Never Online ch. 20

[saengiephile]

Title: Never Online
Chapter: 20/?
Pairing: JungMin/KyuJong
Rating: R overall
Warning: AU, violence, angst
Summary: As part of the security detail for the online game known as Never, two officers encounter a group of elite hackers that seem intent on destroying the game, and it's their job to stop them.
A/N: RP with yeonah. Crossover with Super Junior, U-Kiss and Epik High



JungMin lost track of time as they watched TV, only realizing it had been a while when he heard the front door opening and loud voices coming through from the entry way. "Looks like they're back," he chuckled softly, brushing his fingers over KyuJong's cheek. "You didn't fall asleep did you?"

"Nope," KyuJong murmured. Then he seemed to realize something, tilting his head to blink up at JungMin with wide eyes. "...I should have put on my sunglasses." He could hear a higher-pitched voice among those of his friends, which must belong to Kevin.

"You want me to go grab them for you? Where are they?" JungMin asked. While he had no problem with KyuJong's eyes, he knew it might be unsettling for others and he didn't want KyuJong being uncomfortable with that.

About to say where they were, KyuJong heard the voices come into the main room and buried his face against JungMin's thigh instead.

RyeoWook smiled at the nervous-looking teen standing between HyunJoong and Daniel. The blonde hair from Never was gone, replaced with a slightly shorter brown-black mix.

"Hey guys, this is SungHyun," Daniel introduced.

JungMin inclined his head a little since he couldn't get up to greet the kid. "Hi SungHyun, this is RyeoWook, I'm JungMin, and this shy one here is KyuJong," JungMin introduced them all, patting KyuJong's shoulder.

"You'll meet the other two when they're awake, come on, let's show you the set up we've got," HyunJoong said, turning to go out of the room.

Waiting until he could hear the group going down the stairs, KyuJong sighed and sat up again, brushing his hair out of his face. "Going to get those sunglasses, I'll be right back. Are you guys going downstairs too?" He leaned forward slightly to kiss JungMin's cheek before standing up.

"Yeah, might as well," JungMin shrugged. "I'll go with you to get those sunglasses," he said, getting up as well, following KyuJong along.

KyuJong smiled at him before turning and headed towards the front door. He stopped at the closet, opening it and feeling around on the shelf above the coat rack until he found his sunglasses. He sighed a little as he slipped them over his eyes, closing the door. "This is just for now, let's go?" he found JungMin's hand.

"Yeah, let's go," JungMin nodded, squeezing KyuJong's hand. "How long would have kept up the act that you could see before you told me?" he asked, steering them towards the stairs.

"Not sure...probably for a few days until you were more comfortable around us," KyuJong shrugged, following him. He could hear RyeoWook going down the stairs ahead of them.

"I'm not comfortable with the idea of you having to hide who you are, but I understand," JungMin said, watching the older man out of the corner of his eye. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, HyunJoong was still showing Kevin around, but stopped when he saw KyuJong.

"Hey, Kyu? We need to get SungHyun a station, you think there'll be enough room down here to do that?" he asked, frowning a little at the space they had.

KyuJong frowned lightly, doing mental calculations. "It'll be a little crowded...we might have to move some of the cabinets into storage and set him up where they are now. There should be a few plugs in that corner."

Daniel checked where he was talking about. "Yeah, we could set something up here. And set up the wires running along the edge of the wall so no one trips on them."

"Isn't it just easier to work from home?" SungHyun asked, blinking.

"It's really better if you're here, there's a lot of running around and last minute assignments," Daniel chuckled.

"You kind of end up living here," HyunJoong said. "Just don't move anything or Kyu will yell at you."

"He won't yell, but he will pout," JungMin corrected, glancing at KyuJong with a smile.

"He will," HyunJoong chuckled. "Okay, so Daniel and HyungJoon will work on getting you a station set up, should be up in a couple of days. I'm sure you and KyuJong will want to compare notes about things, while the rest of us do what we always do."

