Centers of Fate - Stray Kids

Chapter 43 - Escape

"Do you want the good news or bad news?"

Seungmin came back to the apartment within ten minutes, which shocked and startled the group before him.

"The bad news." Hyunjin again insisted.

"Chan decided to stay behind so Mireu would be less suspicious." Seugmin tried to hide his smile. "The good news is..."

He opened the door and Changbin and Felix were behind it, worn out but smiling after seeing their friends for the first time in days. Minho jumped off the couch to greet them, almost hitting Jisung in the head.

"Are you guys okay?" Minho had one arm around each of them, on the verge of crying.

"I'm sore. I just want to sleep on a bed." Felix admitted.

"There's a bed in the back if you want to lie down." Jisung suggested. "Or I can move from the couch."

"I want the bed." Felix rushed as fast as he could back to the bedroom.

"What is this?" Changbin gestured at Seungmin and Hyunjin sitting next to each other on the couch.

"It's complicated but consensual." Seungmin answered again.

Jisung laughed. "No idea. That's all they'll say."

"I'll explain at some point." Seungmin smiled as Hyunjin pulled him closer.

"So how do we get Chan out?" Changbin asked. He sat next to Jisung and held his hand.

"No idea." Minho looked down and tried to hide his concern. "We have to trust he knows what he's doing."

"So we're giving up?" Jeongin dramatically fell on the floor with a loud thud.

"No, because we know Chan has access to Felix's phone. He'll let us know."

"I hope so."

—--------------

After Seungmin left, Chan explored the apartment so he could plan a getaway. He put the knives back, keeping one of the sharper knives with him just in case. He left Felix and Changbin's phones alone, but practiced running to grab them. He wrote a short script in his mind in case Mireu tested him to torture his "hostages" still in the room. Unless Mireu wanted to watch Chan do something sexual with them. Or him. And then?

Well, Chan thought, we'll cross that bridge if we get there.

Chan figured Mireu was gone for about 3 hours before he came back, meaning Chan would have just checked on them, hopefully. So much of this plan hinges on Mireu being clueless or stupid, and Chan wasn't as convinced of that as the others. Sacrificing himself was the best plan. It didn't matter if he was taken advantage of now, because his friends were safe.

Chan heard the door open and stood up as straight as he could. He faced the door, hoping that would make sense. Mireu walked in with two of his friends, laughing and joking around.

"Hey there, Chris." Mireu walked over to him and looked down into his eyes. "How's it going?"

"Everything's fine." Chan said curtly.

"Oh?" Mireu ran his hands down Chan's shoulders and held his hands. Chan tried to suppress his shaking.

Shit, why now?

"You sure?"

"Yeah." He looked up and smiled, but that made the shaking worse. He had to keep up his act.

"You're shaking." Mireu brought him into a hug and looked towards his friends while they egged him on. "My friends can take over if you need to take a break."

"I'm fine. I'm used to it."

"I insist."

Mireu grabbed Chan's hand and led him towards the bedroom. Chan pretended to not know where it was. He was trying to suppress his anxiety, but the more he tried to calm down, the harder he shook. All he wanted was Jeongin, not this sick man. He sat down on the mattress, the knife he stowed away poking his side. That was his only advantage.

"It's okay. I get panic attacks too." Mireu was rubbing small circles on his back, looking genuinely concerned. Chan's skin was crawling under his suit jacket.

"I'm fine." Chan lied. He looked down at his quivering hand. He was breaking.

"Just breathe."

"I'm trying!"

"They're not here!" His friends yelled.

"What?!?"

Mireu started to run towards the room, but Chan pulled his leg and he fell on his face. He stood up and grabbed the two cell phones like he practiced. He kicked Mireu's side a few times as he heard footsteps coming towards the room.

"Don't fuck with me." Chan screamed as he pulled out the knife. "I will hurt you."

"You're crazy!" The first friend yelled.

"No, you're the crazy ones kidnapping innocent people and getting off to assaulting them!" He backed around the corner, knife pointed at them. "You're going to let me leave and not tell anyone about this."

"You can't hurt us!"

Chan's arm was wildly shaking, but he couldn't stop now. He threw the knife towards the floor so he didn't accidentally kill them, not caring if it caused damage, and stumbled towards the door. He heard a scream as he unlocked the door and slammed it, rushing down the stairs at the end of the hall.

He saw the numbers on the doors descending as he sprinted down the spiral staircase.

7, 6, 5, 4...

He heard a door open above him, but they were too late unless they jumped.

3, 2, 1...

Chan almost collapsed as the door gave way beneath his arms and into the bright lights of a darkened city. He ran across the street, not caring about traffic, and rushed back to where his friends were. He looked behind him occasionally until he couldn't see the apartment building that was due to haunt his dreams tonight. As he slowed to a walk, he sent a simple message to Minho from Felix's phone.

I'm on my way.