Taming Them

Tuesday, January 8, 2019; 2:15 AM PST

MinHo groaned as he sat up in bed. Moonlight shone through the window, illuminating the room and the little papillon growling at the closed bedroom door. MinHo raised a tired eyebrow and chuckled at the tiny dog’s attempt at fierceness, and then he heard it. Footsteps in the living room.

Panicking, MinHo reached over and smacked the man next to him rapidly on his bare back, whispering, “Ollie, Oliver, wake up.”

Oliver groaned, reached over to the nightstand, and unlocked his phone. His eyes squinted in the bright light, and he glared at the clock before locking the device and turning to look at his partner and bandmate. “Minnie,” he grumbled, his already deep voice even deeper from sleep. “It’s two in the morning, and we don’t have practice for another six hours.”

“Someone’s in the house.”

“And you’re waking me up because?”

“Go check it out.”

Oliver rose up on his elbow and cocked a brow at his partner. “MinHo,” he deadpanned. “You have several black belts and can use a gun far better than I can. You are by far the best candidate to ‘Go check it out’.”

MinHo opened and closed his mouth like a fish several times before blushing and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. “If I bang on the wall, hit the panic button.” Oliver nodded once and MinHo stood, pulling on a pair of sweats over his otherwise bare lower half, just in case the intruder had a camera, and quietly opened the door.

He crept down the hall on silent feet, toward the sound of footsteps coming from the living area. As soon as he rounded the corner, he flipped on the light and slammed his hand against the wall, scaring who he recognized as the front desk agent of the apartment complex half to death.

***

Two floors down, their bandmate, Oliver’s cousin, Judas, woke to the cacophony of a woman’s scream, a dog snarling, and a baby crying. Without hesitation, he pressed the panic button behind the headboard and flew towards the growling in the entryway. Where he found a young woman with her back pressed against a wall and a furious German shepherd standing in front of her with his hackles raised and teeth bared. “Who in the fuck are you, and how did you get in here?” Judas snarled, his massive frame mirroring the dog.

“Where’s that crying coming from?” The terrified woman asked.

“Never you mind. Answer the fucking question.”

***

Three doors down, another band mate, Judas’s best friend, Jason, woke to a gentle caress of his bare thigh. In a blurry moment, he wondered which bandmate it was, as they were the only others with keys to his home. Then, as his mind cleared, he realized that none of his bandmates had hands even close to that dainty, and he hadn’t brought anyone home the night before. His arm, already under the pillow and out of sight, slid straight so that his fingers touched the button behind the headboard. The one that alerted the police should someone break into his apartment. Every unit had one, and Jason had scoffed when the realtor first mentioned it. Now though? He was beyond grateful for its existence.

Carefully, he sat up and faced the woman sitting on his bed. “Hi Gawain,” she breathed, using his stage name. In the moonlight, her eyes were wide and filled with almost manic excitement as she stared at him.

“Um,” he cleared his throat and slowly sat up, moving back against the headboard. “Who are you?”

“Oh,” she laughed, a high noise that made Jason want to cringe. “I’m Victoria. I’m your biggest fan ever.”

“Of course you are,” Jason sighed. He had to force himself not to roll his eyes. “If you don’t mind my asking, how did you get in here?”

“My friend Kayla works at the front desk, and she gave me and our friend Aly spare keys.”

“Is that so?” Jason cleared his throat again. “And where is your friend Aly?”

“She went to Galahad’s apartment. She loves how sweet and gentle he is, and how he just seems like he needs to be taken care of, so the poor thing doesn’t hurt himself.”

Jason had to stop himself from laughing, and covered his mouth to stifle a ‘cough’, and hide the smile at the thought of Judas Yang needing, let alone allowing someone to take care of him.

“I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to know that. So, tell me, did your friend Kayla come with you tonight?”

“Oh, of course.” Jason fought the urge to roll his eyes again. He couldn’t believe how stupid this girl was. Or maybe she thought she would end up in jail regardless, so was going to bring her friends along for the ride. He gave her a friendly smile as an encouraging gesture to keep talking. “She loves Kay. She thinks he’s the most beautiful, sweet, adorable person she’s ever seen. He really is the cutest little cupcake.”

Another clear of the throat to keep from laughing. He almost wished MinHo could have heard this. He could practically see the indignant glare on the man’s face.

“I see,” he said, trying to figure out how to keep her talking. Thankfully, the front door latch clicked, saving him, though Victoria didn’t seem to hear it. “Well, I’m so glad that you dropped by Miss Victoria. It’s always lovely to meet a fan in person. Why don’t we go to the living room? Hm?” The woman nodded, still smiling, and Jason stood, adjusting his black boxer-briefs before gesturing for her to lead the way.

As Jason turned it on, the light revealed three officers in the living room, guns aimed at the hallway. “Don’t shoot,” he drawled, holding up his hands. “Neither of us are armed, and this is my house.” The officers holstered their guns and one stepped forward to grab a betrayed looking Victoria by the arm. “Her name is Victoria. Her friend Kayla works at the front desk and gave her and their friend Aly keys. Aly is two doors down, most likely being scared shitless by a German shepherd, and Kayla is bothering two more of my bandmates on the sixth floor.”

