loose ; nct luwoo

02

That night, the two boys had gotten dressed. They tried wearing informal suits, something that Lucas greatly enjoyed seeing Jungwoo in. At around 9:00p.m., they set out, driving their rental car to the bar.

Upon arriving, they searched the parallel parking spots for Taeyong's easily-noticed red car, but couldn't find it.

"Maybe he parked further down?" Jungwoo said.

Lucas shrugged and grabbed his hand, walking him in.

In the bar, they kept close to each other and didn't let go so they wouldn't get lost. Sitting down at the counter, Jungwoo turned to Lucas. "I'm gonna go look for Taeyong and Jaehyun."

As he went to leave, Lucas grabbed his arm. "Be very careful."

Jungwoo smiled. He pushed his way through large crowds of dancers and drinkers, unable to find either male. As he walked, he felt an uncomfortable pressure on his backside, one that increased by the second. Scared, he turned and slapped the person behind him, creating a small silence. The man struggled to get back at him, as he was then held down by some bystanders. Jungwoo carefully made his way back to Lucas.

He stood up immediately once seeing him. "Are you alright?" Lucas grabbed his shoulders and hugged him.

"I'm fine."

When they pulled away, they began searching again from their own position. They scanned the room until something caught Jungwoo's eye. It was Taeyong, sitting at the bar across the way. He grabbed Lucas' hand and brought the younger with him, sitting down next to their friend.

Seeing up close, he noticed that Taeyong was crying as he drank. Jungwoo patted his back, concerned. "What's wrong?"

Taeyong turned to him and hugged him. "J-Jaehyun...Jaehyun didn't come home...I texted him and came here...I thought he'd show up..."

Lucas moved to his other side, helping Jungwoo in calming him down. "Maybe he just had to work late?"

He ran his fingers through his hair. "He would've told me!"

And so, the three didn't speak to each other. Sure, the room was loud and the atmosphere was growing, but Jungwoo felt uncomfortable and kinda downcast. And that's when he remembered:

Earlier that morning, Jaehyun had came to his house around five. He was asking for money to get groceries.

"Jaehyun was at our house this morning."

Taeyong turned to him. "What?"

"You must've been asleep. He came really early to borrow money."

At that moment, the boy got up and sprinted out of the bar, the other two slower males following him. They pursued Taeyong as he ran down streets, maneuvering past people and objects in his way.

"Taeyong...where are you going?" Lucas shouted between breaths.

Taeyong slowed down and eventually stopped, letting Jungwoo and Lucas catch up. He put his hands on his knees, tears still pouring down his face. "He's gone...I don't know where he is...what if he's not safe?"

"Let's just go back to the house for now."

Taeyong nodded as they began to walk back to his car a few blocks away. Jungwoo drove, Taeyong sitting in the passenger seat and Lucas sitting in the back. They didn't talk the whole way.

Arriving back at home, he had Taeyong sit on the couch. Jungwoo sneezed and coughed occasionally as he was preparing a movie so that his friend could calm down. Lucas came up behind him while he was messing with the cable box on the floor and kissed his nape.

"Do you need more medicine, Snoopy?"

Jungwoo shook his head, returning to his work. He eventually finished, turning on some Harry Potter movie that Taeyong enjoyed. He sat on the couch, cuddled up in a blanket. His coughing had become more throaty as time went on, getting to the point where Lucas got apprehensive.

"Go to bed, Snoopy. I'll stay with Taeyong for a little while."

He pouted but got up anyways, heading towards his room. Jungwoohated falling asleep alone. Just laying down in the bed without Lucas caused him to lack warmth. He pulled out his phone, scrolling through Instagram posts and media articles. Of course, he knew that there was no way he could fall asleep like that.

Eventually, his put his phone away, staring up at the ceiling in the dark. The entire room was pitch black and empty. Jungwoo figured that he might as well attempt to sleep.

Turning to his side, he tried to think of what could've happened to Jaehyun. It came to mind that he was an assassin, after all. Now of course, Jungwoo no longer had news on what occurred in that "world" due to his dissociation with the community. However, he still felt as though Jaehyun had given up that life similarly as he did.

What's he doing without telling Taeyong?

Disregarding his thoughts, Jungwoo put everything else aside and, in due course, fell asleep.

———————

new update SOON

can't pinpoint a certain day but I hope you'll look forward to it❤️

how was your day? I'd love to know!💋😊