~<*>~ Pain in me ~<*>~

Chapter 8

Jun sighs once again looking at the messy room. His roommates are like pigs, they never clean up.
"Guys, it's not because I'm the oldest in this household that I'm also having to do every single task", Jun says while the two others stare at him with a guilty look.
"I'm sorry", Seungkwan says.
"We'll help", Vernon adds.
"You better", Jun scoffs playful. The brunette walks through the room while he rubs his hands against each other. This house really is a mess, it drives him crazy. A bit uneasy, Vernon starts picking up some lost clothes that somehow ended up in the living room. 
"How did those get here?" Jun asks confused and Vernon's cheeks turn red, like a tomato.
"I uh, I just left them here when I changed", he says, a little bit ashamed. 
"Don't you normally change in your room or the bathroom?" Jun asks and Vernon turns even more red than he already was.
"I just change whenever I feel the need to, doesn't matter where I am", he mumbles shy and Jun hears Seungkwan chuckle while the brunette himself is quite shocked.
"We have been roommates for a long time now, how did I never notice this?" Jun asks himself.
"I just never told you", Vernon shrugs.
"Why?"
"You never asked", he responses unbothered and Jun massages his temples defeated.
"Shall we continue?" Seungkwan tries to change the subject, Jun notices that the younger is trying his best to keep in his laughter. The three males continue to clean up and after a while they succeed to actually have a clean living room. Jun sighs relieved and falls down on the couch.
"This looks so much better, good job guys", he says and the others smile.
"And no more clothes in this room, you understand?" Jun adds as he looks at Vernon, who turns red once again but nods his head. 
"I'm glad we're done, now we can finally rest", Seungkwan says while he falls down next to Jun, but the older chuckles amused while he reads a message on his phone.
"Sorry, Kwannie, but I don't think we can rest now. Dino just sent me a message."
"Really? What does it say?" Seungkwan questions, dissapointed but still curious.
"He wants to meet up at the dance room, apparently he discovered something very important", Jun answers a bit confused. What could Dino possibly have discovered in such a short time? What could possibly be so important to gather the whole group?
"I guess we should leave then, shall we?" Vernon suggests and Seungkwan grunts irritated, but gets up anyway.
"I'm curious", Jun mumbles as he gets up as well.

A bit later, they arrive at the dance room and all the others are already there. Dino looks worried as hell, but still gives angry looks towards Joshua. Jun scans the room as his eyes meet everyone else's. First Dino and Joshua, then Woojin, and to his surprise also Scoups. With a huge smile, Jun immediatly runs towards his older friend and Scoups has a smile on his face as well when Jun arrives.
"Long time no see," Jun greets his friend, "how are you?" 
"I'm getting better, Dino and I finally talk normally again, at least I think we do", Scoups says with a smile and Jun nods happy.
"I'm glad you two are good again. Are you coming back soon?" Scoups looks at Jun with a thoughtful look in his eyes and for a second the brunette is scared he might hear an answer he does not want.
"I will, but I think I need to recover some more first", Scoups says after a brief silence. Jun nods understanding when Vernon suddenly squeaks surprised. Jun immediatly turns around triggered, only to see two silhouettes standing in the doorway. His chin drops when he notices Wonwoo and Mingyu, both looking a bit uneasy. Jun is shocked by the changes in their appearances: Wonwoo almost has no hair left while Mingyu grew his hair long and curly. Vernon only runs towards his friends excited and hugs them tight. A faint smile forms on Wonwoo's lips while Mingyu closes his eyes. The whole room is silent, no one expected to see these two people again.
"You guys made it, I'm so glad you're here", Dino smiles happily and walks towards his friends while Vernon lets go.
"You told us it was really important, I don't think we had another choice", Mingyu chuckles as some uproar starts to fill the room again. Jun is just happy to see the whole crew together for the first time in way too long.

