Johnny to turn him in, collect his bounty and walk away scot–free. Yet, he still hadn’t.

“So, after we’re finished in Gwangju,” Taeyong started slowly, Johnny looking over at him at the sound of his voice in the otherwise silent air, “you’re gonna give me over to the police there, right?”

There was a pause. Then, “No, I’m taking you to Seoul,” Johnny said easily.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Taeyong snapped in response, sitting up on his elbows. “I’m wanted all over Korea. You could turn me in anywhere and still get paid.”

“I could,” Johnny muttered, looking back up at the sky. “But I’m gonna give you over in Seoul.”

“I don’t fucking trust you,” Taeyong said sharply. “I bet you’re not even a bounty hunter.”

“That’s nice,” Johnny hummed. He definitely wasn’t listening to Taeyong anymore.

Taeyong considered saying something else and maybe even insulting Johnny but ultimately decided to keep his mouth shut. He laid back down, his hair sprawling out in the dirt underneath him. Something definitely wasn’t right with Johnny and it kind of scared him. If Johnny wasn’t working with the police, who would he be working for? This was a mess. Taeyong had never considered complications like this when he first started.

Some more time passed by. Then, out of nowhere, Johnny sat up. Taeyong ignored him and continued to stare up at the sky even while Johnny pushed himself to his feet.

“We need to go,” Johnny announced. Taeyong didn’t say anything in response. He didn’t even look over at him. “It’s been half an hour.”

“Bite me,” Taeyong said in response.

“Fine,” Johnny sighed and that was about all the warning Taeyong got before Johnny was picking him up off the ground and slinging him over his shoulder like a fucking ragdoll.

“What the fuck—?” Taeyong gasped as he was swept straight off the ground, sputtering as his veil bounced against his face with each step Johnny took. “Put me down!” 

“You know, you’re really light,” Johnny said casually like he wasn’t currently walking with a very angry, very violent person on his shoulder. “You should eat more.”

“You should suck my dick!” Taeyong shouted, kicking Johnny’s back with the heel of his boot. “Put me the fuck down or I swear to God!”

“You gonna walk?” Johnny asked.

“Fuck you!” Taeyong seethed, flailing in Johnny’s grip again. Why the fuck was he so strong? He felt Johnny shrug.

“Fine by me.”

And even though they were on a dirt road and hadn’t seen another human being for the past hour and a half, Taeyong really didn’t think he could deal with the humiliation of being thrown over someone’s shoulder in a way where he was almost positive his panties were showing if the cool breeze on his ass was anything to go by in a fucking wedding dress. He was only so strong.

“Fine, I’ll walk,” Taeyong muttered angrily. Johnny only continued walking like he hadn’t heard him. “I said I’ll walk!”

Johnny took one more step before stopping in the middle of the road, holding onto Taeyong by his waist and placing him down on his feet. For a long moment, Taeyong blinked up at Johnny, visibly fuming. It was a stupid thing for him to do. Childish, too. If he were anywhere else with anyone else, Taeyong wouldn’t even have considered it.

But he really, really couldn’t stand Johnny.

Johnny squawked as Taeyong sat back down on the ground, folding his arms over his chest defiantly. He stared at Taeyong for a couple seconds. 

“Really?” Johnny asked. Taeyong blinked at him. “You are such a brat.” Taeyong still wouldn’t respond. “Get up.”

“Fuck you,” Taeyong hissed.

Johnny hesitated. He ran a hand through his hair. Then, without waiting a moment longer, Johnny bent down and went to pick Taeyong up again. Taeyong yelled and smushed a hand in Johnny’s face and Johnny made a muffled sound, immediately pulling away. Taeyong flipped over on his stomach and tried pushing himself up onto his feet but was stopped by Johnny snatching him back by his ankle.

It was almost impressive how quick Johnny was. Before Taeyong knew it, he was being forced back  onto his back. He tried kicking Johnny but was stopped by Johnny sitting on his feet, leaping up to pin both of Taeyong’s wrists up above his head. Taeyong strained underneath Johnny’s grasp, growling as Johnny’s grip only went tighter around his wrists. 

Johnny must see him gearing up to do it. “Don’t you dare,” he warned through gritted teeth, still not letting go of Taeyong. If he did that, Taeyong would get away and the whole thing would start all over again. Taeyong only glared up at him, lips pursed. “Taeyong, I swear to God—!”

Taeyong cackled loudly as Johnny immediately let go of him to wipe his spit from off his face, his cheeks burning all the while. It never got old.

Unfortunately, as he was too focused on laughing at Johnny furiously rubbing his saliva off of his face, Taeyong didn’t take his chance to slip out from under him. His smile dropped when he felt Johnny’s rough hand return back around his wrist, wincing at how much it hurt. He squirmed again, breathing almost as heavily as Johnny from above him.

It went quiet again. Taeyong wasn’t too sure why. He blinked up at Johnny and Johnny down at him, his face still a bright red. It made Taeyong squirm. He went to open his mouth to tell Johnny to get the fuck off of him already but was interrupted by the feeling of Johnny’s lips on his. 

At first, Taeyong is shocked. He doesn’t understand why Johnny is kissing and immediately found himself wanting him off. But, before he could work up the energy to push Johnny as far away from him as possible, something changed. He isn’t sure what and it’s confusing but suddenly he’s embracing the feel of Johnny on top of him, moaning softly against his plush lips. It was almost kind of sick how much of a good kisser Johnny was. He reached up and wrapped his arms around Johnny’s neck, pulling him closer and opening his mouth so that Johnny could slip his tongue inside.

“You’re so fucking annoying,” Johnny growled into his mouth, pulling the veil out from Taeyong’s hair.

“You’re fucking stupid,” Taeyong countered, sitting up on his elbows to kiss along the length of Johnny’s neck while he frantically unbuttoned his shirt. “You’re the worst fucking bounty hunter I’ve ever seen in my entire life.” 

“You’re a bitch,” Johnny snapped, shoving Taeyong back to the ground again. Taeyong hissed at the pain that traveled up the back of his skull but wasn’t able to dwell on it too long, as Johnny was pulling him in for another messy kiss.

Taeyong gasped when he felt Johnny sneak a hand under his dress, pushing up his thin thighs before slipping underneath one of the leg holes of his panties. He squirmed from beneath Johnny, whining into his mouth at the feeling of Johnny’s fingers brushing up against his leaking cunt. He teased at his entrance for about half a second before snatching his hand away.

“Fuck you,” Taeyong breathed, letting Johnny pull away from his mouth to start nosing his neck. He winced sharply when Johnny came in context with his bond mark, pleasure and pain both rolling straight to the pit of his stomach. 

“God, you’re such a little brat,” Johnny muttered, his breath hot against Taeyong’s skin. Embarrassingly enough, the sound of Johnny degrading him caused more slick to come dripping out of Taeyong’s cunt. He moaned quietly at the feeling, pressing his thighs together to relieve himself a little. It barely worked.

As Johnny continued to suck bruises into the pale skin of his neck, Taeyong couldn’t help but notice the strong smell of a fir tree emitting from him. He had caught a whiff of it back in Ulsan but it was much stronger this time around, almost dizzying with how overwhelming it was. Taeyong clasped onto him even tighter with the reappearance of the weirdly comforting, Christmas–y scent, pushing his fingers through Johnny’s soft hair. Fuck, Taeyong thought as Johnny moved away from his neck and started to reach underneath his dress again. I could literally die like this.

“Hold your dress up,” Johnny demanded darkly and Taeyong did, blushing all the while. He was sure that it looked a little ridiculous but couldn’t find himself to care when Johnny was starting to pull his panties off. He took in a sharp breath of air when Johnny gave his pussy a quick slap, chuckling lowly at his reaction. “Come on, open up,” Johnny said, pushing apart Taeyong’s thighs that had slammed shut when his cunt was slapped.

“I really can’t—ah!” Taeyong cut himself off with a moan at the feeling of Johnny licking a thick stripe up his pussy, his face burning even hotter than before. Johnny was really eating him out in the middle of a very public road. While it wasn’t likely with the lack of people so far, Taeyong’s heart sped up at the thought of someone driving past and seeing him get his pussy ate in a fucking dress.

Johnny chuckled quietly before pulling back, pressing his thumb against Taeyong’s clit. Taeyong sucked in a sharp breath of air, his back arching at the feeling. He spread his legs wider, whining when Johnny spit on his hole before fucking it inside with two of his fingers. 

“Always so tight for me,” Johnny muttered, running the hand that wasn’t currently fucking him over Taeyong’s soft, flat stomach, the feeling somewhat soothing and completely contradictive to how roughly he was stretching him out.

Before Taeyong could really get used to the feeling of Johnny fingering him, he was pulling back and pushing Taeyong’s skirt further up, laughing breathlessly at the sight of Taeyong all wrecked and clearly overwhelmed. Taeyong scowled at this and went to open his mouth to call Johnny out on how he was clearly teasing him but only ended up interrupting himself with a shaky breath as Johnny bent down and sucked his clit into his mouth.

He let Johnny lick up and down his slit, stopping every once in awhile to dip his tongue inside of Taeyong’s hole, causing his entire body to seize up. Johnny didn’t really seem to mind it when Taeyong pushed a hand into his hair and pulled, forcing his face closer to his cunt. In fact, the motion only seemed to encourage him. Taeyong pushed himself up onto his elbows as Johnny continued to assault his sensitive clit with his tongue, laughing shakily at the sight of Johnny in between his legs.

Taeyong’s head fell back as he started rolling his hips down against Johnny’s tongue, gasping and cursing with each sharp stab of pleasure that rolled through his body. A breathy little squeal left him when Johnny moved to push his two fingers back inside of his hole, looking up at him all cocky as he licked across Taeyong’s clit again. If Taeyong wasn’t so focused on coming, he would have said something about that stupid look on his face. Johnny fucking straight into that familiar bundle of nerves not too far in his cunt made him forget all about it.

“G–Gonna come,” Taeyong managed to get out, his eyes rolling to the very back of his head when Johnny stabbed into that spot again, the grip he had in his hair going even tighter than it had already been.

Johnny didn’t let up, continuing to fuck his fingers into Taeyong’s small pussy and sucking relentlessly on his clit until Taeyong couldn’t take it anymore, choking on a gasp before he was spilling messily into Johnny’s mouth, cunt clenching sporadically around Johnny’s fingers.

He barely had any time to come down from his orgasm before Johnny was bending down to pull him into a kiss, rubbing his fingers through the mess he had made of Taeyong’s cunt. Taeyong tried to shy away, mewling and whimpering into Johnny’s mouth as Johnny forced his thighs open with one of his knees. He squealed noisily when Johnny pressed the head of his cock against his hole, the sound swallowed down eagerly by him. Taeyong pulled back from the kiss as Johnny bottomed out inside of him, his back arching against the ground.

Johnny didn’t waste any time before beginning to steadily fuck his cunt, bending down over Taeyong to kiss him again. Taeyong was practically shuddering with how overwhelming it all felt, the feeling of Johnny’s thick cock stretching out his pussy almost dizzying. It only got worse when Johnny enclosed a hand around his throat, squeezing on each side with his fingers. Taeyong gasped aloud for air, spreading his legs wider as Johnny started to fuck him harder, undoubtedly bruising his pale skin.

“Don’t tell me you liked getting choked,” Johnny chuckled lowly, pressing into Taeyong’s throat even tighter following the strained moan that Taeyong couldn’t stop himself from letting out. He did. He fucked loved it. The feeling of Johnny stealing his breath straight from his lungs by both fucking him and enclosing a hand around his neck. “My slutty little princess,” Johnny continued, pulling his hand away from Taeyong’s throat to grip at either side of his face, forcing him to look up at him. “Does princess like getting her wet little pussy fucked?”

Taeyong opened his mouth to respond but cut himself off with a choked mewl the moment he felt Johnny’s thick cock press into that spot inside of him, dragging along his sensitive walls on the outtake. He felt so fucking good. It was almost scary how amazing Johnny was able to make him feel.

“Come here,” Johnny muttered when Taeyong didn’t say anything in response, pressing his fingers harder into Taeyong’s cheeks. “Open.” Taeyong did so almost immediately, sticking his tongue out as Johnny continued to fuck him, forcing his lithe body up across the ground with each harsh thrust. He gasped when Johnny spit into his mouth, forcing him to swallow around it by his rough hand.

He doesn’t even give him a chance to realize what had happened before flipping Taeyong onto his hands and knees, pushing his dress back up again before pushing a hand into Taeyong’s hair, pulling him back by the soft strands while he fucked him completely senseless. Taeyong knew that he should have been embarrassed of how much of a little bitch Johnny was making him sound but couldn’t bring himself to care. He reached behind him, putting one hand on his ass to spread himself even wider for Johnny’s cock, whimpering and mewling with every thrust.

He screamed and gasped loudly as Johnny speared into his cunt once again, slamming into that spot. His eyes rolled back, falling onto his face with a particularly hard press of Johnny’s hips. After that thrust, Johnny seemed to able to find a cool rhythm, fucking straight into the sensitive bundle of nerve each time. Taeyong can’t take it anymore. He could taste the dirt in his mouth from the ground beneath him, drool dribbling down his chin. 

“Ah!” Taeyong breathed after a quick slap to his cunt, his legs attempting to close around Johnny’s cock.

It felt like he could feel Johnny in his fucking stomach with how hard he was ramming into him. He couldn’t even bring himself to reach a hand up and rub at his aching clit, only reduced to a series of garbled little moans and whines as Johnny continued to use him.

“I— J–Johnny,” Taeyong hiccuped into the ground, shaking his head. He couldn’t handle it any longer.

“You gonna come?” Johnny asked and Taeyong frantically nodded in response. Johnny laughed quietly, groaning a little before slamming a hand down onto Taeyong’s ass. Taeyong squealed loudly at that, pushing back for more.

Johnny could only slap him one more time before Taeyong was coming hard, squirting around Johnny’s cock. He went dizzy with the force of his orgasm, letting out last shuddery breath before he collapsed. He barely even felt Johnny continuing to fuck him, groaning hot and wet against his neck as he thrusted into him, using him until he reached his own orgasm.

Taeyong whined lazily as Johnny pulled out and came onto his raw pussy, the bite on his neck throbbing as he listened to Johnny stroke himself to completion. He felt so overwhelmed in all the right ways. If the two of them weren’t currently outside in the middle of nowhere, Taeyong was sure that he would have passed out right there and then. The only reason why he hadn’t was because he was quite literally forcing himself not to.

He must have floated off somewhere because it was the feeling of rough tulle scratching over his sore cunt that brought him back down. He gasped at the stimulation and looked over his shoulder, watching Johnny rub through the come dripping down both his pussy and soft thighs. It hurt but felt good at the same time. Taeyong was torn between demanding Johnny to stop and embracing it. He decided to sit there, letting Johnny finish cleaning him up.

“There’s dirt in my ass,” Taeyong finally muttered, breathing heavily through his nose. A few pieces of hair bounced up off his forehead with the sudden gust of air.

“I guess fucking outside wasn’t really the smartest option,” Johnny said in response, flipping Taeyong over. “Christ.” Taeyong frowned up at him.

“What?” he asked, all defensive and sharp. 

“It’s just that you look really—,” Johnny stopped in the middle of his sentence, shaking his head. “Nothing.”

If Taeyong had the energy, he would have pushed on it. He didn’t. Johnny threw the veil he had used to clean Taeyong up with a few feet away from them, running a hand through his hair afterward. It was a wonder how he always managed to look all composed and cool after fucking Taeyong within an inch of his life. Taeyong didn’t know how he did it.

“I didn’t tell you that you could spit in my mouth,” Taeyong mumbled, forcing himself to sit up. He flinched upon feeling the bare ground come in contact with his ass through the dress. “I need my panties.”

Johnny reached behind himself and picked them up, holding them a bit too close to Taeyong’s face, all covered in dirt and slick. Taeyong scrunched up his nose at the sight of them, pushing Johnny’s hand away quickly. 

“I don’t think I need permission to spit in your mouth,” Johnny snorted, obviously quoting all of the time that Taeyong had spit up at him when angry. 

Taeyong didn’t say anything in response to that. He can’t really think of anything to say. His head was still cloudy and his pussy was sore. He glanced over at Johnny who was sitting next to him, his shirt crooked across his chest and his cheeks ruddy. It reminded him of something. It reminded him of the fact that out of nowhere, Johnny had pulled him in for a kiss and fucked him until his eyes went cross. And the weirdest part? He couldn’t even get mad at Johnny because he had wanted it just as bad as Johnny did. What the fuck?

“This is weird,” Taeyong said, folding his arms across his chest. Now that he didn’t have the feeling of Johnny’s cock in him to distract, there was nothing else for him to focus on other than how cold it had gotten outside.

“What’s weird?” Johnny asked softly, handing Taeyong the blazer that he had slipped off somewhere during their rendezvous.

Taeyong looked at him. He couldn’t bring himself to say it aloud so he didn’t. It didn’t matter. At the end of the day, it had probably only happened because of the fact that they were mated. He didn’t have to think about it so hard. 

He opened his mouth to tell Johnny that it was nothing but stopped upon noticing the small black car parked about a yard up from them. Looking further, he saw the house pushed far back from where the car was. Taeyong couldn’t help but blush a little at the thought of someone possibly hearing him and Johnny fuck but he didn’t dwell on it for too long, pushing himself up and off the ground. Johnny blinked up at him, obviously confused as to why he had stood so suddenly.

“There’s a car,” Taeyong explained, pointing. Johnny turned, squinting against the darkness until he found it.

“That’s nice,” Johnny said in response, nodding. Taeyong blinked at him for a long moment, waiting for the punchline. It never came. He sighed and shook his head, starting off in the direction of the vehicle. Johnny was clearly too much for an idiot to figure it out for himself.

He could hear Johnny scramble up from the ground to follow after him, still under the impression that Taeyong was determined to escape. Taeyong didn’t slow his stride but didn’t quicken it either, giving Johnny time to join him at his side. Taeyong glanced over at him and started to walk a little faster solely for the sake of being annoying.

“What are we doing?” Johnny finally asked once they approached the car. He watched Taeyong try both doors of the driver’s side to no avail and move around to the opposite side before reiterating, “What are you doing?”

The back door on the passenger side was open. Taeyong sucked in a sharp little breath of relief. This wasn’t his first encounter with an old car like such. If the owner wasn’t being diligent, it wasn’t exactly hard for someone to get in.

Johnny choked almost immediately when he climbed inside, running around after him to try and pull him out of the car. Taeyong swatted him away with a harsh noise and continued to climb into the front seat of the car, huffing with how difficult it was to do that in a wedding dress that felt like it could have easily weighed half of him.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Johnny hissed, his voice muffled by the windows of the car.

Taeyong ignored him, feeling underneath the wheel until he felt the few wires sticking out from the bottom. He smiled in relief and stuck his head beneath the wheel, watching as he carefully pulled the wires out from where they were tucked away. Johnny banged on the window, thoroughly startling him and forcing him back up.

“What?” Taeyong snapped, irritated with the fact that he had been interrupted. Johnny said something in response but it was barely audible behind the thick glass. Taeyong sighed and felt around until he found the familiar handle, using it to roll down the window.

“Get out of the fucking car!” Johnny whisper–yelled, looking around cautiously for anyone who might be nearby. Taeyong only scoffed and rolled his eyes in response before moving back down to continue playing with the wires. He needed to correct the right to actually get the car to start. “Taeyong!” Johnny tried again from above him.

“Listen,” Taeyong started, continuing to messing with the wires. One of them looked pretty promising. “I’m doing us a favor.” He pressed two of the wires together, jumping back a little at the spark it created. The car made a disturbing noise before immediately shutting back off. Taeyong groaned in frustration and reached for another wire. “We can’t walk all the way to Gwangju, dude. We’ll either get caught or die.”

“You’re being dramatic,” Johnny responded, huffing. “You need to get out before we get caught.”

Taeyong ignored him. He knew that Johnny would be against this but didn’t really see any other option. It was almost ten hours to Gwangju on foot and they had only made it through two of those. Even when if they did continue on their way by walking, how exactly did Johnny expect them to make it in such a busy city? They had only managed to get by here because Ten had dropped them off in the sleepiest part of town where no one dared to venture. In Gwangju, Taeyong didn’t doubt that someone would spot him in a matter of minutes. It simply wasn’t a choice that they had. 

He heard Johnny demand something else but blocked him out, pulling at another wire. Johnny called him in a way that probably would have made him flinch if he wasn’t so focused on getting the car to start. He pushed the last wire with the one he had just picked up together, unable to stop himself from flinching again from sharp flash that built up from the two wires. The car started again for half a second before shutting back off. Taeyong huffed in annoyance and went to do it again. 

“Taeyong!” 

Taeyong immediately sat up after that, looking at Johnny in shock at how searing his voice had sounded calling him. The growl that came with the call caused Taeyong’s stomach to drop so quick that it almost hurt. He blinked up at Johnny, confused as to why the sound of his voice had made him feel so dizzy.

“Get out of the car,” Johnny demanded darkly and Taeyong can’t stop the blush that traveled all the way down to his neck that came with the way Johnny was speaking to him. He hesitated a moment, still a little hazy from how harshly Johnny had called him. 

It was so strange. The way Taeyong felt almost required to follow Johnny’s directions when he never had before. His face felt so hot that he almost couldn’t stand it. He couldn’t even bring himself to wonder why Johnny’s voice had impacted him so much, nor why he was more than ready to listen to whatever he had to say next. His hesitancy must frustrate Johnny because the other was opening his mouth to say something else, only to be interrupted by the shrill sound of an unfamiliar yell. Both of their heads snap in the direction the voice had come from.

There was a small woman in the porch of the house, standing in only a robe and a pair of slippers. She was holding something. From where Taeyong was, he couldn’t tell what it was. He looked up at Johnny in panic but was met with the sight of him pulling the car door open frantically and climbing in.

“What the fuck?” Taeyong asked. The woman was still yelling at them. Her voice was growing closer and closer.

“Start the car,” Johnny demanded, all panicked and breathless. He looked scared. Not even the type of scared where he was worried about getting in trouble for attempting to steal someone’s car. Johnny looked absolutely terrified.

“You literally just told me not to,” Taeyong countered not to be difficult but because genuinely didn’t understand why Johnny had changed his mind so quick. It also didn’t help that his mind was still a bit muddled from Johnny shouting at him earlier. What the fuck had that been about?

“Start the fucking car!” Johnny yelled, causing Taeyong to flinch. It hadn’t been as harsh as the last but still managed to startle Taeyong.

“Jesus,” Taeyong cursed, teaching for the wires again. The woman seemed to be only a few feet away from them now. He pushed the two wires together again, watching them spark before the car was brought to life. This time, it didn’t shut off.

Even after the car had started, Taeyong sat there. Again, it wasn’t because he was trying to be difficult or piss Johnny off but because he literally had no fucking clue what to do next.

“Drive!” Johnny shouted at him.

“I don’t fucking know how to drive!” Taeyong shouted back because he didn’t. Nobody in his family had ever taught him and in his current (or former) line of work, he had never really felt the need to learn.

“She has a fucking gun, Taeyong!” Johnny snapped, pointing to the woman in front of them who was most definitely carrying a shotgun and had it poised at his head to shoot. Taeyong’s eyes went wide and he shrieked as a deafening shot went crashing through the window, being shoved down by Johnny at just the right moment to avoid being hit. 

“What the fuck?” Taeyong screeched, sitting up to see the woman moving to cock the gun back again. He didn’t hesitate this time around, pulling the gear in reverse and slamming his foot down on the gas pedal.

The car went skidding into the dirt road, jerking both him and Johnny to a sudden stop as Taeyong pressed down on the brake more than a little too hard and began to turn the car around. Another gunshot went off. Taeyong felt the heat of it rush past him and through Johnny’s window. Taeyong gasped, his head snapping to look at Johnny. 

“Are you—?” Taeyong went to ask before Johnny was interrupting him.

“I’m fine!” Johnny said quickly. “Go!”

Taeyong nodded shakily before pushing the gear into drive and peeling off down the road. One last gunshot pierced the otherwise silent air, sending a sharp chill down Taeyong’s spine. What the fuck? What the actual fuck? Someone had just tried to kill them. To kill him.  

He drove until it felt safe, glancing over at Johnny who was still visibly a bit shaky before pulling over on the side of the road. They sat there for a moment, the air between them quiet yet tense.

Then, “I think I’m gonna throw up.”

Taeyong watched as Johnny shoved the car door open and retched loudly, scrunching his nose up at the sound of it. He looked down at both of his hands still on the wheel, shuddering without him realizing it. He pulled them off and pushed them in between his thighs, forcing them to stop shaking that way.

Johnny pulled back up and shut the door behind him, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Taeyong stared at him a moment.

“We could have died,” Johnny said slowly. Taeyong already knew where he was going with this.

“We didn’t,” he pointed out, voice cracking a bit near the end. Jesus Christ. He couldn’t even talk straight. 

“Someone shot at me,” Johnny continued. “That bullet was an inch away from going through my head.” 

“She shot at me too,” Taeyong defended lowly. He was starting to feel a little sick to his stomach.

“You have to think about shit before you do it, Taeyong!” Johnny shouted, his voice bouncing off of the walls of the car. “You could have gotten the both of us fucking killed!”

It wasn’t the fact that Johnny was yelling at him that was making Taeyong feel like he was about to pass out but how loud Johnny was definitely wasn’t helping either. His hearing as starting to go a bit muffled. Johnny was still speaking but Taeyong couldn’t make out anything that was coming out of his mouth. It was becoming more and more obvious that could tell that Johnny was getting frustrated with the fact that Taeyong wasn’t responding. 

Johnny cursed loudly when Taeyong vomited right in his lap, unable to move away quick enough to avoid the thick liquid getting on his pants. If Taeyong wasn’t so dizzy, he would have laughed at how high–pitched Johnny’s voice had gotten in that moment. Once finished, he sat back in his seat, leaning his head back against the window with a shuddery sigh. Johnny groaned, searching wildly around the car until he found a bottle of water thrown in the backseat. Taeyong watched as Johnny poured it over his leg, washing his puke off onto the seat beneath him. 

“You’re a real piece of fucking work—,” Johnny started, only to stop himself upon seeing how pale Taeyong had gotten. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” Taeyong mumbled, cringing at the taste of vomit in his mouth. That was a complete lie. The past half an hour had been way too much for him to handle. There was also the fact that he hadn’t eaten a proper meal within the past couple of days and not because Johnny wasn’t feeding him but because he had refused to eat out of defiance. 

Johnny blinked at him for a moment before sighing, tossing the bottle back where he had found it and pushing his door open, climbing out of the car. Taeyong had enough sense to pull away from where he was still leaning on the mirror as Johnny pulled on his door, cool air from outside rushed in, prickling Taeyong’s skin. 

“Come here,” Johnny muttered, helping Taeyong out of the car. Taeyong watched as Johnny pulled the back door open before carefully sitting him down inside. “Why don’t you take a nap or something, alright? I’ll drive.”

Taeyong didn’t have the energy to tell him to fuck off or to protest. He curled himself into a ball on the backseat, moving both arms to wrap around his stomach that was currently throbbing with how badly it was cramping, huffing quietly. This fucking sucked. Johnny reached in front of him, pulling a thin blanket from underneath him. 

“Thanks,” Taeyong mumbled as Johnny lay the blanket over his trembling body. The fabric was cold against his skin at first contact but started to feel a bit better after a couple of seconds. 

“Yeah,” Johnny responded. Taeyong could feel his gaze linger on him for a moment. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Tired,” Taeyong yawned, shaking his head against the seat. Johnny didn’t say anything after that. He stared down at Taeyong for only a little bit longer before Taeyong heard the door shut. 

The car started back up with a rumble. Taeyong did his best to steady his breathing. They would be in Gwangju soon. The moment that they got there, this whole nightmare would be over for him. All he needed to do was make it through the next couple of hours—which was starting to seem harder and harder to do with how badly his stomach was cramping.

They hadn’t been driving for too long before Johnny was speaking up again. His voice was uncertain. He probably wasn’t sure whether or not Taeyong had fallen asleep yet. “Yong?” Johnny asked. Taeyong hesitated a second before humming in response. “Are you sure that your friend is gonna know how to fix us?”

The question caught Taeyong by surprise. Hearing Johnny sound worried about them being bonded was a first. Since the moment he had bitten him, Johnny didn’t seem to be the least bit bothered by it. Taeyong was certain that he simply didn’t care. It was sort of weird. 

“He’ll know,” Taeyong muttered because he would. They both needed him to. 

A pause. Then, “What’s his name?” Johnny said.

It took Taeyong a moment to think of what to say in response. He was starting to feel drowsy. It wouldn’t be long until he drifted off to sleep which he was beyond thankful for. Hopefully by the time he woke back up, they would be in Gwangju and his stomach wouldn’t feel like someone was currently stabbing him with all their might.

“Yuta,” Taeyong told him through a quiet mumble. He could barely hear the sound of Johnny’s head moving against his seat in a way that could have only meant the other had nodded. Seeing that Johnny seemed to be finished with all of his questions, Taeyong no longer had a reason to stop himself from falling asleep. 

Hopefully Johnny didn’t fuck the both of them over before he woke back up. 

Chapter Text

Johnny woke Taeyong up by reaching behind him while driving and shaking him a couple of times. It took a moment but finally Taeyong sat up, squinting against the bright light of the sun shining into the car. He went to rub at his eyes, a little surprised that Johnny hadn’t bounded his wrists together while he was sleep. Johnny waited patiently for him to adjust back into consciousness, watching him stretch his thin arms above his head, yawning.

“Sleep well?” Johnny asked, raising an eyebrow. Taeyong looked at him for a long moment, confused as to why he was asking. When had they gotten to the point where they cared about each other’s personal wellbeing?

Taeyong decided not to answer. He looked out the window to see that Johnny had parked on the side of residential street, isolated from the rest of the cars parked neatly in the driveways of the numerous homes on either side of them. It looked almost exactly like where Johnny had picked him up in Busan. He yawned again. 

“Where are we?” Taeyong asked, frowning.

“Well, if the slurred and mumbled address you gave me earlier held any substance I’d say we’re at your friend’s house,” Johnny answered, turning back around to start fidgeting with the rearview mirror. “What was his name again?”

Taeyong focused his attention back on the house they were parked in front of. He had only visited Yuta once since he moved from Seoul and that had been at some restaurant in uptown Gwangju. That was over a year ago. Yuta had scribbled down his address on the receipt their waitress had given him and told Taeyong to come by at any time. Taeyong never did. 

Until now.

It was a pretty nice house. Not too big and not too small. It looked a lot more modern than most of the homes on the block but not so much that it was obnoxious in comparison. Taeyong held his chin in his hand and hummed, blinking up at the home for a few more seconds before turning back to Johnny who was looking at him through the rearview mirror.

“Yuta,” Taeyong said, tossing the blanket Johnny had thrown over him onto the floor. “I think you should park somewhere else.”

“How come?” Johnny asked.

“The lady who we took it from probably called it in by now,” Taeyong explained, scooting towards the door. “Police have to be looking by now.” He had his hand on the door to get out and stopped, taking a moment to rethink what he had just said. “We should park it in Yuta’s garage.”

“Why?” Johnny questioned again.

“If we park it somewhere nearby they’ll know we’re in the area,” Taeyong said, pressing his forehead against the window. It felt less cold here in Gwangju. His arms weren’t covered in goosebumps for the first time since he had put on the damned dress. “If we park in his garage they won’t be able to find us.”

Johnny hesitated a moment. Then he hummed quietly. Taeyong had been fully expecting him to make some sort of comment about his criminal knowledge. Johnny never did. Taeyong was kind of glad for it. He climbed out of the car first and Johnny followed soon after, stretching his long arms above his head. Taeyong flattened down the skirt of his dress.

“You sure you’re feeling okay enough to walk?” Johnny asked, causing Taeyong to look up at him and frown. 

“What are you gonna do if I’m not?” Taeyong responded. “Carry me?”

“I mean,” Johnny started, reaching up a hand to scratch at the back of his neck. “If you want.”

Taeyong stared at him for what could have been forever but was probably only a couple of drawn–out seconds. Finally, he shook his head. “Think about what you’re gonna say before you say it,” he said before starting off to the front door. Johnny hesitated a moment before following after him.

There was a lot for Taeyong to consider when the two of them approached the front door. What if Yuta was still pissed at him for what had happened in Seoul? He had seemed fine when Taeyong visited him but what if the time apart gave him time to dwell on it? Hell, what if Yuta didn’t even live here anymore? After all, it had  been a year since Taeyong had last seen him. A lot could happen in that amount of time. And what would him and Johnny do then? Just be stuck with each other for the rest of their lives? Not even that, considering that Johnny seemed pretty inflexible in the idea of turning him in. 

Johnny was the one who rang the doorbell due to his impatience and Taeyong’s internal struggle. Taeyong glared up at him with his sudden action but decided not to say anything. Even after his nap in the car that had to have been over two hours considering the fact that Johnny had driven them all the way to Yuta’s place Taeyong still felt exhausted. All he wanted was for this to be over. If everything went right, it would be pretty soon. 

Before he could grow too anxious about the fact that no one had answered the call of the bell yet, the door swung open and there stood Yuta, dressed in an old sweatshirt and shorts with a toothbrush in his mouth and toothpaste dripping down his chin. He looked dumbstruck. Taeyong couldn’t tell if it was over the sight of him in a wedding dress with platinum hair, Johnny or the fact that Yuta’s on–the–run friend was currently standing on his doorstep. If he had to take a bet out on it, Taeyong would pick all three.

“You grew out your hair,” Taeyong said, smiling sheepishly. The last time he saw Yuta his hair barely reached his nape. Since then, it had grown all the way to his shoulders. “It looks nice.”

Yuta stared at him for a moment longer before pulling him in for a hug. Taeyong tripped over the tulle of his dress but was able to catch himself in Yuta’s arms, inhaling the scent of him and his toothpaste. So much for the possibility of Yuta still being upset with him. 

“Holy shit,” Yuta breathed, moving back to get a good look at Taeyong. He shook his head and pulled Taeyong in for another embrace, squeezing him tight. 

“You’re a lot more touchy than I remember you,” Taeyong muttered, laughing a little. That caused Yuta to pull away for good, allowing Taeyong to stand on his own.

“Sorry, man. I’ve just missed you a lot,” Yuta admitted, sighing. He glanced over at Johnny before looking back at Taeyong. “Who’s this?”

“Long story,” Taeyong brushed off with a wave. He pointed past Yuta to the inside of his house. “You mind if we come in?”

“Of course,” Yuta said, stepping aside to let the both of them inside. Taeyong immediately walked in and embraced the inherent warmth of Yuta’s home but Johnny lingered at the door. Both Yuta and Taeyong looked at him, confused. 

“We’ve, uh,” Johnny interrupted himself with a small cough. “I’ve got to park the car.”

Right. Taeyong had almost forgotten. He looked down at the car parked near the curb, squinting at the visible holes of where the true owner’s bullet had come in and out of. Yuta must have noticed them too because he was humming with a small frown and tilting his head to the side in order to get a closer look at it. 

“Can we park in your garage, Yu?” Taeyong asked, turning Yuta’s attention from the car back to him. 

“Um,” Yuta hesitated. “Yeah, sure.”

He took his keys off of the hook right above Taeyong’s head and stepped out onto the doorstep, leaning past Johnny to aim a small black remote hanging off of the loop of metal at his garage. The door opened with a groan as soon as he pressed the button. He paused for a moment before handing the keys over to Johnny. 

“Make sure to close it after you,” Yuta said and Johnny nodded.

“Taeyong,” Johnny called. Taeyong blinked over at him. “I think you should come with me.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Taeyong responded and he really meant it. He couldn’t do anything until him and Johnny were un–bonded. Johnny needed to trust that.

Johnny hesitated for a second before looking over at Yuta. It was clear that Yuta still was having trouble understanding what exactly was going on between him and Taeyong. Finally, he nodded. 

“Yeah, alright,” Johnny agreed, sighing a little bit. “The door in the garage open?”

“Yup,” Yuta answered and Johnny nodded one last time before turning on the heel of his worn sneakers and walking off in the direction of the car. Yuta and Taeyong watched him for a long moment before Yuta finally stepped back inside and closed the door behind him. 

He immediately looked over at Taeyong who was too busy looking at the layout of Yuta’s house to notice him staring. It was really nice. He had never considered Yuta to be a particularly artistic or creative person but the way he had decorated everything really suited the area. It suited him. It took Yuta clearing his throat for Taeyong to realize that Yuta wanted him. 

“Dude, you’re blonde,” Yuta deadpanned slowly. “And in a wedding dress.” 

Taeyong chuckled lowly. If he didn’t find humor in the situation, he was pretty sure he would have gone crazy with how frustrating and stressful the past couple of days had been for him.

“I am,” Taeyong nodded. “Speaking of that, do you happen to have any clothes that I could wear?”

“Kun does,” Yuta responded and Taeyong raised a brow in question. 

“Kun?” he asked, only for Yuta to quickly wave him off.

“Taeyong, you’re wanted in every fucking county of the country,” Yuta pointed out. If it wasn’t Yuta, Taeyong probably would have responded with something along the lines that he was very aware of the fact that the police were searching for him in every corner of South Korea. Instead, he only walked over to the mirror that Yuta had up in the foyer. He really did look like shit. The dye had started to fade and give out to his natural shade of brown. His skin was blotchy. He looked stressed in every sense of the word. “What are you doing here, man?” Yuta continued, pulling Taeyong’s focus back on him. “And who the fuck is the dude parking a very clearly stolen car in my garage?”

“That’s Johnny,” Taeyong answered easily, bending down to unzip his boots. He kicked them off and pushed them against the wall, having enough decency to keep up with Yuta’s almost eerily neat foyer. “He’s my mate.”

“He’s your what?” Yuta practically shouted, causing Taeyong to flinch a little at how loud he had said it. He lifted a finger to his mouth and quickly shushed him. Yuta only rolled his eyes in response before repeating in a significantly lower voice: “He’s your what?”

“My mate,” Taeyong reiterated, approaching Yuta again. He glanced over at the kitchen in the direction that he was sure the door that connected to the garage was in. They didn’t have much time to talk before Johnny came waltzing in again. “Listen, Yuta. You’ve got to help me. I fucked up, big time.”

“You fucked up?” Yuta asked, frowning. “How?”

“He’s a fucking bounty hunter,” Taeyong said in a hushed voice. He looked at the door again and decided to restate. “I mean, he says he’s a bounty hunter but I’m seriously starting to doubt that he’s a fucking bounty hunter.”

“What is he then?” Yuta said back. 

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Taeyong responded. He was pretty sure that he looked like a psychopath holding both of Yuta’s shoulders in a wedding dress stained with kimchi paste and a horrible $15 convenience store dye job but Yuta needed to understand that he was currently going through a lot at the moment. “He’s trying to take me to Seoul and he keeps talking about collecting money for me and I–I—.” Yuta interrupted him before he could finish. 

“You need to calm down,” Yuta said steadily. He opened his mouth to say something but cut himself off at the sight of the deep wound embedded into the skin of Taeyong’s neck. He pushed Taeyong’s head to the side to get a better look at it, making a choked noise in the back of his throat. “How the fuck did you end up mated to him?”

Before Taeyong could answer, he heard the car door slam. It wouldn’t be long before Johnny was walking in through the door, coming in the middle of any and all chances Taeyong had to talk to Yuta in private and get himself out of this whole fucking mess of a situation. 

“I’ll tell you later, okay?” Taeyong promised, shaking his head. “I just need you to help me. Fucking help me, Yuta. I can’t go wherever he’s trying to take me.”

“You’re a mess, man,” Yuta sighed in response a full second before the door in the kitchen creaked open. Both him and Taeyong turned at the sound before looking back at each other. “I’ll help. Just keep cool.”

Taeyong nodded right as Johnny walked back in the room. If he had noticed the way they had pulled away from each other both quickly and awkwardly, he didn’t say anything. He stepped forward and handed Yuta back the loop of metal with a small smile. Yuta accepted them once a small beat had passed and moved to hang them back up.

The three of them were silent for a moment. Taeyong didn’t know what to say. Johnny was clearly uncomfortable and Yuta had been recently overwhelmed with information. A lot was going on. It ended up being Yuta who spoke first. 

“I’m Yuta,” he introduced, holding a hand out for Johnny to shake which he did with a short grin. 

“Johnny,” Johnny said back. They pulled away from each other. Another beat. “Um.”

“We need you to un–mate us,” Taeyong spoke up, cutting straight to the point. Yuta glanced up at the mark on his neck again.

“How’d you two end up mated in the first place?” Yuta finally asked. He clearly was itching to know what all had happened. 

Taeyong looked at Johnny and Johnny at Taeyong. Taeyong knew that Johnny wasn’t going to be the one to explain. He had too little humility for it. He sighed a little before speaking. 

“I had my heat around him,” Taeyong explained slowly, looking up at Johnny once again before continuing. “He bit me somewhere during the first wave. It was totally an accident.” Yuta took a moment to take in what Taeyong had told him. Then, he turned to Johnny. 

“And you’re an alpha, right?” Yuta asked. Johnny made a quiet little noise in the back of his throat that caused Yuta to frown in response. 

“I don’t know,” Johnny answered honestly. “We don’t know.”

“How do you not know?” Yuta questioned, shaking his head. “You have to be some type of something in order to have mated with him.”

Taeyong didn’t feel like doing this. They had already gone through this before. Him, Johnny and Yuta could all discuss all of the different possibilities of what Johnny could possibly be during the process of them two getting un–mated. Right now they needed to get to it. 

“Can you do it or not?” Taeyong asked impatiently. Yuta glanced over at him and raised an eyebrow. 

“I mean, I might,” Yuta said honestly, running a hand through his hair. “I’ve only ever done it once, Yong.”

“It’ll be quick, yeah?” Taeyong pressed, a little breathless. He didn’t like hearing Yuta be doubtful about the whole thing. There wasn’t any room for any of them to hold any sort of doubt. “You’ve done it once so I’m sure you can do it again.”

“It’s gonna hurt a lot,” Yuta warned. He sounded really distressed. It wasn’t hard for him to tell that Taeyong didn’t fully understand the repercussions of what he was getting himself into by asking to be un–mated. “And you might not be able to mate with another person ever again.”

Taeyong didn’t care about all of the possibly consequences of doing this. The only thing that he wanted was no longer be attached to Johnny. Whether or not it hurt or scarred him for the rest of his life didn’t matter to him. It shouldn’t have mattered to Johnny either. 

“Yuta, we don’t care,” Taeyong deadpanned. “We just need you to fix this, okay?”

Yuta stared at him for a moment. Taeyong knew why he was hesitant. He had this awful habit of caring about people more than they cared about themselves. He couldn’t deal with Yuta turning him down, though. As a matter of fact, Taeyong had absolutely no clue what the fuck he would do if Yuta said no. It was all he had been counting on and his and Johnny’s only chance to break the bond they had mistakenly created with one another.

Finally, Yuta sighed. He looked down at his toothbrush that he had sat down on the table near the door before glancing back up at Taeyong. He sighed again, a little louder this time around.

“Fine,” Yuta agreed with a huff. “I just—You have to go and get changed before I do anything with you, okay? I’m sick of seeing you in this fucking dress.” Johnny snorted quietly at that. If Taeyong wasn’t so relieved with the fact that Yuta had agreed, he would have snapped at Johnny for doing so. “There’s clothes in Kun’s room. First door on the right.” He looked over at Johnny and his mucky, vomit–stained suit. “You too.”

Johnny nodded and immediately started up the stairs. He made it up about three of them before Yuta pushed Taeyong up behind him, giving his arm a gentle squeeze before pulling away. Taeyong looked back at him.

“Trust me,” Yuta mouthed and pushed him again. Taeyong hesitated a moment before nodding, inhaling sharply through his nose before following after Johnny up the stairs.

It would be fine. Everything would be fine. The last few days had easily been the worst days of Taeyong’s life but in a couple of hours they would be over and he would be able to live his life the way he was going to before Johnny cut in and threw him off track. Yet and still, when he looked up at Johnny’s retreating back, Taeyong couldn’t bring himself to look at him with the same sense of carelessness and loathing as he had the first night him and Johnny had made contact with one another. Instead, he felt guilt and a twinge of sadness at the thought of leaving him.

Before the thought could settle too deep in his brain, Taeyong shook it out and climbed up the final stair, tripping a little over his dress again on the way up. He was stopped from stumbling to the ground by a firm hand on his arm. 

“Yeah,” Johnny chuckled, smiling a little. “We definitely need to get you out of this thing.”

Taeyong stared at him for a long moment. Then he realized that Johnny was still holding onto his arm and steadying him against the banister and pulled away with a huff before pushing open the door in which he assumed was the one that belonged to this Kun guy that definitely hadn’t been part of Yuta’s life the last time Taeyong had seen him.

“You’re welcome,” Johnny called pointedly from behind him. Taeyong responded with a flick of his middle finger behind his head. 

***

Whoever Kun was, he had a shit taste in clothes. Taeyong ended up in a pair of loose–fitting jeans, an old white t–shirt and this red fleece cardigan that was probably about three sizes too big for him and fit him almost exactly like the dress had. Johnny had on some button–up that Taeyong promptly told him he looked stupid in to which Johnny had only frowned in response and looked down at it in a way that told Taeyong he was seriously considering changing. 

When they went back downstairs, Yuta was sitting in the kitchen with some man Taeyong had never seen before. His hair was a soft blonde and his face was round. He noticed Taeyong and Johnny before they noticed him and immediately stood from his chair, bowing at the both of them. Taeyong stared at him for a long moment before snorting quietly, walking past him to join Yuta at the table. He noticed the man glance up as him as he made his way by.

“You can’t dress for shit,” Taeyong muttered to the man assuming that he was the owner of the clothes he currently had on, reaching over Yuta to grab an apple from the middle of the table.

“Don’t be an asshole,” Yuta hissed before the man could say anything in response. “Ignore him.”

Johnny held out his hand to the stranger with a small smile. “I’m Johnny,” he introduced as they shook hands.

“Kun,” the man said. They pulled apart right as Taeyong bit into the apple he had grabbed, eyeing Kun all the while. 

“Are you and Yuta fucking or something?” Taeyong asked bluntly. Yuta coughed loudly into his fist and Kun choked on air. 

“No,” Yuta and Kun said at the same time, mimicking each other in both tone and pitch. Kun looked pointedly at Yuta before Yuta cleared his throat and went to reiterate. “We aren’t fucking. We’re just roommates.”

“Roommates that are fucking,” Taeyong said before taking another bite out of his apple.

“Taeyong,” Johnny cut in. Taeyong only glared at him. 

It became clear that Yuta wasn’t going to entertain Taeyong on the subject for any longer when he gave a small sigh and readjusted himself in his seat, moving to face Taeyong who had pushed a finger into his mouth to pick some apple skin out of his teeth. Taeyong blinked at him, eyebrows raised in question.

“Can you let Kun look at your neck without being an asshole?” Yuta asked. Taeyong looked over at Kun for a moment before shrugging. He put down the apple and slipped the cardigan and t–shirt down his shoulder, exposing his bare skin.

“Be my guest,” Taeyong mumbled. Kun gave him a gentle smile before standing and making his way over to him. 

Taeyong couldn’t help but wince a little as Kun pressed his fingers into the wound on his neck. Although it had probably been over a week since Johnny had mated him, the skin was still extremely red and sore. For a moment, Taeyong had considered the possibility of it being infected. He ended up pushing the thought out of his mind once considering that him walking around with an infected wound would only make his current situation a lot harder than it already was. 

Kun looked at him for awhile. Taeyong debated making some kind of snarky comment about Kun not buying him dinner first but ultimately decided to keep his mouth shut, picking the apple back up and taking another bite. At one point, him and Johnny made eye contact from across the table. Johnny looked worried. Taeyong didn’t know why. 

Finally, Kun pulled back. He was frowning. “Yuta, come here a second,” Kun said and Yuta pushed out his chair and walked over to join Kun at Taeyong’s side. 

“Does it really take both of you to look?” Taeyong asked. Both Kun and Yuta ignore him. “Jesus,” Taeyong hissed sharply through his teeth when Yuta pressed down particularly hard on the bitemark. It was like he was purposely trying to hurt him. 

Yuta stopped touching him as aggressively after that. Johnny is watching the both of them like a hawk. Taeyong can’t help but feel a little wary about it all. Why were Kun and Yuta looking at him like there was an issue? It was a fucking bond mark. It wasn’t anything that was really special and Taeyong doubted that it was something the two of them had never seen before. 

“Jesus Christ,” Yuta mumbled, pulling back. Kun did the same. Taeyong frowned and immediately looked up at the both of them.

“What’s Jesus Christ?” Taeyong questioned quickly. “Why are you saying Jesus Christ? What’s there to Jesus Christ about?”

Kun and Yuta took a moment to look at each other. Taeyong was starting to get super frustrated with the both of them. What was with this wordless conversation that it seemed they were having? Why wasn’t Yuta coming straight out with it and telling him what the issue—because there was clearly an issue—was?

“He can’t un–bond you guys,” Kun answered right before Taeyong was about to open his mouth and ask what the problem was once again. 

“What?” Johnny asked at the same time Taeyong demanded, “Well, why the fuck not?”

Kun and Yuta looked at each other again. Taeyong had half a mind to pick up his apple and chuck it right at both of their foreheads. There was no way that Yuta simply couldn’t un–mate them. He had to have been being dramatic or something. 

“You ever heard of destined mates?” Kun finally went on to explain. Taeyong and Johnny only blinked at him. Apparently not. “Okay, well, it’s a super rare phenomenon. Like, one in every 100,000 pairing type shit.”

“And it’s basically where an unpresented alpha,” Yuta started, giving Johnny a pointed look, “has sex with an unmated omega, bonds them and slowly starts presenting after that.”

“The fuck does that have to do with you not being able to separate us?” Taeyong asked impatiently. 

“Johnny is an alpha,” Kun said. “And when you two met, I’m guessing that he wasn’t, right?”

“Wait,” Johnny cut in, shaking his head. “You’re saying that I presented as an alpha because I slept with an omega? Is that how it works?”

“Not exactly,” Yuta said, running a hand through his hair. “I’m guessing that Taeyong is the first omega you’ve ever had sex with?” Johnny hesitated a moment before nodding. “See, here’s the thing. You could have had sex with and bonded a hundred omegas before him and still would have remained unpresented. You can only present as a true alpha when you bond with the right person.”

“Oh, bullshit,” Taeyong snapped, scoffing. “Are you really trying to say that the only reason he presented as an alpha is because he bonded with his one true mate or some shit?” Yuta and Kun only looked at him. “He’s not even a fucking alpha!”

Yuta made a face at that. “Yong, he literally reeks,” he said. “My whole fucking kitchen smells like Christmas.”

“Is that bad?” Johnny piped up in a small voice.

“Just because he smells doesn’t mean that he’s an alpha!” Taeyong defended frantically. “It doesn’t mean that he’s my alpha!”

This had to be a nightmare. There was no fucking way that Johnny was what the universe had planned for Taeyong. The world didn’t hate him that much. What had happened had been a fluke and nothing more. It didn’t make sense any other way.

“Taeyong, he wouldn’t have been able to bond with you if he wasn’t an alpha,” Kun explained softly. “The only way Johnny would be able to present—,”

“—Which he has,” Yuta cut in.

“—Would be if he bonded with his destined mate,” Kun finished.

“And what?” Taeyong asked, shaking his head. “You were able to figure all of this shit out by looking at my fucking neck?”

Yuta sighed. “Come on,” he said. Taeyong hesitated a moment before standing up from his chair and following Yuta out of the kitchen. He heard Johnny and Kun follow after them not too far after.

Taeyong let Yuta lead him into the foyer and in front of the mirror that he had been looking at not even an hour earlier. He pushed him closer to the reflective glass and readjusted his body to where his neck was visible. Taeyong frowned at the sight of it. It didn’t look like a normal bondmark. It was red and went deeper than any other bite he had ever seen before. The skin around his bite was bruised a dark purple. Taeyogn reached up a hand and touched at it tentatively, wincing at the pain that immediately sparked up as soon as his fingers made contact. 

“What the fuck?” Taeyong muttered, looking at Yuta through the mirror. “Why does it look like that?”

“That’s how we were able to tell,” Yuta said back. 

What the fuck? What the actual fuck? There was no way. He had to have the shittiest luck on the entire fucking planet. How exactly did it end up that the person who quite literally wanted more than anyone else to see him fail was his mate? And not even his mate like someone he had fallen in love with but his mate like this was what the universe wanted for him. This was technically his soulmate. The person that he was supposed to be with. How did that even happen?

Taeyong had never wanted to be mated with anyone. He didn’t want to be someone’s perfect little wife and make babies with them and grow old with them. That wasn’t his type of thing. He had always preferred to be by himself than to be with another person. Unfortunately with this news, it seemed that he didn’t have an option. This was going to be his life now. Johnny was going to be his life now—no matter what happened. 

He felt like he was going to throw up again.

“So you’re telling me that I’m stuck with him?” Johnny piped up from behind them. Both Yuta and Taeyong turned around to look at him. 

“Hey, fuck you,” Taeyong seethed in response. “I don’t want to be with you as much as you don’t want to be with me.”

Johnny ignored him and focused in on Yuta. “Dude, there’s gotta be something that you can do,” he said—no, pleaded. Yuta only shook his head. 

“There’s literally no possible way for me to do anything without killing the both of you.” It looked like he was about to say more on the matter but Taeyong was interrupting him before he could. 

“What if one of us dies? Then what?” Taeyong said quickly. Johnny’s head snapped in his direction.

“Hey,” Johnny demanded sharply. “Is that a fucking threat?”

“It can be,” Taeyong hissed in response.

“Jesus Christ,” Kun cut in, his eyes wide. “How often are you two like this? I’m sure being mated to each other can’t be that bad.”

Taeyong begged to differ. He imagined that Johnny felt the exact same way. In their week and a half of being together, the only thing they had done with each other was fuck and argue. They simply weren’t compatible. It was why Taeyong was sure that Yuta and Kun had no fucking clue what they were talking about.

“He’s mean,” Johnny defended, practically whining. “All he does is call me stupid and treat me like I’m a waste of space.”

“Oh, I’m so fucking sorry that I’m not nicer to the man that kidnapped me!” Taeyong exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “Boo fucking hoo, bitch. You’re, like, twenty–six. Grow the fuck up.”

“I didn’t fucking kidnap you!” Johnny shouted, clearly tired of Taeyong speaking to him in the way that he currently was and had been throughout the entire duration of their trip together. “And I’m twenty–four, you miserable piece of shit!”

“ I’m miserable?” Taeyong yelled back. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“You know what?” Johnny continued, venom dripping from his voice. “I have no fucking clue how you were able to steal so much money from assholes like my brother considering that it involves them having to spend more than five seconds with you!”

Taeyong went quiet after that. In fact, the entire room went quiet after that. Taeyong stared at Johnny for a long moment, still processing what he had said. Johnny, however, was still visibly fuming. It seemed that he didn’t understand what exactly had come out of his mouth.

“Your brother?” Taeyong asked slowly. Johnny frowned at him. Then, his face dropped. “Your fucking brother?”

Johnny didn’t say anything in response. Taeyong didn’t need him to. That little slip up of his was enough for him to understand everything. The reason why Johnny had taken him. Why he had refused to drop him off in Ulsan and Busan and Changwon and even here. All of this had been part of some fucked plan to get revenge on him because of him crossing this stupid asshole’s brother. 

“I fucking knew you weren’t a bounty hunter,” Taeyong spoke up again, glaring harshly at Johnny.

“I am,” Johnny lied.

“Fuck you,” Taeyong snapped before Johnny could lie even further on the matter. “What was this? Some botched attempt to make me pay for whatever the fuck I did to your stupid fucking brother?”

“Maybe you two should cool off a little,” Kun tried but ultimately ended up going ignored by both Johnny and Taeyong. Yuta sighed quietly.

“Answer me,” Taeyong demanded darkly when Johnny didn’t immediately respond. 

“I don’t have to answer shit,” Johnny finally hissed through his teeth. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I picked you up to get money for turning you in. That’s it.”

“Bull shit,” Taeyong scoffed. “You’re so fucking full of—.”

Before he could finish his sentence, there was a heavy knock on the front door. Every single person in the room’s head snapped to look at it. Taeyong was the first to look away, focusing in on Yuta. 

“Who is that?” Taeyong asked carefully. Yuta blinked at him a couple of times.

“I–I don’t know,” Yuta stuttered, turning to Kun. “Were you expecting anyone?” Kun shook his head in response. 

Almost as if to answer their question, another knock sounded on the door, so hard that it caused Taeyong to flinch back in surprise. “It’s the police!” a male voice called. “Open up!”

“Did you call the fucking police?” Taeyong questioned. His heart had started to race a million miles per minute. Why was the police there? It hadn’t even been longer than a couple of hours. There was no way that they had caught on that quickly without any help. 

“Why the fuck would I call the police on you, Taeyong?” Yuta hissed at him, clearly offended that Taeyong would even suggest something like that. Another hard bang on the door. They were becoming impatient. “How did they even figure out you were here?” He paused for a moment to think about it. “Did you press the lock twice?”

Johnny blinked at Yuta. “Why would I have pressed the lock twice?” Yuta groaned.

“There’s a fucking short in the remote,” Yuta said, looking anxiously at the door again. “It doesn’t shut unless you press it twice. Why didn’t you fucking press it twice?”

“You didn’t tell me to press it twice!” Johnny whisper–yelled. “How the fuck was I supposed to know that you have a faulty garage remote?”

“You didn’t have to know, asshole,” Yuta snapped, his voice barely audible over another forceful bang on the door. “You just had to wait for two seconds and check whether or not the door shut behind you!”

“I don’t really think that we have time for this,” Kun intercepted nervously. 

It seemed that Yuta agreed. He turned his attention away from Johnny and back onto Taeyong. Behind him, Taeyong saw Johnny walk off and into the kitchen.

