continued.

♥

Myungsoo was missing again. Only this time, everybody knew. Classes were cancelled for the day and all buildings but the dormitories were closed. Teachers were patrolling every inch of the campus, lookin for a sign of the boy. Naturally, these extreme measures were reserved only for the son of the Chairman.

Woohyun burst into Sungyeol's dorm, muttering angrily to himself and throwing the blankets off the tall boy.

"Up, up, up! Get dressed, we're leaving campus in five minutes."

Sungyeol blinked the sleep from his eyes. "Who–? Oh, it's you."

"Get your out of bed."

"A perfect start to my morning, your face waking me up."

Woohyun leaned in close, "Listen, Myungsoo's gone missing again and if we don't find him by the end of the day, there's going to be a whole lotta people in deep . Now get dressed and let's go."

At the entrance, the security guards had been given orders that the school was on lockdown. Nobody got in and nobody got out unless they were Myungsoo himself.

"What now, genius?" Sungyeol jeered.

"Don't worry, I've made prior arrangements." Woohyun walks right up to the guards and starts chatting with them. "Afternoon, officers."

"Now's not a good time, mister Nam. Run along, will you?"

"I heard Kim Myungsoo is missing. I just thought you might like to know a little something."

The office squinted suspiciously at him. "Spit it out, Nam."

"In a school as ancient as ours, there's lots of secrets hidden behind the walls, wouldn't you say?"

"On with it."

"If you insist. Once Myungsoo mentioned a secret passage in the library. Behind the big shelf of classic literature and history textbooks. I'd imagine it's quite a task to move the bookcase, but I'm sure he'd have his own ways of getting about it. It's quite suspicious nobody saw him leaving the grounds, what with guards stationed here 24 hours."

"In the library, you say?"

"Yessir. It'll take quite a few people to move the shelf. Of course, I wouldn't mind staying here and guarding the gates while you two go take a look."

The officers exchanged a glance and the tiniest of nods. "You're a good boy, Nam. I'm counting on you."

"Anytime, officers."

When they had disappeared out of sight, Woohyun grabbed Sungyeol's arm and scanned the area before yanking him past the gates and off the school grounds. "Pick up the pace, Lee."

"Wait, is that real? About the passages?"

"Hell no. The fools are desperate by now, they would've believed nearly anything."

Sungyeol snickered. "I didn't know you were capable of lying like that."

"I'm risking a lot right now, I hope you know that."

At the train station Woohyun refused to let go of Sungyeol's arm.

"Hey, people are staring. They're gonna think we're like that."

"Are you not?"

Sungyeol bit his tongue. "Shut up, Nam. The train's here."

They rode through Seoul in silence. Sungyeol elbowed Woohyun when they reached their stop. As they walked along the sidewalk, he spoke. "Do you know why he ran away?"

Woohyun hesitated, "Beats me."

Sungyeol caught on immediately. He whirled around to face the other, "What did you do?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Just now you paused for a second. What did you do to piss him off?"

Woohyun grit his teeth. "It's none of your concern."

"Alright, I'm going back." Sungyeol started walking back towards the station.

Woohyun caught his arm. "I sent a picture to his dad."

He turned with furrowed brows. "A picture?"

"A picture."

"Of?"

"You and him."

"Me and him doing what?"

"Kissing."

Sungyeol froze. "You sent a picture of us – me and Myungsoo – kissing, to Myungsoo's father."

"That's what I did."

"You– ing bastard!" Sungyeol swung his fist at Woohyun, striking him in the jaw. He could feel his eyes stinging as he walked briskly away, leaving Woohyun standing there in his shock.

"Hey, wait!" He snapped out of it, chasing after the tall boy.

"Don't you think you've done enough?!" Sungyeol shoved him away. "You knew what would happen! You're ing sick!"

"Of course I had to do it! Did you think I would just stand back and let him throw his future out the window for some boy from the boondocks?!"

He couldn't control the tears. "I–" Sungyeol took a shaky breath. "Give me one last day with him."

Woohyun pursed his lips, wincing at the stinging sensation left by Sungyeol's hit.

"Please, just one day. They're going to keep us apart after this, you know? We should have a chance to say goodbye." He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.

"I can't do that, Lee."

Sungyeol gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, tried to calm down. "Nam, you're taking a lot away from us right now. I have the guys to look after me, but Myungsoo has nobody but me."

