Hunt

file five: bbh + jye

GANGNAM-GU

FIVE YEARS EARLIER

Baekhyun all but fell inside the warehouse.

Hyunjin was beside him in the next second, grabbing and pulling down the shutter door with hasty movements using as much strength as his arms could lend to him. As soon as the door thudded against the floor with a metallic noise, he rushed to try the smaller doors inside for any other entry points. Normally, making sure they were safe would be Baekhyun's job, but he was a little more than incapacitated at the moment.

The informant gasped, scrabbling on the floor for purchase as he tried to get to his feet, but everything slipped under his bloody hands. His glasses were askew, spatters of red on the glass marring his vision, but Baekhyun blinked away the whiteness in his sight and tried to get up. He couldn't afford to be like this, not now. Not when they were almost at their destination.

His hand slipped on the floor again, and Baekhyun tumbled to the ground in a heap. He closed his eyes and let his head fall against the floor, feeling the cool surface of the ground against his hot forehead. It was dusty and dirty, bits of grit getting caught under his nails and against his cheek, but that was the last of his problems at the moment.

Instead of attempting to get up again, Baekhyun stayed on the floor for a few more moments, trying to get as much of a break as he could. The muscles in his abdomen and sides still hurt every time he breathed, but thankfully, nothing felt broken. There were going to be ugly bruises on his skin soon, but he could care less about those.

A pair of warm hands wrapped around his biceps, pulling him up. Baekhyun exhaled slowly, trying to put as less pressure on his chest muscles as possible, and let the boy try to raise him up for a few second before trying. With Hyunjin's help, he got to his feet, and took a few, staggering steps all the while leaning most of his weight against the boy, and collapsed against the wall.

Baekhyun's back slid down the wall, his spine feeling arched under his skin like a bridge. It hurt where it pressed against the wall, but the sharper ache on his body hurt more. The back of his head hit the wall, and he closed his eyes, trying to calm his breathing, pulling his legs up and resting his arms on the knees. Hyunjin collapsed next to him, breathing hard, a sheen of sweat covering his anguished expression. For a long moment, the only sound in the hollow warehouse was that of their mingled breathing.

"What was that?" Hyunjin asked at last, something fearful and angry mixed in his voice.

"Just some people I have a history with," Baekhyun mumbled, swallowing against the dryness in his throat. Thankfully, his face was mostly injury-free, so it wouldn't draw the racers' attention too much. He knew he had to get cleaned up, but he could barely muster the strength to speak. "Bad blood. Nothing to do with you."

"Are you sure about that?" Hyunjin snapped, a bitter edge creeping into his voice. He rummaged around in the small backpack of supplies and pulled out a water bottle, which only had a few sips left. "Because every time we run into your buddies, it always has to do with me."

"Not this—"

"And how come we don't have any help, huh?" the boy barked, continuing on as if Baekhyun hadn't tried to speak. He looked livid—the goons hadn't gotten to him, which was because he'd been at home while Baekhyun was out for supplies. Apparently, they hadn't gotten to Hyunjin, because he seemed unharmed, but he had been the one to get Baekhyun out of the fix and it hadn't been easy. "Does anyone even know about you being here? With me?"

Baekhyun stayed quiet.

"Does my sister even know?" Hyunjin asked. He faced Baekhyun with a snarl, face taut with pain. "Or was that a lie?"