IMB/IBB 2013: Mission 99 (2/2)

[comebackmods]

Dongwoo was already in the car when all of them were running out of the house, Sunggyu slamming the door behind them.

"Hurry, hurry!" Dongwoo's head poked out of the car window.

Myungsoo pulled the doors open as everyone ushered inside and then quickly, he went around and jumped into the front seat beside Dongwoo's.

"Where's Sungyeol?" Dongwoo spun to them, engine beginning to rumble.

Everyone casted each other looks until Woohyun finally cleared his throat. "Drive."

Dongwoo blinked and then swiftly turned around to press his foot on the pedal. The car windows were open and high-speed winds ruffled their hair and jackets widly, Sunggyu squinting as it blistered into his eyes.

"We thought he'd be here." he said.

"Who?" Dongwoo quipped. "Sungyeol? Oh, me too. But he's not."

"Like I said, he's going to tell boss about what I'd done." Myungsoo let his elbow lean outside the window.

"I don't think he would, or if he could." Dongwoo expressed. "You guys are best, best friends; he's a just little hurt you betrayed him like that is all."

"Are you?"

Dongwoo paused and then beamed over at him. "A little, but I can understand why you did what you did."

"This is why Jang Dongwoo is the best, isn't he?" Hoya chuckled a bit from the back.

Dongwoo jolted. "Oh! Your mood-- it's back!"

"What mood?"

"He means you're back to normal."

"It was a rhetorical question."

"Nevermind, he's still bitchy." Woohyun muttered.

"Maybe Sungyeol's at the house." Dongwoo threw, hopeful.

"He can't be; it's been two days since he lost his keys, remember?"

"Myungsoo, you lent him your keys?"

"No."

"Has anyone else has--"

"Sungyeol is at Lee Sungjong's house." Sunggyu said bluntly. "The guy we were supposed to capture."

Myungsoo sucked his teeth and Woohyun elbowed the eldest in the side. Hoya's eyebrows rose, watching Dongwoo's expression from behind.

The car screeched to a halt.

Dongwoo spun in his seat for the second time. "What."

"For the last time, that's not true." Myungsoo said tiredly. "It makes no sense."

Sunggyu rolled his eyes and let out a breath. "Either I have an excellent perception of things or all of you are dumb, and you Myungsoo, being the dumbest: don't try to pretend Sungyeol doesn't like you that way."

Myungsoo immediately stared down at his lap. "Yeah, I know. So?" he muttered.

"So he's blindingly jealous."

"So you're telling me he's after Sungjong because he's jealous? That's ridiculous."

"No, Myungsoo, you're ridiculous. Wake up."

"I feel like all because he isn't here, we're jumping on him." Myungsoo incised, suddenly pissed again. "I mean, if you really do have excellent perception, how couldn't you tell I was seeing Sungjong? I mean I betrayed Sungyeol once, I'm just not going to go and do it again."

Sunggyu smiled a little. "I knew you were seeing someone, just didn't who. Sorry Myungsoo, for not following you or checking your phone when you weren't around."

"Sungyeol always checks his phone." Hoya murmured aloud.

Myungsoo steadied his eyes to him and Hoya met them affrontedly. "What, I can't be the only one who knows this."

"No, I know it too." Woohyun assured. Dongwoo nodded and Sunggyu slid his eyes to Myungsoo expectantly.

"Called Sungjong any time recently or at all?"

"I call him all the time."

"Call him now."

"His phone is disconnected. I...I already tried while we were running to the car."

"And?"

"His phone is disconnected, like I said--"

"Was it disconnected yesterday?"

Myungsoo stared at Sunggyu with wet, frustrated eyes.

"I'll take that as a no."

Myungsoo clenched his jaw and made a helpless expression. "But he didn't answer. I just thought he missed my call or something."

"And did he call you back?" Sunggyu edged.

Myungsoo gave in. "...No."

"This is confusing..." Dongwoo exchanged glances with all them. "Sungyeol still likes Myungsoo?"

"Uh-huh." Sunggyu nodded.

"But I thought he stopped that in high school."

Myungsoo put a hand over his face and slid deeper in the seat.

"I remembered we teased him for it." Woohyun began to chuckle. "And he took it so seriously too."

"And Myungsoo was so confused every time we brought it up." Hoya joined.

"He pretended like he didn't know what was going on, this jerk."

"He still does that, look, he can't even handle it!" Dongwoo began to slap the seat in laughter.

"It's 'cause I don't like him like that..." Myungsoo mumbled, face still hidden behind his hands.

"Oh my god, and when Lee Sungjong came to the picture, literally, remember how depressed Sungyeol was?" Woohyun's eyes became upturned crescents. "It was like he had a cloud over his head everyday. It was truly the saddest thing I'd ever seen."

Dongwoo waved his hands excitedly. "Oh, but then suddenly, when was it--"

"Couple of weeks before we were graduating!" Hoya finished his thoughts, grinning. "He became this different man and started dating girls all over."

"He became a wominijah." Sunggyu enunciated huskily. "He started going for all these girls, and then they were all coming to him."

