Yeongsu stood in the doorway of the living room as Kittichai talked to Taehyun. He hadn't meant to overhear what the brunette said to Tae and he felt bad when he heard Taehyun say that he wouldn't allow it. It's not that he won't allow it, he's just scared to see the artist hurt or worse. Not only is he worried about the silver haired boy, but Kittichai as well. The brunette is one of his closest friends and he worries about him too, but Kittichai can handle himself very well in comparison to Taehyun.
"Then how about just the two of us go? What do you say?" When the brunette said that to Taehyun, Yeongsu couldn't help but step in.
"I'll help too." He said as he came into the living room.
"Yeongsu-hyung?" Taehyun questioned.
"So what's the plan?" Yeongsu asked, ignoring Taehyun.
Yeongsu watched as Kittichai looked at Tae doubtfully.
"It's fine, if he says he'll come then I trust him." Tae gave Kitt a nod.
"Well I was thinking that with three people, two of us could go check out the vehicle and someone can stay on the roof to be the lookout." Kittichai stated.
"Taehyun can be the lookout." Yeongsu volunteered for Taehyun, but was surprised when the silver haired boy disagreed.
"No, I'm going to go with Kitt. You can be the lookout." The artist gave Yeongsu a look of determination.
"Tae, you don't even know how to fight." Yeongsu stated the facts.
"I can take care of him." Kittichai insisted from where he sat on the couch next to Taehyun.
"Why take someone you have to worry about?" Yeongsu questioned, worry laced in his tone.
"Yeongsu-hyung, it doesn't matter if you can fight or not..." Kittichai paused briefly before continuing. "Even if you can fight, I'd still worry about everyone with me. I promise I will get Taehyun-ah there and back safely, I swear on my life."
He narrowed his eyes at Kitt before giving a sigh of defeat. "Okay, what do we need?"
He didn't fail to notice the way Taehyun's eyes lit up when he agreed to let him go with Kittichai.
"Alright. I have an idea, but only if you both are willing to agree." Kittichai responded to Yeongsu as he looked around the room. Yeongsu assumed he was making sure no one was nearby to hear the conversation.
"What is it?" The artist questioned in a low voice.
"Well Yeongsu-hyung, you still have your fire department's radio, right?" Kittichai asked with the tilt of his head.
"Yeah, why?" Yeongsu didn't quite understand what Kittichai was getting at.
"Well Hanwoo and Seojun also have a police radio, if we get our hands on one we can link the frequencies and you'll be able to talk to us while we are down there. If you see a lurker around the corner or behind us, you'll be able to notify us before we run into it." Kittichai said reasonably.
"And how do you suppose we get one of those radios?" Yeongsu pondered.
"Leave that to me." Taehyun said boldly and pointed at himself proudly.
"Are you sure about that? I don't want you getting in trouble with Hanwoo or Seojun. Hanwoo seems to have an attitude towards you already." It was Kittichai's turn to worry about the artist.
"Kittichai, oh Kittichai... You didn't get to see that side of our innocent Taehyunie yet, have you?" Yeongsu chuckled wickedly as he walked up to Tae and pinched his cheek.
"Hyung..." Taehyun whined as he tried to remove his face from Yeongsu's grasp.
"He's not much of a thief, but breaking and entering is something he's very talented at." Yeongsu practically threw Taehyun under the bus.
"Really? I wouldn't expect that." Kittichai raised a questioning brow as he looked at Taehyun who visibly shied away from Kitt's gaze.
"Hyung, why do you say it like that?" The artist asked quietly with a pout forming on his face. "It makes me sound like a bad person."
Yeongsu couldn't help but laugh as he responded, "I mean... Breaking and entering abandoned buildings just to spray paint the walls is still something that is illegal. Do you remember the time when you met Seojun?"
"Please don't remind me." Taehyun begged, rubbing his hands together as he looked at Yeongsu with puppy dog eyes and pushed his bottom lip into a pout.
He turned away as an evil grin began to play onto his lips. "He broke into the school once when he was seventeen, and do you know why this kid did it?" He gestured to Taehyun.
"Yeongsu-hyung." Tae pleaded again.
The fireman could see that Kittichai had a small smile tugging on his lips as he tilted his head curiously at Yeongsu. "Why did he do it?"