"Yes, I'm kidnapping you for a bit," KyuJong laughed after he nudged JungMin for the comment. Squeezing the younger man's hand, he stepped away and headed towards his station, tapping the screen to bring it out of standby. SungHyun followed after him curiously.

"Did you find out anything while we were gone, Kyu?" Daniel asked, hands linked behind his head.

"No, still nothing," KyuJong shook his head.

"Not unexpected, we'll just have to wait for KiBum to let us know where the next piece is," HyunJoong said with a sigh. "This one could take a while, he doesn't have any idea where it is, and I think it's frustrating him a little that he hasn't caught sight of it yet."

"Well that's a lot of code to go through for just one person," JungMin said. "It could be on any server in the world right? That's a lot of code to go through."

"It's KiBum's specialty, he goes through code at a rate none of us would be able to keep up with," Daniel chuckled. "If there's something hidden in the code, it won't take him too long to find it."

"Is he here too?" SungHyun looked back at them.

"No, he doesn't live around here," Daniel's lips curled slightly.

"Are we ever going to meet him?" JungMin asked, getting a small headshake from HyungJoon.

"No, probably not, and it's for the best too," the brother said. "Are YoungSaeng and JongWoon still asleep?"

Confused at the responses they were getting, RyeoWook nodded slightly. "Yeah, they're out cold."

"Then they'll probably be out until dinner," Daniel said, shrugging as he watched KyuJong and SungHyun go over different hacks and tricks. "Even though they might have been over-exaggerating how bad uploading to themselves is, it's definitely not comfortable."

"I don't envy them," JungMin said softly, shaking his head. "So what are going to do since these two will be talking for hours and the other two sleeping for just as long?"

"Movie?" HyunJoong suggested, eyebrows up.

"... Okay, but you're not picking it," HyungJoon said, giving HyunJoong a look.

"Fine, Daniel can pick this time," HyunJoong said, beaming over at the older man.

"Me? Okay okay," Daniel chuckled. "Everyone upstairs. You all good down here, Kyu?"

"Yeah, we're fine," KyuJong waved them away absently, intent on whatever they were talking about.

Heading upstairs, RyeoWook looked back over his shoulder and saw Daniel whisper something in HyunJoong's ear before following them up with a half-smirk.

HyunJoong stopped on the stairs, looking at Daniel's back with a pout. "I wasn't even thinking that!" he protested, looking at JungMin. "I really wasn't. He thinks so little of me."

Seeing as JungMin had no idea what he was talking about, he just blinked. "Er.. uhh... sorry?"

"You and I need to have talk later Daniel!" HyunJoong huffed.

Daniel just laughed, stepping out onto the landing and following RyeoWook into the main room to pick out a movie.

The house settled down for a few hours as everyone watched the movie. KyuJong and SungHyun stayed downstairs the entire time, only coming up when the movie was just about done. Daniel scooted out of KyuJong's usual spot so that the blind man wouldn't have to awkwardly search around for a seat when he was trying to conceal his blindness from the newest addition to their group.

Looking at the time as the movie ended, RyeoWook asked KyuJong for permission before going to start cooking dinner. It wasn't as if any of the others wanted to cook, and YoungSaeng needed his sleep. Getting a nice dinner of galbi ready for them after looking through the fridge to see what was available, he hummed quietly to himself as he cooked.

Daniel came in when he was just about done. "How goes?" he asked, refilling his cup with the coffee that he always seemed to be brewing. The man lived on coffee it looked like.

"Just about done," RyeoWook said, looking back at him. "Could you just watch over this for a minute while I wake up YoungSaeng and JongWoon hyungdeul?"

"Sure," Daniel chuckled, leaning against the counter. "I'm not a disaster in the kitchen like the others."

Smiling, RyeoWook slipped out of the kitchen and listened to the laughter and talking in the main room as he headed upstairs. JongWoon was easy enough to wake up, though he whined a lot until RyeoWook told him he'd made galbi. That and the smell from the kitchen was enough to get him up and on his way downstairs.

