Chapter Text
Jisung knew he was being watched.
What for? He had no idea. But the man in the corner of the cafe had been staring at him with murder eyes for his entire shift for nearly two weeks now. And no, before you ask, it wasn't a coincidence. Jisung had already asked all of his coworkers and the guy only showed up during Jisung's shifts.
Now, Jisung was no scaredy-cat (unlike his best frenemy, Hyunjin). But he had also seen a, perhaps, unhealthy amount of true crime documentaries and was therefore scared shitless. He had nervously wracked his brain for his entire shift, attempting to figure out what he might have done to have such a terrifying individual after him. He had narrowed it down to two conclusions.
A.) The man was the one who Jisung tried to fight in a bar about a month ago when he had insulted cheesecake and Jisung may have been sloppy drunk.
B.) The cat he had found on the street and took under his wing had an owner who was quite possibly (?) a mafia boss who was tall and dark and had tattoos...and big hands...and-
Shut up, Jisung. Back to the point.
Those were the only two realistic (?) options that Jisung could think of.
As Jisung clocked out for the day, he sighed. Why he always took the closing shifts, you may ask? Because his documentary addiction was fueled by his insomnia. If he was going to be awake anyway, he might as well make extra money out of taking the night shifts.
While he had never regretted taking these shifts before, Jisung began to rethink it when he was dragged into an alley roughly five steps out the door of the cafe. The screech he let out was silenced by a hand covering his mouth so harshly he swore it would be imprinted perfectly in his skin. Strong arms held him close to a muscular body and held him up as he kicked his legs desperately in an attempt to escape. Suddenly remembering what a survivor had done in a documentary he watched, he went completely limp, doing his best to release all tension from his body.
His attacker was unprepared for the sudden weight as the motion caused him to slip right out the bottom of the man's grasp and drop into a roll which he managed to recover from before the man could recover from his shock. Not allowing the man even a moment, Jisung sprinted as fast as his skinny (twig-like, according to Chan Hyung) little legs could carry him. He could only barely hear the scrambling feet of the man behind him over his heartbeat and rushing blood in his ears. Sweat dribbled down his temple and he could feel blisters developing in his docs which could hardly be considered running shoes.
After taking multiple turns, Jisung quickly ducked into an alleyway, vaulting himself into a dumpster as he hears quickly approaching footsteps about to turn around the last corner he went around and gain sight of him. As he laid flat as paper on top of the wreaking filth he pushed a trash water-covered hand over his face to cover his panting.
The pounding footsteps came to a halt at the head of the alleyway. Tears ran down Jisung's reddened face and he squeezed his eyes shut, preparing himself to fight with everything left in him.
"Shit" he heard a voice say before the beeping of a phone dialing could be heard "Seungmin, I lost him. Why didn't you mention how fast the little fucker is? He's kind of fun" he giggled when the call was picked up.
Jisung furrowed his brows. Seungmin? The name sounded somehow familiar.
"It doesn't matter, Seungmin! He knows I'm watching now! I've been exposed! Kind of exciting, no?" the man seemed to grow more and more excited and giggly throughout the call.
"Look, whatever. I'll have to change tactics, I can't very well stay at the cafe anymore, he'll get me thrown in jail. And we both know I refuse to do that again. Tell Jin I need a new in. Bye, asshole~" the line cut off and the man whistled cheerily, footsteps trekking away quickly in the direction they had come from.
Still, Jisung didn't dare move, didn't dare breathe or blink. Hours could have passed or perhaps minutes but eventually, the silence became all consuming and Jisung quickly threw his body out of the dumpster, trash falling around him. Immediately he bent to his knees, the contents of his stomach burning as it emptied out his sore throat. The air smelled of rotting trash and acidic vomit.
Gasping with wretches, Jisung reached for his phone, dialing the one person he knew would he up.
Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring...
"Sung? Can you tell me about the documentary later, Buddy? I'm a little caught up right now" Chan sounded slightly distracted.
"Hyungie" Jisung whispered, hot tears running down his face before he gagged again and emptied what was left of his stomach, mainly bile which seemed to set his throat on fire.