"It was the piercings and long hair. And his height too." Dongwoo motioned at his own appearance. "He looked like an idol."

"Ah, yeah...he gave the grad speech too, didn't he?"

"He did." Myungsoo muttered.

"So, okay, let me get this straight," Woohyun sat a little straighter, an amusement still quirking his lips. "Sunggyu is saying that Sungyeol hasn't stopped liking Myungsoo, ever, since high school, and now a couple of years later, when he finds out the two are together, he gets jealous and makes this plan of getting Sungjong kidnapped by us, when really, he's going to do it himself..." His smile slowly dropped and his words, as everyone felt, began to grip a serious color to them. "...and then he knows that Myungsoo is going to tell Sungjong to run away or something, so he follows him the day he does to...to what?"

"Confirm Myungsoo's actually going to do it, I suppose." Sunggyu shrugged.

"But how could he know Sungjong's address or the fact Sungjong is living at an apartment now?" Hoya asked.

"That's my question."

"Maybe he texted Myungsoo about it."

"He hasn't." Myungsoo cleared the idea. "But Sungjong mentioned it after when he finished fighting and then that's when he gave me the address."

"Oh."

"I don't know...there's just too many holes in this 'theory'." Dongwoo used his fingers as quotations. "What if when we head to boss' now and we find Sungyeol there? Or later when we get home and see him in the hallway, waiting for us to open the door? I feel bad; I can't really believe we're suspecting him of doing this."

"He would have to come back to us anyway if he did it or not." Sunggyu sighed. "But I agree, maybe I am jumping the bucket..."

"Now you listen to me?" Myungsoo spat out bitingly. "Sungjong's at his place, safe. And Sungyeol...Sungyeol isn't capable--he just wouldn't do that sort of thing. You don't know him like I do."

A mix of that could be right, and that could be wrong fell inside the car; no one knew what to say. Sunggyu pressed his lips tightly, choosing not to say anymore.

The drive continued on, breezy and with the low static from the radio. Myungsoo looked off to the window, watching the passing scenery with a tenseness jagged around his eyes. Woohyun was at his phone, texting, while Hoya was polishing his gun with the fray of his shirt. Sunggyu was staring down at the pep rally banner in mute concentration. He turned it around and gave it another stare before sitting up, alarmingly.

"So...is everyone okay?" Dongwoo murmured. "We're nearly at boss' place..."

Sunggyu leaned over. "Dongwoo, take us here."

Myungsoo jerked his head and everyone else stopped what they were doing.

Dongwoo took the banner without taking his eyes from the road and then dropped them briefly when he threw it on his lap.

"...Isn't this around our old school?"

"It is. Myungsoo, recognize this address?" Sunggyu pointed at it. "Does it look familiar?"

Myungsoo doesn't skip a beat. "It does." He breathed. "It's Sungjong new apartment address!"

Dongwoo swerved the car around.

"But Myungsoo," Woohyun began thoughtfully. "...Why would Sungjong put his address behind the banner?"

Myungsoo slid his desperate eyes to the front window and to the span of the road.

"I'm wondering the same thing."

They knocked Sungjong's door several times but they received no answer. Myungsoo pushed them aside and called Sungjong out, but still nothing happened. No replies, no click of locks and a welcoming smile from Sungjong, ushering him in. Nothing like that. Sunggyu walked forward and didn't make Myungsoo move when he reached for the doorknob. He turned it, slowly, and the door fell open in front of them. The first thing that greeted them was a thrown potted plant on the floor.

Dark rich soil was scattered all over and the leaves were crushed and stepped on.

And Myungsoo did walk in and try to pick it up.

He told them, throat raw and hoarse, eyes violent and angry. "I gave him this. I--I gave him this."

Dongwoo stayed with him as Hoya and Woohyun went to check the rest of the apartment. Sunggyu was still outside, arms crossed and a leg hitched on the wall behind him. His back pocket was vibrating; it was his cellphone.

Boss was calling.

When they entered the building, they gave themselves nervous glances and pats on the back with comforting murmurs. Myungsoo got the most of it, since everyone didn't know what else what to do or say to reassure him that things would be okay, that Sungjong would be found and Sungyeol, if he had really done all of this, would pay. Myungsoo just shook his head and went ahead than the rest of them. I caused all of this. I'll tell boss, he said. There was no room for an argument or discussion on how to handle the problem. They let Myungsoo turn the keys into boss' house and step inside before them, and they let him walk into the living room, where boss' voice was loud and boisterous, deep and rich with astute power and low tolerance.

They kept their heads bowed as Myungsoo kept his straight ahead. He blinked.

"Sungyeol."

Everyone raised their heads as their tall friend slowly looked over to them in changed clothes and dark hair slicked back from the shower. He smiled tightly at them.

"Hey." was all he said.

Their boss' presence also didn't go unnoticed.

"Boys." The thin man smiled at them. "Congratulations on another mission well done."

"Wha--" Hoya began to say but Woohyun stomped his foot quick and hard.

"Stop disrespecting boss and interrupting him." Woohyun said aloud. He gave Hoya a befuddled, I'm Confused Just As You Are look and Hoya settled down, apologizing.

