"what? you aren't scared, are you?"

yeosang glared at the brunette, landing a punch onto his chest, before bringing his gaze back to the motorcycle before him. it was a ravishing, shiny jet black, with a few red accents here and there, the engine rumbling lowly when jongho twisted the key into its respective hole. "not scared, it's just- i've never been on one of these before... plus, how do i know you're not using this as a way to kill me?"

chuckling in amusement, jongho swung a leg around the leather seat of the vehicle, shuffling a bit until he was comfortable enough. he fastened the strap of his helmet around his chin, before turning back to yeosang. "i've been riding this for almost a year and i'm perfectly fine, so stop being a whiny baby and get on."

"fine, now shut up," yeosang muttered, slipping jongho's spare helmet that he'd been handed onto his head. hesitantly, he sat behind the boy, and placed his hand onto his shoulders.

"are you kidding me, sang?" jongho sighed. behind him, yeosang's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. before he could question the latter's annoyance — or complain about it, for that matter — a pair of hands were clutching his own. yeosang froze, as jongho guided his hands so that they were wrapped around his waist. "there. are you asking for a death wish that bad?"

"i-i- well- i told you th-that i've never ridden one of these before..." yeosang argued, glad that jongho had his back on him, for he wasn't able to catch on to the rosy pink dusting his cheeks.

"just hold on tight, yeah?" jongho warned, before starting the engine. it roared, erupting a cloud of grey smoke from behind. "i'm already being accused of kidnapping. adding murder onto that list is more than enough for one lifetime."

yeosang couldn't help but laugh. the sound was quickly replaced with a yelp of surprise, however, because the motorcycle was now on its way. the elder's fist met jongho's lower abdomen this time round. "a heads up would be nice next time, you asshole!" yeosang yelled over the noisy traffic around them, eyes squinted at the gusts of wind attacking his face.

"next time, huh?" was all jongho replied with, smugly, receiving a scoff of disbelief.

"fuck off." regardless of his use of words, yeosang intertwined his fingers with his own, squeezing the poor life out of jongho's body in an attempt to stay put. he was still rather anxious, though — the chances of tumbling off of the vehicle to his death remaining quite high in his head — so he shuffled a little closer to jongho, stopping when his chest was pressed against the younger's sturdy back.

subconsciously, yeosang rested his chin onto jongho's shoulder, the view of the evening roads they passed being beautiful.

and it wasn't until they were stuck in a line of traffic where yeosang accidentally made eye contact with a driver, causing him to become self conscious, that he realised the position him and jongho were in. he moved to pull back, wondering how and when on earth he'd even propped himself there. it was almost as if his body had moved by its own accord, not alerting his brain of its actions.

jongho, quite dangerously, patted yeosang's head — well, his helmet — causing him to freeze out of flusterment for the second time that evening. "it's fine, stay where you are if you'd like. i know you're a little nervous, so it'll probably help if you're comfortable, right?"

"yeah, r-right. uh, thanks," yeosang muttered by jongho's ear, before the traffic light towering them shone a neon green. the motorcycle was then on its way again, yeosang repositioning himself where he previously was. despite the icy cold weather, jongho was warm, his body heat helpfully radiating onto yeosang who shivered now and again.

after, what yeosang guessed to be, about ten minutes or so, the vehicle slowed down a little, before completely coming to a stop. the boy looked around, seeing that they were at the city centre, winding into busied streets of shops and markets.

jongho turned off the engine, leading yeosang to remove the helmet off of his head and climb off of the motorcycle. he ran his fingers through his strawberry blond hair to flatten it out a bit.

"where should we start, then, hm?" jongho's question caused yeosang's eyes to flicker to his, before he pulled off the straps of his backpack. unzipping the grey bag, he tugged out the pile of papers inside of it, and handed a bunch to the younger. then, he grabbed two rolls of tape they'd brought along.

yeosang first shrugged, before answering, "i don't think it matters. but we should probably split up for the time being to get the job done faster, no?"

"good idea, actually," jongho said, taking the tape the other had shoved in his direction.

"i came up with it, after all." a cocky smirk lifted yeosang's lips, as he hung his backpack onto the motorcycle handlebars. he wandered his gaze around the surrounding area, before gesturing to a café in the middle. "we'll meet outside of there in half an hour. sound good?"

"mhm." jongho nodded his head in agreement, offering yeosang a smile. "see you then, sang. and don't do anything stupid!"

yeosang rolled his eyes, yet softly mirrored the expression. "same goes to you, asshole. i'll see you," he replied, before turning his back on jongho. he exhaled a long sigh, and looked down at the heap of papers in his hands.

after the two had found a way to sneakily access the school's printers, yeosang had decided on using the same picture of wooyoung that all of the news stations had — that way, it'd be easier for the public to recognise the missing teen. for an exhausting nth time, the selca of his best friend brought tears to his eyes, and again, like he always did, he forced them down. he wondered when the day would come where he'd finally let himself break.