“I have a gun upstairs under my bed,” Yuta told him quietly. “Grab it and go out through the window.”

“What the fuck am I supposed to do about him?” Taeyong asked, referring to Johnny who still hadn’t come back from the kitchen.

“Try to lose him,” Yuta explained frantically. “Use the gun if you have to.” He seemed to debate something in his head before deciding with a sigh. It was clear that he didn’t want to say whatever he was about to say. He reached above Kun and grabbed his keys down from the hook, pushing the loop of metal into Taeyong’s chest. “Take my car. It’s parked in the back.”

“I can’t drive,” Taeyong muttered. Johnny came back with his bag slung over his shoulder.

“Learn,” Yuta only said. Another knock. They didn’t have much time left. Yuta turned to the door. “One second!” He looked back at Taeyong. “You fucking owe me for this, okay?”

Taeyong couldn’t think of a single way he could pay Yuta back for all of the trouble that was sure to come with the fact that he had parked a stolen car in his garage but nodded nonetheless. Before he could say anything in response, Yuta was pushing him towards the stairs. He didn’t notice Johnny following after him until after he had made it into Yuta’s bedroom. 

“Oh, fuck off,” Taeyong said, dropping down onto his knees to look under Yuta’s bed. There was a black case towards the back. It took a couple of times for him to reach it but when he finally did Taeyong didn’t waste any time before pushing it open. Inside held a small, sleek .38 caliber pistol. He looked at it for a moment before shoving it in the back of his jeans.

“I’m coming with you,” Johnny said as Taeyong walked over to the window, quickly unlocking it and pushing it open. It was a steep drop but wouldn’t be impossible for him to make without harming himself.

“Yeah fucking right,” Taeyong snorted, moving to stradle the windowsill. “There’s literally no reason for me to stay with you now that I know that you’re not a bounty hunter.”

“What if I tell the police that you’re upstairs trying to escape?” Johnny countered, causing Taeyong to stop moving on the windowsill to glare up at him.

“What if I tell the police that you stole some old woman’s car?” Taeyong hissed through his teeth. “I’m pretty sure she got a pretty good look at your face when she had a gun aimed at it.”

Johnny faltered at that. Downstairs, Taeyong could hear Yuta and Kun speaking to whoever was at their door. Their conversation was distant but Taeyong could tell that they were talking about the car in Yuta’s garage. It seemed like they were only looking for the car and who had stolen it, meaning that he was still safe in the fact that the police had no clue where he was. 

“I’m coming with you,” Johnny repeated sternly. Taeyong was fucking tired of him. Whether he was his one true mate or whatever the fuck he was, Taeyong no longer cared. He pulled the gun from out of his pants and aimed it up at Johnny who immediately backed away, slowly raising his hands up in defense.

“I swear to God I’ll fucking shoot you if you try to follow me,” Taeyong seethed. 

Johnny blinked at him. For a moment, Taeyong was sure that he had gotten through to him. Unfortunately for him, before he could get too comfortable, Johnny was breaking out into a cocky smile. He raised a brow and dropped his hands back down to his sides.

“If you shoot me the police are automatically gonna forget about your friends downstairs and immediately start searching for where and who the gunshot came from,” Johnny pointed out. “You really wanna go down for credit card fraud and first–degree murder?”

As much as Taeyong hated to admit it, Johnny had a point. Sure, shooting Johnny would get him off of his back for good and allow him to leave by himself but the reward would only be temporary. The police that were almost certainly crawling around in both the area and out front would hear the piercing gunshot in the otherwise silent air and drop the topic of the stolen vehicle instantaneously. Even with Yuta’s car, Taeyong wouldn’t be able to make it. Someone would spot him for sure.

He stared at Johnny for a long moment. The police were now inside of the house. He huffed and pushed the gun back into his pants. “Fuck it,” Taeyong muttered quietly. “I’ll deal with you later.

Looking down at the ground before jumping would freak him out for sure so Taeyong made sure to keep his eyes closed as he swung his legs on the opposite side of the windowsill. He really fucking hoped that this wasn’t the way that he died. He inhaled sharply through his nose before pushing himself off.

The first thing Taeyong felt when he hit the ground was a harsh stinging sensation in his shoulder. Tears sprung to his eyes almost immediately. He cursed into the grass underneath him as Johnny landed hard next to him with a pained groan. There was definitely something wrong. He had pulled or broken or torn something and the pain was starting to overwhelm his entire body. 

Johnny crawled over to him and shook him. Taeyong practically screamed, his voice muffled with how his face was buried into the Earth. “Yong, we’ve gotta go,” Johnny said, lifting Taeyong up from off the ground as gentle as he was able. Taeyong could tell that he was trying to move him as lightly as possible but almost every touch hurt. He gritted his teeth and let Johnny take him behind a bush, pushing him down to where he was out of sight. Above him, Taeyong could hear the same voice who had been demanding to be let in along with another he didn’t recognize. He couldn’t make out what they were saying.

“Jesus Christ,” Johnny muttered once they had gone, pushing some hair out of his face. He was staring down at Taeyong’s shoulder. Taeyong looked down and sobbed wetly at the sight of his bone very clearly dislocated, dropping his head back against the brick of Yuta’s house behind him. “I have to push it back in, Yong.”

“No,” Taeyong said back, shaking his head frantically. That would hurt so bad. He wouldn’t be able to stand it. “Fuck you.”

Johnny ignored him and reached over to pull a branch off of the bush in front of him. He pulled a couple of leaves off and dropped them to the ground, holding it up to Taeyong’s mouth. Taeyong made the mistake of moving and cried out again, tears hot and sticky against his cheeks. It hurt so fucking bad he felt like he could pass out. If the pain continued on like this, he very well might have.

“It’ll only keep hurting if you don’t let me pop it back in,” Johnny continued. “Let me fix it.”

Getting the bone relocated would hurt more than anything. Taeyong’s stomach churned at the thought of it. Still, he didn’t know how much longer he could stand the pain of his bone being out of place. Having Johnny snap it back in would fill him with a sort of paralyzing agony but keeping it like this would only hurt worse and worse as time continued to go on. 

So, Taeyong took the branch from Johnny with a wet sniffle and pushed it in between his teeth. Johnny looked at him to see if he was ready and Taeyong was shaking as he nodded. Without wasting another second, Johnny took hold of Taeyong’s arm and started to slowly lift it above his head. Taeyong whined loudly, sobbing around the branch while he squeezed his eyes shut. 

Taeyong let out a gut–wrenching shriek around the branch in his mouth when Johnny suddenly jerked his arm, snapping the bone back into place. He immediately spit it out and moved to cradle his arm, crying as he fell to the ground. Resetting it had hurt almost as much as it had dislocating it. A sharp feeling of soreness traveled up his arm, dizzying Taeyong as he muffled his cries into the grass. As time went on, he realized that the pain was worse than it had been earlier. The dull but sharp throbbing pain was too much for Taeyong to bear. 

“Hey, come here,” Johnny mumbled, pulling Taeyong up from the ground and into his chest. “You’re alright. It’s alright.”

Taeyong buried his face into the fabric of Johnny’s button–up and cried. The pain wasn’t showing any sign of letting up. He liked to think of himself as a strong person but easily had to be the worst pain he had to endure in his entire fucking life. Johnny held him for a long while, letting him soak his shirt in his tears. When too much time had started to pass, he ran a hand through Taeyong’s hair and coerced him to pull up.

“We gotta go,” Johnny said and Taeyong sniffled. His arm still felt heavy and hadn’t stopped throbbing. Johnny must notice this and tried to pull him back in only for Taeyong to push him away weakly. He was still in pain but it was subdued enough to the point where he no longer had to depend on Johnny to comfort him. 

He probably shouldn’t have done that anyway. After all, he was supposed to be trying to get away from Johnny, not closer to him.

Taeyong forced himself up from the ground while still cradling his injured arm and Johnny followed shortly thereafter. He wobbled a little bit and Johnny was quickly behind him to make sure that he stayed up. Taeyong was quick to shove him away, wincing through his teeth at the spark of pain that followed almost immediately afterward.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” Taeyong muttered, starting to make his way towards Yuta’s car parked haphazardly on the concrete in front of him. As expected, Johnny followed. “Go away,” Taeyong said, practically whining at this point. 

“I’m coming with you,” Johnny repeated steadily. Taeyong really didn’t have time for this. It wouldn’t be long until the police made their way to the back and caught the both of them—but mostly Taeyong—in the act of escaping. 

“No, you’re not,” Taeyong snapped, unlocking the car. Before he could open the door to the driver’s seat, Johnny was stepping in front of him. 

“You can’t drive,” Johnny pointed out, referring to Taeyong’s wounded arm. He took a moment to think about it even further. “I mean, you can’t drive at all but you definitely can’t drive with your arm like that.

Johnny was right. It would be hard for him to drive in his current state and even harder considering the fact that the first time he had driven was only a couple of hours ago. He didn’t know what he would do if the reason he had gotten caught was because some officer pulled him over for driving erratically. Dying of shame and disappointment in himself was probably the most obvious.

He really didn’t want to travel anywhere with Johnny. He was reckless and stupid and dangerous, even more so now that Taeyong had gotten his confirmation that Johnny was most definitely not a bounty hunter and had some sort of personal vendetta against him. But Johnny could drive the both of them away from the swarm of officers all lingering nearby. All Taeyong had to do was keep himself safe until they were long gone from Gwangju. Once that was done, he could worry about getting as far away from Johnny as possible. 

“Give me your bag,” Taeyong commanded.

“No,” Johnny said with a small frown, holding his back closer to him at the mention of it.

“Then fuck off,” Taeyong seethed, moving around Johnny to try and open the door again. Johnny pushed him away before he was able. Taeyong glared up at him, opening his mouth to snap at him. The action of Johnny handing over his bag stopped him right in the middle of it.

Taeyong snatched the bag from Johnny with the hand attached to his functioning hand and immediately pulled it open. It took him a moment to find what he was looking for but when he did he was quick to pull them out. Johnny made a move to grab at them but Taeyong was quicker, flipping them behind his back before Johnny’s hand could reach his. 

“We’re getting rid of these,” Taeyong said, throwing the handcuffs as far away from the both of them as possible before Johnny could protest. Johnny made a choked noise in the back of his throat but didn’t try to retrieve the cuffs, staring at them longingly where they had landed in a patch of dirt about a yard away from them. 

“Those were expensive,” Johnny muttered, looking back at Taeyong who had started to walk around the car to the side opposite the driver.

“I don’t give a shit,” Taeyong told him before climbing into the car. He heard Johnny sigh quietly to himself before he got in as well. Once inside, Johnny went to grab the keys from Taeyong’s open palm. Before he was able to take them, Taeyong was pulling back quickly. Johnny sighed again. “Listen,” Taeyong started sharply. “I don’t care what the fuck Kun and Yuta is under the impression that we are.”

“I also don’t care,” Johnny cut in before Taeyong could continue. 

“Listen,” Taeyong repeated through a sharp hiss. “I don’t give a fuck what kind of vendetta you have against me—.”

“—I don’t,” Johnny lied again.

“—Shut up!” Taeyong shouted, filling the whole car with his small voice. “If you try anything stupid, I will shoot you, got it?” Johnny didn’t say anything in response. “Got it?”

“Yes,” Johnny finally snapped. Taeyong stared at him for only a couple of seconds longer before handing over the keys. Johnny started up the car with a mumble of something under his breath. Taeyong didn’t care enough to press on what he had said. “Where are we even going?” Johnny asked, glancing over at Taeyong.

Taeyong had to think about it for a moment. He didn’t know. They had come to Gwangju to figure out everything with them being mated but he had never thought anything past that. Yuta was supposed to have broke him out and cut off any and all contact with Johnny for good. What was the plan after that, though? He had to have had a plan seeing that staying in Korea was no longer an option.

“Incheon,” Taeyong said after a moment. “You’re gonna drop me off in Incheon.”

“So any place in Incheon that I desire or are you maybe gonna be a little more specific?” Johnny snorted sarcastically. 

“The airport,” Taeyong retorted. Johnny stared at him for a couple of seconds, clearly not having expected him to say that. Taeyong blinked back at him defensively. Finally, Johnny raised his eyebrows and exhaled slowly through his mouth. 

“Fine,” Johnny said, switching the gear into reverse. “Good luck getting on a plane with half of Korea looking for you.”

“Shut the fuck up and drive,” is the only thing Taeyong responded with. 

***

“Oh, my god,” Donghyuck said for the hundredth time since he and Yoonoh had been interrupted with their game of Go Fish by two men dressed in dark blue button–ups and caps marked with the official insignia of the Korean National Police Agency. The two men weren’t but a couple of feet away from them both hunched over the screen underneath the counter that was currently replaying the events of two days ago at around 3:34PM.

He was pacing back and forth between the ramen aisle and the snack aisle while Yoonoh sat in between the both of them, tracing the cracks of the tiled floor beneath him. A lot was going through Donghyuck’s head at the moment. What if their boss fired them for not being more vigilant? What if this got out and people at school labeled him as the idiot who couldn’t recognize a criminal? Why hadn’t he been able to identify the same man that his younger sister had been gushing about for the past month? Why was Yoonoh so calm about everything? Donghyuck felt like he could easily explode with all the questions he had. 

“What if they send us to jail?” Donghycuk mumbled, looking down at Yoonoh who had recently grabbed a bag of tteokbokki chips and split them open. “Why aren’t you more worried about this?”

“It’s not like I committed any crime,” Yoonoh shrugged, throwing a handful of chips into his mouth. “You didn’t either.”

That was true. It wasn’t their fault that they weren’t fully accustomed with every single criminal that went in and out of Korea. Still, Donghyuck couldn’t help but be worried. It seemed messy. It felt like there was some way out there for them to be blamed.

“What if we get fired?” Donghyuck questioned, pushing a finger into his mouth to bite at his nails. It was a bad habit that his mother absolutely couldn’t stand but he couldn’t help it. He was stressed out. “Our boss could get mad at us for bringing bad publicity to the store.”

“Would bad publicity have come either way considering that we got visited by a criminal?” Yoonoh pointed out. That was also true.

Donghyuck decided not to respond and watched the police continue to work. Their murmuring was inaudible as they clicked through the footage of the two men that had come in. One pointed out how the smaller man came out of the bathroom with different colored hair than he had entered with. Donghyuck hadn’t noticed that. 

“Who do you think the other guy was?” Donghyuck asked Yoonoh in a low whisper.

“His mate,” Yoonoh answered casually, pushing his hand back in the bag. On a normal day, Donghyuck would chastise Yoonoh for eating merchandise while on the clock. Today, he decided to let it go. “They fucking reeked of each other.”

“I forgot you were a beta,” Donghyuck, sitting down on the floor next to Yoonoh. “What’s it like?”

“Boring,” Yoonoh said, offering the chips over to Donghyuck who gratefully accepted. “It’s nice, though. I like it.”

Donghyuck opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by the shorter officer of the two approaching both him and Yoonoh. He shot up from the ground and was quick to bow. Yoonoh only blinked up at the man before pushing another handful of chips into his mouth. 

“You can, um,” the officer stopped to clear his throat. “You can stand back up now, son.”

Donghyuck stood back up as quickly and as straight as he could. The man seemed to be startled by how sharply he had moved but didn’t say anything about it. His partner joined him at his side and Donghyuck went to bow again but was stopped by the shorter officer shaking his head firmly at him. Donghyuck nodded in response. 

“I think we’ve got all that we need here,” the shorter officer said, flipping his notepad over and pushing it into one of the back pockets of his pants. He didn’t look much older than Yoonoh but still put out this kind of energy that made him easy to look up to. The patch stitched onto the pocket of his shirt read KIM DONGYOUNG.

“We just have a couple of questions if that’s okay with you guys?” the taller officer asked. His patch said KIM JUNGWOO. Donghyuck nodded again, so fast that he could have easily given himself whiplash. 

“Of course,” Donghyuck said breathlessly. Yoonoh snorted quietly from below.

“Do you two have any idea where they could have gone?” Officer Dongyong asked, raising a brow. “We know your interaction with them was short but did they mention anything about going to another city? Maybe even another county nearby?”

Donghyuck took a moment to think about it. Their conversation had only really consisted of him and Yoonoh mistaking one of them as an idol and the purchase of gum. It hadn’t gone any deeper than that. 

“Nope,” Yoonoh answered before Donghyuck had the chance to. Officer Dongyoung blinked down at him but didn’t push it.

“Could you describe everything that happened between you and them?” Officer Jungwoo started. Yoonoh cut in again. 

“They came in and the taller one bought blonde hair dye,” Yoonoh said, pausing to yawn. “They went into the bathroom for about a half an hour. I was pretty sure that they were having sex so I told them to get out of the bathroom and that my boss didn’t like people coming in and doing that. They came out and bought some gum and then they left.”

“Do people have sex in your bathroom often?” Officer Dongyoung snorted. It was clear that he was being sarcastic.

“About once or twice a year,” Yoonoh answered. “Usually around the holidays. You don’t have to put that in your files, though. I take care of it.”

Officer Dongyoung stared at Yoonoh for a long moment before sighing. “And you said something about them being mates?” he finally asked, pulling out his notepad again. 

“Yup,” Yoonoh nodded confidently. 

Dongyoung wrote that down on notepad while Officer Jungwoo turned to Donghyuck. “Anything else you might know?” he said with a small smile. 

Donghyuck took a moment to think about it. Then, something sparked suddenly in his head. “Oh!” he exclaimed, catching the attention of Officer Dongyoung who looked up at his excitement. “The one guy’s name was Johnny!” He held his hand high above his head. “The really tall one.” “Johnny?” Jungwoo asked, frowning a little. “Are you sure that was his name?”

“Yup,” Donghyuck chirped. “I heard the small one call him that right before they bought the gum.”

The two officers looked at one another before Dongyoung finally sighed and closed his notepad again. He pushed it into his pocket as Jungwoo leaned forward to hand Donghyuck back the key he had taken from him earlier. 

“Thanks, guys,” Jungwoo said. “You’ve both been really helpful.”

Donghyuck bowed again and Yoonoh rolled his eyes before pushing himself up from the ground. He held his hand out for both of the men to shake. It took Donghyuck a couple of seconds before he realized that him still being bent at an angle was no longer necessary. 

“Let us know if you think of anything else, okay?” Dongyoung offered out a card with his name on it along with a phone number. Donghyuck took it graciously.

“Will do,” Donghyuck promised before stuffing the card into his pocket. With that, the two men left. Yoonoh sat back down on the floor and picked up his chips. He went to grab some more, frowning upon realizing that there was nothing less. Donghyuck blinked at him before reaching down and snatching the empty bag from him. “Stop eating the merchandise.”

Yoonoh only scoffed in response before moving to grab another bag from the row of chips stacked neatly beside him.

Chapter Text

“You can go to sleep if you want,” Johnny offered quietly, jolting Taeyong out of the sleep–like trance he had been in for the past hour or so. He sat up quickly and felt around for the gun still stuffed into his pants only to settle once he had found it nestled in there safely.

Johnny had gotten them out of Gwangju without any trouble. When they rounded the block to turn back onto the busy intersection that led them back into the heart of the city, five or six police cars had pulled up to the front of Yuta’s house. Taeyong couldn’t help but feel bad. In the end, they wouldn’t have enough evidence to actually pin the crime on Yuta and even more so if they called the woman in to identify whether or not he was the man who had stolen her car but Taeyong still felt a bit of remorse about it all. When he got out of the country safely, Taeyong was going to make sure to show Yuta his gratitude some way or another. 

They hadn’t been driving for long but since about a half an hour ago Taeyong was having a lot of trouble staying awake. He knew that he couldn’t possibly risk going to sleep seeing that Johnny could easily steal the gun from him which would put him right back at square one. Still so, Taeyong found himself yearning more at least ten minutes of sleep. With the dull ache in his arm and the stress of everything that had happened, Taeyong was overwhelmed with exhaustion. 

He wasn’t going to go sleep though. Taeyong was smarter than that. He was smarter than Johnny. 

“You’re crazier than you look,” Taeyong muttered, repositioning himself to rest his head against his window. Going through the city would only prove to be dangerous for the both of them so Johnny had taken most roundabout way possible out of Gwangju. 

“I’m not gonna hurt you,” Johnny tried again. 

“Shut the fuck up,” Taeyong only said in response, closing his eyes for a second before opening them back up almost immediately. He wasn’t going to go to sleep. It wasn’t happening. 

There was a pause. They were driving on some old gravel road lined on either side with tall, dark trees. In a way, it was kind of creepy. In another way, it was making Taeyong even sleepier. He wished that they could go somewhere where it was bright. Somewhere brilliant and covered in lights where Taeyong could be distracted from his sleepiness. Unfortunately for him, that wasn’t an option.

“We need to talk,” Johnny spoke up after a moment. Taeyong didn’t bother glancing over at him. He knew what Johnny was referring to. 

“I don’t want to talk,” Taeyong mumbled quietly. It was childish but he truly didn’t. Even thinking about all of it made his skin crawl with stress. 

“Then don’t,” Johnny said. “Can’t stop me from talking though.”

Taeyong groaned. He knew that he had made a career out of fucking people over but did the universe have the punish him in the worst way possible by making someone as big a pain in his ass as Johnny be his mate? It seemed kind of cruel. He didn’t deserve this. No one deserved this. 

“I think that what Yuta and Kun said back there had some substance,” Johnny started, lifting a hand from the wheel to run it through his hair. Taeyong blinked over at him lazily. He had to have been kidding. Not too long ago, Johnny had been all for not being mated for life with Taeyong and acted like the idea of it made him sick to his stomach which Taeyong definitely didn’t blame him for as he felt the exact same way. Now he was basically saying that he was accepting of the fact that the two of them could have been well been destined for each other? Taeyong called bullshit. 

“And why’s that, Johnny?” Taeyong asked slowly. “What makes you think that your true mate is someone who you picked up from a dark alleyway at three in the morning against their will?”

“One day you’re gonna get over that,” Johnny mumbled. Taeyong immediately groaned at that, closing his eyes again.

“Don’t say one day like we’re gonna be together in the future,” he said, shaking his head. He quickly realized that closing his eyes wasn’t exactly the best idea seeing that it almost instantaneously made him ten times drowsier than he already was. With this in mind, Taeyong opened his eyes and sat up straight in his seat, looking around until his gaze landed on the glove compartment in front of him. There had to be something in there that could distract him from his exhaustion.

“What about what you said?” Johnny continued while Taeyong dug through the compartment. All there was inside were old CDs and a manual for the car. He decided to go through the CDs. “About how being apart would, like, physically hurt us.”

Taeyong hadn’t forgotten about that. He was still well aware of what separating himself from Johnny would do to the both of them. He just didn’t care. No matter what Yuta and Kun said and even what his own body was saying Taeyong couldn’t imagine himself spending the rest of his life with Johnny. They weren’t a match for each other. He wasn’t a match for anyone. 

“I don’t care,” Taeyong murmured, picking out a random CD and pushing it into the player in front of him. It played for only a moment before starting to skip. Taeyong frowned and pushed the button to eject it. 

“Don’t you think that’s a little selfish?” Johnny said in response. 

“Why do you give a shit?” Taeyong finally snapped, looking over at Johnny sharply. “Seriously? You were crying about being mated to me an hour ago and now suddenly you’re all for it?”

Johnny looked taken aback by how harshly Taeyong had spoken to him. He glanced down at the CDs still in Taeyong’s hands before looking back up at him with a small shrug. “You wanna know something?” Johnny asked.

“I really don’t,” Taeyong scoffed, putting in another CD. He recognized the first song immediately and snorted. Who knew that Yuta was a big enough fan of Twice to actually purchase an album of theirs? If he managed to get himself out of this mess the first thing he was gonna do is confront Yuta about his taste in music. 

“That night when we did the thing,” Johnny began only to be interrupted by Taeyong’s dull voice.

“You’re an adult,” Taeyong pointed out. “You’re fully capable of saying that we fucked.”

“That night when we fucked,” Johnny restarted, causing Taeyong to roll his eyes in response. “When I bit you. I was thinking about it.” Taeyong debated making a sarcastic comment about the fact that Johnny had actually thought about something but ultimately decided against it. “I didn’t really look back on what happened until Yuta started explaining everything and it did make sense. I mean, when I bit you I didn’t even realize I had done it until afterward. It was like something came over me and told me to do it.”

“Yeah, that’s typically what happens when you’re an alpha fucking an omega in heat,” Taeyong mumbled, ejecting the CD once the chorus of the first song had finished. He wasn’t particularly in the mood for bubblegum pop. 

“That’s the thing though,” Johnny said with a shake of his head. “I wasn’t an alpha back then. I didn’t start presenting until after I bit you. Literally me being overcome with this weird desire—.” Taeyong interrupted him. 

“—Don’t say desire,” he muttered, scrunching up his nose in disgust.

“—to mate with you was the first instinct that wasn’t inherently human that I’ve had in my entire life,” Johnny finished, completely ignoring what Taeyong had said. Taeyong only blinked at him. “That can’t be a coincidence, Taeyong.”

It wasn’t that Taeyong didn’t believe Johnny or Yuta or Kun. He did. He just thought that the universe or whoever was in charge of this shit was wrong. He couldn’t believe that his whole life had basically led up to him meeting Johnny. Someone had made a mistake somewhere along the line. There had to be someone else out there that could handle Johnny’s constant ignorance and cluelessness better than he was able. There had to be someone else out there that wasn’t such a complete opposite of Johnny. 

“And what if I said I didn’t want to be your mate?” Taeyong asked, raising an eyebrow. “Seriously? What then, Johnny?”

“Well,” Johnny said, staring at Taeyong for a long moment before diverting his attention back to the road. “I think you’d be avoiding your destiny.”

“Oh, you’re such an asshole!” Taeyong said, barking out a laugh. “What is this? Some kind of tactic to get me let you go? Was I supposed to forget that you very clearly have this weird little personal hatred of me?” Johnny looked over at him again, opening his mouth to respond. Taeyong cut him off before he was able. “What is that about, by the way? You ever gonna answer that or are you gonna keep up this bullshit lie about being a bounty hunter?” He tossed a few CDs in the back seat with his final words. This whole conversation was only frustrating him which in turn was making him even sleepier than before. 

The car went quiet after that. Taeyong was thankful for it. He wanted Johnny to stop talking to him about everything. There was no point. It wasn’t like them talking was going to change anything. Taeyong wasn’t staying in Korea no matter what happened and didn’t see himself warming up to Johnny any time soon. He liked being by himself. That was how it had been his entire life and was how it would stay for the rest of his life. 

Taeyong rested his head back against the mirror again, sighing. It would be a few more hours until they got to Incheon. He had left his mask and baseball cap back at Yuta’s place and would probably need to grab another one of both if he even wanted a shot at making it through airport security without being spotted. At this point, it didn’t matter what flights they all had available. Anywhere that wasn’t where he currently was at was good enough for him. 

Johnny sniffed the air loudly, causing Taeyong’s eyes to shoot back open. He hadn’t even noticed they had closed. Johnny was frowning when Taeyong looked at him.

“Are you going into heat again?” Johnny asked and Taeyong scoffed.

“I went into heat not even two weeks ago,” he said, closing his eyes again. Just a couple of minutes of sleep would be enough. “You really need to learn about how all this shit works.”

“You smell,” Johnny continued. “Like, really strong.”

“Then roll down your fucking window,” Taeyong muttered. He could feel himself drifting off to sleep again. In fact, he was pretty sure he had been sleep for a minute or so because the sound of Johnny clearing his throat startled him so violently there was no way he could have been awake. He sat up and glared over at Johnny. “What?”

“I can still smell you,” Johnny said quietly. Taeyong glanced up at his window that was rolled down the entire way.

“What the fuck do you want me to do about it, Johnny?” Taeyong snapped. Johnny opened his mouth to say something. Taeyong assumed it was anything of substance. In the end, Johnny decided against speaking.

There was another pause. Taeyong looked out the window. All of the nature surrounding them was a little eerie but was also somewhat soothing. He sighed and began to count every single tree that they drove by. He made it all the way up to twenty before Johnny spoke up again.

“I was serious about you sleeping,” Johnny said again. 

“Fuck off,” Taeyong muttered, stifling yet another yawn. 

“You gotta go to sleep sometime,” Johnny pointed out softly.

“You should try to be a little more discreet about the fact that you want me to go to sleep so you can screw me over,” Taeyong said in response. Johnny sighed. 

“Listen, I’m about ten times stronger than you,” he informed him and although nothing Johnny was saying was particularly untrue Taeyong still couldn’t stop himself from snorting quietly. “If I wanted to get the gun away from you I would have done it already.”

Johnny had a point. Taeyong definitely didn’t like that he had a point but he had a point. He glanced at Johnny for a second before turning his attention back out the window. He hadn’t been looking for long when Taeyong noticed a gas station not too far up the road. Taeyong immediately perked up at the sight of it. 

“Stop here,” Taeyong commanded, pointing to the station through his window. 

“What for?” Johnny asked, looking over at Taeyong for a split second. 

“Coffee,” Taeyong answered simply. 

Johnny seemed like he wasn’t really for the idea of stopping but didn’t protest. Taeyong was glad that he decided not to. Soon enough, they were parked at one of pumps furthest away from the door. They sat there for a long moment. Johnny hadn’t made any move to unbuckle his seat belt or get out of the car. Taeyong didn’t know why. 

“Get out,” Taeyong finally said. Johnny blinked over at him, very clearly confused as to why Taeyong was telling him to leave.

“Why?” Johnny questioned, frowning.

“You reckon that the wanted criminal should get out and buy his own shit?” Taeyong snapped. Johnny still wasn’t understanding. 

“Just because you’re a criminal doesn’t mean that you get special treatment,” Johnny said, shaking his head. 

“I can’t get my own shit because they’ll call the police on me, you asshole!” Taeyong finally shouted. He was way too tired to deal with Johnny being an idiot. 

Johnny stared at him for a long moment. Then he scoffed quietly and went to unbuckle his belt. Usually Taeyong couldn’t bring himself to care about anything Johnny would mumble underneath his breath when he got particularly irritable with him but in that moment he found no reason to keep his mouth shut about it. 

“What was that?” Taeyong barked as Johnny opened the door and climbed out of the car. 

“I said that you’re really fucking bitchy when you’re sleepy,” Johnny seethed in response before slamming the car door shut behind him.

And again, usually Taeyong wouldn’t give a shit about anything Johnny had to say about him but couldn’t think of cause not to roll down his window and lean almost half of his body out to yell at Johnny’s retreating back, “Make sure you put milk in my coffee, dumbass!”

Johnny probably wouldn’t put milk in his coffee. He would probably just spit in it.

Taeyong didn’t really know how long Johnny was gone for. It couldn’t have been more than a minute of him having gone into the station when Taeyong fell asleep, his head leaned against the window. It was a nice sleep. It couldn’t have been longer than a couple of minutes but was still nice. That is until Johnny startled him awake by slamming his car door again. He really needed to fucking work on shutting things a little quieter. 

“Here,” Johnny said, handing him the cup of coffee. Taeyong accepted it and immediately took a sip, ignoring how the way it scalded the roof of his mouth and the length of his throat as he swallowed it down. He scrunched up his nose at the taste of it. Johnny definitely hadn’t put in enough milk. 

He eyed the box Johnny was holding in his opposite hand. It was dye. It was black dye. He looked up at Johnny and took another sip of the coffee, gesturing to the box with his chin. “What’s that?” Taeyong asked, raising a brow.

It took Johnny a moment to figure out what Taeyong was talking about. He looked down at the box in his hand and smiled, holding it up for Taeyong to see better. “Hair dye,” Johnny said, practically fucking beaming with pride. “I told you I would fix it for you.”

Taeyong stared at Johnny for a long moment. It was an extremely nice thing for him to do which was why Taeyong was having a bit of a problem understanding why Johnny would. It wasn’t like he had ever been nice to him. In fact, Taeyong is pretty sure that the only nice thing he’s ever done for Johnny was let him fuck him in the ass which was probably the kindest thing one person could do for another. 

Something was telling him not to accept anything from Johnny. Kind gesture or not, he didn’t want for Johnny to get the wrong idea. A box of dye wasn’t going to change anything. He still loathed Johnny and wanted to get as far away from him as possible. 

But Taeyong really, really hated his hair. 

“Wouldn’t we have to go inside to fix it?” Taeyong asked, taking another sip of his coffee. It was really fucking gross. Johnny reached beside him and held up a bottle of water.

“We could do it here,” Johnny offered. Taeyong considered it for a moment. He didn’t particularly want to go inside anyway. Finally, he shrugged.

“Okay,” Taeyong nodded before downing the rest of his coffee. He tossed the empty container out the window before freeing himself from his seat belt. 

All in all, Taeyong’s hair wasn’t blonde anymore. About halfway through rubbing dye through his hair and washing it out with the bottle of water Johnny had gotten Taeyong realized that with how platinum his hair had been before there had to be multiple steps taken before going to black. When he told Johnny that, Johnny brushed it off as an Internet myth.

Which probably would have been easier for him to believe if it weren’t for the fact that after it was all said and done his hair was a dark blonde with some spots that were significantly darker than others. Taeyong stared at his wet hair through the mirror above him, reaching up to run a hand through the pieces. A little bit of dye came off in his palm, staining his skin.

The pause settled in the otherwise silent car. Then, “Are you gonna cry again?” 

Taeyong looked over to see Johnny staring at him, his face full of concern. He sighed and flipped the mirror back up, shaking his hair out. It was obvious that Johnny hadn’t meant any harm in what he had said but Taeyong would much rather for him not to bring up the fact that he had cried over his appearance so casually. He grabbed the near–empty bottle of water beside him and downed what was all left inside, tossing it out the window once he was done.

“I’m not gonna cry,” Taeyong said lowly. “It’s fine.”

“To be fair, I didn’t know that dyeing blonde hair back to normal would be so complicated,” Johnny defended, causing Taeyong to let out a long, layered sigh.

“Christ, Johnny, I said it’s fine,” Taeyong muttered. He was starting to feel a little jittery. Maybe drinking an entire cup of coffee with nothing in his stomach hadn’t really been the best idea.

It seemed like Johnny wanted to say something else but ultimately decided against it. He went to pull his seatbelt back over his chest. Taeyong was about to move and do the same thing but couldn’t help and notice something odd going on in the station in front of where they were parked. The attendee inside was standing close to the window, looking through it with both hands held up to the glass to help him see better. Taeyong looked around to see if anyone had pulled up since they had been sitting there and found the lot empty. The man was most definitely looking at them.

“He’s looking at us,” Taeyong said, causing Johnny to look up. He frowned a little.

“It’s probably nothing,” Johnny responded with a wave of his hand. “Let’s go.”

But going didn’t seem like a good idea. With one look at him Taeyong could tell that this guy was up to no good. After all, why else would he be so bold in staring at them like that? The suspicion was clear in his gaze and was only becoming more and more familiar with the sight of them as time continued to roll by. Something wasn’t right.

Taeyong knew exactly when he recognized who he was. He also saw when the man immediately pulled away from the window and ran behind the counter to look for something which almost definitely wasn’t anything good. He looked over at Johnny who still seemed a little confused about what was happening. If this man called the police the two of them could make a clean getaway but the problem was that it would only last an hour or so before they caught up. Right now, the police had no idea where he was. If this man called them up and let them know that the last place he saw Lee Taeyong was at this gas station in the middle of buttfuck nowhere it would all be over.

Taeyong wasn’t going to let that happen.

“Where are you going?” Johnny called after him as Taeyong climbed out of the car and started bounding towards the door of the station. “Taeyong!” He whisper–yelled the call of his name, clearly not wanting to risk anyone possibly overhearing. Taeyong ignored him.

“Hey!” Taeyong yelled, causing the man inside the store to look up in surprise. 

He stared at Taeyong for a second or two before continuing to search for something underneath the counter. Taeyong froze. If this man phoned up the police it would be all over. He could hear Johnny walking up behind him, shouting as quietly as he was able for Taeyong to get back in the fucking car! Fuck that. Taeyong had never thought of himself as an impulsive person but something had to give.

Taeyong could hear the man squeak when he pulled out the gun and aimed it straight at his head, kicking the door open. He could also hear the way that Johnny choked on nothing, scrambling inside the store right as the door was about to close behind Taeyong. Taeyong still had the fun pointed at the man when he looked back at Johnny who was all wide–eyed and shocked, blinking between the gun in Taeyong’s hands and the man who it was aimed at.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Johnny shouted, his voice having gone up to an almost comically high pitch.

“He knows who I am,” Taeyong breathed in response, walking a bit closer to the man who flinched away immediately. “What the fuck do you have under the counter?”

“Nothing!” the man exclaimed quickly, shaking his head frantically. Taeyong didn’t hesitate to click back the gun in clear threat. He had never shot anyone in his entire life and had only held a gun once which in turn led to him barely knowing how to handle the one that was currently in his hands or how to shoot it but the man didn’t know that. 

“Taeyong!” Johnny hissed from behind him the second that the gun clicked back. 

At that point, Taeyong didn’t care. This guy was nothing but trouble and leaving him there wasn’t an option for either of them. He wasn’t going to shoot him. That had never been his intention throughout this entire thing. But there was no way that Taeyong was going to simply leave once realizing that this man was clearly up to no good.

Taeyong walked over behind the counter, ignoring the way that the man had almost literally jumped back the moment he got closer to him. He kept the barrel of the gun trained on him while he searched where he had last seen the man standing. It didn’t take too long for him to find the small cellphone hidden underneath an old container of crackers. Taeyong grabbed it and held it up for both the man and Johnny to see.

“See,” Taeyong hissed before pushing the device into the man’s chest. “Unlock it.”

The man seemed obviously confused but did as Taeyong asked him, his hands shaking as he tapped the correct numbers to get the phone opened. He handed it back to Taeyong and the first thing Taeyong saw was 112 dialed.

“I fucking knew it,” Taeyong growled, tossing the phone over to Johnny who only barely managed to catch it. He turned back to the man. “What else do you have?”

“Nothing!” the man repeated.

“Oh, bull shit,” Taeyong snapped, pushing the barrel of the gun into the man’s chest. “What the fuck else do you have?”

“I’m serious, dude!” the man pleaded, tears having begun to well in his eyes. “It’s an old ass gas station. I don’t have anything in here other than my own phone!”

Taeyong wasn’t sure if he believed that. It was an old building but that didn’t mean that this guy didn’t have another device stashed somewhere that he could use to call up the police as soon as he left. He looked around for a moment before spotting a small payphone near the front door. The man followed his gaze and immediately started to shake his head, holding his arms higher above his head. 

“It doesn’t work, man,” he promised. “S–Someone was supposed to come out today to fix it but they never showed up. I swear.”

Taeyong stared at him for a moment but looking back at Johnny. “Go check,” he demanded. Johnny still had the man’s phone in his hand while he walked over to the payphone, picking it up from the rack. He held it up to his ear and listened for a moment before pressing a button or two.

“He’s not lying,” Johnny mumbled, putting the large phone back onto the rack. 

“Listen,” the man began, causing Taeyong to whirl around and look at him again. “I wasn’t even calling the cops on you, man. I have no—,” he cut himself off with a sharp inhale when Taeyong pressed the gun further into his chest, causing a dull pain in his ribs as the barrel dug into his bones. “—I have no clue who you are. H–Honest.”

What? How did that make sense? How could this guy not know who he was? What other reason would he have picked up the phone and started to dial 112? Taeyong glanced back at Johnny again who looked as confused as he currently felt. He frowned and shook his head, not moving the gun from where it was buried into the man’s chest. 

“If you don’t know who I am then why did you try and call the cops?” Taeyong questioned sharply. The man immediately lifted a tentative finger and pointed over at Johnny. 

“Because of him,” he responded shakily. “T–There’s a 175,000,00 won reward over his head. I–It was nothing personal, okay? I just got a family at home to feed and t–that’s a lot of money, man.”

His response only proved to confuse Taeyong even further. Why would Johnny have a bounty over his head? This had to have been something recent. After all, there was no way that he would have been strolling in and out of places as confidently as he had for the past week and half if he had the police out looking for him. He had never once tried to hide his face or shield his identity from anyone that could turn him in. 

“There’s a bounty out for me?” Johnny asked, his voice cracking a little. “Why?”

“They’re saying that you helped a criminal escape,” the man answered, exhaling slowly through his mouth to try and calm himself down which was a bit hard to do with Taeyong still forcing a gun into his chest. “Harboring a fugitive.”

That definitely wasn’t good. That meant that instead of only searching for Taeyong the police also had Johnny on their radar. Both of them were wanted. When had that happened? Who had let the police in on the fact that Johnny had him with him? The both of them had interacted with so many people during the duration of their trip that there was no telling who had told on them. It could have been any single one of them—those two idiots from the convenience store, that omega with no sense of smell who had driven them from Ulsan to Changwon, the irritable motel employee or the young girl from the thrift shop. That was quite easily the scariest thing about it. Johnny and Taeyong had encountered so many different personalities within the past week in a half that neither of them could even begin to point a finger. It could have been all of them. It could have been none of them and some random on the street who had saw them without them noticing. There was so many different possibilities. 

“We need to go,” Taeyong finally decided. If the police were hot on their trail then them holding up an insignificant worker at an insignificant gas station was a waste of time and nothing more.

“Please don’t kill me,” the man begged in a tiny voice. “I won’t tell anyone that you were here.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up,” Taeyong groaned, digging the gun harder into the man’s ribcage for emphasis. The man let out a small squeak in pain. Taeyong searched the area until he noticed a door not too far away from the countertop the both of them were standing behind. “What’s that?”

The man looked over Taeyong shoulder. “A bathroom.”

Good. “Let’s go,” Taeyong mumbled, gesturing for the man to turn himself around. As soon as he did, Taeyong pressed the gun into the small of his back and led him over to the bathroom. He made sure to lock it once the man was inside, leaning against the door with a small sigh of relief. 

“I’m wanted,” Johnny said quietly, shaking his head. “The police are looking for me.”

“Yeah, and they’re gonna fucking find you if we stay in here any longer,” Taeyong said, quickly making his way over to the door, grabbing a couple of bags of snacks as he passed them by. Johnny didn’t make any moves to follow him. “Let’s go,” Taeyong snapped, grabbing Johnny by the wrist and leading him out of the store.

While he could understand Johnny’s shock and worry about not only being waned but being wanted by the police so badly that they were willing to pay such a high amount for anyone who was able to bring him in, Taeyong didn’t really have time for it. He had both held a man at gunpoint and technically stolen merchandise and knew that it would only be a certain amount of time before someone else came in and found the attendee locked up in the bathroom. No matter what Johnny was going through, neither of them had any time to sit around and panic.

Unfortunately for him as soon as they got into the car Johnny only sat behind the wheel and continued to blink off into space. Taeyong whined a little in the back of his throat, bouncing up and down in his seat out of frustration. This was too much for him to handle. What wasn’t clicking for Johnny that they had basically robbed a fucking store at gunpoint? They needed to go.

“Can you please have your mental breakdown while driving?” Taeyong pleaded desperately.

“I’m sorry that I’m not able to brush off the fact that I’m literally wanted by the police as easily as you are, Taeyong!” Johnny snapped practically out of nowhere, thoroughly startling Taeyong in the process.

“I’m not telling you to brush it off, dipshit!” Taeyong shouted in response. “I’m telling you to fucking drive!”

“Fine!” Johnny yelled before switching the car on and quickly moving the gear into reverse.

Taeyong opened his mouth to protest as Johnny slammed his foot down on the gas pedal but was interrupted by the feeling of the car suddenly careening backward, not making it too far before crashing into one of the trees that lined the station. He shrieked as the airbag inflated from in front of him, ramming him back into his seat with the force of how violently it had shot out. The trunk shattered, creating a gut–wrenching sound in the otherwise peaceful air with the collision. 

He lifted up a hand to feel something familiar start to drip down his lip. Johnny looked over at him, all wide–eyed and breathing heavily.

“Holy shit,” Johnny muttered, moving to unbuckle his seatbelt to tend to Taeyong who still remained motionless with the shock of what had happened. “Are you okay?”

Johnny had started pushing the airbag down, deflating all of the excess air so that Taeyong would have room to breathe. Taeyong exhaled shakily, looking down at himself. Nothing seemed to be out of place. Nothing was broken. He was fine. He was extremely shaken up and his nose had started bleeding for the umpteenth time in the past week but all in all, Taeyong was fine. 

“I’m fine,” Taeyong slurred, a little dizzy. Okay, maybe he wasn’t fine. Either way, they needed to go. “Drive.”

Johnny continued to look at him for a little bit longer before shaking his head and switching the gear again. Taeyong wondered why he had done that in the first place. From what he’s seen in the little bit of time that he’s spent with Johnny, he wasn’t the type to act irrationally. Whatever. 

They hadn’t even made it the whole way down the road before Taeyong started to feel extremely dizzy again. He hiccuped a little which caused Johnny to look over, frowning in obvious concern. He lay his head on his window and closed his eyes, lifting up a heavy hand to wipe at the mess underneath his nose. 

“Taeyong,” Johnny called, reaching over to press the back of his hand against Taeyong’s forehead only for Taeyong to push it away with a small groan. “Jesus, you’re, like, on fire.”

“I’m fine,” Taeyong reassured him quietly.

“You’re not fine,” Johnny retorted, shaking his head. He continuously looked between Taeyong and the road before finally coming to a decision. “We need to stop.”

It might have been true that Taeyong felt about a good five seconds away from passing out but that still didn’t mean they could stop. They hadn’t even made it a full mile away from the gas station yet. Depending on how quickly another person pulled in and went inside to either buy something, pay or both, the police could very easily have been following after them within a span of a couple of minutes. Stopping wasn’t something that either of them could just do. 

“I said that I’m fine,” Taeyong muttered, forcing himself to sit up. That had definitely been a bad move. Sitting up only made him nauseous. He hiccuped again and slumped back against the window, huffing a little through his nose. He didn’t even have to look over at Johnny to know that the older was staring at him in concern. “I’m okay.”

“Are we in Jeonju yet?” Johnny asked and Taeyong took a moment—which probably bordered on a full minute with how long it actually was—to think about it before nodding. He wasn’t really certain but if they weren’t in Jeonju at the moment it definitely wouldn’t have been much longer until they actually were. Johnny clicked his tongue at his response before turning the car a little too suddenly for Taeyong’s liking. “ Shit —I’m so sorry,” Johnny apologized breathlessly, reaching a hand over to check if he was okay again. Taeyong didn’t hesitate to push him away.

“Where are you going?” Taeyong asked slowly. 

“Somewhere where we can both get a little rest,” Johnny answered without hesitating. Taeyong opened his mouth to protest but ultimately couldn’t, as the world around him started to fade to black before he could even get the first syllable past his lips. 

***

Taeyong woke up to the obnoxious smell of an unfamiliar alpha. It belonged to someone young and smelled of freshly cut grass and something else Taeyong couldn’t bring himself to identify. Either way, he wasn’t really a big fan of it. He scrunched up his nose and sat up, stretching his arms high above his head.

It didn’t take long for him to notice that he wasn’t inside of a moving car. In fact, he wasn’t inside of a car at all. Taeyong had woken up in a bed in a slightly messy bedroom with a few articles of clothing strewn across the hardwood ground. He frowned and looked down at himself, pushing the blanket he had been covered up in onto the floor. He was still dressed in the clothes Kun had given him but someone had taken off his boots. Weird.

He sniffed again and frowned, looking around the room again. His gaze stopped to his far right where someone—who was definitely not Johnny, way too thin and a lot shorter to be him—sitting in front of a computer propped up neatly on a flimsy desk playing some RPG game that Taeyong wasn’t familiar with. Taeyong tensed up at the sight of him. What if Johnny had taken advantage of him having passed out in the car and continued on with his quest of turning him in—not to the police but to someone who clearly had been wronged by him in the past?

Taeyong felt for the gun in the back of his pants only to find it missing. He cursed quietly underneath his breath. Of course Johnny had taken that. Why wouldn’t he? What would be the point of leaving the criminal with a weapon that he could use to escape with? Taeyong felt his heartbeat start to pick up at the thought of it all. What were they going to do to him? He wasn’t strong enough to fight an alpha—let alone two, depending if Johnny was still somewhere in the house. 

He looked around until his eyes landed on a small statue of Buddha on the nightstand next to him. He glanced over at the alpha quietly playing his game before leaning over to take it in his hands, carefully not to move too quickly and cause the mattress underneath him to creak or make any other unwanted sound. It was definitely heavy enough to knock someone out. Taeyong inhale slowly through his mouth before pushing himself up from the bed, making sure that both of his feet landed on the rug not too far from the bed to ensure that he didn’t make any noise. 

It wasn’t until he got about a couple of inches away from the alpha with the Buddha poised high above his head and ready to strike that Taeyong heard the door creak open. His head snapped to see Johnny come in with a bowl of cereal in his hands only for it to go crashing to the floor once he saw Taeyong readying himself to hit the alpha in front of him.

Three things happened all in one moment—Johnny shouted something at Taeyong which caused the alpha in front of him to pull off his headphones and look up at Johnny with a small frown, Taeyong sent the statue crashing into the back of the young alpha’s skull and the alpha shouted out in pain at the collision. Unfortunately, the hit didn’t knock him out and Taeyong went to hit him again only for Johnny to come behind him and grab him by both of his arms, causing him to drop the small Buddha.

“Get the fuck off of me, asshole!” Taeyong shouted, struggling underneath Johnny’s relentless grip. He went to kick at him but Johnny was quicker, picking him up with a strong arm around his waist.

“Taeyong, calm down!” Johnny yelled from behind him, nearly dropping Taeyong after a particularly hard kick to his leg.

The alpha in front of Taeyong had since turned around, rubbing at the spot that Taeyong had struck him in with a look of shock, confusion and pain on his face at the sight of Johnny wrestling a very angry Taeyong. He looked about a year or two younger than Taeyong and had eyes almost as big as his. Either way, his face definitely didn’t look familiar. Was this really Johnny’s brother?

“Fuck you!” Taeyong seethed. “I knew I couldn’t fucking fall asleep around you!”

“We’re still in Jeonju!” Johnny exclaimed, breathless from trying to stop Taeyong from moving. “We’re at a friend’s house! He isn’t gonna fucking— Jesus Christ! —Taeyong, he isn’t gonna hurt you!” Taeyong still didn’t stop trying to get out of Johnny’s grasp after hearing that. He didn’t trust Johnny. “Mark, fucking tell him that you’re not gonna hurt him!” Johnny demanded breathlessly.

“I can’t,” the alpha—Mark—groaned in response, still cradling the back of his head tentatively. 

“Why the fuck not?” Johnny groaned, only barely dodging a sharp blow to his ribcage by Taeyong’s elbow.

“Because he fucking hit me with my Buddha statue for no reason and I kind of want to hurt him right now,” Mark muttered in response. Johnny must glare at him or do something along the line because after a moment or so, the kid is groaning and throwing both of his arms up in defeat. “Fine, Jesus —I’m not gonna hurt him!”

“Suck my dick,” Taeyong gritted back in response. Had Johnny seriously thought that was going to work on him?

“You remember when I said that I was gonna take us somewhere where we could rest?” Johnny asked from behind him. He continued without waiting for Taeyong to respond. “This is it, Taeyong. Now can you stop— Taeyong! —Stop trying to hurt me!”

Taeyong took a moment to think about it. Johnny had said that before he had conked out for good. Plus, this guy looked nothing like Johnny. He smelled nothing like Johnny. There was no way that the two of them could have possibly been related to one another. If what Johnny was saying was true and they were still in Jeonju, this couldn’t have been his brother. He slowly stopped struggling as much upon realizing this, enough to where, after a moment, Johnny could lower him back onto the floor. 

To be safe, Taeyong picked the statue up from where it had fell and held it up for both Johnny and the young alpha to see in a silent threat. He still didn’t fully trust Taeyong. Just because this guy wasn’t his brother didn’t mean that there wasn’t someone else on the way to hurt him.

“Where’s my gun?” Taeyong demanded, looking up at Johnny.

“What?” Johnny asked, snorting a little in response. “Why?”

“Where’s my fucking gun?” Taeyong hissed again. He wasn’t going to back down without it.

Johnny hesitated a moment before shaking his head and pointing over to the nightstand. Taeyong whirled around quickly to follow his finger and bounded over to the small piece of furniture, pulling out drawers until he found the pistol in the lowest drawer underneath a couple of loose sheets of paper with messy writing scribbled on them. Both Johnny and Mark watched him as Taeyong shoved the gun back underneath the waistband of his jeans, huffing quietly to himself when it brushed along his skin. Once he was finished, Taeyong looked up at the two men.

“What?” he snapped. “You’re welcome for not letting you fall asleep with a loaded gun in your pants,” Johnny muttered, bending down to pick up the bowl he had dropped from off the floor. Mark was still holding the back of his head.

“You didn’t have to fucking hit me,” he mumbled, pressing a finger against the spot on his head that had taken the most damage and immediately wincing at the pain that shot through him. “Jesus.”

“I told you not to stop,” Taeyong hissed at Johnny. 

“We couldn’t have kept driving even if you hadn’t passed out,” Johnny said back, placing the bowl on the dresser next to him. “The police would have caught up with us eventually. It’s better for us to lay low for a couple of days.”

Taeyong didn’t know how much he believed that. On one hand, it made sense to stop seeing that it wouldn’t be long before someone stumbled in on the attendee and he called the police. That meant the police knew they were in Jeonju and were probably under the impression—especially after their particularly artful escape that involved destroying a nearby tree—that they were on their way somewhere else. On the other hand, Taeyong didn’t know how long remaining in one place would work for. How long would it take for the police to figure out that the two of them had never left Jeonju? He didn’t want to sit in one spot and wait for authorities to find them.

He looked over at Mark who was still glaring at him. Taeyong wasn’t planning on apologizing. It made no sense for him and Johnny to have left him alone in a room he didn’t know with not only a person but an alpha he wasn’t familiar with and no explanation. He looked back over at Johnny.

“How long was I out for?” Taeyong asked. Johnny took a moment to think about it. 

“About twelve hours,” he said. Taeyong made a choked noise in the back of his throat.

“You let me sleep for twelve fucking hours?” Taeyong demanded, absolutely stunned that he had slept for that long. 

“You needed it,” Johnny countered, shaking his head. “T, you literally passed out from exhaustion.”

That was true. Plus, Taeyong couldn’t deny that the sleep he had gotten had made him feel much better. He still felt weak and a little dizzy but no longer felt like he could collapse at any given moment. He took a moment to wonder how he had gotten into the house and blushed a little with the thought of Johnny carrying him inside. 

Taeyong looked over at Mark. “Who are you?” he asked sharply.

“You mean besides the person who you slammed in the head with a ten pound statue?” Mark responded bitterly. Taeyong only blinked at him. “I’m Johnny’s friend, man.”

“How old are you?” Taeyong continued. “You look, like, sixteen.”

“I’m twenty–one, asshole,” Mark hissed in response, shaking his head. “I don’t know why you’re talking. You look twelve.”

“Fuck you,” Taeyong snapped.

“How old is he?” Mark asked Johnny knowing that Taeyong wasn’t going to tell him. Taeyong’s head snapped to look at Johnny and silently tell him to keep his mouth shut. 

It didn’t work. “Nineteen,” Johnny answered, all nonchalant and stupid. Taeyong wanted to smack him.

“Is that why he sounds all small?” Mark questioned with a quiet snort.

“Hey!” Taeyong gritted out through his teeth. He wouldn’t say that he hated his voice but definitely wouldn’t say he liked it. It was way too high–pitched and led to people not taking him seriously at first which was definitely what Mark was doing right now. 

“Pretty sure that’s not how you talk to people that are older than you,” Mark singsonged. Taeyong was going to hit him with the Buddha again.

“Enough, Mark,” Johnny said, crossing over to join Taeyong at his side.

It was at that moment that Taeyong found himself wondering how Johnny had known that about him. He had never disclosed anything personal about himself to Johnny throughout the entire duration of their trip. However, it didn’t take Taeyong too long to realize that Johnny had been tailing him for weeks before actually having picked him up. With how relentlessly he had been stalking him, Taeyong wouldn’t have been surprised if Johnny knew the exact time he was born at. 

Taeyong looked up at Johnny. He had on a loose hoodie and his hair fell all loose and somewhat damp across his forehead. He still smelled of his usual scent but hints of fresh body wash and floral shampoo and conditioner were there as well. Johnny must notice him staring because he glanced over at him before following his gaze and looking down at himself. 

“Oh,” Johnny said. “You should probably take a shower too, huh?”

Taeyong only continued to stare at Johnny. Of course he should take a shower. That wasn’t a question. Over the past week and a half, he had been exposed to both his own blood, slick and vomit on numerous occasions, dirt and Johnny’s come. At that point, he was surprised that he didn’t reek more than he currently did. 

“Right,” Johnny nodded, clearing his throat quietly. “I’ll go grab you a towel.”

With that, Johnny left the room, leaving Taeyong and Mark to sit there by themselves. Taeyong glanced over at Mark who was still staring at him. He was no longer holding the back of his head which Taeyong couldn’t help but be glad for. After all, how hard could he have hit him? He was an alpha. No matter how strong the blow, at the end of the day, it had come from an omega. Mark would be fine. 

“Your room is dirty,” Taeyong deadpanned.

“You’re kind of a bitch,” Mark responded.

“And you’re dirty,” Taeyong said back without hesitating. 

“Are you sure that you’re Johnny’s mate?” Mark questioned and Taeyong immediately felt that same sense of possessiveness that he had felt with Ten flood back through him. 

“Obviously,” Taeyong hissed sharply.

Mark only chuckled a little in response to that which made Taeyong’s face burn even more. He didn’t like when it felt like people were making fun of him. Mark walked over to his computer and bent down to power it off, running a hand through his hair as he stood back up. 

“You’re pretty defensive for someone who claims to not want to be mated,” Mark finally said.