"I'm sorry, boss."

"It's no problem, not a problem at all. Tonight calls for celebration, hm? Sungyeol's told me all about how quick the mission was done. I'm proud of you boys really."

"Thank you boss." They said simultaneously and bowed humbly. He chuckled and waved a hand.

"Go get ready. We're gonna go for drinks, it's my treat. I left Sungyeol the address of the club and I'll meet you boys there."

Myungsoo did not go. Stomachache, Sunggyu told their boss when the rest of them arrived. He ate something bad. And their boss understood; he paid no mind, but then he asked for Sungyeol. He's taking care of Myungsoo, Hoya added. Their boss, again, understood and pushed them over some drinks. They were confused as hell, trying to understand this situation; it was surreal, very weird and troubling since no, they did not complete the mission and Sungyeol didn't do thing but cover and lie for them.They felt guilty and ashamed. Sunggyu however, didn't feel those feelings as strongly as his partners had. He still held his bold suspicions.

But by the next half-hour, they were all drunk anyway, not giving a single damn about anything.

MYUNGSOO

Sungjong, where the fuck are you...

Tell me this is a joke...

"Hi."

I felt the couch dip beside me and Sungyeol sat next to me carefully, like he didn't want to disturb me. That's funny; I didn't think looked like I was worried, but then again...he was probably thinking that I'm worried about boss and then also what I did to him, that I betrayed him. I closed my eyes and let a sigh escape my lips.

The television was off. I thought I turned it on.

"Hey yourself." I muttered.

"Boss thinks you guys completed the mission. I told him we delivered the kid to the other group."

His sudden shift in tone didn't leave me and yet I didn't do a thing about it. Didn't want to. I continued to sit there and have his warm body next to mine. I didn't know what to feel. Sungyeol covered for me. Sungyeol lied for me. Sungyeol didn't hurt Sungjong, Sungyeol was here with me, jealous probably, or still angry at me of what I did, or maybe both. He was here.

But Sungjong's missing, my mind kept repeating. Who has him? What happened? What was Sungjong going through right now?

"That kid is the one from high school, right?" Sungyeol sounded guarded.

I still didn't look at him. "Yeah."

"So...you guys are still seeing each other?"

I breathed in and exhaled loudly. "...Yep."

Sungyeol didn't give me anything other than utter silence for the next few minutes. Sunggyu was definitely right about one thing that I've kinda guessed myself a while ago: Sungyeol still liked me that way.

"What did boss say when you came ahead of us?" I asked.

"Nothing. I told him you guys went to get something to eat and I just came ahead to relay the details of the mission."

"He's going to kill us when he finds out."

"I wouldn't worry about it."

I blinked, looking over at him. "What do you mean?"

Sungyeol looked at me and then pressed on to stare, and I didn't understand what he was trying to tell me with those large, beady eyes of his. And then he sighed, looking down at his lap, smiling a little.

"I just have this feeling." he said.

It's there where I felt Sunggyu was probably right about some other things.

And that scared me.

Sungjong's apartment was really fancy. It had all the latest trendy furnitures, designs, arrangements and what not, but despite that I could still see the crafty touch he put into things. Like the bookcase that was now on the floor. It smelled like paint; he had painted it from it's mahogany brown to light yellow, his favorite color. Sungjong liked lemonade, and I guessed that was the reason why the color stuck to him. Up we go, I hauled up the bookcase.

I came back tonight for a reason God only knows. Sungjong wasn't here, so why was I? But I knew somewhere in my mind, I couldn't help coming back and seeing the place I would've came back to after the mission, the place where I was planning to move in to a couple of months from now, the place where I gave Sungjong some money to start up on, even though he kept giving it back to me. This was supposed to be our place.

And now it's ruined; it was no longer safe.

Everything was a mess, everything. His shoes were all scattered. All of his clothes were thrown out onto the floor and I took them into my hands and pressed them hard into my face, breathing Sungjong in. I think I was trying to make myself stronger somehow, that with his scent, I would find him and I would give the person who hurt him no mercy...but instead of thinking that over and over in my head, all I thought about was how Sungjong was probably already dead, probably, and here I was, sniffing his clothes and sobbing myself into an emotional thing.

I missed him so much. I missed having him by me, telling me things were going to be fine, not to worry (and no matter what, I still worried). I missed having him hug me from behind and whispering I love you's when he had nothing better to do. I missed him yelling at me when I threw him over the shoulder, commenting on how light he was (and he loved to hear that). I missed our meet ups at random places (the last time at his parents' place); we met at this bookstore near his favorite flower shop and bought nothing; we had skimmed through books and talked about them.

I miss holding his hand. I miss the way he stared at me when I couldn't stop staring at him. I just missed everything about him and it was only a day.

Maybe it was because I didn't know where he was. Maybe it was because it was like he moved to another country without telling me where and when he would come back.

I lay myself on his bed, the only untouched thing in the room. His pillow smelled like him. I also breathed it in, closing my eyes and inevitably, I was unable to stop myself from crying again. And then somehow, right after, I fell asleep. It was four in the morning when I woke up. Sungjong still wasn't back. The books were still on the floor and so was some soil.

