The Underground - 3RACHA

15

Jisung felt as though an invisible chain was binding him to Hyunjin as they walked into The Underground that evening. The chain was locked around his wrist, pulling and tugging on him wherever he went and the key couldn't be found anywhere. If Jisung tried to get rid of the chain, Hyunjin would notice and tighten it further, so in the end, Jisung gave up and accepted the burden, but that didn't mean he didn't hate every second of it.

"Why are you following me everywhere I go?" Jisung asked, on his way to The Underground's bathroom. He'd expected Hyunjin to wander off like he usually did, but this time he trailed behind Jisung.

Hyunjin shrugged, "why? Are you meeting someone? CB67 who you're magically best friends with now?"

"No," Jisung rolled his eyes, facing the direction he was going in so Hyunjin couldn't see, "I'm going to the toilets though. What do you expect me to do, start cottaging with him?"

"Maybe...whore," Hyunjin mumbled the last part but Jisung caught it and it made him feel sick. He wanted nothing more than to spin around and punch Hyunjin's stupid fucking face, but Hyunjin would have punched him back a hundred times harder and Jisung wasn't looking to get beaten up tonight.

When Jisung walked into the toilets and saw who was standing by the sinks, his entire face lit up. Felix and Changbin were there, talking amongst themselves while Felix washed his hands and Changbin smoked a cigarette he shouldn't have been. He remembered Hyunjin was on his heels though and he escaped his friend by locking himself in the closest cubicle. He didn't need to use the toilet. He'd only gone to the bathroom in hopes that Hyunjin would leave him alone but he hadn't. He sat on the toilet's closed lid, shut his eyes and let out a deep exhale. On the other side of the door, he could hear chatter.

"Hey, aren't you Jisung's friend?" Jisung recognised Felix's voice.

"Why do you fucking care?"

There was a silence for a few seconds and Jisung held his breath in anticipation. The tense silence was eventually broken by Changbin laughing, which brought a slight smile to Jisung's face, even if it was small.

"Chill dude, he asked a simple question."

Hyunjin spat his next words with venom, "shut the fuck up, you sad excuse for a rapper."

Jisung's eyes widened. He hadn't expected to hear Hyunjin say such a thing but then again, Hyunjin had never liked Changbin. Not since his rap battle anyway.

"Yeah, well at least I can actually rap," Changbin replied.

"Ok, that's enough-" Felix tried to interject but was unsuccessful.

"Yeah, well you haven't been here in a while. Did losing a battle against CB67 damage your delicate ego?" Hyunjin said, voice thick with sarcasm.

Changbin scoffed, "fuck off, this is so fucking stupid. You're arguing with me because Felix asked if you were Jisung's friend. Why are you getting so defensive?"

"I'll slam your head into that sink if you open your mouth again-"

Jisung jumped up from where he was sitting, unlocked the door and ran in between the two boys. "Stop, stop, stop!" He yelled, holding his hands up to separate the two that looked like they were about to murder each other. Jisung couldn't be sure which one of them would have won, but he secretly hoped it was Changbin. "Just let it go, ok?" He said, turning to Hyunjin with a pleading look in his eye.

"Jisung, are you ok? Do you want to come with us?" Felix said, reaching a hand forward to touch Jisung's own. Jisung noticed the fire in Hyunjin's eyes burning up again and quickly retracted his hand.

"No, it's ok," Jisung tried to smile, "Hyunjin's just...having a bad day."

"I think he has a stick up his ass," Changbin mumbled, taking another drag of his cigarette.

Hyunjin lunged forward as if to attack Changbin but Jisung was still in front of him and stopped him by grabbing his shoulders. "Leave it alone," He said, voice stern and composed.

"Leave it alone?" Hyunjin asked, astounded by the boy's statement, "are you not hearing this kid?"

"Kid?" Changbin asked, a smirk pulling at his lips, "Nice but I know I'm older than you so don't give me that bullshit."

"It's ok, let's just go," Jisung said, reaching for Hyunjin's own hand and pulling him out of the bathroom. It took some effort, Hyunjin clearly didn't want to leave without settling what had happened between him and Changbin, but with some determination and by utilising all of his strength Jisung eventually got him to leave. He just wished he could have stayed with Changbin and Felix instead.

-

When the rapping started, Hyunjin's attention was seized by the performances and Jisung took the opportunity to escape from him. He didn't stop power-walking until he was way out of Hyunjin's sight and lost somewhere backstage. He knew Hyunjin wouldn't be happy when he realised but he owed Chan an apology and was determined to deliver it.

"Chan!" He shouted when he noticed the familiar head of blond hair standing by the stage as if he was about to go on in a few minutes. Jisung figured he was the next performance.

"Oh, hey," Chan said when he noticed Jisung. He didn't sound enthusiastic to see him though and that disappointed Jisung. He realised it must have been because he'd stood him up yesterday. Even though it wasn't his fault, he blamed himself. "I don't have long, I'm on next..." Chan explained.

"I know but I need to apologise," Jisung said. "I'm sorry about standing you up yesterday. I didn't mean to, I swear I just..." Jisung trailed off. He couldn't tell Chan the truth, that would raise so many red flags. Instead, he made up a lie. He felt guilty about it but he also felt like he had no choice. He couldn't see 'my best friend bashed my head into a wall because he's jealous of you,' going down well. "I'm sorry, I just got really nervous..."

Chan dropped his arms that were crossed over his chest. "You got nervous?" He asked, "about seeing me?"

"Mostly about the rapping. I'm really sorry. I've only rapped in front of one person before," Jisung mumbled, staring down at his hands that he was fiddling with, "I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't apologise so much," Chan said, placing a hand on Jisung's shoulder, "I'm not mad, ok? But you know I wouldn't have forced you to do anything you weren't comfortable with right? We could have just hung out if that's what you wanted."

"Yeah...sorry."

Chan chuckled, "you apologise a lot," he stated and before he could get a response, his shoulder was tapped by someone else. He was told that he was going on stage in a matter of seconds and turned to Jisung with an apologetic smile, "I have to go."

Jisung smiled back, looking up to meet Chan's eyes, "I'll be cheering for you."