Taeyong blanched at that. He supposed if he had been asleep for twelve whole hours then Johnny would have more than enough time to let Mark in on everything that had happened since they’ve been together. Knowing Johnny, he had probably told Mark a lot more than the younger actually needed to know. 

Before he could say anything in response, Johnny was walking back into the room. Despite what he had last said, he wasn’t holding anything in his hands when he returned. The confusion must be clear on Taeyong’s face because Johnny was clicking his tongue in acknowledgment before open his mouth to speak.

“Left them in the bathroom,” he explained, glancing over at Mark. “Did you piss him off?”

“Didn’t you say he was always pissed off?” Mark responded coolly. 

That was all Taeyong needed to hear. He scoffed before turning and walking out of the room. He heard Johnny say something to Mark all hushed and frustrated. The bathroom wasn’t too hard to find. He stepped inside and locked the door behind him.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Taeyong realized that he didn’t look too much better than he had at Yuta’s house. His nose was twinged red from the sheer amount of times it had taken impact during the trip. His hair, while better than it had looked before, was a confusing mixture of different shades of both light brown and an extremely dark blonde and had since grown a little past the nape his neck. His bangs had grown longer, too. The circles under his eyes had let up a bit but it was still pretty apparent that he needed more than a half a day of rest. 

He sighed and finally looked away from the mirror, moving to pull both his cardigan and shirt off. He had barely gotten them off before the door was swinging open, thoroughly startling him. Taeyong grabbed his shirt from off the floor and used it to cover his bare chest. Johnny blinked at him, raising a brow.

“You know I’ve seen you completely naked before, right?” Johnny pointed out. 

“How the fuck did you get in?” Taeyong breathed, looking over at the door. Johnny glanced back at the door. 

“Oh, I didn’t tell you that it doesn’t lock?” Johnny asked, tilting his head a little. Taeyong only stared at him. “Well, it doesn’t lock.”

“Can you get out?” Taeyong seethed, a dark blush settling over his teeth. 

“I will,” Johnny promised, putting both hands up in defeat with a small smile. “I just wanted to check on you.”

“I don’t need you to check on me,” Taeyong countered quickly. “I need you to get out.”

“Okay,” Johnny sighed, stepping back through the door. “We need to talk when you’re done, alright?”

Taeyong blinked at him. Talk about what? What was with Johnny and all this talking he wanted to do? He knew that the two of them had a lot to talk about together but the thing was that he didn’t want to talk. That fact hadn’t changed.

“I don’t want to talk,” Taeyong told him very plainly.

“I know,” Johnny said. “You’re gonna wanna hear what I have to say though.”

And with that, Johnny was gone. He pushed the door shut with a click and left Taeyong by himself in the bathroom. Taeyong hesitated for a moment. Why the fuck would he want to hear what Johnny had to say more than he currently did? He decided not to think about it for too long, ridding himself of the rest of his clothes. 

The shower took a little longer than expected to heat up to an acceptable temperature. The water felt amazing against his skin. He stepped directly underneath the stream, rubbing his hands over his face with a small sigh of relief. As insignificant as it sounded, cleaning himself easily had to be the best thing he’s felt in months.

That is until he felt something leak down his thigh. Taeyong frowned and looked down at himself. Even through all the water spraying down on him, he could tell that something wasn’t right. His heartbeat started to pick up a little as he moved a hand between the inside of his thin thighs, catching the familiar fluid with his fingertips.

Almost as if on cue, Johnny’s scent hit him like a fucking truck. He couldn’t stop the wet whimper that bubbled out from the back of his throat. Over the stream of water Taeyong could hear the frantic sound of Mark’s voice.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Taeyong cursed, leaning foward to knock his forehead against the tiled wall in front of him.

Chapter Text

Johnny was in the kitchen when Taeyong came down the stairs, slick leaking down his thighs in only the loose shirt that Kun had given him. He was sitting up on the counter with a bag of frozen peas pressed against his forehead. His face was bright red and he was breathing heavily, inhaling and exhaling through his mouth.

He got up the second he saw Taeyong standing there, enveloping his small body in a tight hug, causing Taeyong to whine softly. Johnny smelled so good that it was dizzying. Mark had been rummaging through an overhead cabinet for something, whirling around upon hearing Johnny pushing himself off of the counter and blinding across the room to meet Taeyong.

“Johnny, man,” Mark started before being interrupted by the sound of Johnny’s low voice.

“Get out,” Johnny growled, moving to mouth wetly at Taeyong’s bondmark.

“Is he even on birth control?” Mark continued. His voice sounded so distant to Taeyong. It was like he wasn’t even in the room.

“Get out!” Johnny shouted, startling Taeyong. He immediately noticed the way the younger’s body had flinched at the sheer volume of his voice. Johnny pulled up quickly and cupped Taeyong’s face, swooping down to kiss him deeply. “It’s okay, baby,” Johnny breathed, brushing Taeyong’s wet hair out of his face. “You’re alright.”

Taeyong didn’t know when Mark had left and where he had gone but couldn’t really bring himself to care. His mind was too clouded by the presence of Johnny in front for him to think straight. He felt Johnny’s big hands move down to cup his ass underneath his shirt, causing him to moan quietly. He was so sensitive that it almost hurt. It didn’t make sense. How could he be in heat again? It hadn’t even been an entire two weeks since his last one. There was no way that he was going through his cycle again. Yet, Taeyong felt as desperate and as wet as he did when he was actively in heat.

Johnny pulled him in for a rough kiss, his hands rubbing against his soft, damp skin underneath his shirt. Taeyong went pliant almost immediately, all droolly and wet with Johnny’s tongue in his mouth. It wasn’t too long into the kiss that Taeyong realized what was happening. It explained why Johnny was so possessive and had flipped out on Mark. Why he had looked so overwhelmed before Taeyong had come in and why he was acting like he couldn’t stand to go a single second without feeling along Taeyong’s supple body.

Johnny was experiencing his first rut which had basically thrown him into premature heat because of the fact that they were mated. Fuck.

Taeyong let Johnny pick him up by his waist and carry him over to the countertop he had been sitting on, placing him down on the marble before pulling him in for another kiss. He felt more slick leak out from him, pooling on the counter underneath him. He was so fucking desperate for Johnny to touch him down there that it almost hurt.

“Alpha,” Taeyong breathed into Johnny’s mouth, spreading his legs a little. “Please.”

“You want my knot, baby?” Johnny mumbled, moving his hands down to rub the inside of Taeyong’s pretty thighs, causing Taeyong to suck in a sharp breath at the feeling of Johnny touching him. “So wet for me.”

“I am,” Taeyong agreed eagerly, pulling his shirt up a little so Johnny could reach his cunt. “Want your knot so bad.”

“Come here,” Johnny growled, pulling Taeyong to the edge of the counter by his hips.

Taeyong squealed noisily as Johnny nosed on the inside of his slick–covered thighs before sucking his clit straight into his mouth. His hands quickly went down to grab at Johnny’s hair, whining and shuddering as Johnny started licking up and down his pussy, eating up the slick that leaked out of him like it would be his last meal. 

Every drag of his tongue was so intense that Taeyong almost couldn’t stand it. He spread his legs wider, rolling his hips down against Johnny’s mouth as he continuously licked over his swollen clit. His head knocked against the cabinet above him and pain immediately shot through his skull but he couldn’t bring himself to focus on it, too focused on the feeling of Johnny eating out his cunt.

“Johnny,” Taeyong whined, pulling Johnny closer to his pussy. “Feels so —unh— g–good, alpha.”

Johnny chuckled darkly against his cunt before sitting up, rubbing over Taeyong’s soft stomach. His face was all wet and covered in Taeyong’s slick and it was so filthy that Taeyong almost felt a little embarrassed at the sight of him. Slowly, his hands moved down until they were back on his cunt, thick fingers running through the slick mess of his pussy before pushing inside of his hole. Taeyong felt his face darken at the feeling of finally being filled, letting out a long, shaky breath as Johnny continued to guide his fingers inside of his cunt.

“You always look so pretty like this, Yongie,” Johnny mumbled, moving forward to press a soft kiss against Taeyong’s clit as he dragged his two fingers along his walls, teasing him. 

He’s so close to that spot, so close that it had Taeyong’s head fucking reeling. He tried his best to rock himself down onto Johnny’s fingers, desperate for that shock of pleasure that would send him careening over the edge. Johnny laughed a little at his neediness, curling his fingers up for a split second and causing Taeyong to let out a jumpy whimper before pulling out completely.

“So wet, baby,” Johnny mumbled, licking over Taeyong’s clit once more before sitting back up, teasing Taeyong with his fingers. “Want me to fill you up? Get you all full with my cock?”

“Please,” Taeyong begged, letting out a sigh of relief as Johnny pushed his fingers back inside of him.

“Yeah?” Johnny asked, slipping his fingers deeper and deeper inside of Taeyong with each passing second, his other hand rubbing his clit in slow, small circles. Taeyong’s entire face had gone red, his pupils all blown, mouth still wet with Johnny’s saliva. He isn’t expecting it when Johnny pulled out a little to tuck another finger inside of his cunt, stretching him out so good. “Hm? Want Alpha to breed you? Fill you up until you’re leaking with my come? Fuck you until your slutty little pussy is raw?”

And, like. Fuck. Was this what Johnny was like during his rut? It was so fucking hot that Taeyong couldn’t think straight. He felt more slick leak out around Johnny’s fingers at his words, whining breathlessly in response.

He can’t even bring himself to say anything because Johnny is becoming impatient and started to properly fuck him with all three of his fingers, not even waiting for him to properly stretch out around him before thrusting them up so hard that Taeyong almost slid forward at the force. Taeyong gasped loudly as Johnny’s fingers fucked straight into that spot not too far inside of his cunt, creating a loud squelching noise from how wet Taeyong was and how hard Johnny was going. 

“Oh God, Oh, my God, Johnny,” Taeyong hiccuped, coveting his face with both of his hands, overwhelmed with how good it felt. “F–Fuck, I—Oh, my God, Johnny, please. Right there, Johnny—h–harder, please, harder.”

“You like Alpha’s fingers fucking your cunt, baby?” Johnny asked and Taeyong was quick to nod in response, closing his legs around Johnny’s hand unconsciously. Johnny only pushed them back open, swooping down to lick around where Taeyong’s hole was stretched around his fingers. Taeyong kept fucking down onto his fingers, eager to get more of him, to feel more of him. He couldn’t get enough.

It was when Johnny sucked his clit back into his mouth that Taeyong felt his body tense up, shaking as Johnny continued to relentlessly stab his fingers inside of him. At this point, Taeyong is practically sobbing, drool dripping down his chin as Johnny fucked him like he was nothing more than a toy.

“A–Alpha, I–I—I’m gonna come, Alpha, please,” Taeyong whimpered out, sniffling loudly.

“Come on my fingers, angel,” Johnny muttered, his breath hot against Taeyong’s desperate pussy. It didn’t take much after that until Taeyong’s cunt was clenching tight around Johnny’s thick fingers. Johnny didn’t let up even while he was coming, fucking him through the hot waves of pleasure, moving back up onto his feet to start mouthing wetly at the mark on Taeyong’s pale neck. Taeyong gasped, desperately trying to push Johnny away from both his neck and his cunt. Johnny only pushed his legs open with his knee, fucking into that spot harder and rubbing at his clit until Taeyong couldn’t take it anymore, squirting messily around Johnny’s fingers. “There you go, baby. There you go, get yourself all messy and wet for me."

Johnny continued to coax him through the second wave of his orgasm, rubbing along that spot until Taeyong was whining repeatedly, chest heaving. He hiccuped when Johnny pulled his fingers out, dragging them along his thigh slowly. Johnny looked up at him for a moment, taking in his soft, pink face and how completely wrecked he looked before pulling him in for another kiss as intense as the last. Taeyong’s cunt throbbed as Johnny slipped his tongue back into his mouth, moaning quietly as he wrapped his arms around Johnny’s mouth, all wet and pretty and desperate for Johnny to ruin and fill up with his knot.

“You want my knot?” Johnny mumbled, reaching up to run a hand through Taeyong’s hair. Taeyong nodded immediately, practically aching for it. Johnny’s knot was all he wanted at the moment.

Johnny kissed him for a little longer, pulling down his sweatpants all the while. He barely waited for them to pool around his ankles before taking his cock in his hand, groaning quietly at his own touch. 

“Oh, my God,” Taeyong breathed, pulling away from Johnny to pant quietly as Johnny pushed into his hole, stretching and filling up his cunt in the most delicious way. “That’s so good, Johnny.”

“Shit,” Johnny whispered, overwhelmed by the feeling of Taeyong’s tight, wet heat around his cock. It felt so much better than he could have dreamed, like someone had finally itched a scratch on him that he hadn’t been able to reach. “You’re so fucking tight for me.”

Johnny looked up at Taeyong all breathless and speared with his thick cock, struggling to breathe. He looked so little sitting there all full, his hair messy across his forehead, cheeks flushed. Johnny wanted to fucking ruin him. He dove forward and dragged his teeth over the junction of Taeyong’s pretty unmarked shoulder, sucking a bruise into the soft skin. Taeyong was his and no one else’s and he needed to make sure that everyone knew that.

“A–Ah!” Taeyong gasped as Johnny started to move his hips, still nipping at his skin. He wrapped his arms around Johnny’s broad shoulders, letting out a wet moan as Johnny’s cock stretched out his tiny cunt.

“Mine,” Johnny growled. “Only mine.”

“Yours,” Taeyong breathed in response, whining as Johnny gripped down hard on his small hips, undoubtedly bruising them. Johnny hadn’t even built up a pace, much too desperate to reach his ultimate goal of knotting his baby to give Taeyong time to adjust. “Oh, G–God,” Taeyong whimpered, pulling Johnny closer to him. “J–Johnny!”

His entire body seized up as Johnny slapped at his cunt, reaching down to pinch at his clit. Tears almost immediately filled his eyes but the pain was so fucking good. He let out a wet sob and rolled his hips down for Johnny to hit him more, to hit him harder. More slick leaked out around Johnny’s cock when he smacked him again, rubbing a finger along the part of Taeyong’s sensitive pussy that was stretched out around his length. He tucked his finger next to his cock, teasing Taeyong with the idea of filling him up even more than he already was. 

Taeyong was so fucking wet. The entire counter was soaked in his slick and his lower half was warm and sticky. Johnny was fucking him so hard, forcing his own slick back up into him only to coerce more out with each stroke of his hips. His clit was throbbing, begging for attention, his cunt clenching hard around Johnny’s cock, causing him to moan lowly at the feeling.

“You wanna come on my knot?” Johnny muttered, fucking into Taeyong’s small body without abandon.

“Yes, I—Oh, God—please,” Taeyong begged, squealing when Johnny slapped his raw pussy again. “Wanna squirt all over your knot, Alpha, nnh—!”

“Made Alpha’s cock all filthy,” Johnny continued lowly, more slick leaking out around his cock. “Made such a huge mess, baby.” He reached down to play with Taeyong’s aching cunt, covering his fingers in his slick again before bringing them back up to his lips. Taeyong immediately opened his mouth, sucking Johnny’s fingers inside. The taste of his own slick on his tongue was so filthy, so abhorrent that it made Taeyong dizzy. “Taste good, babydoll?” Taeyong only whined in his response, moaning around Johnny’s fingers after a particularly hard thrust. “Let Alpha know how you taste, yeah?”

“S–So good,” Taeyong breathed once Johnny had pulled out of his mouth, dragging his wet fingers down his lower lip and over his chin. “I–I taste so good, Alpha.”

“Good girl,” Johnny growled before pulling his cock out agonizingly slow and slamming right back into him, fucking him like he meant it, making Taeyong’s vision start to give out. “Good fucking girl, taking Alpha’s cock so, so well.”

Taeyong isn’t able to respond to that. He’s too caught up in the feeling of Johnny using him, too overwhelmed to do anything but sit there and take it, a broken record of desperate little uh–uh–uhs with each thrust that would have been embarrassing had Taeyong not been so focused on how good Johnny was making him feel. He’s writhing underneath Johnny, tears streaming down his pretty cheeks.

He isn’t expecting it at all when Johnny picked him up from the counter, holding him up by his waist while continuing to fuck him. Taeyong gasped and wrapped both his arms and legs around Johnny, his eyes rolling back with how fucking mindblowing this new position was. Johnny was holding him up like he weighed nothing and it turned Taeyong more than he had expected, moaning when Johnny moved his hands down to hold him up by his ass, fingers pressing sharp into his skin.

The new position had Johnny’s cock fucking into that spot with every thrust and Taeyong’s mind was fucking reeling. He tried his best to meet Johnny’s hips, though mostly letting Johnny use him however he pleaded which was good enough for him. His cunt was so wet and hot and slick was still leaking out onto his thighs and the floor underneath them. It was too much for him to handle.

“Alpha, I–I’m gonna—Alpha, I’m gonna come,” Taeyong warned, burying his face into Johnny’s neck.

“Such a little slut,” Johnny mumbled in response, only fucking into Taeyong harder despite his warning. “Coming all over Alpha’s fat cock. I barely even had to touch you, baby. You that easy?”

“Yeah,” Taeyong breathed, his head reeling with the way Johnny was talking down to him. “I–I’m a whore, Alpha.”

“You’re my fucking whore, Taeyong,” Johnny snapped, licking the bruise on Taeyong’s neck for emphasis. “No one else’s. Never anyone else’s.”

“Your whore,” Taeyong is quick to agree and Johnny is sated by that, slamming Taeyong up against a nearby counter to chase his orgasm that was coming sooner than expected. Taeyong mewled at the feeling of Johnny’s knot forming inside of him, making it harder and harder for him to pull out with each thrust. Even still, Johnny continued to fuck him relentlessly, drawing the softest most desperate moans and whimpers and shouts out of Taeyong with each stroke of his fat cock. “Alpha, I’m gonna come,” Taeyong breathed, feeling himself get all hot and needy like he always did right before he made a mess of himself. Johnny’s knot only continued to swell inside of him, filling him so much more than he thought was imaginable. “Gonna come, gonna come, gonna—!”

And with that, Taeyong came, squirting messily around Johnny’s cock. His head fell back as he brought a hand down to rub desperately at his clit, soaking both his and Johnny’s lower halves with his hot slick.

Johnny came soon thereafter, come flowing into Taeyong in rivulets, filling him so much that Taeyong came again, clenching tight around his thick knot. It was so good. Taeyong had never been knotted before in his life and the sensation was so wonderful that it was overwhelming. Johnny groaned loudly, burying his face into the junction of Taeyong’s neck before biting him again, reopening the wound that had only barely started to heal.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Johnny breathed, still steadily coming. “So good for Alpha, baby. You’re the best.”

“Alpha,” was the only thing Taeyong could say in response, dizzy with both the feeling of Johnny’s knot practically splitting him open and the blood dripping down his neck.

The two of them stayed like that for what felt like forever. Taeyong couldn’t even begin to guess how long it actually was. At some point, Johnny is pulling back and running a hand through his hair, coercing him to look up. His knot had started to go down, slowly but surely.

“You’re so pretty,” Johnny said, his pupils all blown and out of focus. He leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to the tip of Taeyong’s straight nose. “Such an angel.”

Taeyong was too drunk from his orgasm and Johnny knotting him to give a response. He only opened his mouth when Johnny went to kiss him, sucking the other’s tongue into his mouth lazily. They kiss like that for awhile, too caught up in each other to realize that Johnny’s knot had fully gone down.

Johnny, however, immediately smelled it when Mark came back in the room. He was quick to hide Taeyong with his body, growling deep in the back of his throat at Mark’s presence. Taeyong whined at the sound of it, his head reeling at Johnny’s blatant possessiveness.

“Get out,” Johnny hissed, pulling Taeyong close to him.

“Jesus,” Mark breathed. “Is he in rut?” It took Taeyong a long moment to realize that Mark was talking to him and even longer to think of a coherent response with how slow the question had processed in his mind.

“Y–Yeah,” Taeyong nodded into Johnny’s chest.

“You on birth control?” Mark asked quietly. Johnny growled again.

“No,” Taeyong whispered, feeling Johnny’s come start to leak headily out from his raw cunt.

“Shit,” Mark muttered underneath his breath. “I’m gonna go get some fucking Plan B or something, alright?”

“Get the fuck out!” Johnny shouted, thoroughly startling both Mark and Taeyong with how sudden it was. “He’s fucking mine, okay? My fucking Omega!” 

“Alright,” Mark said lowly, backing out of the room carefully. “I’ll be back, John. Just calm down, yeah?” Johnny only growled in response, moving up to nip at Taeyong’s neck again, smothering him in his scent.

Once Mark was gone, Taeyong ran a hand through Johnny’s hair, slowly calming him down with his touch. Johnny purred quietly, embracing the feeling of Taeyong and Taeyong as a whole—his smell and his body and his voice and him.

“Can we go up to the room, Johnny?” Taeyong asked softly. “Get a little rest?”

“Yeah,” Johnny agreed, looking cautiously behind him to make sure Mark had left. He sniffed the air before finally pulling out of Taeyong, keeping him upright with a strong arm. “Mine,” Johnny reminded him, smelling Taeyong again and sighing upon discovering that he smelled more like him than he did himself. “Only mine.”

“Only yours,” Taeyong said back, kissing Johnny softly. Johnny smiled  against his lips, all delirious and stupid from his rut. “Let’s go, Alpha.” 

And they went.

Rut Johnny was something different.

Not only was he hyper–focused on knotting Taeyong as many times as possible, he was also determined to make Taeyong come as many times as possible which he had been doing a damn good job at over the past day and a half. Taeyong is pretty sure that at this rate, he’ll never be able to come again. Johnny was making him come on an average of six times per every five hour period and Taeyong was exhausted.

Rut Johnny was pretty colorful in what ways he would make Taeyong come. Not too long ago, he had drawn Taeyong to an orgasm by only playing with his sensitive nipples. He had found Mark’s ex–girlfriend’s old Hitachi Wand which Taeyong squealed in disgust when Johnny brought it near his cunt but cut himself off with a broken moan with the strong vibrations against his clit. Johnny had rubbed the wand over his soaking wet pussy while he had three fingers stuffed in his ass, filling Taeyong up with his cock almost immediately after he had come, squirting against the vibrator.

It had been fucking amazing but Taeyong needed a little break which was why he was relieved to have woken up in the middle of the night with Johnny fast asleep next to him, his cheek smushed in a puddle of drool. Taeyong winced at how sore his entire lower half was, frowning a little at the small patch of hair that had started to grow on his fucked–raw pussy. It wasn’t anything too crazy but Taeyong still preferred to be cleanly shaven.

He pushed himself out of bed, looking around the dark room until laid eyes on one of Mark’s hoodies thrown messily on the ground. He bent down and picked it up, looking at it for a moment before shrugging it on. He would only be out of the room for a moment but didn’t want to risk bumping into Mark completely naked. 

Mark’s refrigerator didn’t have much but Taeyong didn’t need anything other than a bottle of water. He pulled it out and unscrewed the cap, downing the entire bottle in only a couple of prolonged sips. It made sense that he was as thirsty as he was seeing that hydrating himself hadn’t really been something that had crossed his mind with Johnny’s cock in him. Once finished, Taeyong grabbed another bottle of water for himself and two more for Johnny for whenever he woke up.

He frowned upon feeling an uncomfortable pang in his lower stomach, letting him know that drinking that much while having to pee as much as he did hadn’t really been the best idea. Taeyong huffed quietly and gathered all of the bottles of water in his arms, moving out of the kitchen and towards the bathroom upstairs.

It was weird. How he had been filled with this overwhelming urge to protect Johnny the past couple of days. He wanted to blame it on his own instincts and the fact that technically, his mate was in rut and it was affecting his mind but something deep down inside of him let him know that it wasn’t that simple. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind, stopping in front of the closed bedroom door to sit the bottles of water down.

He had barely made it into the bathroom when the door creaked open behind him. Taeyong looked up to see Johnny standing there, still so very clearly sleepy but also noticeably angry. Taeyong sighed a little at the sight of him, reaching a hand up to run through his hair.

“Go back to the room,” Taeyong said quietly. “I’ll be there in a second.”

Johnny ignored him, slamming the door behind him. Taeyong jumped a little at the suddenness of it, sucking in a sharp breath when Johnny flipped him around, pinning him back against the edge of the sink. He bent down to sniff him deeply, growling deep in the back of his throat.

“Why the fuck do you smell like him?” Johnny muttered and Taeyong hummed in confusion before looking down at himself. Mark’s hoodie. He hadn’t even considered Johnny when he had slipped it on.

“It’s just a hoodie, Johnny,” Taeyong explained softly, shaking his head.

“Don’t wear his shit,” Johnny snapped. “You don’t belong to him. You belong to me.” He moved a hand up to press along the bruise on Taeyong’s neck, causing him to moan quietly at the feeling. “I did this.”

Taeyong felt some slick start to leak down his thighs at Johnny’s sheer possessiveness. He nodded, lips patting a little. “I know, Alpha,” Taeyong breathed, gasping as Johnny put more pressure on the mark. 

“Take it off,” Johnny demanded and Taeyong nodded again, pulling back away from Johnny a bit to slip the hoodie up over his head. Johnny snatched it from him the moment it was off and tossed it across the room before slipping his own hoodie off and handing it over to Taeyong. “I don’t want you to smell like him anymore.”

Taeyong let out a shaky breath before redressing himself in Johnny’s big hoodie, letting the fabric fall against his thighs. Not too long after it was on, Johnny was pulling him in for a rough kiss, causing him to moan breathily against his full lips. Johnny kissed him with a beautiful sense of dominance, nipping at his lips and sucking at his tongue. Taeyong couldn’t get enough of it.

Suddenly, Johnny was flipping him around and bending him over the sink, drawing a startled noise out of Taeyong. He felt Johnny’s hands push up the hoodie, feeling over his bare ass all covered in bruises from all of his lingering touches from earlier. Taeyong squealed when Johnny drew his hand back and smacked his ass, pain immediately shooting up his spine and more slick leaking out from his pussy. He pushed back for more, his head dropping in between his arms when Johnny struck him again, this time significantly harder than the last.

“Don’t ever,” Johnny started, emphasizing the final word with a hard slap, “wear another Alpha’s shit.” Another smack, followed by a wet sob from Taeyong, “ I’m your Alpha,” Johnny seethed, pressing his fingers deep into the bruises on Taeyong’s ass before slapping him again, causing Taeyong to let out a loud keen. “You’re fucking mine.”

“I’m yours,” Taeyong breathed, shouting when Johnny’s hard hand landed on his sore ass again. “I–I’m sorry, Alpha.”

“Yeah, you fucking better be,” Johnny growled, flipping Taeyong back over and sitting him down on top of the sink before kissing him again. Taeyong couldn’t help but rut against the cool marble underneath him, gasping into Johnny’s mouth as the hard cold stimulated his wet pussy. Johnny must notice because he was pulling back, redirecting Taeyong’s small hands to hold up his hoodie before landing a hard smack right on Taeyong’s clit, a loud, wet noise echoing throughout the bathroom as Taeyong cried out in both pleasure and pain. “Slutty fucking pussy,” Johnny mumbled, slapping him again before dragging two of his fingers through Taeyong’s slick, his cock throbbing at the gasp Taeyong let out once he had pushed him inside of his hole that was still so tight even after having been fucked so many times.

The feeling of Johnny’s fingers in his pussy was so fucking good but Taeyong couldn’t stop himself from continuously trying to close his legs around Johnny’s hand due to how badly his bladder had started to burn. His eyes roll back a little as Johnny fucked straight into that spot, stimulating something inside of him that felt almost ten times better with how badly he had to pee. 

Johnny wrapped a hand around his neck, forcing his legs around with his knee. Taeyong squealed as the thrusts of Johnny’s hand became more brutal, sobbing wetly at how roughly Johnny was going. He coughed with Johnny’s hand around his neck, the lack of air making everything feel so much more intense than usual. “Look at you,” Johnny mumbled over the squelching of Taeyong’s wet pussy. “Acting like a fucking animal when I don’t even have my cock in you.” He leaned forward and licked over Taeyong’s mark. “Such a fucking slut for me, baby.”

And Johnny is rubbing along the inside of his walls with each thrust, the pads of his fingers never letting up on that spot that was making Taeyong’s vision go black. It was all too much and Taeyong had to pee so badly, his cheeks red with how embarrassing it was. He couldn’t piss right there, not in that moment.

“J–Johnny,” Taeyong breathed, coughing as Johnny’s fingers pressed in harder on either side of his neck, a little bit of drool unconsciously leaking out of his mouth when Johnny touched on his bruise. “I g–gotta—Alpha, I–I gotta go.”

“Go where, sweetheart?” Johnny teased, significantly slowing down his thrusts to bring more attention to that spot and more specifically, Taeyong’s bladder on the inside, making it clear that he knew exactly what Taeyong was trying to tell him. 

“P–Pee,” Taeyong slurred all desperate, his head falling back with how good Johnny was making him feel. Slick was leaking out of him in waves and he couldn’t get enough of Johnny’s thick fingers. “Gotta go pee, Alpha.”

“Do you now?” Johnny asked, raising an eyebrow. Before Taeyong could nod in response, he felt Johnny pull his fingers out for a split second to press a third and fourth one in alongside the first two. Taeyong’s mouth opened in a silent gasp, hand coming down to wrap around Johnny’s wrist as all four of his fingers pushed deeper and deeper inside of him, stretching him out so good he couldn’t think straight. Johnny moved his hand down to press onto Taeyong’s bladder on the outside, causing Taeyong to whine and try to curl in on himself. Johnny wouldn’t allow it. “Come on, doll.”

He started properly fucking Taeyong then, Taeyong’s mind reeling with the plain fact that if Johnny tucked in his thumb his whole hand would be inside of him. Taeyong kept trying to push Johnny away, whining in protest when Johnny kept pressing down on his sensitive bladder, especially when little squirts of piss started to leak out around Johnny’s fingers each time that he did so. It was so embarrassing yet so good at the same time that Taeyong was having trouble figuring out what emotion he should have been feeling at the moment.

Taeyong’s eyes rolled straight to the back of his head and Johnny moved away from his bladder and started rolling his clit in circles, playing with the sensitive bud the same time as his fingers rammed into that spot inside of him. He was unable to stop the slurred moan that came out of him, drool leaking down his chin and his neck. Johnny fucking him and playing with his clit while his bladder felt like it was about to burst was way too much for Taeyong.

“Alpha, I—Alpha, ‘m gonna pee, please, Alpha, I can’t—oh, fuck, Johnny, feels so good, ‘m gonna—!” Taeyong cut himself off with a high–pitched squeal as his piss started to coat Johnny’s fingers that were still steadily fucking him, slicking up each thrust of his hand with how much Taeyong was letting out.

“That’s it, baby, come on,” Johnny encouraged, still playing with Taeyong’s clit as his piss continued to leak out of him. “Make Alpha all dirty. Piss all over Alpha.”

And Johnny was making it so dirty that Taeyong couldn’t even think straight, both hands coming up to cover his face as Johnny started to fuck some of his piss back inside of him, sobbing at how good it felt. His cunt was so hot and so wet and even more so now that he was pissing all over himself and his Alpha.

The smell of piss in the air was so gross but so fucking erotic at the same time. Johnny waited until it seemed like Taeyong’s stream had stopped completely before pressing down on his bladder again, sending out the last few squirts of piss to go dripping down his wrist. He bent down and licked Taeyong’s pussy around his fingers, causing Taeyong to shake his head and immediately try to push his face away.

“N–No,” Taeyong breathed, gasping as Johnny continued fucking him, licking along his piss–slicked clit. “Alpha, n–no, ‘s too dirty, I—Alpha, too dirty, too—Oh, my God, I’m coming, Johnny, I–I’m—!”

That was the only warning Taeyong gave before coming all over Johnny’s face, slick squirting into his mouth. His back arched and his hands came down to grasp at the edge of the sink for dear life, overwhelmed by the feeling of both emptying his bladder and his orgasm.

Johnny was there for him when he came back down, kissing up his neck until he finally made it to his mouth. Taeyong moaned at the combined taste of both his slick and his piss, so filthy but so fucking hot at the same time. He moved his hands from the sink to grab at Johnny’s cock through his sweatpants, causing the older to groan deeply into his mouth.

“Need your knot,” Taeyong breathed heavily, pulling Johnny’s sweatpants down and taking Johnny’s cock in his hands, stroking it slowly but surely. “Fuck your Omega, Alpha.”

Johnny growled at that and immediately flipped Taeyong back around, bracing a hand on his waist before pressing the head of his cock against his slick hole. Taeyong gasped as Johnny’s length split him open, stretching him out as it always did while Johnny bottomed out inside of him. Johnny smacked Taeyong’s ass again, unable to resist it when it looked so pretty and red in front of him. Taeyong whined and pushed back for more which Johnny happily gave him.

“Beg for it,” Johnny mumbled, leaning forward until his mouth was right at Taeyong’s ear, his voice hot and heavy and so fucking sexy. “Beg for Alpha’s cock.”

“P–Please,” Taeyong whined, bouncing his ass against Johnny’s hips. “Please fuck me, Alpha.”

“Louder,” Johnny demanded, though already starting to fuck Taeyong slowly, drawing his cock in and out of his slick hole teasingly.

“Please fuck me, Alpha,” Taeyong repeated, shaking his head. “I–I need your fat fucking cock so bad, need you to ruin me.”

“Louder, baby,” Johnny said, picking up his speed, his hips slamming against Taeyong’s bruised ass, cock dragging along his sensitive walls so deliciously that Taeyong was having trouble thinking, let alone being able to process what Johnny was saying to him. Johnny brought him back down with another smack to his ass, so hard that the sound of it seemed to fill the entire bathroom. “Fucking louder, you dumb slut,” Johnny hissed through his teeth, dragging his fingers through Taeyong’s hair before grabbing a chunk of it and snatching his head back.

“Fuck me, Alpha!” Taeyong breathed loudly, whining when Johnny smacked his ass again, fingers still gripping his hair as he started to properly fuck him, slamming in and out of his sopping wet pussy. “Fuck your d–dumb slut, Alpha, please, I–I—need you to breed me!”

“Watch yourself get fucked, baby,” Johnny mumbled, pulling Taeyong’s head up higher so that he could zero in on himself in the mirror while his pussy was used.

Taeyong looked an absolute mess. There were tears streaming down his cheeks and his entire face had gone pink. There was drool soaked into his skin and still dripping down his chin as more and more strangled moans left him while Johnny continued to fuck him, ready to make his pussy fat with his come. His hair was messy and being gripped by Johnny’s rough hand. It was so fucking erotic to see himself get ruined by Johnny’s cock, all wrecked and whorish.

“Hear that?” Johnny muttered, looking for Taeyong through the mirror in front of him, referring to the squelching sound bouncing off of the four walls of the room. “Hear how wet your cunt is for me?”

“Y–Yes, Alpha—ngh, oh, please,” Taeyong whined and nothing was even making sense to him anymore other than Johnny’s thick cock fucking him absolutely senseless. “So good, Alpha, ‘s so good, I—nnh, oh, God, please—Alpha, please keep fucking my wet cunt, Alpha, please.”

“Wanna fucking breed you so bad,” Johnny growled, moving his hand from Taeyong’s hair to wrap around both of his wrists, forcing his entire upper half to collapse against the sink. “Gonna fill you with my pups, baby.”

“Yes,” Taeyong hissed, nodding frantically in response because he wanted that, he wanted that so fucking bad. To be filled full of Johnny’s pups until he couldn’t walk anymore sounded so fucking delicious to him that his eyes rolled back. 

Johnny reached down a hand and started playing with his clit, rolling it between his fingers, electrifying Taeyong’s body. Taeyong squealed loudly at that, shaking his head, trying his hardest to get away because that paired with the feeling of Johnny wrecking his pussy was too much for him to handle. Johnny wouldn’t let him, fucking him harder into the sink, forcing him to take everything that was being given to him.

“Nnh—ah! Alpha, Alpha, please, ‘m gonna come!” Taeyong breathed, hiccuping loudly. “I’m gonna—gonna come all over myself again, Alpha, please.”

Johnny only chuckled darkly before slapping at his cunt, the tips of his fingers hitting directly at his sore clit. Taeyong practically screamed at that, sobbing into the marble underneath him as his body seized up and his cunt squeezed down tight around Johnny’s thick cock, coating his legs in his own slick with the intensity of his orgasm. Johnny continued to fuck him through it, smacking at his cunt while Taeyong tried desperately to get away, crying louder at the overstimulation. He felt Johnny’s knot growing inside of him, catching on the rim of his hole with each thrust.

Johnny is muttering something in his ear but Taeyong can’t hear it. It’s too muffled and too far away. He mewled, drool soaking into his cheek as Johnny’s knot filled him to the brim, flooding him with come. It’s too much for him, too much, and Taeyong can’t stop himself from floating away completely.

When he came back to, he was still in the bathroom. Johnny was cleaning him up with a wet cloth, groaning to himself when more come leaked out of Taeyong’s hole. Taeyong whined and pushed himself up, still in Johnny’s hoodie. Despite being hot, he didn’t try to take it off, figuring that would only send Johnny into another possessive tantrum.

“You’re back,” Johnny muttered, not looking up as Taeyong as he spoke. “I’m really trying to clean you up but there’s, like, so much.” He sat back, tossing the cloth into the basin of the sink with a small sigh. “We should take a shower.”

“Together?” Taeyong muttered, frowning a little. 

Johnny hesitated a moment before responding, nodding slowly. “Yeah,” he said. “I mean, if that’s okay with you.” Johnny was a lot more soft–spoken and mellow now. His rut was mostly definitely coming to an end which Taeyong was both thankful for and a bit sad to see go. Ultimately, though, his body would thank him.

“Your rut is fading,” Taeyong pointed out quietly. Johnny looked down at him as if he could see it before shrugging.

“Guess so,” he mumbled, nodding. He pulled his lower lip into his mouth and nibbled at it for a moment. “Well, I guess I’ll go grab everything so you can get in first.”

He went to get up but Taeyong was stopping him with a roll of his eyes. Johnny looked down at him, humming in confusion.

“You gotta carry me,” Taeyong said, letting go of Johnny’s wrist. “I’m pretty sure I can’t walk.”

Johnny blinked at him for a moment, very clearly surprised with his response. Taeyong raised a brow in question and Johnny’s eyes went wide before he was nodding a bit more frantically than he meant to before catching his mistake and standing up straight, trying his best to play off his excitement towards Taeyong’s answer.

And as Johnny carried him to the bathroom, Taeyong let himself really bask in that short moment. They weren’t arguing, weren’t worried about the police that were steadily on their trail, weren’t fighting about who did what and who ruined what and who was lying about what. It was peaceful. Calm.

And no matter how much Taeyong didn’t want to admit it, he couldn’t deny that he liked it. 

So, Johnny’s rut wasn’t completely over. It was ultimately Taeyong’s mistake by thinking that it had ended that quickly and easily but to be fair, Taeyong had never been around an Alpha in rut before. This was as new to him as it was to Johnny.

Either way, a conversation with Mark that almost definitely wasn’t as much of a conversation as it was Taeyong getting smart with Mark and Mark being equally as snarky in response ended up in Johnny slowly but surely getting angrier and angrier as the interaction progressed until finally he was growling at Mark in a voice that make Taeyong flinch and snatching Taeyong up by his arm to go up the staircase. Taeyong barely had any time to ask him what his problem was before Johnny was snatching down his panties and flipping him onto his hands and knees, burying his face into his swollen pussy. 

“Stop trying to run away,” Johnny growled, grabbing Taeyong tight by his waist to prevent him from moving away like he had been, much too overwhelmed by the feeling of Johnny’s cock railing into him and the vibrations of the Hitachi Wand directly on his clit. His legs were shaking and there were tears streaming down his face, hiccuping as Johnny brought him closer to his third orgasm. “Take what Alpha is giving to you.”

And Johnny is giving him a lot. He had foregone his pussy entirely and instead was fucking his ass, stretching him out further and further with each thrust. Getting fucked in his ass was so much more intense than his pussy because there was so much pain added to the pleasure and Taeyong was so small back there, barely able to take the entire length and girth of Johnny’s fat cock but Johnny forces him to adjust, fucking him hard and fast until Taeyong’s body has no other choice than take what it’s being given.

It also doesn’t help that Johnny was making him press the wand hard up against his drooling cunt, smacking him hard and clear over his ass whenever he tried to pull away. With both Johnny using him so relentlessly and the vibrator sending electricity throughout his entire body, Taeyong isn’t sure how much longer he could handle it. He’s so fucking wet that his knees are soaked with it as it puddled underneath him, slick covering the toy and Johnny’s cock from when he had fucked his pussy earlier and made him squirt so hard his eyes had crossed.

“How’s it feel, baby?” Johnny asked, leaning in close to where his mouth was right next to Taeyong’s ear, emphasizing his question with a particularly hard thrust that forced Taeyong’s small body up the bed, almost face–planting into the mess of his own slick underneath him. “You like Alpha’s cock fucking your slutty little hole?” Taeyong nodded frantically in response which caused Johnny to smack his ass again, Taeyong sobbing wetly at the feeling. “Answer me with words,” Johnny demanded.

“Y–Yes,” Taeyong slurred, drool slipping out of his mouth unconsciously at the feeling of Johnny slamming into his hole again. “Oh, God—Johnny, I–I can’t.”

“You can’t what?” Johnny asked darkly. Taeyong didn’t answer, only let out a slutty moan when Johnny picked up his pace a little, his hips smacking against his sore ass.

Taeyong isn’t expecting for Johnny to pull out and flip him over suddenly, flinching at the feeling of his own slick now cool against the bed soaking into the bare skin of his back. He isn’t able to focus on it for too long though, as Johnny bottoming out inside of his sopping wet pussy without any warning. Taeyong’s back arched high off the bed as Johnny began railing into him, just as relentless and hard as he had been with his ass. Johnny chuckled quietly at his reaction, reaching down to push two fingers into Taeyong’s hole, plugging him up in both ends. It’s so fucking hot that more slick leaked around Johnny’s cock with a gross squelching noise, causing Taeyong’s cheeks to go dark with embarrassment.

“Get your toy, baby,” Johnny demanded and Taeyong whined in response, shaking his head. “Why not?”

“I’ll c–come again,” Taeyong mumbled airily, cutting himself off with a sharp breath when Johnny suddenly withdrew his fingers from his ass.

He isn’t able to stop him from squealing when Johnny pinned both of his wrists above his head with one hand and picked up the wand with the other, turning up the vibrations before forcing it down hard against Taeyong’s pussy. He tried his best to get away, closing his legs around Johnny’s hand only to have them forced back open and the vibrator moved to sit directly atop of his swollen clit. It was so much, so overwhelming and amazing that Taeyong felt like he could die. Johnny is fucking him so recklessly, undoubtedly bruising his cunt further and further with each thrust and his knot is starting to swell inside of him, stretching him out in the most delicious way.

Taeyong can look down and see Johnny’s cock swelling his stomach with each thrust, reshaping the flat surface and it’s so fucking dizzying. Taeyong sobbed again, unconsciously rolling over onto his side to avoid the avoid the unforgiving vibration of the vibrator as Johnny continued to use his body, drawing himself closer and closer to an orgasm.

“F–Fuck, Alpha—Johnny, please, I c–can’t,” Taeyong begged as Johnny forced him to flip over again, cock slamming directly in that spot inside of him as he brought the vibrator back down onto his reddened clit, slick squirting out around his cock with how overwhelmed Taeyong was. “O–Oh, fuck, Johnny, I—No, I’m gonna c–come—nnh, Johnny, please.”

“Come,” Johnny grunted in response, running out of breath, right on the cusp of his orgasm. “Get Alpha’s cock all wet, princess. Get yourself all dirty like the filthy little whore you are, baby.”

That was all Taeyong nodded. He choked on a moan before coming, squirting around Johnny’s cock and the toy pressed up against his pussy. Johnny followed soon thereafter, coming into Taeyong’s swollen cunt for the umpteenth time. More slick gushed out around Johnny’s cock at the feeling of being filled up with come and Johnny finally let go of Taeyong’s bruised wrists, allowing Taeyong to push the vibrator away from his sore pussy the second he was freed, sobbing wetly at how it throbbed once the toy was gone.

When Johnny’s knot finally went down and he pulled out, Taeyong sucked in a sharp breath of air and covered his mouth with both of his hands at how Johnny’s come went leaking out of him, staining his sweat and slick soaked skin as well as the bed underneath him even further. His face went hot and he immediately closed his legs, doing his best not to react as more of Johnny’s come came dripping out with the simple motion. Johnny lay down on the bed next to him, huffing out a soft laugh.

“I think that was the last one,” Johnny mumbled, throwing an arm over his face.

“I fucking hope so,” Taeyong muttered, wincing at the way his voice had unintentionally cracked. “My body can’t take it anymore.”

There was a long pause. Then, Johnny rolled over to look at Taeyong who only glanced at him, too exhausted to tell him to fuck off and move away. “What were you talking to Mark about when I came down?” Johnny asked, raising a brow. Taeyong snorted in response, shaking his head. He knew that this whole possessive phase Johnny was going through was due to his rut but it was still a little annoying.

“Birth control,” Taeyong sighed, looking back up at the ceiling. His sight still hadn’t gone back to normal. Everything was spinning and his head felt heavy. Him saying that his body wouldn’t be able to take it hadn’t been him being dramatic. 

“What about for the first day?” Johnny asked.

“I took Plan B,” Taeyong mumbled, rolling back over to look at Johnny. “Listen, man, you fucked me stupid and came all over me. The least you could do is take me to the shower.”

Johnny opened his mouth to say something in response to that. Taeyong didn’t doubt that it was something continuing on the topic of his rut and the fact that he had knotted Taeyong several times over the past couple of days. He must ultimately decide against it, sighing all dramatically before pushing himself up. 

“Don’t you hate when I make any kind of contact with you when we’re not actively having sex?” Johnny questioned, raising a brow. Taeyong only blinked back at him. He didn’t feel like arguing about who had said what when. Johnny sighed again. “You’re really bossy when you’re all fucked out.”

“Shut up,” Taeyong mumbled, unable to stop himself from blushing. Johnny only laughed in response and went to pick him up.

“Are you sure he’s done?” Mark asked, looking warily at Johnny who was sitting across from him eating a banana all cool and languid. Taeyong glanced over at him and hummed, shrugging a little. 

“Hasn’t tried to knot me in over an hour so I’m pretty sure he’s finished,” Taeyong said, continuing to rummage through Mark’s refrigerator. Over the past couple of days, Taeyong had gotten particularly comfortable in Mark’s house. He kind of had to, seeing that he couldn’t really be uneasy in the same house that he had spent getting relentlessly fucked.

“He’s right here,” Johnny mumbled, pulling more of the peel away from his banana. 

“Can you stop going through my fridge?” Mark said, standing up quickly to snatch away an old container of rice from Taeyong’s hands. Taeyong only scoffed before immediately snatching it back, pushing past Mark to put it in the microwave above the stove before he could take it again. “You two are fucking insufferable,” Mark muttered, sitting back down. “I haven’t gotten more than three hours of sleep within the past couple of days because you two don’t know how to keep it down.”

Taeyong put in the container of rice for a minute before turning around and glancing back at Mark. He did like a little bit worn out. His hair was messy and there were these deep circles underneath his wide eyes. In a way, Taeyong almost felt bad. He mostly didn’t though. Mark would live.

“You look like shit,” Taeyong mumbled, going through all of the drawers in search of a spoon until Mark finally grew tired of hearing the wood slam and got up, pulling out the next drawer that Taeyong had set his sights on to reveal the very few utensils inside of it. Taeyong snorted at the sight of it as he grabbed himself out a spoon. “The way you live is actually kind of sad.”

“Being an asshole isn’t a fucking personality trait,” Mark hissed, snatching the spoon away from Taeyong. “Use your own shit since you’ve got so much of an opinion.” Taeyong only stared at him as he made his way back to his seat across from Johnny who had been watching the entire thing go down. Once he was completely seated, Taeyong pulled out another spoon for himself. 

“He’s fucking insufferable,” Mark murmured and Johnny laughed a little at his frustration. 

“Kind of,” he agreed, standing up to throw his peel in the trash. Taeyong glared at him on his way by. What an asshole. “You get used to him.”

“I don’t think you two have the time for me to get used to him,” Mark responded, frowning at Taeyong as the microwave went off, watching him pop the door open and grab the container of rice out. Johnny walked back over and sat down. “What’s your guys’ plan?” 

Taeyong looked at Johnny who looked hopelessly clueless. In all honesty, Taeyong hadn’t really thought about what they should do over the past couple of days. This was the first time in awhile that he’s actually had multiple coherent thoughts in a row and was sure the same went for Johnny.

They obviously needed to leave. Living with Mark for the rest of their lives simply wasn’t an option and it wasn’t only because Mark would undoubtedly go insane with the two of them being there. Staying in one place for too long would only make their scents linger which would ultimately lead the police right to them all cooped up in Mark’s home. Mark would be arrested for harboring not only one but two fugitives and that would be the end of it. 

Fleeing the country was still an option. It would be tight considering the more than half the country was looking for him still but Taeyong could manage it. Leave the country and have Yuta transfer all of his money to an account that he could use somewhere nice and cool as far away from Korea as possible. That would be fine with him. 

“I’m leaving the country,” Taeyong finally announced. Mark blinked up at him, breathing out an incredulous laugh. 

“You’re kidding, right?” Mark asked and Taeyong only stared at him, spooning a mouthful of rice past his lips. Mark shook his head. “How exactly are you expecting for you and Johnny to be able to leave the country without two dozen police officers flagging you the second you step into the airport?” 

“I never said anything about Johnny,” Taeyong said, scoffing a little. Johnny frowned at that. 

“What do you mean?” he asked quietly.

Taeyong didn’t really understand the question. Him leaving had been the plan since the moment he had left Yuta’s house. Why was Johnny acting like this was some kind of surprise to him? While they hadn’t formally discussed it, Johnny was aware of it. In fact, Taeyong didn’t even really feel like the two of them needed to have any sort of conversation about it. Why would they?

“You’re leaving without Johnny?” Mark questioned.

“Why the fuck would I leave with Johnny?” Taeyong snorted, looking back and forth between both Mark and Johnny who shared the same dumbfounded expressions on their faces. For a moment, Taeyong genuinely considered the possibility of them being related because of how ridiculously identical they looked to each other in that moment. “What?”

“He’s your fucking mate, dude,” Mark said. “You can’t just leave him here.”

“I didn’t ask to be mated to him,” Taeyong pointed out, shaking his head. Mark looked disgusted.

“I don’t get you,” Mark scoffed. It was obvious that was Taeyong was saying had started to really irritate him. Taeyong didn’t care. His and Johnny’s relationship wasn’t any of his business.

“What’s there not to get?” Taeyong snapped angrily. “It’s literally none of your fucking business in the first place.”

“Johnny is my friend,” Mark defended, his voice growing louder. “His business is my business.”

“Your friend took me against my fucking will, mated me without asking for my permission, humiliated me on countless occasions and is still fucking lying to me,” Taeyong hissed through his teeth, slamming down the container of rice on the countertop next to him, having suddenly lost his appetite completely. “So, no, I’m not exactly fucking jumping to call him my mate.”

“You know, I think it’s real fucking ironic that whoever does all this shit decided to give you of all people a true mate,” Mark snorted. “Most people would be thankful for the fact that they were able to meet their perfect match and you’re sitting here bitching about it. Jesus fucking Christ, have you ever once considered how much of a burden you’ve been on Johnny?”

Mark was getting louder and louder which each word that came out of his mouth, his anger only growing the longer he spoke. Johnny stood up, clearly ready to intervene but Taeyong was quicker, barking out a sarcastic laugh that only made Mark frown deeper.

“Do you think that I fucking give a shit about Johnny?” Taeyong shouted. “Nobody is asking him to stay with me! I don’t want him around me! He’s fucking annoying! The only reason why I haven’t gotten rid of him is because I can’t fucking drive and I needed him to take me where I needed to fucking go!”

The room went quiet after that. Johnny cleared his throat and sat back down. Taeyong didn’t care. It wasn’t fair for him and Mark to try and make him feel bad about not being excited to be mated for life to some man that he didn’t even trust. Nobody ever asked him how he felt about it. How uncomfortable it made him. How the mere idea of being mated to someone for the rest of his life not only scared the living shit out of him but made him feel horrible about himself. 

How affected Johnny looked at his words irritated Taeyong to no fucking end. How did he get to sit there and look like his feelings had been hurt when he had just said that he didn’t want to be mated to Taeyong as much as Taeyong didn’t want to be mated to him no less than a couple of days ago? Just because he wanted to go and change his mind and believe in this fairytale idea that soulmates existed and that he had found his didn’t mean that Taeyong had to. 

“Stop fucking pouting,” Taeyong seethed at Johnny. “Don’t act like you give a shit about me.”

For a moment, Taeyong thought that he might say something in response to that. Ultimately, he decided not to, only pushing himself up out of his chair and walking out of the room. Taeyong scoffed to himself as Johnny went, picking up the container of rice again. He could hear a door slam shut somewhere deeper into the house. 

“You’re a fucking asshole, man,” Mark said, shaking his head.

“Yeah, we’ve already determined that,” Taeyong muttered in response, forcing another spoonful of rice down his throat. 

“If you knew the reason why he picked you up you’d feel like shit,” Mark continued and Taeyong snorted out a bitter laugh. 

“What’s the reason then?” Taeyong snapped angrily. He wanted Mark to stop speaking to him. His whole fucking presence was frustrating him but he couldn’t really risk going outside and didn’t know where else in the house to go that wasn’t where Johnny was. 

“You pissed off a lot of fucking people with all the shit that you did, Taeyong,” Mark started, pushing picking up an apple from the bowl of fruit in the middle of the table. “A lot of them wanted to hurt you and a lot of them could have hurt you if it weren’t for Johnny.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Taeyong asked, watching as Mark bit into the apple he had grabbed. 

“It means that his brother is a super powerful dude and was super fucking pissed when you screwed him over the way that you did,” Mark explained. “You stole half a million won from him and basically almost ruined his name in the media for good. The scandal around him when it had gotten out that he was one of the people that had gotten fucked over by you was fucking crazy, man. It’s been, like, six months and the guy’s company is still losing more money than it’s making because nobody wants to work with him.”

That didn’t make sense. Taeyong had indeed stolen a lot of money from many powerful people in South Korea but nothing about it should have gotten out. He had been under the impression that the police had kept the whole thing pretty quiet. Nobody should have known about the people who came forward against them unless they didn’t care about their identities being exposed to the public and Taeyong couldn’t think of a single person who would have wanted that. What sense did it make for the police to make everything so open like that? That was why Taeyong had gone after the bigger people in the first place—because he knew they would be so embarrassed by what he had done to them and what they had done to themselves that they would want to keep it quiet. 

“He had sent someone to go kill you and they were pretty fucking close to doing it before Johnny got involved,” Mark continued. “The only reason why you’re even still alive is because Johnny got you out of Busan before someone found you.

Taeyong didn’t know what to say. Hell, he didn’t even know if he believed what Mark was telling him. What sense did it make for Johnny to go through all of the trouble that he had for someone—a fucking criminal at that, one who had screwed over a close relative of his—that he didn’t know? 

“Why would he do all this for me?” Taeyong asked, snorting a little in disbelief. “He didn’t even know me before a couple of weeks ago.”

“Because Johnny is a good fucking person,” Mark snapped, clearly irritated with Taeyong’s tone. “And because his brother is an asshole and he was tired of seeing him hurt people and get away with it. It wasn’t you specifically. If Johnny had found about that his brother was gonna kill some other bitchy Omega he would have done the exact same thing that he’s doing for you now.”

Taeyong went quiet after that. There wasn’t really anything that he could think to say in response. After all, it did make sense. Why Johnny avoided the police and turning him in so violently. Why he was so serious about getting him out of Busan so quickly. Why he had brought up his brother in the first place. Johnny had basically fucking saved his life and Taeyong would be lying if he said he didn’t feel like a total asshole about it.

Still, couldn’t Johnny have told him at some point? He wouldn’t have been so against the idea of being with Johnny if he had simply let him know what the fuck was going on. Taeyong wouldn’t have thought of Johnny as an enemy if Johnny had just told him. 

Mark pushed himself up out of his chair and stretched his arms above his head, sighing. “I’m gonna go see what’s up with Johnny,” he said. And with that, he was gone, leaving Taeyong by himself in the room. 

Taeyong stood there for a moment. He eyed the container of rice still in his hands for a couple of seconds before walking over to the trash and dumping out the contents into the dark bag. 

Maybe he was a fucking asshole. 

Chapter Text

Johnny wasn’t the black sheep of his family per se. It was more that he was kind of invisible to most of them. They knew he was there and acknowledged his existence when they were around him but other than that, Johnny faded into the back for them. It wasn’t something that they did on purpose. It simply was.

It was because of his brother, Matthew. His brother that had always excelled in everything he did since the moment he was born. He started to sit up before Johnny, started walking before Johnny, started reading before Johnny. At around six or seven, their parents decided to get their IQ levels tested. Johnny’s came out average but Matthew’s? Well, Matthew was nothing short of a genius and upon realizing that, their mother and father decided to put all of their time and energy into their older son that was almost certain to go far in life. 

For a long while, Johnny didn’t really mind it. Sure, his parents stopped paying as much attention to him but it didn’t matter to him because Matthew was still nice. They hung out together 24/7 when Matthew wasn’t caught up in some scholastic contest their parents had enrolled him in or studying. Matthew was his best friend and vice versa. Everything was fine for a long time.

Until they got into high school. Their parents had come to a decision to uproot the family before either boy went into their first year of their final leg of school and move to Seoul. Johnny thought it was kind of cool. Matthew wasn’t too happy about it but had never spoken out against his parents and wouldn’t start now. The first week of school was definitely weird. School in Korea was a lot different than school in Chicago. People weren’t as friendly and the teachers cracked down hard on their students. It didn’t take long for Johnny to come to the decision that he didn’t like it one bit. 

