Seungri cringed as he had received the terrible news. Daesung and Youngbae will be absolutely pissed and he could kiss his paycheck goodbye. Seungri held his head low as he walked into their "shared" apartment, preparing himself for what was to come. "Oh God." He mumbled under his breath, obviously panicked.

"21 days?! You managed to get your car impounded for 21 more days?" Daesung had yelled in pure anger, eyebrows furrowed and his arms crossed over his chest. Seungri shrunk back against the wall as the other went on about how irresponsible he was and how hard this has all been, Seungri could handle all of that. But...there was an eerie feeling travelling throughout his body as he noticed Youngbae hadn't even given him a reaction, no frowns or no looks of anger. Youngbae was just staring at him with a blank expression. He was sure he was going to be dead by the end of the night, a truly pissed of boss was no joke and he was just going to have to say his prayers. 

Suddenly, Youngbae burst into a fit and began to smack the curled up and yelping Seungri with his balled fists. "You idiot, we are barely making a living! Do you know how stressed I've become recently, it's only been a week and I swear my hair is thinning! We don't have time to do this, we are going to starve to death if the three of us continue to live in this tiny apartment! I'm only one man and now I have to basically provide for the both of you! I'm not a mom, I can't do this anymore!" His voice had began to deteriorate as his anger dissolved into hot tears, his hands coming down on Seungri's curled form much slower and more gentle as his strength left him, along with his rage. 

Daesung stared on, his eyes wide and his jaw slack, as Youngbae broke down in front of Seungri. His head bowed down as sobs shook his frame, he hated to cry in front of others but his emotions just piled up and now they were flowing out for them to see. He never felt so vulnerable.  

Seungri's head had lifted at the sound of Youngbae's cries, watching the man let everything out complete silence. The stress of it all, the pain of his work hours, the loneliness of having no one to talk to, the unsettling feeling of letting a man he didn't even know into his house - it was all coming out. Seungri was too focused on the dropout that he didn't notice that his boss had barely been holding onto sanity. 
Seungri couldn't find words to say, nothing to say that could comfort him. So, he just crawled a bit closer and engulfed the man in his hold, for a second, he felt as if he was holding down much needed supplies on a rocking boat, the storm raging on as they were on sea. 

Eventually, the sea had calmed and all was silent. 
He spoke up hesitantly, the man still tight in his hold. "Hey, we'll be all right. I'll try get another job, maybe at that convenient store just around the corner of the pizza shop. Daesung - surely, Daesung can find a job and he can help with the pay." Seungri's voice was worn out, weak and brittle. But his words held hope, and that was enough for Daesung to begin feeling lighter than before. 

Youngbae was scurrying to pull himself together, to give any sort of response, to show that he was okay but the best he could manage was a small nod of his head.

Seungri had basically clinged by Youngbae's side the next day, keeping his arm locked with his as the trudged around the mall and various other places as Seungri handed out his resumes with a cheerful grin on his face. He wasn't the type to give up, Daesung and Youngbae could see that like a beacon of light shining right over his head. 

A few unfamiliar employees had managed the shop for that day as the three boys were out, Daesung and Seungri handing out there resumes. Getting a job wasn't going to be easy for Daesung considering he was a dropout, but he wouldn't let that stop him from trying to get some cash. After last night, he knew how badly he needed to do this. Not only for Youngbae's sanity, but for Seungri's sake too. Especially Seungri. He might never confess to anyone, but the blonde haired boy had managed to sneak a spot for himself in Daesung's unforgiving heart, and maybe he might've brought Youngbae along too. He had grown attached to the two, but he was having a tough time coming to terms with it. He was hoping that hanging out with the two wouldn't become routine but it had, I mean - who else is there for him other than them? 

So he watched from afar as Seungri clung to Youngbae's arm with that happy smile on his face that never seemed to fade. Yes, Seungri was indeed the metaphorical glue that was holding them all together. The boy didn't seem to notice the admiring gazes they had both sent to him when he wasn't watching, when he was off talking about whatever with that stupid and goofy look on his face. A look that said "I don't have a worry in the world." Daesung was mad at him for that, mad at him for being so careless but still have more heart than anyone. Maybe Daesung wasn't mad, maybe he was just jealous cause he wanted Seungri's light for himself. Maybe. 

A few weeks pass and no calls had come in for the boys, Youngbae's patience was wearing thin but Seungri just wouldn't let up. "Boss, surely we just need to go around to a different part of town-"
"I can't drive you guys to your jobs everyday, I can't drive you around in the middle of my work shifts when yours ends. Kid, maybe we should just send that boy to some sort of home and you should just go to some online high school and graduate. Go into a college and live bigger dreams than this." 

Daesung had bit at his bottom lip as he listened from inside the room, ear pressed against the thin wall. Youngbae would just throw him out like that? He should've known, every regret this past week was coming out in the form of tears as they blurred his vision. He thought he was finally starting to belong, he thought he was getting along with the two - instead it was just only ever Youngbae and Seungri. There was no room for him in this apartment, and he was sure of it. 

"How can you even say that? Daesung has been trying, how can you even consider kicking him out? He's a good kid, good enough. He's having a hard enough time as it is, we can't just ditch him." 
"He'd be better off, we'd only bring him up to our level and that's pretty low."
"He'd be alone, he's our friend. How can you be so careless-" Seungri's words were cut short as Daesung appeared out of the bedroom with his eyes puffy and wet. 
"I get it, I'm not needed here. Youngbae's right, I don't belong here and you don't have to keep me here just because you feel bad for me. I'm not some idiot who can't do things on their own, I'll do just fine without you guys. I'll take my things and leave tomorrow morning."
"Daesung." Seungri hastily got up as the student had made his way to the door, grabbing at his shoulders in an attempt to get him to stay. "Please don't go, we need you here! I need you here, Youngbae is just stressed - he doesn't mean it!" He could feel everything collapsing around him, his dreams of living with his two best friends. The panic in his voice swallowing up his words until they deteriorated into whimpers. "Daesung, please..." 

Seungri had begged as he continued to weakly tug at the boy's shoulders, trying his best to hold him back from the door. Tears flooding his eyes, trailing down his cheeks. God, he didn't want this. He wanted Daesung and Youngbae to be happy, to be happy with him. He wanted the three of him to live together happily, he just wanted them to be happy. Happiness, where the hell was it? Seungri was beginning to wonder. When Daesung managed to free himself from his weak grasps, he completely broke at the door and was a sobbing mess. He was always smiling, because he thought he could just roll with the punches but he was being beaten down. Seungri was always smiling, for them - because he knew that made them feel better despite the ty situation they were all in. Now he was breaking because his mask was beginning to tear, and no one but him was smiling anymore. And even he couldn keep it up forever. What happened to the happiness that once consumed his life? Where did all that colour go? Seungri wondered.

(comments really make me want to continue writing so if you could possibly leave some? all are appreciated and read. sorry for the angst and the late update, but  yeah. anyway i hope you enjoyed.)