Chapter Text
In the dark world of South Korean crime, there are two types of gangs. There are the whales, and then… the minnows. One devours the other whole .
TXT couldn’t be defined by either term. They loaned out money and threatened people’s families. Quite the opposite of what they would like to be doing, but somehow each of their life paths suddenly swerved off track and crashed into each others’.
Taehyun was on track to becoming a neuroscientist as one of the top students in America’s most prestigious college.
Alas, his parents lost their jobs due to an anonymous tip that they were embezzling money from their company. Unusually large sums of money were found in their bank accounts even though they vehemently denied it. Taehyun had to drop out because they went broke, securing a criminal record on top of it because of the visa issues coming back from the US to Seoul.
Taehyun’s parents were equally as intelligent as him, and he knew in his heart that there was another reason, a dark outside force that caused them to be the shells of the people they once were, today. They could no longer afford basic necessities, and that included rent for three. Taehyun was kicked out. Facing homelessness and with nowhere to go, he walked all around his hometown and into a sketchy area just to find a place to sleep. Hotels were expensive, benches had bars in the middle, ledges were spiked.
After enough wandering around however, he did it.
He found an abandoned house.
Beomgyu was an aspiring musician, something many people discouraged him against. But his dreams were strong and he’d moved from Daegu to Seoul a while ago, hoping to find some fame in the city of glitzy idols and glamorous actors. He’d been scouted as trainee not long after, and trained for a couple weeks, every minute getting closer to his only wish.
Unfortunately for him, the only fame he got was when he was framed for aggravated assault by an anonymous source. The police came to the company building while he was practising and took him, shell-shocked to the station. The officer that put the restraints on fucked up though, so he slipped out and away. There were only two officers there, and one was an old man who had to give up after a couple dozen metres. The other tripped over his own feet twice, and the second time seemed to pull a ligament.
Beomgyu got away quite easily, but he knew he was now a wanted man and he couldn’t show his face in public.
He ran, covering his face with both his hands. Ah, the irony killed him. From wanting to be an idol popstar with his face on billboards and building and magazines and people’s phones and hoodies and fuck, CD’s even- to this.
He ran until he was in the middle of nowhere. He didn’t know Seoul well, but even he could tell almost nobody came here. Due to the lack of people, he walked. Walked until he saw his saving grace.
He found an abandoned house.
Soobin wasn’t really looking for a job yet. He was still in college, living in his small but homely apartment. He called his family every week, met them as often as he could, and had a great home life in general. College was going well for him too, as he was making lots of friends and became quite popular.
Well, that was until he was charged as a school bully and expelled.
An anonymous source provided proof of his heinous crimes and spread it over the internet. 17-year-old Soobin’s face was plastered all over South Korean media as a poster wolf in sheep’s clothing.
The thing is, Soobin was not a bully.
He was initially outraged at the claim. However, that outrage quickly turned to fear.
No one believed him.
Not his family.
Not his friends.
Not the sweet ahjummas down the street who used to pinch his cheeks and give him sweets as a kid.
No one.
The proof was too conclusive. His face was right there! And what he did… was something no 17 year old should’ve done. No, human.
His family disowned him over text and told him they were handing him over to the authorities. Soobin couldn’t handle it. IT WASN’T FUCKING HIM! Everyone had abandoned him, so he decided he’d do the same thing. He ran away with his mask, hoodie and glasses obscuring his identity. He didn’t have any cash on him. He planned to just sleep on a bench or something, but he walked far enough away to find something much better than a bench.
He found an abandoned house.
Yeonjun used to be a dancer. That is, until his life came crashing down a few months ago because he was apparently a sex offender?! He ran away from the shame and fake charges and found his very own abandoned house. Key was under the flowerpot with the very obviously dead flower in it. He made sure to make it look as if nobody lived there, and blending in in the busy streets of the city in the daytime, his identity hidden tastefully every day. He’d shoplift stealthily from the big chains when the sky was getting darker. Then, he’d go back to his house and eat his makeshift dinner.
That had been his routine for months now. He hated it, but he couldn’t really go out there into the world again. He wished for change so badly.
What he didn’t expect was for it to come in the form of three guys of a similar age to him arguing in front of his house, then stopping when they noticed him.
Yeonjun ignored them and took a pair of keys out of his pocket, about to slide them into the lock when one of the guys interrupted.
“Hey. I really need a place to stay. I’ll help with whatever you want. Can you just let me crash please?”
Yeonjun stared at the door in a moment of familiarity. That sounded like him a few months ago. The desperate voice, everything.
He turned around, only to be faced with two more.
“Hey, me too! I really need a place to stay. Please,” the second guy said, looking a bit sheepish.
The third guy was very matter of fact. “If you give me a place to stay, I’ll do anything for you. I’m very safe and reliable. And smart,” he added.
“Why do you guys suddenly need places to stay? You a group?,” Yeonjun asked.
The guys shook their heads, before slowly telling their stories one by one to a random stranger who happened to look just non-influential and trustworthy enough to tell.
Yeonjun’s eyes were wide by the time Taehyun, the last of them, finished speaking. He looked at the trio, before unlocking his door and ushering them inside.
Locking the door, Yeonjun motioned for them to sit around the table. He took a deep breath before stating the fact that ultimately drew the four together: “It happened to me too. An anonymous source ruined my life.”