Stopping outside of YoungSaeng's door, RyeoWook drew in a slow breath before cracking the door open and peeking in. "...YoungSaeng hyung?"

"Hm?" YoungSaeng made a soft sound, opening his eyes to look towards the door before rolling over and burying himself back into his blankets. He'd slept well enough, but the sounds from the lower level had reached a point that had finally woken him up.

Seeing YoungSaeng roll over again, RyeoWook sighed and felt his lips curl into a small smile before he opened the door a little wider, stepping in. "Hyung, it's dinner time. Did you sleep okay?" He padded slowly over to the bed.

"I guess so," YoungSaeng responded sleepily, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand. "Did you all order out then? What is that I smell?"

"Galbi," RyeoWook smiled a little. "KyuJong said it was okay for me to cook..." He stayed back away from the bed in case he needed to dodge a thrown object.

"You cooked... all by yourself?" YoungSaeng frowned a little at that. "Well not much I can do about it now," he said, sitting up and patting down his hair with his hand. "Yet you came to wake me up? Why not send HyungJoon?"

"I...just like doing things myself I guess," RyeoWook shrugged a little, covering for the fact that he'd partly wanted to wake YoungSaeng up himself, even if he had gotten something shot at him again. "I'll see you downstairs then?" he headed back towards the door now that his mission was complete.

"Wait," YoungSaeng said, holding out his hand to RyeoWook. "Can we... talk for a second? I feel I owe you an apology."

Blinking in confusion, RyeoWook turned back towards the bed. "...What for?" He hesitantly stepped closer.

"I think I said something I didn't mean earlier, before I fell asleep," YoungSaeng said, motioning him even closer. "About you wanting everyone to like you... I didn't mean it in such a negative way."

The younger man stepped up to the edge of the bed. "It's fine, hyung...it didn't bother me. And I think everyone wants to be liked at least a little."

YoungSaeng looked up at RyeoWook, his eyes still heavy from sleep. "I haven't been very... appropriate towards you lately. I don't know why you can be so nice to me after what I've done. I am truly sorry."

RyeoWook smiled down at him, shaking his head a little. "No need to be...but thank you. It means a lot." And it did mean a lot to hear the apology.

"RyeoWook... can we be friends?" YoungSaeng asked softly, looking down at his hands that were clasped together. "I know what I said before, that I had no room for more... but I think... well I was wrong. I want to be friends."

Looking at the older man's face, RyeoWook's own broke out into a wide smile. "...Of course we can be friends, hyung," he said quietly, feeling happier than he had in a while.

YoungSaeng looked up at him, a small smile growing on his lips before he ducked his head down again. "Thank you... I know I'm not the easiest person to get along with, and I can't promise I won't throw things, but I'll try."

Like with every smile RyeoWook saw on the older man's lips, it was just as amazing as in the picture with Mir. "I'm getting good at dodging," he chuckled sheepishly, looking down at him. "Want to come down for dinner now, hyung?"

"Okay, and you don't have to call me hyung if we're going to be friends," YoungSaeng said, throwing the blankets off of him and getting to his feet. "You can call me by my name, I'm not going to think you're rude."

RyeoWook turned a light pink at that, seeming stuck for a moment on the idea of calling someone by their name only before nodding, smile widening. "Okay hy-...YoungSaeng." He stepped away from the bed so that YoungSaeng could move, going to the door.

Chuckling softly, YoungSaeng looked into his dresser mirror, quickly running his hands through his hair to try to get it to stay down. "I don't think anyone would mind if you called them by their names in this house, we're not that formal around here." Giving up on his hair, he following RyeoWook to the door and out into the hall, closing the door after him.

"Habit," RyeoWook said sheepishly, waiting for YoungSaeng to join him before heading down the hallway and the stairs. He could hear the others were slowly (and loudly) making their way to the table. Slipping past them, he thanked Daniel and started putting everything onto plates, the galbi going onto a plate in the center of the table along with the kimchi and other side dishes. Daniel helped him pass out the rice bowls for everyone.

