Doppelgänger - NCT DREAM

[bangchanseonyeondan]

7 orphans, 1 family and one very big problem.

 

[bangchanseonyeondan]

Chapter 1: The Orphanage

2008​

"Taeyong hyung! Dinner's ready!" Mark shouts up the stairs, his breath whistling though the gap in his teeth. "Coming!" The elder's voice sounds through the house, his footsteps loud. He reaches the top of the stairs and looks at Mark sadly, "Mark-" The boy just shakes his head.
"Don't say anything. You guys are gonna be adopted: today we should be happy." He gulps and smiles. "Come on, Nana's calling you - she made all your favourites today."

---​

"1, 2, 3," Everyone in the house huddles around one another, counting down the seconds, "happy new day!" They shout together happily, giggling at their evident childishness.

---​

A small hand tugs at the ends of Taeyong and Doyoung's shirt. "Are you leaving us for a different family?" Wide eyes stare up at the two, watering. A young Donghyuck grips their shirts tight in tiny fists. "Are you leaving me?" he whispers, tears falling from his brown eyes. The two children kneel down and hug him tight, forcing back tears. "We have to go Hyuckie-" Taeyong begins.
"It's true then; you are leaving us." He struggles and tries to wriggle away from the two, trapped by their arms. "Listen- Donghyuck listen to us." Doyoung holds him by his shoulders and keeps him in place. "Even though we have to go, you have to remember us." The eight year old whines and tries to run away again. "Hyuck we're going to go and there's nothing that can be done." Taeyong informs him, doing his best to remain stoic. "I want you to remember one word for us, okay? That word is Haechan." The boy stops moving and looks at him.
"What does that mean?"
"It means 'shine bright uprightly' - even though we're not gonna be here to lead you and help you, you got to be Haechan. You've got to shine bright uprightly." Taeyong looks around, making sure Mark isn't around. "We need you to be strong for your Mark hyung don't we?" Donghyuck frowns and hangs his head. "He tries to be strong for us and he looks after us and never stops smiling," the sweet tanned boy licks his chapped lips nervously, "but he's sad." He looks around. "I heard him crying when he thought I was asleep." The elders suck in a sharp breath at the sudden revelation, furrowing their brows in worry. "Donghyuck are you sure?" Doyoung asks, hushed and worried beyond compare. The child nods and gulps. "He was trying to keep quiet so he wouldn't wake me up but I heard him anyway. Because he couldn't keep quiet enough, he went and hid in the bathroom but you can't tell him I told you or that I was awake." He bites his lip. "He'll be mad at me."


"I'm not mad." Mark's voice rings out as he leans again the wall at the corner, a sad smile resting on his face as he walks to them. "H-hyung..." Donghyuck stutters, cutting himself off as said boy puts a hand to his face and wipes his smudged tears away. "It's okay." He mutters, pulling the young one into a hug. "We're always going to be family, they're just going to have another family as well." He rubbing the sobbing boy's back, squinting to hold back his own tears. "Who knows, maybe we'll have another family here as well."
"I don't want another family - I want my 127." He cries, tightening his grip on Mark's shirt.
"Neither do I kiddo but we have deal with our situations. You know that Hyuck." He nods and sweeps the tears from his face. "I hope you're happy with your new family - don't forget us." Donghyuck gulps and runs away, into his shared room and locking the door. Mark opens his mouth to speak to him but he's gone too quickly. "I'll speak to him - let's just hope he actually opens the door and lets me in this time." He chuckles, trying to lighten the mood as the other three members of their family show up. "We heard everything." Jaehyun confirms.

"Tell him we love him?" Johnny asks, wringing his wrists. Mark nods, solemn.
"Whatever you need man." He mutters, looking at them all before looking away.
"Aww, you gonna cry?" The American teases him, poking his sides, making the brunette whine and squirm. "Hyung, stop!" Mark runs and hides behind Taeyong, grinning brightly and sticking his tongue at him. "I'm not gonna cry but Taeil hyung is." He calls out the eldest, smirking and playing with the gap in is teeth with his tongue. "Apado gwaenchana, saranghagi ttaemune~" They sing and laugh, Taeil covering his face. "I sing one song and I never hear the end of it-" He chuckles and wipes his tears.

Silence.