"Jisung? Jisung are you okay? Sungie?" Chan questioned, growing more desperate as all he could hear was some shuffling and desperate gagging.
"Sungie, I'm coming to you, turn on your location" Chan demanded, the quick clack of his dress shoes could be heard against the floor, no doubt still in the precinct.
Nodding to himself, Jisung clicked through his phone desperately as tears blocked his vision. After fumbling for moments which felt far too long, Jisung managed to turn on his location, hearing the engine of Chan's car start as soon as he received it.
"I'm coming Sungie, Channie's coming" Chan murmured as the purr of his engine could be heard in the background, no doubt breaking traffic laws left and right.
Slowly, Jisung lowered himself onto the grimy, hard, cold concrete, cheek resting against it, scratching it deeply as his body shook uncontrollably.
Chan was on his way.
His eyes slipped closed.
--
Jisung quickly found himself sick of the gossip at work. Once one person knew, the workplace gossip spread like wildfire.
"No, you can't just expect him to bounce back. Of course, he's depressed, the kid almost got kidnapped-"
"Maybe if you weren't all so busy gossiping about me right in front of me, we would actually get some shit done around here" Jisung snapped as he worked on another set of espresso shots for the trendy assholes that frequented the cafe.
It had been two months. Two months where he had shut out everyone and thrown himself into work. He took every single shift that needed to be covered, did overtime, did morning shifts, did night shifts, and in the end, picked up another job as a bartender. Sleep evaded him even more so than it usually did. Every time he closed his eyes he smelled a mix of his own sweat and the dripping water which squelched under him in the dumpster. So, he stopped trying. And on one particular night, he went to a bar where a met a kind boy named Felix.
Felix was sweet and understanding, even helped Jisung pick up a job at the bar and trained him himself. Jisung willed himself to feel something akin to romance for the boy, yet he simply couldn't.
The point is, Jisung was sick and he was tired. He was sick and tired of hearing his name in other people's mouths when they thought he couldn't hear. He was tired of seeing the man from that night in the crowds that came into the bar on Friday nights, only for him to dissipate into thin air, and practically scream in Jisung's face that he was crazy.
The girls which he had snapped at scrambled to return to their work, heads down as their manager scolded them for their gossip with a harsh glare.
Jisung started another round of espresso shots.
--
Jisung was doing better. Genuinely, he was. At first, it had been a lie. He had told Chan and Hyunjin that he was just fine. Reassured Felix that he was over it.
It had been five months and this time, Jisung was almost certain he truly was okay.
It was a busy Friday at the bar and he felt good. His hair was freshly dyed a platinum blonde. His eyes bore bright blue contacts and were surrounded by pitch-black smudged eyeliner and eyeshadow. Glitter covered his face, glitter which Felix had smudged across his cheeks in giggling mess in the grimy, sticker-covered bathroom in the back. Felix had forced him into a sheer black shirt that stopped at his thin waist and had a fine film of glitter which shone in the lights of the bar. His skinny black jeans hung off his lithe hips and contrasted against the silver body chain which closed and connected to his belly piercing.
Overall...he felt good. He felt pretty. He felt safe, with Felix.
That was, until he saw Him.
He had been casually flirting with a customer. A rather handsome man. Though, he seemed like a bit of a dumb gym buff, not exactly Jisung's cup of tea. But the flirting had flowed easily and Jisung liked the smirk on the man's face. He was about to deliver another smooth line when his eyes caught something over the man's broad shoulder which made him freeze, literally. His blood felt like ice in his veins, cold and too thick.
The man from That night was approaching the bar quickly. He was dressed well. Tight trousers, a bedazzled black shirt, rolled up at the sleeves and unbuttoned to halfway down his chest. His shoes had a slight heel and screamed 'expensive'. He was so different from That night, but so undeniably the same man.
Jisung internally screamed at himself to move, to run, to find the nearest place to hide. But his body disagreed with those thoughts and stayed rooted in place, tuning out the questions from the handsome man in front of him.
"Changbin, fancy seeing you here" the taller man slithered an arm around the shorter man's shoulders as he came to a stop at the bar.
The man, Changbin, immediately tenses, jaw clenching.