YoungSaeng took his seat next to KyuJong as usual, noting that JungMin was already filling up the man's plate. He had to smile at that, and admit that they were kind of cute together, and KyuJong seemed happy. What he didn't notice was HyungJoon, looking between RyeoWook, his jaw clenching slightly and looking down at his plate.

"So looks like we've got a new cook in the house," HyunJoong said, eyeing the galbi with interest. "Careful RyeoWook, you'll put YoungSaeng out of a job."

RyeoWook flushed slightly. "Th-that wasn't my intention." He sat down once everything was on the table. SungHyun looked a little awkward sitting between Daniel and JungMin, obviously not expecting to be invited for dinner too.

As usual, JongWoon hadn't bothered waiting for the others to fill up their plates. "Tastes good!"

"It does," YoungSaeng admitted, giving RyeoWook a small smile. "I'm still not going to let you in my kitchen without supervision again though."

"He's so possessive, isn't he?" HyunJoong laughed, stuffing some rice in his mouth.

Returning YoungSaeng's smile, RyeoWook chuckled at HyunJoong's comment and started eating.

"He has reason to be, with the disaster you all keep on turning the kitchen into," KyuJong chuckled, trying some of the soybean sprout salad. "The house was smelling like smoke for weeks."

"Hey, that was not our fault," HyungJoon protested. "We had no idea that flour could explode like that."

"Well now you do, and it's a good thing you didn't leave Kyu all by himself in the house when the oven caught fire," HyunJoong said.

"I think I would have figured out to leave when I smelled the smoke," KyuJong pouted a little. "The oven was totaled after that though."

Daniel chuckled. "I'm allowed into the kitchen without YoungSaeng following me."

"Because if he were to follow you every single time you decided to start another pot of coffee, he'd be in the kitchen all day," JongWoon laughed.

"As long as he remembers to turn off the coffee pot from now on, I have no problems with him in the kitchen," YoungSaeng remarked, continuing to eat. "And it would be a nice change of pace for someone else to cook once in a while. I've been cooking for over ten years now, someone else gets a turn."

"I have no problems with it," RyeoWook smiled, enjoying cooking. They had a very nice kitchen too, much better than the small one at the apartment.

"That's settled then, we have two cooks," HyunJoong declared, looking around with a lopsided smile.

"So then what's his role?" HyungJoon pointed at JungMin.

"I'll.... take care of Kyu?" JungMin said, blinking a little. "Do I have to have a role? What's your role?"

"I'm the mood maker," HyungJoon said matter of factly.

"That isn't a role," Daniel snorted. "And how are you the mood maker?"

"He keeps everyone happy," JongWoon grinned. "That's how."

"You quit siding with him on everything," Daniel flicked a piece of rice at him.

"Hey, don't flick rice at him," HyungJoon pouted, spooning some of the salad up and flinging it at him.

"Is it possible to have a meal without food ending up flying through the air?" HyunJoong asked, watching the flung salad miss Daniel completely and fly over KyuJong's shoulder. "Your aim sucks anyway Joon, try not to hit Kyu."

"...Was that what that was?" KyuJong had felt something go over his shoulder.

"Clean up on aisle ten," Daniel snorted, smirking at HyungJoon in amusement.

"...Does this happen all the time?" SungHyun asked JungMin quietly, though he was looking at KyuJong in confusion at the lack of reaction to nearly being hit.

"So I'm told, just keep your head down, easier that way," JungMin chuckled.

"Now that you've met everyone and seen what we do SungHyun, we want you coming by every day so we can keep an eye on you," HyunJoong said, his tone serious. "It's not that we don't trust you, because we don't, it's just easier this way."

SungHyun blinked at him and nodded. "Okay...that shouldn't be a problem. I'll be going back to school in a month though."

"We'll arrange something when that time comes then," KyuJong smiled. "Think you'll be able to get here without your parents asking any questions?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine," SungHyun replied.

"Obviously we shouldn't need to tell you to keep everything you see here to yourself, and not bring any friends with you or anything," HyunJoong said, finishing off his plate.