"We really are gonna miss you guys you know?" Mark reminds them, sniffing and rubbing his nose. They coo at his cuteness and pull him into a group hug.
"Never forget us and always keep fighting okay?" Jaehyun ruffles his hair and smiles. "You fight for Hyuck and he'll fight for you."
"Always."

 

[bangchanseonyeondan]

Chapter 2: New Boys, Lost Boys

2012​

"There's going to be some new boys coming to the orphanage today." Nana checks them over, making sure they would give good impressions. "I want you to show them how we treat our guests, okay? Which means no tomfoolery." She reiterates, giving a certain boy a very pointed look.
"Relax Nana, I'll be good." The boy gives her a lopsided grin, white teeth contrasting against tanned skin.

Three knocks sound at the door.

"That'll be them." Nana hurries over to the door and opens it, ushering in the five boys who were dripping wet. "Come in, come in - oh, the rain really got you didn't it? Chan, get them all some towels please." she asks one of the older boys as she leads them to the drawing room. "You must be freezing." she mutters, hurrying them to sit in front of the fire. They sit down, cross-legged. One of them stares into the fire, mesmerised as he follows the flames with his eyes, flitting his eyes between them over and over again. "Here you go." He snaps his head to the direction of the noise, his face softening when he sees Nana.

"Thank you." he bows his head as he takes a towel from her hand and gives her a tight-lipped smile, still uncomfortable by the new surroundings.
"Welcome to our home, then!" She beams at them and spreads her hands. "I'm Nana, the matron of this orphanage." she introduces herself with a warm smile but the boy tilted his head in confusion before smiling.
"I'm also Nana." He laughs incredulously. Her eyes widen and she lets out a laugh. "Well, I'm Na Jaemin but some people call - well, called - me Nana." he explains, with a seemingly sweet smile that makes Nana's falter. She simply nods before looking to the others.
"I'm Lee Jeno. It's nice to meet you." A young boy, around twelve years age, bows deeply before straightening up and winking at Nana, as if to tell her to ignore Jaemin. She rolls her eyes before winking back and chuckling.
"Annyeonghaseyo Nana-ssi, my name is Zhong Chenle and I am eleven years old." She coos a tad at the cute boy.
"It's nice to meet you Chenle, just call me Nana." He giggles and grins at her.
"Okay Nana."
"I'm Huang Renjun; I'm twelve years old." he bows and licks his lips, fiddling with his left ear.
"Don't be nervous love."
"I'm Park Jisung and I'm ten years old - it's nice to meet you."

"Your turn boys." She nudges her boys and encourages them to introduce themselves.
"I'm Mark Lee - I mean Lee Minhyung." He grins sheepishly. "I'm thirteen years old."
"I'm Bang Chan, it's nice to meet you, I'm fifteen years old."
"I'm Lee Haechan, I'm twelve years old and now I'm going." The boy nods and turns on his heel going back to his room.
"I've got him." Mark mutters and reassures Nana, following his roommate.

The others one by one introduce themselves. "Now we all know each other, you kids are free to go," she dismisses them with a smile and a shake of her head at Han Jisung who was pulling silly faces to try to make the new boys laugh, "and you boys go explore. You can go anywhere you like except for the other boys' rooms. They're oddly territorial." She turns to walk away before pausing. "Dinner's at 8 PM sharp, don't be late and don't be mucky else you'll be doing the dishes." she warns them, before muttering to herself. "Time to find Donghyuck."

---TWO WEEKS LATER---
​

"Why d'you hate us?" Jaemin asks Haechan.
"I don't." he mutters, blatantly ignoring him for his book.
"Well that's a lie isn't it Hyuck?"
"You don't get to call me that Nana." he grits his teeth.

The boys level their steely gazes. Jaemin throws the first punch, his fist swiftly hitting Haechan. "Ah-!" He gasps and glares at the younger, poisonous. Jaemin grins and hits again, not halting letting all his anger out on the boy, the boy being Mark. Mark had stepped between them, shielding his friend with his body, Jaemin not even realising till it was too late, all because of blind rage. At his family for leaving him, at that place, at the people living in the house he had to stay in. At himself.

