The Son of Zelos (VIXX Fanfiction)

The Final Straw

Taekwoon knew something was off, terribly off about Hakyeon.

After their midnight stroll together, Hakyeon had seemingly disappeared, only answering to text messages and not even picking up his calls. Whenever he did, he answered strangely, in syllables. The Hakyeon he knew would flash fire lengthy texts, not even allowing him to get a word in otherwise.

He'd gotten so used to Hakyeon just spamming texts, that he'd go into his usual bouts of waiting for him to say things, which ended up with long periods of silence.

Those silences...made Taekwoon's stomach churn. It wasn't like Hakyeon at all, and it just fed into that small paranoid demon sitting on his shoulder, whispering to him that something was completely wrong.

The slight jerk of the plane's wheels finally making contact with solid ground shook him out of his trance. Heaving a deep sigh, Taekwoon leaned back against the headboard as the captain's voice played over the intercom, slowly gathering his thoughts.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, switching it on.

Two messages. One from Hakyeon and the other from Nayoung.

He opened Hakyeon's message first, like always.

"Please call me as soon as you get this message," it read. "It's urgent."

It reeked of desperation, lacking his usual wit and humor, filled with just a desire to talk to his brother again.

Taekwoon narrowed his eyes. The last time he'd tried to talk to Hakyeon...he'd been left staring at the phone screen for an hour.

He instead went over to the second message, the one from Nayoung.

"Hey, call me whenever you're free," it read.

Sweet, simple and concise, like her.

He considered calling Hakyeon. He wasn't in the best shape right now, for reasons unknown to him. Perhaps he really needed to talk to him about something.

He then does something completely unlike him.

He dials Nayoung's number.

"Hey, have you landed?" her soft voice answered.

"Yeah, I'm here," he replied.

For once, Hakyeon could wait.

***

Hongbin, feeling even more helpless than before, quietly watched over his friend's deteriorating condition, from the photo of Nayoung he kept in his wallet, to the inconsistent visits to the cafe, to the late night strolls through God knows where, he watched over everything.

Of course, he had to make sure that Hakyeon didn't get himself into something he'd regret, but luckily his eccentricity paid off in that Hakyeon preferred strolls through parks in the middle of the night.

Worried and unable to do anything, Hongbin took his suffering friend to a bar. Even though Hakyeon was no stranger to bars, especially in the last little while, this time, Hongbin would be there to make sure he didn't go nuts.

Easier said than done.

He watched with bathed breath as Hakyeon took his fifth shot of the night, slamming the cup on the table and emptying the bottle (whatever was left in it) once again. Hongbin slowly released the breath, tracing the edge of his glass as he watched Hakyeon drown his feelings and insecurities in alcohol.

That could not be any less healthier, he thought joyfully.

"Uh...don't you think you should stop now?" Hongbin asked.