fic: untitled drabble #1 (milbbang crime au) [drabble september]

[moriendum]

fandom: tbz
pairing: younghoon/hyunjae
rating: M (warning for blood, gun violence, minor character death)
wordcount: 400 words
tags: angst + vaguely thelma & louise inspired
a/n: crossposted from twitter in 2023.

Jaehyun lets himself in and knows right away, from the chill running down his spine, that something is wrong and that he is late.

The windows are closed and the curtains are partially drawn so the living room is dark, the shadows sticking to everything except Younghoon standing there, unmoving, staring at his feet. Jaehyun follows his gaze and sees the sneakers peeking out from behind the couch. That’s before he sees the blood pooling past the other end of the couch.

“Younghoonie…” he calls. Gentle, a whisper, but it doesn’t matter — Younghoon startles, turns to him. The light catches on the gun still in his hands.

Jaehyun’s world shrinks to this exact moment in time, the wind knocked out of him with the understanding that the day he dreaded the most came much sooner than expected. 

His fear coalesces into action.

Younghoon is unresponsive when Jaehyun takes the gun from him, carefully. His eyes are glassy with tears. There are specks of blood on his face that Jaehyun wipes with his sleeves, refusing to look down.

“We need to leave,” Jaehyun whispers. Younghoon just looks at him like he can’t parse his words. “Right now. Your wallet, Younghoonie, where is it?”

Jaehyun is counting the seconds by the frenzied heartbeats in his chest. By the time he gets Younghoon in his car, he thinks he can hear sirens in the distance. He drives as fast as he can out of the garage and into the city without drawing attention, only allowing himself a deep, shuddering breath when they’re close to the interstate.

He glances to the side. Younghoon is looking down, staring at his palms on his lap.

Jaehyun reaches over and takes his hand in a firm grip, and that snaps him out of his stupor. Younghoon looks at him.

“I promised you we’d get out of here,” Jaehyun says. He’s surprised with how easy it is to keep his voice even. “Didn’t I?”

Jaehyun meets his eyes, offers a smile that he hopes doesn’t betray the fear threatening to smother the breath out of his lungs. He squeezes Younghoon’s hand.

“It’s gonna be fine,” he says. “We’ll be fine.”

Younghoon squeezes his hand back in response, there with him again, and Jaehyun could cry with the instant relief that washes over him. Instead, he smiles, knowing how much Younghoon needs to see that easy confidence on him now. As if Jaehyun knows what he’s doing. 

As if he ever knew.

“Ok? We’ll be fine,” Jaehyun repeats, shutting up his own thoughts. “That’s a promise.”

And I always keep my promises, Jaehyun thinks to himself as they drive away from the sunset and from their past, the gun hidden underneath his seat.