ᵈᵃʸ ᵃⁿᵈ ⁿⁱᵍʰᵗ | ᶜʰᵃⁿᵐⁱⁿˢᵘⁿᵍ

you can run

Felix and Seungmin waited patiently at the busy restaurant Jisung had picked out. It was a bit out of the way, but the duo would travel far and wide for their best friend.

"Is this really gonna happen?" Seungmin spoke lowly, glancing around the bustling establishment. It's a busy night, with lots of staff running around and plenty of locals having dinner.

"Just follow my lead, okay? It's just dinner." Felix responded, his eyes lighting up as soon as he saw his best friend enter the room. "Ji!"

The duo quickly got up to hug their friend, nodding at the older two who followed shortly behind.

Lee Know smiled warmly at the two, greeting them as if they'd known each other forever with nothing but kindness laced in his tone. Meanwhile, Chan gave a quick, disinterested nod, not speaking a single word as he helped his beloved and boyfriend take their seats.

Chan ordered himself, Lee Know, and Jisung all a glass of wine, the waitress not batting an eye at the request. Felix and Seungmin opted for water.

Seungmin stood to excuse himself as soon as the waitress left the table, the puppy claiming to need to go to the bathroom.

Felix stood with the taller, glancing at Jisung to see if he, too, needed to go.

Jisung looked towards Chan, who gave a small nod and a gentle smile before glaring at Felix. Felix shook it off, rolling his eyes as the three of them turned to head for the bathroom.

"If the gym rat wasn't here, this would be just like old times." Felix chuckled, leaning against the brick wall of the bathroom as Seungmin and Jisung did their own things.

Seungmin sighed, "I miss it being just the three of us." "Me too." Jisung mumbled, inwardly sighing as he deeply missed being around his best friends.

Just having them around, physically standing with them, always made his days so much better. It's been hard these last couple of months without them by his side.

As the smaller opened his stall to go wash his hands, he was met with a determined looking Felix and an empathetic puppy. "Ji, do you miss home?"

"Well, I-" "Yes or no." Jisung glanced between the two of them, wondering why their expressions were so different if they were asking the same question.

He finally nodded, hanging his head, "Yes. I miss you guys a lot."

"Great." Felix spoke eagerly, quickly taking the smaller's hand before dragging him out of the bathroom and carefully around the restaurant.

Jisung was about to question what they were doing before Seungmin hushed him, grasping his other hand for security.

Once they had finally exited the building, after a few quick movements to avoid Chan's wandering eyes, Felix began to run, pulling Jisung and Seungmin behind him.

"Felix! What are you doing?!" "Just shut up and run!"

Turning a corner, the trio stopped to catch their breath. Seungmin eyed the collar adorning Jisung's neck, noticing the tracking tag dangling from it. "Take it off."

"What?" "Your collar. Take it off. He can track you."

Jisung reached up to feel the material of his collar, hesitating for a moment before undoing the buckle and letting it drop to the pavement.

"Give me your phone." Felix demanded, his palm open as he awaited the boy's device to be handed over.

Jisung once again hesitated, but handed it over nonetheless. Felix immediately tossed it into a nearby garbage can, causing Jisung to whine, "I need that."

Seungmin held onto the smaller's shoulders, staring into Jisung's eyes as he spoke, "We're taking you home, Ji. Or, at least, we're taking you home for tonight. Tomorrow morning, we're all catching a train and we're leaving this city. No more Chan, no more Lee Know, no more distance between us. Yeah?"

Jisung remained quiet, his heart crying for Lee Know while his brain was screaming to run away with his friends.

"Jisung." Felix spoke up, standing beside the duo. "Haven't you wanted to leave those monsters?"

"They're not as bad as you think." Jisung protested, but his cries fell on deaf ears. His friends didn't like them, they never would.

But who can blame them? Felix and Seungmin haven't seen the Lee Know and Chan that Jisung has.

They haven't seen the way Lee Know's eyes light up whenever Jisung enters a room. Or how Chan holds him so tenderly at night. They've never experienced the laughter the three of them have had over dinner, or the connection they've created over pain and healing.

"Jisung?! Sweets?!" Shouting could be heard in the distance, Lee Know's voice echoing off the buildings as he frantically searched for his beloved.

"God damnit, Ji. Do you want to stay with us or not?" Felix and Seungmin awaited the smaller's reply, the sound of Lee Know's cries becoming closer and closer.

Glancing between his best friends, Jisung sealed his fate, "I do."

"Well, then run!" Seungmin whisper shouted, the three of them taking off running once again.

The trio ran as fast as they could, the sounds of Lee Know's voice becoming a distant cry as it slowly faded out.

A black car pulled up just down the street, causing Jisung to panic. That was, until Hyunjin rolled down the passenger window, "Hurry!"

Felix opened the back door, almost pushing Jisung inside before climbing in after him. Seungmin sat in the front seat, ushering Hyunjin to begin driving as fast as he can.

Jisung didn't know what was scarier: the thought of being caught by Chan, or the thought of dying in Hyunjin's car.

Hyunjin drove a very nice sports car, a very fast sports car, one that made all the girls at school squeal with excitement as soon as he pulled into the parking lot while all the boys drooled with envy.

He knew they'd make a quick getaway in his car. It was now just about praying Chan's men didn't follow them.

"Are you okay?" Seungmin questioned the smaller as he turned around in his seat, his eyes full of worry.

Jisung could only nod. This all felt surreal, like it were a dream and he'd wake up any moment crying.

I'm sorry, Oppa.