“I thought you were nice?” Victoria sniffled. This time, Jason didn’t hold back the scoff and roll of his eyes.

“I am nice, but I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t report a stalker breaking into their house and waking them up in the middle of the night. I don’t know what kind of delusions your brain has cooked up, but you need serious therapy. So,” he continued to the officers, “what do you need from me?”

“Just a brief statement stating that you don’t know her, didn’t give her the key, and that you intend to press charges.”

“I don’t know her. I didn’t give her a key, and you’re damn right I’m pressing charges. I’m guessing my friends will be pressing charges as well. Especially Judas. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go put on a pair of sweats and make sure everyone is okay.” The officers gave him a nod, and he turned back down the hall.

By the time he came back out, the men were hauling the now furious woman out of the apartment, and he could hear a similar commotion coming from down the hall. He followed the officers and paused to watch a young brunette woman being escorted to the elevator by two officers. When the elevator doors opened, he saw a third blonde woman being flanked by two more. Jason heaved a sigh and muttered, “Why are the crazies always super model material?” Then moved down the hall toward Judas’s apartment. He knocked before using his key to enter. Where he found the large, very good looking, Korean man pacing his living room with a very upset fourteen-month-old cradled to his chest and looking shaken.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Judas cooed. “The bad lady’s gone. You’re safe.”

“Did she get to his room?” Jason asked, alarmed.

The larger man sighed. “No. She didn’t even get past the door, but Caesar made her scream and it woke him up.”

“You okay then?”

“Yeah. You mind checking on Levi and Min?”

“On my way up there now.”

Judas nodded and resumed bouncing and shushing while Jason left for the elevator. The door to the younger two’s apartment was ajar, allowing the rumbling voice of Oliver Yang to drift down the hall from the living room. Jason knocked, opened the door, and slipped into the entryway, making sure to close it behind him. He followed Oliver’s voice to the living room, where he found MinHo Choi pacing in a black robe, while his boyfriend lounged in a plush armchair wearing a pair of silk pajama bottoms and no shirt. Oliver’s sharp brown eyes followed his partner back and forth, a familiar exasperated expression on his face. They flicked to Jason for a millisecond, and Oliver gave him a curt nod before continuing to try to calm MinHo.

“Minnie,” he sighed. “Would you at least stop pacing, baby? You’re acting like your mom.” MinHo stopped short and glared at Oliver. His fox-like eyes slits in his sharply angled face.

“I am not nearly that dramatic,” he snapped.

“MinHo,” Oliver said with a laugh. “You’ve been pacing the living room since the cops left and not answering me on what you think we should do.”

“A woman just broke into our home, Oliver! Excuse me if I’m a little freaked out!” MinHo began his pacing again, gesturing wildly as he ranted. “If Coal hadn’t woken me up, who knows what would’ve happened! The psycho bitch could have found our bedroom! What if she came and left without waking us? Huh? What then? She could have told the whole world that we actually are together! We could lose our contract! We could lose our jobs!”

“So?” Oliver asked. “Minnie, it’s not as if we don’t have investments that would keep us very comfortable. Plus, the fashion line. We’d be fine. We’d just give my dad’s family the middle finger, get married, and live our lives the way we want. Besides, Minnie, do you have any idea how many fans would die of happiness if they found out their ships were true? Even if we somehow lost our contract, which is highly unlikely because let’s be honest the label would lose millions if they didn’t have us, we have three producers, two choreographers, and enough clout to start our own damn label and do the music we really want to do instead of the pop shit. As for psycho-bitch getting in here in the first place, that’s what’s freaking me out. It was way too easy, and I’m thinking we need to move again.” Oliver turned to Jason with one brow raised. “Which reminds me, what are you doing here?”

“Jude and I had the same thing happen. The front desk woman gave two of her friends keys and they got into our apartments, too.” Oliver sat up straight, his eyes wide and his hands braced on the arms of the chair.

“Is the baby okay?”

“He’s fine,” Jason said, holding up a placating hand. “She didn’t get past the front door. Caesar just scared the piss out of her and made her scream.” Minho and Oliver sighed and relaxed their shoulders.

“How far did the one at your place get?” MinHo asked.

“The crazy bitch was sitting on my bed.” Jason shuddered and shook his head. “I laughed when Jude got Caesar trained, but I think I may take a leaf out of his book and get a guard dog. If I’d had one, she wouldn’t have gotten nearly as far.” Jason sighed and rubbed his eyes. “We’ll talk about all this in the morning. Jude and I just wanted to check if the two of you were alright. I’m going to head home. Night you two.” The younger two bid him goodnight, and Jason headed back to his apartment and into bed, only pausing to send Judas a text to let him know everyone was okay before letting himself fall back to sleep.