after entering a narrow street market, yeosang pressed one of the countless sheets of posters onto a lamppost at the end of street. he ripped off a square of tape with his teeth, before sticking it in place. taking a step back, he bored his eyes into the ones belonging to the boy staring right back at him. they were identical to the ones he'd been besides every single day of his life, besides one difference.

the poor quality printing had lost the usual light sparkling within them.

yeosang shook his head, forcing the thought to the furthest end of his mind. repeating the procedure again and again, identical posters of wooyoung's face were soon put up over majority of the city centre; and it was to the point where you couldn't even cross the street without bumping into a photo of a smiling purple-haired boy on a shop window or such, words missing written in bold, red letters above his head, a telephone number underneath.

yeosang was so caught up in his task, so caught up in taking part in finding his best friend, that he'd lost track of time. his plan of meeting jongho at the cafe had carelessly slipped from his mind, too, and he didn't even stop to think about if he'd forgotten something.

gradually, the piles of papers in yeosang's hands lessened to nothing, and he began making his way back to the motorcycle.

the sun was close to setting when the vehicle came into view, a figure, that yeosang knew all too well, idling by it. the boy quickened his pace at the sight, and raced over to jongho, a content smile baring his lips.

"hey, jong—"

"what took you so long?" jongho snapped, interrupting yeosang. his gaze was sharp, cold, and the older felt like he was shrinking underneath the aggravation held within them.

humiliation washed over yeosang. the feeling only multiplied when he couldn't conclude if it was because he'd fucked up, or because he was clueless. "w-what?"

"i waited for you by the café, just like you'd suggested, for twenty minutes, sang," jongho seethed, clearly keeping the volume of his voice down for the sake of avoiding the attention of any passer-bys.

yeosang blinked a few times, confused, brain gearing as it attempted to connect the dots and— oh, fuck. i kept him waiting. "shit, i didn't- i lost track of time and i- god, i'm so, so sorry, i really didn't mean to strand you like that—" yeosang tried to splutter out an excuse to save himself. tried.

"save it," jongho demanded, yet his voice was a tad bit softer compared to a few moments ago. "you're all done now, right?"

"yeah. yeah, i'm done," yeosang answered quietly.

jongho handed the latter his helmet, then placed his own over his head. "we best get going before it becomes completely dark, then," he said, hopping onto his seat on his motorcycle, patiently waiting for yeosang to do the same. his arms wrapped around the brunette's waist again, though this time he made sure to be gentle, keeping a gap in between their bodies.

jongho hesitated, wanting yeosang to be a hundred percent secure behind him, before starting the engine and driving off into the night.

the ride back to their neighbourhood was much more awkward and uncomfortable than they'd ever been around one another, let alone compared to the ride earlier that evening. yeosang occasionally loosened his hold on the younger, not wanting to give him a reason to be any more annoyed than he already seemed to be. jongho, on the other hand, just wished he had the courage to assure yeosang that he was okay — that they were okay.

he couldn't, though. for as long as jongho could remember, he'd always had the courage to speak his mind, whether it be good or bad. therefore, he didn't understand why he was nervous, an emotion he barely experienced, over consoling yeosang.

the unknown feeling made him feel stupid.

driving into the street yeosang lived in, jongho pulled over in front of the boy's house. the arms around his frame, which were bringing him an unfamiliar sense of comfort, removed themselves from its position. jongho had expected it — how else was yeosang supposed to return to his home? — yet he was still disappointed by the lack of touch.

a bit of shuffling was heard from behind jongho, before a shadow emerged by his side. he kept his gaze on the handlebars of his motorcycle, unsure, until a bulky object was being pressed into his chest.

yeosang's helmet. jongho looked up, making contact with the elder's anxious gaze. "er, thanks for the ride," he spoke, looking away. "and for your help... it-it means a lot."

"of course, anytime." taking jongho aback, that was apparently all he needed say for yeosang's lips to lift upwards. it was a small smile, but the brunette was satisfied with it either way. "hey, sang?" he inquired, fumbling with his pockets for a second before pulling out his cellphone.

"you were lashing out on me earlier and now you want my number?" yeosang muttered, shaking his head in disbelief, before snatching the device from jongho's hold.

jongho chuckled, strangely glad the usual sassy remarks were back, and tilted his head to the side. "well, we're friends now, aren't we?"

"might want to work on your mood swings first." yeosang rolled his eyes, the smile on his lips never faltering, even for a split second, as he typed his number into jongho's phone. he didn't think much of the relentless joy he felt from the interaction, however.

taking his phone back from yeosang, jongho grinned. "have a nice night, sang. you'll be at school tomorrow, right?"

"my best friend being missing doesn't give me privileges, if that's what you're wondering," yeosang answered. "and you, too. get home safely." involuntarily, his hand lifted up and offered jongho a short wave, but he quickly dropped it back down to his side. don't be so weird, yeosang.

before he could contemplate digging himself a hole out of embarrassment, though, jongho waved back, before disappearing into the night.

———

a/n: haven't proofread cus ateez are live and watching them whilst getting ready might just let me survive today so apologies for any mistakes, pls point them out if you can tho ty!!

have the greatest day my loves, make sure to eat and drink enough water!<33