"Jaemin stop!" A hand grabs his arms and pulls him back. Jeno.
"You promised us you would stop." Renjun stands in front of him and the injured.
"You hurt Mark hyung." Haechan spits out.
"Hyuck-"
"No, he hurt you." He turns his head to his elder, his lips split in three places and his nose bleeding.
"Yeah well he hurt you too." Mark snaps back before whipping his head in the direction of his attacker. "You touch him again and I'll kill you." He grips his friend's hand and takes him upstairs, not waiting for a reply.

---​

"Did you start this one?" Mark looks at him wearily, dabbing at the cut that had opened on Donghyuck's cheek. Said boy hisses at the sting of the antiseptic before glaring and replying with a huff.
"I was just reading and he started asking why I hate them and all that." he mutters and looks away.
"You don't hate them though, do you?" Mark realises. "That's the whole problem - you care about them-" Donghyuck cuts him off with a single look.
"I don't want a new family - I can barely remember the others anyways. You're the only family I need." he mumbles, hugging Mark's arm. "They can stuff it." Mark chuckles and shakes his head.
"Would you really not give them a chance-"
"Hyung-" He gives the elder a weary look.
"Please. Just try to get to know them," Mark pleads him, looking at him with puppy eyes as Donghyuck tries to avoid him, "for me?" Donghyuck groans and leans heavily on Mark's shoulder.
"If I regret this, I'm gonna kill you."

---​

"Hey Jaemin?" Haechan's voice rings through the door, making the smile on the boy's face twist into a frown as he shakes his head. Jeno peaks his head around the door and gives Haechan a rueful smile.
"He doesn't want to see you-"
"I wanna say sorry." Haechan cuts of the elder and scratches the back of his neck awkwardly.
"What?"
"I don't wanna keep fighting with him - I don't know him and he doesn't know me. It's not fair that Nana and Mark keep having to patch us up because we wanna act like brats to each other." Jaemin touches Jeno's shoulder, making him move from his place by the door, the younger filling it.
"Are you being serious?" He begins with a glare. "Or are you just trying to screw me over?" The boy shakes his head quickly, protesting.
"No games; no tricks." His eyes held sincerity in them as he looks down and fiddles with his fraying sleeves. "I get that we don't exactly get along but I wanna - and if you're not gonna do it for Nana or Mark, do it for your own friends at least: they are definitely done with all of this." Jaemin looks at Haechan and rolls his eyes.
"One: that was a horrible attempt at emotional blackmail," he begins smirking, "and two: sure, why not?" He was willing to give their 'friendship' a try; what he wasn't going to tell him was that he had overheard Mark and Haechan's conversation. It's not my business and I'm not gonna pester. He gives the elder a smile and looks at Haechan incredulously when he puts his hand out.
"You're asking for a high five?" He simply shrugs.
"Handshakes are old fashioned." Haechan frowns at first but grins when the high five was returned.
"They're not that bad-"
"You're only saying that because you and Mark hyung have one."
"Fight me kid."
"Sure thing old man."
"Ay who are you calling old-!"

 

[bangchanseonyeondan]

Chapter 3: Adoption

2018​

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you," loud voices sing out of sync, "happy birthday dear Mark, happy birthday to you!" They cheer, five voices clearly ringing out amongst them. Mark beams shyly, red dusting his cheeks.
"Thanks guys." Nana carefully moves to the table, bringing a cake with her and setting it down.
"Make a wish." He closes his eyes and clasps his hands. I wish our family stays together, no matter what. Opening his eyes, he blows out the candles. Cheering erupts around him as frosting gets smudged on his face.

---​

"D'you want me to take some up for him?" Nana whispers in Mark's ear before he shakes his head discreetly.
"I'll do it - he's my responsibility anyway." Mark gets up and takes the slice of cake from her hands. "Thank you." Quietly slipping out of the room, he leaves seemingly unnoticed.

Mark hesitates at the room door, his fist hovering over it. He lets his hand drop to his side before sitting on the floor, leaning his back on the door. "I brought cake." He speaks up awkwardly. "It's chocolate." He lets out a shaky breath at the lack of response. "Look, I know you're pissed but just come downstairs for a bit: I need to tell you guys something." He sets the paper plate down by the side of the door and gets up, "the cake's by the door."

