ANCIENT | SEQUEL TO YOUTH | JJK

cause a scene

The neon lights flash across Jeongguk's smooth skin, creating patterns like shards of shattered glass. He's tan, from his long hours in the Italian sun. His hair is longer than Haneul has ever seen it, unkempt and falling in his eyes. He looks around, but without his former enthusiasm. She can't get over how empty his dark eyes are, how his pleasant face and handsome features are now fixed into a permanent scowl. The only thing about Jeongguk that seems like him at all is his physique— his beautiful face, thin lips, angular jaw and big doe eyes— but all of the subtle nuances of emotion that made Jeongguk Jeongguk are gone. It's disconcerting to her to see how someone so pure and joyful can be resorted to something so lifeless.

The gentle nudge of Hoseok's elbow against her own snaps her out of her daze as they continue to follow Jeongguk through the club.

After Jeongguk announced that they were going somewhere, they scrambled to their feet, equal parts scared, sad, and angry at the new person standing impatiently before them. The club was the last place any of them thought he had in mind. Nevertheless, Jeongguk told Seokjin to drive there, and he did. Everyone but Wooseok recalls Jeongguk's first traumatic experience at this club, and the creeping shadow of concern begins to bloom in the depths of their stomachs. If Jeongguk is put off by going to the club at all, though, he doesn't show it, silently leading the way to the bar, pushing through the drunken throngs of dancing people. The little troop of solemnity that is Jeongguk, Haneul, Hoseok, Seokjin, Namjoon, Yoongi and Wooseok seems like a funeral procession in comparison to the party raging around them.

"You okay?" Hoseok asks her, dipping his head to level with her ear to be heard over the pulsing music. He discreetly slips his hand down to align with her own, and wraps his pinkie finger around hers. This thing that they have, whatever the hell it is, is something neither of them would like Jeongguk to see. The problem is that they both know the only thing that could make either of them feel better about this shitty situation they're suddenly in is the other. Haneul feels guilt eating at her, slowly but surely. She tries to tell herself its irrational, for multiple reasons, but namely, the fact that Jeongguk left her and changed and came back a completely different person.

"Yeah, I'm okay." She reassures Hoseok. The residue of worry still remains in his eyes, and she can tell that he isn't entirely convinced, but frankly, neither is she. "Are you?" She asks, glancing cautiously at Jeongguk, his broad shoulders tapering down into a narrow waist forming a wall in front of her and Hoseok as he pushes through the crowd. She knows that as hard as this is for her, being so physically close yet simultaneously mentally far from the man she used to be so in love with; Hoseok must find it just as hard to be near his former best friend.

"We had our first real conversation here, y'know?" He says, and Haneul understands his answer without the explicit answer to her question. "Right there." He points over to the bar. "We drank soju, and I said—" Hoseok falters, averting his eyes to the floor to avoid looking at the bar or the pair of broad shoulders in front of him. "I said: 'This is the start of a great friendship.'" Hoseok finishes, and Haneul's heart contracts in pain for him. She lets go of his pinkie only to intertwine their hands fully, and squeezes. "And then I told him to go dance with Taehyung." He says, laughing humorlessly. So much had changed in what felt like so little time. He would give anything to glance over to the corner their little group had occupied the night they all went clubbing and see blue haired Taehyung making eyes at the Jeongguk he used to know.

Haneul has to pull Hoseok's arm to keep him from running into Jeongguk's back when they stop in front of the bar. The man sits down on the stool, and his shoulders sag as if the weight of the world is on them. Yoongi is the only one who dares to take the seat next to him.

"Whiskey neat, please." He says to the bartender, exhausted. His face doesn't look much better, but at least the swelling Jeongguk's fists induced has gone down. If anyone needs a drink after the past 24 hours, it's Yoongi.

"Make that two." Jeongguk says, to their surprise. Hoseok and Haneul share a look. They all know Jeongguk doesn't like to drink. That doesn't stop the man from gulping it down like a man dying of thirst. The glass clinks as Jeongguk sets it back down firmly on the counter, empty.

"You don't like alcohol." Haneul deadpans. Jeongguk has been stone cold this whole time, but she sees it—the hole in his facade. She can see it in the way his eyes crinkle ever so slightly, in the way his jaw pulses as the liquid burns his throat, igniting a fire in his stomach. He's trying to hard to keep his face blank, his demeanor icy, but why? Despite what the others think, he doesn't despise them. Haneul sees through right through him. But he wants to hate them, she can tell. What could they have done to make him want to hate them so much?

"I learned to like it once I realized it would help me deal with you people." He says coldly, refusing to look at Haneul. The way he practically spits you people equally stings and infuriates Haneul.

"Why are we here, hyung?" Namjoon intervenes before she can express just how enraged she is by Jeongguk. Rather than responding, he motions to the bartender, earning an eye roll from Haneul.

"Another?" The bartender asks, and Jeongguk nods solemnly.

"Did he seriously drag us all here to get drunk?" Wooseok hisses under his breath. "We don't have time for this, we need to find Taehyung."

"He has a plan." Seokjin reassures him, eyeing Jeongguk skeptically and hoping his words are true.

"I'm Jeon Jeongguk." He says to Seokjin and Wooseok. His voice is loud enough that the bartender does a double take, eyes wide with curiosity, and they immediately know he spoke loudly enough to be heard on purpose. "Of course I have a plan."

When the bartender returns with another glass, Jeongguk picks it up, swirling the liquid around.

"You're not really Jeon Jeongguk, are you?" The bartender asks cautiously. Jeongguk smiles cynically.

"But I am. In the flesh." He says, voice dripping in sarcasm as he takes a gulp of the whiskey. Jeongguk must have convinced the bartender of his identity, because the man leans closed, looking around cautiously.

"Listen man, I don't know why you're back, but people around here really want to hurt you. I don't
believe in that bullshit, but you should leave before the people who do find out you're here." He advises, and Jeongguk chuckles a little.

"Good. Let them know I'm here." He says calmly, finishing off his drink. "They've got something I want."

"Are you crazy? They'll kill you if they find you, but if you get out of here without making a scene, you still have a chance." The bartender warns him again. Realizing the man won't deliver the message, Jeongguk stands up.

"Without making a scene..." He mutters to himself, thinking. Turning to his former friends, he smiles, but there's a devious glint in his obsidian eyes. They flit over everyone's concerned faces before landing on one. Haneul's.

"Let's cause a scene then, shall we?" He says, and reaches for Haneul's hand. His hand stops in mid air as he realizes it's intertwined with Hoseok's. The breath is sucked from their lungs and their hands untangle as a series of unreadable emotions flash across Jeongguk's face. Slowly, his eyes relocate to Hoseok's who stares back, refusing to back down. Stepping closer and using his height to his advantage, Jeongguk looks down at Hoseok with a look scarier than any glare—a wide smile with angry eyes.  "This might just be fun."

And then he is reaching for Haneul's hand, and she's too shocked by the electrical surge pulsing through her at the touch of her soulmate to protest as Jeongguk pulls her into the thick of the crowd.