Matthew, however, loved it. People thought he was handsome and naturally flocked to him. He was smart and easily became the top of their class. During their second year, Matthew was recruited to both class president and class representative. The teachers absolutely adored him. There wasn’t a single part of his day that he didn’t enjoy. Johnny tried hard to adapt to the environment as well as Matthew had but was already crippled with the weight of not speaking Korean well due to his parents never really attempting to teach it to him. He studied as much as he could but also spent a lot of his time in the library teaching himself the language that he was constantly surrounded with since moving to Seoul. By his second year, Johnny could basically carry a conversation without any issue but his grades started to drastically lower with the lack of time he had spent on his schoolwork. 

Matthew started to treat him like he was a burden which hurt. He never wanted to hang out with him anymore. When Johnny tried to spend time with him, Matthew would always shoot him down and say that he had better things to do. At a certain point, Johnny stopped. He realized that Matthew was embarrassed of him and wanted nothing to do with him. It was a drastic change from their childhood but Johnny forced himself to accept it. There was no use in hanging onto something that would never be there. He still held out a little bit of hope though. Maybe Matthew was going through a phase. 

Johnny made friends. A boy who was a year lower than him named Mark who was originally from Canada but ultimately got swooped off to Seoul after a nasty divorce. Another named Hansol who didn’t really talk but was always good to have around. A girl called Yerim who often got made fun of by the other girls in class because of her visuals but was easily the sweetest girl Johnny had ever met. The two of them ended up dating all the way until graduation where Yerim broke it off with him as nicely as possible, explaining that college was extremely important to her and she didn’t want to risk ruining anything for herself because of a small distraction such as a boyfriend. It had hurt Johnny for sure but he understood and let her go. They still talked every now and again. Yerim was dating some guy from Germany named Finn and had since graduated college, on route to becoming a conservation scientist.

Matthew graduated a year before Johnny and went on to start a company with a classmate he had met during his first year of college. Their parents were a little unsure about his decision but were proven wrong about a half a year later when Matthew’s company was bought out by one of the biggest companies in South Korea. By the time Johnny had graduated college with a degree in socialism, Matthew was one of Korea’s most successful entrepreneurs. He had links in America and Canada and Spain and hundreds upon thousands of people working for him. Of course, he invited Johnny to come work with—read: for —him once he had graduated. Johnny didn’t particularly want to but was pushed to do so by his family.

It didn’t take long for Johnny to realize that Matthew’s company was extremely corrupt. People had money stolen from them on a daily basis. People were scammed. What made it worse was that the people being most affected by Matthew’s company were the working–class who couldn’t really afford to be looped into a gruesome hole. Johnny hated seeing it but didn’t say anything for a long while. He needed to support himself and whether he liked his presence or not, Matthew paid him handsomely.

* It wasn’t until Johnny found out about what Matthew had going on deeper in the company. People were being trafficked and both young men and women—some actual children —were being sold off to the highest bidder. It wasn’t only that but people were being killed when they couldn’t afford to pay their dues or disagreed with what was happening around them and threatened to go to the authorities. People were being hurt. Families were being split apart. *

All of that for fucking money. 

Johnny went to his parents about it first. His mother looked disgusted and had opened her mouth to say something but was quickly interrupted by his father who spoke up over her and told Johnny that what was happening wasn’t any of his business and called him disgusting for trying to tear down his brother who had given him so much. Johnny was dumbstruck. He had known for a long while that his family had a nasty habit of overlooking the shit that Matthew did because of their favoritism but this was on a whole new level. This was fucking criminal. 

Johnny quit. There wasn’t much he could do other than that. He moved in with his friend Mark from high school who surprisingly still lived in the area and was currently working towards becoming a music producer. He wasn’t all that successful but still seemed happy. Mark had a lot to say about Matthew when Johnny finally explained why he quit his job that gave him a salary much higher than six–figures. He mentioned going to the police about it but Johnny quickly reminded him of all fo the people who had tried to take Matthew to court because of the shit he did and always ultimately ended up shunned or quieted. 

It went on like that for a year. Johnny grew sick of hearing Matthew’s name in the media, seeing articles and interviews and people who looked up to him, everyone hailing him a modern hero. People knew of the allegations against him but it didn’t seem like anyone really cared. There were a select few that petitioned against him; young girls that stood outside of the company headquarters on chilly days with their hoods pulled tight over their heads, furiously handing out fliers and trying to get anybody who happened to be walking past to sign some sheet of paper that they thought would help to bring Matthew down but unfortunately, their cries always ended up drowned out by all of the overall approval that Matthew got. 

It was a stupid thing for him to do but he did it. Johnny knew that there had to be something inside of the building that would be enough for people to actually believe that Matthew was a horrible fucking person and shouldn’t be idolized or praised. He waited for the building to close for the night and broke in using a nearby brick. He had made it all the way up into Matthew’s office on the 15th floor of the building when the police came bursting in with their guns poised and ready to shoot, responding to a silent alarm that had immediately gone off the moment Johnny had stepped foot inside. 

He was talked about in the media. People called him an idiot. Said that he was some sort of communist that hated the fact that Matthew was successful. Most called him jealous. His case was taken all the way to court until Matthew finally decided to drop the charges. A lot of people called him generous for doing so but Johnny knew that he had only done that for his own sake. He was never going to let him go to prison. The only reason why Matthew hadn’t immediately intervened was because of the fact that he wanted to teach Johnny a lesson for his attempt to speak out against him. Johnny was sentenced to probation and six months’ worth of community service in which Matthew was able to convince the judge to Johnny working for his company again. Much to Johnny’s chagrin, the judge agreed. 

Johnny had been at work for about two and a half months or so. Mark had moved out and left him the apartment after deciding to relocate to Jeonju with his new girlfriend. Johnny thought his decision was dumb and a little impulsive but still supported him regardless. Within the first month, Johnny was left by himself. He brought people home every now and again but never tried to pursue a real relationship with any of them. To be completely honest, being forced to work for his brother’s sickening company made Johnny feel like shit about himself and he quickly spiraled into a sort of depression that he refused to acknowledge, simply counting down the time until it would all be over. 

The news about Matthew being one of the victims of some tiny Omega who had stolen from over ten of South Korea’s wealthiest men was easily the best thing Johnny had heard all year. He had never been the type to wish misfortune on people but it honestly made him happy to hear that someone had finally given Matthew the karma that he deserved. He knew that whoever had done it definitely didn’t think anything of it and had only done it for his own selfish reasons but Johnny was still extremely thankful for him, this being especially true when Matthew’s stocks started to fall drastically and companies started to pull out from deals with him. People no longer saw him as the amazing humanitarian entrepreneur that they had for the past couple of years. They saw him for who he really was—a sick man who did a lot of sick things. And although some of the reasons why the general public hated Matthew were different than the reasons Johnny hated Matthew, Johnny still could appreciate the company.

He definitely wasn’t meant to overhear the fact that Matthew was beyond pissed about this kid and the fact that even if he was detained right there and then, he still will have gotten away with dragging his name through the mud and inadvertently stealing millions of won from him and even more so that Matthew was planning his revenge in what was easily the worst way possible. Johnny simply couldn’t stand by and let him do it. He had been forced to stand aside and watch Matthew hurt person after person but quickly realized that this was something that he could do something about. This was one person—who, even though was a criminal—that he could and would save.

Johnny trailed Taeyong for a week. He wasn’t all that hard to find and definitely wasn’t any good at hiding. It was wonder that Taeyong hadn’t gotten himself caught yet. He did things so recklessly and walked around like no one could touch him. In fact, Johnny was certain that if he hadn’t picked Taeyong up that night, either the police or the men sent to find him would have captured him.

Taeyong was a fucking asshole. It was kind of ironic that someone so small and sweet–looking could be so mean. He was a handful. He didn’t like to listen and liked to share his spit way too much. Johnny considered telling him the real reason why he had picked him up in the first place in order to get him to calm down if only a little but always decided against it upon realizing that Taeyong knowing would only distrust him even further than he already did. After all, how else would he respond upon being told that someone was out to kill him and the person who was supposedly here to “save” him was that person’s fucking brother. Telling Taeyong the truth was simply a recipe for disaster. 

But Taeyong wasn’t such an asshole sometimes. He was still an asshole but there were moments where he would mellow out a little and show another side to him that Johnny could appreciate. It wasn’t until they had left Yuta’s house together with the understanding that him and Taeyong were both part of this whole soul bond thing that Johnny finally realized this. Taeyong wasn’t a bad person. He was fucking irritating and mean–spirited and never knew how to shut his fucking mouth more often than not but he wasn’t horrible and Johnny could see that. He didn’t know whether or not it was his body instinctually reacting to Taeyong being his mate for life or if there was something deeper to it but Johnny really could see himself having some kind of future with Taeyong. After all, he had some good in him. He was pretty. He smelled nice. Johnny could think of a few other things to back him up. 

If Taeyong could stop being such a fucking bitch. 

Johnny had made the decision to stop at Mark’s house way before Taeyong had passed out. Them being out of the road after what had happened at the gas station was far too risky and they both needed to rest. Plus, Johnny desperately needed some advice from someone who he trusted after being slammed with the bombshell that he was now a wanted criminal. Going to Mark’s place was perfect. 

Mark had frowned at him when he opened the door. He was clearly surprised to see Johnny there and opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it about double–taking at the small Omega Johnny had cradled in his arms. He scoffed a little but opened the door for Johnny to come in, pointing him up the stairs to put Taeyong down.

When Johnny came back down, Mark was patiently waiting for him. He had his arms folded across his chest in a way that let Johnny know that Mark had some type of notion that he had gotten himself into a sticky situation. Johnny went to speak but couldn’t really think of what to start with. His decision to pick up Taeyong? The fact that he had mated the same kid who was currently wanted by not only the law, but his very dangerous, very vengeful brother? How he was now under the police’s radar? Johnny ended up running a hand through his hair, offering Mark a small smile. 

“What happened to Jieun?” Johnny asked, referring to Mark’s girlfriend who had been the very reason the two of them had lost contact to begin with. Mark only blinked at him before sighing.

“Let’s try that again,” Mark proposed and Johnny huffed in response.

“His name is Taeyong,” Johnny explained slowly. “And he’s my Omega.”

Mark stared at him for a long moment. He blinked slowly, clearly trying to process what Johnny had told him. Johnny looked around the room. There really wasn’t a trace of Jieun anywhere. He wondered how long ago the two of them had broken up and why. It was probably Mark’s fault. He was really hard–headed. 

“So your Omega is the dude who fucked over Matthew a couple of months ago?” Mark asked. Johnny hesitated for a moment before nodding. Mark immediately groaned in response. “Johnny, are you fucking kidding me?”

Johnny knew that this was going to be Mark’s reaction. He had never really been for how impulsive Johnny was. He thought that it was stupid and would only end up with Johnny getting some type of trouble that he wouldn’t be able to get himself out of. Johnny guessed that in a way Mark was right. He wasn’t going to say that though. It was more humbling than Johnny could handle at the moment. 

He figured that he should probably tell Johnny what he had recently figured out about himself as well. It was only fair that Mark knew that he would be harboring not only one but two fugitives in his house. “I’m also wanted,” Johnny added on quietly. 

“I fucking know,” Mark seethed, walking over to the table not too far away from him and Johnny to pick up his phone. Johnny watched as he unlocked it and pulled something up before holding up his phone for him to see. It was a picture of him from his first year of college captioned with “HARBORING A FUGITIVE”. There was a picture of Taeyong right next to it with the caption “FRAUD & EXTORTION”. He looked a little younger than he did now in the photo but just as mean with dark hair that right about covered his big eyes. Johnny hummed and pointed at the picture of himself. 

“Did you know that I got accepted into Yonsei?” Johnny said, smiling a little at the end of his sentence. Mark immediately smacked him in the side of his head. 

“I don’t give a shit, Johnny!” Mark exclaimed loudly, causing Johnny to quickly shush him in fear that Taeyong would wake up. Mark didn’t really seem to catch his drift.  “You’re wanted for harboring a fucking fugitive! What the fuck is that?”

“Matthew was gonna hurt him!” Johnny defended quietly. 

“Who gives a shit?” Mark shouted, his eyes going wider than normal. “Dude, it’s not like he doesn’t deserve it! He stole from, like, fifteen different people!”

And Johnny wasn’t really for stealing from anyone but if you absolutely had to steal, Johnny could understand why one would steal from the rich. It wasn’t like the amount he stole from any of those men actually impacted them in the long run. It was true that the whole thing had put their careers in jeopardy and took money away from them in the sense of a long–term sense but even that didn’t matter. The money Taeyong had stolen from all of those men originally probably barely put a dent in their bank accounts. Johnny knew for sure that Taeyong stealing from Matthew had done practically nothing to his wealth. 

“He stole from people like Matthew!” Johnny said back sharply. He wasn’t being defensive of Taeyong as much as he was being the defensive of the fact that Mark seemed to be siding with the horrible people who basically ran Korea at the moment. 

“He still stole!” Mark snapped angrily. “You think the police give a fuck about the people he stole from and what they do behind closed doors? They fucking don’t! All they about is the fact that he committed a fucking crime and now they’re thinking the same about you!”

Johnny didn’t say anything after that. He didn’t have anything to say. After all, Mark was right. The police had never shown any care about all the corrupt shit Matthew had been accused of doing, why would they care about it now? The only thing they were there to do was arrest the boy who had stolen from the men that were basically their superiors and the man who had helped him escape. Johnny sucked in a sharp breath at the thought. It was scary. He had never once considered the possibility of going to prison, not even when he had gotten arrested last year. He didn’t know how well he would do in there and knew for sure that someone with as big a mouth as Taeyong wouldn’t last a second.

He sat down at the table Mark had snatched up his phone from and sighed, burying his face in his hands.

This was bad. This was really fucking bad. He didn’t know what to do. All of this was never meant to happen. He was supposed to take Taeyong to Seoul to help him avoid the men pursuing him and it had ended in him being labeled a dangerous criminal. The title would only worsen once authorities found out he had stolen a car and helped rob a gas station at gunpoint. It was quiet for a moment. Then Johnny screamed into his hands, his voice muffled but still loud enough to cause Mark to flinch.

“What the fuck am I gonna do, Mark?” Johnny finally asked, groaning.

“Get out of town,” Mark proposed, his voice having lost a little of his edge. He sat down next to Johnny at the table and rubbed a calming hand over Johnny’s back. “Or the fucking country. Jesus Christ, John.”

“I know,” Johnny mumbled. All he could think about was the fact that none of this was supposed to end up this way. As stupid as it sounded, he didn’t have a backup plan. He had never considered thinking of one due to his confidence that everything was going to go well, even after he had mated Taeyong. Mark kept rubbing at his back. 

“You can only stay here for so long,” Mark reminded him. 

“I know,” Johnny repeated, sighing. He wondered if his parents had found out about his current status. They probably hard. Matthew knew for sure. That was another thing Johnny hadn’t once thought of. It wasn’t only the police on his— their —back but Matthew almost definitely had his men out looking for him. He wondered if Matthew had been the one who had sold him out to the police. He definitely wouldn’t put it past him.

“You care about people too much,” Mark continued. That was probably true. That was unquestionably sure. Johnny had gone through his entire life caring too much about people. It was more of a blessing than a curse. After all, nobody really cared about moralities nowadays.

Johnny didn’t want to talk about it anymore. He knew that it was careless and irresponsible and what the fuck he was gonna do was something he definitely should have been thinking about but he couldn’t do it anymore. He was tired and sensitive and his entire body had felt like it was on fire since the moment he and Taeyong had climbed into Yuta’s car. Johnny needed a nap and a fucking shower. He needed a shower more than anything. 

“Can we talk about this later?” Johnny asked quietly. “I’m really fucking tired.”

Mark inhaled a sharp breath. Johnny could tell that that was the absolute last thing he wanted for him to do. Still, Mark exhaled slowly and nodded, pushing himself up from his seat. Johnny was beyond grateful to see it. 

“Yeah,” Mark sighed. “I’ve only got one bedroom though so you’re gonna have to sleep with your little friend upstairs.” He stopped and took a moment to think about it, shaking his head. “Wait a second. Why does he smell like that? Why do you smell like that? Why the fuck does he smell like you? Why can I fucking smell you?”

Right. The last time Johnny had seen Mark, he wasn’t an Alpha. He actually wasn’t anything close to an Alpha. He had almost forgotten that Mark was one himself and could sniff out those like him. Johnny ran a hand through his hair and offered the younger a small, sheepish smile.

“I presented,” Johnny told him and Mark almost looked like he was going to go into cardiac arrest right there and then. “Weird, isn’t it? I’m still getting used to it.”

“You’re a fucking Alpha?” Mark exclaimed and Johnny nodded. Mark hesitated again. “Please don’t tell me that you’re mated to him.” Johnny didn’t say anything to that. What could he say? Mark groaned at Johnny’s lack of response and folded both hands over his face, muffling a disappointed little noise into his palms. “Jesus Christ, Johnny!”

“I’m gonna warn you right now that I’m not emotionally stable enough for this conversation,” Johnny said.

“Neither am I!” Mark borderline snapped. He groaned again and looked around the room before walking off. Johnny waited patiently at the table until Mark came back around holding a couple of blankets and a pillow all wrapped up into a ball in his arms. He dropped them down in Johnny’s lap with a huff. Johnny blinked down at the bundle.

“What is this for?” Johnny asked, frowning. 

“You to sleep on the couch,” Mark explained, gesturing for Johnny to stand up. Johnny did so while keeping a firm grip on the mess that Mark had handed to him. 

“What happened to me sleeping upstairs?” Johnny questioned.

“That was before I fucking knew that you were an Alpha,” Mark said sharply. Johnny still wasn’t understanding. “Dude, you reek. I’m pretty sure you’re in pre–rut and I don’t want you attacking the kid upstairs while he’s unconscious.”

Pre–rut? What the fuck was that? Johnny remembered being taught about the dynamics of Alphas and Omegas and Betas in school but had never really paid attention. Why should he have? It wasn’t like he was an Alpha. Up until a couple of weeks ago Johnny had been under the impression that you presented as an Alpha when you going through puberty. After his fifteenth birthday he and his family had ruled out the possibility of him presenting altogether. Nobody in their immediate family was of the dynamic anyway but his parents still had kept an eye out for him and Matthew just in case. Now he was twenty–four and Mark was telling him that he was in pre–rut. It was kind of crazy how life worked out. 

Mark must register his confusion because he was sighing for the umpteenth time since Johnny had come in and shaking his head. He walked behind Johnny and started to push him out the kitchen and towards what Johnny was assuming was going to be the living room. 

“I’ll explain when you wake up, okay?” Mark said. “It smells like you’re in the pretty early stages of it so we should still have time even after you sleep.”

Johnny didn’t protest. He didn’t have the energy to and honestly definitely didn’t have the energy to listen to whatever Mark was going to explain to him about his new body. Once in the living room, Mark pointed him to the couch in the middle of the room. Johnny didn’t hesitate before walking over to it, flopping down with a small grunt. It was a little lumpy but still a lot more comfortable than what he had been sleeping on for the past couple of days. 

“I’m glad you’re here, man,” Mark admitted quietly as Johnny went to kick his muddied shoes off. “Actually, now that I think about it, I’m not,” Mark corrected himself and Johnny laughed softly. “But I’m glad to see you.”

“Me too,” Johnny said. He looked up at Mark who looked as anxious as he currently felt. “I can figure this out, alright? Don’t worry.”

“I hope so,” Mark only mumbled in response. Johnny did too.

After a couple of days coupled up with Taeyong like the two of them didn’t absolutely loathe each other’s presence—although it more Taeyong feeing that way then it ever had been Johnny—Johnny was really starting to feel a connection with Taeyong. He knew that he probably shouldn’t have and also knew that it was probably more of his natural instincts telling him to grow close to his mate but Johnny still couldn’t deny that he had been enjoying Taeyong’s company further past all the fucking they had done. 

Taeyong was so pretty. His hair had grown a lot since they first come in contact with one another and seeing that the dye hadn’t taken too well to the bleached strands, most of it had started to fade. He had this perpetual frown on his heart–shaped lips that Johnny kind of hated seeing more often than not but still could appreciate how pretty his small mouth was with or without the frown. His eyes were so fucking big and brown and while they always held some sort of anger or irritation or frustration, Johnny couldn’t help but notice how youthful they helped make Taeyong look. And he was so small. He was so fucking small that Johnny could pick him up without even slightly straining. His wrists and thighs and arms and fucking everything was so thin and pretty that Johnny almost couldn’t stand it. 

He was a lot nicer during rut. When Johnny was all overwhelmed and exhausted, even though Taeyong had taken the brunt of all of his anger and frustration and could barely walk, he still made sure to tend to him and make sure that he was okay. Johnny knew that was simply Taeyong responding to his instincts as he was when he would throw Taeyong against the nearest surface and fuck him within an inch of his life but it was still something he appreciated. He liked it when Taeyong would cradle the side of his face and talk him out of his rut–muddled mind while his knot was going down inside of him. He also liked it when Taeyong was too out of it once it was all said and done to say anything mean or snarky to him. He would be too exhausted to do anything but tell Johnny to shut up through a small mumble and let him carry him over to the bathroom. 

Now Johnny was in rut anymore. Taeyong wasn’t overwhelmed by pheromones and him anymore. Which gave him the energy to be a complete and utter asshole like he normally was as he pulled the rice he had taken out from Mark’s fridge from the microwave and blinked over at him with an unimpressed look on his face before turning his attention back over to Mark who had just asked him the question about what he and Johnny were going to do with the police after the both of them. 

“I’m leaving the country,” Taeyong said with a small shrug. There was a pause that lingered throughout the otherwise silent air of the kitchen. Then Mark laughed all breathily and in disbelief. Johnny noticed the way that Taeyong’s face kind of faltered at the sound of it. 

“You’re kidding, right?” Mark questioned. Taeyong didn’t say anything in response to that, only pushing a spoonful of the rice he had taken out into his mouth. “How exactly are you expecting for you and Johnny to be able to leave the country without two dozen police officers flagging you the second you step into the airport?”

Johnny could see the way Taeyong’s expression had changed. He did it a lot. That little look where he would scoff and roll his eyes. He had grown used to seeing it in his time around Taeyong. He knew what was going to come out of Taeyong’s mouth in response to Mark’s question before Taeyong even opened his mouth to say it.

“I never said anything about Johnny,” Taeyong said and even though Johnny had been expecting it, he couldn’t help but frown. In a way, guessing how Taeyong was going to respond hadn’t left him any room to prepare himself for the aftermath of his words. 

“What do you mean?” Johnny couldn’t stop himself from asking. It wasn’t like he had expected for him and Taeyong to run off together and live happily ever after but couldn’t believe that Taeyong was going to just leave him alone like that while knowing the kind of a situation he was in. It seemed kind of heartless, even for Taeyong. Taeyong’s eyes shot over to look at him after Johnny had asked the question and he did the face again only this time it was paired with a small frown. He opened his mouth to speak but Mark beat him to the point.

“You’re leaving without Johnny?” Mark spoke up with a disgusted look on his face that was only deepening with each passing moment. 

The conversation only got worse from there. Johnny could tell that Taeyong started to get defensive the moment that him and Mark had basically asked him the same question twice in a row. Mark was getting angrier by the minute and Taeyong looked beyond frustrated with the fact that Mark was even inserting himself into his and Johnny’s personal business. Mark had always had a fiery personality and had often gotten himself into trouble at school because of his lack of knowledge on knowing when to keep his mouth shut and Taeyong was easily one of the most irritable people Johnny had ever met. He knew that this was bound to happen at one point or another.

At one point, Johnny stood up and tried to intervene. Mark’s entire face had gone red and Taeyong looked only a second or two from pouncing right at Mark, uncaring of whether Mark was undoubtedly stronger than him or not. He went to speak but Taeyong was faster, finally exploding on Mark.

“Do you think that I fucking give a shit about Johnny?” Taeyong had screamed. “Nobody is asking him to stay with me! I don’t want him around me! He’s fucking annoying! The only reason why I haven’t gotten rid of him is because I can’t fucking drive and I needed him to take me where I needed to fucking go!”

And in that moment, Johnny couldn’t think of one reason why he should do anything to stop the two of them from arguing. He wasn’t going to lie—what Taeyong had said had hurt him beyond belief, more than he even wanted to accept that it did. He was sure that his words wouldn’t have affected him if the past couple of days hadn’t happened but they had and Johnny had foolishly convinced himself that he was getting somewhere with Taeyong. 

Thinking back on it now, Johnny could admit that was stupid. After all, he and Taeyong barely knew each other. The only reason why they had even met each other was because of the fact that he had gone and forced Taeyong with him against his will because of his own personal issues with his fucking brother who almost always seemed to win. If it wasn’t for that him and Taeyong probably would have never crossed paths and the funniest thing about it was that Johnny wouldn’t even have cared. He would have finished his fucked–up community service at Matthew’s company and went on with his life until he met someone else who wasn’t a complete bitch and a thief with a high–pitched voice and a disgusting habit of spitting when he didn’t like what someone was doing to him. 

Yet, all of this that Johnny was internally hyping himself up for and he still wasn’t expecting for Taeyong to look over at him again with a snarl on his face and bite out for him to, “Stop fucking pouting. Don’t act like you give a shit about me.”

That was the final straw. Johnny hadn’t been acting like he gave a shit about Taeyong throughout their entire trip. He fucking did. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have scooped him up from that stupid little house in nowhere Busan, he wouldn’t have done so much to protect him from his stupid fucking brother and he definitely wouldn’t have dealt with Taeyong’s constant attitude for as long as he had. And while Johnny knew that Taeyong had only said that because he was still under the impression that he had picked him up for his own selfish reasons, he couldn’t take hearing that. He was too fucking exhausted, both mentally and physically. 

Which is why Johnny got up from his chair and walked out of the room. He honestly didn’t give a single shit about what Mark and Taeyong were going to get into with him not there. He needed a break from the both of them. The room was quiet and while it still smelled like Taeyong, Johnny used it to escape from the younger entirely.

He isn’t really sure how long it had been since he had left. He heard the door creak open but didn’t look away from the ceiling he had been staring up at since he had thrown himself down on the bed that absolutely reeked of his and Taeyong’s mixed scents. It wasn’t until whoever had come in cleared their throat that Johnny finally looked over to see Mark standing there. 

There was a small pause that traveled between the both of them. Johnny was the first to speak. “I fucked up.”

Mark hesitated for a moment. “I told him,” he said quietly. Johnny sat up upon hearing that and immediately frowned. 

“You told him what?” Johnny questioned, watching as Mark bit the inside of his mouth almost nervously.

“He was gonna find out eventually,” Mark defended.

It felt like everything had gone from bad to worse. He hadn’t told Taeyong about the whole thing with Matthew for a reason. And it wasn’t like Johnny was planning on never telling him—he was, eventually, when the timing was right—but the timing definitely wasn’t right now. Johnny hadn’t wanted for Taeyong to hear it from anyone other than him when he wanted him to hear it. That was why he hadn’t budged after letting it slip back at Yuta’s place despite the fact that Taeyong very clearly didn’t believe him. He knew that Mark probably meant well for him when he had told Taeyong but Johnny still couldn’t help but feel irritated with the fact that Mark had let it slip. 

“I wasn’t telling him for a reason, Mark,” Johnny hissed, surprising Mark with his tone of voice. 

“For what reason?” Mark asked, shaking his head. He genuinely wasn’t understanding. “What, to protect him? Johnny, he’s an asshole!”

“That still doesn’t mean that you get to decide what I want to tell him and when!” Johnny snapped loudly. Mark blinked at him slowly after that, clearly lost on how to respond. Johnny wasn’t the type of person that got angry with people often. As a matter of fact, Johnny had only gotten upset with Mark once and that was because he had said something to Yerim that had hurt her feelings and refused to apologize because he claimed it wasn’t his fault that she was so sensitive. Seeing him actually angry let Mark know that he had crossed a line and he quickly settled down, giving in with a small sigh. 

“I’m sorry, man. I didn’t know,” Mark apologized. Johnny only hummed in respond. An apology wasn’t going to change anything. Taeyong still knew. At this point, though, Johnny didn’t really know how much he cared about Taeyong knowing. It wasn’t like Taeyong would give a shit anyway. “He’s not good for you,” Mark continued softly. 

“I know that,” Johnny said sharply because he did. Unfortunately, him knowing that wouldn’t change anything. It definitely didn’t make him feel any better. In fact, it only helped to make him feel worse, seeing that it only reminded him of how big of a fucking fool he was. 

“You can leave him, you know,” Mark offered and Johnny immediately scoffed in response to that. He didn’t mean to openly laugh at Mark but what he had said was so ridiculous. Leave Taeyong? How? Taeyong had a plan and he didn’t. If anything, it would be the other way around and with quiet it sounded downstairs, it probably already was. 

“How do you think I’m gonna do that?” Johnny questioned. 

“I know a guy,” Mark answered very simply. “Well, I don’t know the guy but I know a guy who knows a guy who has a plane.”

 Johnny perked up a little at that. “A plane?” he repeated and Mark nodded. 

“He can take you back over to the States,” Mark continued quietly. The idea sounded almost perfect. Using a personal plane would basically ensure that Johnny wouldn’t be caught by the police and once back in America there was no doubt that he would be safe from authorities. He couldn’t go back to his family due to the fact that the Korean police would almost immediately look for him there after a certain amount of time without seeing him but that wasn’t something that bothered him. After all, it wasn’t like his family had ever really cared about him in the first place and even if they did, they definitely would stop upon hearing what he had become.

It sounded good until Johnny came to the realization that no one in their right mind would fly him all the way from Korea to the United States without wanting something in return. Unfortunately for him, he had nothing to give to them. He had some money saved up but not nearly enough for what he was sure it would cost to get him there.  

“He’s gonna want money, isn’t he?” Johnny asked and Mark hesitated a moment before nodding slowly. “How much?”

“Almost 300,000,000 won,” Mark answered and Johnny immediately scoffed. What was Mark’s point of having brought something like that up? Did he really think that he had that much money just lying around? His brother may have been a multi–millionaire but he most definitely wasn’t. Mark quickly noticed his distrust and continued. “I know you don’t have that much money but there’s definitely a way that you could get it.”

“How’s that?” Johnny questioned with a small snort. 

“Well,” Mark started quietly, glancing behind himself at the door before clearing his throat again. “The bounty on Taeyong is about 300,000,000 won. I’m sure he’d be alright with getting you to the States if you hand him over.”

The idea was so absurd. Turn Taeyong over to the police? It was true that Taeyong had been pretty mean and obviously didn’t care about Johnny’s wellbeing but to give him over so easily all while knowing what was in store with him? Taeyong wouldn’t only be going to prison but Johnny didn’t doubt that once hearing that Taeyong had been caught Matthew would send someone in to take care of the job he had set out to do in the first place. After all, he had found Taeyong once. It probably wouldn’t be hard for him to do it a second time. Giving Taeyong over to the police would basically be sending him off to die.

Johnny shook his head. “It’s not like I can just waltz into a police station with Taeyong and ask for my check,” he pointed out warily. “They’ll arrest me too.”

“I didn’t say do that,” Mark responded calmly. “All you’d have to do is give Taeyong over to my guy’s guy’s people and you’d be home free. That’s it.”

All Johnny had to do was take Taeyong to the man that was ultimately going to get him out of trouble. They would give Taeyong to the police and Johnny would board the plane to the United States to start his new life away from all the mess he had gotten himself into in Korea. That would be it. No more Taeyong. No more Matthew. No more issues. 

Johnny had to think about it. On one hand, he was almost certain Taeyong would do the exact same to him if given the opportunity. On another hand, that wasn’t the type of person Johnny was. No matter how much of an asshole Taeyong was, Johnny would still feel bad about putting Taeyong into a situation like that to his own advantage. Then again, it wasn’t like he had done anything wrong. He had been trying to save Taeyong. He didn’t deserve to rot in prison because of it. Taeyong, on the other hand, had done a lot. He would probably end up in prison anyway. 

If Taeyong didn’t care about Johnny that was fine. But that meant that Johnny didn’t care about Taeyong anymore either. That meant he was no longer going to go out of his way to protect someone that didn’t even want to be protected. 

“Is that all they’re gonna do?” Johnny asked quietly. “Like turn him into the police? They’re not gonna do anything shady with him, right?”

“No,” Mark reassured him. “They don’t care about him. They just want the money.”

For a moment, Johnny wondered if what Taeyong had said about the fact that them being apart would harm him. Would he really not be able to mate with anyone else or ever experience another relationship because of his past with Taeyong? The thought was scary.

“If I’m mated with someone else,” Johnny started, “is it true that I could die if I try to be with someone else?”

Mark almost immediately made a face at that. “No,” he frowned, shaking his head. “Who told you that?”

Right. Of course that wasn’t true. Of course Taeyong had been lying to him. And why wouldn’t he? Taeyong’s objective in all of this was to get himself out of trouble. Johnny didn’t even blame him for it. If he was in the same situation, he almost definitely would have done the same exact thing. 

That being said, hearing Mark say that basically solidified Johnny’s decision. He needed to stop putting everyone else in front of him and start looking out for himself and that started with getting the fuck out of Korea as quickly and cleanly as possible.

“Where does he live?” Johnny asked and Mark quickly got up, walking over to his desk to grab a small sticky note and a pen. He bent over and scribbled something down in the orange sheet of paper before walking back over and handing it to Johnny. Johnny looked down at Mark’s messy handwriting as Mark opened his mouth to speak.

“He’s not too far into Pohang,” Mark explained. “I can let him know that you’re on your way but you have to promise me that you’re actually gonna do it, Johnny. I’m gonna be in a lot of trouble if you decide to back out at the last minute.”

Johnny didn’t see any reason why he would want to back out. This needed to happen and he recognized that. He wasn’t going to change his mind on it. He needed to start thinking about himself. That was the most important thing. 

“I’m not,” Johnny promised. “Thank you for doing this, Mark.” He bit his lip and hesitated for a moment before continuing. “And I’m really sorry about all of this.”

“I care about you, man,” Mark said to him. “I just want the best for you.”

Johnny only nodded in response to that. He went to say something else but was interrupted by the sound of a tentative knock on the door. Both him and Mark turned to look at the door but neither of them say anything. After a few moments of excruciating silence, the door opened slowly. 

“We need to go,” Taeyong said. He looked especially small standing there at the door with Johnny’s hoodie pulled up over his head, practically drowning in all of the fabric. Johnny had to stop himself from snorting at his words. Now it was ‘we’? What happened to all that selfishness he didn’t seem to have any issue with a couple of minutes ago?

“Why?” Mark asked before Johnny could. 

“Because the police know we’re still in Jeonju,” Taeyong responded, his voice a little sharp. Johnny could tell that it was because Mark had asked and not him. 

“How do you know that?” Mark continued.

“You think I’d fucking lie about the fact that the police know something that I obviously don’t want them to know?” Taeyong seethed. Mark went to say something in respond but Johnny beat him to the point. He didn’t want to hear them fuss with each other anymore.

“How do you know that, Taeyong?” Johnny repeated, causing Taeyong’s big eyes to flit over to where he was sitting next to Mark on the bed. He hesitated a moment before speaking. 

“Because I saw something about it on the news,” Taeyong muttered, looking down at the floor. “The police said something about how they think we’re still in the area.”  He stopped to bite the inside of his mouth. “I think we should go. Like, now.”

Even with the knowledge of what Johnny had done, Taeyong still wasn’t apologizing for what he had said back in the kitchen. He was acknowledging it at all and Johnny would be lying if he said that it didn’t bother him. He looked over at Mark who was visibly still pissed at the way Taeyong had talked to him before pushing himself up from the bed. Mark blinked up at him.

“Then let’s go,” Johnny said, bending down to gather up a few articles of his and Taeyong’s clothing in his arms. Taeyong was still standing there. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”

Taeyong didn’t move. He opened his mouth before closing it for a moment. “Can we—?”

“I said I’ll meet you downstairs,” Johnny snapped before Taeyong could finish. Taeyong looked visibly surprised by his outburst and slowly closed his mouth again, his face souring almost immediately.

“Fucking fine,” Taeyong hissed before whirling around and walking out of the room, making sure to slam the door behind him.

“What a fucking brat,” Mark muttered as Johnny continued to gather all of his things from where they were scattered messily across the floor. He found Taeyong’s gun pushed underneath a pillow and stared at it for a moment. Where had Taeyong even gotten it from? He looked down at it for a little while longer before shoving it into his bag. “Make sure you keep in contact with me, John,” Mark continued.

“I will,” Johnny mumbled, swinging his bag over his shoulder. “Thanks for this, Mark. I really don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Be on the Korea’s Most Wanted list mated an Omega that your brother is trying to kill and is also wanted by the police,” Mark offered with a small laugh. “Just a guess.”

Johnny laughed a little at that. He really would miss Mark. The two of them hug for a long moment and then Johnny is off. Taeyong is standing in the kitchen downstairs, lower lip caught in between his teeth as he stared out the window above the sink. Johnny stared at him for a little before speaking.

“Come on,” Johnny said and Taeyong flinched a little before turning around. He looked at Johnny for what felt like forever. For a moment, Johnny thought that he might acknowledge all that had happened.

“I–I need my gun,” Taeyong said, stumbling a little over his words. He stood up straighter upon hearing his mistake and cleared his throat. “I need my gun,” he repeated, much more steady this time around.

Johnny hesitated before reaching in his bag and fishing it out, handing it over to Taeyong with a stoic face. Taeyong took it without saying a word.

“Let’s go,” Johnny repeated and started towards the door. He heard Taeyong start to follow after him.

“Where are we going?” Taeyong asked.

“Incheon,” Johnny lied without thinking twice. He could hear the slight catch in Taeyong’s breath that let him know that he hadn’t been expecting his answer. That being said, he still didn’t say anything in protest.

Johnny hadn’t been expecting him to.

Chapter Text

Taeyong was born in Seoul, South Korea on July 1st, 2005 to an Omega mother and an Alpha father. His sister, who was almost 15 years his senior, had recently presented as a Beta. 

He was a good child. He never really cried all that much and didn’t give his parents any trouble except for when it came to naptime. He excelled in all of his classes and even though he didn’t make friends easily due to the fact that he didn’t talk too much, Taeyong had a couple of people who would consider him a buddy of theirs and vice versa. His sister moved out the house a week after his fifth birthday. He never really talked to her that often. It was probably due to the difference of age between them. Taeyong had always wondered why his parents had waited so long to have him.

It was when he was about twelve that his parents—his mother especially—really started focusing in on him being an Omega. That was around the time that Taehee had expressed that she wanted to put all of her energy into building a name for herself in her line of work and not raising a kid. She said that she wasn’t sure if she’d ever have a child at all and that was when Taeyong’s really started to hope and pray that her son would be the one to give her grandchildren. Having been born with a vagina, it was kind of expected for Taeyong to present as an Omega but during the months of his mother’s pregnancy, she worked in a factory that was later linked to a number of certain birth defects in women three months or earlier along. The doctor assured her that nothing would happen to her child seeing that she was more than three months along but giving birth to a healthy baby boy who was definitely a boy but had specific delicate features and different anatomy than most boys, she couldn’t help but feel a little unsure about it all. 

Fortunately for her, three years later and Taeyong was waking her up in the middle of the night with tears streaming down his face and slick leaking down his leg, whining due to the excruciating pain he was currently experiencing. She hugged him close to her which he didn’t understand but Taeyong hugged her back, muffling his little cries into the fabric of her shirt. 

It was great until the point where Taeyong had his third heat in the span of a month and his mother decided to take him to a doctor who promptly informed him that there was something off with her son’s pheromone levels and that to fix it and get them under control and to a healthy level it would probably lessen or completely dissolve his chances to ever bear children. She also informed her that there was a fair chance that this had happened due to the factory she had worked at during her pregnancy. His mother had been entirely against the idea and took him home where he continued to experience the most painful and much too frequent heats of his life for nearly half an entire year. The only reason she brought him back and agreed to the surgery was that both seeing and hearing Taeyong in unbearable had become too much for his father and had started to cause a rift in their relationship seeing that he began to view her as selfish for putting her own desires before her son’s health. 

Taeyong had the surgery and it helped control his heats almost immediately but the doctor informed him when he came back for a check–up that his chances of ever having children were zero to none. His mother had only pursed her lips together and hummed quietly upon hearing that. She swore that the fact that he couldn’t bear children didn’t lead to her loving him any less but Taeyong knew that it did. She stopped interacting with him as much as she used to and wouldn’t spend time with him unless it was absolutely necessary. That had hurt Taeyong a lot, especially considering that he had been closer with her than with anyone else the entire time that he was growing up. She borderline shunned him and when he would call her out on it, she would tell him to be quiet and to stop being disrespectful.

School started to get harder. The school he went to separated the Alphas, Omegas and Betas into different classrooms and as expected, Taeyong was the only boy Omega in his class. People made fun of him because of it and he quickly developed a sharp tongue that got him into trouble more often than not. Some people let him get away with it due to the fact that he was not only considerably smaller than them but also because he was an Omega but a lot didn’t and that was including his instructors. At a certain point early on into his first year of high school, Taeyong was easily the most difficult child to work with in the entire building. 

It wasn’t that Taeyong felt the need to prove himself to these people but more that he wanted to show them that they didn’t get to treat him whatever way they wanted because he was an Omega. His abrasive personality quickly began to put people off from talking to him altogether which Taeyong didn’t really mind all that much. His sister had left him, his mother didn’t want anything to do with him, his friends weren’t really his friends. It didn’t take Taeyong long to realize that he didn’t mind being alone. It didn’t bother him.

He met Seongwoo during his final year of high school. He was an Alpha and had graduated the year prior at the top of his class, currently attending Seoul University to pursue a career in business. He always talked about building a company and having it become as big as some man from Chicago that he had looked up to since he was fifteen. Taeyong didn’t really care about all of that but Seongwoo was nice and didn’t treat him like he was anything lesser because of his status which Taeyong appreciated. They started dating a month after they first met and Taeyong quickly found himself head–over–heels for Seongwoo.

When Taeyong graduated early at the age of 17, Seongwoo and him had been dating for close to two years. Seongwoo had dropped out of college to pursue his dreams of creating a startup company but it didn’t take him long to realize that it was never going to happen. He started to notice how people—important people, the men who he aspired to be—looked at Taeyong while in public, how they drank in his small body and pretty face. He had an idea. He knew all of the technical aspects of it, all Taeyong had to do was woo them with his looks.

They had trouble with it. Taeyong never got too far due to the fact that he couldn’t stop himself from snapping angrily at the men who touched him or talked down to him. Matthew had to teach him to fake a smile and keep it cool until he could build trust with these men and Taeyong slowly but surely got the hang of it. It didn’t take long for him to be able to truly immerse himself into this role of some young and dumb kid who absolutely idolized these men and would do anything to get close to them. Seongwoo made sure to target people who were extremely high up in the economic world, where even after they realized that Taeyong had fucked them over there was little they could actually do about it without risking their entire career once the news that they had messed around with some kid who had barely graduated high school.

Him and Seongwoo mated with each other on Taeyong’s 18th birthday. He moved out of his parents’ house—his father cared a lot more than his mother did but neither of them did anything to stop him—and into Seongwoo’s beautiful penthouse apartment in the middle of Seoul which had recently been purchased by his and Taeyong’s shared dirty money. Seongwoo didn’t mind the fact that Taeyong couldn’t have children because he had gone through something similar in which made him unable to experience ruts or knotting which Taeyong didn’t care about either. They were happy and in love and rich and Taeyong was on top of the world. 

Until he wasn’t. Until one day, Seongwoo’s parents found out about the fact that he had dropped out of college and stormed into their apartment while Taeyong was in the middle of brushing his teeth and snatched Seongwoo out despite all of Taeyong’s shouting and empty threats to call the police. He lost contact with Seongwoo for about a week until Seongwoo finally picked up his phone one day on a rainy Wednesday afternoon and agreed to meet Taeyong at a coffee place not too far away from the home that they used to share. He broke it off with Taeyong as politely as he could and said that while he loved him, he couldn’t risk being disowned by his family over a relationship. Taeyong asked him about the fact that they were mated. Seongwoo said he knew a guy. 

Getting unmated had to easily be one of the most painful experiences of Taeyong’s fucking life. It hurt before, during and after and somehow the pain only intensified upon realizing that Seongwoo had to be going through the same thing and still was adamant about getting it finished because of the fact that he wanted to dissolve any and all connection with Taeyong as quickly and as smoothly as possible. They don’t speak after that. Taeyong did become close to the guy that did it for them though. Yuta was a levelheaded man and despite his current, very illegal line of work, was probably one of the sweetest people Taeyong had ever met. He never flinched at all of Taeyong’s constant quips and mean jabs at how bad his pronunciation was. He was nice and despite barely ever letting up on his constant, overwhelming need to be mean and show dominance, Taeyong really did appreciate. 

He never once cried over Seongwoo. It wasn’t worth it. He did, however, continue scamming men. He liked to lie and say that he was much younger than he actually was which would work more often than not seeing that if any of it were to get out into the general public, whoever he had been with would not only lose a significant amount of money due to their name being tarnished but they also had a very high chance of facing time in prison for messing around with a minor. Taeyong had never seen himself working in some 9–5 job in a suit that didn’t fit him. He was so much better at this.

It started to go downhill when Taeyong made the mistake of fucking with someone whose career was already spiraling out of control. When he stole a large sum of money from some man with this horrible Jeolla dialect that Taeyong could barely understand, the man decided fuck it, my career is already in a hole that I can’t dig it out of and immediately went to the police. This caused dozens of other men to stand up and speak out against him which ultimately led to him meeting up with Johnny in that alleyway back in Busan. 

It was weird to think that Johnny had done all of that to protect him. He had risked his life and dealt with his horrible fucking attitude without faltering not even once for the sole purpose of making sure that nothing happened to him because of something stupid that he did. Taeyong didn’t understand it. He couldn’t grasp why someone would go out of their way to protect someone that they didn’t even know and—to be completely frank—didn’t deserve to be saved. It was also terrifying to think that if Johnny had stepped up when he did, Taeyong could have easily been lying dead in a ditch somewhere in nowhere Busan. 

Johnny wasn’t talking to him. He wasn’t talking at all. Ever since they had climbed into Yuta’s car and driven away from Mark’s house, Johnny hadn’t said a word. It wasn’t like him. Taeyong hated that he cared but he did. Did what he said back at Mark’s place really affect Johnny that badly? Taeyong had said a ton of mean things to Johnny since the moment he had pushed him into that beat–up truck of his. Why was this the thing that finally broke him? 

Taeyong sat back in his seat and pulled his knees up to his chest, blinking over at Johnny. What the fuck was he supposed to say? Hey, by the way, thanks for saving me from certain death at the hands of your clearly psychopathic brother? Sorry for treating you like shit for so long? But no. That wasn’t fair. Taeyong felt like he shouldn’t have to apologize for the way he had talked to Johnny because of the sole fact that he hadn’t known. How else was he supposed to respond to someone who had seemingly  kidnapped him and was planning on turning him in to the very people who he had tried to hard to avoid? He wasn’t going to apologize for that. It had been a normal, instinctual reaction and Taeyong didn’t doubt that Johnny would have reacted the exact same way had it been the other way around. 

Why hadn’t Johnny just told him? It didn’t make any sense. So much could have been avoid if Johnny would have just explained to him what was happening. Taeyong definitely would have been wary at first because of the fact that Johnny was the brother of the very person who was trying to kill him but he would have eventually given in. Then again, would he have? If Johnny had come clean from the start, would Taeyong have believed him or would he have remained distrustful and tried his best to get away from Johnny as quickly as possible? Taeyong didn’t know.

Johnny’s voice interrupted Taeyong’s internal battle with himself. “You’re staring at me,” he pointed out quietly, rolling the steering wheel around with the palm of his hand to turn a corner.

“I’m not staring at you,” Taeyong muttered in response, unable to stop himself from blushing as he looked away. He hadn’t meant to look at Johnny for as long as he had. 

“Is there something you wanna say?” Johnny continued in a low voice.

“Is there something that you want me to say?” Taeyong countered. He only partially said it to be an asshole. A pretty big part of him actually wanted to see what Johnny had to say considering that he hadn’t really been trying to hide that there was clearly something wrong with him. 

Johnny looked like he wanted to say something in response to that but ultimately decided against it. It irritated Taeyong a little to think that Johnny had basically determined that responding to him was a waste of time. He settled back into his seat and folded his arms across his chest, shifting around a bit. The entire lower half of his body still was experiencing this dull throb that was a lot more uncomfortable than he would have liked to admit.

The silence was killing Taeyong. Throughout their entire trip together Johnny had never been quiet for more than a couple of minutes or so. This was weird. He didn’t like it. 

“Mark was an asshole,” Taeyong muttered, blinking up at Johnny to try and gauge his reaction. Nothing ever came. He huffed. “I’m glad we’re leaving.”

“You know, Taeyong, hearing you insult my best friend isn’t really something that I want to do right now,” Johnny sighed in response. “I don’t think it’s anything I ever want to do.”

“Is there any reason why you’re so pissed off at me?” Taeyong finally snapped, sick of hearing Johnny talk down to him. Johnny only snorted but didn’t respond which only frustrated Taeyong even more. “How are you over half a decade older than me and you’re way more childish?”

That seemed to be enough to get Johnny going. “I’m the childish one here? Not the one who literally can’t talk to a single person without insulting them? I’m the childish one?” Johnny barked out a sarcastic laugh that caused Taeyong to flinch a little at the volume of it. “That’s so fucking rich.”

“Don’t curse at me,” Taeyong hissed and Johnny laughed again. 

“Fuck you,” Johnny seethed. “Fuck this car, fuck your stupid fucking hair—,”

“—Don’t call my hair stupid!” Taeyong interrupted angrily because he was already pretty self–conscious about his hair and didn’t need Johnny reminding him when it was quite literally his fault that it was even like that in the first place. 

“—Fuck the air, fuck the police, fuck Korea, fuck Yuta, fuck Kun, fuck you,” Johnny continued, growing more and more frustrated by the minute. “Honestly, fuck you the fucking most, Taeyong!”

“What is your problem?” Taeyong seethed, throwing his hands up. 

“You!” Johnny shouted. “You have literally always been my fucking problem, Taeyong, and the fact that you still won’t admit that i–is—is, oh, my God, dude, it’s fucking mindblowing!”

“Nobody fucking told you to come and save me!” Taeyong screamed in response. “You’re pissed off at me because of something that you chose to do, Johnny! It doesn’t matter if you did it for me because you still did it to yourself! I never asked for any of this!”

Johnny didn’t say anything after that. Maybe it was because the sheer volume of Taeyong’s voice or the way it had cracked because he was far too stressed about everything to be arguing with Johnny over something so small and so insignificant to him. He was sick of being blamed for everything. He had been blamed by his mother for not being able to have children and ruining her fantasy of continuing the Lee family name. He had been blamed by both Seongwoo and Seongwoo’s family for supposedly ruining Seongwoo’s life. Now Johnny was blaming him because of the fact that he was now wanted by the police. It was too much.

“You could at least say thank you,” Johnny finally mumbled quietly.

And he could have. But why should he? Who would have known what would have happened to him if Johnny had picked him up? What was the likelihood of him being killed by one of this guy’s goons on the way to the airport? In all honesty, thinking about it, Taeyong truly didn’t know if he would have been better off by himself. He probably would have. If he had been able to go to the airport and get onto his scheduled flight, there was no doubt that he would currently be strolling around on the Santa Monica Pier, not stuck in a broke–down car with some entitled asshole who acted like he owed him the world because he had decided to snatch him up.

That was bullshit. Taeyong was sick of having to apologize for shit that wasn’t his fault. 

“Stop the car,” Taeyong said. Johnny looked over at him for a moment before snorting, shaking his head. 

“No,” Johnny responded. He looked away from the road over at Taeyong again, scoffing. “No.”

“Stop the fucking car, Johnny,” Taeyong hissed through gritted teeth.

“We’re in the middle of fucking nowhere,” Johnny pointed out even though it was obvious. Taeyong didn’t care if he had no clue where the fuck he was or if getting out and walking would put him in even more danger. He just didn’t want to be in that car with Johnny for a moment longer. He couldn’t stand it. 

“Stop the car!” Taeyong yelled, kicking the dashboard in front of him. “Stop the fucking car! I’m so fucking serious; pull over!”

Johnny muttered something under his breath before slamming down on the brake in the middle of the road. Both him and Taeyong almost went flying face–first into the console and dashboard in front of them, held back only by their seatbelts. Despite being in pain from how the belt had dug sharply into his chest with the sudden stop, Taeyong unbuckled himself and went to open the door, only to find that it was locked. He looked back at Johnny who was still breathing a bit heavily. 

“Unlock it,” Taeyong commanded darkly. 

“No,” Johnny said.

“Johnny, I swear to fucking God,” Taeyong seethed.

“Can you stop acting like a such a fucking baby and just take responsibility for something for once in your miserable fucking life?” Johnny shouted, surprising Taeyong with how loud his voice had gotten. Taeyong blinked at him for a long moment.

Then, without thinking about it, Taeyong punched Johnny straight in his face. It almost definitely only took Johnny by surprise and not because it had actually hurt but Taeyong didn’t care. Who the fuck did Johnny think he was calling him miserable and trying to blame his own personal fuck–up on him? Taeyong was so sick of that. He had taken it from so many people his entire life and was so tired of it he couldn’t think straight. 

Johnny sat back up and ran a hand over his jaw. He must have accidentally bitten the inside of his mouth because a little bit of blood had leaked out over his lower lip. Taeyong stared at him, waiting for him to retaliate. He knew that whatever Johnny did would feel about a thousand times worse than what he had done to him but Taeyong couldn’t bring himself to care.

But instead of striking Taeyong back, Johnny just reached over and unlocked his door. Taeyong heard the loud click resonate through the otherwise silent car. He hesitated for a moment. Then, without a word, he opened his door and got out, slamming the door behind him.

It was stupid and childish and Taeyong knew that it had done practically nothing but he couldn’t help but pick up a rock from the gravel road underneath him and chuck it as hard as he could at the back of the car as Johnny drove off, leaving him in the middle of buttfuck nowhere. He didn’t hear any sort of crash that would have signified that the rock had connected, only the noisy peel of Johnny driving in the opposite direction. 

Soon, Taeyong couldn’t hear anything. Johnny was long gone and he was alone in some rural area that he totally wasn’t familiar with, surrounded by noisy crickets and other wildlife who had been disturbed by him and Johnny arguing. He gritted his teeth together, letting out a sharp exhale through his nose.

“FUCK!” Taeyong finally screamed, voice echoing throughout the wide space around him. This was bad. This was really fucking bad. He was alone with no means of transportation in an area where the police were still actively looking for him.

Whatever. Fuck Johnny. Taeyong didn’t need him. He could get to Incheon by himself. 

Taeyong had been walking for what felt like forever. 

A small part of him had been expecting for Johnny to come back around but after about a half an hour of nothingness, Taeyong realized that Johnny had left him for good. It pissed him off enough to the point where Taeyong kicked at nothing and screamed and threw anything that was convenient but after a couple of minutes of doing that, he realized that it was accomplishing nothing. The police were hot on his trail and he needed to get out of the area as quickly as possible.

He would have been lying if he said that he wasn’t in pain. His back hurt. His feet hurt. His legs hurt. Basically every single part of him that had something to do with him walking was in excruciating pain and Taeyong honestly didn’t know how much more of it he could take. A small part of him wished that Johnny would come back and help him out but an even bigger part of him no longer wanted anything to do with him. Johnny was an asshole. He had absolutely no right to call him miserable or get mad at him for not being welcoming or compliant for a majority of the time they had been together. It wasn’t his fault. He only reacted how any normal human being would have reacted.

He heard it before he saw it. He heard it at the very last minute but still definitely heard it, his head whipping around in the direction that the vehicle was approaching from. The headlights were too bright for him to see what kind of car it was but a quick glance of how high up the beams were let him know almost immediately that it wasn’t Johnny coming back for him. Taeyong ducked behind a bush in order to avoid the car, heart racing with the thought that it could be the police on his way to find him. 

The car slowed down not too far out from where he was stopped. Taeyong felt like he could throw up. How had they known where he was at? Had someone spotted him? They couldn’t have. He hadn’t seen a single person around since the moment Johnny had left. Johnny. What if Johnny had let the police know where he was? That didn’t make any sense. If Johnny had done that, didn’t that mean that he would have ultimately had to turn himself in? There was no way that Johnny could hate him that much. What if Mark had turned him in? What then?

He heard a car door open. Taeyong considered running. He could run. But where would he go? How long would it take for the police to come chasing after him? He couldn’t outrun them forever. He cursed lowly under his breath. If he found out that Johnny or Mark had turned him in he would definitely immediately tell the police about Johnny and the fact that Mark had let two fugitives stay with him for more than a couple of days.

“Hello?” a deep, unfamiliar voice called. They were alone for sure. Taeyong could hear them stalking closer and could smell whoever it was. They were definitely an Alpha. Fuck. Taeyong wasn’t sure if he could beat out an Alpha. No, he definitely couldn’t beat out an Alpha. Shit. 

But he did have a gun. 

Taeyong heard the branches right in front of him crack underneath the person’s heavy footsteps and decided that it was time, pulling out the gun from out of his pants and aiming it in front of him. Whoever it was must have noticed that he had snatched something out because they’re stopping in their tracks right in front of him, clearing their throat quietly. 

“Back up,” Taeyong demanded. There was a slight pause. Then, “Just so we’re clear, there is a gun pointed at my face, right?” Taeyong frowned.

“Yes?” he said in response. It didn’t take him long to realize how uncertain that had made him sound and how seeming uncertain definitely wasn’t something that he could afford right now. “Yes,” Taeyong repeated in a lower, much steadier voice.

“Um,” the voice said. “Could you maybe not do that?”

Taeyong made a face that he was almost certain that the stranger couldn’t see. “What the fuck?” he muttered, shaking his head. “No. Fuck off.”