I decided I should clean up the place. I ate some cereal first. He had my favorite: Frosted Flakes. I munched, drank the milk and washed the bowl. I went over to the linen closet to find something to dry my hands.

My throat hurt a lot all of the sudden...

My eyes showed nothing but blurry waves...

-

The place was still a mess when I left.

121029 - NARRATOR

The morning came by with the light gradient of blue and the chirps of birds outside. Sunggyu was awake first, he always was and it was six in the morning. He dragged his feet as he walked into the kitchen, eyes still droopy and sleep-ridden. Coffee was already set on the machine, bubbling with readiness and he glanced at it confusedly before looking over at the table.

Sungyeol looking out the window, "Good morning." he said.

Sunggyu stared at him. "Good morning. Why are you up so early?"

"Turn off the coffee please."

Sunggyu paused before complying.

"Dunno." Sungyeol shrugged. "I just can't sleep."

"Why?"

"Myungsoo didn't come back home last night."

Sunggyu walked over to one of their top cabinets and took out a cup. "Yeah, he does that sometimes." He let the faucet on and the cup wash by the water. "I'm sure he's fine."

Sungyeol suddenly turned to him. "You know where he is?"

Sunggyu smiled, sardonically and amused as he poured himself some coffee.

"Yeah."

"Where?"

"At his boyfriend's house." Sunggyu deadpanned. He stared at Sungyeol with hard eyes and a tense grip on his coffee.

"But you already know that."

Sungyeol went back to window, now crossing his arms. "I had a feeling he was."

"So what's the problem? If you knew he was there, why trouble yourself?"

"Because that kid isn't even there." Sungyeol muttered.

Sunggyu stiffened. "And how the fuck do you know that--"

The front door clicked open and the sound of keys ringed in the house. Myungsoo's low voice, I'm home, was heard from the hallway and before Sunggyu could continue any further, he appeared in the kitchen, nodding at them.

"Morning." he said.

His eyes looked bloodshot and his nose rubbed on a pinkish tint. Sunggyu stared at him for a moment, choosing to keep what Sungyeol had said to himself for the time being.

"Morning. Coffee's on the counter." he pointed.

"Thanks."

"Myungsoo." Sungyeol began, approaching a little worriedly. "You okay?"

Myungsoo brushed past him and headed straight to his room, not sparing him a glance. Sungyeol stood where he was and Sunggyu watched him before looking back down at this coffee. It was very hot and smoky. He lowered his head to take a sip, and when he was raised it back up, Sungyeol wasn't longer in the kitchen with him.

Myungsoo hadn't even stepped an inch inside his room when Sungyeol grabbed his wrist from behind and pushed him onto the adjacent wall. He was about to say something and looked like he was about to cry too, like he couldn't handle anything at that moment, and Myungsoo just stared at him as Sungyeol's labored breathing filled the silence. He raised a hand to the back of his hair and kept their eye contact. Sungyeol looked down at his lips and back to his eyes, searching, wondering, where was this going, what was going to happen, and then with simple push forward and craning of his neck, Myungsoo kissed him intensely, answering his thoughts. Their lips were dry and cracked, but then saliva coated them obscenely as they tongued each other slowly, panting as they pressed closer to each other. Just as quick as their lips met, Myungsoo pulled away.

"Do you forgive me?" he whispered.

"For what?" Sungyeol asked.

"Betraying you."

Sungyeol lowered his eyes. "I think so."

Myungsoo dropped his hand from his hair and exhaled. There was a moment.

He sidestepped Sungyeol and just as he was planning to do, went inside his room.

"I'll give you some more time to think about it then." he muttered.

Sungyeol stood again in place, staring after him. His eyes were dark.

"You think it was a good idea to leave Myungsoo alone with Sungyeol?" Sunggyu asked them as they sat at a restaurant, ordering kalbi. Dongwoo was checking his phone and Woohyun and Hoya at their menus for more food.

Woohyun answered. "Why not."

"You're honestly gonna to keep on with that Sungyeol kidnapped Sungjong thing?" Hoya raised a brow at him and then sighed. "Come on, let it go. I already feel bad enough."

"I still can't believe he covered for us." Dongwoo said. "I don't know what he said but whatever he did, boss bought it."

"We should lay off him, Sunggyu." Woohyun took his hand and squeezed it. "Okay?"

Sunggyu shook his hand off and glared at him before pursing his lips, leaning closer to the table.

"Well, that's nice and all that you guys are sticking up for him like good old pals, but I have news for you. Today, in the morning, you know Myungsoo came from Lee Sungjong's place, right?"

"Yeah." They nodded but still looked skeptical.

"Before he did though, Sungyeol was awake. In the kitchen. Before I was."

Woohyun already began to dismiss him. "Sungyeol never gets up that early, Sunggyu."

"He did today." Sunggyu insisted. "If you don't believe me, you can ask Myungsoo himself."

Woohyun's immediate silence edged him to continue.

"So, as shocked as all of you are right now, I asked him why was he awake. He told me he couldn't sleep, and then I asked him why again--"

"Give him some space, christ." Hoya frowned disapprovingly at him.