"Because he was going to give a drawing to a girl he liked at school and some jock stole it and put it in his locker!" Yeongsu couldn't contain his laughter as he spilled Taehyun's secrets, after all what are siblings for? Yeongsu watched as the artist didn't say anything as he covered his face with his hands. He was so obviously embarrassed and Yeongsu was enjoying every moment of it. "So he broke into the school and into the jocks locker just to get his drawing back, the CCTV of the school caught him in the act and he was met with the blinding lights of the police when he came out of the school, drawing in hand, evidence clear as day." Yeongsu ruffled Taehyun's silver locks as he continued. "Rookie officer Kim Seojun, arrested the trespasser and thief. His first ever arrest."
"No way! His first ever arrest?" Kittichai asked with his eyes widened.
"Yeah first ever arrest, what a small world." Yeongsu responded.
"Yeah, but since I was only seventeen and the drawing I stole was actually mine they let me go with a warning." Taehyun added with the shrug of his shoulders.
"My mom was furious with him though and made him-"
"Yeongsu-hyung!" Taehyun desperately interrupted him. He stopped speaking and stared wide-eyed at Taehyun. "Please."
Yeongsu stared at Taehyun for another brief moment before he continued talking as if Tae hadn't interrupted him. "She made him stay in his room for the whole week, aside from going to school. She took all his things out of his room and at dinner time she brought him kongbap and when Taehyun asked her for something different to eat... Y-you know what she said?" Yeongsu began laughing as he struggled to finish what he was saying, he was enjoying this too much. "She said.. T-that he needed to get used to it because that is what he will eat when he gets sent to prison."
A/N: Kongbap is a dish consisting of white or brown rice cooked together with grains, peas and beans.
Kittichai let out a soft chuckle while Taehyun grabbed a pillow and threw it at Yeongsu with full force. "Ya, you evil gremlin!"
He dodged out of the way and stuck his tongue out at Tae, just as he stuck his tongue out another pillow was quick to smack him in the face causing him to bite his tongue.
"Ow, I bih mah tung." Yeongsu pouted as he tried to hold his tongue out and look down at it.
Both the other guys burst into laughter at his agony.
"Did you at least get the girl?" Kittichai questioned. Yeongsu noticed how Kitt's smile faltered a little as he asked.
"Haha, he didn't even give her-" Yeongsu started.
"No, I didn't even bother giving her the drawing." Taehyun interrupted.
"Why not?" Kitt raised his eyebrows.
"I realized I didn't actually like her. I think I just convinced myself that I liked her in order to fit in with my classmates; since everyone seemed to have a crush on her because she was pretty and popular. However after getting arrested, the lights of the police station reminded me of a time that I was hospitalized for a while. I remembered a boy who shared the hospital room with me when I was like... thirteen maybe? I think he was someone who left a deep impression on me, but I can't remember too much from when I was around that age." Taehyun explained.
"I don't think Taehyun-ah has had a crush on anyone other than that boy." Yeongsu chuckled.
Taehyun rammed his elbow into Yeongsu's ribcage. "Now you're saying too much."
"Sorry Tae." The older apologized as he rubbed his ribs.
"I see... you never crushed on anyone else?" Kittichai queried, seeming interested in learning more about the artist.
"We should probably start prepping for tonight." Tae stated as he pointed towards the setting sun.
"Okay, Taehyun-ah I trust you. I need you to go into Seojun and Hanwoo's room and find a radio, preferably Seojun's." Kittichai told Taehyun, who gave a nod. "Once you get the radio, meet Yeongsu and I on the roof."
The fireman watched as Tae nodded again and made his way towards the officers bedroom. He then looked at Kittichai who had stood up and began to make his way towards Jiwon and Minseok's room. He aimlessly followed behind Kittichai as he approached the door and knocked.
"Yeah? Come in." Yeongsu recognized Jiwon's voice as he called from the inside of the room. The two entered the room and found Jiwon sitting on the floor with a pout evident on his face.
"Why do you look like a fish?" Yeongsu asked bluntly as he lifted his hand to his own face and squished his cheeks together to demonstrate what he thought Jiwon looked like.
"A-a f-fish?" Jiwon sputtered, probably never having heard someone say he looked like a fish, maybe a puppy, but a fish? It was the most absurd thing Yeongsu could think of at that moment. The comment led to the model scrunching his face at him, obviously appalled by the comparison. "I don't look like a fish!"
Yeongsu had a glint of amusement in his eyes as he looked at Jiwon and sucked his cheeks in making his lips pucker into a fish face.
"Ya, you-!" The blonde started, but was cut off by Kittichai's serious tone.