“Listen, man, I’m trying to help you.” Taeyong immediately scoffed at that. Trying to help him? That was definitely a load of shit. The stranger caught quickly caught onto his disbelief. “No, seriously. I’m not gonna hurt you.”

This guy clearly wasn’t going to fuck off. Taeyong moved out from behind the bush, making sure that the gun was raised high and confident in front of him as he stepped in front of the stranger. He was a lot taller than Taeyong was and had these huge eyes that could have easily competed with his own. How much bigger he was than Taeyong definitely made his heart race a little more but Taeyong didn’t lose his composure, clearing his throat.

“I already told you to fuck off,” Taeyong said calmly, gesturing to the car behind the man with the gun. “Get back in your car.” 

“I’m not gonna do that,” the man responded, his hands still above him in fear of Taeyong possibly pulling the trigger on him. “Look, you’re clearly in some trouble, okay? I want to help you.”

“Why the fuck would you want to help me?” Taeyong hissed, clicking off the safety on the gun. The man flinched but didn’t make any moves to step away and leave him alone which only frustrated Taeyong even more. He really didn’t want to have to hurt this guy. He wished that he would just go away and leave him be. 

“Because any decent person would stop for an Omega by himself in the middle of nowhere at almost three in the morning?” the man said, more of a question than an explanation. Taeyong could tell that he was nervous because of the gun pointed at his face. It was understandable. 

Taeyong didn’t trust this guy. It wasn’t true that any decent person would stop for someone like him and he didn’t blame them. Still, he didn’t know how much longer he could stand walking. It would be so much more worse for him if he ended up passing out somewhere in this rural nowhere and left in the hands of the environment around him or someone nearby who stumbled upon him and decided to take advantage. Then again, how much better would it be if he ended up in a vulnerable situation with someone who was very clearly a lot bigger and stronger than him?

“What’s your name?” the stranger continued hesitantly, inching forward slowly. Taeyong flinched hard and curled his finger around the trigger which caused the man to immediately step back and raise both of his hands a bit higher to show Taeyong that he was nobody dangerous or trying to bring any kind of harm onto him. “Listen, listen, listen. Okay? Look.” He reached down to show a badge on his chest. Taeyong could barely make it out with how dark it was. “I’m Yukhei.”

Taeyong blinked at him for a long moment. He thought back to the name Johnny had told Ten. “Kwangmin.”

“Cool,” the man— Yukhei —said, nodding. “Let me help you, Kwangmin. Okay?”

“If this is some sick fucking plan to, like, take advantage of me or something I want you to know that I’ll literally shoot you and leave you here,” Taeyong hissed. 

“I’m not gonna do anything that you don’t want me to,” Yukhei promised. “Where are you headed to, Kwangmin?”

Taeyong hesitated a moment. “Incheon,” he said quietly. 

“Well, isn’t that a coincidence?” Yukhei responded, smiling a little. His teeth were really nice. “I’m on my way to Seoul.”

That was fucking perfect. Taeyong literally couldn’t think of anything better than that. He bit his lip and glanced at Yukhei’s truck before looking back at Yukhei. It almost seemed a little too good to be true. What were the chances of some random man driving around in the middle of nowhere happening to be going to almost the same exact place that he needed to go?

Still so, Taeyong knew that he couldn’t risk staying out on the road by himself for any longer. He would either lose consciousness due to his own exhaustion or the police would catch on and find him. At the end of the day, he had a gun and this man was by himself. If worse came to worst, Taeyong would do what he had to do and would ultimately be closer to his destination.

He looked at Yukhei’s truck again. “Are you sure you’re not the police?” Taeyong questioned. 

“Never went to college,” Yukhei admitted. “Couldn’t be an officer even if I wanted to.”

“I’m sitting in the back,” Taeyong muttered, gesturing for Yukhei to turn around and start towards the car. Yukhei hesitated a moment before going, glancing behind himself every so often in order to make sure Taeyong hadn’t suddenly changed his mind and decided to shoot him. “Behind you.”

“If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were holding me hostage,” Yukhei snorted quietly. 

“Shut up,” Taeyong only hissed in response. 

Yukhei didn’t try anything as he opened the car door for Taeyong, stepping back cautiously as Taeyong pointed the gun up at him while climbing into his truck. It was a little hard for him to get up with how high the truck was from the ground but Taeyong eventually was able to get in, closing the door behind him before Yukhei could. Yukhei moved around to the front and got up and in his seat without any difficulty, huffing as he pulled his door shut. He tried glancing up at Taeyong through the rearview mirror but found that he couldn’t see him from where Taeyong was sitting. 

“Are you gonna point that gun at the back of my head the entire time?” Yukhei asked.

“Yes,” Taeyong responded carefully because he was. He didn’t trust Yukhei and needed to make sure that he wouldn’t try anything. 

“Well, that’s alright with me,” Yukhei shrugged, starting up the car. “Can’t complain when your arm starts to get tired though.”

Taeyong didn’t say anything in response to that. As Yukhei started driving, Taeyong couldn’t help but wonder where Johnny had gone. What was his plan? What happened to him being all for wanting to be his mate? In the end, he forced himself not to think about it. He shouldn’t care what Johnny was doing or what he thought. Johnny was an asshole. He didn’t need him. In fact, Taeyong was glad Johnny had gone. It was better for him anyway.

“I can’t do it anymore,” was the first thing Johnny had said when he showed back up at that convenience store in the middle of Changwon in the middle of the night, a bruise blossoming on his left cheek. Ten was standing behind the counter watching some drama in a language Johnny couldn’t understand eating gummy candies. He almost immediately looked up at the sound of Johnny’s voice, frowning at the sight of him.

“Um,” Ten said, picking up his phone to pause the show. “Can’t do what?”

“Lie,” Johnny responded calmly before putting both of his wrists out towards Ten who only raised an eyebrow at him. “Arrest me.”

There was a slight pause. “I work at a convenience store,” Ten reminded him.

That was right. Johnny had considered going to a police station but every single time he drove past one he was overwhelmed with this feeling of fear and ultimately forced himself to keep going. This ended up with him back in Changwon where he quickly remembered the little Omega who had dropped him off at his place of work. Johnny didn’t know why he felt this need to go and talk to him but returning back to Mark’s place completely empty–handed definitely wasn’t an option.

“Oh,” Johnny said, putting his wrists back down. He looked around until his eyes landed on Ten’s phone—an ancient blue iPhone 5C. He immediately  picked it up and pushed it into Ten’s chest. “Call the police then.”

Ten frowned and took the phone from him, looking down at it before shaking his head and pushing it into the pocket of his apron. He seemed very much confused and rightfully so considering that Johnny had walked in there like an absolute spaz, demanding him to arrest him and dial up the police in the middle of the night.

“Why would I call the police on you?” Ten asked.

Johnny sucked in a sharp breath. This is where he would admit all that he did wrong. Kidnapping Taeyong, helping him get away from both the police and his brother, stealing a fucking car, literally robbing a gas station. Ten would understand then and would have no reason not to call the police. They would come, he would be thrown in prison for however long and this would all be over.

He opened his mouth to speak but Ten had beat him to the punch. “Is this because of your mate?” Ten continued softly.

Johnny faltered. His mate? For a moment, Johnny had suspected that Ten had forgotten who he was but in him asking such a specific question, he was now wondering if that was true. He frowned a little and shook his head.

“My mate?” Johnny repeatedly in a low voice.

“The one I picked you up with,” Ten reminded. “The blonde?” Right. So Ten definitely did remember him.

“What about him?” Johnny continued carefully.

“Other than the fact that he’s very much wanted in every single corner of South Korea?” Ten questioned and Johnny almost choked.

“You knew?” Johnny said and Ten smiled, nodding slowly.

The fact that Ten had known that Taeyong was a fugitive and Johnny was riding along with him and hadn’t said a word was crazy. He could have very easily driven the both of them to the closest police station and collected the bounty and hadn’t. For a moment, Johnny considered him being the reason why there was currently a bounty over his own head but realized that theory simply didn’t make any sense considering that Ten had all the opportunity to turn them in himself and had chosen not to in the end.

Still, he had to ask. He would be a fool if he didn’t at least ask. “Did you call the police on us?” 

“God, no,” Ten said, shaking his head. “Wanna know a little secret?” Johnny hesitated a moment before nodding. “I’m a draft dodger. Every year Thailand has this lottery where if you pick a red card you’ve been picked—well, not picked, you have to do it—to enlist and I was one of the unlucky bastards that grabbed out a red card.”

“So you left?” Johnny asked and Ten nodded.

“Absolutely,” Ten said. “I love my country and all but I’m not built to fight. I mean, look at me. I’m tiny.”

It was true. Ten was easily as small or maybe even smaller than Taeyong and Johnny was sure that it didn’t help that he no longer had a sense of smell which was definitely important during battle. He glanced down at the gummies in front of Ten before speaking again.

“What’s that have to do with calling the police?” Johnny asked.

“Well, I’m extremely illegally here and the second they took me back for questioning on how exactly I managed to get the most wanted man in South Korea and his mate in the backseat of my car they would also realize that I’m definitely not Korean and start looking in on my nonexistent citizenship here,” Ten explained, snorting a little bit. “So, like, sure I could have called the police on the both of you but that would literally be the same thing as me shooting myself in my own foot.”

That made sense. If Ten called the police there was no doubt that they would ultimately end up sending him back to Thailand where he would undoubtedly be forced to face the consequences of avoiding his civic duty as a citizen of the country. Still, it was a little scary to think about the fact that someone had recognized Taeyong with him knowing. Johnny couldn’t help but wonder how many other people had realized who they were.

“I know who you are too,” Ten continued and Johnny perked up a little, tilting his head in confusion. “You’re Matthew Suh’s little brother, right? The one that broke into the company building?”

Right. Johnny had forgotten that he had been forced into the limelight a couple of months ago due to his little stunt. People recognized him every now and then but no one ever outwardly commented about it. They would mostly only whisper and frown at him when he walked past. That had died down a little after the scandal went down though. Johnny couldn’t even think of the last time it had happened.

“What you did was pretty cool,” Ten revealed, reaching in his bag of his candies to pull one out and pop it into his mouth. “Pretty fucking dumb and pointless considering that nothing happened but still pretty cool.”

“You don’t like my brother?” Johnny asked, a bit taken aback by Ten’s confession. Everyone liked his brother. 

“Christ, no,” Ten snorted, shaking his head. “Him and his asshole company almost got this place shut down with all their scamming. The owners’ son had to take out some fat loan to make sure the bank didn’t get a hold of it. I went, like, a month without pay which sucked but it wasn’t like I could complain about it because these people are already doing me a factor by letting me work here.” 

This was what Johnny had hated most about working for Matthew and his company. They always stole from the common man and won because of their sheer power and ability to shut down anyone that didn’t agree with them. It made him sick to his stomach even thinking about it. However, hearing that there were people out there that weren’t ready to kiss the ground Matthew walked on made him feel a little at ease. Maybe somebody would believe him when he said that the only reason he had helped Taeyong was because of all of the horrible shit he had seen Matthew doing over the past couple of years.

Probably not.

“How’d you know about Taeyong?” Johnny asked, figuring he could drop the made–up name considering that Ten already knew anyway.

Ten hummed around the candy in his mouth and bent down underneath the counter, rummaging around until he found a small remote. He stood back up and pointed it at the TV above his head, bringing it to life. The first thing Johnny saw was a commercial for some chicken place advertised by an idol he didn’t recognize.

“The only channel that comes in clear is the news,” Ten explained. “Your boyfriend is the only thing that they’ve been able to talk about for, like, the past six weeks.” He stopped and frowned a bit. “Where is he, by the way? Biting the head off of a puppy for looking at him wrong in the parking lot?”

Johnny wanted to laugh at the last sentence but only shook his head, running a hand through his hair. He pushed himself down onto the floor and sat down, hearing Ten pull up over the counter to where he could see him even while sitting down. Even the mere mention of Taeyong stressed him out because it reminded him that he had left his very small, very vulnerable—no matter how much he wanted to deny it—mate in the middle of nowhere by himself. No matter how pissed off he was at Taeyong, Johnny couldn’t deny that what he did had been really, really fucked up.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Johnny mumbled. “And I don’t know where he’s at.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Ten asked, very clearly concerned.

“I mean I left him in the middle of Jeonju about five and a half hours ago and I have no clue where he’s at right now,” Johnny explained, his voice a bit sharp due to the accusatory tone Ten’s pen had picked up.

There was a slight pause. Johnny could hear Ten clear his throat before coming around from behind the counter. He crouched down in front of Johnny and offered him a candy in which Johnny hesitated a moment before taking, popping it into his mouth without second thought. It had been awhile since he last had something sweet.

“Why’d you leave him in Jeonju, Johnny?” Ten asked softly, sitting down next to Johnny on the floor.

“Because I,” Johnny stopped, wondering whether or not he should even be telling Ten this. He quickly realized that he probably wouldn’t find anyone better to rant to and this would almost definitely be his only opportunity to get this off his chest. “Taeyong fucked over my brother. He fucked over a lot of people but he fucked over my brother the most which he doesn’t even remember which is crazy cause, like, how do you ruin someone’s life like that and not have any recollection of it whatsoever?”

“Well, he did get a lot of people,” Ten pointed out which was true.

“My brother was going to send someone down to fuck him up and I knew that and I went out of my way to come down to Busan and get Taeyong before they got to him,” Johnny continued, shaking his head. “And then we ended up mated which was such a fucking mess but I was still so focused on making sure that Taeyong was safe even if he didn’t know that, even if he called me an asshole and an idiot and worthless and spit in my face every five fucking seconds.”

Ten offered him another piece of candy. Johnny accepted it.

“And he’s so fucking confusing because one second he’s able to stand me and seems like the thought of being mated to me isn’t the worst idea in the world to him and the other he’s acting like I’m literally the worst thing to ever happen to him and even after he knew that all of this fucking shit happened with us because I was trying to save him he won’t acknowledge that and at least apologize for all the shit he’s put me through,” Johnny finished with a slight scoff at the thought of it all. “I mean, I’m a wanted fucking criminal because of him.”

It went quiet after that. The TV had switched back to the news and they were talking about the weather. For a moment, Johnny is certain that Ten hasn’t been listening which was definitely going to irritate him more than he would let on. But then, after finishing the final piece of candy left, Ten crumpled up the plastic bag and tossed it in the bin not too far away from them. If bounced off the rim and landed on the floor which made Ten pout but he doesn’t dwell on it too long, quickly regaining his composure and turning  around to face Johnny.

“So, let’s imagine this: I come to you in the middle of the night and force you into my car under the gist that—what?” Johnny quickly realized that Ten was asking him a question.

“A bounty hunter,” Johnny answered and Ten nodded.

“Under the gist of a bounty hunter,” Ten repeated before continuing. “I’ve kidnapped you and now I’m taking you to Seoul and you’re under the impression that I’m literally gonna be the reason why you end up in prison for the rest of your life. You’re scared and stressed and confused, right?”

“I guess,” Johnny said, frowning.

“And on top of that, you somehow end up mated to me which only makes everything a thousand times worse because you now have this attachment to me that you can’t control and I don’t seem to care because, again, my only priority is getting you to Seoul and turning you over to the police,” Ten said.

“I was never gonna turn him in,” Johnny pointed out defensively.

“But did he know that?” Ten quipped in response and the only thing Johnny could do was stare at him because no, Taeyong didn’t know. “So finally, after putting you through all of this stress and panic and pain, I tell you that the only reason I did this was to protect you from my brother who, by the way, literally wants to kill you. Not only that, but I’m expecting you to apologize for reacting and treating me like anybody with any shred of common sense would after seemingly kidnapping you. I’m expecting you to feel bad for me because of something that I decided to do.”

As much as Johnny hated to admit it, Ten had a point. He had never thought about how Taeyong had felt throughout everything. It had only been natural for him to want to get away and treat him like shit because at the end of the day, Taeyong had thought that he was his kidnapper, not his savior. Furthermore, Johnny couldn’t get pissed at him for how everything had gone down because, like both Ten and Taeyong had said, he had decided to go and put his livelihood in danger for someone who he didn’t even know.

“Right,” Ten laughed, noticing how Johnny seemed to be processing everything. “And on top of that, you left him in the middle of nowhere. I hate to say it, John, but you’re the asshole in this situation.”

Johnny sighed. He was. He looked up at TV to see, very much ironically, Matthew speaking. The clip looked fairly new but the background struck some sense of familiarity in Johnny. He frowned and stood up, squinting at the TV.

“What?” Ten asked, standing up as well.

Johnny went to respond but noticed something at the corner of the screen. The headline underneath the video of Matthew speaking trailed by slowly, revealing each word on one second intervals.

“What the fuck?” Johnny mumbled, reaching over the counter to pick up the remote Ten had left there and turning up the broadcast, Matthew’s deep voice filling the otherwise silent store. 

“—And seeing that my younger brother was last spotted here in Jeonju, I felt it my responsibility to come down and offer my help in any way possible in order to catch and detain both him and Mr. Lee Taeyong,” Matthew spoke briskly, standing up tall and straight.

That was when Johnny realized. Matthew was standing right in front of the gas station back in Jeonju. The man who Taeyong had locked in the bathroom was standing not too far off in the background, speaking to a couple of officers. Matthew was in Jeonju. Taeyong was in Jeonju. Mark was in fucking Jeonju. This was bad. No, it was more than bad. It was catastrophic. Matthew wasn’t linking up with the police to try and catch them. He was finishing the job he had sought out to do all those weeks ago.

And Taeyong was somewhere walking along the side of the road by himself.

“Shit,” Johnny hissed in panic.

“What?” Ten repeated.

“I have to go,” Johnny said, already making his way towards the door.

“Do you need a ride?” Ten called after him, still so very obviously confused.

“No,” Johnny breathed. “Can you, like, put 10,000 won in my tank as a favor?” Ten made a face.

“Do you want me to get fired?” Ten asked.

“Please?” Johnny borderline begged. Ten hesitated a moment before sighing.

“Fine,” he mumbled, going back behind the counter to punch in some numbers at the register. “You fucking owe me. For your epiphany and the gas.”

“Whatever,” Johnny said eagerly, pushing the door open. “Thank you, Ten!”

“Don’t tell the police that I ever had any contact with you!” Ten only said in response.

“How come you’re in Jeonju?” Yukhei asked out of nowhere, startling Taeyong out of his daze of nothingness, having been staring out the window at all the passing scenery for the past half an hour.

Taeyong blinked at the back of the seat in front of him and frowned. “Visiting a friend,” he lied seamlessly, turning his attention back out the window. He didn’t have the energy to be mean to this guy. Plus, Yukhei seemed as clueless and out of it as Johnny. It would be dumb for him to waste time being rude to him.

“That’s pretty cool,” Yukhei responded happily. “Wanna know why I’m here?”

“No,” Taeyong said, leaning his head against the cool window. “Not really.”

“My boss came down from Seoul,” Yukhei answered anyway, the smile evident in his voice. “I’m helping him with a job.”

“I don’t care,” Taeyong mumbled. He went to tell Yukhei to stop talking but was interrupted by the feeling of the car rolling to a stop. Taeyong sat up a bit straighter in his seat and frowned. “Why are you stopping?”

Yukhei didn’t answer. Instead, he locked the car doors and unbuckled his seatbelt, turning around in his seat to look back at Taeyong who blinked back at him angrily.

“What the fuck, dude?” Taeyong hissed. 

“You were really hard to find, I’ll admit that,” Yukhei said in response. “But I’m glad I finally got you.”

And just when Taeyong was positive that his situation couldn’t get any worse, it most definitely had.

Chapter Text

The moment that Yukhei had grabbed for him, Taeyong had snatched the gun out from underneath himself and immediately pulled the trigger. Yukhei groaned loudly and fell back into his seat, clutching the spot where the bullet had sliced through, searing his skin. Taeyong breathed shakily through his mouth, blinking down at the gun in his shuddering hands for a long moment before coming to the realization that Yukhei was still very much a threat. 

He unbuckled his seat and quickly climbed over Yukhei, looking around until he found an old scarf in the seat next to him. He wrapped the cloth around both of Yukhei’s wrists, ignoring all of his pained groaning as he sat straight on his wound while tying him up to the middle console. Taeyong’s heart was fucking racing. He had just fucking shot someone. What if Yukhei died? Stealing money from people was a lot different from fucking murder. This was bad. This was really fucking bad. 

“Why the fuck did you shoot me, man?” Yukhei moaned through gritted teeth, his hands immediately moving to clutch his wound the moment that Taeyong moved off of his lap, running his hands through his hair with a panicked whine. The sound of Yukhei’s voice only helped to worsen his anxiety about it all and he bounced a little up and down in his seat, screaming into the palms of his hands. 

“Fuck you!” Taeyong shouted in response. “I know who you fucking are, okay? You’re not gonna kill me!”

“Kill you?” Yukhei shrieked in a high–pitched voice. “Why would I kill you?”

“Because you work for that prick that I fucked over!” Taeyong yelled back.

“I work for a fucking gasoline company in Seoul!” Yukhei said and Taeyong immediately froze because what the fuck?

Yukhei had to have been kidding. Either that or Taeyong was dreaming because there was absolutely no way that he had misinterpreted the situation. Yukhei had literally threatened him. He hadn’t said anything explicitly but Taeyong understood. It made sense, especially after what Johnny had told him. There simply wasn’t any chance that Yukhei wasn’t who Taeyong had thought he was.

But as Taeyong looked around the car, there wasn’t anything that really signified the idea of Yukhei being some crazy criminal who had been sent to capture and kill him. There was a cup of iced coffee in the middle console and a bottle of Ibuprofen on the dashboard. Looking up, Taeyong noticed the small picture of a girl with long, dark hair smiling back at him from where she hung around the rearview mirror. Taeyong felt like he was about to vomit.

“I–If you’re not trying to kill me then why’d you stop the car?” Taeyong questioned shakily as Yukhei groaned repeatedly from underneath him.

“You’re Lee Taeyong, right?” Yukhei asked and Taeyong hesitated a moment before nodding. No point in lying to a dying man. “Dude, you’re, like, a legend back in Seoul. I— shit— I heard that the police had last spotted you in J–Jeonju and was already here for work so I thought I’d help.”

Taeyong was going to vomit. So, not only had he shot someone but he had shot someone who was completely harmless. He made another frustrated noise in the back of his throat and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes, forcing himself to swallow down another scream. His frustration led to him not really thinking about the fact that Yukhei was shot and still very much in pain when he shoved him, almost immediately causing Yukhei to cry out at the sharp sting that rolled throughout his entire body with the small motion. 

“Jesus!” Yukhei hissed and Taeyong flinched away from him, his eyes wide.

“Why the fuck would you stop the car like that?” Taeyong shouted, feeling his throat start to go thick with tears because all of this was way too much for him to handle at this point.

“Like what?” Yukhei yelled in response.

“Like you were gonna fucking murder me!” Taeyong seethed back and all Yukhei could do was give another pained whine.

Yukhei was losing blood fast. Taeyong felt like he could pass out at the mere sight of it. What was he going to do? If Yukhei died the police would undoubtedly pin it on him and why wouldn’t they? Taeyong had never gone into this thinking that someone fucking dying was a possibility. He stole from people, he didn’t take their fucking lives. Taeyong felt like his heart was going to beat straight of his chest.  This was so bad.

It was like the universe was working against him. His fucking mate had left him in the middle of nowhere to fend for himself, there was still someone out to kill him, he had shot someone completely innocent. It was like the breath was being stolen straight from his chest. Was this what a panic attack felt like? Was he having a fucking panic attack? Jesus Christ, if Taeyong had to hear Yukhei cry out in pain one more time he might literally lose all consciousness. Maybe that would be good. Maybe the police would find him and this would all be over. Taeyong didn’t care at this point.

“Can you fucking help me?” Yukhei hissed, effectively snapping Taeyong out of his own head.

“I don’t fucking know how!” Taeyong snapped. “I don’t know what to do, okay?”

“Figure it out!” Yukhei shouted and Taeyong knew that he had to, he couldn’t just let this guy die in a pool of his own blood but his brain wasn’t working right and he genuinely didn’t know what to do. 

He looked around the car until his gaze landed on the scarf that was wrapped around Yukhei’s wrists. He inhaled sharply before climbing over Yukhei and undoing the simple knot, folding the cloth around his hand before pointing down at Yukhei’s bleeding leg. Yukhei had sat up and looked down at it, his eyes going impossibly wide at the sight of the blood practically pouring out from the wound.

“Oh, my God,” Yukhei breathed, shaking his head. “I’m gonna fucking die. I’m gonna die.”

“Can you just, like—shut the fuck up and hold up your leg?” Taeyong asked shakily. Yukhei only blinked back at him, probably a little delirious at this point. “Please?”

With a small nod, Yukhei lifted up his leg from the seat, wincing loudly at the tension that the simple motion caused. Taeyong tried not to look at the wound too much before bringing the scarf to the underside of Yukhei’s leg and wrapping it around the space right above the gunshot, causing Yukhei to flinch away at the pain that immediately overwhelmed him. Fortunately, he didn’t try to pull away despite how badly what Taeyong was doing to him seemed to hurt which Taeyong was grateful for.

“C–Can you hold your hand against it?” Taeyong said and Yukhei instantly shook his head in response.

“No way, man,” Yukhei breathed, his face all red and sweaty. “That’s gonna hurt.”

If Taeyong could think straight, he would have pointed out that Yukhei was already in pain and the least he could do for himself was try and stop all the blood leaking out from his leg. Seeing that he couldn’t and currently wasn’t, Taeyong sucked in a sharp breath of air before pressing both of his hands over the wound on Yukhei’s leg. Yukhei immediately screamed out in pain and tried to get Taeyong as far away from him as possible but had gotten considerably weak with all the blood he had lost meaning that his push barely made Taeyong go anywhere.

“Get the fuck off of me!” Yukhei shouted and Taeyong closed his head, frantically shaking his head in response.

“If you bleed out I go to prison for the rest of my fucking life for first–degree murder,” Taeyong told him, pressing down harder against the gunshot. “Just suck it up, alright?” Taeyong waited for some kind of response from Yukhei afterward but nothing ever came. “Yukhei?”

When he looked down, Yukhei was out cold. His initial thought was that he had died and Taeyong squeaked out a panicked noise, slipping one hand up to feel for Yukhei’s pulse on his neck. When he felt the slow but steady beat, Taeyong deflated a little in relief. He had probably passed out due to the pain which Taeyong was grateful for to a certain extent. Still, he would much rather have Yukhei awake and able to tell him how he was feeling than completely blacked out.

Taeyong didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t go to the hospital not only because the people there would recognize him immediately and possibly detain him but also because Yukhei had stopped the car in the very middle of nowhere and he had no close where the fuck they were. He had never been to Jeonju and didn’t know his way around meaning that he definitely didn’t know where the nearest hospital was.  Calling up the police was an option but there was also the issue of him having to leave when they began on their way seeing that they would arrest him the moment they saw him sitting there covered in Yukhei’s blood. Leaving Yukhei would not only possibly kill him considerably that the blood from his wound wouldn’t have anything stopping it and he would probably bleed out before anyone got there, but it would do nothing for Taeyong seeing that he would then have to be on foot and would probably get caught within an hour with how remote the area they were in was.

Before Taeyong could think any longer on it, he heard the familiar sound of wheels rolling on gravel. For a moment, he considered running but ultimately decided against it. He simply didn’t care anymore. At least if he stayed, Yukhei would get some help and the police couldn’t pin murder on him. He would most definitely get attempted but at least they couldn’t get him for actually killing someone. The thought of being in prison was fucking terrifying but Taeyong was so tired of it all. He needed a break.

The car slowed to a stop in front of Yukhei’s truck and Taeyong heard a door open and slam shut not too far after. Footsteps drew closer until they were right beside him on the outside of the truck. It was definitely one person which was strange but Taeyong didn’t look up or turn around, too afraid to face whoever was standing there.

This was it, Taeyong thought to himself as he finally worked up enough courage to turn around. This was the end.

Johnny felt really fucking bad.

He had left Taeyong in the middle of nowhere to fend for himself while his very pissed off brother was lingering somewhere nearby ready to strike. Ten was right—Taeyong wasn’t entirely in the wrong for everything that had happened and Johnny really fucking wished he had realized that before leaving Taeyong by himself. He hadn’t been thinking straight and to be fair, Taeyong had punched him super hard. It was actually surprising how much strength he had in his tiny body.

What if Matthew had already gotten to him? What if the police had gotten to him? But no. If the police had arrested Taeyong, Johnny would have heard about it somewhere. Matthew, however, was a different story. It was scary to think that he was somewhere nearby, ready to strike at any moment and even scarier knowing that he was on his radar too. If Matthew was aware that he was wanted, he definitely knew the reason why and Johnny was positive that at this point, he was well out of chances with his older brother.

Jesus.

He had been driving for what felt like forever in the opposite direction he had driven through to find Ten. The road was still completely empty but that didn’t stop him from sticking his head out his window and checking to see if Taeyong was walking alongside the gravel. He wondered if Taeyong had caught a ride with someone else. It didn’t seem like something he would willingly do but Johnny knew that he would much rather endure a ride with a stranger than to possibly get caught by the police. What if one of Matthew’s men had gotten to him and was currently taking him as far away as possible? What if Taeyong was dead? Fuck. It had been at least seven or so hours since Johnny had last seen him. Taeyong could have very well been in a ditch somewhere. Shit. If he was dead it would almost definitely be Johnny’s fault. Johnny pulled away from the wheel and rubbed his hand over his face, forcing the thought out of his head. Thinking like that wasn’t helpful for anyone.

He was wary for other vehicles on the road too. Like Matthew had said, the police weren’t only looking for Taeyong at this point and if Taeyong was in trouble Johnny had to make sure to keep himself out of danger as well in order to be able to help. As far as he knew, the police were still looking around in Jeonju. They knew that him and Taeyong had a car but luckily, the clerk from the gas station couldn’t remember for the life of him what the make and model was. He had mentioned that he had heard a crash from inside the bathroom which led the police to suggest that the two of them could possibly be on foot. 

There was a truck parked in the middle of the road that caught Johnny’s attention. He could tell that he was somewhere in Iksan but couldn’t pinpoint exactly where. The truck was stopped so abruptly that it caught Johnny’s attention. Even if it wasn’t Taeyong, it had to be someone worth checking out. Johnny pulled the car over on the side of the road carefully, inhaling slowly through his nose before climbing out, grabbing an old wrench from the backseat on his way. He shut the door behind him and geared the tool back as he began to approach the truck.

Something was telling him that this wasn’t right. What if this was a set–up specifically for him? What if Matthew knew what his reaction would ultimately be and told his men to sit there and wait for him? For a moment, Johnny considered going back to his car and pulling off. Before he could come to a complete decision, though, Johnny heard the sound of someone sniffling. He frowned before making his way completely around the side of the truck, holding the wrench up high before stepping in front of the window on the driver’s side.

Johnny recognized him immediately. He was still in his hoodie from back at Mark’s house and his scent, while dampened with the overwhelming smell of blood emitting from the car, was apparent. He didn’t turn around for a long while but when he finally did, Johnny sagged with relief and broke out into a thankful smile because he was so, so, so fucking glad to see that Taeyong wasn’t dead.

That is until he noticed all of the blood soaking Taeyong’s clothing and skin, some of it even having gotten in his hair.

“Holy shit,” Johnny breathed, immediately reaching for the handle only to find that the door was locked. He slammed his fist against the window and Taeyong blinked back at him for a long moment before reaching behind himself and unlocking the door. For some reason, he wouldn’t lift his other hand. Johnny yanked the door open and went to inspect Taeyong for any kind of wound or injury. “Are you hurt? What happened?”

Taeyong didn’t respond, only looked down beneath him to the man who was almost startlingly pale and clearly out of touch with his own consciousness. Johnny’s hands slowly dropped down from where they were fumbling over Taeyong’s shuddering body. He finally noticed why Taeyong hadn’t moved his own hands. The man was bleeding violently from a gunshot on his thigh and the gun that Johnny had gotten familiar with over the past couple of days lay nearby on the seat beside him.

“Jesus,” Johnny muttered, running a hand through his hair as he took in the scene in front of him. “What happened?”

“I, um,” Taeyong started in a low voice. “I thought that he was one of the guys with your brother and panicked.”

Johnny felt a pang of guilt twinge through him. Of course this had happened. This guy had probably made the wrong move and Taeyong had immediately thought back to what Mark had warned him about. This could have easily been avoided if Johnny had been with him. One look at this guy let Johnny know that he had absolutely nothing to do with Matthew. 

He looked up at Taeyong who was still visibly shaking. “Are you alright?” Johnny asked softly. 

“Not really,” Taeyong admitted, not looking up from the man’s unmoving body. “Why’d you come back?”

Johnny thought back to his conversation with Ten back at the convenience store. He hesitated a moment before responding. “I’m sorry,” Johnny apologized. “I shouldn’t have called you miserable. I should have told you what was going on from the start.”

“Oh,” Taeyong said quietly. “Sorry for punching you. And spitting on you. And calling you stupid.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Johnny reassured Taeyong. “You were only reacting how any normal person in your situation would have reacted.” He stopped for a moment and cleared his throat. “I deserved it.”

“You did,” Taeyong agreed. “Plus you’re a little stupid, so. It’s not like I was lying.”

Johnny figured that was as much of an apology that he would get from Taeyong. He knew that at least some of what Taeyong was saying as true. Johnny wasn’t exactly the smartest person and didn’t really have the most common sense. It was okay. He was learning. It was a slow process and a bit frustrating at times but he was still learning. 

Him and Taeyong stared at the man’s body for a little while longer. This was bad. It wasn’t even on the same scale as them stealing that lady’s car. If this guy died, Taeyong would no longer be wanted for his thievery. He would be wanted for murdering someone. The search for him would crack down to an even stricter scale and it would be basically impossible for them to escape. Which, like. Escape. How the fuck were they going to do that? Johnny definitely wasn’t planning on turning Taeyong in—that thought in itself was beyond stressful considering that he had absolutely no clue what was going to happen to Mark because of him breaking his promise of not backing out—which ultimately left the two of them with no other visible options at the moment. 

“I’m not gonna last a day in prison,” Taeyong mumbled.

That was probably true. Taeyong was little and had a huge mouth with no filter. If it wasn’t the fact that he was an Omega that got him into trouble, it would definitely be because of the fact that he talked to anyone any sort of way that he wanted. The difference between in there and out here was that people wouldn’t simply brush his snide little comments and smart mouth aside. They would react to it. 

Johnny sighed before pulling off his sweatshirt and handing it over to Taeyong. Taeyong took it without hesitation and blinked down it at for a long moment before looking up at Johnny. 

“Wrap it around his leg,” Johnny instructed, moving to climb out of the car. “As tight as you can. When you’re finished come out.”

Taeyong nodded slowly before doing as Johnny told him, slipping the sweatshirt around the man’s thigh and pulling it tight. He had to do it a couple of times due to how badly his hands were shaking but finally the sweatshirt was circled close to the man’s leg. Johnny waited patiently for him to come out, helping him down onto the ground with how high the truck was from the ground. 

“Go around to the other side,” Johnny said quietly and Taeyong immediately did so. 

Johnny got back on the side Taeyong had been in and pressed his hand against the man’s legs, cringing a bit at the blood that soaked into the skin of his palm as soon as he did. Taeyong did a pretty good job at making sure the sweatshirt was tight around him, so much so that little to no blood was leaking out from the wound. He clicked his tongue as Taeyong came climbing in from the other side, all quiet and clearly overwhelmed. 

“I need you to pull him over on your side, okay?” Johnny told him and even while overcome with all this stress and emotion and panic, Taeyong still managed to make one of his trademark faces. 

“I can’t lift him,” Taeyong said, frowning. “He’s, like, two hundred pounds.”

“I’ll do most of the lifting,” Johnny promised, slipping his hands underneath the man’s legs. “Just grab his shoulders for me.”

Taeyong looked like he still didn’t seem like he was for that idea but took the man’s shoulders in his hands nonetheless. “On three,” Johnny said and Taeyong nodded again. Johnny counted down and in one single motion, pulled the man on Taeyong’s side of the car with little to no help from Taeyong himself. Taeyong huffed quietly at the weight of the man on his lap, using all of his strength to push him off. 

“What now?” Taeyong asked. Johnny let out a small breath before reaching in the back pocket of his pants and grabbing out the keys from Yuta’s car. He tossed them over to Taeyong who only barely managed to catch them. 

“Go move Yuta’s car,” Johnny said, reaching around the front to find the keys to start the car. It took a moment before rattling alive with a start. 

“I can’t drive,” Taeyong reminded him quietly. 

“I know,” Johnny muttered. “You don’t have to drive it far. Just park it where the police won’t be able to find it.”

Taeyong stared at him for a long moment before pushing himself back out of the truck. He stood hesitant and unmoving until Johnny finally looked over at him, watching him bite the inside of his mouth quietly.

“You’re not gonna leave me, are you?” Taeyong asked and Johnny was immediately overcome with a harsh wave of guilt. He quickly shook his head in response, swallowing down the self–reproach that was quite literally eating him alive. 

“I’m not,” Johnny said and Taeyong stood there for a moment longer before nodding and walking away. 

Despite his constant mantra of I don’t need Johnny, fuck Johnny, I’m perfectly fine by myself, Taeyong was more than grateful to have turned around and seen Johnny standing on the other side of the window. Not only had it been much better than the alternative of it being the police or one of Matthew’s people coming to finish him off but Johnny was there to help him which Taeyong couldn’t have been more thankful for, especially considering that he didn’t have the slightest clue on what to do before Johnny had shown his face.

He didn’t know where Johnny had gone and what kind of wake–up call he had experienced before coming back but Taeyong was appreciative of it. Johnny had hurt his feelings more than Taeyong would have liked to believe when he had called him miserable and hearing him apologize for it lifted a weight off of his shoulders. Not once in his life had someone ever apologized for blaming him for the shit he didn’t have control over and finally hearing another person care enough to extend that towards him filled Taeyong with such relief that it made him dizzy. 

He had parked Yuta’s car far into the brush that lined either side of the road. Driving made him anxious but he still did as Johnny told him, making sure to push the trees back into their original places to ensure that no one noticed anything out of the ordinary on their way by. Much to his relief, as promised, Johnny was still in the same spot Taeyong had left him in. 

Taeyong climbed into the backseat and sniffled a little bit, blinking up at Johnny who had turned around to look back at him. He folded his arms across his chest and looked away, focusing his attention out the window. 

“I moved the car,” Taeyong muttered. It wasn’t that he was trying to be difficult, he just didn’t like the way Johnny was looking at him. At the end of the day, no matter what conclusion Johnny had ultimately come to, he still wasn’t comfortable with the idea of being with him for the rest of his life. That hadn’t changed and probably never would. 

“Yong,” Johnny said quietly and Taeyong looked back over at him. “It’ll be alright.”

That was bullshit. They were currently in the middle of Iksan with a man who was slowly but surely bleeding out on the run from both the police that were very much close on their trail and Matthew who was quite literally the textbook definition of a psychopath. Mark had been right; there was no way that the both of them were going to be able to make it to the airport and out of the country without getting caught. Maybe earlier when Taeyong’s case was still fresh to the general public and the police before he had met Johnny but now? The two of them didn’t stand a fucking chance. It wasn’t going to be alright.

Taeyong didn’t feel like telling Johnny that though. The negativity was eating him alive and he couldn’t stand it anymore. He stared at Johnny for a little while longer before shaking his head and looking back out the window. This was exhausting. Taeyong was fucking exhausted. 

“Where are we going?” Taeyong asked and Johnny hesitated a moment before sighing softly. 

“Hospital,” Johnny answered coolly. 

“We can’t just drop him off at the hospital, Johnny,” Taeyong said, watching as Johnny blinked up at him through the rearview mirror as he began to drive them off in the direction Yukhei had been driving in before everything had gone down. “They have cameras everywhere. They’ll see us.”

“I know that,” Johnny responded. “Just trust me, alright? I got it.”

Did Taeyong trust Johnny? Not by a fucking long shot. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Johnny personally—even though he didn’t, not with the way Johnny had lied to him and played him for a fool over the past couple of weeks—but Taeyong just didn’t think that Johnny had a plausible way of getting and keeping the both of them out of danger. It wasn’t a possibility at this point. There wasn’t one route that Taeyong could think of that would result in them ultimately winning.

This being said, though, Taeyong didn’t have any other option. At least if they got Yukhei some help and soon, he wouldn’t ultimately succumb to his injuries. It was the only upside of the situation. He decided not to say anything in response to Johnny’s promise, watching all the nature pass by as the sun started to creep up beyond the trees, painting the road ahead of him in a low mix of pink and orange. 

They were fucked. Taeyong knew it. It wouldn’t be long until Johnny realized it too. 

“So here’s what we’re gonna do,” Johnny said, pulling the car to a stop right at the entrance of the hospital. He reached over to feel for Yukhei’s pulse for the millionth time during their drive before continuing. “We’re gonna pull him out right here.”

Throughout the drive to the hospital, Taeyong had sat there wondering how Johnny was going to pull this off without the both of them getting caught. He hadn’t known what Johnny’s plan was going to be but definitely didn’t think it was going to be this. Dropping Yukhei off a full yard away from the entrance of the hospital wasn’t a plan. If that was the case all along, Taeyong didn’t see why they hadn’t simply left Yukhei on the side of the road back in Iksan.

“That’s stupid,” Taeyong said, watching as Johnny unbuckled his seatbelt. “Johnny, that’s really fucking stupid.”

Johnny didn’t respond to that. Instead, he grabbed an old baseball cap from the front and handed it over to Taeyong who took it hesitantly. “Put it on,” Johnny instructed and Taeyong snorted, shaking his head but slipping the cap on nonetheless. Even if no one was able to point out where he was, they would still question him for leaving a very wounded, very unconscious man on the side of the road instead of taking him into the hospital not too far away.

“They’re gonna look back at our license plate on the cameras,” Taeyong pointed out as Johnny hopped out of the car, rounding over to Yukhei’s side of the car without a care in the world, like he wasn’t a wanted fucking criminal. Taeyong rolled down his window and pushed his hat further down his forehead before sticking his head out. “Your plan fucking blows.”

“They don’t have cameras this far over,” Johnny sighed in response, popping open the door. Yukhei’s head came falling out, hanging over the edge of his seat at a visibly uncomfortable angle. “Are you gonna get out and help or are you gonna keep criticizing me?”

Taeyong looked up to see what Johnny had said was definitely true. There weren’t any cameras where he had parked. The hospital was generally dead which Taeyong supposed was a good thing. Nobody would be too busy to not notice the man who had been delivered a couple of feet away from their front door. He cursed quietly underneath his breath before popping his door open and hopping out.

“What if someone sees us?” Taeyong questioned while Johnny started to pull Yukhei out of the truck with a small huff. He looked back at Taeyong and stifled yet another sigh.

“There would be less of a chance of anyone seeing us if you would help me,” Johnny responded. Taeyong didn’t particularly like his tone but knew that he had a point and skipped past the frustration to help Johnny maneuver Yukhei’s limp body out of the car.

Once Yukhei was out and propped up carefully against a pole on the sidewalk, Taeyong looked up at Johnny who was still a bit out of breath from having to pull Yukhei back and forth. Again, he really wasn’t trying to be difficult but was having a bit of trouble seeing how this could have been Johnny’s whole plan.

“What’s the plan now, genius?” Taeyong asked, tilting his head to the side, voice dripping with obvious sarcasm. “Wanna walk up to the front desk and tell them about the man outside that I shot?” 

Johnny’s response was to step forward and press a button on the pole that Taeyong definitely hadn’t noticed before then. There was a small pause before the speaker underneath the button crackled to life, causing Taeyong to flinch back a bit with how loud it was.

“Namwon Medical Center, do you have an emergency?” Taeyong blinked up at Johnny, waiting for him to say something. He probably shouldn’t have, considering that these things almost definitely had to have recorded any and all feedback they got. Luckily, Johnny only gestured for him to quickly get back into the car. Taeyong didn’t hesitate before following.

“Why the fuck is his truck so tall?” Taeyong muttered, struggling to get in once again. He kind of hated his genetics for making him as small as he was. Johnny walked around and went to help, only to be stopped by Taeyong whirling around and glaring sharply at him, daring him to touch him. Johnny put his hands up in defense and simply walked back over to his side, climbing in with ease.

Taeyong hated tall people.

Johnny pulled off the moment he was safely inside, groaning in disgust at the puddle of blood Yukhei had left behind. Taeyong turned around in his seat to see if anyone had come out to help Yukhei, his heart beginning to race a little when he saw no one.

“No one’s coming,” Taeyong pointed out, turning back to look at Johnny who seemed pretty nonchalant about it all. “Are you sure that thing worked?”

“They wouldn’t have responded if it didn’t work,” Johnny said coolly and Taeyong settled a little upon realizing that what Johnny said had some truth to it. However, he immediately perked up upon thinking up another possibility.

“What if they don’t come out if no one responds?” Taeyong questioned nervously.

“They have to,” Johnny responded. “Even if it turns out to be an accident or someone fucking around, they’re required to come outside and check when the call button is set off.” He peeked up in the rearview mirror and hummed. “See? Look.”

Taeyong turned back around to see a young man in scrubs coming out from the hospital, clearly frustrated with the fact that he had to step outside in the first place. Johnny pulled the car over far enough where no one would notice them being there and Taeyong watched as the man approached the pole, flinching upon noticing Yukhei’s body. He bent down and shook Yukhei’s shoulder, then moved his hand up to feel at his neck when he wasn’t given any response. Taeyong ducked down a little in his seat when the man stood up and looked around before running back towards the doors he had come out through, very obviously in a panic.

Johnny started to drive again after that, not wanting to risk anyone possibly seeing them even with how far away they were. Taeyong remained turned around, sitting on his knees as he watched the man come bounding back out with a couple of other people and a stretcher. They all had just made it to where Yukhei was laying before Johnny rounded a corner, efficiently putting the hospital out of Taeyong’s line of vision. Taeyong continued to stare out the window for a long moment before finally sitting back down, breathing shakily out through his mouth.

“What if he dies?” Taeyong mumbled, shaking his head. “I–I didn’t mean to fucking kill him, I—Oh, God, I thought he was gonna do something bad, Johnny.”

“He’s not gonna die,” Johnny reassured him calmly and Taeyong couldn’t stop himself from getting frustrated at how languid Johnny’s voice was.

“Yeah? And how do you know that, Meredith Grey?” Taeyong hissed angrily, causing Johnny to look over at him and raise an eyebrow.

“You watch Grey’s Anatomy?” Johnny asked and Taeyong only stared at him, completely dumbstruck at the fact that Johnny had focused on his sarcastic comparison of all things. Johnny must realize that his response wasn’t exactly the smartest and cleared his throat. “You got him in his leg, Yong. He lost a lot of blood but he couldn’t have been bleeding out for more than an hour and a half and we slowed the bleeding down by a lot within the first thirty minutes.”

“Then how come he didn’t wake up the entire time we had him?” Taeyong asked.

“You passed out and didn’t wake back up for twelve whole hours,” Johnny pointed out. Taeyong could have mentioned that him losing consciousness due to exhaustion and Yukhei losing consciousness due to the fact that he had gotten shot were two very different things but ultimately decided to keep his mouth shut.

Yukhei had gotten help. He probably wouldn’t die and if the way he had been speaking about Taeyong before Taeyong went and shot him, there was a good chance that he wouldn’t tell the police about what had happened. Even so, with the slight chance that all of that worked out to their advantage, he and Johnny still faced the threat of both the police and Matthew. If anything, they were almost exactly in the same position they had been in before Taeyong went punching Johnny and Johnny went driving all the way to Changwon to vent to a total stranger.

What was the plan? That had always been the question. In fact, Taeyong couldn’t think of a second throughout his time with Johnny where it hadn’t been the question. The only difference was that instead of it being in a singular, more personal way, Taeyong now had to think about what was going to happen to not only himself, but Johnny too.

Jesus Christ.

“Where are you going?” Taeyong finally asked.

“Back to Busan,” Johnny answered easily and Taeyong had to force himself to swallow down a scoff of disbelief.

“And what exactly is in Busan, Johnny?” Taeyong retorted. “You know, besides, like, six dozen police officers waiting to arrest us.”

“There’s a ferry,” Johnny began, effectively catching Taeyong’s attention with the mention, “that’ll take us from Busan to Fukuoka.”

“What, like, Japan?” Taeyong asked with a small frown and Johnny nodded. 

Taeyong had never considered that. A plane ticket required IDs and other proof of identification but a ferry ticket? Well, you could practically be anyone or anything and still be able to board without so much as a second glance. It was smart. Now, it would be a risk for the both of them considering that they were almost ridiculously wanted but was still much, much safer than attempting to board a fucking airplane. 

But, like. It was fucking Japan. Taeyong didn’t know Japanese and honestly never had the slightest desire to visit there, much less live there. What the fuck were they meant to do? Change their names and spend the rest of their lives in fucking Fukuoka? Taeyong knew that he didn’t have any room to be picky but it seemed like a lot. 

“The police only have the jurisdiction to arrest us in Korea,” Johnny continued. “Once we’re gone, we’re gone. We —you— could take a plane out of Japan to wherever you want if that’s what you want to do.”

“And what about you?” Taeyong asked, pulling the sleeves of Johnny’s hoodie over his hands. “What are you gonna do?”

“Settle down,” Johnny answered coolly. “Maybe get a little apartment somewhere in Shimoda.”

Taeyong raised an eyebrow, a little surprised with how content Johnny seemed with being left on his own. That was good though. Taeyong could leave without feeling guilty and Johnny could live the rest of his life in his stupid apartment in stupid Shimoda by his big, stupid self and that would be fine. Jesus Christ. Taeyong didn’t know what was wrong with him. One second he was pushing Johnny away and the other he was unable to stop that hot rush of frustration from flowing through him because why wasn’t Johnny including him in his plans? Weren’t they in this shit together?

Taeyong was confused. Johnny made him feel really, really confused. He didn’t like it. It would be best for the both of them to be separated for good.

“I’m really sorry, by the way,” Johnny spoke up again, startling Taeyong out of his thoughts. “For all of this. I thought I deserved some kind of gold star for stepping in and picking you up but now that I think about it, I don’t know if I actually helped you more than I hurt you.” Johnny paused to bite the inside of his mouth, glancing over at Taeyong for a split second before returning his attention back to the road ahead. “I kind of have this hero complex about me. It’s gotten me into more trouble than you would think.”

Taeyong could believe that. After all, what kind of a person who didn’t have a hero complex swoop in and try to save a complete stranger who was, in all honesty, very much a liar and a thief. But, to be completely honest, Taeyong didn’t know if he would be better off without Johnny. Who knew how far away Matthew and his men were? Maybe if Johnny hadn’t picked him up, he would have taken one step out of that neighborhood and gotten snatched up by someone who had genuinely meant him harm. Or maybe, like he had said, he would have successfully boarded his flight to Los Angeles and been in a whole different situation by now. The issue was that neither of them knew and neither of them would ever know. There wasn’t any point in thinking about what could have been.

“I’m tired,” Taeyong mumbled quietly, deciding to ignore what Johnny had said. 

“You can sleep in the—,” Johnny stopped in the middle of his sentence, glancing at the backseat that was practically drenched in blood from where Taeyong had been sitting. “Right. I’ll pull over.”

Taeyong didn’t respond to that. He shifted his body to look out the window as Johnny switched on the right turn signal and got off the nearest exit. It looked as dead and void of all life as almost every place had since leaving Gwangju. He wondered why people chose to live out here. It seemed so sad and lonely. Maybe it wasn’t though. Maybe instead of being sad and lonely it was peaceful, helped people think better. Taeyong considered that perhaps he needed to move to a place like that and clear his head for awhile. That would be nice.

“Holy shit,” Johnny muttered, leaning forward against the wheel to peer out the window. “Look how fucking lucky we are.”

Taeyong followed Johnny’s gaze out the window to see that he had focused on an old motel not too far off from where they were. It clearly was uninhabited and looked like not a single soul had been inside for more than a couple of years. Taeyong frowned a little at the sight of it.

“You’re not serious,” he said as Johnny started to drive towards it.

“We’ll just go and see how it looks inside,” Johnny promised. “If it’s gross, we’ll move on.”

“It’s an abandoned motel,” Taeyong muttered, sliding down in his seat. “It’s obviously gonna be gross.”

Johnny didn’t say anything in response to that. Soon enough, they parked around the side of the motel. Taeyong had to admit that it didn’t look that disgusting up close but was still pretty wary about actually going inside. Johnny opened his door and climbed out, walking around the front of the truck. Taeyong blinked back at him from inside, watching him wave for him to come out. He sighed before opening his door.

“You really think that the doors are just gonna magically be unlocked?” Taeyong asked, pushing his door closed with more difficulty than he wanted to let on.

“Yep,” Johnny chirped before walking towards the nearest door on the first floor. Taeyong followed behind him, glancing around to make sure that there was no one nearby.

The first door, as expected, was locked. Johnny didn’t seem to be too deterred by that, simply moving on to the second. That was locked too. It went on like this for the entire row on rooms on the first floor. Taeyong huffed out a frustrated breath when Johnny simply whirled around and started up the staircase not too far from the last door.

“This is stupid,” Taeyong pointed out.

“You’re a Negative Nancy,” Johnny countered breezily.

“No, I’m tired,” Taeyong said in response. “Can we just—?”

Before he could finish his sentence, Johnny was twisting the knob of the first door on the second door and pushing it open. He turned back to Taeyong with a huge smile before walking inside, coughing as he was welcomed by the musty air of the ancient room. 

Right. Taeyong had forgotten that Johnny was the luckiest person in all of east Asia.

This was only further proven when Johnny felt along the walls for a switch, humming when he finally found it. Taeyong blinked back at him as the room was shrouded in a deep, dim light, coloring Johnny’s skin in a ugly hue of yellow. He couldn’t stop himself from sighing.

The room didn’t particularly seem unclean. It was very obviously old and in need of a good dusting but didn’t look like as much of a health hazard as Taeyong had been inspecting. He waved a hand in front of his face as he stepped inside, doing his best not to inhale too much of the dusty air. The walls were decorated in this horrible floral wallpaper that matched with the curtains and the bedsheets. The TV looked like it had been bought in 1972 and the floor was made up of a horrendous orange carpet. In a way, stepping into the room was kind of like going inside of a time machine, as the motel was very clearly ancient.

Johnny flopped down on the bed, flinching away quickly at the cloud of dust that sprouted into the air with the sudden motion. He coughed loudly and stood up from the bed, shaking his head.

“Okay,” Johnny said through another noisy cough. “Maybe we should take the sheets off first.” Taeyong couldn’t help but laugh at that to which Johnny didn’t even try to hide his surprise at the sound of his quiet laughter. He raised an eyebrow, moving his hand away from his mouth. “I didn’t think you were capable of laughing, dude.”

Taeyong’s smile immediately dropped after that. He pushed the door shut behind him and began to shrug off Johnny’s hoodie, ignoring the heat that was starting to spread over his pale face. “Shut up,” he muttered, tossing the hoodie haphazardly onto the floor. 

Johnny only laughed at that. Taeyong huffed quietly before pushing past him in search of the bathroom. He went to switch on the light in there but found that it had blown out. He still moved in front of the mirror, as the light streaming in from the rest of the room was enough for him to see his face illuminated dimly in the filthy glass.

There were streaks of Yukhei’s blood smudged across his face. His hair was messy and in desperate need of a wash. He reached down to turn the faucet on, sighing when nothing came flowing out. So much for taking a shower. Taeyong looked back up at his reflection and frowned again, tilting his head a bit to the left to run his fingers over the mark on his neck. It was no longer horribly bruised but was still very apparent, all pink and jagged compared to the rest of his skin. He pressed his fingers hard over the mark, wincing at the pain that immediately shot through him. He wondered if that would ever go away.

When he came back out, Johnny was sitting back down on the bed again. He was holding an old bottle of alcohol and held it up the moment Taeyong came stalking back out.

“Found it in the nightstand,” Johnny explained, lowering the bottle back down to continue digging his—Yukhei’s—keys in the cork. 

“That’s probably older than me,” Taeyong pointed out, scrunching up his nose in disgust. “It’s probably fucking older than you.”

“Again, I’m only twenty–four,” Johnny sighed. The cork came flying off the bottle momentarily afterward. He held it up as an offering for Taeyong. “Come on. Isn’t aged wine a thing?”

Taeyong was pretty sure that the aged wine people drank wasn’t the kind that sat in the nightstand of some abandoned motel in nowhere Namwon but decided to keep quiet about that fact. He hesitated for only a moment longer before stepping forward and accepting the bottle from Johnny, forcing himself not to think about it as he put his lips up to the rim and took a huge swig of the lukewarm liquid. It wasn’t horrible, per se, but definitely tasted more like rubbing alcohol than actual alcohol and burned Taeyong’s throat ruthlessly on the way down. Taeyong pulled back and erupted in a fit of coughing, his face going red. Johnny was quick to stand up, moving to try and offer his help only to be immediately pushed away by Taeyong who was still coughing violently.

Once finished, Taeyong collapsed on the bed with a low huff. Alcohol was fucking disgusting. He had almost forgotten why he didn’t drink. He offered it over to Johnny who had sat down next to him only for Johnny to wave him off, shaking his head.

“Definitely not drinking that after seeing you,” Johnny said which was understandable.

Taeyong blinked up at the popcorn ceiling above him. There was an old ceiling fan over him. He doubted that it worked. It was kind of crazy to think about. If someone had told him a month ago that he would be one of the most wanted men in all of South Korea sitting in some old motel with his mate covered in the blood of a man who he had accidentally shot, Taeyong would have called them crazy. It was kind of funny how life worked out. Maybe he was destined for this. Maybe that moment that doctor in Seoul told him that he was basically useless as an Omega was when the universe decided that he would be the biggest fuck–up his whole generation had ever seen. Taeyong laughed quietly to himself at the thought of that and brought the bottle back up to his lips, taking another sip of the harsh liquid, letting it spill out both corners of his mouth and drip down each side of his neck.

