Chapter Text
∙ 2014, A Year Before NCTech ∙
Head down and hoodie up, Taeyong walked through the college campus trying to avoid drawing attention. Not that he would garner many confused stares from the students who walked by him. He’s a lanky 20 year old man. But still, he can’t be too careful. Or perhaps he’s just used to having to blend in until the right moment.
He piggybacks into Victor Hall behind a girl who barely spares him a glance and opts for the stairs rather than the elevator. He’s always been uncomfortable with being stuck in one spot for too long in public. He stalks down the hall and knocks on the door of room 127.
He hears shuffling, a slap, and a grunt before the door is swung open seconds later and arms are wrapped tightly around his neck. He lets himself smile before wrapping his own hands around the person’s waist.
“Get in here already! We’ve been waiting for you!” Ten says, giving him a toothy smile before dragging him into the room.
The dorm room is typical, photos of friends and band posters plastered around the wall and a mini fridge separating the two twin beds in the center of the room. On the floor with his back against one of the beds is a large man that Taeyong has come to know affectionately as Johnny over the last few years. He gives Taeyong a lazy smile that makes his stomach flip in a way that Taeyong finds treacherous. Especially since the man is his best friend’s situationship. He slides his bag off his shoulders and places it next to Ten’s desk.
“Where’s Kun?” He asks.
“Class,” Johnny and Ten say simultaneously, looking at each other in mock annoyance.
Ten grips Taeyong’s arm and guides him onto his bed with him.
“How’s the shop?” Ten asks.
Taeyong rolls his eyes. “The same as usual. Demanding customers, even more demanding loan lenders. Probably not as interesting as whatever you’re doing.”
Sometimes Taeyong wished he had continued with school. But there was too much at home to take care of. Like the 7th Sense. His family. The group he had put together to give the local gang a piece of his mind. They had spent much of their adolescence fighting them after what they’d done to his father’s stationery store all those years ago. Taeyong still remembers it vividly.
He had been in the back taking inventory when a group of Serpents, as they were called, came into the store. They came armed, and locked the door on the way in. When his father refused to hand over the money in the register, they barely looked over their shoulder as they left him on the floor clutching his bloody leg.
His father had survived luckily, but his leg had never been the same. On that day, Taeyong decided that he would be the one to put an end to the Serpents’ torment of the town.
Ten had been his first recruit, seeing as they'd been friends since kindergarten. Then Jaehyun, his neighbor. Ten and Taeyong had brought him under their wing years ago so it was only natural for him to join. But then there was Mark. The boy they had protected from a couple of Serpents who had been trying to beat him up after school. It was hard not to let him into the “club”. And Doyoung had started working at the store with him. He could be a bit conniving at times, and Taeyong liked that.
And now as he looks at Johnny, sitting casually on the floor blowing bubbles with his gum, he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to invite him and Kun into their group.
No. Not Johnny. Not Kun. They weren’t from the same world he and Ten were from. Both had grown up well off and were going to school for business, just like their parents had wanted. Some things just weren’t meant to be.
Ten scoffs. “Just a 10 page paper about how Greek philosophers influenced the evolution of language. And I’m sure he’s busy doing the same boring shit he’s always doing with stocks and bonds.”
“Something like that,” Johnny says, chuckling.
The three boys turned their heads to the door as Kun entered, shaking off his backpack and jacket. He removed his shoes and stepped over Johnny to sit on his own bed.
“Sorry, what did I miss?” he asked.
“Nothing much, just catching up,” Johnny said. Taeyong clocked the way they exchanged a glance and Johnny shook his head slightly. His brow furrowed.
“How’s the club been?” Kun asked.
Ah, the Club. 7th Sense. Taeyong knew that they knew what the “club” actually was but they never seemed uncomfortable with their involvement in it. Sometimes Taeyong wonders how much Ten tells them about the weekends when he goes home to join in on “club activities.” Maybe he should talk to him about that.
“We’ve been alright. It’s been awfully quiet in town since the Serpents disbanded. But we’ve been hearing from similar ‘chapters’ in the neighboring towns.” Taeyong keeps it vague. Never know.
Johnny’s brows raise at this.
“Neighboring towns? What do the Bacon Enthusiasts think about that?” he asks. Bacon Enthusiasts, the term Taeyong and Ten use to refer to the cops. Again, better to keep things vague.
“The Bacon Enthusiasts usually turn a blind eye to what we’re doing. I’m not sure they know about the new clubs.” Taeyong can feel his shoulders tighten. Ten raises his eyebrows to Johnny as a warning.
Johnny nods. Taeyong watches him open his mouth and close it, like he’s considering his next words carefully.
“Have you ever thought about a cover?” Johnny asks a bit quieter.
A tense silence falls over the group for a few seconds.