"I don't think he's an idiot, Hyun," YoungSaeng said, glancing at SungHyun. "You're not an idiot right?"

SungHyun laughed at that, shaking his head. "No, I'm not. Or I'd like to think I'm not. Please don't think ill of me just because I'm young."

"Ten years younger," Daniel sniffed.

"Old man," JongWoon teased, and got another piece of rice shot at him.

"Because you're so much younger," YoungSaeng snorted, rolling his eyes at JongWoon. "You're not that much younger than most of us. Your age is not the problem."

"No, frankly we're a little impressed," HyunJoong said, leaning back in his chair. "Someone your age doing what you can do, almost got Kyu beat."

"KyuJong hyung is still leagues ahead of me," SungHyun flushed.

"Certainly impressed me with those freeze commands," KyuJong laughed. "And now that he's agreed to show me how it's done, the rest of you can learn a new trick too. Might come in handy if we're not quick enough in getting away."

"Never too old to learn something new, right Daniel?" HyunJoong said loftily, poking at him with his chopstick.

"Is it possible to go a moment without flirting with Daniel?" YoungSaeng asked, giving HyunJoong a look.

"Nope, not until he relents," HyunJoong said.

"Should have set your sights lower," YoungSaeng shook his head, continuing to eat.

"Too bad he already tried you then," HyungJoon said, stabbing at his plate.

"What's that supposed to mean?" YoungSaeng's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Can't get any lower than you," HyungJoon met YoungSaeng's gaze for half a second before he was scrambling out of seat and running from the room, YoungSaeng's plate hitting HyungJoon's empty chair.

KyuJong flinched at the loud crash, both hands over his ears. That...wasn't good.

Daniel had already stood up. "HyungJoon, get back here and apologize." JongWoon took one wide-eyed look at them before getting up and running out after the younger man.

Swallowing thickly, RyeoWook looked at YoungSaeng, not sure what to say. What had that been about?

YoungSaeng shook with anger as he sat back down, glaring at the doorway HyungJoon had run from. "I'm going to kill him."

"I warned you," HyunJoong said quietly, hands folded together on the table. "This is exactly why I told you not to get involved with him. What'd you do to piss him off?"

"Nothing, he was fine earlier," YoungSaeng snapped. "He should have known full well what he was getting in to, and what he just said was uncalled for, so don't give me that."

RyeoWook blinked in confusion, looking from YoungSaeng to HyunJoong. YoungSaeng and HyungJoon were involved? "...Are you dating HyungJoon, hyung?" he asked quietly.

KyuJong gave a silent sigh, poking at his plate before setting his chopsticks down. SungHyun, from his silence, was still shellshocked by what had just happened.

YoungSaeng didn't respond to RyeoWook's question right away, taking a steadying breath. "No, we're not dating," he said quietly.

"Just sleeping together," HyunJoong supplied, his eyes still on YoungSaeng.

"We're not sleeping together anymore, he turned me down the last time and hasn't talked to me since," YoungSaeng said, leaning back in his chair. "So why he's pissed at me now I have no idea what the hell's going on."

"We'll let him cool down, then ask," Daniel sighed, eyeing his chair. "In the meantime, we have more of a mess to clean up."

KyuJong remained silent, head bowed. He had an idea why HyungJoon was upset, but it wasn't a good idea to say it.

"You okay?" JungMin whispered, rubbing KyuJong's back. HyunJoong was helping Daniel clean up, luckily the plate hadn't broken, but there was still food over everything.

"Yeah," KyuJong murmured, nodding slightly as he leaned against JungMin a little. "Those two should have never gotten involved," he whispered back lowly so only JungMin could hear.

Not sure what to think about this new information, RyeoWook swallowed thickly to get rid of the ache in his chest before turning to YoungSaeng. "You...you okay, hyung?"

YoungSaeng glanced at RyeoWook, his expression unreadable. "I'm fine," he whispered, biting on the inside of his cheek and looking away. "I thought I asked you to call me by my name."