"Pretty conceited of you to say that, don't you think?"

"Pull your head out of your for one second and listen to the words coming out of my mouth. Myungsoo doesn't trust people. He doesn't trust his parents because they don't give a damn about what he wants. He doesn't trust people at school because they're afraid of who he is. He doesn't trust you because you pull like this.

"Do you know why I'm the only one who can find him when he goes missing like this? Because he trusts me. He talks to me like he hasn't had company in decades. He tells me everything that he can't tell anybody else because they won't want to listen. They won't accept him. And if you want to take that away from him, then congratulations, you've brought him back to square one."

Woohyun was at a loss for words. "Sungyeol, I... you know I'm trying to do what's best for him, right?"

He was met with silence.

"There wasn't a better way. I'm trying to cut things off before you get too attached."

"Yeah, good job on that."

"You know what kind of lives we live. We're heirs. We can't afford screw-ups or scandals. We can't let our families fall. Society doesn't treat homouals kindly. If the word got out his father's company would be boycotted. They'd be bankrupt within a month. That's the power of the consumers. Our lives revolve around keeping our hands clean, and right now, Myungsoo can't be putting it all on the line for you."

Sungyeol looked down. "I'm not retarded. I knew it couldn't last forever. It just," he laughed cynically, throwing his head backwards to stare at the sky, "It seems so ing sad, now that it's actually happening."

"Wait– what are you– , I don't– I'm not–" Woohyun's hands hovered awkwardly at his sides. Sungyeol had his forehead rested on the other's shoulder, hot tears hitting the sidewalk.

"Comfort me, you bastard. You took my first love away from me."

Woohyun raised a hand and rested it on Sungyeol's head, stiffening when his silent tears turned to sobs. "I'm sorry." He brought both arms up and wrapped them around the tall boy's neck. "I'm sorry, Sungyeol," he repeated.

In that moment, with Sungyeol's tears soaking through his shirt and his sobs resonating through Woohyun's body, he wondered if Myungsoo was crying just as bad. He felt even more guilt wash over him, and before he could even stop to consider the words about to come out of his mouth, he had already spoken.

"You get one day. Just one day."

♥

By the time Sungyeol arrived at the river, his tears were practically dried and he was out of breath from running all the way there.

Myungsoo whipped his head around, smiling lightly when he saw Sungyeol. "Took you long enough."

"Campus declared state of emergency thanks to you."

"Hey, wait..." he leaned closer to Sungyeol, looking puzzled. "Have you been crying?"

"I know what happened, Myung. Woohyun told me."

The boy's eyes widened. "Woohyun told you? How does he know?!"

Sungyeol frowned. "Woohyun took the photo."

"Woohyun took the pho– Woohyun took the photo?"

"They didn't tell you?"

"They don't tell me anything." He pulled his legs to his chest. "But I should've known, God, I'm so stupid! Who else would've done it?!" He ripped handfuls of grass from the ground, tossing them uselessly towards the river.

"Myung, hey. There was no way you could've known." Sungyeol moved closer so they were sitting shoulder to shoulder.

"And that's what pisses me off so much! That I didn't even see this coming! I had a plan, you know? A plan for us. Everything was gonna work out."

"Yeah? Tell me all about it."

"They were going to find out eventually. That part was unavoidable." Myungsoo laid his head in Sungyeol's lap. "But that wasn't supposed to happen until later on, when I was ready. I didn't want that part to happen until graduation. At the banquet, the girl they'd arranged as my date wouldn't show up. I would've already bribed her out of it. I would act as if you were my date, subtly of course, but my parents would catch on. They're not dumb people, but they care too much about image, so they wouldn't make a fuss. Still, we'd only be eighteen then.

"I'd likely be forced to study abroad, and you'd likely be accepted to both Korean and international universities on scholarship. But you'd stay in Korea, close to your family."

Sungyeol huffed in amusement. "You know me too well."

"We know each other too well."

"Yeah, you're right. But continue, I want to know where this is going."

"You'd stay in Korea. I'd purchase a cellphone for you, so that we could contact each other in secret. My father would have somebody keeping an eye on me, another Woohyun, but he'd probably be doing it for the money.

