Sunlight was spilling into the room, and everything was warm, warm, warm – just the way Yoongi liked to wake up.  

But his head was throbbing slightly. Weird. What was that from? Everything was rather hazy and the world was still coming into focus and -  

"Damn it!" Yoongi cursed suddenly, as his consciousness settled back in completely and the memories of Twiggy and the head injury came rushing back. He must have passed out again after being carried away. Stupid, stupid – what kind of special police operative meets his target and then passes out immediately? And speaking of the target, where was Hoseok? 

That question was answered by a sharp peal of laughter. "Ha! It seems my guest has woken up," a voice said. Yoongi pushed himself up slightly on the pillow behind him to see Hoseok emerging from a trapdoor set into the wooden floorboards of the room, the light all around him made dim by the smile on his face. "But it also seems as if my guest doesn't have the cleanest mouth. Tut, tut." The words were said in a teasing tone, but they recalled memories of Yoongi's mother saying something similar when she'd found a curse word once, a long time ago, on one of the many pages full of lyrics he'd left scattered around his room. His throat felt tighter all of a sudden. 

"What is this place?" Yoongi switched topics completely. He was lying in a single bed, rumpled sheets all about, in a small-ish room. Light was streaming in through a large, circular stained glass window on his left, and the trapdoor seemed to be the only exit. The only object in the room besides the bed was a simple wooden chair to the right of the trapdoor, a messy pile of clothes shoved on top of it. It gave the impression of impermanence somehow, something temporary – the small number of possessions in the mostly empty room. Then there were the dust motes floating gently, visible in the sunbeam. This place seemed to be making an effort to look lived in, and the result was only mildly successful.  

"This is home," Hoseok said, pulling the trapdoor closed behind him and straightening up to face Yoongi. "Or at least, this is as close to a home as I've got." 

"You live here?" Yoongi asked skeptically, casting another glance around the small space. It definitely didn't say "home" to him. But then again, his upbringing had likely been completely different from this boy's. Their concepts of home were probably pretty far apart from each other. 

"Well, you don't seem too impressed, but yeah," Hoseok's hand had wandered up to his head, making a ruffling motion with his hair. His hair looked so fluffy. How was it so fluffy, living in a place like this? "This is the best I've found in Area One. It's the attic of an old church," he explained.  

That accounted for the stained-glass window, at least – but still it was an unexpected statement. "A church?!" Yoongi peered up at Hoseok in surprise.  

"Mm-hmm. Actually there's still a priest living downstairs here, and occasional other religious types that hang around. But there are no services held here anymore, so it's pretty quiet. The priest knows I'm here, but no one else. And he's definitely not the type to talk," Hoseok laughed.  

Yoongi looked around the small room with renewed interest. He had never really associated religious people with the lower Areas – it was a commonly-held belief in the upper Areas that morals and the like didn't really exist in those derelict communities. Of course it made perfect sense that there would be churches, temples, and other places of worship left over in those areas left over from Old Seoul, but he'd never really thought about it before. And it was even stranger that this old church was occupied, however sparsely. If Area Ten was the sacred land, populated by those who had been chosen by God, then it would only make sense for Area One to be the opposite – the place that God had abandoned entirely. 

"But anyway, onto the real business," Hoseok said, snapping Yoongi out of his musings. He straightened himself up and pushed the bedsheets out of the way, readying himself for what was about to come – Hoseok had been oddly kind and friendly to him so far, but he was, after all, a Zero targeted by the government. He couldn't be all sunshine and roses. 

"Why did you bring me here?" Yoongi blurted out before Hoseok could say anything else. 

"Well, first of all, to rescue you of course," Hoseok quirked an eyebrow up as he looked down at Yoongi. "That was quite the stunt you pulled there, falling asleep in an alleyway and then getting beaten up by Twiggy and his gang. Not the smartest thing I've ever seen." 

Yoongi couldn't help the red he felt flooding into his cheeks. His face burned. "I was... not careful," he admitted, cursing himself inwardly.  

"You were a ," Hoseok stated frankly. All of the anger Yoongi had been feeling toward himself a moment ago suddenly redirected to Hoseok. A ?! "But luckily, I was looking out for you. I had heard rumours that someone was asking around about me, and I had to investigate. And I could tell that obviously you aren't from around here – else you wouldn't have been snooping around in the first place. Curiousity is a dangerous thing here, kitty, and poking your nose into things you don't know anything about could easily get you killed. Actually, you're lucky it was only Twiggy you had a run-in with. He's obnoxious, yeah, and definitely a bully – but he's stupid, and not that dangerous in the grand scheme of things." 

Yoongi didn't at all enjoy feeling so patronised by this – this criminal! But nonetheless, he had definitely been stupid in his roaming around asking questions. He just felt so woefully unprepared – the textbook training he had received had nothing to do with the reality of things in Area One. He felt lost.  

"You're right, I'm not from here," Yoongi conceded. "And I don't really know how things work. I just knew that I had to find you." 

"You're naïve," Hoseok agreed, "but at least it's cute." 

Yoongi felt his face threatening to turn red again.  

"But anyway, here's the real question – why did you need to find me?" Hoseok's eyes were wide, intent. He had moved closer to the bed and now sat down on the edge of it, never breaking eye contact with Yoongi.  