Getting up from his chair, HyunJoong came around next to KyuJong, leaning down to talk softly to him. "I want to talk to Saeng and Joon in the same room, will you come with me to help keep Saeng calm?" he asked.

Tilting his head towards HyunJoong, KyuJong frowned a little before nodding slowly. "Okay," he whispered. "Just be careful hyung." Both of them were on hairpin tempers right now. "JongWoon's probably trying to calm Joon down now, might want to give him a moment."

"I...Sorry," RyeoWook winced a little at the slip. "Habit."

YoungSaeng didn't reply to RyeoWook, his eyes fixing on a point across the table. He hadn't meant to get that angry, but HyungJoon's words had cut him right to the core. He hadn't thought the younger capable of hurting him so.

When Daniel had finished cleaning up the mess, HyunJoong squeezed KyuJong's shoulder and started towards the hallway. "Come on Saeng, let's go talk to HyungJoon and figure out what this was all about, though I have an idea." YoungSaeng rose steadily to his feet, following HyunJoong to the hallway and going to the stairs while HyunJoong waited for KyuJong.

Getting up, KyuJong gave an apologetic smile in SungHyun's direction. "Sorry about this, it's not usually this explosive around here." Well it had been as of late, but he'd seen YoungSaeng gradually improving, hoping he would continue to do so. Taking a breath, KyuJong hugged JungMin lightly before following after HyunJoong and YoungSaeng. "Where is he?"

"Probably in one of the guest rooms," HyunJoong said softly, following YoungSaeng towards the stairs. He was right, and HyungJoon was in the room across from KyuJong's, curled up on the bed with JongWoon trying to comfort him. He noticeably stiffened when YoungSaeng came into the room, glaring at everyone that came in. "Joon, we should all talk. JongWoon, can you leave us for a second?"

"No! I want him to stay," HyungJoon said immediately, grabbing JongWoon's arm and holding him tightly.

Flailing a little with his free arm when he lost balance, JongWoon bit his lower lip and looked up at them as he stayed right beside the younger man.

"He can stay if you want him to," KyuJong said softly, seeing no problem with it if it made HyungJoon feel better. He stepped into the room completely, closing the door once they were all in and leaning against the wall from the side.

"Yeah, fine," HyunJoong shrugged. "Alright, so what was that all about HyungJoon?"

"I don't want to talk about it," HyungJoon said, glaring at YoungSaeng.

"Okay... Saeng? You have any idea what he's so upset about?" HyunJoong asked, already getting irritated.

"I have no idea, he's the one that declined," YoungSaeng said, arms crossed and leaning against the wall.

"You're something else, you know that?" HyungJoon snorted, glaring at YoungSaeng. "I was trying to give you space because that's what Kyu said you needed. What's the first thing you do? Latch on to the next available person."

YoungSaeng opened his mouth to protest but HyunJoong cut him off, looking towards KyuJong. "You talked to HyungJoon about what was going on between them, Kyu?"

KyuJong sighed softly, nodding. "I did. Someone was going to have to say something sooner or later, what's going on wasn't doing anything other than hurt them both." It was hard to say what they'd spoken about without giving away HyungJoon's interest in YoungSaeng; that wasn't something for him to say.

JongWoon looked between them, chewing on his lower lip before whispering something in HyungJoon's ear.

HyungJoon looked away from KyuJong up at JongWoon, his eyes wide. "No, I'm not going to tell them that," he whispered back, shaking his head.

"Tell us what?" HyunJoong frowned. "Look Joon, there's obviously something wrong here, and we need to work this out if we want to get any work done. I can't have YoungSaeng throwing plates at your head all the time."

HyungJoon slumped a little, looking at JongWoon with wide pitiful eyes before he looked back down. "Saeng... I was going to tell you, I just didn't know how, and you're still hurting since Mir died... but I love you. I've loved you for years and I thought now... now I had my chance with you," he sniffled a little, rubbing at his eyes. "But then soon as I turn my back you're sleeping with RyeoWook!"