"Shut up, you don't know what I'm about to tell you, so please?" Sunggyu eyed him. Hoya nodded and Sunggyu sighed tiredly. "Thank you."

"Like I was saying, I asked him why again and he told me because he doesn't know where Myungsoo is, so I tell him, because he does need to be told by someone, that he's at his boyfriend's house and you know what he tells me?"

"What."

"I had a feeling he was."

Hoya opened his mouth again, but Dongwoo brings a hand to his chest, calming him down.

"And when he said that," Sunggyu brought his hands together and stared down thoughtfully at them. "I felt some mood change from him; it was just a really weird vibe he was throwing off. So, because he told me he had a feeling where

Myungsoo was, I asked him why would he wonder where he is. Why would he trouble himself like that?"

"Because he likes him." Woohyun cut in.

"No." Sunggyu said. "I mean yes, but no, he didn't say that. He said something entirely different; something that I was expecting and not expecting at the same time."

"Well then, what was it?"

Sunggyu leaned closer and lowered his voice. "He said, that kid wasn't even there."

Dongwoo leaned back into chair with a thud, stunned. Woohyun and Hoya exchanged shocked glances. Sunggyu watched them.

"Now I could be wrong," he said. "One of you could've told him about what happened and that could explain why he knew that."

"I didn't." Woohyun inclined. "I didn't tell him anything about it."

"Me either," Hoya said.

Dongwoo shook his head. "Did not..."

Sunggyu leaned back also, looking over the middle-aged waitress coming to their table. "That leaves Myungsoo. But then again he never says anything, so."

"I don't know what to say." Dongwoo muttered.

"You don't have to say anything. Let's get ready to eat."

When they left, a plan had been made and set with them. Sunggyu brought the idea of searching Sungyeol's room, hoping to possibly find anything that might incriminate him any further that could help Sunggyu prove to his partners that he wasn't making anything up, that this was real; Lee Sungyeol was responsible for all of this from the start to the finish.

This unwavering suspicion, of course, had not come about unfounded; Sunggyu had been watching Sungyeol over the years, just as he'd done with everyone else as this was what a leader of a group had to do. He had to know his partners inside and out, know their weaknesses and strengths so he could designate them to appropriate positions and proper planning. Woohyun was the first that said he wouldn't invade Sungyeol's room (in a mouthful of lettuce and kalbi) and then Dongwoo, but then, unexpectedly, Hoya stood differently; he agreed to it with him...however, with a little catch of his own.

"If we find nothing, do you promise to leave Sungyeol alone?" he asked him.

Sunggyu rolled his eyes; the idea of taking commands from someone who was younger than him...

"I don't." he said.

"You will."

"I won't. You can't tell me what I can or cannot do."

"Then I'll tell Sungyeol," Hoya edged. "I'll tell him everything about you suspecting him."

Sunggyu bit the inside of cheek.

"Fine. I'll drop it."

In the end, everyone followed Sunggyu's suit, or more correctly, Hoya's. The plan was done: tomorrow, they had to find a way to make Sungyeol leave the apartment for a while and search his room. If they couldn't do it tomorrow, it was settled for the day after, but either way, they were going to do it and it was going to follow through.

"You think that Sungjong kid is still alive?" Woohyun held Sunggyu's hand while they were in the backseat, Dongwoo driving, Hoya slumbering in a nap.

"I don't think so."

He slowly let his cheek rest on Woohyun's shoulder. "...Woohyun?"

"Yeah?"

"We really shouldn't be like this."

"There's nothing wrong with it."

"Yeah, there is."

"Hm."

There were many things about Sungyeol that no one would ever guess, and for all of this to happen now with Sungjong missing, the event was really was no surprise.

One particular thing Sunggyu had the knowledge of was that Sungyeol went out with a lot of guys, and nearly all of them had some slight resemblance to Myungsoo. No one noticed because Sungyeol never introduced them upfront; he was covert and precisely hidden about it, almost ashamed, but Sunggyu always somehow caught him intentionally or (in most cases) unintentionally, finding him leaving at two in the morning with the look-alike outside in the hallway, waiting for him.

121030 - NARRATOR

Myungsoo dragged Sungyeol out for a walk. It wasn't any hard, more than too easy really. Woohyun watched them leave as Sunggyu, Hoya and Dongwoo searched the room. Dongwoo was messy; he left pillows askew, bed sheets wrinkled and disheveled. Hoya was careful; he opened boxes and closets and closed them right back when his search proved unfruitful. And Sunggyu was meticulous; he slid out drawers and shuffled through things with a fine sense of judgement and precision.

In the end, they found the paper. The paper where Sungjong's address was written.

"You didn't leave it in the car." Sunggyu whispered to Myungsoo when he came back. He sneaked the paper into this hand as he walked past him.

Myungsoo's expression grew grim.

"I thought you didn't believe me." Sunggyu smirked at him. They were in his room, door locked, voices lowered and hushed.

Myungsoo kept on his stare. "I did. To some extent."

"And how much is there of this 'extent'?"

"A lot."

"Hm."

