~<*>~ Music in me: seventeen fan-fiction ~<*>~

Chapter 7

"Scoups?" a soft voice wakes Scoups up. Tired, the black-haired male rubs his eyes and meets the black orbs of Woozi.
"What is it? Is someone in danger?" Scoups asks nervously. Woozi places his hand on Scoups' chest so the male doesn't move.
"No! Everyone is fine. You slept for a while, you know. You missed the dance lesson yesterday." Woozi informs him. Scoups places his hand on his forehead.
"Oh, crap! Dino must think I don't care at all, or he finds it suspicious!" Scoups curses.
"I don't think he'll find it suspicious." Woozi states. Scoups looks at his friend confused.
"Why is that?" he frowns.
"Because I told him you were with your girlfriend. And Hoshi added some things so I believe it was pretty... believable." Woozi laughs. Scoups sighs and lets himself drop on his bed again.
"I don't even have a girlfriend!" Scoups whines.
"I know!" Woozi shouts back, "But I had to make up an excuse. And no, I couldn't wake you up. You finally got some sleep." The black-haired male crosses his arms and keeps looking at Scoups.
"Allright, so I have to pretend that I have a girlfriend." Scoups sighs.
"Yes. And Hoshi said that 'she wants to spend a lot of time with you', which means that you can use her as your excuse for multiple things. You know, if you think about it, the excuse is awesome." Woozi says proud. Scoups steps out of bed and puts on a shirt. He isn't going to admit it, but he does feel better now that he has taken some rest.
"What are we going to do today?" Hoshi suddenly stands in front of Scoups, which makes him flinch. The blonde looks at him with curiosity.
"I don't know. Maybe we should investigate on Hyunjin." Scoups states while putting on some pants.
"But what about Dino? Are we just going to let him wait?" Hoshi places his hands on his hips as if he's offended. Scoups rolls his eyes in frustration, there is too much going on at the moment and Scoups just woke up.
"I don't know! Do you want to let him wait?" Scoups examines Hoshi's expressions.
"No!" Hoshi shouts.
"Well, then do you want our group to be in danger much longer?" Scoups goes on.
"No, of course not!" Hoshi yells. His face looks shocked, as if he just realised in what kind of danger they are.
"Then what do I have to do!?" Scoups is now yelling as well. He's getting too frustrated and it triggers his anger.
"I don't know, we have twelve members in total, fix something!" Hoshi snaps back. The argument is starting to get pretty heated.
"I have to fix it!? Oh, sure! You know what, I'm fucking sick of it!" Scoups slams the wooden doorframe while walking out of his bedroom.
"I'm nervous, worried and stressed all day and I get an argument as soon as I wake up, what a wonderful life I have!" Scoups mumbles angrily while walking to the kitchen. He had expected Hoshi to follow him, so Scoups isn't surprised when the blonde male is right behind him.
"Come on, you're overreacting! You were the one that cared about Dino so much, you were the one that wanted him to join us in the first place! Do you not care at all anymore!?" Hoshi's voice cuts like a knife in Scoups' skin. Furious, Scoups turns around. His face is only inches away from Hoshi's.
"I do care." he snarles, "I just have a lot going on right now. Or did you forget that we are in great danger? Did you forget that I am responsible for all of you guys and that, if something would happen to you, I would feel guilty? That I don't know if I would even be able to move on?" Hoshi blinks, he is a bit scared, Scoups can tell.
"That's enough!" Woozi yells from across the room, "You're acting like toddlers, damn!" Hoshi steps back and Scoups takes a deep breath.
"Hoshi, Scoups is our leader, so he decides what happens. Have some respect please. And Scoups, we can't know in what kind of danger we are if you don't tell us. We barely know anything from Stray kids." Woozi's voice sounds soothing. It calms Scoups down, so that he can think clearly again.
"I'm sorry." he mumbles.
"Me too." Hoshi puts his hands in his pockets and walks off.

Tired, Scoups takes a seat at the dinner table. After a moment of silence, Woozi sits in front of him.
"Are you okay, Scoups?" Woozi asks concerned. Scoups shrugs shortly, but avoids eye contact.
"Why wouldn't I be?" he asks as normal as possible.
"Because of what just happened. Because I have the feeling that you aren't telling us everything." Woozi states. He stares at Scoups, who's still avoiding eye contact. It stays silent for a while.
"Is it really that bad?" Woozi's voice trembles because of his worry.
"We are doomed," Scoups sighs, "we can't survive if it goes on like this. They're hunting us down, now it's still subtle, but I'm afraid they will actually take action sooner or later. And the thing is, we don't even know who the hell they are!" Scoups places his hands in his hair and pulls his locks out of frustration. Woozi places his hand on Scoups' arm to calm him down.
"Hey, it's allright. You're doing what you can. And besides, we already know one person." Woozi reasons.
"Maybe. But still, we can't find anything about that guy!" Scoups whines. Woozi sighs and scrunches his nose.
"Am I not good enough?" Scoups notices Woozi didn't expect that question. The male in front of him gasps and looks at him reproachful.
"Don't ever say or think something like that, you fool! You are the best leader I could ever imagine. It's because of you that we are all still alive. So don't you ever doubt yourself like that again." Woozi says firmly. Scoups smiles thankful and let's his hands fall on the table.
"Maybe we can split up," Scoups says, "one group can try to find some information about Hyunjin or Stray kids. The other group will take care of Dino. That means that they will set up a scenario in which Dino will find out about us. The group will have to examine Dino in every way possible to see how he reacts, what he's going to do with that information." Woozi stares at him in silence, taking everything Scoups just said in. Then, he nods and smiles.
"There is the Scoups I know. Let's tell the group then, shall we?" Scoups smiles, he feels a lot better now. But for his own safety, he still let's a small knife slide in his pocket before he leaves.