---​

Donghyuck's head shot up at the sound of Mark's voice as he scowled furiously at himself. A thousand thoughts ran through his mind at once, making him wince and shake his head. He listened intently to Mark, not saying a word, fighting back smiles at his awkwardness before listening out for the sounds of creaking floorboards, Mark's footsteps echoing in the hall. Taking in a shaky breath, he gets up off of Mark's bed and opens the door, smiling sadly at the cake set on the floor as promised. He picks it up and brings it in the room, setting it on their desk before slipping his shoes on and going downstairs, following the sounds of hushed voices. He waits at the door of the kitchen and smiles a little at the seven people.

"Hey guys." Nana looks between them and puts a hand on Mark's shoulder. "I'll leave you boys be." She moves out of the room quietly, giving Donghyuck a quick smile.

Mark grins at the boy and ushers him closer. "I've got a little something to ask you all." He bites his lip anxiously before taking a deep breath and looking them all in the eye. "So I've been talking to Nana about the whole me-having-to-move-out thing and we basically found out something really cool: because I'm an adult now and I have no priors or anything, I can adopt." He beams and fiddles with his fingers. "I've got a job already and Nana's even got me housing and-"
"Hyung what are you saying?" Jaemin whispers, not wanting to raise his voice.
"Nana said I can adopt you." Mark reveals, eyes tearing over slightly. "All of you - I mean you're all old enough to handle yourselves and once you're adults we could just live together like normal but yeah-" He goes silent as he hold in a breath, waiting for a reaction.
"Are you sure?" Donghyuck chokes out as tears blur his vision. Mark simply nods and puts his arms out, the younger quickly hugging him as the others do the same.
"Wait, so is this a yes?" he asks them all as they break away from the huddle. A chorus of agreement rings through the room.

Coughs. The boys turn their head to the source of the noise and flush as they see the rest of the house at the door, Chan holding his head in his hands.

"Sorry Mark - they seem to have gotten worse while I was away." He smiles and shrugs lightly. "Congrats though." The boys agree with him and shout, completely out of sync, "Congratulations!" Nana chuckles and claps twice.
"It's two in the morning and yes, I know, staying awake till midnight is a birthday tradition but," she looks at them sternly, "it is way past midnight and I don't think the neighbours appreciate us screaming in the dead of night." She ushers them up the stairs an sneakily gives the seven a moment, giving them a quick wink.
"But Nana it's not night anymore."
"Han, you are gonna be doing the dishes for a week at this rate."
"Sorry Nana....?"

The boys chuckle at their loud house mates getting ready for bed as they sit down on some chairs.

"How is this going to work?"
"Nana and I already sorted everything out - if you wanna go through with it, you just have to read and sign a few things."
"I swear it's like you don't want us to say yes." Chenle teases him.
"I just don't wanna force you guys, you know." He yawns and stretches his arms, bones popping. "But now we need to sleep because it is seriously so late." He gets up and pokes them all, stopping their whinging. "Bed, now." He says simply and drags himself up the stairs, knowing they'll follow and relaxing significantly at the removal of the large weight on his shoulders.

 

[bangchanseonyeondan]

Chapter 4: Who The What Now-?!

2019 - present time​

Haechan sleeps soundly in his bed, alone in the room, Chenle having slept in the living room. A shadow hovers over him, making him shift before waking up, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Mark hyung?" he mumbles, eyes dropping tiredly, "what's wrong? Has something happened?" Mark lift his head up and looks him in the eyes, fiddling with something that was in his hands.
"You tell me." He smirks and reveals the object in his hand: a silver knife. A scream erupts from Haechan's mouth as he tries to scramble away from the now obvious impostor, successfully waking the others while his leg manages to kick Other Mark away. He quickly bolts away for the door as the mysterious person sends a ice cold glare at his retreating figure, curses spilling from his lips as he follows suit, the shock and pain of the hit having faded. As Other Mark follows the frighten boy in his pitiful attempt to run away, he smirks at the sound of the boys trying to escape their rooms, but to no avail; they were trapped and now all they could do is wait.

Chenle had heard the noise and tries not to scream himself. What did Mark hyung tell us to do? What do I do? He whimpers before remembering, as if a light switch had been turned on. He quickly runs from the living room couch to the cellar door and goes down, down into a room devoid of everything, and hides in the panic room before covering his ears and squeezing his eyes shut, a broken song quietly spilling from his lips.