"I'm going to make him believe I like him." Myungsoo said. "Get his trust and all."

"Don't you have it already? Isn't he in love with you?"

"Yeah, but I'm not with him so technically, he doesn't trust me. I just have to be on the same page with him for him to do so."

"And letting him have his way with you would bring you to that? Sungyeol isn't stupid. Do you realize how long trust is built up?"

"A long time, I know, but I'm not talking about it that way."

"I don't get you, Myungsoo."

"I'm gonna drug him."

"Ah."

"And make him tell me everything."

"And how the hell will you manage to drug him in the first place? Needle?"

"A drink. Tea."

Sunggyu stared at him carefully before looking off to the window. Grey patches painted the sky. He began to nod slowly, understanding.

"Alright. Where will you be doing this and under what circumstances?"

Myungsoo stayed silent for a moment. "That. That I'll keep to myself."

Sunggyu didn't press. "Okay."

Rumble of thunder somewhere.

"I guess I already know what you're going to do to him when you find out what he did to Sungjong."

"You sound like you know what he did."

"I don't but it's obviously none too good."

"Then what'll you think I'll do?"

"You wouldn't know,  I think."

"I'll kill him." Myungsoo lowered his eyes. "I want to."

"No you don't." Sunggyu inclined.

"What do you know?"

"Everything." he said simply. "You won't kill your best friend no matter how much you try to. I know you, Myungsoo."

"I don't think you do."

"I'm sure I do."

"I'm going to do it."

Sunggyu stood up and closed the windows.

"It's going to rain. You better go and hurry up and do what you have to do. I'll tell them what's up in a bit. Think you'll have Sungyeol with you by then?"

Myungsoo stayed on the floor.

"I just don't understand why he did this."

Rain began to pit-pat the window.

MYUNGSOO

Sungyeol was above me, staring at me like he loved me. I couldn't do anything but stare back at him, feeling his own dick press against my hip, and with every inch closer he got to me, his face began to disappear in my line sight. I saw his collarbones, the birthmark on his neck and then, the familiar beige ceiling of his room.

I couldn't breathe.

I jerked against him. Wanted to run away. But then I remembered: I'm doing this for Sungjong. I'm going to find out what Sungyeol did to him. He did something, didn't he?

And then it was like I heard him, Sungjong, I mean. He was whispering in my head as my eyes drifted, as Sungyeol held the back of my thighs, hitching my legs over either sides of his shoulders...I heard Sungjong say to me:

Yes, Myungsoo. He did do something. Help me.

Sungyeol tore me; he wasn't thinking. The drugs I gave him threw away his judgement but I didn't think it'd throw away his feelings. It hurt a lot; I felt like I was burning and splitting into two, and I wondered if I was this rough to you, Sungjong. I probably was, but you never said anything; I guess I didn't know how to control myself when I had my world giving themselves to me. Maybe this was how Sungyeol and I were the same...but we're too different for me to imagine...

I blacked out only five minutes in. When I woke up, I thought it was because I lost too much blood or something, but it was just because the pain was too bad. Every time I moved, it was like he was in me again, deep and huge, breaking me, hurting me. It was there where I figured wow, Kim Myungsoo. You fucked up your own plan. You can't even move.

I didn't let the thought stick to me; I kept going. Sungyeol was awake, drowsy, but awake. Drugged, but awake, and I parted my lips, licked them because they were dry and said in a tired, scratchy voice:

"You were great."

And he smiled in this dreamy way. "So were you. Finally. Finally you belong to me."

"I do."

"Are you happy?" he asked me.

"The happiest person in the world." My ass felt like it had nails shoved in.

"I know. I knew he couldn't make you feel that way. Only I can."

"He?"

"That asswipe."

The second part of the plan creaked in at this moment.

"Oh, Sungjong? That dumb kid?"

Sungyeol's eyes glimmered. "Yeah." he grinned.

"I broke up with him after I told him about boss." I began. "Worst thing I'd ever done in my life, by the way: being with him and then protecting him." I tried to laugh. I sounded like an owl laughing. Owls don't laugh.

"I can't believe I never let you into my life, Sungyeol."

"I've always been in your life..."

"You're right."

"I love you, Myungsoo." his speech was beginning to get slow.

"I love you too. Hey, whatever happened to that dumb kid, anyway? You never told me."

"Oh." Sungyeol sounded like he did when he was five, not that I knew him since then but I figured this was how he would sound. "He was at this new apartment, remember...remember he gave you the address on this, um...what is that thing called...made from tree and stuff..."

"Paper."

"Yeah...I took it. Day of the mission...you were asleep." He laughed. "So cute! Myungsoo! You are cute when you sleep, did you know? I would've forgotten my plan if I kept staring at you."

Heavy. My stomach felt heavy. I sparked the corner of my lips into a smile.

"Yeah? Well, you're cute all the time."

"Oh, don't make me blushing."

"Don't make you blushing?"

"LEE SUNGJONG!" Sungyeol roared suddenly, eyes wide, frantic, excited. "Lee Sungjong, that kid...he was so, so scared when he saw me. He thought it was you knocking." He laughed again. "Ha-ha HA-HA! You--you were at his parents place, everyone was blaming youuu, while I was helping you."

