Chapter Text
The bathroom was a glorious mess. Screams and cries echoed in the colourfully tiled chamber, brought on by Thanos’ relentless taunting. In the corner of his eye, he could see people punching and kicking each other, trying to get any sort of upper hand.
He didn’t care about that, though. He glared down at Myung-gi, thrashing beneath his hands, face turning a deep shade of purple as Thanos choked him out. He could feel his pulse weakening under his hands, struggling to pump blood to his head. Good.
It was the most entertaining thing he’d seen since he got here. Mingle felt like nothing compared to watching Myung-gi’s eyes bulge, blood pooling in his mouth as he scrambled for an advantage. No way in hell he was getting out of his grip—he’d be just another hundred-million won in the pot for Thanos to take in the end.
He could hear men behind him shouting, cursing each other out, hitting each other with urinal stalls. Thanos let himself look over to Nam-gyu for a second, the younger man scrambling out of the way of swinging fists.
It didn’t matter. Nam-gyu would be fine. He always was. Thanos looked back to Myung-gi, to the glorious look of desperation on his lying, scamming face. He sneered down at him, his grip only tightening.
The look in Myung-gi’s eyes changed.
Thanos felt it before he heard it: A desperate shout as he was slammed off Myung-gi. Stars blotted his vision as his head smacked the floor. He blinked, vision refocused on the sight in front of him: Nam-gyu had shoved him away. His face was scrunched in pain, tears pricking his eyes. A shiny, metal fork stuck out of his forearm.
“Holy shit-!” Thanos sat up quickly. He watched Nam-gyu rip the fork from his arm, plunging it deep in Myung-gi’s throat. The bastard gurgled, blood spraying from his neck as Nam-gyu stabbed him again and again and—
Thanos looked away. He didn’t have a weak stomach, but the smell of the blood made him sick. His stomach churned as he heard Nam-gyu finish with a final, squelching twist of the fork.
Thanos spared a glance at Nam-gyu. He was covered in blood now, his white shirt completely soaked.
“Jesus, man,” Thanos whispered. Behind him, a sink broke with a loud clash! “You really saved my ass, huh?”
Nam-gyu turned to look at Thanos, squinting slightly. Despite the blood on his face, he looked… really fucking hot. Thanos sighed. Nam-gyu wiped his face as best he could, a small smile tugging at the edges of his lips. He reached for the cross. “Think you can pay me back?”
Thanos tugged it out of Nam-gyu’s reach, chuckling. “Junkie,” He teased. “Later.”
Nam-gyu huffed, but apparently knew better than to argue. Thanos gently grabbed his injured arm, turning it over. He brushed a thumb over his stab wound, smearing blood along Nam-gyu’s arm.
“Jeez…” Thanos mumbled, “You didn’t have to do that.”
Nam-gyu shrugged, pulling his arm out of Thanos’ grip. “It’s fine. You owe me now, anyway.”
It wasn’t a good enough argument, but Thanos couldn’t bring himself to argue. He stood up, bringing Nam-gyu up with him. “Whatever. C’mon,” Thanos grinned. “You’ll get your treat.”
Nam-gyu scowled, but his eyes shone with desperation. It was different from Myung-gi’s. Eager. Thanos chuckled, walking to the bathroom door.
Before they could open the door, four triangle-masked guards came in, guns raised, shouting orders. Whatever players were still fighting quickly stopped. Thanos looked back, flinching as three shots were fired into the ceiling. The bathroom was in complete ruin. Min-su was nowhere to be seen.
“Those bearing an O patch, stand up and leave the room.” One guard ordered.
There was no room to argue. Thanos heaved a sigh, following a guard as he and every other O-voter left the bathroom. He could hear the remaining men shouting, but it didn’t matter. He looked over to Nam-gyu.
“Man, did you see Min-su?” Nam-gyu furrowed his brows before shaking his head. “Damn. That little weasel!”
“We’ll find him…” Nam-gyu muttered ominously. If Thanos didn’t know better, he’d assumed Nam-gyu was gonna kill him. As much as Thanos hated him for voting X, he was still a part of the team. He’d like their cutest member to stay alive.
The dormitory looked tense and bare. Thanos looked around, spotting Min-su hiding in a corner. His haircut was hard to miss. It didn’t help that Se-mi was beside him. A wave of irritation crashed over Thanos as he looked over the traitors. The O team had won anyway, but they had a deal, damnit! One more game and then they go home!
The rest of the people in the bathroom were brought in through a separate door. Immediately, someone began shouting.
“Hey! Hey team X!” The idiot waved his hands around as he ran to the centre of the room. “We- when we were in the bathroom, those O bastards tried to kill us!”
Thanos rolled his eyes at his ravings. They'd been killing each other the whole time, only now it mattered? He took the opportunity to slip past the crowing crowd, his focus solely on Min-su and Se-mi. Nam-gyu followed close behind, nearly breathing down his neck. Se-mi caught Thanos’ gaze, holding his stare as he and Nam-gyu approached.