First thing's first
Imma say all the words inside my head
I'm fired up and tired of the way that things have been, oh ooh
The way that things have been, oh ooh​

Haechan runs into the living room, panicking as he realises the lack of key in the main door.
"Oetteoghae-" he asks himself, wringing his hands and trying to remember his Mark's phone number. He freezes. He stops with his hand half way on the landline's keypad, gulping.
"Hi there." The Other Mark. "Now if I was you, I'd be real smart and back away from the phone because I can definitely throw this thing." He motions to the weapon, making Haechan pale and nod, taking a step away from the phone and the impostor.

Second thing's second
Don't you tell me what you think that I can be
I'm the one at the sail, I'm the master of my sea, oh ooh
The master of my sea, oh ooh​

All of a sudden, the door swings open along with an oddly cold gust of air, a practically frozen Mark stepping in and literally freezing at the sight of his best friend and murderous double. He shuts the door after Other Mark waves brightly at him, effectively knocking him from his stupour, before stepping between the two people.

"Who the hell are you and why are you here?" Anger masks the fear in his voice, anger that someone had tried to hurt his family and fear of the same (well, that and also the fact that he was talking to someone with the same face as himself). "Ask pretty boy." Mark glares but obliges, however not turning his back.
"Hyuck why is he here?"
"To hurt us."

I was broken from a young age, Taking my sulking to the masses
Write down my poems for the few
That looked at me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me
Singing from heartache, from the pain, Taking my message from the veins
Speaking my lesson from the brain, Seeing the beauty through the....​

"Bingo!" A sadistic smile creeps on to the unknown boy's face and lunges towards Mark, said boy pushing Haechan away while managing to remain unscathed.
"Missed me."

....Pain.​

"Won't next time." Mark quickly punches Other Mark before he has time to try and attack once more but narrowly misses as the other boy slide and ducks under Mark's arm, slashing his side. The intruder smirks and deftly twirls the now scarlet blade.
"One nil to me, eh?" he quips before becoming straight faced. "Let's end the game."

You made me a, you made me a believer, believer
Pain, pain
You break me down, you build me up, believer, believer
Pain
Oh let the bullets fly, oh let them rain​

Mark grits his teeth and twists the cocky boy's stabbing hand, making it fall as he hissed before yelping loudly as Mark kicks the back of his knee. When Other Mark drops to one knee, he realises the slight advantage he might have and punches Mark's stab wound before pushing him over as he doubles over and swears colourfully.

My life, my love, my drive, it came from
Pain
You made me a, you made me a believer,
Believer​

The poor boy falls on his back, only to see his double pick up the knife and walk calmly to the front door. "See you soon." He sends a quick wink in Haechan's direction, making the boy frown and curl his lip in distaste despite the situation, before quickly leaving.

//CLICK//

All the doors unlock, spilling out a few boys who all run in the same direction: to the rest of their family. When they reach the living, they give the sight a double take. Mark was laying on the floor in a small pool of his blood, Haechan was controlling his breathing and faint singing could be heard coming from the cellars. Jisung looks around and gulps fearfully at the cellar door. "Chenle's not here so he's definitely there," he points to the slightly ajar door and hurries towards it.

As he does this, Jaemin calls the police to report the break-in after he and Renjun patched up Mark's side, his shirt wet and bright red but the floor clean and his torso bandaged. "We should be so glad that cut was only big and not deep." Jeno mutters while hugging Haechan and rocking him back and forth, sobs racking the young man's body as he realises they could've all died.

---​

"Chenle hyung?" Jisung calls from the top of the stairs. No reply. Just muffled singing.

世 上 只 有 妈 妈 好 [Mummy is the best in the world]
有 妈 的 孩 子 像 个 宝 [With a mum you have the most valuable treasure]
投 进 了 妈 妈 的 怀 抱 [Jump into your mum's heart]
幸 福 享 不 了 [And you will find happiness]
世 上 只 有 妈 妈 好 [Mummy is the best in the world]
没 妈 的 孩 子 像 根 草 [Without your mum, you're like a blade of grass]
离 开 妈 妈 的 怀 抱 [Away from your mum's heart]
幸 福 哪 里 找 [Where will you find happiness?]​

Chenle wails as pain crashes through his body like waves, over and over and over. His body falls to the side into Jisung's awaiting arms as he holds his broken friend. He cries out for his mother, his father, his brother, his family again and again but to no avail.