“You think this is where you thought you’d end up as an adult?” Taeyong asked, looking over at Johnny who was still sat up. 

“Honestly?” Johnny said back and Taeyong nodded in response. “No.”

“Funny, isn’t it?” Taeyong continued, tilting the bottle over so that more alcohol would spill over the rim and wash away some of the blood from his neck. “How it all worked out?” 

Johnny hesitated a moment. “I think you should go to sleep, Yong,” he suggested, bending over to kick his shoes off. “We’ll be in Busan sometime tomorrow night.”

Yeah, if the police or your brother don’t fucking find us first, Taeyong thought to himself, taking yet another sip of the alcohol. It was beginning to make him feel dizzy. He definitely didn’t have a very high tolerance.

Johnny pushes himself up from the bed and walked over to switch off the light. It wasn’t all that dark considering that the sun had risen fully up in the sky and was streaming in through the curtains. He sat back down carefully once finished, sighing a little before laying down next to Taeyong. Taeyong pushed the bottle into his face again and Johnny huffed before finally accepting it. 

“Christ,” Johnny hissed after swallowing, shaking his head. “That’s fucking strong.”

“Yep,” Taeyong said, watching as Johnny took another sip.

He must not realize that he was staring because soon, Johnny was looking over at him and raising a brow. Taeyong did the same thing back and Johnny couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’re staring,” Johnny pointed out and Taeyong shrugged. “Something wrong?”

Taeyong made a face. It was right on the tip of his tongue but even with his skin buzzing with the alcohol in his system, he knew that it probably wasn’t a good idea.

Whatever. Fuck it. What did it matter anyway?

“I think I wanna kiss you,” Taeyong said and Johnny stared at him for a long moment before shaking his head again.

“What?” Johnny asked, frowning a little. Taeyong didn’t say anything in response, only stared back at him. “I don’t think we can have sex in here. You’re kind of, like, loud.”

“I didn’t say sex,” Taeyong replied. “I said a kiss.”

“Oh,” Johnny said again, seeming so obviously confused. “Well, okay.”

“Okay,” Taeyong said back.

“Okay,” Johnny repeated.

Taeyong moved in to kiss him after that, pressing his lips chastely to Johnny’s own. It was kind of weird, kissing him like that. They had kissed before but never in a way that wasn’t frenzied and desperate. This was slow and so, so easy. Their lips moved together almost like second nature, Taeyong naturally letting Johnny take lead. It was nice, Taeyong decided after a little while. He liked it. Kissing Johnny was nice.

Taeyong was the one to pull back. He looked at Johnny for a long moment before rolling over onto his back, his heart for some reason racing a million beats per minute. He could hear Johnny do the exact same thing, wiping a hand over his mouth to brush away the taste of alcohol that had settled there. 

“I’m sorry,” Taeyong finally said because he realized that he had never once apologized to Johnny. He felt it was probably something that he should do. He wasn’t going to go in on what exactly he was apologizing for. Luckily, Johnny didn’t seem like he wanted him to.

“It’s alright,” Johnny reassured him quietly.

Neither of them say anything after that. Taeyong is pretty sure that he fell asleep first. At one point in the day, he woke up due to his own paranoia to the sound of Johnny snoring. He looked over at him and frowned but settled upon realizing that they were still completely and utterly alone.

Johnny slept so soundly that Taeyong was almost envious of him. He watched him sleep for a little while before finally rolling over and closing his eyes, forcing himself back to the state of being anxiously unconscious that he had since gotten used to since being with Johnny. 

Taeyong hoped that he at least had a couple more hours of sleep before everything went to complete and utter shit.

Chapter Text

Taeyong woke up to the sound of a car door slamming. He squinted against the darkness of the room, realizing that him and Johnny had slept well into the night. When he looked over at Johnny, he was still asleep, his legs sprawled open with an arm thrown over his face, lips slightly parted. Taeyong looked sat up slowly, remaining still until he heard the gravel outside crunching distantly.

“Shit,” Taeyong cursed quietly, pushing himself off of the bed and stalking towards the window. He lifted up the curtain ever so slightly, looking out through the dirty glass.

There were two men standing downstairs. They were wearing dark clothing. One was significantly taller than the other who had a cigarette in his mouth. They definitely weren’t policemen which made Taeyong’s heart speed up. Maybe he had been wrong about Yukhei but these two? They looked like trouble. He watched as one of them rounded the side of Yukhei’s truck, peeking inside. He spoke but his voice was too far away for Taeyong to be able to decipher any of it. It didn’t matter anyway. Taeyong had seen enough to know that he and Johnny needed to get out of there as quickly as possible.

“Johnny,” Taeyong whispered frantically, pushing at Johnny’s shoulder. Johnny only groaned quietly and rolled over onto his side. Taeyong climbed onto him, straddling him as he shook him once again. “Johnny, get the fuck up.”

The weight of Taeyong on top of him along with his low voice is enough to cause Johnny’s eyes to crack open slowly. He squinted through the darkness up at Taeyong, frowning. “What?” Johnny said, his hands naturally coming up to encircle around Taeyong’s small waist. Taeyong scoffed and immediately pushed them away, a little disgusted that it seemed that Johnny’s first thought was to fuck him.

“They’re fucking outside,” Taeyong hissed through his teeth, moving off of Johnny’s lap to begin gathering up all of their things. Johnny sat up at that, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion and worry.

“Who’s outside?” he asked as Taeyong moved frantically about the room, cursing quietly under his breath as he tried and failed to find his gun. He had done something with it before falling asleep but couldn’t remember where due to all that fucking wine he has drank.

“I don’t know,” Taeyong snapped because he couldn’t understand why Johnny hadn’t gotten up yet, why he was still sitting there on the bed. “Can you fucking get up?”

Johnny opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by the sound of a door a few feet down from them clicking open. Both his and Taeyong’s heads snapped in the direction it had come from. Taeyong cursed loudly and dropped down to the floor, searching underneath the bed for his pistol. It had to be somewhere in the room. He wasn’t going to leave without it.

Johnny then got up and started picking up his things from around the room. The men were starting to come uncomfortably close and Taeyong didn’t want to be around when they finally figured out what room they were in. He went to stand up and felt something hard underneath his foot before he could step the whole way down, quickly snatching the gun up from where it sat pushed on the other side of the nightstand. Johnny was looking at him when he got back up, his eyes wide and full of panic.

“What are we gonna do?” Johnny mouthed at him.

Taeyong looked around the room, his heart feeling like it might beat straight of his chest. The men were only two or three doors down and they were quickly running out of time. There was no way that both him and Johnny could fight them off, especially if they had any weapons on them. Taeyong wasn’t a good shot and Johnny didn’t know what he was doing half the time. His eyes landed on the window behind Johnny, foggy and covered in filth.

He grabbed the ancient phone sitting on the nightstand and didn’t hesitate before approaching the window, sucking in a deep breath before chucking the phone as hard as he could, effectively breaking the glass. The sound of the glass shattering caused the both of them to flinch, echoing throughout the otherwise silent room. Johnny looked at Taeyong, very obviously surprised by what he had done. 

Before he could ask anything, there was shouting from outside. “They’re on the other side!” Taeyong could distantly hear, followed by frantic footsteps.

“Go!” Taeyong whisper–yelled, pushing past Johnny to make his way out of the room, grabbing the bottle from last night on his way. Johnny went after him, not bothering to close the door behind him.

Johnny immediately unlocked Yukhei’s truck once they had gotten downstairs, climbing in. Taeyong went to do the same but hesitated, tossing Johnny his gun while blinking at the car parked not too far away from them. 

“What the fuck are you doing?” Johnny hissed, leaning over the middle console to push his door open. “Come on!”

Taeyong ignored him, bending down to smash the bottle over the sidewalk in front of him. He knew that the sound would ultimately let the men know exactly where the two of them were but didn’t care, picking up a small shard of glass from the bottle and running towards the small black car. He heard the men start in his direction and fell to the ground, the gravel cutting into his knees as he pressed the shard of glass into the front wheel of the car, his hands shaking violently. Taeyong could hear Johnny start up the truck as the glass finally cut through the rubber.

The moment he stood up, Taeyong heard something sharp cut through the air, followed by a dull throb in his side. He looked up to see one of the men pointing a gun at him, finger curled around the trigger, ready to pull it again. He cursed and fell back to the ground, crawling over the gravel back to Johnny. Another gunshot pierced the air and Taeyong let out a loud gasp as something bounced over the ground not too far away from where his hands were braced. He was gonna fucking die. This was it.

Another gunshot went off and Taeyong heard a distant shout, looking up to see the man who had shot at him on the ground. His head snapped in the opposite direction, finding Johnny with his body halfway out his window, Yuta’s gun still smoking in his hands. Taeyong didn’t have too long to get too happy about Johnny’s excellent shot, as the other man from earlier had come bounding around the corner, bending down to help his partner.

Taeyong quickly scrambled up from the ground while the man was distracted, running for the truck. Johnny still had the door open and was ready to help him up, pulling him in. A gunshot rang through the silent air, slamming against the car door, only an inch off from actually hitting Taeyong.

“Fucking drive!” Taeyong shouted and Johnny nodded, snatching the gear into reverse and pulling out of the spot he had parked in. He slammed the door shut right as the men went for their own car, one limping and clutching his shoulder from where Johnny had shot him. “Go!”

“I’m going!” Johnny yelled in response, slamming his foot down on the gas and peeling out of the parking lot.

The men weren’t going to be able to follow them because of what Taeyong had done to their tire but Johnny still drove off like a fucking madman, swerving and only barely avoiding careening the entire car into a nearby tree. It wasn’t until they had made it back onto the highway that he slowed down a little but not by much, not wanting to give the men any room to be able to catch up despite the fact that they no longer had a vehicle.

“What the fuck was that?” Taeyong breathed, turned around in his seat to look out the back window. He had just been shot out. Someone had tried to kill him. There was no longer a possibility of Matthew and his men being after them. They most definitely were. This was serious. Fuck. “Jesus Christ, Johnny, who the fuck were they?”

Johnny didn’t say anything in response, breathing heavily as he looked over at Taeyong who was still propped up on his knees to look out the window. His silence is what caused Taeyong to finally look over at him, lips parted, heart racing.

“You’re bleeding,” Johnny pointed out and Taeyong glanced down at himself, immediately noticing the dark spot slowly growing bigger and bigger on the side of his shirt. He reached down a hand and dragged his fingers through the fluid that was still obvious even in the dark, spreading them as he brought both of them to his face.

It was blood, seedy and thick and disgusting. Taeyong lifted up his shirt to find a deep hole on his side, right near his ribs. He pressed his fingers against it and flinched away in his pain, his hand shaking violently. He had gotten shot. That was that throbbing sensation had been.

“I’m pulling over,” Johnny announced, already starting to slow down the car. 

But no. Johnny couldn’t stop. They were way too close to the scene, to those men. Stopping now would be suicide. They would get caught in minutes and Taeyong didn’t even want to begin to think about what would happen if the two of them were caught, by either the police or those fucking psychopaths back at the motel. Pulling over wasn’t an option for them, no matter what they had just found out.

“Don’t stop,” Taeyong said, sitting back in his seat, forcing himself to breath in and out as steadily as possible. The bullet hadn’t hit anything critical. It seemed that it had only gone in and straight out which was good. The most it had done was tear through Taeyong’s skin. He wouldn’t die because of this.

“Taeyong, you’re fucking shot,” Johnny said, dumbstruck by what Taeyong was telling him. “I’m pulling over.”

“Are you fucking stupid?” Taeyong shouted, surprising Johnny would how loud his voice had gotten. “I said don’t stop so don’t stop, Johnny! I’m fucking fine!”

Johnny stared at him for a long moment but didn’t stop, nodding his head to show that he understood. Taeyong continued to keep his breathing as normal as possible as Johnny sped the car back up, the dark trees surrounding them only a blur as they whizzed past. 

Taeyong slipped off his shirt and crumpled it up into a ball, pressing against his side. It hurt so bad that he couldn’t fucking think straight. Still, he forced the cloth close onto the wound to try and slow the bleeding, more than educated on what to do after what had happened with Yukhei. Johnny kept looking over at him, obviously worried and wanting to do something to help. When he had offered, Taeyong had only hissed at him to leave him alone.

He didn’t even know how long they had been driving. It felt like forever. Finally, Taeyong couldn’t take it anymore. The first tear fell and he shook his head, his hands shaking too badly for him to hold the shirt up to his side anymore.

“I can’t, I can’t,” Taeyong gasped, still shaking his head. 

“You want me to pull over?” Johnny asked.

“Please,” Taeyong begged wetly because he was in so much fucking pain that he couldn’t stand it.

Johnny quickly pulled the car over on the side of the road, making sure that it was at least a bit concealed by the trees before unbuckling his seatbelt and leaning over the console to tend to Taeyong who was now sobbing. He sat down on the console and picked up the shirt from where it sat on the seat next to Taeyong, softly shushing the other.

“Yong,” Johnny muttered, holding the shirt in his hand, uncertain on his next move. “Babe, I’ve gotta stop the bleeding, Yong.”

“‘s gonna hurt,” Taeyong breathed, still shaking his head. “Hurts too much, Johnny, I can’t.”

“You have to,” Johnny told him and Taeyong knew that was true, knew that he would only be hurting himself if he didn’t and that the longer this took, the more that danger would stalk to them.

“Okay,” Taeyong sniffled, wiping a hand under his nose. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Johnny nodded, searching around the truck until he found an old bottle of rubbing alcohol in the backseat. He muttered something under his breath before picking it up, cracking it open. “Don’t look, alright?” Taeyong hummed in response, bracing himself for the pain that was to come.

The burning of the alcohol passing over his wound, washing the blood off of his skin and pooping underneath him on his seat was indescribable. Taeyong screamed and immediately flinched away but Johnny was faster, grabbing him by his bare shoulder and forcing him to stay still as he emptied the bottle over Taeyong’s wound, continuously shushing him over his cries of agony. It hurt so fucking bad that Taeyong thought he might pass out.

He barely felt it when Johnny pressed the shirt against his wound again, his skin still crawling from the relentless burning of the alcohol. Johnny pressed it in hard, making sure that nothing else could leak it around it. He held his free hand up to the back of Taeyong’s neck, coercing him to rest his head on his shoulder in which Taeyong did almost immediately, still sobbing from the pain. Through all his hurt, Taeyong couldn’t help but wonder why the fuck it always had to be him being injured. First his dislocated shoulder and now this. Why was he so fucking unlucky? 

“Hey, you’re alright,” Johnny reassured him softly. “You did so well, Tae. You’re so good.”

And Taeyong had to admit that Johnny’s words were helping him to feel a bit better. He nodded against Johnny’s shoulder, closing his eyes and starting to focus on his breathing once again. Jesus Christ, this sucked. He hated this.

Taeyong isn’t sure how long the two of them had sat there for. The pain had started to subside a little but Johnny was still whispering softly to him, running a hand through his hair. Taeyong kind of hated how good Johnny was making him feel, how comforting his low voice was and how welcoming his hand rubbing through his sweat–dampened hair was. He knew that he shouldn’t have been allowing Johnny to do that but was too weak to push him away.

“Gotta find something to tape it up with,” Johnny muttered after awhile, gently pushing Taeyong’s head off of him. Taeyong sniffled quietly and watched him rummage around the messy car, not daring to look down at the mess of his wound.

Finally, Johnny sat up with a small thing of duct tape and an old rag. He doused a tiny bit of alcohol that was still collected in the dirty cap over the cloth and pulled the shirt away from Taeyong’s side, tossing it somewhere in the backseat.

“When’s your birthday?” Johnny randomly asked before tearing off a strip of the tape with his teeth. Taeyong let out a small laugh and shook his head, unsurprised with the fact that Johnny was trying to distract him with small talk while getting ready to hurt him again.

“July 1st, 2005,” Taeyong breathed out. Johnny made a small noise in the back of his throat.

“You really are young, aren’t you?” Johnny mumbled. If Taeyong had the energy, he would have told him to shut the fuck up.

Instead, he decided to ask, “When’s yours?”

 “February 9th, 1999,” Johnny answered. “Stay still for me, alright?”

Taeyong nodded, sucking in a sharp breath when Johnny pressed the cloth against his wound, the alcohol seeping in painfully. He closed his eyes as Johnny kept the cloth there and sealed it with the strip of duct tape. It definitely wasn’t the most practical or even safe way of doing it but Taeyong knew that they had no other choice.

“You know, you’ve got really big ears,” Johnny pointed out, attempting to distract Taeyong again. “Kind of like an elf’s.”

“Fuck off,” Taeyong mumbled, his eyes still closed. He knew he had big ears. It was why he had never dared to cut his hair short. His mother had always kept it close–cropped while he was growing up and he hated it with a fucking passion. All the kids at school would tease him for it and accuse him of being one of Santa’s lost elves.

“It’s cute,” Johnny continued, sitting back down on the console. He stared at Taeyong for a moment. “You okay?”

“No,” Taeyong said honestly. “But I’ll live.” He thought back to the men at the hotel and decide to reword what he had said. “I might live.”

He shifted a bit in his seat and winced again, unable to stop a small whine from slipping out. Johnny immediately noticed and was quick to speak up.

“Let’s talk to each other in English, yeah?” Johnny proposed and Taeyong glanced over at him, frowning.

“I’m not good at English,” Taeyong said, thinking back to him butting in to Ten and Johnny’s conversation back in Ulsan. “We should get going.”

“Have a full conversation with me in English first and we will,” Johnny said and Taeyong’s stare turned into a mean glare. He knew what Johnny was doing. Concentrating on a conversation would ultimately distract Taeyong from his pain until it died down a little. Still, he didn’t have the energy to argue with him about it. Taeyong figured that the faster he cooperated, the faster Johnny would be willing to go.

“Hi,” Taeyong started, thinking back to what he had learned in school. “I’m Taeyong Lee. I’m nineteen. I’m, um, Korean. Hello.”

“Hi, Taeyong,” Johnny responded easily. “I’m Johnny. How are you?”

“Good,” Taeyong said because this was something he knew, something he was comfortable with. “How are you?”

“I’ve been better,” Johnny answered, smiling a little. “It’s gonna get harder, alright?” Taeyong winced again before nodding. “So, Taeyong. What’s your favorite food?”

“Japchae,” Taeyong said slowly. He shivered a bit, glancing out the window. “I’m cold.”

“English,” Johnny reminded softly and Taeyong had to swallow down the urge to roll his eyes.

“Cold,” Taeyong repeated. “Me. I’m cold.”

Johnny nodded before pulling back, peeling his sweatshirt off and over his head. Taeyong went to take it from him but Johnny moved away before he could, gesturing for him to hold his arms out in front of him. Taeyong cried out quietly as he did and Johnny was fast in shushing him, slipping the sweatshirt on as quickly as possible.

“Better?” Johnny asked once they were finished and Taeyong nodded. “How come you don’t know how to drive?”

His hesitancy let Taeyong know that Johnny wanted an answer in English. “This is stupid,” he muttered and Johnny immediately tutted at him, causing him to actually roll his eyes this time around. “Stupid,” Taeyong said louder in English and Johnny chuckled, shaking his head. He had to think about it for a long while before being able to respond. “Driving is hard. I live in city and take bus a lot. Don’t need driving.”

“Well, you kind of need driving now, don’t you?” Johnny pointed out. Taeyong only snorted in response, closing his eyes again. “You know, you’re really strong, Taeyong.”

Taeyong blinked over at Johnny, frowning a little. He hadn’t been expecting for Johnny to say something like that. He was pretty sure that no one had ever said that to him before. Seongwoo liked to imply it but had never downright said it. His mother definitely hadn’t.

“Why are you being weird?” Taeyong mumbled, laughing a little.

“I’m not,” Johnny defended. “I mean, think about it. You’ve been on the run for like, what, a month now? You’ve gone through the stress of that and being mated. Plus, you’ve gotten shot and your shoulder dislocated. You’re pretty fucking sick, Yong.”

Taeyong had never thought about it like that. Everything just was for him. He endured shit because he had to, not because he wanted to. It wasn’t like he could choose not to go through the shit he had and shying away from it would only hurt himself in the end. It had been the norm for him his entire life and would probably stay that way for the rest of the time he had left on this planet.

“I think you should start driving again,” Taeyong said, reverting back to Korean. Johnny stared at him for a moment longer before finally nodding, pushing himself up from the console.

“Tell me if it starts hurting again, okay?” Johnny asked and Taeyong nodded slowly even though it still did hurt.

It was quiet while they drove. Taeyong was pretty sure that Johnny wasn’t talking solely because he didn’t want to get in the way of his rest. He appreciated it. Ever since he had stumbled upon him and Yukhei, Johnny had been being surprisingly helpful. If it weren’t for him, Taeyong would definitely be in a much worse situation that he was now.

He ended up falling asleep again. Taeyong isn’t sure how considering how much he had slept at the motel but maybe it was because of his deep–settled exhaustion. He isn’t quite sure if he trusted Johnny to keep them safe from those psychopaths not too far behind them but his body forced the thought to the back of his mind, letting him slip into a state of unconsciousness.

When Taeyong woke back up, the car wasn’t moving. His brain immediately told him that he was in danger and his head snapped to look over to where he had last seen Johnny, only to find him gone. He sat up quickly but was forced back down by a sharp pain in his side, hissing loudly through his teeth.

“Shit, Yong?” Johnny’s voice sounded distant. Soon, Taeyong heard his door crack open. He looked up to see Johnny standing there before looking past him. They were stopped at a pharmacy. “Are you okay?”

“Why would you stop?” Taeyong groaned, twisting around in his seat with another pained noise. The stabbing in his side definitely had only grown more apparent.

“Because of that,” Johnny muttered, reaching behind him to hand Taeyong a baseball cap and a black mask. Taeyong hadn’t even known that Johnny still had them. “If we don’t get something for it then it’ll get infected and you could die. We need to get something more than a fucking washcloth and old duct tape.”

Taeyong wanted to argue but couldn’t. He nodded and slipped the cap over his head, letting Johnny help him with putting the mask on over his mouth. He noticed after a moment that Johnny had on his beanie from earlier and had a mask of his own tucked underneath his chin. 

“Arms around my neck, yeah?” Johnny said and Taeyong did so, allowing Johnny to help him out of the car, placing him down in the dirt as gently as possible. Another almost unbearable pain struck up Taeyong’s side and he had to grit his teeth together to stop a soft whine from leaving him.

“W–Where are we?” Taeyong asked quietly.

“Jinju,” Johnny answered, snaking an arm around Taeyong’s shoulder. “We’ll be in and out.”

With their luck so far, Taeyong severely doubted that but one glance at his startlingly pale reflection in the window of Yukhei’s truck and Taeyong knew that he needed something or else he would ultimately be in the exact same situation as Yukhei. Johnny slowly and carefully led him into the store and Taeyong did his best not to flinch at the small chime that signaled their entrance to whoever was working.

“Hello,” a bored voice said from not too far away. Taeyong looked up to see a boy who looked a little younger than him sitting behind the counter. Good. Someone like him was a lot less likely to go out of his way to report the two of them to the police.

“Hi,” Johnny responded happily before turning both him and Taeyong off into an aisle far away from him.

Taeyong watched as Johnny sorted through boxes of gauze and bandages, searching for the right one. He would look around every so often, noticing a small camera above their heads to the right. He turned his back towards it, ducking his head down. This whole thing made him nervous. The two of them shouldn’t have been anywhere in public. It was almost like they were asking to be caught.

“Can you hurry up?” Taeyong asked quietly, glancing back up at the register. The boy behind it definitely wasn’t paying either of them any mind and was more focused on the textbook in front of him but Taeyong was starting to feel extremely anxious. They needed to get out of here as quickly as possible.

Johnny didn’t say anything for awhile. Then, right as Taeyong was going to ask him to get a move on once again, he stood up with a bottle of alcohol, a couple of packages of gauze and bandages and some pain medication. Taeyong flinched at the sight of the alcohol, not particularly ready to go through the searing pain of it flowing over his wound once again. He swallowed hard and blinked up at Johnny. 

“Come on,” Taeyong mumbled, making his way towards the register. Johnny went and tried to help him but Taeyong quickly shook him off. He didn’t need help. He could make it there by himself. 

“Aish, is it already starting to get cold outside already?” the boy behind the register asked as Johnny sat down everything in front of him on the counter. The confusion must be apparent on both his and Johnny’s faces because the boy was tapping the top of his head and saying, “Your caps.”

“Oh,” Johnny said, letting out a nervous laugh as he nodded. The boy chuckled too, having begun to scan all of the items Johnny had placed down. “Probably not. We just get cold really easily.”

“Fair enough,” the boy responded. “It’s 12,700 won.”

Johnny nodded and pulled out his wallet while the boy started to put everything in a bag. He handed the bill over to him and the boy accepted it with a small smile and a respectful bow. “I don’t need the change,” Johnny said and the employee hesitated a short moment before nodding. “You mind if I borrow the key to the bathroom?”

“Yeah, of course,” the boy said, reaching underneath the register to pull out a rusted loop of metal in which he immediately handed over to Johnny. 

“Thanks,” Johnny muttered before turning to Taeyong. “Come on.”

Taeyong had to resist the urge to look back at the boy behind the register at least six different times on their way to the bathroom. What if he had realized who they were? During his entire interaction with Johnny, it hadn’t seemed like he had any sort of life–changing realization but what if he had been hiding it? What if he was planning on phoning up the police the second that he heard the door to the bathroom click shut?

“Calm down,” Johnny said to him, having picked up on how anxious Taeyong was. “It’s fine.”

“Just hurry up,” Taeyong mumbled in response as Johnny pushed the door to the bathroom open. 

The bathroom was small. It wasn’t as dirty as the convenience store back in Gimhae which Taeyong was grateful for. Johnny made sure to lock the door behind him which ultimately led Taeyong to think that a locked door wouldn’t stop both the police and Matthew and his men from bursting in at any given moment but he kept that thought to himself, swallowing it down. 

Johnny helped him up onto the sink and Taeyong couldn’t stop himself from being reminded of how Johnny had forced him up onto the sink back in Gimhae when he had went and ruined his hair probably for life. He chuckled a little at the thought of it. Johnny glanced up at him and raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask, motioning for Taeyong to lift his arms above his head so he could slip his sweatshirt off. 

“Fuck,” Taeyong hissed under his breath at the pain that struck him with the simple motion. Johnny didn’t even try to hide the worry on his face. Taeyong wondered why he seemed so concerned about him. 

Peeling the washcloth off from his side hurt more than Taeyong had been expecting it to. The rough fabric had stuck to his wound and required a bit of force to get it away from his skin. Johnny talked him through it the entire time, never failing to remind him how well he was doing and how it would all be over soon. It was almost strange how good he was at doing it. Taeyong wondered if shit like this happened to him often. He wouldn’t be surprised if it actually did. 

The alcohol hurt just as bad as it had last time and Taeyong literally could have cried. He actually did, muffling the noises into Johnny’s chest. This fucking sucked. Why the fuck did they have to shoot him? Jesus, Taeyong knew that he had fuckeed over a lot of people but to the point where they wanted to kill him? He wasn’t trying to undermine what he had done but it was just money. It was almost disgusting what people would do for it. Then again, money had been his main objective for a long while. He didn’t really have the right to criticize people for their unhealthy obsessions when he had one of his own.

“I hate him too,” Johnny chuckled quietly. “You’re almost finished, okay?”

“I’m gonna kill him,” Taeyong vowed angrily because honestly fuck Johnny’s brother. Why couldn’t he have just cut his losses and moved on like everyone else had? What a fucking piece of shit. 

“I think we just narrowly avoided you killing someone, didn’t we?” Johnny pointed out. 

“Shut the fuck up,” Taeyong murmured, wincing when Johnny dabbed at his side away. “I’m really starting to hate you too.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Johnny apologized, finally pulling away which Taeyong couldn’t have been more grateful for. He went to tear open the box of pain medication while Taeyong turned around to observe his wound in the mirror, his stomach dropping at the sight of it. The skin around it had started to bruise in a mixture of gross purples, blues and yellows. “Here,” Johnny’s voice turned him away from the gruesome reflection. Taeyong looked up to see Johnny holding up an opened bottle of water and two pills in the palm of his hand. He immediately accepted it, desperate for some kind of relief.

The pills were dry and chalky sliding down his throat, even while being accompanied with the lukewarm bottle of water. While he was swallowing, Johnny opened a bandage and another thing of gauze. Taeyong braced himself for another round of unbearable pressure right as Johnny went and held the soft gauze over his wound, quickly taping the bandage over it. 

“There,” Johnny said, stepping back. “Feel better?”

It did. The difference was barely there but Taeyong still noticed it. Having actual gauze and bandages felt a lot better than an old, dirty washcloth that would have undoubtedly caused a horrible infection had it stayed on him a moment longer. He nodded and took another long swig of the water before leaning his head back against the mirror behind him. 

“Jesus,” Taeyong murmured softly. “This fucking sucks.”

“It’ll feel better when the pills kick in,” Johnny reassured him carefully. Taeyong hoped that they kicked in real fucking soon. 

It was silent for a little while. Taeyong kept his eyes closed and counted to himself from one to twenty back down from twenty to one until the medicine finally kicked in. He didn’t know what Johnny was doing but figured that it couldn’t have been much considering that he didn’t hear anything other than the cool pacing of Johnny’s footsteps going back and forth in front of him. 

“You alright?” Johnny asked finally. 

“Please stop talking to me,” Taeyong muttered in response because he really didn’t have the energy for this. 

“Okay,” Johnny said. Another couple of minutes passed by. Then, “Can we kiss again?”

Taeyong immediately opened his eyes at that and frowned at Johnny, making a small face. What? Why the fuck was Johnny asking him that? Why was Johnny asking him that like he wasn’t currently sitting on top of a sink in a pharmacy bathroom without a shirt on, skin pale because of the fact that he had recently gotten shot? It was such a weird thing to say.

“What?” Taeyong said because he genuinely didn’t understand what Johnny was asking him. He kind of did understand but didn’t know why Johnny had chosen that moment in particular to ask for a fucking kiss. 

“Can we kiss again?” Johnny repeated. “You kissed me. Back at the motel. You kissed me.”

Taeyong thought back to their embrace at the motel. He admittedly didn’t know why he had done that. It might have been the alcohol in his system. It also might have been because he had simply wanted to. Either way, with the medicine finally settling into his veins, Taeyong could think a little more straight than he had been over the past couple of hours.

“Are you twelve?” Taeyong asked, still frowning. Johnny looked a little taken aback by his response. 

“No, I,” Johnny stopped to clear his throat. “I mean, dude.”

“I only kissed you because I was drunk,” Taeyong muttered, closing his eyes again. “Don’t get the wrong idea.” 

He knew that was mean. He did. But what would be the point of him saying that he had kissed Johnny because he had wanted to when they would either be captured by the police or Matthew and separated that way or make it to Japan and separate there? That would be dumb. Taeyong wasn’t dumb. 

“You had, like, three sips of it,” Johnny pointed out with a small frown. “You couldn’t have been drunk.”

That irritated Taeyong. It irritated him that Johnny was able to see right through him and call his bluff so easily when he didn’t even fully know himself whether or not it was bluff. Why did Johnny care so much? Hadn’t he been the one to say that he would settle down by himself in shitty Shimoda? He was so frustratingly confusing. 

“I was,” Taeyong snapped almost immediately, defensive. 

“You weren’t,” Johnny said, shaking his head. “Come on, Tae. If you want to say that it was a mistake then say it was a mistake but don’t give me some bullshit lie about it.”

“I’m literally shot and you’re worried about me fucking kissing you last night?” Taeyong hissed. “Do you not see a problem with that?”

“I just want to know what’s going on, Taeyong!” Johnny exclaimed, although sure to keep his voice down enough to where the boy working the register wouldn’t overhear and start to worry. “Either we’re together or we’re not but you can’t just keep stringing me along because you feel bad for me or because you feel like it!”

Taeyong genuinely couldn’t believe that Johnny was doing this right now. He almost wondered for a moment if this was some sort of fever dream because there was absolutely no way that Johnny was starting up an argument with him about a fucking kiss right here in a fucking pharmacy bathroom. It was so stupid. Not only that but it was inappropriate. They had just gotten shot at and were very actively on the run from people either trying to kill or arrest them and Johnny was worried about a kiss. How childish was he?

“Please stop,” Taeyong muttered. “I don’t fucking feel like doing this right now, Johnny.”

“We need to talk about it,” Johnny said flatly in response. 

“No, we don’t,” Taeyong snapped. Why couldn’t Johnny drop it? Why was it so hard for him to let go of the smallest shit? It had just been a kiss. That was all it was. 

“You can’t just kiss someone and then be mean to them,” Johnny muttered quietly. “It’s confusing, okay?” 

“Johnny,” Taeyong said. “I am in agonizing pain. I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

“I just think —,” Johnny started and Taeyong genuinely couldn’t fucking take it anymore. Despite the pain still running up through his spine although considerably dulled now, Taeyong pushed himself up from the sink and bent down to snatch his—read: Johnny’s —sweatshirt from off the floor. He slipped it over his head and yanked his mask back up over his mouth before starting to make his way towards the door. “Taeyong,” Johnny called from behind him. Taeyong could hear him picking up all of their things scattered across the bathroom floor as he kept on, a bit of a limp in his walk which he hoped would eventually go away. He ignored him. 

Johnny caught up with him pretty quickly. The boy behind the counter bid them farewell which was disregarded by the both of them. Taeyong had only barely made it outside when Johnny finally pulled at his arm, efficiently stopping him. He whirled around and scoffed up at Johnny before snatching his arm away. 

“Don’t fucking touch me,” Taeyong seethed and Johnny shook his head.

“I just want to talk to you, Taeyong,” Johnny said in an almost pathetic, begging voice. He hesitated for a moment. “Is it because you’re still mad about me mating you?”

“Are you fucking serious?” Taeyong asked because he couldn’t believe that Johnny was managing to make this about himself. 

“I don’t know,” Johnny admitted but Taeyong could tell that he was getting a bit frustrated with the conversation.

“Not everything is about you , Johnny,” Taeyong hissed. 

“Oh, why, because it has to be about you?” Johnny snapped in response. He took a deep breath to calm himself down before shaking his head. “You can’t—Taeyong, you can’t keep doing this to me. It’s not fair.”

Taeyong really didn’t understand it. How was Johnny accusing him of not being fair when he was doing the exact same thing? What wasn’t fair was the fact that Taeyong was having a harder and harder time controlling his emotions because of Johnny. What wasn’t fair was the fact that Johnny was expecting him to immediately adapt to the idea of being with him all while not including him in any of his future plans. He wasn’t being confusing. Johnny was.

He opened his mouth to say this but something caught his attention. He glanced over to his right and noticed that the lot was completely empty. There wasn’t a car in sight. This wasn’t any different from how it had looked when him and Johnny had first climbed out of the car save for the fact that Yukhei’s truck was nowhere in sight.

Yukhei’s truck was nowhere in sight. Yukhei’s fucking truck was nowhere in sight.

“Where’s the truck?” Taeyong asked quietly, his heart beginning to race. This wasn’t good. It very obviously wasn’t good. 

Johnny frowned. “What?” he said.

“Where’s the fucking truck, Johnny?” Taeyong repeated, pointing over at the empty lot. Johnny looked in the direction of Taeyong’s thin finger, immediately very visibly deflating once he realized that Yukhei’s truck was gone. 

“Shit,” Johnny cursed, glancing nervously around the lot. “ Shit,” he repeated, shaking his head. “We gotta go.”

He quickly grabbed hold of Taeyong’s wrist and started to led him in the opposite direction. Taeyong was fucking terrified. There was no way that those men had caught up to them so easily. Was there? How long had it been? How long had he been asleep for? Maybe they had been waiting for them, waiting for them to stop so that they could strike and back them into a corner. Shit. What were they gonna do now? They couldn’t make it all the way to Busan without a car. They would be caught. Fuck. That was the least of their worries now. Where the fuck was the truck? Who had taken it? Were they nearby?

As it turned out, they wouldn’t have to wait too long for the answer to those last couple of questions. Almost as soon as Johnny pulled him around the back of the pharmacy, Taeyong noticed Yukhei’s truck parked on the other side. For a second, he wondered if it had all been a mistake. Could it have been as simple as both him and Johnny misplacing where they had parked the car? But, no. If it was that easy, Johnny wouldn’t have reacted the way he had. 

Johnny must see something because he was whirling back around, dragging Taeyong with him. Taeyong is starting to become a bit nauseous and was definitely terrified because Johnny was understanding something that he wasn’t and it was only making his anxiety even worse. What was happening? What was going to happen to the both of them?

“What the fuck is going on, Johnny?” Taeyong called and Johnny’s grip went even tighter around his wrist.

“We’re gonna run on three, okay?” Johnny only said in response and Taeyong shook his head because he genuinely didn’t know if his body could handle him running right now. He didn’t think that he was strong enough for it. 

“No, Johnny, wait—,” Taeyong tried, only to be interrupted by the sound of Johnny’s breathless voice. 

“One,” Johnny started and Taeyong shook his head harder, more frantically. 

“Johnny, I can’t,” Taeyong breathed.

“You can,” Johnny reassured him, walking back to the front of the store, already beginning to quicken his steps. Taeyong was struggling to keep up with him and despite the medicine he had taken, the pain in his side was slowly starting to return. “Two.”

“Johnny,” Taeyong whined, his eyes starting to tear up because he was fucking scared and really didn’t want Johnny to leave him behind because he couldn’t keep up. 

For some reason, Johnny never got to three. Taeyong sniffled and looked down, his sight blurry and his head dizzy. Johnny wasn’t in front of him anymore. His large hand wasn’t encircled around his wrist. Instead, Johnny was on the ground of the filthy parking lot, unmoving. 

Then, before Taeyong could look back up at the sound of the gravel crunching behind himself, his sight went black.

Chapter Text

Matthew Suh was the biggest asshole Taeyong had ever met.

He was so fucking full of himself. From the moment the two of them had bumped into each other, he had never once stopped talking about himself. How he liked to volunteer for people who had less than him—which was, like, more than half of the fucking population of Korea and probably the entire world considering that most weren’t billionaires. How he gave to charity whenever he could. How despite all of the rumors surrounding his company, it was really about helping out the common man.

Taeyong didn’t give a single fuck. He couldn’t have cared even if he wanted to. Matthew was an attractive dude but that was about all he had going for him despite the fact that he was loaded. Taeyong had been around a lot of less than desirable men during his career but Mathew? Well, he was a whole new breed. Taeyong had no idea that someone could be so utterly obsessed with themselves. It was crazy.

They had met at some fundraiser in Seoul. Taeyong didn’t know what it was for. Yuta had gotten him in through a friend of a friend and told him to stay safe, that this party was hosting more than a couple of people that were much darker than they seemed on the outside. Taeyong had shrugged and didn’t bother to respond to his message, leaning in his bathroom mirror to finish dabbing the chalky red eyeliner under his eye. People didn’t really appreciate when men wore makeup at events like these but Taeyong didn’t care. There would be some man that would catch sight of him and be interested by his glossy lips and charcoal–lined eyes and that was all that mattered in the end.

As it turned out, the man who was running the fundraiser happened to be that person. He approached Taeyong at the bar and asked him what he would like to drink. Taeyong didn’t immediately recognize him and thought he looked too young to be anyone of any importance but still smiled back at him and ordered a shot of gin. It wasn’t too far into their conversation that Taeyong realized this was the dude. This was the guy that Seongwoo had tried to base his entire career off of. This was one of the richest men in Korea at the moment. He grinned around the rim of the glass in his small hand, sitting up a bit straighter in his chair and cocking his head to the side as Matthew started to ramble on and on about what the fundraiser was about and what it all stood for. Suddenly, Taeyong was a lot more interested in what this man had to say.

Matthew incited Taeyong back to his place pretty quickly which Taeyong was grateful for. Only his place wasn’t actually his place and was actually his building a few blocks down from where the party was being held. Taeyong had to hold back a snort at this. What a fucking asshole. Who brought back some fling to their company building? The same asshole who didn’t think twice and courting the very obviously young boy who had absolutely no place at his ridiculously upscale fundraiser, Taeyong supposed.

“Don’t tell anyone about this, by the way,” Matthew had said as Taeyong stepped out of the car, blinking up at the massive building. A small part of him suddenly understood what Matthew had brought him there. The building was beautiful and impressive. If Taeyong cared more, he definitely would have been swooning at the sight of it.

“Why?” Taeyong asked, looking back at Matthew. “You don’t want to be Korea’s first openly gay entrepreneur?”

It had obviously been a joke but Matthew’s face immediately went sour. “I’m not gay,” he said defensively, shutting his door and locking it with the small remote in his hands. “Just curious.”

Jesus, Taeyong thought. Not only was this guy a prick but he was one that thought fucking men was some kind of a social experiment? He definitely wasn’t going to feel any remorse about sucking this man dry. Someone needed to bring him down from that disgustingly high horse he was on.

“Curious, huh?” Taeyong muttered, nodding his head. “Got it.

Matthew didn’t say anything in response to that. Taeyong didn’t need or want him to. They go inside the building where Matthew does a series of things to go about unlocking the impressively–secured palace. Taeyong looked around as he did so. The inside of the building really was pretty. There were glass paneling and sleek marble floors that clicked lightly with each step of Matthew’s expensive dress shoes. Taeyong looked down at his own worn Doc Martens. He really needed to invest in some better, more appropriate shoes. Maybe he would right after this whole ordeal with Matthew.

Once on the final floor of the building, Taeyong walked over to the empty receptionist’s desk and picked out a small cherry lollipop from the glass mug on the top of the sleek counter. He unwrapped it and walked back over to Matthew at the window where he stood, sticking the sugar stick into his mouth as he wrapped both of his thin arms around Matthew’s waist, propping his chin on Matthew’s broad shoulder. He smelled like the type of cologne that was only sold in fancy department stores in America.

The city below was beautiful. It was a little past midnight but the streets were still alive and booming. People walked to and fro, either by themselves or in crowds, on their way home or to some club where they would drink cheap soju sold to them for twice the price it was actually worth and post about it on their Instagram accounts. Taeyong took a moment to appreciate all of the lights and the life of downtown Seoul, clicking the lollipop around against his teeth.

“You’re pretty impressive, huh, hyung?” Taeyong asked, looking up at Matthew with a small smile.

Matthew hesitated a moment before pushing him away. He looked back at Taeyong, frowning a little. Taeyong only raised an eyebrow at him. “Where’d you get that from?” Matthew questioned. Taeyong took the lollipop out of his mouth and pointed over to the desk with the spit–soaked thing.

“Why?” Taeyong responded, popping the candy back into his mouth. “You don’t like cherry?”

Matthew blinked at Taeyong for a long moment. Then he shook his head. He pulled a slim remote from out of his pocket and pointed it at the door behind Taeyong, causing it to start sliding open slowly. 

“Go,” Matthew said shortly and Taeyong pulled at the stick, dragging the lollipop against his teeth. 

“Ominous,” Taeyong finally singsonged, turning around on the heel of his boot. He wasn’t being as stupid and friendly as he usually would because he knew that facade simply wouldn’t work on Matthew. While incredibly full of himself and vapid, Taeyong knew that Matthew was way too smart for that.

Taeyong stepped inside what he quickly realized was Matthew’s office, slipping off his blazer and setting it down on one of the velvet chairs across from his desk. He walked around and took in everything, silently searching for something he could use for later. A hint for a password. Some file left out in the open. Men with power were dumb like that. They were too obsessed with themselves to actually take any real precautions against potential danger—like an 18–year–old Omega strolling around their office with the eyesight of an eagle—apart from all of the expensive security features they had throughout their buildings and homes. Unfortunately for Taeyong, he couldn’t find anything.

He sat down in one of the chairs and picked up a frame sitting on the leftmost corner of Matthew’s desk. It was a picture of Matthew and an older man and woman who looked almost identical to him along with an extremely tall man with dark hair and a small frown on his face, a scar cutting down his lip. Taeyong’s gaze lingered on him a moment longer than anyone else before he was turning around, holding the frame up to Matthew who was still strolling around outside of his office.

“This your family?” Taeyong asked and Matthew looked over at him. For a moment, Taeyong thought Matthew might scold him for going through his things. He wasn’t particularly scared of being chastised, figuring that he would be able to move the both of them past it pretty easily. Fortunately, Matthew only looked at the picture for a moment longer before nodding slowly.

“Mom and Dad,” he answered from afar. “And my little brother.”

“Not very little, is he?” Taeyong commented offhandedly, looking at the picture for a little while longer before placing it back down on Matthew’s desk. “He an Alpha?”

“No,” Matthew said, shaking his head. “Nobody in my family is genetically.”

Taeyong clicked his tongue at that. He almost always preferred an Alpha over a regular human but knew humans were a lot safer, what with the threat of not being accidentally mated not there with them. He bit down on the lollipop and it crunched between his teeth, filling his mouth with the overwhelming taste of sugar.

“What’s his name?” Taeyong asked as Matthew started to make his way into the office. He didn’t flinch as Matthew approached him, bracing both of his hands on either side of the chair, caging Taeyong in. Taeyong smirked up at him, waiting patiently for an answer.

“I don’t talk about my family with people I barely know,” Matthew finally said and Taeyong is unable to stop himself from snorting as Matthew went to pull away. He watched Matthew shrug off his blazer and fold it neatly, placing it on top of Taeyong’s own in the chair across from him.

“Yeah?” Taeyong challenged and Matthew nodded in response. “So what do you talk about with people you barely know?”

“What kind of wine they prefer,” Matthew said and Taeyong laughed, biting down on the slowly dissolving paper stock in his mouth.

“I’m not picky,” Taeyong shrugged and Matthew smiled at him before leaving the room completely, leaving Taeyong by himself in the massive space.

As soon as Matthew’s footsteps had died down enough to where Taeyong knew he wasn’t anywhere close, he hopped up from his chair and immediately started to rummage around the room. He opened drawers and looked through files, cursing quietly underneath his breath when he found nothing that would benefit him. He glanced back at the entryway Matthew had disappeared through before walking back over to the chair Matthew had dropped his blazer in, starting to go through each and every intricate little pocket. Taeyong found a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. He also found a condom. He was about to give up and figure it out later when the remote Matthew had been holding caught his attention. He pulled it out and rolled it around in his hands a couple of times before hearing a small clicking noise with each pivot.

“What the fuck?” Taeyong mumbled, pushing some of his hair behind his ear before shaking the remote in his hand. The noise became louder. He heard something shut from wherever Matthew was and decided to move a bit quicker, snatching open the remote.

There was a small card inside. It wasn’t exactly small but didn’t particularly resemble a regular bank card. Taeyong quickly realized that this was one of Matthew’s company’s card. There probably wasn’t any sort of a limit on this, especially if it personally belonged to Matthew. Taeyong smirked before snatching out his phone, unlocking it and quickly pulling up the messaging app. He started a new thread and punched in every number of the card before sending it to himself. He then took a picture of both the front and back of the car and sent that to himself too.

He heard Matthew on his way back right as the message went through with a small chime. Taeyong cursed again and swiftly pushed the remote back together, shuffling back over to the chair and slipping it back into the pocket of Matthew’s grossly expensive blazer. He turned around with a smile right as Matthew came back in holding two glasses of white wine in either hand.

“What you got your phone out for?” Matthew asked, gesturing to the device in Taeyong’s hand with a nudge of his chin. Taeyong looked down at it and shrugged as casually as he possibly could, holding it up for Matthew to see.

“Just scrolling through Instagram,” Taeyong lied easily. “Got bored.”

“Yeah?” Matthew said, walking over to hand Taeyong the glass of wine. Taeyong accepted it and immediately took a small sip.

“Yeah,” Taeyong confirmed, smiling a bit. “Don’t believe me?”

“I do,” Matthew responded, smiling back. He placed a finger on the bottom of Taeyong’s glass and tipped it up against Taeyong’s lips. “Drink up.”

And Taeyong did.

Taeyong woke up with a massive headache. He opened his eyes and immediately groaned at the bright light that only worsened his migraine. A deep, dull pain had settled in his side as well. He looked around to see that he was in some old diner. There was a menu in front of him titled BUSAN WEEKLY DINER. What the fuck? How had they gotten to Busan?

Then it hit him. Him getting shot back in Gimhae. His and Johnny’s argument inside the pharmacy. Johnny grabbing hold of his wrist and urging him to run because of the obvious danger they were in. Johnny suddenly collapsing to the ground followed by that sharp collision to the back of his head. He reached a hand up to feel at the spot that had been struck and immediately winced, drawing his fingers back quickly with the pain that had blossomed with the simple graze of his fingers. He looked down at his hand. His fingers were stained with blood.

Johnny was nowhere in sight. As a matter of fact, there wasn’t anyone nearby. Taeyong was completely  by himself. He looked out the window beside him at the nature being blown carefully by the outside wind. They were clearly in the middle of nowhere. This was definitely bad. 

“Hey!” Taeyong called out, moving to stand up from the booth he was in. He immediately stopped at the sound of a gun clicking back in warning and turned around to see none other than Matthew standing there, an eyebrow raised as he pointed the pistol straight at Taeyong. Taeyong slowly sat back down, listening to Matthew’s shoes click against the linoleum floors of the restaurant. 

It went quiet for a moment. Taeyong glared up at Matthew as he stepped in front of him, the gun still aimed directly at his forehead. Nice. He was really gonna die at the hands of this asshole.

“No way you looked all over fucking Korea just to shoot me,” Taeyong mumbled. “That seems a little boring.”

“You really think it’s the best idea for you to have a smart mouth with a gun pointed at your head?” Matthew questioned in response.

Taeyong knew he probably shouldn’t be saying anything. He definitely shouldn’t be saying anything. He just didn’t care. Him being submissive and doing all that Matthew wanted him to do wasn’t going to change anything for him. Matthew wasn’t suddenly going to be inclined to let him go if he stopped being smart with him. What would be the point?

“I’m not gonna beg if that’s what you want,” Taeyong muttered quietly. “You might as well shoot me right now.”

Maybe part of Taeyong wanted to die. That sounded morbid. But sitting here in front of Matthew who had a gun pointed at him, Taeyong really didn’t care anymore. Johnny wasn’t with him. The police were after him meaning that even if he survived this, he would probably only end up arrested where the police would undoubtedly link what happened to Yukhei to him and put him away for life. Everyone left. It didn’t matter. It might have been these past couple of days getting to him. All the stress and panic and anxiety. Taeyong didn’t know. He was exhausted though. He just wanted it all to end and whether it ended with him alive and in prison or dead by the hands of Matthew, Taeyong just didn’t care. He didn’t fucking care anymore.

Matthew smirked a little before lowering the gun. Then, surprisingly enough, he bent down and placed it in Taeyong’s lap. Taeyong blinked at the pistol and frowned but didn’t dare pick it up. This had to be some kind of a trap. He wasn’t going to touch it.

Something caught his attention on his left. When Taeyong turned, he noticed the door to the kitchen moving gently, like someone had touched it. He didn’t look at it for too long, ultimately turning his attention back to Matthew who had sat down on the countertop across from him.

“Where’s Johnny?” Taeyong decided to ask.

“You know,” Matthew started in a way that let Taeyong know almost immediately that he wasn’t going to get the answer to his question, “I did think it was really weird how interested you seemed in my brother that night we were together.” 

And for the first time since it had happened, Taeyong thought back to that night. It was blurry. He didn’t keep hold of the memories of the men he spent time with for the sole reason that he didn’t care about them when it had nothing to do with their money. Still, a small part of him could remember the framed picture on Matthew’s desk. It was weird to think about. Had him picking up that frame been some strange foreshadowing to how his life would end up only some months later?

“I definitely wasn’t interested in you,” Taeyong said in response, growing a bit anxious because where was Johnny? What had Matthew brought him here, to Busan? What was this about? “Where’s Johnny?”

“It’s kind of cute how worried you seem to be about him,” Matthew said, cocking his head to the side. He looked so childish sitting up there on that counter, swinging his legs back and forth like he hadn’t just kidnapped someone. “You two actually suit each other.”

“ Where is Johnny?” Taeyong repeated for the third time because he literally didn’t give a single shit about Matthew or what he had to say about him.

“Gone,” Matthew finally answered. “He’s gone, Taeyong.”

Taeyong’s stomach dropped. Gone? What the fuck did that mean? Gone like Johnny had left him by himself? Gone like Matthew had done something to Johnny? Gone like Matthew had turned Johnny into the police and he was currently being detained in some filthy cell? Either way, it didn’t sound good. Taeyong didn’t want Johnny to be somewhere nearby suffering but for him to be gone? That was bad. What had happened to him? What had Matthew done to him? Or maybe Taeyong should have been asking: what had Johnny done to him?

“Jesus, look at your face!” Matthew laughed, causing Taeyong to flinch with the sheer volume of his voice. 

“Fuck you,” Taeyong immediately spat. “What the fuck did you do to Johnny?”

“Nothing that he didn’t ask for,” Matthew said, still smiling.

Taeyong felt like he could vomit. He still didn’t know what that meant. Had Johnny really left him on his own in the hands of his brother? He couldn’t have. Then again, why wouldn’t he have? What had Taeyong ever done for him other than get him into trouble that he ultimately would never be able to get himself out of and be mean? Taeyong would have left if he was Johnny. What if Matthew had let him go as long as he gave him up? That would be a good deal. Johnny could escape and get rid of him all in one go.

Jesus. Jesus. Taeyong could fucking cry. What was wrong with him? He deserved this. He fucking deserved this.

“Well,” Taeyong said, doing his best to regain his composure. He wasn’t going to let Matthew see him be visibly bothered by Johnny’s sudden disappearance. That would only give him control over him. That was the last thing Taeyong wanted. “You got me. What’s next?”

“I think that the one thing I wanna know,” Matthew started, pushing himself off of the counter and walking over to Taeyong. He stopped right in front of him and pushed his hands into the pocket of his slacks, giving Taeyong a quick once–over, “is what you did with my money.”

Taeyong paused. What he had done with Matthew’s money? What else would he have done with it. He had fucking spent it. On clothes, on his grossly expensive apartment in Seoul, on his previous lifestyle as a whole. He still had some of it tucked away somewhere but the amount left over wasn’t even close to the amount he had stolen from Matthew. Matthew’s money was gone. Of course it was gone. After all, it had been stolen by a money–hungry 18–year–old. 

“It’s fine,” Matthew said, interrupting Taeyong before he could even think of what to say in response. “I know you probably spent it on something stupid that won’t matter come a year from now.”

Taeyong eyed the gun in his lap. There had to be a reason why Matthew had given it to him. Then again, what if there wasn’t? What if Matthew was trying to test his strength? Should he pick it up? No, Taeyong ended up deciding. Even if there was anything inside the gun and Matthew was foolish enough to give him a loaded weapon, there was no way Taeyong would be able to get out that simple. There had to be something to it that he hadn’t realized yet.

“You know, Taeyong, I’m not mad about the money,” Matthew continued, slipping into the seat across from him. The movement was so quick and sudden that Taeyong’s fingers wrapped around the gun in his lap out of pure instinct. Matthew peered over at him and laughed a little. There couldn’t have been anything in the gun. There wasn’t anything in there that could harm him and Matthew knew it. “Money is easily replaceable.”

“Well, you have to be mad about something, don’t you?” Taeyong said dryly, still holding onto the gun under the table. “Wouldn’t be here if you weren’t.”

“You got me there,” Matthew nodded, laughing quietly. He really looked a lot like Johnny. Taeyong didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed it before. Matthew was clearly older and a bit more distinguished than Johnny with shorter hair and darker skin but they were almost exact copies of each other.  “I’ll admit that I was pretty upset once I found out what you had done,” Matthew said, shrugging. “I mean, I’m a pretty smart guy and you’re clearly nothing beyond your look but I had a stressful week and you caught me at a bad time and that was on me. I’ll take responsibility for that.”

“Fuck you,” Taeyong hissed. Who the fuck did Matthew think he was trying to imply that he was anything less than?

“I wasn’t even gonna go to the police,” Matthew said, completely ignoring Taeyong. “You had taken a lot but I’m a fucking billionaire. It’s not like you had put any kind of a dent in my legacy, Taeyong. But then that guy—ah, what’s his name? Kim Byungsoo or something like that. Well, he came forward and the police in Seoul are so fucking nosy. They had recently gotten a lot of backlash from the public after some journalist exposed them for closing a murder case without having any real evidence on the man they had fingered for it. They needed to prove themselves.” Matthew paused and looked at Taeyong a bit closer, raising an eyebrow. “Bet you didn’t know that, did you?”

No, Taeyong didn’t know that. Why would he have? He was fresh out of high school with a boyfriend who loved him living a life that most people his age and even beyond could only dream of. He simply didn’t care enough to pay attention to anything like that. Nonetheless, he kept his mouth shut. There was no point in him responding to anything Matthew had to say to him. 

“Of course you didn’t,” Matthew snorted lowly, shaking his head. “Well, the police in Seoul had something to prove. I don’t know how the fuck they found out but they did and suddenly I was being named as one of the people who had gotten played by some fucking Omega. You made me into a victim, Taeyong. Except people didn’t feel sorry for me. They were disgusted. Doing business with a gay man? Most people wouldn’t be caught fucking dead.” 

Matthew threw a pack of sugar at that, causing Taeyong to flinch a little. He smirked a bit but didn’t mention Taeyong’s obvious nervousness of him, nor how he had visibly tensed up.

“People started to pull out of deals with me and my company,” Matthew proceeded, picking up another small packet of Stevia and opening it. He poured it out onto the table and started to play with it, spreading the white crystals to and fro. Taeyong glanced over at the kitchen door again. “My stocks went down. People all over the country—most of which I had never even met— started to come forward and say that I had messed around with them too. A month after everything had leaked and I was dragged down from one of the most respected men in all of South Korea and the fucking world to some pervert. Whether you meant to or not, Taeyong, your little stunt really fucking ruined the career that I spent years building.”