"Jiwon-ah, I need you to go down three floors to grab a box of supplies from the end apartment. Take Seojun with you if you're nervous to go alone, and can you let Hanwoo know that there are some canned goods on the second floor that still need to be brought up, I have to take care of something else at the moment." Kittichai got straight to the point.
Yeongsu watched as the blonde nodded and immediately got up to leave. As Jiwon passed by him to exit the room, he made yet another fish face at the model which earned him a harsh glare from the blonde who was clearly not amused by the fireman's foolish comparison.
"Gaesaekki." Jiwon cursed at him under his breath as he disappeared from the room.
A/N: 개새끼; gaesaekki: Equivalent to the English phrase "son of a bitch". Combination of the word 개; gae, meaning dog, and the word 새끼; saekki, meaning offspring or young.
Yeongsu chuckled as he stared out the door after Jiwon, he was fun to tease based on his reaction. However amused he was by Jiwon, he still was surprised at how compliant Jiwon was. He thought that the blonde would've at least asked Kittichai what he had to take care of before agreeing to go, especially since Jiwon was one of the group members who were either too inexperienced to go out by themselves or one of the ones who were too scared to go out.
Yeongsu snapped out of his thoughts when Kittichai suddenly spoke.
"Well now Taehyun won't have to worry about Hanwoo or Seojun, they won't be here." Kittichai turned and winked at him. "Let me grab my sword and then let's head up to the roof."
_______
When they reached the roof Yeongsu looked around, he hadn't been out to the roof yet. There was so much to see, he could see up and down the streets, he could see the river and a few convenience stores. He let a small sigh escape his lips as he stared at the setting sun. The quiet city was surprisingly breathtaking from above.
'Hyung look." Taehyun tapped on his shoulder from behind causing him to jump away, surprised by the sudden physical contact.
"Ya! Why are you so quiet when you walk, you scared the soul right out of me!" He smacked Tae on the shoulder lightly.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Taehyun looked down at his feet as he kicked his foot back and forth.
"Tae, you're back already?" Kittichai turned from where he was looking and smiled at Taehyun.
Yeongsu watched as the artist looked up from his feet to look at Kittichai and when he did his cheeks flushed a pale shade of pink at the sight of the brunette's smile. A knowing grin tugged at the corners of Yeongsu's lips as he eyed Tae from head to toe, he wanted to tease him, but decided to hold back for the time being. Taehyun stared at Kittichai for a moment too long without responding, so Yeongsu lightly nudged him in the side to try and snap him out of his trance.
"Uh... y-yeah.. what?" Tae stuttered out awkwardly, his cheeks turning a more vibrant shade of red. Kittichai let out a genuine laugh at the artist's flustered response.
Yeongsu looked between the brunette and Taehyun. The way Kittichai looked at Taehyun was that of adoration, but he wasn't sure if it was simply because Taehyun was too innocent and made Kittichai want to protect him or if it was a different form of adoration, but what he could tell was that it was a different form of adoration than what Kittichai had for Jiwon.
"You got the radio; good job." Kittichai praised him, looking at the radio in the artist's hand.
"I'm the king of stealth." Taehyun bragged.
"That's great, the king of stealth will come in handy when we are down on the streets." Kittichai pointed to the vehicle that was two blocks away from their building. Yeongsu watched Tae's expression closely as his face paled. Kittichai must have also took notice of how his face fell and put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, you have me. I won't let anything happen to you." Kittichai comforted Taehyun.
As Kittichai and Taehyun were talking, Yeongsu grabbed the pair of binoculars from a wooden box that the brunette kept on the roof. He turned to the scenery below and looked through the binoculars down at their objective.
"That's a military cargo truck." He muttered as he scanned the road. He spotted one lurker around the vehicle and a few lurkers that were on the main road near a seven eleven convenience store. "I see about six hostiles." Yeongsu spoke as he continued to scout the route to the vehicle.
"Where?" Tae was the one to ask as he approached him, which surprised him. He wasn't expecting Taehyun to actively participate, but regardless of his expectations; he handed the artist the binoculars.
"I think it would be in your best interest if you guys tried to stick to the path Hina used to bring us here. Once you reach the taller building in the path and find a way down. Stay to the right of the building going up the main road. Avoid the convenience store and sneak towards the cargo truck on the opposite side of the road at the intersection." Yeongsu suggested a route for the other two to take.
