baby don't like it {lee haechan}

29

jeno took yumi out to the beach. in fact, it was the same beach haechan had taken her to all those years ago. he did it in an effort to try and take yumi's mind off of haechan.

she had been spending a lot more time alone, blocking jeno out as she mulled over her newfound memories. he hated seeing her deep in thought, it always gave him anxiety knowing that he had been digging his own grave for the past few weeks. 

he often thought that he shouldn't have lied to her, but each night, when she fell asleep in his arms. it felt worth it. 

yumi laid down a blanket on the sand and sat down, patting the spot next to her. jeno didn't take his eyes off of her, studying her expression. he was pleased when she just seemed to be enjoying the weather.

he had been afraid that the beach would trigger some memories. 

the girl turned to him, "jeno, you know that no matter what happens, i can't ever fully be mad at you right? all you would need to do is apologize."

it was like she knew, jeno gulped, "i hope i won't ever make you mad," he mumbled and looked away into the distance, his eyes staring at a fast approaching car. 

the car skidded to a stop in the parking lot and a tall man with long black hair and foreign features came walking up to them at an alarming speed. 

without any warning, the man ignored jeno and grabbed yumi by the throat, almost suffocating her as he dragged her to the water. the man and yumi were now standing deep, the water almost at her neck. 

"y-yuta," yumi tried to choke out, her hands pawing at the iron grip he had on her neck. 

"it's always to closest ones to us that betray us. i should've known when killing lee donghyuck took longer than expected. you never let a job go over a few days. i trusted you, knowing that you didn't remember those boys, but you lied. you even put a tracker on my phone. i killed three of my best men that day, thinking that they were the ones that did it. but it didn't make sense, they were never allowed to touch me or my belongings. you were the only one yumi. i was a fool to let down my guard with you. and as much as i was falling in love with you, i'm going to have to kill you now," yuta was seething.

jeno didn't know what to do. he had stood up now, his feet wavering a little ways from the edge of the water. he watched and yuta yelled something and stared at the way yumi's neck was turning red and purple. 

he was scared.

yuta was a trained member of nct, there was no telling what he was capable of. so in a moment of fright, jeno ran. he ran away, getting on his bike and driving as fast as he could back to the dream base. 

yuta chuckled as he watched jeno drive away, "i guess you picked the wrong boy. what's wrong with your memories, princess? are they all jumbled up?"

yumi didn't answer. if she tried to speak, she felt like she would lose any oxygen she had left. her eyes followed jeno's trail with a sense of foreboding. yuta continued to leer at her, telling her about all the possibilities if she had just killed haechan the first time she saw him from that rooftop.

yumi whimpered when yuta let go of her neck, just to put a hand on top of her head. he forced her entire face under water, not caring about her thrashing about.

suddenly, just as yumi was about to stop fighting, the weight on her head lifted and she rose up from the water, gasping for air. 

in front of her was haechan, come to the rescue as soon as he had received a call. he punched yuta over and over again, even kicking him back to shore. livid, haechan took out his gun and shot blindly, the bullet hitting yuta's leg. 

ignoring yuta's groans of pain, haechan rushed back through the water and carried yumi in his strong arms, hyper-fixated on her ragged breathing. 

he ran as fast as he could back to his car and put her in the front seat, kissing her forehead and buckling her up before speeding back home. 

he hadn't killed yuta because he was more worried about yumi's condition. he made a call to taeyong and told him about yuta on the way home and promptly hung up to carry yumi to his room.

knowing that she had no will or power to move by herself, haechan undressed her soaked clothes and dressed her again in a warm pair of his own sweats. he put her arms through the holes of a big t shirt and laid her back down on the bed, covering her with his blanket.

"jeno called. he regretted leaving you and he told me to save you. i've never drove so fast in my entire life. i'm not letting you out of my sight ever again," he said, his hand intertwining with her cold one. 

yumi coughed, her eyes filled with tears threatening to spill over, "haechan.. i remember. i remember us."

haechan looked at her in shock.

as her head was submerged under water, the pieces came together. she remember being at that exact beach, trying to take her own life in a fit of depression. she remember meeting haechan for the first time and falling in love with his cold exterior. she remember the late nights and the meaningful kisses that they had shared. 

the most important thing she realized, was that she loved haechan. she had never stopped loving him.

haechan's eyes softened and he leaned down, pressing his lips against hers softly. he had been patient, waiting for her to come back to him. although it took a life-or-death situation, she was back to being his now and he thanked the gods known and unknown. he sat up again and pressed her hand to his cheek.

his eyes closed, "thank you yumi. for remembering and loving me."

"i love you hyuck," she said, neither of them noticing the door open.

"i love you more," haechan whispered.

"is she okay?" a boy said in a small voice, his eyes downcast and sad. jeno had lost the game he had started.