"Let it all out." Jisung mutters while stroking his hair. The boy freezes and shakes his head, pushing Jisung away and shuffling back, protests escaping his mouth, his words all jumbled up.
"No, no I can't- no- I'm not- Jisung I want my mum-" Jisung puts his finger to the elder's lips before pointing to his own ear and then his hand. He moves his hand to the ground and slowly drums his fingers. 4 beats. Breathe in. 4 beats. Breathe out. Chenle slowly but surely began breathing normally again and looked up at the younger, non-verbally thanking him. He simply shook his head and pointed at his mouth again, indicating that he was going to speak. "I know you're scared, and I'm not going to tell you not to be because so am I, but it is okay and whatever you're going through, we will be here for you. Just please let us help you - even if you don't want to talk, it's okay." Chenle nods, accepting Jisung's hand and moving closer to Jisung, the both of them calming down. "We're gonna be okay it's all gonna be okay." At this point, Jisung didn't really know who he was comforting, Chenle or himself.

 

[bangchanseonyeondan]

Chapter 5: Elephant

It has been a week since the incident and no one knows what to about it. Everything about it is pushed to aside. No mention of it is bought up. It is the elephant in the room, trumpeting for attention, each time louder than the last.

"Mark hyung, who the hell could that have been?" Haechan pipes up from his place on the sofa, sipping his drink. The eldest simply shrugs.
"It could have been anyone - illegal plastic surgery and vocal modification. If an app can do it on our phones for free, I'm guessing with money, it'd be even more believable." Mark sighs and bites his straw. Jisung ruffles his hair and take a small sip of his bubble tea, chewing thoughtfully.
"But who would want to hurt us and why? It's not like we have interesting lives."
"It could be about parents." Jeno suggested.
"Yeah but most of us didn't know our birth parents and Hyuck, Renjun, Jisung and I were never adopted." Mark points out, setting his now empty coffee cup on the small metal table in front of them.
"Maybe it's personal - d'you know anyone with a grudge against you that'd want to hurt you?" Jisung comments wryly.
"Other than you, no." Chenle pipes up, throwing a balled up boba receipt at his head. The youngest snorts and throws it back, snickering when it hit's Chenle in the head.
"It was probably just some kids screwing with us - let's be honest, it's not that hard for them to get to us; everyone knows about the adopted family who's 'dad' is only a year older than 'em." Haechan makes quotaion marks in the air, making Jaemin sighs at his words.
"Screw them - they can't mess with us. I mean Mark hyung obviously knows how to throw a pretty mean punch." He chuckles and pokes said boy's side, only for Mark to squirm, making an odd noise and wiggling away.
"Stop it Nana. Look," he pauses and finishes his drink, throwing it in the bin, "Hyuk's right - it's probably just local kids being arseholes: we all know how they are and we know that they're rats through and through."

The boys nod and finish up their drinks, each going elsewhere. One to the library, two to the bakery, three to the park and the last to his room, all unbeknownst of the eyes watching their every move.

..........​

"What a load of idiots."
"Says you."
"Yeah I do say-"
"It's not you'd notice if you were being watched; you're lost most of the time."
"Square up shortie." The youngest of them smirks, ruffling the second eldest's hair. Said boy growls and pushes his hand away.
"Remind me why we take you on stake outs again?"
"Because Mark hyung told you to."
"Great(!)"

 

[bangchanseonyeondan]

Chapter 6: Knock Knock

What the hell-? Jisung jumps up and looks around his room. 00:41. Jaemin had left only a few hours earlier to pull an all-nighter with Haechan and Jeno, although knowing Haechan he probably went to bed after three hours of torturous revision. Jisung chuckles to himself and mentally punches himself. Chenle was curled up and sound asleep on Jaemin's bed.

There it was again. That stupid rustling sound- where is it coming from-? He sees his curtains shift from the corner of his eye. His room is on the first floor; who the hell is tryna get in?