"I am not sleeping with anyone!" YoungSaeng said immediately, trying to process what HyungJoon had just said before that.

KyuJong's shoulders slumped slightly. There was no telling how things were going to play out now. "He's not sleeping with RyeoWook, Joon. And RyeoWook gets things thrown at him just as often as Hyun does."

JongWoon rubbed HyungJoon's back slowly, watching YoungSaeng with wide eyes. He didn't say anything, just watching the younger man's expression as he shifted a little closer to HyungJoon.

"Did you even care about me, at all?" HyungJoon asked quietly, the tears brimming in his eyes.

Head bowed, YoungSaeng didn't even know how to reply, or what to say to HyungJoon. This had become a far bigger mess than he had ever intended it to be. "As a friend, Joon... nothing more."

"I know you don't want to hear it Saeng, but your actions have consequences, and you deliberately hurt HyungJoon with what happened," HyunJoong said, watching the two of them.

"I didn't... I never meant to hurt you," YoungSaeng shook his head, looking at HyungJoon. "I'm sorry."

Lip trembling, HyungJoon turned away from YoungSaeng, burying his nose in JongWoon's collar.

JongWoon wordlessly wrapped his arms around the younger man, one hand lightly supporting the back of HyungJoon's head and resting his own against the other man's hair.

Saddened, KyuJong reached out and touched HyunJoong's sleeve lightly, nodding towards the door. They should leave HyungJoon to grieve in peace.

Nodding, HyunJoong motioned for YoungSaeng to go first, following behind with KyuJong and closing the door. Out in the hall, HyunJoong frowned a little at YoungSaeng. "This is what I wanted to avoid Saeng, you broke his heart."

"Excuse me for not being more sympathetic Hyun," YoungSaeng sneered, pulling his arm from HyunJoong's hold. "He's not the only one who's hurting. I made a bad choice, I realize this. But don't you dare tell me that his pain is worse than mine."

"It shouldn't be a competition on whose pain is greater," KyuJong shook his head, walking past them. "Especially between friends."

"I never said it was a competition," YoungSaeng said, scowling at KyuJong's back. "Not everyone can have your fairytale romance Kyu, even if it is a farce."

"Cut it out Saeng," HyunJoong pushed YoungSaeng's shoulder to keep him from following after KyuJong. "Don't take this out on Kyu."

KyuJong paused, hands clenching slightly. "I don't care what you think about my relationship, and I'm not arguing with you." Instead of going back downstairs, he went into his room and closed the door.

HyunJoong breathed deeply, running a hand through his hair. "This isn't over Saeng, you and I are going to talk again."

"Looking forward to it," YoungSaeng sneered, going down the stairs. Shaking his head slightly, HyunJoong stepped over to KyuJong's door, tapping on it lightly.

"It's me Kyu, can I come in?"

There was a moment of silence before the door cracked open, KyuJong opening it further once he heard the footsteps fading at the bottom of the stairs. "...This is a big mess."

"It is," HyunJoong agreed, stepping inside and shutting the door. "I would say YoungSaeng didn't mean what he said to you, but we both know how he is. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," KyuJong said, leaning against the wall. "I'm more worried about Joon...I tried to warn him to stop sleeping with Saeng if it was hurting him, that Saeng's not ready to be with someone else, but talking with him didn't seem to help."

"Joon can be just as hardheaded as Saeng sometimes," HyunJoong said, pacing in small circles around KyuJong's room. "I tried to tell him as well, that it was a bad idea, but he said he'd be fine. I didn't realize just how much he liked YoungSaeng though. I didn't expect he would get so jealous. Do you know what's going on with YoungSaeng and RyeoWook? Is there more to it than YoungSaeng's saying?"

KyuJong bit the inside of his cheek, eyes closed. "Well...JungMin thinks RyeoWook likes YoungSaeng, even if he is denying it. And YoungSaeng is definitely happy around RyeoWook, happier than usual anyways. They stayed in the same room before, though I'm sure nothing happened."