For once, Thanos had nothing to say to her. He scrunched his nose at her before sitting beside Min-su, an arm easily curling around his shoulders. Min-su was tense, like a scruffed cat. Thanos chuckled down at him.
“Min-su, my boy,” Thanos leaned down to meet his eye. “Where’d you go, huh? I couldn’t find you anywhere in the bathroom!”
Nam-gyu sat down at Thanos’ free side, his usual smarmy grin on his face. “You’re really sneaky, huh? Guess that’s how you managed to vote X—you grew a backbone after all!”
“Can you two fuck off?” Se-mi snapped, wrenching Thanos’ arm off Min-su. “You won, anyway, what does it matter now?”
Thanos sighed. Nam-gyu spoke first. “No one fuckin’ asked you, noona.” He sneered, “Who knows! That vote could’ve cost us a hell of a lot of money.”
“Nam-su.” Thanos warned.
“Gyu.”
“Whatever.” Se-mi had a point. Thanos let his hand rest on the back of Min-su's neck, pressing into his skin enough to get the point across. “You’ll vote O next time, won’t you?”
Min-su looked so cute. Thanos avoided Se-mi's glare, his eyes focused on Min-su's expression; the way he stared down at his knees. Slowly, hesitantly, Min-su nodded. Thanos grinned as Nam-gyu chuckled behind him.
“There’s my boy, Min-su!” He crushed Min-su in a hug, wanting nothing more than to squeeze his head until it popped. God, he was adorable! Thanos couldn’t believe he and Nam-gyu were the same age. “You’ll be just fine! You’ve got Thanos the Great here to protect you!”
“Lame...” He heard Se-mi whisper. It didn’t matter.
Thanos turned his attention back to Nam-gyu. He had perched his elbows on his knees, his cutesy sweater-paws reactivated as he rested his chin in his hands. He looked so girly when he did that. If he had longer hair, Thanos would probably have flirted with him by mistake.
Well, he still owed Nam-gyu for saving his life. Thanos popped open the lid to his cross. His heart dropped. Seven pills remained. “Fuck…” He whispered. Split between him and Nam-gyu, they had to be stingy with taking them.
Nam-gyu looked over, his pretty eyes back on him. “Problem?”
“Eh…” Thanos shrugged, trying to brush the issue off. He had no idea how Nam-gyu would react without the pills. He’d probably shake like a leaf in a best-case scenario. Thanos didn’t want to think of how bad he could get. “We just gotta cut down on the pills, my boy.”
Nam-gyu’s face fell at the words. He looked down to the cross, eyes darting between each pill, counting. “Shit.” He hissed.
It wouldn’t be the end of the world for Thanos. Withdrawals were a close friend of his by now. He knew what would happen to him. Nam-gyu, though… Thanos winced at the idea of creating a pill-hungry monster out of his friend.
Thanos bit his lip. He still owed Nam-gyu. Carefully, he pulled a pill out. “Hey,” He held the pill out to Nam-gyu, watching his pupils blow wide. Like a cat on the hunt. “For saving my life.”
Nam-gyu looked at the pill like a lifesaver. He licked his lips, leaning down to grip the pill between his teeth. Thanos felt his heart leap into his throat. He could feel each soft breath leave Nam-gyu’s body, brushing against his fingers, soft and sweet.
Fuck. He didn’t need this right now. The action was straight out of a damn porno. Thanos let out a slow breath as Nam-gyu pulled away, the pill secure between his teeth. He closed the cross as Nam-gyu chewed the pill with whorish enjoyment. It was like he knew what he was doing.
Thanos averted his gaze, looking back to where Se-mi and Mi-su were.
Or, where they should’ve been.
He blinked, staring at the empty spots where his other teammates had been. When had they disappeared? He sighed, looking around the dormitory again. The two sides had huddled into their respective corners. It looked like someone from each side was counting the remaining players.
“The X’s have one extra person.” Nam-gyu muttered. He leaned into Thanos, slotting into his side like it was natural. Thanos hesitantly wrapped an arm around Nam-gyu’s shoulders. “If no one switches, they’ll win.”
Thanos hummed, nodding. “Well, Min-su’s gonna vote O, so it’ll be another tie.”
Nam-gyu had a sparkle in his eye. The kind Thanos saw in Club Pentagon under bright lights. The kind that screamed mischief and bad ideas. And it was so enticing.
“Not if we get rid of a few extra players,” He purred, his Cheshire grin widening. “I overheard the crazy 456 guy. He said they’ll turn the lights off and make us fight.”
No way Nam-gyu believed the guy. “Come on, do you really believe him? He got lucky in Red Light, Green Light.”
Nam-gyu shrugged, “So what?” He rested his chin on Thanos’ shoulder, his eyes never leaving Thanos’ face. He couldn’t bring himself to look away. “It’s a good excuse to take out some extra X losers, yeah? Make sure we win the next vote.”
Always an opportunist. Thanos grinned, cocking his head. He’d never seen Nam-gyu so devilish. It was a beautiful colour on the man.
“Yeah..." He murmured, "Let’s kill half of humanity.”