"Regardless, I would be receiving training to prepare me to take over the firm. I would convince my father to allow me to operate a new branch on my own with the excuse of proving my capability. Naturally, I've learned enough about the world of business, and I would see success. I'd be recieving a large sum of the income as the founder of it, and anybody stupid enough to try to tamper with my earnings would face trial in a court that my family owns. I'd hire workers to handle business, but ultimately, I'd still hold control. The law firm would go to my brother, Moonsoo. He already resents the fact that I'm the heir as it is now.

"As for you and I, with our educations we could easily pursue any careers we'd ever dream of. We could settle down. That was the plan."

Sungyeol opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, at a loss for words. Myungsoo was willing to give up everything for him. His entire future down the drain for a boy he'd met less than a year ago. The words spilled out of his mouth, "You idiot! You have the entire world ahead of you, and you'd risk that for me?! What would happen when you stopped loving me? Tell me!"

Myungsoo grabbed Sungyeol's hand before it could strike him. "Hey, listen! The reason I've thought about this so much, decided it was worth it, was all because I'm confident that I will never stop loving you."

"Then what would happen when I stopped loving you?"

"It's not when. It's if. And if that infinitely small chance became a reality, then I'd have to let you go. But look me in the eye right now and tell me, Lee Sungyeol, because I know that you know the answer. Will you ever stop loving me?"

He bit his lip, choked back his tears, and surrendered the battle within himself.

"I won't."

♥

♥

♥

present.

A tall businessman stands on the stuffed train, staring down at his phone and tapping his foot impatiently. He is nothing special in a crowd of so many others like himself, except for the fact that he's much younger than the typical salary man, and he has a blinding grin set on his face. He steps off the train at an unusual location: the heart of Seoul's red-light district.

On the platform a handsome man in a suit greets him. To strangers passing by, it would appear they are meeting for business. A strange place to do so, but nonetheless, what else could two white-collar workers be meeting for?

The shorter man speaks first, "You really came."

"Of course, I've only made you wait for seven years."

He cracks a smile, dimples making him appear far younger than he his. "Come on, let's go get ready."

Myungsoo leads Sungyeol to a small, clean motel. To call it cramped would be generous, but it's maintained well enough to get the OK from the health department. Their room is on the third floor, a queen-sized bed dressed in white sheets and enough floor space to comfortably house a hamster. Myungsoo slides open the door to the closet and pulls out two garment bags.

"I hope you haven't grown since high school," he hands one to Sungyeol.

"No, but it seems you've caught up a little."

"Two inches." He's surprised that he noticed, but it brings a sense of relief that they haven't lost much in the years they spent apart.

Sungyeol begins to his shirt. "Where are we going, by the way?"

"It's a surprise."

"You haven't changed a bit."

"I mean,"

"Yeah?"

"I'm taller."

"I can't handle you."

"Maybe not, but can you at least love me?"

"Oh my God, Myungsoo."

Sungyeol finds himself clad in a simple black button up and pants (which he should have expected considering Myungsoo was the one who picked the outfit), entering a hole in the wall and nodding to a well-built security guard.

"Hey, Myung, what is this place?"

He pauses and looks at the other.

"What? Are you going to answer me?"

Myungsoo snaps out of it and continues to walk down the dimly lit corridor. "It's nothing, I just... I missed hearing you call me that."

It's then that Sungyeol begins to feel a gentle buzzing from the floor. The door at the end of the corridor is guarded by yet another security guard, and opens to pounding music and a million flashing lights.

"It's a night club! You brought me to a night club!" he shouts.

"You don't like it?"

"I love it! I've never been to a nightclub before, they're mostly for celebrities!"

The club is packed full of young men and women dancing their hearts out. A waitress wearing a skirt that barely covers, well, anything, offers them strange red drinks in tall glasses. Sungyeol is ready to decline, but Myungsoo takes two and passes one to him.

"Relax, it's not like you have work tomorrow."

He takes a wary sip and makes a face as the strong alcohol leaves a trail of fire down his throat. Still, he continues to drink until he can feel his senses calming and his muscles losing all tension. He turns to Myungsoo, who immediately snickers and reaches out to pat his pink cheeks.

"Hey, Myung. I wanna dance. Let's go dance."

"Okay."

Sungyeol practically hauls Myungsoo into the crowd, and it suddenly feels as though not even a second has passed between them. It's just Sungyeol dancing with Myungsoo, and Myungsoo dancing with Sungyeol. No complications. No worries. Nothing but the two of them, together, taking back their stolen time.