"Stayed in the same room? As in overnight?" HyunJoong frowned a little at that. "Well, we'll keep an eye on them I guess. Saeng's a mess right now, and even if he does seem happier, he's obviously not in his right mind. It could be a while until we find the next piece, so we can give him the time he needs now to grieve for Mir." Sighing, he stepped up to KyuJong, putting his hands on the man's shoulders. "You know I try not to get involved in your relationships Kyu, but I want you to be careful when it comes to JungMin."

Swallowing, KyuJong nodded his head and covered HyunJoong's hands with his own. "I will be, hyung. I'm happy with him...he makes me feel like being blind doesn't matter." He gave a shaky smile. "It isn't a farce, no matter what YoungSaeng says it is."

"I'm glad you're happy, you deserve it more than anyone I know," HyunJoong said with a soft smile, leaning forward to kiss KyuJong's forehead.

There was another soft tap on the door, JungMin opening the door and poking his head in. "Kyu? Oh... hey..." he blinked at how close KyuJong and HyunJoong were.

"I'll leave you two alone, and go try and have another chat with YoungSaeng," HyunJoong said, squeezing KyuJong's shoulders before letting go and leaving the room.

"Good luck," KyuJong said as HyunJoong left, before smiling and stepping towards where he'd heard JungMin's voice. "How're things downstairs? Everything settling down?"

"Well YoungSaeng came down in a huff and left, not sure where he went," JungMin said, meeting KyuJong half-way and putting his arms around the man's waist. "Haven't seen the others, RyeoWook went after Saeng and Daniel took SungHyun home. I had nothing else to do."

KyuJong leaned against JungMin, eyes still closed as he breathed in slowly. This was real, no matter what YoungSaeng thought.

"Things aren't much better up here, I'm afraid," he sighed softly, resting his head against JungMin's shoulder and kissing his neck softly. "Saeng isn't ready for another relationship, Min. He's nowhere near ready. It just came out that HyungJoon's in love with him, and was jealous of RyeoWook...YoungSaeng turned him down and while it was expected, it still hurt Joon. Another broken heart."

"Ouch," JungMin winced slightly, tightening his grip on KyuJong, resting his head against the side of KyuJong's. "I feel bad for him, both of them really, and now RyeoWook's in the middle of it. Such a mess... but that doesn't explain why you're in here and why it looked like HyunJoong was consoling you."

KyuJong chuckled tiredly. "Don't worry about that. YoungSaeng tends to lash out when he's upset." He ran his hand slowly along JungMin's back, nose buried in the younger man's neck.

"What did he say?" JungMin asked. "I will worry if he's upsetting you."

The older man didn't lift his head up, eyes remaining closed. "He made a passing comment about our relationship being a farce. He's not in his right mind right now, I didn't take it to heart."

"But it upset you," JungMin said softly, running his hand up and down KyuJong's back. "And don't tell me it didn't, otherwise you wouldn't have hid in your room. You do worry about what he thinks, don't you."

The older man's lips curled a little. "He's like a brother to me, of course I do. I just needed a moment, then I was going to come back out." He kissed JungMin's neck softly again. "Sorry for worrying you."

"It's okay, I'm not used to worrying about someone else yet, but it's actually kind of nice," JungMin chuckled, eyes closing at the kisses. "So what now?"

"Now, we should probably go downstairs," KyuJong sighed. "HyunJoong's talk with YoungSaeng probably isn't going to go very well." He reluctantly pulled away a little, eyes opening.

"If he finds him, YoungSaeng was heading out the door when I came up," JungMin said, glancing towards the door. "Not sure where he would go, can YoungSaeng even drive?"

"He can drive, but he doesn't have a car. He would have had to kidnap one of the others." KyuJong trailed one hand down JungMin's arm until he could twine their fingers together loosely, stepping towards the door. "If he did take a car, RyeoWook's probably back downstairs."

"Unless he made RyeoWook drive," JungMin said, though he doubted the younger man would have gone along with that willingly.

"Guess we better check if any of the cars are missing then," KyuJong sighed, heading out into the hallway and down the stairs.