"LeeKnow. Seungmin didn't tell me he was going to send one of his ferals here tonight. Come to harass me again?" Changbin asks sarcastically, throwing back the rest of his drink, hissing slightly at the strong flavor.
"Feral? Oh please, Changbinnie, you flatter me. Anyways, I'm not here for you. I am here for this beautiful specimen" the man purred as his feline eyes settled predatorily on Jisung as he trembled from his place behind the bar.
"Long time no see, Jisung. You look good enough to eat" he giggled, reaching forward to stroke a small graceful finger over Jisung's sparkling cheekbone.
Without his permission, his hand shoots up to grip the hand, it felt fragile in his larger hand, as though it would snap under the barest amount of pressure. The man's eyebrows shoot up, a delighted smile lighting up his features.
"Don't...don't touch me" Jisung stutters, voice barely audible above the ambient sound in the bar.
To his surprise, the man only nodded, gently pulling his hand back until Jisung released his grip. His gaze kept Jisung's eyes captive.
"What are you doing here? I'll call the cops" Jisung blurts.
"The cops won't do anything for you, Jisung" Changbin sighs, reaching over the bar to grab the bottle he had been slowly ordering glasses of and taking a deep chug from it.
Jisung furrowed his brows, breath speeding up, heart racing as he considered his options. An idea popped into his head. He could talk to Felix-
"LeeKnow? What are you doing here, I told you never to show up in my personal life" Felix shoved Jisung to the side and reached across the bar to roughly grasp Leeknow's shirt in his tiny fist, face holding a kind of fury which Jisung didn't think the boy was capable of.
LeeKnow only seemed amused at the aggression, leaning further across the bar than he had already been pulled and allowing his nose to nearly touch Felix's before whispering
"I can go whenever I please, Lixie. Remember your place" his voice and features cold before melting back to his amused facade, another giggle pouring out of his kitten-like lips.
"Besides, I have business with dear Jisungie here" LeeKnow quipped, as his gaze swiveled back in Jisung's direction.
"LeeKnow, we weren't supposed to engage until-"
"Orders changed, Lix. Orders from the top. Bossman says it's time and you know how I do so love to follow orders" Minho giggles with a faux innocent bat of his eyes.
"Alpha sped up the timeline? But why?" Felix questioned, releasing his grip on LeeKnow's shirt as he furrowed his brows in confusion.
Jisung found his voice, cutting in immediately, tongue racing as he tried to catch it before it could get him in trouble. As per usual, he didn't manage to catch up fast enough.
"Alpha? Is this that A/B/O shit from TikTok? Listen I'm not going to shame you for your kinks but please don't involve me. I mean I don't even know anything about it and who am I to judge, I'm super into being choked and I have that one thing for guns but-"
Jisung was incredibly thankful when Felix slapped a hand over his mouth to shut him up. The fairy-like boy stared at him incredulously, shaking his head as if to say 'what the fuck?'
A hysterical-sounding giggle filled the room. It was then that Jisung realized the bouncer had kicked everyone out as it was well past closing time. He was officially alone with these men. A shiver ran down his spine, his skin crawling.
"Oh Jisungie, I like you" LeeKnow huffed out through giggles, leaning across the bar to boop Jisung on the nose.
"Great, well I hate you. Glad we've got that out of the way, can I leave, please?" Jisung squeaked, edging towards the gate which he could easily vault if he needed to bolt.
"Don't try it, Jisung. You won't get five feet out of the door" Changbin said boredly, steadily emptying the bottle in his hand.
Jisung whined, shrinking in on himself as his options steadily became more and more limited. He watched as the two men had a silent conversation, Changbin sitting nearby looking bored. Eventually, Felix seemed to lose the silent argument.
"I'm sorry about this Sungie. I promise I'll explain" Felix said sincerely, before reaching out and gripping Jisung on the shoulder.
Before he could react, Minho sharply stabbed a thin needle into his neck.
Feeling liquid shooting like liquid fire into his body, Jisung fought the grip on his shoulder immediately. As he tried to raise his arm to fight back, it didn't obey his commands. Slowly, the world faded from his vision as he lost function over his limbs.
The last thing he heard before he passed out was Felix's voice.
"Why would Chan allow this?"