“Sucks,” Taeyong muttered quietly. “Maybe if you didn’t fuck underaged boys you wouldn’t be here.” 

Matthew snorted a little and pushed himself up from his seat. He ran a hand through his hair and walked behind Taeyong, slipping the same hand under Taeyong’s chin. He forced Taeyong to look up and smiled down at him. Taeyong knew that he should have been scared but he wasn’t. Fuck Matthew. He wasn’t going to get any sort of reaction out of him. Not one that he wanted.

Taeyong gasped a little when Matthew’s grip suddenly went impossibly tight on his face, metal rings digging hard into his skin. He tried to pull away but Matthew was stronger, fingers pressing even further into each of Taeyong’s full cheeks.

“You’ve got a real smart mouth, Taeyong,” Matthew hissed, showing real anger for the first time Taeyong had seen him. “I’m getting fucking sick of it.”

“I’m not scared of you,” Taeyong muttered, his voice muffled due to Matthew’s fingers on either side of his face.

“You should be,” Matthew said darkly, staring down at Taeyong for only a moment longer before letting go of him completely. Taeyong jerked away from him as soon as his hands were gone, disgusted by the feeling of Matthew touching him.

Then, without warning, Matthew was reaching down into his lap and snatching the gun. He didn’t hesitate before aiming it at the window behind Taeyong and pulling the trigger, causing the glass to immediately shatter with the searing hot bullet that went crashing through it. Taeyong put his hands over his head and ducked down as he heard the gun click back again. Not too long after, the burning pistol was being pressed against his scalp. He could feel it pushing hard into his skin, the heat emitting from the weapon scalding him. He didn’t dare look up.

“Knew you wouldn’t do it,” came Matthew’s voice from above him.

Taeyong didn’t respond. He couldn’t bring himself to. After only a couple more beats of silence, Matthew was pulling the pistol away from his head and pushing it into the pocket of his pants. Taeyong looked up once sure that the weapon was away, his entire body shaky with how badly hearing that gunshot tear through the glass behind him had gotten to him.

“You want some food?” Matthew asked, clearing his throat a little. “There’s some pie in the back.” Taeyong still didn’t say anything. He only blinked back at Matthew, his breathing coming out all shudders and uneven. “Cherry, right? I remember you said you liked that.” More silence. “Alright. Don’t move.”

Then, Matthew was gone. Taeyong was alone in the room. He turned and looked out what was left of the window behind him, inhaling the fresh air streaming in from outside. He really was in the middle of nowhere and by himself. Completely alone with Johnny absolutely nowhere in sight.

What the fuck was he going to do now?

Matthew had forced him to go to this stupid fucking fundraiser. He said that it was a requirement for all employees to be in attendance and borderline threatened him about what would happen if he didn’t go. Johnny had only glared at him in response but knew that him not going wasn’t an option. He wasn’t going to risk going to prison over a fundraiser.

He was standing there pushed off to the side of the room, slowly sipping a glass of wine that was definitely ridiculously expensive if the taste was anything to go by. The way the fundraiser worked was that people auctioned off things that absolutely weren’t worth the price advertised and the money spent would be sent to a charity based in Seoul to help leukemia. Johnny’s monthly income wasn’t even close to being able to afford anything they had available which led to him wondering why Matthew had brought him there in the first place, this thought only deepening once he realized he hadn’t seen a single coworker.

He sighed and took another sip of the wine, downing the rest of it in one last go. He hated this, hated this stupid fucking suit he was in and how his hair had been slicked back and how uptight and privileged everyone in the room was. Back in the day, him and Matthew would have laughed at people like this. Now Matthew was forcing him to fraternize with them. What bullshit.

“Oh, hyung,” Johnny heard from the other side of him, causing him to turn around to see one of his coworkers, Sicheng, standing there. Johnny forced a small smile. “What are you doing here?”

I was fucking forced by my psychopath brother, Johnny thought to himself. “I guess I just love to rich people have bidding wars over insignificant shit,” Johnny answered and Sicheng laughed a little. He liked Sicheng ever since he had gotten rehired at a top position in Matthew’s company, people weren’t exactly subtle about their loathing for Johnny, feeling as though he didn’t deserve his spot after what he had done. Sicheng never seemed to care about that though. For awhile, Johnny wondered if Sicheng just didn’t know. After all, he was some transfer from China. It didn’t take him long, however, to realize that Sicheng simply didn’t care.

“Matthew isn’t even paying attention anymore,” Sicheng sighed, leaning up against the wall Johnny was on. He had a bottle of water in his grasp, leading Johnny to wonder why he wasn’t drinking. Hell, the only reason why he hadn’t perished of boredom himself was due to the endless alcohol the bar was pumping out.

“I haven’t seen him all night,” Johnny confessed with a shrug.

“He’s over there,” Sicheng pointed and Johnny leaned up to see over Sicheng to the bar. As it turned out, Matthew was standing with his hand braced on the marble countertop, talking to someone on the other side of him.

Johnny snorted quietly at the sight of him. Matthew had forced him to come to this stupid event and wasn’t even paying attention himself. He watched him for a moment, watched as he laughed at something the boy in front of him said and moved a bit closer. Johnny knew more than anyone Matthew’s struggle with his sexuality but had always kept quiet in respect for his older brother and hope that he would one day come to terms with it himself. This being said, it was weird seeing him talk so openly with a man in a very public event.

He stepped a bit out to get a closer look at the boy Matthew was talking to and honestly? Johnny was impressed. Even from as far away as he was, he could see how pretty the kid was. He was very obviously younger than Matthew and probably everyone at the fundraiser with the softest brown bangs that fell into his large eyes and a small mouth that would smile gently at what Matthew was saying every so often and would suck the straw of his drink inside to take a sip. He had on this red suit that looked a lot more chic than formal and a pair of combat boots that had definitely seen better days.

“Who’s that?” Johnny asked Sicheng and Sicheng only shrugged, taking a sip of his water.

“No clue,” Sicheng muttered. “He’s an Omega though.”

“Right,” Johnny nodded. “Forgot you were an Omega.”

“It’s both a blessing and a curse,” Sicheng sighed, shaking his head. “Mostly a curse.”

Johnny didn’t say anything after that. He watched as Matthew and the boy got up and walked away from the bar, disappearing around a nearby corner. He looked around to see if anyone else had noticed but it seemed that only him and Sicheng had saw everything that had happened. Of fucking course. Johnny swore that Matthew had to be the luckiest bastard in the entire world.

“I’m getting another drink,” Johnny mumbled, pushing himself from the wall. He didn’t wait for Sicheng’s response before making his way towards the bar, a gin and Coke already in mind.

Johnny woke up on concrete. The air was thick and warm and there was a dull throbbing sensation in the back of his skull, harsh and relentless. He pushed himself up and looked around. There were trees as far as the eye could see and a small building a couple of feet to his left and Yukhei’s truck and—.

Yukhei’s truck.

Johnny’s heart immediately sped up at the thought of what had happened. Him and Taeyong arguing. Yukhei’s truck being gone. What he had seen around that corner and that harsh smack to the back of his head. Looking around, he definitely wasn’t still in the lot of the pharmacy. It was now nighttime, leading him to believe that he had been out for more than a few hours. 

Where was Taeyong? Where was he? Why had Matthew just left him there instead of finishing him off like he had promised to? It didn’t make sense. There was no one with him outside, no one there to guard him and make sure he didn’t do anything he wasn’t supposed to. Johnny was just there, outside in that thick air that felt like it could choke him if he inhaled too much at once.

Something wasn’t right. Something wasn’t fucking right and he couldn’t put his finger on it but it simply didn’t make any sense as to why he would just be here like this, unharmed and unguarded.

He pushed himself up from the ground and looked around again, cautious that there might be someone nearby, someone ready to strike at any moment. He’s scared, unbelievably so, and doesn’t know what direction to move in because he had no fucking clue where he was at, nor where Taeyong was at and Christ, why didn’t he just run? And why did his head hurt so much? What the fuck was going on?

Suddenly, a piercing shot was echoing throughout the otherwise silent air. He immediately dropped down to the ground, afraid that more would follow, but only heard the sound of glass shattering. He looked up at the building not too far away from him and within seconds, his heart was sinking. There was no fucking way.

Silence came afterward. That singular shot was the only one. Johnny felt like he could vomit. Something wasn’t right. His head throbbed again. He knew what was lingering in the back of his mind, knew that the throbbing of his skull had to mean something but Johnny didn’t want to come to terms with it because doing that meant that he had to take responsibility for the fact that he had just sat around while Taeyong had been killed and fuck, what was he gonna do?

Maybe he could still help him. Maybe it wasn’t even Taeyong. Johnny smelled the air. Shit. No, that wasn’t a possibility. It had to be Taeyong. He could sense him somewhere nearby, could smell that fruity scent that he had gotten accustomed to over what had to be the last month. This was bad. Johnny had thought that exact thing so many times—when he had first mated Taeyong, when Yuta said that they couldn’t be unbonded, when he found out he was wanted, when he had walked up to that rusty truck to see taeyong inside, covered in blood—but this was an all new sense of dread. 

Still, Johnny pushed onward, moving around the back of the restaurant because what kind of an Alpha would he be if he didn’t at least try? The door to the kitchen was open and Johnny fucking knew that it had to be some kind of a trap but he still had to go through and at least see, see if Taeyong was okay, see if Taeyong needed his help. 

He had barely made it into the kitchen when Johnny heard a small cough, causing him to look over and see Matthew standing there, one eyebrow raised.

“Nice of you to finally join us,” Matthew said and Johnny knew that he was so, so fucked.

Chapter Text

“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Taeyong muttered when Johnny was pushed in by Matthew, forced to stumble over his own two feet.

“You’re alive,” Johnny breathed with a small smile and while Taeyong was glad to see Johnny there and clearly not dead or captured by the police but did he have to go and get himself caught? 

“Why the fuck wouldn’t I be alive?” Taeyong seethed as Matthew literally shoved Johnny into the seat across from him.

“T–The gunshot,” Johnny pointed out and Taeyong frowned over at him before he remembered the shattered glass behind him.

Taeyong opened his mouth to explain to Johnny that he was completely fine, that Matthew was just testing him but Matthew was interrupting him by clearing his throat. Both him and Johnny looked over at Matthew standing with his back against the countertop behind him. It was good that the two of them were together again and that neither of them were dead but their situation still wasn’t ideal. After all, Matthew was quite literally holding them hostage and as of right then, Taeyong had absolutely no clue how they were going to get out of this alive.

“You two really are cute together,” Matthew cooed mockingly. Taeyong really wanted to fucking spit right in his stupid fucking face. He was really starting to regret ever getting involved with this man. He definitely wasn’t worth the money Taeyong had stolen. 

“What the fuck, Matthew?” Johnny said, shaking his head. “This is stupid. Let us go.”

“I mean, I’d be happy to let the both of you go when you give me my money back,” Matthew sighed, raising an eyebrow. 

“I think you’re more than fucking aware that we don’t have any money for you,” Taeyong seethed because Johnny was right, this conversation was so fucking stupid and Taeyong was so fucking angry at himself for letting Johnny stop and getting them put in this situation in the first place, especially when they had been so close to Busan. “Didn’t you just tell me that you’re a billionaire? What the fuck is a couple million to you?”

He didn’t even know why Matthew was asking them this again. Taeyong had already told him that he didn’t have the money and despite that huge wad of money that he saw Johnny with a little while ago —that he wasn’t even sure Johnny still even had with him because that had been so long ago and they had gone through so much since then—was anything even close to what Matthew wanted out of them or thought that Taeyong owed him. 

Plus, Taeyong wasn’t fucking stupid. He knew that Matthew hadn’t gone through all of this trouble, hadn’t spent all of this time finding them to get his money back. That just didn’t make any sense. Like he had said earlier, it was more than the money to him. It was the fact that Taeyong had basically ruined his entire reputation as a business man in not only South Korea and Seoul but around the world. It was the shit that he couldn’t get back. 

But Taeyong couldn’t help with that. Sure, he had stolen the money from Matthew but he had never wanted it to get out into the public. The fact that someone had went to the police in the first place had literally been his downfall. Not only that but Matthew had as much blame in this whole situation as Taeyong did. If he hadn’t gone out and slept with a minor, something like this wouldn’t have been happening to him.

Matthew didn’t say anything in response which only prompted Taeyong to continue. “Is all of this because you fucked yourself over and now nobody wants to work with you because you’re fucking disgusting?” Taeyong hissed. “‘Cause that’s not my fault and it sure as hell isn’t Johnny’s either.”

That was almost definitely the last straw because before Taeyong could even process what was happening, Matthew was quickly advancing forward and smacking him across the face with the very metallic, very painful pistol. At the very last moment, Taeyong saw Johnny try and stop him but to no avail. Taeyong fell back with a pained noise, almost immediately tasting the blood blossoming in his mouth. Well, fuck. Maybe he really should shut up.

Johnny was quick to stand up to try and come over and help Taeyong but Matthew was faster, pointing the gun at him in warning. “Sit the fuck down,” Matthew snarled and Johnny did so slowly, still glancing over at Taeyong as he clutched his mouth, blood dribbling down his lip. 

“You know,” Matthew started, twirling the gun around with a small laugh. “You have a really big fucking mouth, Taeyong. It was cute for the first couple of minutes but I’m actually getting pretty tired of it.”

Taeyong really wanted to say something in response to that. To call Matthew an asshole or to say fuck him, that he wasn’t scared of him because he wasn’t, not in the sense that Matthew wanted him to be but he didn’t want to risk being hit with the pistol again. The entire lower half of his face was throbbing and screaming out in pain. It would most definitely bruise come a couple of hours from now.

“So what now?” Johnny finally spoke up, shaking his head. 

“What do you think?” Matthew snorted, walking back over to the countertop. Once his back was turned to them, Taeyong didn’t hesitate to grab the napkin dispenser on the back half of the table. Johnny’s head snapped towards him at the sudden movement, his eyes wide as he watched Taeyong push the dispenser behind him before Matthew could turn back around. Taeyong knew that Johnny didn’t think that what he had done was smart but he would be damned if Matthew got him down without a fight. “I’m gonna kill you both.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What the fuck were they going to do? What happened to Yuta’s gun? That was stupid question; of course either Matthew or one of his men had snatched the gun from whichever of them had it last once they had captured them. Taeyong couldn’t remember who had it last though. Was it Johnny? Yes, it was Johnny, he had shot that one man back in Gimhae. Where it had been after that? Fuck. Johnny clearly didn’t have it which ultimately meant that neither of them had any form of a weapon to take Matthew down with. There were two of them, sure, but Taeyong knew that he couldn’t be of any real help with the gunshot wound in his side. He would only get in the way. 

“Why haven’t you then?” Johnny asked bluntly. 

“Why haven’t I what?” Matthew questioned calmly, raising an eyebrow. 

“Killed us,” Johnny said. “I mean, we’re both sitting here relatively uninjured. What’s the plan here, man?”

“Full disclosure?” Matthew countered and Johnny only blinked at him. “The plan was to just kill your little friend here back in Busan. I originally had nothing to do with it and didn’t want anything to do with it.” What a load of bullshit, Taeyong thought. Still, he didn’t open his mouth. He didn’t even think he could, not with how badly his jaw was throbbing with the feeling of the pistol striking him. “But then I heard this rumor about my little brother helping the dude who screwed me out of millions and thought, no, that can’t be true. So, imagine my surprise when the fucking Gimhae police contact me and tell me that my brother was caught on tape with the one and only Lee Taeyong in some fucking convenience store.”

So that had been who had tipped the police off to where they were. Those two little fuckers that worked there definitely had a storm coming for them if Taeyong survived this. He wondered how it had happened. Had one of them looked up those idol groups they had mentioned and realized that Taeyong didn’t match? Did they suddenly come to the realization that he looked familiar to them for a very specific reason? All in all, it didn’t matter. If it weren’t for them, neither him or Johnny would be in their current situation. 

“And I just thought that was so funny because I had been really fucking confused as to why Taeyong had suddenly decided not to take the taxi to Inhceon like he was supposed to,” Matthew continued and Taeyong looked over at him, surprised to hear him say something so bold. Matthew must notice his shock because he’s laughing quietly and nodding, saying, “Oh, yeah, you didn’t know about that, did you? That car you were gonna take on the night Johnny picked you up was sent by me. You see, it’s really fucking easy to manipulate certain parts of how the city basically functions when you have money.”

Matthew was going to kill him. If Taeyong had gotten into that car, he would have died. His body would have been buried somewhere inconspicuous and the police would ultimately stop searching for him after a couple of months of silence, his name still at large but definitely not a huge threat anymore. He would have fucking died. How had Matthew been planning to do it? Would someone have simply shot him the second he got into the car? Or would they have tortured him until his body finally gave out? The thought of it was admittedly fucking terrified.

It meant more than that though. It meant that Johnny had quite literally saved his life. If Johnny hadn’t met him in that alley and picked him up, Taeyong would no longer be living. There was no thinking about the possibilities of some other outcome anymore. The fact was simple: Johnny had saved his fucking life. 

“And you know, Johnny, I really wasn’t going to kill you,” Matthew explained softly. “I mean you’re my brother and no matter how much of a fucking pain in my ass you’ve been, family is family.”

Matthew walked over to Taeyong again and snatched him up out of his seat before Taeyong could do anything in retaliation, causing him to whine out in pain at the side shock that ran up his side. He snatched down the sweatshirt Taeyong had on past his shoulder and forced his head to the side to showcase the bruised mark on Taeyong’s pale neck, the shape of Johnny’s teeth evident in his skin.

“But then,” Matthew continued over Taeyong’s noises of struggling, “I found out that you had somehow mated him.” He reached a hand up and plucked the side of Taeyong’s neck with a sharp finger before pushing him back into his seat. “How the fuck did you manage that, John?”

“I presented, prick,” Johnny answered through gritted teeth, very obviously growing angrier and angrier with the way that Matthew was treating his Omega. Matthew hummed and nodded. 

“I’ve heard about that happening to people but never thought that it was actually true,” Matthew said with a small shrug. “Guess that means you fucked this bitch, huh?”

“Fuck you,” Taeyong hissed because he suddenly didn’t care about the threat of Matthew striking him again, not when he was openly disrespecting him. 

“I can’t have you around as proof of my life spiraling out of control,” Matthew explained, completely ignoring Taeyong’s little outburst. “I mean, people are already looking at me for some kind of an explanation as to why my younger brother is involved with the guy who scammed me. I’d be fucking over if they found out the two of you were mated. You know how people like to talk, man. There’d be all kinds of theories about you and me and him.” He looked over at Taeyong with a little laugh of disgust. “I just started to get my company back off the ground. Stocks are going up again. I can’t have you two getting in the way of that.”

“What are you gonna tell Mom and Dad, huh?” Johnny asked, snorting. “You think they’ll be okay with the fact that you fucking killed their son?”

“That you disappeared,” Matthew said simply. “What, you think that they’re gonna look any further into it? You’re already fucking embarrassing them enough by doing this. They want to forget about you, Johnny.”

Taeyong could tell that Johnny had definitely taken that to heart. Who could blame him? It was a hurtful thing to say. The way that Johnny didn’t respond after that meant that there had to be some kind of truth behind it.

“You still haven’t told us why you haven’t killed us yet,” Taeyong spoke up quietly, ultimately saving Johnny from that relentless silence. 

“To give you both a chance to explain yourselves,” Matthew said as nonchalantly as possible. “But if you’re so eager to die.” And with that, he pulled the gun back out, cocking it and aiming it straight at Taeyong’s head. Johnny immediately jumped up at that, moving to stand in front of Taeyong.

“Just fucking chill, okay?” Johnny breathed, shaking his head. “If you’re doing this so no one will find out about us being bonding then just kill me and let him go.”

“Fuck off, Johnny,” Taeyong hissed because he wasn’t some type of helpless maiden that needed saving. Johnny hadn’t done anything deserving of death. He didn’t fucking need to sacrifice himself for someone as shitty as Taeyong.

“I’m just trying—,” Johnny started before Taeyong interrupted him sharply. 

“Sit the fuck back down,” Taeyong murmured. Johnny turned around, only blinking down at him in confusion. “Johnny, please.”

“Might wanna listen to him, John,” Matthew taunted and Johnny hesitated only a moment longer before returning back to his seat. He looked so nervous, so anxious of what Matthew would do to the both of them, what he would do to Taeyong. 

“If you wanna kill someone so bad, kill me,” Taeyong said once Johnny had settled back down into his seat. “I mean, I’m the one that stole from you in the first place, right? I’m the one who ruined you and your company. I’m the one that you hate the most so kill me and let him go.”

“Taeyong,” Johnny said from across from him to which Taeyong ignored. 

What he was saying was true. He wasn’t just saying it to distract Matthew or as some kind of tactic to get him to let the both of them go. It was quite clear that Matthew had no intention of doing that. If it had to be down between the both of them, Taeyong was the one who needed to go. He was the one who had kickstarted this whole thing, the one who had basically pulled Johnny into this situation in the first place. If it hadn’t been for him, neither of them would be there. 

And maybe part of him felt like he deserved it. After all, what was something positive that Taeyong had done in his life? All he did was disappoint people or try and ruin their lives. He was fucking mean and whether he had meant it or not, Johnny had been right when he said that he wasn’t a fun person to be around. He disappointed his mother by not being able to have children. He had tried to ruin Seongwoo’s life because he was too much of a fuck –up to actually get his own shit together and live an honest life himself. He had ruined Yuta’s life because of his impulsiveness and had ruined Johnny’s life indefinitely because of what he had done to his brother. There was something wrong with him and he knew it. Johnny didn’t deserve to go out because of something that had started with him. It wasn’t fair. 

“Kill me,” Taeyong continued bluntly. “Seriously. Let Johnny go and deal with me. No one will know that he ever had anything to do with me if I’m dead and he won’t tell anyone about what had happened. Right, Johnny?” Silence came after that. Taeyong didn’t dare look over at Johnny. “Right, Johnny?” Taeyong repeated because he needed Johnny to be okay with this, he needed him to just go along with it so he didn’t have to live with the guilt of hurting yet another person. 

“No,” Johnny said. “I’m not agreeing to that.”

“So, let’s just stick to my original plan of killing the both of you, yeah?” Matthew said, smiling. He made Taeyong so fucking sick to his stomach.

“No,” Taeyong cut in sharply. “What fucking sense does it make to kill him? He’s your fucking brother, asshole. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out so just shoot me and get it over with.”

“If you shoot him I’ll fucking tell everyone that you murdered someone in cold blood,” Johnny countered and Taeyong was going to fucking strangle him. 

“No, he won’t,” Taeyong said quickly.

“Yes, I will,” Johnny snapped.

“Can you shut the fuck up for one second?” Taeyong shouted at Johnny, whipping his head over to look at him because this hero act was so stupid and was only going to result in the both of them being killed.

“I’m not letting you fucking commit suicide, Taeyong!” Johnny yelled back. “I don’t know what the fuck your problem is but you need to snap out of it!”

“You don’t know what my problem is?” Taeyong screamed at him, so, so fucking tired of arguing and being angry and exhausted and mean and horrible. “My problem is that I want to fucking die, Johnny! I’m fucking sick of it! I’m sick of everything! I’ve been a shit fucking person my entire life and I hate myself, okay? I don’t wanna do it anymore!”

The room went quiet after that. It was out now. What Taeyong had been stuffing deep down inside of him since long before all of this started had finally gone out into the air. Whatever. It had to be said. Taeyong thought he might explode if he didn’t say that out loud, even if the confession had come seconds before he was set to die. Taeyong didn’t like himself. He hadn’t liked himself for a really long fucking time and had been swallowing down that overwhelming sense of self–hatred since the moment he had presented as an Omega.

“I’m tired, Johnny,” Taeyong breathed, shaking his head. “ Please.”

Johnny didn’t say anything. Taeyong knew that he didn’t know what to say. If he was in Johnny’s shoes, he wouldn’t know what to say either. It didn’t matter. Nothing really mattered anymore, at least not with their current situation. 

“Oh, isn’t that a shame?” Matthew teased, cooing mockingly at the both of them. “I guess even pretty people have confidence issues, don’t they?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Johnny growled darkly. 

“Well, I guess if he’s so okay with it, I can let you go, little bro,” Matthew continued despite Johnny’s words. “I know you won’t tell anyone anyway, seeing how that would only end up with you in prison.”

“Don’t,” Johnny only said but it was quite clear that Matthew had changed his mind and Taeyong knew he would. Even though this man was very obviously demented in his own way, Taeyong knew that he wouldn’t be able to kill his own little brother. 

“I’m sure you’ll find someone else,” Matthew sighed, lifting up the gun again, pointing it directly at Taeyong’s forehead.

This was it. This was where Taeyong’s story ended. It was weird to know that he was gonna die. He wasn’t scared and wasn’t going to do anything to stop it. If this was the way he was destined to go out, so be it. He kind of felt a little all–knowing in that moment. Like he was old and so death wasn’t something that he feared anymore, it was just something that was inevitable and would eventually happen to everyone at some point in life.

Three things happened all at once. The first was that a gunshot went off, even more piercing and deafening than the last, causing Taeyong flinch because he was almost certain that the sound was meant for him and would be shooting through his forehead at some point, killing him instantly. The second was absolutely nothing. Taeyong felt nothing, heard nothing other than something sharp echoing throughout the room. The third was the sound of someone struggling, someone sounding like they were very much losing some sort of fight. 

When Taeyong opened his eyes, he immediately looked down at his chest. He wasn’t injured in any sort of way. The bullet hadn’t struck him. He heard the struggling again and looked down to see Matthew on top of Johnny, his hands wrapped around Johnny’s neck, the gun thrown far away from the both of them on the dirty linoleum floor. On his left was a bullet hole in the very seat he was sitting in, only inches away from actually having struck him. 

At first, Taeyong didn’t know what to do. Johnny was losing and he didn’t know how much longer Johnny would be able to handle Matthew on top of him. He was an Alpha but the both of them had been extremely weakened by whatever had happened back in Jinju. If anything, Matthew was easily stronger than him at this point. 

Then, Taeyong remembered the napkin dispenser he had hidden behind him. He picked it up and pushed himself up out of his seat, not hesitating before sending it crashing into the back of Matthew’s head as hard as he was possibly able to. Matthew rolled off of the top of Johnny with a groan and Johnny rolled over to his side, grabbing at his throat, coughing violently. 

Unfortunately for him, the dispenser hadn’t hurt Matthew as badly as Taeyong thought it had. Soon enough, Matthew was back up off the ground and immediately making his way towards Taeyong, punching him straight to the floor. Taeyong didn’t have enough energy to defend himself and the collision of Matthew’s fist into the side of his face had been so hard that his stomach lurched and he had to swallow down the taste of vomit in his mouth. He did, however, have the energy to grab at Matthew’s ankle as he made his way over towards the gun still on the ground and Christ, if the feeling of Matthew kicking him straight in the face wasn’t enough to have Taeyong out for good.

“Stupid fucking bitch,” Matthew hissed, whirling back around to kick Taeyong straight in his side, causing him to scream out in agonizing pain because of how Matthew’s foot had directly hit his still–healing wound. Tears immediately sprouted up in his eyes and Taeyong thought that he could die from how much pain he was in, thought about how much he would have preferred for Matthew to just have shot him when he was able when Matthew drew his foot back and struck him again, causing his sight to black out.

Taeyong had almost been certain that he was going to die like this. He was going to die from pain which was almost definitely a thing and it looked like Matthew wasn’t anywhere near done with him, finally unleashing all that anger he had built up inside of him for what Taeyong had done to him, how he had ruined his entire fucking life. At that point, Taeyong didn’t even care. He just wanted the pain to stop.

Then another gunshot went off. Taeyong couldn’t even process what had happened for a long moment. All he felt was his side throbbing like fucking crazy and could only see little black dots moving in and out of his terribly blurred vision, the way that he was having trouble getting air into his lungs and how fucking terrified he was because of this. He also felt something warm and wet splashing onto his face. There was silence and it flooded the air for so long, suffocating him. What had happened? Where was Johnny?

His vision blurred and went black again. Then Johnny was suddenly at his side, shaking him to see if he was alright, if he was still breathing. Taeyong made a quiet noise in the back of his throat and Johnny breathed out a relieved sigh, dropping the gun on the floor next to him. Taeyong looked over to see Matthew laid out on the ground next to him, a steady pool of blood leaking out from underneath him. He couldn’t see the wound or what was emitting the blood but Taeyong could see the lifeless look in Matthew’s still–opened eyes. Shit.

“Are you okay?” Johnny asked from above him, his voice worried in a way that let Taeyong know that this wasn’t his first time asking the question. He forced himself to nod, wincing in pain at the small movement. Matthew had really fucked him up good. “Oh, thank God. Come here.”

Taeyong wheezed quietly as Johnny pulled him in close to his chest. His entire body screamed out in pain but he didn’t move away, lifting up a shuddering hand to wipe up some blood from the corner of his mouth. He looked down at Matthew again, at his unmoving body and the pool of blood that was now spreading around his boot, staining it in the dark fluid. 

“Don’t do that to me, okay?” Johnny breathed quietly. “Don’t ever fucking do that to me ever again.”

Taeyong didn’t know what Johnny was talking about but nodded nonetheless. Johnny nodded too, mumbling something that Taeyong couldn’t quite make out under his breath before reaching behind himself with his free hand to grab Matthew’s gun from off the floor. He tucked it somewhere that Taeyong couldn’t see before shaking his head and he was so obviously worked up and panicked that Taeyong truly did want to offer some kind of help but ultimately couldn’t due to his condition. 

“Jesus,” Johnny mumbled, shaking his head. He looked down at Taeyong again, brushing some of his hair out of his face. He hesitated a moment. “Jesus. Christ, Taeyong, what are we gonna do?”

Taeyong didn’t know. He seriously just didn’t know. Johnny had just killed someone. Not even somebody but he had killed Matthew fucking Suh, one of the biggest businessmen in Korea even despite his recent scandal. This would be catastrophic for the both of them. It wasn’t something that they could simply run away from. Not only that, but Matthew had to have people around. There was no way that the two of them would be able to just walk away from the scene of the crime completely unharmed. 

Shit. Taeyong was starting to become even dizzier than he already was at the thought of it. If those men found out that Johnny had killed their boss and Taeyong had helped, they wouldn’t just do away with them, they would fucking torture them. Even if the police caught them first, the two of them would be constantly harassed in prison because of what they had done and who’s to say that they would even end up in the same facility? Taeyong wouldn’t be able to make it on his own, he knew he wouldn’t. 

Suddenly, the room went silent. Taeyong lifted his face from Johnny’s chest that had started to heave slightly. Johnny was crying. It wasn’t very loud or violent like Taeyong’s usually was but he was still crying and Jesus, Taeyong couldn’t help but feel weird because throughout their entire trip, Johnny had never cried. When he had found out that they couldn’t be unmated he hadn’t cried. When he had found out that he was now a wanted man he hadn’t cried. He even didn’t cry when Taeyong had very clearly said that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with him in the cruelest way possible.

“Hey,” Taeyong muttered quietly, forcing himself to sit up despite the almost paralyzing pain in his side from the simple movement. “It’s gonna be okay.”

It wasn’t. Taeyong knew that it wasn’t going to be okay because they had just fucking murdered a man and the police were still after them and how the fuck were they going to make it in Busan in time? A lot was working against them. Still, it was what Johnny needed to hear. 

“I just fucking killed him,” Johnny sobbed wetly, shaking his head.

That was another thing. Johnny had just killed his fucking brother. No matter how big of an asshole or a horrible person Matthew was, he was still Johnny’s older brother. They had to have some kind of history between them, it had to be good at some point in their lives and Taeyong didn’t doubt that some part of Johnny had been hoping for his and Matthew’s relationship to mend and that would never happen now. No matter which way you looked at it, this was a horrible thing. 

Taeyong sighed softly before pulling Johnny close to him, letting Johnny cry quietly into his chest, rocking the both of them back and forth gently. He lifted a hand to wipe some more blood off from where it was still gathered at the corner of his mouth, cleaning it off on the floor underneath him before running his hand through Johnny’s hair. 

“He was gonna hurt you, Johnny,” Taeyong reminded him. “He was gonna hurt both of us.”

“I know,” Johnny whined quietly, sounding so, so pathetic that Taeyong wanted to do more for him but couldn’t think of what to do to make him feel better about their situation. 

They sat there for a little while longer, the whole time Taeyong thinking about how much danger they were putting themselves in by continuing to stay in that one spot. How long until Matthew’s men that were almost definitely lingering somewhere nearby got curious as to why Matthew was taking so long doing what he had vowed to do? How long until the police got tipped off to where they were? They couldn’t just stay there, not if they wanted even a chance at figuring out what the fuck to do next. 

“John,” Taeyong murmured, nudging Johnny’s shoulder as softly as he possibly could. Johnny didn’t say anything in response. “Johnny, we’ve got to go. We gotta go.”

“We—Taeyong, we can’t just leave him there,” Johnny muttered. And Johnny was right, they couldn’t just leave Matthew there, not if they didn’t want to be immediately caught. 

Taeyong looked down at himself, his hands still shaking. He was still in so much pain but knew that he couldn’t sit there for any longer. He could rest when they made it out of danger, into somewhere safe enough for him to whine and cry about his bruised, almost definitely reopened wound.

“Get up,” Taeyong mumbled to Johnny who hesitated a moment before slowly pushing Taeyong onto the floor and himself up onto his feet. He wiped underneath his nose, looking quite pathetic in that moment. Taeyong really did feel for him and wanted to offer more comfort than the little bit that he had but they didn’t have time for it.

“You need a hospital,” Johnny said as Taeyong forced himself up, quickly moving over to help him to his feet, frowning when Taeyong winced almost immediately once upright. 

“We can’t,” Taeyong responded, shaking his head. “We gotta go.” He looked down at Matthew’s lifeless body, leaning against the seat behind him for support once Johnny had backed away. He noticed something small and rectangular in one of the pockets of Matthew’s jacket. “His pocket,” Taeyong breathed, pointing. “It’s his phone.”

Johnny bent down and pulled it out, flinching away afterward. He powered it to life and blinked down wordlessly at the background image. Taeyong looked at it too. It was the same picture from Matthew’s office he had picked up that night. Johnny stared at it for a long moment, his breathing turning shuddery. Taeyong reached over slowly and took the phone from him, scrolling through the last couple of notifications. The third caught his attention almost immediately.

Is it done?

It meaning killing him and Johnny. Matthew hadn’t come alone. Even if his men weren’t directly outside of the restaurant, they were still somewhere nearby. They were waiting on some kind of direction. Fuck. Taeyong looked back down at Matthew’s body. If he didn’t respond at some point, the men would know that something wasn’t right and start closing in.

They needed to do something. And fast.

“Hey, Johnny?” Taeyong asked gently. Johnny didn’t answer. “Johnny, please. I need you to snap out of it.” With that, Johnny blinked up at him. “We have to move him.”

“I’m not touching him,” Johnny immediately responding, shaking his head. “Taeyong, I can’t.”

“I can’t move him by myself,” Taeyong breathed. “His men are gonna know something isn’t right if we don’t move him and they’re gonna come and kill us. Is that what you want?”

“No, but—,” Johnny started, only for Taeyong to quickly interrupt him.

“Then help me move him,” Taeyong said sternly.

Johnny hesitated for a moment, watching as Taeyong walked over to Matthew’s body and bent down with a pained noise. Taeyong was almost afraid that Johnny wasn’t going to help him, that he was going to be too freaked out but after a couple of beats, Johnny was making his way over to the bottom half of Matthew and bending over too.

“Behind the counter, okay?” Taeyong said and Johnny nodded slowly.

Carrying Matthew was fucking brutal. Taeyong already wasn’t very strong and while Johnny was taking most of the weight, he still felt every pound of Matthew’s dead body with each step. He fought back tears and they made their way behind the counter slowly but surely, falling to the ground with a quiet squeal of pain once Matthew’s feet were no longer in view from the other side. Matthew’s head flopped into his lap and he quickly moved it out, disgusted.

“Oh, fuck,” Johnny mumbled, sounding like he was going to cry again.

“You’re not gonna like what I’m gonna say next,” Taeyong muttered in response, doing his best to ignore the pain in his side. It felt like every fucking inch of his body was screaming at him, telling him to stop moving, to get help. But he needed to get the both of them out of harm’s way first. That was the number one priority at the moment. Johnny didn’t say anything, still staring down at his brother’s body. “Johnny.”

“What?” Johnny breathed, finally looking over at Taeyong.

“I need you to make it look like I’m dead.”

Johnny’s face almost instantly broke. He shook his head vehemently, frantically, telling Taeyong that there was no way in Hell that he was going to do that because he had almost lost Taeyong not once but twice and didn’t want to have to fucking visiualize it right after killing his brother. And Taeyong understood, he did, but he also understood that none of this would work out for them if they didn’t do this. It had to be done.

“They’re texting him,” Taeyong explained quietly, slowly. “And they’re gonna keep texting him until they get some kind of an answer. When they don’t get one, they’re gonna close in and find us here and Matthew dead, okay?” Johnny still looked hesitant, still very much against the extremely morbid idea. “We can’t give them any reason to come looking for us.”

Johnny stared at him for a long while. Taeyong didn’t want to do it either. It was disgusting and horrendous and so, so fucking sick but this was their only option. This was how they could disappear. Maybe not to the police, but at least to Matthew and all of his goons.

“Fine,” Johnny said with a sniffle, reaching out for Matthew’s phone. Taeyong handed it to him, pushing himself up from off the ground. Getting up and sitting back down so often had to be the worst of it. This needed to go by fast because he didn’t know how much more his body could take of this before it gave out completely.

Johnny helped him over to the huge puddle of blood in which Matthew’s body had previously lay in, making sure to shut the door that led to behind the countertop behind him. He winced quietly as Taeyong sucked in a sharp breath before lowering himself down into the mess, his stomach turning the second it made contact with his skin. It was so fucking disgusting and sticky and still so warm but so cold at the same time. Taeyong felt like he could pass out.

“I can’t,” Johnny said from above him once Taeyong had finally laid down, Matthew’s blood sinking into his skin. “Jesus, Taeyong, I can’t. It’s too much.”

“Johnny, do you want me to die?” Taeyong snapped suddenly because they really didn’t have any time for this and Johnny had already prolonged it for so long. Johnny didn’t immediately answer and that made him even angrier than before. “Fucking answer me,” Taeyong hissed and Johnny shook his head like Taeyong knew he would. “If you don’t suck it up and do this, they’ll know something is up and kill me, Johnny. They’ll come in and murder me right in front of your fucking eyes, okay? Do you want that?”

“No,” Johnny seethed, tears started to fall down his cheeks again.

“Then take the fucking picture,” Taeyong said sharply and after a couple of moments of silence between the two of them, Johnny was nodding in agreement.

Taeyong laid back down in the thick puddle, making sure to smear some of the blood on his face and the fabric of his shirt where some of his own blood had already sprouted up from his wound. It was so horrible that he wanted to vomit but Taeyong pushed through, knowing that if he broke down the way he wanted to Johnny wouldn’t be able to handle it.

A couple of flashes went off. Then came Johnny’s shaky voice, “C–Can you get up please?”

Taeyong did, so fucking disgusted with the way Matthew’s blood stuck to the entire back half of him, soaking into his skin. He swallowed hard, reaching out for the phone. Johnny had only managed to take two but they would have to do. After all, Taeyong did look very much dead in both of them. It was almost eerie how realistic it looked, especially when the threat of death had been lingering over his head only a couple of minutes ago and would have definitely been a reality if Johnny hadn’t stepped in. He stared at them for a moment before nodding, moving his bloodied fingers over the screen to send both of the pictures to the unlisted number that had asked.

“Let’s go,” Taeyong said once it had sent, stuffing the phone into his back pocket. They needed to get as far away from this place as possible and needed to do it quick.

“Where are we going?” Johnny asked as Taeyong started to wipe up his blood from where it had leaked out onto the seat he had previously been sitting in, grabbing the dispenser he had struck Matthew with as well.

“Do you still have enough money for the ferry?” Taeyong asked and Johnny nodded. “Then we’re going to Fukunoka.” 

“We don’t have the keys to the truck anymore,” Johnny pointed out and Taeyong cursed lowly under his breath once realizing that, knowing that they didn’t have enough time to go searching for them.

“Just— Fuck, just get those scissors,” Taeyong muttered, pointing to the pair of scissors on the countertop next to the display of pie that Taeyong was pretty sure was several years old. Johnny nodded and grabbed them and with that, the two of them were out the door.

If they caught anywhere on the way to the ferry, they would be arrested for the murder of Matthew fucking Suh. Taeyong couldn’t even bring himself to think about it. He had been terrified when the whole thing had happened with Yukhei but this was different. Matthew was actually dead. There was no helping him, no taking him to some local hospital and dropping him off. It was over for him.

Taeyong suddenly lost his footing and slipped on the concrete sidewalk, falling. Johnny was quick to help him off the ground and Taeyong was literally fucking shuddering, he couldn’t see straight because of how badly he was shaking and he knew he wasn’t going to be able to make it much longer like this. Was he dying? It didn’t feel like it. He wondered what Matthew had felt like before he had slipped out of consciousness forever. What was the last thing he had thought of? Was he even given the chance to think before everything went dark?

“We’re almost there,” Johnny mumbled, holding Taeyong upright as they made their way over to Yukhei’s car and Taeyong was so fucking scared because what if this was all a trap, what if there was going to be someone waiting for them the second they climbed into that huge fucking truck? All of these possibilities were floating through his head along with visions of things he knew weren’t there and shit, he definitely didn’t have much longer to go.

When they made it to the truck, Johnny fit one arm around his shoulder to keep him up while he reached for the door handle. He pulled at it only to find it locked and cursed loudly, his voice echoing through the trees. Taeyong almost fell again.

“Taeyong?” Johnny asked and his voice was fading, phasing in and out of Taeyong’s hearing. “Shit, shit, shit, no—Taeyong, don’t.”

And Taeyong didn’t know what Johnny was saying don’t about, what he was telling him not to do. All he knew was that he was suddenly on the ground and suddenly he couldn’t breathe and this didn’t feel like death but it had to be, right? He could sense this whole flood of sadness and fear emitting off of Johnny and Taeyong felt so fucking horrible that even in his last moments he couldn’t just help someone, just do something positive for someone for once in his miserable fucking life and his vision was going dark again.

“Taeyong, please,” Johnny begged from above him, his voice wet and desperate. “Don’t fucking do this to me, Yong—I–I’m sorry, just—please, don’t.”

Taeyong was too. He was so fucking sorry that he couldn’t have done more for Johnny and was so fucking sorry for all he had done to Johnny. He couldn’t say it but he was, he was sorry for being a screw–up and a shit person and hoped that whatever life that came after this didn’t punish him for what he did while he was still alive.

“Hey, Yon—,” Johnny started, his voice fading in and out of Taeyong’s consciousness, cutting back and forth like a bad signal on an old TV set. He could only barely feel something pressing against his mouth, slack and open and spitting out blood. “—me,” Johnny said and Taeyong could tell he had said it more than once but he could never make out the first word. “—me, please. Taeyong, please.”

Taeyong isn’t sure what compelled him to do it. Maybe Johnny’s voice had finally gotten through to him. Maybe it was something internal telling him to do something. Maybe it didn’t happen at all and he was only imagining the taste of blood seeping into his tongue, overwhelming his senses.

Either way, the last he felt was Johnny lifting him up off the ground before everything went indefinitely dark.

“Hey, Mark?” Johnny called, stumbling into the kitchen. Mark looked up, his eyes wide, a lone noodle sticking out of his mouth.

He felt fucking horrible. His entire body felt like it was on fire and ached like crazy. He had felt a little off for a long while but after leaving Mark and Taeyong upstairs, Johnny had been overwhelmed by this sense of itchiness that would have blistered his skin if he hadn’t stopped scratching at himself. This felt worse than a minor cold or even the fucking flu. This was different.

“Jesus, you’re burning up,” Mark muttered, sucking up the noodle into his mouth before placing his bowl down on the table in front of him, pushing himself up out of his seat. He immediately walked over to Johnny, holding a hand to his forehead. Johnny pulled back, flinching away quickly from Mark’s touch.

“It’s fucking—Dude, why is it so hot in here?” Johnny breathed and Mark only shook his head, pointing him over to the sink. Johnny followed, swallowing harshly. He felt like he could pass out at any moment.

Johnny pushed himself up onto the countertop, closing his eyes as he inhaled slowly through his mouth, trying his best to stop his heart from beating so fast. Mark walked over to the freezer and rummaged through the mess before pulling out a bag of frozen peas. He weighed it in his hands and held it up to his face before making his way back over to Johnny, pushing it into his chest.

“What the fuck is going on?” Johnny breathed, holding the bag up against his forehead. It made him feel a little better but ultimately did nothing to calm down the heat blossoming from deep, deep down inside of him.

“You’re in rut,” Mark answered, sighing. He cursed quietly underneath his breath before shaking his head.

Johnny had heard about ruts. He had been around Mark when the younger had experienced his first one. Mark was aggressive and even more irritable than usual and ultimately had to be taken home for everyone’s (including his own) safety. He wondered if mark had felt this fucking horrible. He didn’t remember much about that day other than the fact that Mark had called him a series of insults in which he immediately apologized for the following week when he came back to school. Maybe it was different for each person.

“Is there any reason why I feel like there’s a volcano erupting inside of me?” Johnny groaned, forcing the bag harder against his skin.

“It’s that fucking Taeyong,” Mark muttered, looking through the freezer again. He took out an ice tray and shut the door before opening the cabinet from above him. It didn’t take him long to find a ziplock bag, in which he opened and moved to start breaking the ice cubes out of the tray, dropping them down into the bag. 

“What do you mean?” Johnny asked.

“You’re supposedly his true mate, right?” Mark questioned and Johnny nodded. He zipped up the bag once full and handed it over to Johnny before moving to fill the tray back up. “And you hit him but he didn’t bite back?” Johnny nodded again, slipping the bag of ice down his shirt to sit against his chest. “Well, the two of you still aren’t completely mated. Whoever the fuck this Yuta guy is, he completely forgot to mention that.”

Johnny frowned at that. He and Taeyong weren’t complete mated? If that were true, how come it felt like they were? How come his body was currently aching to go bounding up those stairs and snatch Taeyong out from wherever he was to bury his face in his pale neck and inhale as much as that gorgeous fruit smell as he possibly could? If they weren’t mated, did that mean that Johnny had been just making this up the whole time?

“We’re not mated?” Johnny countered and Mark was quick to shake his head in disagreement.

“You are,” Mark explained. “It’s just not finished. You have the bigger impact since you’re the Alpha but the bond still needs to be completed by Taeyong biting you back. Your rut is gonna feel about ten times worse because you’re halfway mated. That’s, like, the most painful rut after not having a mate at all.”

That was good, right? That meant that him and Taeyong technically weren’t bonded for life. They still had some kind of connection and a particularly strong one considering that even Yuta couldn’t break it but still. There was hope that the two of them had some kind of a chance at separating, especially when Taeyong seemed to be so against the idea of ever being with him.

“Good thing we’re not technically mated then, right?” Johnny muttered dryly, huffing out a frustrated breath at how fucking shitty he felt. Jesus.

“I mean, it’s good for the future but as for right now?” Mark started, scoffing a little as he started to look through his cabinets again for something Johnny didn’t care enough to question about. “You’re gonna fucking wish that the bastard had bitten you.”

With that, Johnny groaned and dropped his head back against the cabinet behind him, feeling the heat spread through his body like an uncontrollable fire.

Chapter Text

Taeyong woke up cold.

In all honesty, Taeyong considered the possibility that he was dead. It wasn’t exactly far off, seeing that he had to have lost entire gallons of blood during the period of time in which he had gotten shot and where Matthew had quite literally pummeled the life out of him. It scared him, the cold. Was this really what he had been given as an afterlife? 

But then he heard some rustling not too far from him. He forced his eyes open to see that he was surrounded by trees, looking down at the leaves that crunched underneath him with each movement. He moved a little too fast and winced loudly at the pain that shot up his side. What the fuck? Were you supposed to feel things in the afterlife? What bullshit was that?

“Taeyong?” Taeyong suddenly heard. “Taeyong!”

And, oh. He wasn’t dead. He was far from it, actually, if Johnny was any indication that he had survived. Taeyong isn’t sure where Johnny had come from but welcomed the sight of him, smiling deliriously at him. Johnny bent down and pulled him in for a tight hug, mumbling something that Taeyong couldn’t make out because of how much his head was spinning. Johnny holding him so closely was definitely a little painful but Taeyong didn’t say anything, both too tired and too out of it to even begin to think about pushing him away. 

“You scared me so fucking much,” Johnny breathed, shaking his head. “I thought I had lost you.”

Taeyong was starting to come more and more into consciousness and the feeling of Johnny holding him around his middle was becoming a bit more apparent than he could handle. He moaned quietly and pushed him away, shivering a little as the cold assaulted his bare skin. 

“I hurt,” Taeyong muttered. He looked around. It seemed like they were in the middle of some forest which was definitely strange. What about Matthew and his crew? The last thing he remembered was collapsing right outside of Yukhei’s truck, still soaked in Matthew’s blood. He lifted an arm to see the dark fluid dried into his skin. Gross, but it meant that he definitely wasn’t in some kind of dream. “Where are we?”

Johnny pulled up and looked around. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the sound of loud yelling. Taeyong flinched almost immediately, one hand braced on the tree behind him to begin to push himself up onto his feet. He knew that yelling all too well, had heard it the day that the police had shown up to his apartment in Seoul with a warrant for his arrest. They were close. 

“It’s okay,” Johnny reassured him quietly, lifting a finger up to his mouth. Taeyong blinked at him in obvious confusion. “They have no clue that we’re over here.”

No clue? How did that make sense? Wouldn’t the first place the police would look for two dangerous murderers be the surrounding area? Taeyong was still leaning up against the tree but hadn’t moved, unsure of what to do. Running seemed like the best option at this time but he knew that he didn’t have enough energy in him for it. Plus, if Johnny had been sitting stationary in the same position for however long he had been out, didn’t that mean that he trusted in whatever he had done to make the police think that they left the area?

“How do they —?” Taeyong interrupted himself with a small cough. “How do you know they won’t check over here?”

“Mark helped out,” Johnny explained, walking over to coerce Taeyong back onto the ground in which Taeyong didn’t fight, ultimately giving into his exhaustion. “These guys are just here to figure out the crime scene but most of them are out looking for us back in Jeonju.”

Mark helped. Mark had helped. Taeyong couldn’t bring himself to ask how in fear that it might involve Mark possibly getting himself into trouble and bringing even more guilt onto himself than what he already felt but Mark had helped. He knew that Mark hadn’t done it for him, had definitely only done it for Johnny’s wellbeing and safety but still appreciated. After all he had done to Mark, the way that he had treated him, and Mark was the only reason why he wasn’t in the back of a police car or shot by a cop’s stray bullet.

Speaking of being shot, Taeyong had no fucking clue how he was still alive. He had bled out in Johnny’s arms, felt the life leave his body. The fact that he was still breathing, let alone speaking to Johnny right now, able to be fearful of being detained by the police should have been impossible. Taeyong could distantly remember the distant taste of blood on his tongue before the world had gone black. The thought crossed his mind for a moment but—no, it couldn’t have been. That didn’t make any sense for either of them. Johnny wouldn’t have done that.

Once on the floor with Johnny above him, Taeyong reached up a hand. Johnny was too far away for him to touch at first grasp but seemed to understand why Taeyong wanted him, leaning down in order to make it easier for him. Taeyong felt along the left side of his neck to feel nothing. His hand crept over until his fingers made contact with something harsh and rough on the right side, still obviously raw and nowhere near the point of healing. Johnny hissed and recoiled slightly at Taeyong’s touch.

“You,” Taeyong started, moving his hand back down to see that his fingers were dotted with blood, Johnny’s blood, the scene remnant of the moment he had come to the realization that Johnny had mated him. He couldn’t find the words, couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud. “Johnny.”

“I’m sorry,” Johnny breathed, shaking his head. “It’s just—I mean, you were dying, Taeyong. I couldn’t let that happen.”

And it wasn’t that Taeyong was mad, he wasn’t, wasn’t anything close that emotion. He was fucking shocked that Johnny had done something so selfless to save his life and even more shocked that it had worked. He had never seen a case of that actually fucking working, had never heard of anyone actually attempting it. From the moment that Taeyong had heard of the concept of true mates having more than one life when it came to their partner, he had thought it nothing more than an urban legend. After all, why wouldn’t it be? They didn’t live in some fairytale world, people didn’t come back to the dead with a kiss or, in their case, a bite. It just didn’t happen.

Except that it had. And he was living proof of that. 

The fact that Johnny had done it while knowing that Taeyong still seemed so determined to get as far away from him as possible and still adamantly rejected the idea of being with him romantically like Johnny had the fucking plague. Johnny knew what would happen to him the second that Taeyong left him, how the rest of his life would be fucking ruined because of the fact that he was permanently mated to someone who didn’t want him. It was weird. All Taeyong could think about was the very plain fact that there hadn’t been a single person in his life who would have even thought about doing that for him other than possibly Yuta.

“Um,” Taeyong said softly. He opened his mouth to say something before closing it upon realizing that he couldn’t think of a single thing to say to Johnny that would measure up to what he had done for him. Johnny blinked back at him, his eyebrows furrowed, clearly ready for Taeyong to scream at him, to call him an asshole, to tell him that he had no right, something. And that was what made Taeyong feel the worst about it all. How Johnny was expecting him to be horrible to him after he had literally saved his life. 

Taeyong isn’t quite sure what sparked it. Maybe it had been the fact that he had literally almost just died. Maybe it was because he was in extreme pain and despite how Johnny had tried to patch him up with some more gauze and alcohol and those shit bandages from the pharmacy. Maybe it was how he had basically broken down in front of Johnny and revealed all of that shit about himself that he had never said out loud before in his entire fucking life. He didn’t know. He was almost feverish from everything that had happened less than an hour ago and out of his mind and really, really just wanted to sleep in a warm bed that wasn’t covered in dust. That was all he wanted.

“Hey,” Johnny muttered, shaking his head as he went to pull Taeyong in close once again. “I’m so sorry, Taeyong, I am, I’m so, so fucking selfish.”

“Oh, Jesus,” Taeyong cursed through his tears, pushing Johnny away from him. “I’m not—I’m not looking for an—an apology from you, Johnny!”

“Then why are you mad at me?” Johnny asked, sounding genuinely confused.

“I–I’m not mad, I’m just—!” Taeyong stopped himself in the middle of his sentence, sniffling softly. God, this was so him. “I can’t believe you’d do that, Johnny.”

“Why?” Johnny questioned, frowning. 

“Because I’m not a good person,” Taeyong answered simply. “And I don’t deserve to be alive right now.”

There was a pause. Johnny didn’t say anything for a moment. Taeyong hadn’t been expecting for him to. This whole trip had brought out something in him that he had always known was there but had kept hidden deep down inside. It sucked—mostly for Johnny—that Taeyong had to discover this about himself in such an inappropriate situation but where else would he have? Maybe this was good for him. Maybe this was what the universe had planned.

“Taeyong,” Johnny finally spoke up. “You’re not a bad person.”

“There’s no point in lying,” Taeyong muttered, picking a stick from beside him and tossing it away from him where it landed not too far behind Johnny.

“I’m not lying,” Johnny continued seriously. “I mean, are you one of the bitchiest, most irritable people I’ve ever met in my entire fucking life? Absolutely, dude. The first week that I had to be around you, I thought I was going to throttle the life out of you. You have this, like, talent of rubbing people the wrong way and it’s so impressive yet so, so fucking frustrating.” 

“Gee,” Taeyong said sarcastically, snorting while wiping some spare moisture from underneath his eyes. “Thanks.”

“Just let me finish, okay?” Johnny asked and Taeyong hesitated a moment before giving in with a small nod. “I feel like you put up this, this way to stop yourself from getting hurt because someone fucked you over in the past and you’re afraid of that happening again so you snap at people and let them know that you’re not interested in anything they’ve got to say before they can even think of anything negative about you. And once they do, who cares, right? You already let them know that you don’t give a shit. What’s it matter?”

Taeyong only stared at him, not giving Johnny any indication that what he was saying had a fair amount of truth to it. It seemed that Johnny already knew that he was right anyway, if the sense of blatant confidence in his voice was any indication.

“But at the end of the day, you’re not a bad person,” Johnny said with a small sigh. “You’re scared and you’re expecting people to be shitty to you because that’s what they’ve done to you your whole life. Obviously what you did wasn’t right but I know you wouldn’t have done if you hadn’t been backed into a corner.”

Was that true? Taeyong didn’t know if he could take that. Sure, Seongwoo had recruited him at a very young age into doing organized crime when he had no kind of support system around him and done so in a way where he convinced him into continuing, in which ultimately killed any chance of him ever having a real job but hadn’t he ultimately made that decision on his own? Hadn’t he chosen to continue stealing from people and ruining their lives long after Seongwoo had gone?

“I don’t know who did this to you, Taeyong, and I’m sorry that they did but you have to stop blaming yourself for it,” Johnny said. “You deserve to love yourself. You’re a strong, , fearless fucking person and I really wish you could see that, Taeyong. I fucking hated having to sit there and degrade yourself and say that you didn’t deserve to be alive because you deserve so much better and the fact that you were going to die thinking that, I—Jesus, Taeyong, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t fucking stand that.”

Taeyong remained silent. He looked at the bruise on Johnny’s neck and wondered how he had even had enough strength to get himself to sink his teeth so deep into Johnny’s skin that it was painful to the touch. It was such an off–topic thing for him to be thinking about while Johnny was telling him all of this but Taeyong couldn’t help it, not when his chest was feeling as tight as it was.

“I need you to think of yourself as more, Taeyong,” Johnny sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I know you’re broken and I wanna be the one to fix you so badly but I need you to realize that your life is worth saving before we try for this last time, okay? We won’t stand a chance if you don’t.”

