This Day | Gyuhao (Threequel to Youth & The Aged)

- 31

| Chapter Thirty - One — Plan(E) |

The plane ride is unsettling.

They have to take multiple to hold the amount of people who are tagging along, but all the mains manage to gather up into one. With Yuqi as the pilot, and Mingyu in the other seat, everybody else stays in the back, preparing themselves for the fight they know is coming.

Chaewon's shaking, fisting her hands on her lap and looking out the window.

"Sunghoon!"

It was so abrupt, Sunghoon slipping himself in front of her so fast it gives Chaewon whiplash, her heart dropping all the way to the floor, getting crushed under the gunman's boot like a piece of glass.

She screams, taking her own gun and putting a bullet in the guy's head, not bothering to watch the light leave his eyes as his knuckles buckle, body immediately hitting the floor.

Chaewon falls to her knees, tears hitting Sunghoon's bullet wound, mixing with the crimson that spreads so eerily.

"H-Hoon," She sobs, "S-Sunghoon." She shivers, noises crawling up her throat so disturbingly, she can't even begin to describe it, "Why did you... W-Why would you..."

"C-Chae," Sunghoon crooks, lashes fluttering. He manages to lift a hand, fingertips cold against Chaewon's skin as he cups her cheek, smiling up at her, blood coating his teeth, "I-It's okay. I'll be okay. Just m-make sure you get out of here... alive... please?"

"S-Sunghoon." Chaewon presses his hand harder against her cheek, trying to melt into him, "D-Don't—"

"Promise me." Sunghoon sucks a deep breath, coughing harshly, blood flying up to paint Chaewon's face. It would've made her gag if she wasn't so caught up in the moment, "Promise me y-you'll get out if here, yeah? Promise me you'll live a-and promise me you'll... promise me...."

"Promise you what?" Chaewon leans down, brushing the hair away from Sunghoon's eyes, "Baby...?"

"I-If you f-find my brother...." Blood rolls past Sunghoon's lips as he speaks, chest rising and falling brokenly, "P-Please protect him... He's l-looking for me.... so... so please—"

"Shh, save your breath." Chaewon sniffles, trembling as she brings him over to her lap, cradling his head, "Shh, I promise. I promise, baby, I promise."

Sunghoon died, unbeknownst to the fact that she'd actually kept her promise.

"Won-ah," She flinches when a hand takes her own, sighing in relief when it's just Wonbin, "Take a deep breath...." He doesn't even have to ask her what's wrong, already knowing deep down, "In and out..."

Chaewon swallows, "I'm fine." She unbuckles her belt to move closer to Wonbin, looping their arms, letting her silent tears hit his shirt, "I'm okay... Just stay close." She begs, her shaking minimizing when he curls his arm around her shoulder, pulling her in.

"I promise."

Across the plane, Soonyoung's biting his nails, "I swear to fucking god if this is how he dies, I'm killing him."

Junhui agrees, "After all this shit, this is how he goes? I don't believe it."

"Yah, he'll be fine." Joshua says with a roll of his eyes, all whilst playing with Jeonghan's hair as the older sleeps silently.

"He's too smart to die this stupidly." Seungcheol adds.

"Good. Because when we save him and bring him back, were taking turns whooping his ass." Seungkwan spits, tucking a piece of hair behind his ear as he uses the camera on his phone as a mirror.

Jihoon takes ahold of Soonyoung's hand, "Stay close to me tonight."

Soonyoung smiles, annoyed demeanor dropping as he nods throughly, pecking his husband's cheek, "Only if you do."

"Gross," Seungkwan clicks his tongue, sighing dramatically, "I'm glad I'm single."

"Hansol has a crush on you."

"I do not!" The said man stands up for himself, crossing his arms like a toddler amidst a terrible tantrum.

"That wasn't very convincing." Shotaro shrugs dumbly, eavesdropping.

"Okay, would you mind your own business?"

"You don't wanna be mean to me, Hansol-yah," Shotaro shakes his head, smirking proudly, "You forget I stumbled upon your diary last week and read that—"

"Shut up!" Hansol slams a hand to his mouth to quiet him.

"You have a diary?!" Wonwoo snorts.

"No, I don't!"

"He does." Shotaro giggles, voice muffled behind Hansol's hand, "And the only thing he writes about Seungk—

"I will personally sew your mouth shut if I have to." Hansol spits.

"Yah, calm down." Seungkwan rolls his eyes, "I'm flattering, I know. You don't have to tell me twice."

"What an ego you have..." Soonyoung clicks his tongue, "That's why you're single."

"Being single is just as powerful!" Seungkwan shouts back, "It just shows that I'm too hot to get just one man, so I don't choose anybody at all." He hums, smirking.

The conversation continues, Riki and Eunchae giggling from their little spot in the back. They've been listening, holding hands and laughing at the back and forth banter like it's their favorite movie.

Riki stops laughing when he feels Eunchae rest her head on his shoulder. He watches the girl play with his fingers, gliding her fingertips across the front of his palm, tracing his veins and writing things into his skin.

"Want to play a game?" She asks.

"Sure. Which one are you thinking of?" Riki responds.

"How about I trace something into your hand and you try to guess what it is?"

"Did you just make that up?" Riki snorts.

"And if I did?" She huffs, "Just try and guess. I'll make it easy."

She then begins to glide the tip of her finger across his skin, Riki scrunching up momentarily, squeamish as it tickles him a little.

"Boat?"

"What?" Eunchae laughs, "No! It's rabbit. Where'd you get boat?"

"It felt like boat!"

"Okay, another one." Eunchae does the same thing over, this time coming up with a different word.

Riki thinks about it for a minute, even asks her to do it a 2nd time before he guesses, "Cookie?" He asks, feeling so beyond confident until his shoulder vibrates from Eunchae's soft giggling.

"You're so bad at this game, sunbae." She snorts, tossing her head back.

"Then let me try." Riki huffs, taking her hand.

He begins tracing something, being neat and precise as he runs his finger along the skin of her palm, watching her try not to squirm as it tickles her all the same.

Riki pauses in between writing it, as if he were hesitating.

At first, Eunchae wonders why, but then she completely understands as soon as her brain clicks with an answer.

I love you.

Eunchae looks at him, heartbeat quickening, "It's supposed to be 1 word."

Riki grins shyly, cheeks turning pink as he shrugs, "I guess I really am bad at this game then, huh?"

Eunchae looks at her palm, then back at him.... then back at her palm and then him again.

"You're such a dork."

"That's me."