“Why would a club need a cover?” Taeyong asks, weakly. There’s no use being so coy about the whole situation. They all know what Johnny’s talking about.
“Because it’s not a club,” Johnny answers, but keeps his eyes on Taeyong’s, worried.
Taeyong hates feeling like he’s getting pitied.
“We’re fine,” he says flatly. Not a hint of humor to be found.
“That’s not what Johnny is saying,” Kun says, placing a hand on Johnny’s shoulder. A silent gesture. “Just, if you had a way to cover up whatever you guys are doing, would you take it?”
“The Bacon Enthusiasts have turned a blind eye to you getting rid of a ‘club’ that was already a problem for them for years. But if you're starting to mess with ‘new chapters’ it might alert them,” Johnny adds.
Ten looks at Taeyong. He knows the look. It’s the one that says, ‘Just listen, man.’ So he does.
“What kind of cover up?” Taeyong asks, picking at a loose thread in Ten’s blanket.
“A business,” Johnny suggests. Taeyong’s brows rise.
“The stationery store? That’s my dad’s business, I’m not dragging him into all of this. And I don’t have the money to open up my own place,” Taeyong says, crossing his arms.
“I do,” Johnny says. “We do,” he points to himself and Kun. “What if we help you with it? We go in on that old office building that Ten was telling us about and turn it into a small business.”
“Doing what?” Taeyong questions, brows still furrowed.
“Selling stationery! Paper, pens, office supplies, you name it. You already know all about that kind of stuff!” Johnny stands up as he gets more passionate.
“My dad is the one who runs the place though, I just stock shelves and ring people out while I’m there,” Taeyong says. “I don’t know the first thing about how he does it.”
“But you know the supplies and what sells! You can make it look credible. And Kun and I would run operations while you and your crew do your thing on the side!” Johnny says, tapping Kun’s chest with the back of his hand.
Taeyong turns to Ten. “How much have you told them?"
Ten scooches closer, speaking to him in a hushed tone. “Don’t worry about it. They’re trying to help us. We don’t have the kind of funds that they do yet. If we’re gonna be more ambitious with 7th Sense then we’ve gotta be more careful. A cover up could be just what we need. Give our boys a reputable job to tell their families about and our group more security. And supply your father with discounted inventory then cater to the larger businesses in the area. Everyone needs paper and pens,” Ten says.
He should’ve known that Ten had been scheming when he invited him this weekend. It was one of the things that Taeyong loved him most for, his ability to network and talk to people in ways that he couldn’t. He couldn’t deny that it was a grounded idea. And as he looked at Johnny again, he realized that he’d like to keep the SMU Junior in his life for as long as he’d be willing to stay in it.
“Do you even fully understand what you’re trying to sign yourself up for?” he asks Johnny.
“I wouldn’t have brought it up if I didn’t,” Johnny said. “So what do you think?”
Decisive. Charismatic. Clever. Strong. Handsome.
Taeyong slides his eyes to Kun. “You too?”
“Yes,” Kun said with the confidence only a business major could have.
“What do we call each other now?” Taeyong asks.
“Business partners.” Johnny says.
∙ 9 years later ∙
“Good morning, Mr. Lee,” the secretary at the front greets him with a smile.
He smiles lightly at her and takes the elevator up. The elevator dings at floor 5 and he walks to his office where he finds someone already sitting in his chair.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were on a “business trip” today,” Johnny teases, as he stands up, putting his hands in his pocket.
“Jaehyun is covering for me. I was about to ask you the same question,” Taeyong smiles. “Don’t you have an office next door?”
As they meet in the middle, Johnny takes a hand out of his pocket, placing it around Taeyong’s waist and pulling him in for a soft kiss. “Your office smells like you though. And besides, it’s got a nice view.”
Taeyong breathes out a chuckle, tipping his head back. Johnny can’t help himself, dropping a few soft pecks on his throat before pulling back.
It felt like just yesterday when Johnny had asked him out on their first date. But days had turned into 6 years. And as Taeyong’s arms wrap around Johnny’s neck, the wedding ring on his left hand feels especially prominent.
He’d have to thank Ten again for introducing them to each other. Even if he had been introduced as Ten’s fuck buddy at the time. By the end of Johnny’s senior year, they had decided to stick to friends. Besides, Johnny had pointed out that there seemed to be someone else that Ten had his eyes on as well. Perhaps his roommate of 4 years?
To make a long story short, their messed up little love square had corrected itself within the year. And as of last year, Kun and Ten had gotten engaged.
“You’re a sap,” Taeyong said.
“Guilty as charged,” Johnny said, bringing his hands forward between their chests and pressing his wrists together. Taeyong pulled away laughing and walked to his desk.
Life was good. Until it wasn't.