DRAMA CLUB | hyunin ✔

.46

jeongin's hands were cold, denouncing how nervous he felt on his way to meet chan. anyone looking from the outside could interpret it as a normal boy with a normal, uneventful life about to talk to his crush, fidgeting and wiping his hands on his pants with anticipation.

but from the inside, jeongin felt as if he was walking to his death in an electric chair, and his only crime was being born, because, god! what did he ever do to deserve all that stress? that couldn't be healthy!

but jeongin mustered courage enough to force his feet to enter the locker room.

he was prepared: seungmin had equipped him with a micro wireless earpiece (that honestly seemed more like a hearing aid) and a pin that had VOTE MINHO! written on it (it was, apparently, a microphone in disguise) so they could communicate. he would've felt like a real secret agent if he wasn't so scared right now.

besides that, the earpiece was nothing "micro". it was big enough to raise some questions. and on top of that, jeongin's hair wasn't long enough to hide it completely, so he had to get felix's (changbin's) hoodie, just to find out felix was wearing nothing underneath, so jeongin had to surrender his own shirt so felix wouldn't go back home shirtless.

getting inside the locker room was an old dream of his. sweaty jocks changing and smacking each other in the butt with towels? sign him up! but he wasn't in the mood right now, because, as soon as he opened the door, chan was right behind it.

he cracked a smile, head tilting to the side. he wasn't sweaty. he had definitely taken a shower, if the strong smell of soap was any given.

"ready?" chan asked.

jeongin gulped. "ready."

they left school grounds. chan carried two bags, one with his textbooks and the other his soccer clothes. he looked like a gym bro, completely harmless and well-intentioned, walking jeongin home so he could get back safely.

or kill him.

jeongin was on the verge of fainting.

then suddenly, his ear started melting. the deafening sound of static roared down his auditory system and almost inducing a panic attack on him.

"... you... me... can... jeon—" he heard over the devilish noise. jeongin put a hand to his ear and groaned loudly, hesitating if he should take it out or not. it wouldn't work if he went deaf in one ear, anyway. but that would compromise the plan and the whole investigation, so jeongin opted to bear the pain like a man.

"you okay?" and then there was chan's concerned face, his hand on jeongin's shoulder, looking unsure about what to do to help. only then did jeongin notice he was crouching in the middle of the pavement like a madman, cupping his right ear as if he was receiving sound waves from outer space.

"... hear... me? can! you! hear! me!" felix shouted through the earpiece.

jeongin remembered the mic on the pin and shouted at it, "yes!" he hoped felix and seungmin were wearing earpieces too, so they could also feel their brains explode.

jeongin stood back on his feet, dignity wounded.

"are you sure?" chan insisted, hand placed on the middle of his back as if jeongin could collapse at any moment.

"yes." jeongin said, trying to keep a normal conversation and not give away that he had a cheap spy gadget stuck inside his ear.

chan still looked concerned, but, reluctantly, retracted his hand and let go.

they started walking again.

"you don't need to answer again, we heard it!" came felix's voice again through the earpiece, now less loud and unbearable.

jeongin stayed silent, wary of chan by his side. one frightening thought sprouted in his mind: was there any possibility that he could be hearing it? from everything that seungmin had told him, he seemed more than capable of toying around with the situation, lull jeongin into a fake sense of security and then—

"are you two there yet? hurry up so we can see you!" felix ordered.

"indeed, you better speed up a bit, jeongin. i mean, if he kills you before we can catch it on camera, your death will be in vain," seungmin's voice joined felix's over the device, and jeongin widened his eyes, the situation could only get worse, it seemed.

"what are you talking about!" felix's voice got louder, "there will be no deaths tonight!"

"are you a psychic?" seungmin retorted.

"why? do you want a palm reading so i can tell you're a lunatic?"

seungmin gasped and jeongin prayed for any god out there that they wouldn't start arguing. jeongin wanted to cut his ear off.

"what are you insinuating?" seungmin snarled, he sounded very offended.

felix fell silent. jeongin appreciated that.

then finally he said, with a sigh, "nevermind, let's just get this over with. jeongin, be faster, my dude."

jeongin rolled his eyes, but started walking a bit faster. chan seemed a bit confused, but matched his speed effortlessly even while carrying two heavy bags. jeongin was already dying (oh, god) with only one.

chan was really strong, jeongin thought as he observed the way chan's veins bulged out of his arm as he gripped the bag.

jeongin's house was really close to the school, so for seungmin to put the seed of fear in his mind by hinting that chan could kill him there, in public, and let him bleed on the pavement or whatever, was enraging. even if those streets got very quiet after 6 p.m.

so, with all the speedwalking, they got there in no time, safe and sound. no murder occurred. jeongin came to a silent home with all the lights out and no sign of life. his mom was really not there.

as jeongin reached inside his bag to look for the keys, the earpiece started filling his ear with static again, white noise that nearly made him squeak in surprise.

then he caught something with the corner of his eye.

the bushes... were moving?