Just as Seungcheol tightened his grip around Jeonghan, still trying to calm his racing heart, a chorus of frantic footsteps echoed down the stairs.
"Jeonghan!"
His friends came barreling toward him—Joshua, The8, DK, Seungkwan, and Dino—each of them wearing identical expressions of sheer relief.
"Holy shit, you're okay," Seungkwan breathed out, clutching his chest like he was about to pass out.
Joshua dropped to his knees beside Jeonghan, his eyes scanning him for any injuries. "Are you hurt? Are you dizzy? Can you—"
"I'm fine," Jeonghan assured, giving them a tired but warm smile. "Really."
DK let out a huge sigh, dropping his head into his hands. "I swear, if you had actually died, I would've killed you myself."
"Great logic, DK," The8 muttered, arms crossed, but Jeonghan could see the tension in his shoulders slowly easing now that he saw Jeonghan was unharmed.
"Ten, I can't believe you actually caught him!" Dino gushed, looking at Ten like he had just witnessed a miracle.
Ten, who was still sitting on the ground catching his breath, grinned. "Yeah, well, I can't believe it worked either. But hey, I did tell you guys I do my own stunts."
The group let out a collective, relieved laugh—until they noticed the way Seungcheol slowly stood up.
Their laughter died instantly.
Seungcheol turned to face them fully, his expression dark and unreadable.
"Oh... shit," Seungkwan whispered under his breath.
They all stood frozen like guilty children caught in the act.
Seungcheol crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes scanning the group. "Let me get this straight," he began, voice dangerously calm. "You all knew about this plan?"
None of them spoke.
Seungcheol narrowed his eyes. "And instead of telling me, you let him handcuff me to a damn bed?"
Joshua cleared his throat. "Uh..."
"Okay, before you start yelling," Seungkwan cut in, holding up a hand, "it worked for the most part! Hiyun's plan was foiled, Jeonghan is alive, and technically, we saved him."
Seungcheol stared at him, incredulous. "Saved him? He almost died!"
"Yeah, but he didn't," Seungkwan countered, crossing his arms. "Thanks to Ten."
Ten flashed a thumbs-up from the floor. "Glad to be of service."
Seungcheol let out an exasperated groan, running a hand down his face. "I cannot believe this," he muttered. "This is the dumbest plan I've ever heard."
"Well," The8 spoke up, his lips twitching into a small smirk, "we did pretty well getting Jaehyun to act as the masked version of you."
Seungcheol blinked.
The area fell silent.
Jeonghan swore he felt Seungcheol's entire body stiffen beside him.
"...What?" Seungcheol asked slowly, his head turning toward The8.
The8 gestured behind him. "Jaehyun. You know, Jaehyun? He was wearing a mask and pretending to be you."
As if on cue, Jaehyun, who had been standing beside Mingyu this whole time, gave a small, sheepish wave.
Seungcheol turned around fully, his face frozen in disbelief.
Jaehyun smiled awkwardly. "Uh... hey."
Mingyu, who was beside him, not even trying to hold back his laughter, patted Jaehyun on the back. "Gotta admit, he pulled it off pretty well."
Seungcheol's eye twitched. He turned back to the group. "You're actually serious?"
"Hey," Dino piped up, lifting a finger, "he looked enough like you for it to work."
"That's not the point, Dino!" Seungcheol exploded. "The point is, none of you thought to tell me about this insane plan? Instead, you literally replaced me with a fake and handcuffed me to a bed like some kind of hostage?"
"Okay, first of all," Seungkwan said, "we made sure the handcuffs were comfortable."
Seungcheol shot him a glare.
Seungkwan took a step back.
"Second," The8 added, "it was either that or you would've tried to stop us."
"Because it was stupid!" Seungcheol practically yelled. "This was reckless, dangerous, insane—"
Jeonghan, still sitting on the floor, reached up and tugged on Seungcheol's sleeve. "Cheol."
Seungcheol looked down at him, still seething.
Jeonghan gave him a small smile, his fingers curling around Seungcheol's wrist. "It worked."
Seungcheol exhaled sharply, his anger wavering as he looked into Jeonghan's eyes. Even after everything, even after nearly falling to his death, Jeonghan still looked so at ease, like he truly trusted in how things played out.
Seungcheol clenched his jaw. "You're lucky it worked," he muttered, sinking back down beside Jeonghan and wrapping a protective arm around his waist.
Jeonghan hummed, leaning into his side. "I usually am."
Seungcheol let out a tired sigh, shaking his head. "I'm never letting you do something like this again."
Jeonghan chuckled, resting his head against Seungcheol's shoulder. "I'll hold you to that."
The rest of their friends, still standing in front of them, shared glances.
"So..." DK started hesitantly, "are we... still in trouble?"
Seungcheol leveled him with a look.
"You're all in trouble."
Seungkwan groaned. "Ugh, come on—"
But before he could finish, Jeonghan just laughed, his body finally relaxing in Seungcheol's hold.
For now, they were safe.