He creeps out of bed and shakes Chenle's shoulder making the boy wake up. Jisung quickly puts his finger against his lips. Quiet. He nods his head over to the window and then to the door, quietly please. Chenle understands nothing but the need to be silent and so obliges, nodding his head and slipping out of the covers. They try to make as less sound as possible but with an old house, obviously the floorboards begin to creak. The sound from the windows pauses for a second before starting up again, this time faster and slightly more frantic. They reach the door and twist the knob only for.... nothing? The door was locked from the outside apparently but when Chenle kneels down and peers through the keyhole, he doesn't see a key. He mimes for a key and points at Jaemin's bedside table. The younger looks through the top drawer and finds a pile of bobby pins. Score! Thank God he's such a drama nerd with the weird costumes and hair things- He takes a small hand full over to the door and kneels next to Chenle. He bites the plastic tip off the straight end of the pin and straightens it almost completely to make the lock pick before grabbing another and pushing it into the lock, bending it 90° (the tension wrench). He gets to work on picking the lock when all of sudden a crashing sound erupts by the window - it was the sound of glass breaking and more the sound of something, or someone, falling from a slight height. Muffled curses can be heard, urging Jisung to hurry up and get them out of there. "Shit-" The tension wrench snaps in the lock. He pulls the pins out and gets to work on quickly making a new one. "Hurry up before whoever the hell that is pops back up!" Chenle hisses at him, planting his feet. The sound starts up again at the window, before a click sounds behind and ahead of the kids. Jisung jumps up and grins. "Yes!"

"Fuck-!" Chenle swears and runs to the door, pushing Jisung to open it. He rattles the doorknob, pushing with his shoulder to no avail. "It still won't open-!" He looks back and goes back trying to shove the door open as a figure climbs in through the window. He switches the light off while shoving the door, trying to not to be seen.

A melodic whistling echoes around the room like a faded memory, the air suddenly humid and choking. Chenle kicks Jisung's ankle, spurring him to continue. The door's unlocked but refuses to open - what am I supposed to do? He grits his teeth and shoves the door, his anger consuming him for a moment. The whistling stops, the song still swimming in their ears. The curtain behind the figure flutters with a light breeze, allowing an unsteady stream of moonlight to trickle into the night-like room. Jisung growls and kicks the door, punching it with all his might, their useless attempts of concealment thrown out the window. All of a sudden the hinges give way with a screech and the door falls heavily on to the floor of the corridor floor, the metal bent oddly out of shape.

They run down the stairs to their panic room, their feet pounding and waking the rest of the residents. Haechan stirs but Jeno and Jaemin reassure him that all is well, leaving to check on Jisung and Chenle. Jaemin opens the door and makes to enter the hall but stops in the doorway, Jeno bumping into his back. Jaemin sees someone walk from the younger boys’ room, familiar and unfamiliar in the way a stranger you see regularly might be. They burst from the room, Jeno jumping on to his back as Jaemin tries to get past them to the boys. The stranger leaps up and shoves his back against the wall, crushing Jeno and blocking Jaemin’s way. Jeno’s grip loosens and the figure tosses him across the hall with ease, making his way towards Jaemin. Darkness conceals his face but it’s clear he’s smiling. The siren song floats through the house, echoing in Jaemin’s ears as he feels his chest tighten. It drowns out the sound of his pounding heart as he looks to Jeno, unmoving. He steels himself and swings wildly, the figure easily stepping out the way. The song stops and the air stills. A chuckle sounds from behind the boy and the stranger swings an arm around his throat, keeping him in a chokehold as they make their way down the stairs.

“Bad move Ash.” A familiar voice cuts through the hollow drumming in his ears as the arm tightens and cuts the breath from his lungs. Till it doesn’t. A gunshot deafens the group as the door slams behind the eldest of the family. Mark and Renjun. Mark lowers his gun, Renjun looking almost as shocked as Jaemin. The figure looks up at them all and grabs Jaemin again. Jeno. “Y’know, we had a bet going and we really didn’t think you’d have it in you.” He smiles, the smile twisted and dark on such a usually kind face. Looking down at his bleeding arm, he laughs coarsely, “but I guess you do.” The smile leaves his face and he holds Jaemin’s head almost gently - his hands move, one at his chin, the other on his head. “Now put the gun down and let me go or I break his neck.” Mark breathes sharply, turning the safety back on. He holds his hands up as he slowly crouches. “Just don’t hurt him-” He places the weapon on the floor and gets up, kicking it away from them all. Jeno raises an eyebrow at Renjun who quickly raises his hands, the pair shifting away from the door as the intruder makes his way with their friend. The fake Jeno cuts the back of Jaemin’s calf before the group even sees that he has a knife. Shocking his forward, he runs away, calling over his shoulder. “Follow me or help him, your choice!” He whoops and makes his way, his song drifting away with the sight of him.

