do or die | yang jungwon

stage two: something's off

IT WAS ALWAYS THE WORST FEELING WHEN AN INSTINCTUAL FEELING OF DOOM TURNS OUT TO BE JUSTIFIED. jungwon didn't tend to fall into the psychic category very often (or at all, really) but when he had a bad premonition, the universe had a sadistic tendency to make his bad premonitions come true.

so when the trio of nari, hiyyih, and jungwon get to where haruto and riki are already sitting, jungwon can't help but feel instinctive dread as they approach them.

"yeah, i don't know. if i know anything about kitae and his friends though, it's that they have no sense of right or wrong. if cheonsa's missing, i have no doubt that it's not just an innocent vacation," haruto is saying when the three of them take their seat on the picnic bench in the park next to their high school.

"oh, is that why you went to go talk to gitae before we came here?" riki says, eyebrows scrunched as he examines his own triangle kimbap as if it had personally offended him. haruto is silent for a moment, watching as the missing members of their friend group also approach the table, their own breakfast in hand. 

"no," he says finally, setting down his breakfast. "i saw him and that group picking on some girl and i tried to stop them. i couldn't though...not if i wanted avoid a full on fist fight."

"fist fight?" park jeongwoo questions, sitting down next to haruto. "do we need to fight someone?"

"you're not hurt or anything, are you?" danielle asks worriedly, leaning over to steal a sip of hiyyih's coffee.

haruto shakes his head, resting his head in his hands before springing up suddenly. "no, i didn't fight anyone. i should've though. it didn't look like they were up to any good, that's for sure. maybe i should go back and say something..."

he's cut off by dani's indignant protest to stay put.

"you're absolutely not going to insert yourself into another dangerous situation that you worked so hard to distance yourself from," she insists, frowning when haruto doesn't sit back down.

"i mean i was part of that group once - before i realized what a dick move that was. maybe they'll let her go if i talk to them?" haruto says, more to himself than to the group. riki watches dani strangely, assessing her seemingly out-of-the-blue enthusiasm to stop haruto from going back to kitae. from the sour look on his face, he didn't seem too impressed by what he had concluded.

"probably not," jeongwoo says with a serious expression. "the only reason that kitae and his gang haven't come after you is because you're better in a fight. but if you rile them all up, then i doubt that they're just gonna sit still and let you do whatever."

"so he should just let them hurt that girl?" nari exclaims, throwing her hands up in the air. "men are terrible; who knows what evil that asshole is up to?"

"first of all, he's not a disney villain so what the fuck was that," jungwon says, lowering nari's still raised hands. "and second of all, there's no point in sitting here and discussing it. the right thing to do is to go get that girl and see if we can fix the issue. at the very least, it's a fair fight if all four of us go."

"all four? there's seven of us here," hiyyih points out with a frown.

"you're absolutely mental if you think we're gonna let you three come with us," riki snorts, shaking his head. he carefully avoids looking at dani for too long, instead cocking his head at nari. "didn't you say yourself? men are terrible. if you guys are there, i have a feeling kitae will have no issues doing something to one of you instead."

although riki tries his best to put on a strong front and make his words sound mean, they end up just coming out worried, his true softness coming through. jungwon and nari exchange a look, jungwon sighing in agreement.