~<*>~

"All right everybody, listen up!" Dino yells and the room falls silent again. The brunette has to admit that he is a bit nervous since he's not completely sure of what he's about to tell, but he has some strange trust in Minho. Dino clears his troath nervously while he locks eyes with Scoups. He didn't even tell his roommate about this, Dino just wants to tell everyone at once. But how will they react? A sudden panic consumes the younger as his doubts start to grow. What if they won't believe him? What if they do believe him and he's wrong? What if everything he did was wrong? Come on, Dino. Stop dragging yourself down. The brunette takes a deep breath again as he looks everyone in the eyes.
"I have found something very important, that's why I gathered you all here. But I have to warn you, it's something you all don't want to hear." Everyone starts to murmur again as Joshua looks at Dino unbothered.
"Yeah, we know. Get to the point instead of waisting our time", the leader spits out and Dino clenches his fist. The younger notices Scoups sighing, but decides to ignore it and just move on.
"I have found a note in my pocket this morning", he says and some members look at him confused.
"So?" Joshua asks, rolling his eyes.
"If you would let me speak, I could tell you what is important", Dino snaps back, "The letter is written by Minho." Loud gasps fill the room as Dino takes out the note and shows it to everyone. Of course they all recognize Minho and Woojin would probably have heard a lot of stories about him. Jun and Scoups share a worried look, what does this mean?
"Apparently, he has written it right before he died", Dino says before he starts to read the note out loud. Every word the younger recites, seems to hit everyone even harder. When he gets to the part where Minho talks about his part in Stray kids, people start to gasp and widen their eyes. A silence falls down when Dino is done reading. The younger glances at Scoups worried, the older male is playing with his fingers nervously, he must get a lot of nasty flashbacks. But right at the moment Dino wants to comfort his friend, Jun already grabs Scoups' hand gently. A bit of jealousy overwhelmes Dino, but he's mostly glad that someone comforts the former leader.
"Does this mean that there is still someone from Stray kids out there?" Seungkwan breaks the silence with a trembling voice. Dino nods his head sighing.
"I believe Minho for some weird reason. And if it's really true what he's saying, then Stray kids should've been with seven when they attacked me that night, but I clearly saw eight men. I think there is a ninth member of Stray kids", Dino states as gasps fill the room. 
"Would that member still be a danger towards us?" Mingyu asks concerned, glancing at Wonwoo. The taller is probably scared to lose his best friend, which Dino understands completely.
"I don't know", Dino admits reluctantly.
"I don't think they will," Joshua suggests, "otherwise they wouldn't have waited for two years."
"But what if that is their tactic? They still believe that we don't know they're still running around freely", Vernon objects.
"If there's even someone running freely", Woojin says dryly. All eyes look at him when he lifts his shoulders in defense.
"What do you mean?" Dino asks a bit offended.
"What if that Minho guy made everything up? What if you made everything up? The fact that you haven't found a note that has been in your pocket for two full years, sounds quite unreal to me. And remember that he was the bad guy. Why would you suddenly believe a villain?" Some people look around in thought, others just lift their shoulders confused. Dino is speechless, he has had some doubts himself, but something just tells him to believe that note. The brunette can't help but suspect that Joshua has convinced Woojin to be an absolute jerk towards Dino.
"We'll all think about it right now. Let's go home and talk about it again tomorrow", Joshua suggests and the members nod their heads. Wonwoo and Mingyu share a worried look while they get up to leave.
"Thank you for informing us, but we won't come back tomorrow", Wonwoo says to Dino.
"Please come back one more time", Dino begs his friend.
"We're not part of the team anymore, Dino", Mingyu tells him firmly and the brunette gasps a bit shocked. Why are they suddenly so triggered?
"I just want you two to be safe", Dino mumbles as Wonwoo nods understanding. While the two leave, Joshua walks towards Dino with fire in his eyes.
"You have to keep them here, we have to discuss what to do!" Dino pleads desperately, not only referring to Mingyu and Wonwoo but also to the whole crew. 
"I told you all to go home to talk about it tomorrow", Joshua grits through his teeth. 
"But.."
"I'm the leader, Dino, I decide. And besides, it's better this way." Joshua supports his words by pointing at Scoups. Dino gasps startled to see his roommate all sweaty and pale, heavily leaning against the wall. Jun is comforting him by gently taking his hand and saying some things, but he looks worried as well.
"What happened to him?" Dino asks shocked and Joshua rolls his eyes annoyed.
"This stupid subject. It gives him cruel flashbacks and stress, we should go easy on him. And before you ask, I didn't tell anyone because I don't think Scoups wants everyone to see him this way." Dino nods understanding as he looks around the room. Seungkwan and Vernon are talking to Woojin and don't seem to notice anything.
"Thanks", Dino mumbles and Joshua scoffs.
"What did you say? I couldn't hear you." Dino rolls his eyes as the red-haired leader smirks.
"I am not repeating that", Dino says firmly as Joshua leans closer.
"You better make sure he's all right, or I will kill you", he whispers in his ear before he makes his way towards Woojin. You probably will anyway. Dino thinks defeated before he walks towards Scoups worried. He strikes some stray locks out of Scoups' sweaty forehead as he takes Scoups' other hand gently.
"He suddenly started to get really nervous", Jun explains concerned. Dino nods his head and gently squeezes Scoups' hand.
"Hey, you're okay, I'm here", Dino whispers and Scoups throws him a faint smile. 
"I know you're scared", Dino says comforting.
"I'm not", Scoups interupts him, but his shaking body tells Dino otherwise. 
"Let's go home", Dino says softly as he nods thankful at Jun, who understands the gesture and gets up to leave.

~<*>~ 

Jisung looks around satisfied while rubs his hands against each other. No guards are looking at him, he can simply just walk away. Which is exactly what he's about to do. Jisung opens the door of the cafeteria and just starts running. It sounds stupid, but it's the best plan. He has calculated it through, it takes the alarm one second to turn on, then it takes the guards about five seconds to notice and by the time they get to this door, another ten seconds have passed. Which gives Jisung sixteen seconds to dissapear in this hallway. The alarm echoes through his ears while he almost reaches the door he has to enter. That door will lead right to the toilets, which are right next to the exit of jail. Jisung hears footsteps approaching as he closes the door of the toilets behind him. Smirking, he walks towards the wall in front of him. It's a clear wall, except for the fact that it's only an illusion. Jisung searches for the right spots, puts his fingers around it and pulls as hard as he can. The wood starts to squeak and finally a breaking sound fills his ears. Satisfied, Jisung breathes in the fresh air of freedom as he steps through the opening and starts to run again. It will only take the guards a few seconds to notice that he actually escapes and he has to be at his safe place by then. He's really glad that he can hide at his old teammate's house, this will make things a lot easier for him. Jisung smiles as he realises what is happening. He's finaly free.