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Manager Shin eyes the rear-view mirror, beads of sweat forming above his eyebrows. His hands tighten on the steering wheel and he presses on the gas ever so lightly. A black car has been following them ever since they've left the sushi restaurant.
A quick glance at the boys tells him they haven't noticed yet. Seungcheol is fast asleep, AirPods secure in his ears. Seungkwan and Dino were taking turns playing a mobile game. Mingyu was fiddling with his camera, scanning through the pictures he took of them earlier.
The black car continued to press on, narrowing the gap between them. The third sasaeng chase for this week, he thought. Ever since Seungcheol publicly announced his relationship with the ex-trainee, the sasaengs have been acting more and more boldly, raising tensions and anxiety within the group.
Manager Shin sharply turns left and right, before contacting Manager Lee, who was driving the car that had Jeonghan, Woozi, Vernon and Wonwoo inside.
"We're being followed," Shin simply states. Mingyu looks up at this, worry on his face. "I think it's still the same ones as last week. Seungcheol's fansites. You?"
From the corner of his eye, he sees Mingyu waking their leader up. The boys look behind and finally notice the car too.
"We're being followed too," Lee confirms. "I saw the fanboy from the fansign the other week, the one who threatened Woozi if he didn't produce a song especially for him,"
"Do we go with Plan A?" Shin asks.
"Yes, I'm on my way there now,"
Manager Shin hangs up and proceeds to drive faster to the meeting place.
"This is all my fault. I'm the leader. I should have protected you boys better," Seungcheol says, putting his face in his hands. "I should have just stayed away from Joey,"
Mingyu puts a hand on Seungcheol's shoulder. "Hyung, don't say that. Both of you love each other. For the past years we all saw that. Many Carats support you and your relationship with her,"
Their leader smiled weakly. "And look at what's happening." He turned to Manager Shin, eyes serious and tired. "Shin-hyung, you know I hate this plan,"
Manager Shin stops the car in front of a spa-house, where Manager Lee was already outside, wearing Jeonghan's cap and hoodie. "We're already here, and we don't have a choice. Now give me your jacket, "
A few other staff came out and swapped clothes with the boys. He then directed them to a black van that would fit all eight of them inside. He just received the message that Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Minghao and Dokyeom have already arrived safely at the apartment.
He clapped Seungcheol's shoulder. "Please call me when you get home safely,"
"You too. Call me when you've lost the sasaengs," Seungcheol said, then turned around to make sure everyone was safely inside the van. He got in last, and just before he closed the door, he saw him tightly clutching a worried Dino's hand.
"Okay let's go. Everyone wearing Mingyu, Dino and Seungkwan's outfit come with me,"
They were on the road again. Manager Shin turned the light on, hoping the sasaengs will mistake their clothes for being their idols. Not a minute later, the sasaengs followed, one car chasing after the car that had "Jeonghan" driving it.
He drove carefully, making sure they were being lead away from the boys as far as possible. It had been thirty minutes already, and he couldn't see the sasaeng's car anywhere. Suddenly his phone rang.
"Shin-hyung, we've arrived at the apartment," Seungcheol's voice crackled over the other end of the line, and a wave of relief washed over him.
"Good to hear, I also think we've lost—"
Before he could finish, the sasaeng's car drove straight towards theirs, and it was a hard and terrible impact. He could feel blood trickling down his forehead, and every part of his body hurt. He was seeing stars, and everything was spinning. The last thing he heard before losing consciousness was Seungcheol's voice, screaming "Shin-hyung? Shin-hyung! What's going on? Answer me, Shin-hyung!"
He mustered a smile, knowing Seventeen were safe, before the world went black.
damn