“Why do you wanna escape so bad?” Taeyong asked quietly, his voice barely audible over the commotion happening the restaurant not too far away from them. “What’s out there for you?”

“You,” Johnny answered honestly. “I know how corny it might sound and I know you may not believe me but all of this has been for you.” He snorted out a soft laugh and shook his head, glancing behind Taeyong for a moment at the distant lights coming in through the trees. “Granted this whole thing between us started because of my overwhelming need to take down my brother once and for all and therefore probably shouldn’t count but still,” Johnny said, looking back at Taeyong with a small shrug and a sheepish smile. “I want to try to have a normal life with you, Taeyong. And I can’t promise that I won’t hurt you or piss you off or even make you regret ever running into me from time to time but I can promise that I’ll always try for you. I just need for you to let me.”

And that’s, like. It’s a lot. It’s a lot for Taeyong to handle because no one had ever said anything like that to him before and he isn’t used to it, isn’t used to the idea of someone doing so much just to be with him. It didn’t feel weird. Johnny was right—what he had said was so, so corny and if Taeyong had heard anyone else get told the same, he would have laughed but it wasn’t and Johnny had been trying for him for so long it seemed. He wanted him, he wanted to be with him and while Taeyong didn’t understand it, he could appreciate it immensely.

It was time for Taeyong to start being honest with himself. The thought of being with Johnny didn’t disgust him and honestly hadn’t for awhile. The full truth was that Johnny made him feel like a different person when they were together, like less of that blunt, abrasive asshole that everyone expected him to be. He made him feel safe and like he was worth all the trouble and baggage that came with him. And while it wasn’t love that he felt for Johnny, it was something, and that was more than he could say for anyone over the past couple of years of his life.

And he did want to get away. He did want to try. Liking himself sounded really fucking hard but there wasn’t any other option if he wanted to get out of this alive. It was a necessity, something that he needed to do. After all that Johnny had done for him, how selfless and kind and so, so fucking frustrating but this weird, gangly, 6’4 wall of support all at the same time, this was the least Taeyong could do for him, the least that he could do for the both of them. 

“I need time,” Taeyong admittedly quietly. “If we make it out of this I need a lot of time. And it’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just—I don’t know, Johnny. I can’t just dive into this like you did.”

“I know you can’t,” Johnny said and he sounded genuine.

“And you can’t get mad at me and fucking leave me in the middle of nowhere ever again,” Taeyong said because that had truly fucking terrified him, being alone in that seemingly never–ending patch of wilderness with no sense of direction. “No matter how irritating I am because I can’t, I can’t just change my personality like that, Johnny. It’s gonna take time. A really, really long time.”

“Okay,” Johnny nodded.

“And the second we get into Fukuoka you have to dye my hair back to brown,” Taeyong finished, reaching up to tug at the long strands of his unruly bangs. He took a moment to think about it. “No, you have to take me somewhere to get my hair dyed. I don’t want you touching my hair anymore.”

Johnny laughed and nodded. “Got it,” he said, his eyes scrunching up with his smile. 

“I need help getting up,” Taeyong finally mumbled and Johnny was quick to stand up, moving to help Taeyong up onto his feet.

Once standing, Taeyong took a moment to look at Johnny. It was weird—how Johnny had described him as beautiful even with his bruise –mottled face and blood–soaked body, his hair unruly, skin pale, eyes exhausted. He was almost certain that he didn’t look beautiful and to be brutally honest, Johnny himself had definitely seen better days. He couldn’t stop himself from breaking out into a small smile. 

“It’s so weird,” Johnny almost immediately said and Taeyong raised a brow in question. “Seeing you smile. For a really long time I thought you were, like, completely incapable of smiling.”

“Shut up,” Taeyong muttered, finally coming to the decision to lean up onto his tiptoes and press a kiss to Johnny’s lips.

It was so inappropriate for them to kissing right in the middle of that very dangerous forest with the police less than ten feet away from them, almost definitely listening in for any sign of anyone possibly still lingering near the crime scene despite being under the impression that the two fugitives weren’t anywhere nearby but it felt so, so good. Taeyong smiled softly against Johnny’s lips, wrapping his arms around his neck, suddenly completely unaware of the searing pain in his side and how his skin had basically screamed when his shirt rode up against his waist and exposed him to the freezing cold air of the night. For a couple of moments, it was peaceful, like nothing bad stood a chance at happening to the both of them. Taeyong liked it. It wasn’t harsh and relentless like how they usually kissed, more soft and languid and slow like how it had been back at the motel. 

Johnny pulled away first, reaching down to tuck some of Taeyong’s hair behind his ear. Taeyong opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a light suddenly shining straight on his face. Johnny was quick to move the both of them out of view. The lack of panicked shouting let Taeyong know that whoever had shone the light hadn’t noticed him but it did still mean that they were on their way further into the forest and it wouldn’t be too long until they did unless him and Johnny got a move on. 

“Where are we gonna go?” Taeyong asked, blinking up at Johnny.

“Japan, like you said,” Johnny said easily. 

“How?” Taeyong frowned, scrunching up his nose. “We don’t have a car.”

“We don’t but we’re about three hours away from the pier on foot,” Johnny explained, glancing behind Taeyong again. “If we just keep on in this direction we’ll eventually hit it.”

“What if we get caught?” Taeyong challenged because three hours was a really long journey and anyone could stumble upon them at anytime whether they were in the forest or not. They needed to think strategically. 

“Then we get caught,” Johnny muttered. “But that hasn’t happened yet and we don’t need to think about it unless it does.” He reached out a hand for Taeyong to take as the lights started to grow a bit closer. Taeyong took it, letting Johnny envelope his small hand in his much larger one. “Right now we need to go, okay?”

Taeyong hesitated a moment. He looked down at his (or Matthew’s) blood that had soaked into the oak of the tree he had been leaned against. If whoever was on their way moved in any closer and happened to shine their flashlight on that specific spot, they would know for certain that him and Johnny were somewhere nearby and that the tip called in on them was fake. It was a scary thought, the idea of what was easily more than ten people closing in on them, their weapons poised and ready to shoot.

He turned back to Johnny and forced himself to nod, giving Johnny’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Okay,” Taeyong said, nodding. 

And with that, they ran.

Taeyong didn’t know how long it had been but his side is screaming for him to stop walking immediately and he really, really fucking wished that he could have lost consciousness after successfully hotwiring Yukhei’s truck. He knew that if he had, the police probably would have caught them already considering that they had to have known something about the disappearance of Yukhei’s vehicle and what he had to do with it by now and that it was definitely best for the two of them to be walking but this was fucking painful. How had it not already been three hours yet?

Not only that, but Taeyong was terrified out of his mind. About an hour ago, it became obvious that the two of them had entered an area where civilization was extremely close. The sun had just started to rise and Taeyong could hear people on their way to work or school, either on foot or in some type of a vehicle. He couldn’t help but be anxious about the possibility of someone taking one wrong turn and running into them, two of Korea’s most wanted people. It was dangerous.

He was starting to feel a bit delirious again. Every so often, his vision would become a bit blurry and he would have to blink hard to get it back to normal and all of those black spots out from where they had started dancing before him. It didn’t take long for Johnny to notice and at one point, he moved in close and kept one arm curled around Taeyong’s waist to make sure that he would have some type of support in case he happened to stumble or fall. At times, the pressure of his arm would cause Taeyong to whine in pain and Johnny would immediately recoil in fear of having hurt him but Taeyong would always coerce him back over, silently letting him know that he needed him, no matter how much it was hurting him because they had to keep going. 

But Taeyong was tired. He was really, really fucking tired and didn’t see any signs of any pier in sight, only mountains and grasslands and the occasional skyline of Busan over the horizon. How long was it going to take for them to get there? More importantly, how long would it take for the police to catch them?

“I’m picking you up,” Johnny announced out of nowhere and Taeyong looked up at him, huffing quietly. 

“No, you’re not,” Taeyong scoffed because Omega or not, very much injured or not, he would be damned if he walked around in Johnny’s arms like some kind of baby. 

“Yes, I am,” Johnny said back, his stubbornness always so, so very apparent. “You’re slowing us down and we’re almost there.”

And it was extremely stupid and borderline childish for Taeyong to get defensive over the fact that Johnny had said that he was slowing the both of them down, especially when he knew that it was nothing but the truth but Taeyong couldn’t help it.

“Fuck you,” Taeyong snarled, his face burning with humiliation because whether he wanted to admit it or not, he didn’t like having to be dependant on someone else for something as simple as walking. 

“Don’t be a brat about it, Yong,” Johnny muttered and it was very clear that they were going back to their usual fussing and fighting that made their relationship them. 

“Not being a brat,” Taeyong mumbled, frowning. “I can walk by myself.”

“Are you seriously gonna make me beg you to let me pick you up for the sake of both of us?” Johnny asked bluntly. 

It was dumb for Taeyong to keep fighting this. He wanted to stop walking more than he didn’t want to be caught by the police and at this point, if they weren’t too far off from the piers, Johnny carrying him the rest of the way seemed like the best idea. He would just have to swallow his pride.

“Fine,” Taeyong caved, stopping. Johnny slipped his arm out from where it had been tucked around his waist. He moved to pick up Taeyong underneath his ass but Taeyong quickly stopped him, shaking his head. “On your back.”

Johnny scoffed quietly but bent down nonetheless, reaching behind him to help Taeyong climb onto his back. Taeyong made the mistake of moving too far up and ended up somewhere on Johnny’s shoulders, making it a total of two seconds before a branch was smacking him dead in his face. He sputtered and Johnny snorted before moving him further down his back, gesturing for Taeyong to wrap his legs around his middle which Taeyong did. 

“It’s not fucking funny,” Taeyong murmured once steady on top of Johnny, referring to how Johnny had laughed at him being attacked by the spare branch. 

“It is,” Johnny said before continuing to walk, not seeming at all affected by Taeyong’s weight on his back.

As it turned out, making the trek didn’t seem to take nearly as long once propped up on Johnny’s back. Before Taeyong could even really begin to enjoy himself, Johnny had stepped out of the thick coverage of the forest and Taeyong was being assaulted with the smell of nearby ocean water. Johnny placed him back down onto his feet carefully, sighing quietly. The pier wasn’t too crowded but there were still a fair amount of people around, people that would notice Taeyong being quite literally soaked in blood.

“So what’s the plan now?” Taeyong asked dryly. “Two fugitives walk onto a ferry to Japan?”

“That sounds like the setup to a bad joke,” Johnny responded and Taeyong glared up at him because what he had asked was a serious question and definitely nothing for Johnny to be joking about. Johnny quickly noticed his irritation and huffed, reaching up a hand to scratch at the back of his neck. He looked down at Taeyong for a long moment. “Turn it inside out.”

Taeyong looked down at himself, frowning a little. It seemed like such a simple idea, almost too simple for it to work. Still, he found himself stepping back into the foliage behind him and pulling off his sweatshirt, folding it inside out before slipping it back over his head. With how dark the fabric was, it only looked like the sweatshirt was suffering from a couple of stains, not completely soaked in blood. Taeyong looked up at Johnny. 

“The back of your neck and your hair is still pretty gross,” Johnny muttered, stepping into the foliage with him. He began to pull off his hoodie, handing it over to Taeyong who was starting to become very much aware of the fact that if anyone happened to look their direction, they would be exposed to the sight of two half–naked men. Taeyong took it from him quickly and slipped out the sweatshirt, giving it over to Johnny. 

Once dressed with the hoodie pulled over his head and tied closely under his chin, Taeyong waited for Johnny to say something. Johnny was silent for a long moment before a long sigh finally escaped him. 

“You’re gonna be pissed,” Johnny said.

“What?” Taeyong asked, laughing a bit dryly because he could just feel that he definitely wasn’t going to be up for whatever Johnny had planned. 

“There’s dried blood on your face,” Johnny mumbled and Taeyong scoffed almost immediately, shaking his head.

“You’re out of your fucking mind, Johnny Suh,” Taeyong said, lifting a hand to push his thumb into his mouth. Johnny watched him, the small hint of a smile playing on his lips. 

“Right underneath your bottom lip to the left,” Johnny instructed and Taeyong wiped up the blood to the best of his ability, looking to Johnny to see if he had gotten it. “Um,” Johnny said, shaking his head. “I meant your right.”

Taeyong groaned but did as he was asked, cringing at the taste of blood in his mouth when he stuck his thumb back inside. When he scrubbed at his skin again, he blinked over at Johnny for some kind of gesture that would tell him he had gotten it. Nothing came. 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Taeyong snapped, frowning. Johnny shrugged helplessly. “Where the hell is it then?”

“Um,” Johnny said again. “I can’t —?”

“—Jesus Christ, fucking fine,” Taeyong sighed angrily, moving in closer to Johnny, giving him permission to do as he needed. 

He did his best not to cringe away as Johnny sucked his thumb into his mouth and went to drag it across the skin underneath his lower lip. Johnny laughed a little before pulling back, cocking his head to the side as he observed Taeyong closely.

“Got it,” Johnny chuckled before reaching into his back pocket, pulling out a face mask for both him and Taeyong that he must have kept with him from his backpack which was now gone. Taeyong blinked down at them for a long moment before snatching one from Johnny’s hands, causing him to laugh even louder.

“You’re not fucking funny,” Taeyong muttered under his breath, loosening the hood around his head to tuck each loop of the face mask around his ears, glaring up at Johnny as he did the same.

“I’m a little funny,” Johnny said and Taeyong had to resist the urge to punch him again. He waited for Taeyong to slip his hood back on before speaking again. “You ready?”

Was Taeyong ready to face the possibility of being caught trying to board a ferry to Fukuoka? Not particularly but again, this was their last and only bet against spending the rest of their adult lives in prison.

“Yeah,” Taeyong nodded slowly, stuffing both his hands into the pocket of the hoodie. 

And with that, they were on their way. Johnny stayed close to him in case he ended up losing his balance again. Once in the crowd of people at the front of the station, Taeyong realized that the two of them blended in well with everyone else. It was a cold day and almost everyone was bundled up with masks, beanies and thick jackets. They didn’t at all look suspicious. If anyone took a closer look at them, well, that was a different story but for now they were fine and that was all that mattered at the moment. 

“Let me do all the talking, alright?” Johnny muttered to him as they reached the desk, reaching in his back pocket for the wad of money that Taeyong knew he was still carrying with him. Suddenly, Taeyong was filled with this sense of fear. This all felt too easy. How were the two of them going to get away with waltzing onto a ferry to another country? Didn’t they need passports? They didn’t have fucking passports. They were going to get caught. Shit. They were definitely going to be caught. “Taeyong, calm down,” Johnny said, having sensed how anxious Taeyong had gotten in a matter of seconds. “It’ll be okay.”

Taeyong didn’t believe that but knew that they were only a few feet from the front desk and him being visibly nervous could draw more attention onto the both of them than they needed. He forced himself to exhale and nod, falling back two of three steps behind Johnny to let him do all the talking.

The woman behind the desk was very obviously older and couldn’t see well, if the way she was squinting behind her thick bifocals were any indication. Taeyong couldn’t hear her and Johnny’s conversation over the sound of his heart pounding in his ears but thought that it was going well, seeing that Johnny seemed to be talking to her pretty calmly. He looked around at the people surrounding them, some waiting around patiently, some boarding the ferry already.

Suddenly, his eyes landed on a girl not too far away from him. Her hair was long and dark and pulled up into a high ponytail. Her mouth and nose were covered by a mask but Taeyong could see how her sharp eyes were focused in on him closely. He turned around, making sure that there was no possibility that she was looking at someone who just so happened to be behind him but came up short. Taeyong looked back at her, his heartbeat starting to race even faster in his chest. Why was she staring at him so intently? Did she recognize him? She had to have recognized him. There was no other explanation as to why she was looking at him, staring at him like she knew him. Taeyong felt like he was about to throw up.

He almost nearly jumped right out of his skin at the feeling of someone touching his shoulder. He whirled around to see Johnny standing behind him, holding up the tickets. It had worked. Johnny had gotten them. They were halfway to being home –free. Except for one thing.

Taeyong turned back around to see that the girl had disappeared. He looked around the pier frantically, looking everywhere to see where she could have gone that quickly. She was nowhere in sight. Had he just imagined her? There was no way. He could still feel her piercing gaze melding his skin like a fucking hot knife. She had been there and now suddenly, she wasn’t. This wasn’t good. Taeyong could feel that it wasn’t good.

“Johnny, there was someone,” Taeyong breathed, whirling back around to face Johnny. He could barely find to words to express his panic, to express how fucking terrified he was about this. “She —She was fucking staring at me and—and—.”

“—Let’s go,” Johnny only interrupted quietly, glancing behind Taeyong at something Taeyong couldn’t see before ushering him along to the line to enter the ferry. On their way there, Taeyong couldn’t help but to continue looking over his shoulder, scared that he’d see the girl again.

They made it onto the ferry without any trouble but Taeyong was still overwhelmed by the overwhelming fear of that look of recognition in that girl’s eyes. She knew who he was. Where had she gone? Why had she left so quickly? Soon, him and Johnny were in their seats at the very back of the ferry, luckily given their own little veil of privacy with the first couple of seats ahead of them completely empty. Taeyong didn’t have any room to be grateful for that. He was too worried. 

“Johnny, someone fucking recognized me,” Taeyong said once they were seated, most people already settled onto the ferry. 

“I know,” Johnny mumbled. “The lady at the front recognized me too.”

This was worse than Taeyong had originally thought. Not only had he been recognized, but Johnny had been noticed too. Didn’t that mean that they had to have called the police or some kind of authority? Taeyong looked out the window, expecting to see someone bounding towards the ferry but saw no one. He looked back over at Johnny. 

“What the fuck are we gonna do?” Taeyong muttered, slinking down further into his seat as an attendant walked by them, beginning to close all the doors. 

“Enjoy the ride,” Johnny said back, as calm as ever. “And whatever happens happens.”

With that, Johnny reached over and took Taeyong’s hand in his, squeezing it like he had done to Johnny earlier. Taeyong looked up at him and Johnny offered him a small smile, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of his head.

In that moment, Taeyong realized that Johnny was right. Him panicking would ultimately prove to change nothing. It wouldn’t stop those women from having recognized the both of them. It wouldn’t stop whatever was going to happen to them from happening in the end. The only thing that him panicking would do was ruin what very easily might be his last free experience on the outside world. He couldn’t control what was going to happen to him. All he could do was live in the moment. 

“Okay,” Taeyong mumbled, moving in closer to Johnny, forcing himself to nod. 

The ferry pulled off without any trouble. If Taeyong saw the ominous colors that he had been doing his best to avoid over the past month out of the corner of his eye the moment that the boat had traveled at least over a meter from the dock, he did his best to ignore it. 

The ride would only take a couple of hours. At one point, an attendant came over to the both of them and asked if they wanted anything to drink. Taeyong asked for a water. Johnny thanked the woman and said that he was good with nothing. It was quiet between the both of them for awhile. Taeyong drank his water, holding the cup carefully with both hands. Looking out the window, all he could see was the ocean. It was kind of scary but kind of soothing at the same time. He liked it. 

“What do you think is gonna happen to us?” Taeyong asked, looking up at Johnny who had been peering out the window along with him. 

“We’ll get sent to prison,” Johnny said calmly. “They’ll pin Matthew’s murder on the both of us.” He paused a moment, looking down at Taeyong with a small frown. “You can tell them that I did that. You don’t deserve to go down for it.”

“We both did it,” Taeyong told him because they had. If Taeyong had never pulled Matthew down, Johnny wouldn’t have been able to scramble for the gun and shoot him. It was a team effort between the both of them. He wouldn’t let Johnny take the fall by himself.

“I’m the one who shot him,” Johnny reminded and Taeyong couldn’t help but roll his eyes. 

“Stop trying to play hero, Johnny. You’ve already done enough of that,” Taeyong said, glancing back out the window again. “Plus, you can’t control me once we’re separated.”

Johnny went quiet after that. Taeyong watched the ocean’s waves ripple, taking another sip of his water that had gone slightly lukewarm since the moment the attendant had handed it to him. He didn’t bother trying to figure out how long it had been since then. 

“You think we’re gonna be separated?” Johnny asked quietly.

Last Taeyong had checked—and he had checked, had done his research on all of the correctional institutions in South Korea—there were thirty–seven prisons in the country currently. The chance of them being placed in the same one, especially when the authorities were well aware that the two of them had ran off together, were slim to none.  

“Probably,” Taeyong said honestly and Johnny sighed. 

“That’s gonna suck,” he said, Taeyong nodding in agreement because it was. Them being separated from one another would be a whole new punishment in addition to the one that they were sure to be given soon enough.

It went silent again. Taeyong put down his cup of water in the holder embedded into his seat and reached for Johnny’s hand again, Johnny taking it without hesitation. For some odd reason, the feeling of Johnny rubbing his thumb over the back of his hand was more soothing than Taeyong had been expecting. He sighed quietly and moved to put his head on Johnny’s shoulder, closing his eyes. 

“I don’t think I regret anything,” Taeyong admitted. 

“Really?” Johnny asked and Taeyong hummed in response. “I don’t think I regret anything either.”

“Think for yourself much?” Taeyong said dryly and Johnny snorted. 

“Shut the fuck up,” Johnny said. Taeyong laughed and cuddled in closer to Johnny’s side. He took a moment to think about it before speaking up again. 

“I think you’re gonna miss my cunt the most,” Taeyong teased, smiling softly, his eyes still closed. 

“Wow, we’re about to be arrested and you’re thinking of having sex?” Johnny questioned, causing Taeyong to laugh quietly again. “You’re a fucking heathen.”

“I know,” Taeyong said, spreading his legs a little in his seat. “So do me a favor and touch me before I’m forced in a fucking jail cell for the rest of my life, yeah?”

Johnny scoffed quietly but moved his hand to the inside of Taeyong’s right leg regardless, moving teasingly up his thin thigh before unbuttoning his jeans slowly, pausing when an attendant passed by on her way to the front of the shuttle. Taeyong made an impatient noise in the back of his throat when Johnny didn’t start moving again fast enough, slumping down further into his seat.

“Chill out,” Johnny muttered, moving in close to begin mouthing at the side of his neck, right where the he had marked him. The pleasure was almost immediate and Taeyong gasped shakily, letting Johnny unzip his jeans and slip his hand down the front as discreetly as possible.

It seemed like the last thing the two of them should be doing, not only because it wasn’t appropriate for them to be having sex in the back of a very public ferry but because it could have easily been the last bit of time they were going to have together. Yet and still, it kind of seemed like they should have been doing exactly that considering that they were going to be yanked apart within a matter of some mere hours. 

“Fuck,” Taeyong breathed softly as Johnny pushed a hand into his panties, rubbing two of his fingers through his slick–soaked cunt, feeling more start to gush out of him with the simple motion. He heard Johnny chuckle lowly against his neck, dragging his tongue against his bond mark.

Another attendant walked past and Johnny pulled up immediately, repositioning himself so that his body was blocking Taeyong’s from view. Once she was gone, Johnny leaned forward and pressed a lingering kiss against Taeyong’s lips. Taeyong smiled softly against Johnny’s mouth, parting his lips slightly to allow Johnny to push his tongue inside. They kissed slowly and steadily, completely uncaring of the fact that anyone could call them out at any given moment. 

“Fuck me,” Taeyong mumbled into Johnny’s mouth, rolling his hips down against Johnny’s awaiting hand. “Please.”

“Can’t fuck you right here, Yong,” Johnny muttered back, dipping those two fingers into Taeyong’s leaking cunt before immediately pulling out, causing Taeyong to whine frustratedly. 

“Don’t be mean to me,” Taeyong said desperately, shaking his head. “Not right now.”

Johnny chuckled again and pulled back, biting his lower lip as he watched Taeyong writhe in his seat, all worked up even though he had barely been touched yet. He glanced behind him to find that there was no one nearby and slipped his hand underneath Taeyong’s panties again, catching his slick on his fingertips. He pulled them back out and pushed them into Taeyong’s mouth, Taeyong accepting them obediently, moaning quietly as he sucked on Johnny’s two digits like his life depended on it.

“My pretty baby,” Johnny breathed, slipping his fingers out of Taeyong’s mouth, dragging them out slowly until the thin string of saliva that connected his fingers to Taeyong’s pretty lips snapped. Taeyong opened his legs even wider than before, giving Johnny room to push his hand back into his panties. “The prettiest,” Johnny continued, dragging his fingers against Taeyong’s stiff clit, causing the other to mewl quietly at the shock that ran up his spine with the simple touch.

Johnny started to roll his clit in small circles with his two fingers, leaning up to kiss the tip of Taeyong’s nose as he kept moaning, forcing himself to stay quiet so that he could enjoy his moment as long as possible without anyone intervening. Johnny moved up to kiss his forehead all while pinching his clit and Taeyong is unable to stop himself from gasping loudly, his body seizing up with the sensation. Johnny’s head snapped to see if anyone had possibly noticed, settling down a little upon seeing that no one had stirred.

“Be quiet for me, baby,” Johnny whispered to him, kissing Taeyong on the mouth again and Taeyong nodded frantically, wanting to be the best for Johnny one last time. “Good boy.”

And it was so fucking hard for Taeyong to keep quiet as Johnny finally slipped his fingers inside, scissoring them into his hole, stretching him out beautifully. It felt so, so fucking good that Taeyong almost couldn’t stand it, biting at his lip to stop himself from making any noise as he felt more of his slick leak out around Johnny’s thick fingers, soaking into the fabric of his jeans.

“You’re so pretty, Taeyong,” Johnny reminded him softly, his face so gentle compared to how roughly he was fucking him with his fingers, his wrist rubbing against his hard clit with each uptake. “So, so pretty for me.”

“You’re so fucking good at this,” Taeyong whined, humping down against Johnny’s hand, not wanting it all to end so quickly but so fucking desperate to come all over Johnny and the seat underneath him. “Always so good at this.”

“Yeah?” Johnny asked darkly, pulling his fingers back out to start toying with Taeyong’s clit again. “You’re mine, okay? No matter what happens, you belong to me, Yong. No one else, only me.”

“Only you,” Taeyong breathed, his face burning at the sound of his pussy squelching when Johnny pushed his fingers back inside, fucking his slick into his hole.

“Don’t be stingy,” Johnny muttered. “Touch me too.”

The way he had said it was so dirty, so fucking filthy that it made Taeyong wish that the two of them could have some alone time where Johnny could fuck the absolute shit out of him and he could make as much noise as he wanted, letting Johnny fucking ruin him with his thick cock like he had done back at Mark’s house. He nodded again and reached his hand over into Johnny’s lap, shakily unzipping Johnny’s pants as quickly as possible.

Johnny let out the prettiest moan as Taeyong took him into his hand, his thumb sliding over the head of his cock as Johnny continued to fuck his pussy absolutely stupid, bringing tears to Taeyong’s eyes with how good it felt. He pulled back, raising his hand up to his mouth to spit into his palm, moaning as Johnny found that spot inside of him, fucking his fingers up against it relentlessly.

“Wish I could fuck you so bad,” Johnny mumbled as Taeyong took him back into his hand again, slowly starting to jerk him off. And Taeyong wanted that so bad too, wanted Johnny to fucking ruin him one last time but knew that they couldn’t. He pressed his two fingers hard against that spot, not letting up for even a second, slick spilling out of Taeyong like a fucking faucet.

One hard thrust made Taeyong squeal out noisily, causing Johnny to immediately slap a hand against Taeyong’s mouth to ensure that it wouldn’t happen again. A couple of people turned around at the sound of it but didn’t care enough to actually actively search for the source. Johnny started fucking into him even harder, his hand clamped tight around his mouth, muffling any noise that would dare to come out.

And Taeyong knew that he wasn’t going to make it much longer, not with the way that his cunt had started to clench around Johnny’s fingers, throbbing with the need to come. Johnny’s wrist kept hitting his clit, rubbing against it and Taeyong can’t take it, trying to close his legs around Johnny’s arm only for Johnny to force them back open, moving his fingers in and out even harder. Drool dripped out into the palm of Johnny’s hand and Taeyong’s eyes rolled back as he came, squirting hard around Johnny’s thick fingers with a breathless mewl, followed by a series of overwhelmed whines as Johnny continued to fuck him through his orgasm, letting him mess himself right there in front of what had to be about thirty different people. 

Johnny dropped his hand from Taeyong’s mouth as he started to come down from his orgasm, breathing heavily through his mouth. His cunt was gripped onto Johnny’s fingers one last time before Johnny pulled out, Taeyong gasping quietly as he clenched around nothing. He let Johnny push those same fingers into his mouth, sucking them gently, smiling deliriously at the taste of himself. He really didn’t want to leave Johnny, not now, not ever.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Johnny asked quietly as Taeyong pushed some of his hair out of his face before spitting Johnny’s fingers out, sitting up a bit in his seat to see if anyone had zeroed in on them. When he came to the conclusion that no one had, he moved down where his face was a mere few inches away from Johnny’s cock, wrapping his hand around it teasingly.

“Returning the favor,” Taeyong breathed before taking the head of Johnny’s cock into his mouth, hollowing out his cheeks. Johnny groaned softly, his hands flying up to curl into Taeyong’s soft hair.

“Yong, I—,” Johnny started, interrupting himself with a low groan as Taeyong swallowed even more of him down, taking him all the way to the very base of his cock. His fingers dug in even tighter against Taeyong’s scalp, gripping his hair roughly as Taeyong’s throat flexed around him beautifully before the younger was pulling up to take a breath, spit dripping down his chin. “Fuck,” Johnny said, using his free hand to lift Taeyong’s head up by his chin, leaning down for a lingering kiss against Taeyong’s spit–slicked lips. “You’re so fucking pretty.”

“You can’t be with anyone else either, okay?” Taeyong mumbled into Johnny’s mouth, his hand still steadily moving up and down Johnny’s cock. “If I’m yours, you’re mine.”

“S–Shit, I—Okay, baby, yeah,” Johnny nodded and Taeyong smiled a bit before sucking Johnny’s cock back down his throat.

Johnny only made it a couple more seconds before he was coming down Taeyong’s throat in thick streaks, causing the younger to choke a little. He swallowed around Johnny’s sensitive cock, keeping his throat open for the rest of his come that leaked out against his tongue, causing him to moan quietly at the taste. Once sure that Johnny was finished, Taeyong pulled off and swallowed around, squeezing the last few drops out come out of the head of Johnny’s cock, letting it drip against his tongue.

“Fuck,” Johnny said quietly, running a hand through his hair. “How come you’ve never done that for me before?”

“We didn’t really have a lot of time for me to suck your dick, did we?” Taeyong answered sarcastically, watching as Johnny tucked himself back into his pants, still reeling from how fucking amazing Johnny had tasted on his tongue.

“Shit,” Johnny muttered, looking down at the dark stain in Taeyong’s lap. “That’s—That’s a little unfortunate.”

Taeyong looked down at himself and snorted quietly, shrugging. “A little,” Taeyong confirmed and Johnny laughed, pulling him in for another kiss. They were only able to stay in each other’s embrace for a little while, as another attendant came strolling by right as Taeyong went to deepen it. 

It went quiet after that. Taeyong looked out the window to see that they had started to approach a nearby island. Not too long after that, the intercom crackled to life from above him. 

“Hello, we are now approaching Hakata Port,” the calm, female voice informed them.

Taeyong blinked over at Johnny who had already been looking down at him. “Have you ever been to Japan?” he asked.

“Only once,” Johnny answered. “Me and my family took a trip over here during our first year of living in Korea.”

“Do you know any Japanese?” Taeyong questioned and Johnny took a moment to think about it before saying something in Japanese that Taeyong couldn’t understand. A small beat of silence passed before Taeyong was laughing quietly, shaking his head. “I have no fucking clue what that means.”

“Me either,” Johnny admitted and Taeyong laughed even louder at that, burying his face into Johnny’s chest. 

“Christ, I’m never gonna be able to dye my hair back to normal,” Taeyong mumbled into Johnny’s shirt, groaning lightly. 

“It’ll fade,” Johnny reassured him, rubbing at his back. Taeyong knew that was true but still didn’t exactly want to have to deal with the waiting period that would ultimately come with it. 

It went quiet for some more time between them. Taeyong went to lift up his head from Johnny’s chest to look out the window only for Johnny to push him back down before he could sit up completely. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why he had done it and Taeyong felt his heartbeat start to pick up again at the thought.

“I don’t wanna get up,” Taeyong muttered because he didn’t, he didn’t want to face all those people out there, all those people waiting for him. He could hear people murmuring in confusion at the sight collected outside on the pier, all worried that something might have happened that would ruin their day trip to Fukuoka.

“We can’t just stay here,” Johnny told him softly, slowly slipping the hood off of Taeyong’s head to card his fingers gently through his hair. “They’ll come get us eventually. Might as well face them, you know.”

“We can’t run?” Taeyong asked and Johnny shrugged.

“Unless you know some secret way to get out of here with them noticing us I don’t think that we can,” Johnny answered and Taeyong sighed quietly. This was really the end for the both of them. 

People got up to start filing off of the ferry only to be stopped by a stern voice telling them to sit back down. Taeyong felt like he was about to throw up. The police were starting to fill the small area and the hushed murmuring of the people aboard started to get louder at the sight of them. Like always, Johnny sensed his fear and pulled him closer against his chest, calming him with his scent.

“It’ll be alright,” Johnny reassured him gently, still running his fingers through Taeyong’s hair. “Just stay calm, alright? Don’t give them any reason to hurt you.”

“I’m scared,” Taeyong admitted because he was. He didn’t want to be separated from Johnny and didn’t want to have to face a trial, didn’t want to be forced back in the media and asked by all these random men and women who ultimately didn’t care about him why he had done what he had done, didn’t want to have to spend the rest of his life in a jail cell. He realized that there was probably no other outcome for him though. If he had gotten in that car to the airport, he would be dead and he didn’t think that there was any other thing he and Johnny could have done to prevent them from being where they were now. 

“I know,” Johnny muttered as the voices started to come closer, as they checked and looked and didn’t find who they were looking for in the rows further up. “Stay calm.”

Taeyong pulled his head up from Johnny’s chest and looked up at him, unable to stop the tears from welling in his eyes. “I’m really fucking sorry for the way I treated you, okay?” Taeyong said, shaking his head. “I’ve never said that out loud and I’m so sorry and we probably could have had more time with each other if I hadn’t been such a fucking—.”

Before he could finish, Johnny interrupted him with a kiss. He wiped the tears from where they had leaked out onto Taeyong’s cheeks before pulling back, smiling down at Taeyong softly.

“Remember when I was breaking down back in Busan and you told me to suck it up and snap out of it?” Johnny asked and Taeyong hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Well, it’s time for you to take your own advice.” He bent down to kiss Taeyong again. “Plus, if they see you crying out there, they’ll think you’re weak and I think you’ve done way too much to keep up that image, haven’t you?”

Taeyong glared up at Johnny with that for a long moment before breathing out a wet laugh. He shook his head as Johnny’s thumb swiped across his cheek again, sniffling quietly. 

“Thank you for all of this,” Taeyong ultimately decided to say. Johnny smiled and ran his hand through Taeyong’s hair one last time, opening his mouth to say something, to respond to what Taeyong had told him, only to be interrupted by someone snatching him up out of his seat. He cursed loudly and Taeyong watched as some officer twisted Johnny’s arms behind his back, slamming him face –first into a nearby seat. Taeyong backed himself against the window behind him, doing his best to avoid whoever was sure to come for him next. 

Unfortunately, the man who grabbed him was much, much stronger than him, easily able to wrestle him out of his seat despite all of his struggling. He screamed and shouted for the man to let him go but only ended up with his face smacked down against one of the seats in front of him. He looked up to see Johnny in front of him, wincing at how tightly the man behind him was handling him. He felt something start to dribble down his lip as Johnny’s eyes met his, lingering there for just a moment before Johnny broke out into a big smile, much too big for his soft, stupidly–attractive face. 

“Your nose is bleeding again,” Johnny breathed out, a pained groan following shortly thereafter. Taeyong grinned along with him, watching as the dark fluid started to drip down from Johnny’s nose too. 

“So is yours,” Taeyong giggled, only to be immediately told to shut the fuck up by the man above him. The two of them started laughing almost hysterically and Taeyong had honestly never felt so light–headed with fondness for another person before in his life. 

They take Johnny away first and Taeyong watched as he was forced out of the ferry, met with more officers towards the front of the car. He could hear the commotion coming from outside, the photographers and journalists and officers and people who had just happened to be passing by ready to bombard them with questions and relentless stares. It all felt so surreal.

“Get up, bitch,” the man behind him demanded, forcing him upright. Taeyong cried out in pain, wanting so badly to let this guy know that he was wounded but so, so aware that he probably couldn’t give a single shit otherwise. He felt the blood from his nose leak down his lip and into his mouth, flooding him with the harsh taste of copper. 

And honestly, as he was taken out into the cold air of Japan, immediately overwhelmed with yelling and flashes from every other side of him, Taeyong couldn’t bring himself to regret what all had happened. Everything had happened for a reason. As he was shoved into the police car very carelessly, his vision going black with the unbearable pain that shot up his side with his collision with the unforgiving cushion of the backseat, Taeyong thought of something his mother had told him that night he had showed up in her bedroom, sobbing as he tried his hardest to understand his first heat and why it was happening. 

“Here’s the thing, baby,” she had said, cuddling Taeyong close to her on the bed, his father’s side empty due to him working a late shift at work that night. She pet through Taeyong’s short hair, rocking him slowly as he kept whining into her chest in pain, gasping at each shock that ran up his spine with each passing second. “The universe is gonna work the way that it works and the only thing that we can do is go along with it.”

Taeyong hadn’t realized how true what she had said was until now.

Chapter Text

The trial had been as publicized as possible. From the moment Taeyong had gotten into that car, there were cameras in his face. Reporters did everything they could to get an answer out of him as to why he had done what he did and how he had managed to evade the authorities for so long. The police took him back to Seoul, where he was given a lawyer named Dejun who told him never to answer any questions and keep his mouth shut about everything. Taeyong couldn’t find any sense in that seeing that the police had all the evidence they needed to put him away for the rest of his life already but did as he was asked nonetheless.

He saw Johnny again about a month after they had both gotten arrested in court. He thought that Johnny looked really pretty, even in his ugly blue jumpsuit. His hair had grown out a little and kept falling over into his eyes no matter how many times he would run his fingers through it. Taeyong had frowned when he noticed the purpling bruise on Johnny’s chin and how his right eye seemed to be a bit swollen and blackened but then Johnny was looking over at him and offering him a soft smile that made Taeyong forget about everything. Taeyong really had missed him dearly. 

It really was hard for Taeyong at first. As it turned out, what he had described to Johnny at the very beginning of their relationship had been completely true and quickly hit him full –force. Whenever he was able to force himself to sleep, he would wake up in cold sweats with his entire body screaming out in a type of pain that was six times as worse than the pain he had felt after being shot. He would get these migraines that caused him to vomit more often than not. All in all, it was fucking horrible. There would be times where the pain would get so bad that Taeyong thought he might literally die but his body always pulled through right at the end which he still wasn’t sure was good or bad. The only thing he had been wrong about was that it wasn’t constant. The small breaks were what he lived for and as days turned into weeks turned into months, Taeyong found that his body had started to adjust. The mark on his neck never faded though and at times, Taeyong would run the pads of his fingers over the scarred skin and he swore he could smell that familiar fir scent that he so very much missed. 

During the first day of their trial, Johnny returned with a new haircut and a suit that made him look so much mature than he usually did. Taeyong’s family—his father, as his mother simply refused to speak to him, saying that he was a stain on their family name and she wanted nothing to do with him which Taeyong wasn’t surprised by at all, considering that she had been looking for some kind of way to get rid of him ever since she found out that he couldn’t have children—had provided him with an old suit, his father’s wedding suit, but it was much too big for him and bulky on the shoulders. Taeyong said that he preferred to wear his stupid prison jumpsuit but Dejun told him that he didn’t want the judge or jury to think of him as a criminal, but as a human being. Taeyong told him that they all already thought of him as a criminal and Dejun didn’t respond after that. 

And for fucking once, Taeyong’s body wasn’t aching. Johnny wasn’t close to him but he could still smell him, could still feel the way that Johnny was unconsciously soothing him with his scent. Johnny was pleading not guilty. Dejun had suggested that Taeyong pled guilty to the theft but claim that he had nothing to do with Matthew’s murder which didn’t make any sense because if Johnny wasn’t guilty and he wasn’t the one who had carried it out, then who had done it?

Fortunately (unfortunately), when the prosecuter started grilling Taeyong on his involvement with Matthew’s murder and how they found his blood intermixed with Matthew’s at the crime scene, Johnny took it upon himself to stand up and announce, “I did it. I killed my brother,” which only threw the entire courtroom into a state of chaos. Taeyong did all that he could to intervene, to say that Johnny had only done it out of self–defense or that he had helped but it was very clear that the judge didn’t like him or the fact that he was speaking out of term and soon, he was being shoved out of the courtroom by an Alpha bailiff who growled at him to stop fighting or he would snap his arm in half right there and then. 

Taeyong didn’t see Johnny at all after that. He had absolutely no clue what was going on with Johnny’s case until the moment that his sentencing was put through and he was sent over to a prison in Hongcheon. He was roomed with an older man named Sangwon and a man who looked to be in his mid–thirties named Hongsuk. Hongsuk didn’t talk all that much and Sangwon talked a little too much, immediately bombarding Taeyong with a series of questions that started with why he had helped kill someone as great for their country as Matthew Suh and ending with how Johnny had recently been given a sentence of life in prison but the word was still out on whether or not he could receive capital punishment. Taeyong’s blood had ran cold at that last part, shocked that that was the decision that the court had decided to come to. 

It wasn’t fair. Life in prison? Taeyong hadn’t even been given that. Why was Johnny being so cruelly punished? He didn’t understand why Johnny’s loaded family hadn’t provided him with some kind of representation that would have helped him procure a lighter sentence. And fucking capital punishment? Hadn’t Johnny told them what Matthew had done to him, what he had done to so many people before the two of them? The thought of it made Taeyong sick to his stomach. This wasn’t fair. 

Another month passed by without anything major happening. Sangwon and Hongsuk were both humans so they didn’t react much to Taeyong’s heat dropping in the middle in the night other than Hongsuk sitting up from his bed, glancing over at him and pointing out that it looked like he had pissed himself. Taeyong was taken to a more private unit of the prison where he was left with practically nothing other than a fucking cucumber to “fix his little problem” , as the guard who had thrown him into the tiny room had called it for the next couple of days. Taeyong fucking hated it. 

His heat lasted an entire fucking week and during that time, Taeyong genuinely considered death being better than having to spend another day like this. On his final day, he knocked on the door and let the guard on the outside know that he wanted out because even though it probably wasn’t the safest for him to leave yet considering the pheromones that his body was still actively putting out, Taeyong couldn’t stand another fucking day in that stuffy room eating that horrible food that they would slide through the little rectangular hole in the door.

Once out, the guards pushed him in the lunchroom which Taeyong hated. He tried to reason with them and tell them that he had already eaten lunch which was a lie but he desperately wanted to go back to his cell and lay down. Unfortunately, all they did was curse at him and tell him to get a tray before he was sent to solitary.

Which, like. Taeyong had to try his absolutely hardest to not snap back at him because he had vowed that he wasn’t going to get himself in trouble while in prison. 

He sat down with his tray next to Sangwon, picking up his cookie to hand it to the older man. Unsurprisingly enough, it seemed that Sangwon was more than ready to speak to him the second that he sat down. 

“Did you hear?” Sangwon asked excitedly and Taeyong sighed, pulling back his cookie since it seemed that Sangwon didn’t really want it.

“I’ve been in heat for the past week,” Taeyong reminded the older man dryly, picking up his orange to start peeling it. “So no, I probably haven’t heard.”

Sangwon reached over and snatched the cookie up from Taeyong’s tray, quickly picking off a piece of it and pushing it into his mouth. “Your boy just got here and already almost got sent over to solitary,” Sangwon said casually, like that wasn’t something that Taeyong would care all too much about, like he hadn’t just mentioned Johnny fucking Suh. 

“He what?” Taeyong asked, his head snapping over to look at Sangwon who was shoving more of the cookie into his mouth. “Who?”

“Johnny,” Sangwon said with his mouth completely full. “Ain’t that his name?” 

That didn’t make any sense? Johnny was here? When the fuck had that happened? How long had he been there and why hadn’t he noticed him, smelled him at fucking least?

“How do you know he’s here?” Taeyong questioned almost frantically. 

“He got sent here last week,” Sangwon explained easily. “No one really saw him ‘cause he went through rut or something but now he’s back and he almost got into a fight with Kim a couple of minutes ago.”

Johnny had gone through his rut around the same time that Taeyong’s heat had started. His heat had triggered Johnny’s rut because they had been so close to each other and it had been particularly long because of the fact that they weren’t able to be together during their cycles. It still didn’t really explain why Taeyong wasn’t catching Johnny’s scent, even now but he could worry about that later. 

He could have asked Sangwon how he would have heard about Johnny being one of the newcomers in the prison when he himself had just heard about it only a couple of minutes ago but Taeyong decided that wasn’t exactly important right now.

“Where is he now?” Taeyong asked and Sangwon turned around in his seat, looking around the bland room for a couple of moments before zeroing on somewhere not too far away from them. 

“Over there,” Sangwon said, pointing.

Taeyong immediately stood up from his seat, looking off in the direction that Sangwon had pointed him in. It didn’t take long for him to find Johnny sitting there at a table not too far, his head down, picking at his food slowly. He sat at the table alone, leaving Taeyong to wonder why no one had chosen to sit next to him. Plus, Sangwon had mentioned something about a fight which was so, so fucking strange, considering that the entire time Taeyong had known him, Johnny had never seemed like the type of person to fight, even if provoked. 

Either way, Taeyong wasted no time before climbing out of his seat and making his way over to Johnny on the other side of the cafeteria. He had only made it halfway over when Johnny looked up from his tray, his face twisting in confusion at the sight of Taeyong before it was quite literally lighting up with joy, Johnny quickly standing up and moving to meet Taeyong in the middle. 

Johnny’s scent had to be the most comforting thing for Taeyong in a long, long while. He buried his face in Johnny’s chest, letting the older pull him as tightly as possible, pressing his cheek into the top of Taeyong’s head. 

“No contact, inmates!” a guard shouted from not too far away from the both of them. Neither Taeyong or Johnny made any move to let go of one another which ultimately caused the guard to step forward and place one hand on the baton in his waistband in warning. It was Taeyong who had seen, cracking his eyes open to see the man advancing and quickly pulling away, wanting to avoid the both of them getting in trouble. 

“You’re fucking here,” Taeyong breathed, shaking his head. “Johnny, you’re fucking here, dude.”

“I’m here,” Johnny said back, smiling. 

“Sit the fuck down,” the same guard snapped and Taeyong whipped his head around in the man’s direction, ready to open his mouth and tell him to fuck off for two seconds but Johnny was stopping him with a gentle hand on his shoulder, silently letting him know that it wasn’t worth it. Taeyong huffed angrily but still followed after Johnny as he moved to sit back down. 

He could feel more than few people in the cafeteria looking over at the both of them, obviously more than aware of the history between them. He still didn’t understand how Johnny was there, how he was sitting next to him as clear as day. The prosecuting team had made it a point that the two of them shouldn’t be together as part of their punishment and it seemed the court had agreed with that. Taeyong had been under the impression that he wouldn’t be able to see Johnny again until the day that he got out of prison and possibly not even then, considering that felons weren’t allowed to visit anyone who wasn’t a blood relative in prison.

Johnny looked really exhausted. There were dark circles underneath his eyes and his skin was bruised like it had been back in the courtroom. The part of his lip that the scar ran down was split down the middle and his hair was long and unruly, reaching past the nape of Johnny’s neck. On the right side of his throat was the familiar scar of Taeyong’s teeth, still slightly reddened even with how long it had been.

Taeyong had so much that he wanted to say to him. He wanted to ask how Johnny was even there, sitting next to him. He wanted to scream at him for taking the fall for Matthew’s death and offering no sort of defense for himself about what had happened. He wanted to tell Johnny how much he had missed and how he had been positive that he was never going to see him again. 

Ultimately, he decided to say, “You look like shit.”

Johnny paused for a moment before laughing, his eyes crinkling up. “You don’t look much better,” he said and Taeyong grimaced at him because he didn’t need Johnny reminding him how being in prison hadn’t really been kind to him. 

“How are you here?” Taeyong asked, frowning. “I thought we weren’t supposed to even been in the same fucking city as each other, Johnny.”

“We weren’t,” Johnny said, picking up the orange on his tray and handing it over to Taeyong who only blinked down at it, confused as to why Johnny was giving it to him. “You’re fucking tiny, Yong. Eat it.”

That was probably true. Taeyong had never really eaten a lot in his life but even since being in prison, he rarely ate at all. The food was borderline inedible and with how often he was in pain, his appetite was often the last thing that Taeyong was worried about. He only ate occasionally, picking off fruit and a cookie every now and again from his tray and nibbling on it in order to make sure that he stayed healthy enough to function. While he wasn’t really hungry at the moment, much more worried about talking to Johnny and figuring out what all had happened that led to him being here, Taeyong still took the orange from Johnny, swallowing down a sigh as he started to rip the peel off. 

“All of Matthew’s shit got left to my parents which, like, basically left them loaded,” Johnny went on to explain, glancing around the cafeteria at all the people that were still staring at the both of them. “I had to beg for them to get some strings pulled so that I could get sent to this prison.” His eyes eventually landed back on Taeyong pushing a slice of orange into his mouth. He watched him for a quick moment before pushing his entire tray in front of Taeyong who was quick to push it back. “Eat,” Johnny said simply.

“I already ate,” Taeyong lied, somehow knowing that if he said that he wasn’t hungry Johnny wasn’t going to let it go. Johnny eyed him for a couple seconds, clearly going back and forth between whether or not he should believe him. Ultimately, he must decide that Taeyong had to be telling the truth. Good.

“I told them that I was getting the shit kicked out of me in the prison they had me in,” Johnny continued, shrugging. “Which technically wasn’t a complete lie.”

Taeyong frowned at that. He didn’t like the fact that Johnny had been getting picked on but wasn’t surprised by it. A lot of people respected Matthew and weren’t too happy with the fact that he had been taken out by his own brother. Some people threw off–handed comments in Taeyong’s way every now and again but none had ever resorted to actual physical violence. 

“Is that why you almost got into a fight five minutes ago?” Taeyong asked quietly, still wondering who the hell Kim could be in the back of his mind. 

“No, it’s just,” Johnny stopped and sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Everyone thinks I’m this big, bad murderer so they’re either scared of me or come up to me trying to test me and I’ve—I gotta defend myself at some point, Yong.”

“I know,” Taeyong quickly reassured Johnny, wanting him to know that without a doubt, he was definitely on his side. 

He glanced up and looked around the cafeteria like Johnny had earlier, a bit overwhelmed with the amount of people staring at them. It led him to wonder how this was going to work out. It had been public knowledge that him and Johnny weren’t supposed to be together and yet and still they were sitting next to each other behind that dirty table, sharing a fucking tray of food. It didn’t make any sense.

“Isn’t someone gonna figure out?” Taeyong questioned. “Aren’t they gonna send you back once they realize that we aren’t supposed to be with each other?”

“Parents paid off the warden and the mayor,” Johnny told him, shaking his head. “I’m here.”

“And what about me, Johnny?” Taeyong asked sharply, his heartbeat starting to pick up a little at the thought. “What makes you think that someone won’t fucking transfer me to another prison?”

It was good to see Johnny but Taeyong couldn’t help but be a little nervous. Sure, Johnny had solidified his spot in this particular prison but what about him? He didn’t want to be moved just as much as he didn’t want to be separated from Johnny again. This was a good place for him—mellow and calm and easy. Nobody had tried to hurt him and he had confidence in the fact that they never would. He couldn’t guarantee that in another prison. 

“They won’t,” Johnny said confidently and Taeyong couldn’t help but snort in response. 

“You sound pretty fucking confident about something that you have absolutely no control over,” Taeyong huffed because he was genuinely worried about this and it seemed that Johnny wasn’t taking it seriously. 

“I got it, Yong,” Johnny promised him, reaching over to pull Taeyong’s hand underneath the table and interlock their fingers. “Trust me, alright?”

Taeyong blinked at him for a moment or two before exhaling and shaking his head. He didn’t full trust that Johnny had control of the situation because for the short amount of time that he had known him, Johnny never really seemed to have control of anything that happened in his life but Taeyong still settled, figuring that if there really was nothing neither of them could do, he shouldn’t spend the little bit of time he had left pissed off at Johnny for not thinking of him. 

That being said, Taeyong was still a bit pissed off. He really did hope that Johnny had some sort of a plan. What had all gone down wasn’t just about him and never would be. 

“Why’d you take the fall for Matthew?” Taeyong decided to ask.

“Because I’m the one who killed him,” Johnny said back with such nonchalance that it bothered Taeyong down to his very core. Did Johnny really believe that? He couldn’t have. It didn’t make sense for him to. While it was true that Johnny had pulled the trigger, he wouldn’t have been able to do so if it wasn’t for Taeyong actively distracting Matthew. He didn’t know that Johnny was going to kill Matthew but still knew that he was going to bring some kind of harm to him and Taeyong had been completely okay with that.

“We both did it,” Taeyong said lowly, glancing down at their interlocked hands. It was the first time he had noticed how bruised up Johnny’s knuckles were. “What the fuck have you been doing, Johnny?”

He realized that his question gave Johnny leeway to get out of answering to why he had taken the fall for Matthew but didn’t care. It seemed like so how had happened to Johnny since they had been separated and Taeyong didn’t like it.

“I told you people have been fucking with me,” Johnny told him. “I tried to ignore it for a really long time but eventually I had to start standing up for myself.”

“Here?” Taeyong asked. 

“I’ve only been here a week and the second I got here I had to be sent to a private cell ‘cause I was in rut,” Johnny muttered, glancing at Taeyong’s basically untouched orange. “I think you should eat.”

“Why are you so fucking focused on getting me to eat?” Taeyong snapped. Johnny didn’t respond, only blinked back at him slowly. “What about that dude you were trying to fight?” 

“That’s the fucking problem about here,” Johnny said, looking up at a table not too far away from them. Taeyong did the same, his gaze falling on a man with a tattoo of a snake on his neck and long, dark hair staring back at the both of them while the rest of the people at his table ate rambunctiously. “This is a minimum security prison. The last one I was at had us in our cells 23 hours a day. Here—I mean, it’s different, Yong.”

“Isn’t that good?” Taeyong frowned, looking back at Johnny. 

“Not when the people who used to work for Matthew are everywhere I turn,” Johnny mumbled, sighing frustratedly. “You’re telling me that nobody has tried anything with you at all?”

Since the moment Taeyong had gotten there, people generally left him alone. There were a few who liked to call him a bitch or a thief or a slut and many liked to make comments about his body that made him want to vomit but it never really progressed any further beyond that. It was so lax that Taeyong had almost gotten comfortable with his position in the prison—quiet, mellow and out of sight. 

He looked back at the man at the other table once again, finding that he was still focused in on the both of them. Was he one of Matthew’s men? How many of Matthew’s people had Johnny seen in the little bit of time he had been here? Most importantly, how many of Matthew’s people were there, ready to attack and why hadn’t they done anything to him yet? What the fuck was going on?

He opened his mouth to ask Johnny more questions about what was going on but was interrupted by the sound of a guard’s shrill whistle. His head whipped around to see everyone pushing themselves up from their seats, readying themselves to go back their cells for lights out. He looked back at Johnny, definitely not ready to leave, especially when there was still so much that they needed to discuss with one another.  

“We’ll talk later, okay?” Johnny promised, giving Taeyong’s hand another squeeze. 

Taeyong was a little hesitant about that, considering that a lot could happen in a night. Johnny could be fucking killed and he could easily be woken up at the crack of dawn and told to gather all his things and ready himself to be transferred to another prison. The two of them separating again almost seemed like a catastrophic idea but Taeyong knew that there was ultimately nothing that either of them could do about it. 

“It’s gonna be fine, Taeyong,” Johnny reassured him, lowering his voice significantly as more and more people passed by the table they were still sitting behind. “Just don’t let them know that you’re scared, okay? The second you do that, we’re done for.”

Taeyong nodded and soon thereafter slipped his hand out from Johnny’s. Johnny got up first and Taeyong followed, glancing around at the people who walked by them back to their cells. This whole thing made him feel more nervous than ever. Anyone could be one of Matthew’s men, waiting for the right moment to strike. He didn’t know who to trust and who to be wary of at this point. 

His attention zeroed back in on Johnny when the older reached out and grabbed his hand again, offering him a soft smile. Taeyong blinked back at him, too anxious to do the same. It didn’t seem like Johnny minded. 

“I’ll protect you,” Johnny told him. “Like last time.”

And that simple phrase really did make Taeyong feel a little at ease. He was still anxious, still suddenly suspicious of almost every single person that passed by but Johnny’s words had helped to calm him just a little because at the end of the day, Johnny had protected him and had done everything in his power to do so. If there was one thing that Taeyong trusted in, it was the fact that Johnny would keep him safe.

“Okay,” Taeyong nodded. “I trust you.”

“Good,” Johnny breathed, almost like he had been scared of what Taeyong’s response would be. “Meet me back here tomorrow for breakfast, okay?”

“Okay,” Taeyong said and with that, Johnny was giving his hand one last squeeze before slipping the two of them apart and walking away. Taeyong watched him go, standing there until a guard came up behind him and demanded for him to keep walking which he did with a small sigh. 

The fact that Johnny was back was fucking amazing. Taeyong couldn’t think of anything better than them being together again, even if only in small increments of the day that they had available to them. But, he couldn’t help but be worried about what was to come. What was going to happen to them while together that wouldn’t have happened to them if they were apart?

Was this more of a bad thing for the both of them then it was good?

To be continued in "Don't Look Back".