"Good, so did'ya kill him?" I deserved best worst actor award.

"Nope." Sungyeol shook his head, scrunched eyebrows. "I sold him to pimps."

"Pimps?" Pimps.

"They came with me to get him...I promised them a good worker. They um, wanted to see for...themselves."

"So wait a minute. Sungyeol."

"Hm?"

"Did they request this mission?" I had a feeling I already knew my answer.

He grinned from ear to ear. "No, silly...that was me."

"Why didn't you kill him?"

"...He needed to suffer."

"For what?"

"Taking you...away from me."

That still didn't make sense. "But why not just kill him?"

"Made a deal with the pimps..."

Sungyeol was nearly knocked out in a drugged daze. This was the last answer he gave me.

"And where are they now, Sungyeol? Where do they live?"

He pointed at his dresser drowsily. "Address on the...thing made of tree..."

"Paper."

He nodded and look disgruntled. "No more questions, okay? I'm...tired..."

Sungyeol was unconscious.

Where was my gun?

MIDNIGHT - NARRATOR

The location of the hustler dealers were nearby. Sunggyu went ahead, Woohyun and Hoya behind him and Myungsoo trying his best to walk behind all three of them. He limped and stopped for a few moments, telling his partners to go ahead as they slowed their pace, looking back at him worriedly.

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, just keep going."

He walked on to reassure them. They complied and walked faster.

Dongwoo was left behind to watch Sungyeol. They handcuffed him on to the headboard of his bed, and while it was seemingly brutal for someone they had considered their partner and friend, the trust just wasn't there anymore.

Myungsoo attempted to shoot him. He was stopped.

"Later." Sunggyu said, "We'll find out what to do with Sungyeol, now we have to save your boyfriend."

And so they went.

The pimps were easy enough to bring down when they got there. Most of them (there were five) were surprisingly asleep and they had caught them by surprise. One was killed because he pulled out his gun and the others were knocked out cold on the floor. Girls were screaming and scampering out of the house in their flashy, see-through nightdresses and Hoya, at one point, blushed, helping one who fell to the ground clumsily.

"She looks like--" Woohyun began.

"Dongwoo." Sunggyu surmised.

The girl looked at all of them bewilderingly.

Hoya cleared his throat. "Where's Myungsoo?"

Sunggyu looked behind him at a place of the house they haven't entered, another room. The door was decorated with a bright curtain and christmas lights.

"There." he said.

MYUNGSOO

The room smelt like sex.

He was on a dirty mattress, drooling and jibbering something I couldn't understand. His long hair was a mess unlike how he'd always had it. Clumpy and unwashed. Sungjong was in women's clothing. A black skirt above his thighs, a loose tank top over his chest. I felt my throat close and choke me and my heart thud hard, almost painfully in me. I grabbed him and pulled him up, hugging him tightly, as I felt my eyes burn and water. I didn't want to let him go. He wasn't going to leave me again. I hauled him up and he muttered my name, weak, dehydrated; his glassy eyes trying to focus and the lips I used to kiss, an ashen gray.

How much did they drug him?

"Myun...Myungsoo?" he breathed.

"I'm getting you out of here." I tried to keep a steady tone and smile despite all the happenings around me but my voice came out gargled. "You're--you're coming home."

His eyes fluttered and he tried touch my hair.

"You came..."

I nodded and hugged him tighter. "We're leaving, okay?"

But my legs gave away the second I began to walk. The pain Sungyeol left me with limited my actions by a great, wide measure; that feeling of being torn had again spiked up my spine, I had trouble breathing, I had trouble walking, my vision shook and blurred and along with all those things-- I was letting Sungjong down.

And then I blacked out again.

The last thing I remember was Sungjong's drool on my jacket. He kept muttering something but I didn't know what it was.

It sounded like my name.

When I woke up, I was in the hospital.

Sungjong was beside my bed. In his own. He was sleeping.

None of my partners were around.

"Hey."

I groggily looked onto the doorway. It was Hoya. He looked horrible.

"Hi..." I said (croaked). "Where...where's everyone? And why are me and Sungjong here?"

He walked over, hands in pockets and face down.

"Lee Sungjong has a broken arm and leg. He's going to speaking to a psychiatrist when he wakes up. For some reason, he isn't."

"Why?"

"I think it's trauma with everything that's happened to him, but Doctor didn't say anything."

"And me? Why am I here?"

Hoya raised his head at me. "I think you already know."

"I don't, that's why I'm asking."

"Try moving around then. See then if you can remember."

I didn't move, but I remembered.

"Where's everyone?" I asked again.

It was like I asked the question he didn't want to hear.

"Everyone's at Dongwoo's room."

I was confused. "At home? What about Sungyeol? Who's watching 'im?"

Hoya slowly met my eyes, and I saw something like regret, something like he didn't want to talk to me about, or just didn't want to mention altogether.

"Dongwoo was shot three times. By Sungyeol. He's alive, but under intensive care...he just came out of surgery..."

Hoya's words drifted into a hum as white noise shrieked in my ears.