 

[bangchanseonyeondan]

Chapter 7: What the Hell-

Three days have passed since the family’s most recent incident. No longer is the house filled with laughter and friendly arguing but instead simply tense silences. The boys find it hard to look one another in the eye, uneasily stepping around each other.
It’s a Saturday - game night. The boys sit in the lounge, sprawled across the furniture, board games and video game controllers sitting idly on the table. The ticking of the wall clock echoes in their ears. Mark can’t take it anymore.

“What the hell is going on-?!” He snaps, making everyone jump. Mark has always been known for being the level-headed one. Haechan was the hothead and yet he just stared down at his hands. “This shouldn’t be possible. Kids fucking with us like that once, I get. But evil twins make no fucking sense- this shouldn’t be happening- I don’t get why this is happening to us-” His anger quickly turns to confused panic as he hold his head in his hands. The boys look to each other, worry etched across their young faces. I wish you would calm down hyung- Renjun thinks. “Why the hell should I?” Mark snaps at him, Renjun looking painfully confused.
“Why should you what?”
“I get that humour isn’t really our thing but even I know that now is really not the time.”
“What are you talking about hyung?” Jaemin interjects. Mark looks between the six boys.
“He told me to calm down-”, he mumbles, watching the confused looks pass over each of their faces, shock appearing on Renjun’s but being quickly masked by confusion, as though it were never there in the first place. “You heard him, right?” His eyes are almost frenzied as he watches his family shake their heads slowly.
“He didn’t say anything.” Jisung fiddles with a board game piece, trying to avoid maintaining eye contact with anyone.

Mark barks out a laugh, his head lolling back against the chair as hot tears slowly trickle down his cheeks. “What the hell is going on? I mean, I don’t know what to do. I’m supposed to look after you - you’re my responsibility- I’m supposed to keep you safe.” He sounded almost resigned. If the boys hadn’t seen him cry, they wouldn’t have been able to tell he was crying. His voice didn’t waver or break - it was cold, steely cold. “The only thing we know is that we don’t know what the hell is going on. We can’t tell the police we’re being attacked by our evil long lost twins because that sounds dumb so there’s only one thing left for us to do I guess.”
“What?” Chenle leans his head on Jisung’s shoulder - despite recent events, the boys still couldn’t be parted.
“Prepare.” Jeno sits up, crossing his legs on their old sofa, his hands toying with a worn patch on his sweater’s sleeve.
“For?” Haechan looks between his family, trying to figure out who was most crazy.
“Attack of the Pycho Dopplegängers.” Jaemin adds wryly, sitting upside down on the other end of the sofa. So Jaemin then. Haechan thinks, swatting the boy’s arm. Jaemin pouts, rubbing his arm. Mark claps and all eyes turn to him. “Game night was a bust but Jeno’s right - we will prepare, for whatever weird shit comes next.” He turns to the youngest pair and nods his head in the direction of the stairs. “But first, it’s almost ten so you two: bed.” Jisung groans and bumps his head against the table.
“Why don’t they have to go?” Chenle whines, motioning to the other four, Haechan teasingly sticking his tongue out at him.
“They do too - but in an hour. You’re younger so….” He spreads his hands as if to say ‘it is what it is’. The pair trudge off, grumbling as the rest watch on.

Mark yawns quietly and heads over to the stairs. “I’m trusting you all to be in bed by eleven. I’ll see you guys tomorrow and don’t open the door for anyone at this time of night.”
“Yes mum.” Jaemin replies, scrolling through his phone as Mark groans.
“Yah, why are you guys like this to me-” He takes a step only to hear Haechan reply with ‘sorry dad’. He rolls his eyes and smiles, walking towards his room, his smile slowly fading with every step he took.

His mind filled with thoughts, he enters his room, locking the door behind him. He changes into his pyjamas in silence, words seeming infitting for the thoughts in his head. He lays on his bed, hands linked and sat on his stomach. I know they said he didn’t say anything but I definitely heard something- and he knew that’s what he was going to say or at least that’s what he thought- He pauses, even his breath stilling. I mean that’s not possible. I can’t have heard his thoughts- then again the likeliness of having evil twins that want to kill you is zero to none so- He shakes his head, trying, and failing, to get comfortable before falling into a fitful sleep.