"You're a Zero," Yoongi said, and Hoseok's gaze seemed to sharpen even further, piercing now. Yoongi took a deep breath then, and turned himself to the side. Even though he was no longer meeting Hoseok's eyes, he could feel them still, boring into him with intensity. He grabbed the edges of his shirt then and lifted it up over his head, wincing as a twinge of pain from his injuries hit him. He heard Hoseok's breath intake sharply as he saw the tattoo printed across Yoongi's side. "Just like me." 

Hoseok's expression was stunned. Despite his usual wordiness, he seemed unable to think of anything to say for a moment. "There's another," he said finally, his voice souding much softer than usual. There was disbelief in his voice, but something else too – something almost akin to awe. He didn't seem able to help himself – he lifted his hand and traced the tattoo on Yoongi's skin with his fingers, lightly and almost reverently. Yoongi tried his best to ignore the shivery, tingling sensation that came with the feeling of Hoseok touching his skin.  

This reaction wasn't what he expected from Hoseok, but it was certainly telling of just how lonely he'd been. Yoongi recalled the feeling of seeing the zero stamped on his skin – but in his case, the shock and horror had been quickly extinguished by his conversation with Cheon Seungho and his acceptance into the police force. In Hoseok's case, that shock and horror must have never gone away, and he'd been doomed to wander the streets of Area One alone – an outcast, afraid of the mark on his own skin, which he could never erase. A rush of pity hit Yoongi, but at the same moment, he knew exactly which cards he would have to play in this game with Hoseok. He'd found a point of weakness. 

"I needed to find you because I was terrified," Yoongi said, breaking the silence of the moment. "When they stamped the number on me – I – I just didn't know what to do. I've never felt so lost in my whole life." 

Hoseok's finger had stilled against his skin, and his eyes were now meeting Yoongi's again, clear sorrow and empathy reflected there. It was apparent that what Yoongi was saying resonated strongly with him.  

"I'm originally from Area Eight, you know," Yoongi continued, and the truth felt somehow dirty on his tongue when mixed up with all of this lying and pretending. It wasn't as though Yoongi had any problem with being a liar – especially when it was for the sake of the government and the good of the people. But something about the way Hoseok was looking at him made it difficult.  

Hoseok let out a low whistle. "Area Eight, huh? No wonder you're lost and confused here, kitty. This must be pretty different from what you're used to," he said, and Yoongi nodded earnestly. "Wow, I feel like I should offer you tea and scones or something," Hoseok laughed. "Would you have to drink the tea with your pinky up?" 

Yoongi let his lips curl up in a half-smile. "No, I'm not quite that fancy," he replied. "Maybe that's what they do in Area Nine." Hoseok smiled at the retort. "But anyway, you're right about how strange it is for me to be here. It's like nothing I've ever known, and nothing I'd ever expected to see. I didn't know what else to do but just wander around, looking for some sign that there was another Zero out there. And I heard whispers of your name." 

Hoseok's hand finally slid away from Yoongi' side in surprise. "I thought they all thought I was a ghost," he frowned.  

"They do," Yoongi nodded, "but I didn't. When I heard the stories of a boy who was a ghost, a living legend, who'd been famous in the streets but disappeared on his numbering day – I thought you must be a Zero, too." 

Hoseok smirked at that. "Pretty big gamble to take, I'd say. You had no evidence I was a Zero, and yet you got yourself injured trying to find me, and then exposed yourself as Zero to me without any prompting. I don't know if I admire your tenacity, or think you're a complete moron." 

Yoongi shrugged, letting the insult slide off him this time. "Call it intuition. I just felt it somehow, in my bones, that you were what I was looking for. I heard your name so many times it felt like the universe was leading me to you," he said, before realising how strange and corny that sounded. Hoseok's eyebrows went up again, obviously amused by that last statement. So Yoongi added hastily, "Plus, I was desperate. You were the only lead I had that looked promising, and I guess I put all my faith in you. Maybe I was going a little insane." 

"Well, somehow, you were right," Hoseok replied, "against all odds, you were right." He lifted up his shirt then just as Yoongi had, tossing it over his head. Yoongi swallowed as he stared at the zero printed there on Hoseok's tan, tan skin – on his magnificent physique... he wanted to reach out and touch the number, just as Hoseok had done to him, but something about that felt dangerous. He drew both hands into his lap. The thought that they were both sitting there half- on a bed, in the attic of a church, struck him and made him feel very, very odd. This most certainly wasn't how he'd expected his first real conversation with his target to turn out.  

"Thank you for saving me," Yoongi said then, clearing his throat. He pulled his shirt back on, and Hoseok followed suit.  

"Of course," Hoseok replied with a grin. "Better I save your dumb than you end up as Twiggy's punching bag. And thank you-" but here he stopped himself, and stood up from the bed.  

"Thank me? For what?" Yoongi prompted, getting up and arranging all the bedsheets back into place.  

Hoseok shook his head. "Nah, it's nothing. Are you hungry?" 

The painful hollowness in Yoongi's stomach suddenly seemed to hurt all the more. "Yeah," he replied excitedly, "do you have food?" He cast a doubtful look around the spare little apartment.  

"Here? No," Hoseok responded, and the ache in Yoongi's stomach seemed to increase in response. But then the other boy grinned. "But I know where we can get some."