"And where is he?"

Hoya immediately brought his hands to my chest, shaking his head.

"Myungsoo--"

"Answer my question!"

"You won't like it--"

"Tell me!"

"He's gone." Sunggyu muttered from the doorway.

We snapped our heads at him and he looked back at us, eyes edged with tiredness.

"Nobody knows where he is."

"What do you mean?" I couldn't believe it.

"Myungsoo." Sunggyu stared at me. "Rest."

"But--"

He left.

Hoya's shoulders dropped and he sighed distressedly, moving away from me.

"Boss. He--he kicked us out. We didn't even get beaten. We got thrown away. He called Sunggyu earlier and told us to never come back."

"Who told him about all of this?"

"Who else."

I breathed in and I breathed back out.

I never realized how much I wanted to kill someone until then.

DONGWOO

The hospital staff were very nice. They kept asking me if I needed anything, to just ring the button beside my bed and they'd be there. I haven't used it yet.

My doctor told me I was really strong to be awake now, a couple of hours after surgery. I replenished stamina easily, according to him, however, I should still be at least drowsy since I lost a lot of blood. I didn't feel drowsy too much but I did feel tired a little. My eyes wouldn't close though.

Sunggyu wanted me to rest a lot more. I want to know how Myungsoo was and his boyfriend. Did everything turned out okay. Were they safe?

Everyone was so nice but they didn't tell me anything.

"Where's Hoya?" I asked.

"Dongwoo. Sleep." Woohyun shook his head.

Hoya didn't come to see me. I didn't think anything happened to him. I didn't know why he wasn't here with me.

"Will I ever walk again?" I asked him when he finally sat on the seat to my bed.

He stared at the IVs needled in my arms and didn't say anything for a couple of seconds. I had pretended I was asleep.

"Dongwoo." he began, slow. "You...you should rest."

130615 - WOOHYUN

I was the one who went ahead and found Myungsoo on the floor, Lee Sungjong close to his chest. They both looked like they were dead.

I was the one who went home after Sunggyu and Hoya took them to the hospital, and found Dongwoo shaking in his dark pool of blood. I was the one who took him to the hospital.

I was the one the read Sungyeol's note: You found him, but you won't ever find me. And that was all I said. I showed it to Myungsoo and he took it and put it in his pocket.

I was the one that comforted Sunggyu when he just finished speaking to boss for the last time. I wanted to hold him but he didn't let me.

I was the one who eventually told Dongwoo he couldn't walk anymore, before the Doctor's did. I figured Dongwoo needed his friends to tell him that. He cried. I cried too, and I know Hoya was doing it somewhere, probably the men's bathroom.

I was the one who told Myungsoo that he should let Sungjong go. Sungjong woke up a couple of days later, long after Myungsoo was discharged. He was under therapy and constant hospital watch. Myungsoo and I went together to visit him. Sungjong ignored Myungsoo the whole time and it went on like that for days. Myungsoo didn't give up. I told him to after our last visit. It's been a month now. Myungsoo has given up.

I was the one Hoya told that he was moving back to his parent's place. I was the one who wished him luck, because no one else knew, and I think no one else cared.

I was the one that packed my clothes and left our place too, Sunggyu watching me as I waved him goodbye. Dongwoo rolled beside him, arms slack near around the wheels. They watched me leave together.

I was the one that thought to myself, two months now, on my way to my new flat, in the train, that they made a good couple.

I was the one that came back another month later to our home. No one lived there anymore.

"We didn't fail boss." I remember telling Sunggyu as we scrubbed and cleaned Dongwoo's blood off the floor that day.

"We all failed each other."

And he scrubbed harder, telling me to "shut up," and "keep scrubbing".

Today, I'm back again to our old place. It's been months and it looks kind of the same, but I could tell it's being inhabited. It's surprising when I go up and knock and Sungyeol is there, opening the door.

"Oh." he says.

"Everyone hates you." I say. "Why are you here?"

"I'm waiting for Myungsoo."

Sungyeol's hair is longer. He looks almost exactly as he did in high school. The piercings are missing.

"Myungsoo?"

"Have you seen him?"

"I haven't seen him in ages. Did you know that you put Dongwoo in a wheelchair? He can't walk. Ever."

Sungyeol leans heavily against the doorframe. "I did what I had to do."

"Shooting your friend so he can't ever walk again? Is that what you had to do?"

"Wasn't my intention."

"What makes you think Myungsoo will come back here? To you?"

"There's something called hope."

I pity him. "Sungyeol, ever heard of moving the fuck on?"

"You're the one to talk. Why are you here? Who were you expecting to open the door? Sunggyu?"

"A family." I was expecting Sunggyu.

"It was good seeing you."

Sungyeol slams the door in my face.

I wish it'd been Sunggyu.

I get to the train station and I'm about to go back home when I see Myungsoo and his boyfriend Sungjong, holding hands and buying tickets at the ticket booth. They're laughing, excited about something (their trip maybe) and they have this warm glow a couple usually has. No one is looking at them funny. I am looking at them funny.

I wanted to call them out and wave.

But I went home instead.

end.