"why are we always doing this shit in the fucking cold?" yeosang mumbled to no one in particular as he hopped off of jongho's motorcycle.

the frown baring his lips only deepened when a raindrop landed on the tip of his nose, almost clowning him, before the grey clouds gradually dumped all of its content on them, relentless drops of rain now splattering across the boys' skin whilst they neared the medical centre.

noticing how yeosang shivered now and then, jongho wrapped a hand around one of his arms, stopping him in his tracks. san glanced back at the two momentarily before continuing on without them, figuring they'd catch up shortly, and jongho swore he saw a smirk on the pear-haired boy's lips. shaking his head at the thought — assuming it was nothing but his mere imagination — jongho turned back to a confused yeosang with a smile.

"you seemed cold," jongho simply stated in answer to the elder's internal questions, starting to pull down the sleeves of his jacket, causing yeosang to gasp inaudibly.

"wait- y-you don't have to do that..." he chuckled out of nervousness.

"i'll be more than fine, sang, if that's what you're so hesitant." yeosang didn't have the chance to protest any further, because jongho had draped his jacket over his shoulders, even lifting his arms and tucking them through the sleeves. "there! hope it warms you up a little. now, come on, san'll get annoyed waiting so long for us."

cheeks flushed, yeosang allowed jongho to take his hand into his own, before guiding them to where san was awaiting their arrival.

"take all the time you have, why don't you?" san remarked, the second they were close enough to hear. "'cause it's not as if our friend is kidnapped, or anything like that, right?"

jongho just shook his head at san for being so dramatic; yeosang, on the other hand, didn't miss the knowing look the pear-haired boy sent to them both.

leaning forward, yeosang threateningly whispered into san's ear, "you dare mention a word, and i'll rip your fucking head off."

yeosang smiled in satisfaction upon the lack of response he received. but suddenly, taking every bit of his confidence out of his grasp, he was being pulled backwards into a broad chest, an arm loosely being thrown around his shoulder.

face ultimately painting a pretty pink at the action, yeosang couldn't do anything but glare at san, whose lips curved into the same, annoyingly teasing smirk from earlier.

"sorry, but i didn't quite catch that. what is it you were saying?" san inquired, tilting his head to the side, only boiling up yeosang's anger even more.

"you're so lucky we're in public right now," yeosang managed to mutter despite how he flustered he'd become, attempting to keep a straight, unbothered expression. because as much as he liked san, he'd rather jump out of the highest window than let him test his patience.

a few more minutes passed with small conversations occurring here and there, though mostly between san and jongho, yeosang feeling as if his voice box had been put on hold for some reason. the intimate lack of space between him and the brunette almost felt suffocating, being cuddled up in jongho's arms causing his heart to race, dangerously faster than it should be — somehow in a positive way, however.

"wait- sang?" interrupting something san was ranting on about, jongho abruptly tensed up, finding the need to press yeosang's body closer to his own.

humming in question, yeosang glanced up at jongho, not thinking anything to be wrong until he caught sight of the younger's anxious expression. "w-what- what is it?"

it seemed like san had connected the dots faster than yeosang did, the few, frustrated cusses leaving his lips only causing the latter to become even more confused. he wasn't that clueless, so what on earth was going on?

reluctantly — he wasn't in the right state of mind to be faced with more bad news than he already had been — yeosang followed san's concentrated gaze, landing on a black vehicle. of fucking course. yeosang wasn't even a tad bit surprised. if anything, he was more surprised that this, out of all things, was the issue.

until he made out two shadows within the car. not one — two.

and finally, yeosang understood what was the matter. though, he really wished he didn't now.

"there's two of them this time, how are we meant to- shit, what do we do now?" jongho rushed out, panicked.

yeosang placed his fingers atop of the hand, that was still draped around him, in hope of soothing the other boy. and when jongho exhaled a long, deep breath, joy filled his chest for a fleeting moment.

"fuck, i don't know..." san bit his lip, before mustering up the courage to turn toward yeosang. "hey, uhm—"

"san," jongho warned, yet the pear-haired only nodded reassuringly, despite his stern voice.

"i know we're kinda fucked since this wasn't what we were expecting, but... i still think this could work!" san smiled, letting his determination to be seen. "s-so... it's obviously up to you, but—"

"i'll do it."

san blinked disbelievingly. "you... will?"

"yeah, i mean- what's the worst that could happen? me joining wooyoung?" yeosang joked.

he was nervous, though, of course he was — he was doing this on his own and, god, was it stupidly reckless. but, despite the countless of negative outcomes yeosang could think of simply on the spot, wooyoung was on the very forefront of his mind. therefore, even if he so badly wanted to, how could he possibly retreat now?

"sang..." jongho clutched onto yeosang's hand already brushing over his own. "are you sure about this?"

"that can't be you caring about me, choi jongho," yeosang said, purposely to lighten up the mood. nudging jongho's side, he spoke softly this time round, "please don't expect the worst, hm? i'll be fine, you'll want me gone again in no time, trust me."

jongho laughed, and yeosang felt his stomach churn giddily at the gummy smile which appeared on his features. so pretty, yeosang couldn't stop himself from thinking.

and unlike previous times, he didn't bother taking back the thought either.

after discussing the sudden alterations to their plan, the trio were set, now just waiting for their signal. upon a lanky figure, the same they'd encountered many times before, exiting the car, yeosang and san exchanged glances, the elder taking that as his cue to move.

shoulder receiving a quick squeeze, yeosang fought back the smile that threatened to emerge at the touch. now's not the time, dumbass. discarding all his thoughts of the latter — fucking this up simply because jongho had distracted him wouldn't suit his pride — yeosang's breathing quickened as he neared the vehicle, alert on his surroundings.

and once he was close enough, he ducked behind it.

truthfully, yeosang didn't want to be the one who was appointed a mission such as this; however, after san had explained that since he was by far the smallest of the three, the risks of him getting caught were also much slimmer, he didn't have the heart to turn the job down.

so here yeosang was, inhaling and exhaling heavily in an attempt to steady his incoherent breaths, eventually slipping his hand into his pocket when he deemed himself to be calm enough.

a small object meeting yeosang's fingertips, his trembling hand pulled out the tracking device inside.

the idea of san casually owning such electronics rubbed yeosang the wrong way, yet he'd forcedly reminded himself that they were doing this together and for wooyoung. therefore, he felt he had no right to suspect the pear-haired boy of anything so vile. not again, at least. because after spending a frequent amount of time with him, san didn't seem to be that kind of person anymore.

fumbling with the device with his fingers, yeosang instinctively checked his surroundings for a safe second and, crouched down on the ground, he attached the object onto the car — a miracle considering how shaky his hands were. then, he hurriedly reached out for his walkie talkie.

into the speaker, yeosang stuttered out, "i-i've done, i-is it- do you h-have access to it?"

come on, san. fidgeting in his spot expectedly, yeosang perked up at the sound a voice coming through, "yep, i do."

yeosang beamed, his smile the widest it had been in what seemed like forever. because he'd done it.

and, with nothing but satisfaction bubbling up within him, yeosang stood, the grin jongho mirrored even from the opposite end of the street rising heat to his cheeks.

———

a/n: turbulence turbulence turbulence wtf turbulence ???????? i just got out of skl i'm losing my mind i have sm thoughts omg what do i even say

soty tho? i think yes (rest in pieces bulnoriya)

stream if possible atiny and vote ateez on the mwave website pls !!!