royal trend ° hyunho

twenty-four

Sunday, 24.07.2022

as soon as minho parked the car in front of the tall building, hyunjin swung the kia's door open and jumped out. 

minho raised an eyebrow questioningly. he had never before seen anyone exit a car with such speed – except in gta maybe. felix's warning flashed through his mind. did sam think that he'd kidnapped him or what?

minho rejected this idea as he removed the key from the ignition and got out of the car. sam was standing on the sidewalk, hands in pockets, waiting calmly. his hair blew in the wind, getting into his eyes, which stared expectantly at minho. 

minho gulped and slammed the driver's door shut. there was something unnerving in those eyes, but he could not pinpoint precisely what. compared to the face that came with them, which was flawless and mostly expressionless like that of an angel or a doll, the eyes were alive, sparkling with what looked like a lot of impish mischievousness. 

if it was someone else, not sam, it would have clicked in minho's brain that there was nothing trustworthy about this gaze, but damn it, it was sam with his irresistible directness and naivety, and mysterious aura. it felt almost like he came for a different world than minho, like he had a huge secret, like he was challenging minho to figure it out, and minho was yet to back out of a challenge in his life. he lived for the thrill – and sam was thrilling in the most addictive kind of way.

minho cocked an eyebrow. "what was that rush for? i wanted to open the door for you."

hyunjin snorted. "why?"

leaning his arm on the car's roof, minho shrugged casually. "it's kinda a romantic gesture."

hyunjin burst out laughing. "romantic? please. my driver's opened the door for me my whole life. when it's not him, it's seungmin. i was worried that i've forgotten how to do it myself."

minho chuckled in disbelief. what the hell worked on sam? he was freaking unpredictable. 

hyunjin watched with interest as minho pulled a metal baseball bat out of the car's trunk. "wow, so you're also a thug," he commented, impressed. "i've never met a thug in real life. only in mafia movies." he stepped closer, still staring at the bat with wonder. 

minho gave him an amused look. "you get impressed by the all the wrong things, you know." he closed the trunk. "i'm not a thug. that's just for precaution."

"yeah, right," hyunjin scoffed. "people totally carry metal bats to a dance studio. are you beating that guy up today?" his voice was full of enthusiasm. "i've never seen an actual fight. so exciting."

minho sighed. he was starting to understand why sam was guarded by the secret service. this boy was too much. "i'm not beating up anyone. i told you, the landlord's a bitch. my friend said that he's come with some tough guys. things can get a little ugly. it's better if i have something to protect you with since you refuse to wait in the car." he put his hand on hyunjin's back and gently guided him toward the building's entrance. "come."

hyunjin's plump lips stretched into a small, cryptic smile, which added more magnetism to the charm that his presence cast on everything around him. "you don't have to worry about me," he stated unpretentiously, but confidently as they stepped into the elevator. 

minho squinted at him. "your bodyguards aren't here, you know."

"so?" hyunjin replied breezily, busy fixing his hair in front of the large mirror on the wall opposite the elevator's gate. 

minho rested the bat on his right shoulder. "i'm protecting you, like it or not," he shot back as the elevator pinged, stopping on floor eleven, and they stepped out into the white hallway, which was almost shaking from the raised voices echoing from somewhere not that far away. 

unfazed by the screams and curses, hyunjin laughed again. chivalry was not dead apparently. "i don't need your protection, but okay. it's sweet because you're willing to do it for free," he acknowledged. 

minho smirked. "that's the least i can do to compensate for our ruined date." he grimaced as the voices got louder. "sorry about that by the way. i'd have dealt with it later on my own if it wasn't that urgent."

"a date?" hyunjin feigned an innocently surprised expression. "i don't remember agreeing to go on a date with you. i'm just hungry, and you promised good food."

before minho had the chance to counter with a playful remark of his own, they rounded a corner and came face to face with a group of five moderately buff men, all sporting adidas track suits and aggressively dumb expressions. surrounded by them were a mean-looking short guy in his fifties and a handsome young man, who looked both defiant and scared. 

"woah," hyunjin said, taking in the scene in front of him, "thugs."

the whole gang turned to stare at him. 

a/n: 

this chapter was fun to write 

who is the actual thug – minho, hyunjin, or the thugs? :)