Reasons to Stay // Hyunin

~19~

"Pssst. Baby, wake up." Han whispered in Lee Know's ear and gently shook him to be awake.

Lee Know stirred but his eyes were kept shut. He was tired because he had been made to move some heavy stuff for the gang at 3 a.m. that morning, so he had been exhausted in the afternoon.

"Lee know, baby," Han shook him again, then stepped back when Lee Know suddenly turned himself around to face Hannie. "What" he answered crossly, still wishing to sleep.

"I need to take you somewhere." Han answered quietly.

Lee Know ignored the statement and asked, "What time is it?"

"Around five o-clock evening," Han answered. "Hurry, before they come back."

"Who?"

"The other guys. Come on."

Lee Know opened one eye and studied Hannie's face. "So we're doing something illegal?"

Han squirmed and mumbled, "Well..yeah I guess-- that's why you gotta hurry."

"Okay," said Lee Know and he sat up, suddenly compliant. Anything to do something against the gang's rules.

"Wear this," Han instructed, pulling a hat and mask out of his bag. "And hold onto this," he said, carefully taking out a gopro. If they happen to see you, pretend you're filming, then they'll leave you alone. Because we're taught to avoid any cameras or celebrities just in case we're caught on footage that can be used against us."

"Okay," answered Lee Know, and he looked at the self-camera in his hands.

"And change clothes," continued Hannie. He left the room but came back quickly with a shopping bag from the mall. "These are brand new, baby, my fellows hasn't ever seen them before."

"Okay," Lee know nodded again, willing to accept anything as long as he could get a glimpse of the outside.

Without further talking, after Lee Know prepared himself and Han did too, the two casually walked out of the base's many doors to the outside, Lee Know's eyes wide. He hadn't seen regular walking people for a while. "We need to walk out a little bit," Han informed.

"Where are we going?" Lee Know finally asked the question. "You'll see," Han answered.

They headed to a place with a lot of trees, and Han took Lee Know down the sidewalk to a clearing with a big parking lot and a tall building. Hannie thought Lee Know's "o" mouth was so cute as he took everything in. "Where is this." He saw the sign and read, "Lee...Brights...?"

Han suddenly stopped at a bench near the front doors, sat down, and said, "We wait here."

"wait, why?" Lee Know asked. Then realisation hit from the sign, "Hannie, what are we doing at a daycare?"

Hannie hummed and continued to look forward, at the doors that were a bit away. He was waiting for something, he needed Lee Know to see something, or someone.

Suddenly the front glass doors burst open and kids burst out, noisy and laughing. Lee Know saw the sight and blinked. He was confused. Why would Han take him here?

Some teenagers followed out too, and Han's eyes landed on the black-haired boy with the brown hoodie. Innie was holding two little kids hands' either side of him. Han sneaked a peek at Lee Know's face, and it showed nothing. Lee Know didn't pay much attention to the boy so apparently didn't realise that was his brother.

Han was wearing a mask too, he looked at his phone to act casual. But really, two young men hanging around a children's care for no apparent reason is suspicious and possibly dangerous. Especially when they are wearing hats and masks. And Jeongin noticed it.

He tried to ignore them at first, but many of the children kept asking him, "who are they?" and he himself felt uneasy about it. The director probably wouldn't like it if Jeongin was letting kids play in stranger area. Jeongin looked around at the children drawing with the chalks, then whispered to a different worker about the two guys sitting on a bench.

"...should probably ask them to leave," the girl worker answered, and Jeongin didn't feel right to have the girl talk to the young men. He was shy to go up to them though, and waiting a little bit before hesitantly coming up to them.

Han saw Innie coming and he hoped this would be the time where Lee Know or Jeongin would recognise each other...

"Um, excuse me, do y-you need anything?" Jeonginnie shyly asked and Lee Know looked up, only his eyes visible to Jeongin. He looked quickly at Lee Know first, then his eyes darted over to Han for a possible answer. "Because we are taking care of the children now and if you don't have someone to pick up..."

His words drowned out at the sudden movement of Han's hand coming over and yanking off Lee Know's mask. Lee Know turned his head sharply to look at Han, confused and slightly alarmed. Jeongin's gaze averted back to Lee Know's face, now shown and blinking innocently at Innie.

Jeongin's eyes widened as he stared at Lee Know's face. And Lee Know suddenly realised too, that this was his dongsaeng who was supposed to be dead. "Innie-yah?"

"Hyung."

----

"Hey where's Han?"

Hyunjin and several other guys had gotten back to base, and Han was supposed to be at the front desk. He wasn't, so Hyunjin had gone places to see if he was there. It didn't take him long to find out that Han had taken Lee Know somewhere. The gangs had come back earlier than expected, and his friend probably didn't want them to know.

Hyunjin had figured out by now that Han has a massive crush on Lee Know, he probably wanted to take him on a date. But man would the guys be angry if they found out. Hyunjin wanted to save Han's butt so he immediately locked and quietly closed Lee Know's room door and pretended they were inside.

"Hannie said that he's supposed to do test and interrogation with 1025 right now. No disturb," he lied, because Han was like his best friend anyways. He'd rather not have Han under fire, burnt to a crisp.

"Oh ok," some guys answered, unaware of anything strange. Hyunjin pulled out his phone and texted Han, asking him where he is. But Han didn't answer, so Hyunjin was annoyed. How long could he cover up for his friend?

Sky was with them and he looked around at the new base. "It's similar to the one back home," he commented quietly. He walked casually over to the desk and looked at some messy files and papers that were scattered around.

He shuffled them around a little, noticing some certain people profiles. He stopped and quickly scanned one of the papers first. The guy looks like a younger Sky:

Kim Seungmin #0922 : area unknown

Then underneath, a paper with a familiar face on it, the picture was updated:

Yang Jeongin #0208 : local, hot track

Man, his childhood bestie was so handsome now.