"I think that would be the best option as well, since it is the least risky." Tae agreed as he handed the binoculars over to Kittichai, retracting his hand quickly when their fingers brushed together. the fireman chuckled at Taehyun's obvious shyness towards Kittichai and earned himself a glare from the artist. His glare was more cute than it was threatening though and made him laugh louder.
"You're right, it seems to be the safest route." The brunette agreed as he passed the binoculars back to him, "now all there is to do is wait until nightfall."
"We still need to put the radios on the same frequencies." Taehyun reminded them as he held the radio out for Yeongsu to take.
"You're right, I totally forgot!" He reached out and took the radio from the artist. He began fiddling with the radio to match the frequencies.
"Hyung...?" Taehyun asked hesitantly.
"Yea?" He responded as he briefly looked up from the radios in his hands.
"Do you think that truck is worth the risk, or do you think Hanwoo is right and we should wait?" Taehyun questioned, his voice filled with doubt.
He blinked at Tae without responding, he wasn't quite sure how to respond to that question. He turned to look at Kittichai, hoping the brunette would say something to comfort the artist. Kittichai clearly had acknowledged the question, but was also waiting to hear his opinion.
"Why are you asking suddenly? It's a little too late to start worrying about that, don't you think?" He chuckled awkwardly as he gestured to the stolen radio in his hand. Taehyun's shoulders slumped at the lack of a real response, which made him feel bad.
"You served in the military, so I figured maybe you'd be able to tell us what we might expect to find and if it is worth the risk?" Tae stated reasonably, he made a valid point.
"Well... Cargo trucks tend to carry firearms and artillery usually. I can't say for certain if it is worth the risk, because I don't see any other evidence that would indicate that the military was even in the city." He said as he finished with the radio frequencies and attached his radio onto his belt and held Seojun's radio out to Kittichai.
"What kind of evidence do you mean?" Kittichai queried as he took the radio from him.
"Well when you look down at the street, what do you see?" He responded with another question.
He watched as Taehyun looked down at the streets and scanned over them. He continued to look around the streets for a few minutes before turning to him with a pout. "I don't see anything?"
"Exactly! There are no other military vehicles down there, just one. There aren't even any barricades, if the military really had been here then the place would be a mess and have more equipment." He explained to the two of them. "Which makes me question why the vehicle is here in the first place."
"So what you're saying is that the authorities haven't come yet? Does that mean we can still rely on them to take care of the situation?" Kittichai questioned, suspicion lacing his tone as he narrowed his eyes.
"I wouldn't say we're out of the woods just yet." He shook his head at Kittichai's question.
"What do you mean?" Taehyun tilted his head at him, clearly expecting him to give a straightforward answer.
"That truck is most likely filled with food or weapons, both are something we need. Which would indicate that we are on our own." He let out a long exasperated sigh before continuing. "That truck is there to compensate us. They sent that in here to aid anyone in this area who is still alive, which means that the military isn't coming here. They most likely quarantined the city and are located on the outskirts to keep the lurkers from spreading outside the city, but they most likely have failed in their attempts to control the situation."
"That makes sense." Kittichai agreed as he contemplated Yeongsu's words.
"Why do you think they failed?" Tae asked as he started to chew his lips.
"If they were actively quarantining the city there would most likely be a few aircrafts scouting the city from above to monitor the situation, but as you can see there isn't anything around." He pointed out.
"I haven't seen any kind of aircraft since the third night here." Kittichai added.
"Honestly, the military probably isn't even alive anymore since they would just be ringing the dinner bell with all the commotion they make." The fireman stated nonchalantly.
"Hyung! How could you say that?" Taehyun questioned with a concerned look on his face.
"Here let me just set off this grenade and make a huge explosion that any thing within a mile can hear. Ding ding ding, sounds like a dinner bell ringing to me." He chuckled humorously, sarcasm dripping from his voice as he held his hand up to his ear as if trying to hear something.
His sarcasm earned a soft chuckle from Kittichai and an eye roll from Taehyun. "You really are quite appalling."
"I try, I really do." Yeongsu shrugged his shoulders, not minding the insult as he turned his head up to look at the sky that had grown dark, "we should wait here until about two in the morning."
"Why?" Taehyun questioned.
"It guarantees that everyone is asleep." Yeongsu stated logically as he watched Kitt begin to sharpen his sword.
"That's true." Taehyun nodded as he sat next to Kitt.
Yeongsu watched the two silently as a thought crossed his mind. "They'll be fine, right?"